Chapter 744 Untitled
Although it was known long ago, Jia Baoyu borrowed his own venue and invited a group of princes and nobles to join in the event.
But Sun Shaozong never expected that the Crown Princess's younger brother Sun Zhaolin would also get involved.
The last time his cousin married the Prince of Xinyang, she had already offended the Crown Prince, and this time she made the same mistake again...
Is she determined to make things difficult for her brother-in-law?
Sun Shaozong was just wondering when Sun Zhaolin on the stage flicked his sleeves, turned around, and happened to see him.
She showed a look of joy on her face, and without caring about Jia Baoyu who was still "pinching orchids and sobbing" beside her, she immediately became an unfaithful person and rushed to Sun Shaozong to greet him.
Seeing his slightly embarrassed posture, Sun Shaozong suddenly felt that something was wrong, so he laughed and asked inquiringly: "In the past, I only heard that Sicheng [another name for the chief priest] had a strict upbringing, but I never thought that Zhaolin also had such leisurely interests - but I don't know who is so honorable today that he called you here too?"
Sun Zhaolin looked a little embarrassed, but he still answered honestly: "I was indeed obsessed with it a few years ago, but later I had to deal with the imperial examination, so I gradually let it go."
He turned his head and glanced at Jia Baoyu and others, then continued: "It was just a coincidence just now. I came to your house to send you an invitation, but I didn't expect to run into Master Jia, so..."
As he spoke, a bitter smile appeared on his face.
It turned out that he was conscripted into the army by Jia Baoyu at short notice and suffered an unexpected disaster.
But this can also be blamed on his youth and immaturity. If he were in Sun Shaozong's shoes, he would definitely have firmly refused - after all, his family had already been tied to the prince's chariot, and it was impossible for him to be as playful as Sun Shaozong's brothers.
I guess when he gets home, he'll have to sit on the bench .
While feeling sympathy, Sun Shaozong's focus fell on the word "invitation". He was surprised and said, "You said you came to send an invitation? I wonder if my uncle wants to invite me alone, or..."
"This is a family dinner, so naturally only my brother is invited."
Sun Zhaolin couldn't help but glance at Jia Baoyu as he spoke, and said hesitantly, "My father probably has some family matters to discuss with my brother."
Household matters?
I’m afraid it’s the prince’s family affair!
Ever since Jia Yuanchun became pregnant, the prince has been uncharacteristically quiet.
Sun Shaozong would not think that he had completely resolved his worries after listening to his advice, so he tried to calm him down.
On the contrary, this hopeless person is most likely still in the state of self-abandonment - otherwise, his father-in-law would not have come forward to discuss family affairs with Sun Shaozong.
Actually, although the two families were related, Sun Shaozong had never seen this "uncle". He only heard that he was a very upright person, had served as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College for more than four years, and had a high reputation among the literati.
but……
This chief academician of the Imperial College seemed to be unfriendly to warriors—or rather, he looked down on them.
If it weren't for the prince's efforts to make this happen and Sun Shaozu deliberately lowered his attitude at the beginning, the two families might not have been able to get along.
Now he asked his son to take the initiative to invite him, which was a rare moment of lowering his posture.
It seems that Lord Si Cheng is not as upright as he appears to be - at least when it comes to supporting his son-in-law to become emperor, he is willing to be flexible.
Maybe, by going to the banquet this time, I could also save some face for my eldest brother - because of his bad reputation, my cheap eldest brother was secretly treated coldly by others when the two families were united.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "Since my uncle has invited me, as a junior, I will gladly obey your order. But I wonder when the banquet will be held?"
"At noon three days later, then..."
Before Sun Zhaolin could elaborate, Jia Baoyu came up from behind, holding a flower pendant for his head, and said jokingly, "We are singing Liang Zhu in this scene, why are you imitating Chen Shimei, brother Zhaolin?"
As soon as he started speaking, Feng Ziying, Xue Pan and others came over to greet him.
In addition to these familiar faces, there were also a few others who were also well-known ruffians in the capital - of course, they were still slightly inferior to Jia Baoyu and Feng Ziying.
The last person to come forward to pay his respects was Sun Shaozong's young disciple Li Xian.
Seeing this half-grown boy bowing to the ground and calling him "mentor", Sun Shaozong was surprised and asked, "Why are you here too?"
As he said this, he glared at Jia Baoyu again and said, "Why did you call him out in such weather?"
Li Xian's father, Li Sheng, has been paralyzed in bed for more than two years and is now barely alive.
The heavy snow that day was a hurdle for him. Sun Shaozong even specially sent him some high-quality charcoal and two pieces of life-saving old mountain ginseng yesterday.
Logically speaking, Li Xian should always be with his father, but why did he come here to join Jia Baoyu and others in the fun?
"The teacher misunderstood."
Li Xian explained: "I came here on my father's orders to thank my teacher in person. If it weren't for my teacher's care over the years, I'm afraid I would..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but choking up, but he didn't want to lose his composure in front of so many people, so he forced himself to suppress his emotions.
Sun Shaozong reached out and patted him on the shoulder, saying nonchalantly: "After I accepted you as my disciple, I went to the south to quell the rebellion. It can be said that I misled the young people. These little cares are just a little compensation. What's the value of it?"
As he spoke, he took out his pocket watch and glanced at it, then continued, "It's already this late, don't rush to leave. I'll ask the kitchen to make some more nourishing food. You can take it back after dinner. "
Li Xian did not refuse and bowed silently in response.
In the past two years, because his father Li Sheng was paralyzed in bed, the family had almost no income. If it were not for the meticulous care of the Sun family, not to mention that he could not afford to go to school, he might not even be able to afford Li Sheng's daily medical treatment.
Not to mention, although Sun Shaozong did not teach by words or deeds, he specially invited the learned Yu Qian to teach him...
How can such a kindness be repaid with just a few polite words?
…
Since there were quite a few unfamiliar people among them, it took quite a while for them to greet each other and introduce themselves.
When Sun Shaozong finally got some free time and was about to go back to the backyard to change into casual clothes, he received a report from Yuanyang saying that Uncle Xing in the east wing was crying and clamoring for Sun Shaozong to come over to tell him a few words of his will.
Sun Shaozong heard this and felt a little amused: "Let's not talk about the fact that my sister-in-law is his legitimate relative. Baoyu is also in our house now, so why did he have to come to me to tell me his last words ?"
A flash of contempt flashed across Yuanyang's face, but in the blink of an eye, it turned into pity and regret. In the end, he just said, "Second Master, go and take a look yourself, and you'll probably understand."
