After lining up for half an hour, it was almost Nangong Yu's turn, and at this time, a soft box Xiaojiao came from a distance, and stopped straight at the door of the house, and out of the sedan chair came a middle-aged scribe in civilian clothes, with a white face and long beard, elegant and majestic, everyone recognized him, and hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Lord Zhang." www.biquge.info The middle-aged scribe also bowed his hand and said, "Hello colleagues. It turned out that he was a member of the cabinet, a member of the Ministry of Ministers and a scholar of Dongge University, Zhang Juzheng. I saw that he carried two boxes of longevity peaches and snacks from the hands of his subordinates, which were worth a total of ten cents, and entered the Yan Mansion with a congratulatory sticker, and when he saw Nangong Yu, he was slightly surprised, slowed down, and smiled and nodded at him. Nangong Yu also hurriedly bowed and saluted. The ceremonial officer of the Yan Mansion hurriedly ran out to greet him and said, "Master Zhang is here." Zhang Juzheng said "um", put the congratulatory notes and gifts on the ceremonial table, ignored the surprised expression of the ceremonial officer, and strode in.

Everyone in line was silent, all shocked by Zhang Juzheng's momentum, Nangong Yu was ashamed and said: "See, Zhang Dacai is a true gentleman with clean sleeves, how can we be embarrassed to meet others with big boxes and small boxes." Wang Hanli said: "Lord Zhang is a member of the cabinet, the prince's master, of course, you don't have to rely on the Yan family's snort." Although we are rich, we can't compare with others, if we offend the Yan family, we will become poor overnight. Nangong Yu sighed and shook his head speechlessly. Wang Hanli said: "I saw Lord Zhang and my brother nodding in greetings, do my brother and Lord Zhang have a friendship?" Nangong Yu said: "I can't talk about friendship, I just talked about it overnight." Wang Hanli said curiously: "What are you talking about with Lord Zhang?" Nangong Yu said: "Last year, Lord Zhang was on vacation in Jiangling, and I happened to be playing in Jiangling. I became curious, so I went in to make friends with him, and talked about the pattern of the world, the policies of the imperial court, the fortunes of the country and the people's livelihood, and interesting things in the market. During the conversation, I found that he was full of wealth, insight, and talent, and benefited a lot. I talked with him at night, and only said goodbye when the sky was white, and neither of us knew the identity of the other party. It wasn't until half a year ago that I went with Uncle Song to the Ministry of Officials to meet the newly arrived official, and I knew that he was Zhang Juzheng. Wang Hanli said: "Didn't my brother get closer to Master Zhang afterwards?" Nangong Yu said: "No, this is the third time that I have met with Lord Zhang." Wang Hanli said regretfully: "Lord Zhang's impression of my brother is so good, my brother should seize the opportunity." Nangong Yu smiled and said: "Not everyone in charge of officials likes to stammer, otherwise Lord Zhang would not greet me." ”

While speaking, it was the turn of the two Beijing officials in front of them, and the ceremonial officer accepted their congratulatory gifts of dozens of taels of silver with an impatient expression, hastily recorded them, and said: "Congratulatory gifts of more than 1,000 taels can enter the mansion, and the two of them will not give them." One of the Beijing officials said: "But Zhang... Mr. Zhang, he... The ceremonial officer glared and said, "Lord Zhang is Lord Zhang, are you Lord Zhang?" Don't get in the way, there are still many people behind." The two Beijing officials had no choice but to leave gloomily, and people like them who came to celebrate their birthdays accounted for the majority, and very few were worthy of entering the mansion. Nangong Yu thought to himself that several subordinates dared to shout at the officials of the imperial court, which showed how arrogant the Yan family was. After reading the gift list of Nangong Yu and Wang Hanli, the ceremonial officer immediately softened his attitude, and said with a smile: "The two sons sincerely wish their birthdays, welcome and welcome, please inside." Come and put away the gifts of the two sons. ”

After the two entered, Wang Hanli looked at the front yard of the Yan Mansion and sighed: "Only the courtyard pavilion of the Yan Mansion is better than the elder brother's mansion." Nangong Yu said: "There are two pavilion elders living here, that's for sure." A subordinate came to receive them and said, "The birthday banquet is set up in the second courtyard, please come with the villain." They came to the second courtyard along the stone path from the west arch, and saw that the courtyard was arranged with joy, pasted with the word longevity, and the lanterns were hung on the square corridor around the courtyard, and even the people who served tea and water were also wearing red clothes, which was auspicious. There is a stage set up in the middle of the courtyard, the church meeting has not yet begun, the surrounding eaves are full of tables and chairs, seventy percent of the seats are seated, either high-ranking officials or rich people, most of them are chatting, and some are knocking melon seeds, eating tea, and the same table is talking about the new concubine in the family, the whole audience is noisy, and the street is no different. During the day, only colleagues from the DPRK and China were invited to the birthday banquet, and the family banquet was held in the evening, so there was no one of the Yan family's children.

