APSIL -Chapter 100 Binary?

Although Zhu Ying had only just embarrassed herself by forgetting there were other people in the carriage, the moment she saw that Lu Sanlang had actually managed to send Zhang Shou a letter, she immediately leaned over again.

After studying it for quite a while, all she saw was an ordinary family letter full of seemingly unrelated greetings. She couldn’t even tell who had written it. Unable to make sense of it, she turned to A-Liu in annoyance.

“What kind of riddle is that pig-headed Lu trying to play?”

A-Liu, who was usually sparing with his words around Zhang Shou, answered this time.

“He was brought home to solve the riddle.”

At once, Zhang Shou understood.

So this letter wasn’t written by Lu Sanlang for me. Lu Wan dragged his son home to decipher a coded message? A-Liu, you could’ve said that earlier! I almost thought Lu Sanlang had too much free time!

His interest was instantly piqued. Throwing aside his earlier joking thoughts, he concentrated fully on the letter.

Nothing withstands careful scrutiny.

The more closely he examined it, the more he felt that if the punctuation marks were treated as separators, and the horizontal lines between characters represented one symbol while the spaces without lines represented another…

Could this be Morse code? One symbol for dots, the other for dashes? I remember learning that when telegraphs first appeared in China, four-digit codes were used to represent Chinese characters…

But in this era—even with the Founding Emperor having existed—that’s still far too advanced. Both correspondents would have to carry around a thick codebook. Not very practical.

Then perhaps… binary?

Right. My computer science teacher once mentioned that the Eight Trigrams from the I Ching could also be viewed as a form of binary.

Even if that’s just a later interpretation, it doesn’t matter. After all, there’s still the Founding Emperor. He’s long dead by now, but he may well have left behind quite a few things. It’s worth trying.

While Zhang Shou immediately immersed himself in deciphering the code, Zhu Ying was just as quick to react.

“So Lu Wan wanted Lu Pighead to decipher this seemingly ordinary family letter? He didn’t simply drag him home to make trouble for you? I didn’t expect him to have such a good eye!”

She snorted.

“Even if Lu Pighead has a bit of talent, he’s only been studying under you for a few days. He hasn’t even learned much yet. Did he really think Lu Sanlang could solve something like this?”

Seeing A-Liu shake his head, confirming that Lu Sanlang had indeed failed, Zhu Ying couldn’t resist teasing him a little.

Then she noticed that Zhang Shou had fallen completely silent.

Turning to look at him, she saw him sitting with brows furrowed in concentration, his handsome face filled with focus and seriousness.

Without realizing it, she found herself smiling brightly as she watched his profile.

I was wondering how we’d deal with Lu Wan… But if A-Shou can decipher this letter, won’t everything become much easier?

Having decided it was likely binary, Zhang Shou quickly extracted the first few numbers by using the punctuation as separators.

101100001

10010110

100110001

1000101110…

Converted into decimal…

Those are fairly large numbers.

They don’t look like an ordinary cipher.

Maybe they’re references to a book?

Then inspiration struck.

Didn’t I just tell Teacher Ge that the Thousand Character Classic would make an excellent codebook because none of its thousand characters repeat?

Let’s substitute those first four numbers.

Even with his now extraordinary memory, it still took Zhang Shou some effort before he finally located the corresponding four characters within the Thousand Character Classic.

Kong Grand Scholar.

The four characters formed a perfectly meaningful phrase.

Ignoring the rest of the message for the moment, Zhang Shou immediately turned toward Zhu Ying.

“Yingying, who is Grand Scholar Kong?”

“A-Shou—you deciphered it?”

Zhu Ying was instantly overjoyed.

“Grand Scholar Kong is the current Vice Grand Secretary and the leader of the Reform Faction. He’s the one who strongly advocated lifting the maritime restrictions and allowing Westerners—and Western books—into the empire, so that the worthless could be discarded while the best ideas were adopted.”

She continued enthusiastically, “He believes only by selecting what best suits Great Ming can we truly fulfill the Founding Emperor’s original vision.”

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully for a moment, Zhang Shou smiled.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve deciphered everything. I only tried the first four characters.”

“But based on that alone…”

“…I think we can pay Lu Sanlang’s father a visit.”

“I was thinking exactly the same thing!”

Just as Zhu Ying’s excitement reached its peak, A-Liu suddenly spoke from outside the carriage.

“Young Master. Miss. Someone seems to be coming this way.”

The moment he finished speaking, Zhang Shou looked out the window.

The A-Liu who had been standing there only a second ago had vanished without a trace.

That kid really does like appearing and disappearing…

Rather than dwell on it, Zhang Shou calmly lifted the carriage curtain.

He saw the steward who had just received Zhu Er and the others emerge from the Lu residence. After glancing around, the man walked directly toward the long row of carriages parked along the wall.

