The lights were bright and the shadows of people were noisy.
It had just rained and the streets outside were still dripping with water. The courtyard on the north side of Hangzhou was brightly lit. The bright red lanterns outlined the appearance of the long street. Groups of carriages, horses, and people gathered. This was the most lively scene since Fang La's ascension to the throne.
August 22nd, the Hundred Officials Banquet of the Yongle Dynasty.
This area was originally called Changxing Street. The people who lived nearby were all influential gentry and aristocratic families in Hangzhou. Two streets away from this area was originally a mansion of a prince. Now it had become the imperial palace of the Yongle Dynasty. Changxing Street did not suffer much from the earthquake. It was said that the Seven Buddhas of Fang La had taken a fancy to the area nearby. Therefore, it did not suffer from extensive damage during the war. The Hundred Officials Banquet, a relatively grand banquet, was set up here.
Ning Yi came here after having a meal at home. Under Ah Chang's instructions, the little attendant who followed him only stopped at the door. After handing in the invitation, he entered under the guidance of the soldiers. On the way, he greeted a scholar he knew from the Academy.
There were about four to five hundred people invited to the Hundred Officials Banquet. Including the soldiers in charge of security and the servants in charge of affairs, there were thousands of people. This area was originally a luxurious courtyard and garden. In the past, it was said to be grand. However, walking in it now, people could be seen coming and going between the shadows of the lanterns. All kinds of people were passing through the rockery, pavilions, and gravel paths. It felt like a temple fair.
However, the scene at the back opened up. There was a medium-sized plaza surrounded by houses. Now, the walls of the surrounding houses that faced the plaza had been opened up. Many red round tables stretched out under the eaves of those houses, forming a long array. It looked a little grand. Originally, there were tall canopies set up on the plaza. Now, more than half of them had been removed. The ground was basically still dry. The canopies that had not been removed circled around the plaza. Under the canopies, lanterns were hung high. It was quite a lively scene.
Although the people who entered Hangzhou were basically a group of peasants without rich backgrounds, they would at least have all kinds of luxurious decorations after conquering this city. Currently, Ning Yi did not come into contact with many people in Hangzhou City. However, he still knew some people, such as the scholars from the Wenlie Academy and the parents of some of the academy's disciples. Today, it was more appropriate for him to talk to some of the participants from the Tyrannical Saber Camp. He looked around for a while and found a place in the corner of the room at the back.
The people sitting at this table were basically some of the small stewards of the Tyrant's Blade Camp. They were like the two scholars who had followed Liu Dabiao to handle affairs, or the small stewards under Liu Tiannan. After the establishment of Fang La's Yongle Dynasty, everyone was more or less an official. They came over to join in the fun and show their faces. As for Liu Tiannan, the head of Liu Dabiao's bodyguards, Du Sha, Luo Bingren, and the others, although they had a good relationship with each other, even if they were here, they would not come to this table.
Although Ning Yi was an outsider, everyone knew that he was quite capable, so they would not give him a hard time. Ning Yi was not the kind of person who would give people a negative impression when interacting with them. He even got along well with the two scholars. These people were all experienced seniors in the Tyrant's Saber Camp. They had followed the Tyrant's Saber Camp on expeditions and had seen many things. After Ning Yi sat down, an advisor named Liu Zhizhang pulled Ning Yi aside and introduced some of the people present to him.
"Look at the one with a long beard. His name is Gao Yu. I know him. He is skilled in both the pen and the sword. He is very powerful. We have eaten together before. The fat one not far from him is Zu Shiyuan. He is very nice to the Manor Lord. They used to talk together. They are a family … "
"Come closer. Look, the one who is smiling is Zhang Daoyuan. He can be very impulsive sometimes, but some people say that he is a hypocrite. Don't worry about him …"
"Where are Xu Bai and Yuan Xing? They are often together … Li Tianyou … Brother Jia He, have you seen Li Tianyou?"
Liu Zhizhang pointed and talked for a while. It seemed that he was specifically looking for someone to point out to Ning Yi. Ning Yi also realized that Zhang Daoyuan, Xu Bai, Yuan Xing, Li Tianyou and the others had wanted to kill him, but because of Chen Fan's appearance, they retreated. Although Liu Zhizhang and the others were mediocre when it came to handling matters, they were definitely more well-informed than Ning Yi in the Tyrant's Saber Camp. Naturally, they had inquired about what had happened that day. At this time, they indirectly reminded Ning Yi.
Tang Jiahe was a small steward in the manor. He was in charge of the chores on the streets. He was in his thirties and looked like a bandit. He looked around and patted Ning Yi's shoulder carelessly. "You didn't see him. So what? Brother Ning, don't care about these people. Li Tianyou, even if his brother Marshal Li is here, he will have to give the Manor Lord some face."
After he said this, someone thought for a while and asked, "I heard … Brother Ning, Brother Ning, offended Marshal Shi?"
