At the beginning of the unitary hour, for most people, it is almost dusk, ready to end a hard day. However, for Luoshi Street, which is welcoming and feasting, this is a leisurely time when the courtyard has not been cleaned and entertained. The entire long street is closed and desolate, and the quietness makes it almost impossible to imagine the busy and prosperous grand occasion here after dark.
However, it was at this time of silence and the disappearance of people that a chariot with a vermillion cover quietly drove in from the entrance of the market, swaying forward at an unhurried speed. At the back of the carriage, there was a horse with docile eyes and a snow-white body. Sitting firmly on it was a young man with a handsome face, luxurious clothes, and a little joy in the corners of his eyebrows and eyes. Looking at his unrestrained and unrestrained attitude on his horse, it doesn't look like he's walking on a deserted street at all, but rather like walking through a building full of red sleeves.
With the slight creaking sound and the crisp sound of horse's hoofs, the light carriage and the young man walked through the closed red lacquer gates one after another, and finally stopped outside the side door of Miaoyinfang. The coachman jumped down, ran to the door and knocked three times. When she was young, a little maid came to answer the door, but she only looked over to see who the guest was, and she withdrew again without saying a word. Neither the driver nor the young man was in a hurry, and waited outside leisurely. After about a stick of incense, the side door was opened again, and a woman who was covered in veil from head to toe walked out slowly with the help of a little girl. Judging from the light and agile steps, she is a soul-stirring beauty.
Young Master Huafu had already dismounted to greet him. While bowing his bow, he laughed loudly: "Miss Gong Yu is indeed a believer. If Jing Rui's birthday dinner has a girl as a guest, she will definitely envy the people in the city."
"Young Master Yan is overrated." Gong Yu said softly and humbly, and then he put on his clothes and thanked him, "Young Master Lao came to pick him up in person, Gong Yu is really ashamed of it."
"If there is such an opportunity to protect the flowers, of course I have to rush to it." Yan Yujin said with a blushing face, "Jing Rui is a birthday star and can't leave at all. Don't dare to say, other people are not familiar with Miss Gong Yu, who can rob me?"
The autumn waves flashed under Gong Yu's tulle, and he covered his mouth and smiled: "Young Master Yan is always so funny..."
Yan Yujin couldn't help laughing, turned sideways to give way, raised his hand and bowed: "The carriage is ready, girl, will you leave now?"
Gong Yu instructed the little girl in a low voice, and just stepped on the carriage, squatted down and sat in. The little girl walked back to the courtyard gate with her hands down, and did not follow her into the car.
"Is she not going?"
"I'm here to celebrate Young Master Xiao's birthday, what should I do with her?"
Yan Yujin thought for a while, then nodded and said, "That's right, when you arrive at Xie's house, there are girls who will serve you. ... If the girls are seated, let's go now? Although the dinner party still has more than half an hour to start, there are some girls who will serve you." The elders are present, and we should arrive earlier."
"Yes. You can go."
With this gentle reply, the driver made a crisp sound of his whip. Accompanied by the young man in fresh clothes and white horse, the wheel started to turn smoothly, and the wheel rolled over the bluestone road, picking up a little dust.
At the same time, the top and bottom of Ningguo Hou Xie's mansion were also busy with their eldest son's birthday dinner.
Since Xiao Jingrui is the son of two families, there is no doubt that celebrating his birthday has some deep meaning that has little to do with him. Not to mention Zhuo Dingfeng and his wife, who love him very much, even Xie Yu, who has always been strict with his son, has never expressed any objection to this special treatment enjoyed by Xiao Jingrui.
The list of guests has been determined long ago. When he reported it to Xie Yu, his expression flashed when he saw the word Su Zhe, but he didn't say anything. Although it was their own masters, Xie Yu did not intend to block the communication between his son and the advisor of the honored king. Because he knows very well that what Xiao Jingrui knows is very limited, even if Su Zhe confuses it all, it will not make much sense. On the other hand, the good relationship between Xiao Jingrui and Su Zhe may one day be used. Even if you can't use it, at least it won't do much harm.
Therefore, for this list of guests that included both enemy advisors and Lefang women, he finally said only a word: "Show your mother."
