Chapter Eighteen: Laying Plans

  The next day, Cao Guang got up early as usual, exercised in the school field, had breakfast after returning to his room, and went out to attend school. As he grew older, he disliked the stuffiness of riding a carriage and started riding a horse to school instead. Gu Na was already waiting at the gate, and when he saw Cao Guang come out, they rode their horses side by side. Cao Guang's two young servants, Xi Mo and Nong Mo, had grown into young men and followed behind their master along with Gu Na's two young servants, all on horseback.

  "Does Uncle want to do pearl business?" Gu Na asked with a hint of affirmation.

  Cao Kun heard the word "biao shu" and thought of the phrase "my family's biao shus are countless, no big deal, don't bother to visit", every time he felt amused, had asked Gu Na several times to treat him as an equal, but Gu Na refused.

  When Gu Na asked, Cao Kun smiled and replied: "Can you think of this in one night?" Neither admitting nor denying, seeing Gu Na thinking deeply again, he whipped his horse and ran to the front.

  The clan school had fewer older people and more younger ones, with only two or three people of Gu Na's age left. During lunch break, Cao Hua called someone to summon Gu Na to the study in the backyard. Cao Yun and Cao Tong exchanged a glance, it seemed that this old man was going to nag again.

  Cao Huai was not as gentle and pleasant as before, but had a few points of annoyance. Seeing Gu Na enter, he didn't wait for him to greet him, and scolded him straight away: "You're really not making progress, you're really not making progress at all!"

  Gu Na was scolded until she was bewildered and looked at Cao Bao in confusion.

  "Cao Hu snorted and said: 'This is the year of the imperial examination, but after you finished school, instead of going back to study hard, you followed Cao Ou and Cao Song, those two brothers, wandering around. I heard that just a few days ago, you even got into a fight in the north city, who taught you to be so unscrupulous?!'"

  "Sir!" Gu Na frowned slightly, unsure of how to defend himself.

  Cao Hu began to state facts and reason, no more than wanting to make it clear that he and the Cao family brothers were different in identity, without any family patronage to rely on, and could only rise through the imperial examination.

  Gu Na had been taught a lesson before, and he knew that if he retorted, this gentleman would say more, so he could only lower his head and pretend to listen. Then he heard Cao Bao talk for half an hour, saying nothing but that as a man, he should bear the heavy responsibility of reviving the family, taking the imperial examination and so on.

  In the clan school, Cao Gong looked around at his fellow students and then looked down at the "Spring and Autumn Annals" in his hand, thinking that perhaps it was time to bring an end to his student days. In four years, he had become familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, and while becoming a zhuangyuan might be too much to hope for, passing the imperial examination as a tongsheng or huiren should be manageable. Last year's tongsheng exam, 13-year-old Gu Na had easily taken first place and become a young xiucai.

  Although Cao Yun was curious about the Qing Dynasty's examination, he didn't join in the excitement. For ordinary commoners' children, becoming a Xiucai at the age of ten could earn them the title of "prodigy" and improve their family status. As a member of a noble family, he didn't need to add flowers to brocade; he remembered the saying "the bird that sticks its head out gets shot" firmly in his heart. If a noble family produced an incompetent or untalented child, no one would pay attention, but if they produced a talented child like Nalan Rongruo, who excelled in both literature and martial arts, it would be considered unusual. What's the point of being unusual? It's still unacceptable to the secular world, and one will end up dying in frustration.

  It's been a long time since Gu Nai went, Cao Cong frowned and complained: "How long do we have to study this? This old man has become more and more strict in recent days!"

  Cao Gong looked at his brother, who was already getting sleepy after reciting two lines of poetry, and found it strange. His father and uncle were both refined men, so why did Cao Cong only like martial arts? Was this the legendary "隔代遗产" (inheritance across generations)? After all, the Cao family's ancestors had risen to prominence through military achievements.

  Seeing Cao Guang's worried and bitter expression was really pitiful. Cao Guang opened his mouth and said, "Third brother should be going to school next year."

