De Shou smiled apologetically and nodded. It was true that Hu Wei gave him all the reward money, but in his heart he did not believe that De Shou himself did not get any profit at all. Therefore, he disapproved, "You are just a messenger, anybody else would be fine. I am the real meritorious minister." He was just thinking about it, he would never say it out loud. "Yes, yes," he said, "We will get promoted and get rich. You get promoted, I get rich."
He did not know that Hu Wei and Luo Jin were Shen Shiyun's most trusted aides, who specialized in handling all kinds of secret affairs for her. Although their relationship was the closest, after completing a difficult task, at most they would hear a few words of praise from her, but they would not get any reward money at all. It was just like relatives who did their best to do their job without using money, there was a tacit understanding between them. On the contrary, the more distant they were from each other, when entrusted with a task, the more rewards they would give.
Hu Wei's anger had not subsided, he cursed, "What promotion? Which eye of yours saw me get promoted? Your upper and lower lips are touching, what's the use? Only His Majesty's order will be of any use. "De Shou said," Don't look at Lao Gege who fiddles with miniature carvings all day long, you are not an ordinary craftsman. When you speak in front of His Majesty, you still have some weight. When I put in a few good words for you, His Majesty's dragon countenance would be very pleased, and he would issue an imperial decree to promote you. "
Hu Wei could tell from the fact that the Emperor accepted his proposal of gifting wooden puppets that he was not bluffing. "Your position by His Majesty's side is not low," he asked in surprise, "Do you think he will reward you less? How can he still care about my little favor? "
De Shou said, "I want to earn money from big clients, I also want to earn money from small clients. This is called taking care of everything, leaving neither hands empty." Hearing that De Shou could say that he regarded money as his life in such a reasonable way, Hu Wei was amused and helpless. He sighed and said, "Look at your petty appearance, I know you won't be able to accomplish anything big."
"Hu Xiongdi," De Shou said, "When you are doing something big, as long as I can earn money, I am willing to work like a dog or horse." He was wholeheartedly trying to curry favor with Hu Wei. "Xiongdi," he said, "Let me show you something good." He helped him into the inner room, and turned a copper bowl on a cabinet in the corner three times to the left, and then three times to the right. After a series of noises, the cabinet automatically moved aside, revealing a secret room.
Hu Wei was slightly curious and followed him in. He saw that the room was full of flat shelves arranged in a ladder-like manner. The shelves were filled with all kinds of wood carvings. Deshou introduced, "These are all from my collection. They are the miniature sculptures I am most proud of. Apart from you, Brother Hu, no one else has ever seen them."
Hu Wei said, "Very good, truly amazing." De Shou was delighted. "I knew it," he said, "You have good eyesight …" Hu Wei forced a smile and said, "That's not it, I was just saying that these miniature sculptures of yours are really amazing. Just by showing them to me, they have the same value as those banknotes." De Shou reflexively clutched the banknotes tightly in his bosom and laughed embarrassedly.
In all fairness, apart from his greed for money, Deshou's micro-carving skills were indeed impeccable. There was a wide variety of carvings on the shelves, including wooden carved tables and chairs, wooden carved puppets, and wooden carved houses. All of them were exquisite and lifelike, dazzling the eyes. Hu Wei picked up a large wooden tree and said with a smile, "This is a peach blossom tree. If you worship it every day, you will have good luck with peach blossoms. "
De Shou said, "Hu Xiongdi, don't make fun of me …" He had not finished speaking when a clear and melodious female voice called out from outside the room, "De Shou, De Shou, are you in?" Hu Wei did not expect that his casual remark would be so effective. He laughed so hard that he spat out a mouthful of air. Leaning against the wall, he slowly squatted down and repeatedly pounded the floor. De Shou felt somewhat embarrassed and went to pull Hu Wei away.
The young girl called out again, "De Shou, come out!"
Hu Wei did his best to stifle his laughter. "De Shou, you … you go quickly …" he stammered, "Don't miss the great … hey hey … great marriage … ha ha …" De Shou was also moved. "All right," he warned, "You stay in here. You must not come out to make trouble. Those wooden carvings, you can only look at them, you can't touch them. "" A pile of wooden puppets, "Hu Wei said," You … even if you let me touch them, I won't … ha ha … I won't touch them. " De Shou nodded. He gently patted the head of a wooden puppet on the outermost shelf three times. The cabinet automatically moved aside. De Shou had just walked out when the cabinet moved back to block the secret room.
