Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1184 Postscript 40: The children of the rich and powerful also have their own way of living

Before finishing a bowl of cold drink, the winner of the polo match just now has come to the high platform to receive the award.

There are five men and five women, all unmarried.

The men tuck their skirts at their waists, revealing their pants underneath, and wear polo shirts (red or blue vests, which are convenient for distinguishing teams when playing).

The women all wear swirl skirts, which are open at the front and back for riding. They also wear polo shirts and shoulder straps of various colors.

Their clubs are also colorful, as bright and eye-catching as possible.

Xie Yan scooped a spoonful of cold drink into his mouth. The mixture of raisins and watermelon cubes felt good, and then he looked at the five men and five women not far ahead.

One of the men was short and fat, and the other four men were quite handsome.

The five girls were all good-looking, and they dressed up carefully before going out. After a game of polo, their faces were covered with sweat. Although they were careful when wiping the sweat, they could not avoid smudging their makeup.

There was a couple who should be lovers, or maybe they fell in love today, standing side by side with their eyes on each other.

Except for their elders who were still reserved, the rest of the noble ladies all had aunt smiles on their faces. The noble ladies were usually very idle, and they were keen on bringing young people together. Didn't they bring them together as a couple?

The eldest princess smiled and said, "Since your majesty ascended the throne, the children in the capital have not gathered for a long time. Today I held this polo meeting to let everyone walk around. You have won the first battle, and I have prepared a small gift as a reward."

It has been almost four years since the coup.

At that time, the powerful people in the capital were killed. If the family members who were implicated were also counted, Luoyang alone had more than 3,000 people beheaded, exiled, and imprisoned.

The surviving powerful people were trembling with fear, treading on thin ice, and even the ghost-fire boy was quiet.

The new powerful people in the capital were busy digesting the results, and they didn't know the territory well, so they also restricted their families from running around.

Even the Grand Princess no longer shows up in public.

Now that the overall situation has been decided, the military power has been completely consolidated, and the local government has also started reforms, the political atmosphere in Luoyang should be relaxed. This can be seen from the fact that the ghost fire boy dared to trample on the crops again.

A few days ago, the Grand Princess attended the academic conference, and then held the polo meeting today, which was actually a political task arranged by Empress Dowager Ye.

Sending a kind of political signal of goodwill!

The five winning men and five women came forward to thank them, and ten attendants held trays, allowing the boys and girls to choose prizes.

The prizes are not expensive, but not cheap.

Not expensive is for the powerful, and not cheap is from the perspective of ordinary people.

"What does Yang's sister want?" The dog man and woman who liked each other actually showed their affection on the spot.

The girl looked at a scarf, shyly lowered her head and said, "It's all right."

The boy immediately bowed to the other teammates: "Can I choose first?"

"Huang Sanlang, please feel free." Everyone was happy to eat melons and watch the fun.

The boy picked up the scarf from the tray, handed it to the girl and said, "I took the initiative to choose one for the younger sister of the Yang family. I don't know if it will suit your taste."

The girl blushed with shame and took the scarf shyly.

"Hahaha!"

The ladies present couldn't help laughing out loud. This CP-shopping feeling was really good.

The first polo game was an appetizer. The players were not the children of the top dignitaries, but mostly the children of the fourth and fifth rank officials in Beijing.

They were in love, which had little political impact, and they were also considered to be well-matched, so the elders in the family generally would not stop them.

The boys and girls received the prizes and left. The young couple walked side by side, but always kept a certain distance.

The girl turned her head to peek at the boy from time to time, and the deep affection in her eyes was almost visible.

There were people everywhere on the court, men and women gathered in groups of two or three.

Li Dunshi was being taken around by Zhang Jiulang and met several officials' children. He also fell in love with a young woman, and after asking around, he found out that she was the daughter of a certain official in the Ministry of Revenue.

Li Dunshi was quite interested. The official in the Ministry of Revenue was not a high-ranking official, so he might have a little chance.

Soon, Li Dunshi fell out of love.

Although the official in the Ministry of Revenue was a low-ranking official, the woman was outstanding in appearance and was favored by several powerful sons at the same time. They were all like licking dogs.

What competitiveness did Li Dunshi have?

He chose to give up directly.

Outside, there were servants from various families. They couldn't all run in, and most of them stayed outside waiting. Those who knew or didn't know each other gathered together to chat and brag.

Daiyu and Baochai didn't enter the venue. They were originally staying with Xie Yan's four male servants.

The four male servants walked under the big tree at this moment, watching the servants of other families playing cards, and listening to those servants bragging to get information.

"Sister, shall we go somewhere to play too?" Baochai looked left and right.

Daiyu asked, "Do you know anyone?"

Baochai was immediately discouraged.

