This autumn, it was extremely cold. But because of this special day, the entire city of Luoyang and Tongtuo Road became extremely prosperous almost overnight.
Today is a good day. In addition to being the full moon day of the little daughter of General Cao Shuang, it is also the third birthday of Mingyue, the eldest son of the Changling Marquis Mansion, Xia Houxuan and Hui Gu. In order to create excitement, the general Cao Shuang simply asked Xia Houxuan to bring his son's family to the general's mansion, intending to celebrate the two families together and have a banquet for the guests.
The General Wu'anhou's Mansion, which is usually full of guests and bustling with people, now has a double happiness. In front of the door, guests are like flowing water, and carriages and horses are like dragons. This lively scene, even when Xiahou's family was Xiahou Hui. The grand ceremony of civil and military marriage recruitment held on the banks of the Luoshui River and in the Xuanwu Field was probably incomparable.
Because it was too lively today, Xia Houxuan was worried that something might happen, so he specifically asked his steward Gu Ting to mobilize most of the two hundred Xuanjia guards and three hundred soldiers in the mansion and place them near the General's Mansion and in Xuanyang, south of the General's Mansion. Gate Tongtuomo, Jinyangmen Street, as well as Ximingmen Street, Guangyangmen Street and Si Tiao Avenue to the west of the General's Mansion to prevent any riots and unnecessary trouble.
The number of guests today was so large that even the General's Mansion, the most spacious and open place in the entire Luoyang City and on Tongtuo Road, was almost overwhelmed. The banquets for guests in the mansion were continuously arranged from the main hall to the side rooms, and even all the way to the back garden. .
The cooks and servants of the Xiahou Mansion and the General Mansion were so busy that they had no chance to rest for a moment.
Throughout the front hall of the mansion, the housekeepers and receptionists of the two mansions were running around, welcoming waves of guests, counting all kinds of gift lists and gifts, and they were very busy.
Brothers Cao Shuang, Xia Houxuan, Cao Xi, Xia Houfeng, Cao Xun, Cao Yan, and Cao Ze were waiting in the front hall to welcome the guests.
After a busy morning, the guests who were supposed to come finally arrived, and everyone took their seats one after another. Different from previous years, this year only the second son Sima Zhao came to Taifu Sima's house.
This was also expected by Xia Houxuan. After all, the hurried moment outside the Man Chong Mansion, the late captain, had indeed made Master Sima very embarrassed.
"Congratulations to the General on his new daughter! Congratulations to Prince Changling on his birthday!" All the guests in the main hall raised bottles to celebrate.
"Thank you all for your love. I'd like to express my gratitude here. I'd like to toast you all first!" Cao Shuang laughed boldly, raised the large copper jute beside him, and drank the wine in one gulp.
Xia Houxuan and Huigu also toasted to the guests one by one to thank them.
Although the banquet has not officially started yet, Xia Houxuan is obviously in a good mood today. He usually doesn't drink much, but he drank twelve drinks in a row today.
"Mingyue." Xia Houxuan touched his three-year-old son's hair, which was tied into a bun: "Can you go and offer a round of wine to all the uncles and uncles at the table?"
"The moon is still young, so you shouldn't drink too much alcohol. But today is Mingyue's birthday, so I should give you a toast." Hui Gu smiled and said to the servants waiting on the side: "Please bring me a pot of light rice wine."
When the servant heard this, he immediately brought a pot of light rice wine.
"I know, father and mother." Mingyue was obedient, came out of her mother's arms, raised the wine bottle on the table, and after Huigu filled a glass of wine for him, she staggered to the center of the main hall.
"Uncles and brothers, thank you all for celebrating my birthday today. With this glass of wine, I wish you all a bright moon and may you have long-lasting blessings!"
After Mingyue finished speaking, he drank all the rice wine in Jue Zhong. Although Mingyue is a child with a sweet voice, he still has a bit of his father's calm and unhurried demeanor when dealing with guests. During the banquet, the guests all added a little more love to the child.
The maid of the General's Mansion, who was responsible for arranging food and drinks for Xiahou Xuan's family, took the wine bottle from Hui Gu, kept adding wine to the wine bottle in Xiao Mingyue's hand, who continued to toast, and drank on behalf of the children.
Seeing the cute appearance of the three-year-old child toasting, everyone left the table one after another. They all ran over and gently pinched the child's jade-like face and touched the child's black hair.
