Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 841: Scheming and Inexperienced
What the hell do you understand? Wu Dawei was completely confused. Ah Liu had taught him the rules that he must abide by as a book boy. In the final analysis it was just two words: be obedient. But he never said that he could let anyone take away things from Zhang Shou's study at will!
Now no one else has come to find out the truth, which means that Zhang Chen is indeed the student of Master Zhang. But, what if Zhang Chen was ordered to supervise and test him to see if he is doing his job conscientiously?
So, seeing Zhang Chen really picked up the goose feather pen that he made specially for Zhang Shou at the desk, and wrote a few words on the paper without even asking how to use it, and then started to leave, he quickly dodged and blocked him again: "No, Sixth Brother has told me not to let anyone touch anything in the young master's study!"
Zhang Chen didn't expect to meet such a stubborn boy. According to his previous temper, he would have lost his temper. But this was at Zhang Shou's house, and he kept saying that it was Ah Liu's order. He didn't want to confront Ah Liu... The boy was stubborn and he couldn't beat him!
Although his face sank in annoyance, he immediately came up with an idea: "Okay, okay, you are the only one in this family who is conscientious and loyal! Well, I'm going to the outer city public school to find a teacher. If you are still worried, come with me!" Although he said this, he thought in his heart that when the kid goes there, he will coax him to Jiuzhang Hall to see those ghostly drawings that look like heavenly books. This kid will be scared to death!
Zhang Chen had beautiful thoughts in his mind, however, he did not notice that after the blond boy opposite him lowered his head in a daze for the first time, there was no hesitation or hesitation on his face, but... ecstasy!
You know, Wu Dawei has really deeply experienced the profound culture of this great oriental country recently. Just those four-character idioms and the corresponding allusions have made him want to die studying them. However, Liang Jiucheng, who is known to be a learned man, clearly told him that he doesn't know the knowledge of mathematics, which is what he is most interested in!
Therefore, he was like sitting on a mountain of treasures but not being taught at all, because he and Zhang Shou were in this study at different times, and although Zhang Shou's calculation papers were thrown around randomly, he could read them at will, but the problem was that he simply couldn't understand them! He had been trying hard to study the Latin version of "Στοιχεiα" these days, but his self-study efficiency was not high enough.
Of course, the most important thing is that he has never learned Latin, and he almost guessed when reading those contents! But if someone teaches mathematics, can he learn Latin faster? However, he did not dare to say this to the strict and devilish eunuch Liang Jiucheng. At this time, Zhang Chen's words undoubtedly gave him a good opportunity.
Therefore, the blond boy shouted almost without thinking: "Okay, I'll go to public school with you!"
Zhang Chen thought he had a good plan, so he walked out with a smile, holding the book in his pocket. However, he didn't know that Wu Dawei, who followed him like a tail, was also very proud of himself. However, as soon as the big and the small came out of the study, they saw Mother Jin standing in the yard with a smile on her face.
Wu Dawei was not particularly familiar with this person, because he usually went only between two places and had little contact with other people in Zhang Yuan.
As for Zhang Chen, he knew even less about Jin Mama than Wu Dawei, but he knew at least one thing, that is, the servants in Zhang Garden, except for the group of children recruited by Zhang Shou from Rongshui Village and a group of tough guys recruited by Ah Liu from who knows where, the rest...
Many of them were from the Duke of Zhao's mansion, some were seconded initially, and some came with Zhu Ying as a dowry. Anyway, no matter how stubborn he was, he would not mess with these former servants of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. They were not like the servants in his family who listened to his father but dared not disobey him. The servants of the Duke of Zhao's mansion were neither humble nor arrogant when they went out and were very difficult to mess with.
So he stepped forward and said politely, "I came to borrow some books from the teacher. Although I left a note, I plan to go to the public school and report it in person. This is the teacher's book boy behind me. He is worried and said he will go to the public school with me."
Mother Jin glanced at Wu Dawei thoughtfully. Seeing that the blond boy was trying to straighten his chest and look at her, she smiled and said, "It is said that Master Zhang is now studious and motivated, and it is true. But Xiao Wu is conscientious and responsible, and that is not wrong. You should go to the public school with Master Zhang."
