Chapter 152: The True or False Master (9)
9
The entire Yi family has become a mess.
Yi Zizhen was crying and making a fuss. Master Yi turned to Madam Yi to ask, "What do you mean? Who was that Master Zhu just now?"
Without waiting for Madam Yi to answer, Yi Zizhen shouted, "He is the descendant of Master Zhu from a hundred years ago! He is an acquaintance of Master Pei and Master Liu. Just now, the two old masters came out to greet him in person, talked to him with a smile, and sent two young masters to accompany him!"
Mr. Yi still didn't believe it and looked at Mrs. Yi.
Mrs. Yi nodded, he was right.
"Ah..." Master Yi exclaimed and fell into his chair.
Who knew that this Master Zhu had such a great background? He thought he was just a country bumpkin.
Did Master Pei and Master Liu see it? Did they hear it?
Will they spread the news when they return? What should we do?
Master Yi came back to his senses and pointed at Yi Zizhen and Madam Yi: "You...why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
Yi Zizhen shouted, "I wanted to say it several times, but my father wouldn't let me. What can I do?"
Master Yi slammed the table, his voice was loud despite his lack of confidence: "How dare you talk back! You have also learned the lawlessness from Lin Jingzhe and started to talk back to your elders!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Madam Yi quickly protected Yi Zizhen: "Okay, okay, it's my fault. We saw it on the way back. We came back right away and didn't have time to send someone back to inform in advance."
Master Yi became even more excited: "You too, when I scolded Lin Jingzhe just now, didn't you rush over to protect him? Now you know to protect Zizhen, you also protected Lin Jingzhe just now!"
Madam Yi was stunned for a moment: "Master, are you blaming me?"
"Who else should I blame if not you?" Master Yi's voice got louder. "I don't know who Master Zhu is. You brought him back, how could you not know? Is it so difficult to send someone back to tell me?"
"I've been talking to them for such a long time, and you didn't interrupt? Is it so difficult for you to just walk over to me and say something? You just stand there and watch me make a fool of myself? Shame on you! You've completely disgraced the Earl's Mansion!"
His face turned red, but his words were louder than thunder.
He had just scolded Lin Jingzhe in the same way.
Apart from Zhu Qingchen, how could anyone else dare to interrupt?
Master Yi slammed the table hard.
Mrs. Yi sat down
Next to her, she lowered her head and wept, wiping her tears with a handkerchief. Yi Zizhen also had red eyes and stayed beside her mother.
The originally harmonious family of three were all angry, and the main hall became extremely quiet for a while.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Jiming, who was standing next to him, spoke.
"Uncle, aunt, Zizhen, I'm going to go out and take a look. Master Zhu and Jingzhe don't have a carriage, so they shouldn't have gone far. I'll go and explain to you that uncle just loves you too much and blames you too harshly."
The family looked up as if they had grasped a life-saving straw, with hope glittering in their eyes.
Master Yi said quickly, "Okay, okay, thank you Jiming, go quickly."
"Yes." Lu Jiming touched Yi Zizhen's hair and reassured him, "Don't worry, the two masters are not narrow-minded people, they won't hold a grudge against you because of these things."
"Yeah." Yi Zizhen nodded and looked at him with tears in his eyes, "Thank you, Brother Jiming."
The family watched him leave.
Yi Zizhen wiped his face, calmed down, and walked to his father: "Dad, I was wrong. I was too anxious just now. Don't be angry with me. It's all my fault. If I had come back earlier and told you, nothing would have happened."
No matter what, he still has to hold on to his parents' hearts.
*
On the other side, Lu Jiming strode out of the Earl's Mansion and caught up with them in front of the door.
"Master Zhu? Master Zhu, please stay!"
Zhu Qingchen was originally walking out surrounded by three children, when he suddenly heard Lu Jiming's voice behind him. He had to stop and look back.
Lu Jiming stepped forward quickly, bowed and saluted: "Congratulations, Master."
Zhu Qingchen nodded slightly: "Anything else?"
"Master Pei's residence is a little far from the Earl's residence. Master Zhu, please wait for a moment. I will send a carriage over."
"No need. I haven't been to the capital for a long time. I can just walk back with the children."
Before Lu Jiming could say anything, he saw Zhu Qingchen was about to leave and hurriedly chased after him.
