Miao Chu

Chapter 334 Failure
Having received the emperor's order, the guards immediately changed course and cleared the way.

The imperial carriage had only been gone a short while when Zhao Yu suddenly looked at the official in charge of the Imperial City Guard standing to the side and asked, "I remember that Han Li was Mr. Fu's apprentice, so wouldn't he and Deng Ming be fellow disciples?"

Upon hearing this, the other party immediately replied, "Your Majesty is wise. Han Li is not only a fellow disciple of Chancellor Deng, but also a fellow disciple of Master Tingqing."

Zhao Yu nodded, but couldn't help asking, "Han Li is not yet twenty, while the two elders Deng and Chen are quite old. How come the Fu family's members are of different generations and ages than others?"

The official then recounted how Deng and Chen were so impressed by the scholarship and character of Master Fu Jiu that they chose to become his disciples, even though they were of similar age, especially since Master Deng was actually a few years older.

"There was also an anecdote from back then, called Madam Feng's Three Challenges to Her Old Disciple - which refers to the story of Chancellor Deng paying homage to Master Fu."

Zhao Yu immediately became interested and said, "Tell me."

All of them were deceased, especially the Fu and Feng couple, who had made outstanding contributions during their lives and had been praised by the late emperor many times. After their passing, the current emperor even sent people to pay their respects. Their fates were already sealed, so the official didn't need to think too much about it. Seeing that the emperor was interested, he picked out a few more interesting stories about the Fu family to tell.

After listening, Zhao Yu remained silent for a while, then sighed and said, "They were truly a perfect couple, and it is rare for two people to be of one mind with the country. Who knew that they would not even leave behind a single descendant."

At this point, he couldn't help but think of Fu Jiu's many words and deeds when he was alive, as well as his posthumous works. He knew that this man had always advocated restoring the nine channels of the Yellow River, but the cost was too high, and in the end, it was abandoned.

But upon closer reflection, it becomes clear that the Wangjing River, which the Water Conservancy Bureau and Han Li had traversed in Huazhou, was also one of the old courses of the Yellow River. The previous calculation of the expenses by the Three Departments showed that it hadn't cost much—at least much less than expected.

Not only that, the opening of the canal has increased farmland and the volume of water transport, attracting many merchants to come and go, and even increasing commercial taxes—making Weizhou envious. A month ago, he even submitted a memorial saying that water could also be channeled and canals opened there, and wanted to invite the Director of Water Conservancy, along with students such as Han Li and Kong Fuyang, to go.

When talking about Wangjing River in Huazhou, one cannot help but mention Liuta River.

On that day, Huazhou had submitted a plan. Seeing that the estimated amount of money, materials, and labor was not much, even the usually frugal Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Works did not make things difficult for them and readily agreed. In the end, the river was dredged, but the cost was actually less than the budget.

In comparison, how simplistic were the memorials that Lü Zhongchang had submitted before!

He clearly stated in black and white that he only needed 3 million in salary and 10,000 in labor, but in less than half a year, he had already spent 11.4 million in salary and 830,000 in labor, and the river channel was not even halfway completed. It was hateful that it was blocked by the Liuta River and could not be stopped...

I heard that the overall planning for Wang Jinghe of Huazhou was handled by Han Li. Master Fu has always been very cautious in his words and deeds, and his disciple is also so disciplined. Perhaps the nine channels of the Yellow River do not necessarily need to cost so much. Even if the total amount is too large, it is not necessarily a bad thing to open one channel at a time...

River affairs cannot be delayed, but they also cannot be rushed. Right now, it's just a plan, and besides, I'm a student, so I need to take a closer look.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yu didn't mention the nine channels of the Yellow River or anything else, but said only: "Since there is no urgent matter on the embankment, why don't we call Han Li over? Isn't he from the Imperial Academy? I want to see if that so-called 'good food and drink' is enough to make up for his senior brother's shortcomings!"

As soon as he spoke, a fast horse turned back and left the city to find Han Li.

The imperial carriage traveled southeast, heading towards the Imperial Academy.

Meanwhile, in the Law School next to the Imperial Academy, a group of old men had finished setting the questions and were packing up their things.

Chen and Cao, both senior and advanced in years, came with their own people. One had You Xuelu as his assistant, while the other was given a clerk position.

With someone helping them, the two became a little lax.

Master Cao, in particular, glanced at the water clock in the corner while collecting the items, then made an excuse and quietly slipped out the door.

Having witnessed the incident with the baby crab, the other old men had been keeping a close eye on him. When they saw that he hadn't returned for a while, they sent people to search the snow room and other places, but he was nowhere to be found. They were all quite anxious.

"Oh no! Did Old Cao sneak back?!"

When asked, the registrar gave a vague answer and tried to evade the question at first. But when pressed, he had no choice but to admit, "Old Master Cao just told me that he would leave this place to me for the time being because he has something to attend to at his school and will be going back to his residence. He will be waiting for you all in the teaching building!"

