Chapter 1160: The nobles planned and the people gave gifts

Ever since the provincial examination list was released.

As the top candidate in the case, Su Mingzhe kept receiving various invitations.

There is no need to mention invitations from colleagues, relatives and friends.

Many so-called peers also extended invitations.

In addition, there were even many courtesans in brothels who sent invitations through others, hoping to have a long conversation with Su Mingzhe all night long.

Su Mingzhe had no reaction to this. When Lin Daiyu heard that there was an invitation from an oiran, she was upset for several days.

Su Mingzhe had to stay at home every day to coax Lin Daiyu, and luckily he didn't let a fire start in his backyard.

This day.

Su Mingzhe was at Lin Daiyu's place, accompanying her to copy the Diamond Sutra for her deceased aunt Jia Min, preparing to burn it on the anniversary of her death.

The maid Tan Yun suddenly ran in to report: Prince Beijing sent someone to deliver an invitation, inviting her to attend a banquet at the mansion in two days.

The nobles of the Daqing Dynasty were headed by four kings and eight dukes, and among the four kings and eight dukes, the Prince of Beijing was the leader.

Now Prince Beijing Shui Rong has invited people to a banquet.

It was naturally difficult for Su Mingzhe to refuse!
After hearing this, Sister Lin put down her brush and asked the man curiously:

"Second brother, why did Prince Beijing invite you to the mansion for a banquet?"

Su Mingzhe thought for a while before answering:
"If it was Prince Beijing who invited me alone, then nothing would happen. However, I am afraid that he has invited other people. If so, then something has happened in the court, and he is using the occasion of celebrating for me to collude with others behind the scenes."

After hearing this, Sister Lin pursed her lips and smiled:
"I'm not afraid that he will invite others, but I'm afraid that he will ask his own family to come out to entertain the guests!"

"What do you mean, Yu'er?"

Su Mingzhe was a little puzzled, but Lin Daiyu didn't answer and continued to copy the scriptures.

Instead, Zijuan, who was copying scriptures nearby, looked up and said with a smile:

"How did you understand that, Master? Didn't my daughter tell you? She was afraid that Prince Beijing would ask his family to accompany you."

Su Mingzhe still didn't quite understand:
"Isn't it normal for family members to accompany guests when they come to visit?"

If Jia Zheng invited people to dinner, he would definitely ask Jia Lian and Su Mingzhe to accompany them.

These are the etiquettes for treating someone to a meal.

Seeing that Su Mingzhe was slow to react, Zijuan could only directly point out her young lady's thoughts and said with a smile:
"Second Master, I heard that Prince Beijing has two younger sisters, both of whom are beautiful, but not much different in age from you..."

"Hey, Yu'er is worried about this!"

Su Mingzhe had long known that Lin Daiyu was jealous, but he did not expect that she would think too much about such a thing that had no beginning or end.

But at this point, his mouth was not borrowed, and he must have opened his mouth to explain to Lin Daiyu:

"Yu'er, you know what I'm thinking. No matter if the other woman is a stunning beauty or the daughter of a noble family, you will always be the one in my heart. There is no room for anyone else."

Sister Lin was delighted when she heard the man's words, but she said stubbornly:
"Who knows what you are thinking? You are talking nonsense..."

"Even if you didn't know before, now that I've told you, Yu'er, you should understand, right?"

Su Mingzhe looked at Lin Daiyu's shy and timid look and couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

If Zijuan and Xueyan hadn't been there, Su Mingzhu would have taught Lin Daiyu what a jackal or a hungry tiger is.

Two days passed.

Su Mingzhe followed Jia Lian and Jia Zhen to attend the banquet at Prince Beijing's mansion.

The guests invited by Prince Beijing also included three other princes: Prince Dongping, Prince Nangan, and Prince Xining.

The Duke of Zhenguo inherited the title from Niu Jizon, the Duke of Liguo inherited the title from Liu Fang, the Duke of Qi inherited the title from Chen Ruiwen, the Duke of Zhiguo inherited the title from Ma Shang, and the Duke of Xiuguo inherited the title from Hou Xiaokang.

It can be said that except for the death of Duke Shanguo, and the heir to the title Shi Guangzhu, who needed to observe mourning and could not come, the four kings and eight dukes were all gathered today.

Su Mingzhe, a man without official title or rank, seemed like a superfluous person sitting among them.

Fortunately, Su Mingzhe was able to display his social skills and chat and laugh with everyone, so the situation was not awkward.

The banquet is in full swing.

Suddenly, Prince Nan'an spoke:

"As you all know, there has been another unusual movement in Junggar!"

Everyone was stunned.

Niu Jizong, Liu Fang, Ma Shang and others who still held military power were even more stunned:

"Didn't they say that after the great victory in the last Western Expedition, there would be no war in the northwest for at least 20 years? Now only ten years have passed, how come Junggar is making a move so soon?"

