Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 122 Big Dragon, Two Tigers.

There is a nunnery on a small hill on the outskirts of Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, about ten miles away from Huating County.

Because it is close to Huating and there are peach trees planted on the mountain, the peach blossoms are in full bloom in March.

The whole temple was filled with the fragrance of flowers, turning into a sea of ​​pink. From the foot of the mountain to the steps on the mountain, there was an endless stream of female pilgrims coming to burn incense.

Just after three quarters past noon that day, a carriage with an embroidered apricot-colored flower-carved fence landed at the foot of the mountain at the Nunnery.

A girl in green popped her head out and shouted, "Miss, the peach blossoms are in full bloom this year. There are so many people here."

"Luoluo, can you change your carefree personality, otherwise no one will look up to you in the future?" A pleasant female voice with a hint of anger rang out. Xu Ruoxi, who was wearing a plain dress and had her hair draped over her shoulders, bent down and leaned out.

"We are not worthy of being favored by others, so we will just follow the lady." Luoluo smiled playfully and helped the lady get off the carriage.

The master and servant looked at the bluestone steps, glanced at each other, and then went up the mountain.

Along the way, the breeze was curling, the white clouds were floating, and the stairs were crowded with girls who came here to seek marriage.

Xu Ruoxi naturally did not come to seek marriage, but to seek peace.

At the same time, relax.

However, after she and Zhang Yunxiu separated that day, they kept in touch through letters, and their relationship quickly heated up.

In the middle of last month, Zhang Yunxiu wrote to say that he would come to Huating soon.

Xu Ruoxi was ecstatic. Thinking that she would see her lover again, she counted the days on her fingers.

He looked forward to it day and night, but Zhang Yunxiu never came.

As a result, she had been feeling depressed recently, so she invited her personal maid Luluo to visit the nunnery together.

Firstly, to ease the mood, and secondly, to pray for the safety of the lover.

After walking for about ten minutes, the sun pierced through the clouds, the temperature rose, and a layer of fine sweat seeped out of Xu Ruoxi's white neck, staining a few strands of her black hair.

She raised her head and looked upwards, and the four corner eaves came into view.

Without stopping any longer, she wiped the sweat off her snow-white neck with her hand, quickened her pace, and reached the top of the mountain in one go.

The first thing that catches your eye is a huge square planted with peach trees.

Among the flowers, several large halls with flying eaves on four corners are faintly visible.

At the door, several nuns in green Taoist robes stood at the door with smiles on their faces, saying nice things to the pilgrims who came to burn incense.

Xu Ruoxi lifted the hem of her skirt and led Luoluo inside.

The nun at the door continued, smiling, "Are you here to seek marriage?"

"No, no, no, I'm here to pray for peace." Xu Ruoxi shook her head repeatedly, a hint of girlish shyness appearing on her pretty face.

The two nuns smiled at each other and led Xu Ruoxi and Luluo to the side hall to sit down. The side hall was not big, with an eight-immortal table in the middle, and four yellow satin cushions below the eight-immortal table.

On the Eight Immortals table, there were some offerings and a small bronze tripod filled with incense sticks.

Xu Ruoxi walked lightly to the cushion, her knees softened, and she knelt down facing the cushion, clasped her hands together and silently said in her heart: "I hope the old immortal will bless him to be safe and sound, and come to Huating quickly, so that no big trouble will happen."

"I hope the old immortal will show up."

Seeing that its owner was so pious, Green Ivy followed suit and sat down on the cushion, imitating its owner.

Then he closed his eyes tightly and silently said, "Old Immortal, please bless our son-in-law and come to Huating as soon as possible, so that the young lady won't have to worry every day."

"I couldn't sleep all night."

The master and the servant prayed for a long time, but before they stood up, a beautiful young woman in her twenties, dressed in red and purple, walked into the hall from outside.

Looking at the two people kneeling on the ground, the beautiful young woman opened her red lips and called softly, "Mrs. Zhang."

Xu Ruoxi's expression tensed, she quickly opened her eyes and looked back.

The beautiful young woman was looking at him with a smile.

