Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 2: The Prime Minister's Illegitimate Grandson

Yingniang brought a full bowl of soup noodles. Zhang Luo ate it in big mouthfuls, then took a shower and changed clothes in the room. He felt much better.

In later generations, he is regarded as a young talent who is deeply appreciated by his teachers and has high IQ and EQ. Although it is still a little difficult for him to accept the fact that he has traveled to ancient times, he does not blindly feel sorry for himself, but instead uses a more positive attitude to understand and face it.

He walked outside the house and strolled around the yard for a while. The bright sunshine falling on him was quite pleasant, but the tall and magnificent house in the mansion and the dilapidated thatched house behind him formed a sharp contrast, which made him feel a little unhappy. He frowned and asked, "Why do you live here? Am I of low status in this family?"

"How could Alang be lowly? It's just that there are wicked servants in the mansion who are making things difficult for him. They say they are afraid that Alang has contracted an epidemic disease, and to prevent the disease from spreading to the inner house, they won't allow Alang to return to his old home, and will temporarily keep him here."

Jiang Ying, the maid who followed closely behind, heard Alang's question and answered hurriedly in a low voice.

"Who did it?"

Zhang Luo raised his eyebrows again after hearing this and asked in a deep voice. He fainted from shock after falling into the water, not from any disease. Using such an excuse is naturally difficult.

"As long as Alang is safe, this is just a temporary residence. Don't worry too much. When Alang recovers, we can move back to our old home."

Yingniang was tidying up the spinning wheel in front of the house. After hearing this conversation, she quickly spoke up and glared at Ah Ying for speaking without restraint. Although Ah Ying was a little dissatisfied, she lowered her head and stopped talking nonsense.

Hearing Yingniang's words of tolerance, Zhang Luo sighed inwardly. It had been over an hour since he woke up, and he had basically figured out his current identity and situation.

Now, this young man, Zhang Luonu, is the eldest grandson of Zhang Shuo, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. This is also a compliment to himself, because he was born out of wedlock. His biological father first took his mother as a concubine and then married his wife shortly afterwards.

After Zhang Luonu was born, he was adopted by his biological mother Zheng. However, his biological mother died of illness not long after. Zheng was tired of his unlucky fate, and she was pregnant herself, so she simply left Zhang Luonu to be raised by his biological mother's servants.

Although his biological mother was a concubine, she had her own servants, which was because she herself was not ordinary. His mother was a member of the same clan as the empress Wu Zetian, and was the daughter of Wu Youyi, Wu Zetian's nephew who was once the King of Jian'an during the Zhou Dynasty.

Although the Wu family enjoyed a period of prominence during the Zhou Dynasty under Wu Zetian's guidance, they lost their former glory after the Shenlong coup, when power returned to the Li family. Wu Youyi died during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. Fearing that his second wife, a member of the Li royal family, would disapprove of his children and that they would be subjected to further political purges, he entrusted his daughter to Zhang Shuo, a former subordinate, before his death.

Wu Youyi likely made this arrangement, hoping to secure a marriage with Zhang Shuo, then a rising star in the political arena. However, he clearly overestimated this connection. Although Wu was treated with respect and protection by the Zhang family, she was only taken as a concubine by Zhang Shuo's son, Zhang Jun. When choosing a marriage partner for his son, Zhang Shuo dismissed the declining Wu family and instead chose the time-honored Zheng family of Xingyang, a prominent Shandong clan.

Putting these past events aside, the young Zhang Luonu grew up in the Zhang family mansion. Although he was not favored by his stepmother, he was cared for by the servants left by his biological mother. Moreover, his biological mother had left him an estate in the southern suburbs of Luoyang as an inheritance. Even if he was not favored by the Zhang family, the income from the estate was enough to raise him to adulthood.

However, on the third day of the third lunar month, the young Zhang Luonu went to his farm outside the city for a visit, but encountered a mountain torrent and fell into the water. Fortunately, he was rescued and sent back, but he was frightened and caught a cold and fell unconscious. When he woke up, he turned into Zhang Luo, a soul from the afterlife.

