Chapter 64 carefully prepared

Ever since she learned that Maoxiang and Dong Xiaowan had also arrived in Nanjing, Liu Rushi had been looking forward to their visit.The reason is simple: Mao and Dong were finally able to get married, it should be said that she and Qian Qianyi helped a lot.Afterwards, although Mao Xiang sent a thank you gift and sent a letter of greetings, he still owed the etiquette of paying respects in person.In the past, the two families lived in the same place, and it was not easy to communicate, but it was fine.Now that they have all arrived in Nanjing, it is unreasonable for the other party not to come to the door.What's more, when Maoxiang came to Nanjing this time, he applied for the candidate as a Gongsheng student, and Qian Qianyi, as the Minister of Rites, was in charge of this matter.Therefore, Liu Rushi believes that Mao and Dong should come to pay a visit as soon as possible, whether it is for personal or public friendship.

However, that being said, after waiting for several days, I received a post from Maoxiang, saying that he hoped that Qian Qianyi could receive them in his private residence on August 25th.Although Liu Rushi felt that the other party was procrastinating a bit, he still actively prepared with rare enthusiasm.Three days in advance, she led the male and female servants to inspect the newly allocated mansion where they lived, inside and out.Point out the dilapidated and old places in the hall, hall, living room, back garden, and various corridors and stables one by one, and hire workers to repair them within a time limit.Then, she readjusted all kinds of furnishings—including furniture, calligraphy and paintings, bonsai, antiques, etc., replacing what should be replaced, and what should be added.In the end, she spent a lot of time tidying up the back garden. Not only did she order the servants to trim the flowers and trees neatly, clean the ground thoroughly, but also specially refilled the half-dried pool with fresh water, and straightened the crooked stone lotus column railings. .Even so, Liu Rushi was still not satisfied, and sent someone to buy a pair of cranes, a dozen pairs of mandarin ducks, and nearly a hundred goldfish of various colors, and put them in the grass and in the pool respectively.Qian Qianyi couldn't help being surprised to see his concubine busy with such seriousness, and asked her privately:

"Although Mao Pijiang and Dong Xiaowan are not more than ordinary vulgars, they are not noble people, so they are worthy of madam's fuss?" "Hmph," Liu Rushi raised his chin and replied proudly, "If it's only for them, then naturally I don't need to bother. But I'm not for them!" "Oh, is Madam planning to invite someone else?" "Anyone else, invite them too. Sister Huixiang, Huang Jieling, and Bian Saisai will all be here." Qian Qianyi glanced at the concubine, hesitantly: "This - of course it's okay, we are familiar with each other. But..."

"Hey, you're so stupid!" Liu Rushi stretched out a slender, white finger, and poked her husband's forehead coquettishly, "There's no need to do it for them, why not do it for Master Shangshu and Mrs. Shangshu?" "I see……" "How about it, should we make it available? Tell me, should we make it known?" "Oh, yes, yes, of course! Hahahaha! Then, I will work on Madam. At that time, the next official will definitely come over and give Madam a lamp!" After expressing his comprehension and interest in this way, Qian Qianyi continued to attend to his official business, and let Liu Rushi arrange it by himself without asking any more questions.

Right now, it's already the 25th of August, Liu Rushi got up early, washed and dressed, and after eating snacks, he told Qian Qianyi to go to the front to wait for the guests earlier, and if there were male guests, the old man would greet him outside Then, if it's a female relative, send it to the inner room.Then, she led Hong Qing, Lu Yi and the two mothers, hurriedly left the living room and walked out of the courtyard. The weather today is fine. Although it is near late autumn, the sun is still shining warmly on the blue and cloudless sky, setting off the roof of the west wing brightly and dazzlingly.The gentle morning breeze blows on the body, without a trace of chill, it only makes people feel extraordinarily comfortable.The only ones that showed a sequence change were the two tall sycamore trees in the courtyard, which lost a lot of leaves overnight.At this moment, an old maid was cleaning with a thin body and bowed her head.When the bamboo broom in her hand slid across the bluestone floor, it made a rustling sound.

