Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 105 Chance Encounter
A little earlier.

Ding Baiying stood at the entrance to the Ministry of Rites. She looked up at the plaque, only to find a newly formed ice crystal landed in her eye. The cool sensation seeped through her eyes, stirring a hint of melancholy into her slightly moistened eyes.

Senior Brother finally got married. The woman named Hai Rou was gentle and beautiful. She was the legitimate daughter of Lord Hai Zhentao, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard. She was a perfect match for Senior Brother, the heir to the title of a Captain of the Imperial Guard. After a quick meeting, Ding Baiying felt that Lu Haishi was so good that he couldn't even think of being jealous.

Ding Baiying lowered his head to look at the calluses on his right palm from holding and swinging the sword for so long, and began to lose himself in memories of the past:

"If I become a master in the future, I will let all my disciples take my surname." In the late winter of the second year after entering the Qi family martial arts school, Ding Baiying won a small victory and defeated her senior brother for the first time. Since then, she has never lost again.

"Then you probably won't be able to recruit any apprentices. Who would abandon their ancestral family name for the sake of martial arts?" The young Lu Wenzhao was gentle and polite, with a smile on his face, looking like a Confucian scholar.

"What if I recruit him?" Ding Baiying was unconvinced.

"If you really recruit a disciple who is willing to change his surname, it can only be said that the world is in chaos and the moral principles have collapsed." Lu Wenzhao suppressed his smile, sighed softly, and seemed to be looking at something in the distance.

"Is it that serious?" The senior brother's eyes flashed with clarity and worry, which added a layer of otherworldly charm to his already handsome face.

"Our bodies and hair are inherited from our parents, let alone our surnames. If someone were willing to abandon their names for martial arts, they'd either be completely bereaved and childless, leaving them without any support, or perhaps they'd be learning from you just to earn a living." Lu Wenzhao's eyes were filled with concern for his country. "A surname is a symbol of dignity. Who would abandon their dignity and become a traitor to their roots if they could only make a living?"

In the main hall of the Ministry of Rites, Xu Guangqi was dealing with a woman he didn't really want to spend time with.

"Miss Zhang. I asked you to come to the Ministry of Rites today for only one thing." Xu Guangqi opened the second drawer from the top on the right and picked up a memorial placed on it.

"What's this?" Zhang Shirui was puzzled. While the Daolusi, which oversaw Daoism throughout China, was affiliated with the Ministry of Rites, the relevant officials worked not at the main office but at Guangfu Temple. She had only visited the main office once, when she had just arrived in Beijing and needed to report on an imperial decree.

"You'll understand the details of Zhang Tianshi's memorial once you read it." Xu Guangqi didn't want to explain too much. He had a mountain of work to do during the day, and then he had to translate for the chief eunuch in the Imperial Household Department when he got home that evening. These two factors, combined with the increasingly fierce criticism from the censors and Hanlin scholars, left Xu Guangqi exhausted both physically and mentally.

Zhang Shirui was a clever and shrewd person. She knew that Xu Libu didn't want to waste any more words on her. But she didn't care and just started reading the memorial.

But this reading immediately left her dumbfounded: My father is seriously ill, and he's submitting a petition to abdicate? But I just received a letter yesterday announcing my safety. It only contained three words: "Be safe, don't worry."

"Since Zhang Tianshi cannot come to Beijing, the discussion will naturally be cancelled. After the memorial is presented to the emperor for his review and approved, the Ministry of Rites will send the document to confer the title of new Tianshi to Nanjing." Xu Guangqi spoke in a businesslike tone and did not mention a word about bringing Zhang Shirui into the palace to meet the emperor on behalf of her father.

Upon learning that Zhang Xianyong had remained ill in Nanjing, Xu Guangqi keenly sensed that the newly enthroned Tianshi Zhang was strongly reluctant to come to Beijing and serve as the emperor's puppet against foreign religions. However, Xu Guangqi could not have anticipated Zhang Xianyong's drastic actions. After all, Zhang Xianyong had inherited the Tianshi position from his father, Zhang Guoxiang, less than two years earlier. Seriously ill? Such a coincidence was unthinkable.

Being perfunctory to the court shouldn't be without cost. Xu Guangqi decided to remind Wang Zhangyin at tonight's banquet and ask him to bring the Ministry of Rites' suggestions to the emperor.

"May I ask when this memorial was delivered?" Zhang Shirui asked.

"The Nanjing Tongzhengshisi received the memorial on the second day of the winter month. This morning, the memorial arrived in the capital." Xu Guangqi saw that Zhang Shirui's face was full of worry, and it didn't seem fake.

The second day of the twelfth lunar month? But the letter announcing safety was also written on the second day of the twelfth lunar month. Zhang Shirui was deeply puzzled. She left the Ministry of Rites in a daze, her mind a mess.

"Miss." Ding Baiying put away the melancholy on her face and went up to greet her. "Miss Ding." Zhang Shirui pursed her lips and forced a smile.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Zhang Shirui's pale face, Ding Baiying asked with concern.

"My father submitted a petition to the Emperor, requesting that the title of Heavenly Master be passed on to my younger brother." There was no need to conceal this matter, because once the imperial decree was issued, the news of the change of leader of Longhu Mountain would be known to the world.

“.” Ding Baiying did not ask any further questions. She still understood the social etiquette.

The two of them walked in silence until they saw a patrol team lined up in three rows at the intersection, slowly moving eastward along Dongjiangmi Lane.

Ding Baiying immediately noticed that the weapons carried by this patrol team were all new.

"Let me take you back to Nanjing." Ding Baiying took Zhang Shirui's wrist and walked north away from the team of soldiers.

"It's noon, let's eat first." Zhang Shirui saw a three-story building with "Lintai Restaurant" on it at the next intersection.

"We can buy some dry food to eat on the road." Ding Baiying suggested.

"There's no rush. There's something I want to ask you." The contents of the private message and the official letter were very different, which made Zhang Shirui deeply confused.

"Okay." Ding Baiying nodded.

Arriving downstairs at the Lintai Tavern near the old site of Taiji Factory, Ding Baiying saw a tall, wealthy man leading a boy with just some hair on the corners of his mouth, and two elderly but energetic old men who walked in before them.

"I feel like I've seen that person somewhere." Zhang Shirui also noticed the group of four.

"Which one?"

"That tall Confucian scholar." The man was wearing a loose and clean Confucian robe, showing an elegant and calm temperament. He should come from a wealthy and well-educated family.

"The Spring Examination is coming soon. He should be going to Beijing to take the exam. Maybe we've passed each other somewhere." Ding Baiying also felt that the man looked familiar, but there were too many Confucian scholars on the streets of Beijing recently, so she didn't pay much attention to it.

"How many guests are there?" The waiter had sharp eyes and knew at a glance that this well-off man was a wealthy man. He quickly went up to him and greeted him with a big smile.

"Just four. Is there any room upstairs?" The man responded with a cheerful smile.

"Yes. But I have to remind you that there are no window seats." Lintai Restaurant is not a top-notch restaurant, but because it is located on the corner of the street, is several meters high, and has a wide view, it is quite famous.

"They will give up their seats." The old man who looked like a servant said as a matter of course.

(End of this chapter)