The oil bottle of the Red Chamber

Let's not talk about the preparation of the old lady's birthday banquet in the Chen family's house.Only two days later, Chen Gui really prepared a banquet at home for Mr. You.According to his elder brother's advice, Mrs. Chen spoiled the wine with goose feet and ducks.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Chen Gui saw that Mr. You was full of praise for the bad goose palm, so he used an excuse to dismiss the waiter and said with a smile: "This is my sister's handicraft. What do adults think?"

Mr. You had already taken a fancy to Chen Gui's beautiful girl, and had long wanted to marry her.What's more, I chatted with Chen Gui on weekdays, and I knew that Chen Gui was happy to see it happen, and was more willing to protect him as a matchmaker.Youdao said that an elder brother is like a father, and besides, Chen Gui is the master of the Chen family, so Master You has long held a firm heart.Hearing what Chen Gui said, he smiled tacitly and said to Chen Gui: "Your sister's craftsmanship is naturally not bad. To be honest, this is the best bad goose palm I have ever eaten. Other people's craftsmanship is definitely not so delicious."

After a pause, Yin said again: "Brother Ruzhang just called me Ziyu directly. He kept claiming to call me an adult. If he was in the court, it would be fine, but now he is at home. With the relationship between you and me, it is really heretic." gone."

Seeing this, Chen Gui changed his name accordingly.

After all, the two looked at each other and smiled again.Thinking of Chen's flair and gracefulness, Mr. You felt his heart tremble again.He only heard Chen Gui mention that the 21st of next month is the old lady's birthday, Mr. You knew the elegance from hearing the string song, and hurriedly said that he would definitely bring his family to celebrate the old lady's birthday.

Chen Gui also inadvertently mentioned that Mrs. Chen will keep a filial piety for her ex-husband for three years.Hearing this, Master You praised Chen's loyalty and love, which is really impressive.

The host and guest enjoyed the meal.Xing Ran finished the meal, Master You saw that it was getting late, so he left immediately.Chen Gui couldn't stay, so he personally sent it outside the gate, watched Master You's sedan chair leave, and then turned back to the inner house, looking for his sister, Mrs. Chen, to report the progress of the dinner table.

Two flowers bloom, each representing a branch.It is only said that when Master You went home, his eyes were already drunk and his steps were staggering.When I got home, I hadn't changed into clothes yet, and Mrs. You sent a girl to invite me.Seeing this, Mr. You had to change into homely clothes, and after drinking hangover soup, came to the upper room.

But I saw Mrs. You leaning on the kang, looking through a pile of lists wearing glasses—they were all lists of girls from families with similar backgrounds in Beijing who had not left the court.

Master You saw this scene, and knew what Mrs. You was going to tell him.Sure enough, the mother and son exchanged a few pleasantries, and Mrs. You got to the point. "Qiao has been gone for more than a year. I know your love, not to mention that it is a formal ceremony to pay a wife a year of filial piety. It's just that our family is a family of officials, and it's not easy to move around on weekdays. There is no serious master. Entertaining guests. I am old, and my energy is exhausted. Even if I want to, I am powerless. Sometimes I just feel sick, and I don’t want to see people, but I can’t shirk it—it’s not easy to ask aunts to be housekeepers, outsiders It doesn't look like that at all. Besides, this girl, Yuan'er, has reached the age of marriage, so she must have a serious aunt at home, so she can take care of it for her. This is a lifelong event for the daughter's family, and it cannot be easily delayed. Mrs. Qiao Even Izumi Youzhi, I don't want her daughter to make any mistakes because of her."

Master You quietly listened to his mother's words, and saw his mother showing him a list of lists she had begged from the matchmaker.Mr. You had already made up his mind, but he didn't want to reveal his eyebrows too early and bring the reputation of the two families.Immediately, he pushed back a stack of lists, and said with a smile: "Mother, don't worry, this is a lifelong event for the son, how can the son not take it to heart. Don't worry about it now, the son has one thing that needs to be done. You have to discuss it with your mother."

At the moment, Mrs. Chen's birthday banquet was mentioned again.

Old Madam You also knew about Chen Gui.Naturally, he understood that he was the most capable subordinate of his son and former son before, but now he relied on the grace of heaven to sit on an equal footing with his son.I am afraid that his future future will be more secure than that of his son.

Thinking of this, Mrs. You pondered for a while, and said: "Now the Chen family is not as good as before. Mrs. Chen's birthday gift should be a little thicker. This is not an important matter. I will take care of it myself. You don’t need to worry about it—you should focus on your lifelong affairs as the top priority. You don’t want to talk too much for your mother’s sake. You know that you are in your forties, but there are only a few girls under your knees. There are no sons. The Qiao family is unlucky, but I can't just watch the incense of the You family die in your generation. If not, I will close my eyes in the future, and I will have no face to see your father. "

Seeing that her mother's words were so serious, You Ziyu thought for a while, and decided that it would be hard to keep her secret, so that her mother would be worried and not say anything, for fear that something would happen, which would be bad.

Thinking of this, You Ziyu couldn't help smiling, and sat casually on the mat that Old Madam You was lying on, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, mother, I already know about this matter. It's just that it can't be done now."

