Chapter 142: Sweet After Bitterness
This was the first time Xu Chuchu had met a seventh-level physiognomist other than her.
The levels of physiognomists are generally divided into seven levels because there are six clear levels that need to be broken through during the practice process.
But it does not mean that breaking through to the seventh level is the ceiling, there are still infinite possibilities above.
However, seventh-level physiognomists are too rare, and the few recorded in history have almost no interactions, let alone comparisons, so there is no specific level division above that.
Xu Chuchu could vaguely feel that the great master's cultivation was definitely not inferior to hers at her peak.
Besides, given his age and experience, if they really fought, she might not be his opponent.
And such a master who has reached the pinnacle of cultivation is now surrounded by a group of children, performing magic tricks for them with a smile.
He first made a few misleading gestures, and then suddenly pulled out two furry rabbits from his sleeves, which caused the children to applaud happily.
He himself seemed to be enjoying it very much. He looked at the children's faces with a kind expression and did not put on airs at all.
On the contrary, Chen Zhaozhi, who was standing next to him, although smiling, gave people a feeling that no strangers could approach him.
Seeing the stark contrast between the master and the disciple, Xu Chuchu suddenly remembered that she and Xiao Yu had been to the Big Buddha Temple before.
She saw her master there, but Chen Zhaozhi told her that it was the incense that the temple used to keep the incense burning and create hallucinations...
Now that I think about it, that temple should also belong to the sphere of influence of the Grand Master. Is it reasonable for Chen Zhaozhi to expose his master's secrets in front of outsiders like this? It is unreasonable.
So what exactly is Chen Zhaozhi's stance?
"The Grand Master loves children." Xiao Yu followed Xu Chuchu's gaze, feeling a pang of displeasure, but explained, "He's very approachable. He's always willing to help officials in the capital who want fortune-telling or peace. But because he's so close to the Emperor, some people in the court still dislike him."
Having said that, he also took the opportunity to take Xu Chuchu to introduce the people present.
The muscular man sitting directly opposite the second prince is the current crown prince and also the eldest prince.
It is said that because of the love between the emperor and the empress, the eldest prince was named the crown prince when he was born.
Originally, he was the eldest son and the daughter of the queen, so his status should have been stable. Unfortunately, the queen died of illness when he was only a few years old.
The second prince's biological mother, Concubine Zhang, has become the current queen. She has been supporting the second prince's power over the years, so now the two forces in the court are evenly matched.
"The Crown Prince is upright and impartial. If he becomes the ruler in the future, it will be a blessing for the Xia Dynasty." Xiao Yu spoke highly of the Crown Prince. "The Second Prince is a drunkard and a good-for-nothing. However, the Empress's power is still growing, so it's hard to say who will win in the future."
Xu Chuchu thought for a moment and asked, "Crown Prince, Second Prince...you are the fourth prince, what about the third prince? Doesn't he have any intention of snatching it away?"
"The third child died shortly after birth." Xiao Yu whispered, "Don't mention this matter again. The emperor is very sensitive about it."
Xu Chuchu nodded quickly.
She then quietly asked, "Is Xia Wanqing here? The one you were engaged to."
Xiao Yu shuddered when he heard the name, and was overwhelmed: "...Why are you asking her?"
He was afraid that Xu Chuchu would misunderstand his engagement after hearing about it from others, so he turned himself in first. He had almost forgotten about it, but he didn't expect to be singled out for questioning now.
"I want to take a look." Xu Chuchu whispered coquettishly.
Xiao Yu couldn't persuade her, so he stretched his head to look and said, "The one drinking tea diagonally opposite is Minister Xia, and the one sitting to his left should be Miss Xia."
Then he added: "This is the first time I've seen it."
Xu Chuchu immediately glanced over and saw that Miss Xia had a pretty face and was wearing an ice-blue dress, which gave her a cool and beautiful look.
She sat properly with her back straight, giving a good first impression.
"So beautiful." Xu Chuchu sighed softly, "Are you moved?"
"Don't joke like that." Xiao Yu said helplessly, "Who am I attracted to...don't you know?"
Xu Chuchu pursed her lips and smiled, deciding to quit while she was ahead.
Only then did she remember Shao Zhi, the girl from the Shao family who had always been against her. She saw an empty seat next to Shao Mingjie, but she didn't see Shao Zhi, so she didn't know if this was her seat.
The seat Xiao Yu chose was very remote. Xu Chuchu originally thought that she could quietly blend into the banquet and observe others, just like she did when she was a student and sat in the last row to listen to lectures. However, she did not expect that as more and more people came, she and Xiao Yu gradually became the focus of the whole audience.
In other words, Xiao Yu became the focus of the whole audience.
A crowd looked at him from a distance and whispered to each other.
"The person sitting over there is that Mr. Xiao, right?"
"It seems so. Doesn't he have that strange disease that makes him never attend events like this? Why is he here for the Emperor's birthday this time?"
Someone said disdainfully, "If you had told me he was coming, I wouldn't have brought my wife and daughter. It's really bad luck."
Others retorted, "Haven't you heard? Young Master Xiao's illness has been cured! The Emperor knows everything and is even planning to give Young Master Xiao an official title."
Immediately, several more people came out to second the motion, saying that they had heard about this.
The wind direction on the field changed immediately.
"Oh, he's recovered? This Mr. Xiao has suffered so much injustice for so many years, and now he can finally enjoy happiness after all the hardships."
"Indeed, he's a man of integrity. You all know the symptoms of his strange illness... but he hasn't had a single concubine in all these years, and I haven't heard of him having any involvement with any other girls. That's truly rare."
Several unmarried girls from official families accidentally heard these words, their faces turned red with embarrassment, and they kept looking in Xiao Yu's direction.
Nowadays, all the young men have several maids before getting married, and some of them are frequent visitors to brothels.
In comparison, although Master Xiao had suffered from a strange disease and had an embarrassing identity, he kept himself clean and had no romantic affairs. He was also rich. Wasn't he better than those young masters who liked to play around?
So suddenly, Xiao Yu became a hot commodity before the banquet officially began.
Officials kept coming over to chat with him, offer him tea, and get close to him. There was even a brave girl who deliberately threw her headdress next to his seat, pretending that it had fallen off, in order to strike up a conversation with him.
This stealing of the limelight made the Second Prince and other officials who had a grudge against Xiao Yu very angry, and they secretly scolded him for being mysterious to attract attention.
What they didn't know was that Xiao Yu was really too lazy to deal with all the flattery and compliments.
The officials were easy to deal with, as he could easily come up with perfunctory and polite remarks. But the girls were really difficult to deal with.
If I say too little, I won’t be able to drive her away. If I say too much, I’m afraid Xu Chuchu will be unhappy if she sees it.
It's so annoying.
Xiao Yu would not be happy about this sudden prosperity because he knew very well that most of the people who despised and hated him in the past and those who were optimistic about him and complimented him now were the same group of people.
But he didn't think these people were hypocritical. It was only human nature to scold him when he was down and praise him when he got better.
In short, apart from Xu Chuchu's attitude, he didn't care about anything else.
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