Nangong Yu and the others were arranged at a table farther away from the south, Nangong Yule was clean, and after sitting down, they ate tea alone. Wang Hanli couldn't be idle for a moment, walking around this table, sitting at that table, and making friends with powerful people everywhere. At this time, Xiao Yunxi was also taken to the second courtyard and had a table with Nangong Yu. Nangong Yu got up and saluted, "Commander Xiao." Xiao Yunxi also hurriedly returned the salute and said, "Brother Nangong, please take a seat." After sitting down, we began to talk without a word.

After another half an hour, the guests came one after another, and suddenly heard a loud subordinate singing the promise: "The guests are quiet, and the pavilion elder has arrived." The audience immediately fell silent, dressed up, returned to their places, and stood up to greet each other. At this time, a group of people came from the end of the corridor, led by an old man with low bags under his eyes, a face full of freckles, dressed in civilian clothes, his white hair was combed, fixed in a bun, and he walked slowly and staggeringly. On his left is a middle-aged man in his forties and fifties, with a fat body, squinting, and a unique eye with a hint of arrogance when sweeping over the hundred officials, it is Yan Song's son, Yan Shifan, who is also a cabinet member. On the right is the imperial historian Yan Maoqing, followed by the curtain bin Luo Longwen, who is also the largest ink maker in the Ming Dynasty. And then there is a dry maid.

The whole hall of people congratulated and said: "I wish the old man of the pavilion to be as blessed as the East China Sea, and his longevity is better than that of Nanshan." Yan Song waved his hand and said, "Colleagues, please sit down, you don't have to be so loud, the old man's ears are not so back." Someone took the opportunity to stutter: "Ge Lao is a Wenqu star, you are deaf and clear, you can live for a thousand years." Yan Song said "uh-huh" twice as if he was about to fall asleep, and said, "Let's serve the wine and food, everyone is also hungry, and start the meeting." With that, he sat in a high-angle soft chair in the middle of the first row. Yan Shifan swept his eyes and found Zhang Juzheng sitting on the right side, and said with a smile: "Zhang Taiyue! Zhang Prodigy! I didn't expect you to come, what a rare guest." Zhang Juzheng got up and said, "I've seen Brother Donglou." The old cabinet is worried about the country and the people, and he has worked hard, and now he is 80 years old, and he is not only a colleague but also a junior, and he has come to congratulate him from now on. Brother Su Qing originally intended to come with me, but because he suddenly received an urgent report that the river dam in Zhejiang was in disrepair, and he was the head of the household department, and he was anxious to raise money and grain to transport to the disaster area. Yan Shifan glanced at him meaningfully and sneered: "It seems that Zhang Taiyue is not here to celebrate his birthday, but to make a scene." Zhang Juzheng said: "What do you mean by Brother Donglou?" Yan Shifan said: "Today, my father's birthday, I am afraid that the auspicious words are not enough, but you are biased to mention that the river dam is in disrepair, deliberately ruining the fun, and having bad intentions." and your two packs of longevity peach dim sum, the congratulatory gifts sent by any of my subordinates in my house are more expensive than yours, and you are obviously provoking trouble. Yan Song squinted and said, "Mrs. Zhang didn't do anything wrong, and the East Building must not be rude." Yan Shifan hurriedly said: "Dad, he came to beat our Yan family in the face, you can bear it, I can't bear it." Yan Song said: "As long as the old man is still the first assistant of the cabinet for one day, no matter when Mrs. Zhang mentions state affairs, there is nothing wrong with it, and besides, Mrs. Zhang's monthly salary is only sixty-one stones, and the congratulatory gift is very suitable." but you ... Now that the fortune of the country is difficult, the south is fighting against the Japanese invaders, the north is the Tatar, disasters are everywhere, and there are places where money is used, so in the future, we are not allowed to be so extravagant and wasteful, and we will do more for the court to do things honestly, understand?" Everyone got up and said: "Obey the teachings of the elder pavilion." Yan Shifan said dissatisfiedly: "Dad!" Yan Song's old eyes, which had been sleepy, rolled suddenly, released two cold lights, and glared at him fiercely, so frightened that Yan Shifan didn't dare to say more. Then Yan Song leaned back in the chair, squinted his eyes and said, "I intend to hand over all the congratulatory gifts this time to Su Qing and convert them into money and food for disaster relief, what does Mrs. Zhang think?" Zhang Juzheng hurriedly bowed to the end and said: "Wansheng will never dare to have this idea, Ge Lao is only afraid that he will really misunderstand." Yan Song took his hand affectionately and said with a smile: "It's not what you mean, it's all the old man's meaning, the old man is old, it's useless to ask for money, and the energy is not enough, in the future, you still have to rely on you young people to assist the emperor, your knowledge is great, and you need to mention more East Building." A cold sweat broke out on Zhang Juzheng's forehead, and he said: "Only in his later years is he is shallow in his studies, and it is difficult to take on big responsibilities, so he relies on the old man to be the master." Yan Song smiled and patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Okay, okay, it's decided, let's start the church meeting first, and if there is anything else, we will discuss it tomorrow morning." Zhang Juzheng said: "Yes, I wish the old man of the pavilion good fortune like the East China Sea, and longevity than Nanshan." Yan Song smiled lazily: "Okay, good." ”