כלי יקר — ידבר נא עבדך דבר באזני אדוני

Q — Why does Yehudah specifically request a *private* conversation with Yosef — 'באזני אדוני' (in your ears) — when the matter of the goblet could be addressed publicly?

A — Kli Yakar reads this as an act of derech eretz, even toward an apparent enemy. Yehudah wanted to inform Yosef that the whole goblet affair was an 'עלילה' — a frame-up — but if said publicly, Yosef the ruler would be embarrassed before his court ('שלא יתבייש'), and a king's embarrassment becomes wrath: 'חמת מלך מלאכי מות.' The whispered request is itself the first line of defense against escalation — even when accusing a sovereign, accuse him privately. The technique sets up the breakthrough that follows.