In the early morning, a drizzle was dripping.

On the streets of Wujin Lane, there are few pedestrians, even if there is a road, they also walk briskly with oil umbrellas.

In the afternoon, the streets come alive.

One carriage after another arrived in front of the Zhao family's mansion and entered from the main entrance.

"Young master, the front is the Zhao Mansion. The Confucian scholar in the carriage lifted the corner of the curtain and looked out, frowning secretly: "I don't know who is coming here today in such a cold weather." ”

He muttered, but he didn't mean to return immediately.

Inviting him to the party is Zhao Yuanjing, who is famous in the literary circle of Wudi, this person has always ignored political affairs, but he is a person with a wide range of contacts and talent, and it is not harmful to have more contact with such people, not to mention the literati gathering, who goes and who does not go, which is very exquisite.

This party is missing him, but I am afraid that the next time we meet, it will be a little difficult to integrate into the group. This kind of communicative matter is really important to Confucian scholars like them who are well-born.

"Young Master, the Zhao Mansion has arrived. As he was thinking, the carriage had stopped.

The coachman got down first, raised an oil umbrella, and helped the young master to get out of the car: "Young master, slow down, slow down." ”

"Did you see anyone else on the road?" asked the young master, who was dressed in a Confucian robe and looked to be in his early twenties, as he walked up the steps after getting out of the car.

"Young master, the little one found that there were a lot of traces of the wheels, leading straight to this side, and there should be a lot of people who arrived first. The coachman looked at it and said.

The young master looked at the sky and frowned: "Let's go up and call the door quickly." The rain is getting heavier and heavier. ”

"No. The coachman hurriedly walked up a few steps and knocked on the door.

"It's coming, it's coming. After a while, the door was opened from the inside, and an old servant came out, looking up and down at the visitor, and after a while, he recognized the Confucian scholar as one of his master's friends, Huang Maocai Huang Young Master.

"Young Master Huang, you can be regarded as here, my master has mentioned you, come in quickly. ”

"Old man, ...... carriage," asked the coachman.

The carriage marched in through the side door, and after a while, the old man took Young Master Huang inside. After speaking, he arched his hand to Huang Maocai and said, "Young Master Huang, let's go around the corridor, this rain is getting heavier and heavier, and the ground is muddy, don't wet your robe." ”

"I'm tired. Huang Maocai thanked the old man, knowing that this old man had been following the Zhao family for decades, and he was half a master in the mansion, and he was an old man, so he didn't want to be rude.

"Hey, it's really a torture to kill the old decay, don't be polite, Young Master Huang will go with the decay. "Lead the way ahead.

Because the corridor is just after the entrance, so along the way, along the corridor to the inside, basically never rained, Huang Mao walked on the road, looking at the rain falling under the eaves, and couldn't help sighing: "Here is the benefit of building, snow and rain, you can walk from here." ”

This corridor goes around the entire mansion, and every time you reach the fork in the courtyard road, there will be a gap for people to step out, which is really convenient.

"Young Master Huang, this is it. The old servant took him all the way to a small courtyard, and the two of them marched into the courtyard with an oil umbrella, and when they were not far away, they had heard the laughter inside, and the old servant said, "The flower hall in front is the meeting place." ”

As he spoke, he took a few steps to go in and go back.

When Huang Mao arrived, someone had already greeted him.

"Brother Huang, you're late. Zhao Yuanjing, who had a hearty smile, arched his hand and said.

"Shame shame, shame they all arrived?"

"I'll be waiting for you. ”

"I'll punish myself three times in a while!"

"You said it yourself, don't say that I lied to you......"

The two talked and laughed and entered the flower hall.

The old servant went out to pick up the coachman and came in, and when he said it, it was nothing if there was a carriage parked outside, but his master commanded, maybe they would not end until the evening, and it was raining heavily outside, so it was not easy to park the carriage, and the street in front of the door was not spacious, was this not a disturbance to the people?

The surname Suo directly opened the side door, let the carriage go in, and found a courtyard to park alone, and the coachman and his entourage were arranged to eat and drink alone in the courtyard, which was also a hospitality.

After Huang Maocai entered the flower hall, there was a pretty maid to help him put away the coat that was already a little damp, and found a replacement of dry new boots for him.

Dozens of people who had close contacts with Zhao Yuanjing all got together.

The flower hall is very spacious, divided into two floors, with stairs all the way up, and there are people standing there on the handrail on the second floor and chatting in a low voice.

Below the first floor, a dozen large tables were set up, on which were placed refreshments and delicate side dishes, as well as pots of warm wine.