Since Xie Yu did not express any objection, the secluded and low-key Princess Liyang certainly would not have any opinion, so the invitation was officially sent out in a smooth and smooth manner.
Xiao Jingrui usually has some playful friends who are alcoholic and meaty. In previous years, he invited them for his birthday. When the elders retired, a large group huddled together, but it was just for fun. But this year Mei Changsu was coming, and Gong Yu, who had never performed at a show, was also coming. Xiao Jingrui's attention to this dinner was suddenly doubled, and he didn't want it to become the same vulgar party as before. But if you have invited people in previous years, suddenly not inviting others this year, it seems a bit rude, so you can't avoid a dilemma. Yan Yujin saw what he was thinking and came up with an idea for him, arguing that his parents were dead, and asked that the dinner party must be elegant, and should focus on reciting poems, discussing paintings, appreciating the piano and chatting. One day at the biggest and best restaurant in the capital, a party was held. The popular girls called over a dozen to accompany them, and they invited this group of friends to play for a day. This group of noble sons had enough fun, and they stayed away from the dinner that was said to be very "elegant and plain" the next day. They all took the initiative to express that they didn't want to cause trouble, and thus successfully solved Xiao Jingrui's problem.
Therefore, on the evening of April 12, not many people came to attend Xiao Jingrui's birthday dinner. Apart from family members, there were originally only four outsiders, Mei Changsu, Xia Dong, Yan Yujin, and Gong Yu. Later, the invitation cards happened to be delivered Meng Zhi was there when Su's house was there, and the commander said, "Jing Rui, why didn't you invite me?" Of course, Young Master Xiao had to quickly make up a post and send it over, adding this distinguished guest.
Although the number of people is small, there are still many things to do in the preparation of the banquet. The female family members only arranged the hall arrangement and the transfer of servants, and Xie Bi had to arrange the purchase of the rest of the necessary items, so the second son Xie gritted his teeth and grabbed the elder brother and complained: "Why do you hang around on your birthday? , but I'm exhausted for you? No, half of the gift will be given to me!"
"You and I, flesh and blood brothers, what else do you share? What do you like about my things, you can take them away." Xiao Gongzi threw a thousand pounds, and Xie Bi couldn't jump up again with a soft word, and by the way, he sent a letter to him. , "Mother and mother called you in, saying they wanted to negotiate the menu of the banquet. You are busy, I will not delay you... "
Seeing the birthday star Shi Shiran hiding out of the door, Xie Bi could only stomp his feet angrily in the back, then resigned and went back to work.
That night, the first people to come were of course Yan Yujin and Gong Yu. As soon as he saw Xiao Jingrui come out to greet him, the uncle of the country quietly leaned into the beautiful woman's ear and smiled: "Today, I was in the girl's light, I usually come to Xie's house, but Jing Rui never came out to pick it up, it's all me. I walked in alone to find him..."
Sure enough, Xiao Jingrui folded his hands and said, "Miss Gong is coming, and Jing Rui is welcome. Come in."
"Hey," Yan Yujin said with a cold face, "Did you see me?"
"Yes, yes," Xiao Jingrui coaxed him in a good-natured manner, "Young Master Yan, please come in too."
"You haven't said that you have lost your way..."
"Yes, Young Master Yan is also welcome. Do you want to go in with your back?"
"No. Just stick with it."
Gong Yu couldn't help but chuckle, shook his head and said, "You two... Really good friends..."
"That's why I let him. Otherwise, my good friend would have fought eight fights a day." Yan Yujin said earnestly, "If someone wants to know what it means to be tolerant, ask him to learn from me..."
"Why don't you get in here?" Xiao Jingrui laughed and scolded, "How long do you want Miss Gong to accompany you to stand in this tuyere?"
Yan Yujin hurriedly cupped her hands to the beautiful woman, and said in a lyrical voice, "Aiya, it's the fault of a young student, it's windy here, young lady, come in quickly..."
"You should be more restrained, the play hasn't started yet, so you should sing first." Xiao Jingrui rolled his eyes at him and led Gong Yu into the flower hall. After the guest drank two sips of tea and took a short rest, he proposed to take her in to meet the female relatives.
