Chapter 234 - Palace Feast (1)
This year at Duke Zhen's residence was destined to have an extraordinary significance. Due to the addition of two people, the usually deserted mansion became much more lively.
All kinds of New Year gifts were sent into the mansion in an unending stream, filling up several large storehouses in the mansion. Zuo Shaoqing was already busily reading the account books, not to mention there were also all kinds of relationships, to the point where Zuo Xiaolang was unable to speak a few words with his father until the last day of the year.
The old mistress had everything to do now, and every day she would have to live her life as an elder. If there wasn't anything important, she wouldn't be able to take care of it.
On the day of New Year's Eve, Duke Zhen's residence received an invitation from the imperial palace. At the New Year's Eve banquet, every official who received an invitation was envied, although no one thought that the emperor would leave Duke Zhen's mansion out.
The young eunuch also brought the imperial edict, stating that the family of four must participate. The reason it was four was because it was obvious that they didn't even want to find an excuse.
“This year, I must definitely go. We are also people who have grandchildren, so it's a good chance for us to show off.” The madame ordered a cinnabar mole between Zuo Xiaolang's brows, which added to the happiness of the cute child.
At this time of the year, the madame was not in the mood to attend the palace banquet and watch a group of women flaunting their husbands and children. As such, she would rather eat alone in the residence.
Even though Lu Zheng had returned last year, the two of them had no intention of joining in the fun. They still ate a simple table full of dishes, from one person to two people.
It wasn't easy for her son to get married. Now that she had a grandson, the madame would naturally not feel wronged anymore. She was prepared to send her son into the fray to extinguish the prestige of others.
Lu Zheng and Zuo Shaoqing naturally wouldn't object. Zuo Xiaolang didn't know what a palace feast was, so when he heard that there was delicious food, his eyes instantly lit up.
The family put on new clothes and set off for the palace in two carriages.
The madame and Master Lu were people with privileges. The carriage passed through the entrance of the palace, leaving behind a bunch of officials waiting in line.
As soon as the carriage stopped outside the hall, a palace maid came to welcome them, leading the madame into the hall with all the necessary etiquette.
The old lady still took Zuo Xiaolang away before parting seats. She hugged her grandson, unwilling to let him go, “Let him follow me tonight. How can you two men take care of children?”
Zuo Shaoqing wanted to retort, “Before I returned to the capital, I was always looking after Zuo Xiaolang, and in terms of ability, he would never be weaker than the old mistress.” Who told the old mistress to not even have a chance to hug her only son back then?
Thinking about it this way, he couldn't possibly fight with the madame over this. He was just a little worried that some blind woman would make the old me suffer. After all, Zuo Xiaolang wasn't the real successor to the Wu Steel Manor.
The old mistress could tell what he was thinking when she saw his expression. She rolled her eyes and said, “Do you think an old woman is useless?” You're worrying too much. “
Remembering the old mistress' boldness, Zuo Shaoqing rubbed his nose awkwardly, “I was afraid that you would be angered to the point of breaking your body, wasn't I?”
“You should worry about yourself first. Tonight, it is not only the ministers who are coming, but the young ladies of the various great families, including many of the noble ladies who wish to be Zheng'er's concubines.”
Zuo Shaoqing chuckled, “Old madam, don't worry. Master Lu is not interested in women.”
Looking at his smug expression, the madame ‘humphed'. After saying that, he carried his grandson and left.
As soon as she left, Zuo Shaoqing immediately looked around in every direction. As expected, he found quite a few pretty girls.
He was about to examine them one by one when his eyes were caught by a tall figure. Then he heard Lu Zheng ask in a low voice: “Good looking?”
“Who?”
“Who are you looking at?”
“Nope.” Zuo Shaoqing looked at him innocently, “I'm just looking at who they are, it seems like there are a lot of unfamiliar faces.”
Lu Zheng brought him to his exclusive seat and pointed out to a few important officials who were returning to the capital, “At the New Year's Eve palace banquet, not all the people being invited were civil and military officials, and there are also many dukes whose titles do not have any real authority. It's normal for you to not see these people before.”
Zuo Shaoqing nodded, his eyes swept across the people in the first few rows and memorized their looks.
When Zuo Shaoqing saw many officials bringing boxes of gifts, he knew it was a congratulatory gift for the Emperor. He suddenly remembered the gift that the Wu Steel Manor was preparing to deliver and could not help but twitch his mouth.
He squinted at Lu Zheng, gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice, “Are you sure you want to give it to that guy?”
“Hmm? What's wrong with that? ” It's not like Lu Zheng didn't notice the boxes held carefully by the officials. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Of course I have to deliver the gifts to their hearts.”
Zuo Shaoqing turned his head away, not planning to guess whether the emperor really liked their present. He continued to scan the audience and found an accident in the corner.
