Chapter 515: Looking at the Fifth Young Master like looking at a monkey [Thanks! Bow again!]

It was already the beginning of winter,

The temperature had dropped,

And the carriage windows of various families in the capital mostly had an extra layer of thick, wind-blocking, and warm cloth curtains behind the thin gauze.

Inside the carriage,

Madam Chai sat in the middle position, looked at her daughter who was lifting the carriage curtain to look outside, and said: "Zhengzheng, it's just a few steps, what is there to look at?"

The locations of the Rong and Chai family residences were both in the east of the Imperial City, not far apart.

Chai Zhengzheng turned her head and smiled at Madam Chai, then continued to look at the street scene without speaking.

Madam Chai tilted her head and glanced outside the carriage, her lips curled with a smile, and she said: "That person is a groomsman today and might have to help the Rong family's young master send the 'urge-to-dress' gifts. It's not that easy to run into him in this short time."

"Look, we've already entered Nanjian Tang Lane."

Listening to her mother's words, a gust of cold wind blew in, moving the window curtain in Chai Zhengzheng's hand and also messing up the neat hair on Chai Zhengzheng's forehead.

Not knowing what she saw,

Chai Zhengzheng's gaze followed for a moment, then a smile appeared on her lips involuntarily. Afterward, Chai Zhengzheng put down the window curtain and nodded: "Hmm! Mother is right, daughter won't look anymore."

Madam Chai looked at Chai Zhengzheng with some surprise: "What's gotten into you today, being so obedient to me?"

Chai Zhengzheng smiled, leaned toward Madam Chai, and said: "Mother~ hasn't daughter always been very obedient!"

Madam Chai looked at her daughter leaning against her and shook her head with a smile.

Xianning Ward,

Not far from the Changhe Gate of the inner city,

Located on the west side of the Imperial City,

Xu Zaijing and Liang Han, in sending the 'urge-to-dress' gifts, had to go from east to west and walk north, bypassing half of the Imperial City.

On the road,

Liang Han pointed to a gate decorated with red and colorful ornaments by the roadside and said: "Brother Jing, look, this family is also holding a wedding."

Xu Zaijing looked at the lively place not far away: "I suppose today is a good day!"

The two were talking while continuing to ride their horses and lead the people forward.

When they saw someone at the gate of the wedding smiling and bowing to them, the two hurriedly smiled and bowed in return.

When approaching Xianning Ward, Liang Han said excitedly: "Another one!"

Xu Zaijing nodded.

Just after turning into the ward, there was still some distance from Anzhou Street, where the Dou family was located,

Liang Han looked at a family with a closed gate by the roadside with a smile.

After passing this family, Liang Han still tilted his head and watched.

Seeing Liang Han's appearance, Xu Zaijing asked in confusion: "What's wrong, Brother Six?"

Liang Han, who was to the side, smiled and said: "Brother Jing, do you know whose residence that family with the closed gate just now belongs to?"

Xu Zaijing shook his head and said: "There is no plaque at that gate, and I haven't been to this Xianning Ward, so how would I know who lives there."

Liang Han smiled and winked: "Hehe, Brother Jing, this is the residence of the Yuan family, the former Earl of Zhongqin..."

"Yuan... oh!"

Xu Zaijing nodded; near Changhe Gate, that's right.

Since returning from Yang Zhou, Xu Zaijing had rarely paid attention to the Yuan family's affairs; the last time was during the Lantern Festival, when he heard from Huang Qingyue that it seemed Yuan Wenshao had returned to the capital.

The Yuan family first had a brother harming a younger brother, causing a big joke,

and then because a wife harmed her husband and a daughter-in-law harmed her father-in-law, they were stripped of their title.

Not many years had passed; closing the gate was the right thing to do, otherwise, there would definitely be many people pointing at the gate and talking about it as a joke.

Just like Liang Han...

Xu Zaijing said:

"By the way, has the Yuan family's second young master ever married?"

Liang Han shook his head and said: "I haven't heard of that! After the incident, the Yuan family master took the second young master to the north, taking your family's path, and served under the Yi family in Zhending."

