As the morning sun slowly rose, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion became more and more lively.
People from the nearby Duke of Wei, the Duke of Kaiguo, the Marquis of Dingyuan, the Marquis of Lingbi, and the families of civil and military officials who were related to him came to celebrate the old lady's birthday. There was an endless stream of people coming to the Linhuai Marquis's house. All the visitors came with gifts, and the steward of the Linhuai Marquis's house registered them one by one, and the result was a thick stack of paper.
A large desk and a red carpet were set up in the main hall of the Linhuai Marquis's mansion. The birthday gifts sent by the guests were all placed on the desk by the maids and servants. The old lady checked them one by one before putting them into the warehouse.
Ruyi Jade Longevity Star, Purple Crystal Immortal Offering Peaches, Ten Complete Longevity Fans, South Sea Pearls, Coral Ornaments, Agarwood Canes, Canaan Pearls... ... There were all kinds of rare treasures and surprises. The old lady looked at them for a while and was very satisfied. Her face was filled with smiles and she waved her hand to let the maid put them into the warehouse.
"Hehe, old ancestor, you don't look at other people's gifts, but you have to appreciate the gifts from us, your children and grandchildren." The Sixth Miss of the Marquis's Mansion laughed playfully on her round little face, showing her little fangs, and hugged the old lady's arm and said coquettishly.
"You monkey are still looking for faults with the ancestor. Okay, okay, everything will be up to you." The old lady patted the Sixth Miss's arm lovingly and nodded with a smile.
Then, starting with the second young lady of the Marquis' Mansion, everyone presented birthday gifts to the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion one by one.
The second young lady presented a hand-embroidered Sutra of Infinite Longevity, the third young lady presented a jade cup of eternal happiness, the fourth young lady presented a picture of peaches for longevity, Li Shu presented a South China Sea coral Guanyin, and the sixth young lady presented a longevity and peace cushion... ...
The old ladies always smiled with satisfaction and were very happy about their granddaughters' filial piety.
Then, I don't know who started it, but someone instigated the selection of birthday gifts for several young ladies' fiancés and placed them in front of the old lady.
The gifts given by the second young lady and her future husbands were all generous and valuable, and the old lady was very satisfied. The only exception was the birthday gift of the future fifth uncle of the Marquis's Mansion, that is, Zhu Ping'an's birthday gift. Zhu Ping'an's birthday gift was two things, one was a birthday message written by Zhu Ping'an himself. The other was a jade carving of Magu's birthday that Li Shu asked the maid Baozi to send to Zhu Ping'an to make up the number.
However, when the sixth young lady of the Marquis' Mansion said with a smile that she had seen the jade carving of Magu's birthday in the fifth sister's room, the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion looked unhappy. According to the sixth young lady, the jade carving belonged to the fifth girl, which meant that Zhu Ping'an only gave a pair of calligraphy written by himself... ... to send away a beggar!
As a result, the old lady's face in the Marquis's Mansion suddenly turned bad, and she waved her hand and asked people to move all the gifts to the warehouse.
The front yard of the Marquis's mansion was even more lively at the moment. Among those who came to the Linhuai Marquis's mansion to celebrate his birthday, there were six or seven young men of the same age as Fatty Zhou. They were all dressed brightly and had the air of second-generation rich kids. These were the sons of noble families who usually hung out with Fatty Zhou. After presenting birthday gifts, they pulled Fatty Zhou to sit at the table and asked him to accompany them, cheering and talking.
Zhu Ping'an sat at a table in the corner. Sitting at the same table with him were some inconspicuous distant and poor relatives of the Marquis's Mansion.
Fatty Zhou's table was not too far from Zhu Ping'an's table, after all, they were in the same courtyard, but Zhu Ping'an's table was a little more remote. Zhu Ping'an felt that the people at Fatty Zhou's table looked familiar. If he was not mistaken, they were the second-generation rich kids in brocade hats and mink fur coats who were rampaging at the city gate when they left the capital.
Zhu Ping'an's table was relatively quiet, probably because they were poor relatives of the Marquis' Mansion, so the Marquis' Mansion did not assign too many people to accompany them. Apart from serving the dishes, there were no maids or servants to serve them.
Comparatively speaking, the table of Fatty Zhou and his friends was much more lively, with two maids serving them, pouring tea and wine, and taking care of them meticulously.
From their conversation, Zhu Ping'an could roughly hear that this group of second-generation rich people seemed to look down on Fatty Zhou.
"Hey, Fatty Zhou, why don't you go horse racing with us these days? Are you afraid of losing?"
"That's right. You'll get a few red horses soon. You'll enjoy riding them at night."
There were two second-generation rich kids sitting at the table, crossing their legs, playing with fruit, and mocking Fatty Zhou with narrowed eyes. These second-generation rich kids were either the sons of noble families such as Duke of Wei, Duke of Kaiguo, and Marquis of Dingyuan, or the sons of third- and fourth-rank officials. Their family backgrounds were no less than that of Fatty Zhou, so they had no pressure to mock him.
