The Yan and Qin families had a fairly good relationship. A few days ago, Uncle Tang took Gungun and Dandan to a restaurant outside, and happened to meet Madam Yan. Uncle Tang was Meng Ruqing's trusted person, and he was also close with Madam Yan. The three got along very well. Madam Yan didn't treat Uncle Tang as a servant at all. She had no close female friends and truly treated Uncle Tang as one of her own. When she saw him, she couldn't believe her eyes. She called out tentatively, and when Uncle Tang actually turned around, she knew it was really him.
"I heard from Ruqing that you went to Hezhou. How come now......"
"When did you arrive?"
"Mid-month......" Uncle Tang's voice trailed off when he saw Madam Yan's face darken.
Madam Yan reproached him: "Then why didn't you send someone to tell me when you arrived? You've been here so many days and didn't come find me? Is it that you're no longer serving at Ruqing's side, so you don't recognize me either?"
Uncle Tang smiled: "Listen to yourself. Am I that kind of person? It's just that these past few days my master and his fulang have been busy, and I need to look after the two young masters, so I couldn't go find you."
Only then did Madam Yan notice Gungun and Dandan sitting beside Uncle Tang. Seeing the two little ones plump and white, exceptionally cute, she immediately took a liking to them. She carefully struck up conversation with them, and seeing that the two little ones weren't shy at all, sweet-tongued and generous, calling her Grandma, pushing pastries toward her, saying they wanted to share with her and telling her to eat — Madam Yan forgot all about Uncle Tang on the spot.
After Madam Yan and Uncle Tang reconnected, she often had Uncle Tang bring the little ones out. Sometimes she would also come to the inn to find him. Over time, they naturally grew close.
Zhao Ger was diligent and seemed well-behaved. Madam Yan liked chatting with him too. But Zhao Ger was busy and the inn was noisy, so most of the time Madam Yan would take the three little ones out to play. At this moment, they were probably not at the inn.
In the following days, Fang Zichen spread his favor evenly, taking Guaizai to visit the other academies one by one. His method was the same every time — first, hands behind his back like a leader, strolling around with the academy head on an inspection tour, then offering his critique of everything, and finally saying that since he'd come all this way, he'd leave a few words of encouragement for everyone. Then Guaizai would start his performance all over again.
The academies were full of wealthy people, big clients. They'd buy half a sack at a time. Over time, the paper sold even faster than instant noodles.
By the time he stopped doing sales pitches at the academies, Yan Shizheng finally brought Madam Yan over.
When Fang Zichen entered the city, the soldiers guarding the gate had reported it to Yan Shizheng. Yan Shizheng hadn't paid much attention, but later when Madam Yan returned home, patting her chest and telling him in shock, she said she'd seen him — he looked like, really too much like him.
Like who?
Like Meng Ruqing. They were practically identical. And Guaizai was exceptionally clever, with big eyes and a small pink mouth, so adorable. No wonder the Qin family liked him.
When Yan Shizheng heard this, he knew that the "possibly some lord's young master" the guards had mentioned was almost certainly Fang Zichen. Upon learning this, he immediately rushed to the inn — not to flatter, for though their ranks were comparable, Fang Zichen was a rising star favored by the Emperor, and he didn't dare be the least bit negligent. But he came twice and didn't catch him. When he asked around, he learned that the man had been running to academies hawking goods these past few days. He didn't know what expression to make.
What kind of prefect acts like this?
Simply not doing his proper job.
Now that he'd come, after some pleasantries, Yan Shizheng said that tomorrow happened to be his little grandson's full-month celebration, and asked if Fang Zichen could bring Zhao Ger and the children over for a small gathering, to liven things up.
If it weren't for the fact that he was selling goods on someone else's turf, Fang Zichen would definitely have refused.
Are you kidding?
How could you go to a full-month banquet empty-handed?
The man's official rank was high. A cheap gift would be looking down on him and would be rude.
An expensive gift would make his heart bleed. He didn't want to curry favor with anyone either. After all, he was already exhausted from desperately earning silver to support his family. He really had no energy left to build good relationships with others.
But this time he couldn't not go. On someone else's turf, he had to show respect. And the man's wife was friends with Uncle Tang, so he had to go!
Zhao Ger and Uncle Tang went out to buy gifts — a bracelet, golden and shiny. Fang Zichen found it extremely glaring.
That wasn't even enough. Afraid of being rude, Zhao Ger also brought two bolts of cloth — given by the Qin family.
Tribute from Jiangzhong.
Uncle Tang had brought them, originally thinking they could be used in spare time to make winter clothes for the children to wear on the return journey, saving some money on buying. Guaizai wasn't growing much, so last year's winter clothes still fit him, but Gungun and Dandan's didn't — last year's clothes were already too tight. The family had good cloth at home, so why buy outside? A few bolts of cloth didn't take up much space, so Uncle Tang brought them along.
On the day of the Yan family grandson's full-month celebration, Zhao Ger had Zhang Quan take the others to sell goods first. He and Uncle Tang took the four children and went with Fang Zichen to the Yan residence.
Bringing Liuliu along was naturally to let him see the world too. One more person, one more bowl of rice — that way they could recoup a bit. Originally Fang Zichen wanted to invite Zhou Ger and Zhang Quan to come too, but these two weren't as thick-skinned as him. Zhou Ger watched their group grandly heading to the Yan residence and vaguely felt that Fang Zichen's behavior was a bit like back in the village when someone held a happy occasion — the stingy ones would send just a handful of dried vegetables, then bring the whole family to eat the banquet.
That meal — if your face wasn't thicker than a brick, you probably couldn't swallow it down.
If he tagged along too, that would really be too shameless.
---
Fang Zichen was utterly shameless and invincible, feeling not the slightest bit embarrassed.
It wasn't as if he had gone there of his own accord.
Moreover, the gift he brought wasn't just a bundle of dried vegetables.
As soon as they arrived at the Yan residence, Zhao Ger, Uncle Tang, and the children were all led to the back courtyard, while Fang Zichen was escorted by Yan Shizheng to the main hall, where quite a few people were already seated.
Fang Zichen hadn't made a grand entrance when he arrived in Shangyang, but over the past few days he had been popping up at all the major academies, so all the important figures in Shangyang knew—Lord Fang had come to Shangyang.
Now, seeing him personally escorted in by Yan Shizheng, there was no need to ask—they immediately stood up and greeted him respectfully:
"Greetings, Lord Fang."
Fang Zichen waved his hand: "You're too kind, too kind. Everyone sit down!"
Yan Shizheng introduced everyone to one another. There were many people, but most were Yan Shizheng's subordinates. A few academy heads had also come, but upon seeing Fang Zichen, they all retreated to the back, not daring to approach him at all. The others were rather puzzled to see these academy heads acting this way.
After all, at previous banquets, these men had spoken of nothing but this Lord Fang—saying how impressive he was, how his provincial exam answers had circulated, and how after reading them, they kept praising them endlessly, then sighing and saying they wondered if in this lifetime they'd have the chance to meet this top scholar in person and discuss things with him.
What was going on now? The man had come and they were hiding? Why weren't they crowding around him?
Could it be that a few days ago when Lord Fang visited the academies, he'd already chatted with these people until they had nothing left to say? But that couldn't be either! These old fellows were the most talkative—a single poem could keep them chatting for an entire evening.
But it was just as well. With these few hiding, once the deputy prefect, assistant prefect, and other officials had finished paying their respects and the crowd had thinned, they'd be able to step forward and curry favor.
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