Shen Rui naturally had no objection and followed Shen Jue to the garden.
Although the garden is on the east road, there is a corner gate connected to the middle road, so there is no need to pass through the east courtyard where the third master is.
The ice rink is on the north side of the garden. It is an open space one and a half feet wide and seven or eight feet long. After several days of continuous water splashing, an inch and a half high ice layer was formed.
The top was also flattened and polished, and it looked as smooth as a mirror.
On both sides of the ice rink, there are circles poured with lime water, ink, and cinnabar water. The outer circle is white, the middle circle is black, and the inner circle is red. It looks quite stylish.
On the inside of the ice rink, seven or eight feet away from the two circles, there is a horizontal line as the sideline.
Sixteen curling jugs with stone bodies and wooden handles lay aside, along with several new bristle brushes.
Compared with later curling competitions, this venue is shorter and the curling stones are not standard, but it can be done in a few days of preparation and it already looks like the same thing.
Shen Jue was a little excited, took a curling stone, squatted down on the sideline, and skated towards the round base.
Although the sideline is only seven or eight feet away from one circle, it is far away from the other circle. When throwing, it is thrown to the far side of the circle, which is a full four or five feet away. The curling stone slides past, It takes a lot of strength to press the edge of the round base.
"Haha" Shen Jue stood up and laughed proudly.
Inspired by his good mood, Shen Rui also had a smile on his face.
Shen Jue said: "Second brother, what should we use as a lottery ticket?"
"How about a piece of She inkstone?" Shen Rui thought for a while and said.
On such occasions, all the relatives and friends came. Shen Jue felt that gold, silver and other worldly things were not something that everyone could get rid of, but cultural toys and the like were suitable for everyone. Even Gao Wenhu, who studied martial arts, won, either for his own use or as a gift. People are also decent.
Shen Jue rolled his eyes and said, "Second brother, please don't let me go. It's been a long time since we were loose. Isn't it a headache to see the pen, ink, paper and inkstone?"
Shen Jue asked back: "What is brother Jue preparing?"
Shen Jue's face turned red and she chuckled. She took something out of her purse and put it into Shen Rui's hand: "This is it."
Shen Rui looked down and was speechless for a while.
The two-and-a-half-inch-long white jade beauty is carved from a Tang Dynasty lady, with her breasts exposed and plump and lovely.
Shen Jue's eyes flickered and he said: "Second brother, you have never seen such a good thing, have you? It was given to me by the government office when I was in Nanchang Mansion. I kept it because it looked exquisite."
This white jade beauty wears a lotion, and it looks oily. It seems that she is often played with.
Shen Rui glanced at Shen Jue and said, "Since you like it, just keep it alive. Wouldn't it be a pity to export it as a lottery ticket?"
Shen Jue puffed up her chest and said: "Anyway, they are either relatives or friends. If I lose, I won't lose to anyone else... I have been playing for some days, and I am a little tired of it..."
Having said that, seeing the sticky look in his eyes, I still couldn't bear to part with him.
If you take out your favorite things and make lottery prizes, you can focus more on winning or losing.
Compared with this exquisite and lovely white jade beauty, Shen Rui's previous idea of using the She Inkstone as a lucky charm was boring.
The guests invited today, except for Shen Quan, who is slightly older, are all teenagers. It is human nature for people like Shen Jue to be half-hidden and curious about the relationship between men and women.
Shen Rui thought about his private collection and found that there was nothing similar to the white jade beauty, so he decided not to "imitate others".
"I have a purple gold lion handle there, which can also be used as a pendant. Let's use that as a lottery head..." Shen Rui said.
Shen Jue said: "That is the second brother's favorite thing. It seems that the second brother is confident..."
While the two brothers were talking, a maid came over.
When He Taizhi arrived, he went to the main room to pay his respects to Mrs. Xu.
The two brothers left the garden and went to the main room.
He Taizhi also just arrived at the house. Not only was he wearing thick cotton clothes as indicated on the invitation, he was also wearing a thick straight wool cloak, which looked like a ball. The color of his clothes was also red, and he stood with Shen Rui. Together, they look like two brothers.
When Shen Jue saw her, she saw that she was all plain and had no color at all, so she said to Mrs. Xu: "Auntie, my second brother and I will make clothes of the same color for spring next year..."
Mrs. Xu nodded and said: "Let's make a few more sets of bright colors when the time comes, and you two brothers can wear them together..."
Shen Jue smiled and nodded, raising her eyebrows proudly at He Taizhi.
He Taizhi attended the county school for half a year, and the classmates he came into contact with were all much older and less out-of-the-box. He looked at Shen Jue with a smile and did not quarrel with him.
Shen Jue curled her lips and said: "Cousin He, please stop smiling like that... He looks like the second brother, a child pretending to be an adult..."
He Taizhi said sternly: "Third cousin, I am not a child anymore. I already have a calligraphy. Third brother can just call me Zhong'an from now on..."
Shen Jue was depressed.
The two people in front of me both have titles and official titles, but I have not. If I had known this, shouldn't I have followed the second master out of Beijing last year?
If I give it a try this year, I will be studying with my second brother, and I will definitely have good luck and pass the college entrance examination.
Several juniors chatted and laughed with Mrs. Xu, and then the maid came to report that the eldest young master of the Yang family had arrived.
Shen Jue and He Taizhi both looked at Shen Rui and smiled. Shen Rui stood up and said, "Mother, please talk to your two brothers first. I'll go and greet them."
Mrs. Xu said: "Let the two of them go as you please. There is no need to come here one by one. They are also cautious in front of the elders. When the guests are almost here, just come over and take a look."
Shen Rui thought about this and called Shen Jue and He Taizhi to come out together.
