"Uncle Song, your face..."
At the call, Cui Sujing came back to himself and followed the steward back. Yet as they walked, he noticed the marks on the man's face and could not help asking.
This steward was named Cui Song, a household-born servant of the Cui Family.
Though the Cui Family had produced officials who achieved success in earlier generations, they had always remained neither high nor low. Only after they turned to using official connections for commerce did they begin to flourish.
But as time passed, the Cui Family grew ever more prosperous in trade, while the official career that had once been their foundation gradually declined. Most of them could only make their way around the Southern Ridges.
Still, the Cui Family's old bearing remained, and there were people in the household with uncommon insight. The Third Master Cui now managing affairs in Tingzhou was one such man. He had seized the opportunity to turn the Cui Family residence into a place where Qiu Yan lectured. If nothing went wrong, as Qiu Yan's fame rose, the status of the Cui Family estate would rise with the tide as well.
Yet Third Master Cui was not content with that alone. For this, he also needed to draw upon the strength of the younger members of the family.
"This is why Third Master summoned you. You are among the first in our Min Region to grasp the essence of Knowledge and Action, and this time you listened to Master Qiu's lectures at close range. Your future accomplishments will be limitless. But if these matters are not spread abroad, others will not know your standing. For the sake of the Cui Family, Ninth Young Master, I hope you can understand Third Master's painstaking intentions." Faced with the question, the old