Chapter 293 The Grand Secretary's Favor (First Update)
Yueluo Mountain is not too far from the capital city; it's about ten miles southeast of the south gate.
The library is a two-courtyard complex, but the actual storage space for books is only two study rooms—the east wing and the west wing.
The owner of this house probably didn't enjoy reading much; the books were scattered and uncategorized, including bamboo slips and paper books, all in a disordered order, and many were eaten by termites.
However, these ancient books are of great significance to the study of history. What they had to do was to organize them according to different dynasties and eras, and to fill in as many missing or damaged pages as possible. They would mark the pages that could not be filled in and then consult the Five Classics Doctors and Hanlin Academy Scholars.
There were four compilers and two editors who came to the library this time. Yang Xiuzhuan thought that the number of people was enough, after all, there were only two study rooms.
But when he went inside and looked around, he was completely dumbfounded.
Is this really a study?
Are you sure it's not some kind of storage room?
The bookshelves and cabinets were overturned, and books were scattered all over the floor. The servants had probably tidied up before, putting some books in baskets, but they were illiterate and just put them in a mess.
Yang Xiuzhuan was in a terrible predicament, regretting that he hadn't brought more people with him!
Prince An was also troubled. The Hanlin Academy scholar had reminded him that the task might be quite heavy, but he hadn't expected it to be this heavy.
He rubbed his forehead and sighed, "Lord Yang, let's move all the books out first and tidy up the inside."
"Yes, yes, yes, Yuheng is absolutely right!" Yang Xiuzhuan never forgot to curry favor, his face full of smiles as he hurriedly agreed.
He turned to Xiao Liulang, his smile instantly turning cold. "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and start moving the books!"
Xiao Liulang and an editor surnamed Cen went to the west room. The west room did not face well and was exposed to the afternoon sun. In addition, the weather was hot and humid, so it was like a steamer.
The cooler east wing was naturally given to Yang Xiuzhuan himself and Prince An. Yang Xiuzhuan would not let Prince An get tired, so he mainly directed another Xiuzhuan and another editor to carry out the work.
Prince An is going to move baskets.
Yang Xiuzhuan stopped him, smiling and saying, "Let them handle this. Yuheng, go outside and air out the books."
Airing out books is relatively easy; you just need to place them one by one on the benches under the eaves, on the stone table in the yard, or on the ground.
Prince An did not deliberately try to play the role of a sensible junior. People are born different from one another. He was born into a superior family, and he paid a huge price for it.
Even those of noble birth did not have to leave their homes and be held hostage in an enemy country at the age of eight like he did.
So there's no reason to refuse.
Prince An accepted Yang Xiuzhuan's arrangement as a matter of course.
Yang Xiuzhuan mainly directed operations on-site, and occasionally helped Prince An air out his books.
Xiao Liulang's legs were weak, so he moved slowly.
Cen, who was assigned to the same room as him, was a junior official three years ago. This year, when he finished his studies, he passed the exam and entered the Hanlin Academy as a compiler. He was a newcomer, only a few months earlier than Xiao Liulang, Prince An, and Ning Zhiyuan.
Of course he knew that Xiao Liulang was the new top scholar, but it seemed that this top scholar had offended the second-place scholar, and even the third-place scholar Ning Zhiyuan was living a more comfortable life than him.
Editor Cen pouted in annoyance: "What bad luck, how did I end up in the same room as you!"
Xiao Liulang didn't say anything, but silently picked up the books from the ground and put them into the basket.
The group worked all afternoon, and even Prince An, who was only responsible for airing out the books, felt a backache. But so far, they had only completed half of the work—moving the books out, but not yet organizing and putting them back in.
"You two, clean the house first!" Yang Xiuzhuan ordered Xiao Liulang and Cen Bianxiu. "You clean the east room, you clean the west room."
Editor Cen dared not disobey, and of the two rooms, he chose the relatively cooler east room.
Xiao Liulang did not compete with him.
Instead of being grateful, Editor Cen mocked Xiao Liulang, saying, "If I hadn't been assigned to the same room as you, I wouldn't be so unlucky!"
