Originally, the Zhou Zhou Banquet was supposed to be held when he was one year old, but considering that Qin Hao would be leaving in the next year, it was held in advance.
On this day, Dongchanghou Mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and there was an endless stream of carriages at the door.
The reason why the dignitaries in Bianjing City gave such honors was mainly because Shen Congxin returned to the capital, and Qin Hao was awarded the title of General Jinghai, and at the same time received the post of Mingzhou Economic and Strategic Envoy.
The combination of these two pieces of news has given an obvious signal. The official family is going to re-enable Qin Hao, and I am afraid that it will be him, Marquis of Jinghai, who has the final say on matters at sea in the future.
The nobles in Bianjing City want military power and dignity, but what do they lack? It's money. Those top nobles are okay. They have a rich family accumulated by their ancestors, and they can still live a life of spending money like water.
But for those middle and lower class nobles, if they have prodigal sons for two or three generations in a row, they will basically lose all their family fortunes. Qin Junye is a good example.
The nobles are all very coveted for the huge wealth overseas, and they all want a share of the pie. If they want to get a share of the benefits from the sea, they naturally have to establish a good relationship with Qin Hao.
Gifts also need to be given from the beginning, otherwise they may not be willing to accept them.
So this time, with the help of this pair of dragons and phoenixes, many nobles and nobles sent generous gifts.
Wang Ruofu entered the front yard with his three daughters, his eyes shining brightly. Ru Lan couldn't help but exclaimed: "I'm a good boy, I'm just catching the Zhou Banquet, and these gifts are piled up like mountains and seas. I will be a year old in the future." Wouldn’t it be impossible to put down the banquet?”
When Wang Ruofu heard this, he became very angry. Qin Hao was studying in her home, but he ended up taking advantage of that girl Yu Yanran. If Qin Hao married her daughter Ru Lan, he would be so rich and wealthy. She can also take advantage of it.
Mo Lan was punished last time and had just been released from confinement. Seeing this scene now, she secretly vowed to marry a high-ranking family, at least no worse than Ming Lan.
Minglan was also secretly stunned at this time: Is this the influence of top nobles?
Before the group of people reached the main hall, Yu Yanran's personal maid Jade came over.
"I have met Mrs. Wang and the three girls. My wife would like to invite Miss Minglan to the backyard for a chat."
Wang Ruofu glanced at Minglan: "Go ahead, Mrs. Yu is not out of confinement yet, don't let her work too hard."
"Yes, mother, Minglan excuses herself." Minglan bowed respectfully and followed Feicui to the backyard.
Wang Ruofu brought Ru Lan and Mo Lan to the main hall and chatted with several familiar family members.
In the backyard, Minglan and Feicui came to the small courtyard where Qin Hao lived. They couldn't help but ask doubtfully: "Sister Yanran hasn't given birth yet, shouldn't she be in the delivery room?"
Jade smiled and said: "The Marquis said that the smell of the delivery room was too strong and was not conducive to recovery, so he asked his wife to move back."
Minglan's eyes widened: "Is this still possible?"
In ancient times, a mother's birth was considered to be a bloody disaster and was unknown, so she would stay in the delivery room before confinement, and her husband would not step into the delivery room.
Of course, such low-level superstitions would not work with Qin Hao. The day after Yu Yanran gave birth, Qin Hao asked her to move back to her room for recuperation.
"Minglan, are you here? Sit down quickly." Yu Yanran was sitting next to a rocking chair, coaxing two little ones to sleep. When she saw Minglan come in, she was extremely happy.
Seeing that her face was a little pale, but she was in good spirits, Minglan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and walked to sit in front of Yu Yanran.
Looking at the two little meatballs sleeping soundly in the rocking chair, my heart became cute.
"Sister Yanran, is this really your child?"
Listening to Minglan's childlike words, Yu Yanran laughed so much that her stomach hurt: "My silly sister was not born by me, how could she be born by Mr. Hou?"
Minglan's eyes widened, she looked at Yu Yanran for a long time, and asked quietly: "Sister Yanran, where were they born? Are they really born from the belly button?"
"Pfft." Yu Yanran covered her stomach and kept waving her hands: "No, I'm going to die laughing. Minglan, you are too funny."
Living with Qin Hao, Yu Yanran often came up with some modern words in her mouth, which made Minglan a little confused.
Finally, after Yu Yanran had laughed enough, she leaned into Minglan's ear and spoke in a low voice.
