On the morning of the third day of Zhu Ping'an's vacation, the bright red sun rose from the east, the fog was dispelled by the sunlight, and the dew on the green leaves reflected the rising sun one by one, awakening the sleeping world... ...
Early in the morning, Baozi's maids Hua'er and Qin'er went into the bathroom with two buckets of hot water, their faces reddened, their heads lowered, and then walked out again with their faces even redder, their heads lowered.
"It's all your fault. You made me wake up late... Hua'er and the others must be laughing secretly..."
On the embroidered couch, Li Shu stretched out her white jade arms to support her body, and pulled the corner of the quilt to cover her body with her pink and white jade fingers. From behind, her face, which was as rosy as a peach, was revealed. Her eyes were filled with spring water, so watery that they could drown people. She pouted her rosy and tempting little mouth and complained to Zhu Pingan who got out of bed.
Zhu Pingan paused when he heard this, and his face turned red. He said he would be moderate yesterday, but he had another meal this morning...
This will not happen again.
"Ahem, I'm going to take a shower first..." Zhu Ping'an coughed and walked into the bathroom as if escaping.
"Hey, Zhu Pingan, I need to wash first..."
"Ahem, let's wash them together."
"Liar... Who wants to take a bath with you? You tricked me into taking a bath with you last night, and you took the opportunity to do something bad..."
... ...
Shaoqing, there was a cry in the bedroom, and then it returned to silence, with only the faint sound of water coming... ...
At this time, Linhuai Hou had already gone out to report to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel and other officials.
However, just as Marquis Linhuai rode his horse to the Ministry of War, Ministry of Personnel and other departments to report on his work, his mansion welcomed a group of eunuchs who came to announce the imperial decree.
The eunuch who announced the imperial edict held a scroll of black-shafted three-color imperial edict, followed by four young eunuchs, one of whom also held a scroll of imperial edict, the bearing of which was also a black ox-horn shaft. Behind the fifth-rank eunuch followed a team of imperial guards, carrying bright yellow sticks. The arrival of the group caught the gatekeeper and the steward of the outer courtyard of Linhuai Marquis's mansion off guard. The steward had no time to ask in detail before he asked someone to greet them properly, and hurriedly sent someone to report to the old lady in charge of the mansion.
There were two officials in the mansion. One was Linhuai Hou, who had just returned from Yingtian to report on his work and had just gone out; the other was Zhu Ping'an, who was on vacation at home and it was unknown whether he had gone out or not.
But, to whom was this eunuch from the palace reporting his decree? !
The old lady of Linhuai Marquis's Mansion asked the steward who came to report, to whom the eunuch came to announce the decree, but the steward knew nothing about anything.
The old lady asked again what color and shape the imperial edict in the eunuch's hand was. The doorman replied based on his memory that the eunuch who announced the imperial edict was holding a black-axis three-color imperial edict.
After hearing this, the old lady had an idea in her mind. The black-shafted three-color imperial edict was for officials of the fifth rank and above.
When the old Marquis of Linhuai was still alive, he showed off the imperial edicts in the ancestral hall to the old lady, saying that the imperial edicts were a symbol of the emperor's power and also a symbol of the official's status. According to the different ranks of officials, they were strictly distinguished. The imperial edicts issued to officials of the first rank had jade shafts, those issued to officials of the second rank had black rhinoceros horn shafts, those issued to officials of the third rank had gold-plated shafts, and those issued to officials of the fourth and fifth ranks had black ox horn shafts. The fabric of the imperial edicts was also very particular about the rank. The imperial edicts issued to officials below the fifth rank were all made of a single white silk, and only the imperial edicts issued to officials above the fifth rank had multiple colors, such as three colors, five colors, and seven colors, etc. The more colors the imperial edict had, the higher the rank of the official who received the edict.
Those above the fifth rank would of course be given to the Marquis of Linhuai. Although Zhu Ping'an was young and promising, he was only a sixth rank.
