After going back to the mansion to rest and shut himself up for three days, Ming Tan finally got down to business.
She arranged for someone to divide the hand letter brought back, wrote a short note herself, ordered people to send it to various families in Beijing, and sent people to Changguo Duke's Mansion and Zhou Mansion to invite Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan to the palace for a talk.
In Shangjing in late autumn, it is best to enjoy the flowers at noon, when the sky is clear and the wind is cool.
The three of them were sitting in the gazebo in the palace garden, the little girl brought the fire and the teapot, and made tea with a fan on the side.
"How about going south for a few months? Isn't it fun?" Bai Minmin only wanted to play, and asked curiously when he saw Ming Tan.
Zhou Jingwan sized her up carefully, and said with concern in a gentle voice: "It seems that the body has lost a lot, are you tired these few months?"
"Of course I'm tired, don't mention it. I've lived in a leaky house, a ruined temple, and slept in the forest along the way. I haven't had a bath for three days in Quanzhou."
Ming Tan had too many things to say to the two of them, and this time he opened his mouth, he babbled about it for nearly two hours.
Ming Tan complained, Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan could have foreseen it, but she didn't expect that after she finished complaining this time, she changed the subject and talked about her emotions along the way. After listening, the two looked at each other with the same expression The green calyx is comparable.
"What's your reaction?"
Zhou Jingwan always speaks tactfully, she doesn't mention her long speeches, she just asks if she has been wronged outside in the past few months.
Bai Minmin also swallowed her saliva, and hurriedly echoed, "That's right, if you've been wronged, don't hold back, let's talk about it together, you're so scary..."
Ming Tan understood, and the two of them also felt that they were stimulated together!
She picked up the teacup silently, drank most of it without even skimming off the froth.
Zhou Jingwan quickly comforted her: "A Tan, we have no other intentions. In fact, in my opinion, what the prince said is quite right. It is good to be kind and thrifty, but you don't have to be too demanding on yourself all of a sudden. It's too late."
"I'm not demanding myself." She propped her forehead and said depressedly.
After her husband said it, she also thought about it carefully. It really made her suffer haha. In addition, it is extravagant and wasteful.
She also planned to wait until she was done with the business dealings at hand, and in a few days, she would pack up all the things she didn't like to use, and sell them for money to buy winter supplies for the people in the bitter cold place.
Thinking of this, she lobbied Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan again.
After hearing this, the two of them also felt that this was a good thing, and they agreed to go back and packed up the gold, silver and soft goods that were no longer needed, and donated them as soon as there was news from the queen.
Only then did Ming Tan feel satisfied, and after taking a sip of tea, he thought of something, and hurriedly asked: "By the way, let's just talk about me, how are you two doing these days?"
"What's the matter, isn't it all about those things every day, enjoying flowers, drinking tea, and watching polo learning female celebrities..." Bai Minmin counted boredly, "Oh, yes, the Pingguo Palace held another birthday banquet last month, you Why is Pingguo's mansion so evil—"
She paused for a moment, then changed her words: "Why are there so many incidents? At the birthday banquet, there was another ugly incident between men and women. Although it was covered up on the surface, it was discussed in private for a long time. I heard Mr. Pingguo She is so angry that Hanmiao is no longer allowed to host the Lao Shizi banquet, Hanmiao is also innocent, so what does it have to do with her."
"Stop, stop, you know that's not what I'm going to ask."
When he left Beijing, his aunt was looking around for Bai Minmin, and the Zhou family seemed interested in Lu Dianshuai.
We haven't seen each other in the past few months, so there must be some progress in discussing the marriage. Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan are not too young.
Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan looked at each other again, both seeming to be inexplicably uncomfortable, especially Zhou Jingwan, with two red clouds flying over her face.
In the end, it was Bai Minmin who spoke quickly: "Shuai Lu and Jing Wan are already engaged, and the wedding will start in the spring of next year."
Zhou Jingwan glared at her lightly, covered her face with a handkerchief in shame, and said after a while: "Don't talk about me." She looked at Ming Tan and hurriedly changed the subject, "What Minmin said just now is not completely irrelevant. "
Ming Tan listened to her talk.
"Earlier, the Pingguo government held a birthday banquet, and everyone ate at the banquet, but there was a scandal at the Houhu garden, which was smashed by the cousin girl of the Pingguo government.
"The cousin girl is only seven years old, she is still a child, so she doesn't know much about these things. When she returned to the banquet, she actually asked about this scandal in front of everyone. Mrs. Pingguo's face was very ugly at that time—— "
"It's not just ugly, I'm worried about Mrs. Pingguo, what's going on." Bai Minmin couldn't help but interjected.
Zhou Jingwan continued: "Do you know who made the scandal? It is Grand Master Zhang's granddaughter and the third son of the Bu family."
The third son of the Bu family? Isn't that the famous prodigal son in Shangjing, the kind who would be rejected directly when he came to propose marriage. It's not unusual for him to cause scandal in other people's mansions.
It's just... wait, Grandmaster Zhang's granddaughter?
Ming Tan came back to his senses, surprised.
