After leaving the courtyard, the second young master was nowhere to be seen. He presumably went out to greet guests. The moonlight was faint, and a bright moon had slowly risen to the sky.
Xue Poye saw a guest walking towards the west not far away, so he caught up with him and went straight to the back garden.
Along the way, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant. Although it is under a moonlit night, the scenic spot is a bit more hazy. After passing through a rockery path, the front suddenly becomes clear, and there are crowds of people, and it is very lively. No smaller than a football field, it is full of jade cases and incense bottles, surrounded by colorful lanterns, surrounded by countless lanterns, and the field is as bright as day.
There were nearly a hundred people in the venue, Xixi murmured, looking at the clothes of these people, they were all brocade clothes and jade robes, whether they were officials or expensive, those blue-clothed scholars also had a dignified appearance, gathered together, quoted scriptures, and talked loudly, Xue Poye I heard that "I am afraid of the emerald green embroidered in the autumn cold, but I still lean on the plum tree!", there is also "the sky is opposite to the red and sleepless, full of Shibuya!" Sun Ye Shengqiu resentment." and other lines of poetry.
The jade table is broken, the grass is on the east side, and there is another autumn pool. There is a big seat beside the pool. There are three seats on the east and west sides of the big seat. Xue Poye knew in his heart that the big seat might be Lao Tan's seat. Unexpectedly Tonight turned out to be an open-air banquet. The ancients would really enjoy the breeze and moon, the fragrance of flowers and the singing of birds.
Naturally, such an atmosphere could not be compared to the small gathering at West Lake that day.
Walked around casually, and finally sat down in a corner, with wine and glasses on the table, Xue Poye poured wine and drank slowly, listening to "Brother Wang and Brother Li" everywhere in his ears, this gentleman, that gentleman, And those vulgar etiquette and sour toothless poems got into my ears, I was very helpless.
The maids served attentively and shuttled back and forth in the venue.
Xue Poye naturally didn't have the heart to learn about the etiquette and poetry, he could only appreciate the maidservants going back and forth, and naturally there were pretty pretty maidservants in purple, enjoying the measurements to the fullest, leisurely and joyously.
He was appreciating the pretty and tender maidservant with gusto, and with a flash of his eyes, he saw all the seats in front of him rushing up one after another, saluting again and again, a handsome young man in white came and returned the salute with a smile, Xue Poye could see clearly, that Who is the young man in white if not Liu Tuo
Liu Tuo is the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, and Lao Tan is the Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. They are both colleagues in the capital. Liu Tuo naturally wants to come to Lao Tan's farewell banquet.
The big and small officials in Hangzhou naturally tried their best to please Liu Tuo, flattering him naked, with a smile on his face, Liu Tuo just smiled back, with a gentle and elegant attitude, handsome and unrestrained, with an extraordinary bearing.
Xue Poye huddled in the corner, surrounded by flowers and branches, but Liu Tuo didn't notice it for a moment. After exchanging polite greetings, he sat down on the east side of the big seat. As the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, he naturally had a seat in that seat.
Liu Tuo sat down, and several officials crowded around, fawning on him.
Xue Poye sighed. Throughout the ages, flattery is still the theme of official circles.
The number of people gradually increased, and everyone gradually took their seats. Xue Poye saw that the left and right seats of the big seat were filled with people, two of the three seats on the left were filled, and three Confucian scholars were seated in the three seats on the right. List.
Not long after, Lao Tan and He Ruhui came slowly, and the second young master was even more attentive to guide the way. As soon as the two of them arrived, everyone present stood up and saluted.
Old Tan smiled and waved his hands and said: "Everyone, please sit down, everyone, please sit down. I am very grateful to see you off today. I just want to have a good time with you all, and look at the flowers and moon." Amidst the laughter, under the guidance of the second young master Next, when the main seat was seated, He Ruhui sat down in the empty seat to the left of the main seat, and had to exchange polite greetings with Liu Tuo.
The servant girl serving beside poured Lao Tan's jade cup with wine, and Lao Tan raised his cup and stood up, saying loudly: "For the great Chu, for the Holy One, please drink this cup with me!"
Everyone stood in awe and raised their glasses to drink together. Xue Poye was naturally caught in the crowd and drank the wine in the cup. Naturally, it could not be for some saint when drinking.
