"Be a servant!"
I don't know who made the sound, Zhang Junsheng looked around, feeling a little strange.
"I want to be a servant!"
Only then did Zhang Junsheng realize that the source of the voice came from a boy. He was a little overwhelmed by the sudden request. Zhao Hongyan said: "Don't go too far! Who knows what bad intentions you have."
"You are a good person, I will follow you!"
Seeing this, the waiter said again: "Gentlemen, I know a little about this kid. He has no relatives left, so there is no harm in him. You are a good man and will do your best. Take him as your servant!"
Zhao Hongyan said: "Then why don't you accept the work?"
"If you follow us, you won't get anything good, 'the master is noble and the servant is noble'!"
Zhang Junsheng finally relented, "How about this? You come home with me first and listen to my father's arrangements?" The boy nodded. Although Zhao Hongyan strongly objected, Zhang Junsheng added another bowl of jelly and smiled happily.
They said goodbye to the shopkeeper and walked back. Zhang Junsheng looked at his new friend next to him and asked curiously: "How should I call you?" The boy did not answer. It was not until he asked five or six times that the boy said quietly: "Tan Hu..."
"My name is Zhang Junsheng, please call me by my name from now on."
Zhao Hongyan said something again: "That won't work. If he sees you in the future, he must call you son. It would be a shame to call him by your first name!"
"Okay..." Zhang Junsheng was a little depressed. He didn't like people calling him Young Master and felt it was cold. Thinking of the old Sister Jiang Qingyue, she didn't care when we first met her, and her heart would warm up when her name was called. Since her identity was confirmed, even Sister Jiang has followed the rules, which made people sad.
Tan Hu looked at himself, feeling a little uncomfortable, Zhao Hongyan's head was full of jelly, and Yu Jitao was thinking about how to deal with Zhang Qingmeng.
Four preoccupied people walked on the noisy streets of the capital, having long forgotten the torment of the scorching heat.
Prince Zheng's Mansion
The divinator had already left the capital. Zhang Junsheng not only failed to predict the divination, but also spent ten taels of silver to bring back a thin boy. Zhang Qingmeng was speechless.
He didn't want to accept this strange young man, but he couldn't stand Zhang Junsheng's pleading, so he acquiesced in allowing him to stay. At first, he was only allowed to serve as an escort, but later, he watched the martial arts competition between Tan Hu and Ni Wumin, and the result was unexpected: the two were evenly matched!
This is a strange thing. Niwu people have been practicing martial arts since they were young, and they are very strong. But Tan Hu is just a wanderer, but he can dodge several attacks skillfully, and his strength is not weak at all. Everyone present was amazed. Zhang Qingmeng secretly thought: "With a little training, this boy can be used as a personal guard."
Tan Hu quickly integrated into the palace and guarded Zhang Junsheng all day long. When he had free time, he practiced martial arts with the nuns and became more and more skilled. At night, he even had to stay up late to study the art of war, even though it was very difficult for him to read.
When you study beside Zhang Junsheng, you will definitely listen with full vigor. Within a few days, I was able to recognize most of the characters, which was jaw-dropping.
Unintentionally, Zhang Junsheng was also aroused to be competitive, and his learning attitude was more serious than before, even to the point of harshness. At night, even though he had no interest in the art of war, he would still read it with Tan Hu. "You don't hear what's going on outside the window."
That night, Zhang Junsheng and Tan Hu stayed up late to study "The Art of War" as always. The summer is hot, the cicadas are chirping outside the window, the full moon hangs on the treetops, and the starry summer night is so warm and quiet.
"The concerns of a wise man must be mixed with advantages and disadvantages. If the advantages are mixed, they must be credible; if the disadvantages are mixed, the problems can be solved..." Tan Hu read softly, and he was extremely surprised that he could read the next paragraph completely. Zhang Junsheng clapped his hands and said happily: "The progress is so fast, so amazing!"
"That's nothing..." Tan Hu couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth proudly: "The meaning of this sentence is: 'A wise general always considers both advantages and disadvantages when considering a problem. When it is advantageous, he thinks of disadvantages. If you think of the good side, things will go smoothly; if you can think of the good side of an unfavorable situation, disasters can be eliminated.'"
"How can you still explain it!?" Zhang Junsheng covered his mouth, his eyes filled with admiration.
Tan Hu said to himself: "This is exactly what is said about not being rigid in thinking, let alone belittling oneself, and being able to investigate my strengths and weaknesses. I really feel a lot..."
"Are you really the little tiger I rescued back then?" Zhang Junsheng's eyes flashed with slight surprise: "Listening to you, you sound like an aristocratic son who has been knowledgeable and knowledgeable since childhood."
"It's been three days since we've been apart, and you should still look at me with admiration. What's more, I, Tan Hu, have been studying with you for many days, so how can I remain unchanged?"
"Sure enough, it's still weird..."
The evening wind swept over Mingyue Lake, and layers of blue waves rolled up on the lake's surface, making the waves gurgling like a fairyland. The frog played the drum endlessly, as if to announce that something was coming.
"Hurry and report to the King! Princess, the Queen...!"
