Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 761 Hawks and Judges
Ah Liu was naturally very familiar with Chu Kuan. Moreover, to put it bluntly, he was even more familiar with Chu Kuan than Zhang Shou was with him.
Of course, this does not mean that he had any confidential missions when he was in the Zhang family in Rongshui Village, and he needed to go back to the palace to report to Chu Kuan from time to time. In fact, he knew Chu Kuan only after he followed Zhang Shou back to Beijing. However, you have to know that he also received an additional salary from the emperor as a martial arts instructor, so he was a member of the palace, so he had many opportunities to "occasionally" meet Chu Kuan.
But now Ah Liu has realized that the so-called occasional is not an occasional thing at all, because Chu Kuan seems to have always been very interested in Zhang Shou, and even often goes to the martial arts arena to watch him fight with others. So at this moment, facing such an uninvited guest, even though he heard Zhang Shou say that the third prince would send someone to deliver a letter to the Ye family, he still seemed not so polite to Chu Kuan.
"Eunuch Chu has come personally. Is there no one around the Crown Prince?"
"You talk more than before."
Chu Kuan's reply was direct and sharp. Seeing that Ah Liu looked at him with a bad look, he chuckled and said, "There really aren't many people around His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. You know, before, Academician Kong almost forced the Emperor to agree that there would be no need for literate eunuchs in Ciqing Palace. Now I am doing the work of a Ciqing Palace steward under the name of Wan'an Palace steward."
Seeing that he had said so much, Ah Liu finally stopped blocking the way and indifferently stepped aside, but his eyes were still alert and cautious. Chu Kuan didn't care and walked straight forward without panic. When he noticed that the young man was following him, he said without turning his head: "You were sent by the emperor to follow your young master, but now it seems that you have forgotten your duties."
"I'm not the emperor's attendant." Ah Liu blurted out an answer that was completely unrelated to the emperor's intention without thinking, but when Chu Kuan turned around to look at him, he shut his mouth and said no more.
Chu Kuan thought of Hua Qi's current duties as the chief eunuch in front of the emperor, and of course he understood the hidden meaning behind Ah Liu's words.
But think about it, Hua Qi threw such a person directly to Zhang Shou outside the palace, only taught him martial arts regularly, and did not allow anyone to spy on him or pass on any information, allowing him to live with Zhang Shou day and night for a long time. It is no wonder that such a talented and hardworking young man would eventually become a member of the Zhang family, and the emperor actually let it go. He couldn't help but sigh again.
"The emperor didn't say anything, so you don't have to worry that I will trick you into doing anything. With your loyalty to Master Zhang, I won't bring disgrace upon myself." He turned around and continued walking forward, and suddenly said without thinking, "Your Highness the Crown Prince respects Master Zhang very much, even more than the emperor respected Master Ge in the past. With such a foundation, Master Zhang can be said to be as stable as a rock."
At this point, Chu Kuan suddenly changed his tone and said, "But, because he is as stable as a rock, he is bound to be trusted by two generations of emperors, so he is envied. Even if it is because of the family background and talent of Grand Tutor Ge, when he was the emperor's tutor in the past, there were ministers and others who tried to shake his position, not to mention your young master."
"If you want to protect him from harm, you must keep your ears erect, your eyes wide open, and your claws and fangs sharpened at all times. You must be ready to pounce at any time, bite the enemy's throat, and defeat him with one strike, leaving him absolutely no power to fight back."
"This is what I did for the Emperor. This is the role of a henchman."
Ah Liu's brows knitted up noticeably. Hua Qi had also said the words "hawk and dog" to him before, but now when he heard them again, he didn't feel quite right.
However, at this time they were almost at the place where Princess Yongping, Zhu Ying and others were talking, including Zhan Jinliuyin, who came with Zhu Ying and dressed as men, as well as two female officials in the palace and several female teachers' maids and servants. So he did not say anything in the end, but just silently refuted in his heart.
Although the young master never said whether he was treated as a lackey, people often said that he was a family member.
Chu Kuan's arrival surprised everyone except Zhu Ying who had heard about it from Zhang Shou in advance.
Princess Yongping was often accompanied by him to Yuehua Tower to host literary gatherings. Logically, he should be the person most familiar with Chu Kuan. She used to think that he was only her father's confidant and the future helmsman of the Imperial Household Department.
