Great Tang Idyll

Book 1: Chapter 86

Seeing so many people from the two Manors come out, Zhou Kongreally felt that he was in a difficult situation. If he came here with his position as an official, then this scene can only be said to be just right, but this time he came here with his normal identity as Zhou Xi'hu's uncle. In front of the two old Grandfathers, Zhou Kong was considered a junior.

Before he could figure out what to do, a crowd of people came forward to greet him, and he could only respond in return. A group of people surrounded him and pulled him into the main courtyard of the Zhang Manor.

In the hall, the old Grandfathers of the two manors sat with them and they occasionally said a few words of praise. Only Zhang Xiaobao's father had been accompanying him for small chats; this was arranged by Zhang Xiaobao. It was not that simple to take the imperial examination. Having fame and knowing people from the court was necessary.

Because of this matter, Zhang Xiao'bao had discussed with Wang Juan that he wanted to write down some poems and give them to his father, so that his father would gain fame. After considering that his father wouldn't shamelessly copy poems, he had to give up. So now, they were trying hard to find ways to build connections. Originally, they wanted to find the prime minister thatwas surnamed Yao during the disaster response work, but considering that he would be deposed after some time, they had to find a new path.

The people in the hall never stopped chatting and talked until dinner time. Naturally, there was another arrangement. The female members of the family left and the children couldn't go to the table. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan went to eat dinner with Shi'liu, then they went out to exercise for a while, and it was about time to sleep.

The maids who served food during the meal were all very earnest as they never deliberately tried to curry favor with him, and no faults in their etiquette could be found. They had clean eyes, which made people feel that they were really sincere; they were able to handle the situation appropriately, which made people feel like they were eating at home. Even though they were the Manor's servants, they would not be considered bad if they were serving in officials' residences. .

After eating, Zhou Kong and the others were arranged to rest after a long day of bumpy travels. At this time of the day, the sky was not dark yet. Zhou Kong, who had originally felt tired, laid on the bed for a while but couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, and had to get up to have a look outside.

After getting dressed, as soon as he opened the door, the maid outside who had been waiting to serve him, greeted him respectfully. She heard that he wanted to walk around and she didn't stop him. She followed by his side, and during this time, she also found a passerby to help her notify the housekeeper.

As soon as he came outside the main courtyard, Zhou Kong saw two children near the small river that only had a fine stream of water flowing into the pond, and the children were hitting a tree across the river with a slingshot. There was a maid dressed in servant clothes standing next to the two children.

"Xiao'jie, are these two little children Xiao'bao and Juan'juan from the Manor?" Zhou Kong asked the maid next to him.

"Replying back to my lord, they are indeed the Young Master and Young Miss. My lord, look. The water from that fenced-up well over there tastes different from other places' water, the water there tastes sweet."

The maid Xiao'jie replied, and she pointed to a place up ahead and spoke with a soft voice to introduce the well to him. She wanted to lead Zhou Kong over there because she was afraid that Zhou Kong would be excited to speak with the Young Master and Young Miss and that he would suspect her two little masters if they accidentally revealed too much about themselves too quickly.

"Oh? There are ten wells but this one is different from the other ones? Then I must have a taste of it. Hmm, take me to see your Young Master and Young Miss first." Zhou Kong responded to the maid's words, and he looked over there and lifted his leg to walk in that direction. Suddenly, he realized that the maid seemed like she didn't want him to meet the two children.

Xiao'jie knew that her plan was seen through, but she didn't show the slightest panic on her face and continued to speak softly, "My lord's body is too precious, so you don't have to go over there yourself to see them. Wait for me to invite the Young Master and Young Miss over."

"There's no rush, let them play for a while. I like children a lot. Xiao'jie, let me ask you, what do you usually do in this yard? I saw that your clothes had three little stars embroidered on it. Some people have one or two, could there be of any significance behind this? Zhou Kong was interested in the maid at this moment; she was sent to serve him, so she must have been carefully selected.

Xiao'jie smiled sweetly. "Replying to my lord, I usually serve the old Grandmother. My lord has guessed really accurately. The servants in the courtyard are divided into three classes. Two stars is first class, one star is second class, and there is no third class."

"What about your three stars?"

"Special class. This is due to the old Grandmother and Madam's loving benevolence." Xiao'jie's smile remained unchanged.

"Then Xiao'jie, you are not ordinary. Tell me, how did you become special class? What kind of class are the maids that are serving the Young Master and Young Miss?" Zhou Kong became more and more curious about the Zhang Manor.

"Replying to my lord, in order to be special class, the servant first needs to serve in the yard for ten years. I have been helping with things since I was six, and I have been working here for eleven years. In addition to this, their family has to have worked for the previous generation of the Manor. With these two conditions fulfilled, it is also necessary to select sensible and smart people to learn to read. After they have completed their studies, then those who are knowledgeable and reasonable, and are capable of bookkeeping are selected."

