The sun was shining brightly, and Zhang Zilan staggered as he stepped out of the house called a supermarket. He almost fell down. Fortunately, the "shopping guide" next to him pulled him up, preventing him from falling face first.
The crowd outside the door had not dispersed yet. As soon as he went out, he heard a shout from the crowd: "Young Master! What's going on in there? Are there any monsters or demons?"
Zhang Zilan knew that this person was teasing him, so he snorted and didn't reply in detail. He just took the shopping basket from Feng Ling and shouted to the people at the bottom of the stairs: "The store owner said that if you don't have a lot of money, don't go through this door. You are jealous that I can go in. If you want to know what's inside, why don't you go in and take a look yourself."
Having said that, he staggered down the stairs, carrying the shopping basket hanging down his arm.
The onlookers all knew that he was the son of the Zhang family, so they were not angry about his words. After all, as a son of a noble family, it seemed normal for him to be a little arrogant and wild.
Zhang Zilan squeezed out of the crowd and muttered softly, "I should have brought Ah Shan along earlier."
After he finished mumbling, he remembered that his family did not allow him to go out, so he asked Ashan to stop the other servants before he could go out this time.
It was not easy to climb over the wall with so many things, and he made such a big noise when he came out. Even if his parents were blind and deaf, they would have known what happened after so long.
Zhang Zilan sighed, glanced at the wine bottles in the basket, and thought that he would not be beaten for bringing so many things back.
Even if I get beaten, I shouldn't be unable to get out of bed tomorrow.
He was carrying a basket of wine and had to rest after walking a few steps. He finally reached his door, put the basket on the ground, and shouted into the door: "Uncle Li! Open the door! Your young master is back!"
After shouting, Zhang Zilan sat down on the steps and looked at the basket again.
In addition to wine, he also bought some things he had never seen before, such as luminous beads. The shopping guide said that as long as the luminous beads are placed in the sun during the day, they will glow by themselves at night with a faint fluorescence. Although they cannot illuminate the room as bright as day, they have a unique flavor.
He buys almost everything the shopping guide recommends.
In order to prevent his parents from scolding him, he even bought a "workbook" and a pen.
The things Zhang Zilan hated most in his life were reading and engraving. As a child of aristocratic family, he could be lazy about anything except reading. His hands had been injured countless times from childhood to adulthood due to engraving on bamboo slips and wooden boards, and he often had small wounds on them.
Moreover, whether it is bamboo slips or wooden boards, it takes strength to carve words. The two fingers he often used to carve words have calluses and are even a little deformed. Zhang Zilan is very fond of beauty. It’s ok for men nowadays to not have the conditions, but those who have some conditions must have a complete set of accessories such as a crown and a set of jade.
Both men and women admire beauty, and their views on beauty vary.
What Zhang Zilan advocates is the beauty of gentleness. The body should not be stout but slender, the skin should be fair and not tanned, and the walking posture should also be beautiful.
Their family all have this aesthetic taste. Their parents, brothers and sisters almost always carry an umbrella when they go out. His little sister even has snow-white skin and her hair is well maintained. She has black hair, snow-white skin, and bright red lips. Even though she is less than ten years old, countless noble families have come to her door to propose marriage.
Zhang Zilan looked at the fountain pen and thought it was also an engraving pen. Although the engraving pen is also a pen, it is actually a knife.
Although they also wrote with brushes, the brushes could only be preserved for a long time on silk cloth. If they were written on bamboo slips, the ink would quickly fade due to the action of rolling and unfolding. Therefore, even if they wrote with a brush, they had to be engraved again in order to preserve it.
But he couldn't understand the book.
The "shopping guide" didn't allow him to ask, so he didn't ask. Now he still doesn't know what a notebook is and what paper is.
There was a sound of a door opening behind him. Zhang Zilan stood up and turned around and said impatiently, "Why are you so slow? Uncle Li, did you sneak into the kitchen to eat again?"
