Rise From the Humble

In the afternoon, Zhu Ping'an had just finished eating the meat buns sent by the future Queen Mother Li, when light rain began to fall outside the window, and then the east wind gradually picked up, sweeping the raindrops and knocking on the edges of the window, and then the rain became heavier and heavier, and the clouds were like smoke. The dense rain is as messy as hemp.

During the heavy rain, Zhu Ping'an received an invitation, which was sent by Master Xu Jie to Prince Yu's Mansion.

"On this day, there will be a good time, and Wu Huan will be in the middle of the sky."

Master Xu sent someone to send the invitation. After Zhu Pingan received the invitation, he curiously opened it and looked at it.

When half a hundred people arrive, prepare wine to celebrate your birthday.

Today is Mrs. Xu Jie's fiftieth birthday, and she invited herself and other disciples to the mansion to eat birthday noodles.

It's my wife's fiftieth birthday, so of course I want to celebrate her birthday.

After Zhu Ping'an read the invitation, he respectfully received it in his sleeve and said to the person who sent it, "Please tell Master Xu that the students will be there on time after they leave the office. I hope Master Xu won't think the students are bothering you."

"Young ones must take what adults say."

The person who sent the invitation replied respectfully, then said goodbye and left. He had to send invitations to Zhang Juzheng and others in the Hanlin Academy.

When I left the office, the heavy rain outside did not slow down at all. The dense rain was like hemp, intertwining the sky and the earth. Zhu Ping'an wore a raincoat and, accompanied by Liu Dadao, rode to the residence of Master Xu Jie.

"Haha, Zihou, you are a little late today. Zhongfang (Yang Jisheng's nickname is Zhongfang) and Shuda (Zhang Juzheng's nickname is Shuda) have already arrived."

The eldest son of the Xu Mansion, Xu Fan, was waiting in front of the door to welcome guests. After seeing Zhu Ping'an, he laughed and greeted him, jokingly.

"Haha, Brother Shi. It's too late for Ping An. I will punish myself with three cups later." Zhu Ping'an replied with a smile.

"Okay, this is what you said. I will check it later." Xu Fan smiled and patted Zhu Pingan on the shoulder, pushing Zhu Pingan into the courtyard, "The old man asked me to welcome guests here. I won’t give it to you, since you are already familiar with it at home anyway.”

After Xu Fan pushed Zhu Ping'an into the courtyard, he turned around and smiled at Liu Dadao, "Dadao, a banquet has been prepared in the guest courtyard. You can come in too."

The banquet in the guest house was specially prepared for retinues like Liu Dadao.

"Thank you, young master."

Liu Dadao had been with Zhu Ping'an several times, and he was familiar with Xu Fan, so he was naturally not polite. He thanked Xu Fan with a smile, then handed the horse to the servants of Xu Mansion and followed him into Xu Mansion.

After Zhu Pingan entered the banquet, he found that he was indeed late. Many people had already arrived, such as Yang Jisheng, Zhang Juzheng and others.

Xu Mansion's birthday banquet was arranged according to ancient rituals and the meal sharing system was adopted. There were two tables and chairs in the middle for Xu Jie and his wife to sit on, and fifteen tables were set up on each side. The seats were already 80% full.

"Zihou, here, here."

"Here Zihou."

Zhu Pingan heard two familiar calls as soon as he entered the scene. He looked up and saw Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen waving to Zhu Pingan. The two people were sitting at the back, which was blocked by a pillar, so Zhu Pingan could not see them immediately. Then the two people stood up and waved, and Zhu Pingan saw them.

The two of them had already reserved seats for Zhu Pingan, right in front of them.

"Ziwei, Wensheng." Zhu Pingan walked over with a smile and sat down on the seat occupied by the two of them.

"Why didn't you ask me to come with you?" Zhu Pingan asked after sitting down.

"Didn't we hear that you were summoned by the Holy Master to Xiyuan Zhaijiao? We thought you would come back with the teacher today." Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen explained with a smile, "Otherwise, we would have gone to Prince Yu's Mansion to find you. ”

"Okay, I forgive you." Zhu Pingan smiled.

