Chapter 7: A Poetic and Wine-Filled Banquet on Qujiangchi (1)

  More than 3000 words in this chapter, seeking recommendation votes!

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  Zhang Jiuyin and Zhang Jiu'ao went their separate ways to gather information about the situation in the palace through their respective channels, without mentioning it again.

  Liu, Zhang Ning and Zhang Xuan sent Zhang Jiuming and Zhang Jiugao out of the door, then Zhang Ning glared at Zhang Xuan with a scowl before turning around and leaving.

  "Mother, let's go back too." Zhang Xuan smiled and was about to take a step forward when he suddenly remembered that in this Tang Dynasty era where etiquette was paramount, he needed to change his spoiled image from the smallest details.

  He then bowed to Mrs. Liu, stepped back and let his mother go first.

  Liu's eyes lit up, and a gleam of surprise flashed in her pupils.

  Just now, Zhang Xuan was in the hall, speaking eloquently and with great momentum, his aura was majestic and awe-inspiring. And now he is even more courteous... This son has finally grown up after all. Mrs. Liu's emotions were stirred for a moment, she felt deeply moved and her lips trembled slightly.

  "Xiang'er, Mama's good Xiang'er. Mama is really happy..." She gently grasped Zhang Xiang's hand, with tears welling up in her eyes.

  At this moment, Zhang Ning's wife, Jiao Shi, supported Zhang Huan's pale-faced wife, Song Shi, and walked slowly from the backyard to the front yard. Behind them followed a boy and a girl, their small faces still streaked with tears, Zhang Huan's two children.

  The two women stood on one side and bowed to Mrs. Liu, saying in unison, "Old Madam. I don't know..."

  Zhang Jiuling's three sons, the eldest son Zhang Huan has been married for over ten years and has a daughter. The second son Zhang Ning also married his wife several years ago and had a daughter. Both Zhang Huan and Zhang Ning married daughters of official families in Chang'an, Song Shi and Jiao Shi were also considered to be from good families.

  Her husband was suddenly imprisoned and carried a great crime of treason, and the anxiety in Song's heart can be imagined. Jiao followed Song's sister-in-law relationship is not bad, so she stayed in Zhang Huan's temple to comfort Song's mother and daughter.

  Liu sighed, quickened his pace. He walked up to Song and Jiao, nodded slightly, and said in a soft voice, "You two can rest assured, Li Cheng has always been cautious and steady in his actions, and the crime he committed is just a false accusation by petty people. The current emperor is wise and powerful, and will surely clear Li Cheng's and our Zhang family's name."

  "Elder sister, don't worry, brother will definitely be safe and sound. Currently the two uncles are inquiring about news everywhere... Brother will definitely be fine." Zhang Xuan also smiled slightly and said softly beside her.

  Song slightly raised his eyes and weakly swept Zhang Xuan with a glance, not putting the words of this usually reckless younger uncle in his heart. Because of low emotions, he didn't even bother to respond to him. On the contrary, he went forward and threw himself into Liu's arms, sobbing sadly.

  Zhang Huan's two children saw this and also cried as they ran up, one on each side, grabbing onto Liu's skirt and wailing loudly.

  ……

  ……

  Zhang Xuan quietly retreated back to her own courtyard.

  The so-called Zhang Fu Houyuan is a vague concept, roughly composed of four or five separate small courtyards in a row. The Liu family, Zhang Huan, Zhang Ning and Zhang Xuan each occupy one. Although Zhang Xuan has not yet married, he also occupies one.

  Something big happened at the Zhang residence, and Zhang Xuan didn't return. Ruyan and Ruyu didn't dare to slack off and stood in the courtyard waiting respectfully. Seeing Zhang Xuan float into the courtyard, they hastily went up together to greet him, "Third Master!"

  Zhang Xuan nodded at the two delicate little maids, then stepped into the house, sat in front of the sandalwood desk and fell deep in thought, silent and speechless.

