Ren Hu Jiren shouted in the back, Cheng Mengxing didn't bother to take care of him, and went straight out of the door of Binyueju.

Hu Jiren was about to go out with him, but was stopped by the shopkeeper and asked to settle the bill.

Cheng Mengxing felt a lot brighter when he went out of the door, and when he looked back and saw Hu Jiren and the shopkeeper, he didn't know whether to bargain or what to do, he was disgusted in his heart, and secretly scolded Hu Jiren for having no chance, and was deeply ashamed that he was a relative of this kind of person.

Xiao Er led the horse over, Cheng Mengxing didn't think about it, turned over on the horse, refused to wait for Hu Jiren to leave, and suddenly heard someone behind him calling "Mr. Cheng".

Cheng Mengxing turned around, but saw that it was Cao Hao.

It turned out that Cao Hao thought about inviting Cheng Mengxing to a banquet today, so he finished his work early and returned home early. Passing by this street, he saw Cheng Mengxing coming out of Binyueju, so he smiled and went over to say hello.

After dismounting and saluting, Cao Hao smiled and said, "Thank you for your courtesy." A few days ago, the banquet was busy, and I didn't have to have a good drink with Mr. Cheng. These few days are busy with trivial matters, and I don't have time. I originally wanted to invite Mr. Cheng to have dinner today, but it seems that Mr. Cheng has eaten it, which is really unfortunate. I don't know if Mr. Cheng is free? ”

Cheng Mengxing hurriedly shook his head and said, "Gongzi Cao is polite." It's not worth anything, I've eaten Cao Gongzi a few times before and after, and it's ...... when Cheng Mou invites Cao Gongzi to do the east" Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Hu Jiren's "cousin".

When Hu Jiren chased him out, he only cared about catching up with Cheng Mengxing, the God of Wealth, and didn't pay attention to Cao Hao behind him. When he saw it, his "cousin" had already shouted, and it was quite loud, causing Cao Hao and his party to look at him.

Hu Jiren remembered that he asked Cao Hao to kick his ribs bruised a month ago, and he felt that his legs and stomach were a little weak, and he was a little weak when he saw Cao Hao wearing an official uniform that was higher than his own, although he was reluctant, he could only go over to the rules and regulations to greet Qian'er, and said: "Xiaguan has seen Lord Cao." ”

When Cao Hao saw him, he felt disgusted, ignored him, and only looked at Cheng Mengxing in surprise, and asked what the "cousin" meant.

Cheng Mengxing couldn't pretend that he didn't know Hu Jiren, nor could he pretend that he didn't know that Hu Jiren recognized Cao Hao, so in desperation, he had to shake his head and mutter: "Master Cao, this is Cheng's distant cousin." Then he didn't explain anything else, so he said: "Today, it is really a mundane affair, and Cheng Mou's kindness is understood, so Cheng Mou is the prime minister and invites the son." ”

Cao Hao nodded slightly, and naturally he would not answer Hu Jiren's topic, but said: "Since Mr. Cheng still has something to do, I won't bother, I should change it to Mr. I'll invite Mr. again." "Say goodbye.

Hu Jiren was hung aside, and no one paid attention to him when he stared dryly. Looking at Cao Hao's back, Hu Jiren also made a gritted teeth, muttering in his mouth and not knowing what to say.

Cheng Mengxing didn't pay attention to him at all, and urged the horse to leave.

Hu Jiren came back to his senses and hurried to grab his reins, but where could he catch it. Before his horse was brought over, he was busy shouting "cousin", and scolded the shopkeeper to hurry up and lead the horse, and after a while, Cheng Mengxing had already disappeared without a trace.

Cao Hao asked someone to check Hu Jiren early in the morning, knowing that he was the head of the Shandong Sitang of the Hubu Department, and was born in the side branch of the Hu family in Wuling, but his mother was going to the local area to investigate, so he sent someone to Hubei to investigate in detail, so as to find clues about the Amethyst family. Due to different concerns, Cao Hao didn't know that Hu Jiren and Cheng Mengxing were related.

After returning home, Cao Hao found Zhuang Xi to ask Cheng Mengxing about it. When Cheng Mengxing was used to build a garden, Cao Hao was very relieved because it was recommended by Zhuang Xi, so he did not specifically inquire about Cheng Mengxing's family background, but remembered that he was also a descendant of a Beijing official.

