high official

Chapter 196 Cold Face
Empty city planning is the pinnacle of wisdom, and riding alone into the enemy's camp is the pinnacle of courage. Regardless of wisdom or courage, whichever reaches the pinnacle will be invincible in the world.

Wang Xian has neither the wisdom of Zhuge Liang nor the courage of Huo Qubing, but the rich man in Fuyang is not Sima Yi, let alone the King of the Huns!Wang Xian, who has experienced cruel baptism in Pujiang, has surpassed everyone in the county in terms of wisdom and courage, and he can do whatever he wants without any restrictions.

In the final analysis, these people are no longer his opponents...

When the boat docked at the pier, before it stopped, the firecrackers were set off on the shore.With the sound of crackling firecrackers, flaming debris, and white gunpowder smoke, the dock workers took over the cables thrown from the ship and tied the two ends of the ship skillfully.After the pedal was put down, Wang Xingye and his wife slowly got off the boat under the support of four servants with heads held high.

At this time, the sound of firecrackers stopped, but the sound of gongs and drums sounded again. The lions on both sides began to dance and fight hard, trying to attract the attention of the distinguished guests.Amid the increasingly dense drumming, the lions on both sides slowly stood up.

The moment he stood up straight, the sound of the drum stopped abruptly. After a few breaths, the drummer struck twice hard and crisply. The lions on both sides opened their mouths at the same time, and each spit out a red vertical banner!
When the scroll was unfolded, the vertical banner on the left said 'Guining Naibang', and the vertical banner on the right said 'Yu Yourongyan'!
Although they didn't quite understand what it meant, Wang Xingye and Aunt Wang still applauded vigorously.The gentry and wealthy businessmen rushed forward, bowing to greet the New Year, full of "good luck", but their eyes drifted behind the two of them - there, Wang Xian, who was wearing a big cloak, was hugging his little niece, taking it easy. Come down slowly.

"My lord! Congratulations to the new year!" "Congratulations to the new year, my lord!" Sure enough, when Wang Xian got off the boat, the voices of the officials, gentry and wealthy businessmen suddenly increased several times.Although they didn't want his father to see the difference, some emotions couldn't be faked.

"Hehe, Happy New Year everyone." Wang Xian nodded with a smile, teasing the niece in his arms, and said, "Xin'er, hurry up and pay New Year's greetings to grandpa and uncle." He was also obedient, obediently hugged her pink and tender little fists and shook them vigorously.

"This child is so good!" All the gentry said with smiles on their faces, but the wealthy businessmen took out the red envelopes they had prepared and stuffed them into Xin'er's arms.The gentry didn't expect to have children, and now it was too late to prepare, so they stood aside with their hands tied, and immediately felt embarrassed... The merchants won another round.

After collecting the new year's money for Xin'er, Wang Xian glanced at his father who was being courteous to everyone there, nodded to everyone, then stepped into Erhei's carriage, and was about to leave without waiting for his family to join him.

How could the gentry let him go like this, a few members held the door frame and said with a calm face: "My lord, we have prepared a banquet in Zuixian Tower, please honor it."

"..." Sitting in the carriage, Wang Xian couldn't see his expression clearly, his voice was low and palpitating: "I'm a little tired, I appreciate it, let's talk about it another day." He said to the driver: "Drive."

'drive! The coachman waved his whip, and Erhei slowly drove out of the pier.

"What's wrong, Mr. Wang?" The gentry were a little dumbfounded.

"Don't be surprised, he's been like this for the past few days, with a stinky face after the Chinese New Year." Wang Xingye explained for Wang Xian: "It's like everyone owes him [-] hanging money."

The gentry thumped in their hearts, Wang Xian was very angry, and the consequences would be serious...

"I'll prepare a feast to welcome the wind," the gentry had no choice but to ask for the next best thing: "I also invite the Lord Wang and the uncle to show you the honor."

"Oh, I just promised Li Yuanwai and Lu Yuanwai." Wang Xingye said with an apologetic face, "Aren't you together?"

"No..." Seeing that even Wang Xian's father could not be invited, the gentry couldn't help feeling very depressed.

"Let's go. How about I go to Li Yuanwai's side and let Wang Gui come to your side?" Wang Xingye had a very good idea.

"This..." The gentry couldn't tell whether to laugh or cry, and said in their hearts that we should treat Wang Da to a fart!But after thinking about it, if even Wang Da couldn't be invited, today's trip would be a big embarrassment.Even if you want to get down the stairs, you have to agree quickly: "Good idea..."

So Wang Xingye followed the members of the chamber of commerce to Zhou's restaurant, Wang Gui followed the gentry to Zuixianlou, and the female family members were sent to Wang Gui's house, where the Hou family waited on them.

However, Wang Xian did not live in Wang Gui's house, but stayed in a separate property outside Lu Yuan's.In order to welcome his arrival, Lu Yuanwai just tidied up a few years ago, prepared the furniture expenses, and sent eight servant girls to take care of him.

In the study room in the backyard, Wang Xian had already taken off his cloak and thick boots, and was wearing a nearly new lake blue satin thin cotton robe, very crisp trousers, white cloth socks, and black satin shoes, and sat comfortably on the chair.Underfoot is a white copper brazier, burning smokeless fine silk charcoal.On the Eight Immortals table at hand, there are eight tall plates containing fruit snacks.

After eating two pieces of dim sum, Wang Xian sipped the top-quality Biluochun, looking relaxed and unrestrained.

