Chapter 455: Rising Star [Thank you! Thank you again! Owed 37k version]

There are over 1.5 million residents in Bianjing City,

On this Cold Food Festival,

So many residents did not light a fire to cook,

By evening,

It seemed that the air in the entire Bianjing was much fresher.

Quyuan Street,

Marquis Yongyi Fu,

In the hall of the mistress's courtyard,

The table for the meal was set with appetizing braised dishes, refreshing and crisp cold dishes, and the maidservants were placing the cold noodle meat sauce carefully prepared by the Hou Fu's cook on the table.

After Xu Zaijing and Xu Xu Zaizhang, who had finished school, entered the room, everyone took their seats.

During the meal, there was also lamb wine served by the maidservants to warm the body.

Sun Shi waved her hand to let Hualan, who had stood up to serve, sit down, and looked at Xu Zaijing, who was being helped to roll up his sleeves by Huaxiang:

"Jing'er, I remember you said that the wedding date for Shulan sister has been set. When was it?"

Hualan, who was picking up food for Xu Xu Zaizhang, put down her chopsticks and smiled: "It's this year!"

Hearing this,

Xu Zaijing was stunned,

He had gone through the story of 'Knowing Whether the Green Should Be' several times, and vaguely remembered that three or four years after Shulan got married, the Sheng family's main branch Old Madam passed away after helping Shulan and Scholar Sun divorce. Her health might not have been very good.

Moreover, Xu Zaijing felt that the rapid decline of the main branch Old Madam's health had a lot to do with her self-blame and day-and-night worry about Shulan's future.

But in these years, the Sheng family's main branch business had grown much larger, and they had earned no less money. He didn't know if Sheng Wei had invited famous doctors to treat the Old Madam.

"Hua'er, since the Sheng family's main branch came for their eldest son's marriage, I will invite First Madam Wu to our house tomorrow."

Hualan nodded with a smile.

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen my aunt for a long time. Let's go again today to join in the fun."

After Sun Shi finished speaking, Hualan looked at her sister-in-law Xie Shi.

"Your sister-in-law will naturally stay at home."

Xu Zaijing put down his bowl and chopsticks: "Mother, this son is full!"

Sun Shi nodded: "Jing'er, your cousin Yu Ge'er, the brother-in-law of your Zhu cousin, is getting married soon. Xu Xu Zaizhang is already married and it's not convenient for him to go. I was thinking of letting you go."

Xu Zaijing wiped his mouth with a silk scarf: "Is it the little butterfly girl at the Sheng family?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 456 =====

One could vaguely see quite a few clouds in the sky today.

On the horse racing field, a figure in armor was brandishing a long spear.

From time to time, the 'whooshing' sound of the spear shaft cutting through the wind could be heard.

In the wooden house nearby,

The three maidservants from Xu Zaijing's courtyard were standing at the doorway, craning their necks in anticipation.

When they saw someone appear in the corridor leading from the second gate to the racing field, Hua Xiang stretched out her finger and whispered, "They're here, they're here!"

Yun Xiang called out toward the field, "Young Master, the little babies are here."

"Got it."

A muffled voice came from behind the helmet.

Seeing Qingcao turned back and walked toward Yin Bo, who was wearing new clothes inside the house.

Before long,

Xu Zaijing handed the long spear in his hand to A Lan, who had walked over, and let Xun Shu and the three maidservants help him remove his armor.

After removing the armor,

Xu Zaijing walked toward the wooden house.

Inside the house,

Brother Qingyun and Hua Qing stood to one side.

Yin Bo, dressed in new clothes, was beaming with joy, holding a swaddled infant in each arm.

Looking at the month-old babies in the swaddling clothes, Yin Bo's single eye was filled with love.

"Master, let me take a look."

Xu Zaijing smiled and nodded at Hua Qing, who was quite tall and had bowed to him, then reached out his hands toward his master.

Xu Zaijing had several nephews, nieces, and nephews-in-law; he was not a novice at holding babies.

Yin Bo very trustingly handed over the swaddled infants in his arms.

Seeing Xu Zaijing cradle the two babies in his arms, Seeing Qingcao and the other two maidservants hurriedly crowded around to look at the little babies.

"Young Master, they are truly beautiful."

Seeing Qingcao exclaimed involuntarily.

Hearing the praise for the children, Hua Qing, who had a mark on his face, couldn't help but smile.

Subsequently,

Yin Bo gave Brother Qingyun and Hua Qing a large red envelope as a gift from an elder.