That's a bit of an overstatement.
Xiao Liulang was, after all, a sixth-rank compiler, whose official rank was higher than his. Whether Xiao Liulang came or not, he would be the one to do the dirtiest and most tiring work today.
After all, since they were both seventh-rank compilers, it wouldn't be right to let the prestigious Prince An do the job.
Would Prince An possibly care about such a minor official position of the seventh rank? It's only because the Zhuang family has a system where all Zhuang family members must take the imperial examinations to enter officialdom and cannot be granted official positions through hereditary privilege that Prince An would not have wasted his talents on such a position.
Editor Cen naturally didn't dare to complain about Prince An, so he vented his anger on Xiao Liulang, who was always being bullied.
Xiao Liulang ignored him and took a broom to clean the west study.
The west study was larger and more cluttered than the east study. He first straightened the bookshelves and cabinets.
He is much stronger now than he was a year ago. If he were still that sickly little boy who fainted from hunger on the roadside, he probably wouldn't be able to lift these bookshelves.
The boy's body exuded a vibrant masculine energy. His sleeves were rolled up slightly, revealing firm, well-defined muscles on his forearms, and sweat trickled down his delicate chin.
Prince An was resting outside when he inadvertently glanced at the window of the west room.
Even though he was a man, he was almost blinded for a moment.
After cleaning the west room, Xiao Liulang was surprised to find that the room actually had an attic, with the ladder behind the last row of bookshelves.
He wiped the ladder and looked around. There were books in the attic, but probably because it was too secluded, no one had ever touched it. Apart from being covered in dust, it wasn't too messy.
Xiao Liulang decided to move the books in first, and then tidy up the attic later.
"Bring the books in, it's going to rain," Xiao Liulang said to the group as he went out.
Prince An glanced at the gloomy sky and frowned. How could he have missed it earlier? He had even spread the books out so wide, making it difficult to put them away.
"Then let's hurry up and pack up," he said.
However, while Xiao Liulang's west room was cleaned, Cen Bianxiu's east room was only half-cleaned.
"What did you do? You haven't even finished cleaning such a small room!" Yang Xiuzhuan berated Cen Bianxiu, then turned to Xiao Liulang and said, "Go and help him with this!"
They used to have two drivers, but the roof was leaking and the drivers had gone to fix it, so they couldn't help out right now.
Xiao Liulang went to the east room.
Editor Cen glared at him indignantly: "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You deliberately made me look bad in front of Lord Yang!"
What does this have to do with Xiao Liulang?
Xiao Liulang works quickly because, unlike most scholars who only study, he does all sorts of work at home, except for heavy chores that Gu Jiao forbids him to do.
Is this also his fault?
Xiao Liulang said calmly, "Use the energy you spend throwing tantrums to clean up the east room. It would have been cleaned long ago."
“You…” Editor Cen was speechless.
After the east room was tidied up, the group moved the books in. Just as they finished moving the last basket, a light rain began to fall.
Meanwhile, the roof was also repaired.
The group breathed a sigh of relief, and then they began to organize and categorize the books.
At this point, Yang Xiuzhuan stopped bullying anyone. He, along with Prince An and another Xiuzhuan, organized the books in the east room, while Xiao Liulang, Cen Bianxiu, and another Xiuzhuan organized the books in the west room.
As the rain intensified, the heat dissipated, the temperature dropped, and the west room became less hot.
The group focused intently on their work, all taking it very seriously.
Xiao Liulang was a newcomer, and the task he was assigned was not heavy. After tidying up the two rows of bookshelves in front of him, he thought of the attic above.
He took a rag and an oil lamp, and climbed the ladder to the attic.
The books in the attic don't look messy at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the categories are all wrong.
He hung up the oil lamp, cleaned off the dust, and then sorted the books into categories.
There were no paper, pens, or other tools in the attic, so if he encountered anything damaged, he would put it aside and repair it later after he had finished tidying up.
He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice it was getting late.
When a sudden pain in his back alerted him, he decided to go for a walk, only to find that the room was already pitch black.
