Yuan Fu Nushu

Chapter 134, Guests at the Princess Palace Banquet
On the night of the New Year’s Eve, heavy snow covered the ground half a foot thick, and the mountains and rivers were covered in silver. Every household in Beijing and outside Beijing held wine to celebrate the new year. The Palace of Dayi Dachang Princess is no exception. This year’s Princess Palace is exceptional. Lively, a rare occasion since the emperor ascended the throne.

The big red palace lanterns used only in the New Year illuminate the gate, along the open gate, through the screen wall to the main hall, all the way is brightly lit.

The door of the main hall was also opened wide. Feixue went to the corridor for a spin, and was rushed away by the cheers from the hall. In the main hall today, there are no less than 500 guests of the eldest princess.

Whether it’s the princess mansion or the prince’s mansion, they should be built according to the regulations. The number of gates, how wide, how high and how deep, it’s not just whatever you want. It stands to reason that the princess doesn’t care about the government, and the main hall of the princess is inferior to the king’s mansion. main hall.

There are also exceptions, such as Princess Dayi, who was favored by the old emperor before she got married. Her main hall did not conform to the specifications of the predecessors. The size of the main hall of the palace.

When the first emperor was alive, it was often open here. The first emperor lay on the sickbed all the year round to govern the country. Finally, he came out to write the imperial decree and the memorial. Known behind the scenes as the "little imperial court", the abolition of Prince Shunyi and the second invasion of the palace were discussed here.

Mama Cui brought the girls to serve the dishes, and swayed past the corridor outside the hall. She couldn't help feeling secretly that it hadn't been so lively in many years. Since the funeral of the former empire, the main hall has been tightly closed. Opening the main hall again was rejected by the eldest princess.

On this New Year's Eve, Hongmei Yingxue bid farewell to the old and ushered in the new, and the heavy palace door also opened its embrace, using the atmosphere full of years in this palace to accommodate the scholars of this imperial examination.

Here, apart from the new talents brought by Yuan Lian, the other inmates brought out by Yuan Lian after he kindly took in the scholars, there are more than a dozen children from Huacheng Qiao’s family in the extreme south, and the leading scholar is Qiao Shuangyu. , his grandfather worked for the eldest princess back then, and participated in the planning of the second palace invasion after Prince Shunyi.

Lu Fei, a scholarly family in the inland Jincheng, took his children with him. His father worked for the eldest princess back then.

Like them, there are about a dozen families of scholars from other provinces who come to live here, and each family has a dozen, two, or 30 people. With the addition of the second uncle, Yuan Lian and others, there are only a lot more than 500 people.

In addition, after Yun Zhan returned to the Ming emperor, the vigilance caused by Yuan Lian rescuing the frozen and hungry scholars at the end of the alley, except for the scholars who were ordered by the emperor to take care of the scholars who came to Beijing for the exam, Princess Dayi extended an invitation to all the scholars in Beijing tonight , Anyone who is willing to come here for a glass of wine can come in calmly.

So the gate is open, the palace lanterns are shining and the road is bright, and the main hall is full of mats and pavings, and those who come later can only sit in the side hall.

The family cheered up and were busy, and the kitchen also had a heavy responsibility tonight. The dishes, drinks and drinks were served one by one, and everyone dared not neglect.

When the wine covered their faces, most of the scholars were no longer restrained, and raised their glasses from time to time to toast to the master sitting in the palace. Naturally, the princess sipped it casually, and the scholars drank according to their ability, and the wine once again made the scholars talk.

"Hahaha, I naturally admire your brother's high opinion, but I have a few different opinions, younger brother." He Ning spoke loudly at his table.

Two scholars at the other table argued: "Your brother's words are wrong. It is a smart move for the Ma family to overturn the case. Otherwise, the whole family of the women who have been dragged down will not be at peace. I think it will be easy for me to marry each other. .”

"Brother, you are talking nonsense. When you see a flower on the side of the road, you choke it away. The flower can't talk and can't hold you back. The girl is a person. She was molested. How can things related to reputation be ignored?" Get it to the end? Listen to my brother, the shameless Ma family is too rampant, he first denies his mistakes, and then bullies others with his power. He hasn't won for more than a year, and he wants to get a wife for nothing. This matter, my generation of scholars will take care of it!"

The highest official of the Ma family came to Yunnan as the chief envoy. He is a powerful official in a province. He was overthrown by a commoner girl and has not been able to stand up until today. Suddenly, rumors are released that the case will be closed with marriage. This news first shocked Beijing, and now it is flying to other provinces. Ben.

Among scholars, farmers, businessmen and commerce, only scholars dare to speak boldly. Generally, farmers only care about the weather, craftsmen value craftsmanship, and businessmen only care about profits. Only scholars are prime ministers. When I was an official, I first previewed the government affairs, and I felt that I was right.

Yuan Lian listened with a smile, the voices of hundreds of people could not be heard with both ears, but in this hustle and bustle, he miraculously felt peaceful in his heart.

What my father said all the year round echoed in my ears again and again: "The clumsy man talks a lot, the foolish man speaks impetuously, the frustrated man complains, the proud man is proud, just say what you think."

Before entering Beijing, father and son had a heart-to-heart talk, and Yuan Lian knew about his father's past affairs, so he also understood that his father's words that suddenly popped up sometimes, "If you don't go up, you don't go down, it's actually his perception."

At this time, Yuanlian understood more clearly, and his father was right.There were no fewer than six or seven voices coming into his ears at the same time, and Yuan Lian listened to them, every sentence was childish and impetuous.

It's better to stay root, Liu Gen is an obedient child, tell him not to talk too much, he just reads every day, or goes to Wang's house to attend lectures, and sometimes the hundred or so people brought from Xinji gather together to discuss books, Zheng Liugen never participates , He only worked silently according to what the teacher said.

Thinking of this, Yuan Lian looked for Zheng Liugen. He always took Zheng Liugen to sit, but not today. Today, the guests were all at the big round table and the square table of the Eight Immortals. Even the location.

One of Lao Kuan's couch is like a small Luohan bed. If Yuan Lian is a casual person, he can shrink his legs and sleep when he is drunk.

The left is the top, the right is the bottom, and the bottom right is the niece and son-in-law Yun Zhan, which is the order.

Zheng Liugen followed Qi Yue to sit, not far away, Yuan Lian looked over, saw that Song Han was also talking to someone, there were two empty seats next to him, Qi Yue and Zheng Liugen were nowhere to be seen.

Yuan Lian smiled in surprise: "Hey, why are there two missing?" There was a waiter next to him. , Zheng Xiucai seems to have gone back to the room."

There are too many guests today, so you don't have to say hello to the host when you go back to the room after eating, you can just say hello to the waiter, Yuan Lian is not surprised, but I always think why these two returned to the room early?

Is it impossible to hear angry gossip in the Duke's mansion, the hospitality of the niece, son-in-law and in-laws are really thoughtful, if there is a sentence or two that is not guarded, it should not be ignored.

Did you get angry outside?

Except for those who can't come here for a reason, all the scholars from the Mid-Autumn Festival all gather in the capital. In the Wang family's family school, we often see unruly people, and there are two arrogant representatives among them. Talk to them more.

(End of this chapter)