Before the Hongmen banquet began, Chongzhou was still calm.

If you are more sensitive, you will find that this is just the calm before the storm.

The ladies of each family are busy with their own affairs, some are housekeeping, serving their in-laws, some are educating their children, knocking on the concubines, and some are playing with flowers and grass, and enjoying antiques. The seemingly peaceful back house is actually surging undercurrents, and everyone calculates for their own interests.

Banquets were an important channel for the noble class to communicate with each other, and there was hardly a day of non-stop.

Today this family will hold an elegant gathering, tomorrow that family will hold a poetry meeting, and the day after tomorrow will give an invitation to others, and everyone will enjoy the flowers and the moon together.

The men went out as guests, and the women in the back house were not to be outdone, and often went out to feast.

The moonlight in the sky is as cool as promise, the shadows of the people underground, the shadows of the clothes and temples, and the laughter during the banquet is endless.

Although the Chongzhou scholars have been criticized by the outside world as nouveau riche, they also have decades or even hundreds of years of heritage, and they are far richer than ordinary people. Now the weather is cold, but the courtyard where the banquet is held is warm and does not feel the slightest coolness.

Several noblewomen with good relationships joked with each other, and the content revolved around their husbands, husbands' concubines, mothers-in-law, concubines, concubines, and gossip from various families, most of which were short nonsense in the parents. It's not nutritious, but when you get together and complain, even boring topics can become relished. As they spoke, they mentioned Liuzhou Mu Liu She, who was in the prime of life, and the topic became farther and farther.

Liu She is in the prime of life, and he has only one concubine and a concubine under his knees, and his successor to the string has been separated from him for a long time.

Since Liu She came to Chongzhou, many people have tried to stuff people in Liu She's backyard and blow the pillow wind under the guise of beauty.

However, he is not slippery, no matter how explicit hints from others, he always has a way to keep the woman sent by everyone out of the door.

The man said that Liu She was a hypocrisy, but the noblewoman of Chongzhou admired him a lot.

What ancient woman didn't want her husband to love only one of herself, a woman in the backyard?

At least before Gu Min's death, there was indeed only one person in Liu She's backyard.

Just such a feeling is enough for them to envy, envy and hate.

Whenever she talked about this, the noblewoman of Chongzhou was very jealous of the deceased Mrs. Gu Min, saying that she died young, and at the end of the day, she had to pretend to sigh for her life. After talking about a good man like Liu She, it is natural to complain about his own flowery man.

Whether it is a cheap concubine or a noble concubine, they are admitted to the door one by one.

The lady of the main room has to pretend to be generous on her face, and she has to be commensurate with those charming and cheap sisters, which is disgusting.

"I heard that Liuzhou's concubine is coming. Today's banquet in the state capital is for that girl. ”

I don't know which lady said it in passing, but the other ladies reacted very calmly, and some even sneered secretly.

"It's just a little girl's film, where is it worth a kind of gentleman's solemnity?"

In the eyes of many ladies, Jiang Pengji's arrival time and Liu She's invitation to the family boss just happened to collide with time.

After all, she is just a woman, no matter how capable she is, she has to get married and have children, and stay in the backyard for the rest of her life to take care of the housework for men.

Liu She's daughter can become a Maruzhou pastor, which is already remarkable.

They didn't think that Jiang Pengji could go further, and even thought she was a little stupid.

Honestly enjoy the protection of her father, how good it is to be a carefree noble daughter of the noble family, but she wants to show her head and follow the example of Xu Gong of the previous dynasty, just a strong woman. In the end, she may not be able to fight for the grandfather, and she wasted the most important years of a woman's life.

As for the rumors that Liu She was going to retreat behind the scenes and give power to Liu Xi a while ago, it was even more nonsense.

"This kind of unrealistic news makes people laugh when they say it. ”

"That's what I'm saying - in the end, how capable can a boudoir woman be?"

"I heard that the willow girl is now eighteen years old, and she has not yet decided on a marriage at this age, wouldn't she be an old girl if she delayed it for another two years?"

"Liuzhou Mu is quite attentive to this concubine, so he should help her keep an eye on it, right? However, a woman who fools around outside all day...... I heard that she often hangs out with the big and rough pariahs...... Even if you can treat her well in Liuzhoumu's face, the father-in-law cannot interfere in the son-in-law's back house at will. In my opinion, the willow girl...... Tsk!"

This topic is very new to them, and they can talk energetically for a while, but before they know it, the topic is biased.

A certain young lady said, "Could it be that Liuzhou is invited to a banquet...... It's for this daughter's marriage?"

Liu She's forces are in Chongzhou and Hu County, and for the sake of his daughter-in-law, he will definitely choose a son-in-law within his sphere of influence.

This guess makes sense to many people.

If a sensible person listened to their conversation, he might have laughed his big teeth off.

If the women of the "scholar clan" in Chongzhou are all so virtuous, it is estimated that they will not be passed on for several generations.

Chongzhou is close to northern Xinjiang, and the border between the two countries is constantly fighting.

Because of environmental factors, the power here changes rapidly, and the so-called scholar forces are, to put it bluntly, nouveau riche and lack background.

Take some of the ladies present as examples, their mother's family is also a butcher, and they don't know a few big characters, so their knowledge is naturally shallow.

Of course, in addition to the lack of knowledge, the more important reason is that they don't care about things outside.

If you have this time to care about those things, it is better to ponder rouge gouache, beaded hairpin jewelry, and silk satin.

The ladies were laughing and laughing, and the atmosphere of the banquet was hot.

It was at this time that two maids dressed in wealth and dignity burst in.

Their appearance made everyone look sideways, and they seemed to ask with their eyes - where is this, so rude?

A certain lady recognized her personal maid, and her face covered in fat powder instantly lengthened.

Today she presided over the banquet and did a good job, but she didn't expect her maid to go wrong.

Before she could scold, the two maids said a piece of news that made her eyes black.

"Madam, it's no good, the master is gone!"

The noblewoman's heart tightened, and she scolded sharply, "Take them down and slap their mouths, my lord is also what you two little hooves can joke about?"

The older maid said, "It's true, ma'am, there are a lot of soldiers outside, and they have sent back the corpse of the master." ”

What the!

The news was like a hammer, and her eyes darkened, and her body that had just stood up almost collapsed to the ground.

When everyone heard the news, they lost their minds to play tricks, prepared to take a look at the situation, and then found an opportunity to leave.

However, they never imagined that the same bad news was waiting for them.

The backyard, which was originally lively and lively, was deserted in an instant.

There was a series of wails in the front hall, and the lady lifted the white cloth and saw that the man lying down was her dead ghost husband!