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Although Cui Mian has been in office for many years and was not a very important figure at the beginning, after all, he has served as a pavilion elder and has a high status, which is not trivial. [No pop-up novel website]
Therefore, after seeing the Cui family's team appear, Zhao Junchen, Su Changzhen, and Chen You did not dare to neglect and hurriedly turned back to greet them.
By the time Cui Mian was helped out of the sedan chair, the three of them were already waiting beside the sedan chair and saluted respectfully.
While saluting and saying hello, Zhao Junchen looked up and saw that Cui Mian's beard was all white, his face was full of wrinkles, and his figure was even thinner and stooped, as if he was old and dying. However, his seemingly dim old eyes still shone with a shrewd and cautious light. He is definitely not an old fool.
On the other side, after Cui Mian got off the sedan, his eyes slowly swept across the three people in front of him, and paused for a moment on Zhao Junchen. A trace of complexity flashed in his eyes, and then he said slowly: "I've kept you three waiting for a long time. Something happened unexpectedly in the house, so don't be surprised if I'm a little late."
Zhao Junchen naturally knew what happened in Cui Mian's house and why he came so late, but he didn't explain it clearly. He just smiled and said: "Mr. Ge, you are not late. The younger generation has just arrived. You are just the front and back legs."
Su Changzhen also smiled and said: "Yes, the palace banquet has not started yet, and you are not late, Mr. Ge. It's just that I came early."
Chen You has always been taciturn by nature, so he just said concisely and concisely: "Lao Ge's words are serious."
However, although Zhao Junchen, Su Changzhen and Chen You were respectful and polite, Cui Mian did not appreciate it and looked rather cold. He said slowly: "I have been an official for many years, and now I have no power. I am just a commoner, so the Duke of Jing, the governor of Su, and the minister of Zhao, you three have noble status, so you don't need to be polite, let alone use it as a courtesy. You call me 'Ge Lao', but I can't afford it."
While speaking, Cui Mian also glanced at Zhao Junchen. Obviously, this sentence was mainly aimed at Zhao Junchen. The distant attitude is very obvious.
However, although it was mainly directed at Zhao Junchen, this cold attitude also affected Su Changzhen and Chen You. However, Su Changzhen and Chen You were not angry but happy, with joy flashing in their eyes.
After all, Cui Mian was the former Pavilion Elder. In terms of qualifications, reputation, and connections, he was far superior to Su Changzhen and Chen You. If Cui Mian also wanted to marry Zhao Junchen, it would be difficult for Su Changzhen and Chen You to compete with him.
Although Cui Mian has always cherished feathers, logically speaking, he would never be willing to marry Zhao Junchen. Today's blind date at the palace banquet was just to deal with Emperor Deqing. However, things are unpredictable in the world, especially in the officialdom. If things go wrong and Cui Mian changes his attitude, then Su Changzhen and Chen You's hopes of marrying Zhao Junchen will be greatly reduced.
So, seeing Cui Mian's attitude being so cold. Obviously, as speculated, Su Changzhen and Chen You were unwilling to marry Zhao Junchen. Naturally, Su Changzhen and Chen You were secretly happy.
Next. Su Changzhen and Chen You both tacitly agreed not to say a word and allowed Zhao Junchen and Cui Mian to continue talking, hoping to use this opportunity to completely dispel Zhao Junchen's thoughts about Cui Mian.
On the other side, Zhao Junchen had already expected Cui Mian's cold attitude, so he didn't feel embarrassed. His attitude was still respectful, and he just smiled lightly and said: "Senior Mingjian, this junior is not polite, but I always respect him the most. Senior, you regard your senior as a role model for your conduct, and the respect you show me now is all sincere."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Cui Mian frowned, stared at Zhao Junchen with cold eyes, and said slowly: "Oh? I thought Zhao Shangshu's role model would be that old guy Zhou Shangjing... But I didn't see it. Zhao Shangshu's current position of power still takes me into consideration. However, even when I was serving as Pavilion Elder, I accomplished nothing, and now I am just a powerless old man. However, Zhao Shangshu's ridiculous praise Don’t dare to take it seriously.”
Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "The old man is too self-effacing. As far as the younger man knows, there are still many officials in the court who regard themselves as your disciples, and there are also many Qingliu who are famous all over the world who highly respect you. , with such influence and connections as senior, how can it be considered that you have accomplished nothing? If you, senior, have accomplished nothing, then how many people in this world can be considered to have achieved a little? What's more, what the juniors admire is your character, senior. The perpetrator, and no one else.”
After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "Speaking of which, senior, you keep calling me 'Zhao Shangshu', which is too harsh. From now on, just call me Junchen."
After snorting softly, Cui Mian still didn't appreciate it and said: "When Zhao Shangshu entered the court as an official, I had already been in office for many years. I have not had many opportunities to meet each other in these years. We are not familiar with each other, so we should keep a close relationship."
Seeing Cui Mian's attitude, Chen You and Su Changzhen on the side had no intention of smoothing things over. Zhao Junchen did not want to continue asking for trouble. He just sighed, changed the subject, and said: "Everything is naturally the same. Senior, your attitude shall prevail, I don’t dare to force it. However, now that everyone is here, shouldn’t we enter the palace for the banquet? If we continue to linger outside the palace like this, I’m afraid we will be late.”
Seeing that Zhao Junchen was so expressionless, Cui Mian frowned again. He felt that Zhao Junchen was deep, inexpressible, and definitely not a kind person. On the contrary, he disliked Zhao Junchen even more.
In fact, as Chen You and Su Changzhen speculated, Cui Mian, who has always cherished his body, cherished his feathers the most, and would never marry his granddaughter Cui Qianxue to Zhao Junchen, a corrupt official with a notorious reputation and well-known to the world. This is not only for the sake of Cui Qianxue's future happiness, but also for the sake of his Cui family's reputation and connections. The reason why he attended this blind date at the palace banquet today was just because Cui Mian did not dare to disobey Emperor Deqing's attitude.
Therefore, since meeting Zhao Junchen, Cui Mian has been making cold remarks, all hinting at his position and attitude, hoping that Zhao Junchen would give up the idea of marrying with the Cui family.
However, Cui Mian has always cherished his own life, and now treating Zhao Junchen so coldly is his limit. However, he does not want to offend Zhao Junchen too much. Otherwise, if it leads to revenge, with Zhao Junchen's current power, Cui Mian will not be able to do it. deal with.
Therefore, seeing Zhao Junchen change the topic, Cui Mian said nothing more. He just nodded and said: "What Zhao Shangshu said makes sense, it's getting late. It's time to enter the palace..."
"Yeah~!"
However, at this moment, in a small sedan behind Cui Mian, a clear and charming voice suddenly sounded. The voice was full of surprise and uncertainty, as if the owner of the voice had encountered something incredible.
Chen You and Su Changzhen were both human beings, and they immediately guessed the identity of the owner of the voice.
This is a girl's voice, probably young. Being in the Cui family's team and sitting in a sedan chair, and considering today's occasion and timing, the owner of this voice is obviously Cui Mian's granddaughter Cui Qianxue.
However, the two of them were puzzled as to why Cui Qianxue screamed in surprise. He couldn't help but look puzzled.
As for Zhao Junchen, he could guess what happened, but he did not explain it. He just looked at the sedan behind Cui Mian with interest. However, the curtain of the sedan was closed at this time, making it impossible to see through the scene inside.
the other side. Cui Mian was interrupted by Cui Qianxue's soft call, and saw the three people in front of him with different expressions. He felt that his granddaughter's behavior was really uncultured and made him lose face in front of everyone. His face darkened.
However, something seemed to come to mind. Cui Mian suddenly sighed lightly, without showing any look of blame. He just pretended not to know and continued: "However, what Zhao Shangshu said is reasonable. Since the time for the palace banquet is approaching and everyone has come, let's enter the palace. .”
