APSIL -Chapter 2 A Child Groom…?

When Zhang Shou saw the peerlessly beautiful young lady beckon one of the guards beside the carriage and quietly ask him something, he watched as she gestured for the coachman to continue on their way. Yet just before lowering the curtain, she suddenly seemed to remember something. She smiled brilliantly at him, raised her hand in farewell, and waved.

Unable to help himself, Zhang Shou smiled and waved back.

Meeting such a beautiful woman who was also so reasonable had unknowingly restored the good mood that someone else’s rude remarks had spoiled.

Naturally, he had no idea that after lowering the curtain and sitting back down, Zhu Ying was pressing a hand to her chest, her face positively glowing with excitement.

This trip to the countryside had truly been worth it!

Seeing Zhu Gongquan, who had been colluding with her second brother, thoroughly embarrassed had already made her feel vindicated. Better yet, she had met a young gentleman whose appearance matched his eloquence.

Perhaps I should inquire about his background and learning later. When Father returns, maybe I can recommend him. He’s certainly much better than that shameless Zhu Gongquan. And then… I’d have more opportunities to see him…

To Zhang Shou, however, the brief encounter was nothing worth dwelling on.

After the unexpected visitors departed, he put his bamboo hat back on. Hearing the tenant farmers happily declare that they wanted to continue planting rice next year, he nodded in satisfaction and started walking home.

Reading about transmigration was exciting.

Actually experiencing it…

Was an entirely different matter.

Fortunately, although he lived in the countryside, he hadn’t been reborn into an ordinary peasant family that depended on endless labor in the fields just to survive.

His home was a modest two-courtyard residence with three servants.

A-Liu rarely spoke a single word.

Old Liu spent his days guarding a gate that almost never received visitors.

Old Liu’s wife, Aunt Liu, on the other hand, loved to chatter. She often claimed that all the nearby farmland belonged to their family.

And by “nearby”…

She meant several thousand mu of land.

Although the amount of farmland they supposedly owned didn’t quite match their current standard of living—something Zhang Shou found rather suspicious—it hadn’t stopped this devoted rice lover from converting part of the fields into rice paddies.

He had first improved the soil by raising fish in the rice fields.

Over the past two years, he had begun selectively breeding better rice varieties by hand.

Unfortunately, crayfish—the famous immigrant species—hadn’t yet been introduced into this era. Forget digging shrimp trenches beside the paddies and farming crayfish.

That was nothing but a fantasy.

Whenever he craved protein, he had to satisfy himself with loaches and eels instead.

Northern China wasn’t suitable for cultivating mulberry silkworms, and even if it were, they couldn’t compete with the silk industry in Jiangnan.

Oak silkworms, however, were a northern specialty.

They weren’t picky eaters either, happily feeding on oak, camphor, cypress, maple poplar, and many other tree leaves.

His mother, Madam Wu, had already been raising some before his arrival. Encouraged by him, the villagers had expanded production considerably.

Besides rice, after irrigating more farmland, he had also opened up cotton fields.

The yields still weren’t particularly high.

As for fruits and vegetables, most common varieties already existed in this era.

Grafting techniques, however…

Without superior cultivars and possessing only a little theoretical knowledge himself, he could do little more than encourage experienced farmers to experiment.

One thing he had managed to improve was agricultural equipment.

Since draft cattle were scarce, the village blacksmith had forged several specialized rice-farming tools according to Zhang Shou’s rough instructions.

They worked surprisingly well.

In an age where simply having enough to eat was the highest priority…

Agriculture was everything.

So he would focus on farming first.

Although life in the countryside was relatively comfortable, Zhang Shou still had his worries.

Three years had passed since his transmigration.

The sixteen-year-old “Zhang Shou” knew only his own name and that his mother’s surname was Wu.

As for who his father was…

He had absolutely no idea.

Most of the local villagers were tenant farmers.

Beyond knowing that their landlord’s family was surnamed Zhang, they knew almost nothing else.

As for the household servants…

No matter what methods Zhang Shou tried, he couldn’t pry a single truthful word from them.

