Chapter 40 Chapter 40 He took out a few pairs of shorts and took a look.
In early October, it was late autumn and the weather was getting colder day by day.
The green leaves on the official road turned yellow, swirled and fell to the ground, and were crushed on the bluestone road by the wheels of passing cars.
It was five days later that the two teams of carriages from Quanyang County returned to the capital.
Some friendly families in the capital city welcomed them at the gate of the capital. The Prince of Yu's party and the Prince's party stood on both sides of the road, ignoring each other and clearly divided.
It was already past noon when Zhang Jingxuan returned to the Zhang Mansion. He first went to the Eastern Palace to report briefly. After all, the matter in Quanyang County was not ordered by the emperor on the surface, but was secretly ordered by the Eastern Palace.
Before leaving, he declined the Crown Prince's kindness and did not accompany him to the palace to meet the emperor, but returned home.
He was exhausted from the journey and had not had time to have lunch.
Mrs. Zhang had already instructed the servants to meet him at the gate of the Zhang Mansion. Now that he finally showed up, some were helping with luggage, some were serving water, some were waiting for orders... The servants all waited at the door with their heads lowered.
Zhang Jingxuan waved goodbye to the servants and got off the carriage. The steward stepped forward and bowed, saying:
"Young Master, the hot water is ready, and the food is hot. Would you like to take a shower and change clothes first, or eat first?"
Zhang Jingxuan lifted his robe and stepped over the threshold, saying, "Take a bath."
As he approached Zhanyun Courtyard, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Where are my father and grandfather?"
The steward said, "I heard that the eldest son went to the East Palace, so the old man went to rest first. The master is in the madam's courtyard, waiting for you to see him after dinner."
Zhang Jingxuan nodded and went into the house to take a shower.
After bathing, she changed into a raven-blue brocade robe, put on a forehead band, tied a belt around her waist, and hung a green jade pendant. She hadn't dressed like this for a long time, and for a moment she was a little dazed.
He only came out to eat after he was dressed neatly and without any mistakes.
After taking a few bites to fill his stomach, he put down his chopsticks, wiped his face and hands with a handkerchief, and got up to go to the main courtyard.
The eldest of the Zhang family, Zhang Chengli, who was also Zhang Jingxuan's father, had been waiting in the study. When he heard the knock on the door, he put down his book and said calmly:
"Come in."
Zhang Jingxuan stepped into the study, closed the door, walked to the table and stood still, saying, "Father."
"Did you have a smooth journey back from Quanyang County?"
Zhang Chengli didn't ask what happened in Quanyang County, as Zhang Zimo had already told him when he came back.
Zhang Jingxuan lowered his eyes and said, "Father, the mission in Quanyang County has been properly taken over by His Majesty's men. I am returning to the capital in the East Palace carriage. The journey was smooth."
Zhang Chengli said, "Something's been going on in the capital lately. Let me briefly tell you. First, the emperor is not feeling well. Despite the imperial physician's best efforts, I'm afraid he won't survive more than two or three years. Second, the emperor has moved up the sacrificial ceremony to this year's winter solstice. This news has been confirmed."
Zhang Jingxuan: "My son has heard about it from Commander Qin."
Zhang Chengli nodded slightly and said earnestly:
"Although the sacrificial offerings have always been held by the monarch or the next monarch, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should be the officiating officer this year. However, the Prince of Yu's faction is extremely ambitious and is trying to win over court officials. Their ambition to seize the throne is obvious. Therefore, we cannot let our guard down and must ensure that the officiating officer does not fall on them."
Zhang Jingxuan said calmly, "My son knows."
The topic came to an end, and Zhang Jingxuan was about to leave when he suddenly heard his father calling him and casually asking:
"You unexpectedly stayed in Quanyang County for several months. Did anything unexpected happen?"
Zhang Jingxuan raised his brows slightly, as if thinking seriously, and after a while, he said:
"Reporting to father, I haven't encountered any other problems. Everything is under control."
Zhang Chengli looked at him silently for a while, nodded, and said:
"Your coming-of-age birthday was delayed. I've already discussed with your grandfather about choosing an auspicious date to hold your coming-of-age ceremony. I've already chosen your courtesy name; please ask the elders of the clan to choose 'Jingxuan' for you. Besides, you've reached the age of aging, and I need your advice on something else."
He stood up and walked out of the study, saying, "Follow me."
The two of them left the main courtyard and came to the door of the backyard wing. Zhang Chengli pushed the door open, but did not go in. Instead, he said at the door:
"Come in."
Zhang Jingxuan stepped through the door and saw the scene behind it, and his steps suddenly stopped -
There were two rows, six in each row, a total of twelve young maids, of varying sizes and temperaments, but all with good looks, standing inside. They wore uniform clothes that highlighted their figures, with their eyes lowered, as if waiting to be selected and favored.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the maids all leaned forward, bowed and called out, "Young Master."