Hu Wei stopped laughing and put his ear to the cabinet. "I won't go out to disturb you," he said in his heart, "I will stay in here and listen to the sweet nothings outside. I won't disturb your good deed, so I won't be considered shameless."
A man's cold voice said, "Mr. De Shou, how are you?" De Shou respectfully said, "Wei chen pays his respect to Wangye. May Wangye have good luck." "Hey," the young girl said, "What are you doing in the room? I called you several times, why did you only roll out now? "" Don't be noisy, "the Wangye said," Making a fuss in the Palace, where's the propriety? "The young girl gloomily grunted her agreement.
Hu Wei said in his heart, "This girl's character is bold and fierce, but toward that Wangye she is very docile. But these two people's accents are very familiar, I wonder who they are?" He also heard De Shou said, "Wei chen was sleepy during the day, so I took a nap in my room. I wonder what Wangye wants me to do for you?" "Mister is too polite," the Wangye said. "Benwang came here today to ask Mister to help me with something, I wonder if it is possible." Although he spoke in a consulting tone, his words carried a dignified command.
De Shou was good at observing people's expressions, how could he not understand? Immediately he said, "Wangye is sending Wei chen to do something for you, that is because you think highly of Wei chen. Wei chen will go through water and tread on fire without hesitation. As for this … "While talking with Hu Wei, he casually mentioned the reward, but in front of a Wangye, he did not dare to be so brazen, so he hinted with his flickering eyes. The Wangye nodded and said, "As long as the matter is done well, the reward to you will not be small." De Shou was greatly delighted. "Thank you Prince Yu, thank you Prince Yu," he said, "Thank you very much." The Wangye grunted, and then he signaled the young girl by his side with his eyes. "Menglin," he said, "You talk to him."
Outside the room, De Shou was so happy that his heart was thumping wildly because a big client had come to his door. Inside the secret room, Hu Wei was also pleasantly surprised. At first he had his suspicions about these two people's identities, but he could not be sure. When he heard how De Shou addressed them, he no longer had any doubts in his heart. "I knew it," he mused, "This kind of willful girl is indeed that Devil Cult witch. Prince Yu is really with her, isn't this a merit delivered to my door? Niangniang's foresight is really like a deity; she must have thought that Wangye would come looking for De Shou, so she sent me here to reward him, to silently hand over this merit to me. "In a split second, he prostrated himself in admiration toward Shen Shiyun's foresight.
Chu Menglin took several steps forward and said, "De Shou, I heard your miniature carving skill is very good, isn't it?" But this question put De Shou in a difficult position, it was difficult for him to answer in a hurry. Of course his skill was recognized as good in the Palace, but if he admitted it, he would appear to be arrogant and conceited in front of the Wangye. If he modestly said his skill was not good, the Wangye said he had something to ask of him, and it must be related to the miniature carving, then it would appear that he was deliberately evading the task and was unwilling to do it. Since the other side had asked him a question, it would be disrespectful if he did not answer. Without any better option, he said, "Thank you very much for Miss' praise. It is all thanks to the love of the friends in the Palace."
"Humph," Chu Menglin said, "Who praised you? Your skill may be good, it may also be bad. You did not answer. I don't want to talk nonsense with you. If I asked you to carve a picture on a piece of wood, would you be able to do it? "
At first De Shou was wondering what kind of extremely difficult task it would be, he did not expect it to be such a trivial matter. Carving a picture on a piece of wood was his foundation when he first learned how to carve. He did not dare to believe it. "It's that simple?" he asked. "You old muddle-headed ghost," Chu Menglin said, "I asked you a few questions, but you always gave me irrelevant answers. What is this?" Taking out a stack of paper from his sleeve, he said, "Carve the picture on the paper on a piece of wood, and then carve a serial number on the lower right corner. Can you do it or not?"