Turning back, Zhang Shou said, “Yingying, it seems they’ve already discovered we’re here.”

Seeing Zhang Shou step down from the carriage, Zhu Ying hurried after him.

The moment she landed, she saw the steward heading straight toward them.

Immediately she grew annoyed.

“Was it Second Brother or Zhu Gongquan who leaked our presence?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Zhang Shou smiled, holding up the folded letter.

“At this point, those details no longer matter.”

Noticing many of the officials waiting outside Lu Wan’s residence turning to watch them, he continued, “Now that we have what Lu Sanlang sent us, we’re no longer simply here to make trouble.”

As they spoke, the steward hurried over.

With an ingratiating smile, he bowed deeply.

“My master heard that Miss Zhu and Doctor Zhang had come together and specifically ordered me to invite you inside.”

Smiling faintly, Zhang Shou replied, “What a coincidence. We were just planning to pay Minister Lu a visit ourselves.”

Zhu Ying had intended to ignore him completely, but since Zhang Shou had already accepted, she could only say stiffly, “What are you standing there for? Lead the way.”

Nanny Jiang, who had also stepped out of the carriage, signaled Zhanjin to remain where she was before beckoning Zhu Hong to follow.

Keeping her head lowered, she quietly followed behind Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou.

As the last person through the gates, she knew without needing to hear them that the whispers outside would soon spread one particular piece of gossip throughout the capital—

Miss Zhu and Zhang Shou had arrived in the same carriage.

Even though social customs in the Great Ming were considerably more relaxed than during the Tang or Song dynasties, the young lady had still been extraordinarily bold.

Fortunately, the Dowager Lady had already said that the wedding would be arranged immediately after the Duke returned, lest complications arise from delay.

Even so…

Thinking about what Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying intended to do today made Nanny Jiang break into a cold sweat.

Compared to the Zhao Duke’s estate, the Lu residence was equally expansive, though somehow it lacked the same sense of accumulated history.

Their guide explained why.

An ancestor of the Lu family had been an immensely wealthy merchant, leaving behind a substantial fortune. Lu Wan had purchased the estate after becoming an Assistant Minister of War, renovated it extensively, and expanded it several times afterward.

Compared to the usually impoverished officials of the capital…the scale of the investment was astonishing.

Zhang Shou paid little attention.

Only when they reached a moon gate and saw two young men waiting there—whose facial features resembled Lu Sanlang’s ever so slightly—did he realize they were probably Lu Sanlang’s two elder brothers.

The two greeted them with flawless courtesy.

Zhang Shou responded just as politely, effortlessly fencing with them through polite conversation.

Zhu Ying, however, hated this sort of roundabout exchange.

Seeing Zhang Shou still humoring them, she simply strode ahead herself.

She marched directly into Lu Wan’s outer study.

Seeing the Minister of War smiling calmly behind his desk—a man she had met several times before—she almost blurted out the question that had been burning inside her.

What grudge do you have against my father? Why go to such lengths to scheme against him?

At the last second, however, she forced herself to swallow the accusation.

When Zhang Shou finally entered the room, she even took half a step back so that they stood side by side.

Lu Wan’s eldest and second sons noticed the gesture but thought little of it.

Lu Wan himself, however, saw everything.

His pupils contracted slightly.

Watching Zhang Shou salute him calmly, while Zhu Ying—clearly unwilling—reluctantly followed suit with an equally reluctant bow…

A completely absurd thought suddenly crossed his mind.

Are they… a perfect match?

Or… husband and wife singing the same tune?

Of course, Lu Wan had never truly intended to make this notoriously headstrong young lady his youngest son’s wife.

That marriage proposal had only ever been a smokescreen.

Squinting slightly as he regarded the elegant young scholar standing beside the stunning beauty, he finally smiled faintly.

“If the two of you came for my son Lu Zhu, you need only have visited directly.”

“Why send Zhu Er ahead as the vanguard?”

“Zhu Er may not enjoy a good reputation in the capital, but today’s drunken scene he created at my doorstep hardly seemed to be his own idea.”

“I’m afraid he carried this blame rather unfairly, wouldn’t you say?”

Zhu Ying was immediately furious.

At that very moment, however, she suddenly felt a hand reach over and firmly clasp hers.

It was Zhang Shou’s hand.

Although they had spent time alone together more than once before…this was the first time they had ever touched so intimately.

The hand released hers almost immediately.

Yet after her initial surprise, an inexplicable sense of reassurance settled over her.

Having instinctively chosen action instead of words to calm Zhu Ying, Zhang Shou casually produced the folded paper, pinching it between two fingers.

Unhurriedly, he said, “As expected of Minister Lu. Your insight is truly remarkable.”

“Perhaps I judged a gentleman with a petty man’s heart.”

“But had we not taken such a roundabout path…”

“…I would never have discovered that the dignified Minister of War enjoys solving ciphers and riddles together with his youngest son.”