The two stood beside the carriage for a long time, and several male and female servants from an unknown family went out to buy some snacks.

When passing by the carriage, a maid saw that they were lonely and asked casually: "Who are you from? Come over and sit with us."

Daiyu was alert and was thinking about how to answer.

Baochai had already spoken, and her tone was very proud: "My husband is Xie Liulang, the scholar of Furong, who is very knowledgeable!"

The male and female servants were all excited: "Is it the young scholar Xie with long black hair?"

Baochai held her head high: "It's my husband!"

Daiyu couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth, feeling quite proud.

A maid gave Baochai a paper bag of roasted pine nuts and pulled her to the shade of the tree in front: "Go over there and talk, it's very hot here. My name is Dujuan, I'm a maid of Shen Honglu's family, what's your name?"

"My name is Baochai, and my husband gave me the name," Baochai said, turning her head and shouting, "Daiyu, come here quickly. The carriage has a driver guarding it."

Daiyu followed hesitantly, she also wanted to integrate into the small group of servants.

It was heard that they were the maids of the young scholar Xie, and more and more servants from various families gathered around, all wanting to inquire about the gossip about the eldest princess.

Baochai looked silly, but she was very tight-lipped at the critical moment, pretending to be stupid and ignorant.

Daiyu kept her mouth shut, and was completely silent.

Seeing that nothing could be asked, everyone quickly lost interest in them and returned to their original positions to brag.

Daiyu and Baochai just stood there and listened. No matter what others talked about, they both felt very fresh, as if the door to a new world had been opened.

Back to the court.

The second game has begun. It is also a mixed game of men and women, with ten players on each team.

Qingluan was arranged next to Xie Yan and whispered to him to explain the rules.

After explaining the rules, Qingluan asked curiously: "Hebei polo is also very popular. Mr. Xie has never played it?"

Xie Yan laughed and said: "I have never even ridden a horse. How can I play this polo?"

"That's right." Qingluan realized that her question was stupid.

So she picked up the telescope again and began to explain the identities of the players on the court: "The number one of the red team is Li Silang Li Duoxun, the family of Xiangping Bo and General Huaiyuan. The number one of the blue team is Wang Zhijie Wang Qilang, the family of Wuwei Bo and General Anyuan. The number five of the red team who is holding the ball now..."

Xie Yan thought it was very interesting. This thing also comes with commentary.

After the game, the prizes were distributed and they began to rest.

On and off the stage, each of them ate together.

Many servants came in with bags and sat around chatting and eating in the awning or under the shade of trees.

Xie Yan also brought food and drinks, which he put in the carriage, and his servants could take them at will.

Of course, he had his own place to stay, eating and drinking among a group of noble ladies.

The noble ladies sat cross-legged or sitting cross-legged, which were indecent postures. They all played retro style and knelt on the cushions they brought.

Some were informal and sat in a mermaid posture. What can I say about this sitting posture? The young and beautiful ones are very attractive, while the old and faded ones are quite eye-catching.

The noble ladies teamed up to make fun of Xie Yan. The more embarrassed Xie Yan was, the more the noble ladies liked to tease him.

Which noble lady doesn't love a 17-year-old boy?

Finally, the Grand Princess couldn't stand it anymore and said to Xie Yan, "Xie Liulang must feel quite awkward with us ladies. Why don't you go to the next room to relax?"

"Goodbye!" Xie Yan got up and fled as if he had been pardoned, and ran to sit at the table with the children.

"Hahaha."

A group of noble ladies laughed, just to see his embarrassed look.

Half of Xie Yan's embarrassment was pretended, because he didn't know how to behave. If he was at ease, he would look very frivolous, so he simply hid his clumsiness to make those noble ladies happy.

If he moved to the next room, it was all the juniors of those noble ladies, or their brothers and sisters.

He saw Han Shizhong's descendants again.

Unlike Han Wanli before, the one in front of him could inherit the title. He was probably in his early twenties, with a greasy face and a rather exaggerated look, and he was accompanied by his wife and sister.

His name was Han Wanfang, and for the sake of the Grand Princess, he was quite polite to Xie Yan.

But it was just politeness, and deep down, he still looked down on Xie Yan.

There are not many founding nobles who still have titles, and the Han family is one of them.

The Yue family was killed at about the same time as the Zhang family (Zhang Guangdao), and they were all dealt with by Emperor Dingtai.

Emperor Dingtai wanted to reorganize the army and consolidate military power, so he had to take action against these founding noble families. And it was difficult to operate, because those in Luoyang were easy to catch, but they would definitely affect the local army afterwards.

Even if the main branch of the Yue family in Luoyang was killed, there were still several branches of Yue Fei's descendants.

