Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 874: Fellow villagers meet fellow villagers?
Minister Lin of the Ministry of Personnel? I think I've only met him a few times. Is this guy, who is definitely a big shot, the mastermind behind all these recent events?
When Zhang Shou heard this relatively unfamiliar official title and name, he still found it incredible, even though he knew that this was a dignified official, the de facto number one among the six ministers. In his few memories, Minister Lin was not a standout person like University Scholar Kong. He was not eye-catching at all, and often stood aside with a low-key smile, seeming very kind.
Not to mention Zhang Shou, who was somewhat unbelievable, even Zhu Ying, who came back from the girls' school that day with a follower following closely , couldn't help but yell after seeing Zhang Shou: "This is simply weird, Minister Lin is the only one among those old men who smiled when he saw me, how could it be him? Moreover, it is still too early to find out who is responsible for this, maybe he simply died of illness?"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but glance at the childish little girl behind Zhu Ying, then he laughed and said, "Only God knows about this kind of thing. Of course, it is also possible that others took advantage of Minister Lin's sudden death and threw all the dirty water on him. Who made him die of illness at the wrong time? But in short, it's none of our business anyway."
Without waiting for Zhu Ying to continue the topic, he pointed at the little girl and asked, "Where did you kidnap this little girl from? Is it okay to say these things in front of her?"
Zhu Ying didn't take it seriously. She turned around and waved for someone to come over. When she saw the person walking towards her obediently, she said unhappily, "This girl's name is Yin Yu'er. Although her father was still of some status, he is dead, so she said her family is still very poor. This time, because of the tribute girl from Goryeo, their king gave a generous reward, so her family sent her here."
At this point, Zhu Ying patted her fair and smooth cheeks. Seeing the little girl who had just been peeking at Zhang Shou quickly lowered her head, she sighed and said, "Thanks to this chatterbox little girl, I know that some of the so-called noble ladies sent by Goryeo are illiterate, and some can read but can't write. Anyway, being well-educated and well-mannered is just empty talk!"
Zhang Shou had heard Zhu Ying say this before, so he smiled and said, "This is normal, just like in these days, there are sometimes illiterate women among officials in the court and local gentry. But what I'm more curious about is, why did you bring her back?"
"This girl is too young, but she knows more words than her companions. As a result, the others are probably angry that she exposed their background, so except for the oldest one, they still protect her a little. The other girl who covered her mouth before just stood by and watched. The other three picked on her and bullied her until she cried several times."
Although this was what Zhu Ying remembered as a common occurrence when she saw young ladies from various wealthy families interacting with each other as a child, she still felt a little annoyed when it happened right under her nose in the girls' school.
Although she had severely reprimanded them and even warned them to get out if it happened again, she was still soft-hearted for a moment, and because of her first impression of the little girl, she finally brought her back.
"Isn't Eunuch Liang teaching Wu Dawei? I thought that teaching one is the same as teaching two. Although Wu Dawei is smart, he may not learn Chinese characters faster than this little girl. Speaking of which, although Goryeo has its own language, its own writing has only been around for a few decades. In the past, it has always been written in Chinese characters. Otherwise, maybe this girl could learn to write Chinese characters."
Zhang Shou only knew that in history, for a long period of time, the nobles and officials of Goryeo wrote Chinese characters and spoke Korean, but he was not sure about the specific time point, and of course he did not intend to delve into it. However, when he heard Zhu Ying emphasize that two people of similar age, whether male or female, could learn together and compete with each other, he almost laughed out loud.
This is simply a divine idea!
It was a really crazy idea to let a little Korean girl and a young Florentine boy learn Chinese characters together. Therefore, he had no objection at all and agreed to it directly, even though he had previously thought it was inconvenient to have such an outsider at home.
When he and Zhu Ying brought Yin Yuer to the small courtyard of Liang Jiucheng and Wu Dawei, they heard the screams of a blond boy from inside. The tone was absolutely heartbreaking, and judging from the words that came out, it was obvious that... he deserved it.
