Chapter 782: Old Oil Stick

The Mansion of the Duke of Ning was a mansion awarded by the Emperor. When he first came to Beijing, most of the mansions were empty. The mansion awarded to the Mansion of the Duke of Ning was no worse than the Prince's Mansion. There were fewer masters in the Mansion of the Duke of Ning and the place was too large, so two gardens were built in the mansion, one was exclusively for the Duke and the other was open to the public.

Zhulan was still very calm. She had been to the imperial palace before. There were so many precious flowers in the Duke's Mansion. After walking through it, she was really enlightened. Although the Duke's Mansion was not built luxuriously, one flower could be worth a lot of money. It was truly a low-key luxury.

Looking at the table where they were seated, and the tea arrangement and other items, those who understood would be impressed by the wealth of the Duke's Mansion.

Speaking of which, not many people were invited to today's flower banquet. At a glance, Zhulan saw many familiar faces, all of whom were families of high-ranking officials.

The sitting position is also very particular. Zhulan feels that she is sitting too far forward. The families of the officials around her are not familiar to her. Gao is a little far away from her. Around her, her family has the lowest official rank. Look at the wife of the Minister of Rites on the left!

The wife of the Minister of Rites snorted. Zhulan heard it carefully and thought about it before she understood what was going on. The Minister of Rites' surname was Feng, and he was the Fourth Prince's uncle. The Feng family was quite powerful. She was sitting next to him, so naturally he disliked her.

The Crown Prince's wife, Madam Du, also heard this. She remembered her husband's instructions to treat Lord Zhou's family with courtesy and not to neglect them. She said, "Today I finally get to meet Madam Zhou. Last time, the Crown Prince and I should have gone to thank her, but my third brother went with us, so I didn't go. Today, I'll offer Madam Zhou a glass of tea instead of wine."

Zhulan picked up the teacup and said, "Anyone who saw what happened that day would lend a hand. The Crown Prince's wife is too polite."

Mrs. Du smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true. The Zhou family's upbringing is good."

The Crown Prince's wife presented Zhulan with respect first. With this reminder, everyone remembered that the Zhou family had some connection with the Duke's Mansion, and their attitude towards Zhulan became much more restrained.

Zhulan looked around and found that no one in the Duke's Mansion was making the Crown Prince's wife uncomfortable. It made sense. Although the Crown Prince had been troubled by the Emperor several times, the Ning Mansion relied not only on the Crown Prince, but also on the Emperor's rescue. As long as the Crown Prince was not really deposed and the Emperor was still alive, no one dared to act rudely in the Duke's Mansion.

The Crown Prince's wife had too many people to entertain, so Zhulan was happy to have some free time, sipping her tea slowly. She was the wife of a third-rank official, and was not even worthy of the wife of the Minister of Rites.

When Zhulan turned around, the group of young ladies had disappeared. Thinking that Xuehan was protecting Yushuang, she felt more at ease.

In the main courtyard of the Duke's Mansion, the Duke's wife asked her granddaughter, "Why did you come here alone? Where is Miss Zhou?"

Ning Ting was very depressed, "Grandma, Miss Zhou is too cautious. Ting'er tried every possible way but couldn't lure her here."

She thinks she is quite smart. She is the one who is most like her grandfather, much smarter than her parents. She was very confident when she received the task from her great-grandmother, but now she is not able to fight back.

The Duke's wife snorted, "Don't say you're smart anymore. I think you're just like your father."

Ning Ting stared, her father was the eldest son, well, her father was indeed a little stupid, she was not like her father, "Grandma, why do you have to see Miss Zhou? Miss Zhou is engaged, and she is a few years older than my brother. There are many young ladies here today, do you want to see the other young ladies?"

The Duke's wife said, "It's different."

Miss Zhou is the future wife of my grandson, and she is different from other ladies.

The Duke's wife became angry when she thought of her husband. She had to recognize Rongchuan before she told her. She had seen Rongchuan's portrait and was looking forward to it every day. Now that she couldn't see Rongchuan, it would be nice to see Miss Zhou.

She didn't mean to find fault. She knew in her heart that the emperor and empress had not regretted the engagement, and her son also agreed, so Miss Zhou was really good. She just wanted to see, "Forget it, I'll go to the garden myself, you help me go."

Ning Ting was stunned. Her grandmother seldom left the yard, but today she went there in person for Miss Zhou. Her feeling told her that today's flower banquet was for Miss Zhou. But, wasn't Miss Zhou the daughter of the Minister of Revenue?

In the garden, Zhulan felt that she was the most relaxed at today's banquet. The officials' wives around her ignored her, and Zhulan was happy to watch the show. The wife of the Minister of Personnel was a gentle person, but the words she said were like knives, which made the wife of the Minister of Rites drink tea directly.

Zhulan had heard a lot of gossip. The Minister of Rites had many daughters in his family, and many of them had been married off in recent years. Counting all the dowries, the Feng family had a solid foundation.

In recent years, the Feng family has used their daughters' marriages to win over many people.

The Minister of Personnel, according to Zhou Shuren, this gentleman does not support anyone, but is a particularly slippery old fox, saying one thing to one person and another thing to another person. You can't find the big problems, but small problems keep coming. What Zhou Shuren meant was that the Minister of Personnel, Lord Wang, did it on purpose. Sitting in the position of the Minister of Personnel, so many people are watching him. If he was perfect, the Minister of Personnel would have been replaced long ago.

Zhulan felt emotional in her heart, not only the officials in the officialdom are talented in acting, but their wives are also good at acting.

At the other end of the garden, the Duke's wife finally saw Zhou Xuehan and waved, "I think you have a good relationship with her, come here and let me take a look."

Xue Han was speechless. That was why Miss Ning had been trying to lead her away just now because of the Duke's wife. At this moment, Xue Han understood everything. Rong Chuan's background was no secret in the Ning Mansion. She stepped forward and noticed Miss Liu's outstretched foot. Xue Han did not step over or step over it. Instead, she stopped and asked, "Is Miss Liu's foot uncomfortable?"

Now everyone noticed Miss Liu's feet. Although she didn't raise them very high, even a fool knew why Miss Liu stretched out her feet. Miss Liu blushed and retracted her feet.

The wife of the Duke frowned. She knew this Miss Liu. At first, she wanted her youngest son to get married, but her son was not young anymore, so she lowered the standards and among the selected families, Miss Liu was one. Later, her son had health problems, so the marriage was not mentioned again. She felt embarrassed to invite the Liu family this time, as she did not expect that their character was so bad.

Miss Liu wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Her face was burning and she secretly hated Zhou Xuehan for giving up her seat. Then her cheeks turned pale. There was no news from the Duke's Mansion, but her father was still thinking about him. It was over.

In Zhoujia Village, Chang Zhi took a class as a student. He had a famous teacher and had an amazing reading volume since he was young. Later, his family had more books, and he kept accumulating them and made some collections. He read really a lot of books. He would say something and people would respond, asking for his meaning or opinion.

After one class, Chang Zhi had a general idea of ​​Class A. During the break, Chang Zhi met the clan leader who was waiting on the side.

Chief Zhou was in a state of confusion. Only a small number of people in Class A had not made any mistakes in Chang Zhi's case. "How is it?"

Changzhi smiled and said, "These kids are good, but they still lack a solid foundation. Also, their ideas are immature and childish. They just need to read more and gain more knowledge in the future."

(End of this chapter)