The Deng family's house is not small, and the decoration is quite luxurious. However, the decoration looks a bit old, and the auspicious bird's tail on the main ridge of the house has fallen off.
It is estimated that this is the house built when the Deng family was still in Xinye.
After all, they are from a wealthy family. Unlike Zhang Xi, a young man from a humble family, the scale and grandeur of this manor are much more luxurious than the courtyard of the Zhang family in Yingchuan.
The Zhang family took Little Qibao, and under the guidance of the Deng family's butler, they came to the foyer and sat down. The Deng family's butler served tea soup... It was quite a strange thing, a bowl of tea soup that smelled of both spices and ginger. .
Zhang Xi didn’t want to try it anyway.
After waiting for a while, the hostess of the Deng family finally appeared.
She is said to be Mrs. Deng, but she is actually not very old. She looks to be a few years older than Zhang Xi.
Wearing a brocade dress and an embroidered coat, with a graceful posture, and her hair styled in a bun, she looks very elegant...but she always feels like something is not quite right.
Jinyi looks a bit old, not like new. There is only a light powder on the face, and the complexion is slightly yellowish. And the hair... well, the quality of the hair is probably not as good as the second master's beard.
Judging from her actions and behavior, there is no doubt that Mrs. Deng is a noble lady. Everything she says and does is in line with etiquette. She indeed walks with a graceful manner, which is in line with the posture of a lady of this era.
but.......
Zhang Xi looked at Mrs. Deng, and then thought about the auspicious bird's tail on the right spine... It's better not to pursue it so much. After all, it is not easy to survive these days.
"Yingchuan Zhang Xi, meet my lady!"
Zhang Xi stood up and saluted Mrs. Deng and said hello.
Mrs. Deng returned the favor with the same attitude.
"My little wife, Ms. Deng, has met Mr. Zhang!" Mrs. Deng said, "There are no elders in the family, so I dare not wait for you for a long time. I hope you will forgive me."
Zhang Xi quickly followed the etiquette, explained his intention and presented the gift.
Everyone has said that I don’t dare to stay too long, so I’d better go through the cutscene quickly to save myself from getting into trouble.
Everything went smoothly until we finally said goodbye and left.
As usual, when Zhang Xi said goodbye, the Deng family would send him to the door to show respect... But it was obviously impossible for Mrs. Deng to send Zhang Xi to the door in person, so what happened? !
Originally, this matter could be left to the housekeeper of the Deng family, but Mrs. Deng didn't know what she was thinking and called her eight-year-old son out.
"Ai'er, send your husband off on behalf of mother!" Mrs. Deng ordered.
"Yes, mother."
The eight-year-old child saluted and said hello to Zhang Xi in a decent manner, then led the way and personally delivered the stunned Zhang Xi to the door.
Zhang Xi, on the other hand, looked at the eight-year-old child in front of him stupidly, wondering if this was the Deng Ai!
It is the Deng Ai who "has been working in the fields for a long time and accomplished great feats", the Deng Ai who sneaked into Yinping and destroyed the country in one fell swoop.
Theoretically, it's very possible.
Because the Deng Ai in history was indeed a new savage who lost his father when he was young and lived with his mother.
Later, Cao Cao marched south and moved the people to Runan. Deng Ai followed his mother to Runan. He stood out from the people in the field and met his Bole Sima Yi.
But there is a problem, that is, at this time, Deng Ai should not be called Deng Ai.
It is unknown what Deng Ai's original name was. It is only known that after he arrived in Runan, he read the two sentences in the inscription of the late Taiqiu Chief Chen Shi, "Writing is a model for the world, and behavior is a scholar." He admired it so much that he changed his name. His name is Deng Fan, whose courtesy name is Shize. Later, because there was someone in the clan with the same name as him, he had to change his name again to Deng Ai and Deng Shizai, who were known to everyone in later generations.
Therefore, from this perspective, this little boy named "Ai'er" should not be the later General Wei Zhengxi.
But... Let me tell you something, can you find another child at Xinye Deng's house who is of the same age and life experience to come out and try? !
If Deng Ai was born in Wancheng, Nanyang, would he be moved to Runan by Cao Cao to work as a farm guest? !
This thing... there is a hint of evil in it.
Originally, Zhang Xi wanted to test it again and say a few words to the child to see if he stuttered... This was the decisive factor.
But this Deng Ai didn't give Zhang Xi a chance. After seeing Zhang Xi out, he silently saluted and then went back.
The old housekeeper looked at Zhang Xi with an embarrassed look on his face. Zhang Xi didn't want to enter the Deng's house again, so he could only give up for the time being and leave the Deng's house first.
After leaving Deng's house, Zhang Xi was still a little confused, always thinking about this unlucky child.
You said that if this child is really Deng Ai...then what unlucky Prime Minister Zhuge will have to worry about in the future? !
