Chapter 176 Meeting Dong Shusheng Again
Chapter 176 Meeting Dong Shusheng Again
In the blink of an eye, it is the Ghost Festival.
Early in the morning, Zhao Pan'er was pulled out of bed by Eugene Hua and dressed up.
As for the stepson...Eugene Hua never pushed the door to pull him away.
Therefore, when Zhao Duan pushed the door open in his pajamas and yawned, he heard the laughter of the mother and daughter.
"Tsk...are you so excited...it's just a ceremony."
That’s right, according to the invitation letter sent by Shenlong Temple, every invited person can bring their relatives and friends.
Zhao Duan naturally brought his stepmother and stepsister along.
"Can we...really go?" When they first heard the news, the two beauties, one big and one small, widened their eyes in disbelief.
Zhao Duan's answer is very consistent with his character:
"Oh, going alone, wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
According to the "unspoken rules" of the Dayu Dynasty, when invited to important events, one usually had to bring a female companion.
Eugene understood what he meant and dragged his daughter to dress up early in the morning, vowing to dress them both up as beautiful vases so as not to embarrass Dalang.
After Zhao Duan washed and dressed, he saw the mother and daughter coming together, and his eyes lit up.
The two girls dressed up carefully today. They were already very beautiful. Now they were draped with the brocade bestowed by the royal family and wore heavy hairpins on their hair.
Applying the finest rouge and powder on your face actually brings your appearance and temperament to a higher level.
Zhao Pan's hair was carefully braided behind her head today. She wore light makeup, like a lotus in clear water, and her autumn-water eyes revealed a spiritual aura.
Eugene Hua wore heavy makeup but not gaudy ones, a dark green long dress, and a bun like a noble lady.
Paired with heavy gold jewelry and a voluptuous and well-proportioned figure, she looks quite noble.
The two of them standing together looked like sisters.
"Big brother..."
Zhao Pan called out softly, turning the girl's slightly thin face to avoid the direct gaze.
"Da Lang, are you dressed so simply? Auntie will dress you up."
The beautiful stepmother walked straight over, stood on tiptoe, and was about to fix his hair crown.
Compared to the two girls who were dressed quite formally, Zhao Duan's outfit was sloppy.
He was not wearing an official robe, but only a thin satin outer robe with a jade piece draped around his waist.
It slightly lowered his originally handsome appearance.
Auntie, please respect yourself... Zhao Duan took a half step back and said calmly:
"No need, it's just a Dharma Assembly. I heard it's just eating and drinking."
He would only dress up carefully when he met the empress.
As for today, in his idea, it was just to find a lively place to celebrate the festival and take a peek at the mystery of Shenlong Temple.
At his insistence, Eugene Hua's attempt failed.
The family packed up for a while, and when everything was almost done, they took a carriage towards the Shenlong Temple.
……
……
"A lot of people."
On the streets, as you get closer to the Shenlong Temple, the flow of people in the streets becomes visibly denser.
Because it was stuffy, the curtains of the car were opened, allowing the two girls to look around, chatter, and talk excitedly.
Zhao Duan also looked curiously and saw many vendors on the street selling various styles of colorful sacrificial utensils.
In the distance, there is a temple of similar size to the Tianshi Temple, which is very popular.
At this moment, the wide square in front of the temple was crowded with people.
There were even long queues forming to buy fruits, pastries and snacks.
"What is this for?" a stranger asked outside the car.
Zhao Duan listened to the explanation from the person next to him:
"This is a ritual of offering. Fruits, incense, candles, etc. are placed in a basin and passed from monks and lay disciples to the Buddha statue covered with flowers. Then, the Buddha will bless them...
Well, don't look at it. It costs money to queue up, and we can't afford the qualification."
Zhao Duan: “…”
Well, he became more and more certain that these monks were indeed good at doing business.
The carriage passed by the outskirts of Shenlong Temple but did not approach. Instead, it went in the opposite direction.
A small garden appeared in front of us.
This is the "Zhaiyuan", which is also the gathering place for dignitaries in the capital. Outside, there are warrior monks in gray robes separating the crowd.
The people also tacitly agreed not to approach this side.
When Zhao Duan arrived, he saw many carriages parked outside the Zhai Garden.
Fortunately, there were plenty of parking spaces and I found a place to park without much effort.
When getting off the car, he heard a servant not far away ordering another car to give up its space.
There seemed to be a conflict between the two sides, and the name "Master Dong San" was vaguely heard.
So the latter swallowed his anger and looked for another job.
"Mr. Dong San?"
Zhao Pan was holding onto the carriage, stepping on the ground with her lotus feet, and looking around curiously:
"Is it the one that big brother once mentioned, the leader of the four young masters in the Beijing circle, the third young master of the Dong family?"
next to.
Eugene Hua also came down with the help of the servants, but she looked afraid when she heard the words and looked at her stepson worriedly.
"Mr. Dong San?"
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, and some memories emerged in his mind.
Only then did I remember this person's identity.
At the beginning, under the guidance of Qin Qiu, 'he' plunged into the circle of dandy boys in the capital and learned about the "Four Young Masters", or the names of the four great dandies.
One of them was Wang You, whom I met for the first time in Xiuwenguan not long ago.
The other one, who was vaguely given the title of the First Young Master, was the grandson of Grand Tutor Dong.
The second son of the eldest son is respectfully called "Little Third Master" or "Young Master Dong" in the circle.
