Volume 1: Kyoto Winds Chapter 13: Huang Zhong Comes to Join

  Cai Yong's question made Liu Zhang pause, he thought Cai Yong was asking him who his teacher was to learn characters, so he pointed to the study and said: "I only have one master teaching me to read and write here!"

  "Shall we go and meet that gentleman?" Under Liu Zhang's guidance, Cai Yong met the teacher invited by Liu Yan for Liu Zhang. The other person was so frightened when he heard that it was the great Confucian scholar Cai Yong that he almost fainted. Cai Yong saw that this person had no courage and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

  "Don't be afraid!" Cai Yong asked with a smile: "I heard it was you who taught the young master of Zong Zheng?"

  "It's... it's a dwarf!" The teacher replied with a tremble and immediately fell to the ground, not daring to move.

  "The young master's handwriting is quite good, it seems you've also taught him with care! Why don't you write a few characters for me too?" People say that one can judge a person by their handwriting; just looking at this gentleman's appearance, he doesn't seem like someone who could produce elegant calligraphy. Cai Yong was worried that he had misjudged him, so he wanted to test him!

  "Yes!" The teacher picked up his pen and wrote a few words. Cai Yong took a look, and it was indeed in the style of flying white script. Although he had already made some progress, he still couldn't meet Cai's standards, after all, flying white script was created by Cai himself!

  "Come! Write in this font!" Cai Yong pointed to the several sheets of Liu Zhang's handwriting on the desk and said, "I suppose this is the kind of font you're good at?"

  The teacher took a look and immediately shook his head, saying: "A small person won't be able to write this kind of character! As far as I know, this font is created by the young master himself, it's very difficult for outsiders to learn!"

  "What?!" Cai Yong was stunned! A five-year-old child could actually create his own font, wasn't this a joke?! To think that Cai Yong himself was over thirty before he managed to produce a decent flying white script! Looking at Liu Yan beside him, Cai Yong suddenly asked: "Lord Zongzheng, isn't it the case that you and this gentleman are colluding to deceive me? I, Cai Bogong, will not tolerate deceitful scoundrels!"

  Liu Yan was a bookworm, but he didn't quite understand the way of calligraphy. He just thought his son's handwriting looked good, but as for what made it good, he couldn't tell. However, by now Liu Yan had figured out Cai Yong's intention, and he chuckled: "Mr. Cai has misunderstood - my child has been writing in this style since the beginning of learning to write, and as for why, neither I nor even the child himself knows!"

  As for Liu Yan's words, Cai Yong really didn't believe him. He suddenly saw Liu Zhang standing beside him and called out to him: "Zhang'er tell Mr., who taught you this handwriting? If you deceive Mr., Mr. won't like you! If you speak the truth, Mr. will buy you sugar to eat!"

  Liu Zhang's head was a mess of black hair, and although his age added up to two lifetimes wasn't as great as Cai Yong's, it didn't need to be coaxed with sugar! Liu Zhang smiled sweetly: "My characters are written like this, sir originally wanted me to learn the flying white script from my teacher, but no matter how I changed it, I couldn't change it back!" Looking at Liu Zhang's innocent smile, Cai Yong somewhat believed him. But if it was really as Liu Zhang said, wouldn't that be a heavenly bestowed font? The ancients revered heaven and trusted in the divine, having a sense of awe towards unknown things. Moreover, the noble air carried by the thin gold script wasn't something a five-year-old child should have, even if he were born into a royal family!

  Cai Yong no longer inquired about the font, but asked about Liu Zong's studies. Since heaven had favored Liu Zong, he should have his own uniqueness. When Cai Yong learned that Liu Zong could recognize and write correctly thousands of characters in just over a dozen days, coupled with Liu Zong's previous statement that he wanted to be like Huo Qubing, he suddenly felt that Liu Zong was the heavenly pillar bestowed upon the great Han, and also believed that the Thin Gold font was created by Liu Zong. Therefore, Cai Yong decided to let Liu Zong enter the palace to study, and personally enlighten him!

  Generally, great Confucians would not teach children unless they were the sons of emperors. Of course, there were also some great Confucians who had a good relationship with the child's elders and were willing to help the child learn. Because the teacher-student relationship was one of the most iron-clad relationships in ancient times, second only to the parent-child relationship. If there was a stupid student like a pig, it would be an invisible weakening of the great Confucian's reputation. But who can see whether a five or six-year-old child has a future? So the great Confucians all selected clever and quick-witted children as their apprentices after they started learning. Now that Cai Yong personally teaches Liu Zhang, it means he regards Liu Zhang as his legitimate disciple!

  Liu Yan was thrilled when he learned of Cai Yong's decision. Originally, having a master-disciple relationship would have brought Liu Zhang endless benefits. Just like Liu Bei, who claimed to be Lu Zhi's disciple everywhere, but how many days did Lu Zhi actually teach him? Yet outsiders gave Liu Bei great face because of this! Cai Yong was an even more famous Confucian scholar than Lu Zhi and also the emperor's teacher. Liu Zhang was already a member of the imperial family, and now he had become brothers with the emperor through their master-disciple relationship - his future prospects were unimaginable to Liu Yan! However, Liu Zhang didn't get too excited, after all Cai Yong was talented but a bit dim-witted. And in Cai Yong's eyes, Liu Zhang's calm demeanor became "unmoved by honor or shame", this beautiful misunderstanding suddenly made Cai Yong think that Emperor Ling had great vision!

