The Great Seminary

Chapter 187 Two Heroes from One Family

Pingyang Town has two market towns right next to Youyu Ward, which has a strong, fishy smell.

Another market town on the outskirts of the town is Qin Geng Fang.

The other one is the Jiahefang neighborhood within the town.

At this moment, in a private room of a three-story restaurant at the intersection of Youyufang and Jiahefang.

A woman with a plain, cool-looking face, delicate features, and a topknot hairstyle stood at the window, pointing to Zhang Gui, who was about the length of a chopstick in the distance, and said in surprise:

"It's true that it's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early."

"Isn't that Zhang Gui, your cousin-in-law Jiuqing, who's been staying at home, insisting on seeing you?"

A few steps away, a pretty young woman sitting at a round table, drinking sweet wine, glared angrily at the woman with the Taoist bun.
"Zhen Shijing, you little brat, you're teasing me again."

Watch out, or I'll use my 'freeze-in-the-body' technique to flick your forehead until it swells up.

Seeing that his best friend had been crying wolf for the past few days, even after the person in question actually showed up, he still didn't believe it.

Zhen Shijing looked at her older sister, who looked and was very similar to her in appearance and build, but whose clothes were much more elegant.

"Sister, you know Zhang Gui too, come over here and take a look, then tell Sun Chonghe."

"Did we run into them?"

She didn't seem to be lying. The elegant woman and the pretty girl got up at the same time and moved to the window.

"Sister Ciyun, can you help me check if Zhang Gui has really shown up?"

Zhen Ciyun smiled before she spoke.
"Don't panic, little sister Chonghe. As long as Tatsuo Ryūko really comes back, he won't leave anytime soon."

Approaching the window, a glint of light flashed in his eyes as he recognized the man laughing and joking carelessly among the neighbors in the distance—it was Zhang Gui.

Zhen Ciyun nodded.
"That's right, Caiyang Longhu has indeed returned to his hometown. Let's go and inform Senior Brother Jiuqing quickly."

"His appearance is just like his name, plain and unremarkable."

Only those foolish and ignorant neighbors would compare him to my brother-in-law Jiuqing, who has made great contributions to the country.

"That's not necessarily true."

Although Senior Brother Jiuqing performed the heroic act of "I will go even if there are thousands of people against me".

But it didn't bring much benefit to the villagers.

This Lord Zhang is different.

I heard that in the neighborhoods around his house, every household had someone working for his mother to make a living.

Many members of his clan also supported their families by building the Pingyang Guild Hall on his fief.

He who eats another's food is bound to do the same.

Of course, people would refer to Zhang Gui and his senior brother Jiu Qing as the two outstanding talents of the Zhang family of Pingyang, one in literature and the other in martial arts.

The two girls were bickering.

In Youyufang.

Zhang Gui finally reached his doorstep.

Tsurugi had already guessed that her son had returned because of the commotion outside.

So, everyone started the same thing: hurriedly washing vegetables and cooking.

The impression others have of Zhang Gui always changes as his status rises.

But the old woman's impression of her son returning home seemed to be forever frozen at the moment when he was four or five years old, running wild outside and starving, begging her for food.

The natural reaction is always to quickly fill the big baby's belly.

Every time Zhang Gui saw his mother busy in the kitchen, he would start yelling before he even got to the middle of the yard.
"Auntie, I'm back. Is there anything to eat?"

I'm starving after this long journey.

"Stir-fried noodles with sweet and sour tofu and shrimp paste, it'll be ready soon."

You're such a grown man, and you've built such a great career, how can you still starve yourself while you're out there?

"They're giving me endless worries."

The mother and son bickered for a while, and then Tsuneo Doge and her two widowed siblings prepared dinner.

Zhang Gui himself set the food on the stone table in the courtyard.

He sat down on the low stone stool with a swagger.

He happily ate the noodles in big mouthfuls;
A few bites and the whole bowl is gone.

He rubbed the top of his face with oil and casually asked, "Where are my cousins? Where have they all gone to play? Aren't they home for dinner?" "Tongwa, Duoqing, and the other three girls are now competing with each other in their cultivation, often going into seclusion to practice."

"I can only go home once every three to five days."

"So you're already so ambitious? That's a great thing!"

Zhang Gui clapped and laughed heartily.

Just then, another commotion broke out outside the door.

It was even more chaotic than when Zhang Gui was recognized earlier.

Immediately afterwards, there was a knock on the door, accompanied by a clear, melodious male voice.

"Is Auntie Caiyang here? Your nephew Zhang Jiuqing has come to pay a visit?"

"What's wrong with this bastard?!"

Suspicion breeds ghosts.

Normally it would be fine.

This afternoon, Zhang Guike had just devised a despicable plan to trick Zhang Jiuqing.

As a result, Zhang Jiuqing, who had been his neighbor for more than ten years but had never visited him, suddenly appeared out of nowhere to pay a visit that evening.

How could it not make people nervous?

But given the circumstances, there was no way he would be turned away.

Zhang Gui stood up helplessly, and even through the door, he burst into laughter:
"Is that Brother Jiuqing?"

We brothers haven't seen each other for two or three years.

He strode to the door and opened it.

He gazed at Zhang Jiuqing, who was far more composed than he remembered, yet whose face still retained the refined and scholarly air of a gentleman, and sighed with emotion.
"Time flies, and things change rapidly these days."

For a moment, I didn't know where to begin.

In short, I've met my elder brother.

After saying this, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect and was about to bow when Zhang Jiuqing grabbed his arm and sincerely stopped him.

"We've been childhood friends since we were little."

Previously, because I lost my father at a young age, my mind became unbalanced and I gradually developed a sinister side, becoming overly harsh on my younger brother.

As a result, he also revealed a lot of his ugly side in front of you.

How could I possibly accept such a courtesy from you as your elder brother?

Zhang Gui never expected that Zhang Jiuqing, with his current reputation, would voluntarily say such a thing.

But upon rethinking it, he immediately realized that the move was actually quite ingenious.

"That grandson Zhang Jiuqing is planning to continue accelerating his path towards becoming a great sage and a leader of the virtuous and upright.

As the old saying goes, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish; if a person is too discerning, he will have no followers."

His essay, "A Distance Between Father and Son," is a work whose title directly points to the ethical order of human relationships within the natural order of heaven and earth.

His stance is extremely righteous.

So much so that even a stubborn and self-willed emperor like Emperor Hezheng could be restrained.

But at the same time, it also makes Zhang Jiuqing, who writes memorials, seem too 'pure' and not good at associating with people who are not worldly.

As a result, he has now taken the initiative to show that he also had many minor flaws in the past that did not involve principles.

But now I've realized it and am slowly changing.

This is the image of someone who can admit their mistakes and correct them, but as a person, correcting them doesn't guarantee they won't repeat them, yet if they do make a mistake, they will definitely correct it again—an invincible, unconventional persona.

"He's practically the perfect template for a breath of fresh air."

He was secretly pondering this, but Zhang Gui acted as if he hadn't seen through anything at all.

He said it in a dry, unnatural way:

"What are you saying, Brother Qing?"

Everyone makes mistakes when they're young; wouldn't it be making a mountain out of a molehill to hold onto them now?

Please come in quickly, let's sit down and talk."

(End of this chapter)