I don't know the true face of the Yan Mansion, because I am in this mansion.
The Yan Mansion is luxurious, with three or four blocks connected to the mansion. There is a large garden in front of the mansion, which is divided into three roads: east, middle and west. There is also an artificial lake of dozens of acres in the garden. Exotic flowers and trees are planted next to it, and all the flowers are in full bloom in spring.
The black horse had been led to the stable by the servants of the mansion long ago. Zhu Ping'an was given a bamboo card with a vivid horse and a name on it. He could use this card to get the horse when he left. Zhu Ping'an followed another servant through the long west road of the mansion to the courtyard of the Yan Mansion where the banquet was held. On the way, maids dressed neatly and gorgeously carried fruits and vegetables, wine and food, and passed by in an orderly line.
The servant leading the way in front looked at the backs of the maids passing by and swallowed hard.
There was a noise and sound of stringed instruments coming from not far away, and the silhouette of a dancer could be seen in the distance. The banquet place was about to be reached.
Zhu Ping'an, with great interest, straightened his sleeves and slowly walked into the banquet place step by step.
The banquet tripod was burning spices, with a faint fragrance in the air. The neatly arranged potted flowers added a lot of style to the banquet. The dancers in red skirts waved their colorful sleeves and danced barefoot, with singers and musicians playing music on the side.
What attracted Zhu Ping'an's attention the most was the banquet's winding stream and flowing wine cups. In the center of the banquet was a white jade rockery, and around the rockery were piled mountains. In the middle of the mountain there were pipes carved from white jade. On the rocks were huge wine jars inlaid with gold and jade. Fine wine was rippling in the wine jars, and the fine wine was flowing slowly along the white jade pipes like a clear stream. The guests sat around the piled mountains, and the fine wine could flow into the wine glasses.
If you don't use a wine glass to catch the wine, the wine will flow into the card slot and disappear. It should be reusable.
Bear paws, camel hooves, scales and shredded meat. Whatever runs on the mountain, swims in the water, roams on the grassland, flies in the sky and grows on the ground, all are made into delicious dishes and placed on the banquet like flowing water.
At this time, the banquet had already begun, and the atmosphere was very lively. Everyone was surrounding a short, fat man and vying to flatter him. This fat man was about 37 or 38 years old, not very tall, and had a short neck. The most distinctive thing about him was that he was blind in one eye, but the other eye was full of cunning and wit, as if he could see into your heart with just one look.
This one-eyed fat man is very energetic, so energetic that he gives people a feeling of arrogance and domineering.
Short, thick, fat, one-eyed, arrogant and domineering, these factors combined, Zhu Ping'an can conclude that this person is the only son of Yan Ge Lao. Now Yan Shifan is the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works.
It should be said that God is fair. Although God made Yan Shifan fat and blind in one eye, he gave him a super high IQ. Not only that, he was also good at psychology. It is recorded in history that "he was cunning and witty, well-informed and had a strong memory. He was familiar with the rules and regulations, and had a good understanding of economic affairs. He was also energetic and could handle complicated tasks. He was especially good at guessing the emperor's likes and dislikes."
Zhu Ping'an was led into the house by the servant of Yan's mansion. He informed the inside, and then everyone saw Zhu Ping'an standing at the door.
How come there is such a young man? They have never seen him before. People who usually hang out in Yan's house are full of curiosity about Zhu Ping'an who is standing at the door.
"Who is coming?" A person sitting not far below Yan Shifan put down the wine glass in his hand, raised his eyebrows, looked at Zhu Pingan and asked in a sinister voice.
This person is Luo Longwen, also known as Hanzhang. He was originally an ink merchant and made his fortune with ink. He mastered the skill of making ink when he was young. He was good at using tung oil smoke to make top-grade ink, which was praised as: hard as stone, with patterns like rhinoceros horn, black as lacquer, and one snail worth ten thousand coins. After making a fortune, he became a disciple of Yan Shifan and became Yan Shifan's guest. With Yan Shifan's support, he is now the secretary of the Central Secretariat.