While speaking, Cui Mian took the first step and walked towards the palace gate.
Zhao Junchen, Chen You, and Su Changzhen also quickly followed.
However, as Zhao Junchen and others turned around, the small sedan behind them quietly opened the curtain again. Behind the curtain, a pair of clear and bright eyes opened wide, staring closely at Zhao Junchen's. The figure from behind, the eyes full of shock and disbelief.
In the sedan, the expression on Cui Qianxue's pretty face was changing, and she murmured: "How...how could it be him!? He, he is Zhao Junchen?!"
Cui Qianxue never expected that the man she met at the bean curd stall not long ago was actually Zhao Junchen himself!
For a moment, Cui Qianxue's thoughts were spinning and complicated.
Shocked, this is natural.
But despite being shocked, there was still an indescribable emotion deep in Cui Qianxue's heart.
He seemed embarrassed, curious, and conflicted.
However, unexpectedly... there was no annoying feeling.
Originally, Cui Qianxue hated Zhao Junchen. Although Zhao Junchen was powerful and "young and promising," Zhao Junchen was a corrupt official! So Cui Qianxue hates Zhao Junchen! In order to avoid a blind date with Zhao Junchen, he even ran away from home!
Originally, Cui Qianxue hated the unknown man she met by chance at the bean curd stall. Although this man was very wise, easy-going, and handsome in appearance, this man exposed Cui Qianxue too easily and smashed Cui Qianxue mercilessly. The beautiful world we have woven for ourselves over the years!
Therefore, it stands to reason that after Cui Qianxue discovered that these two people were actually the same person, her disgusting emotions should have become even more intense.
But, strangely, Cui Qianxue no longer had that annoying emotion in her heart at this time.
Why is this? Even Cui Qianxue herself couldn't figure it out.
"Maybe Zhao Junchen can understand? After all, he is so smart..."
It seemed that at a certain moment, such a thought flashed through Cui Qianxue's mind, and then she was startled by the thought and shook her head quickly.
Then, Cui Qianxue opened the sedan curtain again, and for reasons that even she didn't understand, she looked at Zhao Junchen's back blankly again.
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In fact, the Zhao Junchen that Cui Qianxue has always hated is not the real Zhao Junchen, but the Zhao Junchen who exists in her imagination!
What is really hateful about Zhao Junchen is undoubtedly his corruption and bending the law, forming cliques for personal gain, framing Zhongliang, and so on.
Each one of them is unforgivable, enough to make Zhao Junchen infamy for thousands of years.
However, for Cui Qianxue, these evil deeds are too far away and too abstract. It is just a concept of "Zhao Junchen is not a good person". After all, he has not witnessed it with his own eyes, and Cui Qianxue cannot accept this distant and abstract concept. But I really hate Zhao Junchen.
Therefore, the Zhao Junchen that Cui Qianxue hates only exists in her imagination.
According to Cui Qianxue's imagination, a corrupt official like Zhao Junchen must be ugly, stupid, ignorant, selfish, and useless.
However. After an encounter at the bean curd stall, Cui Qianxue discovered that Zhao Junchen was not only not ugly. On the contrary, he is very handsome; not only is he not ignorant, but he is very wise; not only is he not selfish, but he is very easy-going; not only is he not useless, but he is much better than the young talents Cui Qianxue usually comes into contact with!
So, for a while, Cui Qianxue could no longer find any reason to hate Zhao Junchen!
However, Cui Qianxue is not deeply involved in the world and has a bright mind. Not only could she not see through others, but she could not see through herself either. Naturally, she could not understand such changes in her mind.
For a moment, Cui Qianxue just hid in the sedan chair and secretly looked at Zhao Junchen, her eyes wide. But her lovely and delicate dimples were full of doubts and confusion.
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At the same time, Su Xiuning and Chen Zhirong were sitting in their respective sedans, also thinking about Zhao Junchen.
Long before the Cui family's team appeared, the two of them had quietly opened the sedan curtain. Secretly spied on Zhao Junchen's appearance.
