Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 408: Iron Rooster
This is really... Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles! Or, a good reputation is unknown, but a bad reputation is known to the world?
However, there are many people who add icing on the cake, but there are even more people who take advantage of others' misfortunes! Without him doing anything, without even a hint, a lot of dirty water has been thrown at the former prime minister who has already stepped down!
Zhang Shou couldn't help laughing when he thought of this. "Who are these people spreading rumors? It's obvious that Luhe Posthouse is full, so my teacher and I decided to live in the posthouse after hearing what the postmaster said. How could there be such a rumor that Jiang Ge Lao occupied a whole yard and wouldn't let anyone else? You know, Liu Fangbo, the governor of Zhejiang, was the first to come out and offer us a room, but my teacher declined because he felt bad."
The shopkeeper, who had thrown a basin of dirty water at Jiang Ge Lao—or was simply one of the sources of the dirty water—had at this moment, out of guilt, chased his son, nephew, and grandson to the back kitchen to hide, fearing that they would reveal their flaws due to their lack of experience. What frightened him even more was that Zhang Shou did not admit it as Prefect Huang said, but instead helped Jiang Ge Lao clarify the matter.
While he was muttering in his heart that he was a student of Master Ge, and he was so kind and open-minded that he didn't bear grudges, he couldn't help but have some small complaints. Even he, a native of Tongzhou, knew that Lord Jiang had framed the Duke of Zhao and his son when they were fighting, and then stabbed the uncle and aunt of the Zhu family in the back when they were comforting the officials and the people in Cangzhou. Why was Zhang Shou still so magnanimous?
Can't we just say that Jiang Ge Lao is taking advantage of his seniority and occupying the house? Even if the imperial edict allowed the former Prime Minister to return home by post, it certainly didn't allow him to occupy a courtyard alone, but prevent other officials from staying in the post station, right? When the other Grand Tutor Ge moved into his century-old shop, the former Prime Minister sent someone to invite him in hypocritically, but he had no sincerity at all!
The other customers in the store had just watched the prefect pleading for his son, and now they witnessed Zhang Shou making excuses for Lord Jiang. In addition, many people upstairs had previously peeped at Zhang Shou sending away the Jiang family's personal attendant who had come to invite people, so they naturally began to whisper to each other for a while.
So, realizing that he seemed to have gotten into trouble again, Prefect Huang immediately said in fear and trepidation, "I just heard it from someone, I don't really believe it. Ahem, when I went to stay at Luhe Posthouse, I heard that all the rooms were full, and I heard the postmaster and the postmen talk about the reason, and I also had a few words with Liu Fangbo from Zhejiang, so I came here."
"So that's how it is." Zhang Shou suddenly understood more clearly. It seems that the people who threw dirty water included at least the postmaster and postman of Luhe Post, and even the Zhejiang Provincial Governor Liu Chuan...
He glanced at Ge Yong beside him. Seeing that his teacher did not give any explicit or implicit instructions, he simply asked in a gentle tone, "Is Magistrate Huang going to the capital alone this time? Since you can't stay at Luhe Posthouse, have you found a place to stay?"
Huang the Magistrate had no idea what was going on, so he could only say cautiously, "I only brought two followers with me. I just came here directly from Luhe Posthouse, and I haven't had time to find a place to stay yet..."
His son had already been sent to the capital by the eldest son Zhu in a prison cart. If he had been a little later, he might have been beheaded. His wife, who had always been successful in the business world, cried like a tearful person, and he was also summoned to the capital to await punishment. In this situation where both father and son might be convicted, who could care about such a trivial matter as accommodation?
Hearing what Huang said, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "In that case, you can stay in this century-old inn. I'll have someone vacate a room for you, so that you don't have to walk around the streets of Tongzhou looking for a place to stay in the middle of the night."
Although Zhang Shou did not explicitly say whether he would agree to his request, and it was only a small matter of giving him a room, Magistrate Huang was still overjoyed.
If someone kept targeting you and your son, would you still be so tolerant and generous?
So, he thanked them profusely, and then asked a little more presumptuously: "Are Grand Tutor Ge and Doctor Zhang going to Beijing tomorrow? Can I go with them? I have no other intentions, it just happens to be on my way, and I really feel guilty..."
Before he could finish his words, Ge Yong said impatiently, "You're talking too much nonsense. Your legs are on your body. You can go with whoever you want! It's true that a man doesn't know how to educate his son, and he and his wife have spoiled him like this... Now you know how to cry bitterly, what were you doing before... Zhang Shou, help me go out for a walk to help digest the food!"
