Chapter 37 37 First Visit to Zhang Mansion

The carriage team entered the city and soon entered a large house after many twists and turns.

After everyone got off the carriage, Wei Guangde followed his parents and eldest brother and followed his uncle into a courtyard.

At the gate of the courtyard, two middle-aged men in bright clothes were waiting there. Hearing his uncle's greetings with them, Wei Guangde knew that these two were Zhang Shigui and Zhang Fugui, the sons of Zhang Qing, the commander of Jiujiang Guard.

They were Wu Dong's uncles. After Wu Dong greeted, Wei Wencai and Wei Guangde followed suit and called him "uncle".

"Well, Wu Shuang's son, hey, you are a handsome man."

Zhang Shigui looked at the two brothers who came forward to greet him, patted their shoulders very cordially, and showed great enthusiasm.

Then he smiled at Wei Meng and said, "Brother Wei, you are so lucky to have two sons, one dragon and one tiger. Just wait and enjoy the happiness."

"By the way, brother Wei, has your eldest son been engaged?"

At this time, Zhang Fugui, who was standing by, also stepped forward and said, "I only heard Zhankui mention that his two nephews were good before. I just met them today. The young man's appearance is also first-class in Jiujiang Prefecture. If he is not engaged, I will help to look for him later."

"Fugui, Wencai has been engaged. It is the daughter of Liu Qianhu."

Wu Zhankui spoke at this time.

"Liu Cheng? Not bad, although I haven't seen his daughter, but Liu Cheng's appearance, his daughter should also be pretty, it's a good match."

Zhang Fugui seemed to say with regret, as if it was a pity that he didn't become the matchmaker.

"Okay, everyone go in, Dad is still waiting for you inside."

Then he said to his younger sister Wu Zhangshi next to him: 'Go and kowtow to Dad first, Mom misses you too. ’

As everyone entered the house, Wu Zhang brought her daughter and son to kowtow to Zhang Qing, the co-governor. Wei Guangde stood behind, watching a large group of people in front of him line up to pay their respects, and took the time to look around the house.

Although the Wei family is a hundred-household official, and his uncle Wu Zhankui is also a thousand-household official, after all, it is just like that. Compared with the Zhang family, the family is really shabby.

It was dark, and Wei Guangde didn't look carefully outside, but it was different in this house. There were many candles lit around, making the room brightly lit.

The house was obviously renovated before the New Year. The four walls were repainted, making the walls look clean, and the doors and windows seemed to have been repainted, making the whole room look like new. Only from the slight mottled on the beams of the carved and painted buildings can it be seen that this house is still an old house.

When Wei Guangde entered the house, he smelled a faint sandalwood, which was the fragrance emitted from the two copper stoves on both sides of the lobby. It made people feel very comfortable.

The main hall where Zhang Tongzhi sat had two armchairs, a large eight-immortal table in the middle, and neatly arranged chairs and coffee tables below. It was unknown whether they were made of red sandalwood or huanghuali, but they were probably all top-quality wood.

There were also small tables placed at intervals against the wall, with potted plants on them.

There were no objects that showed off the wealth in the room, it was very simple and clean, which reflected the way the owner of this room behaved.

Finally, it was the turn of the two brothers of the Wei family, who followed their father to pay their respects to Zhang Tongzhi.

Wei Guangde didn't want to kowtow, but it was the same in this era.

There was no way, Wei Guangde still followed his elder brother and kowtowed to Zhang Tongzhi to wish him a happy new year. Speaking of which, Zhang Tongzhi was his uncle's father-in-law, so he was naturally an elder.

After the ceremony, Wei Guangde also retreated to the back, and at this time he also looked at Zhang Tongzhi carefully.

An old man in his sixties, dry and with deep wrinkles on his face, similar to those old men in the garrison, but his skin looks whiter, after all, he is not often exposed to the sun and rain, so he may be better maintained.

While talking in front, Wei Guangde sat at the door and had nothing to do.

A supporting role is always a supporting role. Wei Guangde sat downstairs for a while, and then saw his cousin coming from behind. After bowing to his grandfather, he said, "Grandpa, grandma asked me to take the Wei brothers in to see them."

"Then you take them."

At this moment, Zhang Tongzhi was talking to Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng, and waved his hand without caring.

So Wei Guangde followed his cousin Wu Dong to the backyard again, bowed to old lady Zhang, and there was also a boy from the Zhang family who went with him. Probably because he saw that his grandfather and uncle were chatting happily outside, he had nothing to do, so he could only talk to the two brothers of the Wei family downstairs. But after all, they were not familiar with each other and it was the first time they met, so he simply followed them into the house.

When Wei Guangde was in the outer room before, he saw that the Zhang family seemed to have only one grandchild, who looked younger than the eldest brother Wei Wencai, about fifteen or sixteen years old, and his name was Zhang Hongfu.

Before, they just chatted casually outside, but now when they arrived in the backyard, Wei Guangde noticed that it seemed that the two brothers of the Zhang family did not seem to have many children.

My mother and aunt were sitting below the old lady, and my two cousins ​​were sticking to the old lady. There were two girls next to them. Wei Guangde guessed that you should be a girl from the Zhang family.

At the old lady Zhang, Wei Guangde only saw Zhang Hongfu, the grandson, and the remaining two were granddaughters. It seemed that the fighting power of these two brothers was only equal to that of my uncle, who also had one son and two daughters.

In my impression, it seemed that these two had already been engaged, and they were both gentry families in Jiujiang Prefecture.

After the ceremony, Wei Guangde accompanied the people above to watch the laughter, but now the main object became the eldest brother Wei Wencai, who was talking about his newly engaged marriage.

Well, the women in the backyard probably just like to gossip about other people.

Wei Guangde's hair hadn't grown up yet, so naturally no one said anything to him. He just tried to join in the fun and sometimes said a few words.

After waiting for a while, the servant came to report that the banquet was ready.

Finally, I had a good meal. I didn't eat much at my uncle's house this morning. There was no big fish or meat for breakfast, and lunch was eaten directly on the boat, which was not very good.

Anyway, everyone treated him as a nobody at this time, and Wei Guangde was also happy. He ate the food without wine.

However, he also listened to their conversation with his ears perked up. He also roughly understood some of the situation of the Zhang family, which was similar to his blind guess.

Zhang Shigui, the eldest of the Zhang family, had a son and a daughter, and they were also preparing to inherit the position, so they followed their father Zhang Qing in the officialdom, and the son was Zhang Hongfu.

Brother Zhang Fugui had only one daughter, who was obviously not energetic, but he did not study for the imperial examination, but went into business and managed a lot of things in the Zhang family.

Although he is not in the officialdom, it seems that Zhang Fugui is more familiar with Jiujiang. After all, in business, he has to deal with all kinds of people, so his contact surface is wider.

After the banquet, Wei Guangde and his friends were taken to the side room to rest, while Wei Lao was called to the study room with Zhang Tongzhi and his uncle Wu Zhankui, and Zhang Shigui was also there.