But since Chu Kuan took over the position of the head of the Imperial Household Department, he suddenly fell without warning, and was then sent by the emperor to the Ciqing Palace, wearing a blue robe and a small hat as an attendant without any title, she felt that she could not understand this person. When he suddenly turned into the manager of the Wan'an Palace of the prince's biological mother, she completely felt that this person was more cunning than she had thought.
Therefore, Chu Kuan humbly claimed that she came here on behalf of the Imperial Noble Consort and donated a sum of money to the girls' school. She just felt that people were using the title of Imperial Noble Consort to have ulterior motives. You know, although the former He Fei is now the Imperial Noble Consort, even higher than her pregnant mother Yu Fei, this humble mother of the prince is a person who would not stand out if she could.
Even now, when people are managing palace affairs, they still rely more on the female official sent by the Empress Dowager to assist. If it weren't for Concubine Yu's increasing health and difficulty in moving, the Imperial Noble Concubine would most likely push all the power to Concubine Yu.
And would such a mother of the prince, who wished she could be even more inconspicuous, send Chu Kuan to give money to support girls' education? If she was following the Queen Mother to do such a thing, it would be more like it!
Princess Yongping was already extremely alert. Hong, who had been in the palace for a long time, also felt that things were a bit complicated. Ye, because of her experience in the election, had always kept a distance from the affairs between the concubines. So none of the three of them said anything. The others didn't realize it at all, and were all surprised and happy.
Chen, who had been the first to agree with Zhu Ying, could not help but praise: "Royal Concubine, this is really timely relief. We were still discussing Miss Zhu's plan before. When the enrollment is in progress, we will send people to investigate and verify these applicants!"
Seeing that Chen still called Zhu Ying by her old name and Zhu Ying frowned, Chu Kuan smiled and said, "Oh, so the Imperial Inspector appointed by the Emperor actually came up with such a plan? Is he going to use the manpower of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion, or is he going to use our Sixth Master's reputation of being invincible in the capital? Anyway, both are fine, but it does require money to pave the way, so just use it."
"This money is said to be the Imperial Concubine's personal property. It's not much, only one thousand strings of cash, but half of it is the money saved by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. This time, it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who asked the Imperial Concubine to do this good deed."
After pointing out the topic, seeing Zhu Ying smiling as usual, the others, including Princess Yongping, all had slightly changed expressions, some puzzled, some surprised, some hesitant, some expectant, Chu Kuan then said as if nothing had happened: "Of course, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also has a very urgent matter, and hopes to ask for your help."
"The thing is, the Crown Prince's brother, the Fourth Prince, who has always been close to him, has been staying outside the palace out of spite and has been placed in a public school by Master Zhang."
He briefly introduced the Fourth Prince's study and life experiences in the public school - of course, he omitted the very dangerous things like pretending to be the head of the dormitory to visit the homes of classmates in need, and instigating Ah Liu and Xiao Cheng and Xiao Huasheng to go to the Kong family to pretend to be ghosts - Chu Kuan paused again, and waited until everyone understood what had happened. Only then did he bring up the matter of the gambling fight between the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen.
Of course, he would not forget to mention to Zhang Shou the dual funding plan for public schools that he was planning to launch, as well as the practice of patrolling students to various districts to give lectures to poor children.
Seeing that some people were amazed at Zhang Shou's far-sighted thinking, while others were frowning in deep thought, as if they didn't understand what this matter had to do with them, Chu Kuan didn't explain, but said with a smile: "Master Zhang set up the gambling place in Tongzhou, but he can't leave, so someone is needed to judge."
"To be honest, there is the Imperial Censor appointed by the Emperor right in front of us. She is actually the most suitable person. However, you have to know that Scholar Zhang and she are newlyweds. Scholar Zhang himself cannot go, so how can he let her go? As for those students of Scholar Zhang, who can suppress the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen? Therefore, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince knew that there was a person from Tongzhou among you, so he sent me to deliver his personal letter."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't care who wins or loses between the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen, but he hopes for fairness and justice, so that the Fourth Prince can be convinced and return to the palace as soon as possible. He hopes someone can be a good judge without bias. The reason why he thought that someone among you might be suitable is because he thinks that some of you are from Tongzhou, and the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen will always respect women a little more."
