Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 634 Zhang Renzhi

Yuan Qing's eyes suddenly lit up, and the oil-paper bag in his hand almost dropped from his grasp. He took two quick steps, but suddenly stopped three feet away from Zhang Renzhi, straightened his clothes, and bowed deeply: "I'm so bold as to ask, are you Zhang Cizhang, Zhang Renzhi of Jiangling?"

He was always calm and composed. Song Ying had never seen him like this before and was deeply surprised. Even his voice was filled with the piety of a pilgrim: "I entered the imperial examination at the age of eleven, won the first place on the imperial examination list at the age of fifteen, and ranked ninth in the second class at the age of twenty-two!

I have copied the line "Phoenix feathers clustered together, strong branches" in "Inscription on Bamboo" a hundred times but still cannot grasp its essence. What kind of mind and spirit is needed to write with such a bold and vigorous spirit that can support the sky and the sea?"

Song Ying's eyes widened. What did she hear?

Passed the imperial examination at the age of eleven!

Is this... still a human? !

What was she doing when she was eleven? Oh, she had just started studying medicine.

I thought Yuan Qing was very impressive as he passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen, but I didn't expect that there is always someone better than you!

"My friend, you are too kind," Zhang Renzhi said, his expression not changing much. His voice was clear and distant, "It's just some juvenile writing, not worth mentioning."

Song Ying glanced at him. She didn't know if it was her illusion, but she felt that when Zhang, the editor who was born as a child prodigy, mentioned the four words "youthful writing", there was a hint of loneliness in his tone.

When Yuan Qing suddenly saw the person he had admired for a long time, thousands of words surged in his heart. He wanted to ask Zhang Renzhi for advice on all the poems and essays he had copied and the policy papers he had pondered over the years. However, he could only suppress his enthusiasm by feeling Zhang Renzhi's alienation and fatigue.

"Cizhang, please go to bed early. I won't disturb you any more."

Zhang Renzhi nodded without saying anything more.

Song Ying also said goodbye and went to the kitchen with Yuan Qing.

At this hour, there was naturally no one in the kitchen. Seeing this, Song Ying asked curiously, "Did he really pass the imperial examination at the age of eleven?"

Yuan Qing added water to the fire and said, "Not only that, he almost became a juren at the age of twelve. The then-examiner for the Huguang provincial examination, Gu Pengxing, the governor, believed that he was a man of great talent and was worried that he would go astray after becoming famous at a young age, so he deliberately did not admit him.

Three years later, at the age of fifteen, he took the provincial examination again. Gu Pengxing personally selected him and presented him with a jade belt, encouraging him to become a national talent. This became a popular story among scholars.

"So amazing?" Song Ying was even more surprised. "Fifteen or sixteen-year-old scholars are already rare, but there are actually eleven or twelve-year-olds! Such talent is truly enviable!"

Yuan Qing glanced at her and said, "It's fine if you say this in front of me, but don't say it in front of Senior Brother Lin. I'm afraid he'll beat you up."

Song Ying was amused and said with a smile, "My medical talent is only slightly better than that of an average person. It can't be compared to the talent of someone who passed the imperial examination at the age of eleven or twelve. I even wonder if he started studying in his mother's womb."

Yuan Qing also smiled, "Dongpo Jushi once said, 'It is too late to read books in this lifetime.'"

Song Ying: “…”

Literati love to exaggerate.

Yuan Qing had great respect for Zhang Renzhi and spoke of him endlessly. Song Ying then learned that Zhang's name was Yunzhi, and Renzhi was his pen name. He had been known as a child prodigy since childhood...

At this moment, the small copper pot on the stove suddenly began to boil, and the surging water vapor evaporated into a white mist under the moonlight.

Yuan Qing brought some small wontons and put them into the pot one by one. The small wontons swirled in the boiling water like swimming silver fish.

Song Ying suddenly thought of the silverfish soup bubbling in the pot at noon, and turned to talk about the poisoned fish soup, "I'm so glad, we both almost got poisoned today."

Yuan Qing was also frightened. As the only doctor on the ship, if Song Ying was also poisoned, even if he saved himself in time and told the Zhang family how to detoxify, he might not be able to take the pulse condition into consideration in time, which would cause Mrs. Zhang to have a miscarriage.

He frowned. "Speaking of which, it's rather strange. The cook on board has been travelling the country with the canal boats for many years. She should have known that pufferfish ovaries and livers are poisonous. How could she have mistakenly mixed them in?"

Song Ying glanced outside and lowered his voice, "I don't think this was accidentally added. It's whitebait soup, not pufferfish soup. Could it be that the cook has a grudge against Editor Zhang and his wife?"

At this moment, in a spacious cabin on the ship, Zhang Renzhi was sitting on a chair with a cold expression.

The cook kneeling below kept crying out for justice: "Sir, I didn't poison you. Even if I had a hundred guts, I wouldn't dare to do such a thing!

Silverfish soup is made for the nobles, so the woman prepared it very carefully, not adding any internal organs, let alone puffer fish eggs!

This thing is extremely poisonous. Every time I cook it, I dare not cook it in the kitchen, for fear that it will get on other pots and pans without me noticing..."

"Who entered the kitchen today?" Zhang Renzhi asked.

Although the voice was cold, it almost made the cook cry. It meant that the adult did not think it was her, but suspected someone else.

She thought carefully, "After you boarded the ship this morning, Captain Chu came to tell us to pay more attention to the food and make it exquisite. Several maids from your mansion came to ask for water to clean the cabin. A servant girl said that your wife wanted whitebait soup for lunch... She came to urge us several times in between. Miss Song and Mr. Yuan..."

The next morning, when Song Ying went to take Mrs. Zhang's pulse, she found that Zhu'er, her personal servant, was not in the room. At first, she did not care, thinking that Zhu'er was busy with other things. But after not seeing her for several days, she slowly realized what was going on.

If nothing unexpected happened, Zhu'er was responsible for Mrs. Zhang's poisoning this time. Although she was very curious, she couldn't investigate it casually.

Because of her life-saving grace, Mrs. Zhang, who had recovered, was very grateful to her. They lived in the same women's cabin again, and their interactions gradually increased. They also got along well.

Mrs. Zhang's maiden name was Yu, and her maiden name was Lingwan, which was taken from Xie Tiao's "Ode to Bamboo" in the Southern Dynasties: "I hate that the bamboo stands against the frost, and that it withers and leaves Lingwan withered."

Yu Lingwan lives up to her name, and her speech and manners always carry a touch of the gentleness of a girl from the Jiangnan water towns. Although she comes from a scholarly family, she is not at all arrogant.

Song Ying and she often sat opposite each other in the cabin, one studying medical books and the other sewing. Over time, their relationship became closer.

Yu Lingwan gradually confided her thoughts and troubles to Song Ying. The Yu family and the Zhang family were old friends, and the two were engaged since childhood. They lived in love after marriage.

Because she lived alone with her husband in Beijing, there were no conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, or sisters-in-law, and her life was very comfortable. However, she did not expect that the maidservant around her had ulterior motives.

In a wealthy family, when the mistress is pregnant, there is a rule that concubines are arranged to serve the husband. Zhu'er, the maid, has always been thinking about Zhang Renzhi, and after Yu Lingwan became pregnant, she has been looking forward to giving birth.

After Yu Lingwan found out she was pregnant, she tentatively brought up the idea of having her maid's face done, but was rejected by Zhang Renzhi.

She had not really wanted to choose a concubine for him, but had to bring it up because of the rules. Now that her husband had rejected it, she let the matter go.