De Shou repeatedly said, "I can do it, I can do it. What is the size of each piece of wood? Is it the same size as this piece of paper? " Chu Menglin rolled his eyes and said, "I asked you to carve the wood because the paper is too big and inconvenient to carry around. We want something that can be held in the palm of our hand, within the limits of what we can see clearly in the picture. Naturally the smaller the better. "
"Yes," De Shou said, "Wei Chen understands. May I ask how long it will take for Miss to come and get it? Please give me a time limit, Wei Chen will definitely finish it on time. " "No need to be so troublesome," Chu Menglin said, "You can start work immediately, we will watch from the side. When you are done, you can take it away on the spot. The money and goods will be settled, both sides will save trouble. "
De Shou was dumbfounded. "This … I'm afraid this will be a bit difficult …" He could also see that this girl had a sharp tongue and was not easy to negotiate with. Without waiting for her to reply, he said to Dodo, "Your Highness, I'm afraid this is not appropriate. When Wei Chen is working, there has never been a precedent of someone watching from the side. Otherwise, I will feel uncomfortable all over and it will be difficult for me to express myself. The effect of the work will also be substandard. Besides, Wei Chen's movements are slow, I don't want to delay Your Highness' time … "
Dodo sat down in an armchair and rested his arms on the side of the chair. He said indifferently, "It's fine, there is a saying that 'slow work produces fine work'. When you are carving, you are concentrating wholeheartedly, not looking sideways, not listening. There is nothing outside your body, how can you be hindered? "
De Shou smiled apologetically and said, "This … if you really want to be wholeheartedly involved and turn a blind eye to external things, that is the highest level of work. Wei Chen asks himself …" Dodo said, "How about you ask yourself?" De Shou was intimidated by Dodo's majesty and swallowed back the words' I haven't reached such a level '. He changed his words and said, "I'm already at such a level." This was an impromptu way of saying things. Whether the words were appropriate or not, there was no time to think about it.
Chu Menglin smiled and said, "You really aren't modest. That's very good, what other questions do you have? " De Shou said, "Yes … yes … no …" He walked unsteadily to the shelf at the side and took the wood pieces. He secretly cursed Hu Wei for saying something like 'luck in love'. His most satisfactory work was kept in the secret room, and his ordinary carving tools were kept in the hall. Therefore, there was no need to use the mechanism. Fortunately, Hu Wei was able to escape with his life.
Chu Menglin saw that De Shou's small table was filled with half-finished carvings. He waved his hand enthusiastically and cleared the space for De Shou. De Shou's face was sullen. Even if he was forced to do something beyond his ability, he had no choice but to pick up the carving knife with trembling hands. De Shou usually felt that carvings were endless fun, and he would carve a few in his spare time. Even if other people asked him to carve them, he would never treat it as a job. He would always treat it as an elegant work of art. But this time, he felt very different. Every movement and every expression he made was being watched by two cold eyes. His every action was like acting on a stage. Therefore, he didn't dare to make any unnecessary expressions. He didn't dare to frown when he was deep in thought. He didn't dare to grin when he was happy. He didn't dare to make any unnecessary movements. He didn't dare to wipe away the sweat that seeped out of his forehead and into his eyes. He didn't dare to blink when it hurt. He didn't dare to scratch his back when it itched. His eyes only looked at the wood pieces in front of him, and he almost stuck the tip of his nose to it. He could only raise his head in a hurry and accidentally look up. When he saw Dodo's gaze, he was so scared that he hurriedly lowered his head. In a moment of carelessness, the blade of the knife cut a large wound on his left thumb. He didn't dare to wrap the wound, didn't dare to let the blood drip onto the wood pieces, and didn't dare to dirty his official robes. He could only wipe his hand on the table, leaving a bloody mark. He also didn't dare to gasp or show any pain.
Chu Menglin saw that De Shou's face was flat and expressionless. It was as stiff as the wood pieces, and he didn't even care that he had cut his hand. How could he understand De Shou's suffering? He only thought that it was an extremely interesting thing. After laughing for a while, the fun gradually died down. He picked up a small puppet that had been swept to the corner of the table and fiddled with it. He twisted its head and twisted its arm. He smiled and said, "You're not good at carving. Let me dress it up." He picked up another carving knife on the table and carved on the puppet's arm. He wanted to carve a set of armor and let him be the general. However, the technique of carving was exquisite, and the strength needed to be controlled properly. Chu Menglin casually cut off the small puppet's arm.
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