Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 224 Is this the attitude of someone coming to ask for help?

The following day, outside Wenhe Mansion.

It was only past 9 AM when a long line of people had already formed at the entrance.

When the gatekeeper opened the small door, he was startled.

"You are?"

He had barely opened his mouth when the crowd surged forward.

"My family is the Wang family of Taiyuan. Today I have come to present my visiting card."

"I am from the Li family of Taiyuan, and I have come today to present my visiting card."

"The Li family of Longxi have come today to present their visiting card."

"The Wang family of Langya has come today to present their visiting card."

"The Wen family of Taiyuan..."

The gatekeeper used to be a janitor in the Prince of Qin's mansion, and he had never seen such a scene before.

He immediately bowed to the crowd in a panic and said, "Please, everyone, wait a moment, I will go and fetch the steward."

Having said that, without waiting for their reaction, he hurriedly closed the door and went to consult Wenzhong.

In the main hall.

Wen Zhong was serving breakfast to Wen He and his family.

"This soup is quite good today. It's made with chicken soup, isn't it? It seems like we've had quite a few chickens at home lately."

Wen He took two bites and nodded in satisfaction.

The food available during the Tang Dynasty was limited, and the meals they ate were limited to a few options.

It must be tough for these chefs to come up with different flavors of bao tuo every day.

Upon hearing this, Wenzhong smiled and said, "Recently, there have been many more people raising chickens in the area. Now a hen costs less than ten coins, so this old servant decided to buy some."

Wen He nodded silently upon hearing this.

It must have been initiated by the government.

Droughts are often followed by locust plagues.

Raising more poultry and releasing them into the fields allows them to eat locust eggs.

If we wait until the locusts become a plague, it will be too late.

Ordinary locusts are edible, but when they swarm, they contain toxins.

Poultry, out of biological instinct, will avoid it.

"Sir, why are so many people suddenly raising chickens?" asked Li You.

At his age, this is precisely the kind of age where he likes to ask "why".

"Because it is delicious and cheap, ordinary families cannot afford to eat mutton, but people cannot go without meat, so chicken and duck become their best choice."

Li You paused, his blank expression clearly indicating that he didn't understand why ordinary families couldn't afford meat.

Li Tai, standing to the side, laughed and said, "Once all my pigs are raised, they will be able to afford meat."

Wen He originally wanted to tell him that it would take many years.

But in order not to dampen his enthusiasm, he nodded with a smile.

At that moment, the doorman hurriedly arrived at the door.

Upon seeing this, Wen Zhong bowed to Wen He and then left.

Upon learning what was happening outside, he smiled helplessly.

Since Wenhe moved here, there have been many guests, but this is the first time that a formal visiting card has been presented.

"Young master, many people are delivering visiting cards outside the door."

As Wen Zhong finished speaking, Wen He looked up at him somewhat awkwardly.

"This is truly the first time."

Although it was unexpected, Wen He knew who had sent the visiting card.

Aside from those people, no one else would send a visiting card at this time.

Wen He smiled faintly: "Then let's accept them all. We'll also arrange for another batch of tea to be brought over later."

The tea leaves that were sent from the south have already been processed into roasted tea.

It's a pity that the tea leaves were picked a little late, so the quality wasn't very good.

In the eyes of experts in later generations, they would definitely be considered cheap goods.

However, it's still possible to fool the people of the Tang Dynasty.

"promise."

Wen Zhong acknowledged and withdrew.

Not long after, he returned with a large stack of visiting cards.

Wen He stared in astonishment at the pile of things.

"I don't need to review all of these, do I?"

“Young master is the host, so naturally I must see it.” Wenzhong neatly placed the visiting card on the table.

He could help Wen He with other things, but he really didn't dare to make the decision on this one.

Wen He glanced at it and said somewhat impatiently, "It doesn't really matter whether you look or not, as long as you know how many people will come."

"Young master, there's also a gift list."

Wen Zhong reminded him helplessly.

This visiting card wasn't the one they initially sent when they said they were coming to visit.

The document also records the gifts brought during the visit, and the host will arrange the seating arrangement according to the gifts and the visitor's status.

And all of this can be summed up in the word "etiquette".

If Wen He doesn't make proper arrangements, the upper echelons of the Tang Dynasty will treat him as a laughing stock.

The previous incident could be attributed to Wenhe being just starting out, which meant the family was poor.

Furthermore, Li Shimin himself was present at the time, which is why there was little discussion.

This time is different; all those present are representatives of powerful families. If he doesn't perform well, he fears he too will be punished by His Majesty the Emperor.

"Troublesome." Wen He rubbed his trigeminal nerve.

