Whether it is in the capital or in Jiangning, when it comes to the New Year, Cao Hao has to go back and forth to various mansions and socialize; This New Year in Yizhou is much more leisurely.

Although there are some places where pairs are not pasted during the filial piety period, according to the customs of the north, purple and blue pairs are still pasted outside the gate of Daotai Mansion. Outsiders know that this is a filial piety family, and there is less entertainment during the festival.

Although it is not as large as the population of the capital and Jiangning, there are nearly 100 people from the top and bottom of the Daotai Mansion here, inside and outside.

After a few days, it was thirty. Because fireworks and firecrackers cannot be set off, there is a lot less festivity.

At the end of the thirtieth day, the whole house was up and down, and the group sat down to eat.

In the main hall of the inner house, two tables were set up, and the men ate there; There are three tables on the ground on the kang on the west side, and the ladies are eating here.

Lu cuisine is fresh, southern cuisine is light, Beijing cuisine is fragrant, on this table, there are dishes in three places, and the room is full of fragrance.

At the table of Cao Hao in the hall, in addition to Mr. Zhuang and Han Lu, the two masters, Wei Hei, there are also Cao Yanxiao and Cao Yanwei brothers; At the other table, Cao Fang, Wu Sheng, Zhang Yi, Zhao Tong, Zhao An, Qian Kang and others were seated.

Although according to the rules of large families, there is no reason for masters and servants to eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner together, but there are no elders on Cao Fang's side, and Cao Fang's table is all a few people he has relied on, so he has nothing to say. Among them, Cao Fang, Zhao An, and Qian Kang are the sons of the family in the southern mansion; Wu Sheng, Zhang Yi, and Zhao Tong are all in the capital and have been with Cao Hao for several years.

At the main table, although Wei Hei regarded himself as a servant, he was treated as a guest at the beginning of his arrival at the Cao family, and his qualifications were deeper than that of Mr. Zhuang; Mr. Zhuang has always been treated politely by his teacher, needless to say; Han Lu's two masters are the staff, and after this year, they can be regarded as guests and hosts.

During the banquet, in addition to talking about the crackdown on bandits at the beginning of next year, everyone also mentioned the March Birthday Festival. A few days ago, the capital sent back Cao Hao's invitation to an excerpt, and there was no reply to the mountain bandits he mentioned.

This is really unexpected. It was just a formality on the invitation to go to Beijing to congratulate him on his birthday, but he didn't expect that there was really a grace.

You must know that Cao Hao's father is one of the ministers of the Ministry of Rites who went to Beijing to celebrate his birthday, and now Cao Hao also has this grace.

One family and two fathers and sons, celebrating their birthdays in the same dynasty, this is also a special honor. After all, many governors and governors wanted this grace but could not, and they were uneasy outside, wondering whether someone was slandering in front of the emperor, and whether they had lost their sacred hearts.

If people don't go to Beijing, it's just that, since they are going to Beijing to celebrate their birthday, then the birthday gift will have to be thought about. It is necessary to ventilate with the Jiangning Weaving Mansion, and it cannot be stronger than that side; In addition, it is also necessary to find out clearly in the clan that a "Heshuo forehead" like Cao Hao has multiple rites; I also have to weigh the official ranks, but it is stronger than a few chief officials in Jinan Mansion.

It is necessary for all three parties to weigh it, and this birthday gift can be decided, otherwise it will be too high and there will be a suspicion of arrogance and arrogance; If it is too low, it is not filial piety and does not respect the emperor.

Cao Hao listened to Mr. Zhuang, Master Han, and Master Lu talking about these rules for gift-giving, and only felt a headache. It seems that he has to bother to bother Zhang Luo and convince the "Emperor of the Ages". If it weren't for the allusion of "the unification of the country and the evergreen", Cao Hao really wanted to "flatter" and send potted flowers and plants, it would not be a matter of convenience, the important thing is that the price is cheap.

There are many officials who want to enter the birthday ceremony next year, and there are rare objects in the world, and the designation has also been hyped up to sky-high prices. If you are targeted by the princes and elder brothers above again, and they come to worry about you like a fat sheep, it will be even more boring.

Therefore, Cao Hao made up his mind to be a "stingy" person, but for a while, he couldn't think of anything novel and affordable to make a birthday gift.

