Chapter 227: The Loyal and Brave Marquis’ Mansion at Its 'Peak'

November 7th, everything goes well.

The promotion banquet at the Zhongyong Marquis Mansion was scheduled for this day, and around three o'clock in the morning, guests arrived in droves.

There are far more people coming today than when Wei Yuan got married.

Almost all the officials of the third rank and above in the imperial court came.

Wei Yuan even stood outside the house to receive guests.

The Sheng family is not qualified to participate in an occasion like today.

Wei Yuan only asked his eldest sister Wei Shuyi and Minglan to come and take a look at the excitement.

Sheng Hong really wanted to come, but since the Imperial Palace's promotion banquet was taken seriously by the emperor, it was no longer a simple promotion banquet.

Even if a humble official like him comes here, he can't find a table where he can sit down in a dignified manner.

All the officials knew the purpose of this promotion banquet. They came not to give Wei Yuan face, but to give face to the emperor.

At this moment, Wei Yuan, who was standing outside the palace gate, watched Prime Minister Han's sedan slowly approaching from a distance. He did not dare to hesitate at all, and immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"Xiang Han, you are here too."

Hearing the sound, Han Zhang slowly walked out of the sedan with the help of his servants. When he saw Wei Yuan standing by and bowing, he stroked his beard and said with a smile:

"It's an invitation from the official government, and it's from the Ministry of Rites. How can it be that it doesn't come as it is?"

After a pause, Han Zhang looked at the four characters "Zhongyong Houfu" written by the emperor himself, and murmured:

"In the past twenty years, no one has been more prominent than your Wei family."

Wei Yuan said quickly: "Prime Minister Han's words are serious."

Heavy words? Han Zhang smiled and said: "I'm not exaggerating. I'll know in twenty years. I just don't know if I can still live until that time."

Wei Yuan said neither humble nor arrogantly: "You are always in good health. Let alone twenty years, even if it is another sixty years, you can still have fun with others over wine."

Han Zhang laughed twice and said, "People become monsters when they grow old. I will be satisfied if I can live until your Wei family is at its most prominent."

Wei Yuan couldn't understand what he meant by this.

Regarding the promotion banquet, he wanted to keep a low profile than anyone else.

However, when he wanted to keep a low profile, the emperor was unwilling to do so. What could he do?

"Prime Minister Han, please take a seat inside."

Wei Yuan stopped talking nonsense with him and took him to the house in person.

When the guests who had arrived saw Han Zhang's figure, they all stood up in unison, bowed deeply to him and said:

"Meet the Grand Master."

"I have met Prime Minister Han, and you are here today too."

"Meet Prime Minister Han."

"."

Han Zhang's prestige today is second only to Fan Wenzhenggong back then.

There is no need for the civil servants to say more, just say that when the children of Wu Xun meet Han Zhang, they must respectfully call him "Han Xiang".

More than half of the young civil servants in the DPRK say that they are 'Protégés of Prime Minister Han', as if this is political correctness and a protective talisman for themselves.

After everyone paid homage to Prime Minister Han, they began to discuss privately.

"What do you mean by being an official? For a martial artist to hold such a grand banquet, isn't it clear that he wants martial arts to support him?"

"How can we figure out the official's thoughts?"

"Don't say a few words. Prime Minister Han is here. Let's make peace with it now that we're here."

"."

Wei Yuan took Han Zhang to an attic in the front yard. From here, you can overlook the scenery of the entire Zhongyong Hou Mansion. It is relatively quiet and there will not be too many officials coming to disturb you.

"The theater team will be coming soon. You can see it from here. If Prime Minister Han is not satisfied, I will change the place for you. How about it?"

Han Zhang shook his head and said: "This is a nice place. Just take a seat here."

Wei Yuan nodded, "Master Bao and the others should be on their way. If Prime Minister Han needs anything, just let the servants in the house know."

Han Zhang sat down calmly, stroked his beard and said, "Marquis Wei is interested."

After a pause, he glanced at Wei Yuan and asked seriously: "Yesterday, the official issued an order to restore the Ministry of Education. Do you know about this?"

Wei Yuan said: "How can I be ignorant of such a big matter?"

Han Zhang said slowly: "During the Taizong period, Wang Huaji, the right-hand official, made some comments about 'restoring the Shangshu Province', but His Majesty Emperor Taizong did not agree. Now that the officials suddenly want to restore the Shangshu Province, is it the man who is far away in Henan Prefecture?" Coming back?"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "You should ask the Chief Minister and the others about this. How can I, a military general, know this?"

Han Zhang asked curiously: "You really don't know?"

Wei Yuan shook his head and said, "I really don't know."

Han Zhang nodded, "Master Wei, go and do your work. I'm waiting for Xiaosu and the others here."