Before the meeting, both the old and the young felt relieved. Mother Jin watched them leave with a smile. Then she walked to the door of Zhang Shou's study, lifted the door curtain and took a look. After making sure that the bookshelves and desks inside were all tidy, she gently lowered the door curtain.
Although this was where Zhang Shou lived, read and wrote on a daily basis, the really important things were certainly not stored in this outer study, but in the inner study in the same courtyard as Zhu Ying's main house. Now that they were married, part of the documents were kept by Zhu Ying, part by Ah Liu, and part... It was said that Zhang Shou burned them after he finished writing them.
She didn't think that Zhang Shou was hiding this from Zhu Ying, because even if they were husband and wife, they couldn't avoid some secrets between each other, not to mention that Zhang Shou had already made it clear, even she knew it. But the rule of not keeping confidential documents in the outer study showed that Zhang Shou was very foresighted. After all, even the emperor or other close people would not rashly go to the bedroom of the young couple in the inner courtyard.
Wu Dawei followed Zhang Chen all the way out of Zhang Garden. When he saw the man jump on the horse, he suddenly realized a very bad fact - he didn't know how to ride a horse!
He was not one of those knights who were sent to study with the upper nobles since childhood. His family had a carriage, but no horse for him to ride. It was not impossible for him to walk to the outer city public school, but the problem was that Zhang Chen and his group were all riding horses. He could walk all the way, even if it took a long time, but he could keep up with the physical strength, but running all the way...
It would be strange if he wasn't exhausted to death!
As soon as Zhang Chen got on the horse, he noticed the confused expression on the blond boy's face. Although he was not a considerate person, he was smart. If he wanted to take the opportunity to throw him off, he would have just whipped his horse and left. But he just wanted to take him to the public school to appreciate the arithmetic book that looked like a ghost painting, so he would not do that now.
He was about to raise his voice to order an attendant to take the boy with him, but at this moment, he saw the door of Zhang Yuan's stables open and a carriage came out. The driver came forward with a smile, greeted Zhang Chen, and then said, "Old An ordered that since we are going to the public school, let Xiao Wu take Bai Shanshan and Bai Xiaoshui with us."
"They came from Tongzhou yesterday and rested at home for a day. They originally planned to go to the public school tomorrow. But seeing that the public school is about to close for the holiday, it is better to let them go there as soon as possible to experience the learning ."
Zhang Chen certainly would not forget the people he and the Fourth Prince had taught in Baijia Village. When the driver said this, he came to his senses and said to Wu Dawei with a sly smile, "You are lucky, otherwise it would not be a pleasant experience for you to ride a horse for the first time. Get in the car!"
In his heart, Wu Dawei thanked Lao An a thousand times, whom he had only met twice - he would not take Zhang Chen's words as pure scare. After all, people he knew had told him about what it felt like to ride a horse for the first time, such as having their thighs rubbed and the pain of limping when walking.
Moreover, among all the knights he had seen, quite a few had bow legs!
However, when he arrived in front of the carriage and got in swiftly, he heard two screams like ghostly cries.
The next moment, the driver lifted the curtain and shouted at the two trembling children inside, "Why are you yelling? That's the young master's servant, Wu Dawei. You two ignorant boys, many people from overseas countries look different from us, so you'll get used to it. If you stay in a small village like your hometown, you will only become more and more ignorant!"
The only trace of annoyance that Wu Dawei had just felt disappeared completely. He knew that he was completely different from the people in this oriental country in terms of skin color, hair color, and eye color. When he first arrived, the servants at home were also surprised. So Zhang Shou, who treated him as an ordinary person, was actually too calm.
So, when he saw the two pitiful children covering their mouths, but still looking at him with some fear, he smiled kindly, then shrugged his shoulders, pointed at himself and said, "I also have two eyes, one mouth, two ears and two legs, but I don't have three heads and six arms, and I'm not a monster."
Bai Shanshan and Bai Xiaoshui saw that the other party spoke the same language as them, and it seemed that they were not monsters. In addition, they were scolded by the coachman. They were confused by all kinds of messy news when they first came to the capital, and finally came to their senses. Then, they were born in the countryside and were very curious, so they showed their childish side.