Ming Lan blushed and didn't dare to look at Yu Yanran. She quickly changed the subject: "Sister Yanran, I didn't prepare anything for the wedding banquet for my two nieces and nephews, so I embroidered two tiger head hats for them."
Yu Yanran took it and couldn't put it down, and praised: "Minglan's craftsmanship is indeed so exquisite, it is not inferior to the embroiderers in the palace."
After saying that, he put them on the two little guys. Not to mention they were quite suitable. The two little guys looked even cuter with their red tiger head hats on their heads.
"As long as Sister Yanran likes it."
Yu Yanran saw that Minglan seemed to like the two little guys very much, but didn't dare to touch them, so she smiled and said: "What are you afraid of? They are not made of clay and can be crushed."
With Yu Yanran's encouragement, Minglan finally reached out and touched the smooth little faces of the two little guys. The QQ flick felt so good that she became addicted.
As a result, the little kid burst out crying with a "Wow" sound. When one little kid cried, the other kid woke up and started crying too. Minglan was startled and she quickly retracted her hand.
Yu Yanran smiled and said: "It's okay, maybe I woke up hungry."
The two wet nurses picked up the two little guys and put them in their arms to feed them. Sure enough, the two little guys calmed down quickly.
At this moment, Qin Hao walked in, and the two nurses apologized and took the children to the outside room.
"Minglan is here too. You should take more time to spend time with Yanran from now on. She is almost sick at home alone." Qin Hao said with a smile.
Yu Yanran held Minglan's hand with a smile: "Master Hou is right, you don't know how boring confinement is, you can't even leave the house, so you come and talk to me so that the day can be passed."
Minglan hesitated for a moment and then agreed.
Yu Yanran asked curiously: "Why isn't Mr. Hou greeting guests in the front yard at this time?"
Qin Hao pinched Yu Yanran's cheek lovingly: "I'm not afraid that you will be bored alone in the backyard. If I knew that Minglan would accompany you, I wouldn't come over."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Yu Yanran has not passed her confinement yet, so she cannot go out for the Chou Zhou Banquet. The front yard is lively and bustling, but it is deserted here. Qin Hao is afraid that there is a gap in her heart.
"Don't worry, Mr. Marquis, it's business that matters. I won't interfere with you here." Yu Yanran's eyes were full of tenderness. With a husband like this, what else could he be demanding in his life?
"Okay then, I won't disturb you little sisters talking." Seeing that she was in good mental condition, Qin Hao got up and left.
Minglan looked at Qin Hao's back and couldn't help but sigh: "Master Hou is really a rare good man in the world, and sister Yanran is so happy."
Yu Yanran grabbed Minglan's hand and joked: "I think Gu Tingye is not bad, and he will definitely treat you well in the future."
Minglan's face immediately turned red and she said angrily: "Sister Yanran, how can you talk nonsense? What does Gu Hou and I have to do with each other?"
Unfortunately, her voice became softer and quieter in the second half of the sentence, which was enough to show her guilty conscience.
Yu Yanran said sternly: "Okay, we are the only two sisters here. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Marrying a woman is like reincarnating for the second time. Before marrying the Marquis, you also know my situation in Yu Mansion. You
Look at the life I'm living now, Minglan, Gu Tingye is really a good marriage, don't miss it."
Minglan, however, had little confidence: "As long as the Marquis is as considerate as he is, Minglan will be satisfied."
In the front yard, the banquet has not yet started, and some noble family members are chatting in small groups. There are many more small groups among women than men. Wang Ruofu also has her own daily social circle, but according to her status,
You can only come into contact with noble families of lower rank.
As for the family members of civil servants, she couldn't talk about them at all. Her cultural level was even worse than that of Lan. Every time the wives of those civil servants said something weird, she would be blinded.
While they were chatting enthusiastically, Wang Ruofu found that Mo Lan was missing, and quickly asked his mother Liu in a low voice: "Where is Mo Lan's girl?"
Liu’s mother didn’t pay attention either: “Perhaps you are singing poetry with some talented women, right?”
Wang Ruofu suddenly felt a little stuffy in his heart: "It's better to go look for it. Don't let anything go wrong in such a scene!"
"No." Mother Liu quickly led people to look for her, but after searching around the women's side, she didn't see Mo Lan, so she suddenly panicked.
At this time, Minglan also came back. When she saw this, she asked curiously: "Madam, what's going on?"
Liu's mother explained the situation. Minglan pretended to be surprised and covered her mouth: "If you are not with the female relatives, why did you go..."
