It wasn't until he saw Shen Juren get into the carriage that Shen Rui couldn't help but glance back.

There were indeed only their father and son who went to the sect room for the banquet, and there was no Zhang Lao'an, nor Shen Jin. For this result, Shen Rui was a little surprised, but it seemed to be expected.

The eldest lady of the second room has a noble status, although she has to hold it at the head of each room, but with the old things of the Sun family in front, even if the fourth room comes over, it will not be good. It was Shen Jin, and Shen Juren didn't mention it, it seems that he was really angry with Shen Jin because of the Zheng family's affairs.

Shen Juren sat down in the car, with a dark face, glared at Shen Rui and said, "How mile is it?" Don't get in the car yet. ”

Shen Rui answered and got into the carriage.

The curtain of the carriage was lowered, the carriage moved forward slowly, Shen Juren drooped his eyelids, and said, "A few days ago, the second brother saw the eldest lady of the sect at the temple fair?" She doesn't know anything about you?

Shen Rui shook his head: "I didn't say anything." Later, when I met Aunt Hong, Uncle Cang talked to Aunt Hong a lot. ”

Shen Juren snorted lightly and stopped talking.

He inquired about it all morning, and the news he got was that the eldest lady of the second room had seen several young people in the clan and gave the same courtesy, and did not speak to Shen Rui alone. However, because of the surprise in my heart, I couldn't help but open my mouth to confirm again.

Maybe the Xu family's marriage back then was just a face-saving affair, otherwise the Sun family had no contact with the capital for more than 20 years.

But in the end, he was a little apprehensive, and Shen Juren couldn't help complaining about Zhang Lao'an.

Zhang Laoan is an elder, what can he do when he meets the eldest lady of the second room? Even if the eldest lady of the second room has a grudge in her heart, can she still be rude to the elders of the clan in public?

Now that Zhang Lao'an is sick, even if Shen Juren is uneasy, he can only go to the banquet hard, otherwise on such an occasion where the clan relatives gather, no one will show up in the four rooms, which will also cause criticism.

Thinking of the matter of the heir of the second room, Shen Juren's eyes flashed slightly, and he looked at Shen Rui: "Second brother and Brother Jue are good friends?" ”

Shen Rui nodded, this is not a secret. In the past half a month since they came back, although Shen Rui and Shen Jue have not been inseparable, they have often gotten together.

Although Shen Jue is occasionally arrogant, he was taught by the patriarch's grandfather, and he is not annoying, and he has a soft heart.

Shen Juren thought for a while, and then asked, "How is Brother Jue's homework in the school?" Can you mention the end of the county test next year? ”

"Although it is not diligent, it is better than the extraordinary talent, the scriptures have been memorized thoroughly, and it has been set to take the county exam next year." Shen Rui didn't know what Shen Juren had done and began to pay attention to Shen Jue, but this question was not something that could not be said, so he replied truthfully.

Shen Juren nodded, and fell silent again.

Shen Rui didn't speak, and there was only the sound of wheels rolling in his ears.

The people of the Shen clan live together, and the distance between the four rooms and the clan house is not too far.

The carriage had not been gone for a while, and before it had come to a stop, a porter saw it and went inside.

When Shen Rui got out of the carriage, the second brother of the sect, Shen, took Shen Jue out to greet him.

Shen stepped forward and personally helped Shen Juren get out of the carriage.

Shen Juren asked, "Where are you here?" ”

"The third, sixth, and ninth rooms have all arrived." Shen replied.

"The old lady of the third room is here early?" Shen Juren was a little surprised. Shen Qi, the six-room master, has the lowest seniority, and he came one step earlier and said the past; The nine rooms are broken and settled, and the grandfather loves to drill the camp; Why are these three chambers so diligent?

The old lady of the third room in Pingsuli holds his own seniority, and if there is anything to discuss in the clan, it is long overdue.

Shen nodded, his expression was quite subtle: "The third room is the first to arrive, and the family is all here." ”

Shen Juren listened and knew why Shen looked like this.

