first minister

Chapter 52 The Eve of the Dinner Party
Backyard, gazebo.

The two old men saw Xia Jingyun.

Concubine De, who couldn't bear her father's anxiety and sleeplessness, had already told her father the truth last night, so the two old men were not worried about Xia Jingyun's danger, but were curious and guessed whether Xia Jingyun could impress Concubine De.

Is it just coming out safely, or can it bring them another surprise.

When Xia Jingyun finished talking about the whole process of his meeting with Concubine De, of course, he concealed a few questions and answers with a lot of information, the attention of the two old people was attracted by the poem.

"Yun wants to look like clothes and flowers, and the spring breeze blows on the threshold to reveal Hualong. If it hadn't been seen on the top of Qunyu Mountain, I would have met Yaotai under the moon."

Su Shidao chanted as he walked, "Great talent, great talent! It's another famous piece of writing just by hand! Gao Yang, your poetic talent really astounds me as the acme of perfection."

Old Master Yun also laughed and said, "I never thought that my daughter could be praised so much, haha!"

"Congratulations, brother Kang Le, once this poem is published, the empress will definitely be famous in history!"

"Haha! It's all thanks to Gao Yang!"

Xia Jingyun said respectfully: "It's really that the empress is as beautiful as a fairy in the clouds, and her temperament is as high as a princess of the nine heavens. This makes my disciples express their feelings and express their true feelings."

Old Master Yun laughed straight, "You can talk!"

"However, Gao Yang, what is the solution to this Yaotai?"

"Oh, Yaotai is the abode of immortals in the sky in an ancient book I read occasionally."

Su Shidao nodded slowly, "It's easy to understand in this way."

"You're still digging for words right now, you're really hopeless!"

Old Master Yun complained mercilessly, then patted a box on the table, "Gao Yang, this one has it."

Xia Jingyun took it and opened it, and inside lay a handle of Yu Ruyi, which was not cheap at first glance.

"Master, this is?"

Old Master Yun explained: "At the dinner party, everyone will present congratulatory gifts to the empress. You can hold it, and you can get it at that time. I have prepared this box a long time ago. I didn't give it to you because you wrote a good poem! Haha!"

I thought it was given to me.
Xia Jingyun secretly laughed in his heart, and immediately felt warm for the old man's thoughtfulness.

But he handed the things back, "Thank you, Master, for your kindness, but I have already prepared a gift for the empress in advance."

Su Shidao persuaded from the side: "You child, don't be stubborn because of some vain self-esteem. Your current family is not rich. This thing is given to the concubine Defei, so there is no reason for you to spend money to prepare it. You remember this, and it will be fine if you return it to your master in the future."

He also added: "Although what happened last night is not true, but the lesson from the past is still there. You can't make a mistake if you are more careful. What if you really offend your empress!"

Xia Jingyun smiled and said: "Teacher, Master, I'm really not pretending to be lofty. I did prepare a gift carefully, so you can rest assured."

Su Shidao wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Mr. Yun, "If that's the case, that's fine. There is still a while before the dinner, but you want to go back to pick up the present?"

Xia Jingyun let out a hum, bid farewell to the two of them, turned around and walked out of the mansion.

"Brother Kang Le, why did you stop me? Wouldn't he be ridiculed if he brought something out that couldn't be put on the table? If it's a waste of money, wouldn't it be that we harmed him?"

Old Master Yun shook his head, "Young man, it's okay to suffer a little. After all, it's my family, even if there is something, it won't be too bad."

"That's right." Su Shidao sighed, "This kid is stubborn! What good things can he give away!"
-
Outside the gate of Yunfu, many pairs of eyes were spying on the grand gate.

Those who paid attention to the movements of the Concubine Defei, those who were concerned about the mobilization of the army, were concerned about everything. Many of them were watching. The young man who had risen to fame in the past half a month, after entering the Yunfu, was like a rumor, and ended here, just like a small pop crossed the sky of Jiang'an County, and continued his fabulous rise.

Xia Yunfei was sitting in a tea shop not far away. Thanks to Erlang's outstanding ability to earn money, they don't have to worry about basic living money for the time being. But it is also because of Erlang's excellence that the eldest son and grandson of the Wanfu Xia family understand from the bottom of his heart that Erlang is much more important to this family than himself.

Although Erlang told him the speculation that he had never shared with others, and although he also witnessed the intimate relationship between Erlang, Mrs. Yun and Mr. Su, Concubine De is a first-rank imperial concubine after all, and accidents often happen when no one cares about him. He, who has always been calm, couldn't really relax until he saw Xia Jingyun's figure appearing.

While he was waiting anxiously, a figure appeared in front of the quiet and spacious mansion gate.

