Zhao Xiu reconciled with Zhang.

In fact, it is said to be reconciled, but it is also slightly more serious. Although Zhao Xiu had a grudge against his grandmother in his heart, he was not too rude in front of the Zhang family, but he couldn't hold back and said something straightforward. Zhang knew that he was at a loss, and when he heard his grandson say that he would persuade his granddaughter to come and apologize to her, he was embarrassed at first. On the contrary, she was a little grateful to her granddaughter and woke her up, otherwise she was still crying and making trouble at this time, asking her granddaughter to accompany her back to her hometown in the south.

At this time, the Zhang family had no idea at all, and was bent on thinking about his grandson's future: "Hurry up and find a good life, let's move back to the Hou Mansion." At that time, the house here will be vacated, and the library will be set up earlier. With the library, it is cheaper for Wei Geer to study and study, and he can also meet a few more friends who are good at learning. The stakes are high this autumn, and he must be prepared for the exam with peace of mind. If you don't succeed this year, then take the test again next year. In any case, let your brother get lifted. When you get the move, you can find an opportunity to go back to the south to worship your ancestors. When the time comes, when we get to your grandfather's grave, we will be able to give him an explanation. ”

Zhao Xiu responded with a smile on his face, but he sighed secretly in his heart. In my grandmother's heart, my grandfather always came first. Grandfather is a military general, of course he expects his grandson to get ahead, but will he attach great importance to whether his grandson can be lifted? I'm afraid that my father Zhao Zhuo and my mother Mi are the ones who value this matter more, right?

But of course, she would not be stupid enough to be serious with her grandmother on such a trivial matter, and the joke was over. However, she seriously discussed the matter of warm house wine with Zhang: "If grandmother is troublesome, let's just set up a day's wine, and we can't just mix it up casually anyway." Since our family returned to Beijing, we have never gone to other people's houses to attend banquets, and we have never invited others to an East banquet, so it is not very suitable to say. Invite guests to the house for a meal, and by the way, contact the relationship, so that the brother can make more friends and accumulate some contacts. Didn't you say that you should let your brother concentrate on preparing for the exam? Instead of letting him squeeze out time to socialize with others during the preparation for the exam, it is better to entertain everyone at a banquet. ”

Zhang hesitated: "But...... I really don't have the spirit to entertain outsiders these days. If it's just a close family, it's fine, but according to what you said, I'm afraid I'll have to invite a lot of people to come, right? I don't like ......" Speaking of this, she paused, remembered the decision she had just made, and quickly changed her words, "Okay, your brother is going to take the exam, and he will also be an official in the future. No, one meal is not enough, let's take three days! ”

Zhao Xiu was stunned: "Three days? "Don't you want to exaggerate......

Zhang didn't think it was an exaggeration at all, and she also thought that it was very common to set the wine for three days: "On the first day, please invite the courtiers and those great Confucians who once instructed your brother in his homework." The preferences of these guests are more elegant, the wine and food should be elegant, and two first-class luthiers are invited to play the piano to help the fun, and the day of talking about poetry and papers has passed. On the second day, I will invite the Cao family and other military generals, and your grandfather's former robe and subordinates can also invite a few, as for the other nobles in the capital, I am not familiar with it, so it doesn't matter if you invite it or not. They love wine and meat, big fish and meat, delicacies from the mountains and seas, and famous wines, so they will deal with the past, and then find two opera troupes and sing a few lively plays, which must be able to satisfy them. On the third day, you can invite some young children, you and your brother's new friends, your brother will have another table, and you will have a poetry party in the garden, and you will invite the ladies of Beijing. If you want to be more decent, you can go to a florist and buy more exotic flowers and plants to fill the scene. ”

After all, Zhang has been a noblewoman for many years, although she doesn't like to socialize, but if she really wants her to organize any banquet, she can handle it. This remark can be regarded as an orderly arrangement, and it is also classified according to the preferences of the guests, and they all know what to do every day, and it is not difficult to do it according to this charter.