"Teacher, I don't dare to do it again. I really don't dare to do it again! Oh, please forgive me this time. I really didn't mean to be lazy and copy less. I just thought that writing with two brushes side by side would have the same effect as writing with two quill pens! I really didn't expect you to see it. Oh... Next time, even if you don't see it, I won't dare to be lazy!"
Zhang Shou had also copied books with two pens when he was a teenager and was punished by his teacher to copy the books several times. When he heard about it now, he felt an indescribable sense of intimacy and familiarity, but of course he felt more angry and amused.
Fountain pens and ballpoint pens are of course very suitable for copying together, especially for copying alphabetical articles. As long as the wrist strength is sufficient, it is not that difficult. However, writing brushes... have you ever thought about the consequences of ink balls everywhere?
Wu Dawei in the house didn't know that a few people would suddenly come to his courtyard at dusk, so of course he didn't care about whether it was embarrassing or not. He was quite smart and well-behaved, and he had a strong ability to accept things, so this was the first time he experienced the taste of barbecued bamboo shoots.
Of course, what he didn't expect was that Liang Jiucheng, who looked quite old, could easily lift him up onto a spring stool like an eagle catching a chick, and then suppress all his struggles and resistances, tied his hands and feet tightly, and then beat him hard with a small bamboo board.
Even though he had been beaten before on the ship, he still felt heartbroken when he was beaten again after such a long time.
Therefore, he cried and begged for mercy with a hoarse voice, and tried every possible way, but in the end he still received twenty solid blows. He felt that he would never make the same mistake again. When the ropes that bound his hands and feet were finally untied, he didn't even care about the marks left by his struggle, because he was almost exhausted from the pain.
It was not until he was picked up by Liang Jiucheng again that he heard a sentence: "How did you two have time to come here? Could it be that I made too much noise when I taught this kid a lesson?"
Wu Dawei turned his head almost instinctively, and when he saw Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were there, with a timid little girl next to them, and almost most of the people were hiding behind Zhu Ying, he suddenly felt his scalp tingling.
A teenager of his age would of course care about his reputation the most. When he thought about how miserable he was just beaten and how painful his screams were, he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. But the problem was that Liang Jiucheng was holding him by the collar, and he didn't even have the strength to struggle. He could only hang his head.
Zhang Shou only took a look at Wu Dawei, who looked as lifeless as a salted fish, and said nonchalantly, "No one comes to visit you for no reason. Yingying felt that it was not enough to find you, Eunuch Liang, a student. So, she sent you another one."
Yin Yu'er was trembling with fear at this time. This turned out to be such a terrifying and vicious gentleman! She had seen her aunt and uncle beat her two cousins, using a whip to whip their calves until they were bloody, but she had never seen such a thick bamboo board hitting people's buttocks and legs! Because of such a shock, she didn't even notice that the boy in Liang Jiucheng's hand looked very different from ordinary people.
Liang Jiucheng also subconsciously let go of Wu Dawei out of shock, and then looked up and down at the silent little girl behind Zhu Ying, and asked thoughtfully: "Is she from Goryeo?"
Zhu Ying nodded with a smile: "She is from Goryeo. The others stayed in the girls' school to become female historians, but she is the youngest and learns faster than them. I thought that this girl would have no comparison if she studied alone, so I brought her home."
At this point, she paused, but then continued slowly: "Of course, she is the same as Wu Dawei, she can't eat and drink for free and study for free without doing anything, so in the morning she will naturally follow me to the girls' school to do various chores, and in the afternoon I will have someone send her back, so that she can listen to your lectures with the little ones at home and Wu Dawei together."
"As for the evening, Eunuch Liang, how you plan to teach her and David Wu to review together, of course I will follow your instructions."
Liang Jiucheng saw that the little girl finally moved out from behind Zhu Ying, and she saluted him cautiously - after all, it was not the etiquette of Goryeo, but the common etiquette of the Ming Dynasty.
He immediately laughed and asked a question in Korean in a gentle manner. This ability to suddenly switch language channels made Wu Dawei beside him react with a start, while Zhang Shou couldn't help but take a deep breath.
When Yin Yuer heard the familiar accent and the question "Are you used to coming to Daming from afar?", she almost cried. At such a young age, the first time she left home was to come to Daming. From then on, she would never see her mother again. How could she be so heartless? She instinctively thought that she had met a fellow countryman in a foreign land, and immediately rushed over.