Jiro!

He stood up abruptly, dropped two copper coins, and ran over quickly.

Xia Jingyun smiled and said, "Brother!"

Xia Yunfei resisted the urge to give him a big hug, and nodded reservedly, "Let's go, go home."

With Xia Jingyun's appearance, many people who were waiting for a good show were disappointed.

Surprise, joy, regret, resentment, everyone has their own different reactions.

But they didn't have time to clean up their emotions, because the dinner party was about to start soon.

There were two grand banquets for Concubine De to visit her relatives.

The first one is tonight's welcome banquet, and the second one is a more grand ascent banquet held by all parties on the viewing platform outside the city on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival after staying for more than ten days, and then Concubine De will set off to return to Beijing, which is a farewell banquet.

Although Concubine De had already stated in the official document that this banquet was just to meet everyone, no one dared to take it seriously.

All the chief officials of the six counties in one prefecture arrived, and all the dignitaries from all walks of life in the prefecture rushed over. While waiting, they chatted in small groups.

On such an occasion, it is not only to show loyalty in front of the superior, but also to show one's presence in one's own circle.

If others come, but you don't come, the friendship may be weaker than others in the future, and some things may be missed.

This is the thinking of many people who work in the circle, and because of this, they live a very tiring life, but they think they are successful, and lose themselves in the mutual compliments.

In fact, all friendship in this world is nothing but an exchange.

If you can't do it yourself, making friends a few times won't save you any affection, it will only make your incompetence more thoroughly revealed.

Really great people don't do that.

They never mix in the circle, because the circle exists because of them, wherever they go, the circle is there.

Just like the father and son of the Zheng family at this moment, although the father is only the prefect of a county, he has worked in Sishui Prefecture for more than ten years, and has friends and old officials all over the state; the son is even more remarkable, recognized as the number one son in the state.

Everyone was flattering, and a county official who had gone to the hut came back. He heard everyone chatting and laughing, but he couldn't get in. He was anxious, so he took the initiative to start the conversation, "Mingfu, son, I just came back. On the way, I heard many local people in Jiang'an talking about a young master named Xia. Who is this person? I haven't heard the name before?"

Zheng Tianyu pretended to be deaf silently, but the man asked in a very puzzled way: "My lord, you have been in Jiang'an for several days, have you ever heard of it?"

Zheng Tianyu twitched the corner of his mouth, "I know."

Seeing that this topic was interesting, the staff member became interested, "What's so strange about this person, why did you hear everyone talking about him just now?"

Zheng Tianyu's speech froze, and he quickly picked up his stinky feet at the side.

"No matter how strange it is, it is not as powerful as the young master!"

"Yeah, what a talent you are, how can you notice such little people, and you still pester them to ask!"

Zheng Tianyu's face darkened even more, and he turned his head, trying to see Xia Jingyun walking over with a box in his arms.

He thought about it and walked over.

"Brother Gao Yang."

"Young Master Zheng, it's inconvenient to salute with something heavy in your hand, please forgive me."

Seeing Zheng Tianyu come over to say hello, Xia Jingyun didn't seem surprised at all.

Zheng Tianyu waved his hand, "Is this for Empress Defei?"

Xia Jingyun nodded and lowered his voice, "I have a question for you. Are you afraid that the imperial court officials will have opinions when you accept gifts like this?"

Zheng Tianyu smiled and said, "Mr. Su has such a good relationship with the old man, didn't he tell you?"

Xia Jingyun shook his head.

"This is all ordered by His Majesty, and all the collected things will be filled into His Majesty's inner treasury for his expenses."

Zheng Tianyu smiled, "The king of a country shouldn't take the wealth of the world for his own use!"

Zheng Tianyu was laughing, but Xia Jingyun saw ridicule and disdain in his eyes.

It seems that Emperor Chongning is somewhat unpopular!

No wonder the whole Sishui prefecture is so miserable and thieves are everywhere. This wave is the enemy at the headquarters!
Zheng Tianyu glanced at the box in his hand, "This gift was handed over to the side hall for registration in advance. Only a few big figures in the state and those speculators who really want to gamble will present gifts on the spot. You don't have to hurry there, otherwise you will have to present gifts on the spot."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a sharp shout from inside the hall, "The auspicious time has come, please take a seat!"

Zheng Tianyu shrugged helplessly towards Xia Jingyun, and couldn't help feeling a little dark in his heart.

This time it's finally your turn to be deflated!

With Xia Jingyun's family background, he could see everything he could take out. That box was old and didn't look like a good thing at all.

Thinking of this, his footsteps became much more cheerful.

(End of this chapter)