Following Yan Song, Zhao Wenhua, the nominal master, also presented Zhu Ping'an with a gift, which was a valuable She inkstone from She County, Anhui Province. He encouraged Zhu Ping'an not to forget the principle that "diligence brings success, while laziness leads to failure" even though he was newlywed.
Zhu Ping'an thanked him profusely.
It was only about a minute or two later, someone outside the door announced that the clerk had brought in the memorial submitted by the Ministry of Public Security today.
Zhu Ping'an stood up and said goodbye on his own initiative. He gained a poem by Yan Song and a She inkstone from this trip.
After Zhu Ping'an came out of Yan Song's office, he was somewhat surprised to find that in addition to Li Chunfang, there were several officials on duty in Wuyi Hall outside the door. They were all staring at him with sharp eyes. The look was a little creepy. Zhu Ping'an shivered involuntarily and felt like a monkey in a zoo, being surrounded and stared at.
"Ahem, nice to meet you all, gentlemen. It's our first meeting. I hope you can give me more guidance in the future." Zhu Ping'an looked confused, then bowed and greeted the officials who were watching.
"Sure, sure."
Several officials returned Zhu Ping'an's greetings with strange expressions on their faces, exchanged a few simple greetings and introduced themselves, then left hand in hand.
After leaving, several officials were whispering to each other not far away, occasionally glancing at Zhu Ping'an.
The sound is so small that I can't hear it.
However, Zhu Ping'an knew lip reading and could read their conversation. He smiled speechlessly, and realized that this was what was happening.
"Not that great, looks a bit silly."
"Yeah, I don't think he's that special. Why did the Prime Minister keep him for so long?"
"It seems that the quality of this year's imperial examination is not very good. This kid has become the top scorer."
…
Where there are people, there is the world. I just stayed in Yan Song's office for a while longer, and people started to envy me.
By the way, you guys are too hasty in being jealous.
I was trembling with fear every moment in Yan Song's office. Yan Song and Zhao Wenhua were both veterans who had been in the Ming Dynasty's political circle for decades. Their true thoughts would never show on their faces. Don't be fooled by their kind faces, like the elders next door. Who knows what they are thinking in their hearts.
In fact, the more gently they smiled, the more nervous Zhu Ping'an became.
When dealing with big guys of their level, if you make a small mistake, you're doomed.
Li Chunfang, who was waiting outside the door, smiled and explained to Zhu Ping'an, "In the past, officials who were newly assigned to Wuyi Palace would always visit the Prime Minister first, but everyone would come out in a cup of tea or so. Only Zihou was kept by the Prime Minister for such a long time. Therefore, everyone was a little curious about who Zihou was."
Although Zhu Ping'an knew what was going on by reading Li Chunfang's lips, he still made a surprised expression after listening to Li Chunfang's words, then shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Everyone is really overthinking. I just met Mr. Zhao Wenhua, the teacher of Prime Minister Yan. Mr. Zhao was the education official of Nanzhili last year, and he also presided over the imperial examination before the provincial examination. So, we talked for a long time."
"Haha, Zihou, don't think too much about it. They are just curious for a moment." Li Chunfang smiled slightly.
Zhu Ping'an thought about the lip reading he had just read, curled the corners of his lips and nodded.
"Zihou, this is the room of Lord Lu Ben. I have just gone in to ask for instructions from Lord Lu. You can go in now." Li Chunfang led Zhu Ping'an forward a few meters to another office room, and motioned for Zhu Ping'an to go in and visit Lord Lu Ben.
Zhu Ping'an thanked Li Chunfang, then walked into the room to visit Lord Lu. Just like he had paid his respects to Yan Song, Zhu Ping'an also bowed respectfully to Lu Ben.
Inside the room, Lu Ben was an energetic old man.
He was already over fifty years old, not much younger than Yan Song. He wore a crown of scented leaves on his head and his white hair was neatly tied up. However, there were some age spots on his face. His eyes were deep but bright, and he looked energetic.
Lu Ben was rather dignified and stern, with the condescending air of a superior. He met Zhu Ping'an in an official manner, asked him some basic questions about his writing style and calligraphy, what he was good at, etc., gave Zhu Ping'an a folding fan, and quickly served him tea and saw him off.
Zhu Ping'an tactfully said goodbye and left.
Zhu Ping'an came out of the visit relatively quickly this time, in less than a cup of tea. Seeing this, the officials who had been jealous of Zhu Ping'an before smiled at each other and whispered.
"That's right, that's how it should be."
"Well, I said there's nothing special about this kid."
... ...
Zhu Ping'an glanced at them and smiled silently.
The next person to be visited is the last big shot in the cabinet, who was also the newly promoted elder cabinet member not long ago. Zhu Ping'an is very familiar with this elder cabinet member. He is none other than Zhu Ping'an's teacher - Lord Xu Jie.
After Zhu Ping'an entered the room, before he had time to greet, Xu Jie kindly took his arm and pushed him onto a chair.
Unlike the friendliness of Yan Song and Zhao Wenhua, Yan and Zhao's friendliness makes people feel pressured, while Xu Jie's friendliness makes people feel comfortable, like a spring breeze.
"Zihou is here, please sit down and talk. Well, what kind of tea do you like, Longjing, Maojian or Biluochun?" Xu Jie asked with a smile.
"Thank you, teacher. No need to trouble you anymore. I will drink whatever you drink." How could Zhu Ping'an dare to ask the teacher to make tea? He stood up with a smile, took the teapot from Xu Jie, felt that the teapot was warm and there was still tea in it, so he poured a cup of tea for Xu Jie and another cup for himself.
After pouring it, Zhu Ping'an added some hot water to the teapot and placed it on the coffee table.
"Zihou, I just went to see Lord Yan and Lord Lu." Xu Jie asked.
"Teacher, I went to visit Master Yan and Master Lu first, and then came to you." Zhu Ping'an nodded and replied.
"Well, Lord Yan and Lord Lu are both veterans of the cabinet, needless to say. The other officials in Wuyi Palace are also senior. Each of them is more experienced than you. Zihou, don't be so self-righteous. You should learn more from them in the future." Xu Jie nodded and said slowly.
"The students understand." Zhu Pingan replied.
"Well, you have to remember that the cabinet is an important maintenance place, and all aspects of the entire Ming Dynasty are gathered here. Here, you have to watch more, listen more, learn more, and do more. If you encounter something you don't understand, just ask, and keep asking until you understand it. If other officials can't answer, you can come to me. Don't be afraid of being embarrassed. You are still young, and it is normal not to understand. Pretending to know when you don't will make people laugh. In Wuyi Palace, your brain, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, hands, and feet must be diligent, and you will benefit a lot." Xu Jie nodded and taught Zhu Ping'an earnestly to cherish the opportunity to guard the cabinet.
“Students remember the teacher’s teachings.”
Zhu Ping'an nodded seriously and thanked Xu Jie from the bottom of his heart. Xu Jie's teachings were very practical and made Zhu Ping'an understand what to do when on duty in Wuyi Palace.
"There is one thing you have to remember. Here you have to watch more, listen more, learn more, do more, and ask more questions, but be careful with what you say. Do you understand what I mean?" Xu Jie said to Zhu Ping'an.
"The students understand that silence is golden." Zhu Ping'an nodded.
"Silence is golden. Haha, well, it's a common saying but it makes sense. I hope you understand." Upon hearing this, Xu Jie pondered over the four words "Silence is golden" and nodded with a satisfied smile. This student of his always makes his eyes light up.