A light rain was falling outside.
He carried the oil lamp as he walked through the silent house.
Is anyone there?
He asked.
He was met with the sound of continuous rain.
Xiao Liulang carried an oil lamp and walked around the courtyard, finally confirming that everyone had left and the front gate was locked.
Xiao Liulang went to the back door, and unsurprisingly, it was locked as well.
Although there is no gold or silver in here, we are still worried that thieves might come in and damage the ancient books in the study, so we always lock the door from the outside when we leave.
On the way here, Xiao Liulang had observed the terrain. This house was located at the foot of Yueluo Mountain, and the nearest house was a teahouse about a mile away.
Moreover, the tea stalls only operate during the day; they return to the village at night.
Looks like we won't be able to go home tonight.
Xiao Liulang gazed at the drizzling rain, something flashed through his mind, he frowned, sighed, and turned to step into the corridor.
Since no one had been living in the house for a long time, there was naturally nothing to eat. Fortunately, Ning Zhiyuan brought him a bowl of plain noodles at noon, so he wasn't hungry yet.
His oil lamp was almost out.
He went to the east room and brought back the oil lamp from there.
Since he had nothing better to do, Xiao Liulang decided to start organizing his books.
Due to the sheer volume of work, they have only completed less than a third of the work and have not yet begun restoring the damaged ancient books.
Xiao Liulang had been at the Hanlin Academy for less than a month, and his good performance in history was actually thanks to Master Feng, who left him a collection of historical books.
"Emperor Huizong rode his horse to Yanbei Pass, intending to cross the Yan River..."
Xiao Liulang was fortunate enough to see this passage in Feng Lao's book; it tells the story of Emperor Wenhui, the second emperor of the previous dynasty, personally leading an expedition.
The weather was bad that day, making it unsuitable to cross the river.
Emperor Wenhuizong ignored the advice and insisted on going. Fortunately, a fisherwoman risked her life to stop him. In the middle of the night, a torrential rain poured down, the Yan River suddenly swelled, and whirlpools formed. Emperor Wenhuizong was grateful that he and his soldiers had escaped a calamity.
Upon returning home, Emperor Wenhui disregarded the objections of his court officials and resolutely conferred the title of concubine upon the fisherwoman.
It was supposed to be a beautiful story that people would sing about, but the Fisher Girl's ending was not fortunate.
The imperial harem boasts three thousand beauties; only the laughter of the new concubines is heard, while the cries of the old ones are never heard.
The fisherwoman never saw the emperor again after the third year she entered the palace. She grew old in the deep palace and left behind a poem, "Ode to Yanbei," before her death, which told her story of half a lifetime of loneliness and suffering.
What's missing here is precisely that "Ode to Yanbei".
Xiao Liulang picked up his brush and added the Yanbei Ode to it.
The next day.
A servant who was guarding the mansion came to the mansion.
He was looking after the house for the original owner and only came every three to five days. Last night it rained, and he was worried that the roof was leaking again, so he came to check on it.
He went to the east study first, but as soon as he entered, he saw a person slumped over the desk and fell to the ground in fright: "A ghost—!"
No wonder he mistook the other person for a ghost; the door was locked, so who but a ghost could get in!
Xiao Liulang was awakened by his shouts and slowly raised his head, which was pressed against his arm.
It was a face that, despite the marks from the pressure, was still flawlessly perfect.
The servants were stunned.
This...this isn't a ghost! It's clearly a deity!
Moreover... the room was spotless; what else could it be but a magical spell?
Although the court officials might come to clean it up, he was here yesterday morning. How could those delicate officials possibly clean it up properly?
Xiao Liulang finished tidying up the books in the west room last night. Seeing that it was still dark, he tidied up the books in the east room as well. He didn't go to sleep until it was almost dawn.
"What time is it?" Xiao Liulang sat up straight, straightened his clothes, and asked calmly.
The servant said blankly, "Chen... Chen Shi San Ke."
Xiao Liulang frowned: "It's so late."
The Hanlin Academy is on duty at Chen Shi (7-9 AM).