The two people rolled and crawled to Wu Dawei, one curiously reached out and poked the other's arm, and the other carefully reached out to pull the other's hair. Faced with this speechless temptation, Wu Dawei finally couldn't help but pull the two people away with one hand. But even so, this still couldn't drive away the two curious babies.
Although country kids are naughty, they also know when to be soft and when to be tough. As soon as Wu Dawei let go, the two of them hugged each other's legs and arms, calling each other "little brother Wu" and asking questions one after another.
"Brother Xiao Wu, where are you from? Is it really somewhere very far away overseas? Do people there have hair and eyes of the same color as yours? Do people there eat meat and drink blood..."
"Brother Xiao Wu, do you speak the Ming language there? Do you farm there? Do you have food to eat..."
If he had known that these two kids were so curious and annoying, he would have just pretended to be a devil and scared them to death! Wu Dawei was simply annoyed, especially since people thought that Florence was a place where people ate raw meat and drank blood, which made him laugh and cry. But then he thought again, in this oriental country where he was now, there were many horror versions of the stories passed down by word of mouth in Florence, right?
It has the wealth and power of the East, as well as the cunning and cruelty of the East. However, it was only when he arrived here that he discovered that the most common white bread and black bread there were not seen here at all. The rich families ate white rice, while the poor were said to have rice mixed with bran, and some ate wild vegetable paste and other horrible things.
So, whether in the West or the East, the natural gap between the rich and the poor lies there.
Wu Dawei absentmindedly perfunctorily answered the two children, and then he was really impatient with their questions, so he simply asked them in return. After all, from the driver's tone, he already knew that the two were just brought back by Zhang Shou, from some rural area, and seemed to lack knowledge.
The two curious kids were also happy to tell people about their village, and they would answer two or even three questions at a time. After a while, Wu Dawei learned that the two were from ordinary farming families, and there was no serious scholar in the whole village. Their ancestors were said to be the famous poet Bai Juyi from the Tang Dynasty.
This kind of behavior of clinging to family backgrounds was not uncommon in Florence. After all, after becoming rich, some merchants would find ways to forge family pedigrees in order to establish a relationship with some noble or even royal family. However, if ordinary citizens, poor people, or even serfs dared to say that they were related by blood or even relatives to some celebrity...
The court will definitely teach that stupid guy a lesson! Poor people are not qualified to recognize their ancestors!
But seeing Bai Shanshan and Bai Xiaoshui's proud faces, Wu Dawei couldn't question their random recognition of their ancestors. At this moment, he heard Zhang Chen's lazy voice from outside: "There are countless people who randomly recognize their ancestors from ancient times to the present. Even the founding emperors often do this, not to mention ordinary people."
"Bai Letian has been dead for hundreds of years anyway. He wouldn't care about a bunch of descendants who rank in front of his portrait, kowtow, burn incense and offer tributes."
Zhang Chen outside the car didn't know that Wu Dawei in the car was really struggling at the moment. He was just speaking out of his feelings, because the only time he was beaten when he was a child was because he questioned the fact that his family tree could be traced back to Zhang Heng in the Han Dynasty. He thought that this was climbing up the social ladder. But when he finished speaking, he heard a weak voice coming from the car.
"Master Zhang, didn't they just talk about Bai Juyi? Who is Bai Letian?"
Zhang Chen then realized that not only were Bai Shanshan and Bai Xiaoshui ignorant, but the boy in the car who was obviously from a foreign country was also ignorant! He snorted angrily, "Bai Letian is Bai Juyi! Bai Juyi is his name, his courtesy name is Letian, his pseudonym is Xiangshan Jushi, and his posthumous name is Wen, so whether it is Bai Letian, Bai Xiangshan, Bai Wengong..."
"They are all about Bai Juyi. Remember this well and don't make a fool of yourself!"
Wu Dawei in the car couldn't help but twitch his lips, and once again thought of some big figures in the capital that Liang Jiucheng had taught. This is just like some nobles or big figures in those Western countries. One title is not enough, there are two three, four... It's so long that it's annoying. There are also protectors of a certain city, owners of a certain land, and so on, as if they are afraid that others don't know how great they are!