The old lady of the third room is alive, and after the death of the eldest son in the early years, he was afraid that other sons would press the grandchildren of the long house, and he once divided the family; When the four grandsons such as Changfang Shenhu grew up, they did not separate the family, but still lived together, so there were more than a dozen brothers in the great-grandsons and great-grandchildren, and there were also a few grandchildren. Coupled with the female dependents and the little lady who has not yet left the cabinet, if the lineage is the same, you have to take a dozen or so carriages.

Compared with the third room, there are only two fathers and sons in the fourth room, and the people are too thin.

Shen looked behind Shen Juren and said curiously, "Why did Uncle Yuan bring one of Brother Rui?" What about Uncle and Grandmother and Brother Jin? ”

After Shen Jue and Shen Juren saw each other, he called Shen Rui aside, and at this time, he was also lowering his voice, and asked this in a low voice: "Why didn't Lao Anren and your eldest brother come?" But knowing the identity of Aunt Cang, she was frightened, and she didn't dare to come? ”

Although the masters of the second room are not there, only the eldest lady is here, and the posts they send are only banquets for the descendants of each room, but the relatives of each room who received the invitation, even if they are not all in the family, are mostly about the same.

It's not all because of stammering and flattery, nor is it that the eyelids are shallow for a courtesy, but after the third master of the second room moved away, someone in the second room returned to his hometown for the first time, and he also had the meaning of recognizing relatives twice.

It seems that the father and son went to the banquet in the fourth room, and it looked too thin. However, like the old lady in the third room, he is a little noisy.

Shen Rui shook his head and whispered: "It's not easy to talk about Lao Anren, but where is the eldest brother...... Schoolwork is important, our lord did not make people call, should not know the banquet

Shen Jue heard this and sneered: "Are you afraid of delaying your eldest brother's study, or are you afraid that Aunt Cang will anger your eldest brother because of what happened three years ago?" Uncle Yuan's heart is really boundless......"

As he spoke, another carriage slowly drove behind him.

Shen Jue recognized the five-room carriage and said to Shen: "Second brother, it's a five-room carriage."

When Shen saw it, he said, "You led Uncle Yuan in, and I went to welcome Uncle Hong." ”

Shen Juren was close to the clan at first, and he often came and went, so when he heard the words, he waved his hand and said: "Your brothers stay to welcome guests, and I will go over myself." ”

Shen Rui wanted to stay and welcome Wufang and the others, but when he saw Shen Juren glaring at him, he raised his legs and followed honestly.

Shen didn't dare to be contemptuous, and hurriedly instructed the housekeeper next to him to guide the way.

The old house of Zongfang, or the former residence of Master Shen, was built according to the residence of the five-grade official.

The main entrance has three rooms and three shelves, and the hall has five rooms and seven shelves.

There are three open halls in the middle of the main hall, the north wall is a carved wooden board, and in front of it is an eight-foot-wide and five-foot-high gold-painted marble screen, on which is the horizontal wave map of Shoushan Fuhai.

In front of the screen, there is a faded black lacquered square table, on which a pair of red copper animal stoves are placed, and the cigarettes are smoking. flanked by a pair of chairs with half-used splendid cushions; There are four pairs of chairs in the east and west, and there are square partitions in the middle, and the chairs are also laid out in the same way. Leaning against the east and west partition walls, there are eight chairs attached to the wall.

Because the clan has always been the patriarch, there are often clan gatherings and feasts, so after the five main halls, five back halls were connected. The middle is separated by the carved wooden planks of the eight immortals crossing the sea, leaving only a moon cave door, and when you catch up with the big sacrifice banquet, the banquet is placed in the back hall.

The back hall is out of the courtyard, which is the courtyard in front of the atrium.

When the clan relatives feast and drink, the seats of the officials and guests of each room are in the back hall, and the seats of the female dependents are opened in the middle hall, which not only celebrates with the clan, but also does not let men and women sit together.