He had just turned his head when he finished speaking, and what came into his sight was not Uncle Li's old and kind face, but an angry and stern face.
Zhang Zilan immediately raised her shoulders and whispered, "Dad..."
"You still know that I'm your father?!" Zhang Shen looked at his son, suppressing his emotions. He said to Zhang Zilan, "Come in."
Zhang Zilan knew that he had no way to escape, so he could only carefully pick up the basket and follow his father inside.
Uncle Li, who was guarding the door, opened his mouth when Zhang Zilan passed by and said silently, "Please, please spare me."
Zhang Zilan nodded with a sad face.
"Let's go to the ancestral hall." Zhang Shen's face was so dark that water could drip out of it.
Zhang Zilan had no choice but to go to the ancestral hall obediently. If he dared to show off as a member of the Zhao family outside, he would be worthless when he returned home.
"You're still carrying something!" Zhang Shen finally couldn't help but curse, "Do you know what happened yesterday?! Do you know that the Lord is now rectifying government affairs, and Zhang Rong was captured and brought back!"
Zhang Zilan was stunned. He knew Zhang Rong, but they were actually distantly related.
His family is a branch of the Zhang family. A hundred years ago, they could only live a hard life on the border. It was only after generations of hard work that they were able to return to the capital from the border.
When family members go out, they never call themselves Zheng or Zhang, they just say Zhang.
They don't want to have anything to do with the main branch, because once they do, the main branch will become their master.
Zhang Zilan forgot what she had in her hand and immediately said, "No one knows that we are one team with them. Even if they knew, after so many years of separation, can we ever get back together? When there are benefits, it has nothing to do with us. When there are troubles, it naturally has nothing to do with us."
"Besides, the Lord is a good man," Zhang Zilan said, "and Zhang Rong is his good friend, so I'm afraid he won't be punished."
Zhang Shen looked at his son, and he laughed in anger: "If one day, you are away from home, and your elder brother helps outsiders to seize your property and imprison your wife and children, what will you do?"
Zhang Zilan was stunned, and he immediately said: "Then he is not my eldest brother! Between him and me, one of us must die!"
If an ordinary person rebels against him, then that's it.
But his elder brother betrayed him, which was absolutely unforgivable.
Zhang Shen sneered: "You are not stupid, then tell me now, will the emperor not punish Zhang Rong?!"
"Your Majesty must not only punish him, but also execute him in front of the palace gate! By beheading him!"
Zhang Zilan opened her mouth wide: "...How...How could this be? No one tried to persuade him?! Dad! You didn't persuade the Lord? The doctor cannot be punished, Dad!"
Etiquette does not extend to common people, and punishment does not extend to officials.
It’s not that common people have no etiquette, and doctors don’t have to accept punishment.
But the lives of common people are difficult, and we cannot expect every one of them to understand etiquette and be like the children of noble families.
If a doctor commits a crime, in order to protect his dignity, he cannot be subject to the same punishment as common people. He should be asked to commit suicide to save some face for him and his family.
"Your Majesty...are you going to break off relations with the aristocratic families?" Zhang Zilan looked at his father.
He is unruly, but not stupid.
Zhang Shen nodded, his face heavy, "Your Majesty just said at the morning meeting this morning that he wanted to behead Zhang Rong, and all the officials from the noble families have withdrawn."
Zhang Zilan thought about it and said, "This is a good thing!"
Zhang Shen glared at his son: "What's good about that!"
Zhang Zilan: "No one knows that we are one family with the Zheng and Zhang families, and my father didn't become an official because of the Zhang family's recommendation. Now that the emperor wants to suppress the aristocratic families, he must promote my father."
"This is a disaster for the family, but a blessing for us." Zhang Zilan laughed, "Besides, it would be better if all the Zhang family members were gone. Everyone has their own job, and my eldest and second brothers haven't found a job yet."
After hearing what his son said, Zhang Shen's expression calmed down. He thought about it and felt that what Zhang Zilan said was not unreasonable.