Everyone gasped in astonishment.

Since they realized that the person had already left a long time ago, and it would be too late to catch up—besides, even if they did catch up, he might not come back—they simply went to Master Chen.

"Old Chen—why don't you go along and take a look? Lord Cao has already returned to the Imperial Academy!"

"Exactly, Old Chen, Cao Gong is very cunning. Why is he in such a hurry to go back? I'm afraid it's for Song Ji's extra dishes!"

"He said he specially ordered a few extra dishes to make up for our mistake, but he's the first one to run away. He also said yesterday that those small crabs are rare. If there were only two or three today, and he got them all first, wouldn't we have lost out big time?"

"Master Chen, Master Chen—everyone trusts you, hurry back and keep an eye on things! Don't let Master Cao steal Song's good food—we don't need him to apologize, we'll pay for it ourselves!"

"Exactly! We'll pay for it ourselves, so he won't use that as an excuse to take all the good food!"

Master Chen was always easy to talk to, and after hearing everyone's analysis, he agreed that the person surnamed Cao had probably gone to steal and eat the crabs. He couldn't stand it, so he immediately agreed, gave Xiao You a few instructions, and hurriedly left.

Sure enough, this time when he entered the classroom, just as he was about to knock on Master Cao's door, he saw that the outer door was only slightly ajar, and inside Master Cao was talking to a servant.

"Find someone to go with you to the back door and keep watch, and see when Song's restaurant delivers the food—if it comes, there's no need to bring it here, just put it in the side room of the kitchen first, and I'll be there in a bit!"

Then he said to another person beside him, "You stay here and wait until the others return. Tell them I'm waiting in the kitchen and they should come over quickly!"

The two agreed one after the other and went out. When they saw Master Chen, they were about to greet him, but he waved his hand, indicating that the two should go first. He went inside and called out, "Old Cao."

Master Cao was clearly startled, dropping everything he was holding onto the table. He hurriedly looked up, and only when he saw who it was did he breathe a sigh of relief. He said irritably, "You scared me to death in broad daylight!"

Master Chen stepped forward, pointed to the object that had fallen onto the table, and asked, "What is this?"

Master Cao glanced behind him and, seeing that no one else was around, breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a small porcelain bottle from the cabinet, handed it over, and whispered, "I got this from Xiao Song yesterday. She asked me to bring you a bottle."

He added, "It's pickled olives. I mentioned that autumn is approaching, and both of us have dry throats and cough frequently, so she prepared two bottles, telling us to suck on one whenever we have a spare moment—there aren't many in total, so let's not let anyone else see, otherwise, if we each take a little, they'll be gone in the blink of an eye, and in the end, we won't even have any left for ourselves!" After delivering the pickled olives, before Master Chen could speak, Old Cao explained the purpose of his visit with his nephew yesterday, as well as Song Miao's request. Finally, he said, "I can't say much in front of them, after all, it's Song Miao's private matter, and besides, things are usually done in secrecy. To avoid leaks, I have to keep it a secret. But you're one of us, someone I can trust..."

He hadn't given her the pickled olives earlier or later, but he had to give them to her now, and he said so many things. Master Chen knew perfectly well that she was trying to get her way, so he said, "That's enough for you. You secretly ate the good ones yesterday, and you've come back to hide today. Who wouldn't guess that you came back to steal some?"

Old Cao chuckled shamelessly, then sighed and said, "It's not that I stole them for myself. I was thinking that if I had any of those small crabs, I'd send one back home—she tasted them yesterday and really liked them, eating two in one go. She hasn't had an appetite for days, and you know, I was worried too..."

Master Chen asked, "What's wrong, sister-in-law? We should call a doctor to take a look at you right away!"

"It's nothing serious, it's just that Erlang is in Chanzhou, as you know, and he's been having a lot of trouble lately. She's been worrying about him all the time—but what's the use of worrying? She can't help at all, and it's only made her health worse. I've been trying to persuade her to come back, but it's no use! There's nothing else I can do, so I can only try to think of something to make her eat more!"

"Come on, worrying won't help, it won't do you any good. You're the one who's always worrying about it! How's the matter going? Have you found Wang Shuji yet? Is there enough time to transport him?"

"Found it, thanks to Xiao Song and Zheng Yan. But right now, large timbers and those other things are needed everywhere. Even if we had plenty, the canal transport capacity wouldn't be enough. We can't take care of everything. Although he's the deputy transport commissioner, he still has to make the allocations according to the court's arrangements..."

Master Cao's expression softened at this point, and he said, "However, he also came up with a few other methods, which were all very effective and have been a great help!"

