Chapter 57: Zheng Xi'er

When Zhang Yunxiu and Zhang Fu arrived at the new residence, the sky had already turned completely dark. A crescent moon pierced through the firmament, casting down a bright, soft, and enchanting beam of light.

Inside the residence, palace lanterns were all lit, and red decorations were hung, as if welcoming some kind of ceremony, welcoming its new master.

Zhang Fu walked in front, smiling and fawning, "Young Master, I have prepared a grand gift for today, just to congratulate you on finishing the Metropolitan Examination and wishing you success in the future!"

"What gift?" Zhang Yunxiu asked in return.

"You will know when you arrive, Young Master."

"Fine, if I am not satisfied, see how I deal with you!"

Zhang Yunxiu's interest was piqued by him, and his pace unconsciously quickened.

Along the way, the palace lanterns on both sides flashed past; after a short while, Zhang Fu's footsteps stopped, his figure coming to a halt before a bedroom draped in red and lit with candles.

Through the paper window, Zhang Yunxiu clearly saw that there was someone inside.

"What is the meaning of this?" Zhang Yunxiu looked at Zhang Fu and asked.

"This is the gift I prepared for you, Young Master." Zhang Fu gave a lewd chuckle, his tone becoming suggestive, "Young Master, as the saying goes, the night of the bridal chamber and the time of placing on the golden list—you are about to achieve the great success, so how can you not have the small success?"

"Is this that palace maid?" Zhang Yunxiu asked, neither happy nor sad.

"Yes."

"Zhang Fu."

"Ah, I am here." Zhang Fu hurriedly responded.

Zhang Yunxiu stepped forward, stared into Zhang Fu's eyes, and reprimanded, "Did you forget what I just told you? You can make decisions on your own now, is that it? Such a big matter, and you didn't tell me beforehand?"

Zhang Fu was full of grievance, thinking to himself, did this matter even need to be discussed?

What man wouldn't have his eyes light up when seeing a beautiful woman? Besides, this was already his woman; he had merely acted as a matchmaker.

Seeing Zhang Fu remain silent, Zhang Yunxiu ordered again, "From now on, anything involving me must be notified to me in advance, understand?"

What he hated most was being told things only when they were right upon him.

That feeling of being kept in the dark and deceived made him feel an indescribable sense of discomfort all over.

"This servant understands." Zhang Fu nodded hurriedly.

"Alright, go on down." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand, and Zhang Fu revealed a knowing smile before stepping back and leaving.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yunxiu straightened his appearance and clothes, pushed the door open, and entered.

Inside the room, incense mist curled, candlelight cast red shadows, and sitting on the camphor wood bed was a beauty wearing a bridal veil—it was exactly the palace maid Zhang Yunxiu had chosen.

Hearing someone push the door and enter, the beauty's body trembled, and her jade hands tightly gripped her skirt.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled, closed the door, and walked to a dark round table a few steps away from the beauty to sit down.

Looking the beauty up and down, Zhang Yunxiu asked softly, "What is your name?"

"Zheng Xi'er." A melodious voice came from beneath the veil.

"Do you know who I am?"

"I know."

Zheng Xi'er replied softly.

How could she not recognize this noble young master who often walked through the palace?

When she learned that she had been chosen by him to leave the palace, she felt as if she had been struck by a windfall.

The Emperor had three thousand beauties in his harem; let alone a palace maid like her, even those Concubines found it hard to gain favor.

Even if they gained favor, it would last at most two or three years; after the Emperor grew tired of them, they could only spend their days in an empty room.

How could that compare to leaving the palace and becoming a concubine for a young master of a wealthy family, which was comfortable and easy?

However, this young master was quite different, having left her out in the cold for over half a year.

Her looks and figure—her assets as a woman—were not lacking in any way; why did the young master not fancy her?

She even once suspected that this young master had a preference for the "dragon-sun" (homosexuality) and liked to take the "dry path."

