Two days later.
It is the happy day of Li Youbin, the young master of the Li family.
There were lanterns and colorful decorations inside and outside the Li Mansion, gongs and drums were beating loudly, and excitement could be seen everywhere.
After receiving the invitation, guests carrying gifts stepped into the door of Li Mansion in an endless stream.
Because the Li family is backed by mountains, no one in Suzhou City dares not to give the Li family face.
Even Mr. Jia, who received the invitation, had to come in person.
What's more, I heard that Mr. Shi, the Governor of Jiangnan, will come to Suzhou today to congratulate the Li family. Who dares not to come from a well-established family in Suzhou?
They not only come to congratulate you, but also come to be happy.
At this time, there was also a knock on the side door behind Li Mansion.
Soon someone came over and opened the side door. The person who came was Sanqiu, the assistant cook in the big kitchen of Li Mansion.
Looking at the old man standing outside the door, and then at the two big baskets of fresh vegetables placed beside him, Sanqiu's face darkened, and his tone was filled with anger: "Old man Pei, didn't I agree yesterday that I would let you have breakfast this morning? Are you coming here to deliver food?"
"The kitchen is already crazy busy now, just waiting for your food to be delivered to the pot!"
"Yes, yes, blame me for coming too slowly."
Old man Pei didn't dare to refute. He bowed and said quickly: "I'm old and can't walk fast for a while. Please forgive me Sanqiu. I'll go in with the food right now."
The vegetables grown by Mr. Pei are famous for being fresh, and the prices are not high.
Sanqiu wanted to deduct a few copper coins from it, so he found Old Man Pei and asked him to deliver food.
When Old Man Pei didn't come over, there was a lot of pressure in the kitchen. Sanqiu was scolded several times, and she felt very aggrieved. At the moment, she would not say anything to stop Old Man Pei from delivering food.
Sanqiu turned aside to make way, and kept urging: "Okay, okay, hurry up and send it in! Don't delay the time of serving food!"
Now that there are so many distinguished guests coming to the Li Mansion, there must be no mistakes at the banquet. Otherwise, the old lady will definitely not be able to spare them!
Old man Pei nodded, quickly picked up two vegetable baskets with a pole, and quickly entered the side door and entered Li Mansion.
Under the leadership of Sanqiu, Old Man Pei walked with him towards the big kitchen.
The big kitchen was already so busy that I wanted to split one person up and serve as three people. As soon as he saw Sanqiu coming in, Chef Wen, who was in charge of the pastry, cursed: "Where did you go to hide away, you lazy boy? "
Sanqiu couldn't remember how many times he had been scolded. He quickly begged for mercy: "Brother Wen, stop scolding me. I was going out to find the food delivery guy. No, as soon as I found him, I rushed back. !”
"Is the food delivery person here?"
Standing at the back of the kitchen, Chef Chang said loudly: "Wash all those dishes quickly and bring them over when they're clean!"
Sanqiu: "Yes, yes, brother Chang, if you wait a little longer, you will be fine soon."
Chef Chang's voice was rough and he said impatiently: "Hurry up!"
Today, the Li Mansion held a wedding event and invited almost all the wealthy families in Suzhou City. They held a grand banquet with thousands of tables and relied on just a few of their chefs to handle it. It was almost exhausting them to death.
Chef Chang's temper is getting more and more irritable.
Sanqiu called to Old Man Pei and placed two vegetable baskets almost as tall as one person on the ground.
Old Man Pei said, "I've already delivered the dishes. Then in Sanqiu, I'm going to leave first?"
Old Uncle Pei had already collected the food payment yesterday. Now that the food was delivered, he wanted to leave Li Mansion.
However, Sanqiu suddenly stretched out his hand to stop Pei. Sanqiu said with a smile: "Old Pei, your vegetables have been sold out anyway. Why don't you stay here and wash all the vegetables?"
"If you hadn't come too late, Uncle Pei, I wouldn't have finished the work I was doing just to wait for you at the side door..."
Uncle Pei: "..."
What Sanqiu said seems to make sense?
Old Man Pei looked a little hesitant.
After looking at the people busy in the kitchen, Mr. Pei nodded: "Okay."
Sanqiu beamed instantly: "Then I'll leave these two baskets of vegetables to you, Uncle Pei, to clean."
Old Man Pei responded: "Don't worry, I will definitely wash it clean."
Sanqiu nodded with satisfaction, turned around and entered the stove at the end of the kitchen.
Old man Pei dragged two baskets of vegetables towards a corner.
Old Uncle Pei knelt down and slowly twitched the corners of his lips with a sneer.
