Chapter 159: Entourage

Perhaps accustomed to fighting abroad, Peng Shisan found it rather difficult to settle back in a peaceful environment. Naturally, when he first returned to Nanjing that day and suddenly encountered the Prince of Hengshan causing a ruckus at the Duke of Yingguo’s residence and getting beaten for no reason, it became a matter that weighed on his mind. Although a true man should value loyalty, righteousness, and faithfulness, such loyalty was owed to the emperor and the duke, not to some willful and domineering member of the royal family. So when Zhang Fu asked him to follow Zhang Yue to Shandong to take up his post, he had no complaints at all. Yet the thought of possibly running into that annoying Prince of Hengshan made him uneasy.

The generation of family generals who had followed Zhang Yu perished almost entirely in the Battle of Dongchang. Peng Shisan and the other family generals had followed him for many years, having fought through wind and rain on the battlefield. Zhang Fu did not entirely treat them as servants but rather as comrades. Therefore, after the incident before, he made an effort to comfort them, but it was hard to speak of fairness.

Seeing Peng Shisan packing his belongings and his loyal family generals’ tense expressions, he couldn’t help but give them more instructions on the eve of sending them off to Zhang’s residence.

“Shisan, the Prince of Lu and the Prince of Zhao are both in Shandong, along with many other princes from their faction. I know you don’t like dealing with those royals, and actually, Brother Yue probably doesn’t either. Avoid conflicts whenever possible, but if you can’t avoid them… You’re straightforward and only know how to use your fists. Let Brother Yue think about strategic matters—he’s protective and will never let you suffer.”

Peng Shisan never expected Zhang Fu to say this. He was stunned for a long time before bowing deeply and solemnly, “General, rest assured. As I always say—if Master Yue suffers even the slightest injury, take my head instead!”

Watching Peng Shisan head toward the southern courtyard’s stable with eight strong family servants, full of determination, Zhang Fu fell into melancholy. How long had it been since he heard the title “general” since returning from the four campaigns in Jiaozhi? Now, with continuous rebellions in Jiaozhi, although Li Bin, the Marquis of Fengcheng, was also a renowned general, his methods were still far inferior to Zhang Fu’s. After all, it was a place where the people did not submit. If a capable general could be stationed there permanently, just like the Mu family did in Yunnan, things would likely be much better.

In this British nobleman’s residence, there were many fine horses from the north. So Peng Shisan took the lead, and everyone chose a tall, strong horse before heading straight out of the residence through its dark iron gates. With the imperial examinations now over, most candidates had returned to their hometowns, and since Beijing was still under construction, there weren’t many pedestrians on the streets, allowing them to ride at full speed without concern. Even so, Peng Shisan still worried about pedestrians on the road and instructed his servants to keep a moderate pace.

When they turned a corner and were nearly at Zhang’s residence, realizing there would be many people there, they slowed down further out of concern for encountering pedestrians or carriages. Suddenly, the sharp-eyed Peng Shisan spotted two people coming toward them. He immediately pulled back on the reins, dismounted from his horse, and greeted them with a smile.

“Young Master Xia, Young Master Wan!”

Wan Shijie and Xia Jiming were set to join the Hanlin Academy the next day to begin their three-year apprenticeship as scholar-officials, so their originally planned farewell had to be canceled. Instead, they came here today specifically to see Zhang Yue off, each giving him ten strings of cash as a symbolic gift. It was Wan Shijie who suggested this, and Zhang Yue accepted it with a smile. Neither of them was wealthy, and they were still tenants in Zhang Yue’s three-story house in Xipailou Alley. They had planned to walk back on foot when they happened to meet Peng Shisan.

“Old Peng!” Wan Shijie, recognizing him, stepped forward immediately and said with a smile, “This time, when Yuanjie goes to Shandong, we can’t do much to help. But hearing that you’re going with him gives us some peace of mind. Yuanjie is fine in every way, except that he doesn’t become fierce when it counts. You need to remind him that in this world, the strong oppress the weak. Especially when dealing with local tyrants, he must be ruthless if necessary—never let them think he’s easy to bully!”

Why not say this to Zhang Yue? Peng Shisan thought to himself with amusement and nodded. Glancing at Xia Ji, who was half a head shorter than Zhang Yue and still had a somewhat childish appearance, he sighed inwardly—there are always those stronger than others. How could anyone believe that such a young boy was actually the third-place winner in the examinations?

