After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 288 Banquet

On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the New Year's Eve banquet held by the Zhenguogong Mansion was a grand occasion with many guests.

However, the people who came were not all officials or prominent families from outside Chang'an City. Most of them were relatives and friends who had close contact with the Duke of Zhen Guo on weekdays - not including the relatively distant distant branch tribesmen, but also the colleagues and subordinates of Duke Zhen Guo and his son. . As for the officials of the Chang'an government office, the high-ranking military attachés of various guards, or the military attaches stationed at the border who returned to Chang'an to visit relatives and report on their duties, they would not receive invitations unless they were relatives and friends of the Zhenguo government.

This is also to show the outside world that the Zhenguo Government or the Zhou family do not control the power of the northwest frontier army and manage the entire frontier army as their own.

As for whether the emperor and the court would believe it, that is another matter.

But even so, the New Year's wine was still very grand, and there were still many guests coming to the banquet. The gate of the Zhenguo Palace was opened, and the entire front yard and the school grounds were set aside as a banquet venue. Several large courtyards were also opened inside the second gate to entertain female guests. It is said that there were eighty seats in total, and it was very lively. Many guests said that in Chang'an City, no one would be able to spare such a large place if it were not for the Zhenguo Mansion to entertain guests.

Since it was such a grand occasion, neither the Hai family's relationship with the Zhou family nor the official rank of the head of the family, Hai Xiya, was up to the level of a distinguished guest, so it was natural that they would not be entertained as guests of honor.

Xie, Cao and Lu had other places to go, while Hai Xiya took his grandson Hai Jiao to the front hall. The place was not big, with only eight seats, but the people sitting here were basically General Zhou Zhou. His colleagues and subordinates were all old acquaintances of Haixi Cliff. They all brought their children and grandchildren to the banquet. It was just a good time to eat, drink, chat about home affairs, and get closer to each other, which was quite pleasant.

Ma and Haitang were arranged to go to General Wednesday's courtyard inside the second gate. Most of the people sitting here are in-laws of the Zhou family, and there are generally few high-ranking officials. Moreover, most of them are acquaintances of the Ma family, and there are even several in-laws of the Ma family. As soon as Mr. Ma arrived, he felt like a fish in water and chatted with people familiarly. Mrs. Wednesday would come over from time to time and treat everyone to food and drink. Mrs. Thursday also brought her children to say hello to her husband’s family members. But most of the time, the female guests sitting in this courtyard were They were eating, drinking and chatting by themselves. Someone also set up two card tables and played leaf cards lively.

Ma had a lively chat with everyone, talking about his experiences in the past ten years after leaving Chang'an, what he learned after returning to Chang'an, the changes in people and things, the stories of many disappeared faces, and the weddings and funerals of acquaintances from various families. Waiting for gossip. She was chatting so happily that it was hard to disturb her granddaughter Haitang. She is a junior and it is not easy for her to get involved in the chats of middle-aged women. If she didn't want to play with other little girls, she would just sit at the table and eat melon seeds.

Before the banquet started, Haitang had already downed two cups of tea and a large plate of melon seeds. She didn't want to eat any more. If she ate for a while, she wouldn't be able to hold the main course. I heard that today the Zhenguogong Mansion is preparing to restore the tail-burning banquet of the Tang Dynasty court. Haitang has never eaten in her three lifetimes, so she naturally wants to have a big meal. How can she fill her stomach in advance?

She glanced at the corner where the little girls gathered, wondering if she should join in? Although she didn't recognize a few of these little girls, two of them were from nearby neighbors. If she wanted to strike up a conversation, wouldn't it be easy? It's just that she felt that they were all playing with tops, and it would be a bit incompetent for her to join in as a person who had practiced internal strength and whip skills. But compared to sitting around in boredom, chatting with the little girls seems to be more interesting.

Haitang was about to get up when she saw Zhou Yijun coming to find her.

