Chapter 6
Mrs. Li and Xiao Jiang arranged the marriage between Zhang Songning and Xu Minyan.
Mrs. Jiang nodded as she listened, and then told Mrs. Zhang that she would report the marriage to Mr. Zhang.
Old Madam Zhang ordered the nanny beside her to pass the message to Old Master Zhang.
Just a quarter of an hour later, the maid returned with a beaming smile and said, "The old man said that as long as the second young lady in the family agrees, it will be fine."
Old Lady Zhang asked the nanny to talk to Zhang Songning.
The nanny came back and said with a smile, "The second young lady told me that I would leave it to the elders in the family to make the decision for her. Then the second young lady shyly continued to do her embroidery."
When Xiao Jiang heard Zhang Songning's reaction, she was very satisfied with her. This was the reaction a lady from a noble family should have.
After hearing what the nanny said, Xu Minyan's face turned red, even his ears were burning red.
Everyone talked and laughed for a while.
Mrs. Jiang and her husband and their children had dinner at the mansion before returning home.
*
More than a year later, Zhang Songning married Xu Minyan after her coming-of-age ceremony.
Zhang Anhua, the second son born to Mrs. Li, is almost one year old.
Strangely enough, Zhang Jianren, as the father, did not go home on the two important days when Mrs. Li gave birth to a child and when Zhang Songning got married.
The servant sent by the Zhang family to look for Zhang Jianren returned and told Old Madam Zhang, "The Second Master has redeemed Miss Jiaohong, the top prostitute at Mingcuifang, and has also bought her a house in Tianshui Lane. I went to Tianshui Lane to look for the Second Master, but I didn't see him. However, the Second Master had his attendant tell me a few words to take back home. If he is allowed to divorce his wife and marry Miss Jiaohong, he will return home immediately."
Even if Mrs. Zhang was out of her mind, she would never agree to her youngest son divorcing her niece to marry a prostitute, so she made a harsh remark in public.
"I just consider him my son dead."
Old Mrs. Zhang now regrets that she had spoiled her youngest son too much, which led to the current irreversible situation.
So when Madam Jiang and Madam Li came to Yangrongzhai to pay their respects every morning and evening, Old Lady Zhang would always say something like "There are methods to educating children."
Mrs. Jiang was a smart, capable and thoughtful person. She was very lenient and strict in her discipline of Zhang Xihua.
This is not the case with Madam Li. Her eldest son Zhang Xuanhua has a brain injury and is a patient, while her second son Zhang Anhua is the only hope of the second house.
Mrs. Li doted on both of her sons. Zhang Xuanhua just developed a simple and naive character, but Zhang Anhua wanted everyone around him to obey him in everything. If he didn't get what he wanted, he would lie on the ground and throw a tantrum, which was very unbecoming.
This made Old Master Zhang even more convinced of what the monk said that day, that the prosperity of the family depended on his granddaughter Zhang Xihua.
*
Winter comes and summer goes, spring and autumn pass by.
Zhang Xihua has also reached the age of enlightenment.
In fact, she started to be taught to recognize words by Old Master Zhang after she was two years old. She first learned to recognize the complete "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names", "Thousand Character Classic" and other common enlightenment books.
Old Master Zhang found that Zhang Xihua was focused on her studies and had a good memory, so he taught her to recite Tang and Song poems, and taught her how to copy calligraphy in red ink on a daily basis.
Reading and writing were not difficult for Zhang Xihua, but it was a bit difficult for her to pretend to be a student of her age in front of Old Master Zhang.
It was not until Zhang Xihua turned five that Old Master Zhang decided to send her to the Zhang clan school to receive a formal private education, and asked Zhang Xihua if she was willing to go.
Zhang Xihua agreed without thinking. In ancient times, only by passing the imperial examination and becoming an official could the declining Zhang family continue to maintain its former glory.
*
It snowed all night in Taiping Prefecture.
Zhang Xihua, who was used to sleeping in, was awakened by the maid Qingque.
Zhang Xihua pulled up the quilt covering her body to cover her head.
Don't want to get up.
I especially don’t want to be separated from my warm bed in this cold weather.
Qingque called out "Second Young Master" again and again, but when she saw that Zhang Xihua under the quilt didn't move at all, she raised her voice.
Zhang Xihua was so annoyed by Qingque, the human-shaped alarm clock, that he pulled off the quilt covering his head, got up and dressed, and asked Qingque what was for breakfast today.
"Silver thread candy, eight-treasure cake, hawthorn milk dew, sweet pickled cucumber and eggplant, glutinous rice cake, sesame porridge..." Qingque fluently listed a long list of breakfast names.
But Zhang Xihua didn't have much appetite after getting up so early.
Seeing that Zhang Xihua only ate a few bites of breakfast, Qingque packed two boxes of snacks and gave them to the servant who accompanied Zhang Xihua out, in case Zhang Xihua was hungry and had nothing to fill his stomach.
Qingque put a fur coat on Zhang Xihua's casual clothes and tied a wind collar around Zhang Xihua's neck.
At Qingque's urging, Zhang Xihua paid his respects to Old Madam Zhang, Old Master Zhang, and Madam Jiang respectively before boarding the carriage to the school.
Today is Zhang Xihua's first day of school.
The Zhang Clan School assigns different classrooms to students of different age groups.
As soon as Zhang Xihua entered her classroom, she greeted her classmates openly.
However, most of the students were crying loudly because they were not used to the unfamiliar environment. They had no time to respond to Zhang Xihua.
In modern times, the students in this classroom would all be kindergarten age.
Children of this age may have some separation anxiety, so it is understandable that they break down and cry on the first day of school.
