Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 202 Reunion at Lantern Festival

People came and went, bustling with activity. Some asked for the price, but because the asking price was too high, no one offered. Zhu Youxiao could only sit at his desk, wrestling with the wood in his hands with his carving tools. However, a middle-aged scholar sold a painting for one and a half taels of silver.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, several eunuchs dressed in tattered linen clothes, dressed like ordinary servants, brought several food boxes for Zhu Youxiao and his attendants. In addition, there was a small charcoal stove specially used to keep the food warm.

No one cared about the food after it was distributed to the attendants, except for Zhu Youxiao's portion, which was tasted one by one by a eunuch before being served.

"Your family is really particular. You even have servants test poison in front of you when you have lunch." The middle-aged scholar selling paintings laughed.

"Would you like some too, sir?" Zhu Youxiao didn't explain, but tore off a leg from a perfectly baked chicken and handed it to the middle-aged scholar.

"No, I brought my own." The middle-aged scholar politely declined and immediately took out a large, pitted cake from his backpack. "Just eat this."

"You just eat this?" The moment he asked this question, Zhu Youxiao remembered the story that Master Sun had told him, "Why didn't Emperor Hui of Jin eat meat porridge?"

"If I can save a little, I'll save a little." The middle-aged scholar pulled another cotton-wrapped gourd from his backpack. "Next year—no, this year—is the Autumn Provincial Examination, and I still have to study for it. I don't have the energy to paint for money anymore." He struggled to break off a piece of dry, hard bread and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he unscrewed the lid of the gourd and drank half a mouthful of the remaining lukewarm water. He held it in his mouth for a long time before chewing and swallowing it.

"Can I have some?" Zhu Youxiao suddenly asked. "I'll give you this in exchange." Zhu Youxiao handed the chicken leg to the middle-aged scholar.

"You're running a losing business," the middle-aged scholar said with a smile. He knew this young master was kind-hearted and wanted to share the chicken thigh with him.

"It's not a transaction." Zhu Youxiao said, "Just think of it as making friends."

"Then I will respectfully obey your command." The middle-aged scholar took out a whole cake from his backpack and handed it to Zhu Youxiao. "I think you may not be used to it."

Zhu Youxiao was about to reach out to take it when the eunuch who had tasted the food came forward and said, "Let me try it first."

The middle-aged scholar did not take it as an offense and directly handed the cake to the eunuch who was tasting the meal.

Although the eunuch showed no signs of poisoning after tasting it, his expression remained unhappy. "Master, this thing is as hard as a rock and it hurts your mouth. It's better not to cause yourself such trouble," the eunuch said bluntly.

Zhu Youxiao didn't care and waved to the eunuch, "Bring it here."

"Oh." The eunuch had no choice but to break off a piece of dough about the size of a thumb and hand it to Zhu Youxiao. "Young Master, please."

The other eunuch was very perceptive and immediately poured out a bowl of delicious chicken soup from a clay pot filled with hot soup.

Zhu Youxiao took the cake, put it in his mouth, and immediately experienced the feeling of "eating a stone". Moreover, this thing was not just hard, it was very absorbent. Before Zhu Youxiao could bite it into two pieces, it absorbed all the saliva in his mouth.

Zhu Youxiao had never tasted something so cold and hard that was neither sweet nor salty, but he was sure it was much worse than the worst snack he had ever eaten. Zhu Youxiao's instinctive reaction was to spit out the bread, but he felt that this would be rude, so he held the bread in his mouth and waved to the eunuch who was holding the chicken soup. "Soup."

"Young Master, please." The eunuch handed the bowl of soup to Zhu Youxiao. His tone was so respectful and his attitude was so earnest that he almost fed Zhu Youxiao.

"Put it away and take it back." After swallowing the noodles with chicken soup, Zhu Youxiao did not comment much. Instead, he asked the middle-aged scholar, "By the way, I just heard you say you were studying for the exam. Are you a scholar from Zhili?"

"No. I'm a scholar from Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan Province." The middle-aged scholar shook his head and sighed, "I passed the imperial examination in the 36th year of Wanli. Then I failed four times, and this year is the fifth time." The vast majority of scholars will never pass the imperial examination in their entire lives.

"People from Henan come to the capital to celebrate the New Year?" Zhu Youxiao was a little surprised.

