The setting sun is fading, and there are lanterns, tables, and many people. It was dinner time. It was like the kind of large-scale banquet where the Su family's relatives and friends gather around the New Year's Day every year. The participants were similar, but today's atmosphere was a little different.
The crowd was full of people, and the liveliness was still lively after all, but there was no such thing as the past, the situation of staggering, wanton laughter and no burden, the people in the big room, the second room, and the third room were divided into invisible areas. Only the most heartless people can eat and drink recklessly with a jug - everyone is talking with a smile, greeting each other with everyone they know, but not many people drink. Under this lively appearance, people from all sides are looking at each other and speculating about each other, surging undercurrents, and a slightly tense atmosphere.
Su Yu sat on top of the chief and watched all this quietly. His eyes swept across the second and third rooms, and when he turned to the big room, he could clearly perceive the decadence and quietness that seemed to be mixed here. Only Su Yunsong and a few others were there. Laughing to liven up the atmosphere, Su Tan'er and Ning Yi were sitting on the side eating and talking in a low voice. The two of them were also quiet. Su Tan'er's expression was calm. His attention was still on Ning Yi.
Su Yu kept his gaze on Ning Yi for a while, and then someone came over with a wine glass. It was the shopkeeper of the second room, Xi Anzhi. The old man smiled, looked away, and nodded to him.
The dinner was not long.
After you've probably eaten your fill, it's time for the banquet. There are no solemn ceremonies or symbolic speeches here. Everyone has already understood what is going to happen next, but they still let several stewards notify the members who are going to participate in this clan meeting one by one. The venue of the banquet was a little chaotic. Some people got up first and started to go to the council hall next to the ancestral hall. The crowd was talking in twos and threes, buzzing, and it seemed a little chaotic for a while. When he got up, he looked for someone in the scattered crowd and ordered something.
There were about fifty people who were able to participate in this clan meeting. The rest of the people who participated in the dinner were mostly family members, or the shopkeepers and stewards of the Su Mansion. Even if they were not able to attend, most of these people would wait for news in the nearby square or garden. . Turning over the eaves in front, the lights stretched out around the small square of Su Mansion. Su Boyong was pushed forward in a wheelchair in the crowd, and was a little behind. Su Tan'er and Ning Yi were also heading there.
"Xianggong tonight... will you feel a little bored?"
"Nope."
"But..." Su Tan'er lowered her head and seemed to want to say something, but in the end she just smiled. In the night wind, she quietly reached out and grabbed Ning Yi's sleeve. Row. After a while, Su Tan'er swung her arm childishly, and shook Ning Yi's hand several times. At this time, as if remembering something, he turned his head to look aside, and his eyes began to quiet down.
Xi Junyu was also talking to a shopkeeper of a large room in the crowd, and occasionally looked at Su Tan'er. In fact, what he said was his worries about tonight and his position after tonight. About halfway through the square, a person came over from the crowd and greeted him with a smile. This was Guard Geng, one of the most trusted personnel in the big room.
"Miss has arranged some things tonight. I will trouble the shopkeeper Xi to go out with me at about a quarter of an hour. This matter is very important, and there are still about half an hour. If there is something at hand, if the shopkeeper Xi has something at hand, please arrange it first, I'm afraid I will be very busy tonight. Night."
Walking aside, Geng guard whispered.
"Major?" Xi Junyu frowned, "What's the matter tonight...?"
"It's hard to say for now, in short, it's the arrangement of the lady."
Xi Junyu thought about it for a while, and said with joy: "Is there still a turning point?"
"It's hard to say, shopkeeper Xi will know when you go with me..."
"Oh, good."
Xi Junyu nodded, and when he looked towards Su Tan'er, he saw that Su Tan'er had left Ning Yi's side and was leaning over his father's wheelchair and saying something. Seeing his gaze, he smiled slightly, nodded to him and Geng Guard, and then Su Boyong also turned his head and nodded slightly.
So Xi Junyu also smiled and nodded in response.
At this time, the two sides were already a little far apart. When he saw Su Tan'er turning around and walking past the ancestral hall, he remembered that he should have gone over to comfort a few things tonight, but... well, come back talk later.
He moved towards the crowd whose back disappeared into view.
However, is there a turnaround? how is this possible.
So I started frowning and thinking...
Soon after, the sound of the first round of ancestor worship began to sound from there.
