Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 13: Be a Good Person

After sending Zhang Luo back to the Zhang family compound, Zhou Lang hurriedly said goodbye, wanting to leave the city and go home before dark. After Zhang Luo sent his mount back to the stable, he returned to the courtyard with Aying.

From a distance outside the courtyard, one could see a middle-aged woman in a green dress standing outside the fence with her hands on her hips. She was pointing at Yingniang, who was standing outside the fence with her head down, and was scolding her. In the setting sun, puffs of saliva were gushing out of her mouth.

"This is Su Qiniang, Madam Zheng's maid!"

When Aying saw her mother being angry, her face suddenly darkened and she quickly ran towards the courtyard. Zhang Luo also followed her quickly.

Su Qinniang heard the footsteps, turned her head and looked over here, then stopped scolding Yingniang. When Zhang Luoxing approached, she said in a cold voice, "I haven't seen you for days, and you've been worried about me. You asked me to come here to ask about Liulang's well-being. Liulang is still willing to go out and have fun, so it seems he's fine. But it's inappropriate to cause his parents to worry. Liulang is young and ignorant, and Yingniang is an old servant, and you didn't remind him. It's really wrong!"

"A young man, strong as an ox, immune to all evils. Even if there are some illnesses, they can hardly hurt me."

Zhang Luo sneered upon hearing this. He looked at Su Qinniang and said, "The epidemic is invisible, and it's hard to say when it will subside. Even if it didn't harm me, others might not be immune. Especially since Madam has many elderly people around her, making them the most difficult to defend against. If one of them dies from it, what's the point of going all this way? So, I'm going to postpone my regular visits. Su Qinniang, you must cultivate virtue and do good deeds, and be a good person, so that you can avoid such unpredictable fates in the future!"

As he spoke, he lowered his head and spat at Su Qinniang's feet, frightening the woman so much that her face turned pale, she lifted her skirt and jumped away, then glared at him and said angrily, "What do you mean by this, Liu Lang? How am I not a good person? Isn't this advice well-intentioned? Since you won't accept my kindness, then I will report it to the mistress. When the mistress makes her decision, let's see how you will bear it!"

"Deep worry shortens fortune, and great anger threatens life. What unforgivable sin have I committed to deserve a report from a wicked servant like you, the Madam, to anger and cause her worry? Or have you always harbored evil intentions, deliberately using trivial matters to cause trouble, thus shortening Madam's fortune and life?"

Zhang Luo was naturally not intimidated by this woman. Instead, he shouted even louder, "Even if my madam has a punishment, I should accept it if it's a small beating, and run away if it's a big one. This is what the ancient sages taught me. So how do you think I should bear it? Are you going to beat me to death? Forget it. I'm afraid of you, these wicked slaves who rely on your masters to commit violence.

Since this house is unacceptable, I am not without a place to go. I will choose a day to leave this house and live in the farm south of the city. But if you, these wicked slaves, dare to come and threaten to drive me away, I will accept the punishment with my body. I will also report this bullying to the governor and report it to the general. I do not believe that the world is unfair. Get out of here!

Su Qinnan's face turned pale with shock after being scolded like this. She looked at Zhang Luo in disbelief for a long time. When she saw that he was about to take another step forward, she turned around hurriedly and left the place in shock and suspicion.

The Zhang family mansion in Kangsufang was their ancestral property, so most of the Zhang family lived here, including Zhang Jun, who had already established a family. It wasn't that they couldn't afford to find another property, but living together as a family showed both the family's prosperity and the harmony of their relationships.

As the eldest son of Zhang Shuo, Zhang Jun's family also occupied a large living area in the mansion. The entire east wing's courtyard and several halls in front and back were used for his wife, children and servants to live. Therefore, Zhang Jun's wife Zheng was also called the East Wing Lady in the mansion to distinguish her from the mistresses of other branches of the family.

Zheng was a devout Buddhist and built a Buddhist temple in the house for worshiping Buddha, but his daily life was in the deepest part of the east wing back house. It was convenient here for him to pay his respects to his parents-in-law in the main house, while at the same time he could stay away from the noise of guests coming in and out of the front house and enjoy some peace and quiet.

This house is not as colorful and elaborately carved as the previous house, but is low-key, elegant and simple.

Perhaps the layout of the house may seem simple to some people who don't know the details. That's because they simply cannot recognize the brackets between the roof frames that were inherited from the palace style of the Later Wei Dynasty, nor do they recognize that the seemingly rough and simple carved lines on the door lintel are the house-protecting patterns drawn by great monks.

Even the seemingly ordinary bricks on the ground under your feet are ceramic bricks that make a sound of metal when knocked and are warm in winter and cool in summer, rather than ordinary stepping stones. The bricks are also engraved with sutra stories that reject evil and promote good, which can influence people every day, cultivate their minds and cultivate their character, and be kind.

The cost of such a floor tile is equivalent to several years' food for a family of five, and it cannot be found on the market at all. It is a Buddhist gift from some large temples with a long history in Luoxia to the devout believers who donated huge sums of money.

As for the white wall under the window in front of the house, most people will simply ignore it and won't even take a look at it. But in fact, the white paint on the wall itself has a lot of mystery. It is made from the chalk in the south of the Yangtze River, which is crushed and sieved into powder, and then the tendons and horns of deer are boiled into glue, and it is blended with precious medicinal materials such as silver cinnabar and cinnabar powder to make this seemingly ordinary white paint. When applied on the walls of the living room, it can not only prevent insects and dampness, prevent carbuncles, but also look beautiful and elegant.

