"Young master, the eldest lady invites you to Wei Ruixuan."
Not long after Sheng Changbai learned the news from the maid, Wang Ruofu sent someone to call him.
"Mother Liu, did Aunt Kang come here alone?"
"Mrs. Kang is here with two girls, Yuner and Yuner."
It is quite common for Aunt Kang to take her daughter-in-law out to socialize.
Although the daughters of officials in the Zhou Dynasty were not locked in a boudoir, most of them had to follow their elders if they wanted to go out.
In addition to festivals, you can go out and participate in various festival celebrations in the city.
I usually go out to various stores to buy various kinds of rouge, gouache, silk and satin, and gold and silver jewelry.
The most opportunities left to go out are to follow the elders to visit relatives and friends at their homes and participate in various gatherings and activities.
These older girls, who are over ten years old, are taken out by their mothers and grandmothers to socialize.
It is also for the purpose of letting other officials and their female relatives understand and admire the girl.
The embarrassing thing is that Kang Yuner is also a woman who almost married Sheng Changbai.
When I first came to Sheng Changbai to look for flowers, the Kang family strongly recommended it to the Sheng family, and the only thing missing was the Sheng family's nod.
It can only be said that the social circle between people is so large, when feudal society considers the marriage of children.
It is to consider the relatives and friends around you first. Knowing the basics is enough to attract people.
If both families have children of the right age, they will be considered first.
The children of the Sheng family were not asked to marry by their parents, and there was no such thing as a baby marriage.
As an adult, you can still choose within a certain range, which is already considered a very lucky situation.
"Okay, Mother Liu, go back and tell her I will be there in a moment."
When Sheng Hong was transferred to Tokyo, Uncle Kang had already returned to his hometown to honor his father.
The two families haven't seen each other for so many years. Aunt Kang came to the Sheng family and Sheng Changbai didn't show up, which was inappropriate.
"Bai'er, you're finally here, come and meet your Aunt Kang." Wang Ruofu introduced Sheng Changbai enthusiastically when he saw her coming in.
It seems that not long after, Kang's aunt Wang Ruoyu has deceived Wang Ruofu.
Although the two are biological sisters, they don't actually have a good relationship.
Sheng Changbai hadn't heard Wang Ruofu mention Aunt Kang very much before at home, so there wasn't much sisterly affection.
When he was young, Wang Ruofu was raised in the care of his uncle. Wang Ruofu and his sisters grew up beside their parents, so the two sisters did not have much contact and did not have a deep relationship with each other.
There is also a reason why after both of them got married, Uncle Kang and Aunt Kang both looked down on the Sheng family and did not have much contact with the Sheng family.
Twenty years ago, both the Kang family's family history and the rankings obtained by Uncle Kang in the palace examination were far superior to those of the Sheng family.
"I've met Aunt Kang, I've met the two sisters of the Kang family." Sheng Changbai bowed his hands in a polite manner.
"Brother Bai, come forward and let your aunt take a look. Since you were a child, your aunt has seen that you have great potential. Since you were a child, your aunt has thought that, brother Bai, you can go to high school at a young age, and you will be granted the title of marquis and prime minister."
"
Kang's aunt Wang Ruoyu praised Sheng Changbai warmly and affectionately.
As soon as Aunt Kang opened her mouth, Sheng Changbai knew how Wang Ruofu was captured.
My sister, who used to be full of sarcastic words towards me, now looks down upon me and deliberately flatters me.
This contrast was enough to put the careless Wang Ruofu in a good mood and feel proud.
"Oh, I really don't know that Aunt Kang has the ability to tell people. Mother, when did Aunt Kang say this? I really don't remember. Do you remember Aunt Kang? Why did you say this?"
Sheng Changbai is not Wang Ruofu, but Aunt Kang can deceive a lame person with just a few words and nice words.
Pretending not to realize that Aunt Kang's words were flattery, she took the flattery as the truth and asked Wang Ruofu with a straight face.
As soon as Sheng Changbai asked this question, several people in the hall became embarrassed.
Aunt Kang was still able to bend and stretch. She laughed twice awkwardly and continued: "Brother Bai, you were still young at that time and you still can't remember things."
"That's right, otherwise I really shouldn't forget what my aunt said." Sheng Changbai nodded and responded, giving me a step to let this matter go away.
But the topic ended like this, and the originally heated atmosphere in the room finally ended for Sheng Changbai.
Also cool down Wang Ruofu's brain, don't be confused by Aunt Kang's sugar-coated bullets.
After being happy about being photographed, he agreed to help the Kang family solve everything.
Seeing that the atmosphere began to return to normal, Sheng Changbai sat down to drink tea and listen to the two sisters reminiscing about old times.
The two of them just recalled a few words about their parents' childhood, but they had never lived together.