However, due to their different personalities, their first impressions of Zhao Junchen were completely different.
For Su Xiuning. Because her father, a sanctimonious corrupt official, does not think like Cui Qianxue that all corrupt officials in the world should be ugly. After seeing Zhao Junchen's appearance and temperament, although he was a little surprised, he was not surprised. He just breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
In Su Xiuning's view, people like Zhao Junchen may be like her father. Although he is a corrupt official and has bad moral character, he is gentle and easy to get along with.
In any case, Zhao Junchen like this is finally lucky among misfortunes.
Therefore, at this time, Su Xiuning's expression was no longer as far-fetched and gloomy as before. Instead, she showed a trace of happiness. The next meeting with Zhao Junchen was no longer as unacceptable as before.
As for Chen Zhirong, she was sitting in the sedan with a bright smile on her pretty face. Her eyes were flashing with excitement, making her even more dazzling and impossible to look directly at.
Zhao Junchen's image is exactly as Chen Zhirong imagined.
Although he is the most powerful official in the temple after Zhou Shangjing, he is low-key and humble when dealing with others. Easygoing temperament.
Although he is a corrupt official known to the world and notorious, he is like a gentle scholar with wise eyes and a peaceful expression.
Although he is unscrupulous in his actions and has done countless bad things over the years, he does not speak much, his emotions and anger are not visible, and there is no trace of arrogance.
Such a Zhao Junchen, in the words of this era, is a "hypocrite", and in the popular vocabulary of later generations, he is a "criminal".
For ordinary girls, such a man should naturally be avoided.
However, due to the different values developed since childhood, Chen Zhirong is very satisfied with Zhao Junchen's image and temperament.
To be precise, this kind of Zhao Junchen is the image of Chen Zhirong's ideal husband.
Therefore, Chen Zhirong gradually couldn't wait for the next meeting with Zhao Junchen.
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Not to mention that the three women had different thoughts at this time.
But Zhao Junchen, Cui Mian, Su Changzhen, Chen You and others came to the palace gate, and after reporting and reviewing, they were allowed to enter the palace.
Then, everything was ready, and the families, wives, and daughters brought by Cui Mian, Su Changzhen, and Chen You also got off the sedan one by one, preparing to accompany the three of them into the palace for the banquet.
As a result, the looks of the three women, Cui Qianxue, Chen Zhirong and Su Xiuning, were finally revealed in front of Zhao Junchen.
Because he had already met Cui Qianxue, Zhao Junchen only glanced briefly before turning his attention to Chen Zhirong and Su Xiuning.
Like Cui Qianxue, Chen Zhirong and Su Xiuning are both extremely outstanding beauties, far more beautiful and charming than in the portraits.
Especially Chen Zhirong.
After all, a portrait is just a portrait. No matter how skilled the painter is, he can only paint the appearance on paper, which makes it difficult to express his temperament and even more difficult to express his manners.
As for Chen Zhirong, not only is her appearance more stunning than the one in the portrait, but the way she raises her hands and feet, the amorous look in her eyes, and the charm of her smile all add to her already stunning appearance.
In fact, if we only talk about appearance, compared with Chen Zhirong, Su Xiuning and Cui Qianxue are only half as good. But when the three women appeared at the same time, everyone's eyes would be focused on Chen Zhirong. And it has been reluctant to move away. It is not an exaggeration to say that it stands out from the crowd.
Zhao Junchen has lived through two lives. In his previous life, he was used to seeing beauties in movies and TV shows. He was also a cold-hearted person who didn't value women's sex. However, when he saw Chen Zhirong, he lost his mind for a moment.
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Just as the three girls got off the sedan, Cui Mian, Chen You, and Su Changzhen all focused on Zhao Junchen. Observing Zhao Junchen's reaction.
Among them, Cui Mian saw that Zhao Junchen didn't care about Cui Qianxue, and just glanced at her. He couldn't help but nodded slightly, and a trace of satisfaction flashed across his originally cold expression, thinking that Zhao Junchen had completely given up the idea of marrying with the Cui family.