Liu Rushi led her maid and mother around and confirmed that everything was arranged according to her instructions. Even the cups, plates and bowls used for the banquet had been moved to the octagonal pavilion in the back garden. Let go of your heart and go back to the back hall.Noticing that Qian Qianyi had left, she sat down on a chair, casually took a cup of fragrant tea from Lu Yi, and while listening to the autumn wind rustling the curtains, she silently thought about the upcoming meeting. As she explained to her husband, for today's gathering, Liu Rushi did place quite ardent expectations.This is not surprising, since Liu Rushi came to Nanjing, in the past month, although Liu Rushi has really tasted the taste of "Mrs. Shangshu"-a husband with a noble status and a radiant face opposite each other day and night; There are also dignitaries in court with shawls and shawls and humble expressions; when she followed her husband out, the guards of honor in front of the sedan chair and behind the horses were so majestic; and in the early court season, the sound of bells and drums from the Forbidden City It's so close and audible again... However, Liu Rushi felt dissatisfied, as if she still lacked something.

After being so restless for several days, she finally figured out that because she was locked in the deep house compound all day long, so far, her pride was only her own. Apart from her husband, there was no one else to share with her, let alone cheered her up.For Liu Rushi, this is obviously a bit deserted and a fly in the ointment.To change that, she starts planning a party featuring herself.She also knew that the family members of high-ranking officials and nobles would not come to the door easily unless they were related to each other.And according to Liu Rushi's past experience, those wives and grandmas, relying on their status and high lintels, would like to put on airs nine out of ten, and they might not get along well with him.Instead of spending money to invite them and end up being unhappy, it is better to invite a group of familiar sisters and have a good time.Of course, if the visitors were only old ladies like Bian Saisai, or rich women like Huang Jieling, they wouldn't be able to support the table, and one or two people with some status must be found.So Dong Xiaowan's arrival was exactly what she wanted.Because no matter what, Dong Xiaowan is now a "treasure family member" of Maoxiang, and Maoxiang, as one of the "four sons" of Fushe, is known to everyone in the upper class of Jiangnan.With these two couples, and later hearing that Mr. Haohao Yang Wencong's concubine Ma Wanrong was also a famous Qinhuai prostitute, Liu Rushi had already forced the old man to write a letter to invite them too.In addition, there is a close friend Huixiang, who is also a future official.With these people together, today's gathering will not wrong me too much.However, seeing that the sun had already climbed over the curtain hooks and there was no movement outside, Liu Rushi couldn't help feeling anxious.

"Hey, what's the matter, not even a shadow?" She thought, then put the teacup on the small table, stood up, and planned to send Hong Qing to the front to inquire.At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from the passage outside the door, and Liu Rushi stopped again. "Ah, we only said that we were late, but it turned out to be the first!" A familiar voice said with a smile, and then the curtain was lifted, revealing Huixiang's young face with light makeup.Behind her, followed by an equally young beauty, that is Bian Saisai, a famous Qinhuai courtesan. Liu Rushi was slightly disappointed to find that the visitor was not Dong Xiaowan.Because as the main guest who made a special trip to pay their respects today, Liu Rushi felt that Dong Xiaowan should come to the door earlier.However, she still put on a smile all over her face immediately, and welcomed Huixiang and Bian Saisai into the room.

"To be honest, it's a good time for you to come at this moment!" After each other saluted, the guests and hosts sat down, and Hongqing served tea, Liu Rushi gave way to the guests and said with a smile, "You should come early For a while, I'm afraid Sister Yu won't have time to accompany you guys!" "Oh, what?" "It's not your brother-in-law! He spent half the night drafting an article yesterday, saying that he was afraid that there might be some carelessness and inadequacy in it, so he forced me to review it for him. You think I'm a girl, why have you ever done this? Dare to intervene in the important affairs of the court? Say no, the old man is still very serious. There is no choice but to catch up with the time when the younger sisters are not here, and carefully scrutinize for him. No, he just asked someone to come in and take it. I'm tired and my forehead still hurts!"

Huixiang blinked her eyes: "Ah, my sister is really capable! No wonder everyone is saying that she has such a great talent, but it's a pity that my sister is not a man. Otherwise, it would be strange to go to the imperial examination and not win the first prize and come back from the top prize!" Liu Rushi put down her teacup, took out a sweat towel to wipe her lips, shook her hand and said, "It's just a joke, Miss Yu doesn't have such a big idea! Now I'm just annoyed, it's better for the old man not to be an official, I can save some time , spend more time with my younger sisters to have fun. He has become an official, well, he is busy with business and has a lot of entertainment, so even Sister Yu will not be free!"

