In the official office of the Ministry of Rites, Wu Zhizhong, the head of the Ministry of Rites, had the rare opportunity to inform a group of officials in his official office that three days later he would host a banquet in his mansion to entertain his colleagues.
Announcement of a major event, a lifelong event regarding his stepdaughter who had only been adopted for a few months.
As soon as these words came out, all the officials in the Ministry of Rites, including many officials who had dealings with Wu Zhizhong and whose family had nephews who were about to reach adulthood and had not yet married a daughter-in-law, suddenly became energetic.
Even Cai Jing had seriously considered it, but considering Wu Zhizhong's relationship with him, it was impossible to marry Na Fujin to his son.
In the end, I gave up the plan of coming to the door in person. It would be too humiliating for a dignified Prime Minister to be scolded and rejected forcefully for the sake of the marriage of his children.
Three days later, Wu Zhizhong's mansion was bustling with activity, with dozens of officials drinking wine and eating meat while muttering in low voices.
How Wu Zhizhong will solve this stepdaughter's life-long event today has indeed aroused everyone's curiosity.
The point is that during this time, the officials did not have any difficulties with Wu Zhizhong after he adopted Emperor Maode.
Maybe in the heart of the officials, they don't want their beloved daughter to be with the Ancient Buddha of Qingdeng for the rest of her life.
It was just because of face that I kept silent. I don't know which official son could be so lucky to marry this virtuous and virtuous little lady Fujin.
Under such circumstances, everyone ate and drank in a tacit understanding and waited patiently, hoping to see who would jump out and start the conversation first.
It didn't take long for Chen Shilang, who had poured several glasses of wine, to stand up.
"Mr. Wu, you are nearly eighty years old and have only one son. Now you have a virtuous and virtuous daughter. This is a great blessing."
"Xiaguan is very greedy when he looks at it. Now Xiaguan Quanzi is fifteen years old and not yet married. I don't know Mr. Wu..."
As soon as Shilang Chen said these words, the birthday banquet suddenly fell into silence.
A pair of eyes full of strange colors moved back and forth between Wu Zhi, who was smiling indifferently, and Chen Shilang.
"If you had said this a few years ago, dear brother, I would have really considered it carefully."
"However, it's too late for you to say it now. Several years ago, I had already made an agreement with a young talent.
If I have a daughter, he will definitely come to propose marriage in person and recognize me as my father-in-law. "
"A few years ago? I wonder which young talent could win the favor of Mr. Wu."
Chen Shilang exclaimed in an exaggerated way.
The officials whose mood suddenly darkened after hearing Wu Zhizhong's answer also looked at Wu Zhizhong curiously.
They also want to know which young talent can be favored by Wu Shangshu, a hot-tempered minister who dares to fight no matter whether it is the treacherous prime minister Cai Jing or the coward Zhao Ji.
Hearing this, Wu Zhizhong smiled heartily and raised the wine glass in front of him.
"Don't worry, you will know when he comes soon."
"Speaking of which, although there was a big age difference between me and that young talent, I was still a close friend..."
Wu Zhizhong slowly talked about his fate with the young talent while sipping the wine in his cup.
And the chat he had with this young talent was really lively, and he was very optimistic about this young man, so he joked that if he had a daughter, he would definitely marry this young talent.
And this young talent also said that if he really had a beloved daughter, he would definitely come to propose marriage in person and marry Qin and Jin.
"... I didn't expect that at that time, the officials heard what I and the young talented man said, and they also came to witness it for me and the two of them."
Listening to this absurd and bizarre story, everyone was stunned and in disbelief.
But the problem is that the character of Wu Zhizhong, an important minister who has been loyal and straightforward all his life, is definitely time-tested.
What you say means what you say, and you will never brag or make nonsense.
But it is precisely because it is true that it makes people riot.
"This young talent, is it because his ancestors have accumulated great virtues for eight generations, or is there smoke rising from his ancestral graves?"
"To be able to have such a bizarre encounter is actually a hundred times more bizarre than the novel."
"Who could it be? I'm afraid that because of his young age and his talent and knowledge, he would be favored by Wu Shangshu, right?"
"But it's not a lot, right? Over the past few years... you all have to understand that Wu Shangshu presided over two provincial examinations, and there are many talents who entered the imperial examination."
"If we talk about young people, there shouldn't be many who haven't married yet, right?"
"Why are there not many? For example, among the Jinshi scholars in this department, who are nearly thirty years old and have not yet married, there must be seventy or eighty, if not a hundred."
"A few years ago, there were even more. After all, after the officials ordered the children of officials to participate in the special examination, a group of young people passed the exam..."
"Yes, yes, I remember that among those talented people, there are quite a few 'heroes'.
For example, the Liulang of our Prime Minister Cai’s family, the Dalang of the Tong Counselor’s family, and the prodigy number one scholar Gao Zhang who has not yet been married..."
When mentioning the two people in front, the official's face was obviously mocking, but when talking about Gao Zhang, his expression became much more serious.
After all, Gao Zhang is the son of Captain Gao, but unlike the previous two, he was able to reach high school entirely on his own merit.
Hearing Gao Zhang's name, another official couldn't help but gleam.
"Hey, I heard a rumor. It is said that she is Princess Maode, who admires the child prodigy and the number one scholar Gao Zhang."
"But the problem is that the officials love Gao Zhang's talent very much, and naturally they don't want such a pillar of the country. Because marrying his daughter will ruin a good career, they rejected Emperor Maode's request."
"Afterwards, Empress Maode became disheartened and decided to become a monk and escape into Buddhism, intending to accompany the ancient Buddha Qingdeng throughout her life."
"Hiss... Why do I think it's possible? After hearing what you said, it's really possible."
"But I heard that the prodigy number one scholar has already made an appointment with a girl from the Fang family."
"But just now Wu Shangshu..."
Just as there was chatter and noise below, the housekeeper of the Wu Mansion quickly entered the hall and rushed to Wu Shangshu's side and whispered.
"Okay, everyone, please be quiet for the moment. The young talent who made an agreement with me has arrived, hahaha..."
At this moment, Gao Zhang had already arrived outside the hall in formal attire, and heard the particularly wanton and triumphant laughter of Wu Zhizhong, an old gangster in the hall.
He rolled his eyes helplessly, no matter what, he has come, he can't return empty-handed.
"That's it, isn't that Gao Zhang and Gao Hanlin?"
"Is it really him?!"
(End of chapter)
