In the early morning of this day, a special drizzle fell drippingly.

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 last carriage arrived, the coachman sped up, raised the whip and inexhaustibly urged the horses pulling the carriage to move quickly, and the Confucian students in the carriage lifted the corner of the curtain and looked out, frowning secretly: "I come to Huiwen in such a cold weather, and I don't know who is here today." , he muttered, but did not mean to return immediately.

Invite him to the party is Zhao Yuanjing, who is famous in the literary circle of Wudi, this person has never paid attention to political affairs, but he is a person with a wide range of contacts and talent, and there is no harm in having 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 students like them.

"Young Master, the Zhao Mansion has arrived. As I 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, I found that there are many traces of the wheels, leading straight to this side, there should be many people who arrived first. , the coachman looked at it.

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, it seemed that after a while, he recognized this Confucian as one of his master's friends, Huang Maocai Huang Young Master.

"Young Master Huang, you can be regarded as here, my master still mentions you, come in quickly." "Old man, the carriage ......" the coachman is at this time.

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

"I'm tired. , Huang Maocai bowed to 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 refused 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. and lead the way in front.

Because the corridor is just around the corner 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: "This is the benefit of building, snow and rainy days, you can walk from here." , these corridors bypass the entire mansion, and every time you reach the fork of the courtyard road, there is a gap in the city 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 courtyard, and the two marched into the courtyard with an oil umbrella, and when they were not far away, they had heard the laughter and laughter of the old servant: "The flower hall in front is the meeting place." , get a few steps in and go back.

When Huang Mao arrived, someone had already greeted him.

"Brother Huang, it's too late. Zhao Yuanjing, who had a hearty smile, arched his hand.

"Pinch pinch pinch pinch they are all here?"

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

"This is my own, don't deceive me when the time comes......"

The two smiled and entered the flower hall.

The old servant went out to pick up the coachman in, in the old days, there was nothing to park the carriage outside, but the old man of his own house told him, maybe they would not end until the evening, the rain was heavy outside, it was not good to park the carriage, and the street in front of the door was not spacious, was this not a disturbance to the people?

simply opened the side door directly, let the carriage go in, and found a courtyard to stop, and the coachman and his entourage were placed in the courtyard to eat and drink, which could be regarded as 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 wet, 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 are set up, on which are placed refreshments and delicate dishes, as well as pots of warm wine.

Huang Maocai was let to the wide table, 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 on weekdays, and when they saw him coming, they all smiled: "I arrived just now, I thought I wouldn't come today." But it's too late, and I'll have to do a few more articles to get it done!"

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

Huang Maocai hurriedly threw his hand away: "You can spare me, I have to toast three times in a row to show my apologies, how about it?"

"This is a trick, Mr. Zhao is with a few of us, this three drinks in a row is in response to him, when he comes to us, he owes Heng!"

After a while, several people began to whisper.

Although there are many people who join the party in the flower hall, they are basically the children of the family, the sons of the rich families, and the characters of the scholarly family.

The so-called Confucian scholars from poor families, there are also a few of them here, but they are all scheming people? They are all those who have already made a name for themselves and gone out or have gone to a famous family in the middle of the road, even if they wear ordinary clothes, but they have a noble background, and they 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 today's atmosphere, 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 same 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've already pressed it, and I've invited them who usually complain, and how to convince them?

Chen Qing, who was sitting opposite him, smiled: "Didn't this person prepare a few questions a long time ago for them to discuss state affairs?"

"Have you read 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 this banquet, I want to thank you here in advance. It turned out that a few days ago, Zhao Yuanjing was moved by Chen Qing, and it is not difficult to see from the news he obtained that the foundation of the king of Chu has been stable, and the people's will is wanted, and everyone in the jurisdiction is rewarded, but on the other hand, Wei Yue of the Wu Dynasty is suppressing chalky with high pressure, and it is okay for a while, once he is defeated, he is bound to 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 his friend's persuasion, Zhao Yuanjing finally made a promise after thinking about it for a few days.

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

Zhao Yuan found his friends 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 was busy: "There is no need to be like this, since I have promised to follow the king of Chu, I should do my best, the outsiders have arrived, can I 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 refuse to follow the King of Chu can still pretend to be deaf and dumb, and if I show up, it will end well." , even if everyone has a tacit understanding of pretending to be deaf and dumb, but 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 here and wait, I'll go down and make 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, and he gave a play to the literati present to see who had the talent to learn well 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.

Immediately, the people in the flower hall whispered.

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

Almost unscrupulous!