Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

Master Wei Xiangshu taught Chen Tingjing and other calligraphy skills, and his father-in-law taught him the skill of forbearance.He waited and endured for more than ten years.At this time, Chen Tingjing was already a bachelor in charge of the Hanlin Academy, a scholar in teaching and learning, and a servant of the Ministry of Rites.Yueyuan gave birth to two sons early, the eldest was named Yupeng, and the second was named Zhuanglu. Chen Tingtong had won the Juren early, but he failed to win the Jinshi again, and he was too lazy to do anything else.Chen Tingjing had no choice but to find him an errand in Beijing, a post in the Ministry of Industry.This Chen Tingtong and his elder brother have two temperaments, they only lamented their bad luck and didn't meet a nobleman when they failed to achieve fame.He always watched Kong'er go up in this house and out in that house.

That night, Chen Tingtong wanted to visit Mingzhu's mansion.Mingzhu has long been a scholar of Wuyingdian, a prince and a grand teacher, and a minister of the Ministry of officials.Chen Tingtong was wandering outside Mingzhu Mansion, when he saw a sedan chair approaching, he dodged hastily.It was Gao Shiqi who got off the sedan chair.Gao Shiqi is still only a secretary in the cabinet, but he walks in the south study.He was very surprised to see someone walking away in a hurry, so he fixed his eyes on it instead.The bright moon was in the sky, like daylight, he recognized someone unexpectedly, and shouted: "Isn't it Tingtong? What are you doing standing outside?"

Seeing that he couldn't escape, Chen Tingtong walked over with an embarrassed expression on his face, and said, "I want to pay my respects to Lord Ming, but I, a low-rank official, dare not enter Lord Ming's door!" Gao Shiqi laughed loudly, and said: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhse ah. Come, follow me in!" Chen Tingtong was still hesitating, he hesitated and said: "But my hands are empty." Gao Shiqi shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'll just give you the door bag, you can go in with me."

As Gao Shiqi said, he stepped forward to knock on the door.The concierge opened the door, seeing Gao Shiqi, he said with a smile: "Oh, Mr. Gao, my master is full of guests today! Please!" Gao Shiqi took out a packet and handed it to the porter.The concierge accepted it with a smile, but said: "Master Gao is just being polite, and rewards the younger ones every time!" Gao Shiqi also smiled, but secretly scolded this little bastard in his heart, if he didn't give him a door bag, it would probably be inconvenient for Master Ming to entertain guests!Gao Shiqi was poor in those days and often couldn't afford money, he was often angry with the concierge in Mingzhu's mansion!

Gao Shiqi entered the Ming Mansion, and was greeted by the housekeeper, An Tu.Antu smiled and said, "Master Gao, are you here?" The housekeeper also needs to collect money, so Gao Shiqi handed over an envelope and said, "Housekeeper An, I haven't seen you for a while." Antu took the money and said, "I want to be a tall man! Hey, who is this?" Antu looked at Chen Tingtong, his eyes immediately turned cold. Gao Shiqi smiled and said, "I brought it here, Chen Tingtong, Lord Chen Tingjing's younger brother, works in the Ministry of Industry." Antu hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "So it's Mr. Chen's younger brother, sorry for your disrespect!"

Chen Tingtong returned the gift and said, "I hope that the housekeeper will take care of you." Antu led Gao Shiqi and Chen Tingtong to the guest room of the Ming Mansion, and from afar, someone could be heard shouting inside, "God's fortune, really fortune teller!" After hearing this, Gao Shiqi knew that Zu Zeshen, the half-immortal of the capital, must be here.Zu Zeshen's reputation is getting bigger and bigger now, even the prince and elder brother invite him to look at his face. Antu asked Gao Shiqi and Chen Tingtong to wait outside the door, and went in first.Not long after, Antu came out and said, "Master Ming is here to invite you!"