A loud and urgent sound cut through the sky, like a fuse, detonating the entire palace. More and more people were coming and going by Mingyue Lake, breaking the silence of the night.
Xiyue pushed open the door nervously and fell to the ground. Zhang Junsheng was so frightened that he quickly stepped forward to help, but Xiyue ignored the pain and said quickly: "Sir, the princess is about to give birth!"
"What?" Zhang Junsheng didn't dare to hesitate at all, and he hurriedly followed Xiyue there without even having time to change his clothes. Tan Hu somehow felt the thrill of an enemy attack on the camp, so he quickly followed suit.
In the princess's palace, Yao Qiu was in painful labor. Zhang Junsheng arrived first and had to go to the side room to wait for his father. He heard his mother's heart-rending howl for the first time and was so frightened that he could only hope that his father would arrive as soon as possible.
Tan Hu quietly pulled Xiyue aside, with a scolding look on his face: "What's the point of calling the young master here? What should I do if I scare the young master?"
"But...Young Master can feel more at ease with me..."
"ha?"
The midwives were walking around, and the strong smell of the doctors boiling medicine permeated the entire palace. They were rushing around, pushing and shoving. Zhang Junsheng just kept pinching his fingers, extremely nervous.
"His Royal Highness Prince Zheng has arrived——"
Even Zhang Qingmeng was invited to a side room and could not go to watch. He unexpectedly found his son here and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Father..." Zhang Junsheng said slowly with a slight cry: "Is nothing going to happen to my mother..."
Zhang Qingmeng sat silently next to him, pretending to smile happily: "Don't worry, nothing will happen." Although he said this, he felt more nervous and uneasy. Zhang Junsheng felt a little relieved, so he leaned on his father's shoulder and quietly closed his eyes to rest.
After all, he is still a child, and he must not be able to survive the night, but he falls asleep unconsciously...
Early next morning
Zhang Junsheng slowly opened his sleepy eyes and was surprised to find that he was actually on the bed in the palace, looking around hazily, his cheeks flushed like a misty sunrise.
"I was just thinking about why my father's shoulders are so weak..." He scratched his hair, sat up and thought, "What did I do last night?"
He looked out the window at the rockery in the garden yearningly. The sparrows were chirping non-stop, and a few flower petals were scattered all over the window, still as bright as ever.
"Oops!" He suddenly remembered what happened last night, put on his clothes in a panic, and rushed towards Yao Qiu. He was extremely excited, and at the same time he resented himself for missing that most important moment.
For the first time, he hated how big the palace was, and for the first time, he hated how slow he ran.
When they got there, Xiyue and Jiantong walked in with tonics in their hands. When they saw him coming, they laughed and laughed non-stop: "What dream did the young master have?"
Zhang Junsheng had no time to pay attention to their jokes: "How is my mother?"
"Mother and child are safe!"
His eyes filled with stars flickered, as if they were reflected in the morning light. As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed into the house impatiently and broke into the room. This shocked Yao Qiu and Zhang Qingmeng in the room.
"Is he my younger brother!?"
"Shh-" Zhang Qingmeng gently motioned for him to come to him. The room was very quiet, and he could only hear the breeze entering the window. Zhang Junsheng walked into the bed and saw a little baby lying in his mother's arms.
He carefully moved his face closer and looked at it like a rare treasure. The baby breathed evenly and closed his eyes tightly, like two tiny slits.
"Would you like a hug?" Yao Qiu's voice was very gentle.
"Is that okay?" Zhang Junsheng tentatively took the baby into his arms, his whole body shaking uncontrollably, as if he were holding a fragile glass ball.
The young body curled up warmly in his arms, and he felt stiff all over, not daring to move. "He is really small." I thought to myself. Gently holding his little hand, he felt that the baby's hand was soft, like a ball of cotton, so comfortable that he didn't want to let go.
Perhaps because his little hand had been squeezed all the time, the baby woke up from his sleep and looked at him. Zhang Junsheng was very happy when he saw that he didn't cry: "My brother likes me -"
Unexpectedly, after just looking at each other for five seconds, the little baby curled his lips, coughed slightly, and burst into tears with a cry of "Wow." Zhang Junsheng was so frightened that he quickly comforted him and kept moving.
There was no other way, the baby returned to the mother's arms. Yao Qiu just gently held the baby's little hand and stopped crying, but still hummed, as if coquettishly.
In just this moment, Zhang Junsheng was sweating profusely: "Why are you crying all of a sudden? It's so scary."
Zhang Qingmeng laughed and said: "Babies are like this. They always have to express their joy of coming into the world."
"Then the baby can keep smiling!"
"Naughty again. No baby is born laughing."
Zhang Junsheng looked at the baby in his arms quietly, but found that the baby was also looking at him. He smiled kindly and the baby said "Ouch!" He asked Yao Qiu curiously: "What's your brother's name?"
"It's better to ask your father to pick the name."
Zhang Qingmeng looked at Zhang Junsheng, then at the baby, thought for a while, and then said slowly:
"Let's call this baby 'Zhang Junyi'."
