Chapter 118: Serving
An unkempt, sloppy-looking old man was fiddling with the objects at hand as usual. Various kinds of wood were scattered on the ground at his feet, making the place look very messy.
But the strange thing is that there were so many people around the old man, but no one tried to help him tidy up. Some even tiptoed past him, as if they were afraid of disturbing anything.
Perhaps it was because the old man looked too ordinary. He had lived in this small town for almost a year. The people in the town and even the county magistrate did not know that the old man was the famous Mr. Zeng Mohuai. They just thought he was an ordinary carpenter. Seeing that he had good skills, they often brought some broken farm tools here to be repaired.
The group of apprentices led by the old man had good skills. It was basically not the old man’s turn to repair the farm tools, but they were all repaired by his apprentices.
Perhaps because they are good at different things and have different inclinations, Zeng Mohuai’s students are not like the students of the Grand Tutor and Lord Cen, who wear long Confucian robes. Instead, they are dressed in shorts. In addition, they follow their teacher around all year round, so their skin is tanned and a little rough and dark. At first glance, they look more like ordinary apprentices.
The old man kept moving his hands, and soon those wooden lumps of various shapes fit together and gradually became a whole, forming the shape of a bird.
After the pieces were put together, the old man didn’t know where he touched, and the bird’s wings flapped a few times, and it flew up as if it came alive.
Seeing this, the students in the yard subconsciously put down the work at hand and looked over here.“It’s done!”
I don’t know who shouted this excitedly, but before he finished speaking or the voice fell, the wooden bird seemed to have run out of power and could no longer continue.
First, a small piece of wood at the tail fell apart, and then the feet, belly, feathers… After about three or four breaths, the wooden bird fell apart in the air.
Wood fell and flew everywhere. Everyone’s expressions froze at the same time and the whole yard suddenly became silent.
“It’s still a long way to go, how can it be accomplished?” The old man couldn’t help but look at the student who had been shouting just now, and said unhappily.
The man didn’t dare to say a word and his expression became embarrassed.
When the old man’s eldest disciple came back, he saw the mess on the ground and immediately understood what had just happened.
Seeing the teacher looking over, the eldest disciple’s heart trembled, and he subconsciously said: “Teacher, someone asked someone to give this to me, and said it was for you.”
After all, the old man’s reputation is there, and there are constant stream of people sending gifts to him every month or even every day.
Among them are the old man’s former students as well as other people, but all of them are of extraordinary status and well-informed. Otherwise, ordinary people would never be able to find this place.
The old man was so annoyed that he thought it was another noble family or even the royal family. He was going to ignore it, but he found out that the other party was sending him some books.
If it was something else, it would be fine, but it is really hard for the old man to refuse something like a book.
He just experienced a failure and needed to calm down, so he said, “Bring it to me.”
The eldest disciple handed the book over subconsciously.
It didn’t matter that the old man just took a quick look at it, he was soon attracted by the contents of the book.
These things…
The other side.
After receiving the reply, Wei Wen stopped it without thinking.
If Mr. Zeng really came, His Majesty would definitely discover the secret activities that he and his little cousin were doing.
There was no way out, Wei Wen could only suppress his anxiety and reject him.
I thought Mr. Zeng would be angry this time, but who would have thought that he, who is known for his bad temper, would still be in a good mood.
Wei Wen gritted his teeth and took the opportunity to propose that Mr. Zeng go to the southwestern border to teach.
This time, it took a full month for the other party to reply.
Seeing that the other party still had no objection, Wei Wen held the letter in his hand, feeling as if he were in a dream.
What Wei Wen didn’t know was that Zeng Mohuai’s disciples had already been in an uproar a month ago.
They had never seen such rude people, and they were filled with indignation.
“This guy named Wei Wen really doesn’t know what’s good for him!” He was the one who gave the book, but he refused it. Is he trying to play a trick on me?
What’s more, this matter doesn’t sound simple.
“Teacher, I always feel that there must be something wrong here.” The eldest disciple asked his fellow disciples to find out. It seems that Wei Wen is the grandson of the Duke of Zhen from the Great Zhou.
The Duke of Zhen now seems to be suspected by Emperor Jingwen in court.
With such a sensitive identity, there must be a lot of connections behind it. If they are not careful, even they will fall into this vortex.
So the eldest disciple’s first reaction was to refuse.
The eldest disciple had followed his teacher to the courts of various countries for a period of time, so he naturally knew how much trouble there was.
The eldest disciple originally thought that with his teacher’s love of freedom, he would definitely not get involved in such muddy water. However, after reading the reply, his teacher went to pack his luggage without saying a word.
In just one night, Zeng Mohuai packed up all his important books, tools, etc., and looked like he was ready to set off at any time.
“Teacher, you…”
Faced with his students’ doubts, Zeng Mohuai shook his head and said nothing.
Although he is only obsessed with making various inventions, he is not completely ignorant of what is happening in the court. Can’t he see that there is a trap here?
