Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 651: How many waves can be made?
Hearing the call of "Mr. Zhang", the old man who had just said goodbye to Zhang Shou turned around suddenly and stared at Zhang Shou with an incredible look on his face.
Not only him, but there were already a lot of people nearby, and countless people immediately cast their eyes over. For a moment, they were asking where Master Zhang was and who was Master Zhang's relative. There was a lot of noise and chaos, so much so that Zhang Shou didn't have time to find out who was so stupid as to reveal his identity in public. He had only one thought in his mind, which was to get away as soon as possible.
In spring, summer and autumn, he could still wear a bamboo hat, but in the winter, if he wore a bamboo hat in public, he would attract everyone's attention. So since the weather turned cold, he simply wrapped himself in a fur scarf like the nobles in the capital, and put on a thick fur hat, so that not much of his face was exposed. In this case, unless someone was very familiar with him, he should not be recognized!
He soon found out who the fool who had exposed his identity was. Because in this chaotic situation, a loud voice suddenly rang out: "Young Master Ye, why are you so reckless? Look at the chaos after your shouting... Lin Lao Hu, the head of the criminal department of Shuntian Prefecture, is here. If there are any more noises or troubles, they will be locked up and taken back to the yamen for questioning!"
Although Zhang Shou is now very famous in the capital, in a street like this where ordinary people gather, no matter how famous he is, he is not as intimidating as the words "Chief Constable of the Criminal Office of Shuntian Prefecture Yamen". Zhang Shou saw that the people who had initially surrounded him from all directions retreated in an instant like the receding tide, forming a large vacuum zone around him.
Of course, people still had to watch, but they were not so presumptuous. Moreover, compared to the inner city where dignitaries gathered, there were more outsiders and ordinary people in the outer city, and they were more afraid of the government.
Seeing that he had made a great contribution by shouting, Lin Lao Hu led a group of people forward, and then he smiled and bowed to Zhang Shou: "Master Zhang, I was just strolling here with Master Xiao Ye and Master Zou, and I didn't expect that you would come by by chance."
With a casual glance, he saw Ye Mengqiu, who had just revealed his identity, with an embarrassed look on his face. His companions beside him kept shaking their heads. Even Zou Ming, who had been sick for many days because of catching a cold after falling into the water, came out with his two fellow scholars. Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile.
Although the seven people except Lin Lao Hu were all residents of the house, Zhang Shou, who had been traveling between home, the palace and Jiuzhang Hall most of the time, had no time to see them in the past few days. You know, Ye Mengqiu and the other three often attended classes in Jiuzhang Hall, but recently the emperor was about to summon them, so they were said to be studying hard at home to learn what , and they had not left the house for the past three days.
Thinking of this, the annoyance caused by the commotion just now disappeared. He jumped off his horse, greeted everyone with a smile.
"It was indeed a coincidence. After I left the city, I remembered that the Imperial Chef Selection Competition was over, so I came here to take a look around and planned to go to the public school later. I didn't expect to see such a large-scale construction. Lu Jijiu really hid this surprise well, and even Gao Yuan didn't mention it."
Ye Mengqiu was relieved to see that Zhang Shou didn't care about his quick words. Before he could say anything, Lin Lao Hu said enthusiastically, "Mr. Zou has just recovered from a serious illness, and we are on the street. Why don't you go to Xinglong Tea House to talk with Mr. Zhang, Mr. Ye, and everyone else? There aren't so many people there, so Mr. Zhang won't be surrounded by people like this."
The head constable of the Shuntian Prefecture's Criminal Office said as he glanced at the people watching around him: "To be honest, when the imperial chef selection was held before, there were really huge crowds of people. It's not like no one wants to come now. After all, who wouldn't want to get some protection from the dragon spirit when the emperor and the empress dowager have been there?"
"It's just that the dishes in Xinglong Teahouse are all cooked by old restaurants nearby after customers order them. The first floor is only twice as expensive, but the second floor is four times more expensive. You can't go to the third floor even if you have money. Otherwise, it would have been packed with customers based on its reputation. In the early days when we were receiving ordinary customers, I brought people to maintain it. Later, I felt relieved when I saw that more people came in than came in."
"But now that Young Master Zhu is in the outer city, the people from the South City Military Division have finally started to work, so I have a lot more free time."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but feel ashamed when he heard this. Thinking back to when he came up with the idea of the Imperial Chef Selection Competition, and followed Lu Sanlang to run such a competition, and Lin Lao Hu, as one of the persons in charge of the specific implementation of security, really lost a lot of hair. Even if these government officials don't eat and drink for free, they can probably eat in small restaurants on weekdays, such as Xinglong Tea House...
