Chapter 3 "Clever" Strategy

  Thinking of Zhang Changzong, Zhang Wenhui felt a little secretly fortunate: "Fortunately, Zhang Changzong has not shown up for several days. If he came to see me before today, I'm afraid I would have been exposed! It's strange to say that this Zhang family looks like a big aristocratic family and should be more prosperous, but how come I've been lying in the house for several days without any relatives coming to visit? All I saw was a large group of servants busy running around!"

  Although he was a bit perplexed, Zhang Wen knew this wasn't the time to think about these issues. He had to keep up the conversation.

  "Where is this place we're in?"

  Zhang Wen asked this, not entirely without purpose. After all, it's already embarrassing enough for a man to be cuckolded, and if there's even the slightest possibility, one would naturally want to avoid it. Who would want to end up like Zhang Yizhi and his brothers in history, being hacked to death by their illegitimate sons, daughters, and grandchildren?

  Zhang Wen knew that after Wu Zetian ascended to the throne, she had always taken Luoyang as her capital. He thought to himself, no matter what, he would definitely stay far away from Luoyang in the future. As long as he didn't run into Wu Zetian, changing his fate shouldn't be difficult!

  "Report back to Wu Lang, this is the Zhang Mansion's Second House in Jingxing Alley, Shendu Luoyang City!"

  "Luoyang!!!!!"

  Zhang Wen muttered under his breath again "What the...!". What's going on here? Afraid of what, come what!

  Although his mood was terrible, for the sake of his own survival later on, Zhang Wen still patiently asked a lot of questions and only then did he have a preliminary understanding of his situation.

  After confirming the news, Zhang Wenda let out a sigh of relief: Zhang Yizhi had not yet entered the palace. In other words, as long as Zhang Wenda was unwilling to be the first wife and avoided the people in the palace, she would be fine.

  Of course, how to avoid the people in the palace is another story. There is a more pressing issue that is troubling Zhang Wen at present, and for him, the more pressing issue now is how to be a good "Zhang Yizhi".

  It has to be said that this is a big problem, because he is a thorough historical novice. The era of Wu Zetian is too poorly understood. This ignorance manifests itself in behavior as repeated "abnormalities". Others may not mind, but people around him have seen it many times before and can't help but compare with Zhang Yizhi in the past, and inevitably become suspicious.

  Let's take a simple example. Zhang Wen was just a high school dropout who worked as a laborer in his previous life, let alone being able to read traditional Chinese characters, even when reading simplified books, there were many words that he had no relationship with. Since the Zhang family is a prominent clan, as Zhang Yi's identity, he should be proficient in all aspects of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. How could Zhang Wen explain the sudden loss of his basic abilities?

  There are also some thorny issues with words and etiquette.

  The most troublesome thing is the people in Zhang Yi's social circle, and Zhang Wencheng doesn't know how to deal with them. Not to mention others, just talking about Zhang Changzong, fortunately, he hasn't shown up these days, if he appears, Zhang Wen feels that she will inevitably be exposed. Moreover, as a person stands in the world, they always have to make friends and enemies, now Zhang Wen can't even distinguish between Zhang Yi's friends and enemies, how can she deal with it?

  This problem is not only thorny, but it also doesn't seem to be something that can be solved in a day or two. Zhang Wen could only decide to muddle through for now and try his best to follow the example of the past few days, staying indoors, studying the language habits and etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, and familiarizing himself with his surroundings. He would wait until he felt confident before going out again. If during this time, someone else came to visit him, unless absolutely necessary, he would try not to see them. As for whether the servants thought it was strange or not, that was completely outside of Zhang Wen's consideration.

  At this moment, a loud "bang" was heard. Zhang Wen turned his head to look and saw that the other two men who had been waiting outside the door walked in together. Zhang Wen was shocked, he knew these underlings were very afraid of "himself", how could they enter without being summoned? Could it be... could they have discovered that Laozi is a fake goods? No, no, although Laozi has half-fake, but also has half-real!

  Zhang Wen felt a little nervous.

  "Wǒ Láng, time is almost up, let's hurry and set off!" said the slightly shorter and fatter one of the two.

  "It turned out that I was overthinking, they came to inform me of my departure! However, where exactly am I departing to and what for? Zhang Wen's gaze fell on the short and stout man, but saw a mysterious smile spreading across his face, as if he knew something. Looking at the tall and thin man beside him, his expression was completely different."