"His life story is really complicated and tricky!"

Zhang Luo sighed secretly in his heart. Although Aying did not admit that his status was low, judging from the treatment he received, it was probably not that noble.

The illegitimate sons of a large family are not considered to be proper members of the family. The larger the family, the less attention they receive. If they encounter mean parents, their situation may be worse than that of a slave. Some families, if they have no legitimate sons, would rather pass on official titles and property to their nephews than to their illegitimate sons.

After all, illegitimate children are just by-products of their master's pleasure and release, and they are not qualified to carry on the family line and revitalize the family.

The young Zhang Luonu's mother's family was relatively special, and he also had an inheritance from his mother, so his situation might have been better, but it was limited. The fact that he was placed in this dilapidated corner after falling ill, and was not even allowed to return to the inner house, shows how dire his situation was.

Yingniang and others were originally slaves, and they only hoped that their husbands could grow up safely. Even if they were treated unfairly, they did not dare to fight back, but just tolerated it and kept the peace.

"I've been sick in bed for a few days and it's been boring. I'm going out for a walk first. Ah Ying will accompany me. Don't worry, Auntie!"

Zhang Luo didn't show too much emotion in front of Ying Niang. He stretched and walked out of the courtyard gate.

Before Yingniang could speak to stop him, she saw Ah Lang had already left the house. She quickly gave her daughter a look to signal her to follow him, and whispered, "Go quickly and come back quickly. Don't go too far, and don't provoke anyone!"

Jiang Ying nodded, and then she caught up with her own Alang with light steps, and asked in a low voice with her head tilted forward, "Alang, where are you going?" Zhang Luo was relatively unfamiliar with the Zhang family mansion, and naturally had no destination. He just strolled leisurely, gradually approaching the main building of the mansion from the slaves' activity area.

Although the Zhang family mansion was built in a grand and majestic manner, he was not without experience. Although there were no complete Tang-style courtyard buildings in the era in which he lived, there were still many kinds of antique buildings that could be admired. Zhang Luo had even visited several underground palaces of the emperor's mausoleum, so it was not a big deal.

The structure of the Zhang family mansion did not surprise him, but he was more attracted by the ingenious and specific details in the mansion. The ancient knowledge he had learned in the past became vivid in his mind as he browsed through the mansion. The originally ordinary texts and pictures turned into three-dimensional objects that really existed in front of him, becoming visible and touchable, which really gave people a very wonderful feeling.

Tang-style architecture is not as complex and varied as Song-style architecture, nor is it as rich in elements. Moreover, the Zhang family mansion is mainly used for residential purposes, so it does not have large artificial landscapes like some mountain and pond courtyards. The essence of the architecture is mainly reflected in the main hall buildings in the house, while other places are relatively boring.

After passing through a winding alley and crossing the archway, Zhang Luo could directly see the side of the building in the central hall of the house. There were also sounds of stringed instruments and singing coming from the central hall, which seemed to indicate that the owner was entertaining guests in the central hall.

This piqued his curiosity, and he wanted to see what the most powerful dignitaries of the era were like when they hosted banquets, and how they differed from the later Five Dynasties period painting "Night Banquet of Han Xizai." He also knew that Zhang Shuo, a renowned prime minister and literary leader during the Kaiyuan era, had many well-known figures of later generations, such as Zhang Jiuling and He Zhizhang, who frequented his court. If he were lucky enough to meet one of them, it would be a great pleasure.

But just as he was about to step into the main hall, a young man with two servants approached from the side. The young man waved his hand at him and said, "Luo Nu, what are you doing here? Your Majesty is entertaining guests in the main hall. Go play somewhere else and don't come in and cause trouble!"

Zhang Luo stared intently, searching the image of the young man in his mind. He immediately remembered that this must be one of his cousins, so he said, "I'm not playing around. I heard that the mansion was hosting a banquet, so I came here to listen to the orders and also wanted to get closer to see the style of this contemporary scholar."

"There are enough people here, don't cause trouble, leave quickly!"