But Zhao Xiu calculated the account, according to Zhang's arrangement, the three-day wine added up, to say the least, it would cost seven or eight hundred taels of silver, if the wine and food were expensive varieties, the price might be higher, it was completely costly, and the pomp was enough, but it was too much trouble. And preparing three banquets of different styles for three consecutive days also seems to be a bit difficult for the current masters and servants of the Jiannan Hou Mansion. She didn't say very approvingly: "Didn't grandmother say that it is not appropriate to make a big deal?" Why do you have to put three days of wine at once? The civil and military generals are all His Majesty's courtiers, why can't they attend the banquet on the same day? We can arrange drama and wine, those who like to talk about poetry and papers can also have another tea party, young people don't have to choose another day to invite, and the ladies don't have to rush to hold a poetry meeting at this time. Although grandmother wants to think about her brother, she doesn't have to overkill, right? After three days of hurrying, you still can't get sick? If you don't get sick, you're going to get sick. ”

Seeing that his granddaughter cared about her, Zhang's face also showed a smile: "It's nothing, I'm just tired on the first day, and I still have to socialize." On the second day, the ladies of the general's family came, and I came out to show my face and said that I was sick and could go back to the courtyard. I don't get along well with them, and it's boring to sit together. As for the feast on the third day, that's your junior's business, and I don't need to show up. ”

Zhao Xiu felt a little toothache. When will my grandmother's idea of emphasizing literature over military force change? She asked Zhang, "Is it okay for you to do this?" On the second day, you only showed up and went back to the hospital, who will you leave to greet the guests? Could it be me? I'm still young, besides, to entertain the elderly ladies of those generals' families, my weight is too light, right? ”

Zhang hesitated again, but Zhao Wei spoke for her by the side: "In the past, when my grandfather was still there, all the ranks of those generals were below my grandfather, and there were many people who were trained from my grandfather. Their daughters have always respected their grandmother, and they don't have to bother with their grandmother to greet them. Therefore, every time my grandmother came out to show her face during the banquet, when she was in good spirits, she accompanied Mrs. Cao and other old ladies to talk, if she was not in good spirits and the female guests who came were not familiar with it, she just hid back in the courtyard, and no one dared to say that her grandmother was not. At that time, it was Niu and Jiang who greeted the female guests, but even the mothers and sisters around the grandmother were extremely polite. ”

Zhao Xiu suddenly realized, and said to Zhang: "Grandmother, this time is different. Our family banquet guests, if you don't show up, it will be slack. Our family has just gotten their titles back. ”

Zhang hesitated and said, "I also asked your grandfather before, but he said...... Our family's prestige in the army is already very high, and it is very important that we don't have to be too friendly with other generals. If you have a good relationship with them, you may be suspicious of our family. Therefore, it is nothing for them men to get together occasionally outside, eat and drink, and we don't have to interact too much between our female dependents, let alone marry our children and relatives, especially the generals stationed in the border cities of eastern Liao......"

Zhao Wei smiled and said to Zhang, "Grandmother, that was when my grandfather was still there. Today's Jiannanhou Mansion, what else is there to make the top suspicious? In addition to the big festivals every year, our family still has courtesy exchanges with the Cao family and several old departments of my grandfather, and at other times, other families have long been out of friendship. What's more, the grandson has no reputation in the army at all, and his grandfather's prestige in the army is very different. You don't have to worry too much. ”

Zhao Xiu also nodded again and again: "Yes, grandmother." My brother will come out to be an official sooner or later in the future, and his connections are also very important. Although his brother was already planning to take the imperial examination, he was still a member of the noble circle after all. You can't just because you want to take the exam, so you can leave the noble class and only associate with scholars, right? Not to mention anything else, after my brother was admitted to the exam, he couldn't go down the exam, how could he succeed? This kind of thing still has to be consulted by the noble family. ”

Zhang was persuaded: "You have a point. Then I will work harder, invite a few more nobles to come to the house as guests, and be polite to the daughters of the noble generals, and accompany them more. She sighed, "This is not the time for your grandfather to be around. I've been spoiled for so long that I've forgotten where I'm now, and I shouldn't be doing the same thing as before. ”

She gave in, but she still had reservations about Zhao Xiu's suggestion: "This is not appropriate." Wenchen can't get used to the vulgarity of the generals, the generals can't understand the words of the generals, they don't speculate or say anything when they sit together, in case they don't agree and fight, wouldn't it be a loss of face for us to build the Nanhou Mansion? ”

So she thinks that it is better to invite three days of wine, if it is really only for one day, then it is best to separate the civil and military and entertain them in two courtyards, and not disturb each other. It's that there is a play and wine on both sides, but I'm afraid that the sound will be noisy. And the women, it's best not to sit together.