She remembered that on the way to the south, her husband told her that the empress had personally seen the marriage of Duke Pingguo's son, Zhang Huaiyu, and had made a granddaughter of Zhang Taishi. Zhang Taishi was just such a granddaughter and valued her very much.
Seeing the expression on Ming Tan's face, it was obvious that he already knew about the marriage between the prince of Pingguo and the granddaughter of Grand Master Zhang. Zhou Jingwan was not surprised that His Royal Highness King Dingbei had a good relationship with the prince of Pingguo.
She continued: "When the Empress heard about this, she was furious. Grand Master Zhang is already old enough to spend his entire life in Beijing, and he only needs to enjoy the Taimiao after his death.
"But because of this, he entered the palace for his granddaughter, took off his hat and plain clothes, wept bitterly, and confessed to the emperor outside the Palace of Qinzheng, and claimed that the family was not strict and the family style was not correct. Please take back the honor of being worthy of the Taimiao. "
Ming Tan thought for a while: "Master Zhang is the elder of the three dynasties. He is upright and upright, and his achievements have been recorded in the annals of history. The emperor will definitely not take back the honor of being entitled to the Taimiao because of this matter."
Zhou Jingwan nodded: "Not only that, but I heard that the Holy Majesty consoled Grand Master Zhang and asked the imperial physician to accompany Zhang Taishi back to the mansion and ask for a safe pulse. It's just that after this incident, the Holy Majesty can't beat the empress and the empress. The face of the Pingguo government."
Don't think about it, the only ones who suffer are the Bu family.
"Lord Bu lost his official position. The third son of the Bu family is heartless. He still wanted to go to the flower house to drink, but when he woke up, he was eunuched."
Zhou Jingwan felt that this was quite indecent, so she covered her lips when she said this.
"The Zhang family also came to the door in person, and went to the Pingguo Palace to apologize. It hurt Grand Master Zhang's face, and the Pingguo Palace was on fire, but there was nothing much to do. Of course, the marriage will definitely not happen."
After talking for a long while, Zhou Jingwan covered her sleeves and took a sip of tea, moistening her throat.
"Ping Guogong's son is not young anymore. The queen sees this marriage as dirty, and she becomes more picky when looking at other families. A few days ago, there was a polo match held in the middle of Beijing, and Yu Jun Wang played, and everyone pressed Yu Jun. Wang Sheng, only Minmin defeated Ping Guogong's son Sheng, guess what happened?"
"Duke Pingguo won?" Ming Tan guessed while sipping fresh melons and fruits.
"How could it be that the King of Yujun is a polo player who shows himself to be a first-class polo player. Naturally, the King of Yujun won."
"..."
Ming Tan looked at her with a look of "Then what are you trying to do?"
"But the empress heard about this, and felt that Minmin was very discerning, so she summoned Mrs. Chang Guo to the palace twice in this month." Zhou Jingwan looked at Bai Minmin jokingly, "I want to come to the empress, most likely because of Shang Min. Min is now my sister-in-law."
"What are you talking about!" Bai Minmin was annoyed, "I also want to suppress King Yujun, if Zhang Huaiyu didn't seek me out in private, and asked me to suppress him to save face and pay me back ten times, who would want that?" Squeeze him! With his polo level, he still wants to beat Yu Jun Wang, it's a dream!"
Zhou Jingwan: "Then why didn't he look for others, but came to look for you?"
"You! Your handsome Lu Dian is not enough for you to worry about! Just think about some messy things!"
"Hi~" Ming Tan looked at the two of them bickering with each other, and suddenly let out an indecent hiccup sound.
Seeing the two people looking at him, Ming Tan hurriedly motioned them to continue, and took a sip from the tea cup, a look of satisfaction flashed across his eyes.
Very good, as expected of her little sister, everyone is neat and tidy, and they are not idle.
In the evening, Jiang Xu returned home. During the meal, Ming Tan talked to him about Zhou Jingwan and Bai Minmin's marriage.
At Zhou Jingwan's place, it was already eight before leaving Beijing. It's been close to ten, and Ming Tan is not too surprised to hear that they are engaged.
But Bai Minmin and Ping Guogong's son, she really never thought that these two people could get together.
Jiang Xu obviously knew about this, and he said in a low voice while picking up some food: "Pingguo Duke's and Changguo's mansions are on the same page, and it's normal to discuss relatives. But your cousin's temper is not what the Queen thinks. The best candidate, but the queen only has Zhang Huaiyu as a direct younger brother, and everything will be based on his preferences."
Speaking of this, Jiang Xu paused, and glanced at Ming Tan: "It was Zhang Huaiyu who told the queen that he was interested in your cousin."
Ming Tan: "...?"
"The Holy Majesty also persuaded her. Anyway, the granddaughter of Grand Master Zhang that she had chosen out of thousands of thousands of people had no more virtue than this. It would be better to follow Zhang Huaiyu's wishes. The queen heard it and thought it was very reasonable. That's why she frequently called your aunt into the palace recently. "
Ming Tan: "..."
She also thinks it makes sense.