Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 756: Surrender
Zhang Shou's marriage leave was not long, but compared to a workaholic like Zhu Tingfang, it was twice as long. However, even though Miss Zhu had claimed on her wedding night that she would never indulge in love, it was too difficult for the young couple to stop after having tasted the sweetness of love.
So, on the day of her return, Zhu Ying, after entering the Duke of Zhao's mansion, actually took a sedan chair to go to Qing'an Hall to meet the elders. Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang, who had specially asked for leave to wait for the young couple at home, yawned a little when they saw Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou coming in together, and the father and son's faces changed immediately.
Fortunately, before they could, Jiu Niang scolded, “Yingying, why are you so sleepy?”
"I didn't sleep well!"
Zhu Ying blurted out four words subconsciously. When she realized what she had said, even though she was usually generous, she couldn't help but blush. Then she said angrily, "Mom, I'm a new bride. I have a lot of things to take care of at home. Even the clothes that Ah Shou wore today were chosen by me. Since I'm so busy, isn't it normal for me to feel sleepy?"
She spoke with confidence, and everyone saw Zhang Shou's bright red outfit and thought about Zhu Ying's usual preference for colors, so they knew she was not talking nonsense. However, no one believed that Zhu Ying really forgot to eat and sleep because she had too many things to take care of. You know, Zhu Ying is a person who enjoys life the most. Even if she is diligent, she will definitely have a limit.
She found that her grandmother and mother were looking at her with a smile, her father and eldest brother were staring at Zhang Shou with frowns, her second brother was looking at her and then at Zhang Shou with a look of gloating, and her eldest sister-in-law Zhang wanted to laugh but didn't dare to. Zhu Ying finally realized that her grandmother, mother and even eldest sister-in-law should understand her lazy yawn, and her second brother probably guessed it.
As for Dad and Big Brother...they are just two pieces of wood! It's a pity that women like Mom and Big Sister-in-law could marry them!
"Dad, big brother, isn't it just a yawn? Please don't hold on to it, okay? Ah Shou is so kind to me, and mother-in-law treats me like a daughter, so don't worry about it!" Zhu Ying had to glare at her father and brother with a stiff face, and then whispered unhappily, "Isn't it normal for newlyweds to feel sleepy? You are probably the only ones in the world who don't know this!"
Seeing the lady and Jiu Niang looking at them jokingly, Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang realized that they were being ridiculed!
Whether Zhu Jing married his first wife, Madam Deng, or his second wife, Jiu Niang, even though they had a harmonious relationship and the husband and wife followed his lead, moderation was the main theme.
As for Zhu Tingfang...the thing he was most satisfied with about Zhang was undoubtedly that after their marriage, she never tried to tie him down or send people to inquire about his movements. Even during the two days when he lived in the yamen, she only sent people to deliver clothes and food.
As for those things he had heard of, such as sending maids to sleep with him or various explicit and implicit means, there was none of that. Apart from having a wife who understood his feelings, he felt that everything was the same as before when he was unmarried, which made him feel particularly comfortable.
Therefore, both of them lacked a deep understanding of the four words "bedtime bliss" - Zhu Jing probably understood it a little better when he was an old man and a young wife, but he had been separated from Jiu Niang for so many years, and now that he was older, it was even more impossible for him to have sex every night. He was originally lacking in this aspect, and now he was even more lacking in it.
Although Zhu Er rarely saw his usually strong father and brother being humiliated and he really wanted to laugh, he knew that it was an act that would definitely lead to death, so he just shrank back and watched the fun.
However, seeing that Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang began to pretend to be dumb, and the lady and Jiu Niang called Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying over to ask them a lot of questions, and even Zhang was asking questions again and again, he suddenly realized another problem.
Apart from the Madam, he was the only single person here! He had never felt that he was surrounded by the ill will of married people before. The loneliness and desolation made him even more eager for his fiancée, who was said to be a good wife and mother, to marry him soon!
Seeing Zhu Ying mentioning her life after marriage in front of the Lady Dowager and Jiu Niang, she talked more than usual and had a smile on her face all the time. Zhu Jing remembered that night when Zhu Tingfang returned from the wedding banquet in Zhang Garden. Although his face was not so good, his stiff face finally thawed when he mentioned the grand wedding and that Zhang Shou had returned to his room early to accompany Zhu Ying.
