The Jiang family's banquet was not held at home, but the most famous Mingshui Garden in Yongzhou Prefecture was reserved.
Mingshui Garden was built by a wealthy man from the previous dynasty who spent huge sums of money. It was originally used as a private garden and has been passed down.
But so many years have passed, and dynasties have changed. Now I don’t know how many hands it has changed. Finally, it fell into the hands of the current owner. After a little repair, it started leasing it to make money.
Since Mingshui Garden is really exquisite and beautiful, and has been polished for nearly two hundred years, every plant, tree, stone and scenery is more charming than new, so most of the various banquets and gatherings in Yongzhou Prefecture are held here. .
The driver of the Shen Mansion drove the double mule cart to a stop at the gate of Mingshui Garden.
After Shen Tianshu got off the car, he looked up at the plaque of Mingshui Garden.
Shen Yunyao looked at the gate of Mingshui Garden, curled her lips in disinterest, and muttered: "Can't these people move to another place? They are here six or seven times out of ten. I'm really tired of seeing them."
Someone greeted the guests at the gate of Mingshui Garden, leading the three girls from the Shen family into the back garden.
Still some distance away, I could already hear the sound of someone talking and laughing.
Turning around a clump of green bamboos in front of me, I saw a spacious open pavilion. The people who had arrived first were already drinking tea and talking inside.
The servant raised his voice and said, "The three girls from the Shen residence have arrived."
A young woman immediately walked out of the open pavilion. She should be Mrs. Jiang - Huang.
She greeted them with a smile: "I'm busy entertaining guests here, and I didn't go out to greet them. It's really rude. I hope the girls don't blame me."
After meeting Mrs. Jiang, Shen Tianshu said: "My mother is ill and unable to travel, so she cannot come. I specially asked Mrs. Jiang and me to apologize, and I have also prepared a gift for you."
"Mrs. Shen is so polite." Madam Huang gestured to the maid behind her to take the things, "I have been busy preparing for the banquet these past two days, and I haven't been able to take time to see Mrs. Shen. I should be the one to apologize. Three Since the girl is here today, don’t be restrained, have fun and treat it as your own home."
When Huang said this, he winked at the three of them and lowered his voice slightly: "I have invited many young talents today. When the time comes, I will gather the ladies from all the families together to listen to the play. There will be more competition between you young people." If you have a topic, you can talk about yours, and we can play around with ours, so it’s convenient for both parties.”
After Mrs. Huang finished speaking, she led the three people into the open pavilion. Immediately afterwards, a group of people came up to greet them, say hello and greet them. After a long while, they finally calmed down.
After the three people sat down, Shen Yunyao couldn't help but said: "What did Mrs. Jiang mean by what she just said? What does it mean to invite many young talents? Is she going to change her career to be a matchmaker?"
Shen Yunhui was even more surprised and didn't know what to say. She had never heard of such a thing.
Although the folk customs in Daqi are more civilized, and the defense of men and women is not as strict as in the previous dynasty, it is not uncommon to specifically encourage young men and women to get together like this.
Shen Tianshu was not too surprised. She had seen similar things in her previous life. There were some ladies in the capital who liked to arrange such games and invite young men and women together to laugh and play for no other reason than to A joy.
I just didn't expect that Mr. Jiang's wife also had such a hobby.
"No matter who she invites, we just need to control ourselves and treat each other with courtesy." After Shen Tianshu finished speaking, he still felt a little worried and said, "You two don't wander around, we'd better stay together. place, so as not to give opportunities to people with ulterior motives."
Shen Yunhui was timid and nodded hurriedly after hearing this. She didn't want to be alone.
Shen Yunyao didn't take it seriously, but she still nodded.
After all, the three of them were the magistrate's daughters, so they only had a short time to talk. People came over to talk from time to time, and new guests came over to say hello from time to time.
Not long after, Mrs. Zhao came with Zhao Junrong.
Mrs. Zhao was chatting with Mrs. Huang, but Zhao Junrong kept looking around the open space. Finally, she met Shen Tianshu's eyes, and immediately smiled happily and waved to her.
Shen Tianshu also waved to her and motioned for Zhao Junrong to sit next to him.
Zhao Junrong followed Zhao Qu in Chengdu Mansion before, and it was never very peaceful. He rarely encountered such opportunities for gatherings. Everything he saw was very new. He kept looking around and had to bite Shen Tianshu from time to time.
After another half hour, the guests had almost arrived, and Huang said: "I have asked people to prepare a small play. It is a new script passed from Yingtian Mansion this year. The team has been practicing for half a year. This is the first time it is being performed in Yongzhou Prefecture. Ladies, please give me some respect. Let’s go over and listen to the opera, have some tea, and let the girls play in the garden by themselves. Let’s have some fun.”
Xu didn't come today, and Huang's husband had the highest official rank. She made such a suggestion, so naturally everyone would not disobey her.
What's more, the new playbook is indeed very attractive. Each wife said a few words to her daughter, then got up and followed Mr. Huang towards the stage.
Mrs. Zhao had no choice but to follow the crowd, so she entrusted Zhao Junrong to Shen Tianshu and said, "Good boy, help me keep an eye on Junrong. She is playful and willful, so she can listen to what you say."
"Don't worry, Aunt Zhao, I will take good care of Jun Rong."
Seeing that all the ladies from each family had left, only the girls from each family were left in the open pavilion.
The girls who came today are basically around the same age as teenagers. They all relaxed after their mother left, and their chirping voices became much louder.
Shen Yunhui looked around and didn't see any of the young talents Huang mentioned. She couldn't help but be curious and didn't know how those people would appear soon.
It's not like a group of people just walked into Changxuan, right? That would be too embarrassing?
In the open hall, there were many people like Shen Yunhui, looking around uneasily. They must have heard what Huang said.
Just when everyone was wondering, a few women suddenly came over and began to remove the door panels behind the open space.
As the door panels were removed one by one, everyone discovered that there was another cave behind the open pavilion.
Across a small garden, there was a place with a nine-winding drinking fountain. At this time, more than a dozen young men had gathered there, chatting together in twos and threes.
Shen Tianshu took a quick glance and saw Fan Yuru, who had been haunting him recently.
Fan Yuru is dressed in white today. Among the people opposite him, both in appearance and temperament, he stands head and shoulders above the others. He can be said to stand out from the crowd.
There was a moment of silence in the open hall, and then a "buzz" broke out, and discussions broke out. Everyone was desperately asking questions about the people around them.
"Who is that young man in white clothes opposite?"