  "Yes, Old Three is about to start school!" Cao Song chimed in, his words accompanied by a sudden surge of energy: "Can't we be classmates with Old Three? My brother and I will finish our studies at the end of the year, won't that be great?"

  Cao Gong didn't care about Cao Song anymore, his mind was preoccupied with the news of the Zheng family. Zheng Hai and his sister Zheng Woxue were from a family that had some knowledge, and in recent years they made a living by acting as middlemen in the bead market, earning a few silver coins. His sister was even more clever, able to distinguish between good and bad pearls just by looking at the mother-of-pearl. If it weren't for the fact that the siblings were young and had no backing in Jiangning, they would have been taken advantage of by the pearl merchants and lived a tight life.

  After Gu Nai returned, he attended the afternoon class. Cao Kun and several others left the clan school, dismissed the book boy and servant, and rode horses to Linxiazhai. Since Linxiazhai had guests, Cao Kun went directly to the guest room in the side courtyard.

  Zheng siblings had been waiting for a long time, with some trepidation, to pay their respects to Cao Yun. Zheng Woxue was still dressed as a man and felt very uneasy in front of the several young masters, taking a step back to stand behind his brother.

  After entering the Linxia Temple, Cao Song was like a long grass on his body, scratching his ears and cheeks, and refused to calm down for half a moment. Cao Kun looked at him and waved his hand, smiling and saying: "Go to the back kitchen quickly, relieve your hunger, and let Gu Na follow you to see what's going on."

  Cao Songxi was overjoyed and jumped up from his seat, pulling on Gu Na's sleeve: "Hurry up, before Brother Lin changes his mind!" You know, the back kitchen of Linxiaozhai is a forbidden place, not just anyone can enter at any time.

  Gu Nai saw Cao Gong send Cao Song and himself out, knowing he had something to say privately to Zheng Shi's siblings, so he let Cao Song pull him out. As soon as they reached the side door, they saw Cao Fang leading several young servants walking quickly over, apparently having received news to see their master. Gu Nai said: "Uncle is speaking, Cao Fang first take me and Second Uncle to the back kitchen, this was promised by Uncle Gong!"

  Cao Fang listened to Gu Nai's words and knew that they must be discussing some secret matter, so he ordered the little servant behind him to close the side door tightly and not allow anyone to enter or leave. Then he led Gu Nai and Cao Song to the back.

  Not to mention Cao Song and Gu Na's reaction after seeing the layout of the kitchen, let alone when they saw the newly made nine-turn morning dew, their eyes couldn't move away. In a half-palm-sized jade bowl made of He Tian white jade, a layer of finely ground ice sand was spread out, on top of which were thumb-sized balls of various colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black and white, nine colors in total, each with one ball. On top of each colored ball was a semi-transparent white jade spoon.

  Watching Cao Song's eyes widen, Da Chu and Tian Shifu both felt a pang in their hearts. Yesterday, when they first made this Nine Turns Morning Dew, the two of them were no less shocked than Cao Song.

  Cao Song carefully picked up the white jade spoon, scooped a small ball and sent it into his mouth. In addition to the faint fruit flavor, there was also a subtle bitter aroma. "Bitter!" Cao Song was surprised, looking at such an exquisite thing, he thought it was a dessert. When eating the second small ball, it was another kind of fruit flavor, with a faint sweet aroma.

  Gu Na savored each bite carefully, but Cao Song couldn't wait and finished the remaining three bites in two mouthfuls, then asked for another serving. Yu Tian's two masters immediately looked worried: "Oh no, my good Second Master, it took several hours to make only three servings, one was sent to the old lady at the mansion, two were given to the two young masters to taste, where can we get more?"

  Cao Song is not a petty person, patted Yu Tian and the two masters: "Alright alright, I know you're working hard, just don't forget that if there's anything delicious in the future, save me a portion, don't push it off saying you're busy and can't spare the time!"