"You've got the wrong person. I'm not Mrs. Zhang." Xu Ruoxi explained.

"No, I'm not mistaken. I followed you all the way from the Xu family to here just to wait for you, Madam Zhang." The beautiful young woman smiled and twisted her slender waist to walk forward. She hooked her arms around Xu Ruoxi's shoulders and looked at her cheek and said, "She is really a person from heaven. Not to mention those stinky men, even a woman like me can't wait to take a bite of her."

"Madam, you've got the wrong person. I'm not Madam Zhang." Xu Ruoxi's eyes flashed with determination, and she didn't give in at all because of the beautiful young woman's words.

Green ivy also stood up and snorted angrily, "Yes, our young lady hasn't even married yet. You are such a fool. Our young lady has already said she is not married, but you still insist on saying she is."

"Still pretending." The beautiful young woman chuckled and said directly, "We know that you are the daughter of the Xu family and have already made an engagement with Mr. Zhang, so it's okay to call you Madam Zhang."

"My name is Zhao Yu, and I am the legal wife of Xu Weizhi, the son of the Duke of Wei."

"Ah? Are you from the Duke's Mansion?" Luoluo's face twitched and her voice began to tremble.

Xu Ruoxi, however, was alert. She took two steps back unconsciously, distanced herself from Zhao Yu, and said coldly, "So you are the wife of the prince of Duke Wei's mansion. I am really flattered."

"But Madam, you are wrong in one thing. I have only made an engagement with the young master of the Zhang family and have not yet married into the Zhang family. Naturally, I cannot be called Madam Zhang."

"Sister, don't talk to me about wild cotton." Zhao Yu glared at Xu Ruoxi in a reproachful manner, and then said, "Master Zhang's ship is almost arriving in Shanghai County. Tell me, who is he looking for in Songjiang Prefecture?"

Finally arrived.

Xu Ruoxi was delighted, and the coldness on her face disappeared.

Thinking of Zhao Yu's impure purpose, Xu Ruoxi frowned again and said with a bit of shyness: "Who knows who he is looking for? He might just pass by here." "Sister, who else can he look for except you?" Zhao Yu grabbed Xu Ruoxi's wrist.

"Looking for me? What do you want from me?" Xu Ruoxi was happy in her heart but pretended to be confused on her face.

"Sister, what else can a man do with a woman? Don't tell me, you don't know anything?" Zhao Yu's eyes widened and she got straight to the point. "My husband wants to ask Master Zhang for help with something, so please help me, sister."

As she spoke, she took out a small rosewood box about five inches square from her sleeve.

When he opened it, he found a pair of fish-shaped jade pendants with exquisite colors.

"What do you mean?" Xu Ruoxi asked with a cold face.

"Just a little something."

Zhao Yu chuckled, closed the small box, looked into Xu Ruoxi's eyes and said, "As long as Miss Xu can introduce my husband to Mr. Zhang, whether it succeeds or not, my family will give you a generous gift."

"Madam, I'm just a woman, how can I get involved in men's affairs?" Xu Ruoxi was unwilling to let Zhang Yunxiu look down on her.

"Sister, you don't understand this." Zhao Yu smiled softly and taught Xu Ruoxi a lesson in a serious manner, "A woman's greatest weapon is her face. As long as you act coquettishly and roll into his arms, not to mention a hot-blooded teenager, even a great immortal would be so weak that his bones would be unable to stand up."

"Madam, what nonsense are you talking about?" Xu Ruoxi glared at Zhao Yu in reproach.

"Every woman has to go through this sooner or later. You have to take advantage of the novelty of a man and spend all day with him, otherwise you will have something to cry about in the future." Zhao Yuyi is already a married woman, so there are no taboos in her words.

The two argued for a long time, but Xu Ruoxi still refused to agree.

Zhao Yu had no choice but to force the wooden box into Xu Ruoxi's hands and pretended to be nonchalant, "Even if the deal doesn't work out, we still have friendship. I see that you are pretty, so I'll give this gift to you two young couples."

