Ten winter wax moon days, coinciding with the first snow falling. The snow blocked the windows, and the ice skates hung in rows on the eaves like small crystal pillars of translucent crystal. The sunlight shines through the thin clouds, shining on the white earth, reflecting a silvery light that dazzles people's eyes. The sunlight that pierced the clouds was like golden threads, crisscrossing and sewing the light gray and blue-gray clouds into a beautiful pattern.

After Laba is the New Year. Every year on the eighth day of the lunar month, Chenjun Xie will hold a dinner party in the Hou Mansion, inviting all the big people in the imperial city to celebrate the year safely, without illness and disaster. In order to have a smooth wind and rain in the coming year, everything will go smoothly. Hou Ye sent out invitations and invited powerful and wealthy businessmen in Beijing to attend the meeting with their families. The banquet on the day of the Houfu Laba has gradually become a tradition in Beijing. How many nouveau riche and wealthy people in Beijing are looking forward to it, hoping that if they are invited by the Houmen to be listed, it will show their status and have been ranked among the noble portals of the imperial city.

The dinner of the Laba Hou Mansion, the Ye family was among the banquets. In the afternoon, Ye An took his wife, son and daughter to the Hou Mansion for a banquet. It's not too early or too late, it's just right. The earlier ones are the gateways that have always been close to the Hou Mansion; When I went late, I couldn't help but lose my politeness, and I seemed to be contemptuous and slow.

Ye Zhiqiu lived a comfortable and happy life in Xu Mansion, eating better than Ye Mansion, and serving more maids than Ye Mansion. I couldn't think about it, the meat on my body grew a few taels, and I dragged it until I entered the cold winter and the moon, and then I returned to Yefu from my grandfather's house. In order to go to the banquet, Mama brought her personal maid to dress up Ye Zhiqiu.

Mama Xu was brought by Mrs. Ye from her mother's house and has taken care of her since she was a child. Seeing that Ye Ping's family was acting like the master in the house on weekdays, he couldn't help but be angry for his master: "Look at that family's style, the person under the fence is even more powerful than the real master!" Ye Mansion was brought by our old General Ye who fought bloodily in the pile of dead people and fought for military exploits! It's good that they really live in their own house, and now they are still behaving like this in front of the old lady, it's really disgusting to kill the old slave! Although the tone of her mouth was impulsive, the strength of Mama Xu's hand to help Ye Zhiqiu comb her hair was extremely gentle.

Ye Zhiqiu's head came from the kneading and grooming with appropriate strength, which made her very comfortable, and she simply closed her eyes and listened to the gossip of the adults.

"Alas...... The old lady is too kind, so she will call the turtledove family and have the heart to invade Nestle. Listening to the chatter of the old mothers in the kitchen, over the years, the family of the partial house has been in the imperial city in the name of the old general, and the old slaves who stayed in the mansion were treated poorly. Scold... They have a good calculation, let their children call the old general 'grandfather' outside, our young master and miss have been in Jiangbei since she was born, and many people in the imperial city don't know it. actually called them Zhang Guan Li Dai, fishing in troubled waters...... "The more Mama Xu spoke, the more excited she became, and she didn't find out that she was abusing the idiom, "Zhang Guan Li Dai". Mrs. Ye just smiled and nodded, not interrupting or expressing her opinion.

At the main gate of the Hou Mansion, the black plaque has four characters "Chenjun Xie", the pen is waved to rebuke Fang Xuan, and the deficit is decorated with gold leaf. According to legend, it was written by the ancestors themselves, and the marquis was given to show the favor of the emperor.

Horse-drawn carriages stopped in front of the Hou Mansion. The male guests are foreign guests, and in the front yard hall, they are received by the Marquis Xie and the little grandfather; The female guest is a domestic guest, and in the backyard of the inner house, she is received by Mrs. Hou. The inner and outer houses are different from men and women. Because they are all distinguished guests today, it is inevitable that the hospitality hall is crowded and crowded. Therefore, the guests, who were all in the backyard, went to the backyard to rest. Wait for the hosts to have dinner before serving home.