*****************
In the conference hall, the lights are bright, shining brightly on every corner of this huge room.
"...According to the old practice, we all meet here at least once a year, and each time, we need to decide some important things. In previous years, the meeting was held after the general ledger was done at the end of the year. This year, why was it more than a month earlier, this time the labor patriarch , The chiefs came forward and worked hard for everyone to rush back from all over the world, because recently, there have been many problems in our Su family. The problem may be small, but it may be very big... But now everyone thinks that the problem is It would be very troublesome…”
A loud voice resounded in this conference hall, and all the seats were silent. Below the group of chiefs were the people in the three rooms. Su Boyong, who was in a wheelchair, was not in a good mood. , Su Yunfang seemed to be thinking about things to himself. In the center of the hall, it was Su An, who was called Seventh Uncle by several people. When he said this, he paused slightly.
"About these things, about this family's affairs, the patriarch knows best..." He turned around, "Third brother, what do you think?"
Su Yu frowned and looked at the people in the council room at this time. After a while, he raised his hand: "Seventh, you should continue."
Su An nodded. After a moment, he turned to the side and stretched out his hand towards a person: "The specifics...let the big housekeeper talk about it, he knows best."
What he was referring to was naturally the big housekeeper who was in charge of the specific affairs of the big mansion. This middle-aged man was also a relative of the Su family. He was relatively low-key on weekdays and did not participate in matters such as competition for property, but now the Su residence is in Jiangning. Most of his transactional work will eventually flow to him for induction. Even though the big room, the second room and the third room are hidden, the accounts in his hand are still relatively objective after all.
After a while, the voice sounded.
"I can't say whether these things are big or not, but in the recent period, the specific things that have come to me are like this: First, in the past three months, my Su family's various goods in Jiangning area. Selling, market share, there is a certain decline, but in general, less than half... The main problem is the future profit. Recently, in Jiangning, nearly 60% of suppliers and partners People began to ask to negotiate with my Su family, increase the price of raw silk, and reduce the cost of getting the goods. I have listed them here: Qi family requests... "
The voice of the big butler was not low. The voice came out of the council hall and reverberated in the night wind. It could be vaguely heard in the nearby square and the garden on the side. Su Wengui and others gathered in a nearby place to listen and discuss. , A little further away, Sultan Hong was also talking to a few family members of the shopkeeper who were close to the big house, frowning occasionally.
Everything started as expected. The problems the Su family is facing now, the demands from various parties, and the crises hidden behind these demands, she is also very clear. When she turned her head, she accidentally saw Ning Yi walking by, this man Seemingly bored, he was wiggling his hands and feet to do a few stretches and walked to a farther place.
Sudan Hong followed.
Walking through the courtyard gate, I can hardly hear the sound from far away, and I can only see the lights around the council hall across the courtyard wall. Ning Yi's figure at this time seems to be a little different from the past, and he still looks relaxed, but... As if feeling something there, he sat down by the pavilion in the yard, raised his head to look at the sky full of stars, and heard footsteps from time to time in the alley near the yard, Sultan Hong frowned.
Could this person be feeling the last moment before Dafang lost his power
She frowned...
********************
In the council hall, the narrative is still going on. Anyone who understands business can feel the danger behind these situations. The problems of the Su family, the feeding of hungry wolves, and the fall into the trap, the big butler said for a long time that he After all these things have been described, go back to your seat. No one spoke below, only at the top, several elders of the clan began to speak.
"This is... thinking that my Su family is hopeless, that something big is going to happen to my Su family... "
"To solve the problem, let's talk about it and find a reason..."
The old people looked around, and the hall became silent again. Su Chonghua sat in the crowd and watched silently. He could probably guess what was going to happen next, but these things did not require him to speak or come forward to state something. As he glanced at the door, he suddenly thought of Ning Yi again.
Where is he now and how is he feeling. That storm...
"The beginning of this incident was caused by the assassination of the uncle. Of course, the responsibility will not lie with the uncle. I think our Su family should try our best to find the messenger behind the murderer. But if we only talk about what happened, Wen Xing has some ideas..." Next, the person who ignited the lead came out. Although he is the third generation of the Su family, he has recently managed some specific affairs of the second room, so he can already participate in this meeting.
"In the final analysis, this incident is because of my Su family's high-profile competition for the royal merchants..."