A Lan and Xun Shu gave them small wooden horse puppets they had carved themselves using precious wood left over from the Hou Fu's previous renovations.

Xu Zaijing also gave them a pair of pure gold zodiac pendants, the size of wine cups, matching the babies' zodiac signs.

After handing the two babies back to Yin Bo and everyone had watched for a while,

Xu Zaijing said, "Go on, Mother should be waiting for you in the house at this time."

"Yes, Young Master."

Brother Qingyun and Hua Qing, the couple, carried the children away from the wooden house and walked toward the inner courtyard.

Xu Zaijing went to the stables to check on his mount before returning to his own courtyard.

It was almost the third month,

And green buds had already sprouted on the grape trellis in the courtyard, which was a pleasant sight.

The large fish tank, which Seeing Qingcao usually wiped very clean, had also been moved out of the house.

The Xu family kitchen was still cooking,

And the blue smoke from the stove drifted out of the chimney,

Joining the white steam pouring out of the windows and doorways to become the smoke and fire of life scattered in the air by the morning breeze.

At the hour of Si (after 10:00 AM),

The Hou Fu carriages left Quyuanjie one after another,

One heading west to the West Water Gate, and one heading south to the Little Xiao Xiao Zhi Fang.

At the Little Xiao Xiao Zhi Fang,

The Viscount Xie family,

Xu Zaijing did not visit the Xie family often; the last time was because of the days of heavy snow, when Xu Zaijing and his elder brother walked to the Xie family to deliver coal and food.

Seeing the Xu family's carriages, especially Xu Zaijing,

The Xie family's elderly gatekeeper had a face full of intimate smiles.

The Xu family were true relatives who did not forget to come to the Xie family to check on them and offer help during bad weather. As a long-time servant of the Xie family, the old man had an overflowing sense of goodwill toward the Xu family.

Madam Xie and her third daughter, who was betrothed to the Earl Xiong family, stood at the second gate with their nannies and maidservants.

Behind the two of them, besides the servant women, stood a man and a woman.

The woman was dressed like a married lady; she looked unfamiliar, but her features were somewhat similar to the eldest daughter-in-law, Xie Shi.

Xu Zaijing had seen the man outside the imperial palace before; he was the brother-in-law of the eldest brother Zaiduan, who had helped the Northern Liao deliver two dragon colts and two horse attendants to Bianjing, and was a young master of the Yi family from Zhending Prefecture.

Seeing how intimate the two were, Xu Zaijing had an idea of the woman's identity; it was ninety-nine percent likely to be the eldest daughter of the Xie family who had married far away to Zhending Prefecture.

Seeing the carriages enter the gate,

The mother and daughter led the others to welcome them with smiles.

Xu Zaijing dismounted beside the carriage, looked at the Xie family members, bowed, and cupped his hands: "Auntie, greetings. Sister Fang, Sister Rui, greetings. Brother Yi."

Madam Xie smiled and nodded, while the lady and Sister Rui bowed in return.

The young master of the Yi family also smiled, cupped his hands, and nodded: "Fifth Young Master, long time no see!"

"Grandmother, Auntie."

Xu Xingdai climbed out of the carriage, smiling as he called out to them while opening his arms toward Madam Xie.

After being held in Madam Xie's arms, Xu Xingdai looked curiously at the unfamiliar eldest daughter of the Xie family.

Xu Zaijing's eldest sister-in-law, Xie Shi, also stepped out of the carriage. Seeing the lady behind Madam Xie, Xie Shi was stunned, then called out with a face full of smiles: "Eldest Sister."

The Xie family had three daughters, named in the order of Fang, Fei, and Rui; Xu Zaijing's eldest sister-in-law was the second.

Xu Xingdai, who had never seen his eldest aunt before, heard his mother call out and also smiled and called to the lady: "Eldest Aunt."

The eldest daughter of the Xie family, whose hand was being held intimately by Xu Zaijing's eldest sister-in-law, smiled and said: "Dai Ge'er is truly clever and sensible."

"Thank you for the compliment, Eldest Aunt."

Hearing Xu Xingdai's words,

The people at the second gate all laughed.

"Let's go, let's go into the courtyard."

Madam Xie said to Xu Zaijing while holding her grandson.

Subsequently, the female elders went first,

While Xu Zaijing and the young master of the Yi family followed behind, walking together toward the Xie family's back courtyard.

