Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 763: It’s better to do it today than to wait for a day
Zhang Shou's wedding a few days ago was grand and orderly, thanks to the excellent servants borrowed from the Duke of Qin's Mansion and other mansions, and the strict control of every process. Of course, everyone in Zhang Garden knew that the wedding was so smooth, and the people who should be thanked the most were Zhang Shou's students who volunteered to help.
The most outstanding person among them, apart from Lu Sanlang, the supporter, is Zhang Chen.
You know, Zhang Chen was polite and well-spoken throughout the whole process, from welcoming the bride to entertaining guests. Even though many people have heard about Zhang Chen's change, he is not like Lu Sanlang, who can turn over a new leaf and become a genius. So seeing is believing. Seeing with one's own eyes that the former leading figure among the dandies in the capital can now treat people so maturely, everyone is extremely impressed.
Zhang Chen himself, however, was like a wilted vegetable the day after the wedding and did not go out for several days. People who did not know him thought that he was still in love with Zhu Ying, so he felt bad after she married into the Zhang family... But people in the Zhang family of the Duke of Qin's Mansion, such as Zhang Chen's parents, knew that Zhang Chen had exerted too much effort at once, so he was weak afterwards.
He was dressed up beautifully to serve as a best man to welcome the bride, and then had to greet guests in front of everyone. He had to greet all kinds of people he usually didn't want to deal with with a smile, and had to say all kinds of things he usually didn't like to say... Most importantly, some of the young girls and wives who came to watch the fun only had Zhang Shou in their eyes, which disappointed Zhang Chen, who had originally planned to take the opportunity to hunt for beauties.
However, there were too few unmarried daughters who went to Zhang Garden for the banquet, so Zhang Chen's purpose of taking the opportunity to see if there were any suitable girls as marriage candidates was completely ruined, and it was inevitable that he lost interest afterwards.
Therefore, he completely forgot about the bet. He slept until noon as usual that morning. When he heard the servants report that Zhang Shou had come , he was confused for a while before he asked stupidly, "What is he doing here? I didn't skip classes. I came back from Cangzhou and my studies at Banshan Hall are over."
"I am not a student supervisor now!"
The servant who came to report was so stupid that he cried. Banshan Hall is no longer in the Imperial College, but don't you still regard Zhang Xueshi as your teacher? And the problem is, I didn't say that they came to catch you skipping classes! A few days ago, you were still talking about making a bet with the fourth prince. How come you have completely forgotten it after just a few days?
Therefore, he could only remind him tactfully. It happened that Zhang Chen had been eating and sleeping these days, and was in a daze the rest of the time. His brain was several times slower than usual. He had already pointed out the word "bet", but Zhang Chen was still at a loss.
This time, convinced that his young master was beyond saving, the servant simply withdrew and respectfully let Zhang Shouqing in. Of course, he also included the Fourth Prince who seemed to be his follower, and several others.
Although the servant could tell at a glance that the unruly kid behind Zhang Shou was definitely not a follower, but the one who made a bet with his young master, he still did not expose him. Anyway, his master had said that if it was Master Zhang who came to visit, he would be treated well regardless of whether he was there or not, so Zhang Chen's intentions were irrelevant.
Such a lazy young master needs someone to whip him up like a spinning top, otherwise he will really be dried up by the winter sun!
Sure enough, when the servant brought Zhang Shou and his party directly to Zhang Chen, he saw the young master staring at the newcomers for a long time, then he let out a strange cry and jumped up.
"Little, little, little, little...teacher!"
When hearing such a title, Zhang Shou was fine, but the Fourth Prince burst out laughing. It was obvious that he had originally intended to call him Little Master, but after biting his tongue, he thought it would be more appropriate to call him Teacher! Behind the Fourth Prince, although Luo Sanhe had seen Zhang Chen from a distance several times, this was the first time he had such close contact with him, and his evaluation of Zhang Chen was further lowered by three points.
However, after stuttering, Zhang Chen suddenly came to his senses as if he had suddenly realized something: "This is the start of the bet between me and the Fourth Prince. Are you planning to go to Tongzhou?"
