In the capital, the east is rich, the west is noble, the south is cheap, and the north is poor!
Xicheng District is where many of Beijing's nobles gather. It is the center of the capital and a prosperous area. Gonghou Street in Xicheng is a well-known noble district in Xicheng.
In the distance, a man and a horse walked into Gonghou Street, exhausted. Although the man's clothes were clean, compared with the elegant people around him who were dressed in fine clothes and wearing jade, he inevitably looked a little unkempt, which seemed a bit out of place in the noble and prosperous Gonghou Street.
With just one man and one horse, the nobles passing by looked down on him, feeling that he lowered the grade of the entire Gonghou Street!
Whose hometown is this poor relative from
A young lady in a sedan chair even covered her nose with an embroidered handkerchief when she passed by, and rolled her eyes at a sloppy and honest young man outside the window.
"Hey, Cui'er, tell them to slow down. I think that person is going to Linhuai Marquis's Mansion."
The girl in the sedan caught a glimpse of the man and horse running towards the gate of Linhuai Marquis's Mansion. She stretched out her hand from the curtain of the sedan and called out to Cui'er, the maid who was accompanying them, with great interest.
This was an elegant and luxurious sedan chair for women, exquisite and sophisticated, with scarlet silk curtains, decorated with necklaces and tassels, and a strong boudoir flavor. It was accompanied by two maids, two old women, and two servants who carried the sedan chair.
"It's true, young lady. It turns out you are the poor relative of Miss Li. You two should slow down." Cui'er, the accompanying maid, also saw it, and followed her young lady's instructions to ask the two servants carrying the sedan chair to slow down.
So, the sedan chair slowed down, then turned around and slowly headed towards the Linhuai Marquis Mansion.
The young lady in the sedan chair lifted a corner of the window and watched from afar as the man and the horse entered the Linhuai Marquis's mansion. The gatekeeper of the Linhuai Marquis's mansion seemed to recognize the poor country relative and took the initiative to help lead the horse in. Seeing this, the young lady in the sedan chair couldn't help but smile.
"Last time at the tea and poetry party at Lingbi Marquis's Mansion, the third sister from Linhuai Marquis's Mansion made fun of the poor relatives of Sister Tang's family, and said that the Li family is a noble and aristocratic family, and that all the relatives in their mansion are successful and famous, so there are no poor relatives. Hahaha... I want to see what the third sister from Linhuai Marquis's Mansion has to say this time."
"Cui'er, turn around. I want to go to Lingbi Marquis's Mansion to talk to Sister Tang."
The eldest lady in the sedan lowered the curtains and whispered an order to the outside. She couldn't help but share this news with the fifth lady of Lingbi Marquis' Mansion. It was very interesting just to think about it.
When the sedan turned around and headed to the Lingbi Marquis Mansion, Zhu Ping'an had already entered the Linhuai Marquis Mansion. Zhu Ping'an had lived in the Linhuai Marquis Mansion for a month. There were not many male masters in the Linhuai Marquis Mansion, and Zhu Ping'an was the new champion, so it was hard for the doorman to forget him. Although Zhu Ping'an was exhausted, the doorman still recognized him at a glance. He opened the door from a distance and welcomed Zhu Ping'an in. He took the gift before Zhu Ping'an. Another doorman took the horse from Zhu Ping'an diligently and took it to the stable to feed it well. Another doorman went to the second gate to announce that the fifth uncle was back.
"Son-in-law, you must be exhausted on the journey. I will bring a bucket of hot water to your room right away."
The doorman was very tactful in flattering him and even changed the address from Mr. Zhu to son-in-law. The news that Zhu Ping'an and Li Shu got married in Xiahe Village was also known in the mansion. Their doorman was the one with the most thorough information in the mansion, so naturally he knew about it very early.
"Thank you very much." Zhu Ping'an didn't hesitate to take out two silver beans and gave them to the doorman as a reward. He was exhausted from the journey and really needed a bath.
"Thank you for the reward, young master." The doorman was overjoyed. The two silver beans were enough for them to enjoy wine and snacks for a few days.
"Son-in-law, during the time you were back home, your two friends came to see you twice, asking you to come back to see them... The official from the government office also came once, but left when he saw you were not there... Your black horse has become two times fatter than when you left..."
The doorman was also a chatterbox, especially after he received the two silver beans as a reward. He talked even more along the way without any logic about what happened in the mansion.
Zhu Ping'an listened with great interest, occasionally responding. He took a shortcut led by the concierge, crossed the garden and walked along the alley. After turning a corner, he arrived at the guest room. Then, not far away, he arrived at the guest room courtyard where Zhu Ping'an stayed last time.
"Thank you." After entering the courtyard, Zhu Ping'an thanked the doorman who helped carry his luggage.
"Sir, why are you being so polite to us?" The doorman said he dared not.
At this time, there were footsteps and girls' voices outside the courtyard gate, and soon several girls entered the courtyard. The leader was a girl about twenty years old, wearing a light blue bodice, a waist-hugging pink skirt, a light purple gauze belt around her waist, her oval face was lightly made up, and she was dressed very neatly, followed by several maids.
Zhu Ping'an had seen this person several times. She was Zijuan, the maidservant of the old lady. It was she who greeted him outside the door when he and Li Shu first came to the Marquis' Mansion.
Zijuan walked over to the courtyard and bowed. After she stood up, she smiled and said, "My son-in-law is back. The old lady has been thinking about you and the fifth lady recently. She regretted not attending your wedding a few days ago and ate less than half a bowl of rice for several days. What a coincidence, the old lady was still talking about you and the fifth lady just now, and then my son-in-law came back."
As expected of her, she is the eldest maidservant beside the old lady. She is really good at talking and no one can find fault with what she says or does.
"It's Ping'an's fault that I'm worried about you, old lady." Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly and bowed in reply.
"Hehe... You're still calling me old lady. You should start calling me grandma." Zijuan smiled and reminded him.
"Oh, yes." Zhu Pingan nodded seriously, then thanked Zijuan, "Thank you for the reminder, young lady."
"I am not a girl at all. You can just call me Zijuan." Zijuan smiled and shook her head, then said, "Sir, you are the master of the mansion now, you can't live in this guest room anymore. The old lady has already arranged a courtyard for you and the fifth lady. Everything you need and live in has been prepared for you, just waiting for you and the fifth lady to move in. Sir, you must be tired from the journey. I will take you to the courtyard to rest. When you go to the courtyard later, see if there is anything missing or if there is anything inappropriate, and tell me."
Zijuan turned around and told the maids behind her, "Go and help Master pack his things."
Soon, several maids came over and packed up the gifts that Zhu Ping'an brought, as well as the things in the room.
Well
I was planning to say hello to the old lady, then leave and move out... Zhu Pingan looked at the busy maids and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Forget it, I'll talk about it later when I go to say hello to the old lady. (To be continued.)｝ ( )