On the third day after the death of the old man An of the Gu family, the Gu family began to report the death to each family. The old men and masters of the Gu family also recovered and began to arrange the affairs of each family. Cheng Chi was able to get away and talked with Wu Xiu, the prefect of Jinling, in the study: "… Mr. Wu's three-year term has expired, and his political achievements have been rated as 'excellent' by the court. I wonder what plans he has for the future?"
Three years as a clean official, one hundred thousand silver coins. Moreover, Jinling is a rare place of wealth.
Wu Xiu couldn't put on the airs of a prefect when facing the fourth master of the Cheng family in Jiuru Lane who almost took off his prefect hat and gave it to someone else. He said humbly, "What plans can I make? I have to do whatever the court arranges for me."
"Oh!" Cheng Chi picked up the teacup and took a sip, saying, "In fact, Lord Wu has given our Cheng family a lot of convenience in Jinling City. If we change another official... it will be really troublesome!"
Wu Xiu's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and he said hurriedly, "Actually, I don't want to leave either! But sometimes it's hard to disobey the emperor's orders, and there's nothing we can do about it!"
Cheng Chi nodded and agreed: "This is beyond my control!"
Wu Xiu couldn't help but curse in his heart when he heard this.
I thought, just tell me what you want to do. Don't you want me to do it? Haven't I done enough according to your Cheng family's wishes? Why are you pretending to be so high and mighty in front of us? You even threatened me with the position of Jinling prefect! I... I...
He kept saying "I" for a long time, but he couldn't really say a harsh word. He wanted to practice Tai Chi with Cheng Chi again, to annoy Cheng Chi. Then a steward of the Gu family came in and said, "Fourth Master, our eldest master wants you to come over and talk. He said that the sixth master of the Fang family in Shucheng is coming, so please come over and keep him company."
Wu Xiu secretly said "Oops" and cursed in his heart.
If he had known Cheng Chi was so busy, he would not have been so pretentious and would have just told Cheng Chi that he still wanted to continue to be the prefect of Jinling.
Now that Cheng Chi is gone, I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to talk to him alone like this.
If Cheng Chi thought that he was playing tricks and wanted to negotiate conditions with the Cheng family, he might as well find a way to replace him with a disciple or old friend of the Cheng family to be the prefect of Jinling. Then he would have no place to cry!
He stood up in a hurry and was about to ask who the Sixth Master of the Fang Family in Shucheng was when he heard Cheng Chi say, "The Sixth Master of the Fang Family in Shucheng... is it Fang Daxian?"
Fang Cheng, whose courtesy name was Daxian, was the top scorer in the imperial examination in the Bingxu year of the Zhide reign. He once served as the censor of the Censorate. Because he impeached the eunuch Wan Tong who was in charge of writing at that time, he was transferred to the Hanlin Academy as a candidate scholar by the emperor. He simply resigned and returned to Shucheng to become a pottery maker. He was very famous among the literati.
The steward laughed and said, "The fourth master has a good memory. He is the Lord Fang Daxian who lost his job because of impeachment." His expression was extremely attentive.
It’s actually him!
Wu Xiu's face turned red with excitement.
If he could have a few words with Fang Daxian, who would dare to look down on him in the future
Why didn't he think of it just now
Should I just pretend I know nothing and follow Cheng Chi
Wu Xiu was thinking about it, and saw Cheng Chi stood up with a "huh" and walked out, saying, "Why is he here? Shucheng is more than half a month away from here."
The steward hurried forward but slowed down half a step away from Cheng Chi, always keeping half a step behind Cheng Chi and said: "Master Fang Liu is a friend of our Master Jiu. His sister's family is getting married, and he and his two nephews came to attend the wedding. Who knew that after arriving in Zhenjiang, he heard that our old An had passed away, so he rushed over from Zhenjiang overnight to pay his respects. Our Master Jiu will not be back until the second day of the second month, and there is no one in the family who can accompany Master Fang Liu to talk..."
Cheng Chi remembered.
Isn’t Fang Daxian’s sister the patriarch of the Liao family in Zhenjiang and the mother-in-law of Zhou Shaojin’s sister Zhou Chujin
What a small world!
However, families like theirs are usually small, and they would bump into each other as they go around. Any one of them could be related and become in-laws.
Cheng Chi and the steward went to the flower hall next door, leaving Wu Xiu aside.
It was not right for Wu Xiu to go with them, nor was it right for him to just stand there. Fortunately, the stewards of the Gu family were very smart and immediately invited him to the small study room next door to serve tea.
"No need!" He was still thinking that he had to make things clear with Cheng Chi as soon as possible, otherwise the night would be long and he would not be able to sleep tonight. Wu Xiu told the steward: "Tell me when the fourth master of the Cheng family comes out. I have something to say to him." Then he rewarded the servant with two pieces of silver.
The servant didn't dare to take the silver, and promised to tell Wu Xiu as soon as Cheng Chi came out of the flower hall. In addition, he was alone in the small study next to him. The steward explained that this was the place specially ordered by their family's eldest master to entertain him. Wu Xiu felt better. But he drank a bellyful of tea in the small study. When it was time for lunch, Cheng Chi didn't show up. He began to feel unhappy and ordered his attendant: "Go and see what the fourth master of the Cheng family is doing? It's impossible for him to talk to Fang Daxian all morning. Am I going to leave the government office and sit here?"
The attendant did not dare to delay and ran to the flower hall in a flash.