"Master Zhu, don't be angry. That's just the temper of my uncle. It's not that he doesn't like Jingzhe. On the contrary, he likes Jingzhe. It's precisely because he likes Jingzhe that he gets angry when he sees Jingzhe wandering around and becoming like this."
Lu Jiming is quite good at confusing right and wrong.
Because she likes Lin Jingzhe, she starts by scolding him and giving him a warning.
This statement is simply ridiculous.
Zhu Qingchen was unmoved
, Lu Jiming turned to Lin Jingzhe again: "Jingzhe, your uncle really likes you. He asked you to mourn for Lin Laosan because he didn't know what Lin Laosan did to you. He was afraid that people would gossip about you."
Lin Jingzhe stood beside the teacher, also lowered his head and said nothing.
Lu Jiming continued, "He is afraid that you have just arrived and there might be rumors in the capital that might hurt you, so he wants to teach you some rules."
Lin Jingzhe finally responded and asked, "Then why did he tell others that I was a relative's child?"
"this……"
Now Lu Jiming couldn't make up any more stories.
Zhu Qingchen laughed, turned around, and said calmly: "Mr. Lu, if I were you, I wouldn't chase you out."
"Master Lu is really good to the Earl's Mansion. When the Earl's Mansion wanted to find his relatives, Master Lu rushed to Linjia Village; when the Earl's Mansion had a quarrel, Master Lu rushed to mediate."
"I asked Mr. Lu before if he had any other relationship with the Earl's Mansion, and he said no. Now it seems that it is not necessarily the case."
Lu Jiming said solemnly: "My family and the Earl's Mansion are old friends. The Earl's Mansion's affairs are naturally my affairs. I am just being kind. Why should Master Zhu..."
"But you haven't even sorted out your own affairs, Master Lu." Zhu Qingchen said seriously, "I asked Master Lu to pass on a message for me, asking someone from the Earl's Mansion to come in person. How did Master Lu pass on the message?"
"In my opinion, sending someone to pick me up and testing my blood relationship is just a basic matter. But why do all the people in the Earl's Mansion think that Jingzhe is just showing off?"
"Mr. Lu, dare you say that you were not biased when you passed on the message?"
"This..." Lu Jiming took a step back unconsciously and was speechless.
He didn't expect that Zhu Qingchen had even guessed this matter.
Yes, at that time he was not able to bring Lin Jingzhe back to the capital, and he was very upset. When he came back to pass on the message...
Just like what Zhu Qingchen said just now, he said that Lin Jingzhe and Master Zhu were very arrogant and could not be invited, so someone from the Earl's Mansion had to go and pick them up in person.
Because of this, the Earl's Mansion did not have a very good impression of Lin Jingzhe.
Zhu Qingchen said, "Mr. Lu went to Linjia Village alone to pick someone up because he was asked by the Earl's Mansion. He didn't want to make this public, right? Mr. Lu stopped me from reporting to the police because he was told by the Earl's Mansion not to spread the news, right?"
"Rumors don't spread overnight. The Earl's Mansion had no intention of letting Jingzhe return to his ancestral home from the beginning, let alone giving Jingzhe an identity, right?"
"Mr. Lu, you are running between the capital and Linjia Village. How could you not know the Earl's Mansion's attitude towards Jingzhe? But you said nothing and watched Jingzhe return to the Earl's Mansion."
"If I hadn't followed Jingzhe into the mansion today, if I hadn't met Pei and Liu on the street today, Jingzhe would have been unable to return to Linjia Village and would have had nowhere to go. I would have had to accept the arrangements made by the Earl's Mansion and let you do whatever you want."
"Is that what you planned?"
"Mr. Lu also has a share of the credit for the Earl's Mansion's attitude towards Lin Jingzhe today." Zhu Qingchen said seriously, "So I say, if I were Mr. Lu, I would never chase him out."
"I didn't argue with Master Lu about those things because I knew clearly that Master Lu was not the mastermind. I only argued with the Earl's Mansion. But Master Lu shouldn't think that we don't know anything and come here to play the good guy!"
Zhu Qingchen was right about everything. Lu Jiming's face turned pale and blue, and he didn't look very well.
He thought he was as gentle as jade, but Zhu Qingchen called him a "two-faced person". How could he bear it?