Zhang Jingxuan closed the door, looked at his father expressionlessly, and said coldly:
"What does this mean, father?"
"That's not my personal opinion, but your grandfather's."
Zhang Chengli looked at him, his attitude still warm. "He said that you are the most outstanding young man in the clan, and you will inherit the position of the eldest son and shoulder the responsibility of the Zhang family. Now that you have reached the age of coming of age, it is time to arrange for you to have someone who understands things. These women are honest and dutiful maids selected by the nanny at home. If you like any of them, bring them back to Zhanyun Courtyard. Any arrangements will be made for them. Let them accompany you."
Zhang Jingxuan twitched the corner of his lips and said:
"Hasn't it always been the Nanny's job to know everything? The Zhang family has never had a precedent of a maid picking someone to put in the eldest son's room. Why did they break the rules with me?"
He asked the question directly, with a hint of sarcasm and even sharpness in his expression, which was inconsistent with his usual gentle and humble style.
Zhang Chengli frowned slightly and said, "If you really don't want to, I can talk to your grandfather privately, but what do you mean by this attitude?"
Zhang Jingxuan lowered his eyes and said, "My son does not need anyone by his side, nor does he want a maidservant crammed into his room. Please retract this idea, father. I will visit grandfather later and explain everything to him."
Zhang Chengli looked at him for a long time, as if trying to determine the truth of his words. Finally, he sighed softly, as if believing his words, and said in a friendly manner:
"In that case, I will have your mother dismiss these maids. Apart from this, there is nothing else to say. You have had a hard journey, so go back and rest quickly. The East Palace will summon you tomorrow."
After a short pause, he added one more instruction:
"Assist His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wholeheartedly and avoid unnecessary complications. You already have your own plans, so I won't elaborate further. I trust you understand everything."
Zhang Jingxuan said "yes" calmly, bowed, turned and left.
He returned to Zhanyun Courtyard with the same expression on his face. His gentle expression faded a little. He went into the house and called his personal servant, saying:
"Huaizhou, go to Second Uncle's place and send a private letter to Zhang Zimo. Tell him that I want to invite him out for a get-together. I have something to ask him."
Huaizhou said, "Young Master, you may not know that the Second Young Master has been locked up at home by the Second Master to study the imperial strategy. He cannot come out for the time being, and I cannot contact him."
Zhang Jingxuan was silent for a moment, then said, "That's all. I'm fine, you can leave."
After a short pause, he called him again, gently rubbed his fingertips, and said:
"Huaizhou, did she send any private messages in after she returned to the capital?"
Although Zhang Jingxuan didn't say "her" name, Huaizhou knew who he was talking about. He lowered his head and whispered:
"Sir, she has not passed any verbal or written messages to me, neither publicly nor privately."
He curled up his hands slightly on the table, remained silent for a while, and then said:
"knew."
Huaizhou retreated, and in an instant Zhang Jingxuan was the only one left in the room.
He sat quietly for a moment, took out the little fox wooden sculpture in his arms, and stroked the fox's cheek.
He didn't look closely at first, but later on the way back, when he was packing his bags, he noticed that there was a faint flat spot on the fox's cheek.
It seems... it should be placed next to something else.
Outside the house, a draft passed through the corridor, shaking the wind chimes under the green eaves. The crisp tinkling sound continued, and the wind did not stop. The sound lingered in the house for a long time and did not dissipate until half a day had passed.
-
Xue Yuanyin returned to the capital with His Royal Highness Prince Yu. After meeting his father, he went to Prince Yu's villa.
Prince Yu sat at the top, his face solemn and his demeanor dignified. She concealed her private affair with Zhang Jingxuan and reported everything else in detail.
His Royal Highness Prince Yu nodded slightly and said:
"The Winter Sacrifice is less than two months away. My father intends to have His Royal Highness the Crown Prince elected as the chief priest. As everyone knows, only the emperor or the future emperor can preside over the ceremony. My reputation in the capital is no less than his. The chief priest is not someone my father can choose. The Ministry of Rites and the Guanglu Temple are jointly responsible for this matter. I will definitely seize the position of chief priest."
Xue Yuanyin pursed her lips, looking a little absent-minded.
After returning from Quanyang County, she felt a little uncomfortable with life in the capital. It seemed as if the days in Peach Blossom Spring happened in her previous life. She thought about them frequently and was always in a trance.
She lowered her eyes and thought to herself that she couldn't go on like this.
It was clearly stated that they would be enemies and would not have any private interactions, but she still lived in the memories, as if they had never had any dirty dealings.