Zhou Yijun is the granddaughter of Sanfang. Although Zhou Shigong and his wife reported illness today, Mrs. Ma was "ill for a long time," and Zhou Jinpu was "busy preparing for exams" and did not come to the Zhenguogong Mansion to have New Year's Eve wine, Zhou Ma was not willing to miss this social appearance. Given the great opportunity, he simply sent his granddaughter Zhou Yijun to Zhou Wenjun, the eldest lady of the Zhenguo Palace. In name, he wanted to keep company with his cousins. In fact, he hoped that Zhou Wenjun could take Zhou Yijun to the New Year's Eve banquet so that more people could see it. My wonderful granddaughter has just grown up.

Zhou Ma could not go against her husband's decision, but she still remembered that her son-in-law would let her granddaughter return to her hometown in Chang'an alone in order to arrange a good marriage. If the officials and famous families in Chang'an cannot see Zhou Yijun in person, how can this marriage be justified?

But Zhou Yijun herself doesn't care much about it. She just thought she was eating and playing at a relative's house, and happily came to find Haitang, wanting to drag Haitang to the banquet where her sisters were. Haitang went to say hello to Ma, who responded readily. This was in the Duke's Mansion, surrounded by people. Was she still afraid that her granddaughter would be lost? She also took the opportunity to ask Zhou Yijun about the health of her eldest sister Zhou Ma. When she learned that Zhou Ma was well, she let the two children go. She didn't even ask her granddaughter to remember to come back before the banquet - as long as she was not hungry, she didn't care. It makes no difference which table among the eighty seats you sit at today to eat.

Haitang and Zhou Yijun ran away hand in hand. They ran away, and only then did a wife on Ma's side react belatedly: "Ah! That sister just now seems to be the granddaughter of the third room, right? I remember seeing the housekeeper of the third room going out of the city to pick someone up. It's a pity that after she got home, accidents happened one after another in the third room, and Mrs. Friday didn't have time to take the children to visit the homes of relatives and friends, so that everyone could recognize each other..."

So immediately someone began to talk about the recent rumors in the third room: "The old lady seems to be seriously ill... I wonder which doctor she saw?"

"Those doctors I was used to seeing in the past have not been invited to his home anymore." The wife who answered the conversation said in a meaningful tone, "I think so, even after taking medicine for so many years, Mrs. Ma's illness has not been cured. After you have been cured, what else do you ask them to do?! Let the patient rest more at home, eat and drink well, take care of less things and worry less, and maybe he will get better faster..."

The ladies exchanged glances with each other. Some looked sad, while others smiled secretly. Obviously, everyone has already heard about what happened in the third room of the Zhou family, and they also know the condition of Mrs. Ma and Zhou Shigong. Apart from anything else, just looking at the carefree look of Zhou Yijun, the granddaughter of Sanfang, who came to relatives' house to have New Year's Eve dinner and play, everyone knew that the heads of Sanfang were not sick at all...

When it comes to the topic of the third wife of the Zhou family, Ma will not get involved. She took a sip of tea and started another topic: "Well, I heard that the Jin family has been in trouble again recently? The old lady of the Jin family is sick again? What kind of disease does she have? She was always said about her more than ten years ago. It’s bad, but it’s really bad that I haven’t seen her after so many years!”

There has been a lot of news about the Jin family in Chang'an City recently. This is also a topic of interest to the wives of minor officials and the in-laws of the Zhou family. Moreover, compared to the third room of the Zhou family, Mrs. Ma and her grandson openly violated family taboos and poached frontier soldiers, the seventh room of the Zhou family had a rebellious white-eyed wolf son-in-law but got a cheap grandson who knew how to be grateful. There was also the internal turmoil of Chang'an Vanguard, Jin Family gossip is obviously much safer as a topic for small talk.

Ma just started talking, and everyone immediately changed the subject with great interest, discussing the recent rumors about the Jin family: "The old lady of the Jin family seems to be planning to betroth her granddaughter to her own grandson!"

"His family treats their eldest grandson like a precious egg. In fact, he has no ability. He is just a better born. How can he be worthy of his grandson? She is the daughter of a second-grade commanding Tongzhi family!"

"Old Mrs. Jin lured her granddaughter here under the pretense of being sick. She originally wanted to coax the child into agreeing to the marriage. Who knew that the child was not stupid either. She invited a famous doctor to diagnose and treat her and gave her bitter medicine every day. Mrs. Jin herself I can’t hold it any longer…”

(End of this chapter)