Fortunately, today, he had finally come to his senses! Zhang Yunxiu did not know what this woman was thinking and continued to ask her, "Where are you from? Does anyone else remain in your family?"

"Suzhou; there is only my old father and a younger brother at home."

"What do they do?"

"A small household, doing some small business, embroidery." Although she did not know why Zhang Yunxiu asked this, Zheng Xi'er had to answer when asked.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled, walked forward, and lifted the veil.

In an instant, he was stunned.

He saw that the beauty was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with eyebrows like new moons and skin like congealed fat.

Beneath long eyelashes were embedded a pair of sparkling phoenix eyes; her cheeks only needed a light dusting of powder to reveal her beauty.

A thick head of hair was coiled at the back of her head, adorned with two beautiful moth-shaped hairpins.

Paired with a cherry-colored long dress woven with gold carp, she appeared both spirited and gentle, leaving Zhang Yunxiu feeling his heart flutter and his bones melt.

"Young Master..."

Being stared at like this, Zheng Xi'er covered her mouth and smiled, humming with a hint of shyness, "It is getting late. On this beautiful night, let this humble concubine undress you so you can have a good rest."

Zhang Yunxiu then snapped out of his daze; he tossed the veil in his hand aside and took two steps back.

He asked coldly and indifferently, "What do you want to obtain?"

Zheng Xi'er was confused.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and continued, "Money, status—I can give you all of that, but other things, I might not be able to give you. If you want to obtain more, relying solely on this face of yours and the two pieces of meat below will likely not be enough."

Zheng Xi'er gritted her teeth, feeling both ashamed and annoyed.

This guy actually treated her like a woman from a brothel.

After sulking for a few seconds, Zheng Xi'er turned her phoenix eyes and looked at Zhang Yunxiu, asking, "I wonder what this little woman must do to obtain the Young Master's favor?!"

"It's very simple: you must be useful to me." Zhang Yunxiu smiled, walked back to the table to sit down, crossed his legs, and looked at Zheng Xi'er, saying, "If it were just relying on this face, as long as I spend the silver, I can have as many as I want."

"And they're never the same each day, believe it or not?"

Zheng Xi'er nodded.

Zhang Yunxiu continued, "Have you ever studied arithmetic?"

"I have studied a little."

Zhang Yunxiu became interested; he found paper and a brush, and asked Zheng Xi'er to write down everything she knew.

Zheng Xi'er glanced at Zhang Yunxiu, stood up, walked to the table, and began to write with a flourish.

After finishing, Zheng Xi'er stopped, picked up the rice paper with both hands, and handed it to Zhang Yunxiu.

"'One one is one, one two is two, one three is three... nine nines are eighty-one.' After taking it and glancing over it, Zhang Yunxiu smiled and commented, "Not bad, you have memorized this Nine-Nine Chant quite fluently."

The Nine-Nine Chant is essentially the multiplication table.

It had already been in use as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and there are even written records of it in unearthed Qin bamboo slips.

"Young Master, this humble concubine can also sing songs; would you like to listen?"

Zheng Xi'er felt a surge of joy at the praise and wanted to continue showing off her talents, but Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand to stop her, saying, "No need. From now on, you will memorize these things."

As he spoke, he picked up the brush and replaced the Chinese characters in the multiplication table with "Arabic" numerals.

At the same time, he used the symbols "+, -, ×, ÷" to replace the Chinese characters.

It was not that Chinese characters were bad, but that Arabic numerals and these symbols were indeed more convenient.

In fact, Arabic numerals entered China as early as the fifth century, but it was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty that they began to be used on a large scale.

Zheng Xi'er took it, saw the strange, ghost-like symbols on it, and could not help but ask, "Young Master, what are these?"

"Just read them by comparing them to the ones above," Zhang Yunxiu said with a smile, patiently explaining it to Zheng Xi'er.

(End of this chapter)