Tonight was the day of the King of Shu's banquet. Li Yi only intended to go through the motions and not embarrass the King. Therefore, he did not need to prepare much. In the afternoon, he was still preparing for his lessons in his room.
If he wanted to return to Qing 'an Prefecture as soon as possible, he had to get rid of those little troubles as soon as possible. However, he could not simply fool those little princes and princesses. That was equivalent to lying to the Emperor. Li Yi could only work hard to be a dutiful teacher.
"Son-in-law, the clothes are on the bed." Xiao Huan walked in from outside and placed a stack of clothes at the head of Li Yi's bed.
Although she was still Ruyi's personal maidservant, in this household, she was actually the same as the master. She did not need to do such menial work. However, when it involved Li Yi or Ruyi, she would do it herself and never let other maidservants interfere.
After placing the folded clothes on the head of Li Yi's bed, she did not leave. With her hands behind her back, she walked with small steps to Li Yi's side and looked at the table.
She thought to herself, what is the son-in-law writing? Is it a farewell letter to me and Second Miss? Is the son-in-law really going to elope with Second Miss and abandon them?
"What are you looking at?" Li Yi turned to look at her and asked curiously.
Since the morning, the little maidservant's actions had become somewhat strange. She clearly did not know a few words, but she still pretended to look at what he was writing. In the past, she would never be like this.
"No, no …" Xiao Huan shook her head like a rattle drum and immediately ran out of the room.
Li Yi looked at her with some inexplicable confusion. He found that it was getting late and it was time to go to the King of Shu's banquet.
…
…
Although the King of Shu was not the legitimate son, he was the eldest son of the current Emperor. A few years ago, he moved out of the palace. Unlike the other princes, the King of Shu did not go to his own fief but stayed in the capital.
Not only that, the King of Shu's mansion was also widely accepted. Usually, the guests were not children of high officials or noble families. All the young talents were proud to make friends with the King of Shu. Of course, the King of Shu was also a dragon among men. He was well-versed in both literature and martial arts and had a very high reputation in the capital.
For an ordinary prince, it was a taboo to not obediently stay in his own fief and instead spread his wings in the capital.
Now, the King of Shu was still His Majesty's world. Was a prince trying to rebel?
However, the King of Shu was not an ordinary prince.
He was the First Prince, born of Noble Concubine Cui. In the absence of the Empress's legitimate son, the King of Shu was the only candidate to enter the East Palace, according to the royal family's principle of choosing the eldest son over the concubine.
Countless people believed that the King of Shu would be the future Crown Prince and the next monarch of the Jing Kingdom. Therefore, even the Censorate turned a blind eye to his actions. In addition, the Cui family behind Concubine Cui added fuel to the fire, causing the King of Shu's reputation to be unparalleled. Other than the fact that he still lacked the Emperor's personal edict, he was no different from the Crown Prince.
This was also the reason why Li Yi did not refuse the King of Shu's invitation.
Although he felt helpless, he had to admit that he could not afford to offend the King of Shu!
If the future Emperor of the Jing Kingdom bore a grudge against him, there would be no place for him in Qing 'an Prefecture or even the entire Jing Kingdom, let alone the capital. It was easy to imagine what he would have to live in the future.
Could it be that he really had to bring his entire family far away from the Jing Kingdom and live a miserable life?
It was not easy to live in this damn feudal society.
He cursed in his heart, took two steps forward and handed the invitation to the servant of the King of Shu's mansion.
"It's Li Xianzi. Welcome, welcome." The servant of the King of Shu's mansion had a signature smile on his face. When facing Li Yi, there was no expression of respect on his face at all.
This was normal. He did not know how many Marquises he had received. There were at least eighty, if not a hundred, Marquises in the capital. If he was not a guest of His Highness, he would not even look at him.
"Young Duke Qin, come in, come in." Not far from Li Yi, another servant invited a young man into the mansion with a face full of smiles.
The servant behind the young man handed a brocade box to the servant and said, "This is the authentic work of Duke Zuo. I know that Your Highness likes Duke Zuo's calligraphy, so I spent a lot of effort to find it."
Hearing the two words "Duke Zuo", Li Yi was slightly absent-minded for a moment. He only knew that Duke Zuo was a calligraphy grandmaster in the Jing Kingdom and seemed to have a high status in the imperial court. During Madame Dowager's birthday banquet, Yan Zhang and the man named Zuo Qiu had mentioned him.
"County Magistrate Li?" Suddenly, he heard the servant's voice.
Li Yi came to his senses and turned to look at him. He asked, "Is there anything else?"
The servant looked at him and asked tentatively, "Your greeting …"
"Greeting?" Li Yi turned around and exchanged a glance with Second Miss Liu. When the King of Shu sent someone to deliver the invitation to him, he never mentioned anything about paying respects to the Emperor!
Who knew that there was such a rule in the capital that guests had to bring gifts?
Li Yi looked at the servant and asked, "If I don't pay my respects, can I not enter?"
He thought that if this was the case, it would be a good reason for him to go home.
"No, there is no such rule …" The servant was stunned for a moment, then immediately shook his head and said.
There was no rule that one could not visit the King of Shu's mansion without greeting. However, everyone was a person of high status. It was the most basic etiquette to prepare a small gift when visiting. It was also a sign of respect for the King of Shu. After all, you are a viscount. Do you have to be so stingy?
"County Magistrate, please." The servant thought so in his heart, but he could not say it out loud. He could only helplessly make an inviting gesture.
He knew that the King of Shu wouldn't care if he paid his respects or not, but as a guest, how could he be so insensible?
At this time, Li Yi had already noticed that except for him, everyone who entered the King's mansion would bring gifts. It seemed that there was such a rule in the capital.
This was a good practice. When he made more friends in the future, he did not need to do business. He could just hold banquets at home every day. He was sure that he would receive so many gifts that his hands would cramp. Then he could sell them and earn money.
Fortunately, he did not know this rule. He did not plan to invite the King of Shu in the future. If he could not take back his gifts, he might as well not give them.
He shook his head and stepped into the mansion. As his personal female bodyguard, Miss.Liu naturally had to follow him.
"Miss, wait!" The servant hurriedly reached out to stop her.
"Why? Only one person can enter with one greeting card?" Li Yi turned his head and asked with a frown.
"No, no." The servant hurriedly shook his head. He pointed to the sword in Liu Ruyi's hand and said, "Since it was brought by County Magistrate Li, of course, you can enter. However, you are not allowed to bring weapons into the mansion. You need to leave this sword here and take it with you when you leave."
The King of Shu was a very important person. If something happened to him, no one related to him would be able to escape. Of course, this included all the servants in the mansion.
Although the strict rules in the mansion were not as strict as those in the palace, there was a strict rule.
Except for the guards in the mansion, no one was allowed to bring weapons into the mansion. Of course, such a long sword could not be brought in.
Miss.Liu's sword was almost always with her. Once, Li Yi could not find a suitable weapon to kill fish. He stole Miss.Liu's sword when she was not paying attention. As a result, he was chased by her for half a day. His buttocks were swollen and he could not get out of bed for two days. It could be seen how much she treasured this sword.
He thought that she would refuse. Unexpectedly, she only glanced at the servant indifferently and placed the sword on the table behind her.
"Watch it carefully." Li Yi reminded the servant.
The servant smiled and nodded. However, in his heart, he despised the sword. What was there to be careful of with such a broken sword? Any sword in the mansion was many times better than this.
He raised his head and looked at Li Yi. He was extremely suspicious. Why would the Prince invite such a country bumpkin?
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