Tang Jiahe scratched his head. "Commander Shi is a tolerant person. He's not an unreasonable person. Brother Ning is of one mind with us now, so he'll think about it. Even if he doesn't let it go, Chen Fan and Brother Ning are friends. Marshal Li, Marshal Shi, and Manor Lord Chen Fan will only fight to a draw … "
"That's hard to say. After all, the Manor Lord and Chen Fan are young …"
"It's not like the Manor Lord and Marshal Shi have never fought before …"
The Marshal Li these people were talking about was naturally Li Tianrun, and Marshal Shi was, of course, Shi Bao. Liu Guihua's position in front of Fang La was obviously quite high. Once there was a conflict with someone, the one who could win with reason would try to reason with him, and the one who couldn't be bothered to reason with him would draw his sword and kill him. This was probably not the first time such a thing had happened. Everyone talked about it with great interest. Ning Yi also listened with great interest.
Of course, he didn't have to worry about this now. Liu Dabiao was actually a person who knew how to weigh the pros and cons. Since he wanted to protect himself, it meant that he had already weighed the pros and cons. It seemed that he could still be trusted. They talked for a while and then talked about who was the most powerful and powerful in the Revolutionary Army and so on.
In fact, at this Hundred Officials Banquet, there weren't many really important figures in the Revolutionary Army. Ning Yi was also aware of this. Now, Fang Qifo, who was second only to one and above all, was fighting in Jiaxing. Although he had Shi Bao, Li Tianrun, and the others under his command, it seemed that the war wasn't going well. Fang Baihua had returned a few days ago for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Originally, she had said that she would attend the Hundred Officials Banquet, but the day before yesterday, she had left the city in a hurry to take charge of the war in the northwest. Now, the Minister of War, Wang Yin, was in the south, working with Si Xingfang and Deng Yuanjue to fight in the area of Yuezhou and Taizhou. They also supported the uprising of Lu Shituo in Taizhou.
The Four Heavenly Kings and the really important figures basically didn't come. Now in Hangzhou, Lou Minzhong was considered one of the factions. He was in charge of the court and had great power. The Right Minister, Zu Shiyuan, was more indecisive. He had a good relationship with Lou Minzhong and Qi Yuankang, who was involved in politics. Although the Taoist Master, Bao Daoyi, seemed to be low-key, he was actually a typical person with a lot of money, brothers, and people. Nowadays, people worshiped people and cozied up to these people. Of course, there were also people from other small mountains, but they were naturally not as famous as these people. As for people like Liu Dabiao, they were only in the inner circle. Outsiders couldn't cozy up to them even if they wanted to, so not many people knew about them.
Ning Yi already had an outline in his mind. At this time, after hearing some gossip, it became clearer. Bao Daoyi and Qi Yuankang hadn't arrived yet. Lou Minzhong and Zu Shiyuan were surrounded by the crowd. From afar, they looked quite imposing. After watching for a while, Ning Yi went to the toilet. On his way back, he was stopped by a figure in the corridor.
"Ning Liheng."
The person who came had a dignified appearance, a calm temperament, and a hint of elegance. He was about 30 years old. After speaking, he cupped his hands. Ning Yi took a few glances at him. Then, he searched his memory for an image of this person. "Leader Long Boyuan, long time no see."
He had only met this person twice before. The first time was when he had just arrived in Hangzhou with Tan'Er. The second time was when he had coincidentally bumped into this person on the street and greeted him. This person's name was Long Boyuan. He was the leader of the original cloth guild in Hangzhou. When that person saw that Ning Yi still remembered him, he was slightly surprised. He smiled and waved his hand. "Hey, Leader Long, don't mention it. I'm not the leader anymore."
After laughing for a while, he asked, "Nephew Ning, since you can't go back, the niece of the Su family …"
"It's a long story. But Tan'Er has gone back. Thank you for worrying about her, Brother Long."
"She's back … it's good that she's back." Long Boyuan smiled and nodded. Then, he patted Ning Yi's shoulder. "How is Liheng now? Where does he live? How is his situation? "
"Heh, he couldn't escape. He became a teacher at the Wenlie Academy. Now, he writes for people and classifies things …" Ning Yi roughly explained his situation. "Brother Long, how is it?"
"Not good. When the army entered the city, our family business was almost robbed clean. Although I have some experience in the cloth business, my old friends have all left. Now, there are all sorts of people in the market, and there are many unfamiliar faces. I don't know how to handle the rules, so I'm just barely maintaining it. In troubled times, it's hard to do business. " He smiled. "Now, the happiest thing is to see that my old friends are fine. Although it's not a good thing here. It's good that the niece of the Su family has left. But since Liheng is here, let's have more contact in the future. I'm still staying at my original place. Bo Fen is the same as Liheng. They're both literati and have a say. "Although he was a businessman, his younger brother, Long Bofen, was an authentic literati.
Ning Yi also smiled. "That's how it should be."
"Alright, I'll go over first." Long Boyuan patted his shoulder. Then, he leaned over a little. "If you don't leave now, the lady opposite will come over. Haha."
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