  The two women did not dare to make a sound, and stood quietly on one side. From their angle of view, Zhang Xuan's brocade clothes were spread out, his face was like jade, and from head to toe, there was no longer any hint of licentiousness, but instead, he looked refined and elegant.

  "The third young master is actually quite handsome." Like smoke, she curled up the corner of her skirt and secretly gazed at Zhang Xuan's elegant face, the gentle curve of this third young master's nose bridge, like an eagle or a hawk, caused a ripple in her heart.

  Like jade, she slightly lowered her head, and her bright eyes also kept wandering back and forth on Zhang Xuan's body. A faint blush also rose to her cheeks.

  These two young girls, who had been trained by the Tang Dynasty's customs to think about spring, looked more and more delighted as they gazed at him, completely forgetting the despair and sorrow in their hearts just two days ago when they were assigned to this small courtyard. The third master, who suddenly seemed quite handsome and charming to them, was not long ago feared like a wolf or a tiger.

  It can't be said that the two young maidservants were infatuated. For them, whether Zhang Xuan was a noble or a talented scholar made little difference; as maidservants, their fate was already sealed, and all they hoped for was a safe and stable outcome.

  Although they didn't spend much time with Zhang Xuan, the meticulous thoughts of the sisters subtly felt that this master was not as unbearable and heartless as imagined in the rumors among the sisters in the mansion. With this thought, re-examining Zhang Xuan, their hearts added a few surprises and comfort, and reduced a few fears and anxieties.

  These three young masters were originally not bad, if they could be less ruthless and heartless, and not treat their own bodies as gifts to be casually given away like worn-out shoes, that would be even better. This was the unspoken thought of the two women at this moment, which also served as a kind of spiritual self-consolation.

  Like smoke and jade, the girl's spring thoughts are like water. Zhang Xuan is unknowing at this moment, he has fallen into endless contemplation.

  Memories of two lifetimes flooded in, gradually merging into one entity. He had to concentrate and gather his thoughts to sort out the slightly disordered threads of his mind, hoping to find many valuable pieces of information from which to plan and "guide" his own path of survival and development in this era.

  His identity as a historian of past lives and a modern official gave him a fairly clear mind, a fairly solid foundation in learning, and fairly decisive means of exercising power. Now that I think about it, this actually helped him to better integrate into this era, while also possessing unparalleled and unique innate advantages.

  Li Linfu, Li Longji, Crown Prince Li Hen, Ji Wen, Yang Guozhong, Zhang Jia and others... one by one unfamiliar faces, the historical records of this time node and the various analyses and judgments of later generations, as well as the gossip and rumors of unofficial histories and all sorts of adaptations, all flashed through his mind.

  Zhang Xuan's eyes stared intensely like a knife, her eyebrows furrowed tightly.

  He slowly reached out and patted the desk, but ended up with nothing. Although this action was gentle, it seemed somewhat strange in the eyes of Ruyan and Ruyu.

  Zhang Xuan pinched his fingertips, stretched out two fingers to explore the edge of his mouth, and couldn't help but smile bitterly. In his previous life, he had a strong smoking habit, especially when thinking about major issues, he couldn't do without cigarettes. But from now on, he would have to quit this bad habit, in fact, not only smoking, many living habits would have to be disrupted and slowly adapted from the beginning.

  Zhang Xuan let out a mouthful of air and forcibly suppressed the onset of his nicotine addiction.

  But then, as if made of jade, she stepped lightly over, her face bearing a timid and half-bashful, half-joyful smile, her slender and delicate hands holding a fine celadon teapot, kneeling beside his desk.

  Immediately, a white arm as smooth as condensed milk stretched out, placed a white jade cup in front of Zhang Xuan, and then the arm slightly curved to pour half a cup of pale green scented tea, with gentle and extremely artistic movements.

  The tea fragrance is strong and the green smoke is swirling. Zhang Xuan turned his head to look, and beside him, this little girl's face was as delicate as a flower, with a shallow smile, and had some of the flavor of ripe fruit waiting to be picked.

