Shen Zhou stayed in Fengzhou for ten days and then returned to Beijing to resume his duties. Although Song Zaitian came with him, he was not an envoy. He just happened to be on the same road and had already taken leave, so there was no need to return with him.
... Deng Zongqi recovered from his injuries long before Shen Zhou left, and went south to Qingzhou to catch up with his companions.
The Song brothers and sisters were living in Fengzhou in the name of visiting relatives, tacitly waiting for the Yiwei people to return. At the beginning of August, Gu Yiran and his party finally entered Fengzhou City, covered in dust. As the servants of the Wei family reported into the back hall one by one, Mrs. Song asked, "Have they found Zhong Xiaoyi's family members?"
"There are two carriages among the Yi Guards, which were not there when we left." The servant lowered his hand and replied, "Looking at the materials and style of the carriages, they seem to have been purchased in Qingzhou. They must be Zhong Xiaoyi's family members."
Mrs. Song nodded, and ordered Mrs. Song to be called over, saying: "Young Master Deng once saved our father Ying. Although he was invited to come to our home to recuperate last time, he was still thinking about his holy life and his injuries were not completely healed." So I went to catch up with my companions, but I don’t know what’s going on now? Speaking of which, our family hasn’t thanked him properly yet... Now that he’s back, we can’t just let him pass through the city without holding a banquet to thank him.”
Mrs. Song understood and said: "Master Deng is not passing by alone. If we only invite him but not his companions, I am afraid that Master Deng will also be in trouble. Why don't we invite them all to come to our house to stay for a while?"
"That's how it should be." Old Mrs. Song said, "Let Changfeng and Gao Chuan go together to invite... our girl Jin Guizu, we must not neglect the person who is helping us."
Because Deng Zongqi rescued Wei Changying from Shekou before, it was natural for the Wei family to invite him. In addition, Zhong Xiaoyi's birthday was still a month away, and the journey from Fengzhou to the imperial capital would take no more than ten days. The two grandchildren of the Wei family followed the old lady's orders and went to invite her in person. Their words were sincere and their attitude was sincere. Gu Yiran After some refusal, he agreed.
They had no other place to stay in Fengzhou. They were going to Ruiyu Hall, so they naturally had to discuss how to settle Zhong Xiaoyi's family. Zhong Xiaoyi's family members are not large in number. They are two younger siblings of Zhong Xiaoyi. Among them, the younger brother Zhong Jie is already married and has a daughter. This time, he also brought his wife and daughter with him. His younger sister Zhong Li was thirteen years old, and she was about to talk about it, but Yiwei went to Qingzhou to find them and knew that her sister was serving the Holy Emperor in the palace and was deeply favored by him. Naturally, Zhong Jie would not let his sister continue to marry people in Qingzhou. .
The Zhong family was poor, so Zhong Xiaoyi entered the palace as a maid. Zhong Jie and his wife had little knowledge before, but when they saw Yiwei's extraordinary attire, even the Qingzhou officials who helped find them were polite to them, knowing that he must be a big shot. But these four big shots were extremely considerate and polite to them, and at first they were very polite. The anxiety is still in my dream. However, in the few days from Qingzhou to Fengzhou, I did not see any change in the attitude of the Yi Guards. I felt that Zhong Xiaoyi was very favored, and these Yi Guards were frightened by this, so they did not dare to neglect me.
There are sixteen levels of concubines in the Wei Palace from the lowest beauties to the highest queens. Xiaoyi is the fifth from the bottom. Compared with Zhong Xiaoyi's background and the time she spent serving the Holy Emperor, this position is already very impressive. But in terms of rank, she is actually one level higher than Gu Yiran and others... Of course, these Zhong family members will not know it. They only know that my sister has caught the eye of the Holy Emperor and is so favored. Their family can be regarded as relatives of the emperor. Apart from being flattered, I felt extremely proud.