After three drinks, all the guests at the banquet were in high spirits.
At this moment, a man from the palace outside the hall walked into the banquet.
"Reporting to the general, three guests without invitations came to the house. I was going to send them away, but they said nothing and insisted on coming in for the banquet. They also said that they were here to keep an appointment. I was afraid of neglecting the distinguished guests, so I Come and ask for instructions from the general.”
"Go to the appointment?" Cao Shuang looked puzzled: "When will I make an appointment with you today?"
When Xia Houxuan heard the word "keep an appointment", he suddenly remembered the agreement made by several friends more than a year ago. These friends were Shan Tao, Ruan Ji, and Ji Kang who he met in the bamboo forest in Hanoi. However, he could not confirm it. Are the three people outside the house these three friends?
"General, since there are people who come here because of their reputation, and they say they are here to keep an appointment, the general might as well invite them here, give them a banquet, and ask them carefully. It will neither delay the matter nor lose the joy." After thinking about it for a while, Xia Houxuan finally decided to meet these people, so he finally spoke.
Cao Shuang hesitated for a moment and nodded: "What Tai Chu said makes sense. Come, add a table, and invite the three guests to the main hall to talk!"
"Wei." The palace official bowed and then turned around to attend the briefing.
Everyone at the banquet was also very curious about who the visitor was. They stopped their cups and chopsticks and waited quietly for these three uninvited guests.
Not long after, I saw three people floating outside the hall.
One of them was in his thirties, wearing a crane cloak. He looked handsome and handsome, unlike an ordinary person.
Another middle-aged scribe in his forties was neatly dressed, with a crown and robe, and looked like a bachelor.
There is also a young man who is sixteen or seventeen years old, with a beautiful face, but a slightly messy mustache and a bit unkempt. He is seen carrying a lyre on his back. He does not wear a crown on his head, but only uses a wooden hairpin to tie his hair. It looks like He is as airy as an immortal.
Xia Houxuan was very happy when he saw the three people, because the visitors were none other than Ruan Ji, Shan Tao, and Ji Kang, three friends who had been separated for many years.
"Your residence is really lively today. Could you please, my master, give me and my three brothers a jar of fine wine to enjoy together?" The man in his thirties, wearing a crane cloak, is none other than Ruan Ji, Ruan Sizong. Ruan Ji didn't show any courtesy or bow. Before Cao Shuang and other guests could ask, he directly asked for a banquet.
The expressions of all the guests changed greatly, thinking that it was enough for these three people to come without an invitation. However, when they saw the general and the important ministers at the table, they were still not polite. It was simply unreasonable!
Cao Shuang was furious when he saw that the three people in the hall were being very rude. He was about to explode when he saw Xia Houxuan hurriedly got up and left the table and came forward. Xia Houxuan whispered a few words to Cao Shuang, and Cao Shuang's frown instantly relaxed. Come on.
"Let me introduce you to you." Cao Lin, the tenth son of Emperor Wu Cao Cao, the grandson-in-law of the posthumous name Mu, the son-in-law of King Cao Wei of Pei, and the brother of Uncle Ji and Ye Ji."
After listening to Xia Houxuan's introduction, the guests' attitudes softened a lot.
That Shantaoshan Juyuan, his aunt Shan, was the mother of Zhang Chunhua, the wife of Taifu Sima Yi, so she was also a relative of the Sima family.
Ruan Ji is Ruan Sizong. It is said that this person became talented through hard work and had extraordinary talents. He could write articles at the age of eight and play the piano all day long. When he was young, he was eager to learn and loved to study Confucian poems and books.
Everyone also heard that this man not only had outstanding literary talent, but also had superb swordsmanship. He once claimed in his "Poetry of Ode" that his "skills surpass those of Qucheng", and believed that even the master of swordsmanship in the Han Dynasty, Qucheng Hou, could not compare with him.
As for Ji Kang, he was from Jishan, Qiaojun. It is said that Li Zhi was diligent in studying since childhood and was proficient in literature. Not only that, he also played the piano well and was famous far and wide.
It is said that in the second year of Emperor Jingchu's reign, Emperor Ming once wrote "Nine Odes on a Mountain Tour". After reading it, Emperor Ming admired it very much and couldn't help but sigh: "Where is this person? I want to promote him.", so he He was appointed as the chief of Xunyang by Emperor Ming. Later, he married Cao Yuan [pronunciation pronunciation of Wen], the granddaughter of Emperor Wen's half-brother Pei Wang Cao Lin and the princess of Changleting, which became a good story for a while.