No wonder! No one else said anything, Princess Yongping at least knew a little about the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen. Compared with the Third Prince, the Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince was much more impulsive and stubborn. When he got angry, he didn't care if you were a woman or not!
As for Zhang Chen, he didn't even consider his own worth and declared that he would not marry anyone but a stunning beauty. Of course, there were girls with outstanding looks who approached him and tried to become the future wife of Qin. But Zhang Chen became hypocritical at this time, saying that those girls were attracted by his status rather than himself.
Did Zhang Chen think that there was anything else worth praising besides his status? As many people were frustrated and angry, and some were even implicated, Zhang Chen had already lost his reputation in the small circle of daughters of certain wealthy families in the capital.
These two people are betting and fighting. If any woman other than Zhu Ying thinks she is powerful enough to judge, she will simply be asking for humiliation!
Princess Yongping watched from the sidelines and found that the female teachers present were all smart people. They were all silent and no one spoke up to take responsibility. So, she was slightly relieved and was about to speak up to reject the matter on behalf of everyone. Who knew that Chu Kuan was not forced to retreat by the silence of the crowd, but smiled and spoke again.
"I know you all have concerns, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not forcing you. He has already consulted the Emperor and met Duke Qin in person, and both agree with his approach of inviting judges from the women's school. If anyone can lend a hand, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Duke Qin will owe her a favor."
He knew that if he said that, some people would inevitably agree out of utilitarianism, so he said solemnly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Duke Qin have said that if the Fourth Prince or Zhang Chen makes a mistake, the two will only respond to hard tactics and not soft tactics. Scholar Zhang used hard tactics to convince them, so if necessary, the judge can also use hard tactics."
"..." Among the stunned faces, Ye's surprised face stood out. How could she not know that this was a hint for her, the only one who could fight besides Zhu Ying, to take on this task?
To say that she had absolutely no feelings for the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen, nor did she have any urgent desire to get married, in fact, she herself did not particularly care about the so-called favors of the Crown Prince and the Duke of Qin.
However, her father was old and her brother was still young. If she could let those two take care of the family in the future, wouldn't she have fewer worries when she wanted to leave Beijing and travel around the world? After all, she had seen enough of this narrow world.
Thinking of this, in the midst of hesitation and worry, Ye said: "Are you serious, Eunuch Chu? As long as you can judge fairly, the rest is up to me? Even if I don't like them and beat them up?"
Hearing the word "beat" which was obviously not something a woman should say, the group of female teachers almost all looked at her sideways. When they saw Ye's nonchalant expression, some of them just remembered that this future colleague was said to have beaten a lackey in the street until he could not take care of himself, and finally cut off the ear of the young man who was tempted by beauty and took him to the Shuntian government office!
And what he taught at the girls' school was completely different from what they were taught. He didn't teach women to be submissive or humble, but to teach women how to protect themselves, how to defend themselves, and how not to be bullied by scoundrels! To be honest, they actually wanted to learn...
Chu Kuan finally got Ye's answer, and his smile became even brighter: "As long as it can intimidate the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen, then of course it's up to you. However, Miss Ye also needs to know when to stop, otherwise it won't be a judgment, but an enemy."
"Of course I don't need to do that." Ye smiled calmly and immediately said to Princess Yongping and Zhu Ying, "Before enrolling students, I think a female teacher who only teaches self-defense is useless. Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has sent Eunuch Chu to offer such generous conditions, please allow me to go to Tongzhou to make such a judgment. I don't have much to ask for, I just hope that someone can take care of my old father and younger brother in the future."
This kind of favor might come in handy at a critical moment in the future, and Ye spoke frankly at this moment. Although others felt that this was a bit like an imperial decree before, they were now speechless and could only watch Chu Kuan smilingly handing the handwritten letter from the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace to Ye.
After receiving the letter calmly, Ye took the letter and unfolded it in public, then handed it to Princess Yongping calmly: "I will not write a reply, please forward it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince after returning to the palace. Tongzhou is a strategic point of the capital, with uneven distribution of wealth and many poor people. If the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen are sincere in their work, I will certainly not find fault with them, but..."
"But if they are fighting just for their own pride and don't care about the lives and feelings of others, then don't blame me for being rude!"
