Chapter 176 Meeting Dong Shusheng Again
In the blink of an eye, it is the Ghost Festival.
Early in the morning, Zhao Pan'er was pulled out of bed by Eugene Hua and dressed up.
As for her stepson... Eugene Hua never pushed the door open to pull him away.
Therefore, when Zhao Duan pushed the door open in his pajamas and yawned, he heard the laughter of the mother and daughter.
"Tsk... so excited... it's just a Dharma Assembly."
That’s right, according to the invitation letter sent by Shenlong Temple, every invited person can bring their relatives and friends.
Zhao Duan naturally brought his stepmother and stepsister along.
"Can we...really go?" When they first heard the news, the two beauties, one big and one small, widened their eyes in disbelief.
Zhao Duan's answer is very consistent with his character:
"Oh, going alone, wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
According to the "unspoken rules" of the Dayu Dynasty, when invited to participate in important events, one often had to bring a female companion.
Eugene understood what he meant and dragged his daughter to wash and dress up early in the morning, vowing to dress them both up as beautiful vases so as not to embarrass Dalang.
After Zhao Duan washed and dressed, he saw the mother and daughter coming together, and his eyes lit up.
The two girls dressed up carefully today. They were already very beautiful, and now they were draped with the brocade bestowed by the royal family and wore heavy hairpins on their hair.
The best rouge and powder are applied on the face, and the appearance and temperament are taken to a higher level.
Zhao Pan's hair was carefully braided behind her head today, and she wore light makeup, like a lotus in clear water, with a spiritual aura in her autumn-water eyes.
Eugene Hua wore heavy makeup, but not gaudy, a dark green long dress, and a bun like a lady.
Paired with heavy gold jewelry and a plump and well-proportioned figure, she looks quite noble.
The two of them standing together looked like sisters.
“Brother…”
Zhao Pan called out softly, turning his head to face the girl's slightly thin face, avoiding the piercing gaze.
"Da Lang, are you dressed so simply? Auntie will dress you up."
The beautiful stepmother walked straight over, stood on tiptoe, and was about to fix his hair crown.
Compared to the two girls who were dressed quite formally, Zhao Duan's outfit was sloppy.
He was not wearing an official robe, but only a thin satin robe with a jade piece draped around his waist.
It made his originally handsome appearance look a little less handsome.
Aunt, please respect yourself... Zhao Duan took a half step back and said lightly:
"No need, it's just a Dharma Assembly. I heard it's just eating and drinking."
He only dresses up carefully when he meets the empress.
As for today, he only wanted to find a lively place to celebrate the festival and take a peek at the mystery of Shenlong Temple.
Under his insistence, Eugene Hua's attempt failed.
The family packed up for a while, and when they were almost done, they took a carriage towards Shenlong Temple.
…
…
“There are so many people.”
On the streets, as we approached the Shenlong Temple, the flow of people in the streets and alleys became visibly denser.
Because of the stuffiness, the curtains of the car were opened, and the two girls were able to look around, chatter, and talk excitedly.
Zhao Duan also looked over curiously and saw many vendors on the street selling various styles of colorful sacrificial utensils.
In the distance, there is a temple of similar size to the Tianshi Temple, which is very popular.
At this moment, the spacious square in front of the temple was crowded with people.
There were even long queues forming to buy fruits, pastries and snacks.
"What is this for?" a stranger asked outside the car.
Zhao Duan listened to the explanation from the person next to him:
"This is a ritual of offering. Fruits, incense, candles, and other items are placed in a basin and passed from monk to monk and lay disciple to the Buddha statue covered with flowers. This will bring the Buddha's protection...
Well, don't look at it, it costs money to queue up, and we can't afford the qualification."
Zhao Duan: "..."
Well, he became more and more certain that these monks were indeed good at doing business.
The carriage passed by the outskirts of Shenlong Temple, but did not approach it. Instead, it went in the opposite direction.
A small garden appeared in front of us.
This is the "Zhai Garden", which is also the gathering place for dignitaries in the capital. Outside, there are warrior monks in gray robes separating the crowd.
The people also tacitly agreed not to approach this side.
When Zhao Duan arrived, he saw many carriages parked outside the Zhai Garden.
Fortunately, there were plenty of parking spaces, and I found a place to park without much effort.
When getting off the car, he heard a servant not far away bossing around and asking another car to give up its space.
There seemed to be a conflict between the two sides, and the name of "Master Dong San" was faintly heard.
So the latter swallowed his anger and looked for another job.
"Mr. Dong San?"
Zhao Pan was holding onto the carriage, her lotus feet on the ground, looking curiously:
"Is that the one my eldest brother mentioned, the leader of the Four Young Masters of Beijing, the third young master of the Dong family?"
beside.
Eugene Hua also came down with the help of the servants, but when she heard this, she looked at her stepson with fear and worry.
"Mr. Dong San?"
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, and some memories emerged in his mind.
Only then did I remember this person's identity.
At the beginning, under the guidance of Qin Qu, 'he' plunged into the circle of dandy boys in the capital and learned about the "Four Young Masters", also known as the Four Dandies.
One of them was Wang You, whom I first met in Xiuwenguan not long ago.
The other one, who was vaguely given the title of the First Young Master, was the grandson of Grand Tutor Dong.
The second son of the eldest son is respectfully called "Little Third Master" or "Young Master Dong" in the circle.
