After the naughty children left, Zhu Pingan tidied up the messy table made by the naughty children, caught the innocent toad in his hand, walked out the door, placed the toad in the flower garden outside, and then used
Covered loosely with soil.
Okay, let's continue hibernating.
After that, he returned to the room again, laid out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and continued to practice calligraphy. This time, no naughty children came to disturb him, until a little maid came to say that the Hou Mansion was hosting a dinner reception, so Zhu Pingan collected the pen, ink, paper
Yan, followed the little maid to the front hall where the banquet was held.
Turn left and right, go through the mountain verandah, and pass through several doors before arriving at the banquet place.
This is a living room. The entrance is a red sandalwood screen carved with pine and crane patterns and inlaid with jade stone seats. There are several tables with tilted heads on both sides. There are large porcelain vases and marble inserts on them. There are as many as five or six. The furnishings and decorations of the living room
Gorgeous, meticulously carved, inlaid with marble, precious stones, enamel, etc., although it looks beautiful, it has a strong suspicion of trying to compete for wealth.
There is a nave and a couplet hung in the center directly above the living room. The couplet reads: "Coarse clothes, light food, and some tea. This blessed old man enjoys a harmonious family, a country, and a peaceful world. Such things are not allowed to happen."
Even with simple meals, everything is so extravagant.
This couplet should have been left by the ancestors of the Li family who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to found the country. However, looking at the furnishings in the living room, one knows that this couplet by the ancestors of the Li family was left in vain.
When he entered the living room, Zhu Pingan found that everyone else was already seated. Most of them were girls. Sitting in the middle was a silver-haired old woman who looked like she was in her sixties. She was praised by everyone.
Surrounding her like the moon.
The second, third, fourth and sixth ladies of the Hou family were all sitting around the old woman, with Li Shu sitting a little further away.
The old lady of the Hou Mansion held a little Loli in her arms. The little Loli bit her chubby fingers and looked at Zhu Pingan. There was also a naughty child leaning on the old lady's knees, looking at Zhu Pingan at the door with a provocative look.
As soon as Zhu Pingan entered the living room, everyone turned to look at Zhu Pingan.
"Hey, who is this big brother? Is he the person we are waiting for? Why are you here? Niuniu is getting hungry from waiting." The little Lolita in the arms of the old lady of the Hou Mansion bit her chubby little finger.
, covering his belly with paper, looking at Zhu Pingan with a cute look on his face and asked.
"That's right. Even if we have to wait for so long, my sister and I are still not polite enough." The naughty boy who was leaning against the old lady of the Hou Mansion looked at Zhu Pingan with a provocative look on his face and said.
Then, the old lady of the Hou Mansion's face, which was already bad, turned even worse.
The sixth lady of the Hou Mansion covered her mouth. Hearing this, she let out a chuckle and looked at Zhu Ping'an with eyes filled with gloating.
Understood.
The little maid just now must have been instigated by one of them and deliberately delayed calling her for a long time. It was really interesting. It seemed that there were many people in the Hou's mansion who were unhappy with her.
"I'm really ashamed that I was born late."
Zhu Ping'an bowed and apologized to everyone, readily admitting that he was late, and did not pull the little maid who had just called him out for a confrontation or anything like that. They came well prepared. How could they allow themselves to catch the handle?
It's better to admit your mistake directly and readily.
"That's all, take a seat."
The old lady of the Hou Mansion, sitting in the middle, put on a straight face and waved her hand to signal Zhu Pingan to sit down. Then a little maid walked up to Zhu Pingan and led Zhu Pingan to another table.
Ancient etiquette: For seven years, men and women sit on different tables and eat with different utensils. When a child reaches seven years old, men and women cannot sit together or eat at the same table. In the Marquis Mansion, it is even more particular.
The old lady and the others sat at the same table, while Zhu Pingan sat at the same table, with no one to accompany him. It seemed that the Hou Mansion really didn't take him seriously. After Zhu Pingan sat down, he became more certain about this issue.