Then, when he heard Zhang Shou mention that the emperor and the third prince had quietly come to the bridal chamber and that the emperor had mentioned the issue of having children, he pricked up his ears even more. It was not until Zhu Ying rushed to speak for Zhang Shou that he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Regardless of whether Zhu Ying was his biological daughter or not, he watched the baby girl, who looked like a little pink ball, grow up gradually and then watched her get married, so he naturally treated her as his most beloved daughter.
On the contrary, Princess Yongping in the palace, since she was the daughter of the emperor, did not need him to worry. After all, unlike Zhu Ying, that overly smart girl knew very early on that she had to keep her distance from the Zhu family of the Zhaoguo Mansion.
However, seeing Zhu Ying grow up to be a beauty, the most beautiful woman in the capital, and even marrying a man like Zhang Shou at the insistence of the Lady Tai and Jiu Niang, although he was entangled and opposed, he finally had to compromise. Now that he saw that she was indeed living a good life, he was relieved, but he couldn't help worrying about the future.
You know, Mrs. Deng had a difficult delivery that year. Although she was barely saved, her body was weakened. As a result, she became pregnant with her second son, Zhu Tingjie. After examining the baby, the doctor said that if she had an abortion rashly, the mother's body might also suffer great harm. Therefore, when Mrs. Deng insisted on giving birth to the child, he had to take the risk.
In the end, although Mrs. Deng gave birth to her second son safely, she was already exhausted and passed away not long after. And after he waited for 27 months to marry Jiu Niang, Jiu Niang encountered a rebellion by King Ye when she was pregnant, and she and Concubine Yu almost met with an accident. From then on, whenever he thought of a woman's labor and childbirth, he felt that it was a gate of hell!
Therefore, before anyone else could agree or disagree, Zhu Jing took the lead and said, "A man should not only care about love affairs, but should focus on his career. Although Yingying is a girl, since she insisted on intervening in the girls' school, she can't give up halfway. As for having children, you are still young and don't have to worry about it."
When Zhu Jing said this, Zhu Tingfang naturally nodded in agreement, thinking of his deceased mother.
Zhang's mood at the moment was simply ridiculous. When she first got married, her grandmother-in-law and mother-in-law both reminded her privately that the matter of having children should be left to fate and not forced. At that time, she thought that they were trying to relieve pressure on her as the eldest daughter-in-law, but now it seems...
The Zhu family is actually not in a hurry to continue the family line!
Seeing Zhu Ying's expression, Zhang Shou simply answered for his wife: "Father-in-law is right. We should let things go as they come. The Duke Zhao's Mansion has already arranged two weddings in a row. It will be much easier to arrange Zhu Erge's next."
"His wedding can be arranged casually, without being too extravagant." Zhu Jing said casually as usual, without noticing that his second son's face had turned stiff.
Zhu Er really couldn't balance his mind. His elder brother and younger sister's wedding was a grand event, but why did it become a casual affair for me? But Zhu Ying's next words made him feel relieved.
"Dad, what are you talking about? My second brother wasn't picked up, so why should we just casually arrange his marriage? If it gets out, they'll think that our Zhaoguo Mansion has exhausted all its financial resources after holding two weddings! Besides, what will Wang Datou's niece think? Will she think that we look down on their Wang family at all? Of course, she has to arrange the wedding as splendidly as ours, big brother, don't you think so?"
Seeing that his sister directly involved him, Zhu Tingfang immediately smiled bitterly. Seeing that his father was completely silent after being squeezed, although he had always been very strict with Zhu Er, at this time, he still chose to stand on Zhu Er's side.
Or in other words, stand on Zhu Ying's side, because he knows that Zhu Ying will definitely get the support of the lady and Jiu Niang.
"Yingying is right. After all, my second brother cannot be said to be without an official position or title. He was granted a privilege of office very early on because of his father, and he has done some solid work in Tongzhou before . If he can really promote those overseas crops, he won't have to compete with those idle sons of nobles for a future, nor will he have to fight for military exploits on the battlefield. He will still have a bright future."
Zhu Tingfang paused, then said uncertainly: "Besides, there may not be a war to fight for a long time in the future. Even if there is a war, our army is strong and powerful, and we will definitely not need to take the same risks as before. So, Dad, don't think that my second brother is useless, he has actually worked very hard."
