Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 512: Deep Pit
The picture of the great devil Zhu killing bandits on the water slowly unfolded in front of Zhang Shou under Zhang Wu's vivid description.
Thus, he knew that his future brother-in-law could kill enemies on horseback and bandits in the water, and he was a great swimmer. He used the pair of water-dividing spears to perfection underwater. As for how Zhang Wu saw Zhu Tingfang using the water-dividing spears underwater when he was on the water, he didn't know. Well, let's just assume that the young man was so scared that he was incoherent.
In addition to Zhu Tingfang, there were four guards from the Duke of Zhao's mansion who went into the water with him. Their weapons were exactly the same as Zhu Tingfang's. When they were fighting, only large groups of blood mist could be seen floating underwater. Because of this, Zhang Wu described these four people with great fear as the guards around the White Dragon King. When they came out of the water, the evil spirit around them was colder than the river water, and they didn't care about the injuries on their bodies.
At this time, the group who were talking and walking had already left the university archway of the Imperial College and were about to mount their horses. Zhang Wu saw that Zhang Shou had a smile on his face from beginning to end and looked nonchalant. He couldn't help but feel a little anxious, so he simply led the horse to stop Zhang Shou and deliberately lowered his voice.
"Young sir, please don't take it lightly. Boss Zhu was a person that no one in our circle dared to provoke. First, he is older than us, and second,..."
He swallowed hard. Seeing that Zhu Tingfang and the guards in front of him were clearly more than twenty steps away from him, he still lowered his voice.
"Secondly, he is a very good fighter. Once upon a time, the eldest son of the Duke of Chu was not satisfied with his reputation as the best son of the capital. He relied on the fact that the three brothers of the Duke of Chu had many sons and gathered seven or eight brothers, plus more than twenty guards, to block Boss Zhu and two guards in an alley. He also called Xiao Wu, me, and a bunch of noble children to be witnesses. As a result..."
He swallowed hard, then continued with a bitter face: "As a result, a group of us saw with our own eyes that Boss Zhu and his two men supported each other. Boss Zhu was the vanguard, and the other two were the waist. The three of them knocked down more than 30 people. That's not all... We, the unlucky bystanders, were also beaten up!"
Zhang Shou was immediately amused: "Zhang Wu, it seems that you have a very deep impression of Yingying's eldest brother. No wonder you and Zhang Chen keep calling him Boss Zhu. You even called him the Big Devil just now!"
Although Zhu Er was pushed aside by Zhang Lu, he couldn't help but open his mouth when he heard this. He was about to remind Zhang Shou that his elder brother was not a weakling like him and should not be underestimated, when he suddenly thought of a problem.
When my elder brother came back from the Northern Expedition last time, he had a confrontation with Zhang Shou, but in the end, Zhang Shou calmly resolved the situation. Zhu Tingfang, who loved Zhu Ying the most, didn't even touch a hair on Zhang Shou. In this case, even if my elder brother came back this time, he wouldn't pick on Zhang Shou for no reason, right?
But Zhang Wu's words made it seem as if Zhu Tingfang was going to settle accounts with Zhang Shou!
Zhang Chen was listening nearby. Seeing Zhang Wu suddenly look embarrassed and Zhang Lu hesitate to speak, he couldn't help but ask, "Hey, hey, I don't understand. No matter how powerful Boss Zhu is, it doesn't matter. It's not the first day he's seen the young master. Why would he beat him up for no reason? Didn't he and the young master get along well in Cangzhou before? In just over a month, the big day will be approaching."
Although he and Zhang Chen don't get along well, Zhu Er, who just thought the same, nodded in agreement with this answer: "That's right, my eldest brother is not an unreasonable person . He just killed a few pirates this time. What does it have to do with my brother-in-law?"
Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu exchanged glances, and finally Zhang Lu whispered: "Actually... those pirates who were captured alive said that they wanted to teach the Duke of Zhao a lesson. If possible, they wanted to make a scene at the wedding of the young master and the eldest lady. In the end..."
"Of course, they were nearly killed by the furious Boss Zhu," Zhang Wu said with a sigh. Thinking of the scene he witnessed, he felt like vomiting. However, he couldn't show it in front of Zhang Shou and Zhang Chen, two people who had helped him a lot. He could only smile bitterly and said, "Then Boss Zhu tortured them severely and forced some information out of them."
