Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 297: Cow Riding and Farming
Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying took the third and fourth princes out of the capital and went to Zhao Garden in Haidian, the Zhu family's mansion of Duke Zhao, to spend their rest days. Although they did it very low-key and the emperor did not make it public, the news spread quickly because there was no deliberate secrecy in the palace and many people were keeping an eye on Zhang Shou who had been in the public eye since he came to the capital.
During the horseback riding that evening, Zhang Shou and his party did not meet anyone. But early the next morning, when Zhang Shou woke up the two princes who were planning to take a nap, and knocked on the door to wake up Zhu Ying who was sleeping soundly, and urged them to finish breakfast and go out, the servants of Zhao Garden were busy tidying up the house and cleaning the garden, but then the visitor came.
"Looking for Mr. Shou and Miss?" After asking the visitor the purpose of his visit, the concierge smiled and said, "Mr. Shou and Miss left early in the morning, saying they were herding cattle. They are probably in a field nearby."
Although the concierge was very smart and never mentioned the third and fourth princes, Ji Jiu and the others who came were all very sensible and naturally did not ask about the whereabouts of the two nobles. However, after they left, not only Ji Jiu, the leader, frowned, but the other young masters were also very surprised.
"Herding cattle? Dr. Zhang actually took the eldest lady and the third and fourth princes to herd cattle? How do they herd cattle? Just like in the New Year pictures, with the shepherd boy sitting on the back of the cattle and playing the flute?"
Everyone imagined the scene, and then Ji Jiu felt the corners of his mouth twitching. The scene was so beautiful that it was unbearable to look at. Zhang Shou was like a landscape in ink and wash, Zhu Ying was like a gorgeous fine brush painting, and the two princes seemed like golden boys jumping out of the New Year pictures. They were totally incompatible with the buffalo plowing the land!
No matter how puzzled they were, they had to bite the bullet and go find him. After all, yesterday after class, the news that the questions for the class test would be set by Xu Heizi from the Shengqian Hall spread like wildfire. At that moment, countless students from the Banshan Hall cried out in agony. Regardless of whether they had ever been beaten by the Shengqian Hall, Xu Heizi's reputation was too great.
Therefore, Ji Jiu was publicly pushed out with a few companions to persuade Zhang Shou to "take back his decision." However, the current situation was completely different from what they imagined Zhang Shou would do to the Third and Fourth Princes - do you dare to say that herding cattle is a special treatment?
Fortunately, several people were riding horses. After trotting around the area, they saw Zhu Ying, who was too eye-catching. In the countryside where most people were covered in dust, the young lady riding a tall white horse and wearing bright red was so conspicuous that it was impossible to ignore her. Of course, what was more eye-catching at this time was not her, but her movements.
Because Zhu Ying was lying on the horse's back, looking like she would fall off at any time.
Without much thought, Ji Jiu took the lead and the others followed closely behind, thinking only of rushing to the rescue. But when they were very close to Zhu Ying, they heard her uncontrollable laughter. Looking closely, they realized that it was not Zhu Ying who was about to fall off, but that the eldest lady was laughing so hard that she seemed to be unable to sit still and was about to fall off the horse.
"Ah Shou, why are you wearing a bamboo hat? If you don't show your face, no one will know it's you! Ah Liu, keep an eye on San Lang and Si Lang, these two guys are about to fall off out of fear! I don't know who started the fuss about wanting to ride the bull!"
Everyone followed Zhu Ying's line of sight and saw two cows walking leisurely one after the other not far away. There was only one person sitting on the cow in front. Judging from his size and appearance, even though he was wearing a bamboo hat, they could still recognize that it was Zhang Shou. As for the cow behind, two boys were sitting on it one after the other. Even though they were at a distance, they could see the tension and fear.
Aren't they the third and fourth princes? The one at the back tightly hugged the one in front of him by the waist, not even daring to open his eyes, and the one in front was not much better, he looked so nervous that he was stiff?
As for the two reins for the two buffaloes, they were all held by a young man. But even though he was leading the two buffaloes, he still walked leisurely, occasionally pulling a handful of grass to feed the buffaloes, his movements were very familiar.
Is riding a bull comfortable? Zhang Shou, who once tried it in the countryside out of curiosity, can give a clear answer - it is not comfortable at all. There is no saddle, no reins, and it feels very unsafe. If it weren't for Ah Liu, he would have lost half his life when he tried it out of curiosity for the first time.