When Shen Rui followed Shen Juren to the open hall, the patriarch was talking to the old lady of the third room and the master of the ninth room.

The old lady of the third room sat at the head of the guest seat on the east side, and the ninth lady sat at the bottom of it. Although the patriarch's grandfather is lower than the old lady in the third room, he still sits firmly on the head of the house, and does not come to sit with him.

Shen Hu in the third room and Shen Lu in the ninth room did not rank as guests, but sat on the row of chairs by the east wall, and the master of the sect room was accompanying him. There are also several middle-aged people who look similar to Shen Hu and should be Shen Hu's three brothers.

Looking at the jade brothers, except for Shen Lu in the ninth room, only Shen Qi in the sixth room has a seat, and he sits at the bottom of the main guest seat. The other descendants of the jade character generation, whether they are Cheng Ding or not, are all standing. Even though there were a dozen or so chairs in the room, no one had crossed them.

Shen Rui glanced at it and knew it in his heart.

This seating arrangement, in addition to the respect of the young and the old, also takes into account the heads of each room. The eight chairs in the middle should only be used by the family in each room. Although the current head of the third and ninth rooms is Shen Hu and Shen Lu, because the two clan elders are here, they have to take a step back.

There are no officials and guests in Songjiang in the second room, otherwise Shen Qi should sit at the bottom.

Shen Rui followed Shen Juren and stepped forward to salute.

The old lady of the third room and the ninth lady are extremely affectionate to Shen Rui, like looking at their own grandson.

The third old lady was full of kindness, and said with emotion: "Brother Rui is becoming more and more like the lady of Yuan, but you are a man, in the end, you should be rigid, and you must not learn from your mother's soft nature." You must know that you are the only concubine of the fourth room, and the fourth room will depend on you to inherit it in the future. ”

The Ninth Master also followed and said: "Even if the head of each room is a blood heirloom, it will be mixed with the bloodline if it is stained with the word Shu, and it is not easy to mess up the four rooms." Fake concubines are not concubines, and there is no reason for the sinister family to be in charge."

The third old lady nodded when he heard the first sentence, and his face couldn't help but turn blue when he heard it.

In the four rooms of the Shen family, the third room is the first line of Shen Du's concubine, and the ninth master said this, but the old lady in the third room was also scolded in.

The third old lady said angrily: "How can the Shu branch be mixed with blood? Could it be that the old decay has lived for seventy or eighty years, and today it has become a mongrel? ”

The ninth room master sneered: "Uncle Ji, my nephew didn't mean that. ”

Shen Juren was beside him, and his face was ugly.

Shen Jin's named son-in-law is the last order of the Sun family, these two old men carry guns and sticks, and bring up old things, why did they come? keeps saying that Shen Rui is the only blood in the fourth room, is this afraid that the fourth room will fight for the heir?

These two elders are really ridiculous, the second room chooses the heir, the first choice is the sect room, where is the third room and the ninth room? The sect hasn't been wary of the fourth room yet, and the two of them are in a hurry first.

The two old men here didn't wait for a quarrel, Brother Shen led Shen Hong and his son in the fifth room, this father and son, just like Shen Juren's father and son, are just like you, and they are a circle of greetings.

Shen Juren had already sat down, and it was the second chair in Western Numbers opposite the nine-room master. The first place in the west should be reserved for the old lady in the eighth room.

Shen Hong saw the salute, and sat down under the master of the ninth room, Shen Hu, Shen Lu, Shen Qi and others had already gotten up, and came over to see Shen Juren and Shen Hong, and Fang sat down separately.

One time less, the seventh and eighth rooms arrived, and the patriarch's wife got the news and led the eldest master of the sect to greet him personally.

The old lady of the eighth room has gotten out of the carriage, and in addition to Shen Li of the seventh room and Shen Liu of the eighth room, he is followed by several great-grandchildren.

As soon as the old lady of the eighth room and others were welcomed into the middle hall, another carriage came from outside the gate of the sect.

Looking at the people getting off the carriage, the porter was called back as soon as he wanted to go in and get through.

