Chapter 316: This is my sworn brother [Thank you all for your support! Bowing again!]

"Da Niangzi, the meal has been set."

Bai Daniangzi said with a smile: "Let's go, let's go eat."

Xu Zaijing stood up with a smile, glanced at Qingcao, and said: "Qingcao, you don't need to follow."

Qingcao bowed: "Yes, thank you, Young Master."

Xu Zaijing waved his hand and continued talking with Gu Tingye as he went to the hall where they were eating.

Pingmei glanced at Qingzhi and smiled: "Qingzhi, go to the back and help keep an eye on the hot water."

Qingzhi replied that she would.

Afterwards, Qingzhi and Qingcao walked side by side to the stove in the back and greeted the Gu family's elderly woman who was watching the stove.

Qingzhi and Qingcao were both personal maids, so the Gu family's elderly woman naturally recognized them.

"Two young ladies, do you need hot water?" As she spoke, she was about to pour the hot water out.

"Mama, don't trouble yourself. It was my young lady who asked me to come over and watch."

"Oh, oh!" The elderly woman nodded, smiled, moved over two low stools, and said: "Sit, sit and chat."

After Qingzhi and Qingcao thanked her, they found a corner that wouldn't get in anyone's way, sat down, and chatted sporadically.

The two young ladies, who came from Little Liangshan, had been away from home for nearly ten years.

Now they had both become first-class maids in the Hou Fu, their monthly allowance had risen to over three taels, and their food, clothing, housing, and transportation were all provided by the Hou Fu.

The two of them sent a sum of money home almost every month.

"Sister Qingzhi, I really want to know what the newly built courtyard at home looks like."

"Sister Qingzhi?"

Qingzhi: "Hmm? What's wrong?"

Qingcao: "What are you thinking about? I said I want to know what the newly built courtyard at home looks like!"

Qingzhi forced a smile and said:

"Just write a letter and ask."

Then she looked at the Gu family's elderly woman who was carrying hot water out, and Qingzhi whispered:

"My brother wrote in a letter that there is a little nephew at home, and he wants my niece to come to Bianjing too."

Qingcao was stunned, nodded, and said with great emotion: "Sister Qingzhi, when we entered the Hou Fu, we were about her age, right?"

Qingzhi looked at Qingcao and said: "When you left home, you were even younger than her."

"Are you and those two little maids sent by the Xiangyang Hou Fu getting along well?"

"Good, they know more than I do, before they had an upset stomach..."

After hearing what Qingcao said, Qingzhi asked suspiciously: "Why? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Sister Qingzhi, will you stay in the Hou Fu?"

Qingzhi looked at the returning Gu family's elderly woman and whispered to Qingcao:

"The eldest young lady vaguely mentioned this intention to the Master before, but the Master did not agree."

"However..."

Qingcao's eyes lit up and she urged: "However what?"

Qingzhi continued to whisper: "However, there is a younger brother of a sister-in-law from the Zhu family who is now serving under Viscount Zhu, and it is said that..."

Qingcao covered her mouth and smiled: "Shall we meet him then?"

Qingzhi shyly pushed Qingcao.

The two little sisters chatted for a while longer, and then they were called aside to have lunch.

On the way back to Quyuanjie,

They weren't as hurried as when they went,

And Xu Zaijing also sat in the carriage to go back because he had drunk some wine.

Xu Zaijing's closed eyes suddenly opened, and he said: "The Zhu family disciple under Cousin's command?"

Qingcao nodded hurriedly.

"Do you know his name?"

"You didn't ask? You only told half of this gossip."

Qingcao said:

"Young Master, this servant asked, but Sister Qingzhi wouldn't say no matter what."

"Remember for next time, go directly and ask those capable sisters-in-law of the Zhu family."

Qingcao said hesitantly: "Young Master, it's not yet certain if this will happen, so asking like that..."

Xu Zaijing closed his eyes, exhaled a breath of wine, and said:

"With Qingzhi's looks, there is only one reason if it doesn't happen: that Zhu boy is blind."