After entering Fengzhou City, the team was stopped by Wei Changfeng and Wei Gaochuan. Zhong Jie was very happy at first, thinking that these two young masters came to flatter Zhong Xiaoyi. He was thinking about asking Gu Yiran about their origins. , is it worth staying on your own. But over and over again, Wei Changfeng and Wei Gaochuan invited Deng Zongqi, and also invited Gu Yiran, Duanmu Wuyou, Liu Xixun... but they were never mentioned.
It wasn't until Deng Zongqi and Gu Yiran agreed to the Wei family's invitation and turned around to discuss how to arrange Zhong Jie and others that Zhong Jie realized in disbelief: The Wei family had never thought of inviting them!
For the Zhong family, who knew that their sister had been in the clouds after becoming the concubine of the Holy Emperor, the Wei family's ignorance at this moment was like a severe blow, waking them up: It turns out that even if my sister serves the Holy Emperor, not everyone in the world will give to Zhong. Family dignity
This kind of awakening was so embarrassing that Zhong Jie wanted to criticize Wei Changfeng or Wei Gaochuan several times. However, after all, he had been a commoner for a long time. The noble demeanor revealed in the other party's behavior and speech made Zhong Jie feel heartbroken after leaving his hometown for the first time. Cowardly, dare not say anything. However, his expression immediately darkened.
Both Wei Changfeng and Deng Zongqi saw their resentment towards Zhong Jie and smiled tacitly while others were not paying attention... The Wei family did not invite the Zhong family. Firstly, it was due to the tradition of this dynasty that scholars and common people were different. Even if Zhong Xiaoyi is a new noble in the palace, in the eyes of a well-established family like the Wei family, it is far from worthwhile to please the Zhong family. It would be a joke if the Wei family's attentive greetings to Zhong Jie and others were spread. He fell into the Wei family's family style; the second one was to dig a hole for what happened next.
However, Zhong Jie is really cooperative...
Wei Changfeng was slightly disappointed. Zhong Jie was so restless. Even if he was not tricked on the road, he would sooner or later cause trouble for Zhong Xiaoyi when he arrived in the imperial capital. In the imperial capital where there are many nobles, Zhong Xiaoyi had only been favored for a few months. How much can you protect Zhong Jie? If Zhong Xiaoyi was smart and knew her brother's nature, even if she was thinking about her younger brother and sister, she wouldn't be so concerned... It seems that the idea of bringing her family members to the imperial capital must have come from Concubine Deng.
Gu Yiran and others also noticed Zhong Jie's irritation and were a little stunned for a moment. It took a moment to realize that Zhong Jie was young and his family was poor. If it weren't for his sister, he would never have the chance to leave Qingzhou in his life. When they were in Qingzhou, they also Very ordinary people, barely able to feed and clothe themselves. There is nothing that the nobles of the world don't know or understand... Of course they know about the Qingzhou Su family, but this time the Su family's descendants who helped Gu Yiran and his party find Zhong Jie were very polite. This politeness is of course not only for the holy life but also for the holy life. It was for Gu Yiran's family of four.
But Zhong Jie misunderstood this tacit promise, so he got carried away and thought that with his sister's current status, even the Su family had to please. As for the Wei family, whom he had never heard of before... why would he dare to ignore them
Although Gu Yiran and others were polite to Zhong Jie, it was only because of their tutoring style and because Zhong Xiaoyi was favored and there was no need to provoke her in trivial matters. Of course, it is impossible to truly respect Zhong Jie. Now I realize that Zhong Jie will be angry because the Wei family did not invite him. After that, I was shocked and laughed - the old lady of the Wei family personally ordered Wei Changfeng, the eldest grandson of the eldest son, to invite him. If Deng Zongqi hadn't saved him, Wei Changfeng's sister was in the front, and even they would not get this treatment.
If it weren't for Deng Zongqi's favor, Liu Xixun would probably have been able to rely on his relationship with Duke Jingping's wife to be of the same clan, so he would not have been turned away when he took the initiative to visit Duke Jingping. Wei Huan's group, four people All in all, I can't find a way to get in.