After a while, the attendant came back and whispered, "The fourth master of the Cheng family came out of the flower hall and was dragged to the study room in the front yard by the third old master of the Gu family. He said that Shen Qingyun was coming. When the fourth master of the Cheng family came out of the small study, he met Teacher Lin on the road. The fourth master of the Cheng family and Teacher Lin stood on the side of the road and talked for a long time..."
As he was speaking, a servant from the Gu family ran in and said, "Sir, Instructor Lin wants to see you!"
Isn’t Teacher Lin talking to Cheng Chi
Wu Xiu was stunned for a moment before saying, "Please ask him to come in!"
The servant hurriedly invited Teacher Lin to come in.
The two of them talked for a long time in the small study, and when the servant of the Gu family went to invite them to dinner, both of them looked a little ugly.
The servant didn't dare to say anything more and carefully led the two men to the hall.
Wu Xiu immediately saw Cheng Chi talking to a tall, thin old man with a sallow complexion.
That should be Fang Daxian, right
I don’t know how Cheng Xiangqing offended Cheng Chi. His own nephew actually wants to cut off Cheng Xiangqing’s career. He is not afraid that the Cheng family will lose two arms because of this. This is... too cruel!
And Teacher Lin, who usually looks like a modest gentleman, but who knows he is actually a sanctimonious guy. Not only is he in cahoots with Cheng Chi, he also shamelessly says things like "Zhi Bo's demise was due to his talent being superior to his virtue", making him sound so noble. Isn't he just trying to curry favor with Jiuru Lane!
Wu Xiu sneered in his heart with disdain, but walked towards Cheng Chi with a smile as warm as spring breeze on his face.
But before he could get close, a servant ran in and said, "Sixth Master is back!"
Cheng Chi stood up immediately, and said "sorry" to the other party, "I just sent Jiu Nie out of the city this morning, and Lao An left in the evening. We didn't think of sending people to chase Jiu Nie..."
Fang Daxian hurriedly said, "Go quickly! Go quickly!"
Cheng Chi hurried out of the hall.
Wu Xiu had no choice but to stay at Gu's house for lunch.
But until the end of lunch, he didn't see Cheng Chi.
He asked where Cheng Chi, the servant who served him, had gone. The servant hurried to ask the steward, who came back and told him, "The fourth master was called away by the eldest master. He said he wanted to discuss inviting the masters of Jiming Temple to perform the water and land ritual."
Do I have to look for Cheng Chi for this kind of thing
What are the people in the Gu family doing
No wonder the people of the Gu family have no future!
Wu Xiu complained in his heart and had to go find Cheng Chi in person.
After all, he was the official in charge of the Gu family. The old man of the Gu family exchanged a few words with him and then left the study to him and Cheng Chi.
Wu Xiu no longer cared about saving face, and whispered to Cheng Chi, "Teacher Lin and I have been thinking about it for a long time, and we think it won't work this year. We should find a way to move up the date for next year's annual exam so that he can miss it!"
Cheng Chi smiled and asked, "Is he good at studying?"
Wu Xiu looked at Cheng Chi's warm face and clear eyes, and the corners of his eyes twitched involuntarily.
This is a tough character.
That's why he can get the best of both worlds, right
He laughed twice and said, "Zichuan is right. I don't think his academic performance is that good either!"
Cheng Chi laughed.
His expression became gentler.
He said softly, "Although I need Teacher Lin's help in this matter, I still have to trouble Lord Wu in the end. I hope Lord Wu will take more care of it. In three to five years, I can rest assured that Lord Wu will be promoted to a provincial governor wherever he is."
Wu Xiu's heart couldn't help but beat wildly, but fortunately his expression remained calm, and he smiled and said, "Then I'll accept Zichuan's good words!"
Cheng Chi smiled even more.
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Zhou Shaojin, however, stood outside Madam Guo's inner room, peeking out.
When Mrs. Guo raised her eyes, she saw the little girl with black hair and rosy face reflected in the mirror.
She couldn't help but laugh and said, "Come in! What are you doing there?"
The servants inside and outside the room all burst into laughter.
Zhou Shaojin walked in with a red face and said, "I wanted to see how you were feeling. Who knew you would find me as soon as I poked my head in!"
Madam Guo smiled and looked her up and down, then nodded and said, "Well, you look much better than the last time I saw you. It shows that you haven't suffered any grievances at home."
Zhou Shaojin chuckled.
Both difficult tasks were handed over to Uncle Chi. She ate well and slept well, so her complexion naturally improved.
She took Madam Guo's arm and said, "You should also be patient and accept the change. Birth, aging, illness and death are human nature. We are all very worried about your health."
Madam Guo nodded and sighed, "I know that too, I just feel bad. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine in a few days."
Those who have no comfort can only adjust themselves...
Zhou Shaojin became sad when he heard this.
She thought for a moment and said, "Let me play mahjong with you! I am much better now than before. I asked Uncle Chi for advice when I was on the boat."
"Really?" Mrs. Guo became interested after listening.
Zhenzhu and others immediately brought in a felt rug to cover the table.
When Cheng Chi came back, there was laughter and joy in the main room of Hanbi Mountain Villa.
He paused.
Nanny Shang immediately smiled and said, "It's the second cousin who came over. She's playing mahjong with the old lady. It's said that whoever loses has to wear a flower on her head. Pearl's head is full of flowers, and the old lady and the second cousin also have flowers in their heads. The old lady is smart and only wears two flowers. The second cousin is beautiful, more delicate than a flower. It's a pity for Pearl, she wears a jacket with four seasons patterns, like a flower woman..." As she spoke, Nanny Shang also laughed.
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Sisters and brothers, today’s update.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)