Zhang Shou naturally agreed. After he winked at Ah Liu and helped Ge Yong out of the store, they had only taken a few steps when he heard Ge Yong snort, "Do you believe all his lies?"
"Just listen to it for now." Zhang Shou smiled indifferently, and then said indifferently, "Brother Zhu has sent the son to the capital in a prison cart, and he has no intention of venting his anger, let alone me? Just send me to the court for trial. In this case, it doesn't matter whether I believe what Huang Zhifu said or not. I am not the kind of person who will kill someone if I provoke him."
Ge Yong glanced at Zhang Shou and said, "The eldest of the Zhu family seems to be the best at killing people. He even killed Xu Cheng, but that's because killing people helps him establish his prestige in Cangzhou, suppress the situation, and show his authority to certain people in the capital. You are the same. You just seemed to give people a reassurance, but in fact you didn't promise anything at all. That prefect Huang raised a stupid son, and he fell into your hands. It's his bad luck!"
"A father who fails to educate his child will always have to pay the price. Besides, he is ready to lose his job and have his son severely punished. Isn't that good? We didn't intend to kill him and his son..."
When the teacher and student, along with Ah Liu who was following far behind them, strolled slowly in the completely darkened streets and finally returned to this century-old store, the store had already been cleaned up.
Little Peanut rushed over to report before the shopkeeper, "Grandmaster Ge, Young Master, Magistrate Huang and the two attendants have been settled. The two guards in the vacant room will squeeze in with the other people, three people in one room. Although it's not very comfortable, the shopkeeper has already given them extra beds."
Ge Yong nodded slightly to show that he understood such a small matter, and then said to Zhang Shou: "We are bringing a lot of people this time, and there are a lot of guards. There are only a few courtyards in Tongzhou Luhe Posthouse, which is not enough for everyone to stay. For example, your two future students and Xiaohuasheng will most likely stay in the inn. This is just right now."
"I originally planned to arrange for you, teacher, to live in Luhe Posthouse, and the rest of us to live outside. Now this really saves trouble." Zhang Shou said as he helped Ge Yong back to the room. When they reached the door of the room, he did not forget to remind Ge Yong to go to bed early and stop reading to avoid hurting his eyes. As a result, Ge Yong, who thought he was nagging, drove him back to the room.
That night, both Ge Yong and Zhang Shou slept soundly, while Xiao Huasheng and Guan Tao bickered for half the night. Ah Liu slept for two hours, wandering around the store and corridors like a night owl, and then he successfully discovered some people who were tossing and turning.
That's right, even with Zhang Shou's "goodwill", Huang Xian, who was about to become the former governor of Hejian, suffered from insomnia as expected, tossing and turning until dawn when he managed to close his eyes for a while. But he didn't sleep for long before he was awakened by the constant calls of his followers.
Upon learning that Ge Yong and Zhang Shou had gotten up early and were now having breakfast downstairs, and might set out on the journey early in the morning, Prefect Huang almost jumped up, changed his clothes and washed up quickly with big dark circles under his eyes.
When he appeared in the store, not only were his eyes dark as if he had been beaten, but his face was also extremely haggard. But even so, seeing that Zhang Shou and Ge Yong were obviously having breakfast, he still resisted the urge to yawn and greeted them with a smile on his face.
Zhang Shou responded to the greeting from the prefect Huang with a smile . When he asked about the departure time, he said nonchalantly, "We have already loaded our luggage onto the car and will be leaving soon."
Hearing that Zhang Shou was about to leave, Prefect Huang was startled and hurriedly asked the shopkeeper to get some steamed buns as dry food. He was originally going to buy braised meat, but when he learned that the weather was too hot and the store only sold dried meat, he nodded and agreed, and then asked two followers to go upstairs to pack the luggage. As for himself, he just sat beside them, as if he was afraid that Ge Yong and Zhang Shou would abandon him and run away.
Fortunately, he was in a hurry this time, and only had a few sets of clothes to change, so he finished packing in a short while. When the two followers came down with the bundles, he saw Zhang Shou helping Ge Yong get up and walk out. He hurriedly chased the two out to get the horses, and then quickly chased after the teacher and student.
But just at this moment, a voice came from behind him: "Hey, Mr.... Mr. Fu Zun, you haven't paid the bill yet!"
