Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 600: Punishing You to Go to the Ancestral Hall
After the dozen young masters had been baptized by the Dowager Lady at the Duke of Zhao's mansion, when they walked out of the gate, everyone felt refreshed, as if their entire being had been sublimated. The secrets that their fathers and grandfathers had never told them, the secrets that the bigwigs in the court kept secret, were all told by the Dowager Lady, and they actually felt like they had really become important people.
But just as everyone was sighing in their hearts, suddenly there was a loud clapping sound. The person clapping was Lu Sanlang. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he said earnestly: "Everyone, if even a word of what happened today is leaked, our reputation will be ruined. Everyone must remember that we all rise together and fall together."
"If one person leaks the news, we will all become untrustworthy in the eyes of the Madam and the young master."
Lu Sanlang's words were like pouring a bucket of cold water on the hearts of the people. The people who had just been proud looked at each other, and as the first person stood up and swore a poisonous oath, saying that whoever spread the news would have no descendants and die a miserable death, a lot of people rushed to express their opinions. In the end, Zhu Er, who personally sent the message, felt that he could not bear it anymore.
However, he himself was somewhat suspicious of his grandmother's superficial talk tonight. Although he knew that swearing was useless - if there was only one big mouth among so many people, the news might spread all over the streets in the next day - he could not sternly warn everyone to keep their mouths shut, so he could only give a bland warning.
"My grandmother trusts you all, so she told you the secret. If you let her down, you should check your conscience. In short, just like Lu Sanlang said, don't be confused and don't say things that you shouldn't say!"
Seeing everyone nodding their heads and making promises, patting their chests, he watched as each person rode on horseback or got in a carriage and left. He then ordered the door to be closed and turned around and ran away. When he returned to Shou'an Hall like a gust of wind, he was about to ask Madam Li to inform her when he heard the voice of the Madam from inside.
"If they really spread these words, it's nothing. They just brought the secret things out into the open. I'm old, and saying these things is not just old people's gossip. You know, I said these things in front of so many people just to let people spread them. If they really keep their mouths shut, I'll be in trouble."
Zhu Er was shocked. After scratching his head, he thought of Lu Sanlang's warning and warned himself again. If everyone kept silent, wouldn't that ruin his grandmother's business? But he thought again, so many people are not all good. Who knows, someone might bring up these things to show off, and maybe even add a prefix that they heard it from Mrs. Zhao.
At this time, he heard Zhu Ying inside say, "I was wondering why grandma would call so many people home... well, with so many people, everyone will know tomorrow that I took them to investigate the Imperial Household Department , so I went to cause trouble! Grandma, if you didn't tell me earlier that it was okay, I would have been prepared to be severely scolded by you and dad before I went there!"
Zhang Shou, who was sitting next to the old lady, saw Zhu Ying acting like a spoiled child. He couldn't help but laugh and cry. If it were someone else, such a big thing would only result in a severe scolding? Being beaten or even locked up in a small dark room and kneeling in the ancestral hall would be the light punishment... For example, what if what happened today happened to Zhu Er?
Just as he was thinking this, he saw the lady's face darken and she said, "Who said I won't punish you? Jiu Niang, tell the outsiders that Yingying was too naughty and was punished by me to go to the ancestral hall! Zhang Shou, you take Yingying to the ancestral hall to reflect on yourself now!"
I, a future son-in-law, take Zhu Ying to the Zhu family ancestral hall to reflect?
Zhang Shou simply thought that the lady's words were too magical, and the next moment, Zhu Ying's smiling face seemed to tell him that this so-called ancestral hall reflection was not a difficult thing. Sure enough, even Jiu Niang just waved goodbye to him with a smile, and Mother Li, who took them out, was even more smiling.
Especially when he ran into Zhu Er when he went out, he only saw his future second uncle greet him warmly, and then winked and said: "Yingying, are you going to the ancestral hall to reflect on your mistakes again? Hey, you must eat and drink well, don't wrong yourself!"
So, halfway through the journey, Zhang Shou finally couldn't help asking, "Yingying, is there any misunderstanding about your family's reflection on this ancestral hall?" Is this a reflection? Why do you feel that it is just a different place to eat, drink and have fun?
"No misunderstanding!" Zhu Ying blinked innocently, and then said seriously, "Reflection in the ancestral hall means talking to the ancestors, serving them wine and food, and having a good meal with them, right? Well, if I have to stay overnight, my grandmother and father will usually prepare the thickest and softest bedding for me..."
