Rise From the Humble

As the morning sun slowly rises, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion becomes more and more lively.

People from the neighboring Duke's Palace of Wei, the Founding Duke's Palace, Dingyuan Marquis Palace, Lingbi Marquis Palace and the homes of civil and military officials with relatives and relatives came one after another to wish the old lady of Linhuai Marquis Palace a birthday. There was an endless stream of people visiting. Linhuai The gate of Hou Mansion is like a city. All the visitors came with gifts. The stewards of Linhuai Marquis Mansion registered one by one. As a result, a thick stack of paper was tallied. Three stewards were responsible for the statistics. My hand was too tired to write. I can change someone and continue writing.

The main room of the Linhuai Marquis Mansion was specially cleaned and covered with scarlet blankets. All the gifts sent by the guests were received by the maids and servants, and were temporarily placed here for the birthday lady to have a blessing before they were put into the warehouse. .

The gifts given by the guests were dazzling and valuable, including birthday stars made of jade Ruyi, immortal peaches made of precious amethyst, rosary beads made of rare South Sea pearls, bonsais made of tall corals, etc. Wait, everything placed outside can cause a stir among people. After seeing it, the birthday lady’s face was filled with smiles, not to mention how satisfied she was. There were too many gifts, and the old lady couldn’t see them, so she waved her hand to the maids. All moved to the warehouse.

"Hehe, ancestor, you don't look at other people's gifts, but you have to admire the gifts from our children and grandchildren." The round little face of the sixth lady of the Hou Mansion smiled playfully, showing her little tiger teeth, and hugged the old lady's The arm said coquettishly.

"You monkey is still looking for your ancestors, it's up to you." The old lady patted Miss Six's arm dotingly, and nodded with a smile.

Then, starting with the second lady of the Hou Mansion, they presented birthday gifts to the old lady of the Hou Mansion one by one.

The second lady presented a set of hand-embroidered longevity Buddhist scriptures, the third lady presented a cup made of ten-thousand-year-old jade engraved with the image of an immortal, the fourth lady presented a pair of flat peaches offering longevity, and Li Shu presented the South China Sea Coral Guanyin. The Longevity and Wan'an presented by Miss Six led her hand to the back to sit on the mattress, saying that she made it herself.

The old lady smiled with satisfaction, very happy for the filial piety of her granddaughters.

Then, I don't know who started it, so I instigated to pick out the birthday gifts for the husbands of several ladies and put them in front of the old lady.

The second lady and their future husband-in-law gave gifts of great value, and the old lady was very satisfied. The only exception is the birthday gift of the future fifth son-in-law of the Hou Mansion, that is, Zhu Ping'an's birthday gift. Zhu Ping'an's birthday ceremony is different, the same is a birthday speech written by Zhu Ping'an himself. The other is that Li Shu asked Baozi's little maid to send over jade carvings for Zhu Ping'an to celebrate Magu's birthday.

However, after the Sixth Miss of the Hou Mansion laughed and said that she looked at the jade carvings for Magu's birthday, which she seemed to have seen in the Fifth Sister's room, the expression of the old lady of the Hou Mansion turned bad, according to what the Sixth Miss said. The jade carving belonged to the fifth girl, which means that Zhu Ping'an only sent a copy of his own writing to send the beggar!

As a result, the complexion of the old lady of the Hou Mansion suddenly became bad, and she waved her hands to ask people to move all the gifts to the warehouse.

The front yard of the Hou Mansion is even more lively now. Among the people who came to Huaihou Mansion to celebrate their birthday, there were six or seven young men of the same age as Fatty Zhou. They were all dressed in bright clothes and smelled like second-generation ancestors. These were among the princes and nobles who were accustomed to hang out with Fatty Zhou. The son of the family, after presenting the birthday gift, he dragged Fatty Zhou to sit on the table, asked Fatty Zhou to accompany him, and shouted and drank six.

Zhu Ping'an was sitting at the table in the corner, and the people at the table with him were some distant and poor relatives who were inconspicuous in the Hou Mansion.

Fatty Zhou's table. It's not too far away from Zhu Pingan's table. After all, it's in a courtyard, but Zhu Pingan's table is a little more remote. The people on Fatty Zhou's table looked familiar to Zhu Ping'an. If he saw correctly, the people on that table were the same group of second-generation ancestors who ran rampant at the gate of the city in brocade hats and mink fur coats when they came out of the capital.

Zhu Ping'an's table was relatively quiet, probably because they were poor relatives in the Hou Mansion. The Hou Mansion did not allocate too many people to accompany them, except for serving dishes. There are no girls or servants to wait on me.

Relatively speaking, Fatty Zhou's table was much more lively. There were two girls waiting on the table, pouring tea and wine. Excellent care.

From their conversation, Zhu Ping'an could probably tell that this group of second-generation ancestors seemed to look down on Fatty Zhou.

"Hey, Fatty Zhou, why haven't you gone racing with your brothers these days? Why are you so afraid of losing?"

"That's right. Will you pay a few rouge horses soon? You'll have a great time riding them at night."