He glanced at Zhang Chen, then looked at Zhang Shou: "They are the ones who escaped the previous purge of Linhai Camp, so they hate you, young master, for ruining their plans... Of course, Miss Zhu, who also ruined their plans in the bamboo forest behind Rongshui Village, is also among their enemies. In addition, there is Brother Chen, they said they must kill you to sacrifice to the spirits in heaven!"
"hehe."
Zhang Shou and Zhang Chen laughed almost at the same time. Zhang Chen then said with disdain, "I was the one who uncovered that matter, but Liu the Headless killed a lot of people, and Xiong Wei, who used to be in the Ruiqi Camp, seemed to have killed another lot of people after he passed away. The young master caught a few fish that slipped through the net in Zhaoyuan, and the entire suburbs of Beijing were pulled like a fishing net."
"We haven't finished killing them yet. Aren't there too many fish that slipped through the net in the Linhai Camp?"
Seeing Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu looking at each other in bewilderment, Zhu Er couldn't help but clapped his hands and said, "Yes, so the four words Linhai Camp are a very good excuse. With this name, the mastermind behind the scenes can hide well and throw any dirty water on Linhai Camp!"
Zhang Shou sneered indifferently, "Okay, just tell Zhu Er, it sounds like someone is just using the reputation of a group of traitors to sell dog meat under the guise of sheep. There is nothing to investigate. Although Master Zhu may be furious about someone plotting against Yingying, he will not vent his anger on me. But Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu, Zhang Chen just said that you got a batch of colored cotton seeds, what's going on?"
When he changed the subject, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu temporarily put aside their initial fear of the Great Demon King Zhu and immediately became excited. The two of them talked back and forth, and in a short while they explained their ecstasy after harvesting that batch of colored cotton, and their excitement when they immediately collected the seeds and planned to bring them to the capital.
Facing these two excited brothers, Zhang Shou couldn't help but feel that it would be a bit too much if he poured cold water on them at this time.
Colored cotton is not new. It is said that Peruvians in South America have grown it a long time ago, but no one paid much attention to it. After all, it is easier to dye than the monotonous color of colored cotton. However, in later generations, colored cotton became a trend among environmentalists.
Because this kind of all-natural, undyed fabric is really in line with the requirements of Xiaoqing. They believe that dyeing requires chemical raw materials and dyed cotton textiles are unhealthy, so even if the color of the colored cotton fabric is actually a little uneven or even foggy, and the color is monotonous and not bright enough, as long as it has the advantage of not being dyed, it is enough!
But in this day and age, he had to admit that this was a bottomless pit! Want to grow colored cotton without learning biology well?
Thinking of this, Zhang Shou's face became more cheerful, and he even smiled at Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu and said, "You two have made great contributions this time. If these seeds are presented to the emperor and colored cotton is grown, the emperor may reward you. By the way, have you reported this to the emperor in advance?"
Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu were waiting for this question from Zhang Shou. The two looked at each other, and Zhang Lu said with a big smile on his face, "Of course not. We wanted to go back to Beijing to discuss it with Xiao Xiansheng and Brother Chen. At first, even Boss Zhu didn't know about it. Later, because we encountered the pirates, we had to tell the truth. After all, we were really scared at that time, and we were afraid that Boss Zhu would abandon us in a rage."
Zhang Chen immediately wanted to testify in person regarding the confessions of his former duo of younger brothers, but was stopped by a gesture from Zhang Shou.
"Okay, I know about this. Anyway, you guys take a rest for two days. The emperor is busy meeting with several mountain heads these days, and there is also the matter of the eldest and second princes taking concubines. Don't worry."
Zhang Chen immediately muttered, "Why not hurry? Zhu Er and I have been back for so many days, and the secret of the new loom is about to be revealed. At this moment, a colored cotton has appeared. If we don't hurry, it will be sold to others!"
"The eldest brother of the Jiang family stayed in Zhang Garden and was so impatient that he didn't dare to complain to you. So he had no choice but to come to me! After all, we have united the majority of people in Northern Zhili and have connected this cotton and textile industry. If we don't hurry up, those merchants in Jiangnan and even Fujian and Guangdong will learn from us and catch up with us in no time!"