As soon as Ye Zhiqiu entered the inner courtyard, a burst of warmth came to his face, as if the cold was blocked outside the house, and the house was as warm as spring. And the daughter in the house is full of beauty.

"In this huge Hou Mansion, I don't know how much silver is burned in winter?"

"Look at this silver bone charcoal......... It's smokeless and tasteless, and I only have sleeping rooms in my house. ”

"What's so strange about this, in addition to the rewards of the Hou Mansion every year, the annual tenant rent is enough for ordinary people's families to live for half their lives."

"Looking at the entire Southern Zhou Dynasty, except for the princes and county lords of the Xingyun Zhao clan, who can compare to the wealth of the Hou Mansion~"

"That's, that'..... I don't know how many pairs of marriages can be made in heaven today? ”

"Listen to my master..... A few months ago, the emperor's birthday banquet was grander and grander than in previous years....."

"The emperor has reached the age of sixteen, and he is not far from pro-government."

"Isn't that not far from choosing a concubine?"

“..................................”

The ladies in the inner house have a rare opportunity to get together, and they all take this opportunity to exchange more useful information, pave the way for their own lord's officialdom, or worry about the marriage of their children. By the way, let's talk about some family life, you and I will say a word, eat and drink together, and chat, which is a lively and extraordinary scene.

Mrs. Ye has never been enthusiastic about this, so she took Ye Zhiqiu to silently drink tea in a corner, waiting for the banquet to begin. A few maids came up with delicate pastries and wine and tea, and continued for the ladies and ladies.

Ye Zhiqiu was bored, listening to the gossip of the women talking about the capital without a match, eating a few sips of rice wine with preserved meat and pastries, and was about to doze off by the warm fire in the house. Suddenly awakened by the heat on his legs. It turned out that the maid of Xie Mansion accidentally poured tea on her.

"The slave should die, please forgive the lady~"

"Dead minion, how can you be bad?! Pull it out ........"

"It's okay, just be careful in the future." Ye Zhiqiu saw that the grandmother beside Mrs. Hou was about to speak and punish, and opened his mouth to relieve the siege.

Fortunately, Xie Fu is considerate and thoughtful, and the water is kept warm all the time, so that guests can drink at any time, and the entrance is not hot or cold. Through several layers of clothing, he was not injured.

Mama saw that Ye Zhiqiu came forward to defend it, and it was not good to brush off her kindness. "Why don't you take Miss Ye to the backyard and change into Miss's clean clothes."

"Yes." The maid lowered her head and made promises.

"Wait a minute~!" Xie Wan saw that her maid was not serving well, and the tea wet Ye Zhiqiu's clothes. With a displeased face, he walked over from the lively side of the house.

"Which yard are you a girl? How come I have never seen you? ”

"Miss, the slave is the rough maid of the garden. Because there are many people today, I was transferred to the inner courtyard to help. The maid's words were soft and delicate, with a hint of trembling.

"Don't come to the inner courtyard in the future, clumsy." Xie Wan saw that she was scared, so she didn't reprimand her more.

"Yes, the slave knows."

"Take Miss Ye to my room, and she can pick my clothes." After Xie Wan finished speaking, she glanced at Ye Zhiqiu, but she didn't say hello and turned to leave.

Ye Zhiqiu was funny in her heart, and the way she was kind to her but didn't want to admit it made her feel a little warm. I thought in my heart: Xie Wan was much friendlier to her than when she was in the temple. Although the two are not familiar with each other, they do not hate each other. Only that "love letter" incident made the two a little embarrassed. To be precise, it was Xie Wan's unilateral embarrassment.

"Sure enough..... The two young ladies are classmates in the school temple and have a deep friendship. The ladies in the house began to praise the two of them, from their appearance and family background to their conduct and talent.......... Ye Zhiqiu couldn't listen to it, so he quickly left here with the maid and went to Xie Wan's room to change clothes.