If it weren't for the fact that the Third and Fourth Princes had made the same stupid request as he did when he was curious, he would never agree to it if he saw Ah Liu. However, he didn't expect that the Third and Fourth Princes were easily put on the cow's back by Ah Liu, and he was also attacked by Ah Liu.
God knows what his mood was when he was pushed onto the bull's back just now, and how much sweat has appeared on his back even though he looks calm on the surface!
Zhu Ying made a lot of noise for a while, but when she saw Ji Jiu and the others, her smile immediately disappeared. She raised her chin slightly, no longer showing the shaky and unruly look she had just shown, and once again became the domineering young lady.
"Why are you here?"
Ji Jiu knew that Zhu Ying was always arrogant to strangers. Anyone who was not an acquaintance was a stranger in the eyes of this young lady, even if she had met him many times. So as he rode forward, he carefully kept a distance that would not anger Zhu Ying. Then he bowed and smiled apologetically, "It just so happened that we were going out of the city for an outing. When we stopped at Qi Garden ahead, I heard that the teacher had also come out."
He still did not mention the Third and Fourth Princes at all. He paused and continued, "So we went to visit Zhao Garden and found this place. Of course, we also have selfish motives. I heard that the teacher of the branch examination has entrusted Xu Jiancheng of the Shengqian Hall to set the questions, but Xu Heizi has always been cruel and ruthless. We are afraid that he will deliberately embarrass us Banshan Hall and the teacher."
Instead of embarrassing the students, he said he wanted to embarrass Banshan Hall and Zhang Shou. This was Ji Jiu's language skills. However, after looking at him for a while, Zhu Ying suddenly laughed and said, "Ji Jiu, are you so unsure of yourself? I remember that you were always in the top five in the monthly exams at Banshan Hall, and even ranked third once. What are you worried about?"
Ji Jiu could feel the piercing gazes behind him without turning around. He didn't expect Zhu Ying to know his ranking. He knew that Zhang Shou had told her. Knowing that the people who followed him were not easy to deal with, he could only laugh dryly.
"Even if I can get through this by luck, if the reputation of Banshan Hall is damaged, wouldn't that be a shame for the hard work of the teacher over the past few months? Besides, it would also dampen the enthusiasm of the students of Banshan Hall. After all, everyone has worked so hard to muster up their enthusiasm..."
Before Ji Jiu could finish his words, Zhu Ying interrupted him and said, "Okay, I will tell you about this. Don't worry, Xu Heizi is not Yang Yiming. If you want to compare him, compare him with the former Wang Datou, they are almost the same. As for the other six halls of the Imperial College, they will be very busy soon and will not have time to hold on to Banshan Hall!"
Ji Jiu came all the way out of the city to Haidian, so of course he would not be sent away by Zhu Ying's few words. He looked at the three people riding cows over there, his eyes rolled and he said with a smile on his face: "By the way, teacher, are you here today... to persuade farmers?"
Zhu Ying didn't expect Ji Jiu to be so good at talking, and she laughed immediately: "Farmers work hard to fill their stomachs, so why do they need to be persuaded? Your Dr. Zhang wants Sanlang and Silang to know the hardship of farming. Now riding the buffalo is just to let them see what it feels like to ride on the back of the honest and simple buffalo from a distance. Let them go to the fields themselves later, and then they will know how hard it is!"
Well, although she had never worked in the fields herself when she was in Rongshui Village last time, she had seen the farmers sweating profusely... and compared to dry land, there were all kinds of small insects in the rice fields, especially blood-sucking leeches, which almost frightened her to death. So, if Zhang Shou was allowed to take the third and fourth princes to work in the fields, she would never dare to let them go to the paddy fields!
Ji Jiu originally thought that Zhang Shou wanted to let the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince see the hardships of farming and the difficulties of people's lives, so he felt that the words "encourage farming" were very appropriate. However, he never expected that Zhang Shou wanted to go even further!
The emperor was a farmer, but he only held the plow to pretend to do it. What should these two little princes do if they know how to do farm work? They don't have much hope of entering the East Palace and ruling the world in the future. They are just two rich and idle princes! Moreover, Zhu Ying's address was too bold, Sanlang and Silang all the time. Did she really treat them as her own brothers, or did she want to cover up their identities?
Zhu Ying could sense Ji Jiu's surprise, as well as the indifference . If she had never really seen the life of a farmer before, she might have thought that this so-called going to the fields was just for fun, but at this moment, she was suddenly excited and looked at these people who came up to her with a half-smile.
