The Di family banquet was held in the pine and bamboo forest at the back of the house. It was early summer and the forest was cool and pleasant. It was a good place to have a feast and relax.
There was a small pavilion in the pine and bamboo forest, but because there were many people attending the banquet, the pavilion could only accommodate three to five people, so the banquet was moved outside the pavilion. The ground in the forest was covered with bamboo mats, on which there were more than ten single beds. There was a low table in front of each bed for everyone to eat.
Family banquets were usually only attended by relatives, but if the host's whole family and a few close friends attended the banquet, it could also be considered a family banquet. Di Renjie's wife had passed away many years ago and had two concubines. Now they were all women in their fifties, and they were accompanying Ah Lang to the banquet.
Di Renjie's eldest son, Di Guangsi, his wife, and his children, his second son, Di Guangyuan, his wife, and his children, and a nephew and his family who worked in the capital.
As an outsider, Yang Fan was invited to the banquet, which showed how courteous Di Renjie was to him. Yang Fan thought that it was because he had saved Di Renjie in the Shangshan Square, but he didn't know that the reason why Di Renjie was so close to him was because he had saved the son of Blacktooth Chang Zhi.
To Yang Fan's surprise, he was not the only outsider attending the banquet. There was also a guest with the surname Shen.
Di Renjie waited for Yang Fan to greet him and said with a smile, "Come, come, let me introduce you. This is Shen Mu, a junior of mine from Chang 'an. Shen Mu, this young friend is Yang Fan, whom I have mentioned to you before. You can call him Erlang since you are older. "
"Brother Shen!"
"Erlang!"
Yang Fan and Shen Mu looked at each other and smiled, then cupped their fists.
Shen Mu turned sideways and said, "This is my wife."
Yang Fan looked over and saw a woman standing up from behind the table and nodding at him with a smile. Just one look and he felt a sense of enchantment. Among all the women he had seen so far, only Princess Taiping taking off her clothes under the lantern, and meeting him naked, could compare to this kind of feeling.
"What a natural beauty!"
Yang Fan's heart jumped and glanced at her figure that was not very delicate but had an indescribable charm. He cupped his fists and bowed, "Beta Persei greets Eldest Sister-in-law of Shen family."
Di Renjie laughed and said, "Alright, alright, don't be so polite. Come, come, come, sit down!"
At this time, Shu Asheng walked over and whispered a few words in Di Renjie's ear. Di Renjie's face flashed a trace of anger as he coldly snorted, "That unfilial son, forget it if he doesn't want to come, just ignore him!"
Shen Mu asked with a smile, "What is troubling you, Master Di?"
Di Renjie didn't hide it and snorted, "Isn't it because of my third son, Guang Zhao? That unfilial son has always run amok, and it really angers me. A few days ago when we came back from Jiangnan, the old man taught him a good lesson. Today he unexpectedly said that his hip injury has not healed and he cannot attend the banquet. No need to pay attention to him, let's drink wine. "
In the backyard, Di Guangzhao was still wearing the loose moon-white clothes as he walked around the house. Suddenly, the door opened and his servant, Qing Yuan, flashed in from the outside. Di Guangzhao quickly asked, "How is it?"
Qing Yuan panted and said, "It's fine. After I saw Housekeeper Shu's reply, Ah Lang ordered to start the banquet. He won't force San Langjun to attend."
"Hmph! I said I don't want to go and he ignored me. Father is really biased! " Di Guangzhao angrily complained for a while, but suddenly his anger turned to joy, "This is also good, in case he finds out! Hurry up and help me change, it's already past noon, we better not be late. "
Qing Yuan quickly fetched a robe and helped Di Guangzhao put on his clothes. Di Guangzhao opened the back window and looked out. He was about to walk up to the window.
"Ouch!"
Di Guangzhao snorted and said, "The old man hit me so hard that my butt still hurts. Move the table over here!"
Qing Yuan quickly pushed the table under the window. Di Guangzhao stepped on the table and climbed up the window. He carefully flipped out of the window. Qing Yuan also climbed over and carried the ladder to the wall. After setting up the ladder, Di Guangzhao climbed up the ladder. After Di Guangzhao climbed up, Qing Yuan looked around and hurriedly climbed up using both her hands and feet.
Soon, both of them squatted on the wall and pulled the ladder up to the outside of the wall. Di Guangzhao climbed down the ladder and said, "You go back to your room. If anyone comes looking for me, just say that I'm asleep."
"Don't worry San Langjun!"
Qing Yuan agreed and looked at Di Guangzhao running away. She then pulled the ladder back.
…
In the bamboo forest, there was a joyous song and laughter.
Although the Di family did not have any singers and dancers, they hired a few from the Zuo Jiao Fang to play and sing, which greatly enhanced the atmosphere of the banquet.
Di Renjie talked and laughed, Shen Mu answered his questions skillfully, and the Di family's eldest son, Guangsi, and second son, Guangyuan, were also cheerful and eloquent people, so the atmosphere of the banquet was very lively. On the side of the women, Di Renjie's two wives and two daughters-in-law, as well as Shen Mu's women, were also talking and laughing.
After thirty minutes of drinking, Di Renjie's two granddaughters walked to the front of the banquet and sang a song for their grandfather. It was a popular song, "Dancing Charming Lady". Although the tune was the same, the lyrics were obviously not about Empress Wu's ascension to the throne. Di Renjie listened and clapped his hands and laughed. Then, his grandsons went on stage one by one. Those who could sing and those who could dance pushed the atmosphere of the banquet to a climax.
