July 17th is the birthday of the Qian family matriarch.
Li Xushi took his future son-in-law Xu Yanqian to the Qian family for a banquet.
The Qian family was a prominent family in Nanze County. It was the old lady of the Qian family's birthday, so the Li family naturally had to send someone. Li Xushi brought Xu Yan with him.
Xu Yan has been living a very successful life these days. A few days after returning home from the Li residence, he received news from the Li family that the arrangements for the county school were complete!
Upon receiving the news, the Xu family celebrated by cutting off some pork, something they hadn't done in a long time.
Later, when Li Xushi went out to meet guests, he would often send a carriage from the Li family to pick him up. In front of relatives and friends, he would praise Xu Yan again and again, treating him as if he were his own son. Even the Xu family benefited a lot because Xu Yan was valued by Li Xushi. When the carriage brought Xu Yan back, there were often gifts delivered along with the gifts. The coachman said that they were prepared by the second mistress of the family. Sometimes it was cloth, sometimes food, and sometimes other necessities.
Not only did Xu Yan feel comfortable during this period, but his family also felt very happy.
Today was also the day his future father-in-law brought him here to broaden his horizons. Li Xushi's original words were, "In the future, when you have achieved something in your studies, you will naturally have to frequent the places of high-ranking officials and nobles. In order to avoid showing your ignorance, you will naturally have to train yourself in various banquets."
Xu Yanshen agreed and gladly went along.
Now, Xu Yan is in a state of blissful euphoria. With Li Xushi by his side, who would be foolish enough to come up and cause him trouble?
All around him were various kinds of praise. Logically speaking, Xu Yan had grown up surrounded by praise from those around him since childhood, but he considered those people to be vulgar, and they could not compare to the subtle flaunting amidst the elegant attire and swaying hair.
Xu Yan's demeanor became increasingly sophisticated. After the banquet today, he did not stay close to Li Xushi, but went to talk with his classmates from the county school.
When Xu Yan arrived, the scholars were huddled together whispering and occasionally chuckling. Upon seeing Xu Yan, they all bowed respectfully.
"Brother Guo, I wonder what you were talking about just now? It was quite lively."
The man next to the scholar surnamed Guo nudged him, the two exchanged a glance, and then laughed.
"Ahem, Brother Xu, have you heard about what happened in the Chen family?"
Guo Shusheng coughed lightly and whispered in his ear.
Xu Yan's face immediately turned awkward. How could he not have heard about this? Even his family had heard about it. This Chen clerk really did things in a very unscrupulous way.
"Hehe, judging from your expression, Brother Xu, you must have heard about it. In fact, there's no one in Nanze who hasn't heard about it these days. Brother Xu, do you know that Madam Chen brought her niece to the banquet today?"
"Why is that?" Xu Yan asked, looking puzzled.
"Madam Chen probably brought her out to embarrass Registrar Chen and that Madam Hu."
"Hehehe, this kind of thing isn't necessarily shameful for a man."
The group of men grinned slyly again.
“Chen, the registrar, is truly blessed. That Lady Hu is quite pitiful to behold; I feel sorry for her too.”
"You've already seen it? Why didn't you mention it earlier?"
"He's sitting over with the women."
"Enough. Madam Hu is a pitiful woman. As scholars, we shouldn't talk too much about matters of the inner quarters."
Xu Yan felt rather uncomfortable with these people speaking in public. These scholars were all sons of wealthy families in Nanze, and they had all gotten into the county school through connections.
The other students who got in didn't think much of them, so Xu Yan had no choice but to hang out with them.
"Brother Xu, you are a saint and a gentleman. We really shouldn't be talking about these things. Let's not talk about it anymore!"
"Brother Guo, shall we compose a poem today?"
"Oh, Brother Liu, do you have any questions?"
The group was having a lively discussion when Xu Yan spoke up, which immediately dampened the mood.
The scholar Guo winked and exchanged glances with the scholar next to him, then changed the subject with a few laughs.
Xu Yan was rebuffed, and his face darkened. He felt extremely annoyed that these spoiled brats looked down on him.
He didn't think much of these people, so after killing some time, he excused himself to change his clothes and left.
Once he was away from the crowd, Xu Yan finally let out a sigh of relief and casually stopped a passing servant to ask where to change clothes.
"Young master, there are many guests in the manor today. In order to avoid disturbing the ladies, I will show you the way."
"Then thank you." Xu Yan was very satisfied with the servant's keen eye, so he had the servant lead the way.
Before long, they finally stopped in front of a courtyard, which was the place where people changed clothes for the banquet.
"Please come in, young master. I will keep watch here to prevent anyone from entering."
Xu Yan entered the room, took two steps, his mind went blank, and he collapsed.
"Help! Help!"
"Someone come quick!"
When Xu Yan regained consciousness, he heard a woman shouting for help.
He had just sat up when someone grabbed him and before he could even see what was happening, he was pinned to the ground by a group of people.
Today, Madam Chen brought her niece to the Qian family's banquet. The Qian family was just a wealthy household, while the Chen family were officials. It was embarrassing for her to bring Madam Hu here, so the Qian family didn't dare to say anything.
As the banquet drew to a close, Madam Hu went to change her clothes, and Madam Chen had her maid accompany her.
But then she heard someone calling her. It turned out that Madam Hu had gone into her room to change her clothes, but she was molested by a lecherous man hiding inside. Luckily, she had a maid with her. Because the maid and Madam Hu shouted for help, the Qian family's servants quickly captured the thief.
Who is that person?
"It is indeed the future son-in-law of the second master of the Li family, Young Master Xu Yan!"
"What?! This beast! How could he do this to my daughter, how could he do this to the Li family! I'll beat him to death!"
The crowd erupted in uproar. Li Xushi, suddenly caught up in the drama, was momentarily stunned, then flew into a rage and stormed towards the scene.
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