After saying this, seeing Zhang Shou looking at him with a half-smile, thinking of his decadence in the past two days, he pretended to be relaxed and glanced at the Fourth Prince, with an expression that he was sure to win: "With just the three of them, it's still a hundred years too early to beat me! I've been conserving my energy these days, and I'll definitely beat them when the time comes!"
If the Fourth Prince had heard such contemptuous words in the past, he would have been furious. However, now he was surprisingly calm, and even looked at Zhang Chen indifferently, as if an adult was looking at an ignorant child, completely the opposite. Sure enough, this look from him immediately made Zhang Chen furious.
However, before Zhang Chen could continue to provoke him, Zhang Shou ended the brief confrontation and announced the newly joined Luo Sanhe and the judges. After he said this, Zhang Chen, who was just angry with the Fourth Prince, immediately shifted his attention, first looked Luo Sanhe up and down, and then threw the promise of the Imperial Household Department aside, and focused his attention on another matter.
"What does this have to do with Miss Ye? Are all the men in the capital dead? Why do you want a woman like her to judge?"
"If you dare to say this to her face, Zhang Chen, you will die right now." The fourth prince said something cool. Seeing Zhang Chen's face suddenly darkened, he said earnestly, "The teacher can't go to Tongzhou to judge us . Then, no matter who goes, Senior Brother Lu, who can be convinced? Sixth Brother is very suitable, but the problem is that he can't leave the teacher."
"At this time, fighting is worse than talking. So the teacher must have made the judgment that Miss Ye is good at fighting and we can't beat her. Even if we want to win by relying on numbers... do you have the nerve to fight a woman?"
Of course I'm embarrassed... No way! Zhang Chen's forehead was throbbing with veins, and he wanted to give the naughty kid a good beating. However, the Fourth Prince relied on Zhang Shou's presence and arrogantly made faces at him, so he could only suppress his anger in his heart. Not to mention that Zhu Ying had tried to match him up with Ye, but it didn't work out. But even if that didn't happen, he wouldn't embarrass a woman.
Of course, this woman would not be so weak that she would be easily defeated... And considering her personality, she would not favor the Fourth Prince, and certainly not him. As for favoring Luo Sanhe, a eunuch in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, that was even more impossible. If she could choose, Ye would definitely make all three of them lose.
So, he stopped paying attention to the Fourth Prince's provocation, coughed, and said seriously: "That's it, when are you going to Tongzhou, teacher, just tell me directly."
"Then let's do it today." Zhang Shou said these five words calmly. Seeing Zhang Chen dumbfounded, he laughed and said, "As the saying goes, it's better to do it today than today. You've been betting for a few days. It just so happened that my wedding was delayed for a few days. If we don't start now, it will be the New Year. If we go to Tongzhou today, we can at least get a result before the New Year."
Seeing that Zhang Chen's face was still a little stupid, he said slowly: "Besides, didn't you say that you had already gathered your strength? Could it be that you are not ready yet?"
Even though he was just being tough, Zhang Shou really used his words to shut him up, leaving Zhang Chen speechless. He could only nod his head in dismay: "Today is today, I'll have someone pack their luggage and we'll leave right away!"
However, before he could think about who to take with him, the Fourth Prince rushed ahead and said, "You only need to bring two sets of clothes. What's the point of packing? Besides, we are the only five people here who will go. No one more can go. If someone relies on his family's power and brings dozens of people, then the other two parties will definitely lose, right?"
This time, Zhang Chen was really angry. After all, he was a nobleman who had been pampered since childhood. When he went out, he would only worry about how many followers to bring with him, and he would never go out without followers... Although he was not so unattended that he could not even wear clothes, but he really had no ability to live without followers!
However, if he refuted the Fourth Prince's proposal, he would appear guilty. For a moment, Zhang Chen felt as if a breath of anger was stuck in his throat, and he was almost injured.
Zhang Shou knew very well what the naughty kid meant by saying this suddenly. Although he wanted to take the opportunity to test the people in front of him, he would not deliberately set a nightmare-like difficulty for Zhang Chen.
So, he glanced at the fourth prince who was thinking he had a good plan, and said lightly: "If you say so, Zheng Yan, then if you have the ability, don't let Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng take care of it. That would be fair and reasonable. After all, Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng are familiar with the market and one knows martial arts. You can't take advantage of them!"
