Chapter 225: Invite Mr. Sheng to the Study

"Crackling~!"

"Bang~bang~!"

Pingyang Houfu.

Today, a burst of firecrackers exploded in front of the Marquis' Mansion. Yang Wenyuan and Yang Yuqing were smiling happily at the door, welcoming the guests who came today.

Today is a banquet to celebrate Yang Wenyuan's success in passing the imperial examination. There is an endless stream of high-ranking officials and wealthy families coming to present their congratulations. Almost all the powerful families in Bianliang have come.

Of course, such a grand occasion was not just because Yang Wenyuan passed the imperial examination, but also because Yang Wenyuan inherited the title of Marquis of Pingyang.

That's right.

Plans are worse than changes.

The originally planned Jinshi Banquet turned into a somewhat "overshadowing" banquet for inheriting the title because of the emperor's decree to inherit the title, which successfully brought double happiness to the Yang family.

When Yang Wenyuan received the imperial edict to inherit the title, he was actually a little confused.

After all, in his opinion, the inheritance of the title should be done in the main hall, but he didn't expect to be dismissed with just a plain imperial edict.

But this is not a bad thing.

After all, the fruits are hanging on our own trees and have been picked long ago and are ripe.

The government did not hold a grand celebration for a reason.

Yang Wenyuan had no intention of publicizing it, but it happened to coincide with the Jinshi Banquet when the invitation had already been sent out, so he just let it go.

Just like Princess Pingning of the Duke of Qi's Mansion, if it was just a Jinshi Banquet, she would definitely not be willing to come. After all, her son, whom she had high hopes for, failed the exam this time, and she wanted to lick her wounds and heal her injuries at home, and reduce her presence at the same time.

However, due to the hidden nature of Yang Wenyuan's banquet, he had to cheer himself up and pack up his family to go and congratulate him.

Such a large gathering of dignitaries in the city of Bianjing naturally would not be complete without the Prince of Yong and the Prince of Yan, who are currently in the limelight.

"Your Highness Prince Yong!"

"Princess Yong!"

"County Lord!"

"Sir!"

At this time, a middle-aged man with gorgeous clothes and dark circles around his eyes got off the carriage, followed by a plump noble lady, the young and beautiful Princess Jiacheng, and a young man with ordinary looks.

Seeing this, Yang Yuqing hurriedly pulled Yang Wenyuan forward to express his gratitude.

"Hmm!" Prince Yong nodded slightly, trying to put on a kind expression.

At this time, a luxuriously decorated carriage also appeared not far away, and a middle-aged man with a strong body and a solemn face walked out of it, followed by a thin and shrewd woman and a young man.

"Your Highness Prince Yan!"

"Princess Yan!"

"Sir!"

Seeing these people present, Yang Wenyuan and Yang Yuqing couldn't help but look at each other and felt sweat on their temples.

This is such a coincidence, we just happened to meet.

Although the two princes were secretly furious and wanted to strangle each other to death, their expressions were very peaceful and they smiled at each other.

"Brother Wang!"

"Brother Wang!"

Of course, it was impossible to ask them to say good things in the court, so they just said a simple greeting and stopped immediately.

Prince Yan then exchanged a few words with Yang Wenyuan and Yang Yuqing, turned around, straightened his expression in an instant, and walked in.

Prince Yong originally wanted to communicate with Yang Wenyuan, but when he saw that Prince Yan did not stay to talk, he felt that he could not fall behind, so he led his wife and daughter and walked in quickly.

Seeing the two princes enter safely, the originally stagnant atmosphere around them suddenly cleared up, and the guests who had been far away just now finally came over, and the scene returned to its previous liveliness.

Soon, the Sheng family's carriage arrived.

"Father-in-law, mother-in-law."

"Wenyuan."

Wang Ruofu was the one who looked the happiest among the Sheng family members.

Although my family cannot hold a Jinshi banquet because they are in Bian Jing and Qi Heng and Gu Tingye did not pass the exam, my son-in-law can do it!
They say a son-in-law is half a son.

Looking at this grand scene, Wang Ruofu's regrets were immediately made up!
Moreover, Yang Wenyuan has no parents above him. Although it may be presumptuous to think so, in today's scene, he should at least be counted as half... or a quarter!
After a while, the Sheng family was welcomed in by Hua Lan who had rushed over, and Yang Wenyuan still had to stand at the door with a smile on his face.

The nobles always kept to the time for their banquets, and soon all the guests had arrived. The table for recording gifts nearby was also filled with gifts. Yang Wenyuan was about to ask Changqing to pack them up and put them in the warehouse, but he paused before he opened his mouth.