Sister Rui, who was walking in front, had by now taken Xu Xingdai into her own arms.

She looked back and said to Xie Shi beside her: "Second Sister, why didn't my niece come?"

"She's so young, the nanny is watching her!" Xie Shi replied.

"Then why did Fifth Young Master come along today?"

Madam Xie, who was walking in front with her eldest daughter, heard the conversation and turned her head: "Your Second Sister came home today bringing Dai Ge'er. His father is the Hou Fu's heir, so naturally, he must have guards with him, but the Hou Fu's personal guards are mostly in the Northwest now."

Sister Rui nodded.

Xu Zaijing pretended not to hear the conversation in front,

And just turned his head to say to the young master of the Yi family: "Brother Yi, why are you in Bianjing today? My family didn't receive any news before you came."

The young master of the Yi family smiled slightly: "The Imperial City Guard transferred soldiers from the North to the capital. My wife and I only arrived at the Little Xiao Xiao Zhi Fang early this morning."

"So that's it! Is Brother Yi here in the capital to study?"

The young master of the Yi family nodded and said: "You could say that. After recovering Bai Gao, the several prefectures in the North near Northern Liao have changed quite a bit. Letters from the capital say that quite a few Northern Liao Buddhist followers have entered our Great Zhou territory..."

"Is that title for Northern Liao spies?" Xu Zaijing asked.

"Yes, the lowest level of spies."

The young master of the Yi family continued: "We came to the capital, firstly, to learn how to identify those Northern Liao spies, and secondly, to enter the palace as attendant officials."

Xu Zaijing nodded: "This means that those like Brother Yi who have been selected are going to be given important responsibilities."

"Hahaha, I wouldn't dare say that." The young master of the Yi family waved his hand with a smile.

"Coming all the way south from Zhending Prefecture, I saw quite a few rising stars on the road! Just in Beizhou, I saw several formidable ones; they are the ones who should be given important responsibilities."

The two walked inside while talking.

At the Chai family,

In Autumn Sound Garden,

"East Imperial Garden? That's a good place to go! I heard from Tingyi that in previous years, the flowers and plants presented from this garden could rival those of the Yangzhong Garden on the edge of the Northwest outer city!"

As she spoke, Chai Zhengzheng pinched a piece of candied fruit from a porcelain plate and put it into her mouth.

Yun Mu, who was to the side, said:

"I heard from the Zhang family maidservant who came to deliver the message that it was Miss Rong Feiyan who went into the palace to seek out Imperial Consort Rong, and only then did she obtain the opportunity to enter the garden!"

Chai Zhengzheng said while eating the candied fruit:

"Oh? There's such a thing? Then after the list is posted in a few days, will the scholars who passed the imperial examination this year also be holding a banquet in the East Imperial Garden?"

"Yes, Miss."

Zi Teng lifted the door curtain and walked in, saying to Chai Zhengzheng:

"Miss, Madam says that an old acquaintance of our family has come to the residence to pay a visit, and asks you to prepare to meet the guest."

Chai Zhengzheng was stunned: "What old acquaintance?"

"This servant does not know."

Chai Zhengzheng nodded, took the handkerchief handed over by Fuyi to wipe her hands, and then stood up.

After tidying up, when she was going from the back courtyard to the front hall to meet the guest,

Chai Zhengzheng happened to see Chai Jin walking toward the outer courtyard while smoothing his sleeves.

"Big Brother!"

"Zhengzheng? Are you also going to meet the guest?"

Chai Zhengzheng nodded: "Big Brother, what old acquaintance is Mother talking about?"

"It's the young master of the Zhang family from Beizhou." Chai Jin looked at Chai Zhengzheng's confused expression and continued: "Their family ancestors served as Great Zhou Grand Generals, and they have some friendship with our family ancestors."

Chai Zhengzheng walked with Chai Jin, thought for a while, and said in a low voice: "The Zhang family that produced a favored concubine when the current Emperor first ascended the throne?"

Chai Jin: "Yes, that's their family."

This Zhang family had nothing to do with the Duke of England Zhang family,

But relying on the grace of their ancestors having served as Grand Generals,

They had quite a bit of influence in the military of the Hebei West Circuit, northeast of Bianjing.

The brother and sister walked, and Chai Zhengzheng suddenly said: "Big Brother, Father and Mother shouldn't have any other plans, right?"

Chai Jin was stunned, looked at Chai Zhengzheng to the side, and said: "Your brother doesn't know about that."

(End of chapter)