At noon, Fang Yun returned home and ate lunch as usual, as if he had no idea that he had a son named Zhang Jing'an.
In the afternoon, Fang Yun continued to work. After finishing the work with Lao Guo, he arrived home at around nine o'clock in the evening.
These physical jobs were very easy for Fang Yun. Whether he was a soldier, a pavilion chief or a guard, they had little impact on him. He spent most of his time immersed in the world of strange books and continued to learn.
As his practice continued to deepen, Fang Yun felt that he was getting closer and closer to the rank of Grand Secretary. In two months at most, he would be promoted to Grand Secretary, and now it was less than two years away from his promotion to Hanlin.
After dinner, Fang Yun continued to read until late at night, when there was a slight sound from the door of Zhang's house.
Zhang Jing'an walked into the yard in a daze. Just as he was about to go back to his bedroom, he saw a night pearl lit in his father's study.
Through the glazed window, Zhang Jing'an looked at the light of the night pearl and Fang Yun's figure, and was stunned. He realized that every time he got up at night, he could see his father studying.
Recalling these days, Zhang Jing'an remembered that his father would occasionally appear absent-minded when he was in the army or working, with his lips moving slightly. He didn't think much of it at the time, but now he understands that his father must have been reciting the scriptures of the saints at that time.
In Zhang Jing'an's heart, only his grandfather Zhang Wankong is tall and majestic, standing in his heart like an immortal statue. He has been described by Zhang Hua as an omnipotent hero, while his father Zhang Longxiang's appearance is extremely vague, and no one mentions him very often, and he is completely overshadowed by Zhang Wankong's brilliance.
At this moment, the image of Zhang Jing'an's father in his mind became concrete.
"This is a scholar who studies harder and more diligently than my grandfather..."
Zhang Jing'an felt ashamed and at the same time thought of the girl he had met during the day, and felt extremely annoyed.
Zhang Jing'an walked quickly back to his room, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what. Everything that had happened in the past few days kept flashing through his mind. Every time he wanted to sleep, his sleepiness would be driven away by the girl's eyes.
The girl was the granddaughter of Marquis Pinghai. Back then, the girl's father and Zhang Longxiang had joked after drinking that if they had children, they would become relatives, almost a marriage arranged at birth.
But now, one is a noble girl like a princess, and the other is a street boy pulling a dung cart.
Zhang Jing'an couldn't bear this kind of gap.
In the early morning, Zhang Jing'an still couldn't sleep. His stomach was rumbling. He was so hungry that he saw stars and felt upset. He had to get up and walk around the house, preparing to drink some water.
The Wenqu Star is shining high in the sky, the white snow looks like silver, and the quiet winter night is filled with a different kind of beauty.
The night pearl in the study is still lit.
Zhang Jing'an stared blankly until he couldn't stand the cold anymore. He quickly ran into the study, closed the door, rubbed his hands gently, and breathed out continuously.
Fang Yun put down the book in his hand, raised his head, and looked at Zhang Jingan with a calm gaze.
Zhang Jing'an glanced at his father, a look of shame appeared on his face, and he pretended to be very natural and asked: "It's so cold, why didn't you ask the servants to prepare a brazier?"
"I'm a Hanlin. I won't feel cold in this kind of weather. Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Fang Yun asked.
"I can't sleep." Zhang Jing'an said.
"Will you continue working tomorrow?" Fang Yun's tone was a little strange.
Zhang Jing'an looked at Fang Yun in silence. Although he was standing, he felt that the man sitting there had a look of aloofness in his eyes, as if he was standing on the top of a mountain and looking down at him. But he did not feel uncomfortable.
"I... don't want to do it anymore." Zhang Jing'an's words were almost squeezed out from between his teeth, and his face gradually turned red.
"If I don't do this, I have a better way to make a living and I can earn much more than this business. It's easy to make a few hundred taels of silver a month, and even more during the holidays." Fang Yun said.
If it were Zhang Jing'an before, he would be very excited, but now he just showed a little curiosity and asked, "What business?"
"I'll take you with me, and you carry the bowl. Let's go to the wealthy families in Jingzhou City to beg for food." Fang Yun said expressionlessly.
Zhang Jing'an instinctively thought of what happened today, and the girl's eyes, and his face flushed.
"You..." Zhang Jing'an was speechless.
"If you don't want to be a poor man, I can only take you to be a beggar." Fang Yun said.
"You are the Marquis of Zhujiang and a Hanlin of the human race. How can you be so shameless as to become a beggar?" Zhang Jing'an asked.
"I can even be a beggar, so what's a beggar to me?" Fang Yun said nonchalantly.
The cold wind howled outside the window and the study fell into silence.
Zhang Jing'an sat down opposite Fang Yun.
Gurgle…
Zhang Jing'an was extremely embarrassed. He coughed lightly and said, "I don't have to work, but I can study."
Fang Yun's cold voice came from the study: "Do whatever you want. Who do you think you are? Are you the king of heaven or a half-saint of the human race?"
The whole study was buzzing.
Zhang Jing'an's face turned pale, and his heart sank. He thought he had a way out. If he really couldn't bear the hardship, the worst that could happen was that he would go to school and study for a dozen years. Maybe he could become a student, and once this traitorous father died, he would be the Marquis of Zhujiang. No matter what happened, he would have no worries in his life.
However, these words seemed to break something, and Zhang Jing'an fell into endless panic.
Zhang Jing'an looked up cautiously and found that his father was particularly indifferent. Although there was only a table between them, it seemed as if there was a mountain range between them, as if they were separated by two worlds.
Zhang Jing'an's heart was filled with regret. As time went by, the regret became stronger and stronger, and he even developed an unprecedented hatred towards himself. He hated his stupidity, his arrogance, and his blindness.
I clearly knew that studying was the best way out, but I got angry, escaped, and had delusions, and ultimately suffered a lot. Not only did I achieve nothing, but I even lost my last way of retreat.
Fang Yun placed a fist-sized piece of raw jade on the table. Most of the jade looked like stone, but there were one or two crystal clear jade-colored streaks occasionally.
After this unpolished jade appeared in the study, Zhang Jing'an felt that his mind was extremely clear. He could even fill his stomach with just one breath. He no longer felt hungry, and the negative emotions in his heart gradually decreased.
"This is the Talent Jade that I got from the secret room of the Gou family. I had decided that day to ask a craftsman to carve it and then give it to you to carry with you. However, you disappointed me." Fang Yun said and took the Talent Jade away.
The light in Zhang Jing'an's eyes faded as the Talent Jade disappeared. It seemed that the Talent Jade took away everything from him, emptied his body, and injected something called "regret".
The Talent Jade is a treasure as important as the Semi-Saint Literary Treasure to any scholar in the literary world. Once obtained, one will become smarter. Even if one is lazy, the Talent Jade will stimulate all potentials and become an excellent student.
Confucius once said in the literary world that even if a pig gets the jade of talent, it can still pass the examination and become a scholar.
Zhang Jing'an couldn't believe that he had such a good chance to get the Talent Jade, but he foolishly gave it up.
.(To be continued.)
...