Upon hearing this, Qingcao nodded in total agreement.

Arriving at Quyuanjie,

After putting the various items brought back by Bai Daniangzi, his sister, and Gu Tingyi into Sun Shi's courtyard,

And drinking some hangover soup in his mother's courtyard, Xu Zaijing finally returned to his own courtyard.

Time passed,

It was already the day of the Lantern Festival.

For the Bianjing Lantern Festival,

The lantern frames and colorful lanterns were not just started in the ten-plus days between the end of the New Year and the Lantern Festival,

But had already begun after the Winter Solstice, when the weather turned cold.

A few days ago, when the envoys from various countries left the capital, roughly after the seventh day of the first lunar month, these colorful lanterns and paper figures that had been built for a long time began to be colored and lit.

End of the Wei hour (after 3:00 PM),

At this time, the sky was bright,

The streets were full of noisy chatter, hawking, and cheers for acrobatic performances.

Xu Zaijing and Qingyun were riding horses, and behind them, in the Xu family carriage, Qingcao and two other maids were lifting the curtains to look outside.

The target the three maids were looking at was two tall flagpoles in the distance.

These flagpoles standing in front of the Xuande Tower at the south gate of the Imperial City were much taller than those outside the Shenbao Temple.

There was no one on the horizontal poles at the top, but several huge paper-crafted statues of divine lords and fairies were hanging there, along with ribbons made of thin gauze.

Under the blowing of the north wind, the brightly colored ribbons looked from afar as if real immortals were standing in the air, their clothes fluttering.

"Young Master, look at that, it's really beautiful! Before, they only came out when it was dark, so we couldn't see this."

Xu Zaijing nodded and said: "If you want to see more, we'll come out earlier next year."

In the carriage, the three little maids nodded repeatedly.

Because it wasn't time to watch the lanterns yet, there weren't many commoners on the road.

When Xu Zaijing and Qingyun rode their horses to the front of the restaurant and were about to turn to go upstairs, Qingyun stood up on the horse's back and looked, saying:

"Young Master, under these two flagpoles, there are anti-cavalry obstacles all around. It seems no one can get close."

Xu Zaijing nodded and said: "No matter which way it falls, it would be a big deal."

As the two were talking, they dismounted in front of the building, and the maids behind them hurriedly took down the food utensils from the carriage and followed.

In the main hall of the building, there weren't many guests.

Xu Zaijing led everyone to the third floor.

On the way upstairs, Xu Zaijing discovered that there was a screen at the entrance of the stairs on every floor.

The waiter in the shop knew it was invited by Gu Yuan Erlang of the Ningyuan Hou Fu, so he led Xu Zaijing into a private room.

The window facing the Xuande Tower was open.

When Xu Zaijing stood in front of the window and looked down from a high vantage point, he could just see the open space where the flagpoles stood, surrounded by anti-cavalry obstacles.

In the open space surrounded by the obstacles, there were also several sheds. Just then, a team of people holding musical instruments entered the shed.

Soon,

The sound of silk and bamboo wind instruments mixed with cheers and hawking, spreading far to the upper floors.

Before long,

Gu Tingye brought the noble disciples from near Xingguo Lane to the upper floor.

Behind him followed the sons of the collateral branches of various families.

A large group of masters and servants came in a swarm.

The screen Xu Zaijing had just seen became a dividing line; the men walked on the left, while the young ladies of each family went to the right.

In the private room on the third floor,

Rong Xian grabbed a handful of dried fruits from a tray held by a maid from the Zheng family of the Zhongjing Hou Fu, eating and walking while nodding.

He came to Xu Zaijing's side, looked at his attire, and said:

"Jing Ge'er, your attire... why does it look so familiar?"

Hearing this, Xu Zaijing smiled, shook his clothes, and said: "This is what I wore when I went to the palace to pay New Year's greetings on the first day."

