As the morning sun slowly rises, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion becomes more and more lively.
People from the neighboring Duke's Palace of Wei, the Founding Duke's Palace, Dingyuan Marquis Palace, Lingbi Marquis Palace and the homes of civil and military officials with relatives and relatives came one after another to wish the old lady of Linhuai Marquis Palace a birthday. There was an endless stream of people coming to visit, Linhuai The gate of Hou Mansion is like a city. All the visitors came with gifts, and the steward of Linhuai Marquis Mansion registered them one by one, and the result was a thick stack of paper.
A large desk was set up in the main hall of Linhuai Marquis Mansion, and a red carpet was laid out. The guests brought birthday gifts, and all the maids and servants placed them on the desk. The old lady looked over them one by one, and then put them in the warehouse.
Ruyi jade longevity star, peach amethyst fairy, longevity fan, South Sea pearls, coral ornaments, agarwood sticks, Canaan beads...all kinds of rare treasures and surprises, the old lady After looking at it for a while, I was very satisfied. With a smile on my face, I waved my hand and asked the girl to put it in the warehouse.
"Hehe, ancestor, you don't look at other people's gifts, but you have to admire the gifts from our children and grandchildren." The round little face of the sixth lady of the Hou Mansion smiled playfully, showing her little tiger teeth, and hugged the old lady's The arm said coquettishly.
"You monkey, you are still looking for your ancestors, okay, okay, it's all up to you." The old lady patted Miss Sixth's arm lovingly, nodded with a smile.
Then, starting with the second young lady of the Hou Mansion, they presented birthday gifts to the old lady of the Hou Mansion one by one.
The second lady presented a hand-embroidered Buddhist sutra about longevity, the third lady presented a jade cup of ten thousand years of good fortune, the fourth lady presented a picture of longevity with flat peaches, Li Shu presented the South China Sea Coral Guanyin, and the sixth lady presented a long life. Wan'an's hand-backed mattress...
The old lady smiled with satisfaction and was very happy with her granddaughters' filial piety.
Then, I don't know who started it, but they instigated the young ladies to pick out the birthday gifts for their husbands and place them in front of the old lady.
The gifts given by the second young lady and their future husband were generous and valuable, and the old lady was very satisfied. The only exception is the birthday gift of the future fifth uncle of the Hou family, that is, Zhu Ping'an's birthday gift. There are two birthday gifts for Zhu Pingan. The same is a birthday message written by Zhu Pingan himself. The other thing is a jade carving ornament for Magu's birthday that Li Shu asked Baozi's maid to send to Zhu Ping'an as a refill.
However, after the Sixth Miss of the Hou Mansion laughed and said that she looked at the jade carvings for Magu's birthday, which she seemed to have seen in the Fifth Sister's room, the expression of the old lady of the Hou Mansion turned bad, according to what the Sixth Miss said. The jade carving belongs to Wu Yatou, which means that Zhu Ping'an only sent a copy with his own handwriting... and sent it to the beggar!
As a result, the expression of the old lady of the Hou Mansion suddenly turned bad, and she waved her hand to have all the gifts moved to the warehouse.
The front yard of the Hou Mansion is even more lively now. Among the people who came to Huaihou Mansion to celebrate their birthday, there were six or seven young men of the same age as Fatty Zhou. They were all dressed in bright clothes and smelled like second-generation ancestors. These were among the princes and nobles who were accustomed to hang out with Fatty Zhou. After the young master of the family gave him the birthday gift, he took Fatty Zhou and sat on the table, letting him keep him company, and started drinking together.
Zhu Ping'an sat at the table in the corner, and the people at the table with him were all distant and poor relatives of the Hou family.
Fatty Zhou's table. It's not too far away from Zhu Pingan's table. After all, it's in a courtyard, but Zhu Pingan's table is a little more remote. The people on Fatty Zhou's table looked familiar to Zhu Ping'an. If he saw correctly, the people on that table were the same group of second-generation ancestors who ran rampant at the gate of the city in brocade hats and mink fur coats when they came out of the capital.
Zhu Ping'an's table was relatively quiet, probably because they were poor relatives in the Hou Mansion. The Hou Mansion did not allocate too many people to accompany them, except for serving dishes. There are no girls or servants to wait on me.
Relatively speaking, Fatty Zhou's table was much more lively. There were two girls waiting on the table, pouring tea and wine. Excellent care.
From their conversation, Zhu Ping'an could probably tell that this group of second-generation ancestors seemed to look down on Fatty Zhou.
"Hey, Fatty Zhou, why haven't you gone racing with your brothers these days? Why are you so afraid of losing?"
"That's right. Will you pay a few rouge horses soon? You'll have a great time riding them at night."
There were two second-generation ancestors sitting on the table, crossing their legs, tossing fruits and playing with them, squinting their eyes and mocking Fatty Zhou. These second-generation ancestors are either the noble sons of Wei Guogongfu, Founding Duke's Palace, Dingyuan Houfu and other princely families, or they are the sons of third- and fourth-grade officials' families. Their family background is no less than that of Fatty Zhou, so when they mock, they will not hesitate. pressure.
