APSIL -Chapter 140 Sharing Joy Is Better Than Enjoying It Alone

If this had happened in the past, when Nanny Li heard that Young Master Zhang of Qin Garden had personally come to inquire about Zhao Garden’s situation, her first thought would have naturally been:

That spoiled only son of Duke Qin, Zhang Chen, must have come again to curry favor with the Young Lady.

And afterward, she would have had to rack her brains trying to find a way to politely send him away.

But right now, her first reaction was completely different…

She turned her head and looked at Zhang Shou.

She had always been amazed that even with Ge Yong as his teacher, Zhang Shou had somehow managed to make Zhang Chen, his love rival, genuinely acknowledge him.

And now, she saw Zhang Shou ask with a smile: “Is it Zhang Chen?”

“Yes.”

The family guard answering could not help raising his head and secretly glancing at Zhang Shou before quickly lowering it again.

“Young Master Zhang heard that Master Zhang and the Young Lady were both here, so he said he wanted to see Master Zhang.”

“He actually happened to come stay at the Haidian gardens too?”

Zhang Shou smiled faintly.

“What a coincidence.”

As he said this, he glanced at Nanny Li.

Nanny Li was an extremely perceptive person. She immediately smiled and said: “Our family and the Duke Qin Zhang family have always been close. Besides, Young Master Zhang is also Master Zhang’s student, so naturally we should invite him in for a conversation.”

“How about this? I’ll go to Young Lady’s side and inform her that Young Master Zhang has arrived.”

In just an instant, Nanny Li changed her original plan of asking Zhang Shou about what had happened.

When she saw the guard who had come to report hurry back outside, she vaguely realized something.

Perhaps Zhang Chen had not come because last night’s disturbance in Zhao Garden had alerted him.

More likely…

When she came here, she had brought dozens of guards and servants with her.

After all, her group had passed by Qin Garden, which was not far from Zhao Garden.

If Zhang Chen had happened to be preparing to go out at that time, noticed the commotion, and followed them over to take a look, that would not have been strange at all.

Nanny Li hurried toward Dawn Emerald Hall.

The guard also quickly went outside.

Not long afterward, he brought Zhang Chen over.

Although Zhang Chen already knew Zhang Shou was in Zhao Garden, when he actually met him, he still felt a little depressed.

This was the Zhu family’s private estate.

Yet Zhang Shou was living here as though he were the master of the place.

Even the Zhu family servants did not find it strange.

The relationship between Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying was obviously already set in stone.

Thinking about how all his feelings toward Zhu Ying had been wasted, Zhang Chen felt somewhat bitter.

After a while, he finally called out weakly: “Teacher.”

Now Zhang Chen was the head of Half-Mountain Hall.

And Zhang Shou was the National Academy Doctor responsible for Half-Mountain Hall.

Their teacher-student relationship was even more legitimate than before.

Zhang Shou had personally appointed Zhang Chen as the head of the hall.

At this moment, he simply pretended not to notice Zhang Chen’s gloomy expression and smiled.

“This entrance isn’t a place to talk.”

“Yingying is currently handling matters in Dawn Emerald Hall.”

“Let’s go to Qin Fang Pavilion instead.”

Outside Zhao Garden, dozens of guards stood alert.

But after entering Zhao Garden, Zhang Chen discovered that despite the enormous size of the estate, there were almost no servants visible anywhere.

He had already found it suspicious.

Therefore, when Zhang Shou suggested going to Qin Fang Pavilion, Zhang Chen hesitated briefly before agreeing.

He had visited Zhao Garden several times before.

Following Zhang Shou, he easily passed through the winding paths and artificial hills.

When they arrived before Qin Fang Pavilion, he finally could not hold back and asked: “What happened in Zhao Garden?”

“Last night, we discovered two surviving rebels from Linhai Camp hiding inside the garden.”

“There was some trouble.”

“Afterward, Yingying was worried there might be other problems, so she ordered a full search through the night.”

“Zhao Garden is outside the capital, and she feared someone here might have colluded with the rebels.”

“During the latter half of the night, they uncovered quite a few messy things.”

“So right now, Dawn Emerald Hall is probably filled with crying and begging.”

Zhang Shou explained briefly.

But he deliberately did not mention that someone had actually targeted him.

Nor did he mention that Zhu Ying had slept peacefully until morning because of the calming incense.

As expected, Zhang Chen was first shocked.

Then he became furious.

Especially because, coincidentally, faint cries of begging and screams happened to drift over from Dawn Emerald Hall to the west.

Hearing those sounds, Zhang Chen could no longer suppress himself.

“What audacity!”

If there was anyone in the entire court who hated the Linhai Camp rebels the most, it was undoubtedly Zhang Chen.

Even the emperor and other officials had to stand behind him.

Back then, he had “spoken out righteously” and exposed some of the corruption within Linhai Camp.

Because of that, many people had treated him as a thorn in their side.

And when Ding Hai’s rebel group attacked Cuiyun Pavilion before, their main target had been him.

Thinking of how he had nearly suffered humiliation at Ding Hai’s hands, Zhang Chen’s anger surged.

He suddenly stood up.

“I only happened to come out of the capital to relax at my garden.”

“Normally, the servants handle everything inside Qin Garden.”

“Perhaps Qin Garden also has one or two rotten people hiding among them…”

“No, I must immediately return and thoroughly investigate everything!”

Then Zhang Chen imagined:

What if rebels had also secretly entered Qin Garden?

What if he had been humiliated on his own territory?

A wave of anger surged through his body.

He stiffly cupped his hands toward Zhang Shou.

Then he turned and left.

When he rushed out of Zhao Garden’s southern gate, he immediately called over his guards.