"If all else fails, then forget it. Why not call Erlang back? Being an official isn't easy. Look at Cen Dezhang, even with all the paving the way for him by Old Min, he was still manipulated by a bunch of clerks in the end. I think your Erlang has always been an honest boy, and he's done quite well in his studies. Why don't you come back and study with him again, and then he can teach? Wouldn't that be better?"

Master Cao spat and said, "Easy for you to say—you're just talking without understanding the situation, you haven't experienced it yourself..."

He realized his mistake at this point, but since he had already said it, he couldn't take it back. He quickly tried to make amends, saying, "Why didn't you say this to Han Zhengyan? He's got a sharp tongue, and if he gets into trouble, are you going to clean up his mess or call him back to teaching?"

"He doesn't have any messes for me to clean up!" Master Chen chuckled. "I chatted with him the last time, and he's changed his mind. Once he's released from his official post, he'll be sent out to other places for two or three more transfers before returning to the capital. You know him, once he starts doing something, he won't give up until he's done it well. Nine times out of ten, he'll accumulate merit. And accumulating merit a few times is enough to offset two of his major scoldings!"

"You've got a dream come true! And you think you can get away with being scolded!"

As the two were talking, a school official rushed in and hurriedly called out, "Master Chen! Master Cao! We just received an urgent message that His Majesty is right outside the gate. Chancellor Deng and Director of the Imperial Academy are afraid they won't be able to return for a while. Director of the Imperial Academy sent me to come and see for you two to come and greet His Majesty!"

Chen and Cao were both taken aback. They didn't dare to delay and quickly tidied themselves up before following the schoolmaster out the door.

The two walked towards the main gate, but halfway there, they saw students along the way heading in their direction. The school magistrate quickly grabbed one of them and asked, "Where are you all going in such a hurry?"

The student said, "I heard the Emperor is here! He's heading to the kitchen—everyone's rushing there!"

Upon hearing this, the three of them quickly turned and headed towards the kitchen.

Inside the dining hall, the students were already in an uproar.

After entering the Vermilion Bird Gate, Zhao Yu changed carriages halfway through the journey. Although he still brought enough guards, he traveled with a light entourage.

He had made the decision on a whim and deliberately did not send anyone to notify them in advance, so by the time the officials of the Imperial Academy received the news, it was too late for them to come and greet him.

But Zhao Yu neither wanted nor needed anyone to come and greet him.

It was lunchtime, and his purpose was clear: to find the kitchen. Although he had been there a few times, he still didn't quite know the way. Not long after entering, he saw a few people carrying food boxes walking hurriedly ahead.

Zhao Yu didn't need his guards or eunuchs to intervene; he took the initiative to stop one of the people and asked, "Young scholar, how do I get to the Imperial Academy's kitchen?"

The one who had been stopped hadn't even reacted when one of the others, noticing the large number of people, glanced back—he had sat at the same table as the Emperor before, and seeing Zhao Yu in the center now, he was truly terrified and cried out, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!!"

The man put down the food box in his hand, hurriedly bowed, and introduced himself.

Once one person took the lead, everyone around realized what was happening. Regardless of whether they recognized the person or not, they all followed suit, bowing and shouting "Long live the Emperor!"

Zhao Yu helped the people who were closest to him up and said with a smile, "Get up quickly, everyone. When I came last time, I saw that your meals were very poor. I came to see you again today—but I wonder if there has been any improvement?"

As he spoke, he casually picked up a food basket from the ground and handed it to the student who had just left.

The other party quickly took it and said, "I...I will take His Majesty to the kitchen!"

He was so excited that he stammered.

At first, there were about a dozen students watching. As they walked, more and more people gathered around. Some of them recognized the emperor from the previous visit and all came over. Others, who hadn't had a chance to see him before, also rushed over when they learned that he was the emperor and joined in shouting "Your Majesty!" "Your Majesty!" "Long live the Emperor!"

When they arrived at the dining hall, an unknown number of people had already followed them, a vast and imposing procession, as if all the students of the Imperial Academy had surged over.

This time, Zhao Yu declined the students' offer to serve him food and said with a smile, "Last time you served me food, so today I'll treat you all to a meal!"

Almost as soon as the words were spoken, the entire kitchen was filled with shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" which seemed to pierce the roof.

The kitchen staff, having heard the commotion, hurriedly came out to pay their respects. Upon receiving orders, they led the eunuchs and guards inside and brought out various items.

Soon, plates of dishes, bowls of rice, and baskets of steamed buns and flatbreads were placed on the table in the middle.

The one closest to Zhao Yu picked up one of the baskets and presented it to him, saying, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Please try this tofu bun!"

"Your Majesty, please try this! This is a mutton bun, it tastes the best!"

"No, no! We have roast pork buns with char siu today! Your Majesty, please try these!"

"No! No! Your Majesty, you must try this pickled vegetable bun. It goes perfectly with congee!"

(End of this chapter)