“Eh? Why are they here? “
Lu Zheng followed Lu Zheng's line of sight and saw an unexpected but not surprising figure, “It seems like the emperor is serious this time. He has never made such a mistake due to his personal feelings.”
Seeing that it was still early, Zuo Shaoqing got up and walked to that corner. Many officials were paying attention to him and Lu Zheng. At this moment, they couldn't help but want to see who this master was looking at differently.
Zuo Shaoqing passed through the crowd and went straight to the corner of the hall, performing a junior's salute, “Uncle Cao, how are you? It's been a long time, how have you been? “
Cao Dedeng stood up, and looked at the person in front of him carefully. He saw that this person was even younger than his own son, but was dressed in a fourth tier official's uniform, and was extremely handsome. He was able to quickly guess his identity, even though he was unable to see any trace of his former Zuo Family son from the person in front of him.
“Haha, isn't this nephew Zuo? “I've long heard that you're a good nephew, but now that I've met you, I have to call you ‘Sir'. What a lucky man.” Cao Dedeng was only a fifth-grade official, and was also a local official. Naturally, he could not be compared with Zuo Shaoqing.
He specifically didn't mention the matter about Zuo Shaoqing getting married, but he also wanted to get on good terms with Zuo Shaoqing. He never would have thought that this child that had no feelings for existence before could soar into the sky.
The two families were originally old friends, but aside from that unpleasant experience, Cao Dedeng had a good reason to call Zuo Shaoqing “nephew”.
“Uncle, you are too kind. May I know that you have come to the capital. Please give us your face next time.”
“Of course. Honestly speaking, if it wasn't for nephew's words, Uncle wouldn't dare to go there.”
He and his wife had not seen their son for a long time, so they took advantage of the New Year to visit the capital. Who knew that they would receive a letter from His Majesty today?
In the past, a fifth-rank official who had the privilege of attending the palace banquet was either a talented young man favored by the king or a relative of the royal family.
In his shock, he did not notice his son's strange and awkward expression.
“Uncle, you are too serious. Brother Cao and I are like brothers. You have come all the way here. It would not be right for you not to come visit my house.”
Cao Deteng didn't expect Zuo Shaoqing to give him so much face. With Zuo Shaoqing's current status and the broken relationship between the two families, he could just ignore him. However, since the other party had offered him good will, there was no reason for him not to accept.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Zuo Shaoqing took his leave and returned to his seat. He turned around and glanced at Cao Zongguan worriedly.
Cao Zongguan was embarrassed and embarrassed at the same time. He also didn't expect Zhan Yuanfeng to be like this. It seemed that Zhan Yuanfeng's attitude towards him had become strange ever since he went to his house last time.
Although she would occasionally summon him to the palace late at night, she would never do that sort of thing with him again. She would only chat with him and then normally sleep under the blanket.
If he didn't experience Zhan Yuanfeng's ability personally, he would have suspected Zhan Yuanfeng of not being able to do it in that aspect.
However, this was a good thing for him. Naturally, he wasn't stupid enough to ask Zhan Yuanfeng.
When Zuo Shaoqing returned to his seat, he saw a pot-bellied man chatting with Lu Zheng. He didn't know what Lu Zheng said, but the other party actually burst out laughing.
Zuo Shaoqing had a strange expression on his face as he thought: “Could it be that Master Lu can make jokes?”
When he got closer, he could hear that the other party was not speaking in the common Great Yang language, but was speaking with a thick northern accent.
When that person saw him, he immediately shut his mouth. Instead, he looked at him with a gaze that made one's hair stand up, as he chattered something to Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng sat there expressionlessly. He didn't have much of a reaction even after hearing Zuo Shaoqing's words. The other party made a scene and left after nodding at Zuo Shaoqing with a smile.
“Who is it?” Zuo Shaoqing asked curiously after sitting down.
“Emissary Beidi!”
“…” Zuo Shaoqing was suddenly enlightened. No wonder that person had hidden enmity in his eyes. Originally, he thought it was some unlucky bastard that wanted to marry a woman to Lu Zheng but failed to do so.
“The person that came with Cao Zongguan is his father?” Lu Zheng changed the topic.
“Yeah, he said he came to see his son in the capital.” Zuo Shaoqing's attention was still on the messenger, so he answered carelessly.
“I'm afraid his position will rise again next year.”
Zuo Shaoqing paused for a moment before understanding the meaning behind his words. He seemed to have thought of something and asked, “Your Majesty, are you thinking of a clear path?”
Lu Zheng shook his head: “I don't know, but without a doubt, he is sincere towards your brother Cao, just that I don't know how much he has moved.”
The two leaned their heads against each other and whispered to each other, so they didn't have to worry about others listening to them. Zuo Shaoqing thought about Zhan Yuanfeng's temperament and wasn't too sure about his thoughts.
He hadn't thought about it for too long when he heard a shrill voice sound out in the great hall. “The emperor has arrived …”
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