"Zihou, stop it. You have forgiven us, but we haven't forgiven you yet. Since you have returned from Xiyuan a long time ago, why don't you come to us on the way." Zhang Siwei knocked on Zhu Pingan's table and looked like he was asking questions. posture.

"Uh, my head hurts a little." Zhu Pingan touched his forehead with a painful expression.

"What's wrong, Zihou?" Wang Shizhen asked with concern.

"What happened at noon? I seem to have lost my composure. My mind went blank and I had a headache thinking about it," Zhu Pingan said with an innocent look.

"Pfft, your excuse is too strong." Wang Shizhen couldn't help laughing.

Zhang Siwei looked at Zhu Ping'an with a speechless face, unable to laugh or cry.

"Okay, I admit my mistake. I will punish myself with three glasses of wine later to make amends." Zhu Pingan confessed with a playful smile.

"Come on, that's enough for you. With your drinking capacity, if you drink three glasses of wine, I and Vincent will probably have to carry you home." Zhang Siwei rolled his eyes, not caring about Zhu Pingan's drinking capacity at all. not optimistic.

"That's right, Zihou, your drinking capacity is now well known to everyone. If you want to sincerely apologize, why not write two couplets and give them to me and Ziwei." Wang Shizhen continued.

"Hey, that's right. Wensheng's proposal is good. Zihou, we have heard about the couplets you wrote during the fasting ceremony today. The couplets you wrote to us to apologize can only be better than worse."

Zhang Siwei raised his hands in agreement with Wang Shizhen's proposal and asked Zhu Pingan's couplet to be better than the couplet written to Emperor Jiajing during the Zhaijiao ceremony.

"As commanded."

Zhu Pingan responded with a smile. With hundreds of years of history ahead of him, he said he had no pressure.

While Zhu Pingan was laughing and chatting with Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, Zhang Juzheng, who was sitting in the front row, was also chatting with Yang Jisheng. Both of them were Jinshi in the same batch, and they sat closer to the front, one behind the other.

At this moment, the two were chatting.

However, compared to Zhang Juzheng's constant smiles, Yang Jisheng was much colder. To be precise, he was lukewarm and did not like to talk to Zhang Juzheng.

"I have long heard that Brother Nian studied music rhythm with Mr. Han Bangqihan, the Minister of Civil Affairs of Nanjing. He learned the essence of it and even made twelve rhythms with his own hands. When he played it, the sound was very beautiful. Today is my wife's birthday. I wonder if Ju Zheng is lucky enough to hear Nian. Brother, the music of nature." Zhang Juzheng leaned slightly and said to Yang Jisheng with a smile.

"Unfortunately, Sheng Zheng is fasting and is not allowed to entertain." Yang Jisheng replied lukewarmly and flatly refused.

"Oh, that's because Juzheng has no ears."

Zhang Juzheng was not surprised at all by Yang Jisheng's rejection. He knew that after Yang Jisheng's visit yesterday, he was very disappointed with himself. He felt that he was a coward who was timid and afraid of getting into trouble, living in an ignoble way. He was not the same person as him, so it was normal for him to be sarcastic and sarcastic about himself. .

"Moreover, music and music are all in the small way, and uncle is the country's weapon. How can the talent of the country's weapon be indulged in the small way? Wouldn't it damage the name of the country's weapon and pollute the body of the country's weapon. Brother Shu Danian, you should serve the country by yourself. Take it seriously, and it’s best to avoid disaster and avoid this trail.”

Yang Jisheng's words were full of sarcasm. After he finished speaking, he picked up his tea cup and drank tea, ignoring Zhang Juzheng.

Serve tea to guests.

The ridicule and alienation were so obvious that for a moment, Zhang Juzheng was speechless and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.

but

In my heart

Zhang Juzheng was happy, Yang Jisheng was too dangerous, and he just wanted to draw a clear line with Yang Jisheng.