The lieutenant who read the decree returned to the palace after reading the decree, and the front of the Qian Mansion was lively. Qian Qianyi was very unpopular among the civil servants after coming to Guangzhou because of his Manchu origin, and even the neighbors around the Qian Mansion rarely interacted.

But today is different, the surrounding neighbors saw the lieutenant of the palace come to read the holy decree, and the royal gift of bullfighting clothes and jade belts, which can only be worn by a high-ranking person. The neighbors of the Qian Mansion are all officials, and they didn't want to see Qian Qianyi because he only had five grades, but now it's different, from a first-grade boss to a cabinet member, this is terrible, and it will be difficult if you can get involved with him and not be promoted.

In this way, as soon as the lieutenant left, the surrounding neighbors, plus the officials who got the news, came to the Qian Mansion one after another to praise Qian Qianyi, the stinky foot of the new pavilion.

Qian Qianyi entertained the neighbors outside, and the bullfighting suit given by the emperor was handed over to Qian Yiai to take to the house.

Qian Yiai returned to the house with a bullfighting suit, and he was also curious about what the bullfighting suit was and why his father cared so much.

Qian Yiai shook off the bullfighting suit and found that it was nothing remarkable, it was just a big red official uniform embroidered with a few dragon patterns on it, which was nothing unusual.

When Qian Yiai was taking a closer look, Qian Qianyi happened to enter the house and saw that Qian Yiai was about to put on the bullfighting suit to try it on.

Qian Qianyi was shocked, this is a royal gift, he doesn't have anything to wear, but Qian Yiai has committed a big crime if he wears it.

"Rebel, what are you doing? Is that what you can wear as well? ”

Qian Yiai was taken aback by his father, and quickly put it down and stood aside.

Qian Qianyi hurriedly stepped forward to fold the bullfighting suit and put it aside respectfully. Seeing that his father was so cautious, Qian Yiai couldn't help asking: "I thought what a bullfighting suit was, wasn't it a dragon robe?" ”

Hearing his son say this, Qian Qianyi was furious and said: "Rebel, what do you know, this bullfighting suit was given by the emperor to his ministers to wear, and the embroidery on it is not a dragon, but a bullfighting bull in the shape of a horned dragon!" This is a gift from the emperor, can you also move a person to make a name? ”

Qian Yiai was dissatisfied: "What is this, tomorrow I will beg my brother-in-law to give me one too!" ”

Qian Qianyi was so unhappy that he scolded: "Ignorant boy, the emperor is favoring you and will not ignore the laws of the imperial court, this kind of bullfighting uniform has no chance to wear it except for you in the cabinet." But if you go to ask the emperor to give you a flying fish suit, you probably can't wear it, it's what Jinyi Wei wears! ”

Just when Lao Qian was teaching Xiao Qian a lesson, Qian Gui outside ran in quickly and shouted, "Master, Tong Ge Lao outside sent an invitation!" ”

Qian Qianyi frowned, what was Tong Yangjia looking for himself.

"Money is expensive, who sent it!"

Qian Gui grinned and said: "It was sent by Tong Fu, the chief housekeeper of Tong Mansion, this guy is not as arrogant as before, see me respectfully!" ”

Qian Qianyi didn't care about Qian Gui's boasting, and hurriedly took the invitation to watch, what it said was very simple, after sunset tonight, please ask Qian Ge to come to the elegant residence for a while.

Liu Ru on the side had just arranged for his son Qian Zhiai, and when he saw the old man holding the invitation card in a daze, he asked, "Master, what's wrong, what are you talking about?" ”

"Madam, I didn't say anything, Tong Yangjia invited me to dinner tonight!"

"Is there anyone else?"

Qian Qianyi looked at the invitation card again and said, "It didn't say it!" ”

Liu Ru pondered for a while and asked: "At this time, Tong Yangjia must have something to do when he comes to invite the master, our family has no deep friendship with him!" ”

Qian Qianyi is old in the officialdom and can not know the purpose of Tong Yangjia, and now the king of Chu supported by Tong Yangjia wants to compete with the prince supported by Ma Mingyuan, at this time, Tong Yangjia's purpose of inviting himself to dinner is very clear, it is nothing more than to win himself over. Qian Qianyi has read poetry and books, so he naturally knows the danger of seizing the heir, this kind of thing is extremely risky and the investment is extremely high. Naturally, the harvest after success is also considerable. If Qian Qianyi is alone, of course he will choose a faction to stand in line after entering the cabinet, and if he stays out of the matter, he will offend both sides. But now Qian Qianyi's daughter is a concubine, and she also gave birth to a prince for the emperor, and she is now four years old.

Even if Tong Yangjia can have the last laugh and the king of Chu ascends the throne, then Qian Qianyi will be ranked after Tong Yangjia, which is not acceptable to Qian Qianyi at all. But Tong Yangjia's banquet can't help but go, but Tong Yangjia helped him a key time at the court meeting in the morning, if he doesn't return this favor, he won't be able to mix in the officialdom in the future, and his popularity will be lost. Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi sighed, sure enough, the most difficult thing to repay is favor, if you are a little negligent, it is very likely to take your life.

Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi smiled bitterly and said: "Madam, if you don't go, you can't do it, you know that the King of Chu standing behind Tong Yangjia will offend this prince immediately if you don't go." ”

"But won't you offend the prince if you go?"

"Let's see, and then we'll talk about what to do!" Qian Qianyi made up his mind to go, so he didn't say anything accurately, just perfunctory Tong Yangjia.

Time passed quickly, and after the sky darkened, Qian Qianyi wore a green coat, sat in a small sedan chair, and did not bring his family to the elegant residence in Beicheng.

