After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 345 Hua Chao’s Small Banquet

During the Flower Festival on the twelfth lunar month, Haitang was invited by Zhou Wenjun to be a guest at the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion.

Flower Festival is actually not popular in Chang'an nowadays. The Hai family has always had this tradition because their ancestral home is in Zhili. However, the family did not have a girl until Haitang was born, so the celebration has only been held in the past eleven years. However, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion now has Mrs. Cheng'en Hou Shizi and her two children as guests. Mrs. Gui and her daughter are also people from the capital and have the habit of celebrating the Flower Festival. Therefore, on this day, the Duke of Zhenguo asked Zhou Wenjun to A few small banquets were set up in the garden to entertain close friends for a day of fun.

Peng Yuqi has been gone for nearly ten days. The letter from the day before yesterday said that she had just passed Tongguan, but that was a few days ago, and she might be almost at Pingyang Mansion now. Chen Qianhu was a strong military commander, and his wife was not a delicate woman. The couple traveled quite quickly.

Without Peng Yuqi, Zhou Wenjun didn't have many close friends. However, it would be too embarrassing if he only spent the entire banquet with his cousin Zhou Wanjun from the Chengenhou Mansion and Wu Qiong from the Wu family. So she posted a message to Tang Hui and Haitang, and then asked Zhou Yijun, Zhou Huajun and Zhou Xuejun to accompany them. Tang Hui sent someone to send a reply, claiming that he was ill. In fact, he had not recovered from the previous incident and was still hiding at home. Zhou Wenjun didn't force her. With Zhou Yijun and Haitang attending, she would have a very happy holiday.

The small banquet was held in the water pavilion in the garden, surrounded by four large glass screens newly launched by Chang'an Workshop, and several fire pots were placed for warmth, making the room warm and cozy. The tea and snacks at the banquet were very good, the dishes were delicious, and everything was carefully arranged. It's just that spring has just begun, and the temperature in Chang'an City is still very low. There are no flowers to enjoy in the garden. There are only a few wintersweet trees in bloom, and the fragrance floats into the water pavilion, making people feel relaxed and happy.

There is also a stream separated from the Winter Plum Lishu Pavilion and connected by a stone bridge. After eating and drinking, the two little girls Zhou Huajun and Zhou Xuejun couldn't sit still, so they ran hand in hand to the other side of the bridge to enjoy the winter plums. Wu Qiong still clung to Zhou Xuejun, and even took Zhou Wanjun as his companion. Zhou Wenjun, Zhou Yijun and Haitang were left in the water pavilion.

While Zhou Wenjun ordered the maid and mother-in-law to clean up the remaining mats, he led Zhou Yijun and Haitang to get up and move to the railing on the other side of the water pavilion to avoid talking to anyone.

She has been suffocated at home recently. Since February, the men in the Duke's Mansion have been busy with their own business, while the ladies and grandmothers have started packing their husbands and sons in preparation for their long journeys. The few little girls had nothing to do, so they were pushed out by the elders to entertain the guests. Zhou Wenjun got along well with the mother and son from the Marquis Chengen's Mansion, but they just couldn't stand Mrs. Gui's temper. She wanted to get angry several times, but it was Zhou Xuejun and Zhou Wanjun who were quick to pull her away in time to avoid a quarrel with Mrs. Gui. But she really didn't want to deal with this female member of the Wu family anymore. She felt that the other party was really inexplicable.

Zhou Wenjun complained to Zhou Yijun and Haitang in a low voice: "She really has a lot of resentment towards our Zhou family, and I don't know where it comes from. She dared to complain about the Queen Mother in front of my grandmother; , I dare to say something wrong about my great-uncle. There is a sense of arrogance in her words and actions, as if the Wu family is still the head of the country with infinite glory. I don’t know where she got her confidence!"

Zhou Yijun wondered: "Could it be that she was unsure of herself and was afraid that people would look down on her mother and daughter, so she deliberately put on such a condescending air?"

Zhou Wenjun shook his head: "It doesn't look like it. If she was like this when she first came here, maybe I would really think so. But now she has lived in our house for more than a month, and the whole family treats her mother, daughter, aunt, and nephew as honored guests. The food they eat is the best. The tribesmen always treat her to a meal during the New Year banquet, weddings and births. Who can look down on her? She accepted the hospitality of our Zhou family, and she still behaved like that Who are you looking down on with your arrogance and rudeness?!"