"A few years ago, when your two chestnut horses were sent over, there was also a batch of Northern Liao fine horses sent to Maotuo Ridge. My father said that batch of Northern Liao fine horses was inspected and identified by the Yuan father and son."

Xu Zaijing nodded.

"Brother Jing, later, the Yuan father and son went to the northwest and served under the Marquis of Yongyi. Didn't you see them in the northwest?"

Xu Zaijing shook his head: "No. Does that Yuan family's favored concubine have children?"

Liang Han thought for a moment: "It seems there are no children, but the second young master adopted a daughter from the first young master's branch under his name."

"Adopted?"

"Yes, the year the incident happened, the first young master's wife was pregnant, and after returning to the capital, she gave birth to a girl."

Xu Zaijing nodded.

The two were talking,

and when they walked to the entrance of Anzhou Street,

Three or four boys saw Xu Zaijing and the others, turned around, and ran inside, shouting 'gifts are coming again' as they ran.

On Anzhou Street,

Horses and carriages were coming and going, and the liveliness was on par with the Rong family.

When they saw Xu Zaijing and the others coming to deliver gifts, the carriages and horses on the roadside mostly moved to the side to let them pass first.

At the Dou family's main gate,

Under the huge plaque of the 'Duke of Fu',

The master of the Dou family's second branch came out with his nephews and nieces, smiling and welcoming them. Looking at Xu Zaijing and Liang Han, he bowed and smiled: "The two groomsmen have worked hard! Please enter the gate to drink wine."

Xu Zaijing and Liang Han dismounted, bowed with a smile, and said: "Uncle Dou, please have the young lady of the house dress up quickly; the Rong family's young master is already impatient to welcome the bride."

"Haha! Easy to say, easy to say!"

"Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once; I've always heard that the Fifth Young Master's horses are good, but I didn't expect them to be so spirited."

"Uncle flatters me."

Xu Zaijing said with a smile.

The second master of the Dou family nodded and reached out: "Please, inside."

The nephews and nieces who followed behind the second master of the Dou family also reached out one after another: "Please."

The 'urge-to-dress' gifts were naturally handled by the Dou family,

Xu Zaijing and Liang Han nodded in greeting, followed the Dou family youths who were leading the way, and walked toward the main gate with a smile.

Inside the main gate,

Gu Tingye, who was standing to the side, smiled and waved at Xu Zaijing and Liang Han: "You two have finally come."

"Come, let me introduce you; this is my cousin, Yang Chenmin."

Xu Zaijing and Liang Han bowed with a smile: "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, please."

The young man from the scholarly Yang family reached out with a smile.

Afterward,

Xu Zaijing and Liang Han entered a hall and took their seats.

In the hall,

A row of wide room doors were wide open,

After the Dou family youths took their seats with Gu Tingye and Yang Chenmin, they couldn't wait to pour wine.

But just as the Dou family youth took the wine pot, Xu Zaijing pressed his hand on the table and smiled: "We won't drink; we still have to welcome the bride with the Rong family's young master later."

"Eh! Drink a little, it's fine. This is the good wine my family has brewed."

The Dou family youth smiled.

Gu Tingye echoed: "Brother Jing, drink a cup, just one cup."

Xu Zaijing looked at Gu Tingye with an expression that said 'I know what you're planning, Brother Er' and smiled.

"Come, Fifth Young Master, Sixth Young Master, you smell it."

As he spoke, the Dou family youth opened the lid of the wine pot, and the aroma of wine surged out instantly.

"Brother Jing? How about having a cup?" Liang Han licked his lips.

Xu Zaijing shook his head: "What did Uncle Pei say this morning? Have you forgotten, Brother Six?"

After speaking, Xu Zaijing turned his head and smiled: "We really can't drink! We'll substitute tea for wine."

"This, not even drinking wine, if it gets out, people will say my Dou family is not treating guests well. Brother Jing, come, drink a cup."

Just as Xu Zaijing was about to speak,

A burst of girls' laughter came from outside the door, making everyone in the room look out.

