Chapter 36: Can the Dark Clouds Truly Disappear?

Although the heavy flooding caused significant damage to the Zhang family’s mansion—mainly to household items—it didn’t result in any serious structural harm. As a result, the masons left after working hard for over half a month, and the area was restored to cleanliness, with no trace left of the mess from the flooded days. After the disaster, countless commoners lost their homes and land, and more and more people began selling their family members or even themselves in the markets. The Zhang family had no choice but to take in several more family members.

But these were matters for the managers and stewards to worry about. What the elders in the family cared most about was the situation in the capital. Zhang Xin had spent over a decade studying hard and a decade in official service—no one wanted all that to be wasted because of this flood. No matter how jealous the second and third branches were of the first branch’s success in the capital, they were now all deeply concerned.

Thus, any punishments for the younger generation had long been forgotten by everyone. Even so, all decisions were made personally by Lady Gu, and no one dared to go against her orders. Even though there were no outsiders present, Zhang Chao, kneeling in the ancestral hall, gritted his teeth and twisted around, but he still didn’t dare move freely. At most, he could only rub his stiff knees and sigh.

“Elder brother!”
Suddenly hearing this voice behind him, Zhang Chao turned around and was surprised to see Zhang Yue. Seeing his third brother sneaking in with a food box, he quickly glanced around before whispering, “Weren’t you practicing calligraphy? Why did you come here?”

Zhang Yue chuckled nonchalantly, then lifted the lid of the food box and said indifferently, “It’s just twenty sheets of calligraphy practice. I finished them all yesterday afternoon and evening, and then worked on them some more this morning. Here’s beef soup and roasted chicken from the kitchen, along with some vegetable rolls. You must be going through a tough time these next three days—eating this will give you some strength.”

Zhang Chao’s eyes watered at the sight of the roasted chicken and beef soup, and his stomach growled immediately. He had knelt all day yesterday. Though no one would deliberately starve him, they were indeed too busy with other matters to attend to him. Grateful, he glanced at Zhang Yue, quickly wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and devoured the food. In no time, the roasted chicken, beef soup, and four vegetable rolls were all gone. He then let out two loud burps and wiped his mouth contentedly.

“Still, it’s you, the third brother, who remembers me. I’ve been kneeling here for over a day, and aside from that old woman Liu who brings meals, no one else even glanced my way. It’s one thing that the second brother is under house arrest, but even Mother and the eldest sister didn’t come—sigh!”
At these words, Zhang Chao couldn’t help but slump in disappointment, sighing deeply. He wondered if he had really angered Mother this time and implicated the eldest sister, which was why they hadn’t come.
“Stop overthinking it. Right now, everyone in the family is preoccupied with Uncle’s matter, that’s why no one has time for you. It’s only three days—just hold on, and it will pass. If I have time, I’ll definitely come to see you often.”
Seeing Zhang Chao getting stuck in his thoughts, Zhang Yue quickly comforted him. Realizing that although he wasn’t under house arrest himself, he still couldn’t draw too much attention, he chatted with Zhang Chao for a while before packing up and heading back. But just as he left the ancestral hall and was about to reach the courtyard gate, he coincidentally ran into someone, leaving him in an awkward situation.
“Lingxi… Sister…”
Lingxi glanced at the food box in Zhang Yue’s hands, then at her own small box of delicacies, and a faint smile appeared on her face. “I was thinking that the old lady had asked the kitchen staff to make some Jiangnan sweets, so I wanted to bring some for the eldest young master. Who knew the third young master would be so thoughtful as to get there first.”
“I was just worried that everyone would be too busy with Uncle’s matter and forget about the eldest brother. I didn’t realize Sister Lingxi had other plans.” Finally, Zhang Yue managed to say “sister” smoothly. Seeing Lingxi smile faintly, he took the chance to ask, “By the way, does sister know what’s going on with Uncle?”
“That’s something the masters discuss. How could I know?” Lingxi had used the same reply to ward off those who tried to inquire about the situation these past few days. But now, seeing Zhang Yue looking at her expectantly, she hesitated for a moment before smiling and saying, “This time, it’s the third master who’s handling everything outside. If the young master wants to ask, he should go ask the third master.”
Zhang Yue’s face fell—these past two days, Zhang Zhuo had left early when he woke up and hadn’t returned by the time he went to bed. Who else could he ask? His mother, Lady Sun, also knew nothing, leaving him anxious and unsure of what to do.
“Alright, alright. The third young master had better go back quickly. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be good if the maids or wives saw him. After all, the other three young masters are all staying put in their respective places right now.”