He has a second sister who has married out, and an older brother who is quite low-key and mysterious and rarely appears in public, namely Young Master Dong.
The reason why the Third Young Master Dong was able to surpass Wang You and become the number one playboy was not because of his extraordinary abilities.
But the other three "young masters" are more disciplined.
For example, Wang You, the son of the Minister of Rites, also looked down on others and acted like a young man from a noble family.
But he is not stupid and knows his limits.
The so-called arrogance and domineering behavior is more of a result of being used to being superior.
But Young Master Dong is different.
Perhaps it is because of his youth and hot-bloodedness, or because of his practice of martial arts, he acts flamboyantly and recklessly, and has been tainted with the "gangster spirit".
He has the characteristic arrogance of a young warrior.
In addition, he was young and was surrounded by a group of playboys who flattered him with the title of "Third Master", making him feel proud.
Relying on the power of the Grand Tutor, he had many conflicts with others in the past.
Even his father warned him repeatedly, but he still couldn't suppress it.
However, this most dissolute playboy in the capital only listens to his unknown elder brother "Dong Da".
It's also a wonder.
Zhao Duan had a conflict with him at the beginning because of a simple dispute over a seat, and they even came to blows.
Later, the old supervisor Sun Lianying came forward to mediate the matter.
In addition, this matter was discovered by the Dong family, and his father, the son of Grand Tutor Dong, confined him to his home for a period of time.
"Da Lang..." Eugene Hua looked worried.
Zhao Duan just smiled:
"Come on, let's go into the garden."
If it was at the beginning of his journey through time, he might have been a little wary.
But now... especially after he had cleared the Xiuwen Pavilion dungeon, he was still concerned about a third-generation playboy from the Dong family who had a grudge against "himself"...
I really can't stand it.
Besides, there are many people who have grudges against him, and he really doesn't take the so-called "first son" in the playboy circle seriously.
…
The three men ordered their servants to guard the carriage, and after showing their invitations, they were let into the vegetarian garden.
Walking through the corridors and courtyards, you can see that in this garden, there are houses dotted around a lotus pond in the center.
There are rockery pavilions all around, and the scenery is superb.
At this moment, there were already quite a few people in the garden.
At first glance, most of the people there were families of invited celebrities or scholars.
They gathered in groups of two or three around the open-air tables prepared by Shenlong Temple, which were filled with fruits, vegetables and vegetarian food.
We chatted and the atmosphere was relaxed.
The "Dharma Assembly" was not as solemn and sacred as I had imagined.
Zhao Duan and his group came in, but did not attract much attention.
The truth is that although he is very famous, in reality, not many people really know him.
Plus, she didn't dress up properly today, and the other guests, both men and women, were more or less all dressed up and vying for beauty, which made her looks not that outstanding.
In comparison, Eugene Hua and her daughter attracted a lot of people's attention.
"Da Lang, where are you going? Why haven't you seen those high officials and Master Bian Ji?"
Eugene Hua has been married into the Zhao family for many years and has developed the perspective of a woman from a small family.
Although he had a good foundation, he couldn't hide his nervousness when he suddenly came to such a big scene. His body was tense and he couldn't walk comfortably.
Zhao Pan was not much better than his mother, but he was more fearless than a newborn calf, and he walked with a stern face.
When faced with the gazes of some young gentlemen, she completely ignored them and pretended not to see them.
"This is my first time here too..." Zhao Duan didn't understand either.
Just as I was thinking about asking a monk, I suddenly heard a surprised voice from the other side:
"Brother Zhao?"
Looking over, I saw a young man with ordinary appearance, nothing special, even a little nerdy, standing in a pavilion.
She was waving at him in surprise.
"Scholar Dong?"
Zhao Duan was also stunned.
He remembered that the other party was the one who went to Miss Xiaoya's club in "Qinglian Cottage" to look for clues in order to kill Zhang Changji.
We unexpectedly sat at the same table together, a scholar I had met once before.
"Why are you here?"
Zhao Duan led the two women over, and they both spoke in unison.
Then they laughed at the same time.
Dong Shusheng bowed and said:
"I came here today with my family elders, but I didn't expect to meet Brother Zhao here."
As he spoke, he looked at Eugene Hua and her daughter and said hesitantly:
"These two...are Brother Zhao's wives and concubines?"
Eugene Hua and Zhao Pan immediately blushed.
The latter is okay, after all, his age is acceptable.
Girls in Dayu are considered adults at the age of fifteen and can get married.
But Eugene couldn't hold it any longer...
I was so embarrassed and angry, I wondered what was going on with this scholar's eyes?
At my age, how could it be possible...
"...Haha, Brother Dong is joking."
Zhao Duan was at a loss for words and introduced:
"This is my aunt, and this is my younger sister."
"ah!"
The eldest grandson of the current Grand Tutor and the eldest son of the Dong family, who rarely appeared in public, was extremely embarrassed and hurriedly bowed to apologize to the two women.
It's not that I'm blind, it's just that my aunt is too young...
Zhao Duan waved his hand, indicating that it was a misunderstanding.
Seeing that there was no one else in the pavilion and it was quite quiet, and the stone table was filled with fruits and other food, he simply pulled the women to sit down with him.
Then he smiled and said:
"When we parted that day, I didn't expect that one of Brother Dong's elders was also a famous figure in the capital. I wonder who it is?"
(End of this chapter)
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