Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 269: A quick chat and laughter

The front yard was brightly lit with candles, and red lanterns were hung under the eaves, the lights dancing and emitting a faint fragrance.

The servants were busy working in an orderly manner, adding a sense of wealth to the simple Li residence.

As they were not holding an umbrella, their view was directly towards the night sky. Suddenly, a faint purple cloud appeared in the sky, covering the Li residence, appearing and disappearing from time to time. The two were horrified and felt uneasy, with endless speculations flooding their minds.

In front of the big red longevity banner with the image of Magu offering longevity hanging in the main hall of the Li residence, the housekeeper Gui Shu and the servants were making final preparations for the evening banquet. Fresh fruits that had been bubbling in the well for half a day were put into bowls, eight kinds of cold dishes were served on the table, and tea and wine were prepared to serve. Everyone was busy as they kept running.

As other guests had not arrived yet, Wang Heng and Xiaocai didn't want to stand around and disturb Uncle Gui and the others, so they turned around and walked around casually.

He walked to the sedan chair unloading hall which was integrated with the foyer. He didn't know when several sedan chairs came outside. Because it was raining, the bearers stayed in the sedan chair unloading hall to rest and eat some birthday snacks.

Wang Heng thought coldly that there were too many sedan chair bearers and that these country gentry were too ostentatious when they went out.

Seeing the hustle and bustle in the hallway, the two turned into the flower hall. Unexpectedly, there were already two old men sitting around drinking tea in the hall. They seemed to be the elders of the Li family.

The two of them didn't want to go into the house to greet each other, so they stood under the eaves and watched the rain.

Soon, the housekeeper Gui Shu walked by with two servants carrying food boxes. An old man in the flower hall, who seemed to be called Second Uncle, shouted to the outside, "Ah Gui, where are you going to distribute the food?"

Uncle Gui asked the servant to stop for a moment, then turned back and went into the house to reply, "Second old master, several of the old relatives' wives have arrived, and we'll also have a table at the Mulan Pavilion in the backyard."

Second Uncle coughed dryly and said, "Why didn't Ada tell me in advance so that my grandmother could come to help? Who will accompany you in the field now?"

Uncle Gui smiled and said, "It's cousin Xu. The master has already asked the cousin to come as a guest."

The second uncle stroked his beard, his face darkened, and he was about to speak, but the old man sitting on the armchair next to him, with a missing canine tooth, said tremblingly: "Second brother, Ah Da knows what's going on. Ah Da has been an official for decades with a gray beard. We are from a different family and cannot control his inner hall. We should not be disliked."

Second Uncle changed his expression, forced a smile and said to Uncle Gui: "Very good, Second Aunt Xu has also learned how to be the head of the family in the Liu family in the past few years."

The toothless old man next to him coughed several times, and it seemed that he was trying to stop my second uncle from speaking any further.

The second uncle thought for a moment, then said to the toothless old man with a stern face, "I'll go talk to Ah Da myself."

He waved his hands and said, "Agui, you can go down."

"Miss Xu," Wang Heng and Xiaocai were excited when they heard the title.

Li Shanmin mentioned yesterday that Mrs. Liu Xu would probably become his stepmother after Mr. Li finished his mourning period.

Nowadays, it is common for widows to remarry. However, it is very rare for widows of scholars with official titles to remarry, but it does happen.

Lord Li is certainly a man of high rank and great achievements, but judging from his family background, he is probably from a humble family of scholars.

The elders of the Li family obviously thought that Mrs. Liu, the widow, was not qualified to be Mr. Li's second wife.

Hearing that Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Xu were also in the backyard of Li's house at this time, the two felt that there was still hope to resolve their doubts, so they followed Uncle Gui and the servants silently and saw that they really passed through the hanging flower gate and went to the inner hall. The problem was that Mrs. Liu was receiving female guests today. If they broke into the Mulan Pavilion, it would be too impolite. At the least, they would be reprimanded by Master Li, and at the worst, they would be driven out of the house by the servants immediately.

The raindrops fell on his hair. Xiaocai wiped them off and said softly, "Mrs. Liu might come out to pay her respects at the birthday banquet. We can wait for an opportunity to talk to her. If things go wrong, she will definitely leave the Li residence tomorrow. If we ask for a visit on the way in the name of Mr. Zhang, can she avoid seeing us?"

Wang Heng understood what he meant and said calmly, "Human lives are at stake. It doesn't matter if we go to the Liu residence in Cuihua Village again."

So the two of them went back to the eaves of the flower hall, and just then the servant of the Li family came to invite the guests to take their seats.

He took a few steps into the main hall, which was filled with flowers and bustling with activity. A servant led him to his seat.

There were two or three new faces at the main table. Several of them left after lunch, and several more came to the banquet in the evening.

The people at the table of young people were still there, except for one more person, Meng Dalang.

Jinyang Jun Li Yan and Xiao Wu went out for a walk for half a day, and they came back and sat down without knowing when.

Li Wei greeted them, "You two are late, so you should drink a glass of wine as punishment."

Wang Heng smiled and said, "I accept the punishment, I accept the punishment." But he held the wine cup without moving.

Others at the table, such as Mr. Chen Er and Mr. Meng Dalang, were not familiar with Li Fu, so no one supported him.

A man walked out from the main table, smiling and taking out a bamboo cup. It turned out to be Mr. Meng. He took the wine jar from the servant beside the table, filled the cup with wine, took two steps forward, and personally presented it to Lady Li Wan, saying with a smile: "Today is a happy day, and we are all gathered together. Please drink this cup to the full."

The birthday banquet should have started with the descendants paying their respects to the birthday boy, but because the eldest son Huaimin of the Li family was far away in the capital, and the second son Shanmin was ill, the birthday paying respects was skipped.

Li Wan and Mr. Meng are cousins. They toasted each other to wish each other a happy birthday as a peer, which is a good omen.

Li Wan was slightly startled, and when she saw the bamboo cup, her eyes lit up. She said with joy, "Mr. Pu's bamboo cup, cousin Meng is so thoughtful."

At that time, Pu Weng's bamboo carvings were very famous for their exquisite craftsmanship. However, Pu Weng lived in poverty and did not make any profit from them, so his works are hard to come by.

Li Wan gently stroked the bamboo cup, looking reluctant to let it go. It was obvious that she liked it very much, and drank it all.

Li Wan said with emotion, "Brother Meng, when it comes to wine, there is no stronger Shaoxing wine than the one brewed by your family. In the twelfth month of that year, I lost my job and was expelled by the Taoist priests from the Narcissus Temple. It was snowing heavily and my cotton-padded jacket was very thin. Brother Meng came and invited me to his home. We opened the jar of old wine and drank until midnight, sitting face to face with each other."

Mr. Meng sighed and said, "It happened more than 30 years ago. On that day, the Li family next door held a New Year's banquet and borrowed my family's cook to help. We two men only had one mouth to feed, so the side dishes were cooked by my sister in the kitchen. We drank the old wine until midnight, and my sister warmed it up and brought it in batches."

Li Wan said with a little sadness, "I drank until late at night. I opened the door drunk and saw that everything was white. The snow was already a foot deep. If I had been standing outside the temple door in my thin cotton jacket, I would have frozen to death."

"It is one of life's great pleasures to have guests come to visit on a cold night and have a drink in the snow. My sister even wrote a few poems about pleasure." Mr. Meng reached into his pocket and said, "Why don't I take them out and show them to you?"

Li Wan waved her head, looking a little tired, and said, "Cousin Meng, let's see later. Let's just drink today."

The guests at the table felt a little annoyed after listening to the cousins ​​talking so much. It was true that old people could talk endlessly.