Fatty Zhou is fat, and is often no match for these second-generation rich people when it comes to horse riding, archery, cockfighting, and dog walking. As for literary talent, he is also barely even half-baked, so naturally he has no advantages. In addition, Fatty Zhou has some disadvantages in his personality. He has a strong silly temperament, and is a little bit cowardly. He is not a passionate person.
Therefore, he is often the target of ridicule among the second-generation rich, and this time is no exception.
"Who's scared? Let's see who's scared next time." Fatty Zhou raised his fat face and showed no sign of weakness.
"That's it, then." The second-generation rich smiled at each other, quite proudly. Now it was good, they could save money on drinking and partying in the future.
"Oh, by the way, I heard that the third branch of your mansion got married to some country bumpkin? Is that true?"
"Hehe, I just can't understand, when did your Linhuai Marquisate become so cheap? Isn't this bringing shame to our noble family?"
A few second-generation rich kids heard the secrets of the Marquis' Mansion from somewhere and questioned Fatty Zhou at the table, most of them with mocking tones.
Zhu Pingan, who was in the corner, heard their conversation and smiled helplessly. How come the news of his engagement with Li Shu spread so far that even these second-generation rich kids heard about it? It seemed that he was being laughed at again. Haha, what's wrong with coming from the countryside? Who said that poor families can't rise
Fatty Zhou was speechless after hearing the ridicule from his buddies, because what they said was true. Although his grandmother and father had discussed breaking off the engagement many times, they had not done so yet. He could not help but secretly blame Zhu Pingan for causing him to be laughed at.
"Why, it still doesn't work, ha ha ha, you don't even let go of the bumpkins in the countryside, how ugly must your fifth daughter be..."
Seeing the fat man's expression, a second-generation rich man couldn't help but laugh.
"Haha, I don't think he's as strong as you..."
The other second-generation rich kids couldn't help but laugh as well.
"How could that be? My fifth sister is very beautiful, even more beautiful than Princess Anyang." Fatty Zhou became confident at this time and choked while twisting his neck.
"Just brag. If you were half as pretty as Princess Anyang, you wouldn't have married a country bumpkin..."
The fat man's words not only did not have a positive effect, but made the second-generation rich laugh even harder. Princess Anyang is a famous beauty in the capital, and there are few people in the whole capital who can compare with her. Fatty Zhou said that her fifth sister who was engaged to a bumpkin was more beautiful than Princess Anyang. Isn't that just bragging
"Oh, by the way, I heard that you took the imperial examination a few days ago. Haha, how was it?" After laughing, someone remembered that Fatty Zhou had taken part in the imperial examination and couldn't help asking.
"It's stable." Fatty Zhou answered confidently.
"Hehe, if you ask me, God is really fair." After hearing what Fatty Zhou said, a second-generation rich man said while holding back his laughter.
"Oh, what did you mean?" Fatty Zhou asked curiously.
"Hehe, although you are ugly, you have beautiful dreams, hehe..." The man couldn't help laughing a long time ago.
The others also burst into laughter.
"That's right. We brothers don't even know what you are like. We grew up together wearing open-crotch pants. Just be quiet and let your uncle fill a vacancy for you in the Beijing Camp or the Garrison Camp. Don't be ridiculous about taking the imperial examination. It's a waste of time."
None of these second-generation rich kids were optimistic about Fatty Zhou taking the imperial examination.
"You were probably provoked by Xu Laosan. Xu Laosan has been studious since he was young. He passed the boy's exam and the provincial exam with real effort, without any help from Duke Wei. Xu Laosan is the one who is really sure of success. Why did he go home after showing up just now? It was because he heard that the results might be announced today, so he went home to wait."
The Xu Lao San this person was talking about was the third son of the Duke of Wei next door, who inherited the title from Xu Da. This Xu Lao San was quite famous in the capital, with a quick mind and a photographic memory. Although he sometimes hung out with Fatty Zhou and the others, his literary level was solid.
Some time ago, Xu Laosan passed the provincial examination, and they went out to drink wine to celebrate. There was a courtesan that Fatty Zhou had been eyeing for a long time, and he had spent a lot of money on her. But when the courtesan heard that Xu Laosan was a juren who had just passed the provincial examination, she offered to pay him for nothing. Fatty Zhou was irritated at the time, and he threatened to surpass Xu Laosan and pass the provincial examination.
Xu Laosan from Duke Wei's family was also there just now, but he gave the birthday gift and went home. Of course, he ridiculed Fatty Zhou severely before going home.
"Hmph, wait and see."
In response to the ridicule of the second-generation rich, Fatty Zhou shook his fat face and gritted his teeth and said something, which made the second-generation rich laugh again. (To be continued.)
ps: There will be at least one more chapter today, I won’t go back on my word.