Hearing this, Madam Li was afraid that Zhang Shou really had some misunderstanding, so she immediately smiled and said, "Even if the eldest lady has a dispute with someone outside, most of the time it is someone else's fault, and the Madam and the Master will certainly not punish her. It's just that occasionally she gets a little too angry, so the Madam will send her to the ancestral hall to calm down and talk with the ancestors."
"Then have a good night's sleep, and we will give the Zhu family the explanation we should give. If anyone still refuses to give in, then the Madam and the Master and Young Master will definitely not forgive them!"
Well, he guessed that this so-called explanation was like this...
Zhang Shou felt amused, but after spending more than a year with Zhu Ying, he knew that Miss Zhu might indeed be willful and impulsive, but she knew her limits very well. She acted in a principled manner: I would not offend others unless they offended me, but I would definitely offend them if they offended me.
If Zhu Ying really gets furious and starts a war, she will slap you hard regardless of the consequences. The person who provokes her is definitely not a good person.
When he followed Mother Li to the ancestral hall of Duke Zhao's mansion, he saw that the lights were on inside. Several maids had hurriedly , and fresh fruits and dishes had been added to the altar as offerings.
The most bizarre thing was that there was a square table underneath with a copper hot pot on it and a row of dishes lying like beads on the side. He suddenly didn't know what expression to make.
Hotpot in the ancestral hall... The Zhu family is really trendy and powerful!
"The tributes are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, so the dishes are certainly not restricted to either meat or vegetables."
Mother Li smiled and led the two to the square table. Then she explained, "The ancestors of the Zhu family came from the army and never liked those red tapes. Several old ancestors liked to be lively, especially to eat, drink and talk with their children and grandchildren. Therefore, the rules passed down by the ancestors are to set up a table here for a big meal after the ancestral hall worship every year."
"The eldest daughter is the one who is most favored by our ancestors. When she was little, she ran around everywhere one day. She actually sneaked here fell asleep under the altar. As a result, the family searched for her hard. It was the ancestors who appeared in the dream of the lady, saying that they were very pleased to have a beautiful little girl in the family. The lady then had an idea and immediately sent people to the ancestral hall to look for her. She was soon found under the altar."
When saying this, Mother Li thought of Zhu Ying's background now that it was clear that she didn't know whether she was the daughter of the Zhu family or a princess of the royal family. However, she still said with pride: "So, every year when the ancestral hall worships the ancestors, the eldest lady is the one who lights incense and candles and offers offerings to the ancestors. Every time the eldest lady lights incense and candles, the flames are big and bright, which shows that the ancestors are happy!"
Zhang Shou listened and looked at Zhu Ying. Seeing the eldest lady smiling with curved eyebrows, as if taking such compliments for granted, he couldn't help but laugh. In this era of faith in heaven, fate and ancestors, he didn't intend to refute Mother Li's simple understanding. Anyway, compared with the cumbersome worship, the Zhu family's respect for their ancestors was simple, plain and down-to-earth.
Therefore, when Mother Li brought the incense sticks, he watched Zhu Ying light them and then worship in front of the portraits, saying in a cheerful tone, "I'm here again" and other words as if visiting relatives. He suddenly felt that this ancestral hall, which others thought was gloomy, actually seemed a little warm at this moment.
Upon closer inspection, the unchanging portraits in other people's ancestral halls suddenly came alive in the Zhu Family Ancestral Hall.
Our ancestors were boxing, drinking, traveling, fighting on the battlefield, riding horses and shooting arrows... The entire wall was covered with paintings full of the breath of life, which was very interesting.
It is completely different from the seated statues in other ancestral halls that are stable and look as if they were carved from the same mold.
After Zhu Ying had finished burning incense, she came over and forced him to come burn incense with her. Zhang Shou was familiar with this routine because he had accompanied Wu to worship the widow Zhang and her scholar husband at home before, but he always had an illusion when he bowed his head.
The ancestors of the Zhu family in the portraits, each with their own different gestures, seemed to be looking at him with a smile, as if they were examining who would pick the most brilliant peony of the Zhu family. When they finally sat down to eat the hot pot, as soon as he sat down, he saw Zhu Ying had already started to cook the dishes skillfully.
At first, the eldest lady remembered to use a colander to scoop up various meat and vegetable foods, and then poured them all into his bowl, but because she saw that he ate slowly, she took care of herself first. From the mutton and venison that were often eaten up in the homes of dignitaries, to various mutton offal, to fresh chicken and duck blood, and fresh vegetables, her swift eating made him also have a big appetite.