On the west side, on the kang table, Chu Yu held Wu'er, sat with Tian on the top, Mrs. Han and Mrs. Lu on the left, Liqiu and Xiqiu on the right, and Vanilla and Jade Dragonfly accompanied the prime minister.

At a table on the ground, Mama Ye and Mama Zhou made the head. When I came to Yizhou to take care of the four mothers-in-law who were born by Chu Yu, Mama Zhang and Mama Wei returned to Jiangning with the Li family, Mama Ye will stay with Chu Yu, and Mama Zhou is the companion of Chu Yu's biological mother Nalashi, and she will return to Beijing after the year.

The first sitting on the left is Amethyst and Cao Fang's family, the right is the Liu family's and Yang's sister-in-law, and the lower one is Xiyun and Zhu'er.

Xicai, Xiyan, Xixia, Xishuang, Xilu and Cui'er and others sat at another table, and Wu Sheng's and Yuying were also seated. Wu Sheng's family is the hairpin who worked as an errand by Cao Hao's side in the early years, and everyone is an old acquaintance, and everyone can talk about it.

The other mothers-in-law and maids were led by Zhao An's family and Qian Kang's family to hold a banquet in the kitchen.

Except for Cao Hao, Chu Yu, and Tian, who were still in the filial piety period, everyone else was eating and drinking, and the banquet was also very lively.

According to the algorithm of this era, after the New Year, Cao Hao will be twenty years old, which is the year of the weak crown. Although he has been out of office for a few years, only after the age of twenty will he no longer be regarded as a yellow-mouthed child.

Sitting in the banquet, Cao Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Kangxi has survived fifty-one years, although the Cao family has undergone some changes, but the head of the family, Cao Yin, is still there, and history has changed inadvertently.

Like Yizhou, Jiangning Weaving Mansion also held a family banquet.

On the master's side, only two tables were set up in Kaiyang Courtyard. Outside the screen, Cao Song took a few younger brothers and accompanied his uncle to eat; In the screen, there are Li and Zhaojia, as well as the four sisters who have more than two lives. There are really few people and it is deserted, so the Li family asked Aunt Feng, Aunt Qian, Baodie and Jade to also sit down.

Cao Yin has always been strict, even the most honest Cao Song is not easy to be wanton in front of his uncle, and he sits in a proper manner. The two brothers, Cao Shuo and Cao Xiang, are also eye-to-nose and nose-to-heart, and they look very peaceful. Only the youngest Cao Fu, who has been filial piety for half a year, did not go to school, and often asked his uncle about teaching, and he was a little less restrained than his brothers in his conversation.

These four nephews, the eldest nineteen, and the youngest one are twelve, and they are all about to grow up and become the pillars of the Cao family. Unfortunately, the younger brother was unable to see his sons start a family, marry and have children. Cao Yin sighed in his heart, feeling a little impermanent.

Cao Fu saw that the atmosphere at the banquet was dull, and Cao Yin seemed to have a look of longing on his face, thinking that his uncle was thinking about Cao Hao's father and son who were far away in Shandong, and he was a little unhappy in his heart. After thinking about it for a while, he smiled and said, "Uncle, my nephew is reading in your study, and I often see many books with poems in them, and I think they are all old works of my uncle." Why not compile a book for the scholars to read? ”

Cao Yin has been smart and talented since he was a child, and he is quite complacent in poetry, and before he arrived in Jiangnan in his early years, he made friends with Nalan Rongruo and other talented people in the capital; After arriving in Jiangnan, he was also a guest of many Confucians. Although there are many poems in themselves, they are not well known to the world because of their identity.

Cao Yin listened to his nephew's suggestion, but he was a little moved, and said with great interest: "Oh, Fu'er, have you read all those poems?" Do you remember? ”

When the elders asked, Cao Fu got up from his seat, stood with his hands down, and then said loudly:

The purple snow is dark and the neem flowers are old, and the frog singing hall is full of grass; Lujiang is too guarded to visit the deceased, and Jiankang can be dumped side by side.

The two families are all halberded, and the middle-aged leader is a little sooner or later; There is more than enough literary style and politics, and they want to express their arms when they meet.

At that time, there were also uninvited guests, sitting together to fight the flames.

There is no roasted carp and cold eagle, and there is no shortage of steamed pears and jujubes; The second is to enjoy the ancients, and the guests are drunk and sincere.