'You forgot again!'

He called the housekeeper to clean up and sent the gift list for review in the evening, then Yang Wenyuan turned around and went in to continue entertaining the guests.

After a morning of eating, drinking, having fun and talking, the party ended.

Of course you have to be restrained when drinking at someone else's house, especially when there are so many important people present today.

Taking advantage of today's opportunity, some close friends and acquaintances got together and immediately invited them to go to the restaurant to have a good meal.

Fan Lou.

Chang Feng happened to meet Qiu Sanlang and others who were having fun and drinking at Pingyang Marquis' Mansion.

The fathers of these people were minor officials like Sheng Hong, or illegitimate sons, second sons of legitimate wives, etc. They had many similar circumstances, and they all liked to have fun.

Birds of a feather flock together naturally.

Chang Feng was in the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion, watching his brother-in-law inherit the title of marquis and pass the imperial examination. He also saw so many important people whom he could not even dream of coming to his house to congratulate him with a smile. When he compared his own failure with his own obscurity, he immediately felt resentful and uncomfortable.

Why is it that you are not only born better, but also do better than me in exams?

This did not make him feel hatred towards Yang Wenyuan.

However, due to the depression caused by failing the exam for many days, coupled with chatting with friends about everything under the sun, he couldn't help but drink too much and started talking drunkenly.

"My father is just a minor official of the fifth rank. He pretends to be noble and noble on weekdays, never makes friends or curry favor with others. He just forces me to study hard, not to mention that I am a bastard." Thinking of Yang Wenyuan in his heart and comparing himself to him, Chang Feng couldn't help but express his frustration one by one.

"Brother Feng, what are you worried about?"

The organizer of today's banquet, Qiu Sanlang, immediately followed up:
"Your brother-in-law is the Marquis of Pingyang. He has a lot of money. Even if he gives you some of it, you will still be able to benefit from it. We are not like that. We don't have a Marquis brother-in-law to protect us."

As he spoke, Qiu Sanlang winked at his friends around him, and immediately a wave of agreement rose up from the surroundings.

"Yes, yes!"

"Brother Feng, you have the title of Marquis of Pingyang, and your brothers are extremely envious. Why are you still complaining about yourself?"

"..."

Chang Feng's face turned red with drunkenness, and he sneered:
"My brother-in-law? My brother-in-law is not my biological brother-in-law. Besides, my father always tells us to stay out of trouble no matter if there is anything going on. How can I get anything?"

As he spoke, Chang Feng raised the wine glass in his hand and laughed:

"Can you please give me a drink?"

"Haha!" As soon as these words came out, everyone present burst into laughter, obviously they were all amused. While Qiu Sanlang kept urging people to drink, he drank slowly to keep his head clear.

Because he came with a mission today.

His father and uncle were both retainers of King Yan.

Judging from the current situation, he can also be called a minister in the palace if the Prince of Yan comes to power in the future.

Therefore, in order to recommend King Yan to the throne, the younger brothers and sisters below them naturally had to display their talents and strive for a share of power.

If it were any other time, Qiu Sanlang would definitely not have looked at Chang Feng with an open eye and would not have treated Chang Feng as the protagonist of the banquet like he did today.

But who can blame him for having a good brother-in-law?

Today, the Yang family of Pingyang Marquis Mansion is a major force in the court.

But his family only stood on the side of the emperor and maintained the imperial lineage, instead of choosing to stand on the side of Prince Yong or Prince Yan.

There is no way to win over the Yang family, but we can save the country in a roundabout way.

Moreover, this roundabout method does not necessarily require the Sheng family to stand on the side of Prince Yan.

It would be best if you can win them over, but if you can't, it's better than nothing. After all, it's just a matter of talking.

Moreover, for the Yang family, a mere Sheng family really cannot influence their family's decision-making at all.

Not to mention, it was through Changfeng, a bastard, that the Sheng family was influenced, and then the Yang family was influenced.

What Qiu Sanlang and the retainers of Prince Yan wanted to do was just to spread some rumors through Changfeng.

Although Chang Feng is an insignificant person, he can still use the banner of the Yang family as a banner. This is not important to the top leaders, but what about other officials who need to be influenced?
There are always a few officials who cannot distinguish or see clearly. They were originally waiting and watching, but because they felt that the Yang family had sided with Prince Yan, they then felt that Prince Yan had a greater chance, so they chose to stand on Prince Yan's side.

As the saying goes, a tower is built from a pile of sand. In the fight for the throne, every bit of strength must be seized.

If you do this more often, the results will naturally show.

and……

Qiu Sanlang secretly glanced at the few other people he had invited.