The most important thing was that among the seasonings nowadays, there was his favorite chili pepper, as well as seafood sauce and shacha sauce that were easily prepared in the previous imperial chef selection competition because there were many Cantonese chefs gathered there - after all, all kinds of dried seafood are naturally the most abundant in the south - plus the sesame sauce commonly used in old Beijing hot pot, all of which added a bit of freshness to the hot dishes.
While the couple was enjoying their meal at home, the news that the Duke of Zhao had punished Zhu Ying to go to the ancestral temple to reflect on her mistakes spread like wildfire. Coupled with the incident of the gate of the Silijian outer office being blocked and the previous dispute at the Imperial College, the entire capital was like a muddy pond with all the silt stirred up, becoming turbid.
Especially the fact that Zhu Ying was punished to reflect on her mistakes in the ancestral hall shocked countless people. This young lady had been rampant in the capital for so many years, and the number of times she was punished by her family was simply a few. Just because she went to the outer court of the Silijian to make a scene, the lady was so strict?
After receiving the news that the lady had punished Zhu Ying, all the people who had participated in the action, from Zhang Chen to Lu Sanlang, from Zhu Er to Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu, Ji Jiu... in short, every one of them was said to have been severely scolded by their families.
Of course, the revolving scenes outside became nothing more than passing clouds in Chu Kuan's ears. Even though Lü Chan carefully reminded him that the Lady's punishment of Zhu Ying might have bad intentions, and that this had caused the various families to punish those young masters one after another, which put the Imperial Household Department at the center of the storm, he remained calm.
"It doesn't matter. The lady was warning me first, and second, she saw through my intentions, so she went along with it. If she really wanted to subdue me, she could just lock Zhu Ying up at home for ten days or half a month. She wouldn't have to bring up the word ancestral hall to scare others. If Zhu Ying was really locked up, the empress dowager and the emperor would have to settle accounts with me."
Chu Kuan couldn't help laughing when he said this. Others didn't know what the Zhu family's ancestral hall was like, but he had accompanied the emperor who had been there in disguise, so how could he not know? The Zhu family's ancestors were not particularly high-ranking officials until Zhu Jing stood out. However, among the ancestors from generation to generation, there were many people with strange personalities, so they didn't care much about the rules.
The Zhu family's ancestral hall had some rules for offering sacrifices to ancestors in the past. When Zhu Er went there to kneel and reflect on his mistakes, he would have suspected that there was something fishy going on, let alone Zhu Ying?
As expected, just as Chu Kuan guessed, when he entered the palace from his private residence that day, he was directly summoned to the Qianqing Palace by the emperor. As a result, when he entered the East Warm Pavilion where the emperor lived, he saw a bright and beautiful girl standing next to the emperor, glaring at him angrily. Who else could it be but Zhu Ying?
"Yingying, it's just a small matter. I'll be the peacemaker myself. Don't hold it against yourself!" The emperor had a patient expression on his face, as if he was doing this for your own good. His words were also coaxing and deceiving. "Since Zhang Shou is not happy in the Imperial College and is being held back and excluded everywhere, he should just move out. I've already made arrangements with the people at the public school, and the imperial concubine and the others will pay another sum of money..."
Zhu Ying couldn't help but glance at the emperor. Seeing Chu Kuan smiling but saying nothing, she said angrily, "I thought the emperor would use a reward to shut me up, but now, is he using a reward to shut Ah Shou up?"
"I'm not unreasonable, but why did Chu Kuan do things in a sneaky way? If he had just said that he was following the orders of his superiors, Ah Shou would definitely not have taken it to heart, and I wouldn't have made such a big fuss! As a result, I had to spend a night in the ancestral hall, and a lot of people were scolded and punished because of it. Do you think I should settle the score with him? If I just let it go, wouldn't it be embarrassing for me as the leader?"
Although Chu Kuan had said before in front of Lu Chan that he had retreated three steps in order not to apologize to Zhu Ying, he now smiled and said: "If the young lady is really angry, I can hold a banquet to apologize, that's fine..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhu Ying snorted coldly, "Forget it. Grandmother has already told us how powerful you are. How dare Ah Shou and I accept your apology wine? Don't you just want to show that you are not on the same page with us? Are you satisfied now? I think you have watched too many dramas. You are the emperor's man. Why do you still want to pretend to be a loyal subject?"