It can be said that this person is one of Yan Shifan's right-hand men.
"Xiahe Zhu Ping'an, I am honored to receive the invitation from Lord Yan, so I came to visit you."
Zhu Ping'an was neither humble nor arrogant. He bowed to everyone and was not at all frightened by Luo Wenlong's questioning tone. He replied leisurely and loudly.
"Zhu Ping'an? Haha... Who is Zhu Ping'an?" Luo Longwen couldn't help but laugh twice when he heard that, and looked at Zhu Ping'an with some disdain.
Hearing this, many people around started laughing, and most of them looked at Zhu Ping'an with contempt.
In fact, when Zhu Ping'an said the name, how many people would not know who Zhu Ping'an was? After all, the imperial examination was a major event that was counted by the court and the public. Moreover, many of them were used to hanging out in Yan's house, such as Luo Longwen, who was not unaware of the fact that Young Master Ouyang in Yan's house missed the first place in the imperial examination. It was just a matter of standing in line.
In addition to these smiling people, there were other scrutinizing and curious eyes at the banquet.
Amid the laughter and scrutiny of the crowd, Zhu Ping'an remained calm and composed, neither humble nor arrogant, and calmly accepted the baptism of everyone's gazes.
At this moment, the object of everyone's flattery, the fat Yan Shifan, stood up with a smile, his gleaming eye fell on Zhu Ping'an, he pointed a finger at Zhu Ping'an, and introduced him to everyone with a trembling fat face:
"Han Zhang, everyone, this person is extraordinary. You may not know him today, but he will be famous all over the world in the future and deeply engraved in your minds. The champion of this special examination is Zhu Ping'an, Zhu Zihou, a famous child prodigy from Xiahe Village, Anqing Prefecture. He passed the provincial examination at the age of 13 and became a juren. Only Yang Ting and Yang Ge Lao passed the provincial examination at the age of 12, which is slightly better than him. However, Yang Ge Lao went to Beijing for the imperial examination the following year after he passed the provincial examination, but he failed. It was not until six years later, when he entered the examination hall again at the age of 19, that he passed the imperial examination."
At this point, Yan Shifan swept his gleaming eye across the crowd, smiled slightly and meaningfully, and asked, "Do you know how old this person is?"
When everyone heard this, they looked at Zhu Ping'an, shook their heads, and said they didn't know.
"This man is only 14 this year, but he has already won the top prize at the age of 14! Even Lord Yang is not as good as him." Yan Shifan waved his hand and pointed at Zhu Ping'an.
After hearing what Yan Shifan said, there were many surprised voices at the banquet. Many of them did not expect Zhu Ping'an to be so young. A 14-year-old champion is much more impressive than Yang Ge Lao. After all, Yang Ge Lao only passed the imperial examination at the age of 19, but this person actually passed the imperial examination at the age of 14, and he was the champion!
"14-year-old champion, no wonder, no wonder..."
After everyone was surprised, a sinister voice was heard at the banquet. It was Luo Longwen who spoke at the beginning.
"No wonder?" someone asked.
"No wonder I don't take Brother Donglou seriously, no wonder I dare not take the Yan family seriously. Brother Donglou thinks so highly of you and sends you an invitation to the banquet. Huiyuan Gong, the 14-year-old Huiyuan is amazing. The banquet has been going on for a long time, and three rounds of wine have passed. You are late. I dare to ask if Huiyuan Gong knows etiquette? If a person is not trustworthy, I don't know what he is. A dignified Huiyuan, but you are not punctual, aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the generous family? Or do you just don't take us all seriously?"
Luo Longwen pulled up a faint smile, looked at Zhu Ping'an sinisterly, and questioned loudly.
Luo Longwen's words were quite provocative and skillful. As soon as he finished speaking, most people looked at Zhu Ping'an with a reproachful look. Being late is not a good habit. Being late is not keeping your word. How good can a person who doesn't keep his word be? (To be continued...)u