Rencheng became more and more enthusiastic when talking about Liu Bancheng's fault.
"It is said that one time the prime minister bought a piece of bread after eating. There were many people following him. He raised his neck in front of everyone and said, you are no longer providing services. I have to pay for the bread out of my own pocket. After that, he said He took out a tael of silver from his pocket, gave it to the slave at the counter, and put all the bread on his fingers."
"If it were applied to ordinary people, and faced with this kind of situation, knowing that the prime minister is pretending to do business in his own house, can he still ask his boss to pay for the business? He is just pretending to show others that he means it. The correct approach is, Collect the money first and send it back in the evening or some time later. This way, you can give the boss some face without losing the money. Finally, I would like to say, please give your valuable advice to the Prime Minister! How good is this? "
Wang Qiang nodded.
Rencheng raised his eyebrows here.
"What do you think of the result?"
"How about it?"
"What else can you do? This friend of yours is good. He takes it seriously. Even after receiving the Prime Minister's money, he will not return it. The other adults' portions will not be given away, and all will become paid services. So far, the days of free eating are over. . So these respectable adults all started to have problems with Xiangshantang. To put it bluntly, they had problems with Liu Bancheng!"
"Think about it, if no one says good things about you, how can you be fine?"
"That's impossible!" Rencheng agreed.
"During the period, there were several times when the court wanted to select people. Liu Bancheng, in terms of culture, knowledge, and ability, was not free at all. He had sufficient conditions in all aspects. However, when the king solicited the opinions of the court officials, except for Except for the Prime Minister, no one had a good word to say about Liu Bancheng. During the show of hands, no one raised their hands, and the Prime Minister was also very embarrassed in the lobby. You said it is sad that Liu Bancheng has mixed up to this extent!"
Wang Qiang sighed,
"With so many key people not voting for him, Liu Bancheng should wake up and find his own faults!"
Rencheng said,
"Yes, ordinary people should realize it. But he, Liu Bancheng, is just the opposite!"
"This matter seems to have nothing to do with him, and it becomes more and more outrageous."
"Tell me about it!" Wang Qiang was curious.
Rencheng continued,
"It just so happened that one time, Empress Dowager Renxian's brother-in-law, who was in charge of the promotion of our Xuyangcheng officials, came to the Xiangshan Hall for dinner and walked to the second floor as if there was no one else around. Liu Bancheng thought this man was unfamiliar, so he stopped him at the entrance of the stairs. Him, ask him what he does?"
"The other party said jokingly that I am a retainer of the Prime Minister's Mansion."
"Liu Bancheng, please show me the menu. The other person said, I forgot to bring it. Liu Bancheng said, you can't eat here without a menu, please stay away!"
Wang Qiang also said seriously when he heard this,
"The other party doesn't have a menu and won't let me go upstairs. This is normal!"
Rencheng took a breath and said,
"It's normal, it's normal. Those who can swagger upstairs are definitely not ordinary people. You said you won't let in if you have a sullen face and no cards! How embarrassing for people in front of everyone!"
"The results of it?"
"As a result, Queen Mother Renxian's brother-in-law turned away with a blushing face."
"Less than an hour later, the prime minister hurried over, pointed at Liu Bancheng's forehead and cursed, saying that you who don't raise your eyes are so stupid that you can't tell the difference between your eyebrows! I don't have the face to give you, but I can understand you. , but Lord Sikong didn’t let you go, you are really tired of living! As soon as Liu Bancheng heard this, his face turned red, and he left without saying a word, leaving the Prime Minister there! Do you think he is a coward? "
Wang Qiang asked anxiously, "How do you, a purchaser, know so much about these things?"
Rencheng snorted again from his mouth.
"My surname is Ren, you forgot!"
Wang Qiang understood what he was saying and stood up in a hurry to salute.
Rencheng raised his head and laughed, holding Wang Qiang down.
"It's not necessary, my brother, there's no need. I'm just talking about the process."
Wang Qiang said, "Everyone is angry and understands that neither the prime minister nor other adults will compete with a cook!"
Rencheng said, "How can that be done?"
"After that, guess what, there were often complaints about the food in Xiangshantang, and some of the complaints were reported to Prince Liang's desk. For example, some customers' bowls contained stones the size of eggs. Some people said that the vegetables were broken. To cook, pour a pot of steaming stew directly on the ground; and to pick out the fish heads from a large pot of fish and cover them on the dinner plate, and directly pick out the nutritious fish heads for the diners to eat, etc. Waiting for the situation, anyway, Liu Bancheng was involved in lawsuits during that time!"
