The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Fang Yun and Zhao Hongzhuang came to the second table together, and then Zhao Hongzhuang introduced the six people at the same table to Fang Yun one by one.

"This is the right prime minister Cao De'an, the university scholar." Zhao Hongzhuang gestured to Fang Yun.

Fang Yun looked over and saw an old man with three long beards, slightly fat, and a very kind smile.

There are four prime ministers in a country, the left prime minister, the right prime minister, the assistant prime minister and the literary prime minister, and the official status decreases in order. This Cao De'an's status is second only to the left prime minister Liu Shan. Among the officials of Jingguo, he is truly one person above ten thousand people.

This person is a well-known good guy, in charge of the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Works. On the surface, he is mediocre and has no outstanding features. He doesn't care about the words and deeds of the left prime minister. Some radical scholars call him "the clay sculpture of Cao the right prime minister".

Fang Yun is not one of those hot-blooded students. He has analyzed the situation of Jingguo. This person is in charge of the Ministry of Households, which means he is in charge of Jingguo's money and grain. If this person has not been secretly checking the left prime minister Liu Shan, the queen mother has no power to compete with Liu Shan.

"Student Fang Yun, meet Cao Daxueshi." Fang Yun greeted him as a junior, not as an official, which made him seem more intimate and respectful. He was not like the group of Qingliu who looked down on this truly humiliating and meritorious official.

Cao De'an laughed and said, "You are indeed the best scholar in the world. Today, I see that your reputation is well-deserved! You didn't let down our own dignity in front of the Wu people. Good!"

Fang Yun felt strange at first. This "clay sculpture of Cao Youxiang" didn't seem to be such a straightforward person. Then he realized that this was the Chen family, and Cao De'an was also doing it for the people of the Chen Sheng family to show his loyalty to Jingguo.

Zhao Hongzhuang introduced another Daxueshi, saying, "This is the assistant minister Si Yueqing."

"I have met Mr. Si." Fang Yun bowed, and the smile on his face was much lighter than before.

This assistant minister Si Yueqing was younger than Cao De'an, with black hair, a particularly eye-catching mustache under his nose, and a serious demeanor. No matter how you look at it, he is a sanctimonious old gentleman.

This man's nickname is the same as "Cao Right Prime Minister made of clay", and he is ridiculed as "Si Fu Prime Minister made of paper", but Si Yueqing is more controversial than Cao De'an, not only because he is servile in front of the left prime minister Liu Shan, but also because his name "Si Yueqing" is misinterpreted as "Si Qing" and "Si Qing Guo", which has caused many people to laugh and scold.

Si Yueqing said seriously: "Fang Wenhou is loyal to the country and saved Jing Guo's reputation from danger. He is a role model for all ministers. Please accept my greeting." After saying that, he really bowed down.

Fang Yun found that several people around him looked indifferent, and Zhao Hongzhuang rolled her eyes at the sky, so he thought that this seemed to be the specialty of the assistant prime minister Si Yueqing. No matter who he was, he looked serious, but he was extremely mean when he did things.

"You are polite, Si Daxueshi." Fang Yun said.

Then Zhao Hongzhuang introduced the rest of the people one by one, and then sat down together.

Zhao Hongzhuang smiled and said, "The wedding banquet has not started yet, so I can't toast. I will use tea instead of wine to toast Fang Yun. Thank him, otherwise I can't sit here."

Another university scholar, the Minister of Rites, Mao Shangshu, said, "Fang Yun, don't leave today. I have a lot to ask you."

Cao De'an smiled and said, "Not only you, who in Jingguo doesn't have a lot to ask Fang Yun? I really envy Wen Ying. If I had known that I could meet such a once-in-a-lifetime talent in Jiangzhou, I would not be a right prime minister. I would just sit in Dayuan Mansion and wait for the genius to come out."

The people at the four tables around laughed and said they had something to ask Fang Yun.

Fang Yun secretly observed and found that the officials in Beijing were different from those in Jiangzhou. The officials in Jiangzhou were naturally close to him and kept flattering him, but the officials in Beijing were much more generous. They also recognized his status and identity, but their attitudes were different.

Some were distant, but more of a gentleman's friendship was as light as water, just like Li Wenying, who praised him but stopped at the right time.

Soon, a servant in a red silk ribbon ran out and whispered, "The lady is here."

Hua La La...

Everyone stood up at the same time. The people in the yard didn't know what happened, but when they saw the people in the house stood up, they all stood up.

Soon, two maids in red fish swimming costumes walked out of the door on the right. The two maids each held a jade ruyi and lifted the door curtain.

An old woman with silver hair sat on a mechanical chair and slowly drove into the main hall under the push of a strong scholar.

Fang Yun looked at the old woman. She was already dying, breathing very slowly, with age spots all over her hands and face, and seemed to be sleeping.

"Grandma, your grandson greets you." Chen Mingding, the head of the Chen family, actually knelt in front of the old woman, stretched out his hand to hold the old woman's hand, with a smile on his face. He was obviously an old man in his eighties, but he actually had an expression similar to that of a child.

Fang Yun respected Chen Mingding even more in his heart. A great scholar knelt so neatly in front of so many people. Just the fact that he was so old and still had such admiration was enough to move people.

The others were not in a position to kneel down, and they all lowered their heads slightly.

"Hmm." Mrs. Chen snorted lightly, opened her eyelids, looked at Chen Mingding in confusion, a heavy smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and then closed her eyes.

At this moment, the street outside the Chen Mansion was filled with crackling firecrackers.

Chen Mingding waved his hand to block the sound outside, and then said: "Grandmother, Jing'er has brought the bride back. Please wait, they will be in front of you soon."

"Hmm..." Mrs. Chen didn't even blink this time.

Chen Mingding stood up and said: "Everyone, please sit down, I will go to greet the bride and groom."

Fang Yun and others sat down and spoke in a low voice, for fear of disturbing Mrs. Chen.

Not long after, everyone saw a group of people coming to the gate of the courtyard and stood up immediately.

Fang Yun looked up and saw the groom slowly walking in with the bride. Both of them were dressed in red, and the bride was wearing a red veil on her head. Many people followed behind them, some playing suona, some playing cymbals, with laughter and music.

Fang Yun smiled at the couple.

As the bride and groom were about to enter the door, the scholar behind Mrs. Chen suddenly whispered, "Madam? What's wrong with you?"

Everyone hurriedly looked at Mrs. Chen, and saw that her head tilted to one side, her hands turned outward, drooping at her knees.

The wind was blowing hard, and a purple figure flew from outside the door to Mrs. Chen in the blink of an eye.

"Grandma! Grandma!" The great scholar Chen Mingding called softly, his voice full of anxiety.

After calling several times, Chen Mingding felt Mrs. Chen's pulse with his trembling hands, quickly let go, and felt the pulse again, repeating more than ten times, before completely letting go of Mrs. Chen's hand and slowly standing up.

Chen Mingding's face was only a little gloomier than usual. He looked around at everyone and said slowly: "Grandmother wanted to see Jing'er get married the most before she died. The interruption of the wedding not only made Grandmother unhappy, but also violated the etiquette. Jing'er and the bride will get married in front of Grandmother to fulfill Grandmother's last wish."

"It should be so." Everyone agreed.

Fang Yun and Zhao Hongzhuang looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes. It was supposed to be a happy day but someone died. This made people neither laugh nor cry.

The atmosphere in Chen's house was a little weird.

The master of ceremonies, the great scholar Zhang Hu, could only bite the bullet and preside over the wedding.

The little Duke in the yard had a flash of eyes, quickly lowered his head, and slowly loosened his clenched right fist.