Co-author Sima Yi can cultivate Deng Ai, but Prime Minister Zhuge can't? !
Zhang Xi was a little distracted thinking about things until his little Qibao reminded him that he still had two families he needed to visit.
The family is Mi Zhu, Zhang Xi’s immediate boss.
The other family is Liu Bi, the magistrate of Xinye County.
Both of them were in Xinye City. Zhang Xi went home to pack up first, took gifts and set off again, entering Xinye County.
During the visit to Mi Mansion, Zhang Xi did not meet Mi Zhu himself because there were too many people visiting the Mi family.
In addition to being Liu Bei's doctor, Mi Zhu was also a local tycoon in Xuzhou, and he controlled several business routes that connected the north and the south.
So today, in addition to the colleagues under Liu Bei's account, those who came to visit Mi Zhu were also many representatives of aristocratic families who came from Xiangyang. When Zhang Xi came, Mi Zhu was meeting with people from the Huang family in Xiangyang.
The steward of the Mi Mansion apologized to Zhang Xi repeatedly, but Zhang Xi didn't care and left a greeting note and a gift, just to express his feelings.
Then, Zhang Xi turned around and went to Xinye County Government Office to visit Xinye County Magistrate Liu Mi.
At this time, Liu Bi was free, or very free.
There is no way, the position of Xinye County Magistrate is basically a sinecure now.
Now the person in charge of Xinye is General Zuo, Marquis Ting of Yicheng, Yuzhou Mu Liu Bei, and Liu Mi... is the magistrate of Xinye appointed by Liu Biao.
Liu Mi is also a clan member of the Han clan, but there are really too many clan clan members of the Han clan these days. Han clan clansmen like Liu Bi, Liu Bei, and Liu Yan can be found in every city, but they are not really that big. Strange.
Liu Mi was somewhat close to Liu Biao, but this relationship was probably not close, otherwise Liu Biao would not have let him just be a county magistrate in Xinye County.
As for Liu Bei, he was theoretically related to Liu Mi, but... Liu Bei was "assigned" to Xinye by Liu Biao, so there was no way he would like Liu Mi.
So you can imagine how aggrieved Liu Mi, the magistrate of Xinye County, felt.
Fortunately, Liu Bi could see clearly. He knew that even if he acted against Liu Bei, Liu Biao might not support him.
In this case, it would be more comfortable to simply turn to Liu Bei directly.
Therefore, Liu Bi has never opposed Liu Bei. He will listen to whatever Liu Bei says, just like he has always been Liu Bei's subordinate.
And in order to build a relationship with Liu Bei, Liu Bi also asked his nephew Kou Feng to join Liu Bei, trying to tell Liu Bei that we are a family... So far, it seems that the progress is not going very smoothly.
At this time, the "Grain and Grass Registrar" under Liu Bei's account came to visit on the occasion of the New Year, and Liu Bi would of course receive him personally.
Although Liu Bi also knew that this Chief Secretary Zhang was just a newcomer who had just joined Liu Bei, but... one thing is that in Liu Bei's heart, he, the magistrate of Xinye County, might not be as important as this newcomer.
After all, Zhang Xi entered Liu Bei's account through the recruitment hall, and he was the magistrate of Xinye County appointed by Liu Biao... It was clear at a glance who was close and who was distant.
Liu Mi also wanted to take this opportunity to make friends with Liu Bei's subordinates and generals, and further deepen his position in Liu Bei's heart.
So...this visit can be said to be a great time for both host and guest.
Zhang Xi came to visit sincerely, and Liu Bi deliberately flattered him. It would be strange if the atmosphere at the wine table was not good.
While chatting, Liu Bi learned that Zhang Xi got along well with Kou Feng at Liu Bei's banquet last year, so he immediately sent someone to call his nephew over, but he insisted on keeping Zhang Xi to have dinner with him.
It's around four o'clock in the afternoon, it's time for dinner.
Zhang Xi refused and had to have a meal at Liu Mi's house. Kou Feng, who came later, was also very happy. He sat down with Zhang Xi and talked and laughed. The atmosphere was quite harmonious.
After dinner, Zhang Xi said goodbye and left. Liu Bi specifically asked Kou Feng to escort Zhang Xi out of the city. He did this in such a way that Zhang Xi almost thought that he and Liu Bi were related.
As for Kou Feng, he was quite happy.
Kou Feng is young and doesn't have as many tricksters as his uncle. He simply feels that Zhang Xi is someone he can talk to and is comfortable getting along with, so he is very happy.
Therefore, when Liu Mi asked Kou Feng to return to Zhang Xi's residence the next day with gifts, Kou Feng went directly without thinking much.
At this time, Zhang Xi happened to be at home, instructing Xiao Qibao on how to make tofu nao...
