Chapter - 169 The Perfect Plan Was Just a Dream (10) (1/2)
Zhu Changling grimly said, ”Er Di, these people are among the best of the Wulin characters of the present age; we can't provoke even one of those people. However, Zhang Wu Ye's kindness on us was as heavy as the mountain; we must avenge his deep enmity even if our bodies were ground into powder and our bones were broken into pieces.”
Wiping his tears, Yai Qingquan said, ”Dage is right, we owe our two lives to Zhang Wu Ye. In any case we are able to live these dozen of years, so if we must lose our lives for Zhang Wu Ye's sake, that is only appropriate. What Xiao Di regrets most is that I was not able to meet Zhang Wu Ye's young master; otherwise I would be able to convey Dage's good intention. It would be best if we can invite him here, then we can give him everything we have and take a good care of him the rest of his life.”
Mrs. Zhu prattled incessantly, asking in details about this Zhang Gongzi [young master]. Yao Qingquan only knew that he was seriously injured, but he did not know where he had gone to seek treatment. It seemed to be that this child was only eight, nine years old that year. Supposedly Zhang Sanfeng, Zhang Zhenren [lit. real/true person, a respectful term to address a Taoist priest] was going to pass his entire martial art skillon to him, so that in the future he could take over the Sect Leader position of Wudang Pai.
Zhu Changling, husband and wife immediately kneeled down to express their thanks to the Heaven and the Earth for the future Sect Leader Zhang.
Yao Qingquan said, ”Dage asked me to deliver thousand-year-old king ginseng, snow lotus herb from Tianshan, jade lion paper weight, black gold dagger and other things for Zhang En Gong; Xiao Di has left everything on Mount Wudang, asking Song Da Xia to hand them over to Zhang Gongzi.”
”That's the best arrangement, that is,” Zhu Changling said. Turning toward his daughter he said, ”Why don't you tell Zhang Xiongdi how our family received great kindness from our benefactor?”
Zhu Jiuzhen took Zhang Wuji's hand and led him to her father's study room. She pointed toward a large scroll of painting hanging at the center of the wall and told Zhang Wuji to take a look. On the right margin of the painting there were seven characters: 'Picture of Zhang Gong Cuishan's Kindness'.
Zhang Wuji had never been to Zhu Changling's study before, this time, as he saw his father's revered name, his eyes were clouded with tears. The background of the painting was a vast wilderness. A handsome young warrior, with left hand holding a silver hook and right hand brandishing an iron brush, was fighting a fierce battle with five fearsome looking enemies. Zhang Wuji knew this warrior must be his father. Although the face was somewhat different, he could see the slight resemblance with his own face. There were two people lying on the ground, one was Zhu Changling, the other Yao Qingquan. There were two more people with severed heads. On the lower left corner there was a young mother, her expression was full of fear. She was Madame Zhu. She was carrying a baby girl in her arms. Zhang Wuji focused his eyes and saw a small black mole on the side of this baby's mouth, so she must be Zhu Jiuzhen.
The paper of this painting had turned light yellow; apparently it was an old painting, at least ten years old. Zhu Jiuzhen pointed her finger to the painting and explained to him. Turned out shortly after Zhu Jiuzhen was born, in order to avoid strong enemies, Zhu Changling took his entire family to the west. Unfortunately, the enemy still managed to overtake them on the way. Two of his younger martial brothers were killed, while Yao Qingquan and he were also overthrown. The enemies were just about to finish them off when Zhang Cuishan happened to pass by. Out of chivalry he beat the enemies and drove them away, and thus had saved the lives of the entire family. A simple calculation would reveal that it must have happened before Zhang Cuishan went to the Bing Huo Island.
After Zhu Jiuzhen narrated this story, her expression turned sad. She said, ”We live in such a remote area that we have just found out about Zhang En Gong's return from overseas last year. Father had made an oath that he would not tread his feet on the Central Plains even for one step; thereupon he imposed upon Yao Ershu to deliver the precious gifts to Mount Wudang and pay his respects, who would have thought …” While she was still talking, a young servant of the study room came in and invited her to the mourning hall to pay her respects.
Zhu Jiuzhen hurriedly went out the room. After changing her clothes to a plain white gown, together with Zhang Wuji they went to the rear hall. There were two memorial tablets arranged in the hall. White candles were burning high. One of the memorial tablets bore this inscription: 'En Gong Zhang Daxia Hui Cuishan Zhi Lingwei' [the memorial tablet of benefactor Great Hero Zhang, revered name Cuishan]. The other one had 'Zhang Furen Yin Shi Zhi Lingwei' [the memorial tablet of Mrs. Zhang of the Yin family]. Zhu Changling, husband and wife, along with Yao Qingquan were kneeling on the floor, weeping with grief.