"I'm not here for the New Year." Despite not having eaten anything greasy or meaty for days, the middle-aged scholar maintained the reserved demeanor expected of a scholar as he gnawed on a chicken leg. He pointed to his scroll and said, "I'm here specifically to sell my paintings. I come to the Beijing Lantern Festival every year at this time."

"You're running so far? Kaifeng is the ancient capital of eight dynasties. Isn't there a lantern festival?" Zhu Youxiao was still growing and had a big appetite, but the food the eunuchs brought him was clearly far beyond his normal needs. "Sir, please help yourself."

"How could I possibly do that?" The middle-aged scholar had never tasted such delicious chicken drumsticks in his life, but out of modesty, he still didn't dare to shamelessly take food from other people's food boxes. He tore off a piece of bread, chewed it, and said, "If possible, I certainly wouldn't want to go far away."

"Why not?" After asking the question, Zhu Youxiao once again persuaded the middle-aged scholar to eat with him: "Sir, please eat it. If you can't finish it, you will just throw it away anyway."

The middle-aged scholar was stunned when he heard this, thinking: Such delicious meat and vegetables, but they just throw away the leftovers? How much money does this kid's family have?

Despite his bewilderment and his reflection, the middle-aged scholar ultimately refused to accept the chopsticks offered by the servant. Instead, he continued his previous sentence and answered the question, "Lu Kun, the eunuch who collects taxes, and his cronies have been plundering the land in Henan for over a decade, draining the wealth of the wealthy. The rich have no money, so how can I expect the poor to buy my paintings?"

In some places, mines were called "mining," but in reality, nothing was produced. Eunuchs forced wealthy households or local governments to contract the land, and the remaining shortfall was compensated by the wealthy households, or simply covered by local finances. In this way, the so-called mining was only in name only, and in essence, it was still an extralegal levy under the guise of mining.

"These days, only people in the northern and southern capitals, Guangdong, and Fujian can afford to buy paintings, something you can only look at but not eat. Guangdong and Fujian are too far away, so I won't consider them." The middle-aged scholar held out his hands, making a weighing gesture, and continued, "Comparing the two capitals, I think the capital is better. After all, it's under the feet of the emperor. As long as you don't encounter vicious bandits, you won't have any major problems."

Zhu Youxiao nodded thoughtfully, then looked at the eunuch beside him and asked, "Lu Kun, has he been arrested?"

The middle-aged scholar thought the young man was asking him a question, so he said, "That's right! Otherwise, how could I dare to tell you such a thing in broad daylight?" As he spoke, he bowed in the direction of the Forbidden City and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

The middle-aged scholar began to talk. "When my wife was still alive, I could still come to Beijing to attend the Lantern Festival without worrying about it. But two years ago, she passed away. Now all the family affairs have fallen on my daughter's shoulders."

"My mother has passed away." Zhu Youxiao felt sympathy for this girl whom he had never met before. He took the chopsticks from the eunuch and invited the middle-aged scholar to have dinner with him for the third time.

This time, the middle-aged Confucian scholar did not refuse again.

"I want to study, paint, and sell my paintings. So after my wife died, my eldest daughter will be the only one to take care of my second sister and younger brother." The middle-aged scholar began to worry. "If only I could pass the imperial examination this year. That way, I could bring the children to visit the capital."

A little after noon, Zhu Youxiao's wood carving stall welcomed two old friends whom he was not very familiar with.

After following Lu Wenzhao's advice to stay in Beijing, Ding Baiying returned to Zhang's residence in Nanxunfang. It wasn't because she couldn't afford the hotel room or was reluctant to go back, so she went back to stay. Rather, she felt a deep need for companionship and support. But even when they met again, Zhang Shirui's face still wore a tired look of hesitation, anxiety, and sorrow. To help Zhang Shirui relax, Ding Baiying took her out to the Lantern Festival every day.

The hustle and bustle of the Lantern Festival can temporarily dispel the helplessness in Zhang Shirui's heart, but as soon as they return to the cold mansion, the pressure that seems to come from the underworld will come back again.

Misfortunes never come singly. The apology she submitted to the palace through the Wei Dynasty fell on deaf ears, with no response. Meanwhile, Zhang Shirui received bad news from Nanjing. It was a memorial received and forwarded by the Daoluosi from the Tongzhengshisi.

The content of the memorial was: Nanjing garrison eunuch Lu Xian'an impeached the Heavenly Master Zhang Xianyong for feigning illness and not attending court, deceiving the emperor.

