Chapter 319： When the announcement is in progress (Part 1)

Chapter 319 When the announcement is in progress (Part 1)

As the sun rose slowly, the Linhuaihou Mansion became more and more lively.

People from the nearby Wei Guogong Mansion, Founding Duke's Mansion, Dingyuanhou Mansion, Lingbihou Mansion, and the homes of civil and military officials with relatives came to celebrate the birthday of the old lady of Linhuaihou Mansion. The Hou Mansion is full of people. All the visitors came with gifts, and the stewards of the Marquis of Linhuai registered and compiled the books one by one. As a result, they counted a thick stack of papers. I can change people and continue writing.

The main room of the Marquis of Linhuai Mansion was specially cleaned out and covered with scarlet blankets. All the gifts from the guests were received by the servant girls and put them here for the time being, so that the birthday old lady could finish her eyes, and then put them into the warehouse .

The gifts presented by the guests are dazzling and valuable, such as birthday stars made of jade ruyi, fairy peaches made of precious amethyst, rosary beads made of rare South Sea pearls, bonsai made of tall coral, etc. Wait, everything can cause a sensation when placed outside. After seeing it, the old lady of Shouxing was all smiles, not to mention how satisfied she was. There were too many gifts. The old lady couldn't see it, so she waved her hand to let the maids All moved to the warehouse.

"Hee hee, old ancestor, you don't look at other people's, you should enjoy the gift of our children and grandchildren." The sixth lady of the Hou Mansion smiled with her round face, showing her small canine teeth, holding the old lady's hand. Arm coquettishly said.

"You monkey is still looking for your ancestors, it's all up to you." The old lady patted Miss Six's arm dotingly, and nodded with a smile.

Then, starting from the second lady of the Hou Mansion, they presented birthday gifts to the old lady of the Hou Mansion one by one.

The second lady presented a set of Buddhist sutras embroidered by hand, the third lady presented a cup made of beautiful jade carved with patterns of immortals, the fourth lady presented a picture of flat peaches offering longevity, and Li Shu presented the Nanhai Coral Avalokitesvara The Longevity and Wan'an presented by Miss Six led her hand to the back to sit on the mattress, saying that she made it herself.

The old lady smiled with satisfaction, very happy for the filial piety of her granddaughters.

Then, I don't know who started it, so I instigated to pick out the birthday gifts for the husbands of several ladies and put them in front of the old lady.

Second Miss and their future husband-in-law gave gifts of great value, and the old lady was very satisfied. The only exception is the birthday gift of the future fifth son-in-law of the Hou Mansion, that is, Zhu Ping'an's birthday gift. Zhu Ping'an's birthday ceremony is different, the same is a birthday speech written by Zhu Ping'an himself. The other is that Li Shu asked Baozi's little maid to send over jade carvings for Zhu Ping'an to celebrate Magu's birthday.

But after the Sixth Miss of the Hou Mansion laughed and said that she looked at Magu's birthday jade carvings, and seemed to see it in the Fifth Sister's room, the complexion of the old lady of the Hou Mansion changed badly, according to Miss Six's words. The jade carving belonged to the fifth girl, which means that Zhu Ping'an only sent a copy of his own writing to send the beggar!

As a result, the complexion of the old lady of the Hou Mansion suddenly became bad, and she waved her hands to ask people to move all the gifts to the warehouse.

The front yard of the Hou Mansion is even more lively at the moment. Among the people who came to Huaihou's mansion to celebrate his birthday, there were six or seven teenagers who were about the same age as Fatty Zhou, all dressed brightly, with the aura of second-generation ancestors. The son of the family, after presenting the birthday gift, he dragged Fatty Zhou to sit on the table, asked Fatty Zhou to accompany him, and shouted and drank six.

Zhu Ping'an sat at the table in the corner, and the people at the table with him were some distant and poor relatives who were inconspicuous in the Hou Mansion.

Fatty Zhou and the others were at the table. It's not too far away from Zhu Ping'an's table, after all, it's in the same yard, but Zhu Ping'an's table is a little out of the way. Zhu Ping'an felt familiar with Fatty Zhou and his group. If you read correctly, the people at that table were the group of second-generation ancestors who rampaged at the city gate when they came out of the capital.

Zhu Ping'an's table was relatively quiet, probably because of the poor relatives in the Hou's Mansion. The Hou's Mansion didn't assign too many people to accompany them, except for serving food. There is no girl or servant to serve.

Comparatively speaking, Fatty Zhou and his table were much more lively, and there were two maids serving them, pouring tea and wine. Taking care of everything.

From their discussion, Zhu Ping'an could probably hear that this group of second-generation ancestors seemed to look down on Fatty Zhou.

"Hey, Fatty Zhou, why don't you go for a horse race with my brothers these days, why are you afraid of losing?"

"Exactly. Will you pay for a few rouge horses soon? Didn't you have a great time riding at night?"