Zhu Qingchen finally said: "If Master Lu really wants to be a good person, he should go and persuade the Earl's Mansion to make all preparations before coming to pick up the people, instead of persuading Jingzhe to accept their calculations."
"Goodbye."
After Zhu Qingchen said this, he left with the three children.
Lu Jiming stood there for an unknown amount of time before the servant in front of the Earl's Mansion came forward and called out, "Mr. Lu?"
Lu Jiming's face was gloomy and he turned back.
Zhu Qingchen never knew what was good for him. His words were like knives, always hitting the mark.
If it weren't for him, Lin Jingzhe's problem would have been solved long ago. How could it have become so troublesome?
Returning to the main hall and meeting Yi Zizheng's hopeful gaze, Lu Jiming suddenly felt guilty and shook his head.
"How about... Uncle and Aunt acknowledge his identity and go pick him up?"
Yi Zizhen burst into tears when he heard this: "Then what should I do? Brother Jiming, I don't want to change my surname, I don't want to go back to Linjia Village, I want to stay in the Earl's Mansion, I want to be with my parents!"
*
Regardless of the flood in the Earl's mansion, Zhu Qingchen happily walked back with his three children.
After the battle just now, the way Pei Zhen and Liu Yun looked at him became exactly the same as Lin Jingzhe's.
Wonder, admiration, reverence, sparkling!
"Master Zhu, you are so amazing!"
"This is the first time I've seen someone scold Lu Jiming like this.
, every word hit him in the heart."
Zhu Qingchen asked: "You don't like him either?"
"That's not true..."
Liu Yun was about to speak when Pei Zhen touched his arm and told him to shut up: "Grandpa doesn't allow us to say bad things about others behind their backs."
"It doesn't matter." Zhu Qingchen said, "You can tell me, I'm not afraid of your grandfather."
Liu Yun whispered, "I didn't like him when I was in school. He's just pretending. Just like when they were arguing just now and Jingzhe was scolded, he didn't say a word. But when Jingzhe started to make a fuss, he spoke out. But everyone says he has a good temper. How can his temper, which doesn't distinguish right from wrong and appears to be calm on the surface, be considered a good temper?"
Zhu Qingchen nodded: "What you said makes sense."
Liu Yun smiled: "So what Master Zhu said just now was very good. This is the first time I see Lu Jiming so frustrated. I will go back and write it down, and take it out to read when I feel unhappy."
Pei Zhen felt helpless when he saw his silly look.
Zhu Qingchen turned his head and looked at Lin Jingzhe.
He walked forward with his head down, looking depressed.
Lin Jingzhe raised his head and found Zhu Qingchen looking at him. He quickly wiped his eyes and called out, "Master."
Zhu Qingchen patted his shoulder vigorously and said, "You should be happy that you have survived the disaster. Why are you crying?"
"I……"
"This kind of thing cannot be rushed. If you stay today, you will let them manipulate you in the future whatever they say."
"I know." Lin Jingzhe nodded, "I'm not in a hurry to go back, I just..."
He just didn't expect that his father would treat him like this, and his mother didn't say anything.
The parents he imagined seemed a little different from the parents he met.
"If they are willing, they will clarify your identity first and then come to pick you up. I will accompany you back. If they want to kick you out, I will accompany you to file a complaint with the authorities."
"Well, I will listen to you, Master."
Liu Yun hugged his shoulders and said, "Don't be sad. This is your first time in Beijing, right? I'll take you out to play."
Pei Zhen pinched his brows and rescued Lin Jingzhe: "Don't do anything when you come up, you'll scare him."
Zhu Qingchen tilted his head and gazed slightly.
that is……
Xiao Xiao Liu and Xiao Xiao Pei's personalities seem to be the opposite of their grandfather.
It's a bit strange.
When they returned to Pei Mansion, most of the students who had gathered in front of the door had dispersed, but Pei Xuan and Liu An did not go in. The two of them stood guard at the door, leaning on their crutches.
They were afraid that if they didn't keep a close eye on him for a moment, the Master would ride on a cloud back to heaven.
However, this time, the brothers who were originally so close to each other did not stand together, but stood aside, far away, turned their heads away, and no one looked at each other.
Zhu Qingchen jumped onto the steps, opened his arms, and asked, "What's wrong? I just left and you guys started arguing? Why are you standing so far away?"
