Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 41

Volume 02 Chapter 41: Looking For The Mastermind

"Your last name?" Li Cheng's mood became a bit better when he saw that the man stopped. He ran in front of him and asked with a smile.

The man found a rock and sat down. He picked up a wooden stick, and wrote a character on the ground.

"Zhang? Good, that's a good surname. Yes, really good. My surname is Li; L-I. Uhh Zhang...Teacher Zhang, where are you going?" Li Cheng had no idea what to call him. He reasoned that this mastermind has taught people before, so he referred to him as a teacher.

The man smiled and shook his head. He pointed his finger at the pond in front of him.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere, you're just going to the pond. I see, you want to fish? Nice, I like fishing too. Why don't we go together? What kind of fishing rod do you like? I will give you one. No, no, no, don't mind me, it's just a random question."

Li Cheng understood again now. He proposed to go there together, and he wanted to give him a fishing rod, but he felt that this was too intentional so he changed his wording. At the same time, he observed the person. This person was dressed in linen clothing, he wore a pair of coarse hemp shoes with wooden soles on his feet, and he was carrying a basket in his hand. He didn't see any fishing rods in sight.

Li Cheng felt that the situation was not right, but then he thought about how a mastermind must have the appearance of a mastermind, and would not do the same things that an ordinary person would do. Furthermore, how he smiled and didn't talk made it obvious that he was a mastermind. He heard that the old man Jiang Zi'ya1 was even more sloppy than this. A person cannot be judged by their outer appearance.

One person walked behind the other and they soon came to the side of the pond. Li Cheng watched the man find a secluded place, and put the basket down. He took off his clothes and shoes, and he had loose-fitting underpants underneath. Li Cheng hadn't seen anything like that before, and felt a little surprised. However, when he thought about how he was a mastermind, everything made sense again.

"Oh, Teacher Zhang, I get it now. You're going to fish with your bare hands. Such great skills. When I was younger, I heard people say that experts can catch fishes under water with their eyes closed. Amazing. This is definitely an eye-opener for me." Li Cheng quickly flattered him. Words of flattery came natural to him because he was used to praising others.

The man smiled at him again, giving him the impression that he hid a lot of meanings behind this smile. No wonder he was a mastermind, and that Li Cheng himself was just a servant.

Plop' "Wonderful!" With Li Cheng's applause, the man ferociously struck down.

Li Cheng waited on the shore for a fish to be thrown up so that he could flatter him more, and then something flew out as expected.

"So...so big... What a big lotus root. Teacher Zhang, so it turns out that you wanted to eat lotus root. Lotus root is good, It tastes...it tastes sweet if you dip it in sugar."

Li Cheng was usually quick to respond, but he thought that he was going to catch fish so he only focused on thinking about how to praise his fish catching skills. He didn't expect that the person went into the pond to search for lotus root, so it was a bit difficult for him to change his words.

As soon as he spoke out his words, a bunch of lotus roots were thrown out one after another. He helped him pick them up and throw them into the basket. Although there was still mud on the lotus roots, he didn't show signs of disgust. He had to bear with it since he was picking things up for the mastermind.

When the basket was almost filled, the man finally got out of the pond. During this entire time, he only stuck his head out of the water a few times to breathe. Once he got out, Li Cheng spoke again, "Teacher Zhang is so talented. If it was me who went into the water, then I would just be food for the fishes. I'm surprised that you can hold your breath underwater for so long. I must learn how to do that later on."

The man was still smiling. He picked out a good-looking lotus root from the basket, washed it in the water by the pond, and gave it to Li Cheng. Then he pointed at the lotus leaf in the water, and walked away with his basket on his back.

"Teacher Zhang, I know what you mean. You're telling me that all causes are formed by roots. That's so...so something. I'm stupid so I don't know how to describe it. I ask that Teacher Zhang teach me more in the future."

After the man heard what he said, the man stopped and took out a short lotus root from the basket behind him. He opened his mouth and bit it. After taking a bite, he showed it to Li Cheng. Again, the smile on his face made people feel comfortable.

Now Li Cheng was confused. He took a closer look at the lotus root, then he looked at the expert, and then he looked at the lotus root in his own hand. He snapped the lotus root with force and a slight crisp sound was heard. He had snapped the lotus root, but it was not completely broken apart since there were still tiny threads connecting the two pieces.

The man shook his head and walked toward the master's courtyard again, leaving Li Cheng standing there in a daze. After a while, the figure of the man was about to enter his Master's courtyard. Li Cheng opened his eyes wide and he hurried forward to catch up to him.

When he got closer, he knelt in front of this man before speaking, and then he said respectfully, "Teacher Zhang, I know what you mean. You want to tell me that lotus roots are easy to snap, but it is hard to cut its threads. Broken lotus roots are still connected by threads2. This is officialdom, this is something about treating others. Thank you, thank you Teacher Zhang, you are..."

"Isn't this Mister Li? Why did you come to my master's official residence? What are you looking for on the ground?" The doorman was about to come out to take the basket from Da'ya, and he saw Mister Li. He asked his question suspiciously. He was able to call it an official residence now since his master has an official title. Back then, he could only refer to it as a house. Even though it was just a simple term, he felt like it had special significance.

