Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 201 Welcome to the Nameless Academy
"Husband, didn't you go to the palace? Why are you all sweaty?"

When Princess Xue saw the huge wet stain on Wang Shouyi's back, she was startled.

Wang Shouyi glanced at the Xue Kingdom princess, then breathed a sigh of relief before slowly sitting down.

Princess Xue, upon seeing this, did not rush to ask any questions, but quickly instructed her maid to fetch some hot handkerchiefs.

"No need for now."

Wang Shouyi waved his hand, stopping the Xue princess.

Princess Xue looked at him with concern again.

Wang Shouyi said, "Actually, His Majesty already knew that I had tried to protect Minister Zhang."

"what?"

Princess Xue lightly covered her lips with her jade-like fingers.

Wang Shouyi said, "But Madam, don't worry, His Majesty didn't punish me for this. He just told me not to do it again."

Princess Xue said, "This concubine doesn't quite understand."

Wang Shouyi sighed, "Perhaps it really is because of that brat."

Princess Xue asked uncertainly, "Sparrow?"

"Mother! You called me!"

A little head tilted out the door.

Wang Shouyi was furious when he saw that grinning face, but when he thought of Li Longji's earnest teachings, he immediately put on a kind face and said, "Que'er, come in quickly."

"Father, what is it?"

Wang Xi swaggered into the house.

Wang Shouyi said, "Could you teach your father to play the violin too?"

Wang Xi was taken aback. "Father, you want to learn the violin too?"

Wang Shou nodded slightly.

"cannot!"

Wang Xi shook his head.

Wang Shouyi slammed his hand on the table, immediately revealing his true colors: "Why not?"

Wang Xi said, "Father is so busy with official duties these days. If I teach Father the violin and it causes Father to become addicted to eating, that would be harming Father!"

Wang Shouyi said, "You tell His Majesty to get lost, I get annoyed just looking at you."

Wang Xi pursed his lips and said to Princess Xue, "Mother, I'm going back to my room."

Princess Xue nodded.

After Wang Xi left, Princess Xue said again, "Husband, have you suffered some kind of shock? Why do you suddenly want to learn the violin from Que'er?"

Wang Shouyi said, "Madam, you may not know this, but just now I swore before His Majesty that my entire family would never do it again. Do you know what His Majesty said?"

Princess Xue asked, "What do you mean?"

Wang Shouyi said, "His Majesty told me not to swear on the sparrow."

Princess Xue frowned and said, "Does that not include me either?"

Wang Shouyi shook his head and said, "They didn't even mention it."

He felt a little better after saying that.

Princess Xue noticed the change in his expression and knew exactly what he was thinking. She couldn't help but chuckle. "So, my husband wants to learn the violin, and like the sparrow, to please His Majesty?"

Wang Shouyi said, "I put in so much effort, and I'm not even as good as a violin. I might as well learn the violin."

Princess Xue smiled and said, "Alright, if my husband wants to learn, I'll have Mi'er teach him. Mi'er can play some tunes now. But I'm afraid that even if my husband learns, it won't be of any use."

Wang Shouyi sighed heavily. He knew all too well that what he had just said was just a fit of pique.

Princess Xue then said, "Husband, this is a good thing. As long as Que'er is favored, His Majesty will not blame you unless you make a serious mistake. If you make a contribution, you will surely be promoted."

Wang Shouyi remained silent for a long time before saying, "That's true, but we must not let that kid know, otherwise, will he still respect his father?"

Princess Xue smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes, I will never let Que'er know."

She smiled radiantly, clearly very happy. This was truly a blessing in disguise. From this incident, we can see that Li Longji's favor towards Wang Xi had already influenced Wang Shouyi.

The next morning.

Outside the North Gate, although the weather was sunny and breezy, in Zhang Jiazhen's eyes it felt like the dead of winter. It wasn't that her body was cold, but her heart was chilled.

He never expected that his colleagues hated him so much that they would report him to the authorities for every little thing that happened, and they would impeach him to death, while very few people would speak up for him.

Even today, the only person who came to see him off was Wang Shouyi.

Wang Shouyi said with great remorse, "Brother Zhang, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't blame yourself for everything, it's not your fault."

Zhang Jiazhen waved his hand and said, "All of this is because of that villain Zhang Shuo."

Wang Shouyi asked in surprise, "What does this have to do with Zhang Shuo?"

Zhang Jiazhen said, “I remember three years ago, His Majesty spoke with me alone and promised me that he would promote me to prime minister in the future. At that time, I used Prime Minister Ma Zhou as an example. If Emperor Taizong had waited a few more years, Prime Minister Ma would probably have been less loyal to him.”

Therefore, His Majesty promoted me to Prime Minister ahead of schedule, and afterwards, I also secured the position of Left General of the Golden Guard for my brother.

Wang Shouyi was somewhat confused and asked, "What does this have to do with this matter?"

