Chapter 2619 Meeting
Mr. Zhuang was surprised. He didn't expect Bai Shan to remember it. He only remembered that he had mentioned it once.
Bai Shan pursed his lips and asked, "Where did you see them, sir?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "He didn't come to me in a teahouse. Perhaps he didn't even know I was in the capital. It was just that this involved old matters, and I felt uneasy, so I sent someone to take a look."
Manbao: "Why are you uneasy, sir? Aren't they the ones who should be uneasy?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "When one's heart is attached to something and has concerns or worries, one naturally becomes uneasy."
Not only Manbao, but even Baishan was puzzled. "Sir, the truth is with us, what are you afraid of?"
Mr. Zhuang said, "I'm not worried about that."
He sighed, "My heart is filled with complex emotions. I'm worried and anxious, and because of my worries, I feel uneasy..."
Bai Shan and Man Bao were very puzzled.
Mr. Zhuang said, "I don't have many friends in my life, and Yao Ge is one of them."
Mr. Zhuang met Yao Ge when he was studying abroad, and they met again later when they went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. Both of them brought their families and got along well. They immediately got together and rented a yard to live in, with each family owning half. They had a very happy time during that time.
Mr. Zhuang looked at his two disciples and said, "This is just like when the three of you were studying together, going in and out together, discussing books together, and making friends together when we went out. Back then, we both came here to take the Imperial College exam."
"Later, I met Chen Fulin in the capital. Knowing I had no hope of passing the Imperial College entrance exam, I decided to wait until the autumn and try to pass. If I didn't pass, I could still take the Mingjing exam the following year." He sighed, "At that time, I wasn't completely confident, but he kept encouraging me. Neither of our families was very wealthy, but he would always let me read the books he borrowed before reading them himself."
Manbao and Baishan were surprised.
They only knew that Yao Ge had stolen Mr. Lu's poems and given them to Chen Fulin, but they didn't know that their relationship would be so good, so Mr. Lu must be even more sad, right?
Man Bao pursed his lips and asked, "I've never asked Mr. why he did that."
Mr. Zhuang looked far away and said softly, "It's nothing more than money. His child was seriously ill at the time..."
Mr. Zhuang sighed, but he didn't hide it from his two disciples. "So I resent him, but I don't resent him that much."
To put it bluntly, Mr. Zhuang still has feelings for this former friend, so he feels a little uneasy after being worried.
Bai Shan and Man Bao looked at each other. At present, their friends are friends and their enemies are enemies. There has not been a situation where their enemies are friends, so they can't quite understand Mr. Zhuang's psychology.
If you don't understand, ask. Manbao asked, "What do you want to do, sir?"
Mr. Zhuang said, "I have no plans to do anything. I just know their purpose for coming to the capital. Let's just let things take their course."
Mr. Zhuang thought that the capital was so big that they might never meet again.
But I didn’t expect that the doorman would receive a letter to Mr. Zhuang the next day.
Mr. Zhuang was stunned when he saw the familiar handwriting on the envelope.
Bai Shan and Man Bao, who were in a hurry to go to the government office, walked by and saw it. They thought it was Mr. Jiang and his men who were going to invite him to have tea again, so they waved and said, "Sir, we will leave first."
Mr. Zhuang came back to his senses, waved to them, and was not in a hurry to leave. Today was not a big court meeting, and there was only one class in Chongwenguan, so he was not in a hurry.
Mr. Zhuang opened the letter beside the car, read it once and put it away.
He had been feeling rather uneasy all day, and even Yin Huo noticed it, so he couldn't help but ask, "Sir, have you run into any difficulties?"
When Mr. Zhuang saw him, he suddenly had an idea and couldn't help laughing.
Yin Huo looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Mr. Zhuang laughed heartily for a while, looking at Yin Huo and said, "I am obsessed with appearances. Others are afraid of home, but what's wrong with me? Hahaha..."
Yin Huo still didn't understand, but when he saw Mr. Zhuang had returned to normal, he said, "Sir, His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have both agreed to my leaving Chongwenguan. I won't be coming to the palace for the next two days."
Mr. Zhuang asked with a smile, "What do you plan to do after you stop studying?"
Yin Huo smiled and said, "Just read a book at home and go to Huguo Temple to visit Master Zhiren from time to time. It's quite comfortable."
Mr. Zhuang knew that Yin Huo had no one to speak with in Chongwenguan now. A new group of students were selected this year, and the distance between him and Yin Huo was even greater. He might not be very happy staying in the palace, so he nodded.
Mr. Zhuang watched him leave, and after leaving the yamen, he went to the banquet calmly.
It was the same teahouse as yesterday. As soon as Mr. Zhuang walked in, a waiter came up to him and asked with a smile, "Mr. Zhuang, would you like to sit on the second floor or in the lobby today?"
Mr. Zhuang said, "I'm here for an appointment in Mei's private room."
When the waiter heard this, he immediately smiled and invited Mr. Zhuang to go upstairs to a private room with a "Plum" sign hanging on the door. He opened the door and invited him in.
There was a man sitting in the room, and he didn't know how long he had been there. When he heard the sound of the door being pushed open, he looked up and saw that it was the waiter again, so he lowered his eyes, but after a moment he raised his head again and looked straight at the person behind the waiter.
Mr. Zhuang walked in, nodded slightly to the waiter, and let him go out.
The waiter closed the door for them, and suddenly there were only two people left in the private room.
Mr. Zhuang looked at the people sitting there, and his father-in-law was also looking at him. He slowly stood up, holding onto the table. He wanted to smile, but found that he couldn't. After a while, he sighed and said, "I thought you wouldn't come."
Mr. Zhuang walked to the table and sat down. Unlike his polite and distant attitude towards Chen Fulin, he was not even polite to the person in front of him.
So Mr. Zhuang chose to remain calm and pointed to the chair opposite him, saying, "Sit down."
Yao Ge then held onto the table and slowly sat down. Neither of them spoke for a while, just looking at each other.
Finally, Yao Ge reacted, stood up, picked up the teapot, and poured him tea with a slightly trembling hand. He pushed the tea to Mr. Zhuang and said with a wry smile, "They say that people should not do bad things in their lives. It's true."
Mr. Zhuang held the tea in his hand, looked at the man who looked even older than himself, and couldn't help but sigh and said, "Is this what you came to me to talk about?"
Yao Ge shook his head. "I originally thought I would never see you again in this lifetime. We are so far apart, and maybe there won't be a chance. Even if there is a chance, I won't have the face to see you again."
Mr. Zhuang frowned slightly.
"But someone came looking for me, and after thinking about it, I felt that I should come and see you. Firstly, it would help me to get rid of a worry, and secondly, it would just be to make amends for what happened back then."
Mr. Zhuang looked at him in surprise. "Someone is looking for you? Is this related to me?"
Yao Ge nodded. "Not long ago, someone came to me to ask about what happened back then. I heard that not only have you taken up your official duties, but you've also forced Chen Fulin to retire and return home, forbidding him from ever setting foot in the capital again. I was quite surprised."
He pulled the corners of his mouth and smiled: "It can be seen that God is still fair in this world. Retribution is inevitable. Those who do wrong will always be punished."
Mr. Zhuang: ...I don’t know if it’s because he has been with Manbao and the other kids for too long, but he can’t describe his feelings at the moment.
See you at 11pm
(End of this chapter)
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