"Anyway, this piece of land belongs to my Zhaoguo Mansion. Although it has been ruined by people like us who don't know how to farm, the yield may be reduced by half. But I have already told the tenant that the rent for this land will be waived this year, and I will give him two dan of wheat as an additional subsidy. Fortunately, the two buffaloes are also mine, otherwise it would be unreasonable to waste the farmer's precious property."
"But since you are here, do you want to experience together what it feels like to hoe the field in the heat of the day and sweat dripping down into the soil?"
Ji Jiu's original excuse was that the land on which the farmers depended for their livelihood should not be destroyed, but Zhu Ying spoke first and used the powerful reason that the land and cattle also belonged to the Zhu family, which blocked his excuse. He suddenly didn't know how to prevaricate.
What caught him off guard was that Zhu Ying smiled and said, "Since your teacher has to teach students, he must also go to the fields. This is a good opportunity for you to set an example. Well, now that you are here, don't make this trip in vain!"
Zhu Ying's gaze extended from Ji Jiu to the other people behind him. Under her accumulated power, even though they were unwilling, they had to bite the bullet and agree one by one. So, when Ah Liu Qianniu brought Zhang Shou and the third and fourth princes over, what he saw were several sad faces.
After Ah Liu got Zhang Shou off the buffalo, Zhang Shou immediately and calmly moved away from the big buffalo. He didn't think that the seemingly docile buffalo would get close to a stranger, especially a heavy stranger who had ridden it for so long. However, when he saw the students opposite Zhu Ying, he threw away the little fear he had just felt.
They actually chased him all the way to the countryside. These students are really sharp-eyed and have sharp minds!
Soon, the third and fourth princes were also easily sent to the ground by Ah Liu, but they hid behind Zhu Ying's mount in fear. The two little guys secretly swore in their hearts that from now on, they would hide as far away as possible when they saw a creature like a cow! Just now, they were on the cow's back, watching the cow's tail hitting each other, and they also heard the mooing from time to time, which scared them to death!
When the two huge animals were led away by Ah Liu and handed over to a few farmers nearby, Zhang Shou had already learned the whole story from Zhu Ying. He didn't care about Zhu Ying's instigation for a few people to stay and experience farming. He glanced at everyone and spoke with a smile.
"We just took a walk around the paddy fields. There are a few wheat fields nearby. The weather is good this year and the wheat matures early. When Liu was talking to someone just now, I heard that they were planning to harvest the wheat while the weather was good. Since so many people have come today, let's go down to the fields and help with the harvest. After harvesting this crop, we can plant another crop of beans in the future."
Harvesting… wheat? Ji Jiu and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. They had eaten flour made from wheat before, and they had often seen the golden wheat fields when they entered and left the capital. They had even seen the green wheat seedling fields before… but harvesting… well, they had only eaten flour, never harvested wheat!
The third and fourth princes were even more confused. Because of the emperor's teachings, they knew that the wheat produced in the wheat fields had to be husked and ground into flour before it could be eaten. The flour that was to be served to the nobles like them had to be ground five or six times and sifted carefully so that there was no graininess at all. Only then could it be sent to the palace to be used to make all kinds of exquisite snacks.
But when they stood beside the golden wheat field and saw that the wheat was almost as tall as themselves, the two brothers were still confused. How could they harvest this?
Seeing a few farmers with smiles on their faces bringing two baskets, one basket contained a few shiny sickles, and the other basket contained a few pairs of gloves, they were even more confused. Fortunately, Zhang Shou gave an order immediately.
"Sanlang and Silang, just watch outside for now. When we finish harvesting this field and someone comes to bundle the wheat and carries it away, you two can come down with your baskets and pick up the scattered wheat ears."
Zhang Shou casually handed the two baskets in his hand to the third and fourth princes, but was very careful not to call them princes in front of the tenant farmers. He smiled and said, "After the wheat is threshed, we will know how much you have harvested."
After hearing this, the Third and Fourth Princes felt relieved. Seeing Zhang Shou giving Ji Jiu and the others sickles and gloves, and then giving them two pairs of gloves, he then forced Ji Jiu and the others to go to the fields. Although they were very curious, they only moved forward a little to see a tenant farmer leading the sickle.
They just heard the sound of swishing, swishing, swishing, and in an instant, the leading tenant farmer twisted and cut, and the wheat beside him, which was almost as tall as them, fell down one by one. Looking at Zhang Shou's progress behind him, although he was more than a beat slower than the tenant farmer, he managed to catch up. But when they looked at Ji Jiu and others, the two brothers were stunned at first, and then they couldn't help laughing.
