Chapter 260: The Road to High Office 60

Chapter 260: The Road to High Office 60

"Why should I be angry?" Xu Zeping sat on a small stool, bending over to rub Cheng Ge Er's feet, then placed them on his lap and dried them with a cotton cloth he had prepared earlier.

Cheng Ge Er pulled his dried feet back and crossed them, resting his chin on his hands as he watched Xu Zeping rub his feet, muttering boredly, "Pingping, you're so boring, you don't even know how to play along with me."

"Yes, yes, I'm very boring. Tuck your feet under the bedding, or you'll catch a cold and we'll need to call a doctor." Xu Zeping finished drying his feet, then slipped on his shoes to go pour out the water. "If I come back and you're not lying down properly, I'll show you just how boring I can be."

Cheng Ge Er immediately took off his outer pants and coat, rolled himself into the bedding, leaving only his eyes peeking out, darting around.

By the time Xu Zeping returned, Cheng Ge Er was already fast asleep.

He turned around to bolt the door, walked to the bedside, and saw that Cheng Ge Er was already asleep. He bent down, tapped Cheng Ge Er's cheek with his index finger, and shook his head helplessly. "You're such a sleepyhead, dozing off so fast."

There was no charcoal stove in the room, and the bedding was only about ten pounds, not even pure cotton. Afraid that it would get too cold in the middle of the night, Xu Zeping took the fox fur hanging on the clothes rack and draped it over the quilt.

He extinguished the oil lamp and lay down on the bed. Cheng Ge Er instinctively snuggled into his arms.

"Pingping..."

Cheng Ge Er's face nuzzled against Xu Zeping's neck, mumbling a few incoherent words before finding a comfortable position and falling into a deep sleep.

"Hmm, I'm here."

Xu Zeping habitually placed his hand on Cheng Ge Er's waist. Once Cheng Ge Er stopped mumbling, he closed his eyes and rested.

Xu Zeping's body temperature was high, and Cheng Ge Er slept soundly next to him. In his dream, two chubby little pink snakes insisted on following him home. No matter how hard he tried to shoo them away, he ended up carrying one in each hand as he walked home.

When he finally got home, the dark sky suddenly brightened. He opened his eyes drowsily, only to find no little pink snakes. "Oh," Cheng Ge Er said disappointedly, "it's already morning."

"It's only just past mao shi," Xu Zeping estimated the time and comforted him. "You can still snooze for another fifteen minutes. Go back to sleep."

"Hmm." Cheng Ge Er snuggled back into Xu Zeping's chest and drifted off to sleep again.

"Cheng Ge Er, wake up, it's time to get up."

At mao shi, Xu Zeping got dressed, placed Cheng Ge Er's cotton coat and outer garments, which were hanging on the screen, by the bedside, and gently nudged Cheng Ge Er.

"I'm so tired, I don't wanna get up." Cheng Ge Er kept burrowing into the blanket, mumbling as he turned over, unwilling to respond to Xu Zeping.

Xu Zeping had no choice but to let him sleep a little longer.

After he finished washing up, he brought hot water into the room and then brought in breakfast. He finally dug the drowsy Cheng Ge Er out of the blanket.

Cheng Ge Er leaned against Xu Zeping's chest, letting him dress him.

Back at the mansion, he usually slept until chen hour before getting up. Xu Zeping was aware of his routine and didn't think much of his sleepiness.

Patiently, Xu Zeping dressed him, then wrung out a towel to wipe his face.

When Cheng Ge Er sat in front of the copper mirror, watching Xu Zeping comb his hair, he finally woke up and took the comb from Xu Zeping. "Pingping, I'll do it myself."

"Awake now?"

Seeing Xu Zeping's amused expression, Cheng Ge Er felt a bit awkward and muttered defensively, "I must have stayed up too late last night, that's why I didn't get enough sleep."

The dinner had ended at xu shi last night, and they had returned to their room to wash up at xu shi. Counting the time, it was at most xu shi when he went out to pour the water.

He had slept for nearly eleven hours...

Xu Zeping looked at Cheng Ge Er's serious expression and could only suppress his laughter. Hibernation—he could understand that: "Yes, yes, we slept too late yesterday, let's go to bed early today."

Seeing Xu Zeping's particularly sincere expression, Cheng Ge Er nodded, satisfied, then tied a beautiful Suiyun bun for himself and handed the pomegranate hairpin on the table to Xu Zeping: "Help me put it on."

"Of course."

After breakfast, it was exactly seven o'clock.

They went downstairs, and Cao Kang and his wife were already waiting in the lobby.

After a few pleasantries, Xu Zeping and his husband got on the carriage and prepared to head to the old residence of the Cao family.

Since Little Tiger was unfamiliar with the route, the Cao family's carriage led the way.

After about a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the Cao family's mansion.

The Cao family's mansion was very grand, a large four-entry and four-exit house. When Xu Zeping and his husband got off, they saw a long line had already formed outside the Cao family's gate.

The long line included both girls and young boys, none of them very old, the youngest about five or six, the oldest thirteen or fourteen, all wrapped in cotton-padded jackets, waiting to be selected.

Cheng Ge Er frowned, looking at their red, frozen faces: "Why are they all queuing outside?"