Zhao Xiu frowned and said, "If it has to be like this, I can't even skip the drama." Anyway, our family is doing things, and the first emperor has only been gone for less than a year, so there is nothing wrong with being low-level and frugal. We just need to put a little more effort into the food and drink, and we don't have to earn a reputation for being good at entertaining in the elite circles of the capital. ”

As for the separation of civil and military affairs, she actually still disagrees with it in her heart, but following the customs of the locals, since the Zhang family thinks it is better, she has no objection, at most, it will be harder and go on both sides.

Zhang also felt that it was okay to be free from drama and entertainment, and Zhao Wei even gave a few examples, showing that in the past year, large families have not been as extravagant as before. After ascending the throne today, his style has always been frugal, which has won the praise of Wenchen Shilin. Although the noble generals do not think so, but the upper is good, the lower must be very bad, and recently the simplified version of the banquet has also become popular in Beijing.

And so it was settled. Zhao Xiu began to discuss the guest list with the Zhang family again.

The father and son of the king of Guangping have already said that they will not come, but the post still has to be sent, which is the right thing.

The Cao family of the General Mansion of the Pillar State was the first to be invited. If the Cao family has a banquet, they must invite the ancestors and grandchildren of the Zhao family, and the ancestors and grandchildren of the Zhao family have a banquet, so naturally they can't neglect the Cao family.

Several generals who have maintained close contact with the ancestors and grandchildren of the Zhao family for many years are also among the must-invite guests, but for Wang Dongsheng, Zhao Xiu and the Zhang family have different views.

Although the Zhang family was disgusted with the misunderstanding and slander of the Wang family before, they now understood that they had just been deceived by the ancestors of the Niu family and had learned a lesson. Wang Dongsheng used to be raised in the Zhao family, and compared with others, he has a deeper affection for the Zhao family. The Zhao family held a banquet, and no matter what, they couldn't ignore him. If his family is shut out because of the previous events, and the word spreads, this family of relatives and friends will really be destroyed.

Zhao Xiu thinks that the Wang family is not happy to give them their grandchildren, why should they miss the old love too much? It's not their ancestors who are at fault. Even if they really want to resume contact with the Wang family, it must be the Wang family who makes a gesture of apology first, so that people feel sincere, and the Zhao family will consider forgiving them magnanimously. Now that the Wang family has not said anything, the Zhao family will give them a post first, doesn't it make people think that the Zhao family is very easy to bully?

Zhao Wei was on his sister's side, so the Zhang family didn't hold out for too long, but just persuaded Zhao Wei: "When you post to the Cao family, tell them about it." If they are willing to come forward and ask Wang Dongsheng to compensate us, we don't have to worry too much about him. Now he has also been harmed by the Niu family, and he is very embarrassed. If we fall into the trap, we will fail your grandfather's kindness in raising the orphans of the old department. ”

Zhao Wei and Zhao Xiu glanced at each other, the latter was silent, and the former smiled: "Yes, grandmother, grandson knows it." ”

The guests on the military general's side are almost done, as for several nobles, the Zhang family is not familiar with them, among them, there are also women like the Meishan Bofu Qiu family who are not in harmony with her, but because Zhao Wei has dealt with them, they are all invited. Zhang looked at the list on the guest list and felt that it was not a big deal for her to endure it for the sake of her grandson.

The rest are the guests on the civilian side. Several Confucians who had instructed Zhao Wei in his homework were naturally on the list, and the old Hanlin bachelor in the neighborhood was also a guest. Zhang counted it and found that there were actually few civil officials who were good friends with his family, and most of the people who knew her back then were not in Beijing, but the Jiang family, the maiden family of the Queen Mother, because Zhao Wei and Zhao Xiu had taken refuge in his house when they escorted Jinshang into Beijing, so they had dealt with each other, and the next post should not be rejected. Considering that Zhao Xiu was friendly with Fang Wu's girl, the Zhang family added the names of several people from the Fang family to the list.

Zhao Xiu was not very happy: "Just ask Fang Wu to come over, and it doesn't hurt to invite Mrs. Fang and Fang Wu's brother." Miss Fang once framed me, Fang Er and Fang Si were yin and yang weird every time they saw me, what did they ask them to do? Fang Shaoqing didn't know our family at all, and it was not interesting to invite him. However, the girls of the Feng and Liu families can ask for a please. I don't know their father and brother, so I just invite my daughters. ”

Zhang said with a smile: "Since there are both male and female guests, how can anyone just invite other people's wives and daughters, but ignore the head of the house?" Even if people don't come, they should make the next post, so that it is polite. However, she also referred to Zhao Xiu's opinion, and only wrote the names of Fang Shaoqing and his wife, his eldest son Fang Jinqi, and the youngest daughter Fang Wu.