He has a second sister who has married out, and an older brother who is quite low-key and mysterious and rarely shows up, namely, Young Master Dong.
The reason why the Third Young Master Dong was able to surpass Wang You and become the number one playboy was not because of his extraordinary abilities.
But the other three "young masters" are more disciplined.
For example, Wang You, the son of the Minister of Rites, was also a man who looked down on others and acted like a noble son, but he was not stupid and knew his limits.
The so-called arrogance and domineering behavior is more of a result of being used to being superior.
But Young Master Dong is different.
Perhaps it is because of his youth and hot-bloodedness, or because of his practice of martial arts, he acts flamboyantly and rashly, and has been tainted with the "gangster spirit".
He has the characteristic arrogance of a young warrior.
In addition, due to his young age, he was surrounded by a group of playboys who flattered him by calling him "Third Master" and made him feel proud.
Relying on the power of the Grand Tutor, he had many conflicts with others in the past.
Even his father warned him in person, he couldn't suppress it.
However, this most dissolute playboy in the capital only listens to his little-known elder brother "Dong Da".
It's also a wonder.
Zhao Duan had a conflict with him at the beginning over a simple dispute over a seat, and they even came to blows.
Later, the old supervisor Sun Lianying stepped forward to mediate the matter.
In addition, this matter was known to the Dong family, and his father, the son of Grand Tutor Dong, confined him to his home for a period of time.
"Da Lang..." Eugene Hua looked worried.
Zhao Duan just smiled:
"Come on, let's go into the garden."
If it was at the beginning of his time travel, he might have been a little afraid.
But now... especially after I beat the Xiuwen Pavilion dungeon, I felt that for a third-generation playboy from the Dong family who had some grudges against "me"...
I really can't stand it.
Besides, there are many people who have grudges against him, and he really doesn’t take the so-called “first son” in the playboy circle seriously.
……
The three men ordered the servants to guard the carriage, and after showing the invitation, they were allowed into the vegetarian garden.
Walking through the corridors and courtyards, you can see that in this garden, there are houses dotted around a lotus pond in the center.
There are rockery pavilions all around, and the scenery is superb.
At this moment, there were already quite a few people in the garden.
At first glance, most of the guests were family members of invited celebrities or scholars.
They gathered in groups of two or three around the open-air tables prepared by the Shenlong Temple, which were filled with fruits, vegetables and vegetarian food.
We chatted about everything and the atmosphere was relaxed.
The "Ceremony" was totally lacking in solemnity and sacredness as one might have imagined.
When Zhao Duan and his group came in, they didn't attract much attention.
The truth is that although he is very famous, in reality, not many people really know him.
Plus, she didn't dress up properly today, and the other guests, both men and women, were more or less flashy and vying for beauty, which made her looks not that outstanding.
In comparison, Eugene Hua and her daughter attracted a lot of people's attention.
"Da Lang, where are you going? Why haven't you seen those high officials and Master Bian Ji?"
Eugene Hua has been married into the Zhao family for many years and has developed the perspective of a woman from a small family.
Although he had a good foundation, he could not hide his nervousness when he suddenly came to such a big scene. His body was tense and he couldn't walk comfortably.
Zhao Pan was not much better than his mother, but he was like a newborn calf that was not afraid of a tiger, and he walked along with a stern face.
When faced with the gazes of some young men, she completely ignored them and pretended not to see them.
"This is my first time here too..." Zhao Duan didn't understand either.
Just as I was thinking about asking a monk, I suddenly heard a surprised voice from the other side:
"Brother Zhao?"
Looking over there, I saw a young man with ordinary looks, nothing special about him, even a little nerdy, standing in a pavilion.
She was waving at him in surprise.
"Scholar Dong?"
Zhao Duan was also stunned.
He remembered that the other party was the one who had gone to Miss Xiaoya's club in "Qinglian Cottage" to look for clues in order to kill Zhang Changji.
An unexpected encounter with a scholar whom I had met once before.
"Why are you here?"
Zhao Duan led the two women over, and they both spoke in unison.
Then they laughed at the same time.
Dong Shusheng bowed and said:
"I came here today with my family elders, but I didn't expect to meet Brother Zhao here."
As he spoke, he looked at Eugene Hua and her daughter and said hesitantly:
"These two...are Brother Zhao's wives and concubines?"
Eugene Hua and Zhao Pan immediately blushed.
The latter is okay, after all, the age is acceptable.
Girls in Dayu are considered adults at the age of fifteen and can get married.
But Eugene couldn't hold it anymore...
I felt extremely embarrassed and angry, and wondered what was going on with this scholar's eyes?
At my age, how could it be possible...
"...Haha, Brother Dong is joking."
Zhao Duan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and introduced:
"This is my aunt, and this is my younger sister."
"what!"
The eldest grandson of the current Grand Tutor's eldest son, the eldest son of the Dong family who seldom appears in public, was extremely embarrassed and hurriedly bowed to apologize to the two women.
It's not that I don't have eyes, it's just that my aunt is too young...
Zhao Duan waved his hands, indicating that it was just a misunderstanding.
Seeing that there was no one else in the pavilion and it was quite quiet, and that the stone table was filled with fruits and other food, he simply pulled the women to sit down with him.
Then he smiled and said:
"When we parted that day, I didn't expect that the elder in Brother Dong's family was also a famous person in Beijing. I wonder who it is?"
(End of this chapter)