Chapter 160 Marry Me
Su Cheng curled his lips and gently lifted his chin, "I dare to pour this tea, but does he dare to drink it?"
Zhao Chen's expression suddenly changed, and his body froze, not moving at all. For a moment, he even suspected that his ears were broken. "What did you say?"
Xie Suzhou is a potential top scholar. Now, many eyes are eager to see him, just to establish a good relationship with him in advance and to pave the way for their family. However, Su Cheng said lightly that Xie Suzhou didn't dare to drink the tea he poured.
Who is she?
"How dare you!" Zhao Chen's face turned pale with fear. He wanted to slap Xie Suzhou in the face as an apology. "You little girl, how dare you say such outrageous things? You really don't know your place!"
After saying this, Zhao Chen turned around to look at the man with an uneasy expression, and put on a flattering smile. "Thank you, brother. My second brother only has this one daughter, and it's inevitable that I was a little too lax in disciplining her. She has become a person with no manners. Please don't take it to heart."
Xie Suzhou lowered his eyes, his face calm and expressionless, "It's okay."
Ah Cheng was not wrong.
If Zhao Chen hadn't been standing there so tactlessly, he would have run over to pour tea for Ah Cheng.
"My daughter is late, I hope you won't blame me, father."
A delicate voice came from outside the door, and everyone looked over. Zhao Sheng'er must have taken out the brocade skirt that she had kept at the bottom of the box. The gold-thread peonies embroidered on the skirt appeared and disappeared with her steps. She had a heavy golden hairpin on her head, which swayed gracefully as she walked, and the jade pendant hanging on her waist also jingled.
"Sheng'er, come and meet Xie Jieyuan." Zhao Chen raised his chin, with unconcealable pride on his face.
"Yes." Zhao Sheng'er paused, leaned over gently in the direction of Xie Suzhou, and said softly, "I have seen—"
"No." Xie Suzhou spoke before her, quickly drawing a line in the sand. "I came here today just to see Minister Zhao. Why did you ask your daughter to come out?"
"I..." Zhao Sheng'er was stunned for a moment, as if she didn't expect Xie Suzhou to avoid women like the plague. Her eyes suddenly turned red with grievance, and she looked at her father eagerly.
Zhao Chen felt a little embarrassed. If it were someone else, he would have walked away long ago.
But the person sitting in front of him was Xie Suzhou, a very popular figure in the capital. He often took imperial examinations, and although it was not uncommon for him to be the top scorer in the imperial examination, this year was very different.
Even though Zhao Chen was not in the court, he knew that the real difficulty in the imperial examination was not to pass the exam and get a good reputation. Passing the exam was only the first step, and the selection by the Ministry of Personnel was the real hurdle. For so many years, under the noses of those powerful people, there had never been a vacant official position in the capital, and the lucrative positions had always been determined by internal discussions. Even if those students passed the exam, they had to start from a small official position.
But Xie Suzhou, who came from a grassroots background, started out as a Langzhong in the Ministry of Revenue, a fifth-rank official position, right after he came out of the examination hall. If it were someone else, it would probably take them many years of hard work to climb up.
If someone said that there was no one behind him, Zhao Chen would never believe it.
Now that the Zhao family has a bitch like Su Cheng, his plan to drain the Zhao family dry has completely failed, and he has to find another way out.
"Little brother, what you said is quite out of line." Zhao Chen forced a smile and tried to smooth things over. "Think about it, you and my daughter are only a few years apart, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, and neither of you is married yet. It would be nice to sit down and have a cup of tea and chat, and get to know each other."
Xie Suzhou's eyes flashed with amusement, and he glanced in Su Cheng's direction with a smile, "In that case, why doesn't Mr. Zhao introduce his niece to me?"
Zhao Chen paused, his smile completely frozen on his face, "Wha...what?"
"According to what Master Zhao said, the daughter of the Zhao family is not much different from me in age. In terms of appearance, no one can rival her. Moreover, Miss Zhao is not currently seeking a husband, so marrying me is the perfect match." Xie Suzhou raised his eyebrows slightly, a bright smile in his eyes. "If Master Zhao can convince his niece to marry me, I will definitely give him a big red envelope."
Zhao Chen finally couldn't control his temper anymore, his face looked extremely bad, "You!"
Su Cheng took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then spoke slowly, "Xie Suzhou, that's enough."
Hearing this, the smile on Xie Suzhou's lips faded a little, but he finally calmed down.
Even if Zhao Chen was dumb, he could tell something was wrong. His shocked eyes wandered over the two of them, "You..."
"Master, the master is back."
The servant came in to pass on the message, and before Zhao Chen could react, the tall figure of Zhao Hu appeared at the door.
Su Cheng slowly stood up and saluted the newcomer, "Father."
Zhao Hu nodded at her, then looked at the man sitting opposite her. Seeing his appearance, he was immediately shocked, "You..."
Isn’t this the man I saw in front of Xie’s house on the day I first met Su Cheng?
Zhao Hu frowned and looked at Su Cheng, and asked in a low voice, "Who is this..."
"Sir Zhao, my surname is Xie, my name is Suzhou, and I'm the new doctor of the Ministry of Revenue who will be taking up my post today." Xie Suzhou slowly stepped forward, bowed, and said in a deep voice, "It's our first meeting today, and I've prepared a small gift and left it in the courtyard. I hope Sir Zhao won't despise it."
His words and actions completely ignored Zhao Chen and his daughter, and the two of them could only leave in shame.
"Are you Xie Suzhou?" Zhao Hu's eyes flashed with suspicion. He looked him up and down, a pleased smile on his lips. "Yes, you are a talented young man, well-known in the capital. People say that you are both talented and beautiful. Seeing you today, it is indeed true."
"Lord Zhao, thank you for your kind words." Xie Suzhou's face was humble, polite yet distant. "It's really against the rules to come here uninvited. It's just that I'm about to take office, so I thought I'd take advantage of my free time now to come visit my colleagues in the capital."
"So that's how it is..." Zhao Hu pulled his lip, but his tentative gaze fell on Su Cheng.
This man is not real at all.
He had never heard anyone say that the newly appointed doctor from the Ministry of Revenue had visited them. It was likely that Doctor Xie had only come to his house.
Zhao Hu smiled as he looked at the man in front of him and said in a low voice, "It just so happens that I have a distinguished guest in my house today. I have already told my servants to prepare fine wine and delicious food. Xie Jieyuan, why don't you stay for dinner? I can also chat with you about the affairs of the court."
"That's good." Xie Suzhou glanced at Su Cheng, a gleam in his eyes, and he responded with a smile.
"Is there a distinguished guest coming to your house?" Su Cheng frowned slightly, took a few steps forward, and asked in a low voice, "Father, who is coming?"
"The Duke of Su and his wife whom you met last time."
Duke Su and his wife?
Su Cheng's body stiffened, and he subconsciously looked at Xie Suzhou, with panic in his eyes.
Isn't that just...
"Master Zhao, my wife has been talking about your daughter. I wonder if she can meet you today?"
A man's smiling voice came from outside the door, and two figures slowly appeared in front of everyone. Duke Su strode towards the central hall, followed by his wife. Both of them had smiles on their faces, and they were obviously in a good mood.
But the next moment, the Duke's wife's eyes fell on Xie Suzhou and she stopped immediately.
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