Union

Chapter 195, Section 194: A Banquet
The Duke of Xuanguo's mansion is going to hold a spring banquet.

In the past two days, various noble families in the capital have successively received invitations from the Duke of Xuan's mansion.

Most invitations were distributed by the steward of the Duke of Xuan's mansion, accompanied by servants; however, in many noble households, the invitations were personally delivered to the guests by the four male members of the Duke of Xuan's mansion who were responsible for maintaining the household.

This made everyone value the invitation even more.

While valuing the invitation, people also paid even more attention to the main characters of the banquet.

The women unanimously prepared a gift for the first meeting, and the gift was quite valuable.

It's no wonder everyone is doing this; after all, it's not even the end of the first month of the lunar calendar, what kind of spring banquet is this?

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that the Spring Banquet is just a pretext; the real purpose is probably to introduce the newly recognized legitimate daughter to the powerful and influential people in the capital.

The powerful and influential people in the capital were all shrewd; after a little thought, they quickly guessed the motive behind the Duke of Xuan's banquet. Behind their backs, they couldn't help but murmur amongst themselves, saying things like, "She's really risen to a high position," "She's lucky; after all these years, she's found again," and "She's still young; with a couple of years of proper training, she'll have plenty of suitable husbands to choose from..."

Everyone was buzzing with discussion, and by then, everyone in the Duke of Xuan's mansion was incredibly busy.

The maids and servants were being bossed around by the old lady and Yang Lingjia. They were doing things like sweeping, decorating, and preparing for the banquet.

Gu Wangchen and his three sons were also busy.

Duke Xuan had to attend court and handle official business, especially with the spring imperial examinations approaching day by day. He was also appointed as an examiner for the Golden Examination, so he was extremely busy. Even opening the ancestral hall to worship his ancestors and informing them of the good news was done in his spare time.

Duke Xuan was too busy to attend to everything, and Gu Wangchen was also unable to get away.

The Chu family, far away in Jinzhou, received a letter written by Chu Yanliang amidst his busy schedule. Knowing that Yunying's identity had been confirmed, they packed their bags overnight and came to the capital.

The eldest son-in-law, who was over eighty years old, was not as healthy as his own father. Gu Wangchen wrote to him several times, urging the old man to take good care of himself, and that he would personally take Yunying to Jinzhou to visit her maternal family after these busy days.

Despite all the kind words, the old man simply refused to agree. He didn't even bother to reply carefully, only casually informing his son-in-law of the approximate arrival time in Beijing, so that he could arrange for someone to pick him up and prepare the guest house and other necessities.

After seeing the letter, Gu Wangchen dared not wait until his father-in-law arrived in the outskirts of the capital before going to pick him up.
The last time the old man came to Beijing was when Huiyin passed away. He came to see his daughter off on her final journey before she was buried.

For the past twenty years or so, perhaps out of disillusionment or fear of being reminded of painful memories, the old man has never set foot in Beijing again.

Now in his eighties, he came to the capital to see his grandson. Gu Wangchen was worried that something might happen to the old man, so on the day he received the letter, he rode his horse towards Jinzhou to pick him up.

Since both Duke Xuan and Gu Wangchen were unable to leave, Gu Yuanming and Gu Yuanxi had to take over the affairs of the manor, keeping them extremely busy.

Yunying was also busy.

The manor's sewing room sent her a brocade dress made to fit her figure, and there were also ready-made clothes that the old lady had personally selected for her granddaughter. Yunying had to choose the right dress for the banquet from among so many clothes.

Of course, this is just one of the most insignificant little things.

The big thing is that Gu Wangchen gave 60% of his first wife's dowry to Yunying. In addition, there was the property and money that her grandparents had given her to rely on, and Gu Wangchen also gave most of his own savings over the years to his daughter, plus the pocket money given by his two older brothers... Goodness, each of these items seems like a lot, and when put together, it is a huge fortune.

After giving the items to Yunying, the old lady worried that Yunying wouldn't know how to keep accounts and manage things herself, so she also gave Yunying her personal maid, Aunt Hou, to help her out.

These days, Yunying spends every morning checking accounts and putting things into storage, plus daydreaming about boxes and boxes of account books and jewelry.

She wasn't without her wealth; the brocade porcelain brought her huge profits, and now she's quite a well-off woman.

But compared to what her family had given her, her meager possessions were like a drop of water in the vast ocean, insignificant and insignificant.

Yunying sighed more than once in private: "As expected of a family with a century of distinguished service, the depth of their heritage is truly beyond what ordinary people can imagine."

Just like her, although she has now entered this door, she has only glimpsed a part of how profound the foundation and accumulation of the mansion really are, but has not seen the whole picture.