After saying this, without waiting for Xu Ruoxi to refuse, he stepped out of the hall.

Xu Ruoxi lifted her skirt and ran after him, but when she looked around, Zhao Yu had already disappeared in the crowd.

Green ivy, who had been silent for a long time, also came out, her eyes sparkling, and she said with a bit of pride: "Miss, this jade is so good, it's free anyway, why not take it. Even if the son-in-law knew, he couldn't make trouble for you."

"What do you know?!" Xu Ruoxi stretched out her jade finger and tapped Luoluo's forehead heavily, and then said, "It's a pity to be grateful for what you have received. It's obvious that they have some ulterior motive when they give us such a valuable thing for free."

"Our Xu family is a well-known family after all. We shouldn't be looked down upon for such a small thing."

"Oh, what should we do then?" Luoluo covered her forehead and asked with a pout.

"What else can we do? Go back and send someone to deliver this thing to the Duke of Wei's mansion."

Xu Ruoxi said this angrily, picked up her long skirt, and ran down the mountain in a hurry.

On the other side, at the dock of Shanghai County.

More than fifty warships slowly approached the shore. On the main ship in the middle, Zhang Yunxiu, wearing a green tight-fitting long gown, stood in the middle with his hands behind his back.

On both sides, Li Ergou and Zhao Dazhuang stood straight.

"Young Master, we have arrived at Shanghai County. It's time for us to say goodbye." Li Ergou on the side replied respectfully.

"Are you scared?" Zhang Yunxiu glanced at Li Ergou and Zhao Dazhuang and asked expressionlessly.

"Don't be afraid. Back then, Eunuch Zheng dared to sail to the West without a sea chart. What should I be afraid of with a sea chart in my hand?" Zhao Dazhuang frowned and patted his chest and shouted, "Master, just rest assured. In two years at the latest, I promise to bring you all the sea charts and the specialties of these islands intact."

"Okay, since you all have such courage, we'll wait to recommend you for credit." Zhang Yunxiu said with great pride.

Originally he just wanted Li Ergou to explore the way, but he didn't expect Zhao Dazhuang to volunteer to try his luck at getting rich.

Zhang Yunxiu was reluctant to part with this man, but he was eager to achieve success.

Zhang Yunxiu had no choice but to let him go and leave him and Li Ergou to take care of each other.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunxiu turned his head and looked at Li Ergou beside him, and whispered: "Ergou, don't worry, we will take good care of your mother-in-law. No matter whether you can come back or not, as long as we have a bite to eat, they will definitely not starve."

"Thank you, sir." Li Ergou bowed and clasped his hands.

Now he finally understood that being a dog for others was not a shameful thing.

"I think you shouldn't be called Ergou now. From now on, you can be called Li Erhu. This name sounds much better than Ergou." Zhang Yunxiu patted Li Ergou's shoulder and said softly.

"Thank you for the name, sir. Erhu will definitely pave a way for you." Li Ergou was so terrified that his knees went weak and he knelt on the ground to show his loyalty.

Zhang Yunxiu helped him up, then looked at Zhao Dazhuang and said, "Don't call yourself 'Dazhuang' anymore. You will be the commander of a region in the future. If you say that, people will laugh at you. From now on, just call yourself Dalong."

"Zhao Dalong, Li Erhu." Zhao Dazhuang murmured twice, his eyes flashing with brilliance, and then he clasped his hands and said, "Thank you for the names, sir. We promise to bring back what you want."

"Um,"

Zhang Yunxiu nodded slightly, gave a few more instructions, and then stepped off the warship.

A group of people stood on the warship and watched Zhang Yunxiu go away. Only when his back disappeared from their sight did Li Erhu make a gesture to the flag bearer.

The flag bearer understood, stood on a high place and waved the flag.

When the warships behind saw this, they turned their heads and headed for the Shanghai County dock.

"Take another look. You don't know when you will come back next time." Zhao Dalong patted Li Erhu's shoulder and said affectionately.

"No need, I'll be back soon."

Li Erhu smiled confidently, turned and walked towards the cabin.

(End of this chapter)