Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 836: Super Strong Desire to Survive
Under the collective gaze of three people who claimed to be the top nobles of the Ming Dynasty, Zheshan Jun tried his best to keep his head held high and chest puffed out, trying not to appear too weak. No matter what, he was a member of the royal family sent by Goryeo to the Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty. Others might scold and humiliate him in person, but they would not beat him up.
But even so, the sadness of being at the mercy of others lingered in his heart. Finally, he saw three people moving their feet together, surrounding him from three sides. With the corner of his eye, he saw the envoy next to him was about to step forward, but he raised his foot and then retracted it. It was obvious that he was timid and afraid of trouble. He couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.
The second son of the late Crown Prince and the nephew of the current King, it is a tradition that royal children have no hope of power. Apart from his noble status, what else is there for a man like him that is worthy of the King's protection?
However, just when Zheshanjun was full of self-pity, he suddenly heard a laugh: "You are so young, but you know your mistakes and can correct them. You dare to take responsibility for your actions. I underestimated you!"
When he said this, Zhu Er pretended not to see the middle-aged Korean envoy's expression of almost popping his eyes out. The fierce and ferocious look he had when he was threatening to punish the enemy disappeared without a trace, replaced by a kind and warm expression. He and Fatty Lu learned this skill of changing faces. Although he was not very proficient in using it at this time, it was enough to bully an immature child in front of him.
While saying this, Zhu Er patted the man's shoulder affectionately, not realizing that this kind of gesture between relatives and friends was not suitable for strangers. After patting Zhe Shanjun's shoulder, he smiled and said, "Since you have the intention to write a letter to apologize, it shows that you can change. Well, how about this, you come with us to the palace to apologize in person?"
Zhu Er thought that it was not a good time to invite people out for fun, so he came up with a perfect excuse. When he said it, he couldn't help but praise himself for his wit.
Zheshanjun felt his mood fluctuate greatly, and he was completely confused. He had prepared for the worst, but he was suddenly praised for admitting his mistakes and being brave enough to take responsibility? And then he was dragged into the palace to apologize in person? He was a member of the Goryeo royal family, and had just arrived in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. He had to wait for the imperial edict before he could enter the palace... Besides, the palace was a place where one could just walk into it casually?
Sure enough, when he was confused, he heard a dissenting voice from the side: "Second Brother Zhu, the Korean envoys have just arrived in the capital, and the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Guests probably haven't reported it yet. You are talking about entering the palace. Aren't you talking too much? The guards at the palace gate will not let you go."
After admonishing Zhu Er who was talking to himself, Ji Jiu smiled at Zhe Shan Jun in a friendly manner. But before he could continue, Zhang Da Kuatou snorted, "Brother Zhu Er is right. You finally know your mistakes and can correct them. You are a real man! I heard that you are going to the Imperial College in the future? If someone wants to bully you, just tell me my name. My reputation is still useful in the Imperial College!"
What the hell is going on here! Ji Jiu felt a headache coming on… None of them were reliable, no wonder the emperor personally asked him to come along. Otherwise, based on the behavior of Zhu Er and Zhang Dakua, the so-called test would probably turn into a disaster!
Therefore, he said decisively, "Okay, don't scare Zheshanjun! He is probably new here and doesn't understand the customs and rules of the Ming Dynasty. That's why he made such a big mistake. If that's the case, then we, as citizens of the Ming Dynasty, have an obligation to make him understand these things so that he won't make the same mistake again in the future."
At this point, Ji Jiu said earnestly, "Zheshan Jun, there are not just one or two Ming people like Mr. Zhang from the Qin State Mansion who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in their eyes. This is not nitpicking, but a desire to protect the traditions of our Ming Dynasty."
After covering up Zhang Chen's arrogant words and deeds with a layer of uprightness, he said solemnly: "Today, we trespassed into Huitong Hall. Naturally, we three will write a letter to apologize when we go back. However, we will also write a letter to ask the emperor to let the three of us teach you the various etiquette and rules of our Celestial Empire, so that you can see the difference between the capital of my Ming Dynasty and your Goryeo territory!"
Having said this, he pulled Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuotou, who were still trying to speak, away without saying anything. It was not until they left the gate of Huitong South Hall before the guards could react that Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuotou both reacted and hurriedly broke free, their faces filled with rage.
"Hey, we are here to call for punishment, right? Why are you suddenly running away?" Zhu Er was filled with resentment.