Prince Nan'an shook his head and sighed:

"Although we won a great victory in the last Western Expedition, we only destroyed the main force of Junggar, and did not completely destroy Junggar. After my Daqing Royal Army retreated to Ganzhou to defend, the Junggar tribe kept a low profile for several years and has annexed the surrounding tribes. Now it claims to have a million soldiers and is fighting the Mongols! Once the Mongols surrender to Junggar, the war in the northwest will surely start again!" Niu Jizong's eyes widened and he said puzzledly:
"Ten years ago, we were able to defeat the Jungars. Now we are still in the army, so we are not afraid of them! Your Majesty, why do you sigh so much? It just lacks heroism!"

Prince Nan'an smiled bitterly and explained:
"If Jungar invades our border now, I can stop them by myself. Why would I sigh and groan? I am afraid that Jungar will wait for the right opportunity..."

Everyone was puzzled at first, but after a while, someone enlightened everyone.

The Prince of Nan'an was afraid of the opportunity that the Junggar tribe was waiting for. Maybe the emperor would pass away and take power.

After figuring out the reason, some people were angry at the cunningness of Junggar, while others rolled their eyes.

Unfortunately, this was a blatant conspiracy of the Junggars, who were sure that the new emperor had a bad relationship with the nobles.

The only way to break the impasse is to find a way to repair the relationship with Emperor Longqing.

The problem is, the emperor is still alive.

The four princes and eight dukes were all the retired emperor's staunch confidants. Who would dare to flirt with Emperor Longqing at this time?

Su Mingzhe, who wanted to remain silent, suddenly realized that one or two people were looking at him.

After a while, everyone gradually quieted down.

Su Mingzhe could only put down his chopsticks and said with a smile:
"Uncles, brothers, why are you looking at me?"

Su Mingzhe knew very well that these people wanted him to be a bridge, but on the surface he looked innocent and looked at everyone.

Another moment passed.

The Beijing Prince Shui Rong was the first to laugh:

"Come on, come on, Brother Bao, let's drink this cup again!"

"That's right, brother Bao, let's not go home until we are drunk today!"

Everyone seemed to have found a solution to the problem, and suddenly they started laughing again.

The next day.

Su Mingzhe broke free from the arms and legs that were wrapped around him, climbed up with difficulty, rubbed his waist, and began to curse the Prince of Beijing and the Prince of Nan'an inwardly for being such bad guys. They actually made tiger penis and deer blood wine. Isn't this forcing people to make mistakes?

A woman on the bed was sleeping lightly. She noticed that Su Mingzhe had sat up, so she quickly put on a gauze dress, got up, and asked, "What's the matter with you?"
"Master Bao, are you going to get up to sleep?"

"Ah."

Su Mingzhe saw that the young lady was extremely beautiful, even as beautiful as Lin Daiyu and Baochai. The medicine from the wine he drank last night took effect, and his abdomen felt hot, so he completely forgot about getting up.

This woman was originally a dancer in Prince Beijing's palace. Her name was Ruixue. She and her sister Woxue were given to Su Mingzhe by Prince Beijing.

The other four kings and eight dukes also sent precious and rare gifts, which were placed on the table nearby.

After finishing his duty, Su Mingzhe hugged Ruixue and lay back on the bed.

When he got up again, it was already noon.

When he was about to leave, Su Mingzhe saw the sisters Ruixue and Woxue. He cut off the red-dyed bed sheets and put them in his arms. He then ordered the maid serving outside to ask the steward of Prince Beijing's Mansion to help prepare two sedan chairs to carry the two women back.

These are all trivial matters, so the palace steward would naturally not refuse.

Afterwards, Su Mingzhe went to say goodbye to Prince Beijing and returned to Rongguo Mansion.

Not to mention, how the sisters Ruixue and Woxue got along with Xiren, Qingwen and others after they entered Su Mingzhe's yard.

After Su Mingzhe returned home, he first went to Rong Xi Tang to find his father Jia Zheng and reported what everyone had discussed yesterday.

Although Jia Zheng is a nerd, he knows that the Rongguo Mansion should not only be loyal to the retired emperor, but also be in awe of Emperor Longqing.

Now, the four kings and eight dukes wanted their sons to take the imperial examinations and pursue official careers in order to ease the relationship with Emperor Longqing, and Jia Zheng naturally wanted nothing more than to do so.

After discussing with Jia Zheng, Su Mingzhe spoke again:

"Father, when we met yesterday, they all gave me gifts. I want to refine a few furnaces of Peiyuan Pills and Buqi Pills to repay them. I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money. Father, can you support me?"

Jia Zheng had no objection to this.

In this regard, Su Mingzhe first went to the warehouse to get some medicinal materials. Finding that the quantity was not enough, he went to the accounting office to withdraw some silver and prepared to go out later to buy some more.

When he returned to his front yard, he saw that the small yard was quiet, with only two maids, Liang'er and Zhuier, guarding the door.

"What about the rest?"

Liang Er quickly replied:

"In reply to Second Master, Sister Xiren has taken everyone to look for Miss Lin!"

Su Mingzhe couldn't help but ask in surprise:
"Did they go together? Do you know why they were looking for Sister Lin?"

Liang'er and Zhuier shook their heads, indicating that they didn't know.

Su Mingzhe was thinking about refining the elixir, so he didn't think much about it and left the house with Li Gui.

(End of this chapter)