Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 223: A Penny Hard to Kill a Hero
Although many officials in the court were dissatisfied with the result of the emperor's selection of a son-in-law, the marriage of the princess and the county lady was, after all, an internal affair of the royal family, and the empress dowager had not intervened. They could do nothing except privately scold Zhang Shou for his partiality. As for writing these slanderous words behind his back in a memorial to impeach him... What a joke, the emperor selected the person, can you still say that the emperor listened to Zhang Shou in everything?
So, when some people heard that Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and some other students of Banshan Hall frequently visited Huixian Hall on the shore of Shichahai and repeatedly submitted notes to invite the Twelve Rains of Tingyu Xiaozhu to hold gatherings, they were naturally filled with indignation.
Although scholars who had studied hard for more than a decade before entering officialdom did not necessarily want to marry a princess or a county princess and become a royal relative, they were still indignant that mediocre children of noble families like Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and Zhao Mingxiang could surpass several recognized excellent children of officials. Some imperial censors who were determined to shock the emperor directly impeached the emperor.
However, the impeachment letter was sent to the emperor, and then there was no news, as if nothing had happened. Although some people lobbied high-ranking officials to criticize these noble children in front of the emperor for failing to live up to the emperor's grace, they achieved almost nothing. In the end, Wu Ge Lao, like a good man, gave a clear hint to one of his students, the censor.
"You young and inexperienced people, why are you meddling in other people's business? You should know that the confinement order for the two palaces will soon be over, and the Ministry of Rites will begin selecting concubines for the two princes. Instead of meddling in the affairs of the royal son-in-law, you might as well focus on the important matter of selecting concubines. Even if Zhang Shou is favored by the emperor again and can enter the cabinet and become a prime minister, it will take another 10 to 20 years. Why are you keeping an eye on him?"
With what Lord Wu said, and within two days, the Ministry of Rites became busy again. The matter of selecting a concubine became a hot topic, and no one knew how many people who had been planning in secret were ready to go. It was more than twice as lively as the previous matter of selecting a son-in-law.
On this day, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu once again invited Zhang Chen, Lu Sanlang, Zhu Er and several other familiar students, and sent a note in Huixian Hall to call Twelve Yu from Tingyu Cottage.
Huixiantang was originally a restaurant with a theater. The name was changed because Emperor Taizu came here in person in the early years of the founding of the country and wrote this plaque with his own hand when he was drunk. Although it has changed hands many times since then, it has always been called Huixiantang. Naturally, no one knows the original name anymore.
The fathers and brothers of this group of young masters were all famous officials in the court. Among them were Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, the two newly-minted imperial consorts and groomsmen. Therefore, although the entire Huixian Hall was booked every time, even if the guys had some grudges in their hearts, Wan Yuanbao, the owner of Huixian Hall and Tingyu Cottage, had no objection. They could only secretly envy these young masters for their good fortune.
It was already afternoon, and everyone was watching Twelve Rain perform several segments in turn. As they were evaluating the performance in groups of three or four, they suddenly heard voices coming from outside. Zhang Chen, who had been patronizing Huixian Hall every now and then and had been beaten by his mother several times, was already in a bad mood. He immediately slapped the armrest and shouted, "Didn't you say that you don't accept outsiders?"
"That depends on what kind of guest it is." Following this voice, the door was pushed open without hesitation, and then an old man in his sixties walked into the room with a smile on his face. When he appeared, Lu Sanlang directly elbowed Zhang Chen who was talking nonsense, then jumped up and greeted him with a smile on his face.
"The Earl of Weinan is here? Oh, why didn't you tell us so we could go and greet him!"
Not everyone in the room was familiar with Weinan Earl Zhang Kang, but everyone knew that compared to a powerful earl with a job title, even the future consort would have to stand back. Therefore, seeing Zhang Chen and Zhu Er, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, and even Zhao Mingxiang, the future guest of honor, all being polite and respectful to Zhang Kang, the others naturally knew what to do.
After everyone had met in a mess, Zhang Kang refused to sit in the middle. Instead, he beckoned Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu to the side. While telling the Twelve Rains on the stage to continue rehearsing, he looked at the two and said, "I heard that now that you two have risen to high positions, there are many people who have sent you visiting cards and want to get close to you?"