At the same time, Chen You noticed Zhao Junchen's momentary absence when he saw Chen Zhirong. A trace of pride flashed in his eyes - in terms of power, connections, and reputation, he was certainly not as good as Su Changzhen and Cui Mian, but he had always believed that Chen Zhirong's appearance and beauty were definitely superior to Su Xiuning and Cui Qianxue. This was also Chen Zhirong's. Yu’s greatest reliance!
in recent years. Although Chen You is becoming more and more wary of Chen Zhirong's shrewd calculations, he has always seen and deeply recognized Chen Zhirong's efforts.
While other girls only knew how to play coquettishly, Chen Zhirong spent all her time practicing. Not only do they practice skills such as instrumental music, dance, cooking, weaving and embroidery, but they also seriously study some things that ordinary girls don’t usually think about - such as how to walk and swing your waist for the best look? For example, when you frown, at what point is the most touching point? For example, what kind of curvature is needed for the corners of the mouth to be the most beautiful when smiling? For example, what kind of expression is needed when gazing at each other to make people's hearts throb the most?
About these details. Chen Zhirong spent countless hours studying it and even spent countless days practicing it seriously.
Such a Chen Zhirong shows her most perfect and charming side all the time. How can the young Su Xiuning and Cui Qianxue be comparable?
However, Su Changzhen on the other side also noticed Zhao Junchen's momentary absence. At the same time, Zhao Junchen paid much less attention to Su Xiuning.
This made Su Changzhen very nervous.
Originally, in Su Changzhen's opinion, his daughter Su Xiuning should have been the most beautiful and perfect in the world. However, seeing Chen Zhirong now, he had to admit that Su Xiuning was indeed outclassed.
Therefore, in order to save the situation, Su Changzhen stepped to Zhao Junchen's side, pointed in the direction of Su Xiuning, and said: "Junchen, look, that is my only daughter, Su Xiuning. Don't look at her temperament. She is a bit weak. Over the years, my wife has been in poor health, and I am also busy with official duties. All the affairs in the house are all handled by her, and she also manages everything in the house in an orderly manner. She is usually gentle and kind-hearted. , proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting..."
Hearing Su Changzhen promoting his daughter in this way, a trace of disdain flashed in Chen You's eyes, and Cui Mian on the other side was even more disdainful. However, Su Changzhen now did not care about this in order to restore the situation. He kept introducing the benefits of Su Xiuning.
Seeing what Su Changzhen said, Zhao Junchen had no choice but to look away from Chen Zhirong and turned to Su Xiuning.
To be honest, Su Xiuning is indeed a rare beauty, with a long and slender figure, delicate facial features, fair and delicate skin, and a peaceful expression with a pitiful temperament.
However, after meeting Chen Zhirong, Su Xiuning seems to have no characteristics - she is an outstanding beauty, but that's all.
However, this is not all that Zhao Junchen cares about. When choosing his future wife, what he valued from the beginning was her family background. So after hearing Su Changzhen's words, he also showed appreciation on his face, nodded and smiled: "Senior Su, you do have a good daughter."
Seeing Zhao Junchen's comments, Su Changzhen's eyes flashed with joy, and he was looking for words to continue praising Su Xiuning.
However, at this moment, Chen Zhirong, Cui Qianxue, and Su Xiuning all arrived in front of Zhao Junchen and others.
Among them, Su Xiuning first secretly raised her show to look at Zhao Junchen. When she saw that Zhao Junchen was also looking at her, she seemed to be frightened, and quickly lowered her head, as if she wanted to take the initiative to say hello to Zhao Junchen, but her lips were slightly opened. He gave up again, and finally just stood beside Su Changzhen silently.
Taking the initiative to show kindness to a strange man was more difficult than Su Xiuning imagined.