Shuai Hui stood aside. Although he was going to be an official next year, he still regarded himself as a servant in front of Wang Xian and refused to sit down.But his face is full of excitement, and he narrates with joy, his own scenery these days:

"It's been quiet for a few days since I came back, just walking around with some good friends in the yamen. Unexpectedly, since the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, my family has never stopped having guests. At first, it was the housekeepers, nephews and the like from the big families who came to see me off. Order New Year's goods. Later, when I heard that I had already sued, the gang members completely let go and came to visit the door all day. My grandfather was very cheered at first, but then he got tired of greeting..." Shuaihui laughed and said: " Let's put it this way, it's been more than half a month, and I haven't eaten at home except for the New Year's Eve dinner."

"I haven't slept at home yet." Erhei came in with a hot square tray. "This guy will die in a woman's belly sooner or later."

"I like this one." Shuai Hui hurriedly carried the fruit plate, let Er Hei put the tray down, and said with a smile: "Everyone has their own preferences, just like your taste. I didn't curse you to death."

"Come on, my lord still has to eat." Erbai glanced at him, and said with a smile: "Your lord is right not to go to the banquet. Lu Yuanwai invited a chef from the capital, which is not comparable to the restaurant in the county." Said coveted Sanchi said: "Authentic Jinling Roast Duck! You can't find it anywhere else!"

Wang Xian did not expect that there was a freshly baked roast duck on the tray, maroon red, dripping with oil, steaming hot, and it also came with steamed lotus leaf cake and green onion sauce.What is the difference between this and the Beijing Roast Duck of later generations? Why is it called Jinling Roast Duck?

After thinking about it, he remembered that in a few years, the capital of the Ming Dynasty would be moved from Nanjing to Beijing. It is estimated that the roast duck was passed on at that time.Who cares, authentic and delicious is king!
Wang Xian skillfully picked up a piece of lotus leaf cake, spread it with scallion dipped in sauce, and sandwiched a piece of roast duck.The chef's craftsmanship is really good, the slices are very thin, each slice has skin, oil and meat, rolled up and took a bite, moved Wang Xian almost to tears, this is the taste!It hasn't changed for hundreds of years!
Inviting the two to do it together, the wind and the clouds killed the whole duck. The three of them ate with red faces and enjoyed it.When it was exciting, Wang Xian asked the chef to come over to meet him. He was an old man in his fifties, thin and well-groomed. He didn't look like those greasy, round cooks who looked like a lion's head.

"This old man's surname is Gao, where did he work?" Wang Xian said with a smile: "This roast duck is not a typical shop's craftsmanship."

"Your Excellency is ridiculous." The chef said with a chuckle: "This old man's surname is Dong, you can call me Old Dong. I have worked in many shops, and my craftsmanship is not very good."

"Okay, I say yes!" Wang Xian said domineeringly as always: "Look and see!"

Shuai Hui brought two slings of money, the chef took it, thanked him politely, took the tray and went down.

"This cook is quite classy." Shuai Hui touched his head and smiled.

"One person, one personality," Wang Xian shook his head and smiled, not caring.

However, after a while, the cook came back with the tray. It turned out that he steamed the custard with the bowl of duck fat he handed out while roasting the duck, and boiled the duck rack into soup.The egg custard is golden yellow, and the duck soup is milky white, making people mouth-watering.It turned out that Chef Dong expressed his gratitude with actions, not words.

This greatly increased Wang Xian's affection for him.Once again, the egg custard and duck soup were both tender and delicious, which made people feel that Chef Dong should have a little personality.

After the food was removed and the tea was served, Wang Xiancai asked, "What are they looking for you for? Isn't it just a routine?"

"Actually, it's just trying to trick me." Shuai Hui laughed and said, "Ask your lord's experience in Pujiang, ask who your lord is friends with, and ask your lord if you really know the imperial envoys of the Fan and Taiwan?" He said with a smile: "The most important thing , It’s a side note, asking how the adults are going to deal with them.”

"What did you say?" Wang Xian asked.

"According to your lord's instructions, of course I hesitated to say anything, but I accidentally gave them some serious information." Shuai Hui said with a smile: "I said that before your lord left Pujiang, Zhou Niantai had a special talk with you for half a day. Shi Chen seems to want you to go back to Fuyang to investigate some case. They were so anxious that they asked me what the case was, and I said I didn't know, but Zhou Natei personally ordered it, it must not be a trivial matter."

"Later, they seemed to have inquired about it and found out that this conversation really existed." Erhei also said, "Then they started guessing. Some people guessed that it was after the fall... At the beginning, they asked the salt transport envoy to detain the grain ship, and let the feudal lords come to Taiwan They all lost face, now Zhou Ningtai threw his hands out and wanted to deal with them; some people guessed that Master Wei sent a message to Zhou Ningtai, asking him to help deal with them... In short, there are all kinds of guesses, and they are all on their own. Scared to death."

"Well, I'm most afraid of this kind of half-truth and half-false nonsense, no one dare not believe it." Shuai Hui said with a smile: "In addition to that old bastard Li Yuanwai defecting, they are completely discouraged. They found me in the middle of the night last night. You want me to have a word with the adults."

"What?"

"There is some misunderstanding about this matter, they absolutely dare not confront the adults, please let the adults let them live." Shuai Hui said.

"..." Wang Xian smacked his lips, stroked his chin, and said, "Why do I feel that I am in their hearts, just like suing for impermanence?"

"Well, almost." Erhei nodded.

　It's late, so hurry up and continue writing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)