Huang Zhifu was so embarrassed that his face turned red . He casually took out money from his pocket and found that the smallest note was five strings of cash. He felt a little uncomfortable. His son was raised in wealth, but he was always very frugal. He was reluctant to throw away his official robes and casual clothes even when they were almost white. Now he had to go to the capital to run around for his son. How could he afford to stay in an inn and give five strings of cash? That was enough for his pocket money for half a year!
Fortunately, Zhang Shou only vacated one room for him last night, so he could save some money as he couldn't stay in the inn. If someone was really generous enough to vacate three rooms for the three of them, the expenses would be too high!
If it wasn't for the purpose of reaching the capital earlier, he would not have been willing to let his two servants ride the horse as well. He would be heartbroken if the horses were injured!
However, if he asked the shopkeeper to change the money, Huang was worried that he would slow down his pace and be left behind by Zhang Shou and Ge Yong in front of him. So he took a deep breath and immediately shouted, "Bai Shun, come and settle the bill for the hotel first!"
The two followers had already taken the reins of the three horses from the waiter. When they heard the call, they exchanged glances. Then, the one who was called dropped the reins and walked up quickly.
However, the cautious words he said were unexpected to Zhang Shou, who was helping Ge Yong get into the car, and the shopkeeper, who was chasing after him for the rent: "Master, I have no money on me. You haven't paid for the meal you had on the road yesterday!"
"How can this be! Would I deduct this little money from you? I will give it to you when we get to the capital!"
When Zhang Shou heard this defense, he saw that the already red face of Huang Zhifu had turned redder than Guan Gong. Thinking of how generous the couple had been in giving money to their young son, but now they were being made fun of by their followers for not even paying for the meal, he couldn't help but raise his lips.
After getting in the car and sitting next to Ge Yong, he smiled and said, "It seems that the ice is three feet thick and it didn't freeze overnight."
"Oh, it's really funny that a miser who stings so much with his servants and doesn't give a penny indulges his son to that extent!"
Ge Yong shook his head, then said calmly: "Ignore him, give the order and set off!"
For the rest of the journey, Ge Yong and Zhang Shou traveled in the carriage, discussing mathematics all the way, and occasionally talked about astronomy, geography and hydrology. They never intended to stop to rest, so that although Prefect Huang, who was riding a horse behind them, wanted to show his courtesy, he could only endure the sleepiness and the scorching sun and follow closely behind.
Just when he was groggy and almost unable to sit still, he suddenly heard a loud shout in front of him. He woke up immediately and looked up. He found that Chaoyang Gate of the capital was already in sight. And there seemed to be two people riding horses galloping in front of him. He was about to ask his two followers to go forward and ask, when he heard a crisp voice.
"Ah Shou, Grandpa Ge, you are finally back!"
Hearing that it was a woman's voice, Prefect Huang shuddered and almost immediately thought of what the follower who came back to report the news said. Back then on the Maliu Mountain in Cangzhou, his stupid little son was kicked off the mountain road by this young lady because he said the wrong thing!
It’s better for him to stay away from such a hot-tempered young lady, because she is not a reasonable person like Ge Yong and Zhang Shou!
When the sharp-eyed Ah Liu reported that Zhu Ying and Lu Sanlang were coming together, Zhang Shou had already rolled up the curtains. At this moment, seeing the impetuous figure rushing towards him, he was about to order the car to pull over, but at this time, they had not yet reached the open area in front of the city gate, and people were coming and going on the official road, so he could only hold back and just waved to the person who came with a smile.
When Zhu Ying rode up to them, he turned his horse to the side and walked with the carriage. He glanced at Lu Sanlang who was clumsily preparing to turn behind him, and Zhu Hong and his followers who were farther away. Then he smiled and said, "It's so hot, Yingying, why did you come all the way to pick us up?"
"Lu Sanlang said he wanted to come, so of course I couldn't just let him come alone to curry favor with him." Zhu Ying said as she leaned over to greet Ge Yong in the car, then smiled and said, "Besides, the weather is not as hot as it was a while ago. It's autumn after all! There have been a lot of good news recently, and I came to see you to tell you the good news. You don't have to listen to old man Jiang's gossip anymore!"
Hearing this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but laugh: "Teacher and I almost met someone at Luhe Posthouse. We knew about it a long time ago. He happened to be on his way back home, so teacher and I simply stayed at an inn."
Zhu Ying was surprised and was about to ask why, but then she saw three people sneaking around in the carriages and horses going the same direction, trying to blend into the crowd. She immediately raised her eyebrows and shouted, "Three of you over there, raise your heads!"
