The Ultimate Prodigal Son - Chapter 182

[Chapter 182: Become a Disciple]

“Are you sure it’s a young man holding this jade pendant?”

Yang Sheng asked with some excitement.

This jade pendant belongs to his old friend, former national defense general Lin Zuhua!

There are two pieces of this jade pendant, the other one was given to his daughter, and this one should be in Lin Zuhua’s hands.

But how could it be a young man? Did something happen?

“Reporting to the master, there is also an old coachman dressed in simple clothes who came with the young man, but I think the old coachman is not simple, not like a coachman.”

The servant has been guarding the house of the prime minister for so many years and has seen all kinds of people.

But he didn’t believe that the old man was a coachman, so he expressed his doubts.

“Oh, there is another old coachman.”

Yang Sheng thought about it and shouted hurriedly.

“Go and invite them in, hurry!”

Seeing that his master was so anxious, the servant hurriedly ran out to invite Lin Tian and the others in.

“Young master, my master invites you, please follow me!”

The servant said after returning the jade pendant to Lin Tian.

Lin Tian and the others walked into the lobby.

“Young man Lin Tian, meet Prime Minister Yang!”

Lin Tian saw an old man sitting in the hall, and guessed that it was Prime Minister Yang Sheng, and bowed.

Yang Sheng glanced at Lin Tian, and felt that he seemed a little familiar, but he didn’t know him, so he asked.

“Who are you, and why do you have that jade pendant?”

When Lin Tian heard Yang Sheng’s question, he stepped aside and revealed Lin Zuhua behind him.

“Master Yang, who do you think this is?”

Lin Zuhua also raised his head. The two old men looked at each other, and they recalled every bit of the past in their minds.

“Brother Yang, long time no see!”

“Brother Lin, it’s you!”

The two hugged each other like brothers who had been separated for many years, patted each other on the shoulders and said.

“Let’s go, it’s not convenient to talk here, let’s go to my study!”

Yang Sheng said after letting go of Lin Zuhua.

Then the three of them came to Yang Sheng’s study, and a servant served tea, and then at his signal, they left the study and closed the door.

“Brother Lin, we have been separated for so many years, and finally meet again!”

“Brother Yang is right. It has been more than ten years since we last met in the capital!”

As soon as they sat down, they started talking, recalling the past and talking about the present.

Yang Sheng suddenly remembered that there was a Lin Tian standing next to him, so he asked.

“Brother Lin, could this be?”

“It is my son!”

Lin Zuhua answered quickly, and then turned to Lin Tian.

“Tian’er, come and meet your uncle Yang!”

Lin Tian immediately knelt down and saluted Yang Sheng.

“My nephew greets Uncle Yang!”

Yang Sheng hurriedly helped Lin Tian up, and he did not expect Lin Tian to perform such a big ceremony.

“My nephew, get up quickly, there is no need to perform such a big ceremony!”

Although he was the prime minister, Lin Tian was the son of his old friend, so there was no need to do so.

“Uncle Yang saved my father’s life, so I should accept your respect!”

Lin Tian bowed down and kowtowed lightly.

Yang Sheng saved his father’s life, and he is also an elder, so he deserves his respect.

“My nephew really has some of the style of Brother Lin in the past. No wonder I felt familiar with him just now!”

Yang Sheng helped Lin Tian up and said to Lin Zuhua beside him.

“Why did Brother Lin come back suddenly? Did anyone else know about

your return to Beijing?” Yang Sheng asked. He was also confused because the letters from some time ago did not mention coming to Beijing.

“It was the emperor who issued a secret decree to inform me to come to Beijing, so I didn’t have time to mention it in the letter. At present, only the emperor and the eunuch Shun know about it.”

Lin Zuhua suddenly lowered his voice and explained quietly.

“Oh, that’s it!”

Yang Sheng did not go into detail about why the emperor asked Lin Zuhua to come to Beijing. They were all smart people, and they still knew this bit of human relations.

“Brother Lin, actually we came here to ask for something!”

Lin Zuhua suddenly said solemnly.

“Brother Lin, what did you say? If there is anything I can do to help you, just say it. We are not related, so there is no need to say those polite words!”

Yang Sheng waved his hand to indicate that he didn’t need to be so reserved. Lin Zuhua also reacted. It seemed that he still had feelings for Yang Sheng, and he was no longer so reserved.

“Isn’t it the imperial examination soon? Tian’er also wants to pass the exam, but he has no good teacher, so I thought of you!”

Lin Zuhua glanced at Lin Tian and continued.

“Thinking back then, you were the top scholar in the imperial examination, so I wanted him to become your disciple and learn this writing. You know, I am a rough man and cannot teach him!”

Lin Zuhua said, waiting for Yang Sheng to consider.

Yang Sheng thought for a while and said.

“Brother Lin, to be honest, I don’t accept apprentices anymore, but I can still teach you a few!”

Yang Sheng said with some guilt. It’s not that he didn’t want to accept apprentices, but he heard Lin Zuhua say that Lin Tian was unlearned and a loser.

Now he doesn’t look as bad as he said, so he offered to teach him a few.

He also didn’t want to ruin his reputation. After all, accepting apprentices is a big deal, which is related to his stability in the court and his life after retirement.

When Lin Zuhua heard it, he knew it was because he had said before that his son was not doing well.

Unlike Yang Sheng’s daughter, who could recite poems and write couplets when she was very young, although she never left her house, she was a talented woman known far and wide.

Lin Tian changed after falling into the water, but Lin Zuhua hadn’t told Yang Sheng yet.

“Brother Yang, you don’t know that our Tian’er is no longer the same as before. After experiencing the life-and-death test last time, he is no longer careless.” When

Lin Tian heard his father say this, he thought that he had said a lot of bad things about him to Uncle Yang, so that he refused to accept him as a disciple.

“Oh, then I want to test him and see if he has the literary talent to be my disciple!”

Yang Sheng was also curious. What had happened to Lin Zuhua that made him change his previous statement?

When he saw Lin Tian today, he felt that he was not the kind of idle dandy.

“Uncle Yang, just give me questions to test me. I have confidence!”

Lin Tian was not worried when he heard Yang Sheng say this. After all, although he didn’t understand the imperial examination, he was not afraid of the test at all with the thousands of years of cultural heritage of China.

Yang Sheng then gave some basic questions and asked Lin Tian to write poems or something.

Lin Tian’s calligraphy was impeccable, and even the emperor praised it.

After some investigation, Yang Sheng felt that Lin Tian was a genius.

“Yes, nephew Lin’s calligraphy and talent are as good as mine!”

Seeing this, Lin Zuhua hurriedly urged Lin Tian.

“Tian’er, why don’t you become my disciple!”

Lin Tian also reacted at this time, and hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

“Disciple greets Master, please accept my disciple’s greetings!”

“Hurry up, your teacher doesn’t have anything good to say, so I’ll just give you a word!”

“There are three ways to study: with your heart, with your eyes, and with your mouth!”