It was the second old man and his wife who came, and the second old man got out of the carriage and was still a little hesitant. The second wife, Qu Shi, whispered two sentences, and the husband and wife entered the door.

Three open halls, five generations in the same hall, crowded to the top.

The patriarch asked a few clan elders to move to the east, and instructed his great-grandson Xiaotong to take the wooden characters to the west, and the top of the open hall was more relaxed.

Each room is a family, and the preface is re-seated, and the master of the sect sits at the head of the guest seat to accompany the guests.

The patriarch is not there, and his identity as a son of the clan is no less than that of the head of each house in the clan.

Several other uncles of the Shui Zi generation also sat on the back row of chairs, and the elders of the Jade Zi generation also had more seats, and only a few young ones did not get a seat, so they went to the west to find their nephews to play.

There are twenty-six chairs in the open hall, only two of which are empty on the main seat, and there are twenty-four people, plus the patriarch and three clan elders in the east room, and more than ten children over the age of six in the west room, there are more than 40 people.

This is just a small banquet for the clansmen of each house, and when it comes to the big banquet of the serious clansmen, it must be set up in the ancestral hall, otherwise there will be no way to open so many tables. The descendants of the Shen family are luxuriant, which can be seen.

According to the generation, since the eldest lady of the second room came to her family to save her relatives, she should take the initiative to visit the elders of each family. With such a post, the heads of the houses will be invited to entrust the big.

The three-room old lady and the nine-room old lady were not dissatisfied; The old lady of the eighth room was a little unhappy, if it weren't for the sake of his great-grandson Shen Bao, he wouldn't have wanted to come today.

Seeing that the heads of all the rooms were coming, and the eldest lady in the second room had not moved, the old lady in the eighth room said impatiently: "The post has been received, and people have come, why hasn't the Xu family shown up?" Do you want us to be uncles and ancestors, and go to meet her granddaughter-in-law? ”

His remarks like this are not to avoid the suspicion of men and women, but in fact, the old and young of all ethnic groups are also ancient, and the slightly longer ones are also old, and the Xu family is also a fifty-year-old woman, and she has reached the age where there is no need to avoid suspicion.

When the patriarch heard this, he frowned a little, stretched out his hand and called a small servant over, and whispered two orders.

After a while, the little maid came back and said, "The eldest lady of the second room is back, and she is changing her clothes in the guest room, saying that she will come to meet a few clan elders later." ”

Hearing this, not only did the eight-room old lady become more and more unhappy, but even the three-room old lady and the nine-room old lady did not look good.

The old lady in the third room snorted coldly: "Isn't it Xu's post?" The guests came, and she didn't say hello, but went out? ”

The ninth room master was also dissatisfied: "Even if it is a three-grade order, it is inevitable that it is too big, and I don't know the rules." ”

The patriarch's face was indifferent, and he said, "The Xu family went out of the city early in the morning to worship the Sun family." ”

The old lady of the eighth room frowned, and the old lady of the third room and the old lady of the ninth room looked at each other.

The old lady of the third room flashed in her eyes, touched her beard and said, "Since you are worshipping the Sun family, why did you go by yourself and didn't bring Brother Rui?" Is there something wrong with Brother Rui that has made the Xu family disliked? ”

The patriarch glanced at him: "I didn't go by myself, I invited the lady of the fifth room to accompany me." ”

In the guest room of the East Courtyard, Xu cleaned his face, and his eyes were still red.

Guo Shi saw it on the side and persuaded: "Don't be too sad sister-in-law, if you don't die in a catastrophe, there will be a blessing in the future, and if you have a sister-in-law in Cang to take care of it in the future, Brother Rui can be regarded as bitter."

Xu sighed and said: "It's me who came late, this Brother Rui has suffered these grievances, don't blame the child for being cold-hearted...... It's just that I see that Brother Rui has an idea, and I'm afraid that he won't be happy to follow me into Beijing, so I have to ask my brother-in-law to help me persuade me......"