As for Cui Qianxue, ever since she got out of the sedan chair, she had opened her bright, clear eyes wide and round, still staring closely at Zhao Junchen. After seeing that Zhao Junchen was only paying attention to Chen Zhirong and Su Xiuning, , out of a psychology that even she herself didn’t understand, her eyes were full of displeasure.
Such a scene fell into Cui Mian's eyes, but it made Cui Mian very shocked and angry. He felt that Cui Qianxue's appearance was really uncultured, and he repeatedly pretended to cough to remind him. However, Cui Qianxue's attention was entirely on Zhao Junchen. But he didn't notice it at all.
It wasn't until she came to Zhao Junchen and others that Cui Qianxue realized her gaffe. Her pretty face turned red. Then she glared at Zhao Junchen again and stood beside Cui Mian, but her big eyes were still staring at her. Zhao Junchen had no intention of moving away at all.
Compared with Su Xiuning and Cui Qianxue, Chen Zhirong's appearance is particularly different.
After arriving in front of everyone, Chen Zhirong first saluted Chen You, Su Changzhen and Cui Mian and said softly: "I have met my father, I have met Mr. Cui Ge, and I have met Governor Su. I wish you all the best."
The voice is as crisp as a silver bell, melodious to the ear, and the manner is dignified and generous, making it impossible to find any fault.
After receiving replies from Chen You, Su Changzhen, and Cui Mian, Chen Zhirong did not stand behind Chen You. Instead, he moved lightly and came to Zhao Junchen.
Lifting the show, a pair of beautiful eyes met Zhao Junchen's eyes. His eyes seemed to be shy and bold, and then his red lips and white teeth opened slightly, and he smiled. Suddenly, it was like a hundred flowers blooming, so bright that people couldn't stand it. Looking at her, all the charm and charm that she had deliberately hidden before suddenly appeared in front of Zhao Junchen.
"Are you Mr. Zhao?" Chen Zhirong asked softly.
After experiencing the initial surprise, Zhao Junchen has now stabilized his mind. Looking at this unique woman in front of him, he vaguely thought of Fang Ru. She was equally beautiful, equally charming, and equally scheming.
However, in essence, Chen Zhirong and Fang Ru are completely different.
Fang Ru loves Zhao Junchen almost paranoidly. All her calculations, scheming, and shrewdness are just to prove her existence value to Zhao Junchen. When she faces Zhao Junchen, she is just a stupid woman without confidence. Zhao Junchen sometimes couldn't bear to lie to her.
But the Chen Zhirong in front of her was confident, determined, and even unscrupulous.
Thoughtfully, Zhao Junchen looked at Chen Zhirong with interest, nodded with a smile and said, "I am Zhao Junchen. I have long heard that Miss Chen is unparalleled in beauty and is the most powerful person in the country. Now that I see it, I am indeed well-deserved. Miss Chen Even more beautiful than rumored... and smarter and more confident."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen meant, Chen Zhirong's beautiful eyes flashed with a moving light. The secret confrontation with Zhao Junchen seemed to make her feel inexplicably excited.
"In front of Mr. Zhao, the little girl's cleverness is just a small cleverness. How can it compare with Mr. Zhao's great wisdom?" Chen Zhirong smiled like a flower, but changed the subject: "We are having a banquet tonight, so I would like to ask Mr. Zhao for more advice. .”
On the other side, Su Changzhen saw Zhao Junchen and Chen Zhirong talking happily, but he became more and more anxious and wanted to drag his daughter to interrupt.
When Cui Qianxue saw that Zhao Junchen still didn't pay attention to her, she followed her grandfather Cui Mian's previous appearance, glaring at Zhao Junchen with big eyes and coughing lightly to remind her of her presence.
Seeing Cui Qianxue like this, Cui Mian became more frightened and angry. He felt that Cui Qianxue had made him lose face. He didn't want to stay outside the palace any longer, but he suddenly said: "Everyone, it's time to enter the palace for the banquet."
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ps: I’m not satisfied with the second half of this chapter no matter how much I revise it, but I can’t delay it any longer, so I’ll write the first half first. Well, it’s seven thousand words.
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