"So much momentum, so much investment, nothing in the end..."
"So people outside have started to suspect..."
Just like the predetermined steps, since Su Wenxing raised this topic, waves of discussions finally began to spread. After Su Wenxing finished speaking, the rest of the two-bedroom and three-bedroom people participated in the discussion, and then Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang also spoke. There were discussions and doubts, and the voices came out in bursts.
"So the question now is, how much did Tan'er cost to operate this royal business..."
"The big room... from the shopkeeper Liao down, the specific situation... It's a pity that the shopkeeper Liao is not in Jiangning today..."
"The current situation on our side is like this, and there are certain problems that cannot be recovered. It will last for a long time..."
"In the past two years, no, three years, we know that this operation has some problems in the accounts. It should be more clear from the eldest brother's side..."
In the scheduled play, one person started talking one after another. The big room was relatively silent from beginning to end, and Su Tan'er and the others would occasionally open their mouths. The starry night was low, and this night, the whole thing was destined to take a long time. Outside the conference hall, Su Wengui and others were talking and laughing, and some people left and came back: "It only starts tonight..." they said.
*****************
Upstairs at Yuexiang a few streets away from Su Mansion, Xue Yan and the others were eating, laughing and talking about some recent things, and by this time, they also looked in the direction of Su Mansion: "Speaking of which, there are already Let's begin."
Luo Miaomiao, one of the four leaders of Jiangning, smiled not far from the side: "Young Master Xue and you, it's not like these romantic things that you care about tonight."
"Haha, Miaomiao's eyes are like torches. Tonight, I do have something to worry about. Does Miss Miaomiao know that Buxing Su's family?"
Luo Miaomiao thought for a while, and a ray of light flashed in her eyes: "Does Master Xue mean the Su family where Ning Yi and Ning Liheng joined the family?"
After all, the matter of Buxing is only concerned by the insiders. Luo Miaomiao is now the leader of the line, but she doesn't know much, but the first thing she remembered was the first talent in the case of Shuidiao Getou and Qingyu. Xue Yan and the others were stunned for a while, then laughed.
"That's right, that's right. Speaking of which, he has something to do with him at this time. Miss Miaomiao has heard that a few months ago, there was an assassination incident in Jiangning's siege, which caused a lot of uproar..."
The reservation mode for the Su family's clan meeting has already begun, and in the Yuexiang Building, the ups and downs of Jiangning's weaving industry in the past few months have also begun to be recounted. Under the same starry sky, there is a place that has nothing to do with these things. Changyun Pavilion, not far from Yuexiang Tower, is a large-scale restaurant. Tonight, a party hosted by the Puyang family is taking place. Held here.
As the richest man in Jiangning, after so many years of business, the Puyang family has Qilan as the oiran, and now has a certain relationship with many talents in Jiangning. Today is not a big day, so when the party opened, many famous talents , also took advantage of the situation, among which Cao Guan, Liu Qingdi and others were also among them, this can be regarded as a poetry meeting among literati. Puyang Yi, who presided over the party, was a person who knew everything, but some things were not easy to control. At this time, a small episode occurred.
I don't know why today, Liu Qingdi, who was in a bad mood, drank some wine and wrote some wild poems. It was also during this poetry meeting that he accidentally bumped into a participant, and then the two sides quarreled. Yiju calmed down in the middle, but there was also a faint smell of gunpowder among some of the people at the party.
A middle-aged man who is not very talented, known as Kongshan Jushi, was also among them. He originally wanted to intervene and mediate, but immediately, Liu Qingdi also affected him.
The poetry meeting continued in the uncoordinated atmosphere caused by this episode. Puyang Yi was also very happy.
Of course, at this time, they still have no connection with the Su family's trajectory...
********************
"Ka" Ning Yi peeled the peanuts, threw them into his mouth, and hummed the prelude of the devil entering the village, which turned into a wedding march.
Sultan Hong came over from the side, angry and looked at him like this.
"Cousin Red, sit down, you're welcome. Eat peanuts?"
"I don't know what you're thinking."
"Feel the atmosphere..."
"What Tan'er has been fighting for for so many years and has not given up will soon be gone, do you know that?"
"You guessed wrong." Ning Yi replied lightly, looking back at the direction of the council hall, the lights overflowed from there and spread over, among them, there was a sense of restlessness, "It should be almost the same..."