I guess I can only sigh and watch!
The price was quadrupled, even if it was to control the flow of people, it was actually a robbery. Maybe when the shop was deserted, the price would be lowered. After all, this was nominally the property of Weinan Earl Zhang Kang, but in reality it belonged to the emperor!
Zhang Shou knew that Lin Lao Hu's proposal to go to Xinglong Tea House was definitely not to complain to him about the hard work of maintaining law and order in the past, nor was it to imply that he should reward him, but was a hint to avoid attracting more people to watch on the street and let the chief of the criminal department bear greater "security pressure", so he readily agreed.
"Captain Lin has helped me many times, and I haven't thanked him yet. I'm going to trouble you to entertain my guests. I'll take this opportunity today and let me be the host."
Lin Lao Hu was stunned for a moment, but when he saw Zhang Shou nodding and smiling at him kindly, he remembered this man's good reputation in dealing with people, and he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Wanping County Magistrate Shen had already followed the orders from his superiors and quickly concluded the trial of the villain who knocked someone into the water. According to the law, the man was injured but not killed, so he was directly sentenced to death by hanging. So he asked Captain Zhang to pass a message to him. He personally went to Zhang Garden to deliver a letter to Zou Ming. It happened that this scholar who had just recovered from a serious illness wanted to go out for a walk, so Zhang Shou's adoptive mother, Wu, entrusted the man to him.
As for the others coming out together, it was also Wu's request. In Wu's words, a bunch of people in the family are busy every day, but they don't go out all day, which is harmful to the body. If Yang Zhan and Guan Qiu hadn't shouted that they wanted to tie themselves up in Tiangong Workshop, Wu would have kicked them out.
Zou Ming's two friends, of course, were worried about their friend who had just recovered from a serious illness, so they followed him out.
Lin Lao Hu had to worry a lot on the way as he led seven people alone. Seeing Zhang Shou being so polite, he felt more comfortable and had to explain the reason for bringing people out.
When Zhang Shou heard Lin Lao Hu talking about Magistrate Shen's trial of the case, he couldn't help but praise him for his swift and decisive action. After entering the Xinglong Tea House and being personally greeted by the shopkeeper to go up to the second floor, he found that there were not many people here, only two tables of guests. Although there had been quite a commotion downstairs just now, the guests at those two tables had obviously recognized him and seemed to be hesitating to come over, but finally held back.
It just so happened that Zhang Shou didn't want to waste his precious time on idle people, so he avoided the windows that could see the pedestrians downstairs, chose a round table in the corner to sit down, and asked the shopkeeper to put up a screen to block his view.
As for Ah Liu, the young man ordered the dishes at the water sign as instructed by Zhang Shou. He originally planned to sit alone outside the screen. He didn't care too much about the quality or price of the dishes as long as he was full. However, Lin Lao Hu pulled him over with a smile on his face. Seeing Zhang Shou smilingly telling him to just sit down, he finally sat down below Lin Lao Hu.
At this time, Zhang Shou whispered about what happened last night. As expected, no one, including Lin Lao Hu, knew about it.
Hearing about the complete reshuffle of the Silijian this time, only one of the four people who held the seal and wrote the pen remained, and only three of the four people who attended the court remained. Even Zou Ming, who was still in a bad mood after falling into the water, could not help but be greatly shocked by the emperor's thunderous punishment. Especially Lin Lao Hu, who knew the power of the three words "Silijian", lost his composure and exclaimed.
Zhang Shou only mentioned this matter, but did not intend to go into details or comment on it. When he saw Ah Liu cough suddenly, he knew someone was coming. Sure enough, it was the waiter who brought a pot of fragrant tea and a total of eight kinds of tea fruit and dried fruit dishes to go with the tea before the meal, which was obviously the specialty of the teahouse. Seeing this, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "There is a class in Jiuzhang Hall in the afternoon, so I will replace the wine with tea. You can do whatever you want."
Ye Mengqiu and the others all learned astronomy and numerology from their teachers since they were young, and were used to playing with abacus, so abstaining from alcohol was a long-standing habit, and naturally they didn't need to drink at this time. Zou Ming and the other three scholars were eating and living for free in Zhang Garden, and even the medical expenses were generously paid by others. Now that Zhang Shou invited them to such an expensive place for dinner, how could they still have the nerve to ask for a drink?
