Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 516: Auspicious Signs and Wonders
Although Zhu Tingfang had come to Jiuzhang Hall in person before noon, and also went to Xiao's house, which now serves as the main dormitory of Jiuzhang Hall, and then stayed at Xiao's house to talk with Xiao Cheng, but since Zhang Shou had told Zhu Ying that he would go to Duke Zhao's Mansion in the evening, he naturally could not go home immediately after leaving the Imperial College.
Although it was a little farther from the Imperial College to the Duke of Zhao's Mansion than back to Zhang Garden, they were both in the North City. But after walking two blocks, he heard a loudmouth yelling. And because the person yelling had a bit of a big tongue, he could only hear four words clearly - colorful cotton auspiciousness.
Because in his era, auspiciousness was not a good word, but had some very subtle meanings, just like when he was replying to a post online, he also shouted auspiciousness like others. So, he was stunned for a moment, and then he realized what the so-called auspiciousness of colored cotton was. Seeing the extremely excited expressions of the people on the street, he couldn't help but curl his lips .
Colorful cotton is auspicious... I don't know who spread this news. Are they really afraid that the storm won't be big enough?
Thinking this in his mind, Zhang Shou did not intend to join in the chaotic shouting, but slightly pulled down the soft gauze of his hat brim.
Whenever he didn't care whether others recognized him or not, as long as he took Ah Liu with him and picked two little followers from home, he would dare to show his face even if he walked on the street. After all, Ah Liu would take care of the boxes of flowers, plants, and powder thrown at him. Especially when he was with Zhu Ying, he often had the well-trained guards of the Duke of Zhao's mansion, so he had nothing to worry about.
But if he doesn't want others to recognize him, he will wear a soft hat with hanging gauze most of the time. Otherwise... Haha, wouldn't it be annoying to be watched and criticized by passers-by every day? Although he is not Wei Jie who would be killed by people staring at him, he still finds it troublesome!
Moreover, with Zhu Ying's promotion with ulterior motives, this kind of soft hat with hanging gauze is very popular in the capital city - ugly people use it to cover up their shameful faces, and people with average looks want to add some mystery... As for the handsome men who are good-looking but are too lazy to be stared at by others, he is definitely not the only one.
So, at this moment, wearing a soft hat with hanging gauze, he just became a beautiful boy passing by quietly.
When Zhang Shou arrived at the Duke of Zhao's mansion, he learned that Wu had been picked up by the Lady Tai and Jiu Niang. As a result, he had no choice but to stay, even though he had originally planned not to have dinner here and would leave after sitting for a while. During this dinner, the elders of the two families who were about to become in-laws were very happy and as a family. Wu, who had already experienced the politeness and easy-going nature of her in-laws, naturally felt no burden.
The problem was that Zhang Shou felt burdened, because at this moment the elders were seated at one table and the younger generations were seated at another. At the small square table, Zhu Ying sat on his left and Zhu Tingfang sat on his right. Zhu Er, on the other hand, sat directly opposite him with a look of watching the fun.
Zhu Tingfang, who had stopped talking halfway at noon, opened up the conversation at night because he had invited Zhu Er and Zhu Ying to sit at the same table: "Just before noon today, the two principals of Songjiang Huating Academy and Suzhou Taihu Academy arrived. At noon, the two who had already arrived and the two who had just arrived went out for a meal."
Zhu Tingfang paused, as if to give Zhang Shou some time to think, and then said lightly: "The place we went to was Xinglong Tea House. It just so happened that Lu Sanlang was substituting for you, and you sent him to the Xiao family at noon, so..."
"So what?" Zhang Shou raised his eyebrows with a smile, and asked curiously, "Could it be that the four mountain masters were picking on them, and without Lu Sanlang there was no one to fight, so they were picked on?"
Zhu Er had never seen the gentle and refined Zhang Shou speak in such a street thug-like tone. He was about to put a piece of black fungus into his mouth with chopsticks when he choked and then coughed loudly.
"I thought so." Zhu Tingfang was not as out of control as Zhu Er. He had long seen that Zhang Shou was not a weak scholar. He suppressed Zhu Ying, who was excited to reveal the answer, and smiled at Zhang Shou.
"It wasn't just four deans looking for trouble. The only one who made rude remarks was Dean Hong from Yuzhang Academy, but he was bullied by that weirdo Mr. Song you took in, who kept repeating the saying 'food is the first necessity of the people', and he was embarrassed in public."