……

Time flies, and several days passed in the blink of an eye. The group from Jinzhou arrived in the capital at a very fast pace.

Yunying, along with her two elder brothers, went to Shili Pavilion to welcome them. They waited there for a long time before finally seeing her maternal grandparents' family members who were on their way to the capital.

My maternal grandfather's long journey made his already weak body even more tired and aching.

Even so, the old man got off the carriage and went to see his beloved granddaughter immediately.

Just as Yunying had imagined, the old man was tall but thin. He also had very little hair left, and the long journey had greatly depleted his energy. The old man looked quite unwell at that moment.

Even so, it did not diminish the old man's refined and dignified demeanor, nor his profound and majestic gentlemanly bearing.

This was a great Confucian scholar who had read all the classics of a virtuous man, dedicated his life to teaching, and was highly respected and admired by everyone in the Great Xia Dynasty.

The old man accepted Yunying's greeting, staring straight at her with his cloudy eyes, before finally helping her up with trembling hands.

“This girl is definitely our child. She looks just like your maternal grandmother.”

The old man took off the jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Yunying, saying, "It's nothing valuable, good girl, keep it as a keepsake."

Yunying dared not refuse and hurriedly accepted it respectfully.

His two uncles, who were accompanying him, also crowded around him.

The uncles' eyes welled up with tears as they remarked, "He'er is definitely one of our own."

"She looks quite like her mother, there's no doubt about that."

"If Mother could see He'er, she would be overjoyed even in the afterlife."

Seeing the scene turn somber, the aunts quickly came over to smooth things over.

Both aunts were eloquent and persuasive, as well as kind-hearted and prudent. After holding Yunying's hand and feeling sentimental for a while, they excused themselves, saying it was windy outside and the elderly and children shouldn't catch a cold, and sent everyone back to the carriage.

After the carriage was repaired, it headed to the capital again.

Soon they arrived at the gate of the Duke of Xuan's mansion, where the old lady personally led everyone inside.

After the group from Jinzhou settled down at the Duke of Xuan's residence, Yunying had more interaction with her maternal grandfather, uncle and aunt, as well as her two cousins ​​who accompanied them, and they gradually became familiar with each other.

Soon the day for the spring banquet arrived.

On this day, the Duke of Xuan was summoned to the palace and was delayed in returning. Gu Wangchen then led his two sons to personally greet the guest outside the gate.

Generally speaking, those of lower status arrive first, while those of higher status arrive later. However, there are exceptions. Those who have a close relationship with the host family will arrive early to help the host family make an appearance or to entertain guests.

After Gu Wangchen opened the door to welcome the guests, the first guests to arrive were the people from the Rongguo Duke's Mansion.

This was both unexpected and yet somehow expected.

When the Duke of Rongguo arrived with his wife, his second and third sons stood beside him, while on the other side of Lady Feng, her eldest daughter-in-law and youngest daughter accompanied her.

When the Duke of Rong and Gu Wangchen exchanged glances, one of them beamed with joy, while the other's lips instantly fell into a smile.

Duke Rongguo laughed heartily, "Brother, what's with this look? Your beloved daughter has returned home, you should be happy, why are you wearing such a long face?"

Gu Wangchen chuckled, glancing at the upright and honest Chen Yanzhou out of the corner of his eye.

This nephew has always been handsome, and this time he must have dressed up specially, making him even more elegant and dashing.

This is truly a first-rate talent. Even in a noble family, the father-in-law and mother-in-law would be overjoyed to have such a good son-in-law.

But his precious daughter had just been recognized by her family, and Chen Yanzhou was still fixated on her. Really, what father would want his daughter to be coveted like that?

Gu Wangchen's eyes drooped.

He called Gu Yuanming over and said, "I can't leave here. You lead your uncle to the flower hall."

Gu Yuanming respectfully replied "Yes," then put on a polite smile, "Uncle, let's go this way. There are many guests today, and my father has not had time to attend to you much. Please forgive any rudeness..."

The Duke of Rong, with his usually cold face, smiled like a flower. "Please forgive me, how could I not? My dear nephew, what is my relationship with your father? We grew up like brothers. You don't need to say such polite things, we're so close..."

Gu Yuanxi didn't hear what was said after that, but that didn't stop him from silently rolling his eyes and giving his friend Chen Yanzhou a thumbs up.

He no longer wanted to be Chen Yanzhou's brother-in-law. Even though he was two months younger than Chen Yanzhou, he was afraid that if Chen Yanzhou really called him "Second Brother," he would shorten his lifespan.

Following the Duke of Rongguo, several other nobles came to visit.