"It's because my sister really has this ability, so my brother-in-law can't do without my sister!" Huixiang said with a smile, "Or, why didn't he choose anyone at the beginning, and chose my sister? Probably, he thought about it at that time, didn't For someone like my sister to be a helper, this big uncle, Ge Lao, etc., I'm afraid it's really not smooth!" Liu Rushi understood that the other party was implying that she played a role in Qian Qianyi's employment this time, and Huixiang was naturally also a part of the credit.But in front of Bian Saisai, it is inconvenient to point out such things.So while winking at Huixiang, she said: "This is all a joke, our sisters may as well joke about it, but when Wanrong and Xiaowan come, don't mention it again, lest it spread and make people laugh!" After finishing the initial joking, the next topic turned to some news that happened in the capital recently.Hui Xiang talked about that in the early years, Zhou Zhong, a well-known Hanlin master in the south of the Yangtze River, was captured by the imperial court from Jiaxing to Liudu a few days ago.I heard that he was a traitor when he was in Beijing, so when the prison car entered the city, the spectators pointed at him and scolded him.Ordinarily, Zhou Zhong deserved what he deserved this time, but his cousin Zhou Biao, who is also a famous person, was also implicated and sent to prison, but he was wronged.She went on to talk about that a few days ago, in the streets and alleys of Nanjing City, countless empty postings were posted overnight. I heard that they were scolding the Chief Constitutional Lord Liu Zongzhou, and they simply called him a heinous villain. Everyone saw it, but they didn't know who did it.Later, she also said that Li Shiniang of Hanxiuzhai had recently fallen in love with Fang Yizhi, the Hanlin official who fled from the north, and wanted to marry him wholeheartedly.However, Fang Hanlin didn't appreciate it, so he moved to the Tianjie Temple outside the city.Shi Niang still didn't give up, and ran to the temple every three days.In fact, how could a person with a high heart like Master Fang think of Shi Niang?In the end, I'm afraid it's just a bamboo basket to fetch water-it's all in vain!Liu Rushi knew Huixiang's news, but he got half of it from the street talk and half of it from Li Zhan's pillow.In order to show that she is more capable than the other party, she simply revealed to her girlfriend two secrets in the palace: one is that the emperor has recently become obsessed with watching theater, and often secretly recruits theater troupes from the minister's family to perform in the palace, and rewards generously for those who like it The other thing is that the emperor recently hung up a pair in the imperial court, saying: "Everything is worse than a cup in hand, and the moon can be seen several times a year." It was the emperor who specially ordered the cabinet minister Wang Duo written.I heard that the emperor admired Wang Gelao's calligraphy, and thought it was better than Dong Qichang in the previous dynasty... After talking like this for a while, Liu Rushi suddenly realized that until now, Bian Saisai, who was sitting next to him, had been listening quietly, hardly saying a word, so he asked her casually: "Sai Sai, Xiaowana girl has come to Liudu, and she has been smelling it for several days. You must have seen it. How is she now?" "Oh, my sister has never met Sister Dong!" Bian Saisai replied with a bit of embarrassment, flashing her beautiful eyes that were as bright as autumn water. "Huh, what do you mean?" Liu Rushi raised her eyebrows in surprise, "I only know that Sister Yu never visited her, but because she lived in this house, she couldn't help herself. My sister is free, so she never visits her." She visits?" Two years ago, Bian Saisai and Dong Xiaowan both lived in Bantang, Suzhou.At that time, Liu Rushi was angry with Qian Qianyi about Aunt Zhu's affairs, and ran to Suzhou under the pretext of getting medical treatment. The two of them often went to visit together.Because of this, Liu Rushi knew the friendship between the two of them. Bian Saisai did not answer immediately.She lowered her head, blushed, and waited for a long time before uttering two words: "Inconvenience." "Inconvenient?" Liu Rushi was even more puzzled.However, she seemed to understand a little bit later, so she shook her head and said, "You are too narrow-minded! Even if she married Mao Pijiang, the left and right were only under the name of deputy tribute students, so how can she be so unattainable? For example, Sister Yu , don’t you still have contacts with your younger sister? You can’t just forget about the poor and the poor just because of the glory and wealth!” "However," Hui Xiang caressed Bijia's front, and continued with a smile, "It's just my sister who is so nostalgic. If it's someone else, I'm afraid it's different. Don't say it's Sai Sai, it's my sister who is sincere today. Treating her, I don't know if she really wants to come, I really don't want to come!" "Ah, that's not true!" Bian Saisai hurriedly said, "Sister Xiaowan is not that kind of person. It's the girl herself..." Even so, Liu Rushi has been reminded.She looked at the door, and found that the curtain that was slanting on the ground was much shorter than before. "Well, these two are real, how did they last so long!" She thought unhappily, so she turned her head and told Hongqing: "Go, go to the master's side and see, have any guests come?" After finishing speaking, she stood up and said to Hui and Bian, "Forget it, let's not wait here anymore, let's go to the garden first!"