Chapter 1264: Chapter 1231: Genial and Pleasant
As a teacher, Zhao Cheng was always gentle, so the students were not afraid of him. A student named Gan Xing laughed and said, "Although we don’t know why you must leave the Capital City before the New Year, since it’s you, we are willing to follow. We are still very happy to spend the New Year in the Capital City."
Zhao Cheng’s face softened, "Thank you for your hard work. Let’s return to the Capital first, and then go on a study tour after the New Year."
The students happily agreed and immediately turned their carts, mule carts, and donkey carts, "Then we’d better hurry. It’s already the 28th today."
Zhao Cheng: "We can make it, it’s not far from here."
The group hurried and arrived in the Capital City on the morning of the 30th.
Once they entered the city, Zhao Cheng let the students return to their homes, and those without a home in Luoyang went directly to the Imperial College.
The Imperial College had many students from out of town, and the school holiday lasted from the 15th of the twelfth lunar month to the 19th of the first lunar month, more than a month. However, some students were poor, so they chose not to return home for the New Year.
The Imperial College allowed students to stay in school. After the holiday began, Zhao Hanzhang personally visited them and then instructed all departments to favor the students, allowing them to circulate within departments to find part-time or temporary work.
The Imperial College also provided them with some subsidies, not much, but enough to prevent starvation. The students were very grateful for this.
Of course, there were also students from wealthy families who stayed because of the favorable study atmosphere at the Imperial College. So, the college was still very lively at this time.
Zhao Cheng needed to first take his luggage home, but after walking a few steps, a person ran out from a restaurant near the city gate. He looked at Zhao Cheng with a face full of surprise and joy, "My Lord has returned, my Lord really has returned! Third Lady wasn’t lying; she had the little one wait here at the East City Gate for you, and behold, you really came."
He warmly proceeded to hold the horse for Zhao Cheng.
Zhao Cheng was baffled and asked, "Where is Third Lady now?"
The servant was stunned for a moment before replying, "I don’t know this. Although the court is sealed, Third Lady is very busy, having gone to the army to encourage the soldiers yesterday. Today, I don’t know whether she’s in or out of the city."
He was merely a servant of the Zhao Family, not privy to Zhao Hanzhang’s whereabouts.
He only learned of Zhao Hanzhang’s schedule after the fact, either from home or by reading the newspaper.
Could he possibly dare to inquire about Zhao Hanzhang’s real-time whereabouts?
Zhao Cheng realized this too and then asked, "Where’s my father?"
The servant knew this answer and happily said, "Master is at home."
Zhao Hu was sulking at home, but probably realizing his crying that day was too embarrassing, he hadn’t gone out for five days.
Not only that, even the grand New Year’s feast planned a month ago was canceled.
This saddened many merchants and workers.
Therefore, when Zhao Cheng looked for his father, the chances of finding him at home were very certain.
When Zhao Hu saw his son suddenly appear, he was so startled he stood up from his recliner, but halfway through, he realized it and slowly bent back down to sit, suppressing his excitement and speaking in an indifferent tone, "Back?"
Looking at his father, who had been strong all his life, Zhao Cheng gently replied, "Hmm," and after paying his respects asked, "Father, do you know where Third Lady is now?"
Zhao Hu instead asked, "When are you leaving?"
Zhao Cheng paused for quite a while before saying, "After the Lantern Festival."
Zhao Hu’s expression became more animated, thoughtfully saying, "She should be in the palace. I heard the Observatory is now completed. With Ting Han absent, given her interest in the calendar and stars, she’s definitely gone to take a look."
"This year’s palace banquet is at the Deyang Palace. You were originally supposed to host it, but you ran off. So, she temporarily invited He Xun from Jiangnan to substitute. He’s new and a Southern person, and many people are dissatisfied with him. To prevent anything from going wrong, she must be in the palace keeping an eye on things."
Zhao Cheng looked up at the sky, "At this time, won’t she return home to change her gown?"
Zhao Hu waved his hand indifferently, "Just take it to the palace; who can stop her?"
Zhao Cheng agreed and immediately extended his hand to Zhao Hu for a token to enter the palace.
Zhao Cheng, as the former Imperial College Sacrificial Officer, had the privilege of entering the palace, but now that he had resigned, his official badge was revoked, preventing him from entering the palace.
Zhao Hu, having been made a Marquis, also possessed a token.
Seeing his son extend his hand for the token, Zhao Hu was eager to flaunt and mock him, but as he was about to speak, he remembered what Zhao Hanzhang said before she left that day, "Seventh Ancestor blamed Uncle Cheng for treating students as if they were his own children, having empathy and mercy even towards adversaries, yet unwilling to forgive you. But you forget, the foundation of seeking forgiveness is that the wrongdoer realizes their mistake and apologizes."
"Yet until now, you still don’t think you’re wrong. Your conciliatory efforts are merely to ease the father-son conflict. More laughably, you think your softening is enough. You believe giving Uncle Cheng money, buying him books, things you think he likes, should make him forgive you. You forget, whether past or present, these are imposed on him by you. Anything he reached for, you didn’t give him; what you did give, he never reached for, nor even glanced at."
Zhao Hu, having just cried, had a hoarse voice, yet that doesn’t stop him from wanting to argue with Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang, with her eloquent skills, especially against the wounded Zhao Hu, spoke before he could, "You find it strange why Uncle Cheng is so forgiving of others yet so harsh with you? When he became the Sacrificial Officer, a scholar even criticized him as unworthy, yet he didn’t hold a grudge. There were those who attacked him in court, and he quickly forgave them. Why is he so harsh only with you?"
Zhao Hu found these words hit home, so he nodded, "Yes, why?"
"Because the demands placed on one’s closest kin are the most severe. A harmful act by an outsider may only injure, but by a loved one, it’s gut-wrenching," Zhao Hanzhang said, "Therefore, the harm by one’s closest kin is the least forgivable."
"Uncle Cheng never forgives you, not out of unfilialness or narrow-mindedness, but because the hurt comes from his dearest kin, making it the hardest to let go," she said, "Seventh Ancestor, if you truly want to ease the father-son conflict, you need to understand where you went wrong first."
"Where did I go wrong?" Zhao Hu turned to ask Zhao Ming, "A man grows up and marries; when the time comes, he should take a wife and have children. Is that wrong? Or is Zheng’er not good enough?"
"If it weren’t for my insistence back then, would he have such a clever and smart son as Zheng’er?"
Zhao Hanzhang turned to leave. She knew she spoke in vain; the longstanding resentment between Zhao Hu and Zhao Cheng was not without reason.
Wasn’t Zhao Ming intelligent?
Wasn’t Zhao Song clear-sighted?
None could reconcile the two of them; why did she think she could?
Zhao Hanzhang raised her hand and slapped herself then mounted her horse and left.
Seeing her smack her own face, Zhao Hu shrank back and couldn’t help but look at Zhao Song again.
Over the ten-odd years, Zhao Song had long given up trying, ignoring Zhao Hu’s puzzled gaze, waved his hand, and left as well.
Zhao Hu remained perplexed, even until today, but it didn’t stop him from listening to Zhao Hanzhang’s words.
Remarkably, Zhao Cheng reached out and asked for something, prompting Zhao Hu to suppress his pride and mockery and order someone to retrieve the token.
Zhao Cheng’s expression visibly softened, stunning Zhao Hu as they hadn’t spoken with such calmness for many years.
Was it actually this simple to make Zhao Cheng speak gently?
Simply giving him what he wanted?
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