There were two second-generation ancestors sitting on the table, crossing their legs, tossing fruits and playing with them, squinting their eyes and mocking Fatty Zhou. These second-generation ancestors are either the noble sons of Wei Guogongfu, Founding Duke's Palace, Dingyuan Houfu and other princely families, or they are the sons of third- and fourth-grade officials' families. Their family background is no less than that of Fatty Zhou, so when they mock, they will not hesitate. pressure.

Fatty Zhou is fat. He can ride horses, shoot arrows, fight cocks and walk dogs. He is often no match for these second-generation ancestors. In terms of literary talent, he is not even half-full, so naturally he has no advantage. Other than that, , Fatty Zhou still has some disadvantages in his character. He has a strong temperament and a little bit of a coward. He is not a bloody person.

Therefore, he is often the target of ridicule among the second generation ancestors, and this time is no exception.

"Whoever is afraid will compete with you next time." Fatty Zhou had a fat face and showed no sign of weakness.

"That's what we said." The second-generation ancestors looked at each other and smiled, feeling quite proud. This was good, and they saved money for drinking wine in the future.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that the third room in your residence is married to a bumpkin from the countryside? Is this the case?"

"Hahaha, I just can't figure it out. When did your Linhuai Marquis Mansion drop in price like this? Doesn't this embarrass our nobles?"

Several second-generation ancestors heard the secrets of the Hou Mansion from nowhere, and they questioned Fatty Zhou on the table, mostly with ridicule in their tone.

Zhu Ping'an in the corner smiled helplessly after hearing their chat. Why did the news of his engagement to Li Shu spread so far that even these second-generation ancestors had heard about it. It seems that I have been laughed at again, haha, what happened to the country people? Who said that a poor family can't rise.

Fatty Zhou was speechless after hearing the ridicule from the buddies around him, because what these buddies said was true. Although his grandmother and father had discussed breaking off the engagement many times, they had not done so yet. He couldn't help but secretly complain about Zhu Ping'an in his heart, causing himself to be implicated and ridiculed.

"Why, it still doesn't work, hehehe, even the bumpkins from the countryside are not spared. How ugly is your fifth lady?"

Seeing the fat man's expression, a second-generation ancestor couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha, he must be like you, he must be so strong."

The other second-generation ancestors couldn't help but laugh.

"How could it be possible? My fifth sister is more beautiful than Princess Anyang." Fatty Zhou felt emboldened at this time and choked while twisting his neck.

"Just brag. If Princess Anyang was half as beautiful, she wouldn't find a country bumpkin."

Fatty's words not only had no positive effect, but made the second-generation ancestors laugh even harder. Princess Anyang is a famous beauty in the capital, and there are few in the whole capital who can compare with her. Fatty Zhou said that her fifth sister who was engaged to a country bumpkin was more beautiful than Princess Anyang. That was not bragging.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that you took the national examination a few days ago, haha, how was it?" After laughing, someone else remembered Fatty Zhou's participation in the national examination and couldn't help but ask.

"Stable." Fatty Zhou replied confidently.

"Hahaha, let me tell you, God is really fair." After hearing Fatty Zhou's words, a second-generation ancestor said while holding back his laughter.

"Oh, what do you say?" Fatty Zhou asked curiously.

"Hehehe, although you look ugly, you think beautiful, hehehe." The man couldn't help laughing.

The others burst into laughter.

"That's right, our brothers don't know what you are like. We grew up together wearing crotchless pants. Just let our uncle fill your gaps in the Beijing camp, the garrison camp, etc., and you will try whatever you want. , stop joking, it’s all in vain.”

None of these second-generation ancestors were optimistic about Fatty Zhou's examination.

"You must have been stimulated by Xu Laosan. Xu Laosan has been eager to learn since he was a child. He passed the boy's examination and the provincial examination without relying on Wei Guogong's efforts at all. That's Xu Laosan. It’s really stable. Why did he go home after showing his face just now? That’s because he heard that the results might be released today, so he went home and waited.”

The Xu Laosan this person is talking about is the third son of Wei Guogong's family next door. Wei Guogong inherited it from Xu Da. Xu Laosan is well-known in the capital for his quick thinking and photographic memory. Although he sometimes hangs out with Fatty Zhou and the others, his literary skills are solid.

Some time ago, Xu Laosan passed the provincial examination. They went to drink wine to celebrate. There was an oiran who made Fatty Zhou jealous for a long time and spent a lot of money. As a result, the oiran heard that Xu Laosan was the candidate who had just passed the provincial examination. After becoming the master, I posted it upside down without taking any penny. At that time, Fatty Zhou was stimulated. With a fat face, he threatened to pass Xu Laosan's examination.

Just now Xu Laosan from Wei Guogong's house was also together, but he went home after giving birthday gifts. Of course, he also ridiculed Fatty Zhou severely before going home.

"Hmph, wait and see."

In response to the ridicule of the second generation ancestor, Fatty Zhou shook his fat face and said through gritted teeth, which made the second generation ancestors laugh again.

There will be at least one more chapter today, I won’t break my promise.