Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 641: The Naughty Child in the Bridal Chamber
After a long drought comes the sweet rain, in a foreign land one meets an old friend. On the wedding night, one’s name is on the list of successful candidates.
For Lu Sanlang, who has always been utilitarian, the first kind of happy event is beneficial to the country and the people, but it doesn't mean much to him. He won't be the first to die of thirst or starvation. The second kind is also unlikely for him, because he, a lazy man, doesn't want to leave the capital, the center of the world. As for the fourth kind, he feels that he can't do it in his lifetime.
With his level of talent and ability, he wouldn't even be able to pass the imperial examination. Otherwise, why would he have been despised by his father and brothers?
But he believed that the third one was the one he could definitely achieve among the four great joys in life. However, he was not very sure whether he could marry a girl that suited his heart at first, until he ran into Cui Yun Jian by chance, and started a life that could be described as legendary. In addition to giving him the reputation of a prodigal who turned over a new leaf, this life also gave him the bridal sedan behind him.
When he arrived at the gate of Lu's house, Lu Sanlang looked back at the big red sedan chair for the Nth time, and even almost lost his concentration when he got off the horse. He was suddenly reminded of the time when his father-in-law grabbed his sleeve at Liu's house and forced him to swear to treat his wife well. He didn't know how many promises he made at that time, and finally took his future wife to the sedan chair.
After patiently going through the formalities of entering the house , performing the formalities, and other things that had to be done on the wedding day, he finally arrived at the bridal chamber. When he was about to lift the veil and drink the wedding wine together, he could only feel his heart pounding in his throat.
Even though he already knew his wife's temperament and appearance, he wanted to smile foolishly when he thought that a fat boy like him could marry such a beautiful girl. Especially since the girl that Zhu Ying introduced to him was the one that his father secretly arranged for him to marry, he felt a sense of pride that it was destined.
So, when Liu Qing finally felt the red veil being lifted and the view in front of her suddenly became clear, she saw Lu Sanlang smiling stupidly. If this was the first time she had ever seen this little fat man and she knew nothing about him, her first impression would definitely be disappointing. But because she had seen Lu Sanlang's passionate look, she was actually happy to see his stupid look.
"Idiot, why are you daydreaming at this time?"
Liu Qing said angrily, and when she saw that Lu Sanlang, who had been staring at her blankly, finally came back to his senses, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was about to continue talking when she heard Lu Sanlang suddenly shout, "Why are you still hiding there? I see you little brats! How dare you come and spy on my wife? You're so brave!"
Hearing this, Liu Qing was shocked. She hurriedly grabbed the red veil held by the bridesmaid and subconsciously tried to cover her head with it, but then she heard a crisp sound.
"Hey, Junior Sister-in-law, once you take off the red veil, you can't put it back on your head. Otherwise, do you want to get married again? Oh, Senior Brother Lu, what are you doing? What's the big deal about letting me take a look? I'm not an outsider!"
Liu Qing stared in amazement as Lu Sanlang immediately fell to the ground upon hearing the noise, and pulled out a child of about eight or nine years old from the corner under the bed. The child was wearing a festive red robe, with delicate features, but his bright black eyes were darting around. She was stunned for a moment before recognizing him, and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Fourth Prince?"
After Lu Sanlang put the man down, he didn't care about his image. He searched under the bed and even opened the cabinet, ignoring the stunned bride. He was relieved when he was sure that there was only one fourth prince hiding in the room. He was just cheating just now, and he said those bluffing words to try it out. Who knew there was really someone hiding!
He turned around and glared at the Fourth Prince, asking angrily, "How did you get in?"
"It's a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain." The fourth prince said it confidently, but of course he would not lie about the details. He then stared at Liu Qing and laughed, "Little Sister-in-law is really beautiful today, no worse than Sister Yingying!"
Liu Qing knew that although she could barely be considered a beauty, she was still far behind Zhu Ying, who was so stunning. But she was naturally happy to be flattered by the Fourth Prince's sweet words and treated him like a child. But what she didn't expect was that before she could say anything, Lu Sanlang stood in front of her and blocked the Fourth Prince's sight.
Not only that, Lu Sanlang also drove away the two bridesmaids who were giggling non-stop, not caring that no one would serve him and Liu Qing to drink the wedding wine, he had to solve the problem himself. He even walked to the door and took a look, and when he saw that the people had indeed left, he closed the door and walked back with a gloomy face.
"If you are being too attentive to others for no reason, you are either a traitor or a thief! If you want a beauty, go back and tell the emperor, and he will give you as many as you want!"