Coaxed out of the courtyard like a child by Lingxi, Zhang Yue simply returned to his own room in the western courtyard. He instructed Qiuhen to pack twenty copybooks and followed her straight to the main house. Yet his trip turned out to be a waste of effort—Grandmother Gu was not there at all. Madam Dongfang was said to be at home taking care of Zhang Qi, while Madam Feng and Madam Sun were in the small meeting hall discussing matters with the housekeepers. The main house, which was usually crowded, was completely empty, with only a few young maids busy cleaning and dusting.

Thinking that even if someone returned later, it would most likely be Lingxi, he didn’t want to stay any longer. He simply called over a maid, dumped the twenty copybooks in front of her, and left without caring whether she understood or not. Then he took Qiuhen out of the main house. After passing by the marble screen wall and stepping through the moon gate into the corridor, he suddenly remembered something.

He wasn’t under house arrest. Although he couldn’t wander around the house freely, going to see Master Du to seek guidance was surely legitimate, right?

With this thought, Zhang Yue immediately sent Qiuhen back alone while he hurried out of the main gate. He then found Liansheng and Lianhu and took a carriage from the southern stable to Master Du’s house.

Grateful that Master Du hadn’t rushed the Zhang family’s younger members outside recklessly but instead taken them to the safe place of Daxiangguo Temple to protect them, Grandmother Gu ordered a generous gift to be prepared after the flood receded. She also sent people to thoroughly clean and renovate Master Du Zhen’s courtyard from the inside out. At that moment, the clean and tidy Master Du’s courtyard stood out sharply among the messy houses around it.

Upon entering, seeing Master Du Zhen’s two apprentices counting books, Zhang Yue gave Liansheng and Lianhu a signal to go help as well, then went straight into the inner room. After exchanging greetings and seeing that Master Du Zhen seemed to be writing, he stepped forward only to find it was a hanging painting. Master Du Zhen was inscribing a short poem beside it, his handwriting strong and full of vigor.

“Master, what is this painting…?”

“The last time Scholar Shen invited me to Nanjing, I didn’t agree, but I couldn’t go without giving any gesture. This painting is for him.” After making the final stroke on the paper, Master Du Zhen put down his brush and carefully examined the painting before saying without looking up, “The Shen brothers certainly have talent, but they were called to the Secret Library because of their excellent handwriting. So, in addition to studying, you should also put in more effort in practicing calligraphy.”

Zhang Yue would certainly not neglect the lessons from Du Zhen as both a teacher and someone with experience; he quickly bowed in agreement. But today he really wasn’t there to seek advice. It seemed somewhat inappropriate to bring up family matters so rashly, so after much deliberation, he finally spoke of his uncle Zhang Xin being accused.

However, Du Zhen didn’t just address the matter superficially. After some thought, he said something else: “Emperor Taizu abolished the Central Secretariat and elevated the Six Ministries, which is why the ministers and vice-ministers of these ministries hold high status in the court. Among them, the Ministries of Personnel, Revenue, and War are the most crucial. The Ministry of Works is responsible for construction and flood control, among other tasks, which are extremely complicated. If there’s any issue, merits and demerits must be evaluated—no wonder the minister has to be changed several times a year.”

Zhang Yue’s mind instantly became clear, but considering his status as a child, he could only nod half-understandingly before pretending to be surprised and asking, “Does that mean my uncle won’t face any trouble this time?”

“The person in charge before was Minister Song Li, who had great expertise in flood control. It was under his supervision that the river was dredged, and that alone was a tremendous achievement. As for his arrival in Kaifeng with Vice Minister Jiang and your uncle, it was merely to dredge the old course of the Yellow River to reduce its force and prevent it from threatening grain transport—not really to repair the riverbanks. This time, they probably just face some reprimands and a loss of salary, nothing serious.”

That’s good!

Zhang Yue finally let out a long sigh, thinking that serving in the court these days wasn’t easy at all—earning a meager salary while bearing heavy responsibilities was like hanging one’s head on one’s waistband. Yet he didn’t realize that he accepted Mr. Du’s judgment without hesitation, without even a hint of doubt.

Five days later, when a personal letter from Zhang Fu, the Duke of Ying, arrived from the capital, the clouds hanging over the Zhang family finally dissipated—although Zhang Xin faced slight punishment in the form of a reprimand and loss of salary, he continued to supervise the construction of sea dikes in Zhejiang as before.

Apart from the Zhou royal family, the Zhang family of Xiangfu remained the most prominent family in Henan. But would those clouds that gathered for a moment truly vanish completely?

Volume 2: Changes in the Family