After hearing this, the old lady You's heart moved, she quickly sat up, grabbed You Ziyu's hand and asked: "Are you serious? If you say that, whose girl are you looking for? No Speaking lies for your mother, with your current status, as long as you are not looking for the concubine's daughter of the uncle's mansion, or a senior official of the fourth rank, is there any family in the capital that we can't climb? "

You Ziyu smiled again, thought for a while, and then said: "If you say that the lintel of this family is almost the same as ours, I'm afraid it is slightly stronger than ours. I also talked to the people of that family a little bit. According to the tone, their family is also willing. It's just that their family is filial, so it's not easy to propose marriage for the time being."

After listening to her son's words, Mrs. You began to think.It's just that no matter how much she thought about it, she never imagined that Master You was not interested in any boudoir woman, but the Chen family who was married and widowed at home.

Seeing this, Mr. You was unwilling to break the layer of window paper.The mother and the son sat down for a while with their own concerns, but Mr. You was really tired from drinking, so he got up and went back to his room to settle down.

In the blink of an eye, it's 21 nights.Because Chen Gui was promoted to the head of the sixth rank this year, and also climbed up to the relationship with the prince, Duan was very popular in Beijing.Knowing that this day is Mrs. Chen's birthday, not to mention the old relatives and friends who have not been in contact with each other, even the prince's family of officials who have not been in contact with each other usually gave birthday gifts, or came to congratulate in person.

The prince thought it was to show Chen Gui's face, so he specially dispatched the young eunuch in the palace to send out an agarwood crutch and two pairs of gold and silver carabiners for blessing, prosperity and longevity on the old lady Chen's birthday.

Although things are not very valuable, what is rare is this decency.Chen Gui immediately went down to thank the prince for the gift, and invited the little eunuchs who had delivered the things to the table for tea.The guests who came to the birthday banquet also felt honored to see this behavior.At the moment, there is a lively discussion.

In the inner house of the Chen Mansion, Mrs. Feng is busy entertaining guests from various mansions who came to express their congratulations.Because I didn’t expect that there would be so many people on this day—not to mention the old relatives and friends who usually come and go, even the people who couldn’t invite them in the past also gave birthday gifts or congratulated them in person. It made Feng Shi panic a little.At this moment, it can be seen that there are not enough people in the Chen family - she is the only daughter-in-law in the whole house. Although Chen is a sister-in-law, she is a widow at home and cannot entertain in front.So after breakfast, he took his two daughters to kowtow to the old lady, and then went back to the room to keep quiet.

Fortunately, it hasn't been a day or two since my daughter Chen Wan has been studying housekeeping.Besides, Mrs. Feng also planned to take advantage of the old lady's birthday this time, to explain two things to Chen Wan, and let her go through with it and experience it.At this moment, Chen Wan helped entertain the girls from various families, and arranged for the housekeeper and daughter-in-law to serve tea and fruits, and her behavior and speech were very proper.

In the eyes of these female relatives and elders, those who are thoughtful can't help but plan.

In previous years, when Mrs. You attended Mrs. Chen's and Mrs. Chen's birthdays, because her son was Chen Gui's top performer, she always arrived relatively late.This year, due to the passage of time, the world has changed, but it is relatively early.Seeing Chen Wan who was helping her mother to entertain the guests in the main hall, she couldn't help smiling and said to Mrs. Chen: "The girl in your family is really smart. Such a child who has just passed ten years old can be so organized. It can be seen that Ri must be someone who can make up his mind. It's not someone's kid who is lucky enough to marry."

When Mrs. Chen heard the words, she hurriedly smiled and resigned a few words.In the gossip, Mrs. You couldn't help but mention the second sister who made a big splash on the Lantern Festival.All the guests were also very curious about the second sister, whom the Holy Majesty praised unceasingly.It's just that because Chen's mother and daughter are keeping their filial piety, it's not easy to ask someone to come and see them.

What's more, the bridal sedan chairs were carried by people, so everyone flattered the Chen family's good education, so the daughters were all smart and sensible, and all of them were brilliant.

Among them is the wife of the young owner of Yutai Commercial Company - their family came to the door together with the manager Changyougui's family.I really liked Chen Wan's appearance and temperament, and I wanted to tell my youngest son.Immediately, he smiled and inquired about Chen Wan's age and temperament.

All the guests are smart people. Although the housekeeper wife of Yutai Commercial Company did not say it clearly, everyone knows what it means.At present, there are those who are well aware of Yutai’s wealth and connections and are happy to see it come true, and there are also those who admire the future of the Chen family or Chen Wan’s character and want to marry them. Regardless of the purpose, they all praise Chen Wan’s good son in every possible way, creating a "family with a hundred daughters" Begging" hot atmosphere.The straight-hearted Mrs. Chen always smiled when the messy flowers were blooming, and she saw Miwa, who was waiting beside the old lady, sneaking up to Feng Shi while no one was paying attention, because she said: "Just now, the uncle sent someone up front. Come to spread the word that people from the Zhao family are here and want to pay respects to the old lady. The meaning of the uncle...is to ask the old lady. "

Feng's heart sank when he heard this.Immediately waved his hand, motioning for the beeswax to step back.He himself went to the old lady and whispered something.

When old lady Chen heard this, she couldn't help but lose face because she thought of the quarrel between the two families when Zhao Chen died.

Everyone in the hall didn't understand why, seeing this, they looked over in a low voice and held their breath.