Although Zhu Tingfang said it simply, the meaning of his words was not simple. Zhang Shou was stunned at first, then he imagined the scene at that time, it was nothing more than you have thousands of generous words, I will pierce your heart with a sword, he couldn't help but laugh. Seeing this, Zhu Ying finally couldn't help it anymore and slammed the table and stood up.
"Brother went to look for you. I wanted to go with him, but I heard that the four old guys went out together, so I followed them to have a look. Sure enough, I saw them go to Xinglong Tea House! That Shanzhang Yue was okay. He said a lot of good things. The other two were silent and I didn't know what they were thinking. But the old man named Hong wiped his mouth after eating and left Xinglong Tea House, and he started to speak nonsense!"
"He said that holding a royal chef selection contest was promoting extravagance and indulging desires. As a result, he met his match this time. Every time he cursed, someone else shouted that food is the most important thing for the people. He cursed again, but the guy still said that food is the most important thing for the people. In the end, the people around him were also amused and shouted the same sentence in unison, which almost deafened people's ears. I couldn't help but shout twice too!"
Zhu Ying couldn't help laughing as she spoke, and then she described the anger of Chief Hong when he had to retreat under the public outrage, the hypocrisy of Chief Yue when he distanced himself from the public, and the cunningness of the other two who remained silent...
It was not until the end that she talked about how proud Mr. Song was when he came out of the crowd and boasted to her about his methods.
Hearing this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but laugh and said, "Since these five words drove away four deans, where is Mr. Song now?"
Zhu Ying burst out laughing. "Needless to say? Song, the leader of the Guangdong Guild Hall, happened to be nearby. He heard the noise and rushed over. He frightened Mr. Song so much that he fled. Before he ran away, he begged me to help hold back his uncle. I helped him a little, but as for whether he escaped later, I don't know... Oh, I don't know if he implicated poor Fang Qing."
Zhu Tingfang, who had just returned to the capital, was of course not familiar with Song Juren and Fang Qing, a pair of brothers in distress, or rather enemies. So he asked them a few questions. After listening to Zhu Ying's concise account of the stories about the weird Juren and the big-mouthed Juren, even though he was usually serious, he couldn't help but smile.
"No wonder I heard someone say that one of the two people who were arrested by the Guangdong Guild Hall with a black cloth over their heads had spoken to you, Yingying. It turns out that he is someone you know. If that's the case, I'll have someone take my letter and send it over to ask them to release the person."
"He was really caught?" Zhang Shou asked in astonishment. Seeing Zhu Tingfang nodded indifferently, he exchanged glances with Zhu Ying. At this time, even Zhu Er couldn't help but twitch his mouth, as if he had a toothache.
"This Song guy kidnapped the servant and sent the groom away for his mount, Croton. Then he sneaked off to participate in the imperial chef selection competition and was about to enter the finals to become an imperial chef. He also made Princess Yongping cry, and when the truth was revealed, he hid in your garden and refused to meet his elders. Now he's been caught by his family... Tsk tsk!"
Today's occasion was originally a family dinner. However, in the Qing'an Hall, apart from the table of the elders such as the Grand Madam, Duke of Zhao Zhu Jing, Jiu Niang and Wu, there was another small table with two people of special status sitting opposite each other. However, unlike the other two tables where they were talking and laughing, the two people at this table did not speak after sitting down.
Although they didn't talk, they ate a lot of food and wine. Everything on the table was gone in no time. The food was exactly the same as the two tables for the old and young above, even the portions were the same. On the contrary, there was not much food left.
When hearing what Zhu Er said, Ah Liu, who was already half full, immediately put down the chopsticks he had been fighting with Hua Qi for food with. It seemed that the food he had been fighting for before was no longer important in his eyes.
However, just as he was about to get up and leave quietly, Hua Qi suddenly laughed.
He had been invisible just now, but his sudden smile naturally attracted the attention of others. By the way, they also noticed that Ah Liu had stood up and seemed to be about to leave.
"The Song kid is a weird and mean person. In comparison, the outspoken Fang Qing is pure and innocent. The Song kid deserves to be punished by his own elders. You might as well wait until he suffers enough before saving him. First, you can teach him a lesson, and second, you can do him a favor."