His mother, Madam Wu, was even worse.

Her lips were sealed tighter than a locked chest.

At first, he had even tried sneaking away from the village.

Every single time, however, the villagers would politely escort him all the way back home.

There were plenty of books in the house.

Thanks to his extraordinary memory, he could recite any book perfectly after reading it only once, and through them he had gradually pieced together this world’s history.

Qin.

Han.

Jin.

Sui.

Tang.

Song.

Yuan.

Ming.

Everything was there.

Except…

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty wasn’t surnamed Zhu.

When he first discovered that history had completely diverged around the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, he had nearly collapsed.

The current era was the twenty-sixth year of Yongchen of the Great Ming.

What kind of bizarre timeline is this?

Still, he had to admit he was grateful that the Zhu family hadn’t founded the dynasty.

There were no harsh hereditary household registration laws requiring fathers and sons to inherit the same status generation after generation.

Foot-binding had been prohibited from the very founding of the dynasty.

Large oceangoing ships had been sailing the seas from the beginning, with maritime trade extending throughout Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea.

Society wasn’t especially conservative.

Women could even appear openly in public.

Otherwise…

How could he have met that poised young noblewoman earlier?

Over the past three years, unable to make sense of this altered history, Zhang Shou had devoted himself to uncovering his own origins.

His conclusions boiled down to only two possibilities.

Either he and his mother were the mistress and illegitimate son of some great noble family…

Or some catastrophe had struck the household, forcing them into the countryside to avoid disaster.

Walking leisurely along the ridges dividing the fields, Zhang Shou eventually arrived at a residence.

Compared with the crude village cottages, this house stood out.

Located near the village entrance, surrounded by neatly built walls of gray brick and black tiles, with two courtyards inside and out, it was easily the grandest residence for miles around.

By now it was noon.

Thin curls of cooking smoke drifted into the air.

Hearing pots and pans clattering from the front courtyard kitchen, Zhang Shou suddenly realized he was hungry.

But just as he reached the front gate, he noticed several horses tied to wooden posts nearby.

Beside them stood a lacquered carriage.

Though it appeared ordinary enough, he recognized it instantly.

Isn’t this the same carriage from earlier?

Could that stunning young lady actually be visiting my house?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Old Liu hurried out through the gate.

“Young Master, you’ve finally come back! I was just about to send someone to look for you. We have visitors—from the capital. They’ve been waiting for you for quite some time!”

Seeing the carriage, Zhang Shou had already prepared himself mentally.

Removing his bamboo hat, he strode into the residence, crossed the front courtyard, and arrived outside the main hall.

The moment he stepped over the threshold, he saw his mother, Madam Wu, sitting uneasily in the seat of honor.

The red-clothed young lady and the middle-aged scholar he had met earlier occupied the first and second seats on the left respectively, while the rest of their attendants stood behind them.

The instant they saw him, the middle-aged scholar—whom the young lady had called Mr. Zhu—looked as though he had seen a ghost.

The girl herself stared at him with wide eyes, her face filled with utter disbelief.

Although curious, Zhang Shou first stepped forward to greet his mother.

“Mother.”

Madam Wu immediately stood and pulled him around to face the guests.

“Young Miss, Mr. Zhu, this is my son, A-Shou.”

“So it’s really you!”

Unable to help herself, Zhu Ying stared at his face for several more moments.

But after the initial delight came a complicated feeling as she remembered his identity.

Her eyes traveled over him from head to toe again and again.

Being stared at so intently wasn’t new to Zhang Shou.

But the women and girls of the countryside could hardly compare with such an extraordinarily radiant noble lady.

Smiling faintly at her, he shifted his gaze toward the gloomy-faced Mr. Zhu seated below.

“Sir,” he said with a raised eyebrow, “the world truly is a small place.”

Zhu Gongquan was practically furious enough for smoke to pour from all seven orifices.

Using someone he believed to be an illiterate country bumpkin as an example had already backfired spectacularly when the boy answered with classical poetry.

