At dinner, the men and women sat at one table each to welcome Li Yuxin and her group.
The second branch of the Sheng family in the capital has never been so lively. There are now three sons and two daughters.
Sheng Yun, enjoying Beijing cuisine for the first time, had a round belly and a full mouth. Li Yuxin, startled, quickly pulled her over to check on her, ordering Nanfeng to serve some digestive soup. Xu Wen invited Sheng Hong to eat, and the more she watched, the more she liked her.
Turning back to see Sheng Yun's appearance, he smiled and said, "Sister Yun, you are used to eating Beijing cuisine, it's very good."
After the meal, the men went to the outer courtyard together, while Xu Wen took the women for a walk in the garden. Sheng Yun was fine; she had originally wanted to let her digest the food, but she fell asleep halfway through the walk. The original walk ended hastily, and Xu Wen led the three of them back to Qinya Garden.
After the two girls retired to bed, Xu Wen and Li Yuxin went to sit in the pavilion in the courtyard. Qiu Ling and Nan Feng brought them fruit wine and side dishes, and the two chatted and laughed while drinking two pots of wine.
In the past, the concubines would still go out, but in recent months, with the exception of Aunt Lan, the other concubines basically stayed at home except for coming to pay their respects to Xu Wen. Today, Aunt Lan asked once again if she wanted to carry Sheng Xian out to meet guests, but Xu Wen refused. When Aunt Lan heard of Li Yuxin's plan, she didn't ask any more questions and left the main courtyard with Sheng Xian in her arms.
By the time Li Yuxin and her group settled in, it was three days later. Sheng Wei and Yu Jiaxing, who was roughly the same age, quickly became familiar with each other. Xu Lin, a few years older than them, would occasionally sit down and discuss philosophy. The Eighth Prince in the palace also knew that Sheng Wei, from the eldest branch of the Sheng family in Yuyang, had arrived. He casually gave Sheng Wei an inkstone as a greeting and asked Sheng Shu to take it back.
Li Yuxin, who knew about this, held the inkstone in her hand and carefully examined it. She kept thanking the Eighth Prince and led Sheng Wei to kowtow in the direction of the palace to express her gratitude.
That day, Yu Shuyuan was walking with Sheng Huairen after leaving the court, and he casually mentioned, "The sons of the Sheng family are all very hardworking. Why not hire a better teacher to run a family school?"
Sheng Huairen, upon hearing this, became interested. After returning home, he went to talk to Xu Wen about this matter. Xu Wen had never thought of this before. Previously, the entire Sheng family's second branch had only Sheng Wei as the legitimate son, and the illegitimate sons were still young. Now it was different. Not to mention Xu Lin, who would take the imperial examination this year, but also Yu Jiaxing, his study partner, and Sheng Wei, who was the same age, it was time to hire a better teacher.
However, Xu Wen couldn't remember any experienced instructors at the moment. Xu Wen asked Sheng Huairen directly, "Sir, do you have any good candidates for instructors?"
Sheng Huairen, holding a teacup, seemed to be waiting for Xu Wen's words. He chuckled and said, "I do have a candidate. Lord Yu is also familiar with him. It won't be too difficult to invite him to the mansion." Sheng Huairen, who was about to keep it a secret, saw Xu Wen's half-smile and said obediently, "Meng Lizhang, the junior brother of Lord Yu's father-in-law, Lord Lin."
Xu Wen asked with a look of understanding, "But the Meng family from Shanxi?"
Sheng Huairen, stroking his beard, nodded and said, "Indeed, Brother Meng is a man of outstanding literary talent. He is one year older than me. He is Master Lin's last disciple. If he had sought fame and fortune back then, he would have been either a minister or a vice minister by now."
After a pause, Sheng Huairen continued, "Brother Meng came to the capital this time to seek medical treatment for his son Meng Hui. Lord Lin has already invited the imperial physician. I heard that Brother Meng plans to stay in the capital for five years until Meng Hui recovers. During these five years, Brother Meng must find something to do."
Xu Wen, who was sitting and listening to Sheng Huairen's words, asked, "Logically, it should be more convenient for Lord Lin to go there, so why did it fall to our Sheng family?"
Looking around, Sheng Huairen approached Xu Wen and said, "That's because the Lin Mansion is inconvenient. The family is in turmoil and the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children is unclear."
Xu Wen had heard of this matter. How could a figure like Lord Lin not suppress the fighting between his sons? Xu Wen was a little curious, as those rumors in the market were always untrue.
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