"Really can't drink..."

Xu Zaijing declined again.

At this moment,

Four little girls, five or six years old, wearing cute gold and jade jewelry and dressed in luxurious clothes, who looked like legitimate daughters, appeared on one side of the door.

It looked like they were passing by this hall while playing, led by older maids.

Seeing people in the hall, the little girls all looked over curiously.

When they reached the middle of several doors,

"Oh my. Where is the bead on my hairpin?" one of the little girls said, touching her hair bun.

"Hurry and look for it!"

Amidst the talking,

The maids behind the four girls hurriedly started looking around.

The four girls, however, just lowered their heads for a moment, then didn't look for anything, and stared straight at Xu Zaijing and the others.

After the little girls looked for a while, they even whispered to each other.

'Which big brother is it?'

'Which one do the cousins want us to look at?'

'Is it the one beside the Yang family cousin?'

'I saw him just now; that's the older brother of Tingyi sister!'

'That big brother wearing a red flower is so handsome...'

'It's him, it's him!'

In the hall,

At first, the Dou family youth looked at the little girls at the door and didn't care, still wanting to continue persuading them to drink.

But seeing the four little girls, relying on their young age, staring at Xu Zaijing like they were looking at a monkey,

The Dou family youth smiled apologetically and then toward the hall door: "Ahem!"

Then he waved his hand with a straight face.

The little girls were not very old, but two of them were clever; hearing this cough and seeing the gesture, they glared fiercely at Xu Zaijing, who was eating, then smiled, held hands, and ran away quickly from the door.

Listening to the sound of the girls' laughter fading away,

The Dou family youth bowed and said: "I've let the Fifth Young Master and Sixth Young Master see a joke."

Xu Zaijing shook his head with a smile: "Wine really can't be drunk."

"Haha, good, good, let's substitute tea for wine."

On the corridor leading to the Dou family's inner courtyard,

Watching the group of little noble girls walking over quickly,

The Dou family maid who was carrying the tray hurriedly raised the tray high and shouted urgently: "Hey, hey, little ladies, be careful!"

"Hee hee..."

The little girls, with their servants, ran past the Dou family maid with a laugh.

After going down the corridor,

And passing through a moon gate,

This group of little girls entered the Dou family's inner courtyard.

In the inner courtyard,

Inside and outside the rooms,

In the pavilions and corridors,

It was full of noble ladies attending the wedding banquet,

Women and girls were either sitting or walking, and there was a lively atmosphere amidst the laughter.

After looking into the courtyard,

The little girls walked toward the most spacious main hall.

Stepping over the threshold with their short legs,

One of the girls walking in front shouted crisply: "Cousin, cousin, we saw it! That..."

Hearing the little girls' voices,

The ladies and young wives sitting and talking in the hall looked over one after another.

And the several young ladies standing behind their respective mothers waved their hands and made eye contact, hoping to make their little cousins shut up quickly.

Gu Tingye's aunt, Madam Gu, also sat in the hall with her sister-in-law, Bai Shi, bringing Pingmei and Gu Tingyi, looking curiously at the little girls who had entered.

Sitting beside the Dou family's Madam,

Madam Tao, who was from the Jinyang Marquis's residence and the second branch of the Dou family, smiled: "Huashang, what did you little sisters go to see, being so happy?"

The little girl walking in front looked at her cousins in the hall and said excitedly: "Grandmother, we went to see the groomsmen who came from the Rong family."

"Hmm, hmm!"

"That, that big brother Fifth Xu, whom the cousins asked us to look at, is so handsome!" a little partner interjected.

"He even has a red flower on his head!"

A little girl said, not to be outdone.

Listening to the children's innocent words,

The ladies and young wives in the hall laughed lightly one after another.

The older young ladies standing behind their mothers or grandmothers lowered their heads in embarrassment.

They had only sent their little cousins to take a look; no one expected they would be called into the hall to talk.

Bai Shi turned her head and exchanged a look with Gu Tingyi with a smile.