"Da'ya, your lotus roots are good. The Young Master and Young Miss will definitely like eating ti. In this entire manor, your swimming skills are the best." The doorman asked Li Cheng and then spoke to the person who was a mastermind in Li Cheng's eyes. After saying a few more words, he carried the basket of lotus roots and put it in the small room next to him. He planned to bring it to the kitchen later.

Da'ya smiled, and then he motioned a few gestures to the doorman, and then he pointed to Li Cheng while grunting out "Ah, ah".

"I see, so it turns out that Mister Li has mistaken you as a teacher. Ha ha. Da'ya, you are really amazing. Hurry up and go in. Oh, right, go find the man who chops firewood for the teacher's yard. That guy is filled with all sorts of tricks. If he's not supervised, he won't work properly. He just spends his entire day thinking about how to carve wood."

The doorman naturally understood what Da'ya's hand gestures meant and replied to him. After Da'ya left, he spoke to Li Cheng, "Mister Li, hurry up and come in. That person just now is just a servant in the yard. He's not a teacher of any sorts. If you want to look for a teacher, you need to go to the school."

"A mastermind indeed. Masterminds are truly extraordinary. So it turned out that he was willing to hide here to work as a servant. He must be waiting for a bright master to come looking for him. Shut your mouth. What school teacher. How could a school teacher say something like broken lotus roots are still connected by threads'? Even though he didn't say this aloud, I know what he means. What do you mean by calling him a mute3? That's called being silent.

Forget it, you're just a doorman. Even if I explain to you, you won't understand. He has already seen all of the vicissitudes of the world, so he has nothing else to say. Your Young Master and Young Miss have received so much from him, yet you dare speak to him like this. Wait for it. Tomorrow, I'll come over to take the mastermind with me. You just wait. "

Li Cheng scolded the stunned doorman, and told him that he was going to come back tomorrow. He took the broken lotus root that was still connected by threads with him and left. He walked about ten steps and he turned his head and glared at the doorman. While the doorman wondered who of the two was the ill one, Li Cheng's figure gradually disappeared in the distance.

"How random and inexplicable. I'm going to bring the lotus root to the kitchen now." The doorman picked up the basket, muttered the words he had learned from his Young Master and walked slowly towards the kitchen.

On the next day, the sky was so cloudy, it was obvious to some old people that it was going to rain heavily.

Li Cheng didn't care about this and he arrived at the manor just like he planned. This time he was not here alone. There were a few people following behind him carrying a lot of boxes. Once he got to the door, he said to the doorman, "The Li Manor's manager has come to ask to see Teacher Zhang."

"Who? Mister Li, the Zhang Manor does not have a Teacher Zhang. There are several teachers here, but they're all at the school and there's no one with the surname Zhang. Are you...?" The doorman was stunned. He didn't expect that this person, who should be resting at home, actually came here again.

"Don't lie to me. I know, I know everything. Your manor is only amazing now because you have him working in the back and giving instructions. Don't worry, I have no malicious intentions. I was just joking yesterday when I said that I'll take him away. Just a joke. Look, I brought a lot of gifts today. This is a list of all of the gifts."

As soon as Li Cheng saw the doorman's reaction, he knew that the Zhang family had hidden the person away. Unfortunately, they were too late. He already found out. Where could they hide him now?

"Mister Li, please wait a moment. I'll go into the official residence and report this now." The doorman was also taken aback. He was unable to handle this kind of thing, so he had to run in and find Housekeeper Zhang.

A moment later, Housekeeper Zhang hurried over and said to Li Cheng, "Mister Li, please come into the official residence. I didn't know that you were coming. I apologize for not coming forward earlier to greet you. Please forgive me."

Li Cheng felt a little displeased when he heard this. Just now, the doorman mentioned official residence' and the housekeeper also said the same thing. He already knew that their master was a government official of seventh rank, but do they really have to keep repeating official residence' over and over again? How obnoxious.

Although he slandered them in his heart, he couldn't say any of this aloud .After all, there was the mastermind here.

"Housekeeper Zhang is too polite. Actually, I have come to your great residence to discuss some matters. Housekeeper Zhang, if you please." Li Cheng looked at the courtyard wall, and forced himself to add the word great' in front of the word residence'. He felt like he was going against his heart. As they spoke, they invited each into the house---oh no, into the official residence.

They sat in the living room, and someone served them tea. The others were arranged to go somewhere else. Housekeeper Zhang put the gift list on the table and said to Li Cheng, "I wonder what great business Mister Li has to do at our humble house?"

Li Cheng really didn't know what to say. In his mind he said, "You're a housekeeper, so don't you know that you should talk about something else first before asking about my intentions? Now you're saying humble house'? Just now you were saying official residence'."

After taking a sip of tea, Li Cheng smiled and said, "It's nothing, the Li family recently purchased a manor, so we were busy. Now that we have some spare time, it is natural that we have to visit your great residence. In addition to this, we have heard that your great residence has a Teacher Zhang. Despite not knowing him, we truly admire him, so I'm wondering if you can introduce him to me."

Translator's Notes

1. Jiang Zi'ya

He was a Chinese noble that helped King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang dynasty. King Wen encountered Jiang Zi'ya when Jiang Zi'ya was fishing, which was also probably why Li Cheng mentioned him here.

2. Broken lotus roots are still connected by threads

This is a Chinese proverb, and I have kept the literal translation here. The phrase means that ties are hard to cut'.

3. Calling him a mute

Da'ya's (nick)name actually translates into large mute'.