"Lord Xu, there's no room inside," Mrs. Cao Zhou said somewhat apologetically: "The news about selecting embroidery artisans must have leaked, and many people from the neighboring town have come over."

As soon as Xu Zeping and his husband appeared, they immediately attracted everyone's attention.

A woman in a floral cotton-padded jacket quickly pulled a five or six-year-old girl from the line and rushed up to them: "Lady Cao, please choose my young maid, she's very capable, she can do laundry and cook!"

Cheng Ge Er looked at the little girl, who was hunched over, her face red, not daring to make a sound.

"Madam, we are here to select embroidery artisans, not household maids," Mrs. Cao Zhou suppressed her anger, raised her eyebrows to scan the restless crowd, then politely looked at the woman: "If the little girl doesn't know embroidery, please take her back, don't let her freeze."

"Lady Cao, please, choose my young maid."

Mrs. Cao Zhou glanced at the two old women standing at the door, who immediately came down to pull the woman away.

Seeing the old women trying to drag her away, the woman immediately pulled the little girl and rushed towards Xu Zeping and his husband: "Honorable sirs, honorable sirs, my young maid is really capable, please take her in."

Xu Zeping clenched his fists, observing the long line of onlookers, aware that this was not the moment for acts of charity.

Cheng Ge Er couldn't bear to look and followed Mrs. Cao Zhou into the Cao residence.

Indeed, from the gate to the corridor, just as Mrs. Cao Zhou had mentioned, the area was packed with people.

Entering the main hall, both branches of the Cao family and Cao Deren's family were present.

"Minister Xu, Lord Xu, I must apologize for my rudeness yesterday," Cao Deren had not seen the woman of ill repute that Kang had mentioned when he returned yesterday, so he understood what had happened. That night, he had the village heads return.

"Yes," Xu Zeping nodded, "Town Head Cao, as an outsider, it's not appropriate for me to stay too long with the family, why don't you show me around the Cao residence?"

Xu Zeping spoke very bluntly, and Cao Deren understood that there was something he needed to be enlightened about, so he quickly said: "Sure."

Cao Kang's eyes darted, "Minister, since I'm just idling here, perhaps I could clear the snow from the path for you."

"Fine."

Cao Kang's younger brother naturally wanted to curry favor, but a look from Cao Deren scared him back.

Old man Cao, having been beaten by his eldest brother many times in his youth, naturally dared not offend him over this illegitimate son.

After County Magistrate Xu and the other men had left, the elderly men of the Cao family, including the patriarch, also dared not linger. Except for a few female family members, the place was cleared out.

Xu Zeping led Cao Deren and Cao Kang for a half-hour stroll outside, leaving Cao Deren shivering in the cold.

Cao Deren, his lips trembling, asked, "M-My lord, when can we go back?"

"We'll return once the selection of embroidery artisans is over."

Cao Kang, however, understood Xu Zeping's intentions and excused himself, saying he had some matters to attend to.

In less time than it takes to finish a cup of tea, two blazing bonfires were set up beside the long queue.

Although the intense cold couldn't be completely dispelled, the bonfires offered some warmth to those eagerly hoping to be selected.

During their half-hour stroll, Cheng Ge Er had Mrs. Cao Zhou come out to relay a message, advising those who didn't know needlework to go home and avoid the cold.

Yet, no one was willing to leave. They all wanted to wait, grasping at this rare opportunity.

"Town Head Cao, these children must have come from distant villages, right?" Xu Zeping finally spoke after the bonfires were lit.

"Y-Yes, my lord."

Xu Zeping had noticed some people walking out of the gate with dejected expressions. Seeing that Town Head Cao was being overly formal, he directly asked, "Town Head Cao, what's the current price of potatoes?"

"Due to food shortages, potatoes now cost five coins per pound."

"Alright then, I'll purchase a hundred pounds of potatoes and fifty pounds of rice from the Cao family. Cook them and let these unfortunate children have a warm meal before heading back."

Upon hearing this, Town Head Cao immediately understood that the county magistrate was dissatisfied with their handling of the situation. He promptly ordered people to prepare porridge and steam potatoes.

Those who were about to leave were also called back by the Cao family's women to warm themselves by the bonfires. Already disheartened, they grew even more resentful.

Recalling how the Cao family had earlier told them to leave but now asked them to stay, their anger flared up.

With red eyes, they were ready to confront the Cao family's women, their noisy quarrels catching Cao Deren's attention.

He quickly ran over and scolded, "What's all this noise?!"

As the town head, Cao Deren's authority was well-respected, and the crowd immediately fell silent.

"If it weren't for the county magistrate's compassion, wanting you to have a warm meal before leaving, do you think we'd bother stopping you?"

At these words, the crowd could no longer hold back their emotions.

Their anger turned into self-reproach, and some, more prone to tears, began to sob quietly.

From a distance, Xu Zeping sighed at the scene. After much thought, he lowered his head and walked back into the Cao residence.

Cao Kang, noticing Xu Zeping approaching, quickly went to greet him...

Cheng Ge Er's selection of embroidery artisans consisted of two rounds: the first tested eyesight and needlework skills—those who failed were immediately eliminated.

Those who passed were kept for the second round.

The second round tested patience and perseverance: picking white rice from a mix of soybeans and peanuts.