Zhang Wu was about to speak, but felt his sleeve being pulled, so he quickly shut up and let Zhang Lu speak. The next moment, he only heard Zhang Lu say with a smile: "They are just people who curry favor with the powerful. We two brothers know that we are where we are today because of the emperor's favor and the young master's teaching. How dare we be arrogant? We are just dealing with it, and we dare not accept any of the generous gifts."
"Of course I heard about it." Zhang Kang said with a half-smile, "You said you wanted to buy a weaving and dyeing workshop to make the best clothes for your future daughter-in-law, but someone offered it to you, but you righteously rejected it and sent people to ask around to buy it. Two days ago, you just spent 600 strings of cash to buy a small weaving and dyeing workshop near the Imperial College. Is that right?"
Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu looked at each other, both of them were shocked. Especially Zhang Lu, when he thought about the idea of robbing before, he couldn't help but feel scared, secretly thanking himself for Zhang Shou's advice, so as to avoid making a big mistake.
He broke out in a cold sweat, and it was Zhang Wu who answered. Zhang Wu, who was relatively cautious by nature, smiled and said, "Yes, that's true. This is the first time for us two brothers to run a business, so of course we dare not be too arrogant."
Seeing that Zhang Wu was not arrogant because he was about to become a royal consort, Zhang Kang could not help but nod secretly and asked with a smile: "Then, we also gathered all the spinners who supplied silk and yarn to this weaving and dyeing factory, and then kept those spinners who spun cotton yarn and gathered them in one place to spin yarn. Is this true?"
Zhang Kang had already known their background so well, so the two brothers were not . Zhang Wu said straightforwardly, "Yes, there is."
Zhang Kang smiled and suddenly asked directly, "Did you get a new spinning machine from somewhere? That's why you're doing this?"
At this moment, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu almost jumped up in shock. They were about to deny it, but when they saw Weinan Earl Zhang Kang's confident look, they felt unsure. Finally, they felt that they could no longer hide it, so Zhang Wu grabbed Zhang Lu and said as calmly as possible: "Yes, the young master accidentally made a new type of textile machine when he asked someone to think about other things."
"I see." Zhang Kang thought of what Zhang Shou had mentioned to him before, and a strange smile appeared on his face. "This young master of yours is really interesting. Although this is none of my business, do you know that there is no impenetrable wall in the world? Although the spinners you hired have received high salaries and cannot go home, there are still people who can't help but pry?"
This time, Zhang Lu stopped Zhang Wu, who was showing anger, and said calmly: "Since Wu and I were favored by the emperor and arranged such a marriage, we knew that we would definitely be targeted. We don't expect to keep it secret forever. As long as Weinan Bo can keep it secret for us for a while, we will be satisfied."
"That's easy. Since your young master has helped me so much, I will pretend not to know about this little thing." Zhang Kang agreed very readily, and then said with a smile, "But do you want me to do you another favor and find out who is behind those people who are spying on you?"
That would be great!
Zhang Wu almost blurted out such a sentence, but then he couldn't help but look at Zhang Lu. Seeing him shaking his head slightly at him, he suddenly remembered what Zhang Shou had said before, and immediately changed his words: "We brothers appreciate the good intentions of Weinan Bo, and let those who are spying on us go, we have nothing to hide."
Zhang Kang stared at the two of them in surprise for a long time, then he laughed and said, "Well, I'll see what you're up to. But I still want to remind you that although you're here to watch Twelve Rain rehearse a new play, and you've brought a lot of people with you, this grand gesture of booking Huixian Hall will still inevitably attract criticism from others."
"Especially since the people criticizing are related to Kunning Palace, it will not be so easy to deal with them."
After Zhang Kang finished speaking, he stood up, patted the fat boy on the back of Lu Sanlang, and called him out to talk for a while. In the end, only Lu Sanlang came back. Facing those curious eyes, Lu Sanlang said unhappily: "Weinan Bo just passed by to watch the fun, and he has left. Keep watching you, I have to go back to Jiuzhang Hall, I have classes in the afternoon."
You can take leave for the afternoon elective class in Banshan Hall, but you cannot take leave for the math class in Jiuzhang Hall. This is the truth that everyone has concluded in recent days. However, seeing that Lu Sanpang is really so hardworking and studious, people like Zhu Er, who used to be his good friend, naturally couldn't help but sigh. But in their eyes, the prodigal son turned over a new leaf, and they didn't care what others thought.
When he rode back to the Imperial College, Lu Sanlang lowered his voice and called out, "Ah Liu, Ah Liu, are you there? If you are, please call me. Help is needed. It's urgent! It's urgent!"