He was able to become an official because of his father's recommendation, and his family came to the royal capital from the border, hiding their identities and pretending to be from Wei and Chen.
Otherwise, the main family would never allow these branches to enter the royal city.
The more branches a family has, the more it will be weakened. Therefore, from the new generation of a family, only two or three people will be left in the main branch, and the rest will be driven out of the royal capital.
This is to preserve the family's power to the greatest extent possible.
But what about those who were driven out? We are all descendants of the Zhao family, so why can you stay in the capital and serve as an official, while I can only live a hard life in the cold and bitter borderland? I am not even allowed to return to the capital?
If we were to ask who hates the Zhang family the most in this world, it would be the descendants of the Zhang family from their branch.
Zhang Shen, who originally wanted his son to kneel in the ancestral hall, patted his son on the shoulder and said, "Okay, no need to go to the ancestral hall. Tell me, what did you do when you went out?"
Zhang Zilan immediately said with a smile: "I went to see the excitement. It was really exciting. You know that house in the south of the city that was burned down? Now there is a new house on that piece of land. It is so novel."
Zhang Shen: "What's so special about this house?"
Zhang Zilan was beaming with joy: "It is said that it was built overnight, but it is different from the others. That house does not have as many pillars as ours. It is square and very spacious inside, with countless shelves filled with goods..."
He talked incessantly, but Zhang Shen didn't listen at all - his son was used to exaggerating and could even describe a small pond as a big pond. If Zhang Shen had listened to him, he would have looked like a fool.
"Oh, by the way, I bought these things from the supermarket." Zhang Zilan, "I didn't bring much money when I went out, so I had to sell the jade set."
Zhang Shen, who had just calmed down, was furious again: "Do you know how much effort your mother put into buying that set of jade for you? You prodigal son!"
Zhang Zilan saw that his father was about to slap him, so he immediately put the basket in front of Zhang Shen and said, "I didn't buy it for myself. Look, I bought wine for you and mother to enjoy with your meal."
Zhang Shen wanted to curse, what kind of wine could be worth such a good set of jade?
But when he looked down, he couldn't say it anymore.
Although he couldn't tell the quality of the wine, he could tell at a glance that the bottles must be worth a lot of money.
“Where did this come from?!” Zhang Shen’s voice became louder and his eyes widened.
Zhang Zilan finally became proud: "I bought it in that supermarket. There are a lot of these things there, plenty of them, but the price is high, but as long as you have money you can buy them. Now we are the only one that has them."
"After you and mother finish drinking the wine, we will give this bottle to the merchant and sell it."
Zhang Zilan has learned how to trade without any instruction.
Zhang Shen picked up a bottle of wine. The bottle was transparent and colorless. He held the bottle high and looked at it against the light. He found that the wine inside was crystal clear without any fluff, not turbid at all. Nowadays, no matter how good the wine is, it will be a little turbid.
"This looks..." Zhang Shen murmured.
Zhang Zilan said quickly: "I also bought something else. This luminous bead can glow at night. The salesperson said it is not bright, but luminous beads, being able to glow is already magical. How can we expect it to be as bright as a torch? If this thing can be sold outside..."
Zhang Shen frowned: "Has your family treated you unfairly? You are obviously a son of a noble family, why are you so mercenary?"
Zhang Zilan whispered, "Then we don't have to spend money on food, clothing, housing and transportation? You don't earn money..."
Zhang Shen kicked his son and said, "I'm your father!"
Zhang Zilan covered her butt and muttered, "I know you are my father. If you were not my father, I would have fought back long ago!"
Their family is not dependent on the main branch, so there are not many ways to make money. Now the family relies on the wealth accumulated by their ancestors. He pretends to be a rich young man outside, but he is just afraid that others will look down on them.
A wealthy family may not necessarily have status, but a poor family certainly does not.
If a noble family becomes poor, they are no different from ordinary people and no one will look up to them anymore.
Many people think that poor people have no moral character and must be petty thieves.