Seeing that everyone had finished drinking, Old Tan motioned for everyone to sit down, and said leisurely: "This trip to Hangzhou, I was able to get to know all of you. It can be said that I am very lucky in my life. The scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is really different from other places. , the common people live and work in peace and contentment, I am very relieved!" Sighing, he changed the subject and said sadly: "If it's not for the king... hey... don't talk about it, don't talk about it!"
Everyone knew in their hearts that what Lao Tan was referring to was of course Wang Shizhen's incident. Since he mentioned it, although he stopped, there would naturally be people who were good at observing words and sentiments to greet him. The country has no king, no kingly law, a dignified appearance, clean and selfless in the open, but secretly corrupts the law and ignores the laws of the country. I am extremely indignant for a moment. If the censor did not know the details and enforce the law impartially, then Wang Shizhen would still poison the people of Hangzhou. , Your Excellency has made great contributions, and I admire it very much!"
Xue Poye glanced at his mouth, and said in his heart: "These officials are more flattering than each other, and the horses of this bird official are not necessarily worse than He Ruhui."
What this person said was so impassioned, everyone in the room naturally had different attitudes, some people who were good at flattering stomped their feet repeatedly, only hated that they were late in speaking, and this guy took the opportunity to please him, and those who felt a little bit ashamed were just in their hearts. They ridiculed, but they all agreed to say yes in face. Some people with good eloquence added fuel to the flames, fully demonstrated their eloquence, and cursed Wang Shizhen, only to call Wang Shizhen the number one corrupt official and the most treacherous official in history. Faint official.
Old Tan Fuxu smiled, and seemed very satisfied with everyone's performance. He needed to prove that bringing down Wang Shizhen was not a matter of one or two people, but the sympathy of many people. Hangzhou is indeed corrupt and perverting the law. These words from the mouths of Hangzhou officials and squires are naturally much stronger than Tan Ziqing alone.
Seeing that everyone's words were fading away, Tan Ziqing stroked his beard and smiled and said, "It's our duty to be loyal to the Holy One, and it's also my duty to supervise the officials to handle affairs impartially. It's not my credit. But He Tongjue is dedicated to this matter." Try your best, work tirelessly, and Liu Shilang from the Ministry of Criminal Justice is just and strict, and the two of them have contributed a lot, and they have worked hard to pull out this cancer in Hangzhou."
He Ruhui and Liu Tuo got up hurriedly, showing great humility.
While praising, I saw Tan Ziqing winking at the second young master who was beside him. The second young master nodded respectfully, raised his hands high, and said loudly: "Everyone, everyone, please be quiet, please be quiet!"
When everyone saw the second young master suddenly appearing, they were all a little surprised, Xue Poye also touched his nose, quite puzzled.
After everyone calmed down, the second young master said with a smile on his face: "Everyone, Mr. Yushi will return to Beijing in a few days. The banquet tonight is for Mr. Yushi's practice. Naturally, drinking wine and admiring the moon is not a problem." After a pause After a pause, he continued: "But just reciting poems and admiring the moon is not interesting. Naturally, we have to hold a lively farewell banquet for Mr. Yushi. Do you think this is the reason?"
There was a lot of chorus from below, and they all said: "Extremely true, the more lively the better, is there any other program that the second young master can't do?"
Xue Poye smiled lightly, unexpectedly the Second Young Master spoke in an orderly manner, could it be that he had been trained a long time ago? In Xue Poye's eyes, these playboys only know how to play tricks and run dogs, looking for flowers and asking willows.
Mrs. Fang's ability is naturally several times higher than that of the second young master, but on such an occasion, a woman of Taoist family can't come forward. Although Mrs. Fang has great authority in the family, after all, men are superior to women in the whole era. If a woman's Taoist family comes out, That would be a disgrace.
Seeing everyone asking about it, the second young master showed a look of complacency, and said loudly: "Bring it up!"
As soon as the words were finished, two young servants came out from behind the rockery in the west, carried a nanmu gold silk table, and placed it in the center of the field, and then two servant girls spread fragrant silk brocade on the table.
Everyone in the arena was extremely puzzled and watched quietly without saying a word.
After a while, I saw a stout servant come out with a thing in his hand. The thing was covered with yellow satin and stood tall. Behind the servant was a charming maid, holding an exquisite brocade box, which was placed in a nanmu wood box. On the gold wire table.
After putting the things in the servant's hands, they stood up. At first glance, it looked like a small pagoda was covered under the yellow satin.
Xue Poye frowned, not sure what the hell was going on, what was in the brocade box under the yellow satin