As soon as Gao Shiqi bowed to enter the door, Mingzhu laughed loudly and said, "Ah, Shiqi is here! Take your seat quickly!" Gao Shiqi hurriedly walked in front of Mingzhu, and asked Ann seriously: "Shiqi pays homage to Master Ming!" Mingzhu laughed again, and said: "Shiqi is too polite, you and I are together all day, why bother? Hey, who is this?" Gao Shiqi hurriedly turned his head to greet Chen Tingtong, and introduced him, "Chen Tingjing's younger brother, Chen Tingtong, works in the Ministry of Industry as a writer. He wanted to come to visit Master Ming, so I brought him here."

Mingzhu hurriedly stood up, pulled Chen Tingtong to sit beside her, and said, "Oh, it's Tingtong! I've heard about it a long time ago, and even asked your brother about you! Please sit down!" Chen Tingtong blushed, and said: "Tingtong's mediocre style of writing is not worth remembering by Master Ming!" Mingzhu shook her head and said: "You can't say that. Everyone here today, most of them started from the pen-stick style. This Lord Samuha, Minister of the Household Department, in the hands of Lord Shunzhi, he is just a pen-stick style!" Chen Tingtong hurriedly stood up to say hello: "Tingtong has met Lord Samuha!"

Samuha was smoking the pipe, laughed, coughed a few times, and said, "We are full of people, and we are not as good at reading as you Han people, and we don't have so many fancy intestines in our stomachs, so we are straightforward!" Mingzhu was half offended, half joking: "Samuha, you are now a minister, and you can't change your temper!" Gao Shiqi also laughed and said, "Master Samuha has a good temper, so there is no need for others to ponder him." Gao Shiqi nodded to all the adults present while speaking.He just knew that the room was full of guests, but his eyes were blank.It wasn't until Mingzhu finished paying respects that he saw other people.Sure enough, Zu Zeshen was also here, all old acquaintances, nodding to each other.At this moment, two servant girls came in with their heads down and fanned Gao Shiqi and Chen Tingtong.It was only then that Chen Tingtong saw that there was a maid playing a fan behind every adult.

Mingzhu pointed to a guest, and introduced: "Tingtong talked about the pen stick style, there are so many people here who have made high officials from the pen stick style! Now it is the Ministry of Household Cleaning Department." Chen Tingtong greeted him again: "I have met Lord Kerkun." Mingzhu pointed to another hand-cranked fan, and was about to introduce him, but Zu Zeshen interrupted him: "Master Ming, you might as well introduce it later, let's talk about it after reading the picture." Mingzhu smiled and said: "Ah, I forgot, Mr. Zu is looking at the fortune teller! Ting Tong, this is Zu Zeshen, the magician in the capital. He is a fortune teller. You don't need to report your birth date, you just need to point to one at will. Things can be said to be accurate, known as the iron mouth straight off!"