These people were either close friends with Gu Wangchen or old acquaintances who had dealt with Duke Xuan for a lifetime.

Gu Wangchen treated them with great care, but with only the three of them—father and sons—the manpower was far from sufficient.

Having no other choice, they had to temporarily select two of their younger relatives to help greet guests at the gate.

It was at this time that Chen Yanzhou was recommended by the Duke of Rong.

Gu Wangchen looked at his nephew, who was making polite conversation with others, seemingly oblivious to the scrutinizing and speculative glances from those around him...

Gu Wangchen was fascinated by Chen Yanzhou's composure, but the thought that Chen Yanzhou was feigning ignorance meant that rumors about him and his daughter would surely spread like wildfire. Seeing this scene, outsiders might even start thinking about his wedding date with He'er.

Gu Wangchen suddenly felt irritated, and his beard almost stood on end.

Speaking of He'er, her formal name has also been decided: Gu Yuanhua.

"Yuan" means beginning and "Hua" means glory. The Duke of Xuanguo specially gave his granddaughter this name, meaning that from now on, his granddaughter's life will be open, smooth and full of flowers.

Of course, her family preferred to call her by her nickname "He'er" rather than her formal name. As for Yunying, she preferred to be called Yunying.

Leaving aside these digressions, as the sun moved closer to its zenith, more and more guests arrived for the banquet.

As the banquet was about to begin, all the guests had arrived.

Just as Gu Wangchen was preparing to take his son back to host the banquet, another group of people hurriedly arrived at the gate.

Upon closer inspection, although the people attending the banquet were simply dressed, the waist tags hanging on the waists of their attendants were enough to make one's heart skip a beat.

Gu Wangchen had a premonition and quickly went down the steps to greet him. Gu Yuanxi didn't know why, but cleverly followed his father down the steps.

The Crown Prince stepped down from the carriage, followed by the Second Prince.

Gu Wangchen hurriedly greeted him, and the Crown Prince, known for his benevolence, naturally helped him up.

He smiled and apologized, saying, "Upon hearing that the general has found his beloved daughter, I have come to congratulate the general on the orders of my father, and also to ask for a cup of wine."

Gu Wangchen said with trepidation, "Your Majesty's concern is deeply appreciated. Your Majesty is busy with countless affairs of state, yet you still specially sent the Crown Prince and the Second Prince to offer your congratulations. This is truly a great act of kindness and generosity, and I am unworthy of such praise. Crown Prince, Second Prince, please come in quickly..."

Gu Wangchen led the two princes through the gate. Gu Yuanxi dared not say anything, pursed his lips, and hurriedly followed.

Gu Yuanxi ran into Chen Yanzhou in front of the flower hall and whispered in his ear.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"Walls have ears, so don't say things you shouldn't."

“I’m not talking about the Crown Prince, I’m talking about the Second Prince.”

Chen Yanzhou said, "Even the Second Prince cannot say anything."

Gu Yuanxi clicked his tongue in admiration.

He suddenly remembered that Chen Yanzhou had been cuckolded by the Second Prince, and couldn't help but nudge his good brother, "When did you become so good-natured? If I were you, I wouldn't let him off so easily."

Chen Yanzhou looked at the smiling Second Prince with a calm gaze and no change in expression. However, he opened his mouth slightly and said something quite ruthless, "He is a prince after all. You can't just kill him with one slap. It's best not to act rashly. Besides, His Majesty is watching closely. If you want to deal with him, you have to wait until the storm has passed, so that people won't immediately think of you."

Gu Yuanxi chuckled softly, "You always have a point."

As the two were talking, the Second Prince greeted a group of people and then noticed them.

Upon meeting Chen Yanzhou, the Second Prince's eyes narrowed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

As if he wasn't the one who had been involved with Lin Shuqing before, and as if he had never done anything to wrong Chen Yanzhou, the Second Prince walked up to the two of them in a generous manner and greeted them.

He even sent a friendly signal to Chen Yanzhou, whispering, "Yanzhou is virtuous and talented, and his governance of Yungui County has been quite effective. Father Emperor is good at recognizing and using people, and this time he is probably entrusting Yanzhou with an important task. Congratulations Yanzhou, your promotion is imminent."

Chen Yanzhou said, "I am unworthy of such praise from the Second Prince." He added, "Your Majesty is as wise and sagacious as Yao and Shun. As a subject, I should share your worries and relieve your difficulties. Whether it is a promotion or a demotion, I will gladly die for Your Majesty's command."

Chen Yanzhou's words were forceful and clear, immediately causing the elders who heard them to nod repeatedly. On the other hand, the Second Prince, having failed to win over anyone, was instead lectured in return, and his face immediately turned sour.

(End of this chapter)