If he had known it would be this troublesome, he would have had Li Shimin arrange for him to go to the Lizheng Hall.

However, just as he was worrying, his gaze suddenly fell on Li Tai, Li Ke, and Li Yifu.

He immediately laughed.

"I still have many important things to do, so I'll leave this matter to the three of you."

Li Ke looked calmly at Wen He, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

Li Yifu was overjoyed and immediately bowed to Wen He, saying, "Please rest assured, sir, I will certainly live up to your expectations."

"I need to raise pigs. Little Jieli just arrived at the manor, and I still need to take care of him," Li Tai said quietly, pouting.

After Li Shimin ate a few piglets, Wenzhong and his men bought some more, one of which looked very similar to Jieli, the pig raised by Li Tai.

Nostalgic for his past love, he named the little pig "Little Jieli".

"Snapped!"

Without saying a word, Wen He slapped him on the head.

“You spent fifty strings of cash yesterday. If you keep nagging, I’ll confiscate everything you bought yesterday.”

"Stingy."

Li Tai muttered something, and before Wen He could make a move, he suddenly leaped up and dodged.

"Hey, missed."

Seeing Wen He's slap miss its mark, Li Tai made a smug face.

That smug look is exactly like someone else's.

Fortunately, Li Tai knew that he could only escape the first day of the month, not the fifteenth.

So he obediently did as Wen He instructed.

There were indeed quite a few people who came, including the eight great families of Guanzhong, the five surnames and seven prominent families, plus some aristocratic families and national heroes. After careful counting, there were actually more than twenty families.

"Too much!"

Knowing the number of people, Wen He felt a headache coming on.

With so many people, he couldn't possibly agree with them all.

As for who to choose or not to choose, that's not something he can decide.

"Send this list to the palace so His Majesty can choose the people."

Wen He simply shifted the blame onto Li Shimin, becoming a hands-off manager.

Seeing this, Wenzhong had no choice but to send the list to the palace.

"They tried to sow discord before, but now they're shamelessly showing up at our door. It's utterly shameless!"

The list included several people who were of particular interest to Li Shimin.

Even Wen He was unaware that a hundred riders had already infiltrated the homes of these people.

However, one name stands out the most.

"Auxiliary machine."

Li Shimin frowned as he looked at Changsun Huan's name on the list.

He would eventually have to get involved.

"Fine, let's just assume he wants to mend his relationship with Wen He." Li Shimin shook his head and ticked off a few names on the list with his pen.

"Let Jiaying post the replies for the ones that aren't checked."

He handed the list back.

Not long after, Wenzhong returned to the Wen residence.

He was about to hand it to Wen He when he saw that the latter didn't even look at it, but lay on the rocking chair with her eyes closed to rest, saying, "I'm resting now. Go and reply to the post. Also, tell them that this was chosen by His Majesty and has nothing to do with me."

Since he had already relinquished his responsibilities, Wen He decided to leave everything to the end. By using Li Shimin's name, those who weren't selected wouldn't be blamed on him.

Wenzhong immediately sent someone to write a reply.

Some people outside the door left happily after receiving the reply.

Some people who hadn't received a reply stood there in bewilderment.

"May I ask your steward, is this something you've forgotten? We are from the Chen family of Longxi."

"We are the Zhao family of Jinyang."

"And us, we are from the Jiang family of Nanyang."

The servants panicked.

If they fail to receive a reply, they will inevitably be punished by the host.

What was originally a desirable job has turned into a miserable one.

"This was decided by His Majesty, and my master has no right to change it. You may return and report the truth."

Wen Zhong was starting to admire Wen He.

At this point, if His Majesty the Emperor is brought in to endorse the decision, those who were rejected, even if dissatisfied, will not dare to complain.

Otherwise, one would be guilty of deceiving the emperor.

After seeing them off, Wenzhong got busy.

Now that there is no mistress of the house and Wen He doesn't understand or care about anything, he has to take care of everything.

However, in order not to overstep his bounds, he still consulted Wen He on everything.

I thought the latter would get impatient and then hand over all the responsibilities to him.

Unexpectedly, Wen He asked about every little detail and only let him do it after thinking it over.

"Brother, you're not slacking off anymore?"

Even Xiao Wenrou was a little surprised; her brother was so diligent today.

Wen He chuckled and ruffled her hair, saying, "This is our home."

Although he wanted to slack off, how could he entrust all his family's affairs to an outsider?

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhong was taken aback, but then smiled with relief.

He knew he wouldn't be staying in this house for long.

Once Wen He is truly in charge of the family, he should leave this place.