Zu Zeshen nodded to Chen Tingtong: "Commoner Zu Zeshen! I have met Brother Chen!" Chen Tingtong sat down, and saw the man pointing at the inkstone on the table with a round fan: "I use this inkstone to look good, what do you say?" Zu Ze took a deep look at the Duan inkstone, then looked at the fan shaker, and said, "This inkstone is thick in stone and has an octagonal shape. This is the image of eight seats. The world calls six parts eight seats, which shows that you have a very high official position, my lord." !" Everyone was amazed and sighed.The man's face was bright, and he waved his fan more elegantly. Zu Ze looked at Mingzhu in a blink of an eye: "Mingxiang, since it is a face, can Zu speak bluntly?" Mingzhu looked at the man and said, "Naturally, I want to speak out, what do you think?" Hearing that Zu Zeshen seemed to have something to say, the man's face changed a long time ago, but he said bravely, "But it's okay to say it!" Zu Ze nodded deeply and said: "If Zu said something frank, I hope you will forgive me for offending you! Although the inkstone is the treasure of a scholar, it is an object in the study after all, not a material for the border! If you want to do it in this life, my lord I'm afraid it's useless to be a governor or governor!" Hearing what Zu Zeshen said, everyone became embarrassed and embarrassed to look at their faces.This person had a look of embarrassment on his face, but he was not easy to attack.Mingzhu suddenly laughed, and everyone laughed too. Mingzhu smiled and said: "This is a cabinet scholar, a scholar, the president of "Guwen Yuanlan" Mr. Xu Qianxue. Mr. Zu is really accurate. Mr. Xu is the object in the study room, the literary attendant in front of the emperor! The official position is extremely respected!" Xu Qianxue laughed at himself: "After all, it's not the material for sealing off borders!" Zu Ze hurriedly cupped his hands and apologized: "Master Xu, I have offended you!" Gao Shiqi saw that everyone was a little embarrassed after all, so he came up to smooth things over, and diverted the conversation: "Mr. How about you take a look?" Zu Ze shook his head deeply and said: "Lord Gao, you and I are old friends, we know the details, we can't count them!" Mingzhu was very interested and said, "Just for fun, let's see." Gao Shiqi was taking out a towel to wipe his face, and said, "Take my towel and have a look." Zu Ze nodded deeply for a moment, and said: "If you say this towel is pure and clean, it is a high-quality jade hall. The world calls the Imperial Academy the Yutang. It is a great honor for Mr. Gao to be entrusted by the emperor to enter the Imperial Academy as a supervisor." Gao Shiqi hurriedly cupped his hands to the north: "His Majesty Shi Qimeng is so kind, I am very grateful!" Zu Zeshen chuckled, and said, "Zu is about to speak frankly again. Although silk is used by elegant and wealthy people, it is too small after all." Mingzhu asked with a smile: "Mr. Zu, do you mean Shiqi can't do much?" Zu Zeshen also felt embarrassed, and said: "Zu made a judgment based on things, without thinking about it, so it's unbelievable, unbelievable!" Gao Shiqi didn't find it embarrassing, and said: "It's okay, it's okay. Shiqi works in front of the emperor, but it's just copying, which is very trivial. As a courtier, no matter how useful he is, he is a mere minister. Only our emperor It is the latitude and longitude of heaven and earth.” But Mingzhu said: "Shiqi is not a small person! He is currently working as an errand in the South Study Room, and he listens to the oracle all day long!" At this time, Samuha tapped the pipe in his hand and said, "Mr. Zu, please show me this pipe!" Zu Ze looked deeply at the pipe, concentrated a little, and said with a smile, "Master Samuha's hand is made of three pieces of the pipe, and when he is an official, he also has ups and downs. I wonder if Zu is right?" Mingzhu clapped her palms and smiled: "Mr. Zu, you are really amazing!" Samuha hurriedly grabbed the conversation: "I have served in the court for more than 30 years, and it is true that there have been ups and downs!" A Manchu next to Xu Qianxue couldn't sit still for a long time, stood up and said, "I'll also use this pipe to see what you think." Zu Zeshen no longer looked at the pipe, but only looked at the Manchu and said, "Congratulations, my lord, you are about to let go of your post to study politics!" The man looked at Mingzhu in surprise, then turned back and asked Zu Zeshen, "How do you say it?" Zu Ze said with a deep smile: "Cigarettes can't fill your stomach, just like this official