Looking at the young ladies of marriageable age in the hall, the madams knew what was going on; it was likely that these cousins had instigated it.

"Shang-jie'er, would it be good to find you such a handsome husband in the future?"

A Dou family relative asked with a smile.

Seeing the little girl who was asked nodding in embarrassment,

Everyone in the hall laughed again.

"Huashang, the older sister of big brother Fifth Xu is right here!"

Someone pointed to Pingmei, who was beside Bai Shi, and said with a smile.

The little girl looked at Pingmei, who was beside Bai Shi, had a refined temperament and was full of nobility, and was smiling and nodding at her, and instantly ran into her mother's arms in shame.

"Luo'er, you just said you wanted the second big brother of the Gu family; if you had to choose, would you choose the second big brother of the Gu family or the fifth big brother of the Xu family?"

The little girl who was asked thought for a while and said: "Second big brother Gu..."

The innocent words made the madams laugh again.

Pingmei looked at the little girl in the hall with a smile and said to her aunt: "Aunt, which family's little girl is this?"

Gu Tingye's aunt smiled: "The granddaughter of the former Qingzhou Pacification Commissioner, Master Hua."

Gu Tingyi, who was behind, said: "Aunt, is this sister's name Hua Luo?"

"The Hua family's generation is the 'Kai' generation, so it should be Hua Kailuo."

"Oh, oh!"

In the outer courtyard,

"Whoa, these Bai Gao scouts are actually so cunning!"

The Dou family youth, who was talking about the northwest battlefield, said with emotion in his tone.

Yang Chenmin, who was to the side, said: "This is wanting to wipe you all out!"

Xu Zaijing nodded: "Yes! If the comrades hadn't fought to the death to warn us, or if we had arrived a little later, the result might have been very different."

"That earthquake..."

Just as he said half a sentence,

A Dou family servant walked over, bowed, and said: "Seventh Young Master, our family's return gifts are ready."

The Dou family youth nodded.

Xu Zaijing stood up and said: "Then we'll go back first."

"Good, good, good! When I have time, I'll invite the Fifth Young Master to drink wine, and then we'll chat again."

Xu Zaijing nodded.

After leaving Xianning Ward,

Xu Zaijing and Liang Han didn't take the original route,

but returned to Nanjian Tang Lane in the direction of the Xuande Gate on the south side of the Imperial City.

After dismounting at the Rong family's main gate,

The Dou family's return gifts were moved into the courtyard by the Rong family servants.

Xu Zaijing and Liang Han returned to the front courtyard's main hall.

"Hurry and sit! Did everything go smoothly?"

Minister Pei Yuanchen looked at Xu Zaijing and Liang Han, who had just entered the door, and said.

"Uncle, everything went smoothly, it's just a pity we didn't get to taste the Dou family's good wine."

Xu Zaijing smiled.

"Haha~ good! When we go to the Dou family to welcome the bride, the Duke and I will ask for a few jars."

"Thank you, Uncle."

Afterward, Xu Zaijing and the others ate dried fruits and candied fruit in the hall and drank tea.

Two quarters of an hour later,

Qingyun walked to the door of the main hall, bowed, and said: "Young Master, our family's horse has arrived."

Xu Zaijing stood up, bowed, and said: "Uncle, I'll go out and take a look."

Minister Pei Yuanchen stood up with a smile: "Let's go together."

Arriving at the second gate of the Rong residence,

Rong Xian was standing beside the chestnut horse, which was wearing a jade bridle, a golden saddle, and red flowers, and was dressed up in a flashy way, drooling.

Rong Xian's appearance made A Lan, who was holding the chestnut horse, soothe the horse from time to time.

At this moment,

Xu Zaijing accompanied Minister Pei Yuanchen over, looked at Rong Xian, and said: "Brother Xian, how is it?"

Rong Xian tilted his head and looked at Xu Zaijing, saying with a moved expression: "Brother Jing, I, can I really...!"

Xu Zaijing nodded with a smile.

Rong Xian nodded heavily: "Good brother!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 516 =====

(End of chapter)