There were two second-generation ancestors sitting on the table, crossing their legs, playing with throwing fruit, squinting their eyes and mocking Fatty Zhou. These second-generation ancestors are either honorable children of Duke Wei's Mansion, Duke Founder's Mansion, Dingyuanhou Mansion, etc., or they are the sons of third-rank and fourth-rank noble families, and their family background is no lower than that of Fatty Zhou. pressure.

Fatty Zhou grows fat, riding horses, archery, cockfighting and walking dogs, are often not the opponents of these second generation ancestors, and in terms of literary talent, they are also half-bottles of water without swaying, so naturally there is no advantage; , Fatty Zhou still has some disadvantages in character, he has a strong second-hand temperament, and a little cowardly in character, he is not that kind of **** person.

Therefore, he is often the object of ridicule among the second generation ancestors, and this time is no exception.

"Whoever is afraid, we will compare who is afraid of whom next time." Fatty Zhou put his fat face sideways, showing no sign of weakness.

"That's it." The second-generation ancestors looked at each other with a smile, quite proud, this is all right, and the money for drinking flowers and wine will be saved in the future.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that the third householder of your Hou's Mansion got married with someone, a bumpkin from the countryside? Is there such a thing?"

"Hehehe, I just can't figure it out. When did your Linhuaihou mansion drop in price so much? Isn't this embarrassing for us nobles?"

Several second generation ancestors did not know where they heard the secrets of the Hou Mansion, and they questioned Fatty Zhou on the table, and their tone was mostly mocking.

Zhu Pingan in the corner heard their chat and smiled helplessly. Why did the news of his engagement to Li Shu go so far? Even these second generation ancestors had heard about it. It seems that I was ridiculed again, hehe, what happened to the people from the countryside, who said that poor families cannot rise.

Fatty Zhou heard the ridicule from his buddies around him, but he had nothing to say, because what these buddies said was the truth. Although his grandmother and father had discussed the matter of retiring the engagement many times, they hadn't resigned after all. Can't help but blame Zhu Ping'an faintly in his heart, causing himself to be hurt and ridiculed.

"Why, it's really not going to work, hehehe, even the bumpkins in the country are not spared, how ugly is your Fifth Miss?"

Seeing the fat man's expression, a second generation ancestor couldn't help laughing.

"Hehe, it's not like you, is it so strong?"

The other second-generation ancestors couldn't help laughing too.

"How could it be? My fifth younger sister is more beautiful than Princess Anyang." Fatty Zhou regained his confidence at this time, twisting his neck and choking.

"Just blow it up, if you are half as beautiful as Princess Anyang, you won't be able to find a bumpkin from the countryside"

Fatty's words not only did not have a positive effect, but made the second-generation ancestors laugh even harder. Princess Anyang is a well-known beauty in the capital, and there are few in the entire capital who can match her. Fatty Zhou said that her fifth sister, who was engaged to a bumpkin, was prettier than Princess Anyang, isn't that bragging.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that you took the exam a few days ago, hehe, how was it?" After laughing, someone remembered Fatty Zhou's participation in the exam and couldn't help asking.

"Stable." Fatty Zhou replied confidently.

"Hehehe, if you want me to tell you, God is really fair." Hearing Fatty Zhou's words, a second generation ancestor said with a smile.

"Oh, how do you say?" Fatty Zhou asked curiously.

"Hehehe, although you are ugly, you think beautiful, hehehe" the man couldn't help laughing.

The others also burst out laughing.

"That's right, my brothers don't know what you are like. You grew up wearing crotch pants together. You can honestly ask my uncle to fill in your vacancies in the Beijing camp and the garrison camp. What will you take the exam for?" , Don’t be kidding, it’s useless to make any effort.”

None of these second-generation ancestors are optimistic about Fatty Zhou's exam.

"You must have been stimulated by Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu is easy to learn since he was a child. He passed the boy's test and the township test with real results. He didn't rely on Wei Guogong's strength at all. Mr. Xu is the real one. It’s really stable, why did he go home after showing his face just now, it’s not because he heard that the list might be released today, so he went home and waited.”

The youngest Xu mentioned by this person is the third son of Duke Wei's family next door, and Duke Wei inherited it from Xu Da. This Xu Laosan is relatively famous in the capital, quick thinking, and has a long-term memory. Although he sometimes hangs out with Zhou Fatty and the others, his literary level is solid.

Some time ago, Mr. Xu passed the provincial examination, and they went to drink flowers and wine to celebrate together. There was an oiran who made Fatty Zhou greedy for a long time, and spent a lot of money. As a result, the oiran heard that Mr. Xu had just passed the provincial examination. After the master, he posted it upside down and didn't take any money. At that time, Fatty Zhou was irritated, and with a fat face, he threatened to surpass Xu Laosan in the examination.

Mr. Xu from Duke Wei's family was also together just now, but he went home after giving him a birthday gift. Of course, before returning home, he taunted Fatty Zhou severely.

"Hmph, wait and see."

Facing the ridicule of the second generation ancestors, Fatty Zhou shook his fat face and gritted his teeth and said something, which made the second generation ancestors laugh again

There will be at least one more chapter today, and I won’t break my promise.

(end of this chapter)