Chapter 319: The announcement of the results is in progress (Part 1)
As the sun rises slowly, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion becomes more and more lively.
People from the neighboring Duke’s Palace of Wei, the Founding Duke’s Palace, Dingyuan Marquis Palace, Lingbi Marquis Palace and the homes of civil and military officials with relatives and relatives came one after another to wish the old lady of Linhuai Marquis Palace a birthday. People came to the door. There is an endless stream of people, and the gate of Linhuaihou Mansion is like a market. All the visitors came with gifts. The stewards of Linhuai Marquis Mansion registered one by one. As a result, a thick stack of paper was tallied. Three stewards were responsible for the statistics. My hand was too tired to write. I can change someone and continue writing.
The main room of the Linhuai Marquis Mansion was specially cleaned up and covered with scarlet blankets. All the gifts sent by the guests were received by the maids and servants, and were temporarily placed here to let the birthday lady finish her time. , and then put it into the warehouse.
The gifts given by the guests are dazzling and valuable, including a birthday star made of jade Ruyi, a peach made by an immortal made of precious amethyst, a rosary made of rare South Sea pearls, and a tall coral. bonsai, Wait, wait, everything placed outside can cause a stir among people. After seeing it, the birthday lady’s face was filled with smiles, not to mention how satisfied she was. There were too many gifts, and the old lady couldn’t see them, so she waved her hand. Have all the maids move to the warehouse.
"Hehe, ancestor, you don't look at other people's gifts, but you have to admire the gifts from our children and grandchildren." The round little face of the sixth lady of the Hou Mansion smiled playfully, showing her little tiger teeth, and hugged the old lady's The arm said coquettishly.
"You monkey, you are still like your ancestors, okay, okay, it all depends on you." The old lady patted Miss Sixth's arm lovingly, nodded with a smile.
Then, starting with the second young lady of the Hou Mansion, they gave birthday gifts to the old lady of the Hou Mansion one by one.
The second lady presented a set of hand-embroidered life-extending Buddhist scriptures, the third lady presented a cup made of ten-thousand-year-old jade engraved with the image of an immortal, and the fourth lady presented a pair of flat peaches offering longevity, Li Shu The one presented was the South China Sea Coral Guanyin, and the sixth lady presented the Wanshou Wan'an cushion with hand-backed cushions, which she said was made by herself.
The old lady smiled with satisfaction and was very happy with the filial piety of her granddaughters.
Then, I don't know who started it, but they instigated the young ladies to pick out the birthday gifts for their husbands and place them in front of the old lady.
The second young lady and her future husband’s gifts were all generous and valuable, and the old lady was very satisfied. The only exception is the birthday gift of the future fifth uncle of the Hou family, that is, Zhu Ping'an's birthday gift. There are two birthday gifts for Zhu Pingan. The same is a birthday message written by Zhu Pingan himself. The other thing is the jade carving ornament for Magu’s birthday that Li Shu asked Baozi’s little maid to bring to Zhu Ping’an.
But the sixth lady in the Hou Mansion laughed and said looking at the jade carving for Magu’s birthday that she seemed to have seen it in the fifth sister’s room. After arriving, the expression of the old lady of the Hou Mansion turned bad, according to Miss Sixth's words. The jade carving belongs to Wu Yatou, which means that Zhu Ping'an only sent the beggar a copy of the jade carving with his own handwriting!
As a result, the expression of the old lady of the Hou Mansion suddenly turned bad, and she waved her hand to have all the gifts moved to the warehouse.
The front yard of the Hou Mansion is even more lively now. Among the people who came to Huaihou Mansion to celebrate their birthday, there were six or seven young men of the same age as Fatty Zhou. They were all dressed in bright clothes and smelled like second-generation ancestors. These were among the princes and nobles who were accustomed to hang out with Fatty Zhou. After the young master of the family gave him the birthday gift, he took Fatty Zhou and sat on the table, letting him keep him company and started drinking.
Zhu Ping'an sat at the table in the corner, and the people at the table with him were all distant and poor relatives of the Hou family.
Fatty Zhou’s table. It's not too far away from Zhu Pingan's table. After all, it's in a courtyard, but Zhu Pingan's table is a little more remote. The people on Fatty Zhou's table looked familiar to Zhu Ping'an. If he saw correctly, the people on that table were the same group of second-generation ancestors who ran rampant at the gate of the city in brocade hats and mink fur coats when they came out of the capital.
Zhu Pingan's table was relatively quiet, probably because they were poor relatives in the Hou Mansion. The Hou Mansion did not allocate too many people to accompany them, except for serving dishes. There are no girls or servants to wait on me.
Comparatively speaking, Fatty Zhou's table was much more lively. There were two girls waiting on the table, pouring tea and wine. Excellent care.
From their conversation, Zhu Pingan could probably tell that this group of second-generation ancestors seemed to look down on Fatty Zhou.
"Hey, Fatty Zhou, why don't you go horse racing with your brothers these days? Why are you so afraid of losing?"
