Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 245: Let the Sedan Chair Ridge
Even though his injuries were not concealed, after leaving Qianqing Gate, Zhu Tingfang still solemnly warned Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou not to tell the lady. However, Zhu Ying snorted and directly rejected his eldest brother's request, which he thought was very reasonable.
"Mom has already seen through it, how are you going to hide it? Do you think Grandmother can be fooled so easily?"
Zhu Ying looked gloomy and didn't even look at her elder brother, nor did she look at Zhang Shou who had just used her as a cover for her elder brother in front of others. She muttered in a low voice, "If you dare to do it, don't be afraid of being scolded! Besides, there is no wall that is impenetrable. You can control the mouths of everyone around you, but can you control the mouths of those northern barbarians? Maybe they would like to make your humiliation known to everyone!"
Liu Feng, the steward of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, who knew everything, personally escorted them out of the palace. Even for a family like the Duke of Zhao's Mansion, where the emperor was always close, this kind of special treatment was not common. In addition, Liu Feng had a look on his face that said "stay away from strangers", so others naturally stayed away from him. Therefore, he ensured that no outsiders could hear what the last three said, but he also heard every word.
At this moment, he only heard the eldest son of the Duke of Zhao, whose body was covered with so many scars that even his scalp was numb, speak. Zhu Tingfang's words were simple, but as soon as he heard the voice and understood the meaning, he couldn't help but shudder.
"We killed all the bandits in the firearms camp, leaving no one alive."
Zhu Tingfang paused, then sighed and said, "When we were there, we were all unkempt and often got beaten. Who could remember who got beaten? Later, I was chosen to make firearms, so I didn't suffer that much. As for those knife wounds, some were from the first battle, and some were from the final battle to wipe out the firearms battalion."
"Besides, who was more humiliated, me who was whipped and humiliated by the Northern Tartars, or me who led people to sneak in and then directly wiped out the firearms camp with the help of internal and external forces? Of course, they may still have the blueprints of how to make firearms, and there may still be some craftsmen, but it will take time to start over. The most important thing is that the saltpeter smuggling route can no longer be protected!"
After taking a look at Zhang Shou, Zhu Tingfang smiled and said, "I don't want people to know that I'm injured because I don't want to worry my grandmother and mother, nor do I want you to worry. I don't want some people with ulterior motives to think that I'm injured, so that the Zhu family can take advantage of them. However, I definitely don't shy away from my previous experience of being defeated and captured, Yingying, do you understand?"
Seeing Zhu Ying biting his red lips again and keeping silent, Zhang Shou felt that he had further understood the characteristics of Zhu Ying, the elder brother. There was no doubt that he was a proud and conceited person, but also strong and tenacious, so he would not allow himself to show the slightest weakness in front of others. This was very tiring, but as the eldest son and elder brother, such responsibility was very valuable.
"Humph!" Zhu Ying finally snorted, thinking it was a response to Zhu Tingfang's teaching. When she left Donghua Gate, she saw Liu Feng waving his hand, and then a sedan chair came slowly over.
"The Emperor said that it's cold and windy, Miss, don't ride a horse, take a sedan chair instead." Liu Feng's voice was neither loud nor soft, but loud enough for everyone around to hear. "Dr. Zhang, you're not as strong as Mr. Zhu, so you should take a sedan chair with Miss. After all, it takes a long time to go from Donghua Gate to Xicheng, so you can drink tea and chat along the way."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Ying immediately realized that this sedan chair was not prepared for herself and Zhang Shou, but was probably specially prepared by the emperor for her elder brother. However. Seeing Zhu Tingfang frowned slightly and remained silent, she realized that he was going to acquiesce to the emperor's high-sounding reasons, and just pretended not to understand the deep meaning, and was going to ride a horse to show off, and she was immediately furious.
Just when she was about to lose her temper, she heard Zhang Shou say, "I appreciate the emperor's kindness, but Yingying and her brother have been reunited after a long time, so the sedan chair should be used by them. After all, the eldest master has been riding a horse all the way back to the capital, and he should rest. Although I am not as strong as him, I can climb mountains and walk in the fields. It's just riding a horse and feeling the cold wind, so it's okay."
At this point, Zhang Shou gave Liu Feng another bitter smile: "Please tell the emperor, Eunuch Liu, to let me ride in the same sedan chair with Yingying in front of her elder brother. How can I sit still?"