When he said this, he didn't look at Zhu Er, and of course he didn't see his younger brother, who always thought he was picked up or adopted, and whose eyes were almost filled with tears.
That’s right, Zhu Er has never felt as much as he does now, that his brothers and sisters are so caring and always stand by him at critical moments.
Zhang Shou did not expect Zhu Tingfang to gradually turn the topic from Zhu Er's marriage to the future situation and war. He thought to himself that Zhu Tingfang probably felt that he would not have to worry about foreign enemies for a while because of the great victory in the previous northern expedition.
However, Zhang Shou did not think that the external threat had really been eradicated. Although the Mongolia of today is not the Mongolia of the Ming Dynasty in history that was beaten back to the grasslands but still produced generations of figures, it is not necessarily impossible for it to revive.
The later Qing Dynasty used religion as a weapon very skillfully, but it is also a double -edged sword ... Even if the enemies in the north are no longer a threat and the Jurchens cannot rise, can we really rest easy without external enemies?
Since the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty had almost completely dealt with foreign threats. There was almost no more large-scale military operations against foreign races. It seemed that there were no foreign enemies, but wasn't it getting worse and worse? The Tianli Sect and the White Lotus Sect were able to make trouble endlessly. In the end, after being beaten by a large number of foreign countries and forced to learn how to behave again, didn't the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rise up and sweep across the entire southeast?
Dynasties rise and fall over hundreds of years, and it is almost an iron rule that they are either destroyed by foreign enemies or by internal troubles.
With all this in mind, when Zhu Ying and Zhu Tingfang expressed their opinions one after another, and even Zhang smiled and said that she would do her best to help arrange Zhu Er's wedding, Zhang Shou said calmly, "It is natural to arrange Zhu Er's wedding well, but after the Chinese New Year next year, Wang Zongxian may come back. He may not be interested in extravagance."
Seeing Zhu Er's sudden change of expression, he smiled and said, "So, we have to make it lavish but not extravagant, at least to avoid being criticized by the famous Wang Datou. We have to have more characteristics. For example, isn't Zhu Er a good farmer? Then, send someone to search around and find out how many people have published famous and unknown agricultural books over the years? Can we invite them?"
"Have those farm tools been improved from north to south over the years? Who improved them, ordinary farmers, or local officials or former local officials who devoted themselves to farmland irrigation? Can I pay them a visit? Invite them to attend your wedding banquet?"
Zhang Shou still remembered the masterpiece "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" from the Ming Dynasty. However, even if people were not blown away by the butterfly's wings, they were definitely not born now. And Xu Guangqi, another great man who was born more than 20 years earlier than Song Yingxing, was not even a shadow at the moment, and "The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration" was definitely not a shadow either. How could he not be tempted?
Even though he could not have read both sets of books in their entirety, at most only a few small excerpts from them, he really wanted to summarize these things in this era so that these two great works could be published earlier.
As for waiting a hundred years later, if those two really appeared in this world, they would definitely not feel that they were overshadowed, because gold will not lose its original value because of another piece of gold!
Therefore, seeing Zhu Er's spirits suddenly lifted and the other members of the Zhu family looked different, Zhang Shou slowly proposed the idea of asking Zhu Er to find someone to help compile the Complete Works of Agriculture and Industry. This time, Zhu Er pounced on him like a wolf and hugged Zhang Shou's arm, thinking that he was closer than his own father.
"Brother-in-law, you are so kind, you are really my savior!"
Seeing Zhu Er in such a state, Zhang Shi thought of the maid who had been married with her and had secretly told her that Zhu Er was the one who disliked Zhang Shou the most, but after he reluctantly became Zhang Shou's student at Banshan Hall, he suddenly changed. She could not help but remind herself secretly that no matter what , she must not look down on her brother-in-law and the future sister-in-law.
Zhu Ying smiled and saw Zhu Er pestering Zhang Shou for advice. She couldn't help but look at him with satisfaction. She wanted to go to the street and declare to everyone that he was her husband, and that he could single-handedly deal with all kinds of people who didn't obey her ! Look at the helpless faces of her father and eldest brother at this time... They had always been helpless against the second brother, but now the second brother was truly conquered!