"That's right. Will you pay for some rouge horses soon? Didn't you have a great time riding them at night? "
There were two second-generation ancestors sitting on the table, crossing their legs, playing with fruits, squinting and mocking Fatty Zhou. These second-generation ancestors are either the noble sons of Wei Guogongfu, Founding Duke's Palace, Dingyuan Houfu and other princely families, or they are the sons of third- and fourth-grade officials' families. Their family background is no less than that of Fatty Zhou, so they are not sarcastic at all. pressure.
Fatty Zhou is fat. He can ride horses, shoot arrows, fight cocks and walk dogs. He is often no match for these second-generation ancestors. In terms of literary talent, he is not even half a bottle of water, so naturally there is nothing. Advantages; In addition, Fatty Zhou also has some disadvantages in terms of character. He has a strong temperament and a little bit of a coward. He is not a bloody person.
So, he is often the target of ridicule among the second generation ancestors, and this time is no exception.
"Whoever is afraid will compete with you next time." Fatty Zhou had a fat face and showed no signs of weakness.
"That's what we said." The second-generation ancestors looked at each other and smiled, quite proudly. This was good, and they saved money for drinking wine in the future.
"Oh, by the way, I heard that the third room in your house married a bumpkin from the countryside? Is this the case?"
"Hahaha, I I just can’t figure it out, you guys are in Linhuai When did the price of the Hou Mansion drop like this? Isn’t this an embarrassment to our nobles?”
The second-generation ancestors heard the secrets of the Hou Mansion from nowhere and questioned Fatty Zhou on the table. Most of them are meant to be ridiculing.
Zhu Ping'an in the corner smiled helplessly after hearing their chat. Why did the news of his engagement to Li Shu spread so far that even these second-generation ancestors had heard about it. It seems that I have been laughed at again, haha, what happened to the country people? Who said that a poor family can't rise.
After hearing the ridicule from the buddies around him, Fatty Zhou was speechless, because what these buddies said was true. Although his grandmother and father had discussed breaking off the engagement many times, they had not done so yet. He couldn't help but secretly complain about Zhu Ping'an in his heart, causing himself to be implicated and ridiculed.
"Why, it really doesn't work, hehehe, even the country bumpkins are not spared, how ugly your fifth lady must be"
Looking at the fat man's expression, there is something The second ancestor couldn't help but laugh.
"Haha, he must be like you, he must be so strong"
The other second-generation ancestors couldn't help but laugh.
"How could it be possible? My fifth sister is more beautiful than Princess Anyang." Fatty Zhou felt confident at this time and choked while twisting his neck.
"Just brag, if Princess Anyang is half as beautiful as she is, she won't find a bumpkin from the countryside."
Fat man's words not only did not have a positive effect, but made the second generation ancestors laugh. Even more powerful. Princess Anyang is a famous beauty in the capital, and there are few in the whole capital who can compare with her. Fatty Zhou said that her fifth sister who was engaged to a country bumpkin was more beautiful than Princess Anyang. That was not bragging.
“Oh, by the way, I heard that you took the National Examination a few days ago, haha, how was it?” After laughing, someone else thought of Fatty Zhou taking the National Examination and couldn’t help but asked.
"Stable." Fatty Zhou replied confidently.
"Hahaha, let me tell you, God is really fair." After hearing Fatty Zhou's words, a second-generation ancestor said while holding back a smile.
“Oh, how do you say it?” Fatty Zhou asked curiously.
"Hehehe, although you look ugly, you think beautiful, hehehe" The man couldn't help laughing.
The others also burst into laughter.
"That's right, our brothers don't know what you are like. We grew up together wearing crotchless pants. Just let our uncle fill your gaps in the Beijing camp, the garrison camp, etc., and you will try whatever you want. , Stop joking, it’s all in vain.”
None of these second-generation ancestors are optimistic about Fatty Zhou’s examination.
"You must have been stimulated by Xu Laosan. Xu Laosan has been eager to learn since he was a child. He passed the boy's examination and the provincial examination without relying on Wei Guogong's efforts at all. Xu Laosan is really stable. Why did he go home after showing his face just now? It’s because he heard that the results might be released today, so he went home and waited.”
The Xu Laosan this person is talking about is from the Wei Kingdom next door. The third son of the public family, Wei Guogong, inherited it from Xu Da. Xu Laosan is well-known in the capital for his quick thinking and photographic memory. Although he sometimes hangs out with Fatty Zhou and the others, his literary skills are solid.
Some time ago, Xu Laosan passed the provincial examination, and they went to drink wine to celebrate. There was an oiran who made Fatty Zhou envious for a long time and spent a lot of money. As a result, the oiran heard that Xu Laosan After he had just passed the provincial examination, he passed the provincial examination and passed the exam without taking any money. At that time, Fatty Zhou was stimulated. With a fat face, he threatened to pass Xu Laosan's examination.
Just now Xu Laosan from Wei Guogong's house was also together, but he went home after giving birthday gifts. Of course, he also ridiculed Fatty Zhou severely before going home.
“Huh, wait and see.”
In response to the ridicule of the second generation ancestor, Fatty Zhou shook his fat face and said through gritted teeth, which made the second generation ancestors laugh again.
There will be at least one chapter today, I won’t break my promise.
(End of this chapter)