"That's right, what do you mean by going back to write a letter to apologize?" Zhang the big guy was even more angry, "We are not following the emperor's..."
Before Zhang the big guy could say that this was in accordance with the emperor's order, Ji Jiu covered his mouth with his hand. Then, seeing that they were already far away from the guards, he angrily said, "If we don't leave now, the people from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Guests will come. Believe it or not, that guy will come up and arrest us and ask the elders of our family to take us away, or he will send us to the Shuntian government office for causing trouble?"
"The reason why the emperor only asked the teacher to pass on the message is obviously because he doesn't want ordinary officials to know about this. Are you still planning to tell the people in the Ministry of Rites and the Department of Guests that we are here on the orders of the emperor or something?"
Seeing that Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuai were speechless, Ji Jiu could only say helplessly: "We have already gotten enough inside information today. Go back and do as I just said. Write a similar letter of apology and submit it. The emperor will definitely approve it as soon as possible and let us take that Zheshan Jun around the capital. This way, we can complete the task in two or three days."
"It will take another two or three days..."
Zhang Daku's brows were furrowed into big lumps. He thought it was something that could be accomplished as soon as he started, but it couldn't be done right away, and he had to do it slowly?
Zhu Er finally agreed with Ji Jiu's proposal this time: "Yes, they have just arrived. Before the court makes a clear statement, the envoys should not be able to move freely in the capital. After all, Zhe Shanjun is a member of the Goryeo royal family, so he should not be able to run around. Ji Jiu, you have a good brain, no wonder the emperor asked you to come with him!"
Do you understand now why the emperor asked me to join him?
Ji Jiu complained in his heart, but he couldn't show his contempt for Zhu Er on his face. After all, he was the teacher's brother-in-law, so he had to give him face. When he was walking back to meet up with his followers, he suddenly thought of something and asked casually, "By the way, can you write a letter of apology?"
When he asked this question, he was met with tacit silence. Turning his head, he saw Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuo looking at him innocently, almost saying "You've finished writing, lend it to us to copy." Faced with these two troublesome accomplices, he could only sigh and say, "How about this, after I finish writing, you can all sign your names together."
This undoubtedly made Zhu Er and Zhang Dakui feel relieved. Just like many children of Zhang Shou's generation had written self-criticism reports, for the two of them, admitting mistakes and apologizing for their crimes from childhood to adulthood was the most common thing, and being forced by elders to write a confession was also a common thing.
But even if they write often, they still have to rack their brains every time to write this thing. They really don’t know how to write!
Ji Jiu had become numb to his two accomplices, and what made him even more speechless was that Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuotou, as if they were afraid that he would go back on his word, actually dragged him to a teahouse. Then Zhang Dakuotou went to Yazhai, which sold the four treasures of the study, including blank memorials, and bought the whole set.
As soon as the man came back, Zhu Er personally ground the ink and begged Ji Jiu to write a letter of apology. In this regard, the helpless Ji Jiu could only suppress the urge to hit him, splashed ink and wrote a flowery... self-criticism, no, a letter of apology.
He used very beautiful writing to describe the indignation of the three of them after hearing Zhang Chen blame Shan Jun for taking a sedan chair to Beijing. He then packaged the incident of trespassing into Huihe South Pavilion as an impulsive incident in anger, and then downplayed the incident of shouting and screaming that disturbed the whole family as a friendly negotiation to resolve the past grudges.
Finally, Ji Jiufang sincerely apologized and expressed deep remorse. He also expressed that as a citizen of the great Celestial Empire, he was willing to help the royal family of the small Goryeo country on a friendly mission to understand the etiquette and culture of the Ming Dynasty, so as to influence the hearts of the foreign subjects.
The whole article was written in one go, and Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuo looked at each other in bewilderment. Zhang Dakuo couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "If you can write such an article, why do you still want to take the Jiuzhangtang exam? Wouldn't it be better for you to stay in the Imperial College and take the Jinshi exam in the future?"
Ji Jiu suddenly laughed, "You want to pass the imperial examination just by writing this kind of essay? You're dreaming! I started writing this kind of confession when I was in my early teens to fool my father and other elders, but if you ask me to write that kind of eight-part essay with a clear format, I don't know anything about it. Besides, my father was also a famous talent back then. He ranked ninth in the provincial examination and seventh in the palace examination. What happened in the end?"