Among these people, one or two are spies from the Imperial City Bureau. After today's banquet, everything said at the table will reach the ears of the emperor.

A suspicious heart can never be overcome.

"Not to mention affecting judgment, at least it will cause some trouble..."

"Then there's no need to expect anything from others!"

A man at the table slammed his hands and said in a drunken voice:
"What's wrong with a bastard's son? Can a legitimate son definitely succeed?"

"Just like your elder brother Feng, I've never seen him smile. Even if such a person passes the imperial examination and enters the officialdom, he will not be able to make any progress if he doesn't know how to be tactful and diplomatic."

"Indeed."

Qiu Sanlang knew that his chance to change the subject had come, and he immediately said:
"The situation in the court has changed. We must see clearly. The current emperor has no children. The ministers in the court want to kneel in the hall every day, begging the emperor to adopt a royal family member. But looking at the entire Bianjing, only two princes are capable of competing for one or two."

Qiu Sanlang paused, leaving everyone to think about it, but before they had time to think clearly, he immediately continued:
"But Prince Yong is mediocre, and Prince Yan is capable. Anyone can see this at a glance. Isn't the world ignorant of this?"

Chang Feng was originally a bastard, so he naturally agreed with the idea of ​​Prince Yan ascending to the throne. He had argued with Gu Tingye over this issue in the academy. After drinking some wine and hearing these pleasant words, he immediately nodded and said:
"As it should be!"

"Prince Yan is of noble birth, and his mother's family was an important official in three dynasties. His family has been prosperous and wealthy for a long time, and he has many civil and military officials under his command. Apart from him, I really can't think of anyone else in the court."

Qiu Sanlang immediately responded:

"That's right, that's right!"

"Come on, drink!"

Once the conversation started, a series of words followed without stopping.

In high spirits.

Chang Feng didn't care about his father's admonition to go home at night, and immediately shouted to go to Guangyuntai to continue having fun.

early morning.

The Imperial Study in the Palace.

The emperor was just picking up a thick stack of memorials on the desk and looking at them. These were the memorials submitted today by ministers and censors. The words were written in a fluent manner and filled several pages. But upon closer inspection, they were actually just some ordinary things, as if the more words they used, the more diligent and attentive they seemed to be.

After a while, the emperor felt a little tired of reading, so he picked up another stack of memorials on the desk.

As he got older, he was still being forced, so the emperor became more and more suspicious, and he invested more and more in and delegated more power to the Imperial City Bureau.

The result of this over the years is that every morning, there will be as much intelligence as memorials from officials on the desk.

This is the daily intelligence report of the spies of the Imperial City Bureau. It is updated every day. Almost all the affairs of officials in Bianjing are recorded in detail here.
However, these are also prioritized.

Depending on the degree, the emphasis is on how many days it can remain on the emperor's desk.

This was also a way for the emperor to relieve his boredom.

After all, they were stuck in the palace every day and couldn't go out. Watching the dirty deeds at the homes of these officials who appeared to be righteous in the palace, and then comparing their behavior with their own, the contrast was quite ridiculous.

The emperor picked up the intelligence and began to check it one by one. He chuckled from time to time, obviously having seen something funny.

But soon, the official's old and wrinkled brows tightened a lot.

"Who is the person from the Sheng family who is speaking?"

The head of the Imperial City Division, who had been kneeling with his head down, was also well aware of the contents of the intelligence report. He knew who the official was talking about and immediately replied:
"Your Majesty, he is the third son of the Sheng family, a concubine's son."

The emperor nodded:

"That's no wonder. After all, Lord Sheng, who is good at calligraphy, could favor his concubine and kill his wife. Now his illegitimate son is so outspoken, that's also..."

"It makes sense?"

As he said this, the emperor couldn't help laughing again.

Obviously, the family affairs that Sheng Hong thought he had kept secret were already clearly known to the emperor.

But the emperor doesn't care about these things.

After all, if Sheng Hong was really punished for this reason, almost all officials in the court would be punished for various reasons.

The emperor was too lazy to bother with it since he couldn't recognize the truth.

"By the way, I remember that the eldest son of the Sheng family also passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, right?" The emperor also knew something about the wife's family of the eldest lady of the Yang family.

"Yes! Sheng Changbai won the ninth place this time, but the Sheng family seemed to be keeping a low profile and did not hold a celebration banquet."

"Hide your capabilities and bide your time?"

The royal chuckled.

"That won't do. My son and son-in-law have both passed the imperial examinations, so they must become famous in Bianjing."

The emperor originally didn't want to get involved, but now he waved the memorial in his hand.

"Ask Lord Sheng to come to the study."

(End of this chapter)