Since the Imperial College is located in a relatively desolate area in the north city and is not a popular government office, not many people pass by this street. Therefore, his voice only attracted the attention of two followers, but did not attract passers-by to watch him as a lunatic. Just when Lu Sanlang listened carefully and found no response, he was a little discouraged, but he finally heard a voice.
"squeak."
He couldn't help but twitch his lips, and then looked in the direction of the sound, and saw Ah Liu leaning against the wall with his arms folded, and there was clearly no one there just now. He gasped and didn't care about anything else, and quickly rode his horse closer, and then got off the horse with great effort. As for blaming Ah Liu for not lending a hand to help him... he didn't want to commit suicide like Zhu Er.
After practicing martial arts with Ah Liu four times, Zhu Er's expression of agony has deeply infected all those who knew about it.
After he stood firm, he gathered himself and said in a flattering manner, "Ah Liu, I just got the news that the Queen's confinement order has been lifted. The Second Prince has been recuperating for more than a month after being beaten with a stick, and he can barely get out of bed. Now I am a thorn in their side! Not only me, Kunning Palace has also ordered people to keep an eye on Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu's weaving and dyeing workshop and their whereabouts..."
"Got it." Before Lu Sanlang could finish his chatter, Ah Liu interrupted him unhappily, and then said lightly, "The day lily is cold."
Lu Sanlang was choked up. It turned out that people disliked his news because it came too late. By the time he told them about it, it was too late! Thinking of this little ancestor's elusiveness, he unconsciously believed that Ah Liu had known about it a long time ago, and said angrily: "I was also afraid that the young master would be plotted against. When I met Weinan Bo today, he reminded me..."
After he mumbled a few words, he remembered that the class in Jiuzhang Hall was about to start, so he ran in quickly. Because his back was facing Ah Liu, he naturally couldn't see that the corners of the boy's mouth were actually raised on his indifferent face.
"I was kidding you." When Ah Liu said these three words softly, he was actually in a bad mood. He was alone, and he didn't know how to clone himself. On the one hand, he had to deploy the guards borrowed from the Duke of Zhao's mansion to protect the three craftsmen and Xiao Cheng, and on the other hand, he had to protect the weaving and dyeing workshops of Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu where the spinners were, and by the way, he had to watch over the Imperial College... Even if he had three heads and six arms, it wouldn't be enough!
How could he have the time to investigate the mastermind behind the incident? He only symbolically taught two of the spies a lesson!
During the break, Zhang Shou learned from Lu Sanlang about the sudden visit of Weinan Earl Zhang Kang to Huixian Hall. He also learned that Lu Sanlang had already found Ah Liu and told him about this. He couldn't help but look at the fat boy twice.
"It's enough for you to tell me. Why go tell Ah Liu? Do you expect him to kill all those spies who are watching from the dark?" Seeing Lu Sanlang's eyes rolling, Zhang Shou exposed him unhappily, "Do you want to remind Ah Liu that he can't handle everything by himself? Or do you want to say that there are not many trustworthy people in your family, including Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, and I can't use the people in Zhaoguogong Mansion often, so ask him to find some people?"
"Well, nothing can be hidden from the young master."
Lu Sanlang then changed his face to a serious one: "Since the young master wants to lead us to do serious work, he must have his own team. I know that in a place like the capital, people cannot be recruited randomly. It is better to have less than the wrong ones, but there cannot be no one. Therefore, it is most suitable for Ah Liu to come forward to find him! He is loyal to you, has great ability, and has a sharp eye. You have to remind him!"
Zhang Shou was still a little hesitant. Ah Liu was very capable, but he was the apprentice of the mysterious Hua Qi... He was not worried about Ah Liu being influenced by others, but he was worried that Hua Qi would quietly watch Ah Liu's actions from behind. Moreover, he did not want to put too much pressure on Ah Liu. Of course, his lack of money to support too many people was also a big reason!
A penny can hardly kill a hero! Otherwise, whether it's Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu, or him, why would they be so roundabout?
"I understand. But instead of counting on Ah Liu, you might as well use the achievements of your Third Master Lu over the years. I don't believe you don't have a few confidants. As for Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, the people around them are more than enough. Since Weinan Bo has told you that others are watching Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, you must perform the scenes given to you well!"
"That's no problem!"
Lu Sanlang raised his eyebrows proudly and said proudly: "Acting is a natural talent for me!"
