Chapter 49: Movement and Stillness Do Not Transcend Ritual Propriety
At the time, the sky was not yet late, and Zhang Fei came to the post house again, respectfully inviting Lu Min to get on the carriage to attend the banquet. Lu Min changed into a new set of clothes, wearing a black silk three-ridge hat, wearing a plain Confucian shirt, adding a bit of elegance. Liu Xiu and Liu Bei closely followed behind him out of the post house, Zhang Fei hurried up a step, took down a small stool from the carriage, wiped it with his sleeve, and placed it under Lu Min's feet.
"Please board the bus, sir."
Lu Min's nod, stepped up and sat down on the left side of the driver, holding the carriage handle, eyes straight ahead. Zhang Fei bowed again to Liu Xiu: "Please get on the carriage."
Liu Xiu did not pretend to be polite and followed him onto the carriage, sitting down in the position to the right of the charioteer.
Zhang Fei immediately invited Liu Bei to get on the carriage behind, then jumped onto a tall and majestic black horse, shouting loudly as he led the way in front. The charioteer cracked his whip, producing a sharp cracking sound in mid-air, and the two horses pulling the carriage slowly began to move, walking forward with a light and quick pace.
"What a good horse, it's a pity to use it for pulling carts." Liu Xiu thought to himself. These days he had been following Gongsun Zan and Mao Zongluo and had learned some knowledge about horse physiognomy, although not in-depth, but he could see that the two horses pulling carts were not ordinary horses, and didn't know if it was because they were located on the border, where horses came easily, or if the Zhang family's power was strong. If it was the latter, then these wealthy landlords were too rich, because he had personally heard Mao Zongluo say that the Zhang family in Zhuoxian was not considered anything special.
If this is not considered anything, then the small courtyard of our own family's three progresses is even less worthy, and the small courtyard under the big mulberry tree in Liu Bei's house is no better than a doghouse. The disparity between the rich and the poor in this world is too great, no wonder the Yellow Turbans want to rebel.
Liu Xiu muttered to himself as he sized up his surroundings. The county of Zhuo was not large, and on the day he entered the city, he had estimated with his eyes that it was a square city with each side being about 400-500 meters long, which would be roughly one mile in modern terms. Compared to those cities in his previous life that were tens or even hundreds of square kilometers in size, this place was really small and pitiful. The high walls on both sides of the road blocked most of the view, but occasionally, a roof or two would peek out, revealing that the houses behind the wall were definitely not the kind of earthen huts he had seen before.
The fleet quickly arrived in front of a inner gate, the fleet did not stop, Zhang Fei led the way at the forefront and guided the fleet to turn into the inner gate. Lu Min frowned, coughed, and patted the car wheel: "Stop!"
The charioteer was startled and did not dare to slack off, so he hastily pulled on the reins.
Zhang Fei heard the voice and hurried over, dismounting his horse and standing respectfully in front of the carriage: "Sir, what are your orders?"
"According to etiquette, one cannot ride a vehicle when entering or exiting the inner gate." Lu Min said calmly: "I will walk in."
Zhang Fei's face turned red, and he was stunned for a moment before hastily taking down the small stool from behind the carriage. Lu Min got off the carriage and walked forward with his eyes cast downward. Liu Xiu only then reacted, not knowing whether to praise Lu Min for being courteous or to call him foolish, and hurriedly got off the carriage, following closely behind.
After walking about twenty steps, in front of a wide and large black lacquered double door, Li Dinghan stood with a smile, dressed neatly, looking at Lu Min who was approaching on foot. He slightly turned his face to the side and smiled at a middle-aged man with a tall stature and a rugged complexion beside him, saying: "As I said, Mr. Lu is not only proficient in Shangshu, but also in Zhouli, he is a knowledgeable and courteous gentleman who knows etiquette and behaves modestly, and would never ride a carriage into the inner gate. We should go to the outer gate to welcome you, but you didn't listen, making me lose face in front of Mr. Lu."
The middle-aged man's face was flushed red as he bowed and smiled repeatedly: "A rustic person, ignorant of etiquette, I am truly ashamed."
"Don't worry, Lu Jun is a broad-minded scholar, he won't mind these things." Li Ding smiled and quickly walked up to greet Lu Min with a bow, his demeanor respectful and humble, without any of the arrogance he had shown in front of the middle-aged man.