Wen Zhong bowed to Wen He and then withdrew.

Two days later.

In Yongle Ward, the ward head, having finished breakfast, was patrolling and strolling through the market as usual.

Suddenly, one of his servants came running over in a hurry.

"Fangzheng, a very important person has arrived!"

The servant left in a great hurry.

The shop owner, however, said dismissively, "What important person could possibly come?"

Not counting the nobles living in Yongle Ward, there were three families of county barons, two county serfs, and one duke.

He had previously met the Prince of the County and His Majesty the Emperor, who was then the Crown Prince.

Therefore, Fangzheng felt that he had seen the world.

"It's a carriage belonging to the Lu family, and also the Cui family, and the Li family of Taiyuan, and..."

Before the servant could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a gust of wind blow past his eyes.

When he came to his senses, he realized that the magistrate had already disappeared.

At the entrance of Yonglefang.

One after another, horse-drawn carriages filed in.

Even the Imperial Guards came to maintain order.

Those around them were all taken aback.

"Where are they all going? What a huge commotion!"

"The last time I saw so many noble families gathered together was when His Majesty ascended the throne."

"It seems these are all going to Gao Yangzi's residence. I heard they sent their visiting cards a couple of days ago."

"Is it that Wen County magistrate?"

"That's right, that person is currently the one most favored by His Majesty."

"He seems to be only ten years old."

Many people sighed, then turned around and saw their own children, also around ten years old, picking their noses and looking silly, and they felt a surge of anger.

They're both ten years old, so why is there such a big difference?
If Wen He knew what they were thinking, she would definitely sigh.

I also want a carefree childhood.

Who can understand the pain of being woken up from a deep sleep so early in the morning?

To build momentum for him, Li Shimin specially ordered people from the palace to dress him up.

Because he had not yet undergone the coming-of-age ceremony and was not yet of age to tie his hair up, the palace maids who came tied his hair into a grape-shaped bun, which looked like a bunch of grapes on his head.

"No need for the powder, it's too girly."

Seeing Wen He's resistance, the palace maid who was doing her hair asked Wen Zhong for his opinion and then had no choice but to give up.

"Young master, our guest has arrived."

Just then, a servant came to report that Wen He had finally freed herself from her restraints.

After changing into a light blue round-necked robe, he went out to greet him personally.

The carriages at the gate had stopped early.

Everyone on the bus was waiting for Wen He to arrive.

These old stubborns cling to the dignity of their ancestors.

They insisted on bringing Wen He out.

Upon seeing this at the door, Wen He frowned.

"Does this mean I have to invite them one by one?"

Wen He pointed to the carriages outside the door and said.

Wen Zhong nodded with a bitter face.

“Those who have come are all of high status; as a junior, you should go out and invite them.”

"But they came to me asking for favors."

Wen He squinted, a hint of displeasure appearing on her face.

"This……"

Wenzhong was in a bit of a dilemma.

If it were anyone else, these prominent families would have the whole family come out to greet them when they visited.

This is a great honor for them.

"Here's what we'll do: go and tell those three little bastards, Li Tai, Li Ke, and Li You, to change their clothes and come out. Then set up some chairs here. I want to see who comes down from outside."

The fact that Wen He came to greet him at the door was already the biggest concession she could make.

These prominent families actually wanted him to invite them one by one.

They really think they're the King of Heaven!
However, not everyone is like that.

Why haven't the people in front left yet?

Inside the carriage bearing the banner of the Wen family of Taiyuan, an old man lifted the curtain, frowned, and asked a question.

The servant stepped forward and replied, "Reporting to Master, the owners of the carriages in front have not yet gotten out. It seems that Magistrate Wen has not yet come out to greet them."

"Ok?"

The old man frowned even more deeply and snorted unhappily: "Have these people from the Five Surnames and Seven Families lost their minds? They're clearly here to ask for help, but they're putting on airs. Humph, let them go if they want, I'll go myself."

After saying this, the old man got out of the carriage and walked towards Wenhe's residence.

The person on horseback in front naturally saw him.

"Is this Wen Dalin from the Wen family?" Elder Cui recognized him at a glance.

“Exactly,” a young man beside him replied.

The old man from the Cui family immediately turned cold and snorted, "You have no manners."

Not long after Wen Dalin entered Gaoyangzi's residence, a servant came out and shouted, "King Wei, King Han, King Chu, Your Majesty has arrived!"

The person in the carriage suddenly changed his expression.

A commotion ensued.

The person who had been sitting calmly in the carriage suddenly got off in a panic.

In his haste, he didn't even have time to use a stool before jumping off the carriage.

(End of this chapter)