The fourth prince didn't expect Zhang Shou to hit his soft spot with his words, and his face immediately turned red. However, the naughty boy also knew that his words just now were suspected of taking advantage of the situation, so he made a bitter face and dared not say anything else.
At this time, Luo Sanhe seemed to want to speak a fair word, but Zhang Shou choked him back when he said it. Because what Zhang Shou said was the only concern in his heart.
"Zhang Chen got in touch with the people's livelihood when he went to Xingtai and Cangzhou, but most of the time he only dealt with local tyrants and gentry. As for those spinners and weavers, I think even if you personally contacted them, you would not be able to understand the qualifications of their children and whether they can read and write. As for Luo Sanhe, how long have you not been in contact with the people since you went to school?"
"So, this time, Luo Sanhe, I will lend you an attendant from the public school. You can take him with you to Tongzhou, so that you won't be caught in the dark and complain that Zheng Yan is plotting against you. As for Zhang Chen, I originally wanted you to choose a capable attendant from your family, but then I thought, maybe Zheng Yan will be worried about you using the people in the Qin Guogong Mansion's industries in Tongzhou."
Seeing Zhang Chen's sudden anger, Zhang Shou said slowly: "You are a competitive person, but you are also upright, so I think once you agree to the conditions, you will never ask for help from others, but the people from your Qin Guogong Mansion may help you on their own initiative, so you can't say for sure at that time. So, why don't I borrow an attendant from Zhang Yuan for you."
"He is Yang Hao from Rongshui Village. He is half of Liu's apprentice. Although he is a little clumsy, he is still good at fighting. Although he is not skilled as a servant, at least he has learned how to take care of people. After all, Liu trained him as my follower. The most important thing is that he can ensure that he will follow your instructions and never do unnecessary things."
Zhang Chen was somewhat familiar with the name Yang Hao - after thinking about it carefully, he remembered that he was the grandson of Yang Laoguan. Although it was a bit harsh not to allow him to bring his own followers, the two friends of the Fourth Prince had only known each other for a few days, and the three of them together had not read much, so he felt that Zhang Shou's condition was acceptable.
That's right, Master Zhang was mysteriously confident that he had read more books than the three little guys of the Fourth Prince combined. He never thought about the fact that he was a truant teacher in Banshan Hall and had angered countless teachers since he was a child...
Luo Sanhe also felt that there was nothing wrong with Zhang Shou's additional condition, but he still expressed cautiously that he hoped to appoint his own follower. He immediately called out a student from the class he taught today - that was the only one who asked questions during class, and he left a deep impression on him.
Zhang Shou agreed immediately, pretending not to notice the Fourth Prince's crazy winking at Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng behind his back. The Fourth Prince was indeed gloating to the point of going crazy. Although the three of them were the only three soldiers in the middle class who remained unchanged, he still tried to remember the names and general characteristics of each of his classmates who came and went like water.
For example, the one chosen by Luo Sanhe, in his opinion, was just crazy for being in the limelight. Normally, those teachers had long been impatient with people and were too lazy to answer their endless low-level questions. Only a novice teacher like Luo Sanhe, who knew nothing, would choose such a guy with so many questions.
Anyway, Luo Sanhe will regret his decision in a few days, so he is no !
As for Zhang Chen…even though he got a servant from Zhang Garden, he had been to Zhang Garden several times and knew who Yang Hao was. In his opinion, Yang Hao was brought to Zhang Garden first and got many opportunities because he was from the same village as Zhang Shou and was the grandson of the most respected old man in the village, Yang.
But the boy was a little stupid in his recklessness, just like what Zhang Shou said, a little dumb. In comparison, Peanut was simply too smart, so agile and clever that he could hardly control him. Although Xiao Cheng was stubborn, his upright character was at least an advantage, not to mention the good martial arts he learned from Zhu Tingfang.
So, the confident Fourth Prince quietly waved his fist at his two friends, then looked at Zhang Shou and asked expectantly, "Teacher, how will we compete after we get to Tongzhou? Should we each designate an area in Tongzhou City, and then give lectures to select students, or should we have three groups of people take turns giving lectures in the same area to see how to select promising talents from the same students?"
The next moment, he saw Zhang Shou's meaningful smile: "You will know when you get there."
