106. Reputation
The sun shines brightly at noon.
Outside the clinic, four sedan chair bearers slowly lifted Zhang Zhuo's dark red official sedan chair and joined the crowd on Anxi Street.
A faint fragrance filled the air inside the clinic. Bai Li approached the counter, looked out the door, and asked, "I think I saw Master Zhang Zhu. Why did he leave so quickly the moment he saw us?"
Chen Ji put the chess pieces into the chess basket one by one: "Master Zhang said he has a banquet at noon, so he left first."
Bai Li was puzzled. "Did Lord Zhang come all the way to see you? Is he trying to persuade the Chen family to come home?"
Chen Ji also had a question mark on his forehead: "No, he seems to be here to persuade me not to go home..."
Baili: "Ah?"
The prince, who had just climbed over the wall, brushed off the dust on his body and jokingly said, "Perhaps Lord Zhang has noticed your talent and wants to recruit you to the government office."
"Can you become an official without taking the imperial examination?"
The prince smiled and said, "Of course. With Lord Zhang's status and background, it would be easy for him to recommend you for an official position. He might really want to invite you to take up an official position. You can first serve as a staff member in the government office for two years, and then be assigned to a post in another place."
Liu Quxing said bitterly, "What kind of official position can Chen Ji hold? He's not as good at medicine as I am. At the beginning of the year, I could already pinpoint the locations of the twelve meridians, but he can't even remember where the Yongquan acupoint is..."
She Dengke crossed his arms and sneered, "You remember your academic rank, but you can't remember the kindness others have shown you."
Liu Quxing stiffened his neck and blushed: "What the hell are you talking about!"
The prince sighed, "No one in Taiping Clinic has a mouth that is open in vain."
Meanwhile, Old Man Yao was fiddling with the beads on his abacus, taking notes, and speaking indifferently without even looking up, "Don't speculate. Mr. Zhang asked me when he came in if there was a girl I liked. I said no, and that maybe his brain isn't fully developed yet, so he hasn't even considered it."
Liu Quxing's breathing stopped.
Old Man Yao put down his brush, looked up and continued, "Then, Master Zhang began to praise his daughter for her gentleness, tact, and ability to manage household chores. Don't you understand what Master Zhang meant?"
The clinic suddenly became quiet.
Liu Quxing opened his mouth wide and looked at Chen Ji silently, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Chen Ji looked at Liu Quxing: "Brother, what do you want to say?"
Liu Quxing gritted his teeth: "You really deserve to die!"
Chen Ji: “…”
Since Master had pointed it out to this point, it would be inappropriate for him to play dumb any longer. "Master, you didn't respond to his question, did you?"
Old man Yao sneered and said, "I'm not your father, what right do I have to respond to such a question? But I came to the clinic early in the morning just to see what kind of character you are. Now I am leaving with satisfaction.
I'm afraid you're not going to a banquet, but to the Chen residence."
Chen Ji frowned. "So careless? Master Zhang and I have only met three times, and he can already make such a judgment about my character?"
This time it was Old Man Yao's turn to be stunned. "Three times isn't enough? He's already quite sincere by coming all the way to the clinic for this matter. It seems his daughter is very much favored."
Chen Ji suddenly realized a problem: in marriages of this era, what both parties choose is not the person, but the family background.
As the master said, Zhang Zhuo was extremely responsible to his daughter by personally coming to the clinic to see Chen Ji's character.
She Dengke muttered, "Master Zhang has several daughters. Which one is he trying to matchmake with now?"
The prince leaned against the counter, deep in thought: "Master Zhang has only two daughters. The older one has already married into the Liu family. It should be the younger one, but..."
Chen Ji was puzzled: "But what?"
Liu Quxing said bluntly: "But, the remaining daughter is a legitimate daughter, and you are a bastard. Could it be that Master Zhang has an illegitimate daughter?"
The prince shook his head. "Even if Chen Ji is a bastard, he's still a bastard of the Chen family. The Chen family has been a family of noble birth for generations, and the current head, Chen Luchi, is a high-ranking official and the Minister of Revenue. If Master Zhang were to propose marriage for his illegitimate daughter, he would be kicked out of the Chen family. Therefore, the one Master Zhang wants to propose marriage to is probably his legitimate daughter."