"Who said that? Do you think I'm a dissolute person like my elder and second brothers?" The fourth prince straightened his chest, with an expression that said I'm already an adult, and then said with a bitter face, "Father said last time that his future daughter-in-law can no longer be those who are spoiled and immoral, so he plans to choose a girl now and raise her outside the palace to teach her, and let the third brother wait until he is at least 18 years old before taking a concubine. I have to be at least 20 years old."
This time, not to mention Liu Qing, even Lu Sanlang was stunned. Although this kind of news coming from the Fourth Prince's mouth sounded a bit absurd, it was also extremely credible. Lu Sanlang even almost blurted out the word "child bride" and had a hard time holding back his laughter.
"Why, you can't wait at such a young age? The emperor must just be trying to scare you. Isn't he worried that you are impulsive and unstable? If that's the case, he should have found you a wife earlier so that he can control you and won't let you wait until you are twenty!"
Liu Qing didn't expect that Lu Sanlang was actually trying to comfort the Fourth Prince in a serious manner. She wanted to laugh but forced herself to hold it back. She completely forgot that her wedding chamber was messed up by this naughty kid who suddenly appeared.
However, she knew that it was not appropriate to let the Fourth Prince stay in the new house all the time. After all, Lu Sanlang had to go out to deal with guests. So after a little thought, she said in a friendly manner: "Fourth Prince, if you want to save this matter, Lu Lang will definitely find a way for you. Besides, don't we still have Master Zhang and Yingying?"
The Fourth Prince's eyes flickered. He was about to speak when he heard a very restrained knock on the door. Then, Zhang Chen's deliberately lowered voice came: "Young sir, it's true. I saw with my own eyes that the Fourth Prince sent people away and slipped into the bridal chamber. I couldn't rush in to pull him out, so I could only look for you. But you were invited by Lu Jijiu to meet a guest at that time..."
Not sure what Zhang Chen and the Fourth Prince were up to, Zhang Shou was too lazy to listen to Zhang Chen's endless chatter, so he interrupted directly and said, "I know. Zheng Yan, are you in there?"
Lu Sanlang and Liu Qing looked at each other in bewilderment, while the Fourth Prince was in a state of panic. He looked around and even wanted to crawl under the bed again, but Lu Sanlang quickly grabbed him.
Not only that, Fatty Lu, whose good time had just been disturbed by the Fourth Prince, dragged the Fourth Prince to the door, and then unbolted the door with one hand without any hesitation. Seeing that it was indeed Zhang Shou and Zhang Chen outside the door, he said with a smile on his face: "Teacher, it was the Fourth Prince who was trying to make trouble under the bed, and I was just about to chase him out!"
As if because Lu Sanlang did not reveal his true feelings, the Fourth Prince obviously breathed a sigh of relief. However, before he could even finish his breath, Zhang Shou smiled at him and then grabbed him by the collar in a swift manner.
The Fourth Prince had always seen Zhang Shou talking with a smile on his face. That time, even when Ah Liu beat him or Ah Liu beat him, he was calm and composed. In addition, he had never seen Zhang Shou take action before, so it was only after he was picked up that he woke up from his dream. He struggled with his hands and feet dancing for a few times, and then he heard Zhang Shou laugh.
"Okay, I'll take this naughty kid away. Gao Yuan, you need to apologize to your wife and tell her that it was me, as a teacher, who failed to keep an eye on him and caused trouble for you two newlyweds."
After saying this, Zhang Shou glanced at Zhang Chen who was holding the box in his hand and said, "Go outside and announce this gift from the Fourth Prince on behalf of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or the Emperor. Now that all the guests are here, it's a good opportunity to bring honor to Gao Yuan."
The fourth prince heard it clearly and shouted loudly, "It was not given by father, but by the third prince! Father said that he would send someone to reward you with a calligraphy piece today. Senior Brother Lu is so proud. Father hasn't done such a thing for a long time!"
Hearing this, Liu Qing, who had been a little embarrassed and annoyed by the Fourth Prince's intrusion, was finally overjoyed. As for Lu Sanlang, it goes without saying that although he got married at home today, he would go out to live alone after meeting his parents and offering sacrifices at the ancestral temple tomorrow. Although he didn't have to worry about his brother and sister-in-law, it would be a great honor to have the Emperor's imperial calligraphy to protect his home.
Zhang Shou chuckled and nodded at Zhang Chen. Seeing that he glanced at Lu Sanlang with obvious envy, he snorted and walked away with the box. He greeted Lu Sanlang very casually, gently let go of the hand that was holding the fourth prince's collar, grabbed the man's wrist instead, and dragged the naughty boy away.