After many years, Zhang Shou was baptized by all kinds of smecta for the first time, and his ears felt itchy for a while. Fortunately, the little girl was probably too stifling, and her speech speed was as fast as a machine gun, so it was completely different from the slow rhythm in Korean dramas, so it was not particularly uncomfortable to listen to.
However, compared with English and several Western languages, his Korean ability was close to zero, and even worse than the two sentences of Japanese he learned from watching Japanese comics, so of course he couldn't understand a word of what the little girl was crying about. However, he trusted Liang Jiucheng very much.
Even if he really was the fire-maker sent by the Joseon Dynasty, and had been in the Ming Dynasty for so many years, and was even the chief steward of the Ancient and Modern Collection Library, he would definitely not be attached to his homeland... Of course, with Liang Jiucheng's talent for languages, it is more likely that this eunuch Liang is a genuine Ming person who can only speak fluent Chinese.
Sure enough, after Yin Yuer, who was kneeling on the ground, finished crying, Liang Jiucheng, who had not responded, took out a handkerchief and handed it to her. He gently told her to wipe her tears, and then stood up slowly.
"She said she was the daughter of Yin, the judge of Fengchang Temple. Well, she was the only daughter in the family. Although she was from an official family, her father died too early and she had no other brothers, so her mother had a hard life with her. Her uncles and aunts helped her occasionally because they had a large family. As for Chinese, her father spoke it well, so her mother could speak it too, and eventually taught her."
"Originally, the Goryeo tribute girl was supposed to come from her uncle's daughter, but her mother was ill. In order to get her mother treatment and the best support in the future, she took the initiative to replace her uncle's daughter and came to Ming. She hopes that I, a fellow villager, can send a letter back for her so that her mother will no longer worry about her."
At this point, Liang Jiucheng looked down at Yin Yuer who was crying, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Unfortunately, I am going to disappoint her. I am not from Goryeo, but I have been to Goryeo several times with the envoys. From the enthronement of the princess and the prince to the enthronement of the previous king, I have seen a lot."
Although he said this in Chinese, both Wu Dawei, whose spoken English had greatly improved, and Yin Yuer, who could speak fluent Chinese, could understand it roughly.
Wu Dawei was just trying hard to figure out what kind of place Goryeo was and what certain obscure terms meant, while Yin Yuer's face turned pale, and she suddenly realized the consequences of her crying.
She knelt down in panic, and was about to say that it was all her fault, but she heard the handsome young laugh: "Since Eunuch Liang has been to Goryeo, then find a way to send a letter home for this girl."
"I was thinking the same thing. I was planning to ask you, Master Zhang, to bear witness for me. After all, a filial girl should always be helped." Liang Jiucheng readily agreed to Zhang Shou's suggestion. Seeing the little girl who was about to kowtow and beg suddenly raised her head with an ecstatic glow on her face, he smiled and said, "Just write it yourself."
"Yes, yes, I will definitely write it myself, and write it well!" Yin Yu'er didn't care about the trivial matter that the other party was not from the same hometown. Her heart was filled with countless joy, and she wanted to jump up and turn around a few times to vent. As a result, until this moment, she suddenly caught a glimpse of the blond boy who was looking at her with a weird look.
This time, she finally screamed in fear, and then ran behind Liang Jiucheng, her teeth chattering with nervousness. It was not until Liang Jiucheng casually said that the man was not a monster, but came from a remote small country in the west that she felt relieved and muttered that he was from a small country. As a result, she immediately heard the strange-looking boy snort.
"What are you making such a fuss about? Don't you know there are countless countries in the world and countless people with different looks? Isn't your country also very remote? Maybe it's even smaller than Florence!"
Zhang Shou, who was troubled by the things outside, was finally amused by the childish topic between the two children and laughed out loud. In later times, Italy was larger than South Korea and North Korea combined, but in this era, the Florentine Republic, if all the major cities it occupied in Tuscany were added together, it was unclear whether it was larger than Joseon. In short, it was no more than a province of Ming Dynasty!