At this point, Hua Qi stood up and forcefully pushed Ah Liu back to the chair he had been sitting on: "Just take care of your young master's safety, why are you so worried about that irrelevant person named Song?"
"I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about his cooking skills." Ah Liu looked at Hua Qi as if he was a fool, then looked at Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, "Mr. Song is good at making Chaoshan clay pot porridge and Cantonese style soup, which are what the young master likes. He can also make delicious sweet soup, which is what the eldest lady likes. The emperor also wants him to be the imperial chef."
The emperor was placed last, but when everyone in the room heard what Ah Liu said, no one corrected him.
Zhu Ying slammed the table and shouted, "Ah Liu, you are right. I have learned the recipes from Mr. Song many times, but I am still not sure about the timing... I am planning to make it for Ah Shou in the future. I haven't learned the skill yet. What if he gets beaten by the old-fashioned elders? Wouldn't that be a big disadvantage for me?"
“Ahem!”
A dignified cough interrupted Zhu Ying's words, and then the lady smiled at Ah Liu with a pleasant expression, "Ah Liu, since you are worried, then go. However, you should use courtesy before force, and don't use Yingying's elder brother's letter. Take my letter. By the way, you can also tell him that even if Mr. Song has a thousand faults, he is the one favored by the emperor."
Ah Liu's eyes lit up immediately, and when Zhang Shou nodded to him, he immediately agreed. When Mother Li quickly brought a plain-looking note over, he took it with both hands, bowed his head, turned around and ran out. When he left, Hua Qi couldn't help shaking his head.
"It's ok that the son-in-law and the eldest daughter spoil him, but now even you, the madam, spoil him!"
"What's wrong with that? I liked this kid, Ah Liu, the moment I saw him. Why don't you ask Madam Wu if she likes him too?" Madam Wu smiled and saw that Madam Wu nodded repeatedly. She narrowed her eyes even more. "This kid is different from you. You are heartless, but he is different. His face is cold, but his heart is warm."
Seeing Hua Qi shrugged, as if he didn't care about the comment at all, and continued to eat, the lady said calmly: "By the way, I received a visiting card from Hong this afternoon. It said that her father was arrogant, rigid and self-conceited, and often offended people impulsively without realizing it. In Jiangxi, he usually had people to take care of him, but in the capital, he easily got into trouble because of his words. If I have offended him, please forgive me."
Zhang Shou had not expected that Hong could actually predict the future. However, when he thought about how Shanchang Hong dared to scold him for his sweet talk in front of the emperor, he could not help but feel that Hong did not need any divination at all, because with Shanchang Hong's personality, it was really hard not to offend anyone!
In the lobby of the Guangdong Guild Hall in the outer city, when the black cloth hood of Mr. Song, who had been gagged, was finally taken off, he squinted his eyes, trying hard to get familiar with the changing light. Then, not surprisingly, he saw the familiar figure at the top - the full brother of the head of the Guangdong Song family, Mr. Song, whom he should call uncle.
But even though he knew he was being caught, he still glared at the other person in frustration, not realizing that one has to bow down when under someone's roof. When the gag was taken away, he immediately sneered.
"I never thought that you would kidnap someone in broad daylight!"
"You can tie up your servant, drug your guards, and send the groom away for your mount, Croton. I just invited a junior back to talk and used some drastic measures. What's wrong with that?"
Fang Qing, who was brought in earlier and was now sitting in the first seat to the lower left of Song Huishou drinking tea, could not help but tremble his brows. Although he wanted to refute, he knew that the situation was stronger than the person, so he could only try his best to suppress his instinct to be a pessimist.
Mr. Song was choked by Mr. Song's words and his face turned red. After all, if people used etiquette, family rules, fame and future to pressure him, then he would have a justifiable reason, but when people used the stupid things he had done to block his mouth, he was immediately passive. After a long while, he finally regained his composure, but what came out of his mouth was a sentence that almost made Fang Qing spit out tea.
"What on earth do you want?"
Song Huishou, who had only appeared to be calm and composed, finally calmed down. He was not wrong after all. Song Juren had a unique personality. Although he had good talent, he was just a casual student who just muddled through his studies. Maybe he really liked selling sweet soup or even cooking, but this kid was a person with a clear sense of good and evil.
Therefore, he smiled and said coldly: "What do I want? Of course, I will give you a good beating on behalf of your mother! Have you ever thought about how much your mother has suffered for you, a scholar? Come on, bring me the thorns!"
