At this time, the study room of Qin Mansion was full of people. The maids and guards in the backyard, except for a few people who were having lunch at the house, were all standing in the study room. The mahjong competition had reached the semi-final stage.
A total of eight people entered the semi-finals. After drawing lots, Qin Ming, Yang Zijun, Li Yuan, and Zhang Fei were assigned to a table, and Xiao Changxi, Si She, Mao Tu, and Xiao Qing were assigned to a table.
Most of the people in the backyard who were close to Qin Ming entered the semi-finals. Only Xiao Qingwan, who got the news first, was defeated early.
At this time, she was standing behind Yang Zijun with all her concentration, acting as a dog-headed strategist. From time to time, she would whisper a few words in Yang Zijun's ear.
It was also the first time for Li Yuan to participate in this kind of competition. Although he didn't care about the ten-dollar reward for the first place, he was determined to win the title of "Sparrow God", so he was extra cautious in his cards today.
Qin Ming looked at Li Yuan hesitating while holding the cards, rolled his eyes and said:
"Old man, do you want to touch it or not? If you don't touch it, I will draw the card."
Li Yuan glanced at Qin Ming irritably and said angrily:
"You brat, what are you in a hurry for? I'll think about it later."
Qingwan heard this and said:
"Old man, how about I give you some advice?"
As Qingwan said this, she was about to look at Li Yuan's cards. Seeing this, Li Yuan quickly stretched out his hand to cover the cards, then glared at Qin Ming and said:
"No, I won't touch it anymore."
Qin Ming smiled and planned to draw the cards.
At this moment, the study door was pushed open, and a maid came in and said:
"Sir, Mr. Li is here. The concierge will take them to the front hall now."
Qin Ming frowned when he heard this. Is the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty so idle? On the second day of the first lunar month, shouldn't we wait in the palace for the nobles and clan members to pay their respects?
Although he was confused, Qin Ming still waved to Qingwan and said:
"Wan'er, come and fight for me first. I'll go to the front hall to take a look."
At this time, many people in the study stopped what they were doing and looked at Qin Ming one by one.
Xiao Changxi also stood up and walked to Qin Ming and said:
"Sir, shall we receive the guests first?"
She already knew the identities of Li Shimin and his party, so naturally she didn't dare to neglect them.
Qin Ming saw everyone in the room looking at him, smiled and said:
"It's okay, let's continue the game."
Li Yuan didn't care who was visiting at this time. He was only thinking about winning the title of Sparrow God. He had to put aside everything else, so he raised his eyebrows and said:
"Let Brother Ming handle the reception by himself. They won't come to the backyard anyway. Let's play with ourselves."
Yang Zijun didn't have a good impression of the Li family to begin with, not to mention that her sweetheart was forced to get engaged by the Li family. In her eyes, Qin Ming was forced to get engaged.
So she also echoed:
"Yes, the old man is right, let's continue the game."
Seeing this, Xiao Changxi no longer persisted, but she was worried that Li Shimin and the others would come to the study soon, so after Qin Ming left, she left a few maids serving tea and cakes, and let the others go to the backyard to work first.
...
Living room in the front yard of Qin Mansion
Qin Ming walked into the living room with a smile on his face and saw Li Shimin sitting on a chair in the living room with a serious expression.
When Xiao Sizi saw Qin Ming come in, he ran to Qin Ming's side and said:
"Brother Qin Ming."
Qin Ming reached out to pick up Sizi, pinched her little nose, and then saluted Li Shimin and Empress Changsun:
"My nephew has met Uncle Li and met Auntie."
Li Shimin snorted angrily, obviously he was worried about Qin Ming's coveting of Changle.
Qin Ming glanced at Li Shimin without knowing what was going on. He couldn't figure it out. He didn't seem to have offended the Buddha. What was going on today?
Queen Changsun naturally knew where her husband's hum came from, but she couldn't explain clearly. She could only smile and said to Qin Ming:
"My dear nephew, ignore him and sit down quickly."
Qin Ming nodded when he heard this, and then sat across from the two of them with Si Zi in his arms.
Then he called the maid in the hall to bring some pastries.
"Auntie, why didn't you bring Li Zhi and the others with you today?"
Li Shimin heard this and thought to himself, this boy is really not a good guy. He is engaged to Yu Zhang, but he still has thoughts about beauty. What does he think of his daughter? Cabbage on the roadside?
Who do you think your boy is? Emperor Shun? You actually want my daughter to imitate Ehuang Nüying?
He has completely forgotten the purpose of his trip now, whether it is the Tengu eating the sun or whether his father is here or not, all he can think about is this bastard coveting his daughter.
Li Shimin gritted his teeth and said:
"What? What do you think?"
Qin Ming was even more puzzled when he heard this. Did Li Shimin take medicine today? He was so angry that he looked at Li Shimin speechlessly and said:
"My nephew, I don't dare, I just asked casually."
Empress Changsun rolled her eyes, coughed and changed the subject:
"My dear nephew, on the way here, my aunt heard someone singing a song by the river. The tune was novel and very pleasant. After asking, I found out that it was Miss Yang from your house who sang it. I wonder what the name of this song is? And why can't I see Yang? The young lady and Wan'er?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Ming smiled and said to Queen Changsun:
"Auntie said the song is called Chiling. Zijun and Wan'er are participating in a mahjong competition in the backyard right now."
Queen Changsun said in confusion upon hearing this;
"Ma-chan? Competition?"
Si Zi blinked his beautiful big eyes when he heard this. Pulling Qin Ming's clothes and asked:
"Brother Qin Ming, is this sesame paste delicious?"
Qin Ming reached out and swept the bridge of Si Zi's nose with his index finger, looked at Si Zi lovingly and said:
"This mahjong is not about eating. If Sizi is hungry, just wait for some cakes."
Si Zi nodded obediently upon hearing this.
Qin Ming raised his head and explained to Queen Changsun and Li Shimin:
"This mahjong is a chess game invented by my nephew. It was specially made for the elders in the family to kill time. As there was nothing to do today, my nephew organized the people in the backyard to have a game. At this time, Wan'er, Zijun They are all playing cards with their elders in the study room."
Queen Changsun and Li Shimin looked at each other after hearing this. Queen Changsun said:
"It sounds very interesting. I wonder if my nephew can take my aunt to have a look."