At this time, Gong Yu had removed the power of his outer cover, revealing an elegant goose-yellow shirt. The plain makeup without powder and Zhu did not detract from her beauty, but added a kind of charm. In response to Xiao Jingrui's warm invitation, she seriously stood up and saluted, and said in a low voice, "Although Gong Yu has been posted, she is only a geisha after all. She came to Zunfu to help the son. What a noble person, Your Royal Highness, Gong Yu. How dare you come in?"
Yan Yujin frowned, just as he was about to speak, Xiao Jingrui had already taken the lead and said warmly, "This is a personal occasion, why should the girl worry too much? Besides, my mother and sister Qingyi in the inner courtyard are both from Jianghu and don't care about vulgarity. Li, sister Xie Qi has always had a generous temperament. Although my mother is a bit colder, she has never been arrogant. In addition, she loves music, and she has heard the girl's musical name for a long time. She has already told me to wait. The girl is here, you must invite her to meet first."
His words were sincere, and Gong Yu couldn't shirk any longer. After thanking him a few words, he let him in. Yan Yujin had no reason to follow, so he could only wander around in front of the flower hall. Fortunately, Xiao Jingrui came back to accompany him in a hurry after a while, Gong Yu did not accompany him, so it was obvious that he was kept by the inner courtyard.
After chatting for a while, Yan Yujin felt that the time was almost there, and was about to ask, when he saw Xie Bi rushing over, and after a distance, he began to shout, "Brother, come quickly, Commander Meng has arrived."
Xiao Yan and the two hurriedly got up and hurriedly greeted them outside the second door. Since Meng Zhi is Xie Yu's colleague in the court and has a valuable status, the servants in the concierge went to inform the master first. Therefore, when Xiao Jingrui arrived, Xie Yu and Zhuo Dingfeng had already greeted them, and they were with Meng Zhi at the entrance hall. Standing and greeting.
Xiao Jingrui did not dare to interrupt the conversation of the elders, so he stood silently on the side, waiting for a gap in the conversation, and was about to go to greet him when a high-pitched voice came from outside the door: "Mr. Su Zhesu is here..."
Everyone in the hall turned around together, and Xiao Jingrui was even more ready to welcome him out the door. Just as he moved, Mei Changsu's face with a slight smile appeared in front of him. He wore a moon-white robe tonight, lined with a sky-blue jacket. He looked very good. With that gentle and elegant appearance, it was hard to imagine how much of the continuous turmoil in Beijing in the past year. in his handwriting
With a faint glance, Mei Changsu had already taken a look at the situation in the entrance hall. According to the etiquette, he first bowed to Xie Yu and said, "Sumou has met the Hou Ye."
"To be able to invite Mr. Dong to come over for a feast in a small area of children, our mansion is really full of brilliance." Xie Yu replied politely, raising his hand to introduce the people around him, "This is Zhuo Dingfeng Zhuo Villa's owner."
Mei Changsu smiled slightly and said, "Zhuang Zhuang Zhuo and I have met several times, but we haven't had a chance to talk to each other. I didn't expect to be able to meet here today."
"Sect Master Mei is very polite. Zhuo Mou has admired Sect Master's style for a long time, and I am very honored today." Zhuo Dingfeng folded his fists across his chest and bowed down. Suddenly, he found that because of his frequent interactions with Brother Su, he gradually ignored his proud status in the arena.
Next, Mei Changsu and Meng Zhi greeted each other again, and a few people politely greeted each other for a long time. Yan Yujin had been impatient for a long time, but he was an elderly person, and he didn't dare to make trouble, so he could only stand by the side, regretting that he shouldn't come out with Xiao Jingrui, look, Xie Bi is smarter...
Fortunately, there is always a time for polite words to be said. After finishing the ceremony, Xie Yu, the master, and Zhuo Dingfeng, who was half the master, accompanied the two distinguished guests to the main hall to serve tea. Xiao Jingrui naturally followed from beginning to end, but Yan Yujin took advantage of the opportunity to go later and followed only Like a flying stream that flashed for a while, it disappeared somewhere.