Therefore, when the old lady heard that it was the black-shafted three-color imperial edict, she naturally thought it was for Marquis Linhuai, and hurriedly sent people to chase after Marquis Linhuai.
Fortunately, Marquis Linhuai was fat and his horse ran slowly. When the servants of Marquis Linhuai's mansion caught up with him, Marquis Linhuai had just walked a short distance out of Gonghou Street. After hearing the imperial edict from the palace, Marquis Linhuai hurriedly whipped the horse under his crotch and hurried him back. After a short distance, the horse was so tired that it foamed at the mouth.
"My Lord, the nobleman from the palace is here to announce the decree to the Fifth Uncle. The old lady is worried that you will miss the time to report your work, so she asked me to hurry and tell you that the nobleman from the palace said that you don't need to go back."
However, before Marquis Linhuai could rush back to his mansion, the second wave of servants from his mansion came after him on horseback.
After hearing this news, Linhuai Hou's psychological shadow area was so severe that he couldn't figure it out for a long time...
In the Linhuai Marquis's Mansion, when the old lady learned that someone from the palace was here to announce the decree to Zhu Ping'an, she hurriedly sent Zijuan to Tingyuxuan to find Zhu Ping'an and Li Shu.
Zijuan trotted all the way to Tingyu Pavilion, and then learned from the little maid Huaer that the two parties were still bathing in the bathroom...
Why take a bath so early in the morning?!
There is no need to talk too much about the lewd and immoral lives of officials and their families. Zijuan, who has been serving in the marquis's mansion for a long time, also knows some things about men and women.
Zijuan was startled at first, then lowered her head and spat, her face flushed red. She used to think that the fifth uncle was a cat that didn't eat fish, but she didn't expect that the fifth uncle was also a...
What could be more important than an imperial decree?! Zijuan urged Huaer to go to the bathroom and tell the two parties that someone from the palace had come to announce the decree.
Soon, Tingyuxuan was in chaos.
Of course, there was also a commotion in the outer courtyard of the Marquis' Mansion. Although the old lady was very disappointed that she was not here to announce the decree to her son, Zhu Ping'an was the son-in-law of the Marquis' Mansion after all, and was considered half a member of the Marquis' Mansion. So, she leaned on her crutches, cheered herself up, and assigned the butler to quickly make arrangements.
Set up the table, the incense stand, burn incense... ...
By the time Zhu Ping'an dragged Li Shu, along with the maids and the nanny, and hurriedly rushed from Tingyuxuan to the front yard, their hair was still wet, and it was obvious that they had just come out of the bathroom and changed their clothes in a hurry.
"Go to the front yard quickly, don't keep the nobles in the palace waiting for too long."
The old lady of Linhuai Marquis's Mansion was accustomed to traditions, and when she saw the two people coming with wet hair, the wrinkles on her face deepened a little.
"Yeah." Zhu Ping'an coughed awkwardly and nodded.
The group went to the front yard together. In the front yard, the eunuchs who came from the palace to announce the imperial edict were sitting in the main hall drinking tea. The eunuch leading the group was not Feng Bao who had come to announce the imperial edict before, and the other four young eunuchs were also unfamiliar.
But this is not surprising. There are seven or eight thousand eunuchs in the palace. It is normal that Zhu Ping'an doesn't know them.
"I heard that you are here to announce the decree. To show my respect to His Majesty, I bathed and changed my clothes to receive the decree. I am sorry to have kept you waiting for so long..."
Zhu Ping'an took a few quick steps, bowed deeply to the leading eunuch to express his apology, and said shamelessly.
Upon hearing this, the old lady of Linhuai Marquis's Mansion shook the cane in her hand.
After hearing what was said, the maids like Zijuan who knew the truth reached a new level of understanding about Zhu Ping'an.
"No, no, Master Zhu, you are too polite..." The leading eunuch smiled and offered his hand to help Zhu Ping'an up. He looked very happy and friendly, and did not show any sign of being unhappy for having to wait for a long time.