Zhang Jiazhen said, "But I went back anyway. I believed Zhang's nonsense and stayed home in mourning clothes to await punishment. He even lied to me, saying that Yuwen Rong wanted to become the Grand Secretary. But who is the Grand Secretary now?"

If I had gone directly to the palace to explain the matter to the Emperor, things might not have turned out this way.

Wang Shouyi exclaimed in shock, "So there were so many twists and turns inside!"

“Zhang Shuo, you brat, if I ever return to the court, I will make sure you never have a moment of peace,” Zhang Jiazhen cursed fiercely.

Wang Shouyi hurriedly said, "Brother Zhang, please rest assured, I believe that you will be able to return to the court in the future."

Zhang Jia-zhen asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Wang Shouyi said, "I have returned to report on my mission. I met with His Majesty yesterday. I offered to see you off, and His Majesty readily agreed. I think His Majesty seems to have some fondness for Brother Zhang."

"Hi!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiazhen stomped his foot in anger, shouting, "Zhang Shuo, you little brat! If I don't avenge this, I, Zhang Jiazhen, swear I'm not a human being!"

In fact, he knew Li Longji's character very well; he was easily influenced, because that was how he had always acted. If he had rushed to find Li Longji immediately, the outcome might have been very different.

Although Li Longji wanted to replace Zhang Jiazhen, he still hesitated. After all, Zhang Jiazhen's abilities were undeniable, but she was also domineering and had a bad temper.

With Zhang Jiazhen's eloquence, she had a chance to persuade Li Longji to change his mind.

But Zhang Shuo understood this point, so he rushed to the Zhang family immediately to deceive Zhang Jiazhen. Zhang Jiazhen was somewhat flustered at the time and, in her desperation, decided to try anything.

From this, it is not hard to see that Zhang Jiazhen was no match for Zhang Shuo in terms of scheming.

Because if their positions were reversed, Zhang Jiazhen would never have done this.

But that's politics—the winner takes all. Although it wasn't as aboveboard as when Yao and Song handed over power, that's not the norm; this is the norm.

At this moment, Zhang Shuo was truly enjoying immense prestige.

As for his colleagues, they actually preferred Zhang Shuo because he was exceptionally talented, both in literature and military strategy, and was a true pillar of the literati. More importantly, he was more tolerant of his colleagues than Zhang Jiazhen, who was domineering.

Everyone congratulated Zhang.

Of course, this is exactly what Li Longji wanted to see, since he knew that reforms like this would be difficult to accomplish if the people were not of one mind.

Ministry of Rites.

“Master Li, I had discussed your suggestion with Master Zhang before, and he did not object. But today he came to talk to me about it again. He thinks your idea is good, but the script is not rich enough or grand enough.”

Our Ministry of Rites will find someone to rewrite the script, and this matter will be entirely entrusted to you. What do you think?

Han Xiu smiled and asked Li Linfu. Li Linfu quickly cupped his hands and said, "This humble official will certainly not disappoint Minister Han and Minister Zhang's expectations."

Han Xiu smiled and nodded, then suddenly said, "You should understand what Minister Zhang means?"

Li Linfu said, "Minister Han, rest assured, I understand perfectly. I also hope that you will help me convey my congratulations to Minister Zhang."

Han Xiu smiled and said, "Definitely, definitely."

Li Linfu really got lucky. Zhang Shuo originally thought the idea was good and worth a try, but he didn't take it seriously.

But these past few days have been incredibly turbulent. Zhang Shuo was suddenly promoted to Grand Secretary, so he had to change the atmosphere of the court and also do some propaganda.

Therefore, this matter became very important to Zhang.

He wanted to use this opera to promote his new vision.

However, he didn't like Li Linfu's scripts and wanted to find someone else to write them. But when it came to stage arrangement, Li Linfu was probably the only one who knew how.

An unnamed winery.

"Good wine!"

Li Bai put down his wine cup and said, "That young master Wang really didn't lie to me; this is truly fine wine."

After saying that, he turned to Jiang Cheng and asked, "Master Jiang, I've also drunk this Hero Wine, but it's quite different from this wine. What's the reason for that?"

Jiang Cheng said, "In response to Young Hero Li, the original Hero Wine was freshly brewed and had many shortcomings in its brewing method. However, the brewing method of this wine has been improved, and the longer it is aged, the better it will taste."

"I see."

Li Bai nodded and then asked, "Is there any other wine?"

“There are three other types of fruit wine,” Jiang Cheng replied.

Upon hearing this, Li Bai was overjoyed and said, "Could you bring it over so I can have a taste?"

Jiang Cheng said, "Young Master Li, didn't you come here specifically to sample the wine?"

Li Bai nodded and said, "That's right!"

Jiang Cheng asked, "I wonder what shortcomings Young Hero Li finds in this wine?"

Li Bai paused for a moment, "Bring them all here so I can try them first, and we'll talk about it later."