Before leaving Longhu Mountain, Zhang Shirui had never proactively inquired about the Tianshi Mansion's interactions with the outside world. Even so, she knew of Lü Xian'an. This eunuch had repeatedly visited Yingtan to "seek the truth about immortality" and had been warmly received by both the previous Tianshi Master Zhang Guoxiang and the current Tianshi Master Zhang Xianyong. For a time, he was a frequent guest at the Tianshi Mansion.

This impeachment made her deeply aware of the terror of imperial power. The emperor had merely ordered the Imperial Guard to stand guard at her door for over a month, without even a public reprimand, and yet the network of relationships the Tianshifu had built in Nanjing began to crumble.

"Hey!" Ding Baiying tugged at Zhang Shirui's sleeve, bringing her back to reality from her trance. "Look at that boy, doesn't he look familiar?"

"Which one?" The Lantern Festival was extremely lively, with children laughing, playing, chasing and running everywhere.

"The boy sitting by the fire behind the stall." Ding Baiying raised her hand to guide.

"Oh! That one." Zhang Shirui still remembered the strange father and son. Especially the man. She always felt like she had seen him somewhere, but she just couldn't remember where. One night, she even dreamed of him.

In her dream, heavy snow fell, obscuring the sun. She and the man were one downstairs, the other upstairs. She looked up at the man against the falling snow, but couldn't see his face. But strangely, she knew clearly that the man's gaze wasn't focused solely on her, but included her.

"Young master, where is your father?" Ding Baiying pulled Zhang Shirui to Zhu Youxiao's wood carving stall and asked.

Zhu Youxiao put down the carving knife, raised his head, frowned and said, "Who are you? What do you want to know about my father?" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao felt a sense of familiarity with the two people in front of him.

"Don't you recognize us?" Ding Baiying was very sure that the man in front of her was the boy they met in Lintai Tavern.

"Who is this sister?" Zhu Youxiao didn't recognize her for a moment. After thinking for a while, he finally realized what was going on. "Oh! It's that sister."

"Who is that?" Ding Baiying suddenly wanted to tease the child who was half a head shorter than her.

Zhu Youxiao was stunned, unable to think of the name of the tavern, so he looked at her waist discreetly. Generally speaking, people who needed to identify themselves would hang a waist badge there. "I meet Sister Ding."

"Quite clever." Ding Baiying untied the badge and handed it to Zhu Youxiao. "Ding Baiying. I'll stick to my name." Then, Ding Baiying brought up the question again: "Where's your father?"

"So you're the escort." Zhu Youxiao nodded, returned the badge to Ding Baiying, and replied, "My master is naturally at home."

"Home? Aren't you the juren who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination?" Ding Baiying asked in confusion.

Zhu Youxiao only wanted to give a vague answer to get away with it, but he didn't expect that his answer would backfire, allowing Ding Baiying to seize on the contradiction. However, he quickly regained his composure and replied, "I have a house in Beijing."

The middle-aged scholar was shocked when he heard this conversation, but he did not interrupt.

"Hiss," Ding Baiying sighed, "Rich people."

Ding Baiying picked up a wooden kettle with a cloud pattern and asked, "Did you make this?"

"I did it all." Zhu Youxiao nodded complacently.

"You're quite capable. I'll take care of your business." Ding Baiying glanced at the calluses on the boy's hands and asked, "This is all I have. How much do you want to sell it for?"

"Ten taels of silver, any one of them is worth it." Zhu Youxiao said.

"How much?" Ding Baiying's hand, which was about to take out the silver, paused.

"Ten taels of silver. Is that a lot?" Zhu Youxiao asked. This was the price his father had asked him to set. When he did so, his father had specifically stated that ten taels of silver was roughly equivalent to the daily expenses of Ciqing Palace.

"This pot you made is beautiful, but it definitely won't sell for ten taels of silver. Even if it were carved from rosewood, it wouldn't fetch that much." Ding Baiying said, "If you want to hire me to take you somewhere, I'll pay you one tael of silver a day. If you get kidnapped, I'll definitely die before you."

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!" The eunuch beside him was annoyed. "It's New Year's Day, what are you talking about!"

"Shut up." Zhu Youxiao just glanced at the eunuch lightly, and the eunuch was frightened.

"Yes." The eunuch lowered his head quickly.

"Sister Ding, please don't worry about the wording. I've never made or spent any money," Zhu Youxiao said. "Carving wood is just a hobby I use to pass the time."

(End of this chapter)