Two students, leaning on crutches, walked up to the teacher and helped him in, one on the left and one on the right.
Liu An was the first to complain: "Master, Pei Xuan is disrespectful and is committing crimes against his superiors."
Zhu Qingchen turned his head and looked at Pei Xuan: "Your senior brother said that you are disrespectful, what do you want to defend yourself?"
Pei Xuan whispered, "Senior Brother didn't let the Master live in my house, and he even hit me with his cane."
Zhu Qingchen turned his head to look at Liu An again: "How could you hit my junior brother? You are already in your seventies and eighties, and you still have the energy to fight?"
The three children followed behind them, staring in amazement.
Liu Yun touched Pei Zhen's elbow: "What happened to your grandfather and my grandfather? Are they crazy?"
Pei Zhen glared at him and said, "Shut up."
The group returned to the room, Zhu Qingchen sat in the main seat, and the two students sat on both sides.
As soon as he sat down, the servants outside came to report that other adults had also arrived.
Without waiting for the message to be passed, two or three old men rushed in from outside, carrying official uniforms, looking like the young boys before: "Master?"
Zhu Qingchen sat in the main seat and smiled at them: "Yeah."
The eyes of several people suddenly turned red. They quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Zhu Qingchen. For a moment, they almost fell down.
Pei Zhen and Liu Yun saw that the situation was not good and hurried to help, but Pei Xuan waved his hand at them: "You two take this little friend Jingzhe to the yard to play for a while, we will talk for a while."
"yes."
Although the two people felt strange, they did not dare to go against their grandfather's wishes and took Lin Jingzhe away.
When going out, Pei Xuan asked them to close the door.
There were only a few teachers and students left in the room. Senior brother Liu An stood up and took a few junior brothers to stand in front of the teacher.
The group put down their crutches, held onto the ground, and knelt down to salute.
Zhu Qingchen hurried over to help them up: "No, no, no need to bow!"
Liu An insisted: "The Master has not returned for a long time.
We haven't performed etiquette to the Master for decades, so we dare not forget the etiquette. The Master should regard it as a fulfillment of our wishes."
Several junior brothers said in unison: "Master, please help us."
Zhu Qingchen said: "You can just stand and bow, no need to be so troublesome, ok?"
"Okay." Liu An finally gave in and bowed to salute along with a few older fellow apprentices.
Zhu Qingchen pursed his lips, almost crying, and reached out to help them: "Alright, alright, it's ok, sit down and talk."
Just like before, the group dragged the cushions over and sat around the Master.
They looked at Zhu Qingchen with tears in their eyes: "Master is still the same as before, he hasn't changed at all, but we have all grown old."
Liu An said: "This matter cannot be spread. Just tell the public that the Master is the descendant of Master Zhu."
"Yes, don't worry, I will keep my mouth shut later."
Zhu Qingchen glanced at them one by one, and he could even vaguely recognize and say their names.
"Song Feng? Chen Zheng?"
There were originally more than ten students, but now there are only a few left.
He didn't dare to ask, but he knew clearly what was going on.
He only dared to ask: "How are you doing?"
The students nodded with tears in their eyes: "Thank you for your concern, Master. We are all fine. What are you doing back in Beijing this time? Is there anything we can do to help?"
Pei Xuan said solemnly: "The Master is the Master of all people in the world. This time he returned to the capital, it must be that Lin Jingzhe was in trouble, and the Master came down to earth to help!"
That makes sense!
Zhu Qingchen held his forehead and said, "Okay, Pei Xuan, don't talk for now. I have forgotten everything I wanted to say."
He thought about it and briefly told them about Lin Jingzhe.
"Jingzhe grew up in the village. When he was young, he was beaten and scolded by Lin Laosan. He finally survived until Lin Laosan died. The Earl's Mansion came to him, but he didn't want to set things right."
The students all frowned, looking puzzled.
Liu An asked: "The Earl's Mansion doesn't want to take him back, what do you want to do?"
"The Earl's Mansion means to raise Jingzhe as a relative's child, and Yi Zizhen is still the Earl's Mansion's biological child." Zhu Qingchen said, "I can probably understand why they think this way."