He rolled up his sleeves unhurriedly, revealing a pair of white hands with clear joints, and veins could be seen faintly on the back of the hands. They did not look like the hands that an old man who had been working in the fields all year round should have.
No one in the kitchen could notice this scene.
…
The front hall of Li Mansion.
Mrs. Li sat on the main seat with a smile on her face.
Listening to the flattery of all the female family members, Mrs. Li felt a little disdainful in her heart. If it weren't for the sake of making her good grandson look good, she would not have organized the wedding in such a glorious way and let these poor ladies enter the Li family's door.
Suddenly, Butler Qi, who was guarding outside the gate, hurried over.
The discussion among the female family members suddenly dropped.
Butler Qi walked up to Madam Li, his face full of excitement, and whispered: "Madam, the eldest girl is back!"
"Qiqi is back?"
Mrs. Li said in surprise. Soon, she reacted, calmed down the excitement in her heart, and asked again: "Then, is that adult here too?"
Butler Qi nodded heavily and replied quickly: "The old lady guessed it right. The gentleman came back with the eldest girl and brought a generous gift. Please move to the door to greet the lady."
"Okay, okay!"
Madam Li could no longer suppress the excitement in her heart. She leaned on crutches and stood up excitedly. Her wrinkled face was full of smiles: "Sure enough, the big girl has never let grandma down!"
Although the eldest girl had sent a message long ago and would definitely take the adult back to Suzhou to congratulate Bin'er, but if the adult didn't come for a day, the old lady would feel uneasy, fearing that something might happen.
You know, that adult is the biggest supporter of their Li family. If not for that adult's support, I am afraid that the three of them would have been torn into pieces by the wolves watching eagerly from the side!
Now that the Lord has come to the Li Mansion in person, it is enough to prove that the Lord attaches great importance to the Li family. Didn't that Lord Jia dare to touch her sweet grandson before?
Today she wanted to take a closer look to see if Mr. Jia dared to be disrespectful to the Li family when that adult was present!
Thinking of this, Mrs. Li snorted softly, and then said with a smile to all the female relatives present: "It's me, the eldest daughter of the Li family, and Mr. Shi, the governor of Jiangnan, who have arrived. Madams, please follow me to the main entrance." Are you here to welcome that lord into the mansion?"
As soon as these words came out, there was a silence in the front hall.
All the female relatives looked at Mrs. Li in shock.
They had been speculating before about what Mrs. Li heard that made her so excited. She didn't hold back at all. It turned out that it was Mr. Shi, the governor of Jiangnan, who came to the Li Mansion!
This alone is enough to make the female relatives present feel envious and jealous.
Most of the female relatives present are the wives of wealthy businessmen. Their families have a small income, but they have no power. It is very inconvenient for them to do business outside. Their husbands have to bow their heads to high-ranking officials and give away the hard-earned money. send out.
It's true that not even half a copper coin fell into their hands.
They are just beautiful on the surface, but behind the scenes they can only keep their sadness in their mouths and cannot talk to others.
If they were given a choice, they would rather become the concubines of Mr. Shi, the governor of Jiangnan. Not only would they have money and power, but they could also protect their natal family...
Thinking of this, all the female family members hated the eldest girl of the Li family who acted in a flamboyant manner and was favored by Mr. Shi:
The eldest girl in the Li Mansion is just an outhouse kept by Jiangnan Governor Shi. She can seduce Jiangnan Governor Shi with her charming appearance!
Why wasn't she the one who could seduce Mr. Shi, the governor of Jiangnan?
All the female relatives had a lot of thoughts in their hearts. When Mrs. Li walked out, they all stood up and followed Mrs. Li silently.
Mrs. Li is responsible for entertaining the female family members, while Li Youbin, who has already returned from the reception, is in charge of the male guests.
The pain in Li Youbin's hip has reduced a lot. Now he can barely stand, but cannot sit down.
Seeing Mr. Jia coming at the invitation, Li Youbin's face suddenly darkened.
Mr. Jia was invited here through a message from his grandmother. Li Youbin couldn't embarrass Mr. Jia in public, so he could only suppress his displeasure.
His grandmother had told him before that after today, she would definitely make Mr. Jia kneel on the ground and beg him for mercy.
Then he will wait.
Sensing a look full of resentment falling on him, Mr. Jia immediately stopped talking to the people next to him. He raised his eyes to look for the person staring at him.
But he saw it was Li Youbin.
Master Jia was sneering in his heart, but a false smile appeared on his face. He raised the wine glass in his hand and gestured towards Li Youbin, opened his mouth and said, "Congratulations, Master Li, on marrying this beautiful girl."