Zhuang Xi listened to Cao Hao's questioning and said: "His father Cheng Wenzheng has passed away for some years, he was originally the head of the Ministry of Industry, Kangxi Jinshi for 30 years, known as a talent, but unfortunately died young, died at the age of forty-four. Then Cheng Mengxing took his widowed mother back to his hometown in Yangzhou. It took 48 years to enter Beijing again. ”

Yangzhou? Journey? Cao Hao was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked: "Does it have anything to do with the Cheng family, a salt merchant in Yangzhou?" ”

Zhuang Xi nodded and said, "It is the descendants of the Cheng family." Now the head of the Cheng family is Cheng Mengxing's uncle. The rule of these salt merchant families is to gather the money in one place, and the head of the family chooses someone to run the business, while others divide the dividends according to the rules left by their ancestors, and do what they do, and the head of the family does not care. This Cheng Mengxing has abandoned business since his father's generation, specializing in Confucianism, although he is an official and not a businessman, but he still has a bonus to draw, so his family has a lot of money. There is a lot of private house in his family's capital, and the repair is also very elegant, so I recommend him to you. ”

Cao Hao nodded, and asked again: "Does that gentleman know what cousin he has surnamed Hu?" ”

"The Hu family?" Zhuang Xi thought for a while and said, "If you talk about the Hu family, there is only one place." Cheng Mengxing's maternal ancestor Wang Maolin has no children and only two daughters, one daughter married to the Cheng family and one daughter married to the Hu family. If it is said that it is a cousin surnamed Hu, I am afraid that it is someone from Cheng Mengxing's uncle's family. It's just that I heard that Cheng Mengxing's uncle Hu Qiheng has no heirs, so I think it's the nephew of the Hu family. ”

This twisted and crooked relationship Cao Hao was confused when he heard it, and only asked: "This Hu Qiheng is from Wuling?" ”

Zhuang Xi said: "The Hu family is a Wuling family. Hey, Ling Zun should recognize this Hu Qiheng. His father, Hu Xianzheng, was originally a political envoy in Jiangsu, and he was a colleague with Ling Zun. Hu Qiheng took the exam in Yangzhou. After forty-four years of long live the southern tour, he once recruited Jiangsu to take the imperial test to write and ink, Hu Qiheng's poems did very well, won the sacred heart, and was promoted to the Hanlin Academy by the long live lord himself, and was awarded the classics. Now he is still working as an errand in Hanlin Academy. ”

Cao Hao said: "This Hu family and the Cao family are not related, right?" ”

Zhuang Xi was stunned: "No." Why did you say this? ”

Cao Hao shook his head and smiled: "It's nothing." That's all I have to ask. "I can't help but say, it's okay. Don't go around for a long time, that bastard has also become his own relative, and it's not easy to punish.

* When the Holy Driver arrived in Beijing on December 18, the will of the 19th Reward came down, and the content was that because Cao Hao was "diligent in his work" and "quite good in his residence" in the household department, he promoted his title by two levels, from a third-class man to a first-class man, and gave him a one-month vacation to prepare for marriage.

"Diligent and diligent", "the official is quite good", Cao Hao felt panicked. Although Kangxi had good intentions, after this will was issued, Cao Hao didn't know how to meet his colleagues in the household department. Compared with those officials who were so busy that they hit the back of their heads, he only handled two things, where is it considered "diligence", but it is just to be more decent when marrying.

Right now, Cao Hao's wedding date is approaching. He is the son of the long house, the future head of the Cao family, and he is married to Gege of the Chunjun Palace, so the marriage naturally cannot be neglected.

Seeing that the whole family was busy with their marriage, Cao Hao felt like a dream, without any sense of reality. Whether it was a sigh or a joy, he himself couldn't tell, but sometimes he was in a daze.

On December 24, King Ping Fujin and Cao Yi both returned to Cao's Mansion to help take care of Cao Hao's family affairs. Foreign affairs are okay here, with Cao Zhong, He Maocai and others following the cooking. The inner house is amethyst, although there are a few mothers-in-law and a few grandmothers sent by the palace, but due to the limitation of identity, there is no one who can come forward to entertain female guests. Cao Yi is a newly married daughter-in-law, still a little shy, just helping Amethyst with her affairs, and asking her sister to come forward to entertain relatives and friends.

