Cao Daye stood up abruptly and prepared to go downstairs to greet the guests. Before leaving, he said to Zhou Xiangyun: "Remember, you must make Mr. Xu feel comfortable [River Crab]."
Before Cao Daye could reach downstairs, Xu Jue was already running up the stairs. I saw that he was short in stature, had a bulbous nose, and had bubble eyes, and he walked swaying from side to side, like a duck.
Looking at his venerable appearance, Cao Daye couldn't help but murmur in his heart, "Eunuch Feng has some reputation among the eunuchs. Why is his family's great housekeeper so ungrateful in terms of his virtues?" But then he changed his mind. One thought: People should not be judged by their appearance. Good luck lies with ugly people. The person Eunuch Feng is interested in must still be capable.
Thinking of this, Cao Daye greeted Xu Jue who was going upstairs and shouted: "Manager Xu, Cao Daye has been waiting here for a long time."
"Are you Cao Guishan?" Xu Jue came up the stairs. He didn't have time to enter the hall, so he shouted while breathing heavily, "I drank a few more sips of yellow soup at noon and overslept. I'm laughing. I'm laughing."
After entering the hall, they first gave up their seats and then exchanged greetings and etiquette. Cao Daye introduced Zhou Xiangyun to Xu Jue. Zhou Xiangyun knelt down and said, "Mr. Xu, thank you for your favor and your willingness to come to this small place of my house to talk."
Xu Jue stared at Zhou Xiangyun with a pair of [River Crab] obsessed fish eyes, and said with a breath of wine: "From what Cao told me, Miss Zhou's [River Crab] has been scheduled for more than a month."
"Thank you all for your support." Zhou Xiangyun felt disgusted with this father-in-law's butler from the bottom of his heart, but because of Cao Daye's generosity, he had to force a smile and said: "Actually, the Nu family is just in vain."
"Well, I heard what I said." Xu Jue drank the tea handed over by the maid, and then said, "I have seen a lot of people in your profession in the capital. When I first debuted, it was good to eat a rotten pear, just to quench my thirst. Once it became popular, good guys, I started to put my arms up and claim to be a saint or a sage. As the saying goes, the daughter of the emperor and the wife of the number one scholar, [River Crab] [River Crab] Aren’t they all the same..."
Xu Jue's words became more and more rude. Seeing Zhou Xiangyun blushing and frowning, Cao Daye knew that something was not good, so he coughed dryly and interrupted Xu Jue's words: "Manager Xu, at this time It’s already late, would you like to put the wine on the table?”
"Let's have some more tea," Xu Jue took advantage of the drunkenness and deliberately uttered some vulgar words. This was his usual trick when asking Liu. Seeing the beauty's pink and angry face, he felt very happy in his heart. . He glanced at Zhou Xiangyun, who was still sulking, pointed at the pipa hanging on the wall and asked, "It seems that Miss Zhou is a master of music?"
"We can't talk about it." Zhou Xiangyun replied lukewarmly.
Xu Jue laughed and said: "I, Xu Jue, have a big hobby in my life, which is to watch beautiful women get angry. Today, I have another addiction. Miss Zhou, please go downstairs to calm down for the time being. Cao and I will talk about something. Let’s get down to business later, let’s drink and listen to you sing.”
Zhou Xiangyun went downstairs relieved.
Listening to Zhou Xiangyun scolding the maid downstairs, Cao Daye said cautiously: "Manager Xu, the way you treat women and girls seems to be different from ordinary people."
Xu Jue blinked his eyes and smiled: "[河 crab] [河 crab] [河 crab] [河 crab]. Otherwise, she will entangle you until you can't breathe."
"Well said!" Cao Daye praised: "It seems that Manager Xu is a middle-aged man."
"Cao is here to help. I am a quick talker and I like to speak openly. Now please tell me clearly. Why did you go to such great lengths to see me?"
Compared with the crazy state when he was talking to Zhou Xiangyun just now, Xu Jue is now a completely different person. Only then did Cao Daye realize that this person was no ordinary person, and his appearance just now was probably just to distract Zhou Xiangyun. He subconsciously raised his eyes to look at the big housekeeper, and saw two sharp glances shooting at him from his pair of fishy eyes.
Cao Daye was a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing's reign. Although he was not a veteran in officialdom, he had served as a county magistrate and had recently received guidance from his mentor. He naturally flashed his eyes and smiled slightly and said: "Guanshi Xu looks like this." It's just like Dongchang's case review, could it be that he has been influenced by his eyes and ears for a long time?"
His words were of course because Admiral Feng Bao had been in charge of Dongchang for many years.
"Official life is complicated, so I have to be careful. Besides, my master has always kept himself clean and abided by the ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty and did not interact with foreign officials. Therefore, he always warned me not to wander around with foreign officials."
After hearing Xu Jue's words, Cao Dazhi sneered in his heart, but his response was full of disgusting flattery: "Eunuch Feng has a high moral integrity and is well-known among scholars all over the world. Steward Xu has been by his side for many years, and he has taught him every lesson day and night, so his realm is naturally elegant. . ”
"You haven't said anything yet, why are you looking for me?" Xu Jue still had a piercing look on his face, refusing to relax at all.
Seeing Xu Jue's domineering look, Cao Daye felt a little unhappy. I wonder why this person is so ignorant of the rules. After all, I am an official in the field of education. It stands to reason that even if I meet your master, I can still hold my head high. How can I allow someone like you to ask questions like this? But when I think of my mentor's repeated warnings, I can only keep this coward to myself.
"There's nothing special about being promoted to official position. I just admire Eunuch Feng's reputation..."
Xu Jue waved his hands impatiently: "Cao is here, let's not talk about these official words anymore. I know what is going on inside and outside the palace right now, and you know it too. Let's open the skylight and speak openly, but good?"
Cao Daye shut up in embarrassment and hesitated for a moment. He felt that since this person was straightforward, it was okay to speak directly, so he said: "Okay, since Manager Xu is quick to speak, then Cao will speak frankly... The Holy Master suddenly summoned many honorary officials. The young children of your family come to the palace and play with the prince every day. Is there any hidden secret in this?"
Xu Jue rolled his eyes upwards: "The emperor has always cared for the prince. In the second year of Longqing, the emperor's second son was born. In order to avoid... well, the emperor immediately prepared a ceremony for the enthronement of the prince and officially canonized the prince. Now that the prince is about to be eight years old, It is almost time for him to leave the palace to study. The emperor believes that the prince, as the crown prince, should be versatile in both civil and military affairs, so he invites the young and promising members of your noble family to accompany the prince in the palace, in the hope that in the future, the prince will not only be good at civil affairs, but also be proficient in martial arts. My emperor is far-sighted and far-sighted, so what hidden secrets can he have?"
Naturally, Cao Daye would not believe such a simple statement, and asked with a smile: "Manager Xu is absolutely right, but your lord, Feng Gong, is a nobleman in the palace. He should know who offered this plan to your majesty, right?" Then he turned around. He took a sandalwood incense box wrapped in silk, opened it and said: "I have heard for a long time that Mr. Feng supervised the East Factory with a pen, but he always behaved like a scholar and official, and his subordinates did not respect him... Manager Xu, please take a look, this dragon tail jade toad inkstone is The rough stones of Longwei Mountain are carefully selected, one in ten thousand, and then carefully polished by the famous masters of the world. This is specially presented to Mr. Feng, and I also ask Mr. Xu to forward it. Of course, Mr. Xu has a lot of work on weekdays, so he can spare some time today. Yes, I am also deeply grateful. Here is one thousand taels of Ming Dynasty treasure money. I hope Manager Xu will accept it."