Wei Yuan clasped his fists and said goodbye.

As soon as he arrived outside the mansion, he saw the Gu family's motorcade approaching, loaded with all kinds of gifts.

When Wei Yuan saw Gu Tingye, he frowned and said, "Your Gu family's life is not easy now, why are you so extravagant?"

The latter bowed and said, "My father insisted on giving this as a gift. Please accept it, Marquis Wei."

Wei Yuan nodded slightly, "How is your father's health?"

Gu Tingye shook his head and said: "Not very good. My father asked me to bring you a message. If you are free, please come over and have a chat. My father wants to say a few words to you."

Wei Yuan thought for a moment and said, "If I have nothing to do the next day, I will go visit Gu Hou."

In any case, he was able to successfully become the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Palace, thanks to the letter that Gu Yan opened.

"Come in quickly, we have arranged a seat for you. There are more people here today, so drink less."

Wei Yuan was worried that young people like Gu Tingye were arrogant and would easily make mistakes once they drank too much.

Gu Tingye hugged his fists and was led into the house by his servants.

Zhang Fu and his wife came here early in the morning.

It was also arranged in the attic where Han Zhang was, but the two were not at the same table.

It was quite a taboo in the Zhou Dynasty for civil and military officials to have a banquet.

The banquet held by the Wei family this time fully demonstrated Zhang Guifen's ability.

Although Mrs. Zhang has a lot of help, she is the mistress of the family after all. When others see the Hou Mansion being so orderly, they will only praise her for being capable.

After a while, six ministers came one after another.

First, Wang Anshi, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and then Liu Hang, the Minister of Punishments, Su Che, the Minister of Rites, Haizhong, the Minister of Works, Cao Yaoheng, the Minister of War, and Ouyang Yongshu, the Minister of Political Affairs and the Minister of Household Affairs.

The banquet held by the Wei Mansion today, including ministers of various ministries and adjutants of various departments, except for a few, such as Fan Chunren and others, were not qualified to come.

After all, the Third Secretary, the Privy Council and many other big shots are not those at the level of ministers who can accompany him to the table.

The more people come, the more lively the entire Hou Mansion becomes.

Wei Yuan only hoped that nothing would go wrong today.

"Huairen, Zhaoyuan, you guys will be dining with the envoys from Liao and Xia later."

"If they dare to cause trouble in the Marquis Mansion, there is no need to give them a good look."

When Wei Yuan saw the envoys from the two countries slowly approaching, he immediately ordered the brothers around him.

They nodded one after another.

Wei Yuan had never seen the envoys from the two countries who came this time, and could even be said to be strangers.

However, they are no strangers to Wei Yuan.

When they came to Da Zhou this time, Li Liangzuo and Ye Luxin had first warned them to be careful about Wei Yuan.

Therefore, the envoys from the two countries did not dare to have any contempt for Wei Yuan. When they saw him, they bowed to him one after another. Then, the envoy from Liao asked,

"Your Majesty the Emperor is still seriously ill. Isn't it inappropriate for your palace to host such a feast?"

Wei Yuan chuckled lightly, "Serious illness? Our Majesty's illness has been cured, but the imperial doctor said that he still needs to rest for a period of time, so he did not personally handle the government affairs."

"Since His Majesty is no longer seriously ill, it is naturally not inappropriate for me to hold this banquet."

Hearing this, the second envoy of Liao and Xia frowned and said secretly:

"Is everything okay?"

——

The women and family members who came today were basically noble women, and there were very few so-called children of officials and officials who came here.

Come to think of it, for those civil servants, they came just to take care of His Majesty the Emperor's face.

However, there was no need for the civil and military families to have too close interactions, so they did not allow their family members to follow him.

At this moment, the backyard of the Hou Mansion.

Zhang Guifen was sitting in the main seat, and some younger female relatives of honorary nobles praised her one after another.

"When I came here, I saw that there were quite a lot of people coming to the Hou Mansion, including civil and military personnel. Madam Zhang must have taken a lot of trouble to arrange for so many people."

"Yes, in recent years, I have heard that only your prince's mansion can have such a grandeur, and actually let all the high officials of the third rank and above in the court come."

"The Zhongyong Hou Mansion is really prominent."

"."

What they said was true.

Except for the promotion banquet at the Zhongyong Marquis Mansion and the Di Qing Mansion Opening Banquet a few years ago, I have never heard of anyone being able to summon all the officials from both the civil and military factions together.

After Di Qing's government banquet, Wen Yanbo found an excuse to demote Di Qing out of the capital. The so-called excuse was, "Without him, the court would be suspicious."

The honest and upright Di Qing did not dare to meet Zhao Zhen and said these words to his face.

Wen Yanbo understood his thoughts and was able to unite with Han Zhang and others to drive him out of the capital while he was in power.