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft. When the garrisons and guards stationed at Donghua Gate heard it, many of them snickered. The elder brother-in-law was always more and more picky when he looked at his brother-in-law. If Dr. Zhang really followed the emperor's arrangement and went back with Miss Zhu in the same sedan chair, even if Mr. Zhu didn't say anything at this time, he would definitely remember this matter later!
Dr. Zhang chose to decline, and that was absolutely the right thing to do!
Zhu Ying's mouth curled up immediately. She smiled and walked forward to grab Zhu Tingfang. Then she winked at Zhang Shou and said, "Ah Shou, thank you for your consideration for my saddle, horse, and labor!"
She deliberately emphasized the tone of the four words "tired from riding a horse", but regardless of whether Zhu Tingfang was willing or not, she pushed him in front of the sedan chair and said unhappily: "Why, big brother, you want to say that we are seven years old and we are not together, and you don't want to ride in the sedan chair with me?"
What else could Zhu Tingfang say? He could only glance at Zhang Shou with complicated eyes, and then he had no choice but to climb the ladder. When he sat down in the sedan chair, he saw Zhu Ying followed him in, and then closed the door of the sedan chair. Then he ignored him and directly raised the curtains on the side, said hello to Liu Feng, and clearly winked at Zhang Shou who was riding a horse on the side. He finally couldn't help but speak.
“Yingying…”
"Don't talk, get some rest!" Zhu Ying slammed down the curtains and glared at her elder brother with a stern face. "If you have anything to say, go home and tell grandma and mom. I'm very angry now!"
As she spoke, she put her chin on her hand, tilted her head and stared blankly at the side, not caring that the curtains had not been fastened yet and the cold wind was blowing into the sedan chair. It was not until someone knocked gently on the window outside that she angrily opened the curtains and saw that it was Zhang Shou. Her expression looked better then.
"Yingying, the curtains are not fastened properly. The wind blew them open and left a big gap. What if you get cold?"
As Zhang Shou spoke, he glanced at Zhu Tingfang who was still in a daze in the sedan chair. Even if you are not afraid of the cold, you should consider the weak brother beside you, right? Seeing Zhu Ying was stunned at first, and then quickly turned her head to glance at Zhu Tingfang, he smiled and said, "You have always been a person who gets angry quickly and gets out faster. You are open-minded and never vent your anger on others. Why are you so petty today?"
"Who is stingy!" Zhu Ying blushed, glared at Zhang Shou, and quickly closed all the curtains. After she was done, she turned around and saw Zhu Tingfang looking at her thoughtfully. She couldn't help but said angrily, "Brother, what are you looking at!"
"Of course, to see my increasingly beautiful sister."
If such words came from the mouths of Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang, Zhu Ying would not find it strange at all. However, when she heard her elder brother say this, she could not help but raise her eyebrows: "Brother, you just went out for a while, why are you so slick!"
"I'm telling the truth, so why am I being glib?" Zhu Tingfang sneered, then looked at Zhu Ying seriously and asked, "Is he really that good?"
Although the word "he" seemed to have no clear reference, Zhu Ying immediately understood that her elder brother was referring to Ah Shou. She immediately showed a high spirited expression and said with a smile: "Of course Ah Shou is very good! Big brother, you don't know, after you and Dad left Beijing, there were a lot of messy things! First, the censor impeached, and then my second brother..."
Although she knew that if Zhu Er told the truth about his second brother's attempt to arrange a marriage for her and marry her to Lu Sanlang, he would be scolded or even beaten severely, but Zhu Ying knew that his eldest brother must have heard about it a long time ago. Besides, it would be better for her to speak up herself than to let others in the family say it. In this way, his eldest brother might turn around and be more lenient with his second brother in view of his slight change of mind.
However, for her, these were just minor details, and the ones about Zhang Shou were the most important. She spent a lot of space on her acquaintance with Zhang Shou, and described Zhang Shou's talents and character in great detail. As for his appearance... Big Brother had seen it himself, so there was no need for her to elaborate on it.
Zhu Tingfang listened quietly. From Zhu Ying's distinct inclination and countless compliments, he knew how much his sister liked Zhang Shou. In his eyes, marriage was just a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words, a guarantee for the continuation of the family line. As long as the husband respected his wife and the two treated each other with respect, that was enough. He didn't care much about the matter of mutual affection.
He heard that his father and mother were deeply in love, and even though they had no children for many years, his father never changed his mind, and his grandmother did not urge them to have a baby, but they were eventually separated. After his mother died, his father and stepmother also had a good relationship, but didn't they become strangers for more than ten years?