Huang Maocai was let to one of the tables, there happened to be an empty seat here, which was specially reserved for him, and the few people sitting around this table were all on good terms with Huang Maocai, and when they saw him coming, they all smiled: "I talked about you just now, I thought you wouldn't come today." You're too late, so you'll have to do a few more articles!"

"Exactly, exactly! I can't spare him today!"

Huang Maocai hurriedly arched his hand and said, "You can spare me, you have to make three glasses in a row in a while to show your apologies, how about it?"

"You're a fool, Mr. Zhao told a few of us that you responded to him for three drinks in a row, but when you come to us, it won't work!"

After a while, several people began to whisper.

Although there are many people attending the party in the flower hall, they are basically the children of the family, the sons of the wealthy, and the characters from the scholarly family.

There are a few so-called Confucian scholars from poor families, but who are they? They are all those who have already made a name for themselves or are from famous families, even if they are dressed ordinarily, but they are from noble backgrounds, which are very different from ordinary poor scholars, so they can naturally talk to these people together.

Just swept around the flower hall, Huang Maocai felt a little uneasy in his heart, these people are usually people who have some connections and some complaints.

His family is also a well-known family in Wudi, and the children he has educated have good knowledge, but just looking at the atmosphere today, he knows that there will be something in the future.

"Can you see Mr. Zhao?" After sweeping around just now, he found that Zhao Yuanjing was gone, so Huang Mao asked in a low voice.

"I went to invite a guest, and I saw him go to the second floor. One of the people at the table replied.

At this time, acquaintances from other tables came to say hello, and Huang Maocai also suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and greeted them.

In a room on the second floor of the flower hall, Zhao Yuanjing, who was still greeting guests just now, was talking to a person at this time, and this person was Chen Qing.

"I have already invited you to these people who usually complain a little bit according to what you said, how do you plan to convince them?

Chen Qing, who was sitting opposite him, smiled: "You, haven't you already prepared a few questions for them to discuss state affairs?"

"Have you seen those topics?"

"I've seen it, as soon as these questions come out, as long as you are not a dull person, you can guess the meaning of your banquet, and I want to thank you here in advance. ”

It turned out that a few days ago, Zhao Yuanjing was moved by Chen Qing's words, and it is not difficult to see from the news he got that the foundation of the king of Chu has been stable, and the people's will is favored, and everyone in the jurisdiction praises him, but on the other hand, Wei Yue of the Wu Dynasty is suppressed with high pressure, and it is okay for a while, once he is defeated, he will inevitably be defeated.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Yuanjing would not have defected to Wei Yue, not to mention that Wei Yue forced the Emperor of Dayan to death and usurped the throne by himself, he was already scolded by 10,000 people, how could such a person make him truly convinced?

There must have been a battle between the two kings, and they defected to the king of Chu early, so as to plan for the family.

Seeing that his friend had been persuading him hard, Zhao Yuanjing finally agreed after thinking about it for a while.

The following is a plan, relying only on the Zhao and Chen families, Wu has a vast territory, I am afraid that there is a shortage of manpower and a lack of contacts.

Zhao Yuan found a friend in his circle through this side, and set up a banquet today to test how many people were willing to follow the king of Chu.

Seeing Chen Qing thanking him, Zhao Yuanjing hurriedly said: "There is no need to be like this, since I have promised you to follow the King of Chu, I should do my best, the outsiders have arrived, can you go down and have a look?"

Chen Qing was silent for a moment and shook his head: "I won't go down, I'm not here, those who don't want to follow the King of Chu can still pretend to be deaf and dumb, if I show up, it won't end well." ”

Even if everyone has a tacit understanding of pretending to be deaf and dumb, there is also a bottom line, at least not to come forward openly, which is tantamount to shouting back on the street, which is too much.

"That being the case, then you are here and wait, and I will go down and have a look. With that, Zhao Yuanjing pushed the door and went out.

"Huh, why did Mr. Zhao go downstairs alone?" Huang Maocai kept paying attention to the staircase, and couldn't help but be a little surprised when he saw Zhao Yuanjing coming down from the stairs, but he was just alone.

But then Zhao Yuanjing announced that there were a few questions for the literati present to see who had the talent to learn and make the article wonderful.

After waiting for a while, a servant picked up a large set of white paper with a long pole, and wrote the title on it, which was very clear.

"The gift of Chu sacrifice?" Reading this topic in his mouth, Huang Maocai was shocked, only to feel that his head was "buzzing", and then he looked at the people around him with surprise.

Suddenly, the people in the flower hall whispered.

Huang Maocai immediately understood why he was so uncertain, and he was really so bold!

Almost unscrupulous!

(To be continued)