Xiao Liulang looked at him and asked, "Excuse me, are there any carriages around here?"
The servant said, "Yes, we have them at the tea stall. Young Master... uh... would you like a carriage?"
Xiao Liulang opened his purse, took out a silver coin, and handed it to him: "Could you please hire a carriage for me?"
"Alright!" The servant stepped forward, took the silver ingot with both hands, and went out to hire a carriage for Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang stood up, intending to go to the backyard to fetch some water to wash up.
When the servants turned around, they happened to see Xiao Liulang coming out of the east room with a cane.
He was stunned: "Ah..."
Xiao Liulang returned to the capital by carriage.
He wasn't the only one in the carriage; there were two other merchants heading to the capital. They had hired the carriage first, so he had to take them there first.
Since the place they were going to was not far from the Hanlin Academy, Xiao Liulang simply went directly to the Hanlin Academy.
As soon as he entered the Hanlin Academy, Ning Zhiyuan rushed over, looking flustered: "Sixth Brother, where have you been? Why are you so late at the Hanlin Academy! Don't you know that being late will result in a demerit? Yang Xiuzhuan was furious just now! He's gone out now!"
Xiao Liulang said, "I didn't mean to. They didn't wake me when they came back last night... Wait, you're saying Yang Xiuzhuan got angry?"
Ning Zhiyuan said, "Yeah, he said, what's wrong with you? Are you thinking you're something special just because you're the top scholar in the imperial examination? Oh, what did you just say? I didn't call you when you came back?"
Just as Xiao Liulang was about to answer, Cen Bianxiu came out of the office carrying several books. When he saw Xiao Liulang, he stopped in his tracks.
Then, his eyes flashed, and he lowered his gaze guiltily, pretending not to see Xiao Liulang as he walked past him.
Ning Zhiyuan was not familiar with Cen Bianxiu and did not know that he had a falling out with Xiao Liulang. He did not notice his strange behavior, but he did notice Xiao Liulang's gaze that was fixed on Cen Bianxiu.
"Liu Lang, what's wrong?" Ning Zhiyuan asked.
"It's nothing." Xiao Liulang withdrew his gaze and said to Ning Zhiyuan, "You go ahead and get busy."
There were many people and a lot of gossip around, so Xiao Liulang was ostracized and Ning Zhiyuan didn't dare to get too close to him openly.
It hasn't been easy for him to get to where he is today.
Everyone has their own rules for survival. Xiao Liulang would rather break than bend, while Ning Zhiyuan is flexible, but he will keep his bottom line in his heart.
After Ning Zhiyuan left, Xiao Liulang also returned to his office.
Editor Cen quietly opened the door to his room, poked his head out, and glanced at Xiao Liulang's office.
With so many people around yesterday, Xiao Liulang shouldn't have suspected him for no reason.
But once a person does something wrong, they are prone to feeling guilty, which makes him feel that Xiao Liulang is about to rush over and question him at any moment.
Actually, Yang Xiuzhuan did ask Xiao Liulang last night. Everyone was exhausted after an afternoon and a night, and they were so tired that they could barely move their fingers.
Yang Xiuzhuan, Prince An, and Lu Xiuzhuan boarded the carriage in front, while he shared a carriage with Xiao Liulang and Wang Xiuzhuan.
Yang Xiuzhuan's carriage left first, and before leaving, Yang Xiuzhuan asked him to call Xiao Liulang.
He agreed.
He knew that Xiao Liulang was in the attic.
He didn't call out.
Wang Xiuzhuan assumed that Xiao Liulang had gone to Yang Xiuzhuan's side and didn't ask any further questions.
He didn't think too much at the time; he just wanted to teach Xiao Liulang a lesson, since Xiao Liulang had dragged him into this mess.
But this morning, Yang Xiuzhuan was furious. He was afraid that if Yang Xiuzhuan confronted Xiao Liulang later, he would be exposed.
Forget it, at worst I'll just say that Xiao Liulang was hiding in the attic and I didn't see him, so I thought he had left beforehand!