It’s just that the things written in those books are too shocking. Zeng Mohuai has a hunch that if he can understand them all, it will definitely be a very extraordinary thing.
Moreover, the contents of the book seemed to be more than just these. Zeng Mohuai was extremely anxious and couldn’t wait to know the contents below. For someone like him who was devoted to research, nothing else mattered, and the most important thing was to keep exploring.
What country, what party, what court… he doesn’t care about any of it.
Sometimes, for something, some people will jump in without hesitation even if they know there is a trap ahead.
Zeng Mohuai saw it clearly and danced happily, but…
Zeng Mohuai couldn’t help but turn his head and look at his disciples: “If you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”
Although Zeng Mohuai is their teacher, he does not intend to force them in this capacity.
If Zeng Mohuai’s disciples cared about these things, they would not have stayed with him forever. They would have gone to the three countries to serve as officials or make a living, just like their other fellow disciples.
Finally, the group bid farewell to the small border town where they had lived for a year and a half.
Their original plan was to live here for three to five years, but now they had to leave before half the time was even over.
Of course, it was not like Zeng Mohuai did not have ‘no requirements’. His requirement was that if he encountered any problems that he did not understand, he hoped that Wei Wen could give him an answer.
Wei Wen had no idea what this was, so he could only convey it truthfully to his little cousin.
The other party’s attitude is so positive, it’s obvious at first glance that he is a fanatic. If he really starts asking questions, it will be endless, and even he may not be able to withstand it.
So Ye Shuo thought about it and said, “You can ask questions, but you can only ask once a month, and only three questions each time. If you ask more than that, I will not answer any more questions.”
Even so, it takes a lot of effort to explain just one of them clearly, and Ye Shuo will have to put in a lot of effort to answer all three questions.
After hearing the messenger repeat his cousin’s words, Wei Wen couldn’t help but feel that his cousin was too cautious.
As a result…Mr. Zeng was not angry at all, but very happy instead.
Even if others don’t know, how could he not know how precious the opportunity to have questions answered one-on-one is?
Mr. Zeng has been to all three countries, so he knows very well that there is only one person in the world who can produce these books.
One is willing to fight, the other is willing to be beaten, and both are eager to be beaten. Wei Wen is almost unable to understand the current situation.
Soon, Mr. Zeng followed the agreement and settled down at the border of Da Zhou with his students.
Not long after, Emperor Jingwen also received the news that Zeng Mohuai had brought a large number of disciples to the Great Zhou from a neighbouring country.
Zeng Mohuai had done this many times before, here today, there tomorrow, so Emperor Jingwen did not suspect anything else, and was even a little happy that this man finally came to the Great Zhou.
As the saying goes, those who are close to the water get the moon first. There are many smart people in the court, and many people who know how to manage, but there is a lack of people who can personally take charge and direct how things should be done.
After all, if a person himself does not understand this thing, no matter how good he is at managing others, he will not be able to accurately arrange every useful person in his place.
There are some rules to follow when deciding which one to do first or which one to do later.
However, there were many people studying for imperial examinations throughout the Great Zhou, but few knew how to build canals and dams. This was the reason why Mr. Zeng had such a transcendent status among the three countries.
This old man knows how to do it, and the students he brings up also know how to do it, so they are very popular in the eyes of the monarch, right?
Emperor Jingwen is just waiting to get the ready-made benefits.
Sitting in the special seat prepared for him in the Qinzheng Hall, Ye Shuo was so happy when he heard this.
Isn’t this exactly what they want?
My cousin is really reliable. He found such a great and powerful teacher right away.
Ye Shuo has been kept in the deep palace and doesn’t know much about what’s happening outside. If this matter is handed over to him, he doesn’t know how much effort it will take.
After that, apart from answering questions online on time once a month, Ye Shuo basically didn’t need to worry about anything anymore. The rest of the operations were handled by Wei Wen. Apart from this, his life was no different from usual.
He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Wei Wen always felt that he was being left alone. But when he thought about it carefully, if it weren’t for his little cousin’s book, this matter really wouldn’t have been so smooth.
I just always feel like something is weird…
Compared to his elder cousin who became more and more haggard day by day, Ye Shuo’s life became more and more comfortable. In addition, the little princess Jianjian grew up day by day. She could walk when she was about one year and three months old. Ye Shuo soon had a “little slave” by his side, and he didn’t even have to do it himself to get things.
Just like now——
“My lovely little Jianjian, I’m so tired, can you bring me some snacks?”
The one-year-old little princess was naive to death. When she saw her brother lying there like a pile of mud, she didn’t think much about it and ran into the house to get him some snacks.
Ye Shuo thought of something and couldn’t help but raise his voice.
“Also, remember to wash your hands before you take the snacks. If you have dirty hands, brother won’t eat it.”
Emperor Jingwen, who was standing next to him, failed to control his strength and nearly crushed the book in his hand.