When their family members are outside, they usually pretend to be well-off and have to swallow all the hardships. There is not much spare money in the family, so even if they want to cut expenses, there is nowhere to cut.
The servants in their house are all lifelong servants. They are more like family members than servants. We can't just kick them out, right?
So many people need to eat, need to wear clothes, need to spend money every day, and need to spend money everywhere.
But they couldn't sell the collections at home. All the noble families in the royal city knew what everyone had. If they sold things today, tomorrow all the noble families and common people in the city would know that they were in trouble.
Zhang Zilan knew the family's predicament, so she tried her best to persuade Zhang Shen: "The hairpins on my mother's head are three years old. I see that she hasn't gone out for many days because she is afraid that the ladies will find out. Dad, please think about mother. Are you going to let her stay at home forever?"
"And my eldest brother, since our family has no money, you can't smooth things over with your connections, and no one recommends you, so my eldest brother still has no official position."
Zhang Zilan: "My second brother is already 24 years old and still hasn't married. He keeps saying he wants to find his beloved, but everyone knows that it's because his family doesn't have much money and he's afraid that people will notice when they discuss marriage."
Zhang Shen, who was at the front, did not refute, but after hearing this, he could not help but refute: "Your second brother really wants to find his beloved."
Aristocratic families have no obsession with passing on offspring, and men from aristocratic families are more likely to pursue love - it is normal not to get married at 30 or 40.
It's not that there are people who never get married, it's just that common people get married early.
Because aristocratic families do not need children to serve as laborers, they have permanent property and do not need to raise children to provide for their old age.
Zhang Zilan said "Oh", but still advised: "Even if Second Brother doesn't get married, I will get married, right?"
Zhang Shen glanced at his son and said, "You? You haven't even fully grown your hair yet, how can you get married?!"
However, Zhang Shen finally agreed to Zhang Zilan's proposal. He also felt that the family needed some income and he couldn't keep beating his face. If he continued to beat him, it would not be a question of whether the face could be swollen or not.
That afternoon, Zhang Shen drank the wine that his son had poured for him.
In addition to the wine, Zhang Zilan also bought wine utensils, a set of glass wine glasses. The yellowish wine was poured into them, and you could see it clearly through the glasses, making people reluctant to drink it.
The whole family sat in the same room, with a lacquered table in front of each person, on which was food and a glass of wine.
But everyone's attention was no longer on the wine, but on the glasses and bottles.
Everyone in the family was amazed.
"It seems we have to go to that supermarket as well."
"Yes, even if you don't buy it, you should broaden your horizons."
"I don't know which country's craftsman made it. If it was made by a craftsman from my country Chen, that would be great. It would be best if we could invite that person and his apprentice to our home."
"That's right. It's best to become a servant of our family. Then you will be a member of our Zhang family."
They have all thought of monopoly.
Zhang Zilan: "Those people don't look like Chen people, nor do they look like people from other countries. They are all different from us."
"How is it different?"
"Aren't all people the same?"
Zhang Zilan rolled her eyes: "You both have two eyes and two ears, so are you similar to common slaves? Are you the same?"
"The woman who took me shopping had a scar on her face. She treated people differently from ordinary men and women. She looked more like a master than a maid."
"Maybe she is the master?"
"That's right. Nowadays, there are many women doing business."
"If you don't act tough, how can a weak woman get into business?"
Zhang Zilan's eldest sister said, "Then I'll go and take a look. I also want to open a shop!"
The family looked at her, and the eldest sister said: "I am going to get sick from being bored at home all day! I can't become an official after studying, but can't I open a shop to have fun?"
Zhang Zilan's mother smiled and said, "Okay, I'll give you the money, just go ahead and open it."
The eldest sister quickly acted coquettishly: "My daughter knows that mother is the best."
Zhang Zilan's mother said, "Does Your Majesty know about that supermarket? If not, you should still let Your Majesty know first."
Zhang Zilan said: "When I went there this morning, someone said that those people were brought back by the Lord."