  After Cai Yong left, Liu Yan was still excited and couldn't extricate himself, while Liu Zhang's brothers were somewhat jealous of him! However, being close relatives, they didn't have too many other thoughts despite their jealousy. But Liu Zhang became worried, after all, his foundation in the capital was still shallow, and having a relationship with the emperor wasn't a big deal, but if he was viewed as an enemy by the eunuch group because of his relationship with Cai Yong, then it would be a loss! However, Liu Zhang was overthinking, Cai Yong was also a member of the party, but he didn't have much conflict with the eunuch group, otherwise Cao Jie wouldn't have let him become the emperor's teacher!

  Because Cai Yong decided to personally enlighten Liu Zhang, Liu Zhang had no choice but to come and go between the imperial palaces every day. In order to temper his physique, Liu Zhang asked his servants to sew a garment for him, filled with fine sand, weighing about 20-30 kilograms, which he wore on his body every day, and tied lead blocks to his hands and feet to increase the weight. Shi Ah saw that Liu Zhang was so hardworking at the age of five, and also carried heavy weights, practiced boxing, and practiced sword fighting together with him, their relationship became better and better, just short of beheading a chicken and burning yellow paper!

  More than a month had passed when one day, Liu Zhang returned to his residence after reading in the imperial palace and saw his family's servants blocking a young man at the entrance. The young man seemed to be there to visit Liu Yan. Liu Zhang walked over and asked, "What is going on?"

  "I don't even know where this beggar came from, and he actually wants to see Master Zongzheng!" The servant saw that it was the young master and immediately spoke in a flattering tone: "With Master Zongzheng's status, how can these country folk possibly meet him? Young master, don't be angry, I'll chase him away right now!"

  "Halt!" Liu Zhang sized up the young man, who was over twenty years old, with a square face and large ears, piercing eyes, and a tall stature of over eight feet. He had a strong back and waist, thick arms, and calluses on his hands, clearly a result of long-term martial arts practice. Liu Zhang asked with a smile: "Where are you from? Why do you want to see Lord Zongzheng?"

  The young man had also served as an official for several years and understood the ways of a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister. Although Liu Zhang was just a child, he could tell from the servants' movements that he was probably the son of the Grand General, so he respectfully said: "I am from Jingzhou, summoned by the Grand General!"

  "From Jingzhou?" Liu Zhang looked at the young man again and asked: "Aren't you Huang Zhong, also known as Han Sheng?"

  "Does the young master know me?" Now it's Huang Zhong's turn to be surprised, he didn't know that Liu Zhang had asked him to enter the capital. Otherwise, with his small position as a military officer, how could he attract the attention of Liu Yan, one of the nine ministers?

  "It's really General Han!" Liu Zhang was excited, he had been timid and cautious in Luoyang recently, but with Huang Zhong's arrival, he could finally hold his head high! Although Liu Zhang didn't know how good Huang Zhong's martial arts were, in Luoyang, apart from Wang Yue, he shouldn't have any opponents, and whether Wang Yue could defeat Huang Zhong was still uncertain! As for Shi Yi, in Liu Zhang's eyes, he was just a young whippersnapper, and he didn't trust him to protect himself.

  "How dare I!" Huang Zhong heard the servant address Liu Zhang as "young master", and knew that the child in front of him was definitely Liu Yan's son. So when Liu Zhang called him "older brother", he felt a little honored!

  "Get up!" Liu Zhang pulled Huang Zhong's hand and said: "Han Sheng brother, actually this time I asked you to come, it's a bit of an imposition on you! However, rest assured, I will definitely give you the opportunity to make a name for yourself!" After finishing speaking, Liu Zhang scolded the servants at the door severely. If they had offended Huang Zhong with their haughty attitude and made him leave in anger, Liu Zhang could have killed them all! Those servants did not expect that this rustic fellow was actually an honored guest of the Fourth Prince!

  Liu Zhang pulled Huang Zhong's hand into the mansion, while Huang Zhong looked at this fourth master who was about the same age as his own son with some bewilderment. Liu Yan knew that his son had returned and also knew that the guard he had invited had arrived, so he came out to see Huang Zhong. At first glance, it was a bit difficult to extricate oneself! Liu Yan's eyes were so sharp, just look at the team he left for Liu Zhang in history. Zhang Song, who never forgot what he saw, Zhang Ren, Yan Yan, great generals, Gan Ning, and even fewer great generals, unfortunately, Liu Zhang didn't know how to use them, but instead gave away such strategists and brave warriors to Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

  "My son, is this the Changsha Huang Zhong?" Liu Yan had thought that Liu Zhang was just hearsay, but he didn't expect that Huang Zhong's appearance alone would make his heart break!

  "Huang Zhong is here, at your service, sir!" Huang Zhong said with a bow. "I don't know why you've summoned me from Jingzhou, what orders do you have for me?"

  "Good!" Liu Yan smiled and said: "Actually, it's nothing much. It's just that my son lacks a bodyguard, but brave warriors are hard to find. He doesn't know where he heard about the great name of Zhuang Shi, and wants to ask Zhuang Shi to be his bodyguard. What do you think?"

  "This..." Huang Zhong hesitated for a moment, as the saying goes: "Achievement and fame can only be obtained on horseback." However, he also understood that if there was no backing in the imperial court, everything would be empty talk! If it weren't for this, with Huang Zhong's abilities, he wouldn't have been stuck as a military officer. But generally, guards were just household slaves, and Huang Zhong wanted to find a backer, but didn't want to sell himself out, after all, being a household slave wasn't just his own problem. A family of slaves for generations, a lifetime of slavery. Of course, this also depends on whose household slave you are, aren't all the officials in the imperial court just the emperor's household slaves? Huang Zhong thought for a long time and suddenly gritted his teeth and said: "Being a guard is no problem, I have one condition!"