Wang Ruofu gritted his teeth and said: "If this Mo Lan dares to do something like the Sheng family's family style, I..."
Minglan suggested: "How about I go tell Mr. Hou and ask him to help search for it, so that I won't disturb the other guests and make the matter bigger."
"Okay, Minglan is more thoughtful." Wang Ruofu was already panicking and couldn't think of a better way.
When Qin Hao heard the servant's report, he came to Minglan and frowned upon hearing it. If something really happened, it would have an impact on the reputation of Dongchang Hou Mansion.
"If you don't use it, ask people to search for it quietly. Don't alert others."
"promise."
A quarter of an hour later, Qin Hao came to a side room in the corner of the backyard with a gloomy face, and Wang Ruofu's face was so gloomy that it could kill a fly.
Qi Heng was ashamed, sitting in front of a table in disheveled clothes, while Mo Lan, who was also disheveled and had messy bun, was leaning on the bed, sobbing.
When Qi Heng saw Wang Ruofu, his face turned pale. Fortunately, Wang Ruofu didn't bring Minglan and Rulan because he was concerned about the reputation of Minglan and Rulan. Otherwise, Qi Heng would have had no choice but to find a crack in the ground and crawl in.
Qin Hao asked in a deep voice: "What's going on?"
Qi Heng lowered his head and said with an ashen face: "I just had some wine with a few friends, but I didn't expect that I was drunk, so I wanted to find a place to rest for a while. The maid placed me here, and I fell asleep.
I never imagined that I would see this scene when I opened my eyes."
Qin Hao understood as soon as he heard it. This was a fairy dance. There must be something wrong with the wine and the maid. When he thought that one of the parties involved was Mo Lan, Qin Hao guessed it in his heart.
"Go and dig three feet into the ground to find this maid!" Qin Hao said coldly.
A maid who can serve at such an important banquet at the Dongchang Hou Mansion must have signed a contract of betrayal and cannot disappear out of thin air.
"promise."
Without taking anyone with him, he called several stewards over and compared them one by one, and found out the maids serving at Qi Heng's table.
Mo Lan's expression suddenly changed. Qin Hao looked at the maids kneeling on the ground and asked in a deep voice.
"To be honest now, I can still take the punishment lightly. If I am found out by this Marquis, I can only deal with it according to family rules. Not only will her life be at risk, but her parents and relatives will also be implicated!"
A maid climbed up to Qin Hao tremblingly and said in panic: "Master Hou, I just took someone's money and asked me to help the young master to a side courtyard to rest. I don't know about the rest!"
The matter was very clear at this point. Wang Ruofu pointed at Mo Lan with trembling hands and cursed: "How dare you act like this, a cheap servant, without even caring about your honor?"
Mo Lan simply stopped pretending and said with a sad smile: "Famous honor? Anyway, it is not my honor. At worst, we will die together. They are all born to the same father. Why can I only marry lowly, but Minglan can marry
Enter the Marquis' Mansion?"
Wang Ruofu was going crazy: "That is Minglan's own creation. You are not liked by others. Who can blame you?"
Mo Lan said madly: "I don't care, anyway, I have a physical relationship with the young master. Either the young master marries me, or we all die together. I am still a girl from the Sheng family. If my reputation is ruined, look.
Who dares to marry Minglan and Rulan! I'm afraid Hualan will also be divorced by her husband's family!"
"You, you have such a vicious heart!" Wang Ruofu's eyes darkened and he almost fell down. Mother Liu quickly supported her.
Qi Heng's face was also extremely ugly. He really didn't want Minglan to marry Gu Tingye, but he didn't want to see Minglan being implicated.
Mo Lan glanced around the room with resentful eyes: "This is all because of you. In terms of appearance, how can I be inferior to Ming Lan? In terms of talent and learning, I am far better than her. It's you who are blind!"
"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Qin Hao sneered: "You must have made a good calculation!"
"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for the compliment." Mo Lan said proudly.
Qin Hao slapped the table hard: "But you should never do such a perfunctory thing in my house. Do you really think that I can let you do whatever you want?"
"Come here, tie her up for me! She must be under good watch, and not a hair is missing! The rest of the insiders are all isolated in isolation, and the news is leaked. Don't blame me for being unkind!"
Two rough ladies came forward and tied up Mo Lan immediately.
Mo Lan struggled and said: "I am a girl from the Sheng family. You have no right to tie me up. I am a member of the official family. You cheap maids, ugh~~~"
Qin Hao raised his hands to Wang Ruofu, who was still in shock, and said, "Madam Wang, the reputation of our three families is at stake, so I can only make this decision."
