Chen Er curved his lips into a smile. "Forget it, forget it. As long as you know. I'm not a petty man."
"I've always heard that the Second Young Master is unrestrained and unconventional, different from us ordinary people who chase after fame and fortune. Now that I've met you, I see that you're truly generous and bold, with the charm of the predecessors of the Former Jin Dynasty." Admiration began to show on Liu Zhang's face.
The Former Jin Dynasty was a dynasty nearly five hundred years before the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was arguably the most prosperous dynasty in history.
At that time, the common people lived a prosperous and peaceful life.
As the saying goes, "When well-fed and well-clothed, one thinks of lust." People generally had a fondness for romance and advocated freedom. They drank wine, chanted poems, rode horses, and sang songs every day, living a romantic, unrestrained, and wild life.
As a result, a large number of literati emerged during the Former Jin Dynasty, leaving behind many masterpieces.
Although Chen Er didn't know much about the literati, famous poems, and masterpieces of the Former Jin Dynasty, he had heard about the social customs of that time and knew that Liu Zhang was praising him.
It could be said that this was the first time in the more than ten years of Chen Er's life as a playboy that he had heard someone praise him like this.
It turned out that not learning poetry and literature like his younger brother Chen Yanzhi was called not chasing after fame and fortune. It turned out that his daily life of indulging in pleasure and idleness was called being unrestrained and unconventional.
Chen Er felt quite flattered.
He raised his head. For the first time, he put aside his cold expression. His eyes looking at Liu Zhang were as kind as if he had met a bosom friend, but he still modestly said, "You flatter me. How can I be compared with the predecessors of the Former Jin Dynasty? But you're really likable. Next time... Oh, right. Who are you again?"
Liu Zhang quickly replied respectfully, "I'm Liu Zhang, the Secretary of the Ministry of War."
"Liu Zhang? Okay, I'll remember you. There are too many people here. I won't stay long. I'll invite you to drink next time."
Chen Er laughed heartily.
Hearing this, Liu Zhang immediately dragged Zhang Kui to the side sensibly, bowed with his hands clasped, and said, "Take your time, Second Young Master."
While they were talking, a young man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He helped the mother and son to the side, making way for the carriage.
Chen Er was already in a great mood after being flattered by Liu Zhang. Now that he saw the mother and son sensibly moving to the side, he didn't care anymore.
He nodded to Liu Zhang, then resumed his cold expression. Just as he was about to raise his whip and drive the horse away again, he suddenly remembered that Liu Zhang had praised him with a look of admiration for his "charm of the Former Jin Dynasty" just now.
He frowned.
Driving two horses rampantly through the street and being pointed at by others really didn't match the "charm of the Former Jin Dynasty".
I don't know where this "idol burden" came from. Facing Liu Zhang's admiring and respectful gaze at this moment, Chen Er just couldn't bring himself to whip the horse.
Thinking of this, he retracted his whip, got off the carriage, walked a few steps, and neatly flipped onto the horse. He didn't forget to show a kind smile to Liu Zhang.
The whole set of actions was smooth, elegant, and natural, really fitting Liu Zhang's words about the "charm of the Former Jin Dynasty".
Bai Zheng propped her chin with her hand and sipped her tea casually, watching the changes below.
When she saw Chen Er gently squeezing the horse's belly with his feet and slowly leaving the street on his horse, the curve of Bai Zheng's lips became higher and higher.
At this time, the crowd downstairs gradually dispersed as Chen Er left.
Liu Zhang waited respectfully until the carriage disappeared around the street corner, then turned around and walked up to the mother and son who had gradually stopped crying.
"Is the little boy hurt anywhere?" He gently stroked the child's forehead and asked softly.
The child looked only six or seven years old. Because he had just finished crying, he was still sniffling in his mother's arms. Now that he saw someone caring about him, the tears that had just stopped welled up again. He sobbed and replied, "My legs and hands hurt so much."
Saying that, he showed his little arm and pointed to his left calf.
Liu Zhang squatted down and carefully lifted the child's clothes, seeing the trouser leg already soaked with blood.
The child's mother gasped in pain.
Seeing this, Zhang Kui on the side was so angry that he blew his beard and stared. "That little brute from the Chen family!"
Liu Zhang tightened his lips. After examining the injury, he looked up and comforted the child. "The little boy is brave. It's just a little bleeding. A real man shouldn't be afraid."
The child wanted to cry again, but hearing this, he forced himself to stop crying. With tears hanging from the corners of his eyes, he nodded aggrievedly.
Bai Zheng, standing above, could clearly see that the young man in a blue robe who had quietly helped the mother and son just now was still standing beside them.
Liu Zhang glanced at him and said, "Take the child to see Old He. Make sure to check his whole body."
"Don't worry." The young man replied in a low voice, then looked at him and said, "The whip wound on your body must be quite serious. You should go with them too."
"It's not necessary. I'll just apply some medicine when I get back." Liu Zhang smiled indifferently, then turned to the woman. "It's still a bit of a distance to Old He's place. I'm afraid you can't carry the child on your own. Let him take you there, okay?"
"Thank you, sir. It's just that I..." The woman showed a look of embarrassment on her face, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
The silver that Chen Er had casually thrown on the ground had rolled too far away, so they didn't look for it carefully just now. Now that the crowd had dispersed, the silver had disappeared along with them.
I don't know who had picked it up out of greed.
Liu Zhang knew what the woman meant. He said gently, "Old He is a highly skilled doctor. He will definitely cure the little boy's injury. You don't need to worry. As for the consultation fee and medicine money, with him here, you don't need to worry about that either."
Saying that, he pointed to the young man with a smile.
"This... This is not appropriate..." The woman quickly wanted to decline.
But Liu Zhang didn't give her a chance to decline. He directly told the young man to pick up the child. "The little boy's leg is injured. It can't be delayed. Nothing is more important than the little boy's health. Go and see a doctor earlier."
Tears welled up in the woman's eyes. After a while, she finally nodded gratefully. "Your great kindness, sirs, I, a poor woman, will never forget."
Bai Zheng put down her teacup, with a mysterious smile on her lips.
Sitting in a high place, she could clearly see that after the matter was resolved, Zhang Kui supported Liu Zhang. He was scolding something, but his hands were tightly supporting the other person.
Liu Zhang was smiling. There was not a trace of annoyance in his slender eyes and brows. He even occasionally helped Zhang Kui finish his incohesive scolding.
This made Zhang Kui blow his beard and stare again.
In another place, the young man carefully carried the child and got into a carriage not far away. The carriage slowly drove away into the distance.
"Waiter, check out." Bai Zheng put down her teacup and waved to the busy waiter not far away.
The waiter ran over eagerly. "Ten copper coins, sir."
"So expensive?" Bai Zheng gasped.
The waiter grinned. "The tea in our shop is delicious. It's worth the price."
"You're right." Bai Zheng nodded. "This cup of tea is really worth it."