"Grandpa dance, grandpa dance!"
Seeing that their grandpa was happy, the little guys came up and pulled him up.
"Hahaha, good, good, good. I will dance with you!"
Di Renjie laughed heartily and stood up to leave the banquet. He walked to the center of the banquet with his grandsons and granddaughters.
The music had already changed to a very cheerful dance song. The crisp and melodious sound of the drums rang out. Di Renjie twisted his body and raised his arms. His sleeves swayed, and he spun and jumped up. There was actually a kind of elegant feeling.
Although he was old and his movements were slow, his dance movements were completely two beats slower than the sound of the drums. Because he was fat, it was harder for him to show his elegant posture. However, his every movement had a kind of elegant feeling.
Di Renjie was the son of an official family, so he was familiar with this dance since he was young. It was very beautiful when he danced.
How could the son still sit there and watch when the father was on the stage?
Di Guangsi and Di Guangyuan also excitedly got off the stage and accompanied Di Renjie to sing and dance. Di Guangsi and Di Guangyuan danced a few times, then waved their arms and turned towards Yang Fan and Shen Mu.
Yang Fan had never danced this kind of dance where the sons of nobles indulged in singing and dancing in front of the banquet. He was watching with relish when Di Guangyuan suddenly turned to his side. His two hands kept making dance gestures, and he smiled and asked him to dance with him. Yang Fan saw this and couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
He really didn't know how to dance in the Central Plains. He only knew some very simple dance movements, which he learned from the local boys and girls at the bonfire party in Nanyang. At that time, when he danced together, he felt that it was very dynamic. However, when he saw the hundreds of people dancing on Ding Ding Street during the Lantern Festival this year, he felt that it was much inferior to this dance. Now, compared to the dance of Di Renjie and his father, it looked even more ugly.
While Yang Fan was hesitating, Shen Mu had already been happily pulled onto the stage by Di Guangsi.
This kind of invitation by Di Guangsi and Di Guangyuan was called "Dance Invitation". In a more elegant way, it was called "Dance Invitation". When inviting a guest to dance with them, it didn't matter if the guest danced well or not, but not accepting the invitation was very impolite behavior. Of course, Shen Mu understood this custom, so when Di Guangsi invited him, he happily stood up.
"Hehe, haha …"
When Shen Mu started to dance, Yang Fan almost spat out a mouthful of wine. He saw Shen Mu excitedly beating the beat, one two three, patting the shoulder, one two three, beating the chest, one two three, patting the leg, one two three, patting the shoulder … and so on, it was extremely simple.
His movements were so clumsy and ridiculous that he was like a gorilla, but no one was surprised. The women were still clapping their hands and watching with great interest. This was because this kind of dance at a banquet was originally an impromptu program. As long as it was in tune, it was fine. As long as it was happy, it was fine. No one was picky.
Di Guangyuan was still waving at Yang Fan. When Yang Fan saw that no one found it funny when Shen Mu danced like a gorilla, he thought that it was no big deal if he danced like a monkey, so he mustered up his courage and stood up. When Di Guangyuan saw him stand up, he moved his dance steps back. Yang Fan minded his own business and danced according to his own dance movements.
The "gorilla" looked at the "monkey" and the "monkey" looked at the "gorilla". Suddenly, the "monkey" and the "gorilla" were both confident …
…
In front of Tiangong Temple, Abbot Yuan Shu stood on the steps, accompanied by Imperial Messenger Fu Youyi. Fu Youyi tiptoed and asked loudly, "Where are the people from Chang 'an? Have the people from Chang' an arrived yet?"
"They're here, they're all here!" A few men with Guanzhong accents waved at him.
"Where are the people from all the shops? Have they all arrived yet?"
"They're here, they're here!" A few shopkeepers and people dressed as shop assistants also answered loudly.
"Where are the people from Shilin? Have the people from the Imperial Academy and the other academies arrived yet? "
Fu Youyi named them one by one. When he named the children of the officials, someone answered loudly, "Di Guangzhao has not arrived yet."
Fu Youyi frowned when he heard this. Many children of the officials' families had also arrived. Looking at the people present, there were no less than eight or nine hundred people from all walks of life. Di Guangzhao's presence was not a big deal, but … Di Guangzhao was not a big deal. The person behind him was Di Renjie.
If Di Guangzhao participated in the "persuasion", who would know that it was Di Guangzhao's idea? They would definitely think that this was Di Renjie's approval of his son's action. At that time, Di Renjie would not be able to explain himself even if he had a lot of mouths. In addition, with the Empress Dowager's appreciation of him, he would have no choice but to admit that he was part of the Wu family's party. Therefore, Fu Youyi was quite unhappy that Di Guangzhao had not arrived yet. Just as he was thinking, someone suddenly shouted, "He's here, he's here, Di Sanlang is here!"
From afar, Di Guangzhao covered his buttocks and jogged over. He panted and said, "I'm here, I'm here!"
Fu Youyi wanted to reprimand him, but after thinking about it, he held back. He raised his voice and said to the crowd, "Alright, everyone is here. Everyone, let's go to the Gate of Heaven to petition the Empress and persuade her to ascend the throne! Everyone, be alert and let's go! "
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