That had been humiliating enough.

But what made matters even worse…

Was that this very “country bumpkin” turned out to be the person they had come all the way here to find.

Though he knew perfectly well that Zhang Shou’s remark was mocking him, Zhu Gongquan forced himself to suppress his anger.

Standing, he cupped his hands politely.

“Young Master Shou, my words earlier were indeed offensive.”

“Heh.”

Zhang Shou had no intention of offering empty courtesies such as “No harm done.”

Instead, he calmly changed the subject.

“My mother and I have lived here for many years. We have no relatives nearby. Aside from the peddler who visits perhaps once or twice a year, we’ve never received outsiders—let alone guests from the capital.”

“So may I ask who you are… and what business brings you here?”

Zhu Gongquan’s expression turned cold.

“If there were no reason, naturally I wouldn’t dare disturb Young Master Shou and Concubine Wu.”

Those three words—

Concubine Wu.

—had not been chosen casually.

After paying a hefty sum to gather information from people close to the Dowager Madam, Zhu Gongquan had learned that Zhu Ying despised noble households filled with wives and concubines.

Since Zhang Shou was merely an illegitimate son—perhaps even the child of a woman kept in a separate residence—with an uncertain background…

Surely Zhu Ying would stop acting so infatuated.

To his disappointment…

She continued staring at Zhang Shou as though she hadn’t even noticed the emphasis.

When Zhang Shou heard the words Concubine Wu, he caught his mother struggling visibly before lowering her eyes in silence.

Countless melodramatic stories of aristocratic family intrigue flashed through his mind.

A moment later, he dismissed them all.

He had already disliked this man from the moment they first met.

Now he disliked him even more.

“If you have something to say,” Zhang Shou replied coolly, “then say it plainly.”

“Very well. It seems Concubine Wu never told you.”

Seeing Madam Wu’s uneasy expression, Zhu Gongquan smiled faintly.

“My master is His Grace, the Duke of Zhao. I am merely one of his advisers.”

“As for our Young Miss…”

“Young Master Shou… have you truly never heard that you and the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhao were betrothed to one another before either of you was even born?”

Although Zhang Shou knew this era valued parental authority and arranged marriages…

Hearing that the breathtaking beauty before him was supposedly his fiancée…

Even after living two lifetimes…

Left him completely stunned.

Meanwhile, Zhu Ying finally managed to tear herself away from admiring his handsome face.

She naturally knew Zhu Gongquan was deliberately trying to provoke her dissatisfaction.

Yet now that she discovered her supposed fiancé was the very beautiful young man she had already decided to visit frequently in the countryside…

Her heart couldn’t help but lean toward him.

Especially after noticing the genuine surprise on Zhang Shou’s face upon hearing about the engagement…

An audacious idea suddenly sprang into her mind.

Recovering from his shock, Zhang Shou laughed helplessly.

“As the saying goes, marriages should be between families of equal standing.”

“She is the daughter of one of the empire’s greatest noble houses.”

“I am merely a country youth.”

“Why would the Duke of Zhao ever arrange such an unequal marriage?”

Zhu Gongquan had been waiting precisely for that question.

Afraid Zhang Shou was merely pretending to withdraw in order to advance, he revealed another hidden truth without hesitation.

“Young Master Shou probably doesn’t know this.”

“All the surrounding farmland.”

“The residence where you and Concubine Wu have lived.”

“Your food, clothing, and daily expenses over all these years.”

“Even the servants in this household.”

“They were all provided by my master.”

“If not for this marriage agreement…”

“Why would the Duke have taken such care of you and your mother?”

Instinctively, Zhang Shou turned to look at Madam Wu.

She was twisting the silk handkerchief in her hands so tightly that it looked ready to tear apart.

In that instant…

His worldview was overturned once again.

So that’s why our standard of living never matched the land we supposedly owned…

The farmland belongs to my future father-in-law.

And I’ve actually been raised by my future father-in-law since childhood.

So what does that make me…?

A child groom…?

No…

A child husband?