Ever since the incident at Cuiyun Pavilion, whenever he went out in the capital, he always brought at least eight highly skilled guards.

This time, taking advantage of Half-Mountain Hall’s break, he had come to stay at Qin Garden outside the city.

He had brought twenty-four people.

“Everyone, stay alert!”

“There are escaped Linhai Camp rebels nearby!”

“Return with me and thoroughly search Qin Garden!”

“Better to be safe than sorry!”

Watching Zhang Chen leave from afar, Zhang Shou knew his plan had worked.

He walked to the gate and saw that the guards Nanny Li had brought were not only faithfully stationed there, but had also arranged people at intervals along the walls.

Clearly, they were preventing anyone from taking advantage of the chaos to escape.

He waved over one of the guards.

“Near Zhao Garden and Qin Garden, there should be many other estates nearby, right?”

After receiving confirmation, he continued: “Send two or three people to investigate which gardens currently have their owners staying there.”

“After finding out, remind them that escaped Linhai Camp rebels have appeared nearby.”

“Use Zhao Garden and Qin Garden as examples.”

The guard immediately understood.

If only Zhao Garden had been searched, then afterward countless accusations might be thrown their way.

But if every nearby estate also carried out major inspections…

Then even if everyone discovered something suspicious, no one would know exactly where it came from.

At least Zhao Garden’s incident would no longer appear so unusual.

The guard immediately bowed respectfully.

“Yes, Master Zhang.”

Then he hurried away.

When Zhu Ying finally left Dawn Emerald Hall with Nanny Li, exhausted both physically and mentally, she received news that more than a dozen gardens around Haidian—including Qin Garden—were all conducting massive searches.

The entire area was in chaos.

Zhu Ying looked completely confused.

But Nanny Li immediately thought of Zhang Chen’s visit and realized:

This was actually the best way for Zhao Duke Manor to avoid becoming the sole target of criticism.

She quickly whispered: “It should be Master Zhang. He must have said something to Zhang Chen.”

“It was A-Shou…”

Zhu Ying had just punished twenty or thirty people, some lightly and some heavily.

Her temples were still throbbing.

She sighed and said bitterly: “A-Shou has really been dragged down by me.”

“He risked himself last night, and today he is already helping me think of solutions again.”

“From the time we were in Rongshui Village until now…”

“It has always been because of me that he has encountered so many troubles.”

Nanny Li knew that although Zhu Ying usually appeared cheerful and carefree, whenever something involved people close to her, she often fell into self-blame.

She quickly comforted her.

“How can the Young Lady say that?”

“If it were not for meeting you, Master Zhang might still be living quietly in that small village.”

“Who in the world would know his talents?”

“Now he is a National Academy Doctor personally appointed by His Majesty.”

“Even the princes have to call him teacher.”

Seeing Zhu Ying’s expression finally soften slightly, Nanny Li continued: “Last night he risked himself, but ultimately he helped capture the rebels alive.”

“With His Majesty’s attitude toward him, perhaps he may even receive another promotion.”

“If you truly feel guilty, then make sure A-Liu trains hard in the Zhu family sword techniques.”

“When Master Zhang learns them in the future, he will at least have a way to defend himself.”

Zhu Ying gave a quiet “mm.”

Then she went directly toward Warm Fragrance Studio to find Zhang Shou.

But when she arrived…

The room was empty.

Not a person could be seen.

When she wanted to ask someone, she suddenly remembered—

After her massive cleanup of Zhao Garden, the number of servants had already been reduced by one-third.

Everyone else had been ordered to remain in their rooms.

With Zhao Garden being so enormous…

Where was she supposed to find him?

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from above.

“Young Lady!”

Zhu Ying looked up.

She saw A-Liu somehow crouching on top of the wall.

Before she could get angry, the young man seriously said: “Young Master is at the tea room by the main gate.”

“He asks you to go to Qin Garden with him.”

Confused, Zhu Ying did not have time to think.

She immediately hurried outside.

When she reached the tea room beside the main gate, she saw Zhang Shou sitting casually on the long bench where the gate guards usually chatted.

He looked completely relaxed.

Only when she approached did he stand up.

“A-Shou, why are we going to Qin Garden?”

“I heard Zhang Chen returned and immediately searched Qin Garden.”

“And not only Qin Garden. The nearby gardens are also conducting urgent searches.”

“Everything has become chaotic.”

“Exactly because of that.”

Zhang Shou smiled.

“Since Zhao Garden was the first place where news came from, we should show some concern and explanation.”

“We’ll go to Qin Garden and tell Zhang Chen what our search discovered and how many people we punished.”

“We’ll openly reveal our own family’s problems.”

“Then those other families who were forced to conduct searches because of our message will naturally have less resentment.”

“Isn’t that right?”

After thinking carefully, Zhu Ying immediately understood.

When she turned around, she found that A-Liu had somehow already brought out their three horses.

She did not bother sending someone to find Nanny Li.

Instead, she called over a guard at the gate and asked him to pass a message.

Then she immediately mounted her horse.

Seeing Zhang Shou get onto his horse with A-Liu’s help, she shook the reins.

“Quick, let’s go!”

Zhang Shou, Zhu Ying, and A-Liu left Zhao Garden on horseback.

Less than half a tea’s time later, they arrived at Qin Garden, which occupied another large area beside the lake.

Before they even dismounted, Zhang Chen’s furious roar came from inside.

“Hidden weapons, unknown gold and antiques—that alone would already be bad enough…”

“But Qin Garden actually has people who are not listed in the records!”

“Not one or two!”

“There are seven of them!”

“Are you trying to rebel?!”