Chapter 4: The Book-Eating Maniac, Tang Guan

  So that's how it is

  A lamp flickered in Tang Guan's bedroom, and Tang Guan, whose neurosis had improved slightly, was studying under the lamplight.

  After returning from being tormented by his two fat parents all day, the first thing he thought of was to look in the mirror.

  Fortunately, although the Tang family cannot be considered a renowned family, they are still a large household in the Yuhang area, and such ordinary people's rare items like copper mirrors are available.

  When Tang Guan saw himself in the mirror, he was shocked and then muttered to himself with great joy: "I must not be born to my parents"

  It's just that the Tang Crown in the mirror, although young, has a handsome appearance that can't be hidden. It wasn't until later that it was discovered that the unfortunate fool Tang Crown in front had been foolish and stupid all along, so no one noticed how handsome he was. But now it's different, now Tang Crown is radiant and spirited.

  After being self-indulgent for a while, Tang Guan started rummaging through the bookshelves, searching for books. Only then did he realize that his talent for remembering everything he read was not wasted after all, but rather genuine and valuable.

  "Analects", "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "Mao's Poetry"... Due to Tang Wei being a scholar himself, his family had a rich collection of books. During the Tang Dynasty, printing was difficult, so it was not easy to fill up bookshelves.

  Tang Guan recalled a common saying of this era: "At thirty, one is old and knowledgeable about the classics; at fifty, one is young and has passed the imperial examination."

  It means that if you pass the Mingjing exam at the age of thirty, people will say you are a late bloomer. If you pass the Jinshi exam at the age of fifty, people will say you are young and promising. Why is this so?

  Because of the Tang Dynasty's rapid progress in the imperial examination system, young men from humble families often relied on their natural talent to achieve great things.

  At first, Tang Guan carefully flipped through the pages one by one. Later, he found that with just a glance, everything was etched in his mind like an iron print, unforgettable. Overjoyed, he read ten lines at a glance, and finally, he simply picked up the book and lightly flipped through it, instantly memorizing its contents.

  "Haha, others' ten years of work! I, a young master, can do it in one second!"

  "No wonder Confucianism remained the state religion for so long, this principle of heaven and earth, ruler and parent, teacher and self, is more than enough to deal with ordinary people." Tang Guan couldn't help but sigh after reading through the classics.

  After finishing the Confucian classics, Tang Guan began to search for geographical books. He had to confirm his true environment, although judging from the surroundings, it should be the Tang Dynasty, after all, Qingci porcelain was only produced in large quantities during the Tang Dynasty and could be so luxurious everywhere.

  "Commentary on the Waterways!" Tang Guang's eyes lit up as he stared at this book.

  "Shui Jing Zhu" is an ancient geographical masterpiece that I have longed for, and unexpectedly, I can see the ancient book now.

  As soon as the book was opened, it covered from the pre-Qin period to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, spanning over two thousand years. The content is extremely rich, including natural geography, human geography, scenic spots, historical evolution, customs and habits, anecdotes of figures, and even mythological stories, which can be described as dazzling.

  For a moment, Tang Guan's eyes scanned the ten lines, each one depicting mountains and rivers, humanistic scenery, but most importantly, he quickly connected the contemporary place names with modern ones.

  "So it is, within the pass, there are Henan Road, Hebei Road... under each road, there are prefectures... under each prefecture, there are counties"

  "What a hassle, wait until I dominate the world, and change all of them to provinces, cities, and counties for you." Tang Guan closed his book and began daydreaming.

  Seeing the Tang Guanling machine move, I remembered a kind of ceramic habit written in the book. I got up and knocked over the porcelain vase next to me, which was half a body higher than him, and stared at the year mark below, stunned for a moment.

  "Eternal Purity Second Year..."

  "Wu... Wu Zetian?"

  "No, at this time she was not yet an empress, so it should be that Emperor Gaozong of Tang had just died and Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Li Xian succeeded him"

  "I'm going, it's actually Wu Zetian" Tang Guan suddenly thought of the number one female strongman in history. In his view, whether she was called emperor or not was already irrelevant at this time, because after Gaozong died, the power had been grasped.

  This Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, was also a short-lived emperor who reigned for only one year. He was the third son of Wu Zetian and was succeeded by her fourth son, Ruizong of Tang, Li Dan, who was also an emperor in name only for six years, going through the motions like punching a time clock at work.

  "It's really her" Tang Guan stroked his chin, he needed to understand the current ruler, because he was a crosser with ambitions of dominating the imperial court and maybe even becoming emperor.

  But at this moment, she hesitated. This woman's ruthlessness was recognized by the academic community, a super strong woman who combined violence and bloodthirstiness in one body.

  But Tang Guan himself only had a defective talent, not to mention the omnipotent power that has not yet been revealed, other travelers are either chemical experts or physical geniuses, airplanes and artillery come easily, but his little poor math and science have long been erased, leaving only simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

  "Even if Xiao Ye only knows addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, he is already leading the world!" Tang Guan sank into thought for a moment, and suddenly felt a surge of pride. Now his mind was filled with countless classical works, and if people knew that someone had mastered in an instant what it took scholars decades to memorize, Tang Guan would not be recognized as a prodigy, but rather drowned in a pig cage.

  "Hū" Táng Guān blew out the lamp, "Zī lā" again took the fire starter to light it up, not because he was bored, but because he thought of something.

  "I can't just take a look, I have to verify what the book says is true or not." As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Guan looked up at the beam, and secretly pushed open the door to fetch a long pole for drying clothes from the courtyard before re-entering the bedroom.

