Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 57 Zheng Xier

When Zhang Yunxiu and Zhang Fu arrived at the new residence, it was already dark. A waning moon shone through the sky, casting a bright, soft and charming beam of light.

The palace lanterns were all lit in the house, and it was decorated with red and colorful decorations, as if performing some kind of ceremony to welcome its new owner.

Zhang Fu walked in front, smiling and flattering, "Sir, I have prepared a great gift for you today. I wish you a happy passing of the imperial examination and hope you will be admitted tomorrow!"

"What gift?" Zhang Yunxiu asked back.

"You'll know when you get there, young master."

"Well, if you're not satisfied, let me show you how I'll deal with you!"

Zhang Yunxiu was aroused by him and his pace quickened unconsciously.

Along the way, the palace lanterns on both sides quickly retreated. After a while, Zhang Fu stopped and stopped in front of a bedroom that was decorated with red and lit with candles.

Through the sandpaper window, Zhang Yunxiu clearly saw that there was another person inside.

"What do you mean?" Zhang Yunxiu looked at Zhang Fu and asked.

"This is the gift we prepared for you, young master." Zhang Fu chuckled, and his tone became obscene, "Young master, as the saying goes, the wedding night is the day when your name is on the imperial examination list. You are about to pass the imperial examination, so how can it not be a small one?"

"Is this the palace maid?" Zhang Yunxiu said without any joy or sadness.

"Yes."

"Zhang Fu."

"Oh, I'm here." Zhang Fu responded quickly.

Zhang Yunxiu took a few steps forward, stared into Zhang Fu's eyes, and scolded: "Forget what I told you just now? You can make your own decision now, right? Such a big thing, why didn't you tell me in advance?"

Zhang Fu's face was full of grievance, and he thought, is this matter even worth discussing?

That man's eyes light up when he sees a beautiful woman. Besides, this woman is yours, he just played a role in setting her up.

Seeing that Zhang Fu remained silent, Zhang Yunxiu ordered again: "From now on, anything that involves me must be notified to me in advance, understand?"

What he hated most was being told only when the time came.

The feeling of being concealed and deceived made him feel indescribable discomfort all over his body.

"I understand." Zhang Fu nodded in response.

"Okay, go down." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand, Zhang Fu smiled knowingly, and then stepped away.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yunxiu straightened his face and clothes, then pushed the door open and walked in.

Inside the room, the air was filled with fragrant mist and the candlelight was flickering. Sitting on the camphor bed was a beautiful woman wearing a veil. She was the palace maid chosen by Zhang Yunxiu.

Hearing someone pushing the door open, the beauty trembled and her delicate hands tightly grasped the hem of her skirt.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled, closed the door, walked to the dark round table a few steps away from the beauty and sat down.

Looking the beauty up and down, Zhang Yunxiu asked softly, "What's your name?"

"Zheng Xier." A pleasant voice came from behind the veil.

"Do you know who I am?"

"know."

Zheng Xier replied softly.

How could she not recognize this nobleman who often walked in the palace?

When she knew that she was chosen by him and was to follow him out of the palace, she felt like she was hit by a pie.

The emperor has three thousand beauties in his harem. Not to mention him, a palace maid, even the concubines find it difficult to gain his favor.

Even if she is favored, it will only last for two or three years at most. After the emperor gets tired of her, she will have to stay alone in her empty room again.

It would be easier and more comfortable than leaving the palace and becoming a concubine of a rich and noble man.

However, this young man was different from the others. He actually kept himself in the dark for half a year.

My looks and figure are all good qualities for a woman, so why doesn't he think highly of me?

She even suspected at one point that this young man had a preference for having sex with a man and liked to travel by land.

Fortunately, today, she finally got it! Zhang Yunxiu didn't know what the woman was thinking, so he continued to ask her: "Where are the people? Is there anyone else at home?"

"Suzhou, there is only a father and a younger brother at home."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a small family, running a small business, doing embroidery." Although she didn't know why Zhang Yunxiu asked this, Zheng Xier had to answer when the question came to her lips.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled, walked forward and lifted the veil.

For a moment, he was stunned.

The beauty was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with eyebrows like a crescent moon and skin as white as cream.

Under her long eyelashes are a pair of sparkling almond-shaped eyes, and her beautiful face can be seen through a light layer of powder on her cheeks.

Her thick hair was piled up behind her head, with two beautiful ribbons inserted on it.

Paired with a cherry-colored long skirt with a golden carp pattern, she looked bold yet gentle, which made Zhang Yunxiu's heart flutter and his bones soften.

"Son."

Being stared at like this, Zheng Xier smiled with her hands covering her lips, and said with a bit of embarrassment, "It's getting late, and it's a good time and beautiful scenery. Let me undress you and have a good rest."

Zhang Yunxiu then lost his composure. He threw away the veil in his hand and took two steps back.

He asked calmly, "What do you want?"

Zheng Xier was puzzled.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and continued, "I can give you money and status, but I may not be able to give you other things. If you want to get more, I'm afraid it won't work just by relying on your face and the two pieces of meat below."

Zheng Xier gritted her teeth, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed.

This guy actually thought of himself as a woman in a brothel.

After sulking for a few seconds, Zheng Xier's eyes turned and she looked at Zhang Yunxiu and asked, "I wonder what I can do to win your favor?!"

"It's simple. You have to be useful to me." Zhang Yunxiu smiled, walked back to the table and sat down. He crossed his legs and looked at Zheng Xier and said, "If it's just your face, as long as I use money, I can have as much as I want."

"Do you believe that there is no repetition every day?"

Zheng Xier nodded.

Zhang Yunxiu continued, "Have you ever learned arithmetic?"

"Learned some."

Zhang Yunxiu became interested, found a pen and paper, and asked Zheng Xier to write down everything she knew.

Zheng Xier glanced at Zhang Yunxiu, stood up, walked to the table, and started writing.

After writing, Zheng Xier stopped writing, picked up the rice paper with both hands and handed it to Zhang Yunxiu.

"One and one are like one, one and two are like two, one and three are like three, and nine and nine are like eight and one." After taking a quick look at it, Zhang Yunxiu smiled and commented, "Not bad, you have memorized this nine-nine formula very well."

The Nine Nines Rhyme is the multiplication table.

It had been used as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and there were written records in the unearthed Qin bamboo slips.

"Sir, I can sing a song, you can listen to it."

Zheng Xier was delighted by the compliment and wanted to continue showing off her talent, but Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand and stopped her, saying, "No need. From now on, you have to memorize these things."

As he spoke, he picked up his pen and replaced the Chinese characters in the multiplication table with "Arabic" numerals.

At the same time, the symbols "+, -, ×, ÷" are used to replace Chinese characters.

It’s not that Chinese characters are bad, but Arabic numerals are indeed simpler than these.

In fact, Arabic numerals were introduced into China in the 5th century AD, but they were not widely used until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Zheng Xier then saw the ghostly scribbles on it and couldn't help asking, "Sir, what are these?"

"Just read it according to the above instructions." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and patiently explained to Zheng Xier.

(End of this chapter)