Recalling the past in the Weimingguang Palace, the people of Lenga Mountain are good-looking; Ma Cao's dog prison was ridiculed, and now the pain is withered.

The friendship is the only one left Zhang Gongzi, and he knows Shi Jun in the evening; Hear more and forgive the ridicule, this fun is not a fish in the algae.

The beginning of the poetry book is a smooth road, and the car hub should be sluggish.

Every family sings the words of drinking water, how many times does Nalan know what is going on?

Who's with the spectacle? Cen is famous in the field.

After reciting it in one breath, Cao Fu returned to his seat.

Cao Yin listened and was not moved. Cao Fuyin's is indeed his old work "Neem Pavilion Night Talk", which is Kangxi's 34th year's old work. Zhang Gongzi in the poem is his old friend Zhang Chunxiu, and Shi Jun is Shi Shilun, the prefect of Jiangning at that time. The three of them talked at night, remembering their old friend Nalan surnamed De, who had passed away for ten years.

Cao Xiang has been reading poetry and books hard in the past few years, and he also admires this Nalan genius who sings "Drinking Water Words" in the world, and asked in a low voice: "Did Uncle and Mr. Rong Ruo work together as an errand boy next to Long Live Lord in his early years?" ”

Cao Yin nodded and replied: "Well, that's true, he is older than me, he was over twenty years old when he entered the palace as a guard, and he has been working by the side of Banzai Ye since then until he died. ”

Seeing that the uncle and the two younger brothers were all melancholy, Cao Song felt sullen, and complained that the younger brother was not sensible.

However, even when it came to the Nalan family, Cao Song remembered an incomprehensible thing and asked: "Uncle, Brother Fusen is the son of Mr. Ruorong, why does he have no status in Nalan Mansion?" Not to mention living in a side house, the son is also tight, and he doesn't look like everyone's children at all. ”

Cao Yin also knows a little about Nalan Fusen's situation, but after all, these are the private affairs of the Nalan family, and it is not good to talk about it behind his back, so he did not answer, and asked Cao Song: "Next year's Enke, Song'er will not be able to catch up, and if he still takes the road of the imperial examination, he will have to wait for fifty-four years." What is Song'er's plan? If you want to enter the army, when you are filial, let your brother help you plan, and you can be out of office a year early. ”

Where did these Cao Song think about it carefully? He just wanted to raise his hand and scratch his head, but he felt very disrespectful, hung his hand, got up and said, "My nephew just wants to do his best, so that he can be a foil for his brother in the future." Originally, he looked at the martial champions and martial arts scholars who were very beautiful and decent, so he thought about taking the road of the imperial examination; In the past two years, I have seen a lot and heard a lot by my brother's side, and the promotion and disgrace of each person is not based on their background, and these people are only regarded as the road to advancement. After the expiration of the filial piety period, look at my brother's side, if it can be arranged, it will be arranged, or if not, the imperial examination will be completed in a year! ”

Seeing that his nephews were restrained, Cao Yin waved his hand and said, "Sit down and talk, you don't have to get up, eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, these etiquette numbers are saved first." ”

When Cao Song heard this, he didn't sit down, picked up the teapot at hand, poured tea for Cao Yin, and said humbly: "Uncle has been taking care of our fathers and sons over the years, and now he has to worry about the future of our brothers, this ...... It really makes my nephew feel guilty, here is a tea instead of wine, a cup of toast to the uncle, I wish the uncle good health, and enjoy the blessings of my brother and our brother in the future! ”

Hearing Cao Song say this, Cao Shuo, Cao Xiang and Cao Fu also stood up, raised the tea cup in their hands, and followed their brother to salute.

Cao Song has been honest since he was a child, but when he is older, he is a little frizzy, and he likes to mix in the market.

Cao Yin was still a little worried about this eldest nephew, afraid that he would become a gentleman. It's just that his parents are both, and it's not his turn to discipline him, an uncle. I didn't think about it, but after looking at it in the past six months, although I don't say that everything is proper, I also have the demeanor of some heads of the family.

Now, listening to him talk about these two calls, he is growing up and sincere, and he no longer has the youth of a teenager. Cao Yin nodded, and looked at the other nephews, steady and steady, sensible, sensible, smart, all of them are good, and then think of the son of the fourth grade Daotai when he was weak, and he felt a sense of pride in his heart.