Although Li Ding's reputation and learning were not as good as Lu Min's, the strength of the Li family was far beyond that of the Lu family. Moreover, in order to get things done this time, Li Ding had to play a role in it. Lu Min, although somewhat pedantic, naturally couldn't help but lower his posture slightly since he came here. He hurriedly returned Li Ding's courtesy, and after exchanging pleasantries, they walked into the house with their arms around each other, led by the middle-aged man who was almost humble.
Until then, Liu Xiu finally let out a sigh of relief. These Confucian rules were really exhausting. He turned his head to look at Liu Bei, who also smiled wryly and shrugged his shoulders, apparently he was also exhausted. However, although he was tired, there was a hint of excitement in his eyes, occasionally sizing up the ridiculously high eaves and gatehouse of the Zhang family's mansion.
"Both of you gentlemen, please come in and speak," Zhang Fei said with a smile as he approached.
Liu Xiu followed him into the house. As soon as they entered, several women wearing brocade clothes walked past him with a smile and surrounded Mao Jie, chatting and laughing, and took her to the side courtyard, that enthusiastic momentum was like seeing a princess who had just been married off. Thinking of Zhang Fei's eyes when he saw Mao Jie in the morning, Liu Xiu roughly understood something, and finally showed his first smile in front of Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei didn't understand what was going on, but seeing Liu Xiu smile, he also became very happy and his attitude became even more respectful.
The courtyard of the Zhang family was not as large as that of the Mao family, but it was luxurious and not crowded at all. There were only a few tables set up in the hall, and even fewer upstairs, with only three tables. It seemed that Mao's words had taken effect, and the Zhang family had not invited any other guests except for Li Ding to keep them company.
A loud shout came from outside, a team of maidservants carrying food cases walked in from the small east gate under the leadership of a middle-aged woman. They quickly placed the wine and dishes on the table, then retreated one by one. The whole process was silent as a ghost, looking very solemn. However, the smiles on those maidservants' faces were somewhat stiff, showing some tension.
Everyone took their seats, and the middle-aged man, who was Zhang Fei's father, asked Lu Min to take the seat of honor, and then asked Li Ding to take the second seat. He himself sat at the lower end of the table, while Zhang Fei invited Liu Xiu and others to sit down in the hall below. The banquet began, and Zhang Fei's father stood up, holding a small wine cup with his thick and large palm, his face flushed red, stuttering as he delivered a welcome speech to Lu Min. His words were very elegant, but not very fluent, obviously recited temporarily, and when he got halfway through, his mouth seemed to get stuck, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't continue, so he could only cast a pitiful glance at Li Ding for help.
Li Ding smiled, got up and took over his words, skillfully toasted Lu Min, and the program finally became smooth. After three rounds of wine, Zhang Fei stood up and clapped his hands, and several musicians who had been waiting in the side corridor began to play music. A group of young and beautiful women wearing elegant dresses came into the courtyard and started dancing, softly singing, and for a while it was lively and extraordinary.
Liu Bei's eyes widened with excitement as he leaned in and pointed at the woman leading the dance in the center, saying: "Big brother, look at that woman."
Although the song and dance were lively, for Liu Xiu, this was just a novelty. As for the degree of elegance, it was far inferior to those he had seen in his previous life. Whether it was the dance moves or the changes in formation between the dancers, they seemed somewhat monotonous and couldn't make him as excited as Liu Bei. Of course, in other people's eyes, his calmness was a kind of demeanor.
"Who?" Liu Xiu slightly lowered his head, following Liu Bei's finger to take a look at the woman. His eyes rolled: "Is it the beauty in the painting of the beautiful woman on the wine building?"
"Alas, does Elder Brother also think so?" Liu Bei patted his thigh and exclaimed: "Indeed, Elder Brother's eyesight is extraordinary, recognizing it at a glance. I too felt there was some resemblance, but didn't dare to confirm."
"Does Brother like this woman?" Zhang Fei also came over, his two big and bright black eyes scanning Liu Xiu and Liu Bei's faces back and forth, smiled and finally landed on Liu Xiu's face: "If Brother likes her, I'll give her to you."
Liu Xiu didn't say a word, he just shook his head: "It's not that I like her, it's just that she looks like the beauty in that painting."
Zhang Fei felt somewhat disappointed.
"That...". Liu Bei swallowed his saliva and dryly laughed: "No pay without work, first meeting, how can I accept such a grand gift."
Zhang Fei's eyes rolled, and he lowered his voice, chuckling softly: "It's just a maidservant, what can't be tolerated? If you don't think much of her, I'll take you to meet some others later. Maybe there will be one who barely meets your standards."