To make his claim more convincing, he rushed over to Wang Xiuzhuan and asked him, "Wang Xiuzhuan, do you remember that Xiao Liulang left very early yesterday afternoon?"
Wang Xiuzhuan was taken aback: "Is he gone? I didn't notice."
Editor Cen said, "I noticed that he left after working for a while."
Wang Xiuzhuan thought about it carefully and realized that he hadn't seen Xiao Liulang again after it got dark.
Xiao Liulang did not see Yang Xiuzhuan until the end of the term.
Xiao Liulang left the Hanlin Academy.
Kong, the clerk in charge of roll call, suddenly stopped Xiao Liulang and said to him, "Your family came last night. They said it was your wife. She asked where you went, and I told them you went with Yang Xiuzhuan to do some work outside the city."
Xiao Liulang nodded: "Thank you."
Yang Xiuzhuan hadn't finished organizing those books last night, so he rushed over after finishing his official duties early this morning. He and Xiao Liulang didn't take the same route and missed each other perfectly.
When Yang Xiuzhuan arrived at the library, he found that someone had already cleaned up the mess from the previous night.
"This..." Yang Xiuzhuan was completely bewildered. "What's going on? Who tidied it up? Or did they finish the work while I was dozing off in the car yesterday?"
Yang Xiuzhuan carried several baskets of important books back to the Hanlin Academy.
After reviewing it, Scholar Han praised it highly: "Excellent, well done!"
Several scholars specializing in the Five Classics also browsed through those books. These books were all very important documents with great value for historical research, especially the section on Emperor Wenhui of the previous dynasty, for which even the Hanlin Academy's library could not find a complete version.
Han Xueshi selected a few books and sent them to the cabinet so that they could also take a look and see if there were any omissions or errors.
Chief Minister Yuan happened to be there as well.
He paid special attention to the poem "Ode to Yanbei".
This poem has been lost for hundreds of years. Many great scholars have spent their lives trying to restore it, and he himself once tried. However, after consulting all the literature, he could only restore the first part.
He thought this essay would be at most five hundred characters long, but it turned out to be over a thousand.
"How much effort must have been put into this..." Chief Minister Yuan looked at it as if it were a rare treasure, even softening his movements.
Scholar Han couldn't say for sure whether it was their group who did the restoration or the former owner of the library, since the books there had shown many signs of restoration, some of which were quite new.
However, Chief Minister Yuan could tell that the handwriting was from within the last three days.
Scholar Han thought for a moment and said, "Then it must be Prince An. I heard from Yang Xiuzhuan that we really owe a lot to him this time. If it weren't for him, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
Among the entourage, Yang Xiuzhuan only emphasized Prince An and made no mention of Xiao Liulang.
Chief Minister Yuan paused for a moment: "You mean... the eldest grandson of Grand Tutor Zhuang? That eighteen-year-old prince?"
Scholar Han nodded: "Yes, it's him. Although he is a prince, he never acts like one when he comes to the Hanlin Academy. Yesterday, when he was organizing these books, he worked hard without complaining."
Grand Secretary Yuan pondered for a moment, then stroked his beard: "Grand Tutor Zhuang has indeed gained a fine grandson." He paused, then added, "Could these books be left here so that this old man can appraise them for a few days?"
Scholar Han cupped his hands and smiled, "Your Excellency, you may watch for as long as you wish, there is no need to rush."
Scholar Han brought the book here for Chief Minister Yuan to appreciate; if he doesn't like it, then his trip was in vain.
Moreover, it was such an honor to gain the favor of Chief Minister Yuan.
Although Grand Secretary Yuan was not as adept at political maneuvering as Grand Tutor Zhuang, his influence in the court was far beyond what Grand Tutor Zhuang could suppress.
Grand Tutor Zhuang would rather offend Marquis Xuanping than Chief Minister Yuan.
Similarly, Marquis Xuanping criticized all the civil and military officials in the court, but he never criticized Chief Minister Yuan.
This was a veteran of three dynasties who remained outside the vortex of power, having served three emperors. Even Empress Dowager Zhuang would dismount her sedan chair for him.
(End of this chapter)
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