There is nothing left to remember. Although the foreshadowing is not perfect, there is no greater chance. Aunt Kang can only make a fool of herself.
"Sister, seeing you live such a good life makes me feel relieved. You don't know what kind of life I have been living these years. The person in my family failed to live up to expectations and did such a thing during the period of filial piety."
Aunt Kang's strategy was quite clear. First she made Wang Ruofu happy.
Then he started to suffer miserably, which aroused Wang Ruofu's sympathy.
"Sister, this matter", Wang Ruofu, who was fooling around, wanted to agree to Aunt Kang's request.
"Mom, this matter of Uncle Kang is not a trivial matter. If you want to recover, you need to consider it in the long term. It would be better for us to wait until father comes back and discuss it again."
The few political resources of the Sheng family were wasted on Uncle Kang.
Regardless of whether they are the aunt or uncle of the Kang family, these two people are full of bad habits.
In terms of political investment benefits, the Kang family is not worth it now.
A person who violates the filial piety period may have no political future at all.
"Brother-in-law, I'm sorry to trouble you about your brother-in-law. He left the house. After my husband was dismissed from office, all his former relatives and friends have become estranged from our family."
"Sister, don't worry"
"Father, we still need to find out more about this matter and find out where the joint difference is before we talk about it."
After waiting for Ru Lan to come over and Sheng Hong to come back from socializing, Wang Ruofu held a banquet for the three members of the Kang family.
During the banquet, Aunt Kang expressed frequently that she wanted the Sheng family to help Uncle Kang recover.
Sheng Hong and Wang Ruofu wanted to agree several times, but Sheng Changbai blocked them.
After several attempts, Wang Ruofu, the dullest person in the room, also understood what Sheng Changbai meant.
Aunt Kang left in anger, and naturally they broke up on bad terms.
…
After sending the person away, Sheng Hong called Sheng Changbai to the study.
"Bai'er, what's going on with you today? Kang Haifeng is my brother-in-law. If we encounter difficulties, how can our family not help?"
Sheng Hong, a well-rounded person, has a habit of making friends with everyone as much as possible.
His brother-in-law is also a close relative, so of course Sheng Hong still wants to give him a hand.
"Father, the Kang family is not upright and can do things that violate the filial piety regulations. Why do we, an upright family like ours, want to get involved with us?"
Sheng Hong wanted to question Sheng Changbai, and Sheng Changbai also questioned Sheng Hong.
"Our two families are related. Your Aunt Kang is my mother's biological sister. Blood is thicker than water. Don't you understand that in-laws should work together and help each other?"
It can be seen that wanting to help the Kang family is not just a matter of personal style. Sheng Hong also pays more attention to blood connections than Sheng Changbai thought.
"Evil people stay away from each other, and good people stay close to each other and know each other. Father, the Kang family has such a family tradition. Even if blood is thicker than water, our Sheng family should stay away from them. Even if we don't despise such unfilial people, our Sheng family should not Go and help. What does our Sheng family mean by helping such a family?"
From Sheng Changbai's point of view, helping the Kang family is something that cannot be started.
If Wang Ruoyu gets benefits from the Sheng family and tastes the sweetness, he will easily become a candy that cannot be shaken off.
"Bai'er, your Uncle Kang and I are the same age and have been friends for twenty years."
"Father, for such a big event, Uncle Kang doesn't come in person, so how can we talk about twenty years of friendship?"
Sheng Hong believed that he had a good relationship with his brother-in-law, which was more or less wishful thinking.
After so many years, Kang Haifeng has never seen Sheng Hong.
That is, Uncle Kang is now in white, and Sheng Hong is a fifth-grade official in scarlet robes.
Uncle Kang also looked down on Sheng Hong, and of course Sheng Hong was a good person, and he could feel it.
I want to ask the Sheng family for help, but I don't show up, and I don't even want to ask for help personally. How can I respect Sheng Hong?
The Kang family has been an official for generations and was born into a noble family. It is difficult to say how well Kang Haifeng was able to learn. He was arrogant and did not differ from others in the slightest.
He prided himself on being noble and looked down upon Sheng Hong, who was born in a poor family and was an all-rounder in the officialdom, and was good at dancing.
Even though Sheng Hong was already much better than Aunt Kang in the officialdom, he was looked down upon by Uncle Kang.
"Let me see, Uncle Kang is in this situation because of himself. If the two families were not related, I would want to get involved with him. If we don't help, don't say we are heartless. We can take revenge on Uncle Kang." By turning a blind eye to this matter, we are already fulfilling our duties as relatives."
Seeing that Sheng Hong's attitude was somewhat relaxed, Sheng Changbai continued.
Uncle Kang could not recover, but every time he tried to recover, there were a group of political enemies who would not let go of violations of the filial piety period, so Uncle Kang was killed again and again.