Yang Shen had already arrived and was welcomed into the living room by a waiter to serve tea.
The Shen and Yang families are engaged, and Yang Shen is the future uncle. No one in the Shen family should neglect him.
Before meeting Yang Shen, Shen Jue didn't have a good impression of Yang Shen because Shen Rui was known as a "number one talent." Shen Jue didn't have a good impression of Yang Shen. He passed the hospital examination at the age of twelve? He must be a brat who loves to show off.
However, after meeting Yang Shen and seeing his fair and clean appearance, and his stature that was two fingers shorter than her own, Shen Jue's rejection in her heart was reduced a bit. He looked quite honest, so he probably had some ink in his stomach. No, I won't be as respected as my brother.
Since both the Shen and Yang families were related by marriage, Yang Shen also knew clearly the situation of several rooms in the Shen family.
Regarding Shen Jue, I already knew his name before meeting him.
He and Shen Rui are both heirs of Shangshufu, and they come from the same Songjiang family as Shen Rui. They are brothers who have become cousins, and the two brothers have a deep relationship. When Shen Jue left Beijing earlier, the two brothers were Meng Buli Jiao and Jiao Buli Meng. Last year, they followed the second master Shen and his wife. He went south and returned to Beijing with his stepmother at the beginning of this month for the funeral.
Shen Rui himself is not a playful person, but this time he invited people to his home to have fun, probably to accompany his cousin.
As expected, Shen Jue is indeed lively and active, completely different from Shen Rui. But perhaps it is because of an elder brother like Shen Rui that there is a younger brother with such a bright nature like Shen Jue.
Otherwise, as an heir, your status would be embarrassing, and most people would be trembling with fear.
It is really rare for people like Shen Rui and Shen Jue to be so calm and comfortable as heirs.
After a while, Shen Quan, Yang Zhongyan and others also arrived.
Although Xu Wu was new to the Shen family for the first time, in fact, except for Yang Shen and He Taizhi, all three Shen brothers had met him and were deeply impressed by him.
However, Shen Rui and Shen Jue did not show any abnormality because they were prepared beforehand; Shen Quan, the elder, was able to remain calm, but Xu Wu did not notice that anything was wrong.
We are all of the same age, and we get to know each other after chatting for a few words.
Seeing that people were almost here, Shen Jue couldn't wait to give a general introduction to the new game of curling, and also mentioned the lottery.
In Shen Rui's previous post, he mentioned Bingxi and asked everyone to wear thick cotton-padded clothes. Although the competition was not mentioned directly in the post, everyone is a descendant of officials, so it is not difficult to pick up a lucky draw.
Yang Zhongyan looked at the number of people and said: "We have placed an order, how do we group them?"
He was a little worried. If he hadn't brought one more person over, there would be exactly six people, who could be divided into two groups.
Shen Ruidao: "There are still two friends who haven't arrived yet. Brother Quan San and cousin He also know each other, namely Gao Wenhu and Brother Shou. When there are nine of us, I will be the referee..."
Shen Quan smiled and said: "There is also Wen Hu, so I have to drag him along. With his big body, he can't lose in this pot-throwing game..."
He Taizhi and Shen Quan both attended the last gathering of the Shen family, so they naturally remember the team of Gao Wenhu and Brother Shou.
He Taizhi covered his mouth and said with a smile: "Brother Shou didn't dare to wear the Bai Nie clothes this time... That time he wore the Bai Nie clothes when he went out to be a guest. He was detained for two months when he came back and was not released until six months..."
Shen Quan said: "If the curling stone really weighs twenty kilograms, it will be difficult for Brother Shou and Zhong An to play..."
Everyone present, except Shen Quan, Shen Rui, and He Taizhi, had never seen Gao Wenhu and Brother Shou.
Shen Jue only knew that these two people were new friends Shen Rui had made in the first half of the year, and they had even invited them to his home.
When Yang Shen listened to "Shou Ge" and "Shou Ge", he felt it sounded familiar and had an idea, but suppressed it again. It was not unusual for Dong Gong to occasionally go to Dong Gong's official house in disguise. If he often hung out outside the palace and made friends Calling friends is too nonsense. Listening to what He Taizhi meant, Brother Shou had a good relationship with them. If they met each other more than once or twice, it should be someone else.
Yang Zhongyan was not very interested in the new friend who did not come. Among his relatives and friends, Shen Rui, the young man in charge of the crime, was known to everyone. In the first half of this year, it was when he was taking the boy examination, and the new friends he made were definitely scholars.
Relatives are nothing more than relatives, we share weal and woe, and we should always get along well with each other; others are just casual encounters, so don’t stay too much
As for Xu Wu, he was full of curiosity about this belated guest.
You must know that these people in front of you are not ordinary people. Except for Shen Quan, they are all children of Beijing officials, and they all come from noble families.
Three of them, Shen Rui, Yang Shen, and He Taizhi, had achieved fame at a young age and were already students. They were much more respectable students in the Imperial College.
Now that both Yang Shen, the scholar's son, and Yang Zhongyan, the young master of the Qing family of Dali Temple, have arrived, what tablet is the belated guest on?
Rather than saying that Gao Wenhu and Brother Shou arrived late, it was actually that others had arrived earlier.
The time written on Shen Rui's post was "Si Zheng (10 a.m.)", so Gao Wenhu and Brother Shou came at the right time, while others came earlier.
When the concierge boy came to report, Shen Rui asked everyone to sit down for a moment and went out himself.
When he brought Gao Wenhu and Brother Shou into the living room, Shen Jue, Yang Zhongyan, and Xu Wu all looked at the tall and burly Gao Wenhu, but Yang Shen suddenly fell on the young man in colorful clothes next to him...