Rong Xian frowned, thought for a moment, and nodded.

Then he looked at a silk flower pinned to Xu Zaijing's head and said: "Jing Ge'er, lend me your flower to wear."

Xu Zaijing said: "Wait a moment, Qingcao, bring another silk flower over."

Soon, Qingcao walked over with a tray containing several silk flowers. Xu Zaijing waved his hand and said: "Pick one yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zaijing was pulled by Gu Tingye to Zheng Xiao and the others, and he said to a person dressed as a scholar:

"This is the son of the Fu family, Earl of Changxing, the eldest legitimate son, Fu Boran, Big Brother Fu. Before I went to the Sheng family, I studied with him."

"In the future, if there is a chance, let's discuss academics together."

Xu Zaijing looked at Fu Boran, whose temperament was somewhat similar to Changbai's, and cupped his hands: "Nice to meet you."

Fu Boran felt somewhat uncomfortable, but also cupped his hands and said: "Nice to meet you."

Looking at Fu Boran's appearance, Gu Tingye looked at Xu Zaijing with slight suspicion in his eyes.

Xu Zaijing pretended not to see Gu Tingye's gaze, but after looking around, he pointed and said:

"Changbai and the others are here."

"Brother Fu, please excuse us, we two are going to..."

Fu Boran hurriedly said: "Go, go!"

The two walked away. Xu Zaijing put his hand on Gu Tingye's shoulder and whispered in his ear:

"This person, before the eldest sister reached the age, cough! Their Fu family also let Wu Daniangzi pass a word to my family."

"Ah?"

Gu Tingye had a look of surprise on his face.

Xu Zaijing nodded and said:

"Yuan Erlang, why are you so surprised?"

"In Bianjing, when one reaches the appropriate age, they will ask about several families. It's likely the same for us."

Gu Tingye shook off Xu Zaijing's hand and whispered: "What do you know? Big Brother Fu, he... he told me a few years ago that he had a young lady in his heart..."

Xu Zaijing: "So?"

Gu Tingye: "No matter how I asked, he wouldn't say, only that he had already asked Wu Daniangzi..."

Xu Zaijing's eyes turned, and his expression also changed: "No way? My eldest sister?"

Gu Tingye nodded.

Xu Zaijing continued: "Then what about him now?"

"He's married."

Xu Zaijing breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Tingye whispered annoyedly: "If you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't even know about this!"

Xu Zaijing raised his eyebrows. To be honest, if it weren't for Gu Tingyu 'making a move' quickly, as the pillar of the family, he might have been the one to decide on this Fu family son.

Alas, it was fate but no destiny.

Xu Zaijing whispered: "This matter, you know and I know, it must never be let known to more people!"

Gu Tingye nodded.

As the two were talking, they had already arrived in front of Changbai.

Xu Zaijing hugged Changbai,

And Gu Tingye was not to be outdone.

Changfeng, who was behind Changbai, also opened his arms, but Xu Zaijing only rubbed his head.

"Brother-in-law didn't come today?"

Changbai said as he looked at Xu Zaijing.

Xu Zaijing said: "He's at home accompanying his wife."

Changbai nodded.

"Brother Chaojie, and Brother Rui, you're finally here!"

"Jing Ge'er, take good care of Changbai and Changfeng."

As he spoke, Gu Tingye let go of Xu Zaijing and walked towards the disciples of several civil official families.

Changbai and the others already knew most of the noble and civil official family disciples who were invited.

Only the Fu family son, who didn't come often, was not very familiar to Changbai and Changfeng.

Xu Zaijing naturally acted as the introducer.

He led the two Sheng brothers to Fu Boran.

Changbai just didn't talk much, but he wasn't dull. After some conversation, Changbai's eyes were full of thought, and then his eyes were full of understanding.

He smiled and nodded at Fu Boran.

And Changfeng, after nodding slightly at Fu Boran, took advantage of a gap in the conversation and said:

"Big Brother Fu, I wonder if your family has any relationship with the Feng family of the Duke of Cheng?"