The meals were served one after another in a luxurious and extravagant manner. Even Zhu Ping'an had more than ten dishes on the table, not to mention the table of the old lady of the Hou Mansion and others.
"Ancestor, I'm just in time for dinner."
There was a voice outside the door that was unique to a boy's changing voice. Then he saw a familiar fat man trotting in.
This fat man is very familiar. He was the last one among the group of noble disciples who rode into the city at the city gate. He was also the one who kissed everything he brought with him when he was waiting in line for the examination, which meant that the kiss was stable.
What weird fat guy did you pass?
When I heard people calling him Fatty Zhou or Master Zhou at the city gate, I thought his surname was Zhou, but I didn't expect that his surname was Li. That must be because the last character of his name was "zhou".
This fat man is not the same type as the fat man Xue Chi. This fat man is the pure second generation ancestor. From the inside out, he exudes a strong second-hand atmosphere.
This fat man was the most beloved of the grandsons of the Hou family and the old lady of the Hou family. He still had a slightly untroubled look on his face. His face was filled with smiles and his eyes were narrowed in laughter.
"You monkey grandson, your nose is so good that you came here just after smelling the fragrance of rice." The old lady of the Hou Mansion smiled from ear to ear, beckoned the fat man to come over, and asked with concern, "Why are you sleeping here?
You'll be here soon, why don't you sleep more? You spent nine days and seven nights in the examination room, but your grandmother was worried. You fell asleep as soon as you entered the house, and your grandmother didn't ask you, how did you do in the exam this time? "
After hearing what the old lady of the Hou Mansion said, the fat man said with a arrogant look, "Don't worry, ancestor, my grandson is on the safe side this time."
Zhu Ping'an at the other table was speechless after hearing what the fat man said. "You've kissed me, right?"
Li Shu, who was sitting at the table, rolled her eyes when she heard this. She had long heard that this cousin of her uncle's family was the most unreliable. When she was a child, she was like a pig, lazy, stupid, greedy, and self-righteous. She didn't know that her uncle was the most unreliable.
It took so much effort to get him qualified for the National Examination, but now he dares to say that he has passed it, which is ridiculous. If Zhu Ping'an can still say that, I don't understand where you get the confidence.
"Okay, okay, you know my monkey is a promising person." The old lady of the Hou Mansion smiled even more heartily after hearing this, "It's not in vain for your mother and the others to go to the temple to pray for you."
"Hey, who are you?"
The fat man walked into the living room and was about to go to the table of the old lady of the Hou Mansion when he suddenly noticed Zhu Ping'an, stopped and asked with a fat face.
Before Zhu Pingan spoke, the naughty kid who was leaning against the old lady of the Hou Mansion ran out and howled at the sound. He hugged the fat man's thigh and pointed at Zhu Pingan.
"He's a bumpkin here to take advantage."
The naughty kid pointed at Zhu Pingan, squinted his eyes and said to the fat man. There was still a little flame in the little eyes that looked at Zhu Pingan.
Hearing this, Fatty Zhou looked at Zhu Pingan with disdain. It turns out that this country bumpkin is a pariah who dared to take advantage of our Linhuai Marquis Mansion.
"Rui'er, what are you talking about? He is your future fifth brother-in-law." Miss Six of the Hou family covered her mouth and smiled.
Except for Li Shu and the little maid Baozi behind her, no one else had any intention of educating the naughty child about Zhu Ping'an. Instead, they felt gloating about his misfortune.
"I don't want a country bumpkin to be my fifth brother-in-law. I want my grandma's cousin to be my fifth brother-in-law, and I don't want this country bumpkin."
The naughty kid looked at Zhu Pingan with an unhappy look on his face and howled.
"Ahem, Tongyanwuji, Tongyanwuji. Okay, come here Rui'er, come to sister." The second young lady of the Hou family held a handkerchief in her slender hand and coughed, half trying to smooth things over.