Now it is the Xiangzhou Yue family that claims to be the main branch, but other branches do not recognize it at all. There is also a branch in Qihe, one in Linhuang, and one in Shandong. The founding ancestors are all sons or grandsons of Yue Fei, and they all settled there when they were local civil and military officials.

Xie Yan looked at Han Wanfang and shook his head secretly. The young noble in front of him was quite like his ancestor. It is estimated that there are many concubines in his family.

He was not old or festive, but he actually had flowers in his hair!

Ding Shaoyan, the ghost-fire boy whose beloved horse was ridden away by his friend, was also there. Compared with Han Wanfang's cold attitude, he seemed too enthusiastic towards Xie Yan.

This guy rubbed against Xie Yan's side in a familiar way, turned his head to look at the ladies, and asked Xie Yan in a low voice: "When can I have Xie Liulang's wedding wine?"

Han Wanfang was drinking, and he was choked and coughed repeatedly when he heard it.

Our young master Han is indeed unlearned, but he still has some brains and will never ask such a question.

The other children of the powerful and wealthy also looked at Ding Shaoyan in surprise.

Ding Shaoyan was confused instead, scratching his head and asked: "Why are you looking at me? This is not a secret, it has been spread all over Luoyang City a long time ago."

No one answered, and they all cast a caring look at him.

There were also several descendants of princes present, who were the cousins, nephews, and nieces of the little emperor in terms of seniority. They behaved unusually low-key, mainly because they were frightened by the coup of Prince Yong, and since then they have lived in seclusion to avoid attracting attention.

The princes were even more so. They refused to participate in large-scale events and did not allow their wives to participate. What they feared most was being praised as "virtuous kings".

Anyway, they lived a miserable life. When their children came out for gatherings, they kept silent and didn't talk much.

There were only two men among this large group of people, not to mention the women. Xie Yan had a good impression of them.

One was Zhang Xianqing Zhang Jiulang.

The other was Yuan Tingzhi, whose ancestors were not prominent.

At first, he was just a bandit soldier recruited by Zhang Shuye in Shandong. He surrendered to Zhu Ming in Kaifeng City and was thrown back to Shandong to be incorporated into the miscellaneous army. After the Jin Dynasty was destroyed, he stayed in Harbin.

Yuan Tingzhi even had a little Jurchen blood in him. One of his ancestors married a mixed-race child born from Bohai and Jurchen people.

The Yuan family became prosperous very late. Emperor Dingtai transferred two thousand soldiers from Andong to serve as palace guards. His grandfather was one of the grassroots officers at that time. He made meritorious contributions in many wars to suppress rebellions, and gradually became a general of the imperial army. He was sent to Shaanxi by Emperor Dingtai as a general.

Empress Dowager Ye took the little emperor to Chang'an in the west, and went there to ask Yuan Tingzhi's grandfather for help.

Now, Yuan Tingzhi's grandfather has entered the cabinet as a military general, but he is old and no longer in charge of things.

"What job does Brother Yuan do now?" Xie Yan asked casually.

Yuan Tingzhi said: "I am studying at the Luoyang Military Academy, and I will graduate in one year."

Xie Yan said: "Last year I met a strong man on the train, claiming to be the descendant of General Yang Zaixing, and it seems that he is also going to take the entrance exam for the Luoyang Military Academy."

Yuan Tingzhi's expression was a little strange: "Are you talking about Yang Boyan? He is now a celebrity in the military academy. He is proficient in riding, bows and arrows, muskets, swords and spears, and he has learned strategies well. He is a natural warrior with great strength."

"What's wrong with him?" Xie Yan felt that Yuan Tingzhi's face was not right.

Yuan Tingzhi said, "Just last month, he beat up the teacher at the military academy and was almost expelled from the academy because of this."

Before Xie Yan could speak, Ding Shaoyan spoke up, "Dare to beat up the teacher at the military academy? This is a big shot. I must go and make friends with him someday! Why did he beat up the teacher?"

Yuan Tingzhi did not answer directly, but said, "It is for the sake of respect."

Xie Yan understood that it was the teacher who was at fault first.

After lunch, we continued to walk and chat.

When we had almost digested the food, we continued to play polo.

In the last game in the afternoon, the eldest princess and Wu Lingfeng teamed up to play. The victory was naturally inevitable. The opponent did not even let her go. Wu Lingfeng showed her prowess among a group of noble ladies.

Princess Fuyan did not join in the fun, but took the opportunity to talk to Xie Yan: "Scholar Xie, are you not interested in a career in politics?"

Xie Yan said indifferently: "It's OK to be an official, or to study, I don't have any ambitions."

Princess Fuyan reminded: "My ninth sister used to be very willful. After a few years of hardship, she is much gentler now. It's rare for her to like someone, so don't let this friendship down."

Xie Yan smiled shyly in response, not knowing how to answer, as they hadn't even officially dated yet.