Li Youbin did not give Mr. Jia any face. He snorted coldly and looked away.
Mr. Jia: "..."
The smile on Master Jia's face gradually disappeared.
Now he is not afraid of the Li family, and he also has the fourth prince supporting him. Even if Shi Weian takes charge of the entire Jiangnan, so what?
No matter how powerful Shi Weian was, he would not dare to touch the fourth prince!
Once Shi Weian dares to touch the fourth prince, the one in the palace is not a vegetarian. When the imperial edict comes, even if Shi Weian can cover the sky with one hand in Jiangnan, he will still have to kneel on the ground to receive the edict!
When he thought of such a situation, Mr. Jia couldn't help but wonder. He didn't know if the previous guard had conveyed his words to the fourth prince. When would he be able to see the fourth prince and express his loyalty in front of him?
Master Jia sighed softly.
The friend I was talking to earlier noticed that there seemed to be some unpleasantness between Mr. Jia and the young master of the Li family. The friend reminded Mr. Jia in a low voice: "Sir, the Li family cannot afford to offend these days."
Master Jia heard this and sneered at this, "Does a mere Li family really think that with a backer, he can be disrespectful to me within my jurisdiction?"
The friend: "..."
If he remembered correctly, every time the young master of the Li family did evil in the city and was sued to the government by the master, Master Jia always sided with the young master of the Li family?
Previously, a friend had heard that the young master of the Li family had been beaten with a cane in the government office. When he first heard about it, he found it very strange. He thought it was just a rumor, but after some inquiries, he found out that it was true.
Although I don’t know what the reason is, my friends still feel that the Li family cannot afford to offend the Li family. I am afraid that Mr. Jia has gone astray and offended the Li family for the sake of temporary prestige...
Looking at Mr. Jia's face, it seemed that he was still not calmed down. The friend frowned slightly and was about to say something to persuade him when he suddenly heard an exclamation: "Sister and brother-in-law are really back!?"
"Master, this slave is not wrong."
The maid who came to report was blessed and said with a serious expression: "The eldest lady and Mr. Shi are here. The old lady asked the slave to take the young master over and welcome Mr. Shi into the house together."
Master Shi is here! ?
The maid's voice was not quiet, and all the guests around her could hear it.
Mr. Jia felt as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt, and cold sweat broke out down his back.
I didn’t expect that the Li family’s reputation was so great that even Mr. Shi, the governor of Jiangnan, could be invited over.
Now that the fourth prince is not here, if Master Shi suddenly attacks him, how should he respond?
The friend coughed slightly and looked at Mr. Jia with deep meaning, as if to say: Look, what I just said was right, right? The Li family really couldn't afford to offend.
Mr. Jia didn't show it on his face, but he was already a little panicked in his heart.
Mr. Jia forced himself to stand there, not letting himself show the slightest fear, but he couldn't help but glance at Li Youbin.
At this time, Li Youbin had no intention of talking to Mr. Jia. His backer had arrived, and everyone who had offended him would die!
"Hahaha--"
Li Youbin couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh.
The surrounding guests looked at each other.
They were also a little curious about Mr. Shi.
They also wanted to greet Mr. Shi in front of the mansion, and maybe they could leave a deep impression on Mr. Shi, which would be beneficial to their future prospects.
But the young master of the Li family didn't speak, so they could only continue to stay where they were, staring at Li Youbin with hopeful eyes.
As if he could guess what everyone was thinking, Li Youbin stopped laughing and scanned the crowd meaningfully, "I wonder if you would like to come with me?"
Before he finished speaking, someone loudly echoed: "Yes! Of course I am willing!"
"I do too!"
Others were not willing to lag behind and nodded in response.
The front yard where the male guests were entertained was not far from the door of the mansion, and almost all the male guests followed Li Youbin there.
There are many people among them who know how to flatter Li Youbin: "I didn't expect Master Li to be so resourceful that even Mr. Shi, the governor of Jiangnan, could come to congratulate Master Li!"
"The young master of the Li family is really amazing!"
"Isn't that right? That person is Mr. Shi who is in charge of the entire Jiangnan. His official position is so high that I don't even dare to get even half a step closer. I have never been lucky enough to meet Mr. Shi. I didn't expect that today, I would be able to meet him in Master Li's house. To the superior Mr. Shi!”
"That's that!"
Listening to the flattering words coming from behind, Li Youbin felt extremely at ease, but he pretended to be impatient and said: "You are all country bumpkins, and I have to take action to show you what it means to be in a high position. grown ups!"