He even felt that the deeper he invested in the love, the greater the harm he would suffer if something unexpected happened in the future. Moreover, Zhu Ying's temper was similar to that of her mother Jiu Niang. Although she was cheerful and bright now, she was stubborn and could not be pulled back by nine oxen!
But listening to Zhu Ying's story, she was clearly deeply in love. Zhu Tingfang thought of his sister's stubborn temper. When she finally finished talking, he asked in a deep voice: "Yingying, tell me the truth. You like him very much. Does he like you as much as you like him? Marriage is like a scale. If you invest a lot but he only treats you as an ordinary person, then I am really sorry for you."
Zhu Ying didn't expect her elder brother to think so far ahead. She was stunned for a moment and felt a little guilty, but then she said confidently: "Of course Ah Shou likes me too! He said that he can't help himself only when he is with me, and he also said..."
She paused, then burst out laughing and said, "He also told me, who else can I marry if I don't marry him?"
Zhu Ying's words not only failed to reassure Zhu Tingfang, but made him even more anxious. He asked hurriedly, "Let's not talk about the fact that I can't help myself, why would he tell you to marry him?"
"I asked Ah Shou to marry me home quickly? Big brother, you don't know that the emperor gave the villa of Prince Lu's Mansion to Ah Shou! This was not a gift from the emperor, but a gift from the elders!" Zhu Ying said, and recounted the whole story of that day.
Zhu Tingfang simply didn't know what to say. He was secretly angry at Zhang Shou for being so shameless, but he never thought that this was not a phoenix seeking a phoenix, but... a phoenix seeking a phoenix! Apart from his sister, which girl would say such blunt ? Fortunately, Zhang Shou didn't get scared, but responded normally!
For the first time, Zhu Tingfang secretly sided with Zhang Shou. He suddenly felt that the young man outside was not without merit. Whether it was saving face for him in front of his grandmother and stepmother, or speaking for him in front of the emperor later, or giving him a seat on the sedan chair when he saw it just now without thinking... Of course, the most important thing was that he could tolerate his sister who was too bold!
As for the fact that the emperor had generously gifted Zhang Shou a luxurious villa, he didn't really care. Even if Zhang Shou was penniless, if Zhu Ying really liked it, and Zhang Shou's character and talent could pass both his and his father's test, then that would be enough. But when Zhu Ying boasted about the century-old peony garden with a smile, he finally suddenly remembered who the Lu Wang mentioned by Zhu Ying was.
Thinking of this, Brother Zhu couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at his own ignorance. He took a deep breath and tried to speak in a gentle tone: "Yingying, Zhang Shou doesn't know that you should know that although Prince Lu has passed away, he is still a troublesome person. Even though the emperor has let it go, the queen mother..."
"He was raised by the Queen Mother, but he is not her biological son."
Zhu Ying snorted with some disdain, then raised her head slightly and said, "Do you think I'm so stupid? I told the Queen Mother about this matter. The Queen Mother was very happy and said it was a pity to leave such a garden empty, so it would be better to let Ah Shou and I live there. She also said that the Emperor had finally done a great thing this time!"
The attitude of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor... is really too frank and open-minded!
Zhu Tingfang thought so in his heart, but he would not doubt the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's preference for Zhu Ying, so he was speechless at this moment. However, his always spoiled sister actually had a lover, and now she was happily waiting to get married. He couldn't help but feel a little upset, and couldn't help but change the subject: "By the way, what's going on with Zhang Shou's students?"
Seeing Zhu Ying's sudden joy, Zhu Tingfang quickly added, "I'm not asking about the little fat man from the Lu family and Zhang Chen. I'm asking about you, the one recommended by Elder Wu before, who works as a clerk in Shuntian Prefecture, and the one my family members mentioned before, who ranked seventh in the Shuntian Prefecture exam, but later did not take the college entrance exam, but went to the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial Academy! It seems that one of them is surnamed Deng and the other is surnamed Qi?"
"Have grandma and mother told you about them?"
Zhu Ying was extremely surprised this time. However, Deng Xiaodai and Qi Liang were indeed both very good young men, so she immediately introduced them with a smile. At the end, she slapped the armrest and said, "I forgot another important thing... Big brother, hello! You raised a child outside and didn't tell the family, you are too much!"
Hearing the words "raised a child", Zhu Tingfang was dumbfounded. Gave birth to a child? Who gave birth to it? How come he never knew about it? In an instant, he was furious. Who was so despicable and shameless that he dared to blame him? Was he courting death?