Seeing that Zhang Chen was getting more depressed, Zhang Shou joked, "When did the eldest son of the Duke of Qin, who never cared about anything, now care about such a small business?"
Knowing that the teasing could only stop here, otherwise Zhang Chen would be furious the next moment, he smiled and comforted: "Don't worry, there are some things they can learn, but there are some things they can't learn. Let's go to Xiao's house and have a good gathering first, and then talk after the afternoon class. I also have something to discuss with you."
Zhang Shou said this, and Zhang Chen's annoyance turned into joy. He was able to respect Zhang Shou because he not only treated him as an ordinary person, but also helped him solve the awkward relationship with his father. But what he respected most about Zhang Shou was not anything else, but that Zhang Shou never acted particularly tough, but he would always do what others said unconsciously.
For example, at this time, Zhang Shou would say he discussed it with them instead of telling them to do it. Zhang Shou would even often let them do it themselves, as if he was not worried at all that they would mess things up.
Therefore, under this attitude of letting you do things, he, who was always treated as a locust, or Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, always burst out with extraordinary inspiration. For example, he was in Xingtai, pushing the eldest prince to the edge of desperation.
But even if the eldest prince failed, it was Zhang Shou who took the initiative to pretend to be the second prince's confidant in front of the emperor.
It is precisely because Zhang Shou is such a responsible person that he is now willing to follow Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and Lu Sanlang and wholeheartedly call him "little master" and call him "teacher" in front of outsiders.
The few people behind
Because a nobleman in the capital had inexplicably drowned in Shichahai during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, his father had urged him to practice duck swimming since he was a child. He was so good at swimming that he could hold his breath in the water for a long time. When he was a child, he used this to scare little Zhu Ying to tears. Later, after the orphans adopted by his father became his guards, he specially selected them to practice water battles .
We had already prepared weapons suitable for naval warfare on the ship, so how could we deal with those pirates hiding in plain sight on the canal?
Although Zhu Tingfang did not believe the so-called remnants of the Linhai Camp running out one after another, the words of the man who was tortured by him and almost collapsed confirmed the matter, which made it a foregone conclusion. Therefore, he was too lazy to care about it. He threw the man to the Ministry of War as soon as he arrived in the capital today, and he was too lazy to pay more attention to it at this time.
As for Zhang Shou not following Zhu Ying back to the Zhaoguo Mansion, he came to the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College to block her... The reason was simple, he just wanted to see if his future brother-in-law was avoiding him or if he was really focusing on his students. His beloved sister was about to get married, so he couldn't help but feel like finding fault.
However, as he walked, and saw the Xiao family approaching, Zhu Tingfang suddenly noticed that the old Liu family house next door, which was once bought by Zhang Shou's Lu Sanlang and was filled with all kinds of noise, had now become quiet. Thinking that after Zhang Shou moved into Zhang Garden, he seemed to have mysteriously moved all the hired blacksmiths and carpenters there, and he soon felt relieved.
But the next moment, a figure appeared in front of the door, which made him suddenly stunned. As the other party called out "Master Zhu" in surprise and joy, he hurriedly rushed over in two steps.
"Miss Zhou? Why are you here? Could it be the teacher..."
Zhou, who was called Miss Zhou by Zhu Tingfang, laughed immediately. "It was the Third Master Lu who sent people to persuade me to go to the capital. It just so happened that the emperor had summoned me, so I decided to go to the capital to take a look. After meeting Dr. Zhang, I got along very well with him. A few days ago, he arranged for so many students from the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College to stay at the Xiao family next door for food and lodging. I was very happy and said he was thoughtful."
Zhu Tingfang immediately turned his head and looked at Zhang Shou. His mood was indescribable.
In order to become a disciple, he came here every day, almost standing in the snow, and finally moved Liu Zhiyuan to accept him as a student. Now, Zhang Shou easily became friends with the arrogant Liu Zhiyuan!
But what made him most angry was that he often sent people back to Beijing to deliver news from Cangzhou and to inquire about the movements in Beijing, but no one told him that Liu Zhiyuan had arrived in Beijing! What was this, was it a surprise for him?
Just when Zhu Tingfang was feeling a little upset, Zhang Shou walked up to him and smiled again, "Mr. Liu has been serving as an advisor to Lu Sanlang for the Imperial Chef Selection Competition, and now he is going to be the principal of the public school in the outer city."
