Chapter 111: Such a Gift, Such Guests

With the financial resources and manpower of the Duke of Britain’s residence, the courtyard at the east end of Hubu Street was quickly prepared. Though not as grand as the Duke’s estate, it still had three north rooms with one main room and two side rooms, two east rooms and two west rooms, and three south rooms—all tiled roofs with ridges reaching the ceiling, clean-lined doorways, and neatly arranged interiors furnished with rosewood furniture.

Zhang Zhuo brought several people with him to the capital. Gao Quan remained there, along with two housekeeper’s wives, so the Duke of Britain’s residence didn’t need to send additional staff. Yet Lady Wang was still worried and insisted on sending two elderly, proper-minded women, while also assigning Yue Luo and Liu Su to serve Zhang Yue.

On a specially chosen auspicious day, Zhang Zhuo moved in with Zhang Yue and Gu Bin. Since Lady Wang, being a woman, couldn’t show up in person, she ordered the butler to lead a large group of servants to escort Zhang Zhuo, Zhang Yue, and Gu Bin there, with firecrackers exploding all around.

Though there was no grand spectacle, many people came to offer their congratulations. Meng Jun, the young lord of the Marquis of Baoding, brought a few close friends, along with Fang Ling, the grandson of Marquis Fuchang Bo Fang Sheng, and Sun Han, the son of Marquis Yingcheng Bo Sun Yan. Additionally, Wan Shijie, who heard about the event, also arrived, making the scene lively. Since everyone considered themselves younger than Zhang Zhuo, they kept urging him to drink. In his excitement, Zhang Zhuo drank a few too many cups and soon became thoroughly drunk. Zhang Yue quickly stepped in to help carry him away.

Once they returned, the excited young people turned their attention to him. After a few drinks, he dared not drink any more and firmly refused their repeated attempts to get him to drink. Amid the chaos, suddenly music and singing came from ahead. At first, no one paid attention, but after a few lines, the noise gradually faded. Even those half-drunk people shook their heads and sat up straight, looking around for the singers.

In Kaifeng, the elderly Lady Gu loved listening to operas and would always invite troupes to perform during her birthdays or festivals. However, Zhang Yue himself had little interest in opera music and would fall asleep halfway through. This time was no different. Already drowsy from drinking, he dozed off to the soothing melodies, until someone clapped and shouted “Good!” He then jolted awake.

In the dim light, he could see a few women in theatrical costumes singing lines he couldn’t understand at all. He rubbed his throbbing temples and noticed that everyone around him was enjoying the performance, with some even clapping along to the rhythm.

“Third brother, I went to such lengths to invite the Chengqing Troupe to perform ‘Jade Pot Spring’ for you, and yet you fell asleep!” Meng Jun turned around and saw Zhang Yue just waking up. He couldn’t help slapping him hard on the shoulder before saying, “Don’t underestimate such a performance. With it, the local bosses in the capital will immediately spread the word everywhere. Under normal circumstances, no reckless thieves would dare come here.”

Zhang Yue was truly confused by Meng Jun’s words. After hearing his explanation, he burst into silent laughter. It turned out that Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di, loved opera very much. Even before moving the capital to Beijing, the Music Bureau there had already prepared operas to flatter him, and the Music Bureau in Nanjing was also on standby for summons. Although this Music Bureau was responsible for female musicians, it was different from the Fuleyuan, which governed official prostitutes—meaning it could be observed from afar but not touched. The Chengqing Troupe, though not as prestigious as the Music Bureau, could perform newly composed plays promptly and was quite renowned among civil and military officials.

Therefore, the houses that could invite the Chengqing Troupe kept the local bosses at bay, and even county and prefectural offices would conduct extra patrols. It was similar to how in modern society only those with wealth and power could hire famous stars and enjoy enhanced security.

As he thought that his temporary new residence was just a short distance from the Duke of Britain’s mansion and that no one would likely come to cause trouble, a loud voice interrupted the sounds of music and singing.

“What a lively scene! Third brother, I didn’t even get a word about your housewarming today!”

Zhang Yue, slightly drunk, recognized the newcomer, and his drunkenness vanished instantly, replaced by a hint of coldness on his face.

The visitor wore a red-gold crown and a dark robe embroidered with golden floral patterns, with a jade belt around his waist. Though he smiled, his arrogance was evident in his gaze. It was Zhang Fu’s younger brother, Zhang Xuan, the commander of the Shencewei. However, upon seeing the people at the party, his haughty expression softened slightly. He hadn’t expected that almost all those who came to congratulate him were descendants of meritorious officials.

“Brother Jun is here too.” He glanced at Meng Jun and then at Zhang Yue but deliberately pretended not to see him, saying with a smile, “My cousin really knows how to choose guests—inviting you too! But he seems to have forgotten about me!”

