Lady Zhao

Chapter 15

Mr. Zhao is in his forties, the emperor favors him, and the old lady likes to be lively. This time, the 66th birthday banquet was held with great splendor.In the Dingguo Mansion, the red lanterns with the characters of longevity were hung on the eaves of the entrance last night. People on the street have long been arranged to guide the guests and horses. The middle gate is wide open, and drums and instruments are waiting to be played. The sounding firecrackers have been prepared in the concierge.

From the middle gate to the main courtyard, there are servants standing every two feet on the main road, and there is a huge white jade vase more than four feet high between them. And so on all kinds of auspicious things.

Mrs. Zhao asked Mama Yang to tie up a dignified bun for her. On top of the bun, three pearl chains were hung, and three Ruyi hairpins of the same color, the same picture and the same style were adorned on the side, which looked noble and majestic. , when Mama Yang was about to put tin flowers on her temples, the old lady stopped her.

"This is enough, I don't want to be so fancy as an old lady." While speaking, Mrs. Xipinghou entered the room, followed by a cold Xipinghou and a handsome young man, and the three greeted the old lady together.

Mrs. Zhao asked Mrs. Yang to present the meeting gift she had prepared early in the morning, and gave it to the young man. After carefully watching it for a while, the young man passed on the good news to his parents with a handsome face. , is a good boy who is young and promising.

Uncle Xiao, the nephew, and the old lady thought that the young general who was so high-spirited in those days turned out to be the second son shrouded in horse leather, her chest hurt and her eyes dimmed.

Mrs. Xipinghou was careful, so she naturally knew where the old lady was hurting. She dragged her son aside, and she stepped forward to comfort her, "When the second brother left, the mother was the one who was most worried about you. It has been more than ten years now. I'm not at ease in heaven."

"Hongyuan and I are as close as brothers. The old lady regards me as him and serves you for Hongyuan." Xipinghou, who had been silent since he greeted him, walked up to his wife, hugged her shoulders, and patted her To show comfort, with the same pained look in his eyes as the two, he spoke earnestly.

Mrs. Zhao wiped the corners of her eyes, feeling more guilt in her heart, "Wen Fang went with Hongyuan, leaving behind a child who was waiting to be fed, but I didn't even take care of this child. It's death, every time I think about it, I don't know how to explain to Hongyuan when I go to Jiuquan in the future."

The child in the old lady's population is Zhao Hongyuan's only daughter, Zhao Wenxi. The second brother passed away less than a year ago, and the younger brother and sister went with her after the winter. In the chaos, the wet nurse was separated from the escort with the baby in her arms.After receiving the news at that time, the Duke Dingguo's Mansion and the Marquis of Xiping's Mansion searched everything they passed along the road, but they couldn't find anyone. Judging from the situation at that time, the wet nurse and the child probably didn't save their lives. The old lady knew it in her heart, but she just didn't want to admit it.

"Today is the eldest brother's birthday, let's not talk about it anymore, it's almost time." Mrs. Xiping Hou was afraid that the old lady would be depressed, so she talked.

The old lady answered with a choked voice, calmed herself down, walked out slowly with the support of Mrs. Xipinghou, came to the door, looked at the lively scene outside, and still couldn't help sighing, "Fourth this year I still don’t come back, this is still complaining, this family, I don’t know if I can gather and return to people after I die.”

"Bah, bah, bah, what kind of depressing words did my mother say on the auspicious day? The fourth child was out doing business and couldn't make it back. There is no lack of courtesy. I saw a bunch of boxes, and I delivered one of them yesterday." Marquis Xiping Madam said quickly.

Mrs. Zhao shook her head and said nothing more after all.

It was almost time, and the chief steward of Duke Dingguo's mansion ordered a few servants to spread sugar and distribute birthday bags at the door.The onlookers cheered loudly, and rushed up as the candy lumps fell to the ground, huddling together to form a pile, desperately grabbing candies, and stuffing candies into their sleeves, arms, and clothes pockets.They were laughing and laughing while grabbing candies, and shouted loudly from time to time: "I wish Master Zhao a happy life without boundaries!"

Zhao Hongsheng happened to come out to greet the guests, and the children who were scrambling for candies saw the master come out.A few who looked particularly clever broke through the encirclement and ran in front of Mr. Zhao, knelt down on the steps and kowtowed, uttering a lot of auspicious words smoothly.

As soon as these few took the lead, the rest of the children ran over and kowtowed after them.The surrounding farmers and common people did not neglect, bowing together to congratulate, there were congratulatory sounds everywhere for a while, mixed with the sound of firecrackers, although they were in a mess, they were very happy.

Just at this time, the three big firecrackers were all set off, and the servants put away the bamboo poles to salute and leave. The steward led the man into the mansion.

Mr. Chen just received the favor of Mr. Zhao, and came to celebrate his birthday with a big gift. By the way, he talked about the sons of the Zhao family. He learned that the second son, Zhao Yuanjin, was going to participate in this autumn, and he said a lot of compliments. Zhao Hongsheng's mood was quite smooth, and he thought that Zhao Yuanjin could gain fame in this autumn.