“That’s right, Yuanjie is just a bit too gentle. It’s fine in the capital, but in the local areas, one has to be ruthless!” Xia Ji nodded repeatedly without even looking at Wan Shijie, then laughed again and said, “But you still need to tell Yuanjie not to be as reckless as Brother Wan. Even the strongest dragon can’t overpower the local snake. Acting rashly against local powerful families without knowing the situation well—even if there’s the Duke of Ying, he’d still suffer. One has to use both kindness and force with those people… Well, Yuanjie surely understands this well. Not to mention with someone like Old Peng to help, there’s no need for me to say more!”
As he spoke, he casually grabbed Wan Shijie’s sleeve, waved cheerfully at Peng Shisan, and pulled him away. Peng Shisan watched the two figures leave, feeling both annoyed and amused, and muttered, “Young Master Yue seems perfectly normal, but his friends are so strange!”
He mounted his horse again and rode for a while with his servants before stopping at the east gate of the Zhang family’s residence. By then, a manager had already come forward with the servants to greet them, leading these men with their obvious fierce aura inside, while the horses were taken to the stables for cleaning. A few servants couldn’t help but gossip again.
This time, the entire Zhang family had moved from Henan to Beijing. Those with elders and children left behind or who didn’t want to come along stayed in Kaifeng—some looking for houses, others assigned to the farms. Only those whose entire families were part of the Zhang household came along. Hearing that the old lady had specifically chosen attendants for Zhang Yue, they all showed envy.
A man in his early thirties with a patch of black beard on his chin, seeing his companions daydreaming, laughed and said, “Don’t think it’s easy to become an attendant. First, they’re chosen from among the family members with designated roles, then their virtue and character are considered, followed by their abilities—reading and writing are essential. People like us who can’t even read won’t even be considered for the position of a junior servant to the third young master!”
Another young servant, seemingly well-informed, chimed in, also trying to show off, “Brother Qian is absolutely right. Those in charge of the gate are called ‘Si Huan,’ those handling documents are ‘Qian Ya,’ those guarding the warehouses are ‘Si Cang,’ there are also those in charge of the kitchen, and then there are the runners who handle errands. Don’t think those like Liansheng and Lianhu, who always stand tall with the third young master, can do anything more than be runners—nothing else!”
“From what Brother Qian and Brother Li say, it seems there aren’t many servants who meet these criteria—maybe not enough for the third young master to use!”

Upon hearing the flattery and compliments, Brother Qian immediately felt more respected and snapped, “If our family doesn’t have enough people, there’s always the Duke of Britain’s household. They’ve already sent people over. Even if there aren’t suitable candidates yet, isn’t there still the Marquis of Baoding’s household? Don’t forget that our young lady is the wife of the young marquis of Baoding’s household—she’ll surely go all out to help her relatives.”

As they said, they were indeed selecting personal attendants at that moment. For Zhang Yue, this was a novel experience. He had always thought personal attendants were just ordinary servants, and it was his first time learning that they had clear roles and responsibilities and could even assist with official matters. If not for his uncle Zhang Xin having left behind many unnecessary attendants when he went to Jiaozhi earlier, things would have been even more difficult during the selection process. Even now, five of the chosen attendants were sent by the Duke of Britain’s household.

As soon as Peng Shisan entered, he saw Lady Gu personally assessing the servants, with Zhang Zhuo and Zhang Yue standing by. He went up to greet her first and then relayed Zhang Fu’s message. Lady Gu recognized him from before and trusted him, so she ordered a servant to bring a stool for Peng Shisan to sit on, but since he insisted on staying standing, she gave up. Originally, it should have been Gao Quan’s task to select the attendants, but since she was worried about Zhang Yue’s young age, she took matters into her own hands. After finally selecting twenty people, thinking that Peng Shisan would go to Shandong with Zhang Yue and that this young man wasn’t easy to bully, she wasn’t worried about any servants mistreating their master. Still, she felt it necessary to clarify the rules and gave him another lecture.

After seeing his grandmother back to her room, Zhang Yue took Peng Shisan aside to discuss leaving the next day. When he mentioned his father Zhang Zhuo being assigned as the magistrate of Jiangning County, he noticed Peng Shisan staring at him with a strange look.

“Young Master Yue, with you in the south and your uncle in the north, the Ministry of Personnel is truly impartial in selecting officials!”

Since they were among family, he wasn’t afraid to joke and said it with a smile. Then he remembered another matter that Xi Yu had instructed him about before leaving, and hurriedly said, “There’s something I need to tell you. The head of the Fang family isn’t living in the Duke of Britain’s household anymore. He was originally a relative of the lady, and even if they were distant relatives, there was always a reason to keep him around. But when the servants were cleaning the house, they found several letters. That guy, being overly cautious, took them to the lady.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yue frowned. If it were him, which servant would dare to mess with his things? As the saying goes, servants in wealthy families are always scheming, and it seemed true indeed. So he looked at Peng Shisan skeptically, waiting for him to continue.

“It was only under strict questioning that the lady learned that the parents of his two brothers had passed away a few years earlier, and due to little contact between the two families, she had been unaware of it. Fang Rui had almost lost his status as a scholar once before because of one incident; this time, he managed to take part in the imperial examinations through connections in Shaanxi, but failed, and someone reported him. The educational official, enraged, revoked his status. In short, the lady was angry at his prior concealment and wanted to expel his two brothers, but after he pleaded earnestly, she allowed Fang Jing to stay, though she drove him away on the grounds of his improper character.”