As for Lin Lao Hu, he really was the type who couldn't live without alcohol, but he was finally able to enjoy a feast on the second floor of Xinglong Tea House - although the food here was no different from the food in those old local shops nearby, and it was said that the food was lukewarm due to the slow delivery, and not as delicious as the freshly baked food over there, but couldn't he brag about it to old friends like Captain Zhang when he went back?
Therefore, he not only repeatedly said that he would not drink during his duty, but also dismissed the waiter and personally carried the teapot to serve tea to everyone. Although he knew that the people upstairs must know Zhang Shou's identity, he remembered the disturbance caused by Ye Mengqiu's voice just now, but he called him Mr. Shou all the time. Seeing this, Ye Mengqiu, Zou Ming and others suddenly realized and immediately learned this address.
Just as everyone was sitting there waiting for the food to be served, they suddenly heard the sound of gongs knocking from downstairs.
"The Holy Son of Heaven has eyes as sharp as lightning, and can see through evil ! Those evil eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department have been severely punished!"
"Your Majesty is wise, and the whole world celebrates!"
Hearing the gong sounds, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Even Zou Ming, who had a connection with the Imperial Household Department, frowned. And Lin Lao Hu no longer cared about bragging about eating at Xinglong Tea House. He almost jumped up, his face darkening.
"Mr. Shou, everyone, I will stay with you for a while!"
Seeing that the man rushed downstairs like a gust of wind, Zhang Shou didn't even need to wink, and Ah Liu got up quietly and followed him. At this time, there was a lot of noise downstairs, and through the screen, he could also hear the undisguised discussions of the tea guests on the same floor.
"The Emperor dealt with the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department? The seal holder Chu Kuan and the two scribes were demoted? This is absolutely great news!"
"The traitor has been brought to justice. It is truly worth exposing!"
"It's really refreshing. So many people have petitioned the emperor before, but he kept all of them and didn't publish them. All thanks to the Governor of Xuanda, Wang Datou!"
After the commotion, Zhang Shou heard footsteps hurriedly going downstairs. When he stood up to check, he saw that there was only one table of guests left on the second floor. The people at the other two tables had gone downstairs to watch the fun. Seeing this, he simply moved the screen away.
Although it was politically correct for a serious scholar to spit on the unlucky eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department, Zou Ming, who had experienced a life-and-death experience in the cold water and was rescued from the water, still yelled for someone to rescue the real murderer who had attacked him in the water. Hearing the noise below, he was shocked instead of happy.
"It's strange. The Imperial Household Department is not so notorious, right? Even if I was knocked into the water before, it was just because the villain was hoping for a lucky break. He was angry about the Imperial Household Department's refusal to accept me after I failed the imperial examinations many times, so he took it out on the three of us, the three candidates, and thus committed the crime. Now there is such a big fuss about beating gongs and drums. Is someone deliberately trying to make things worse?"
"Brother Zou is right. I have never heard of the Silijian doing any serious evil in Guangping Prefecture... No, I should say that I have hardly heard of the three words Silijian when I was there! I didn't hear anyone talking about them during the first few days I arrived in the capital!"
Ye Mengqiu could not help but frown in confusion, and then added: "Besides, the head of the Imperial Household Department was dismissed, and there must be someone to take over. And the replacement is also a eunuch. God knows whether the new person is good or bad? Are those people below so happy that they beat gongs and drums for joy? What does the change of the head of the Imperial Household Department have to do with us outsiders?"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but laugh when he heard Zou Ming and Ye Mengqiu hit the nail on the head. Maybe someone was planning to pursue the enemy with all their might... But the question is, was it the impeachment that came like snowflakes that made Chu Kuan the hero? Was it Wang Jie who made the final decision? Neither, maybe it was just that the emperor got annoyed and turned against him!
Moreover, he was only guessing and had not yet fully figured out why the emperor suddenly acted so ruthlessly.
Even in this situation, there are still people who think that the results are not enough and continue to pursue and attack. It is really too clever to plan. I don’t know if it will cost you your life...
As he was thinking this, he heard Lin Lao Hu's shout from below, but the shout was soon drowned out by the louder noise. Not long after, he heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. When he looked up again, he saw Ah Liu dragging Lin Lao Hu up, and Lin Lao Hu seemed to be still struggling.
When he saw Zhang Shou, Lin Lao Hu felt helpless and anxious. He was about to explain the pros and cons to Zhang Shou, but was interrupted by Zhang Shou with a smile: "This is in the outer city. There is the South City Military Division. Captain Lin, you don't have to work hard alone. Besides, let alone you are alone, there are so many people under you. Even if you pull all the police officers here, can you suppress it? Why not sit here and see how many waves it can make?"