"He can't climb up to the position of the head of the Censorate! The two above him write better than him, have a deeper family background, are more capable than him, and are better at doing things and being a better person than him. Besides, my brothers, cousins, and the like are all better at studying, so I have seen through them. With my qualifications, unless I meet a noble person, this is the end of my life!"
At this point, Ji Jiu shut up. Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuo knew what Ji Jiu was going to say next. Ji Jiu, who had always been content with his daily life, met Zhang Shou, who was unconventional but still very popular. So he naturally approached him without saying a word, which is why he ended up like this.
They were actually in the same boat, so of course they wouldn't laugh at anything. They even praised Ji Jiu's writing style again, and then each of them signed their names on the letter of apology. Not only that, Zhu Er even read it over and over again, so that Zhang the big guy couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
"Brother Zhu, what else are you reading? Do you think Ji Jiu's apology letter is not well written?"
"It is because Ji Jiu wrote it well that I have to memorize it. Otherwise, if someone asks me about the letter of apology, I can't even recite a complete sentence. Wouldn't that be terrible?" Zhu Er saw that Zhang Dakui looked stupid as if he hadn't expected it at all, so he said earnestly, "Besides, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Guests didn't catch us in the act today, so they might report us to our families."
"Think about it. Even if someone comes to our house to question us after we return, and we tell our father that we are acting on his orders, can we still ask him to confront the emperor? With my father's personality, even if he knows it's true, he might beat me up first. Then, I can recite a few sentences of Ji Jiu's article and explain the whole story. Maybe I can escape the disaster."
This time, Zhang Dakuai was truly shocked. Zhu Er was still the legitimate son, so how could he have such a strong desire to survive? Could it be that Duke of Zhao Zhu Jing had a more violent personality than his father, Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang?
Thinking about the beating he received for cheating before, if Zhang Shou had not come and saved him, he might have been beaten to death, or beaten half to death. He took a deep breath, and then ... without saying a word, he joined Zhu Er in reciting the script!
However, if Zhu Er was not good at studying and martial arts, Zhang Dakuo had some advantages in brute force, but his brain was even worse than Zhu Er's. So, Ji Jiu saw the two of them stumbling while reciting. Zhu Er managed to remember most of it, but Zhang Dakuo forgot everything after reciting for a long time, which was really horrible.
Unable to bear it any longer, he simply took a piece of paper, copied it in a few seconds, and then blew it dry before stuffing it into the big guy's hand, saying fiercely, "Okay, don't waste time, take it back and memorize it slowly. Before the sun sets, I'll find a way to pass it up, at least we can get through it, so that people won't go back and hear that the three heroes broke into Huitong, but there's no trace of our apology letter!"
Zhu Er was very supportive of Ji Jiu's decision. As for Zhang the big guy, he hurriedly and carefully folded the ink-stained paper into a piece of tofu and put it in his arms, not caring about anything else.
However, when walking out of the teahouse, Zhu Er suddenly remembered something and quickly grabbed Ji Jiu and said, "You're sending this directly to the Tongzhengsi? Although we are the children of officials, we don't seem to be qualified to submit a petition directly, right?"
Ji Jiu glanced at Zhu Er and thought, you realize now that you are not qualified? When you were talking big in front of that Goryeo King Shan, saying that you would bring people to the palace to apologize, why couldn't you control your mouth?
You are not your elder brother or Zhu Ying, how can you break into the palace like this? And you are bringing a member of the Goryeo royal family with you!
He chuckled unhappily, then said seriously: "Don't forget, I happened to be a tutor at Ciqing Palace this month."
After hearing this, Zhu Er was envious and jealous. After all, he probably wouldn't pass the exam even if he was in Banshan Hall. Zhang Dakuai's face darkened. He missed the monthly exam of Banshan Hall again, so he failed to be selected as a tutor in Ciqing Palace again. If it wasn't for Xiangyang Earl Zhang Qiong who was busy with the Northwest Development Fund organized by Zhu Ying, he might have beaten him up again!
Ji Jiu's words stimulated the two people, but he knew when to stop, and he didn't say anything more. After parting ways with the two people, he immediately rushed to the palace and entered the Ciqing Palace smoothly. Of course, the third prince was no longer there at this time, but it did not prevent him from cleaning the study room of Ciqing Palace. He put the letter of apology on the desk where the prince used to study and listen to lectures.