Today, Wang Xi finally kept his promise and brought Li Bai to this winery to taste the fine wines. Li Bai was not disappointed at all; he thoroughly enjoyed every kind of wine.

The reason Wang Xi brought him along was that the four of them wanted to celebrate their victory.

Inner hall.

"I can't believe we actually can do it, hehehe!"

Li Jieman held a glass of wine, grinning from ear to ear. When he first proposed the plan, he was not optimistic at all.

Huangfu Sengnian said, "Actually, the reason this matter was successful was because we followed the general trend, not entirely due to our abilities."

Li Jieman said, "That's still remarkable. He's the Grand Secretary, not just some Vice Minister of Rites. Even getting even a slight connection to him is quite an achievement."

Wang Shuang nodded in agreement.

Wang Xi suddenly said, "But we've also done a favor for Zhang Shuo, and he might be in an even more difficult situation. This is enough to prove that we haven't done enough."

Li Jie asked, "What else do you want?"

Wang Xi said, "We need to work harder to urge our father on. If he's capable, then we can find a way to push him down so that others don't benefit from it."

Wang Shuang nodded repeatedly, "What Brother Que said makes a lot of sense."

Of the four, Wang Maozhong is truly the most promising.

Wang Xi glanced at Wang Shuang secretly, then smiled and said, "Among the four of us, Uncle Wang is the most promising, so he will be our key protégé in the future."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shuang was so happy he could hardly stand up straight. He raised his glass again and said, "Then I would like to thank the three brothers for their help."

"Dry!"

"Done!"

After finishing his drink, Huangfu Sengnian said, "Tomorrow, Linghu Changge and Xue Bao'er will be enrolling in school, so we still need to deal with that matter first."

Li Jieman chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I've already made all the arrangements. We'll have to give them a taste of their own medicine tomorrow."

Wang Xi laughed and said, "When a sheep enters a tiger's mouth, it must be devoured completely."

Li Jie hurriedly said, "I won't fight you for these, they're all yours."

Wang Xi said, "Xiaoman, this isn't like you."

Li Jie said, "This has always been my style. Xue Bao'er and the others are not to be touched. If you do, you have to marry them. Then what about the family? Only you would dare to take advantage of them."

Wang Xi shrugged and said, "I dare to do it now too."

The next day.

A luxurious carriage slowly drove into Chunhefang, where two stunningly beautiful young women sat: Linghu Changge and Xue Bao'er.

Today they are finally taking their college entrance exams.

"Is everything ready?"

Linghu Changge asked.

"Don't worry, sister, everything is prepared." Xue Bao'er patted the bundle beside her. "It's all candied fruit and fruit that the children love to eat. I even brought the tribute that His Majesty bestowed upon our family. I guarantee that the children will behave themselves."

Linghu Changge's lips curled into a graceful smile. "We're still taking exams, so we need to keep a low profile and avoid provoking Wang Xiaoque and the others. We can make them submit to us slowly after we enroll in school."

Xue Bao'er said, "Don't worry, sister, we understand this principle."

During their conversation, they arrived at the nameless academy.

Upon arriving at the door and finding no one to greet her, Xue Bao'er said, "Why isn't there even anyone to welcome us?"

Linghu Changge said, "Baodi said yesterday that he has to go out for a charity performance today and won't be able to welcome us."

A spirited young woman standing nearby said, "Is it really just one more day? Besides, it's impossible to go to everyone."

This woman's name is Cui Nier, and she is Cui Gu'er's cousin.

Linghu Changge laughed and said, "I think they just want to give us a warning, so let's be patient for now."

As soon as they entered the academy, they heard a childish and affectionate shout, "Sister Changge, Sister Bao'er, you've come!"

Linghu Changge turned his head and saw the children playing in the grass in the southeast corner. He quickly waved and said, "Lin'er."

"Sister, come here quickly, we have some fun things to do here!" the little boy called out as he jumped around.

"coming!"

Linghu Changge gave her sisters a wink and then quickly walked over.

But as soon as they arrived on the grass, they heard a thud. Linghu Changge and Xue Bao'er, who were walking at the front, fell into a mud pit and instantly became mud figures.

The other young ladies screamed in fright.

But what puzzled me even more was why there was a mud pit here.

"Kill!"

Just as one wave subsided, another arose, followed by a series of shouts.

"The enemy has fallen into a trap, brothers, charge!"

Looking up, they saw more than twenty children rushing over with wooden water buckets in their hands, spraying them with water.

Their faces were all contorted in rage; they were nothing like the well-behaved and sensible children they once were.

This sudden turn of events left the young ladies with no time to care about Linghu Changge and Xue Bao'er; they all covered their heads and scattered.

In the backyard, on a large tree, sat four people, the four senior disciples of the Nameless Academy.

Seeing their disheveled appearance, Wang Xi couldn't help but laugh and say, "Welcome to the Nameless Academy."

(End of this chapter)