Now, a commoner who accidentally gets favored by his sister and gets the chance to go to Beijing will be angry because he is ignored by the Wei family... Think about how many people who came from aristocratic families over the past hundreds of years want to see the authentic "Little Notes of Zhushan", but have no way to do it. Wei's request - Gu Yiran and others were laughing and laughing, and when Wei Changfeng and Wei Gaochuan were not paying attention, they reminded Zhong Jie: "The Wei family in Fengzhou is one of the six clans in the country, and is also known as the Su family in Qingzhou. , The most important thing is that they don't recognize Mr. Zhong, so they don't dare to invite Mr. Zhong and his wife, Miss Zhong, to stay at the inn. We have paid a visit to Mr. Wei and the old lady and will return as soon as possible. "
But Gu Yiran didn't know that Zhong Jie didn't understand the implicitness of the famous disciple's words, and didn't hear the true meaning of these words. Instead of walking down the steps, he complained: "Since they don't recognize me, why don't you Introduce it to them? Don’t they know that my eldest sister is the concubine of the Holy Emperor?”
"..." Gu Yiran coughed dryly and said, "Master Zhong, Xiaoyi is just a concubine now, and the concubine is above the concubine. After entering the capital, Master Zhong's words may cause trouble for Xiaoyi."
He has no relationship with Zhong Xiaoyi at all, and he and Empress Gu have the same surname but not the same family. To remind him of this is considered to be the most benevolent thing. It's just that although Zhong Jie was shocked when he heard that he had caused trouble for Zhong Xiaoyi, he was still confused and said: "But the Holy One likes eldest sister very much, doesn't he? Otherwise, why would he ask you to pick us up to meet eldest sister in the imperial capital?"
There are so many people that His Majesty likes, and this dynasty has even appointed three princes - which one of these three princes has not been praised and praised again and again by His Majesty
Seeing that Zhong Jie was ignorant, Gu Yiran was too lazy to continue talking. He just smiled and said perfunctorily: "Xiao Yi is naturally very fond of you, so the Holy One ordered us to go to Qingzhou to look for you."
"Then you can tell this to the Fifth Young Master Wei." Zhong Jie said innocently, "I don't care about going to the Wei family, but it is really rude for them to ignore us like this! If there is no explanation for this matter, when we get to the imperial capital, When I see my eldest sister, I must tell her.”
There was already a faint threat in his words. Gu Yiran and his companions looked at each other and said with a wry smile: "The Holy One has decreed a return date, and we don't dare to delay too much. But the old lady of the Wei family asked the legitimate grandson to If you come to invite me, you must return the favor... How about we leave someone to accompany you, tell the Wei family and then continue on our way? "
… It’s not that Gu Yiran really compromised with Zhong Jie to the point where he immediately changed his promise to the Wei family after hearing a threat, but Duanmu Wuyou’s hatred for Wei Changfeng was still lingering, and he had told Gu Yiran in a low voice before I don’t want to go to Wei’s house. Jinxiu Duanmu has the same rank as Fengzhou Wei's family, and Duanmu Wuyou is not uncommon about visiting the Wei family's door. Gu Yiran thought that it would be just right for Duanmu Wuyou to stay in the inn and watch over the Zhong family to avoid any mistakes.
Although Zhong Jie was ignorant, Gu Yiran repeatedly refused to introduce Wei Changfeng and Wei Gaochuan to him. He also vaguely guessed that Gu Yiran was either unwilling to do this, or the Wei family would not invite him if he did. I, feeling angry, reminded me: "We can see that Guard Gu has worked hard all the way. When we meet Eldest Sister in the future, we will explain in detail to Eldest Sister the hard work of all the guards along the way."
Gu Yiran has always had a good temper, and he knew that Zhong Jie was just a commoner boy who never left the countryside and didn't know the world. That's why he thought that his sister could despise everyone below the royal family by making a small instrument. After hearing his explicit words The threat was only funny, but Duanmu Wuyou no longer had such a good temper. He said impatiently: "You can say whatever you want when you get back to the imperial capital! Now go to the inn with me!"
He also told Gu Yiran, "Go early and come back early—just leave quickly!" (To be continued)