However, the young man continued to wave his hands impatiently, not letting Zhang Luo go over.

Zhang Luo was already a little annoyed when he saw this. It wasn't out of any sense of dignity, but simply because this young man was preventing him from seeing the world. He hadn't yet established a strong sense of identity with his current status, but his curiosity about the customs and people of this era was burning.

He looked at the maid Aying behind him who was clenching her fists and looking a little nervous, and then at the two burly servants behind his cousin. He couldn't help but feel that trying to break through by force was a bad idea. Just as he was thinking of finding another way to get through, a group of people came out from the main hall, as if they were going out to welcome some distinguished guests.

The leader was a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing a brocade robe with a crotchless design. A jade belt with gold threads was wrapped around his waist, which was very conspicuous. He had a short beard under his chin and looked rather elegant and serious.

Zhang Luo felt that this person looked familiar. After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered that this was Zhang Jun, the eldest son and his biological father in this life. As for the few people following Zhang Jun, he had no impression of them.

The strange feeling in his mind made Zhang Luo realize that the relationship between father and son should be ordinary, but when he saw Zhang Jun actually came out to greet him in person, he knew that the visitor must be of noble status. Zhang Luo really wanted to see it for himself, so he went up to him, stood by the road, and shouted "Aye" to Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun paused to examine the bastard, nodded slightly, and continued on his way. Zhang Luo followed behind, still pondering the proper status and position of his guest, the biographies of the characters in the New and Old Books of Tang swirling in his mind.

Zhang Jun took a few steps before he realized Zhang Luo was still following him. If it were any other time, it would be fine, but today, a distinguished guest had come to visit, and this guy was dressed simply and had no knowledge of etiquette. He was also so tactless and tactless. This made Zhang Jun a little dissatisfied, so he stopped again, turned around, frowned, and said in a deep voice: "I heard from my wife that you have been absent from work lately. Why are you so rude and slow?"

Zhang Luo was stunned when he heard this. When he looked up and saw the dignified gaze, he realized that he was being spoken to. He turned these words over in his mind before he understood that he was being blamed for not visiting his parents morning and evening recently.

Even though he still lacked a sense of immersion in his current identity, Zhang Luo couldn't help but get furious after hearing this question. He felt deeply indignant for the young Zhang Luonu in his previous incarnation: Your son was sick and died, but you didn't even care about him. You remember clearly that I hadn't visited him for a few days!

"I was in danger while wading in the water outside the city a few days ago. After returning, I was seriously ill and had several close calls. I didn't dare to tell you for fear of upsetting my dear family. Today I feel a little better and have hurried to come and see you. I haven't had time to come in and greet Madam and ask how she is."

Zhang Luo had a very bad impression of his biological father. Although he didn't go to the extent of quarreling with him, he didn't care much about his father's dignity. He bowed and replied loudly, "I didn't go to pay my respects to you, old immortal, because I'm dying of illness. You old immortal don't know, so I'll tell you!"

Generally speaking, even illegitimate sons in the family were required to address their mistress as their legal mother. However, in light of Zhang Luonu's death at the hands of his biological mother, the mistress, Madam Zheng, specifically ordered that her husband not be referred to as "mother," so he was only referred to as "Madam."

Zhang Jun was also stunned by this answer. He also noticed the strange looks from the people around him. He couldn't help but feel a little angry and snorted coldly, "Since you are sick, why don't you go home and recuperate! Don't offend the guests in front of others."

You Tian Wenjing!
After hearing this, Zhang Luo's desire to broaden his horizons disappeared instantly. Without saying goodbye, he turned around and left.

During the new book period, I'll update twice a day, the first at 10:00 AM and the second at 6:00 PM. Today, I'll update Chapter 2 first. I need to control the amount of updates during the new book period, so please understand. The contract status won't change until next week, so if it does, you don't need to tip me. Just a tip to show your support will be greatly appreciated. After all, longtime readers know that even with tips, I won't update more. My typing efficiency is really low, and I'm only good at short, steady output...



(End of this chapter)