Chapter 891 Banquet (Part 1)
Arriving at the oily black gate on the east side of Rongguo Mansion, Zhang Cheng lightly pulled the reins to slow down the horse.
Just as he was about to step onto the stone to get off his horse, he suddenly saw Zhou Rui approaching with a big smile on his face. He stretched out his hand to the west and said, "Today's banquet will be held in Rongxi Hall. Please hurry up a little."
Zhang Cheng didn't notice anything wrong. He followed Zhou Rui's instructions and drove the carriage towards the main courtyard of Rongguo Mansion.
But Sun Shaozong frowned in the carriage.
This Rong Xi Tang has a plaque bestowed by the emperor, and it was also the place where the old Duke entertained guests, so it has a subtle symbolic meaning of tracing the lineage.
When Lady Jia favored her younger son Jia Zheng and forced him to live in Rong Xi Tang, it caused a lot of controversy - it was only because Jia She was not a presentable guy that it did not cause a bigger backlash.
Now that Jia Zheng is not in the capital, Jia Lian insists on holding the banquet in Rong Xi Tang instead...
Is he trying to seize power?
If this is really the case, I must not get involved. I must quickly find an excuse to refuse this banquet.
But on second thought, Jia Yuanchun is now in power in the palace, and even if Jia Lian really wants to compete for the throne, he should not make trouble at this time.
"Butler Zhou."
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong lifted the carriage curtain and walked around, asking attentively, "Has the second master of the mansion already returned to Beijing?"
"You can't hide anything from me!"
Zhou Rui hurried to the window, tilted his shoulder and smiled flatteringly, "Our second master just returned to Beijing this afternoon. As soon as he heard that you were coming over in the evening, he immediately ordered a banquet to be held in Rong Xi Tang, saying that he wanted to hear about your trip south to quell the rebellion."
Of course, things were not as simple as Zhou Rui said. In fact, after Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang met, they started a cold war.
Except in front of Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang never said a word to Jia Zheng on her own initiative. But when she spoke to others, her cold words and sarcastic remarks made Jia Zheng feel very uncomfortable.
Because of this, when he heard that Jia Lian was going to host a banquet for Sun Shaozong in the evening, Jia Zheng immediately took over the hosting of the banquet - to put it bluntly, he just wanted to find an excuse to get away.
Stop talking nonsense.
Upon hearing that it was indeed Jia Zheng who had returned, Sun Shaozong finally felt relieved and allowed Zhang Cheng to drive the carriage to the corner gate of the main courtyard.
As soon as he lifted the curtain of the carriage, the brothers Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu came out to greet him.
Somehow, Sun Shaozong suddenly remembered the first time he saw Jia Baoyu.
At that time, Mr. Bao was crying bitterly for the death of his gay friend. The makeup on his face was washed off, as if he was crying tears of blood. He looked more like a woman than a woman.
Although Jia Lian at that time was also a well-known dandy, he was still handsome in appearance.
However, the situation is now completely reversed. Jia Lian has been learning from Jiang Yuhan for more than a month, and his every frown, smile, and gesture are becoming more and more charming and elegant.
On the contrary, Jia Baoyu's face looked much cleaner, completely different from the man with makeup and makeup in the past.
Although this was probably because , Sun Shaozong still couldn't help but sigh that things had changed and people had changed.
"Second Brother Lian."
"Ji Lang!"
"Brother Sun!"
After the two of them exchanged greetings, Jia Lian leaned over and said "please", while leading Sun Shaozong inside, he said with a wry smile: "I wanted to have a good time with Erlang, but I never thought that my uncle heard that you were coming and took over the host."
Sun Shaozong laughed and was about to joke with him, but suddenly he remembered something and said hesitantly, "Second brother, in front of my uncle, I'm afraid it's... I'm afraid it's not easy to talk about it, right?"
Jia Lian naturally understood that he was referring to the matter of letting Ping Er go, so he smiled and raised his eyebrows and said, "Erlang, put your heart at ease. Since you are here, I will never let you go back empty-handed."
