"When it comes to essays, I'm far behind. We still have to ask Mr. Cheng Youwen Cheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Etiquette!" Wu Qing smiled when he saw that it was a thousand taels of silver. "Back then, his boss was the second best in the imperial examination. , that article is so beautiful that it is said that the emperor ordered people to copy his scroll, and he always takes it out to watch."
"That's all. I see that you are quite smart and sensible, so I will teach you to be a good boy. Go and pay homage to Mr. Cheng Youwen tomorrow. He is the true Buddha, and all you ask for is efficacious. Hahaha..." Wu Qingxi said, however Recommended to Cheng Youwen.
"Master Cheng will study politics and become prime minister in the future. If I go to worship him later in life, I'm afraid he won't be able to spare the time to meet him," Lin Qi said.
"Well, it's very difficult for you to raise someone to meet his master. That's all. I'll write another letter for you, go to his master's house, and hand it over for reading." Wu Qing said happily.
"Thank you so much, sir!" Lin Qi looked overjoyed.
It’s really just a few words, only a finger-width strip, and it cost a thousand taels of silver to polish the pen, not counting the gifts...
But it was not a worthwhile trip after all.
In fact, Xiao Chen has told Lin Qi that he can directly contact Wu Qingxi and mention his and Zhao Yu's names.
But Lin Qi felt that either he should not do it, or he should do it in a more confidential manner. Even though Wu Qingxi was an undercover informant, there was no guarantee that he would betray him and leak the information...
Xiao Chen said I don't care about this, you can figure it out yourself.
So far, everything has been going well. Wu Qingxi has no doubts about his identity, otherwise he would not have written a note to pave the way for him, but he just spent more money.
Fortunately, Brother Xiao Chen said that money is not an issue, he will give him as much as he spends...
Brother Xiao Chen is actually quite interesting.
It was easy to meet Wu Qingxi, but it was difficult to meet Cheng Youwen. The next day Lin Qi arrived at Cheng Youwen's house and saw that all the cars and horses at the door were lined up on the street and they were still turning...
You can’t wait a whole day to see this!
Fortunately, I have Wu Qingxi's note, but I don't know if it will work? Can you join the queue?
He immediately walked to the door, caught a doorman, gave him five taels of silver, and took out Wu Qingxi's note and showed it to him.
The doorman took one look and smiled, "Everyone has a copy, and there are quite a few who are older than Mr. Wu Qingxi... But I think you are not a bad person, so I will go in and report it to Master Qi for you. See if the old man has time to see you?"
"Thank you very much, I'm sorry for bothering you." Lin Qi knew that the so-called 'Seventh Master' was Cheng Youwen's housekeeper Cheng Qi. He was the so-called seventh-rank official of the prime minister's disciples. Although this seventh-ranked master had no rank, he was definitely higher than the seventh-rank official. The official is still proud.
Not to mention that after receiving the money, this servant actually did the work. After a while, he ran out and waved to him, leading him in through the side door and arriving at a tea room. Standing at the door was an official who didn’t look like an official or a citizen. middle-aged man.
If we say he is an official, he is dressed in green clothes without a crown. If we say he is not an official, but standing here, Yue Zhi Yuanting has a steady look, an expression that is half-smiling but not a smile, and an imposing manner with raised eyebrows and raised eyes. , even the fifth rank official of the current dynasty is far inferior to...
Naturally, it is Master Cheng Qiqi himself.
When he saw Lin Qi saluting him, he just smiled slightly, raised his hand slightly, and invited Lin Qi to come in, but he went in first. If it weren't for Wu Qingxi's note, Master Cheng Qi would never have welcomed him out...
Take a seat and serve tea.
"Master Cheng, I am here..." Lin Qi saw that he had seen this kind of people a lot, so he knew what they liked to hear, so he just said what they said.
"Haha! What did you say?" Cheng Qi couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, "We are just ordinary people, but we don't dare to call ourselves adults, let alone the late-born self-effacement of your brother Lin."
"I have heard about Master Cheng for a long time. Aren't you the one who is known as the three masters of poetry, calligraphy and painting? Sir, you are just playing in the world, hiding in the city, and don't want fame. Otherwise, you would have won the title of Toad Palace and been named on the gold list!" Lin Qi Lai had done his homework before.
He knew that this guy was a common man, but he liked to be arty. He was a housekeeper, but he always liked to think of himself as a hermit. Lin Qi's words scratched his itch.
Lin Qi wanted to ask him for paintings and poems again, which made him even more happy. When Lin Qi took out a five hundred tael silver note and respectfully offered it as retouching fee, Cheng Qi's mouth was already grinning from ear to ear. The roots are gone.
He immediately agreed happily, and then took the initiative to ask Lin Qi what he wanted to do here.
Of course, Lin Qi said that he wanted to meet Lord Cheng Youwen, but Lord Cheng was busy with state affairs, so he probably wouldn't be able to meet him, but it was a worthwhile trip to see Lord Cheng...
All I have to do is ask Mr. Cheng to help me present the greeting card and gift list.
Cheng Qi opened the greeting card directly in front of him. This extremely rude behavior showed that he was definitely Cheng Youwen's confidant.
"It turns out that Brother Yumen is the governor of Langya County, but can he recognize Governor Duan?" Cheng Qi looked at it carefully, thoughtfully.
Lin Qi honestly didn't recognize him, just because he was originally from Jiangdong and had only arrived in Langya County not long ago... He took the initiative to reveal his flaws to Cheng Qi to reassure him.
Because if people get into the matter of his change of nationality, they will directly deprive him of the qualification to take the imperial examination and cancel his title of son-in-law...
Cheng Qi was actually extremely cautious, and immediately questioned him in detail. Lin Qi was well prepared and answered fluently.
Of course, what he said also revealed his family's strong financial resources, his desire to be named on the gold list, and his willingness to dig into the business...
Of course, none of this is stated explicitly, as long as Cheng Qi can understand it.
"If you want to seek fame, you have to take risks." Cheng Qi suddenly smiled strangely, "You are young, but do you know how deep the water in Fengyang City is?"
"Wansheng only knows that being Master Cheng's disciple will bring glory to the ancestors and the lintel of the gate!" Lin Qi said, "Wansheng is also a son of an official. There are some rules that can be said or not, but he also understands them. Not only did his father teach him earnestly before he came, but also Wu Qingxi Your Excellency also gave me some pointers."
"It's good to understand, but you also have to keep yourself clean." Cheng Qidao, "For example, there was a man from Jiangnan who was about your age some time ago. He was also smart, but he was just greedy and lustful. His predecessor was in a brothel because of He talked nonsense while drunk and got into trouble, so he was beaten to death, but the murderer has not been caught yet, haha."
"Please remember this if you are a late student!" Lin Qi was horrified.
"Well, I have been very busy recently and have no time to write poetry or paint. I only have an old painting. If you like it, you can take it." Cheng Qi stood up and took out a painting from the inner room and handed it to Lin Qi, smiling, " Everyone who comes to take the exam likes to seek good luck, and there is a family with a good name like Qingyun Pavilion. You can also come to please me, the boss is familiar with me..."
After spending two thousand taels of silver, Lin Qi arrived at Qingyun Pavilion.
With Cheng Qi's calligraphy and painting, the fat boss didn't want to talk to him, and the deal was settled in a few words. Lin Qi also happily paid a deposit of 10,000 taels of silver.
The first step of the task was successfully completed.