"I have admired these three great names for a long time and have known each other for a long time. When we meet today, it is indeed better to see them than to hear them once. Please come to our table quickly!" The three celebrities came uninvited. Cao Shuang also felt that he was very dignified in front of the officials. Naturally, I was in a good mood at this moment.
The three-year-old Mingyue was carrying a wine bottle and toasting everywhere. When she saw three interesting uncles, she immediately staggered over and ran over.
"Big brother... drink..." The child ran up to the seventeen-year-old Ji Kang and persuaded him to drink with unclear words, showing a warm smile.
Ji Kang gently touched the child's head, smiled, took the wine bottle and drank it in one gulp, praising: "Good wine!"
Ji Kang felt that apart from Xia Houxuan, only this three-year-old child seemed to be able to talk to him among the people in the house. He couldn't help but ask: "Little brother, I wonder whose child you are?"
"My dad is over there." The child said, then stretched out his chubby little hand and pointed towards Xia Houxuan's seat.
"So you are Taichu's child..." Ji Kang smiled and nodded: "Then what is your name?"
"Xiahou Mingyue."
"Mingyue, what a good name." Ji Kang, with a smile on his face, took the child's little hand and said, "Come, let's go over there and have a drink with your father, okay?"
"Yeah." The child nodded.
Shan Tao and Ruan Ji were not polite, returned the courtesy and thanked them, and then went to the table.
Ruan Ji was a heavy drinker on weekdays. He had already started to drink wine after smelling the aroma of wine when he sat down at the table. Now that he saw the good wine in the house, he couldn't wait to drink from the bottle.
After Shantao took his seat, he greeted the important ministers around him. He turned around and saw the cute baby girl in the arms of Cao Xi and Wei Yuan at the table, and couldn't help but ask:
"Presumably this is the general's daughter."
Cao Shuang laughed and said: "Sir, you are indeed very discerning. Yes, it is your little girl. I have heard for a long time that Mr. Juyuan is very knowledgeable. It just so happens that my little girl has not yet been named. If your husband doesn't give up, you might as well give her a name. Third brother, Brothers and sisters, bring the child over and let Mr. Juyuan take a look."
"Yes, brother." Cao Xi said as he hugged the child and walked to Shan Tao.
Shantao pondered for a while and then said: "Wangshu is the god of the moon. Let's name this girl 'Shu', and call her baby name Liangchen."
"Cao Shu..." Cao Shuang thought for a moment, raised his hands and said with a smile: "What a good name. According to the teacher's words, I named this girl 'Shu'. Third brother, it happens that you and your sister-in-law don't have any children yet, so I will give it to you." Shu'er is adopted by you, and she will be your daughter from now on."
"Thank you, brother!" Cao Xi and Wei Yuan, the couple, liked their little niece very much. Now that the little niece has become their daughter, they are extremely happy.
"Good times..." The three-year-old Mingyue looked at the infant girl and couldn't help but murmured.
——————
This banquet with a large number of guests lasted until midnight, and then it ended. When General Niu Jin left the General's Mansion, he was already very drunk. The servant of the General's Mansion who was responsible for escorting him back carefully supported Niu Jin. But Niu Jin, who was already drunk, was shaking and pushing everyone while muttering:
"Go away, I will follow... follow Chen Hou Cao Da Sima [Cao Ren] to march south... Jingxiang, follow Wuyang Hou to pacify Liaodong, how... how majestic, Why do you have to wait for a villain to come... to help you!"
Just as the servants were complaining, a wave of servants from other mansions came in front of them. Everyone in the general's mansion looked up and found that it was the servants from Sima Yi's mansion.
The servant of the Sima Mansion said: "The general will not bother you to escort me. Mr. Sima, please summon the general to come to the house to explain."
"But we are ordered by the general to deliver the cattle safely to the general..."
Before the servant of the Cao Mansion could finish speaking, another servant of the Cao Mansion muttered:
"General Niu is Taifu's confidant. Since Sima Gong has summoned him, just let General Niu go."
In fact, several servants of the Cao Mansion didn't want to endure Niu Jin's drunkenness, so they nodded immediately, so the group of servants of the Sima Mansion took Niu Jin away smoothly.
