Chapter 8: The Clan School Is Full of Intrigues
As the sun set in the afternoon, the classes for the day finally came to an end.
Zhang Yue let Lian Sheng and Lian Hu help him pack up his things, his eyes scanning the students in the classroom. Spring was a time when people easily felt drowsy, and after lunch, there was only a short half-hour break. As a result, many students ended up sleeping through two classes, even snoring loudly. Yet, under such unfavorable conditions for teaching, Mr. Du managed to deliver both afternoon classes with his usual impassive expression.
Both the students’ and the teacher’s performance left him in awe.
Seeing that almost everyone had left the classroom, Zhang Yue glanced at the boy who was still packing his bag. He quietly pulled over Lian Sheng and asked, “Who’s that guy in white in the last row?”
Lian Sheng glanced back and immediately showed a look of disdain. With a smirk, he explained, “Young master, that’s Gu Bin, the nephew of the old lady’s family. But he’s an illegitimate child. His father had many children—two legitimate and five illegitimate—so his family didn’t get much inheritance. They barely make ends meet thanks to our master.”
Was this boy his cousin? And did his family rely on his father, Zhang Zhuo, to survive? These two facts left Zhang Yue confused. He blurted out, “Isn’t he a relative of the old lady? Why does he need my father’s help?”
“Young master… Didn’t I just say? His father is illegitimate, and he’s the most useless one among them.”
The most useless illegitimate child… Zhang Yue’s heart trembled. He suddenly understood why his father, Zhang Zhuo, helped this family. He silently watched Lian Sheng frantically pack up his writing tools, then thought of the words heard earlier in the corner.
At that moment, Lian Hu leaned in close to Zhang Yue and said with a smile, “Young master, the end of the month is the time for the clan school’s monthly exam. Almost everyone relies on copying Gu Bin’s answers to pass. His grades are among the best in the clan school, and the price is fair for everyone… Well, those wealthy kids are afraid their families will punish them for misbehaving in class, while those poor relatives who attend the school are greedy for the subsidies, so they’d rather share half with him. If you’re worried about the exam, you might as well go see him.”
“Then who was the one who mocked me this morning?”
Lian Hu had been smiling, but upon hearing these words, he immediately looked around to ensure no one was paying attention before lowering his voice to a mosquito-like whisper: “Young master, people say our Zhang family is the most prestigious in Xiangfu, but that’s not entirely true. Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan was granted to the King of Zhou, and the other counties were also given to his various sons. Qian Jia is a relative of the Prince of Xin’an; he came here to study because of our Zhang family’s reputation in scholarship. So…” The rest of what he said was unnecessary for Zhang Yue to understand. He thought he came from a large and influential family, but it turned out there were even more powerful families in this area. Pretending to be casual, he asked a few more questions, almost choking on his own saliva.
In just Henan alone, aside from the King of Zhou, there were his nine sons—one prince and nine marquises. How many relatives could there be? In other words, if you went out, you might run into a royal relative!
Seeing that the young man in white had already packed up his things and left the classroom, Zhang Yue glanced around and found that all the students had already gone. He quickly called for Lian Sheng and Lian Hu to hurry after him. After stepping outside, he narrowed his eyes at that somewhat aloof figure and couldn’t help but smile, thinking that the “him” from before also seemed to have such a stiff personality.
“Cousin!”
Gu Bin was startled by this sudden call and didn’t associate it with himself, so he continued walking ahead. It wasn’t until he felt someone tap his shoulder that he turned around in surprise. Seeing it was Zhang Yue, he frowned briefly before returning to his usual indifferent expression.
“Is it about the monthly exam? Don’t worry; I’ll give you the answers when the time comes.”
Seeing him leave with such a blunt reply, Zhang Yue was furious. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly noticed Gu Bin stopping after a few steps and saying without looking back, “Your father has helped my family greatly. I won’t accept any money from you.”
This kid really couldn’t speak nicely! Faced with such an extremely stiff person, Zhang Yue was completely speechless. He simply slowed down, gradually widening the distance between them, and started thinking about other things.
The path from the school to the Zhang family’s house was straight, seemingly empty with no one in sight. Gu Bin was ahead, while Zhang Yue followed with two young page boys behind him. To Zhang Yue’s surprise, the journey was completely peaceful; he didn’t encounter a single soul, and those mischievous boys who had threatened to cause him trouble seemed to have disappeared overnight. When he reached the back door of his house, he saw Gu Bin walk straight ahead and quickly turn into an alley on the left, so he turned his gaze away.
However, just as he was about to enter through the back door, he suddenly remembered that Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi had not been seen all day. The three brothers had gone to school together, but only he returned—how could he explain where the other two were? He looked around at the back door for a long time but still saw no one, so he turned to Lian Sheng and Lian Hu, asking, “Elder brother and second brother still haven’t returned. What do you think we should do?”
Seeing Lian Sheng and Lian Hu exchange glances with expressions clearly saying “We don’t know either,” Zhang Yue lost all hope in these seemingly clever but actually useless page boys. They couldn’t fight, nor could they come up with solutions—so apparently, they could only act as lackeys and do errands! Looking at the darkening sky and the servants glancing at him nervously, he gave up the idea of meeting up with Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi there and decided to make up some excuse if he encountered anyone later. But after entering through the back door and walking a short distance along the passage, he saw a woman rushing toward him in a hurry.
“Third young master, you’re back! The old lady and the second and third wives are sending people everywhere to look for you!”
Why were they looking for him? Zhang Yue was puzzled. But as he followed the woman to the main house of the Zhang family, a very ominous thought suddenly crossed his mind—could it be that something had happened to Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi? No, those two boys were accompanied by six burly men, and the Zhang family was one of the most prominent families in Xiangfu—how could anything go wrong?
When he lifted the curtain and entered the main house, he saw Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi unharmed, which relieved him a bit. But when he noticed them kneeling there, dejected, his heart became uneasy again. In his distraction, he forgot to bow until he heard a thud and then realized what he had done.
“Early in the morning, the three of us went to school together, but you two sneaked out of the city to hunt. If it weren’t for someone happening to see us, the whole family would have been in the dark!” Gu Shi slapped the armrest of the armchair hard, then immediately shouted at Zhang Yue, “Brother Yue, recite to me what was taught in class today!”
As soon as Zhang Yue saw his grandmother angry, he realized trouble had spilled over onto him. Under her scolding, he quickly began reciting two chapters from The Analects taught that day, deliberately speaking a bit haltingly. After reciting only half of it, he saw Gu Shi wave her hand, so he quickly stepped back and pretended to be absorbed in his own thoughts.
One must exercise restraint when showing off, especially when others are in trouble—never be too proud. Otherwise, if he went from an idiot to a genius, could he simply explain that he became smart all of a sudden because he fell from a tree?