Fu Boran said: "Yes, my younger brother married a legitimate daughter of a collateral branch of the Feng family."

Changfeng smiled and said: "Then we are relatives! My elder brother's aunt is also from the Feng family!"

Fu Boran's eyes lit up: "Oh! Then we really are relatives. I wonder which branch of the Duke of Cheng it is?"

Watching the few people who started chatting openly, Xu Zaijing patted Changbai on the shoulder. After Changbai nodded to signal Xu Zaijing to go,

Xu Zaijing came to the entrance and smiled and chatted with the two sons of the Pei family, Duke of Xin, for a while.

Before he had said two sentences,

A young boy's voice shouted at the entrance: "Sworn brother? Brother? Where are you?"

The voice was not small, and the people in the room looked over one after another.

It was Gu Tingye who looked and said to Xu Zaijing: "Jing Ge'er, it's Zong Ge'er."

In Xu Zaijing's line of sight, the first to appear was the Mama of the Lu family's eldest branch, Duke of Lian. She bowed to everyone in the room embarrassedly, and then bent down to pick up Lu Zezong.

After Xu Zaijing nodded to the Pei family sons, he walked a few steps and took Lu Zezong into his arms: "Mama, I'll watch him."

The Mama nodded with a smile: "Okay! This servant will wait outside."

After Xu Zaijing nodded, he held Lu Zezong and came to the Pei family sons, smiling: "My sworn brother, Lu Zezong of the Duke of Lian family."

The three sons of the Pei family, Duke of Xin, looked at each other, then cupped their hands together at Lu Zezong: "Little Uncle."

Lu Zezong didn't answer. After looking at Xu Zaijing, he whispered: "Sworn brother, I didn't bring any reward money. Should I answer?"

Xu Zaijing held Lu Zezong with one hand and scratched his head with the other: "People have already called you that, you can't not answer."

Lu Zezong looked at the three Pei family sons and said: "Hey!"

This sound was not small, attracting several people to look over.

After Xu Zaijing put Lu Zezong down, he said: "Qingcao, come here, take Zong Ge'er to play in the room, and don't run around."

Qingcao hurriedly walked over and took Lu Zezong aside.

After chatting with the Pei family sons again, he learned that their mother was of the same generation as Lu Zezong, and seeing the six young ladies of the Lu Viscount family, they also had to call them Little Aunt.

Of course, their relationship with Xu Zaijing was calculated separately.

"By the way, Jing Ge'er, I heard that the Old Madam of the Duke of An went to the palace to complain about you?"

Xu Zaijing: "No, no, she complained about the fourth brother of the Zhang family together."

"I heard from my father that the promotions of the Tan family people have all run into problems."

The Pei family son said.

"Their family doesn't even look at the position of the Duke of Ying in His Majesty's heart. I heard from my father that when His Majesty first ascended the throne, their Tan family didn't..."

"Cough, cough, cough."

The Pei family son stopped talking.

Xu Zaijing said: "This place... can see the lanterns in front of the Xuande Tower, and can also eat and drink to one's fill here, and continue to stroll around. It really is a good place."

"Yes, yes."

As he spoke, he changed the subject.

The sky gradually darkened,

Inside the Imperial Palace,

Imperial Consort Rong held the little princess,

And looked at Rong Feiyan, who was unhappy, saying:

"Yan'er, what's wrong? Being able to go to the Xuande Tower to watch the lanterns is a favor that was hard to ask for!"

"Not happy?"

Rong Feiyan tightened her cloak to cover herself more tightly, cleared her throat, and said: "No."

Jiying Lane,

Sheng family,

Master Sheng and his wife and children all went out to watch the lanterns,

And Sheng Changmei was also sent to Shou'an Hall by Wei Shuyi.

In the distance,

The booming sound of fireworks came,

But Wei Shuyi could only listen to the sound under the eaves, recalling the scenes of her childhood.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 317 =====