The wedding shed in the front yard has been built, the kitchen has entered the shed to test the stove, the family account room has been established, and everything is ready.

Although it has not arrived, there have been relatives and friends who have come to congratulate them, and naturally there are indispensable wine and food banquets.

By the twenty-fifth day, the new sedan chair had been placed in front of the wedding shed, and it was also officially opened. According to the rules of this time, this day is a banquet for close relatives of the clan, and then it is a reminder and a welcome for makeup.

The Cao family has no clansmen in the capital, and the close relatives are the Pingwang Mansion and the Jueluo family, and the Zhaojia Mansion is barely counted. Narsu and Seshtu, a brother-in-law and a brother-in-law, are very dedicated. In addition to close relatives, people like Ning Chun, Nalan Fusen, Detehei, Shuming and others all regarded Cao Hao as a brother, and knew that his elders were not in Beijing, so they all came over to help in advance.

After lunch, I have to go to King Chun's Mansion to urge makeup. This was something that Ning Chun had already agreed with everyone, and for the sake of decency, let Seshtu and the seven imperial guards make up eight people to go to urge makeup. Because everyone has a high position and many titles, they put on official uniforms according to their ranks, rode a high-headed horse, and went to the Chunwang Mansion with many entourages. They are hypnotizers, and they are also considered "makeup deliverers", and they will return with the dowry team over there in a while.

Cao Yi and Amethyst carefully looked at the new courtyard again, the walls of the new house were pasted into white and cleaned, and when the makeup arrived, the makeup could be installed immediately.

Although the courtyards in the house are named after trees, this new courtyard has no example. Because this is the original small courtyard open, the area is larger, there is a small garden, and there are many kinds of trees. Cao Hao couldn't think of anything appropriate for a while, so he left the name of the hospital empty.

* From King Chun's Mansion to Cao's house, along the way, there were people from Cao's Mansion wearing new clothes and hats to report back and forth. Not long after the palace was announced, there was news from here. Cao Song took his cousin and led the drummers to welcome the makeup here.

The dowry procession of King Chun's Mansion came to Cao's Mansion in a mighty manner, blocking most of the street.

First of all, one hundred and twenty pieces of furniture opened the way, and several boxes and cabinets made of high-quality rosewood and rosewood were readily available, and they were placed in place one by one according to the places that had been measured earlier in the palace.

Then the eighty-one were lifted with pillows, curtains, curtains, clothes for the four seasons, and cloth for rulers, and so on. These are all important paving hangings, and the rest will be put into the Cao family's warehouse.

Then there are the hanging ornaments of sixty-four lifts. This is good, calligraphy and painting antiques are not in the box, the whole box is carried by the whole box. These are naturally festive and auspicious hanging, and the rest are put into storage. At this time, the Cao family's warehouse was already full, and there was nothing to stuff in, so in desperation, Cao Hao had to call open the two wings of the Orchid Courtyard and the Bamboo Courtyard, let the cage be carried here first, and then asked someone to guard it.

After the large items, there are trivial things, and the forty-eight big red boxes contain head jewelry, rouge gouache and other things. I also found a side room and put it in, locked it, and waited for it to be carefully picked up.

Finally, there is a good field in the grange with 50 tilts, two real estates, four industrial shops, and in addition to the nurse and the nurse, there are eight maids and five men and women.

The lengthy gift list consumed a thick pile of mud gold and red notes, and the people sent by the Chun Wangfu to hold the list of makeup and pay for the funeral shouted so that their throats were dumb, and finally poured most of the pot of tea, and then asked the groom Cao Hao to accept the wedding with a hoarse voice, and said goodbye.

It took three and a half hours just to receive and place these dowries, from the afternoon until dark, and after receiving them properly, the Cao family set up a banquet to invite the housekeepers and servants who gave the dowries to eat and drink.

In the end, Cao Hao ordered people to bring out the silver seals wrapped in advance and a number of strings of green worms as reward money, and distributed them to everyone one by one. Seeing that the box containing the reward money gradually bottomed out, there were finally more than a dozen seals left, and there was no insufficiency. Cao Hao breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately, it was the Pingjun Wangfu who had experience and asked the standards and total amount of money for makeup and rewards from various palaces, so there was no embarrassing situation that the reward was not enough.

(To be continued)