Two Birds with One Stone
"Do a good job, everyone!"
"We can buy lots of meat with the lucky money we received!"
"If you can resist the urge to eat meat and want to learn martial arts from me with a real sword, then let's go buy one!"
Inside the mansion, Huo Qubing acted like a supervisor, constantly directing the many older children to do their work.
The mansion was in disarray because Huo Qubing had led his men in a rehearsal. Huo Qubing knew exactly where to clean, and he didn't seem slow at all.
Children are far less capable of working than adults, but their numbers made up for it, and the messed-up mansion was at least a little cleaner.
"This baby is lovely; I want to have one like this someday!"
Rong Tianding and Zhang Xuezhou stood on the second floor of the mansion and looked down. Seeing the group of children cleaning in an orderly manner, Rong Tianding was amazed and felt that he was far inferior to Huo Qubing, who was good at commanding troops, when he was a child.
"Aren't you afraid this little guy will cause trouble?" Zhang Xuezhou complained.
"That's true!"
Let alone wandering around the official residences in the Imperial City District, even ransacking ordinary people's homes would cause all sorts of trouble.
Rong Tianding had just thought Huo Qubing was quite good, but when Zhang Xuezhou added a comment, his little thoughts vanished without a trace.
It's one thing for young children to cause trouble, but it becomes much more difficult as they grow older, and even if their parents want to, it's hard to clean up the mess.
"Whose child is he?" Rong Tianding asked doubtfully.
"Have you seen that woman? She was born to Old Zheng across the street from us. She's now a singer in Silanfang," Zhang Xuezhou replied.
"It was her!"
Rong Tianding nodded thoughtfully.
Time flies, and the baby from back then has grown to waist height of an adult.
Wei Shao'er was audacious enough to steal from the palace, and Huo Qubing clearly inherited this trait perfectly, even showing this kind of temperament at the age of four or five.
Chen Zhang was confined to the palace as the Grand Master of Ceremonies and was not allowed to leave, while Wei Shao'er performed in the Silanfang. Huo Qubing was practically free to do as he pleased.
The other party can switch between forming cliques and small groups one minute and being humble and ingratiating the next; they can do so with remarkable flexibility.
Rong Tianding stared at Huo Qubing with great interest, feeling that Huo Qubing looked somewhat familiar.
After a while, he turned his head to look at Zhang Xuezhou.
Although Zhang Xuezhou disliked Huo Qubing, Rong Tianding felt that the two were similar in many ways.
If we were to point out the differences between the two, they might differ in their cultivation level, age, or maturity of thought, but otherwise, their personalities are quite similar.
Zhang Xuezhou complained that Huo Qubing brought disaster upon himself, but Rong Tianding felt that Zhang Xuezhou repeatedly crossed the line between life and death, often engaging in treacherous dealings.
Zhang Xuezhou had simply become completely accustomed to his behavior, and Rong Tianding was also quite accepting of it, so the two of them had grown used to it.
However, if it were a friend he had just met, Rong Tianding felt that few people could adapt to Zhang Xuezhou's pace.
If Zhang Xuezhou hadn't felt he might be getting into trouble, Rong Tianding believed that this mansion would definitely not be inhabited by only Zhang Xuezhou and A Qiao.
"Master Dongfang, we've finished cleaning! Your residence was so messy and chaotic; we brothers are exhausted. Could you perhaps give us a little more money as a housewarming gift?"
Nearly an hour later, the busy little figures in the distance finally put away their cleaning tools.
Many of the younger men dared not step forward, but Huo Qubing ran up in a flash, even trying to ask Zhang Xuezhou for more money.
"Do you want to eat meat?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.
"Of course we really want it," Huo Qubing said, wiping his mouth. "We've been eating grass all this time, our throats are practically on fire, and we have no energy. All we think about is meat!"
During the period of mourning for the Empress Dowager, meat and fish were forbidden. Markets selling meat were closed, and the sale of live pigs, wild animals, and other meats was suspended. Even if you had money, you couldn't buy meat through normal channels.
Even the emperors in the palace were eating sunflowers, as were many officials, not to mention younger generations like Huo Qubing.
Many people are waiting for the end of the mourning period and the lifting of restrictions to unleash their pent-up spending, and children are even saving their pocket money, just in time to go on a shopping spree after the ban is lifted.
"You still want to buy a sword?" Zhang Xuezhou asked with a smile.
"I've been thinking about it, even dreaming about it, but my father and mother won't buy me a sword. My uncle's sword is too heavy; I can't even lift it. My godfather said he'd give me a sword when I turn fifteen, but right now I really want to buy a sword that's suitable for us kids," Huo Qubing said fluently.
"A wooden sword is just right for a child," Zhang Xuezhou said.
"Too light, too light!" Huo Qubing shook his head repeatedly, saying, "The sword floats too easily, and while it looks flashy, it's useless!"
"As long as you are strong, it doesn't matter what weapon you use. If you think weapons are more important than people, you will pin your hopes on divine weapons in the future and neglect the growth of your own strength!"
Zhang Xuezhou offered his earnest guidance.
He rambled on not out of well-intentioned education, but because he was worried that Huo Qubing might use the money to buy a sword and injure someone without thinking.
Officials in the Imperial City District see each other all the time; officials of all ranks are crammed into this area, and he clearly doesn't want to cause any extra trouble.
"I'll give you one hundred and a half taels of silver. Use these half taels to buy beans. For every bean you buy, I'll treat you to meat until you can't eat anymore!"
Zhang Xuezhou felt his pockets, Rong Tianding had already thrown the half-ounce coin, folded into a small packet, downstairs.
"Are you telling the truth?" Huo Qubing called out from downstairs as he took the small package.
"Real!"
Can we eat it today?
"Able!"
Goodness gracious!
Huo Qubing shouted, feeling as if he had seen an even more audacious fellow.
Huo Qubing thought he was quite brave, but he had never seen anyone eat large amounts of meat during a period of great mourning.
Most people have the desire but not the courage; even those who are greedy will secretly hide away to eat. There has never been anyone like Zhang Xuezhou who invited children to eat to their heart's content.
You'd better keep your word!
Huo Qubing opened his small bag, grabbed a handful of coins, and gestured with them. He then tiptoed back and forth several times in the direction where Zhang Xuezhou and the others were. Finally, he left a message and ran off.
"Are we really cooking meat?" Rong Tianding, "Isn't doing this during a time of great mourning a little too extravagant?"
"It's just a little play around with alchemy!"
Zhang Xuezhou shook his head.
Even the most delicious white meat is still a vegetarian dish and would not violate the edicts during the Empress Dowager's mourning period.
Grinding gypsum ore into soy milk to turn it into white meat is an ingredient that needs to be accepted. It's not like the emperor would unconditionally believe whatever Zhang Xuezhou said, and he was also taking a high risk to act against the King of Huainan.
The appearance of children like Huo Qubing provided Zhang Xuezhou with a group of test subjects.
He had people tested in the lab far too many times, and he was extremely adept at selecting the most suitable candidates for testing.
This also prevented Huo Qubing and others from using money to buy swords and commit violence, which Zhang Xuezhou thought was a brilliant two-birds-with-one-stone solution.