A legitimate daughter marries a bastard son...
Liu Quxing felt even more jealous.
While he was thinking, Bai Li said, "But, the reputation of this Mr. Zhang Zhuo..."
"Huh?" Chen Ji looked at Bai Li.
Bai Li hesitated for a long time, then gently tugged at the prince's sleeve: "Brother, you tell me."
The prince said helplessly, "If you want to get promoted under Master Zhang, the price is 800 taels of silver for a county clerk and 3,000 taels of silver for a county magistrate. The price is clearly marked. The Zhang Mansion is always crowded with people waiting outside for official positions. It is said that there are officials from other prefectures as well. However, Master Zhang has an excellent reputation. As long as you pay him, he will really do the work for you."
Liu Quxing, standing by, became excited: "I heard that Master Zhang has dozens of beautiful concubines. Is that true?"
The prince laughed and said, "It's true. Every year, countless officials send him beautiful concubines, and he never refuses them all."
Liu Quxing sighed, "How many houses would that require?"
The prince said, "Master Zhang divided his concubines into three, six, and nine grades. The top three stayed in his house, while the bottom six were all sent to the farm to do farm work..."
Bai Li said from the side: "The Chen family is a clean family in the north, and they have always had a grudge against the Xu family in the south..."
Chen Ji shook his head: "These are not my concerns in the court. I just have no interest in this matter."
Old Man Yao sneered, "You speak as if you can decide this matter. Parents' orders and matchmaker's words, how can you decide?"
Chen Ji replied, "Master Zhang has considered this matter and is probably interested in the cement formula I have. Since the prince and I haven't signed the deed to transfer the formula yet, there's still hope for a change, so Master Zhang has come up with a plan. I just need to sign the deed with the prince as soon as possible and let Master Zhang know that there's no turning back on the cement issue. He'll then abandon me like a worn-out shoe."
Old Man Yao stroked his beard and said, "That's true. This man won't get up early unless there's something to gain. He's a real mean person."
The Crown Prince suddenly spoke up, "However, Lord Zhang wasn't like this when he was young. He passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve and became the top scholar at the age of fifteen. At the time, he already had a wife, and Lord Xu sent someone to act as a matchmaker, hoping that he would divorce her and marry a daughter of the Xu family, but he refused. He told the matchmaker, 'Without me, your lady will remain your lady, but without me, my wife will be nothing but a skeleton.'"
"When he was nineteen, Mr. Zhang's first wife died of illness. Disheartened, he resigned from his post and returned to his hometown in Jiangling, Huguang."
Bai Li was puzzled: "Hey, then why did he marry Xu Ge Lao's niece?"
"It is said that after a year of being unemployed at home, Master Zhang finally came to his senses and married Lord Xu's niece. From then on, his career skyrocketed."
However, at this moment, Bai Li suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Chen Ji, there's someone across from the clinic staring at me. I've seen him before, and this isn't the first time."
Chen Ji glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a nimble middle-aged man standing under the shadow of the bun shop's awning, silently staring at Bai Li.
The middle-aged man was dressed in black, with a tiger back, a wasp waist, and mantis legs, looking extremely strong and powerful.
Chen Ji wanted to see the other person's appearance clearly, but the other person was wearing a hat and his face was hidden in the darkness under the hat.
Was he a spy from the Secret Service? Not likely. A spy wouldn't stare at someone so intently.
He thought for a moment and asked, "How many times has the princess seen him?"
Bai Li recalled: "Four or five times. The first time was in a tavern at the foot of the mountain from Donglin Academy. I followed my brother down the mountain that day, and he was sitting alone in the tavern. He had a unique figure and a unique temperament, so it was easy to remember him after seeing him."
"Where have you seen me since then?"
"Let me think, when I came back from the academy and just entered Luocheng, he was standing by the roadside." Bai Li said, "I was quite scared when I saw him at first, thinking he was some bad guy from the underworld, but then I got used to it. He just looked at me for a while and then left."
"Does he have any other characteristics?"
Bai Li reminisced for a while, then suddenly said, "I remember once when I passed him, I saw a tattoo on his wrist where he rolled up his sleeves. It looked like a Buddha."
"Buddha?" Chen Ji frowned and looked outside the clinic, but there was no one under the awning of the bun shop.
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