  The two masters in the field replied: "As long as you ask Master Yuan to give an order, we will do it even if we die from exhaustion!"

  Cao Song was satisfied, but Gu Na seemed to have heard the implication of the two masters' words and appeared not to listen to anyone's orders except for his own uncle. It is really unknown what means that uncle used, he is indeed good at winning people over.

  Yu Tian's two masters used to be imperial chefs and were sent by Kangxi to Jiangnan more than 20 years ago to serve the old lady. In recent years, due to their age, they handed over the affairs of the Weaving Bureau to their sons and disciples to manage, and lived a peaceful life in Jiangning. It is unknown how Cao Huai thought of the two masters and personally invited them out of retirement to become the head chefs of Linxiaozhai. Linxiaozhai's business was booming, and it can be said that they benefited from the two masters' reputation. The imperial chef's dishes are not something that anyone with power or money can eat at will.

  Cao Song and others returned to the side courtyard, Cao Gong had finished handing over to Zheng's siblings, saw that Cao Fang had also arrived, asked about the recent meal arrangement, knew that there was a day off five days later, mentioned Cao Yan's banquet, and asked Cao Fang to arrange it carefully.

  Cao Song was still talking about the delicious dew of the ninth turn, but Gu Na noticed that Zheng's brother and sister had bright eyes and suppressed excitement on their faces, thinking to themselves that it seemed that Uncle Biao had already made arrangements.

  Gu Na was a clever young man, whether in terms of learning or interpersonal relationships, he was far superior to his peers. Although he appeared humble on the surface, he had always been slightly arrogant in his heart. However, after entering the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau for several years, his confidence gradually waned because he couldn't understand Cao Yun at all. Cao Yun spoke little, didn't show off, was lazy, but seemed even more clever, humble, and harder to fathom than him.

  After finishing telling Cao Yan's story, Cao Gong said to Cao Fang: "Your family's eldest son is eight years old now, in two days I'll tell Fu Bo to let him attend the study room and learn some books, so he can have a good future, you can't just let your whole family be idle in the Cao family!"

  Cao Fang listened and quickly knelt down: "Thank you, young master, for your kindness. I will definitely do my best to fulfill my duties and be loyal to you."

  Cao Huan waved his hand and took Cao Song and Gu Na out with him.

  On the way back to the mansion, Cao's heart gradually sank. The whole city of Jiangning was immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the emperor's impending arrival. The pier had been under major repairs since last year. From the pier to the Weaving Bureau, although it had been repaired several times before, in order to show respect, it was dug up again and replaced with new bluestone slabs. The civilian houses on both sides of the road had long been demolished.

  In order to ensure the safety of the imperial carriage in Jiangning, the Imperial Guard had already sent people to work together with the local authorities in Jiangning to search the entire city. All vagrants and hoodlums with a bad record were locked up in prison. Now thinking back, if Wei Xin and Zheng Hai hadn't been subdued by Cao Guang and taken as attendants, they would probably have been on the list of wanted people. As for the beggars on the streets, since they were an eyesore, they were also driven out of the city by the authorities.

  As they approached the Weaving Bureau, there were more and more people, horses, and carriages, coming and going, bustling about like a temple fair. Cao Fu and his companions were riding their horses when someone behind them shouted: "Make way! Make way! The Provincial Governor's official sedan is passing!"

  Cao Kun pulled the reins, avoiding to the side of the road, and all he could hear was the sound of horseshoes, it turned out to be a cavalry team of over 100 people, dressed in the attire of the Fu Biao's personal guards. The cavalry team was escorting three or four horse-drawn carriages, rushing forward at high speed.

  Cao Gong had seen similar scenes before, and in recent days, several caravans like this one had passed by, all heading to the Weaving Department.

  At the entrance of Weaving Bureau, the sedan chairs of various officials were lined up. The team of cars that had just arrived was stopped at the side door, and Cao Fu led a group of staff to watch the servants unload the boxes.