Seeing the two people acting so mysteriously, Jia Baoyu, who was standing next to them, couldn't help but become curious and asked what was going on. But he couldn't ask in front of his father.
Sun Shaozong quickly laughed and changed the subject.
Although it is not uncommon for good friends to give beautiful concubines to each other nowadays, it is not something that can be discussed openly.
The three of them chatted and laughed all the way, and soon they arrived near Rongxi Hall. They saw Jia Zheng standing outside the door from afar. Sun Shaozong hurriedly stepped forward and pretended to be terrified, saying, "How dare I trouble my uncle to wait here? I am guilty, guilty!"
Jia Zheng came forward and helped him up. He subconsciously scanned his forehead first - perhaps because he had heard the legend of the Bloody-eyed Judge - and then said, "Nephew, there is no need to be polite. Come on, come on, let's talk inside."
As he said this, he personally took Sun Shaozong's arm and walked into Rong Xi Hall side by side.
The large round table was already filled with a dazzling array of items, including all kinds of birds and animals.
Jia Zheng and Sun Shaozong took the two seats in the middle, while Jia Lian sat quietly on the left. Only Jia Baoyu sat there with a smile on his face, and did not dare to take a seat on his own.
Jia Zheng looked at him with a sidelong glance for a moment, then snorted and said calmly, "You sit down too."
"Thank you, sir, for the seat."
In fact, Jia Baoyu might not really be willing to sit at the same table with him, but he naturally did not dare to say anything else in front of him. He sat down obediently, and took the initiative to pick up the teapot to pour tea and water for everyone.
Sun Shaozong then took the opportunity to praise him, "During the past two years when my uncle was not at home, Brother Bao has made a lot of progress."
"snort."
Jia Zheng snorted at his son, then turned to Sun Shaozong with a friendly expression and said, "We still need Erlang's help. I heard that Erlang's student almost won the first place in the autumn examination."
"I'm ashamed to say that."
Sun Shaozong hurriedly tried to distance himself from the issue: "How can I teach others with my little knowledge? I am just taking up a title. The real person who taught him is someone else."
Jia Baoyu, who was standing by, couldn't help but interrupt: "That's the gentleman that Brother Sun invited for Brother Lan!"
Hearing that he was Jia Lan's teacher, Jia Zheng asked a few more questions and learned that Yu Qian was now the Chief Secretary of the Household Department, and that he had once criticized the problems of "there are two suns in the sky and multiple orders" during the palace examination.
Jia Zheng was very satisfied and thanked him solemnly on behalf of his grandson. He put the wine cup back on the table and suddenly became serious again. He stroked his long beard and was silent for a while before asking, "I heard that Erlang is still supporting the prince?"
This is really straightforward!
Not to mention Sun Shaozong, even the brothers Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu did not expect that Jia Zheng would ask such a straightforward question.
Everyone opened their eyes wide and wanted to dissuade him, but they didn't know how to do it.
Sun Shaozong's expression suddenly became solemn.
According to his understanding of Jia Zheng, this uncle, at least on the surface, always behaves like a modest gentleman. Logically, he would never be so reckless and aggressive.
Is it because his daughter is expected to give birth to a "prince" that he is feeling proud?
Or did his temperament change when he was the education commissioner in Jiangxi?
He secretly complained in his heart, but since Jia Zheng asked so directly, Sun Shaozong naturally could not avoid answering.
After a moment's deliberation, he slowly said, "The Crown Prince is the sovereign, and he has done nothing wrong recently. As a subject, I dare not and cannot neglect him."
Bang!
Jia Zheng slammed the table and said excitedly: "That's exactly the truth! As subjects, we should respect our king! When I came to the capital this time, I heard a lot of nonsense on the road. It was really unbearable to hear!"
As he said this, he turned his head and looked at Jia Lian solemnly: "Lian'er, you will go and tell Feng girl in detail that if anyone in our house dares to talk nonsense about the emperor's family affairs, they will be beaten out!"