Didn’t you see that Zhang Jingxuan didn’t give her any letter after he came back?
She curled the corners of her lips slightly, and thought sarcastically, what on earth is she thinking about... What a loser.
A voice came from above, and Xue Yuanyin suddenly came back to his senses. He heard His Royal Highness Prince Yu say sternly and without question:
"Don't be distracted when you're talking to me. Do you remember everything I told you?"
Xue Yuanyin was a little afraid of his severity, and lowered her head and said guiltily:
"I was distracted. Please say it again, Your Highness."
Prince Yu's palace was surprised and repeated solemnly:
"The current emperor is averse to forming cliques for personal gain. Therefore, as the heir to the throne, and your father as a court official, we are not allowed to interact with high-ranking officials. As younger generations, you and the Gao and Su families, the heirs of the housekeepers, and others, can interact with your peers in the official residences under the guise of discussing academic matters, so that you won't be caught and criticized."
"Your Highness, please give your orders."
Prince Yu told her, "Xue Ling, I will give each of you a list. There are some people on it who you need to contact before the Winter Sacrifice. I will write letters in advance. You must find a way to let these people see the letters and our bargaining chips. Do your best to win them over. I don't want to see too many failures."
His eagle eyes flickered slightly, his expression deepened, and he spoke in a serious and earnest tone:
"Xue Ling, you will definitely complete this task for me and help me win the position of Sacrifice Officer and become the new crown prince, right?"
Xue Yuanyin clenched his palms silently, feeling a sharp pain and a slight blockage in his throat.
But in a moment, she hid all the emotions in her heart, kowtowed slowly, and said in a steady voice:
"I am willing to follow His Highness in his quest for the throne, and I am willing to serve His Highness with all my heart."
-
Xue Yuanyin returned to the Xue Mansion exhausted. She had not had a good night's sleep due to the long journey.
She lay down on the couch, hoping to soothe her aching head, but unexpectedly fell into a drowsy sleep.
I actually dreamed of Zhang Jingxuan, whom I hadn't spoken to for several days. The scene in the dream seemed to be their childhood.
…
The little girl from the Marquis's Mansion was only ten years old. She wore a pair of lily of the valley hairpins inlaid with pearls and a green flower skirt. She had bright eyes and white teeth, and was lively and free. She ran into the Zhanyun Courtyard of the Zhang Mansion with a skipping and jump.
Seeing no one around, she casually lay down on the immaculately clean bed, stretched out her arms, and sighed comfortably, "Oh, lying on Zhang Qu's bed is so comfortable."
After lying down for a while and not seeing him, the little girl got up from the bed again, walked around the room with her hands behind her back, and looked left and right with her round eyes. It was obvious that she was up to something bad.
"Where did you hide the origami grasshopper he confiscated from me last time?"
The little girl mumbled to herself and rummaged through the drawers in the house. After a while, she found a wooden cupboard, took out a few pairs of pants that were pressed in the box and took a look. She saw that the fabrics were all dark in color with shallow raised curves on them.
She didn't recognize what it was for a moment, and confusion flashed in her eyes: "What is this?"
A slender, beautiful hand from above snatched the cloth from her hand, quickly stuffed it into the wooden cabinet, and slammed the door shut.
The little girl looked up and saw the boy staring at her. His eyes were quite cold, but his earlobes were slightly red. He said in a lecturing tone:
"Don't go through my things anymore."
"Oh, okay, sorry."
The little girl apologized halfheartedly. She spread her white and tender hands in front of him, frowning, "Give me back my grasshopper! I want to go play with my brother!"
Thirteen-year-old Zhang Jingxuan was not so cautious in his words. The youth's recklessness almost broke through his eyebrows and he said loudly:
"If you throw it away, what's the point of keeping it? That ugly thing."
"You lost it?! I spent days folding it! I hate you!!!"
The little girl was so angry that she jumped up and down, accusing him, "How dare you waste my precious time here! I will definitely not come to see you again for the next few days!"
She turned around angrily and ran out of the house. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared, leaving only the fluttering hem of her skirt leaving a rising arc in the yard.
Zhang Jingxuan glanced at the figure walking away. She didn't even give him time to call her. He shook his head, took out a crooked paper grasshopper from his sleeve, took a look at it, and put it back with a bit of bad intentions.
Worked hard on it? That's perfect, I won't give it back to her.
…
The little girl was eleven years old and was growing very fast. She was at the age when she loved to sneak snacks.
Especially the sour cinnamon preserved fruits from Tianjia, a time-honored brand at the entrance of the alley on South Street, are her favorite.
She waited in line for a long time, and was reluctant to eat half of the preserved fruit, so she hid it secretly. Unexpectedly, she couldn't find the preserved fruit the next day, and she was dumbfounded.
