As He Xun spoke, he got up first to change his clothes.
Hearing this, Su Nansheng quickly got out of bed and followed him.
"Where is the banquet?"
He Xun never liked to attend such banquets. Especially now that he had been promoted for his meritorious service in protecting the emperor, he should have been more low - key and cautious. Why did he suddenly decide to go to a banquet?
"At the mansion of the Imperial Censor - in - Chief, Song Yan."
He Xun put on his outer robe by himself, then picked up a sachet and came to Su Nansheng. He handed it to her.
Su Nansheng reached out to take it. Without waiting for He Xun to say anything, she tied it on him voluntarily.
She checked his outer robe from front to back to make sure there was nothing wrong with it, and then called Bi Tao in.
"You should choose the gift carefully. After all, he will be your superior in the future. You need to put some thought into it."
It was really hard to decline the invitation to the banquet at the future superior's mansion. That Song Yan was a tough nut to crack.
"You can choose it. It doesn't have to be too expensive."
He Xun looked at Su Nansheng, who was doing her hair, and said casually.
He didn't care about the so - called superior and disdained to make friends with such people.
He originally wanted to decline the invitation, but for the words "accompanied by family members are welcome".
Su Nansheng ignored him. He had to find a proper reason to see her. He just didn't expect Su Nansheng to be so proactive this time.
Thinking of last night, He Xun added with a smile in his voice,
"As long as it's not some tonic."
As soon as he said this, both Su Nansheng and Bi Tao trembled.
Especially Bi Tao, who had not dared to look up since she entered the room, almost ran out of the door again.
Maybe she should ask Ru Yi to come and serve the mistress in the next few days. It still felt a bit dangerous here.
...
"Second Young Mistress, it's not that I don't want to accompany you out of the mansion. It's just that there are not enough servants in Bitao Courtyard recently, and there are too many things to do. I can't spare the time."
The maid Qiu Mei said with a smile and a respectful attitude.
She had heard about Lan Xiang's incident for a long time. But she was not a servant in the mistress's yard. If she accidentally offended Su Hele, no one would stand up for her.
Serving in Bitao Courtyard was not as good as in other yards, but after all, this was still a Marquis's Mansion, which was better than outside.
"There are only two masters here. How much work can there be?"
Su Hele's tone was calm, but her brows frowned slightly.
Although it took her some effort to get He Jin to go back to the bedroom to sleep last night, fortunately, he still appreciated her very much.
Since he liked the paintings she made, she would surely continue to do so.
She would paint more paintings for He Jin, so that he would value and protect her as before.
But she didn't expect the servants in the mansion to be so lazy and cunning. Just asking them to carry the things for her painting, they were so reluctant.
"Reply to the Second Young Mistress. Although there are only you and the Second Young Master to serve, the Marquis's Mansion pays attention to everything. The meals have to be prepared five or six times a day. Not to mention those time - consuming and labor - intensive tasks like doing laundry and sweeping. The main problem is that there are not enough servants in our Bitao Courtyard."
Qiu Mei emphasized the key point again.
Hearing this, Su Hele frowned even deeper but didn't say anything else.
Many servants in this yard had been beaten by Concubine Li before. Some of them were still not fully recovered, so they couldn't be assigned heavy tasks.
Moreover, Chen Wanrong had transferred Lan Xiang and Zi Zhu away without replenishing the servants. So there were really not enough people.
Su Hele turned her eyes to Su Mo.
"Go to Yurong Courtyard and ask the concubine for some servants."
There wasn't even a single servant to attend to He Jin. Did Concubine Li just watch like this?
She always said that she was doing it for He Jin's good. How hypocritical!
...
Su Nansheng looked around the people attending the banquet boredly.
Except for her uncle and aunt, most of them were strangers. Only a few ladies looked familiar, not because she knew them, but because of her memories from her previous life.
Although coming to this banquet was not in her plan, it was still a rare opportunity. Should she take the initiative to make some connections later?
"We'll leave as soon as the banquet is over."
He Xun tilted his head slightly, as if he could see Su Nansheng's boredom.
In the morning, he even thought about not coming to this banquet. But he thought that Su Nansheng hadn't been out with him much since they got married.
Now that there was a chance, it would be good for her to get to know some official ladies.
Since he saved the emperor from danger last time, the emperor's attitude towards him seemed to have changed.
Although the emperor still had some misgivings, it was much better than before. Maybe he would have a chance to return to the northern border after some time.
By then, only his mother would be close to her in the mansion. But after all, they were not mother and daughter, so there would always be a gap.
It would be better for her to make some other friends. She would have someone to talk to when something happened.
But it seemed that she wasn't very enthusiastic about making connections.
In that case, there was no need to waste time here.
Just as Su Nansheng was about to nod, she saw a handsome man with a fair complexion, a slight beard, and slanting eyes chatting with Chen Xuan.
Chen Xuan stroked his beard and nodded, seemingly very satisfied with what he heard.
Su Nansheng stared at the man's protruding ears and tightened her grip on the teacup slightly.
"Shao Tan, currently serving as the Deputy Minister of the Palace Secretariat, is my uncle's favorite student."
He Xun's voice sounded beside Su Nansheng.
Su Nansheng turned her head and saw He Xun lift his chin slightly.
"The woman in the black shirt talking to my aunt is his wife."
Su Nansheng turned the teacup in her hand. "Uncle is chatting happily with him. I wonder what they are talking about."
Is it related to Chen Xuan's demotion later?
No wonder Chen Xuan, who always tried to stay out of trouble and was cautious, would be implicated. It turned out to be his student.
Students can really be a disaster. They might bite you when you least expect it, and there is no place to complain.
Thinking of this, Su Nansheng got up. "I'll go and say hello to my aunt."
Approaching in the capacity of a niece - in - law should not arouse suspicion, right?
He Xun raised his eyebrows. Hadn't she already said hello just now?
He looked at Shao Tan and then at Su Nansheng, who was walking straight over. He got up and followed her.
He would also go and say hello.
Su Nansheng successfully joined the conversation between Chang Yi and Mrs. Shao on the pretext of Chen Mingzhu.
Chang Yi complained,
"Not only you, Nansheng, but I haven't seen her much these days either. She goes out early and comes back late every day. I don't know where she's running around."
"It's good for Miss Mingzhu to make more friends since she has an active personality." Mrs. Shao smiled and comforted her.
"What friends? She just goes out to play."
Su Nansheng listened to their conversation with a smile, but actually her mind was on Shao Tan in front of them.
But after listening for a long time, she didn't find out anything, so she had to give up.
It wasn't until she got into the carriage that Su Nansheng was still thinking about Shao Tan. She only remembered that it was he who implicated Chen Xuan, but she didn't quite remember what the incident was about.
But considering the situation at that time, it should be...
Just as she was thinking, Su Nansheng felt someone pinching her right ear. She looked up and saw He Xun staring at her.
Su Nansheng frowned and slapped He Xun's hand away. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I just want to see if this ear has grown any longer." He Xun retracted his hand with a smile.
The image of Su Nansheng eavesdropping with her ears pricked up just now came back to his mind.
"What were you eavesdropping on just now?"
He didn't think Su Nansheng just went there to say hello.