  Zhang Wen had just made up his mind not to take the initiative to step out, and soon someone came to find him "to set off". He was subconsciously prepared to refuse, but after thinking twice, he secretly clenched his teeth: "Can't rashly refuse!"

  "Judging from their expressions, they should be asking me to do something I normally do every day. If not, why wouldn't they mention the time and place? If I don't go without any reason, won't that just arouse their suspicion?"

  Zhang Wen turned his head, constantly moving his eyes, trying to find a reason not to go. But the time he spent thinking was too short, and he couldn't even come up with a decent reason. After some thought, the only reason he could think of was that he wasn't feeling well. However, as the young master of a wealthy family, once he fell ill, he would have to find a doctor. If the doctor diagnosed him as being completely healthy, then even if they hadn't been suspicious before, they would probably become suspicious now.

  "Go or not go?"

  Just as he was hesitating, Zhang Wen suddenly caught a glimpse of the young Zhang Bao. Perhaps the arrival of his two companions had given him some courage, and there was no longer any fear in his eyes, but rather a few more hints of mysterious smiles, which seemed to be excitement, yet also somewhat tense. This was absolutely a kind of smile that exceeded the range of harmony, subtle yet not profound, with a hint of obscenity that could be seen at a glance without needing to pry.

  "How could I have forgotten him?" Zhang Wen scolded himself silently, then turned to Zhang Bao and said: "Since there's something important, let's stop the game for today!"

  Zhang Bao's heart relaxed, and the joy on his face became even more radiant. Playing this game, he had never thought of being rewarded, as long as he wasn't punished, it was already a pleasant surprise. Since Zhang Wen didn't mention rewards or punishments, he was happy to pretend to be foolish. However, before he could savor this sudden happiness, he heard Zhang Wen say: "However, before leaving, there is one last question to ask!"

  Zhang Bao's young heart was struck again, and he hurriedly pretended to be calm to prepare for the response. He didn't want to make a mistake at the last moment and invite Zhang Wen's punishment.

  "Don't be nervous!" Zhang Wen smiled and leaned in close to Zhang Bao, revealing his pearly white teeth: "Relax, relax! You only need to recount the time, place, people, and events of our trip today... uh, just describe the process in detail once and that's it. It's very simple, isn't it?"

  Zhang Bao let out a long, quiet breath. It was clear that his little heart could no longer withstand the ups and downs of such chaotic jumps. If he had to endure several more times like this, he would surely get heart disease.

  Perhaps inspired by the imminent end of this tormenting game, Zhang Bao answered with great care and in great detail, and very clearly.

  Zhang Wen listened and listened, his eyebrows gradually relaxed, and a sly smile similar to the three of them also flashed across his face.

  It turned out that Zhang Yi had set his sights on a young woman. This young woman would pass by the building of Yuexiang Wine House every five days in the afternoon, going to the pharmacy in Lixingfang next door to grab medicine, regardless of wind or rain. For this reason, Zhang Yi specially booked the window seat on the second floor of Yuexiang Wine House for admiring flowers.

  Recently, Zhang Yi gradually became dissatisfied with just watching from afar and began to pursue closer contact. So, he wrote and directed a "hero rescues beauty" play, waiting for the little girl to pass by before performing it.

  As he spoke, Zhang Bao's habit of flattering people recurred, and he began to lavish excessive praise on Wu Lang, saying that his plan was incredibly clever and unparalleled, like a deer hanging its horns, every detail revealing unmatched brilliance. Then, with great confidence, he patted his chest: "If this little girl doesn't come, then so be it; but if she does, she'll definitely fall into Wu Lang's trap, heh heh..."

  Zhang Wen was stunned: "My god, no way! This method would be the most useless in the 21st century. How could Zhang Bao praise it like a flower? It seems that over a thousand years of history, not only have human material life and scientific technology developed rapidly, but also the art of flirting has evolved day by day. What a rare thing!"

  Suddenly, something called confidence sprouted in Zhang Wen's heart, and he suddenly felt that although he was facing many difficulties, as long as he worked hard to solve them, he would definitely be able to live in this era and live a good life.

  "Definitely!" Zhang Wen clenched his fist tightly.

  "Wu Lang, what's with you..." The three servants were shocked by Zhang Wen's silly smile.

  "There's nothing here, Zhang Bao will lead the way. You all follow me to kill your way to the Yu Xiang wine tower!" Zhang said in a Peking Opera tone, pointing at the gate.