Amidst the cries, Zhang Xihua calmly sat down at her desk, pinched two balls of cotton of appropriate size and stuffed them into her ears, opened a volume of "The Book of Songs" and spread it on the desk to read.
Suddenly, a small hand pushed the brocade box next to the book.
Zhang Xihua raised her eyes and saw Zhu Mingji opening his mouth to say something to her.
She took the cotton balls out of her ears and asked, "What did you say just now?"
Zhu Mingji turned his head away with a cold expression, saying, "I've already said what Mother asked me to tell you. It's your fault, you little deaf boy, that you didn't hear it. I won't say it again."
Zhang Xihua opened the brocade box, and inside was a small jadeite paperweight with a reclining fish. The jadeite used was of the finest quality. She roughly understood what message Princess Xiang wanted Zhu Mingji to convey to her.
"After school today, I will go to Prince Xiang's mansion to thank my godmother in person."
Zhu Mingji: "Unfortunately, my mother has already left for Beijing this morning to visit her grandparents."
Ever since Zhu Mingji could remember, he had Zhang Xihua as his adopted brother.
Zhang Xihua was intelligent and studious. He always treated Zhu Mingji with dignity, unlike other children of noble families who only flattered and fawned over Zhu Mingji.
Sometimes Zhu Mingji and Zhang Xihua quarreled and fought, and Princess Xiang always asked Zhu Mingji to give way to Zhang Xihua on the pretext that Zhang Xihua was the younger brother and Zhu Mingji was the older brother, and the older brother should give way to the younger brother.
This made Zhu Mingji unhappy. He was a prince, but he had to endure the harassment of Zhang Xihua, a jerk.
Even his father often praised Zhang Xihua for studying and practicing calligraphy more diligently than he did, but criticized him for being lazy in his studies.
Zhang Xihua put away the brocade box containing the paperweight and continued reading the "Book of Songs" on the desk.
Zhu Mingji couldn't stand Zhang Xihua's appearance of a good student who "turned a deaf ear to the world outside the window and focused on reading the books of sages", so he covered the open pages of the book with his two little hands.
Zhang Xihua raised his eyebrows and looked at him, his eyes conveying one word - "get out".
Zhu Mingji just liked to provoke Zhang Xihua's anger. He grabbed a brush, dipped it in ink, and drew two big crosses on the page of the book, and then showed a smug look of "What can you do to me?"
Zhang Xihua didn't look very angry.
Zhu Mingji thought Zhang Xihua was scared and didn't dare to act recklessly in the classroom.
The next moment, Zhu Mingji's face was covered with ink.
It was Zhang Xihua who had just picked up the inkstone and splashed it on his face.
The little boys who were crying in the classroom gathered around the desks of Zhang Xihua and Zhu Mingji.
Zhu Mingji had never suffered such humiliation in public before. He pounced on Zhang Xihua and beat her with his fists clenched.
"My father, the king, and my mother are not in Taiping Prefecture. Zhang Xihua, no one will protect you this time. Your good days are over."
Zhang Xihua only took one punch from Zhu Mingji, then he took the initiative, sat on Zhu Mingji and started beating him.
The young men watching had already forgotten about missing their mothers and wanting to go home, and were watching the sudden excitement in the classroom with great interest.
A young man who was on good terms with Zhu Mingji did not want Zhu Mingji to be at a disadvantage, so he picked up the brushes, inkstones, books and other things on the desk and threw them at Zhang Xihua.
The young men who were on good terms with Zhang Xihua were unhappy and started to grumble and fight.
A fight between two people turned into a fight between two groups.
The classroom was suddenly in chaos. The neatly arranged desks were tilted here and there, and pens, inkstones, and paper were scattered all over the floor. Pens were broken, ink was spilled, paper was shredded, inkstones were cracked, and there were also broken teacups and porcelain pen holders...
“Bang—”
“Bang—”
“Bang—”
The servant in the yard outside rang the bell three times, reminding the students that it was time for class.
Mr. Song, who teaches calligraphy, entered the classroom and saw that it was in chaos. He went out again, thinking that he was daydreaming. When he came back in, he saw a group of little monkeys making a lot of noise, pushing and fighting.
Mr. Song couldn't help but roar.
"Stop it, everyone."
The young men stopped using their fists and started kicking each other.
Mr. Song was so angry that his head hurt. "Stop everything!"
The young men started butting their heads like bulls again.
Mr. Song: "No one is allowed to move. If anyone moves, I will immediately send someone to tell your father."
The classroom suddenly fell silent, and everyone stood still as if they were playing a game of statues.
Seeing that the situation was under control, Mr. Song began to interrogate the culprits. After learning that they were Zhu Mingji and Zhang Xihua, his headache became even worse.
One is the prince of Prince Xiang’s mansion, a member of a royal family.
One is the young master of the Yongjia Marquisate, and his family school was founded by the Zhang family.
Both of them are his little ancestors.
Mr. Song quickly ordered his servant to find out what Old Master Zhang had to say.
Soon, the servant brought back Old Master Zhang's message, saying, "Old Master said that once you enter the family school, you are all students. Mr. Song will punish you according to the rules. There is no need to worry. If anything happens, Old Master will take the responsibility for Mr. Song. As for this young prince of Prince Xiang's mansion, he is the emperor's cousin after all. It is better to let Prince Song handle it as his own family affairs after returning to Taiping Mansion."
It was Mr. Song's expectation that Zhu Mingji would not be punished in school.
But Mr. Zhang was able to be impartial and hand over his beloved grandson Zhang Xihua to him for his decision, which made Mr. Song admire him very much.
He couldn't let Old Master Zhang down.
"Everyone who participated in the fight today, except the Crown Prince, should kneel in front of the statue of Confucius behind the main gate. You can go home when your family comes to pick you up." Mr. Song said in a serious voice.
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