If you want to help Uncle Kang recover, you have to sell a lot of favors to let these political enemies let Lao Kang go.
Of course, this problem can be solved by asking the big boss Baokang Haifeng, but it is obvious that Kang Haifeng is not worthy.
"What about the Wang family?"
After asking the Wang family, Sheng Hong had obviously changed his mind and was now obviously worried about how he would explain to the Wang family.
There is no need to explain anything to the Kang family and the Sheng family. In the officialdom, Sheng Hong relied on the power of the Wang family.
The entire Kang family looks down on the Sheng family, and Sheng Hong certainly has never had any influence from the Kang family.
"I will write to my uncle and explain our family's difficulties."
The situation of the Wang family is actually not bad. Although Uncle Sheng Changbai does not have high academic qualifications, his ability to become an official depends on his reputation.
In terms of governance, he is also mediocre. He is an official and governs, and his political achievements are not outstanding.
But if a person is not confused and has self-awareness, he will bear as much responsibility as he has the ability to do.
As the head of a family, he is still qualified.
He also has enough respect for Sheng Changbai, the most promising younger generation.
Sheng Changbai wrote to his uncle not only to explain clearly the difficulties of the Sheng family.
I also want to give some advice to my uncle, hoping that the Wang family will also stay away from the dirty things in the Kang family.
"Okay, let me explain it to your mother."
The final result was good. The father and son reached a consensus not to interfere in the Kang family affairs.
If they had a choice, no one would like to help Uncle Kang settle such a matter.
…
Because the Wang family is still serving abroad, they can't do much in Bianjing.
In the Kang family, Mr. Kang and Mr. Wang were both important ministers of the same dynasty. The remaining influence they had saved for their descendants was exhausted by Kang Haifeng.
The Sheng family's father and son were not doing their best, and Uncle Kang wanted to get back together, so things didn't work so smoothly.
The Kang family couple could only spend their time in Bianjing looking for old friends and connections.
I don’t have that much time to bother people at Sheng’s house.
It's still peaceful. Another new year has arrived, and Sheng Changfeng is going to have a provincial examination at the beginning of spring.
During the Chinese New Year at home, it is better to reduce social interactions, reduce banquets, and focus on keeping things clean.
In order to create a good pre-examination environment for her son, Lin Zhishuang also settled down.
By reducing the friction with Wang Ruofu, the goal is to achieve purity.
It was another comfortable Spring Festival, and Sheng Changbai still didn't want the family to be too noisy.
It's easy to find excitement. Around the Daxiangguo Temple in Bianliang City, businesses gather and people flow continuously. It doesn't matter whether it's New Year's Day or not, whether it's a holiday or not, it's always lively.
It is a rare thing to find peace and quiet in this big city of over one million people.
After the New Year, Sheng Changbai also made plans for himself.
Taking advantage of this another imperial examination, the old emperor wanted to reward a group of officials again.
It's time for another major adjustment of positions in the officialdom. Sheng Changbai can look for opportunities, pick a suitable position, and seek to be released.
Instead of looking for a fertile land suitable for farming, Sheng Changbai would promote his own crops and go farming.
Otherwise, Sheng Changbai would like to go to Bianzhou to test the quality of the Khitan and Xixia armies.
Sheng Changbai was not interested in a place that was neither up nor down.
When I was thinking about my own affairs, I also returned to Sheng's house. As soon as I walked to the door, I was stopped by Wei Ruixuan's mother-in-law.
"Sir, the eldest lady has asked you to go to Wei Ruixuan to meet the guests when you come back."
"Why is there another guest at home? Who is coming to our house again?"
The longer the Sheng family stayed in Bianjing, the more messy relationships they made.
It’s not that easy anymore to live a quiet life behind closed doors and not interact with others like it was when I first entered Bianjing.
"It's Mrs. Wu from the Earl's Palace of Yongchang, who came here with her sixth son."
"Sixth Young Master of the Liang Family, Liang Han!" After muttering for a moment, Sheng Changbai immediately remembered who this family was, and immediately replied: "I'll be there right away."
But no matter how fast Sheng Changbai tried, he couldn't get anywhere. Wearing official uniform to meet guests was against the rules.
Sheng Changbai still had to go back to his yard and change into normal clothes.
After changing, Sheng Changbai quickly walked to Wei Ruixuan. After entering through the back door, he saw three Lans and hid behind the screen to peek at what Liang Han looked like.
Fortunately, there was still enough time. After entering, holding Minglan in one hand and Rulan in the other, Sheng Changbai carried the two of them out.
"Second brother, let me go quickly, it's so uncomfortable!" Ru Lan shouted.
"This will make you feel uncomfortable. I don't know whether you feel uncomfortable or not when I receive the family law. What are you two doing, hiding outside and spying on the foreigner?"