The Jiang family's banquet was not held at home, but at the most famous Mingshui Garden in Yongzhou Prefecture.
Mingshui Garden was built by a wealthy man from the previous dynasty who spent huge sums of money. It was originally used as a private garden and has been passed down.
But after so many years and dynasty changes, it has changed hands many times, and finally fell into the hands of the current owner. After a little repair, it began to be rented out to make money.
Because Mingshui Garden is really exquisite and beautiful, and after nearly two hundred years of polishing, every plant, tree, stone and scene has become more charming, so most of the various banquets and gatherings of Yongzhou Mansion are held here.
The driver of the Shen Mansion drove the double mule cart to a stop at the gate of Mingshui Garden.
After Shen Tianshu got off the car, he looked up at the plaque of Mingshui Garden.
Shen Yunyao looked at the gate of Mingshui Garden and curled her lips in disinterest, couldn't these people move to another place? I'm here six or seven times out of ten, and I'm really tired of seeing it.
Someone greeted the guests at the gate of Mingshui Garden, leading the three girls from the Shen family into the back garden.
Still some distance away, I could already hear the sound of someone talking and laughing.
Turning around a clump of green bamboos in front of me, I saw a spacious open pavilion. The people who had arrived first were already drinking tea and talking inside.
The servant raised his voice and said, "The three girls from the Shen residence have arrived."
A young woman immediately walked out of the open pavilion. She should be Mrs. Jiang—Huang.
She greeted them with a smile: "I'm busy entertaining guests here, and I didn't go out to greet them. It's really rude. I hope the girls don't blame me."
After meeting Mrs. Jiang, Shen Tianshu said: "My mother is ill and unable to travel, so she was unable to come. I specially asked Mrs. Jiang to apologize to me and also prepared a gift for you."
"Mrs. Shen is so polite." Huang motioned to the maid behind her to take the things, "I have been busy preparing for the banquet these past two days, and I haven't been able to take time to see Mrs. Shen. It's me who should apologize.
"Since the three girls are here today, don't be restrained and have fun. Treat it as your own home."
When Huang said this, he winked at the three of them and lowered his voice slightly: "I have invited many young talents today. When the time comes, I will gather the ladies from all the families together to listen to the show. There will be more competition between you young people." If there is a topic, you can talk about yours, and we can play around with ours, which is exactly what we need."
After Mrs. Huang finished speaking, she led the three people into the open pavilion. Immediately afterwards, a group of people came up to greet them, greet them, and greet them. After a while, they finally calmed down.
After the three of them sat down, Shen Yunyao couldn't help but said: "What did Mrs. Jiang mean by what she just said? What does inviting many young talents mean? Is she going to change her career to be a matchmaker?"
Shen Yunhui was even more surprised and didn't know what to say.
Although the folk customs in Daqi are more civilized, and the defense of men and women is not as strict as in the previous dynasty, it is really rare to specifically encourage young men and women to get together like this.
Shen Tianshu was not too surprised. She had seen similar things in her previous life. There were some noble ladies in the capital who liked to arrange such situations and invite young men and women together to laugh and play for no other reason than to have fun. A joy.
I just didn't expect that Lord Jiang's wife also had such a hobby.
"No matter who she invites, we just need to control ourselves and treat each other with courtesy." Shen Tianshu said, still a little worried, "You two don't wander around, we'd better stay together." place, so as not to give opportunities to people with ulterior motives."
Shen Yunhui was timid and nodded hurriedly after hearing this. She didn't want to be alone.
Shen Yunyao didn't take it seriously, but she still nodded.
After all, the three of them were the magistrate's daughters, so they only had a short time to talk, and people came over to talk from time to time, and new guests came over to say hello.
Not long after, Mrs. Zhao came with Zhao Junrong.
Zhao Junrong allowed Mrs. Zhao to talk useless nonsense to Mrs. Huang, but her eyes kept searching in the open space. Finally, she met Shen Tianshu's eyes, and immediately smiled happily and waved to her.
Shen Tianshu waved and asked Zhao Junrong to sit next to him.
Zhao Junrong followed Zhao Qu in Chengdu Mansion. The first few years were not very peaceful. He rarely encountered such opportunities for gatherings. Everything he saw was very fresh. He kept looking around and had to bite Shen Tianshu from time to time.
After another half an hour, the guests had almost arrived. As expected, Huang said: "I have asked people to prepare a small play. It is a new script passed from Yingtian Mansion this year. The team has been practicing for half a year. , this is the first time it has been performed in Yongzhou Prefecture, ladies and gentlemen, give me a favor, let’s go over and listen to the show, have tea, let the girls play in the garden by themselves, and let’s have some fun.”
Xu didn't come today, and Huang's husband had the highest official rank. She made such a suggestion, so everyone naturally followed her.
What's more, the new playbook is indeed very attractive. Each wife said a few words to her daughter, then got up and followed Huang towards the stage.
Mrs. Zhao had no choice but to follow the crowd, so she entrusted Zhao Junrong to Shen Tianshu and said, "Good boy, help me keep an eye on Junrong. She is playful and willful, so she can listen to what you say."
"Don't worry, aunt, I will take good care of Jun Rong."
Seeing that all the ladies from each family left, only the girls from each family were left in the open pavilion.
The girls who came today are basically around the same age as teenagers. They have relaxed a lot after their mother left, and their chirping voices are much louder.
Shen Tianshu looked around and didn't see any of the young talents Huang mentioned. He couldn't help but be curious and didn't know how those people would appear soon.
It's not like a group of people just walked into Changxuan, right? Isn’t that too embarrassing?
In the Changxuan, there were many people like Shen Tianshu, looking around uneasily. They must have heard what Huang said.
Just when everyone was wondering, a few maids suddenly came over and began to remove the door panels behind the cabin.
As the door panels were removed one by one, everyone discovered that there was another cave behind the open pavilion.
Across a small garden, there was a place with a nine-winded drinking room. At this time, twenty or thirty young men had gathered there, chatting together in twos and threes.
Shen Tianshu took a quick glance and saw Fan Yuru, who had been lingering recently.
Fan Yuru is dressed in white today. Among the people opposite him, both in appearance and temperament, he stands head and shoulders above the others. He can be said to stand out from the crowd.
There was a moment of silence in the open hall, and then a "buzz" broke out, and discussions broke out. Everyone was desperately asking the people around them.
"Who is that young man in white across the street?"