Zhao Wei smiled when he saw it: "Fang Jinqi and I have met twice, but he is still a kind person, it shouldn't be difficult to invite him to come." It's Lord Fang, I heard that he doesn't like to deal with nobles and generals, but if our family really wants to invite him here, he can't refuse. If the guests come reluctantly, it will be against our original intention. Let's let my sister ask Miss Fang Wu a letter first, right? If Master Fang has no intention of attending, then when we officially post, we don't need to invite him, so as not to embarrass him. ”

Zhang nodded: "Very much." So be it. ”

Zhao Xiu immediately took the paper and wrote a letter to Miss Fang Wu. In the past half a month, because she was in a bad mood, she had not communicated with Miss Fang Wu, and she didn't know how the other party was recently, after greetings, she told her family that she was ready to move into a new house, and invited the other party to drink warm house wine, and asked the other party's parents and brothers if they were willing to attend? Of course, Zhao Xiu didn't forget to say it, she only hoped that her family would come, and her clan cousins wouldn't have to.

Bihan had been to Fang's house once, so she took the task of delivering a letter to Fang's house, and only came back in half a day. Zhao Xiu asked her to reply to the letter, but Bi Han said with a strange face: "Miss Fang Wu said that she should ask her parents first, and she will reply to the girl in two days, let me come back first." ”

Zhao Xiu looked at her suspiciously: "It's nothing, what kind of expression is this on your face?" ”

Bihan wanted to speak and stopped, Zhao Xiu motioned for the other girls in the room to go out, and then asked her, "Say, what's wrong?" ”

Bi Han said with a mysterious face: "It's so strange to go to Fang's house today." His house is much stricter. I went to the door to deliver the letter, and the mother-in-law of the porter repeatedly asked me where I came from, and called someone who had seen me to recognize it, and confirmed that it was from the Nanhou Mansion, so I let me in. When I got to the second gate, I waited for a while before I waited for Miss Fang's girl to come and lead me in. His family has never been so strict, and I don't know why. Also, I was at the gate of Fang Wu's courtyard, and I saw a few mothers-in-law dragging away his four girls. The four girls in his family were crying and crying, and they didn't know what they were doing. ”

Zhao Xiu was very surprised: "Did you see clearly? His mother-in-law did drag away Miss Fang Si? ”

Bihan nodded affirmatively. Zhao Xiu was confused. It can't be, right? Even if the concubine branch is more noble than the side lineage, Miss Fang Si is also the daughter of an official family, how can the mother-in-law of the Fang family be so rude? Could it be that the fourth girl did something bad? Will he be so unpopular?

Miss Fang Wu has not heard back. Zhao Xiu guessed that something big must have happened in her family, so she procrastinated, and she couldn't even make a decision on whether to go to another house for a banquet. What's even stranger is that Zhao Xiu feels that this is unreasonable. If something really happened to the Fang family, she just couldn't say it, and Zhao Xiu would never be angry with her because of this. If you don't say no, and you don't know that you will go to the banquet, what are you doing? How does this make a decision for Zhao Xiu? Do you want to post to the Fang family?

Posts to other guests were sent out one after another, and most of them replied that they would come to attend. Even if someone couldn't come that day, they all politely sent congratulatory gifts. This became more and more strange for the Fang family.

Zhao Wei personally went out, sent invitations to several Confucians, asked them some academic questions by the way, and when he came back, he brought back a message that made Zhao Xiu suddenly realize.

It turned out that something really happened to the Fang family. The father of Fang Wu, who served as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, made some mistakes in his official affairs a few days ago. Originally, that little problem was not in the way, just cover it up earlier, but Fang Shaoqing was unlucky, and he happened to meet the emperor in person, and his mistake was exposed. Long Yan was furious, Fang Shaoqing was ordered to reflect at home, whether he was dismissed or demoted, there was no conclusion. The whole Fang family was in a state of uneasiness.

The children of the Fang family went around asking for favors and inquiring about the news, wanting to find someone to say good things for Fang Shaoqing in front of the emperor. There has been no response from Mrs. Shang's side, Fang Shaoqing's cousin, Fang Yishan, the father of Fang Er and Fang Si Girl, has an accident again. is also a small mistake in his own work, Fang Yishan firmly believes that he was implicated by Fang Shaoqing, so he was framed by his colleagues.

Within the Fang family, the contradictions between the various houses began to intensify.