What followed was a years-long party struggle.

"How can our Marquis Mansion have such great ability to invite all the Optimus Prime stones from the court?"

"This is the official's purpose. Some people can come, but it's just for the official's face, not for the face of my Marquis Mansion?"

Zhang Guifen looked at everyone and said truthfully.

Just for these guests who came today, the Hou Mansion already has a lot of face.

It's completely unnecessary, you have to sit down firmly.

Otherwise, it will prosper and then decline, and when the time comes, I don’t know how many people will step on the Zhongyong Hou Mansion.

But to be fair, regardless of whether Wei Yuan and his wife admit it or not, after today's promotion banquet, when people talk about the Wei family, they will use the word "prosperous" to describe it.

As for whether it will decline after its peak, it depends on Wei's luck and destiny.

Although some of the younger noble family members are also the eldest ladies in the house, they are supported by their mothers-in-law. It is impossible for them to be like Zhang Guifen, who can take charge of the house as soon as they arrive.

For example, the current wife of Fuchang Bo Rongxian, after the death of old Fuchang Bo, Rongxian originally became the head of the family. However, it is difficult for Rongxian's wife to touch the power of the housekeeper. She is still Rongxian's mother. I personally will be in charge of these things.

Therefore, many of them envied Zhang Guifen.

"You are a serious wife of the Hou family. You hosted this banquet so successfully today. I'm afraid many people will praise you tomorrow for being a good housekeeper and a good wife. How can you be like us?"

"Sometimes we really envy you, Sister Zhang. You just got married and you don't have any in-laws to hold you down. You are truly the mistress of the family."

"."

Some of the older noble family members went to another main hall, where they were hosted by Mrs. Zhang.

Mainly to deal with those human beings, Mrs. Zhang is worried that her daughter will be slightly inexperienced.

It is more than enough to deal with these young noble family members.

While everyone was talking, Minglan ordered someone to bring the tea show made by Mrs. Zhao and others, and nodded to the noble female family members and said:

"I've met a few ladies. This is a tea show specially made by my aunt. I don't know if it suits your taste. You can try it."

After that, the maids who were responsible for carrying the tea brought the tea to them one by one.

Zhang Guifen felt relieved when she saw Minglan coming over. To be honest, she was still not used to interacting with the people in front of her, but as the eldest lady of the Hou family, these things and human relationships would be unavoidable in the future. Fortunately, Minglan Came at the critical moment,

"Minglan, come and sit next to me."

"Let me introduce to you, this is"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Zhang Xiumei, wife of Yuan Wenchun, the eldest son of the Zhongqin family, who was sitting at the bottom:

"Sheng Minglan of the Sheng family, who in the capital doesn't know about it now?"

"My second brother's wife Hualan is Minglan's eldest sister."

Several more people said one after another:

"Does your Uncle Zhongqin's Mansion and the Hou Mansion still have such a connection?"

"What does it mean to have such a connection with the Hou Mansion? It means having a connection with the Sheng family."

"I have met Minglan several times. According to legend, the most beloved junior of our Marquis Zhongyong is Minglan, his niece."

"."

Hearing this, Zhang Guifen also smiled and said: "This is true, Minglan is also my most beloved niece."

"Minglan, come and sit next to me."

After Minglan sat down, she looked at Zhang Xiumei and asked:

"I remember I sent an invitation to my eldest sister in the Marquis Mansion. Why didn't I see her come today?"

Zhang Xiumei said: "I came here with my mother-in-law. She should be at the back. I guess it's time to come."

As soon as she finished speaking, Minglan saw Hualan's figure outside the main hall and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

"Sister, I finally waited until you arrived."

At this time, Hua Lan had been married for about a year and was not considered a bride. Her face looked haggard, as if she had not slept well for many days.

"There are so many people. We'll talk about it later. I'll go see Aunt Wei first."

Minglan nodded.

Afterwards, Hualan, accompanied by Minglan, came to the main hall and solemnly bowed to Zhang Guifen:

"I've met Aunt Wei."

Zhang Guifen said: "I have often heard Minglan talk about you. Come to think of it, this seems to be the first time we have met?"

Minglan smiled and said: "On the day you and your uncle got married, my eldest sister also came, but there were too many people that day, and my aunt was holding a gauze fan, so she didn't pay attention."

Zhang Guifen nodded and said with a smile: "Sit down quickly, Minglan will be extremely happy to see you coming."

Hua Lan said: "Thank you Aunt Wei."

Then, guided by the orb, she sat on an empty seat.

Ming Lan was a junior and could not sit in the same row as Zhang Guifen in front of outsiders, so she simply sat next to Hua Lan and said warmly:

"I haven't seen you for many days, why does your complexion look so bad?"