Wang Ruofu also reacted at this time: "Master Hou did the right thing, but what should we do now?"
Qin Hao said seriously: "I'm afraid we have to inform Shanda Talent about this matter. We will discuss it together after the Zhou Zhou Banquet."
"Yeah, this is the only way." Until this moment, Wang Ruofu's hands and feet were still numb, and he was terrified.
Qi Heng looked at Qin Hao in shock: "Is Zihan going to..."
Qin Hao patted Qi Heng on the shoulder: "Everything has yet to be decided by Shanda people personally!"
A group of people came to the front yard, and Ru Lan asked curiously: "Where is Mo Lan? Why didn't you come?"
Wang Ruofu glared at her fiercely: "Mo Lan is going back to rest if she doesn't feel well."
Rulan thought it was true and didn't ask any more questions, but Minglan noticed something was wrong.
But at this time, the Chou Zhou Banquet had already begun, and the two little guys were placed on a blanket with various messy items placed on it.
There are gold and silver jewelry, daggers, writing brushes, books, all kinds of things. What the children catch means where they will develop in the future. There is no scientific basis, it can only be regarded as a beautiful vision.
The two little guys were not afraid of life at all, and they did not cry when surrounded by others. They lay on the blanket and waved their chubby little hands in the air.
"Look at this little Marquis, who has a tiger's head and a tiger's brain. He will definitely be a tiger general in the future."
"The Marquis is the number one talent, and the young Marquis will definitely be talented as well in the future."
The guests around were complimenting them. The two little guys had already grabbed the items they liked. But what was more interesting was that Qin Hao's daughter grabbed a small dagger, while his son grabbed a writing brush.
Mrs. Qin Liu was so happy holding her grandson: "My good grandson."
The surrounding guests also sent their blessings, which made Qin Liu smile even more. Even Qin Junye was pushed aside.
Qin Hao shook his head, hugged his daughter and took the dagger out of her hand. Although it was unsharpened, the little girl's skin was delicate, so if she got scratched, he would be the one who would feel bad.
When the Zhou Zhou Banquet ended, it was already Haishi and the night was already deep, but Sheng Hong got on the carriage and hurried to the Dongchang Marquis Mansion.
In a secluded courtyard in the backyard, Sheng Hong saw Mo Lan, whose hands and feet were tied and her mouth was gagged. She suddenly felt distressed and asked Qin Hao.
"Master Marquis, what on earth did my little girl commit that warrants such treatment?"
Wang Ruofu quickly grabbed Sheng Hong and said, "Guardian, this is all thanks to Lord Marquis. Otherwise, if the news leaks out, our Sheng family's face will be completely lost!"
At this time, Princess Pingning also arrived. She first looked at Qi Heng and saw that he was fine except for a slightly bad look on his face, so she was relieved.
Qin Hao saw that everyone had arrived, so he said to Bu Qi: "Bring everyone here."
In addition to the maids in the mansion, there are also intermediaries who contact her, as well as Lin Sushuang's profitable mother Zhou Xueniang.
Princess Pingning glared at Sheng Hong and Wang Ruofu angrily, gritted her teeth and said, "You really taught your daughters well!"
Sheng Hong's face turned red with shame. He walked up to Mo Lan, pulled out the piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth, and said sadly: "How could you do such a thing?"
Mo Lan pretended to look pitiful: "Father, they wronged me..."
With a "pop" sound, Sheng Hong slapped Mo Lan on the face and pointed at her with trembling fingers: "If you still haven't told the truth, the maid of the Hou Mansion has wronged you, the middleman has wronged you, and Zhou Xueniang is your most powerful person."
Man, can she also wrongly accuse you?"
Mo Lan was immediately stunned, and then she smiled miserably at Sheng Hong like a maniac and said: "You are the one who forced me to do this, father. If my father promised to find a wealthy family for me, why would I take such a trick?"
Sheng Hong looked at Mo Lan in disbelief, stamped his feet, and said sadly: "Why are you like this?"
Wang Ruofu couldn't help but interjected: "Mother and daughter have always been like this, it's just that your husband has never been able to see it!"
Qin Hao saw that Sheng Hong still couldn't make up his mind, so he said coldly: "Sheng Shanda, the reputation of our three families is at stake at this time. If we don't handle it well, I will only be inadvertent at most, and the Duke of Qi will be in trouble."