Wang Qiang sighed and said,
"It seems that it is not easy for my friend Liu Bancheng to survive in your place! The Prime Minister should have wanted to get rid of him a long time ago!"
"No!" Rencheng shook his head,
"Even so, no one had a good word to say about Liu Bancheng, and the Prime Minister had no intention of sending him away. Until later, I hid it from him, and was actually ordered to import a batch of cooking oil. When he found out, he refused to let me go, and insisted on getting to the bottom of it. More What's more, he even took people to the Elephant Farm to find out what happened, which made the Prime Minister anxious, so he was taken to the ancestral hall."
"He is a talent, it's a pity." Wang Qiang wanted to say something pertinent to Liu Bancheng.
Unexpectedly, Rencheng said,
"What a pity, he deserves it."
Liu Bancheng never imagined that someone would gossip about his past few years behind his back.
After he built a bridge for Wang Qiang, he felt very happy. When he came out of Yao Mansion, he did not rush back, but wandered aimlessly on the street where people were passing by.
Master Yao just said a lot of things to him but he didn't take it to heart, but there was one sentence that he thought about repeatedly, "It's time for you to start a family."
I think so. I have been in Liang for almost ten years. Looking at it now, it is hard to say when I will return.
Whenever I am alone in the dead of night, I really want to find someone who understands my pain and warmth to express my inner feelings. He is also a man who is alone.
From this, he immediately thought of a person, Mei Hua, and became excited.
At this time, an old man with messy hair and ragged clothes happened to pass by. The fishy smell he brought with him made the two women in front and behind cover their noses and stay away from him.
Liu turned around halfway, called out to the old man, handed him a piece of silver, and asked the old man to go to the street and put on his coat, which was full of pungent smell.
Liu Bancheng messed up his hair and left a large lock to cover his forehead.
The old man stood there in surprise, looking at the man in front of him who had been very decent and generous just now.
Liu Bancheng changed his clothes, smeared his face with charcoal ash, and came to the door of Xiangshan Hall.
It was lunch time, and Mr. Qiu was standing under the rain with his hands behind his back, looking at the diners arriving from the Prime Minister's Mansion, in an endless stream of twos and threes.
Liu Bancheng intentionally bent down, raised his head, and followed the old man's walking style before climbing up the first step of the rain building. But he was stopped by Mr. Qiu Duanhe.
"What are you doing, get out of here!"
Liu Bancheng lowered his voice, "G-give me some food! I'm hungry!"
Master Qiu took a step forward and covered his mouth.
"This is not a place for people like you to eat. Go away!"
"I'm hungry, give me something to stutter, otherwise, I'll ask your stewards for it!"
Mr. Qiu is angry,
"What you think is wonderful, my hall master is not here! Don't disturb the officials while they are having dinner! Go away quickly! Otherwise I will call someone!"
After a while, many onlookers gathered at the door. Liu Bancheng sat down on the steps.
"If you don't give me something to eat, I won't leave!"
"What's wrong, who is it?"
Liu Bancheng heard a familiar voice.
Master Qiu replied,
"You're a stinky beggar, why don't you chase him away!"
Liu Bancheng lowered his voice again,
"I, I, am hungry! Where are you, sir? Just give me something to stutter!"
Just listen to Mei Hua say to the crowd,
"Don't watch around, everyone go in and eat, we will take care of it!"
Everyone listened to the advice and went upstairs one after another.
Meihua said again, her voice still so rough and deep, and very close to her.
"He is quite pitiful. Mr. Qiu, when you and I were young, didn't we just live like him? Look at how cold it is, give him something warm to eat!"
Master Qiu replied, "Chef, let's not mention this now and then. There are so many poor people in the world now. Can you handle it?"
Plum Blossom is in a hurry,
"Okay, we don't care about it. Master Qiu, just do your best and lead him in through the side door, find a room in the dormitory at the back, let him eat enough, and he will leave when he is full. Just listen to me!"
After saying this, Mei Hua handed Master Qiu a key.
Mr. Qiu was in front, Liu Bancheng was behind, and they entered the Xiangshan Hall...
Liu Bancheng was eating and drinking in his former room when Meihua opened the door and came in.
She opened the window first, then turned around and asked,
"Old man, are you full?"