Just as he was welcoming the guests, Steward Ding, who was beside Zhao Hongsheng, saw the eight-treasure chariot of Cuigai Zhuying appearing on the street not far away, and reminded his master.When the carriage stopped and Zhao Hongsheng got up to greet him, a handsome man in a crow-blue dark-patterned fanciful silk gown got off the carriage straight away, bowed to Zhao Hongsheng, and said, "Master Zhao."

He was not very surprised to see Zhao Hongsheng coming. He had heard that the Sixth Prince was not sociable, but he had never done so before.After the two exchanged a few words of pleasantries, Zhao Hongsheng led them into the mansion himself.

Here, Gu Jingxing entered the door, and there was another burst of firecrackers from the street outside. Following the long gift-giving procession, he came to the door with a team of people carrying large and small gift boxes. He came to celebrate his birthday as a royal.As for the things that he didn't bother to do in the past, why did he suddenly want to do it today? The sixth prince said...he was happy.

At a quarter of noon, the birthday banquet began, and Butler Ding called all the guests to their seats.Not far away, a high stage play shed was set up, and since before the birthday banquet started, they had been beating and beating to add to the fun. At this moment, Tsing Yi shook off her water sleeves and started babbling. , followed by non-stop applause.

On one side of the main hall, there is a huge space separated by six doors and windows. The room is full of people, and the room is filled with jewels and jewels. The female guests have already taken their seats. The old lady and Mrs. Xipinghou are naturally in the middle, and then drive on both sides, and then row down. , there are many benches and high chairs, a few Ruyi square tables carved with crabapple lacquer, and seven or eight maidservants with blue and brocade patterns are interspersed, refilling tea or adding melon and fruit snacks for the female guests.

As the birthday banquet began, the maids removed the refreshments and began to serve the dishes.Pine Hericium erinaceus, Squid Soup with Lotus Leaf Chicken, Stir-fried White Mushrooms with Beef Tenderloin, Roasted Fish with Golden Legs, Skillfully Roasted Wild Goose and Kites, Shredded Crab Meat with Double Bamboo Shoots... A series of delicate dishes are put on the table, full of color, fragrance and taste. It makes people move their index fingers.

"The old lady's taste is light and vegetarian, and Mrs. Xipinghou can't taste seafood... The dishes on these two tables have been changed by the chef. If you have anything that doesn't suit your taste, just order." The big and small matters of the banquet are still in the hands of Mrs. Ye, but she dominates such small details that sell well, and she can't miss any chance to show her face.

There was a lot of toasting outside, and the men were discussing things with wine, drinking happily.Zhao Hongsheng turned around several tables one after another, no matter how good his alcohol capacity was, he still felt a little drunk. When he returned to the back room to rest for a while, Aunt Xia was already waiting for him with hangover tea. While rubbing his forehead for him, she looked out of the door from time to time .

Not long after, Zhao Wenxuan came in holding a long flat brocade box quite preciously, and handed it to her father, while she stood at the lower end, and said obediently, "Father's birthday, Wenxuan personally made a piece of embroidery, I wish my father Blessings are like the East China Sea, longevity is like the South Mountain.”

Zhao Hongsheng was extremely happy today, no matter how great the gift was, it was the thought that counted, Zhao Wenxuan had already moved him with her own hands, and she couldn't wait to open it, but after seeing it, the smile froze at the corner of her mouth, and her expression was sick.

"Father asked me to see what my sister is thinking." Zhao Wenwan followed, followed by some Zhao family members.

When Aunt Xia was about to cover the box, she quickly took it out with her sharp eyes, and there were lumps of yellow marks on the embroidery, which looked extremely dirty.

"Tsk tsk, my sister's embroidery is amazing. The egrets and hibiscus flowers are embroidered really well, lifelike. It's a pity. My sister shouldn't be greedy for cheap and ruin the whole embroidery with this kind of silk cloth. That's it. Can you still get it?" Zhao Wenwan mocked unceremoniously.

Zhao Wenxuan's face turned blue and white, and she stared at the embroidery in disbelief, her face was full of surprise, she got up early and checked it again, why did she look like this now, she used all kinds of cheap silk cloth Excellent!Zhao Wenxuan's eyes fell on Zhao Wenwan, and seeing the success in the other's eyes, she immediately remembered that she came to ask for the embroidery yesterday at noon.

"It's you, you came to see it yesterday, you must have tampered with it!"

Zhao Wenwan's expression darkened immediately when she heard the words, "Hmph, I wanted to see at the time, my sister was like a baby, she locked the box back with just one glance, preventing me from being like a thief, Wen Xue can also testify, now You are slandering me!"

Zhao Wenxue, who was suddenly named, looked bewildered. After listening to Zhao Wenwan's words, she nodded, "My sister didn't do it."

"You..." Zhao Wenxuan gritted her teeth with hatred, but she couldn't find any real evidence. Seeing her father's disappointed expression and everyone's mocking gazes, she blushed, feeling her face was hot.Thinking that until yesterday, he had never heard of Zhao Wenwan preparing a congratulatory gift, he still felt unwilling to say, "It's better than you not caring about your father's birthday at all!"

Zhao Wenwan narrowed his eyes, hooked the corners of his mouth, and asked rhetorically, "Who said... I wasn't prepared."

(End of this chapter)