Anyway, she is very dissatisfied with Mrs. Gui now. As for Wu Qiong, there's nothing wrong with that girl. She just listens too much to her mother and always likes to pester Zhou Xuejun, which is quite annoying sometimes. If it weren't for Zhou Wanjun who could enthusiastically accompany this girl to read and do needlework, I'm afraid Zhou Xuejun would also explode.

In order to get rid of the entanglement between Mrs. Gui and her daughter, Zhou Xuejun was originally reluctant to let go of his grandmother Zhen Guogong's wife, but now he made up his mind and offered to go to the capital with his parents to take up his post. On Thursday, the general prepared to wait for the military attache from the capital to arrive and hand over the work of Shaanxi Dusi and Chang'an vanguard before setting off. When the time comes, Mrs. Chengen Hou Shizi will also return to Beijing with her pair of children.

When Zhou Wenjun thought that Zhou Xuejun and Zhou Wanjun were gone, leaving only himself and Zhou Huajun to socialize with Mrs. Gui and Wu Qiong, mother and daughter, Zhou Wenjun suddenly felt numb. She sincerely apologized to Zhou Yijun and Haitang: "In a few days, when the weather is warmer and the road is easier to walk, I will go back to Ganzhou. I can't spend more time with you, so don't be angry with me. .”

How could Zhou Yijun and Haitang be angry with her? I just feel quite reluctant to give up. But Zhou Wenjun returned to her father in Ganzhou and could live a happy and unrestrained life again. They were also happy for her.

Zhou Yijun misses her parents and brothers a little. Unfortunately, she came back to Chang'an to talk about her marriage. Now the marriage has not been finalized, and she doesn't know when she will be able to return to Ningxia Zhongwei.

Zhou Wenjun smiled and said: "I'm afraid you may not be able to go back before leaving the court. When the marriage is successful, you still have to prepare a dowry and embroider a wedding dress. How can my fifth uncle and grandma be willing to let you go back? Unless the person you marry in the future will go. Ningxia Central Guard is stationed, otherwise it would be more practical to hope that Uncle Jin Lin could be transferred back to Chang'an after his term of office expires."

Zhou Yijun blushed at what she said, covered her face and stamped her feet: "Sister, you are making fun of me again!" After that, she turned around and ran away.

Zhou Wenjun was happy for a while, then turned to Haitang: "I heard that Xie Tanhua is going to accept Wu Ke as a student? Xie Tanhua's magnanimity and character are really admirable, but he lives in your house now. If Wu Ke comes to study, Your family will definitely have to deal with Mrs. Gui in the future. You have to be more careful, that woman is very unreasonable!"

Haitang smiled and said: "So what if she is unreasonable? Even if Mr. Wu Wen'an is alive, the Wu family is unreasonable in front of my cousin. Mrs. Gui can rely on the Wu family's brand name to show off her power in front of others, but she can't do it in front of my cousin." It doesn’t work. Besides, my cousin taught Wu Ke to study for the sake of his future, which gave him the upper hand in public opinion and morality. Even if Mrs. Gui used the past that Wu Wen’an was his teacher to pressure him, she still couldn’t overcome him. . Mrs. Gui is not Mr. Wu Wen'an himself, so she cannot use her mentorship to force my cousin to make concessions. However, my cousin is Wu Ke's real mentor, and the weight of her words is only lower than that of heaven, earth, monarch, and relatives.

"Is there ever a rule in the world that says that an aunt who has had kindness is more important than a teacher? If Mrs. Gui wants to seek bad luck with my cousin, she must not only have good reasons and evidence, but also prove that she is more talented than Tan Hua and can control the situation. Wu Ke needs to teach better. Otherwise, the more noisy she is, the more she will hinder Wu Ke's studies. Even the former students of the Wu clan who respect Duke Wu Wen'an will not stand on her side."

Zhou Wenjun clasped his hands and smiled: "It seems that Xie Tanhua has already thought of a way to deal with that woman. That's good! Otherwise, I'm really afraid that you will be like the adults in our family, thinking that Mrs. Gui's life will be miserable, and then saving Wu Ke If you have merit, you don't want to argue with her, but in the end, your family is really angry."

"My cousin wants to accept Wu Ke as his student, but he has made up his mind. He can no longer be affected by Mrs. Gui's bad influence. Of course our family will not be afraid of her." Haitang blinked, "But, your family is not afraid of her." What are the arrangements for the Wu family? Are they really not considering getting married at all? I'm afraid Mrs. Gui won't be willing to obey her orders, right?"

(End of this chapter)