Chapter Forty-six: The Wooden Box

  As for the attitude towards the elderly, Zhou Zhenglong was dissatisfied in his heart but didn't show it on his face. He smiled and said: "There is news from Beijing that needs to be presented to Mr. Xu, I don't know if you can help me inform him?" If it wasn't for Luo Si's special arrangement, Zhou Zhenglong would have taken people to rush in long ago. When was the Imperial Guard ever so polite?

  The old man nodded slowly and didn't say a word. He just nodded and closed the door, turning around to walk back in.

  Seeing the old man's appearance, a school lieutenant came to Zhou Zhenglong's side with a flattering expression and said in a low voice: "Sir, why don't we rush in? This is really damaging the reputation of our Brocade Guard."

  Looking at his usually decent subordinate, Zhou Zhenglong suddenly felt that he had found a place to vent, and gave his subordinate a loud slap in the face, shouting: "You know nothing, with this kind of attitude you will be just a school officer for your whole life."

  Can this be rushed in? Although I don't know how serious this matter is, seeing that even the commander of the Brocade Guard, Ruo Si Gong, has such an attitude, what can a mere thousand-household officer like myself do?!

  Not long after, the door was opened again. The old man glanced at Zhou Zhenglong and said lightly: "My master has invited you, sir. Please come in."

  After hearing the old man's words, Zhou Zhenglong suddenly understood that he was to go in alone. He turned his head and said to the people behind him: "You wait here."

  Following the old man into the small courtyard, Zhou Zhonglong was surprised to see a new waterwheel, with one end connected to a bamboo pipe. As the waterwheel rotated, the water in the pond slowly flowed into the bamboo pipe. The clear water flowed slowly and eventually flowed to a place where Zhou Zhonglong couldn't see.

  If saying that he just respected Xu Guangqi because of Luo Si's reminder, then this time it was truly a heartfelt respect. Zhou Zhenglong didn't read many books but also knew some allusions. At this moment, he suddenly felt that this Xu Guangqi was the Mr. Zhuge who hid in Wulonggang, such people must be very capable. However, Zhou Zhenglong did not think of himself as Liu Bei, and did not know what would happen this time coming here.

  Following the old man, they all walked into a small wooden building. Zhou Zhenglong was even more certain that there was a master living here, because he saw a map, which was a map of the entire Ming Dynasty's territory. He had been fortunate enough to see it at Luo Si Kong's place before, and unexpectedly, there was one here too, and it looked bigger than Luo Si Kong's.

  "Wait a moment, sir. I'll go and call our master." The old man led Zhou Zhenglong into the first floor of the small building, paused slightly, and said in a low voice.

  "Please go ahead, old gentleman." As the saying goes, "Before the prime minister's gate, there are seven-grade officials." This Mr. Xu is quite extraordinary, and he will surely rise to prominence in no time!

  Zhou Zhenglong was staring at the map when a voice suddenly startled him, and he quickly drew out the embroidered spring knife from his waist.

  "Idiot, idiot." It seemed that Zhou Zhenglong didn't respond, and the strange voice continued to shout.

  Following the sound, Zhou Zhenglong was stunned, because the speaker was a bird, a bird he had never seen before. The whole body was colorful and had a curved beak, looking very beautiful.

  Seeing Zhou Zhenglong staring at himself, the bird flapped its wings and shouted loudly: "Stupid, stupid, what are you looking at, what are you looking at."

  Zhou Zhenglong didn't expect that this bird could actually scold people, it's really a case of "different places produce different birds", the birds around him are all so fierce. Although he had also seen parrots that could talk before, but they were far inferior to this bird.

  When Zhou Zhenglong curiously sized up the bird, the bead curtain was lifted and an old man walked in, scolding the bird: "You beast, shut your mouth." The bird seemed to be very afraid of the old man, chirping a few times before falling silent, watching the old man with caution.

  "Making adults laugh, this beast doesn't understand things." The old man walked to the side and sat down slowly, smiling at Zhou Zhenglong, and said: "Zhou Qianhu, sit down and talk!"

  Zhou Zhenglong didn't dare to be arrogant, and after thanking him, he sat down. Xu Guangqi had told Ruo Si that he was a jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) who had been appointed as a Grand Secretary, and it was likely that he would become a high-ranking official in the future. Naturally, he wouldn't be polite to a mere thousand-household commander of the Brocade Guard, and probably wouldn't even give Ruo Si a second glance.

  At this time, being able to get a seat was already an unexpected honor for Zhou Zhenglong, and he repeatedly thanked Xu Guangqi.

  Seeing Zhou Zhenglong sit down, Xu Guangqi slowly said: "I don't know what brought Mr. Zhou here this time? As a rustic person who also abides by the law, I don't know where the need is for the labor of the Imperial Guards?" Generally speaking, most civil officials in the Ming Dynasty didn't like the Imperial Guards, except for those who fawned on them. Xu Guangqi, being a proper scholar-official, naturally had no good feelings towards the Imperial Guards either.

  "Governor Xu is joking, I am here under the orders of Commander Ruo Si-gong of the Brocade Guard to meet with Mr. Xu. Commander Ruo has entrusted me with something to present to you in person." Although Xu Guangqi was being quite rude, Zhou Zhenglong didn't show any reaction and continued smiling faintly. He had long been accustomed to this kind of attitude from literary officials.

  While speaking, Zhou Zhenglong took out a wooden box from his sleeve, a long rectangular wooden box. Although it was made of wood, one could tell at a glance that it was not an ordinary product. The carvings on the surface were particularly exquisite, and although he didn't know what kind of wood it was, he could see that it was extremely valuable.

  Zhou Zhenglong put the box on the table, but Xu Guangqi did not reach out to take it. Instead, he said calmly: "Director Zhou, I am just a rustic old man from a mountain village. Please take this valuable thing back! I also can't help you with anything." Xu Guangqi's words already carried a hint of anger, and speaking harshly was also somewhat impolite.

  Seeing Xu Guangqi's expression, Zhou Zhenglong knew he had misunderstood and hastily said: "Mr. Xu has misunderstood, this thing was brought by Lord Luo for someone else, it has nothing to do with us the Embroidered Uniform Guard asking a favor of you."

  Xu Guangqi's expression changed constantly, and finally he looked at the box on the table, saying seriously: "Zhou Qianhu, you said this was brought by someone else, then who is that person? What is inside this box?"

  When Xu Guangqi asked, Zhou Zhenglong could only shake his head and smile bitterly. What kind of thing is this that he would know about? As for who brought it, he had no idea. After so many years in the officialdom, Zhou Zhenglong deeply understood that sometimes knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing, and often those who knew more were the first to die.

  After a slight pause, Zhou Zhenglong said: "Mr. Xu, this thing was personally entrusted to you by Lord Luo, and I didn't dare to open it privately. As for the owner of this thing, Lord Luo said that as long as you open it, you will know."

  Seeing Zhou Zhenglong say this, Xu Guangqi nodded slowly and gave a signal to the old servant behind him, saying: "Bring it over!"

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