Yazhiju is Tong Yangjia's industry, but it is under the name of Tong Fu, the housekeeper of Tong Mansion, the prime minister, it is really a shame to be doing this kind of lowly business. Yazhiju can't be called a restaurant at all, but a courtyard like Suzhou Garden, which is divided into eight independent courtyards, separated by bamboo forest paths, which is very elegant.

Today, Tong Fu, the big shopkeeper of Yazhiju, came, stood at the door to greet Qian Qianyi, and after welcoming Qian Qianyi into an independent courtyard, Tong Fu closed the courtyard door.

There are three houses in the small courtyard, the main room is lit, and there are two women from the Jiangnan water town standing at the door, who are very beautiful. Qian Qianyi is also an old pervert, seeing that this kind of Yangzhou thin horse level can only be a maid, he can't help but sigh in his heart, the nouveau riche is really rich.

The people in the house heard the outsiders and hurriedly greeted them, a total of two people, it was Tong Yangjia, the deputy prime minister of the cabinet, and one was his cheap father-in-law, Gong Dacheng, who is now the political envoy of Guangdong.

Tong Yangjia walked out and arched his hand: "Brother Mu Zhai is here, the little brother is far away!" ”

Qian Qianyi said with a smile: "It's the first time I've come to this kind of high-end place to eat, Brother Ziyi is so generous!" After speaking, Qian Qianyi pointed at the two Yangzhou thin horses, and then said: "These two Suzhou and Hangzhou beauties are high-end goods!" ”

Tong Yangjia laughed, "Brother Mu Zhai is optimistic that it will be sent to the house for a while, just two women!" ”

Qian Qianyi shook his hand again and again, "Don't dare, don't dare, there is Hedong Jun at home, and he dares to attract bees and butterflies!" ”

Tong Yangjia knew that Liu Ru was very tight, and he forced Qian Qianyi to marry her with the reason of the main room for the sake of the big house.

Tong Yangjia smiled and didn't say anything, and invited Qian Qianyi into the house, where four cold dishes were already served on the table. Qian Qianyi saw that it was his hometown dish, and it seemed that Tong Yangjia had prepared it carefully.

"Brother Mu Zhai, I know that you are from Suzhou, and I just invited a Suzhou cook half a month ago, and I specially invited my brother to try the craft!"

"Brother Ziyixian, these four cold dishes are full of color and fragrance, they must be no different!"

The three of them sat down, the two maids filled Shaoxing rice wine, and Tong Yangjia said, "How about Brother Mu Zhai try this braised duck first?" ”

Qian Qianyi picked up the chopsticks and put a piece of braised duck in his mouth, his eyes lit up, this cook did a good job, and she had a lot of Subang cuisine.

"The color of this braised duck is red, the skin is not greasy, the meat is tender, and the flavor is crispy. A simple home-cooked cold dish shows the light and elegant charm of Gusu cuisine. ”

"Okay, Brother Mu Zhai is satisfied!" After Tong Yangjia finished speaking, he began to let the maid serve the food. After a while, twelve hot dishes came up, and the three of them began to push their cups and drink them.

What made Qian Qianyi strange was that Tong Yangjia didn't say why he invited himself to dinner today, but just said that he had just invited a Suzhou chef and wanted Qian Qianyi, a Suzhou everyone, to taste the dishes, and had no other purpose at all. Qian Qianyi was completely confused, and couldn't understand why Tong Yangjia was like this. But that's fine, Tong Yangjia doesn't say Qian Qianyi or asks, so he doesn't have to make it difficult to explain it clearly. Everyone doesn't talk about business, just about some things, and naturally the guests and hosts of this meal are happy.

This meal was eaten from Mao Shi to Shi Shi, and it was drunk from five o'clock to nine o'clock, Qian Qianyi and Tong Yangjia were a little drunk, and this meal was finished. Tong Yangjia finally had to go out to send Qian Qianyi, but Qian Qianyi couldn't refuse, so he had to get on the sedan chair and return home under Tong Yangjia's earnest care.

Qian Qianyi returned to the mansion, Liu Ru hadn't slept yet, she still had to wait for Qian Qianyi to come back and ask what was going on.

Liu Ru saw Qian Qianyi enter the house, and quickly ordered someone to call for washing water, and served hangover soup, Qian Qianyi felt a lot clearer after drinking it.

"Master, what did Tong Yangjia say?"

"Madam, I'm also puzzled, Tong Yangjia didn't say a word about King Chu from beginning to end, just said that he had invited a new Suzhou chef to let me, a Suzhou person, try the dishes, and didn't say anything else!"

Liu Ru thought for a while and asked, "Who are the people who are eating and drinking with you?" ”

"Tong Yangjia and I, plus his cheap father-in-law Gong Dacheng, there is no one else."

Liu Ru and Qian Qianyi thought hard for a long time and didn't understand what Tong Yangjia was planning, so they had no choice but to respond to all changes with no change.

While Qian Qianyi and his family were thinking hard here, Gong Dacheng and Tong Yangjia were also conspiring.

"Lord Tong, can this work?" Although Gong Dacheng's daughter married Tong Yangjia and gave birth to a son, he didn't dare to be a senior in front of Tong Yangjia, and honestly used officialdom etiquette to call Tong Yangjia.

Tong Yangjia twisted his beard and said, "Don't worry, that Qian Qianyi is like a ghost, and he also wants to drink the old man's footwashing water!" Did he think it was enough not to say yes and not to speak? As long as someone sees him eating with me, the news that Qian Qianyi has been put into the account of the King of Chu will reach Ma Mingyuan's ears. The emperor always said a word, and the yellow mud fell into the crotch of his pants - not but! When the time comes, what do you say Ma Mingyuan can do with Qian Qianyi? ”