  Although his heart skipped a beat, he was no longer the reckless and romantic young man he used to be. Moreover, with the current crisis at hand, he quickly suppressed the ambiguous thoughts in his mind. He picked up his tea cup and took a small sip, but immediately furrowed his brow, opened his mouth, and spat it out into the ceramic spittoon beside him.

  Her face suddenly turned pale like jade. She stood up in fright and stuttered, "Third Master, I...I'll go get some new tea right away..."

  Zhang Xuan glanced at Ru Yu, who was flustered and panicked, and couldn't help but smile slightly. He spoke softly, "It's alright, don't be nervous, the tea is fine. It's just that I'm not used to drinking this kind of tea. Next time when brewing tea, don't add any spices or those miscellaneous things. I only drink plain tea...just tea and water, got it?"

  The special fondness of Tang people for drinking tea makes Zhang Xuan, a modern person, dare not flatter, likes to add various seasonings in the tea, looks like many roads, actually superfluous.

  As she let out a long sigh, supporting her chest with her jade-like hand, it turned out that the tea she had brewed herself was not to the master's liking. After messing around for half a day, when the master woke up from his nap, it seemed he had even changed his habit of drinking tea - clear tea? Tea and water?

  "Understood, I remember." Ruyue hastily nodded in agreement, but suddenly discovered that the third young master's eyes with a hint of aggression had intentionally or unintentionally swept across her chest, where a patch of snow-white skin was visible, and she couldn't help but lower her head with a flush on her face.

  ……

  ……

  "Like jade," Zhang Xuan said with a gentle smile, "the brush, ink, paper and inkstone are at your service."

  Like jade, he went to the bookshelf on one side and fetched pen, ink, paper and inkstone. Like smoke, he also came to help. Although this young master was unlearned and never touched these things, as the son of Zhang Jiuling, a famous minister, his room was always prepared at any time.

  Yu spread out the paper, weighed down by a jade lion paperweight, and handed the brush to Zhang Xuan. Yu sat on the other side of the desk, gently grinding the ink with a soft motion, but in his heart he was somewhat surprised, thinking "Could it be that Third Master is going to compose poetry? Impossible! What does he know about this?"

  Zhang Xuan picked up his pen and glanced at the two beautiful maids standing by the desk, suddenly feeling a great sense of relief, sweeping away some of the deep gloom that had been weighing on his mind due to the crisis facing the Zhang family.

  As a historian and a renowned Confucian official, Zhang Huan's calligraphy with a brush still has a solid foundation after 20 years of practice. Even in an era where the brush is the main writing tool, although he dare not compare himself to great calligraphers like Li Yong and Zhang Xu, his work should still be passable.

  Zhang Xuan adjusted his wrist movement, calmed down, and then started writing. The four characters "like smoke like jade" flowed out of his brush like clouds and flowing water, but they were in the simplified script used by later generations. He couldn't help but shake his head, so he rewrote them in traditional script, and then handed it over to the two maids with a smile.

  The Zhang family is a renowned and aristocratic household, so naturally the maidservants in their home wouldn't be ordinary people.

  Like smoke and jade, the two lovely heads leaned together, carefully examining the four characters written by Zhang Xuan, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise and delight, "Third Master, what beautiful handwriting!"

  Zhang Xuan smiled but didn't speak. Immediately, he took out another piece of paper and wrote the seven elegant characters "Qujiangchi Shang Shi Jiu Yan" with a few swift strokes. Then, his eyes gazed deeply at the paper as he asked in a light tone, "Like smoke and jade, wasn't the Qujiang Pool poetry and wine party hosted by Madame Guo scheduled for tomorrow afternoon? Go find me Madame Guo's invitation."

  Save the Zhang family crisis, let's start with this Qujiangchi poetry and wine party. Zhang Xuan looked at the two women's slender and beautiful figures, and had already made up his mind.