Chapter 134: The Angry Zhang Jie

On the other side, the little eunuch who had delivered the imperial decree returned to the palace to report.

This little eunuch, who had been so arrogant and haughty in front of Zhang Jie and the others, was now prostrating himself on the ground,

not daring to even breathe loudly, for fear of disturbing the noble person before him.

"What was Zhang Renjie's reaction?"

Zhao Ji, sitting upright behind his desk, showed no signs of joy or anger on his face, as if this were merely a routine inquiry.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, that Zhang Renjie did not have any extreme reaction; instead, he accepted the decree very calmly."

The little eunuch dared not embellish the story and honestly described Zhang Jie's expressionless and indifferent demeanor when receiving the decree.

"Very calm, neither happy nor sad?"

The wolf-hair brush Zhao Ji was using to outline a landscape painting suddenly paused,

and drops of ink dripped onto the elegant painting, appearing particularly jarring.

"I won't paint anymore."

Feeling bored, Zhao Ji tossed the wolf-hair brush in his hand onto the desk.

Granting Zhang Jie the status of a Jinshi,

and then demoting him when conferring his official post, was the "perfect" plan Cai Jing had devised for him:

it would both shut the mouths of those scholars and strike Zhang Jie down from the heavens to the earth, allowing him to vent his pent-up anger.

To be honest, he had been very much looking forward to seeing Zhang Jie's expression when he received the appointment as the Assistant Commandant of the Qingzhou Militia.

The second after Zhao Ji dropped the brush, palace servants immediately came to clear away the ruined painting and the brush.

These servants moved lightly and carefully, fearing to make even the slightest sound: although there was no sign of anger on the Emperor's face,

how could they, who were constantly by his side, not know that the Emperor was in a bad mood?

"Could it be that I really made a mistake?"

Thinking of Zhang Jie's reaction as reported by the little eunuch, Zhao Ji felt a sudden jolt in his heart.

For some reason, he had a bad premonition.

"Could he really dare to defect to Western Xia or the Liao Dynasty?"

Zhao Ji muttered to himself, thinking of the story of Zhang Yuan.

"Someone, come here!"

He shouted in a low voice.

"Your Majesty."

A middle-aged man with an ordinary face, who would be unrecognizable if thrown into a crowd on the street, walked out from a corner.

If one did not know beforehand, no one would realize that this plain-looking middle-aged man

was the Commander of the Chai Huangcheng Guard, a man with a fearsome reputation specifically tasked with monitoring all officials.

"Have your subordinates keep a close watch on every move Zhang Renjie makes.

If he dares to head north or west, immediately..."

Zhao Ji was about to say "execute without mercy," but then remembered the iron rule that the Song Emperor rules together with the scholar-officials, so he changed his words:

"Immediately arrest him, and we will deal with his crimes later."

"Your subject obeys the decree."

The Commander of the Chai Huangcheng Guard received the order and left.

'Zhang Renjie, you can't escape the palm of my hand now, can you?'

Zhao Ji walked to the window and looked out toward the direction of the Daxiangguo Temple,

seemingly seeing Zhang Jie's exasperated yet helpless expression.

"Your Majesty, Minister Cai has an urgent matter to report."

At this moment, a eunuch came to report.

"Summon him."

Zhao Ji said indifferently.

In the blink of an eye, he had cast the matter of Zhang Jie to the back of his mind;

a mere scholar, even if he were the third-place finisher in the imperial examination, could he really turn the world upside down?

No matter how much he jumped around, he would end up being slapped to death in the end.

"Damn it! How can the Emperor be so unfair?"

In the vegetable garden, Lu Zhishen, having received the news, slammed his palm heavily onto the table, speaking up for Zhang Jie.

"The Emperor..."

Even Lin Chong, who was loyal to the Song Dynasty at this time, found it difficult to defend the Emperor:

the Emperor had truly acted too unfairly in this matter.

At the same time, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind:

'If a person as talented in both literature and martial arts as the third-place scholar Zhang can be demoted for no reason,

is there something wrong with this imperial court?'

'How could I have such a treasonous thought? Sin, sin...'

The next moment, Lin Chong was startled by his own thoughts.