In short, this house is far from being as ordinary as it seems. Inside, there is a low-key luxury hidden everywhere that ordinary people cannot detect. It also shows that as people from a prominent family, the Zheng family's daily living tastes are different from those of the Zhang family, a new family that has emerged suddenly and has little background. They no longer pursue those simple and direct luxury enjoyments.

Su Qinniang had run into trouble outside and hurried back to the mansion. She first took the silver-handled duster handed to her by the maid outside and brushed off the dust she had picked up from running around outside. Then she carefully walked into the room, but she heard a woman's voice from inside: "The mistress is testing Alang's academic performance. Qinniang, please wait behind the screen."

In the room, a young man in a bright brocade robe was bent over a desk, writing down the meaning of scriptures on a piece of paper with a pen in his hand. However, it seemed that he was not proficient enough, so his writing speed was not very fast, and cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Across from the desk sat the mistress, Zheng, with a serious expression, a wooden ruler in hand. Seeing the boy stumbling over his writing, her brow furrowed even deeper. "Oh, I've finished. Please check it, mother!"

Finally, the young man let out a long sigh, put down his brush, and looked at the woman opposite with a relaxed expression.

The young man was Zhang Jun's legitimate son, Zhang Cheng. Zheng took the paper her son had written on and briefly examined it. Then, with a look of displeasure on her face, she said, "There are a few typos in there, and you're writing so slowly, and your handwriting is still so ugly. You deserve to be punished! Stretch out your hand!"

"Mother, I know I was wrong..."

Zhang Meng was immediately frightened when he heard this, but seeing that his mother's expression was becoming more and more stern, he still stretched out his hand carefully.

Zheng swung the wooden ruler and lashed her son with it a dozen times. Seeing her son's tears streaming down his face from the pain, she stopped and said coldly, "Your grandfather and father were both renowned Hanlin scholars, renowned throughout the world, yet you are so mediocre. When you enroll in the Hongwen Academy, you will inevitably be exposed to shame, and people will even criticize me for my poor discipline! Remember the lesson today, take a break, and continue practicing in your dorm."

After hearing this, Zhang Zheng stood up as if he had been pardoned. He hurried out with his hands that were beaten and swollen, and sat down under the window of the outer hall. A maid came in carefully and rubbed his hands to relieve the pain.

After teaching her son a lesson, Zheng summoned Su Qiniang back into the room and asked in a deep voice, "Did that thing really turn around? What should I say to you?"

"I went to the abandoned garden, but Liu Lang was not there..."

Su Qinnan hurriedly recounted the entire journey, especially Zhang Luo's scolding of her afterwards, which she repeated with exaggeration. Her expression and tone were quite exaggerated, but she omitted any words about loss of fortune and harm to life.

"Did he really say that? That he was going to leave home and live on his own?"

Zheng's character was inherently stern and stern, rarely agreeable. Upon hearing this, she immediately erupted in anger. She slammed the table and shouted, "When did this wicked boy become so arrogant and fearless of family law? I didn't want unrest in our family, so I indulged him before. Does he really think I can't punish him?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Zheng, who was listening attentively outside, couldn't help but shout, "That bastard is leaving home. Is his maid Aying going with him? It's a serious crime for a servant to run away secretly. Mother, can you catch her and give her to me..."

"Shut up!"

Zheng was already in a bad mood, and after hearing this, she became even more furious. She waved her hand to signal for the boy to be led out, and then said in a deep voice: "This boy is unruly and difficult to tame. How should he be punished?"

"Send the slaves to capture him and have him caned in the court!"

Su Qinnan said this viciously. Thinking of the scene when she was scolded by the young man before, she felt ashamed and angry.

"This plan is ill-advised! He fell into the water and returned home sick, and the old lady even sent someone to inquire about him, which shows she's not entirely unconcerned. Old people are lazy and can't distinguish right from wrong. If they heard her sick grandson had been tortured, they would surely feel even more pity, and perhaps even misunderstand the mistress."

The woman standing next to Zheng disagreed, "This boy is so arrogant, relying on nothing more than his deceased mother's inheritance. Why not indulge his desires and let him go without permission for now? I heard there was a flood south of the city recently, and his farm is now silted up and difficult to cultivate. We can send someone to Henan Prefecture to report that repairs should be delayed. When his farmers lose their crops and have no harvest, they will surely return home for shelter. Then we can punish him for all his crimes, severely disarming his arrogance, and take over his farm. He will be forced to beg for food from now on, and he will never dare to disobey our mistress again!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng's eyes flickered, clearly approving of the plan. However, after a moment's thought, she waved her hand impatiently, "This abomination wasn't my fault, and I'm too lazy to discipline him. Don't tell me about these trivial matters. You can handle them as you see fit. I don't care whether he returns home or not, but I must uphold the family tradition and not disturb the peace of the house!"

When the maids in the room heard what their mistress said, they understood that she agreed to such treatment, and could even go a step further. However, the mistress was decent and dignified, so she would naturally not do such sneaky things, so she could only acquiesce. The specific execution of the matter would naturally be done by these slaves.

(End of this chapter)