"They have raised Yi Zizhen for more than ten years and trained him as the heir to the Earl's Mansion. The money and energy they have spent on him are immeasurable. They don't want to teach Jingzhe from scratch, nor do they want to give up their achievements over the years, so they can only let Jingzhe down.
”
"They took Jingzhe back, fed him and clothed him warmly, and after a few years, sent him out to be someone else's male wife. This would be a great blessing from heaven. And if Yi Zizhen inherited the title, he would be able to protect him. This is the perfect plan they had in mind."
"This is ridiculous." Liu An slammed the table, "The succession to the title is determined by the imperial court. How dare they conceal such a big thing and replace the candidate at will?"
Pei Xuan relied on his many years of experience in solving cases in the Dali Temple and felt that something was wrong: "Master, are you saying that Lu Jiming came to our house right after Lin Lao San died?"
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen nodded. It seemed that something was indeed wrong when he said that.
How could it be such a coincidence? Not too early, not too late.
Pei Xuan said: "This matter is full of doubts. Don't worry, Master. I will ask the students of the Dali Temple to investigate."
"Okay." Zhu Qingchen was very satisfied. His students had grown up and had their own students, so he could help his master share the burden.
"Then Master, please stay here peacefully for the time being..."
Several students turned their heads and shot him with eyes like swords. Stay here? Where? Live here with you?
impossible!
Zhu Qingchen knew they would make a scene because of this, so he quickly raised his hands and said, "Okay, don't worry, I've already thought about it! Lunxu, I'll take Jingzhe with me, and we'll stay at everyone's house for three days!"
Barely acceptable.
Liu An said, "There is an order of seniority. I am the eldest brother, so you should stay at my place first."
"Okay." Zhu Qingchen finally asked, "By the way, what is the character of His Majesty now? If this matter gets out..."
"Master, you can rest assured about this. Although the current emperor is young, he has a kind nature. He was taught by my senior brother himself, so he can't be wrong."
"Wow!" Zhu Qingchen looked at Liu An in surprise, "Is An'er the Imperial Teacher now?"
Liu An sat up straighter and said seriously, "It's the teacher's teaching that's good."
The group of people gathered together and talked until dark, when their families came to treat them to a meal.
Zhu Qingchen was surrounded by a group of elderly people and walked out of the room.
*
In less than a day, the name Zhu Qingchen spread throughout Yong'an City once again.
Decades ago, Zhu Qingchen was a famous young scholar in Yong'an City.
Decades later, Zhu Qingchen was Master Zhu's grandson.
Although it sounds strange that the grandfather and grandson have the same name and surname, no one dares to mention it.
Because Master Zhu's disciples are everywhere, once he is said
If you say anything bad, you will be caught on the spot by Master Zhu’s disciples who appear out of nowhere!
They must immediately admit that "Master Zhu is the best master in the world", and only then will Master Zhu's disciples let them go!
Zhu Qingchen took Lin Jingzhe to stay at several students' homes, eating and drinking, and lived a very happy life.
The big villain is a little unhappy. He cannot reveal the fact that he knows Zhu Qingchen, let alone meet Zhu Qingchen. He can only stay in the Marquis' Mansion with grievance and help investigate the Marquis' Mansion.
Lu Jiming ran around many times for the affairs of the Earl's Mansion, but the Marquis' Mansion was not unhappy and did not stop him. The big villain also suspected that there was something fishy going on.
That day, Zhu Qingchen slept until the sun rose in the warm room arranged for him by his thoughtful disciple in Liu Mansion.
Lin Jingzhe and Liu Yun were flying kites in the yard.
Lin Jingzhe said: "Thank you for accompanying me."
Liu Yun said with a silly smile: "I should be thanking you. If you hadn't come, grandpa wouldn't have let me play. Although Pei Zhen and I grew up together, he is just as old-fashioned as my grandpa and never plays with me."
Pei Zhen sat on the stone bench next to him, propping up his head with a helpless look on his face.
So annoying, so childish, not at all like a kid from an aristocratic family.
Zhu Qingchen hugged the quilt, turned over, listened to the children talking outside the window, and couldn't help smiling.
The system said: "Minister, you are so kind."
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen hugged the quilt, "I am already a master, I want to sleep a little longer."
Just at this moment, a servant came in and reported: "Three gentlemen and masters, someone from the Earl of Changping's Mansion is here, saying that they are here to apologize and pick someone up!"
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