Fatty Zhou is fat. He can ride horses, shoot arrows, fight cocks and walk dogs. He is often no match for these second-generation ancestors. In terms of literary talent, he is not even half-full, so naturally he has no advantage. Other than that, he is not a match for these second generation ancestors. , Fatty Zhou still has some disadvantages in his character. He has a strong temperament and a little bit of a coward. He is not a bloody person.
Therefore, he is often the target of ridicule among the second generation ancestors, and this time is no exception.
"Whoever is afraid will compete with you next time." Fatty Zhou had a fat face and showed no sign of weakness.
"That's what we said." The second-generation ancestors looked at each other and smiled, feeling quite proud. This was good, and they saved money for drinking wine in the future.
"Oh, by the way, I heard that the third room in your residence is married to a bumpkin from the countryside? Is this the case?"
"Hahaha, I just can't figure it out. When did your Linhuai Marquis Mansion drop in price like this? Doesn't this embarrass our nobles?"
Several second-generation ancestors heard the secrets of the Hou Mansion from nowhere, and they questioned Fatty Zhou on the table, mostly with ridicule in their tone.
Zhu Ping'an in the corner smiled helplessly after hearing their chat. Why did the news of his engagement to Li Shu spread so far that even these second-generation ancestors had heard about it. It seems that I have been laughed at again, haha, what happened to the country people? Who said that a poor family can't rise.
Fatty Zhou was speechless after hearing the ridicule from the buddies around him, because what these buddies said was true. Although his grandmother and father had discussed breaking off the engagement many times, they had not done so yet. He couldn't help but secretly complain about Zhu Ping'an in his heart, causing himself to be implicated and ridiculed.
"Why, it still doesn't work, hehehe, even the country bumpkins are not spared, how ugly your fifth lady must be..."
Seeing the fat man's expression, a second-generation ancestor couldn't help but laugh.
"Haha, he must be like you, he must be so strong..."
The other second-generation ancestors couldn't help but laugh.
"How could it be possible? My fifth sister is more beautiful than Princess Anyang." Fatty Zhou felt emboldened at this time and choked while twisting his neck.
"Just brag. If Princess Anyang was half as beautiful, she wouldn't have found a country bumpkin..."
Fatty's words not only had no positive effect, but made the second-generation ancestors laugh even harder. Princess Anyang is a famous beauty in the capital, and there are few in the whole capital who can compare with her. Fatty Zhou said that her fifth sister who was engaged to a country bumpkin was more beautiful than Princess Anyang. That was not bragging.
"Oh, by the way, I heard that you took the national examination a few days ago, haha, how was it?" After laughing, someone else remembered Fatty Zhou's participation in the national examination and couldn't help but ask.
"Stable." Fatty Zhou replied confidently.
"Hahaha, let me tell you, God is really fair." After hearing Fatty Zhou's words, a second-generation ancestor said while holding back his laughter.
"Oh, what do you say?" Fatty Zhou asked curiously.
"Hehehe, although you look ugly, you think beautiful, hehehe..." The man couldn't help laughing.
The others burst into laughter.
"That's right, our brothers don't know what you are like. We grew up together wearing crotchless pants. Just let our uncle fill your gaps in the Beijing camp, the garrison camp, etc., and you will try whatever you want. , stop joking, it’s all in vain.”
None of these second-generation ancestors were optimistic about Fatty Zhou's examination.
"You must have been stimulated by Xu Laosan. Xu Laosan has been eager to learn since he was a child. He passed the boy's examination and the provincial examination without relying on Wei Guogong's efforts at all. That's Xu Laosan. It’s really stable. Why did he go home after showing his face just now? That’s because he heard that the results might be released today, so he went home and waited.”
The Xu Laosan this person is talking about is the third son of Wei Guogong's family next door. Wei Guogong inherited it from Xu Da. Xu Laosan is well-known in the capital for his quick thinking and photographic memory. Although he sometimes hangs out with Fatty Zhou and the others, his literary skills are real.
Some time ago, Xu Laosan passed the provincial examination. They went to drink wine to celebrate. There was an oiran who made Fatty Zhou jealous for a long time and spent a lot of money. As a result, the oiran heard that Xu Laosan was the candidate who had just passed the provincial examination. After becoming the master, he posted it upside down and took no money. At that time, Fatty Zhou was stimulated. With a fat face, he threatened to pass Xu Laosan's examination.
Just now Xu Laosan from Wei Guogong's house was also together, but he went home after giving birthday gifts. Of course, he also ridiculed Fatty Zhou severely before going home.
"Hmph, wait and see."
In response to the ridicule of the second generation ancestor, Fatty Zhou shook his fat face and said through gritted teeth, which made the second generation ancestors laugh again. (To be continued.)
PS: There will be at least one more chapter today, I won’t break my promise.