When Xiao'jie spoke, she still had such a nice voice; she was not arrogant at all. Only the other people in the yard knew that there were only three in the entire yard that were like her since not everyone was given the opportunity to learn things. A large number of people were allowed to study only after the Young Master and Young Miss were able to handle matters. In addition to studying, they had to work. In order to reach this level, it can be seen how much effort they have to pay.

At the moment, he stopped talking about this and stopped Xiao'jie from leaving to invite her two young masters over here. He walked over there himself.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were still playing. When Zhou Kong looked at them, both of them became aware of him. People like them were particularly sensitive to this, especially Zhang Xiao'bao, since he was caught before, has fled away from people, and was besieged by others before. He already had enough practice from these experiences.

But they still pretended to be unaware until Shi'liu saw someone coming and pointed out to them. Then, they stopped their movements and Wang Juan hid behind Zhang Xiaobao. She peeped out her head slightly, and the two of them blinked innocently and stared at Zhou Kong who came over to them.

"You are Xiao'bao, and you are Juan'juan? Come, let uncle take a good look at you two." Zhou Kong really adored the appearance of the two children. He did not wait for the maid to speak and he walked closer and squatted down. He smiled as he spoke to Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan.

"Uncle~ Hello." Zhang Xiao'bao greeted him first, and Wang Juan followed with a quiet greeting. At this time, the two of them no longer spoke as fluently as they normally did, and their words were not so clear. Their faces were shy and curious. .

Shi'liu and Xiao'jie looked at them, and she secretly felt relieved. The Young Master and Young Miss were really not average.

Zhou Kong didn't know the two children were pretending to be children. He smiled even more when he heard them greet him, "Xiao'bao, Juan'juan tell uncle, how old are you?"

Zhou Kong knew that this was their fake age1, and they were only in fact only one year and eight months old. Looking at the pair of children in front of him, he really felt like they were the Golden Boy and Jade Girl2. He asked, "Do you know who I am? My surname is Zhou, and I have a nephew named Zhou Xi'hu."

After saying this, he looked at the two children. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan first showed a puzzled expression, and then they looked like they were deep in thought, and then they suddenly laughed and nodded sharply.

Zhang Xiao'bao first said, "A big official."

Wang Juan followed "Good person."

After Wang Juan finished speaking, she stepped out from behind Zhang Xiao'bao to reveal her entire self. She stood there obediently, as if she was not afraid anymore.

When Zhou Kong heard this, he was happy. Children did not understand much and only knew what the adults in their family taught them. This shows that the people in the yard usually teach the children to be like this. Especially after seeing Wang Juan's fearless appearance, he felt comfortable in his heart. The intentions of the children were the intentions of the adult.

He was happy and he wanted to give them gifts, but he touched his body and realized that he didn't bring anything with him. He smiled apologetically to the two children and said, "Uncle didn't bring you anything this time. Next time, I'll make up for it."

Zhang Xiao'bao handed a slingshot that was tied to his waist, "For uncle."

He and Wang Juan each had two slingshots, one was strong and the other was weak. When there was no one around to see them, they would practice with the strong one, but when someone was beside them, they would use the weak slingshot.

Zhou Kong did not know whether he should take it or not. When a child gave something, the child would be unhappy if the person didn't take it. If he took it, how will he return it back to the child? It might be just a slingshot, but for the child, it's a treasure. The child wanted to give away their treasure, so what should be done?

Looking at Zhang Xiao'bao's expectant gaze, Zhou Kong decided to reach out and take the slingshot. He was thinking that he must return the favor back in the future, and that he needed to find someone to help with the imperial examination.

They waited for Zhou Kong to decide to go back to rest and prepare to continue discussing with the people on the Manor tomorrow. He also thought about meeting the two Masterminds. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan also went back to sleep, since they had to get up to go study at night.

Zhou Kong was able to fall asleep this time, but he had a long dream at night. When he woke up in the morning, he could still remember the things in the dream. He dreamed that he encountered a problem in the future, but every he sought help from rejected him. In the end, it was two children that instructed him on what to do.

He couldn't clearly see what the two children looked like, but what surprised him the most was that in the end, the two children each had a slingshot in their hands and slowly ran away.

He shook his head still feeling a little confused. Zhou Kong glanced at the small slingshot next to his pillow, thinking that it was really true that at night, people dreamt of what they think of during the day. Before he slept, he was thinking about how to return this slingshot that was gifted to him, and as a result, he had dreamed the entire night.

1. "Fake age"

It is tradition to consider a new born baby as one year old, so given that Zhang Xiao'bao is nearly two years old, his "fake age" would be three years old.

2. "Golden Boy and Jade Girl"

The Golden Boy and Jade Girl are the two favored servants under the Jade Emperor of the Heavens. In literary works, this is phrase used to describe the perfect pair of a boy and girl.