The little girl ran to question her brother. Although he was not a decent person, he was too lazy to lie. He rolled his eyes and said:
"Who wants to steal yours? Only children eat preserved fruits. I go to the restaurant to eat marinated duck."
The little girl angrily ran to the Zhanyun Courtyard of the Zhang Mansion and found the boy practicing calligraphy in the study. Her round face flushed with anger as she accused him:
"Did you steal my preserved fruit?"
The boy put down his pen, looked at her, and didn't answer for a moment.
The little girl seemed to have caught him, and she sat down on the stool and refused to move. The next second, she felt that she had lost the momentum by looking up at him, so she stood up immediately and angrily scolded him:
"You just love to steal my food! You and my brother are birds of a feather! You clearly can't eat sour food, yet you still steal my sour cinnamon preserves. Your intentions are truly sinister!"
Zhang Jingxuan crossed his arms and said slowly, "You also said that I don't like sour food, so why would I steal your food?"
Besides, he had never been a big eater. If he really ate her food, how could the food itself matter? He would have to see whose food it was before he ate it.
The little girl rolled her eyes, walked to the desk, and used both hands to turn him over and over:
"You're a person who never tells the truth. I won't listen to you! I want to check it out. Is it hidden somewhere?"
Zhang Jingxuan had no choice but to block her hand and took out the preserved fruit. Under her accusing gaze, he took out another preserved fruit and said casually:
"Okay, I'll give them all to you. Good things come in pairs."
The little girl immediately stopped being angry, took it with both hands, curved her eyes and smiled, her expression changed very quickly:
"Thank you, Brother Zhang, you're so nice! We'll be good friends for life!"
The young man raised his eyebrows and sneered: "You are useless."
…
The little girl is almost twelve years old and is at the age when she grows fast. Although she still has an innocent and childish face, the outline of a young girl can be vaguely seen.
She was wearing a pink silk skirt with pipa sleeves, looking unusually delicate. Just because of the quarrel the day before, she came over with a clear mind to distance herself from the boy.
All I could hear was her crisp, resounding voice: "I feel like our feng shui has been conflicting these past few days. I want to draw a clear line between us!"
The young man was already fifteen years old, tall and slender, with beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and a handsome and gentle appearance. He took a sandalwood brush and twirled it between his fingertips, saying casually:
"Oh? How is Miss Xue going to draw a line between us?"
The little girl raised a finger in front of him quite seriously, shook it and said:
"There's an old saying in the scrolls: 'A grand table and a grand room!' Do you know what it means?"*
Zhang Jingxuan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Miss, can you explain?"
The little girl said, "It means that from now on we should be like the protagonist of this story, respecting each other and not overstepping the boundaries!"
Zhang Jingxuan said slowly, "You have to explain it in detail so I can understand."
The little girl was stuck for a moment and thought hard for a while: "Uh, let me give you an example. For example, you can't make fun of others without permission, you can't eat their snacks without permission, you can't call them stupid, uh, and..."
The young man finally couldn't hold back his laughter, opened the book and pointed at the allusions on it, saying in a leisurely tone:
"Hong'an Xiangzhuang is similar to Ju'an Qimei, and is used to describe a husband and wife. Why don't you take a closer look?"
The little girl finally realized that she had misunderstood. Her fair and delicate earlobes immediately turned red, and she glared in embarrassment and said:
"You've been deliberately making fun of me! You hypocrite!"
The young man looked at her red face, which was extremely corrupted and unconvincing. Instead, she looked like a ripe pink peach. He couldn't help laughing out loud, and the clear laughter seemed to make his chest tremble slightly.
…
Xue Yuanyin suddenly woke up, sat up from the couch, looked around dully, and then realized that he was dreaming.
She has become a very useful chess piece in the battle for the throne between His Royal Highness Prince Yu and is no longer the carefree young lady of the Marquis's Mansion.
In the dream, she saw trivial things that had actually happened between her and him. At the time, they thought they were ordinary and not worth mentioning at all, and they were forgotten in the blink of an eye.
Now when she suddenly recalled it, it was like a bloody knife stabbing her heart, causing a dull pain.
Xue Yuanyin's eyes were blank and unfocused, and she was a little dazed.
It had clearly only been a few years since they had been childhood sweethearts, yet it felt like half a lifetime. Even after she had deliberately tried to forget, she missed the bright and proud figure in her memory even more.
The young man was full of vigor and vitality, standing like a delicate orchid and a jade tree, smiling like the bright moon in one's arms, and even surpassing the tall bamboo swaying in the wind.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: *Hongan Xiangzhuang: has the same origin as "ju'an qimei", both from "Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Biography of Liang Hong"
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