In the screen, the Li family and the Zhao Jia family also talked about homely things. Zhao Jia's is a lot haggard, but his spirit is still good.

Zhao Jia's youngest daughter, the fourth sister, was hugged by Aunt Feng, and Aunt Qian coaxed her to eat vegetables and snacks. The Feng family and the Qian family are both Cao Yin's concubines, and they are the people in the house that Cao Yin received in his early years, they are much older than the Li family, and they have no children under their knees, and they love Si'er very much.

Baodie has a son by her side, and she is not angry; Jade was extremely uncomfortable, and her eyes were red. When Cao Quan was gone, she was already pregnant in her belly, but because she hadn't moved for more than ten years, she didn't know that she had a body. After Cao Quan was gone, she was sick in front of Zhaojia's bed, and when she was tired, she knew that she had a miscarriage after seeing Hong.

Zhao Jia's family is no longer mean in his early years, and he has gossiped a few words with the Li family, which is nothing more than words like children, nephews, and children.

Seeing that Zhaojia was eating less, Li personally sandwiched her favorite mushrooms, duck paws and shark fins with lion's head mushrooms, and put them in her bowl, and said, "You eat a few more bites, and you must always raise your body better." ”

Zhao Jiashi had a smile on his face, and was just about to reply that he had eaten a lot, when he saw Jade staring at the fourth sister stunned. She was slightly stunned, then sighed in her heart, and said to Li: "Sister-in-law, there is another thing I am thinking about mentioning to you!" ”

Li Shi put down his chopsticks, took the handkerchief, wiped his mouth, and said, "What's the matter?" Tell me about it! ”

Zhao Jiashi hesitated for a moment, and Fang said, "Sister-in-law, it's Wu'er's business. Although her father is gone, after all, I, as a mother, are still there, and there is no reason to bother her brother and sister-in-law all the time. In the summer, my sister-in-law felt sorry for me, and this younger brother and sister also knew and was grateful. Speaking of this, he paused, and said in a low voice: "If you want to say that you don't blame her in your heart, that's a lie, but I blame myself even more, 'good and evil will be rewarded in the end', which is half true." If I hadn't had bad thoughts, I wouldn't have repaid my master. Before the master took his last breath, he was still talking about the three girls, even if it was for the sake of the master, I would do my best to raise the fifth child Chengren. At the end of the day, I couldn't help but cry.

Li Shi really didn't know how to comfort Zhao Jia's family, thought about it for a while, and said: "Wu'er is your daughter, and she asked her brother to take her to the north, but I was afraid that you would see her heart knots. Yi'er's affairs...... Time has long passed, and there is no need for siblings to blame themselves. She is a good child who is filial and courteous, and she will not disapprove of you as a mother-in-law. ”

Zhao Jiashi tried his tears with a handkerchief, listened to Li's words, and said with a wry smile: "How thick am I to make the third girl recognize me?" When the master was here, I stopped it alive, and now I am looking for it with my jaw, and I don't have to be annoying! What do you want to do with these false courtesies, I just hope that the girl is good, and it will save the lord from being uneasy. ”

It was really sentimental to say these things in the New Year, so Li changed the topic and talked about several Miss Sun and Miss Biao of Zhaojia Mansion. Although they are indispensable to the draft, after all, only a few can keep their brands, and most of them still have to set their own marriage matches.

The brothers in the second room in the future, if they are relatives, it is not the Li family, the Sun family, or the other end of Zhaojia Mansion. The Sun family has already married a girl, and if they marry a daughter-in-law and enter the door, even if they change their parents, it is not good to say. Several of the daughters of the Li family are older and have already married, and a few granddaughters are of the right age here, but the generation is not right.

When the woman's family talked about this, they became interested. Zhao Jiashi stroked her hair and said, "Although Ying'er has added grandchildren and granddaughters, I don't feel like a grandmother in my heart; Seeing that his sons were all grown up and were about to marry a daughter-in-law, he realized that he was old! ”

Li smiled and said, "Look at what you said, do you still think you are an eighteen-year-old girl?" The people who are left outside, at our age, are all old women. ”

Seeing that the two housewives changed the topic, Baodie and Jade were both secretly relieved. Otherwise, if you continue to talk about it, talk about something unpleasant, it's nothing now, wait for Zhao Jia's to recover after a while, I'm afraid that if you can't get up and down, you won't be clean.

(To be continued)