"Brother Zhang, I am not happy guarding this vegetable garden at Daxiangguo Temple either.

How about this, I will go to Qingzhou with you, what do you say?"

Lu Zhishen rubbed his bald head and made up his mind.

Zhang Jie, overjoyed, immediately agreed:

"Having Master Lu with me is like a fish finding water!"

"Third-place scholar Zhang, I, I..."

Lin Chong stammered, unable to speak.

Although he also wanted to follow Zhang Jie to Qingzhou,

he still had family in Bianliang, and he could not abandon her.

"Lin Jiaotou, we will meet again!"

Knowing Lin Chong's concerns, Zhang Jie laughed and didn't mind.

If nothing unexpected happened, Lin Chong would eventually walk the path destined by fate, and they would meet again.

It was just unclear whether Lin Chong would regret his decision at that time...

"Come, let's drink until we're drunk today!"

Feeling guilty, Lin Chong picked up a jar of wine and poured it into his mouth.

In the end, it was Zhang Jie and the others who sent the dead-drunk Lin Chong back.

Several days later, after the matters in Bianliang were finished and he had said his goodbyes to those he needed to,

Zhang Jie packed his luggage, prepared to leave Bianliang, and headed for Qingzhou.

Well, according to the territorial divisions of the Song Dynasty, Qingzhou was actually Zhang Jie's hometown in this life, Shandong.

Zhao Ji's intentions here could be described as sinister:

A dignified third-place scholar was only given the position of a mere Rank 8 Assistant Commandant of the Qingzhou Militia;

wouldn't this lead to him being ridiculed by the elders of his hometown?

This was not only to make Zhang Jie lose his substance: the bright political future of a third-place scholar;

but also to make Zhang Jie lose his face as a third-place scholar: having no face to see the elders of his hometown.

Zhang Jie was ready and could depart at any time, but even though the sun was already high,

Lu Zhishen, who had promised to go to Qingzhou with him, was late to arrive.

Zhang Jie was a bit puzzled: "Did Master Lu get delayed by something?"

As for whether Lu Zhishen would go back on his word at the last minute and leave without saying goodbye?

Zhang Jie knew that wouldn't happen: if Lu Zhishen were that kind of person,

then he wouldn't be the Flower Monk who beat up Zhen Guanxi.

Just as Zhang Jie was about to ask Wu Song to go to the vegetable garden where Lu Zhishen resided to inquire,

a rascal came running, panting heavily.

"Third Brother Zhang, did something happen to Master Lu?"

Zhang Jie recognized the identity of this rascal at a glance:

he was Zhang San, the leader of a group of hoodlums who had been subdued by Lu Zhishen's feat of uprooting a weeping willow.

And unlike Niu Er, who had Gao Yanei as his backer, bullied the market, and eventually died under Yang Zhi's blade,

although Zhang San and his small group did engage in some petty theft,

they were forced by life and had not committed any heinous crimes.

But then again, if they really dared to commit murder and robbery,

they would have long since died under Lu Zhishen's 62-jin water-polished Zen staff.

"It's bad, Third-place scholar Zhang."

With the sun high in the sky and the temperature not low, Zhang San was so parched from running that he stuttered.

"Here."

Wu Song timely offered a bowl of water.

"Gulp, gulp."

Zhang San took the water and drank it in three or two gulps.

Feeling the refreshing coolness spreading in his stomach,

the color returned to Zhang San's not-so-good-looking face.

Then, without time to rest, he said urgently:

"Third-place scholar Zhang, it's bad, something happened at Lin Jiaotou's house.

Master Lu has already gone ahead, and he asked me to notify you."

"What happened at Lin Jiaotou's house?"

Wu Song asked anxiously.

Over these days, as Zhang Jie interacted with Lin Chong and the others, Wu Song had also gotten to know them.

They, who also possessed extraordinary martial arts, hit it off very well and considered each other good friends.

Now, hearing that something had happened to his friend's family, how could he not be anxious?

Zhang San shook his head: "I'm not too sure,

but Master Lu told me it was very urgent and asked me to notify the third-place scholar Zhang without fail."

"What could be so urgent?"

Wu Song was confused for a moment.

"Urgent but not suitable to tell Zhang San..."