  "Dong, dong" Tang Guan held a long stick and poked at the beam again and again.

  With a "crack", a scroll of painting suddenly fell from the beam.

  Tang Guan immediately picked it up, his eyes shining with excitement, "The ancients did not deceive me!"

  Originally, Tang Guan saw in the book a custom of the north and south, that is, believing that the affairs of the boudoir can drive away evil spirits and ward off fire. In order to prevent fires, some households would place a pair of mandarin duck pictures on the beam of the house.

  "Hmm... I see... Well, I'll remember this great work and try to imitate it another day"

  Eight-year-old Tang Guan was holding a "prohibited for those under 18" comic book, reading with great relish. After a long while, he finally turned off the light and carefully placed the drawing under his bed before falling asleep peacefully.

  In the fantasy of infinite scenery in the future, a night without words, before dawn breaks, Tang Guan was still sleeping with her head covered, while Old Wang put on a new robe and pushed open Tang Guan's door.

  "Master, wake up!" (Note: At this time, except for the servants, outsiders who see the male members of a wealthy family are called "Lang Jun")

  "What time is it already..." Tang Guan was woken up with some discontent.

  "Master, it's already dawn, today is your big day, hurry up and get washed, the old master and mistress are waiting for you in the ancestral hall."

  "Hua" Tang Guan immediately got up, remembering that his cheap old dad was going to offer sacrifices for himself today and set up a flowing water banquet. What is a flowing water banquet? Tang Guan naturally knew that it was an invitation to the whole village, sometimes lasting several days without interruption, only wealthy families could do this.

  "How could I, Tang Guan, miss out on such a big show?"

  With the help of Old Wang, he got out of bed and washed up. His hair had been queued for eight years, and Tang Guan was still not used to his "flowing soft hair". Fortunately, he was not yet an adult and did not need to wear a formal hat, so he simply tied it up roughly and that was the end of it.

  Two men went out, one in front and one behind. Old Wang seemed to know that the young master of his own family was not familiar with the "terrain" of his own home after a serious illness, so he pointed it out from time to time.

  Before long, the two arrived in front of a brightly lit hall. To say that the Tang family's residence was not small, the most exquisite one was this ancestral temple. At this time, it was early morning, around 5 or 6 o'clock. Inside, Tang Weixi and his wife were already standing neatly at attention.

  "Namo Amitabha..." The chanting of sutras echoed within the house.

  Tang Guang stared at him and said in a low voice: "Well, you've even invited monks to superintend the funeral. Didn't they say that ancient merchants had a low social status?"

  It's not unreasonable for Tang Guan to think this way. Now he also knows that his cheap dad is a businessman, but from start to finish, he didn't feel that his status was particularly lowly. In fact, Tang Weixi is one of the few exceptions among businessmen and is essentially not a businessman at all.

  It is said that "once a scholar, always a scholar". Tang Weixi had held the position of sixth-grade official outside the Lang in the court, and without mentioning his connections, just based on this alone, he was very different from those ordinary merchants, and could only be considered a retired civil servant who managed household property.

  "Come quickly, the illness has gone." Mrs. Tang saw Tang Guan outside the door and quietly came out to greet him, although according to etiquette she shouldn't have come to pay her respects. But under the current special circumstances, and also because Tang Wei Xi was always henpecked, he dispensed with the formalities.

  "Mother," Tang Guan bowed his head and saluted, doing it with great resemblance. After all, he was not yet at the high-end elegant level, and before truly stepping onto the path of success, one must be low-key and luxurious with inner substance.

  Tang Guan entered the gate, then bowed to Tang Wei Xi with a slight bow, and only then stood still, looking at the group of monks chanting scriptures.

  As a socialist progressive literary youth, Tang Guan naturally disdained such feudal superstition, but the Tang Dynasty's Buddhist trend was prevalent, and Tang Wei Xi and his wife outside the door were both devout.

  After a long time, the sutra recitation was finally completed. The monks bowed to Tang's official and went down to receive incense oil and conveniently had their meal.

  "Kneel down!" Tang Weixi suddenly became serious.

  Tang Guan reluctantly knelt on the cushion, listening to Tang Wei's murmured incantation: "The ancestors of past generations are manifesting their spirits. The 32nd generation descendant Dehua is below, and the little grandson has finally arrived late in life. Now that the great illness has passed, it is all thanks to the ancestors' spirits in heaven. From now on, Dehua will be extremely respectful and reverent, only asking the ancestors to bless him with a lifetime of peace and safety."

  At first, Tang Guan was still a bit impatient, but listening to Tang Wei's murmurs beside him, he couldn't help but feel moved. The hearts of parents in this world are actually pitiful. Even if it were the parents from his past life who didn't get along with him and rarely saw him, they also had a sense of responsibility, otherwise they wouldn't have provided for his living expenses.

  Thinking of this, Tang Guan also bowed to the ancestral tablet above, after all, he had occupied someone else's body, and what's more, people with the same surname are one family, who knows, maybe his future self would really come from the Tang family of Yuhang.

  After finishing his tea, Tang Weixi let out a sigh of relief and gazed at Tang Guan, who was now radiant and no longer had the foolish expression he used to have, feeling deeply comforted.

  "Old Wang, go to the kitchen and see how the preparations are going."

  Old Wang nodded in agreement and turned away.

  Tang Weixi waved his hand and said, "Go, Guan'er, today is your big happy day. Later, relatives from ten miles away will come, including your second uncle and aunt. You must behave well."

  "Yes, Father, I understand"

  "It's true that rich people have many relatives." Hearing so many names of relatives, Tang Guan broke out in a cold sweat.