who has made a lot of money. And the pipe breathes for people all day long, just like Xuezheng is bragging for poor scholars all the year round. Isn't that How about studying politics?" Mingzhu asked in amazement: "That's amazing! This is Mr. Ajibai, who is the Minister of Rites with Mr. Xu. This time the emperor has ordered a few scholars, and Mr. Ajibai is among them. Not much, Ajibai is highly regarded by the emperor. But this matter has not been mentioned outside!" Ker Kun became interested, and said: "Since the two adults are looking at the pipe, and it is accurate, I will also take a look at the pipe." Zu Ze looked deeply at Ker Kun, and hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, your lord, you are going to be a rich official soon." Ker Kun asked: "It's really strange. Mr. Ajibai is a humble official who uses a pipe to tell fortunes. How can I get rich?" Zu Ze said with a deep smile: "This pipe was originally made of an old root, but it is inlaid with silver. The root removes the wood and adds gold, which is a word for silver. I think Mr. Kerkun is going to take care of the money law." Ker Kun looked at the Pearl, then at Samuha, and was stunned.Mingzhu laughed early, and said: "God, what a god! Master Samuha recommended Ker Kun to be the doctor supervisor of Baoquan Bureau, and the emperor has already approved it!" Samuha hurriedly said: "It's all done by Ming Xiangguo!" Ker Kun waved his hands to the two adults, and said, "Ming Xiangguo and Lord Samuha, I am extremely grateful!" "Since it's so accurate, I'll take this pipe as well." It was Fu Lun, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, who spoke. Before Zu Zeshen could speak, Mingzhu laughed first, and said, "Today, this pipe has eaten up all the fireworks in the world, and everyone has done it." Zu Ze looked deeply at Fu Lun, and said: "Congratulations, sir, you have to go down to be the governor immediately." Mingzhu was surprised first, and asked, "How do you say that?" Zu Zeshen said: "I can figure out where Master Fu Lun is going to be the governor. You are going to Shandong!" Fu Lun bowed deeply to Zu Ze and said, "I really admire you. But how do you say that?" Zu Ze said deeply: "The smoke pipe was originally a hole pipe. Shandong is the hometown of Confucius and Sage. If you are not going to Shandong, where are you going?" At this time, Chen Tingtong quietly pulled Gao Shiqi's sleeve.Gao Shiqi understood what he meant and said, "Mr. Zu, can you show Tingtong too?" Zu Ze took a deep look at Chen Tingtong and said, "It's better not to read it." Chen Tingtong said: "Please take a look, Mr. Zu, and let Tingtong eat this bowl of rice with confidence! I will also take a look at this pipe." Zu Zeshen said: "Since he insisted on looking at it, Zu Mou just broke his mouth. The cigarette pipe is the most snobbish thing. If you need him, you will be hot all over. If you don't need him, you will be cold in an instant. It's okay if you don't need him. , anyway, it’s a pipe. If people like this, it’s going to be terrible!” Chen Tingtong was immediately ashamed and sweated all over.Mingzhu was busy trying to smooth things over, and asked: "Mr. Zu, why do you both use a pipe to look at the physiognomy, and why do you conjure up so many sayings?" Zu Zeshen smiled secretly: "There is a mystery in it, and I can't explain it clearly in one or two sentences. Ming Xiangguo, let me tell you an interesting thing. When Suo'etu is not in trouble, ask me for a look. With many opinions, Suo'etu pulled out the knife from Yaojian, and said that he would take this knife to see. I knelt down when I heard it, and I was terribly afraid." Mingzhu also seemed to be frightened, and asked, "Why?" Zu Ze said deeply: "I don't dare to count. You must kill me if you tell me. Suo Etu said, it's okay for you to just say it. I can't blame you for my fate. I said, I dare to spare me if I don't die." Said. Suo Ertu said, the old man spares you from death. Just now I said, the knife was cut off, my lord has the word "Suo" in your name, and your life is in danger recently!" Mingzhu straightened her eyes when she heard that, and asked, "How did he say it?" Zu Ze said deeply: "Suo'etu's face turned pale with fright at that time, but he immediately laughed out loud. He only said that as the leader of the guards, he is a first-class uncle, and the emperor's grace is mighty! It's your blessing. But according to the calculation, you are a bit difficult, maybe it's better to be careful. Suo'etu just doesn't believe it. What's the result? Everyone has seen it." It turned out that Suo'etu had