Zhang Jie rubbed his chin, having a slight guess about what happened at Lin Chong's house.

"Let's go, we'll go to Lin Jiaotou's house right now."

He made a prompt decision to postpone today's departure plan and go to Lin Chong's house first.

Zhang Jie had been to Lin Chong's house several times before; it was a small courtyard similar to a Beijing siheyuan.

Although the area was not very large, the sparrow might be small,

but it was complete with all internal organs; the kitchen, side rooms, and master bedroom were all there,

and there was even a water well, saving his family the trouble of fetching water and the expense of buying it.

Creak.

In front of the small courtyard, the gate was slightly ajar, not completely closed, and Zhang Jie pushed the door and entered directly.

Then he saw Lu Zhishen standing in the courtyard like an iron tower,

and Lin Chong, whose face was livid and whose whole body was trembling slightly.

At the same time, there was a faint sound of sobbing coming from the master bedroom.

"What happened?"

Although he had a vague guess in his heart, to avoid a misunderstanding, Zhang Jie still asked.

"Sigh! The matter is like this..."

Lu Zhishen sighed and recounted what had happened today.

It turned out that today happened to be Lin Chong's day off,

so his wife, Zhang Zhenniang, had the idea of going to Daxiangguo Temple to pray for blessings.

Because they had been married for many years without offspring, Zhang Zhenniang had already gone there many times to pray. 【140】 Lin Chong naturally had no objections to this,

Lin Chong naturally had no objections to this.

and immediately took his wife Zhang Zhenniang and the maid Jin'er to Daxiangguo Temple early in the morning.

Because she had been there many times, Zhang Zhenniang was familiar with the road, so Lin Chong did not accompany her the whole way.

And thinking that Lu Zhishen was about to leave Bianliang, he thought of finding Lu Zhishen for another bout of sparring.

As for why he didn't come to find Zhang Jie?

Lin Chong: I want a sparring match between equals, not a one-move kill abuse~

The matter went bad during this period:

The beautiful and moving Zhang Zhenniang actually encountered the Flower-Laden Tyrant Gao Yanei, who was a glutton for beauty.

Heaven knows how Gao Yanei, who ran rampant in Bianliang, had the mind to run to Daxiangguo Temple to find fun.

That guy first teased Zhang Niangzi, and after Zhang Niangzi refused, he wanted to force himself on her.

Although Gao Yanei had never practiced martial arts, he was tall, big, and fat,

and Zhang Niangzi and Jin'er, two weak women, were no match for him.

In addition, he had several followers, so even if the people around had the heart to help, they were afraid of his power and dared not come forward.

It was Jin'er who was clever; knowing they were no match for the Flower-Laden Tyrant, she hurriedly ran to the vegetable garden to find Lin Chong.

Afterwards, it was the furious Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen who arrived in time,

knocked down Gao Yanei and his followers in a few moves, and saved Zhang Niangzi.

And Lu Zhishen deeply felt that such a matter needed the resourceful Zhang Jie to come up with an idea,

so he asked Zhang San to notify Zhang Jie.

"Damn!"

Learning the ins and outs, Zhang Jie felt a surge of anger in his heart.

He was not only angry that the Flower-Laden Tyrant, relying on Gao Qiu as his backer,

dared to tease and rape a good woman in public, but also angry at Daxiangguo Temple's inaction.

Such a shocking thing happened; to say the monks of Daxiangguo Temple didn't know, is that possible?

But those monks deliberately turned a blind eye because of Gao Yanei's background.

Where did their compassion, which they spoke of with every breath, go at that time?

Was it eaten by dogs?

If it were really an irresistible force, that would be one thing.

But could a Grand Marshal Gao really make Daxiangguo Temple, which was regarded as the family temple by the Song Emperor, unable to afford to offend him?

That group of bald donkeys was clearly just afraid of offending Gao Qiu, the Grand Marshal, and causing their interests to be damaged.

A group of thieving bald donkeys who only had interests in their eyes and no compassion at all!

And what made Zhang Jie most angry was that,

as the victim, Lin Chong actually let Gao Yanei go unscathed after beating him up!

Is this still a man? ===== CHAPTER 135 =====