A bridal chamber was repeatedly broken into. If it were any other house, it would definitely be a major event. But when Zhang Shou brought the Fourth Prince out, the bridesmaid outside the courtyard turned a blind eye. Instead, the Fourth Prince looked at the people several times, then said pitifully: "Teacher, I just quietly set off a firecracker to lure them away. This is none of their business!"
Zhang Shou glanced at the Fourth Prince and saw that the two bridesmaids were a little surprised at first, and then showed angry and anxious expressions. He said unhappily: "Of course this should be blamed on you. There is no reason to let others suffer. You were beaten last time, why don't you learn your lesson? Your Senior Brother Lu is having a good day, but you are so willful and naughty!"
Having said that, Zhang Shou stepped forward and gave the two bridesmaids a few words, then pulled the naughty child out of the yard and turned west. He was very familiar with the road to the Lu Mansion. The further he walked, the dimmer the lights on both sides became, and the hustle and bustle of the wedding banquet seemed to be farther away. When he finally stopped, there was only deep darkness all around, so much so that when he let go of his hand, he felt that his hand was grabbed by someone.
When he lowered his head, he saw the Fourth Prince holding him tightly, his little face a little pale. After a slight pause, he realized that this boy might be a little afraid of the dark, and he burst out laughing.
However, he did not reject the Fourth Prince's obvious move to seek a sense of security, but said calmly: "Well, there is no one here, and your guards should have been isolated by Ah Liu. Tell me, what exactly do you want to do by going to Lu Gaoyuan? You and Zhang Chen are working together to put on such a good show. You are not planning to let me take the opportunity to scold you or beat you up again, right?"
"Then pretend to be aggrieved and complain, find a place to squat, and see if there are any flies biting you, a bad guy with cracks?"
Zhang Shou said these words directly, and the Fourth Prince cried out, loosened his hand, and took two steps back, hitting his back against the solid wall. He looked at Zhang Shou as if he were a ghost, and only when he found that he was calm and composed did he say dejectedly, "Zhang Chen told me to give the teacher a surprise."
Of course, the whispered conversation between Zhang Chen and the Fourth Prince in front of the purification room at the back of Wenhua Palace was not overheard by anyone. It was just a teasing remark by Zhang Chen, and the Fourth Prince's words "You are the bad guy with a flaw" were shouted so loudly that the two eunuchs serving nearby heard it. Afterwards, Zhang Shou asked Zhu Ying to go to the palace to ask, and he immediately found out the truth.
So, he lied casually at this moment, and seeing that the Fourth Prince was fooled immediately, he simply did not ask, and waited for the Fourth Prince to speak. Sure enough, thinking that perhaps Ah Liu or Hua Qi, who were highly skilled, had already heard it, the naughty boy would not be lucky at this moment, and simply told him exactly how Zhang Chen bewitched him and how they formed an alliance.
Not only that, the Fourth Prince also directly took out the paper ball that Zhang Chen had stuffed into his hand before, completely unaware that if Zhang Chen saw this scene, he would be so angry that he would vomit blood because he actually planned something big with the naughty kid.
In such a conspiracy, shouldn't the note be destroyed after reading? Are they keeping this deadly thing just for the New Year?
But Zhang Shou was very happy to get such physical evidence. He scanned it from beginning to end and found that Zhang Chen wrote on the note that there were many censors who had impeached Chu Kuan, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, at the Lu Mansion wedding banquet today, and there might be the mastermind behind Liu Feng watching, so he suggested that the Fourth Prince make a bigger fuss, and then pretended to be angry after being scolded and sat down at any table.
Then... Zhang Chen even suggested that the naughty boy, the Fourth Prince, pretend to drink and get drunk! Then he could say something while he was drunk to see if he could use his bait to catch a big fish! Zhang Chen would then hide aside and try to catch him in the act!
Zhang Shou put the note into his sleeve expressionlessly, then stared at the Fourth Prince and asked, "As for Zhang Chen, I will naturally ask him. Now I ask you, what are you going to do now?"
"I..." Seeing that Zhang Shou did not scold him, the fourth prince's heart moved, and then he mustered up the courage to say, "Teacher, although Zhang Chen's idea is a little bit bad, I think it is indeed worth a try! Since someone took advantage of me last time, teacher, you will severely reprimand me later, and I will go to drink to drown my sorrows, and someone will definitely not be able to resist!"
"It's rare for me to leave the palace. Besides, what I just did when I sneaked into Senior Brother Lu's bridal chamber is real. No one will find out! Really, I'll give it a try..." Before the Fourth Prince finished his words, Zhang Shou stepped forward and grabbed his ear. He cried out in pain, but was stunned by what he said next.