The family agreed that after dinner they would go to the supermarket to have another look. This time they brought almost all the valuable things in the house. The family actually didn't have much cash, and the custom of bartering was still alive, so the only accessories they carried with them were their money.
However, when they stepped out of the house, they found that the entire Linzi city seemed to be in motion. The noble families who had kept their doors closed like them in the morning all rushed to the supermarket with a large number of servants, and the whole family, young and old, went out in full force - even if they didn't buy anything, they just wanted to see the excitement!
"Brother Zhang! Are you going to the supermarket too?" said the head of a household not far from the Zhang family. "My wife and I are on our way there too!"
Zhang Shen was a little surprised: "Madam is out too?"
Did he know that his neighbor had been staying indoors ever since his wife became pregnant? It was said that his wife had a very unstable pregnancy, and almost everyone thought that his wife would not be able to make it through this hurdle.
The neighbor shouted, "That's right! Rong Niang is suffering from severe morning sickness and she said she wanted to go out for a walk and see something new."
"Brother Zhang, we'll go ahead, you guys should hurry up too, I heard a lot of people are heading that way."
After saying this, the neighbor asked his servant to drive to the south of the city.
As there were too many people in their family, they could not squeeze into one carriage, so they had to ask their wives and daughters to get in the carriage, while the men in the family rode on horses.
Before they reached their destination, they were stuck in traffic.
Although Linzi City was not too big and the streets were not wide, fortunately there were not many families with horses and carriages. Normally, even if two carriages met, one of them would just give way and pass.
But now, there are cars in front, behind, left and right, and it’s a traffic jam. No one can give way, and no one can get in.
"What should we do?" The servant driving the carriage was a little anxious, "Master, this is really unbearable!"
“There are more and more carriages.”
Zhang Shen could only ride his horse to the side of the carriage and ask, "Madam, if not, shall we walk over?"
Zhang's wife nodded: "Then let's go over there. This is fine. We don't come to the south city often."
There are several large markets in the south of the city. People living in this area are all merchants and common people, and the wealthy families all live in the city center.
They got off the horses and carriage, leaving only a few servants to watch over them, and the family walked towards the supermarket together.
With their example, others who were riding horses or carriages also got off and walked.
But the further they went, the more frightened they became. The streets were already packed with people, including hawkers and ordinary people, children of wealthy families, old and young, and everyone was moving in the same direction.
"I heard someone bought a crystal ball!"
"That crystal ball has the power of an immortal! If you twist something, it will glow and make sounds."
"The sound is quite nice, but the young man refused to play it again, saying that it would consume some electricity each time, and if the electricity ran out, he would have to buy more batteries."
"Dianli? Isn't that a fairy method?"
"Maybe it's the new name given to the immortal arts by those outsiders."
"And the cloth! The cloth is really strange, with all kinds of colors. When it is exposed to the sun, it has seven colors."
"Ah! The owner of this place is such a fool!"
Everyone was puzzled: "Why do you say that? How can the owner of this place be stupid?"
The speaker was an old man. He shook his head and sighed, "These things are so rare that any one of them would make him rich enough to rival a country, but he actually sold them so easily, and at such a low price."
"Father, are you deaf? You spend a fortune on a crystal ball. Is that too little?"
The old man blew his beard and glared: "Can these things be bought with money? In the past, the moonlight cup required seventeen cities to exchange. Look at the moonlight cup in this store, how much is it? Is it more than a thousand gold or seventeen cities?"
"...Now that you put it that way, it's true."
"Yes, although it is expensive, if other countries don't have it, it is still priceless!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Go home and get the money!"
"My family can still squeeze out some money! I'll go back and get it now!"
"You must not let the owner of this place figure this out. You must all keep your mouth shut. It is rare to see such a stupid businessman nowadays!"
"Yes, yes, yes, shut up, don't say anything!"
·
In the lounge, silly Ye Zhouzi sneezed.
Zou Ming: "Caught a cold?"
Ye Zhou shook his head, a little confused: "Why do I feel like someone is scolding me?"
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