fought against Mingzhu for many years and was finally defeated. He has now dismissed him and stayed at home.Mingzhu sighed: "Suo'etu was supposed to die for his crime, but I saved him in front of the emperor!" Everyone just explained that Xiangguo is really an old saying, that the prime minister can punt a boat in his stomach.Mingzhu suddenly saw that Chen Tingtong was still in embarrassment, so she cupped her hands and said to everyone: "You don't have to worry about it. In my house, it's not like in the yamen. Everyone, please feel free to say whatever you want. Tingtong, brother Ling and I often talk about it in front of the emperor. He can fight for a few words, but he is a good friend in private. Brother Ling is knowledgeable and honest, I admire him very much!" Chen Tingtong said: "Lord Ming, my elder brother is a bit rigid, so don't take it to heart." Gao Shiqi patted Chen Tingtong's hand and said, "Ming Xiang is a magnanimous person." Ker Kun is a tactful person. He originally wanted to please Mingzhu and flatter Gao Shiqi, but what he said was very confused: "The General Assembly said that the Prime Minister is really a prime minister who can pull a boat in his stomach. Just say that Gao Shiqi My lord, everyone knows that he was born under Suo'etu's family, and everyone in the world knows that Master Ming and Suo'etu are incompatible. Take a look, isn't Master Gao still a guest of the Ming family?" Everyone held back their laughter and looked at Gao Shiqi.Gao Shiqi talked and laughed freely, and said: "If you say that, Gao is really ashamed!" Mingzhu shook her hand and said, "Where is it? Mingzhu makes friends, and I am open to all kinds of people. As long as you respect me, you can come in at any time." Ker Kun asked Chen Tingtong: "Tingtong, I don't know what brother Ling is doing at home every day when he leaves the yamen? He never goes out for a walk." Mingzhu said: "Master Chen is a man of learning, the emperor often invites him to give lectures!" Ker Kun didn't take it seriously, and said: "It's not Mr. Chen who wants to speak to the emperor alone, but Ming Xiangguo, Mr. Xu, and Mr. Gao who are present here are all going to speak according to the order." Mingzhu waved her hand and said, "Ker Kun, you are not allowed to talk about Mr. Chen anymore. Ting Jing and I are old friends for more than twenty years." Gao Shiqi looked very emotional: "Mingxiang Guozhai has a benevolent heart, like an ancient minister!" Ker Kun still clung to this topic: "Chen Tingjing often confronts Ming Xiangguo!" Mingzhu seemed to be really angry: "Ker Kun, you are a scholar among us Manchurians, and you understand the truth, so you must not say that. Every time I argue with Ting Jing in front of the emperor, we just have different views on things, but our hearts are the same. , are loyal to the emperor." Chen Tingtong was sitting on pins and needles, and said: "Master Ming is so considerate, my brother should know it in his heart." Samuha said gruffly, "He knows shit!" Chen Tingtong blushed again.Mingzhu is naturally rounding the field, allowing everyone to step down.Talking and laughing, Mingzhu picked up the teacup to drink tea, Chen Tingtong looked around cautiously and saw that everyone was drinking tea. Mingzhu is a very clear-sighted person, and hurriedly said: "Tingtong, the official rule is to serve tea to see off guests. In my place, you don't see me drinking tea. They just urge you to leave. They all know that, if I If you are tired, you are not welcome, and will naturally tell you to go." Chen Tingtong nodded his thanks, picked up his teacup and drank it slowly.It's chatting again, gossiping for a long time.Suddenly the chiming bell rang, and Gao Shiqi arched and said: "Ming Xiangguo, it's getting late, I'll take my leave, you can rest." Everyone hurriedly stood up and said goodbye.Mingzhu also stood up and returned the salute.Mingzhu deliberately took Chen Tingtong's hand and said, "Tingtong come and sit down, and say hello to Brother Ling for the old man!" Chen Tingtong felt warm in his heart when he heard it, and kept murmuring.When he folded his hands and retreated, he inadvertently saw the imperial plaque hanging above Mingzhu's head, with four large characters written on it: Temperance and Consciousness.The origin of this imperial plaque is well known throughout the court. It turned out that Mingzhu and Suo'etu Bingguo had been at odds with each other for many years, so the emperor wrote these four characters to them as a warning.There is also such an imperial plaque hanging on Suo'etu's mansion, which is exactly the same.