Meng Jun was shrewd. He had long known that Duke Zhang Fu was at odds with his two younger brothers, and Zhang Fei had always been eyeing the ducal title. A few days ago, his wife had told him that Zhang Ke had become increasingly hostile toward Zhang Fei at a poetry gathering. Now, hearing Zhang Fei speak like this, he stood up with a smile and said, “Uncle Fei has really wronged me. There’s no one who sent out invitations today; it’s just that we young folks liked to gather, so we all came here. If you don’t believe me, ask everyone—who received any invitations?”
Seeing everyone shake their heads, Zhang Fei grew annoyed inwardly, but he didn’t want to offend Meng Jun, who was bound to inherit the title of Marquis of Baoding in the future. So he forced a laugh and said, “Anyway, this is a celebration of a new home. These two brothers now have their own place to live and don’t have to rely on the Duke’s household. That’s definitely a good thing! Well, someone, bring over my gifts!”
As soon as Zhang Fei appeared, the lively atmosphere was immediately disrupted. The noble youths were young and impatient, and hearing his insinuating remarks only made them more resentful. When they heard about gifts, they were all furious. It was bad enough to show up uninvited in the middle of a celebration, but why make such a show with gifts?
Meng Jun spoke up first, while Zhang Yue pretended to still be drunk and watched coldly as this pretentious second uncle acted. Upon hearing about gifts, he frowned slightly, not believing the other man had such good intentions.
Sure enough, shortly after, eight burly men carried a large box into the hall with great effort. Seeing them sweating profusely, he realized the contents must be quite heavy, though he wasn’t sure what they were. To his surprise, there wasn’t just one box—those eight men came and went several times, eventually bringing in a total of eight large boxes.
“This is indeed a joyous occasion for a new home. One should give something unique and exquisite, or perhaps two pieces of calligraphy. It’s a pity I found out too late; it’s difficult to prepare anything in such a rush.”
Though Zhang Fei said this, no one present believed him, and Zhang Yue sneered inwardly. Although he hadn’t had much direct interaction with this second uncle, he had heard Zhang Fu and Lady Wang mention many times how extravagant Zhang Fei was—any single item from his family could sustain an average family for a decade or so. How could such a person fail to prepare gifts?

The eight burly men stood there with their hands tied behind their backs. Seeing Zhang Rui wave his hand, two of them immediately crouched down and swiftly untied the ropes binding one of the boxes, then lifted the lid. At that moment, even those who were dissatisfied grew curious and peered in. When the box was fully opened and its contents revealed, everyone was stunned.

It was filled with money—coins tied together with ropes that were almost rotten and covered in rust! Judging from the dense pile, the amount was enormous. Yet no one had ever seen such a gift before.

“It was my elder brother who did all the work for Brother Xin back then. I heard he even paid three hundred taels of gold out of his own pocket. My family’s wealth can’t compare to his. I couldn’t come up with the money at first, but now that the rent from the manor has arrived, plus Brother Zhuo’s housewarming celebration, I naturally need to make up for it all. Here are eight boxes of coins. There are actually another forty or fifty boxes outside, but they won’t fit here, so I’ll consider them as a gift for Brother Zhuo and Brother Yue!”

After saying that, he ignored the stunned Zhang Yue and the others, smiled brightly, nodded, and turned to leave. Yet before he could exit the hall, he collided with someone. The man, who hadn’t even stepped inside yet, said loudly with a smile, “To celebrate someone’s housewarming, you bring dozens of boxes of copper coins? Brother Rui, you’re really creative! I mean, one box contains ten thousand coins, which is ten strings of coins. Fifty boxes equal five hundred strings, worth at least three or four hundred taels in silver. That’s quite a generous gift!”

Zhang Yue, seeing that the man was around thirty, with a red face and thick beard, looking quite imposing, recognized him as someone he hadn’t met before. Initially puzzled, he saw everyone around standing up to pay respects and addressing him as Duke Cheng, and then he realized it was Duke Cheng Zhu Yong. He quickly stood up too. Unexpectedly, Zhu Yong seemed to recognize him as well. Smiling, he walked over and nodded at him kindly.

“Your great-uncle kept saying he wanted to bring you here to meet me, but he never did until he went on an inspection tour with the emperor. Before leaving, he asked me, the governor of the capital, to take care of you. Who would have thought I’d hear about your housewarming from someone else! I’m not as wealthy as your second great-uncle. I don’t have a gift, only my words. But there’s plenty of wine for you today, right?”

“If Duke Cheng is here, how could there be insufficient wine for me?” Zhang Yue thought Duke Cheng was straightforward, so he smiled again and said, “I wonder what Duke Cheng’s drinking capacity is. We’ve all drunk quite a bit already. Even if we tried our best, we might not be a match for him. They just performed half of ‘Jade Pot Spring’ outside. How about continuing the performance now?”

“Good, who doesn’t know that ‘Jade Pot Spring’ is the emperor’s favorite play? Of course we should continue performing it!” Zhu Yong didn’t hesitate either. He took his seat right at the honored spot vacated by everyone else, then smiled at Zhang Rui, who was standing awkwardly by the door. “Brother Rui, since you’ve given such a generous gift, it would be rude of me to return empty-handed. Come on, include brother Rui’s share as well—take those forty taels of gold to the accounting office! It’s in the way here. Brother Rui, have your people take it back first. Next time, just give me twenty taels of gold as a return!”