Zhang Xuan was stunned. What did Pei Yun mean? Should he be a matchmaker for himself? Zhang Xuan doesn't want to marry now, let alone he moved Lu Qing's longing for him last night. Today he was going to talk about marriage, which would hurt Lu Qing's feelings a bit too much.●⌒,

Zhang Xutuo asked him this question, Wei Yunqi asked, and Qin Qiong asked, all of whom expressed their willingness to be a matchmaker for him, but Zhang Xuan had a complete set of rhetoric and politely declined their kindness.

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "I have been engaged to my cousin since I was a child, but my uncle's family is missing. I don't know how to live or die. I have been looking for them, just hoping that my relatives can reunite."

Zhang Xuan's answer really disappointed Pei Yun, which was equivalent to Zhang Xuan's polite refusal to his hint. However, for Pei Ju's sake, Pei Yun could barely continue. If Pei Ju hadn't wanted to hold Zhang Xuan up, he wouldn't have considered this marriage plan.

Pei Yun smiled and stood up and said, "I am old and can't sit outside for a long time. I have to go back to my room first. Now the luncheon should be almost ready. The general can go to Chunfeng Pavilion first. I will change my clothes later and accompany the general to the banquet. I will lose my companion first."

"I dare not! Dr. Pei please feel free."

The two maids helped Pei Yun back to the room first. At this time, a drizzle drizzled in the sky. The maid hurriedly said, "Young Master, please wait a moment, I will go back to the room to get an umbrella!"

The maid went in a panic. Zhang Xuan didn't have the patience to wait for a long time. He walked out of the pavilion, but found that Pei Xin and Pei Jin were gone. There was no one in the garden. He couldn't help but press the sword around his waist, but then shook his head and laughed. How could he think of assassinating?

Before the maid came back, Zhang Xuan walked slowly around the small lake alone. The lake water was clear. An exquisite white jade water pavilion extended into the water through the long bridge. Lotus lotus grows on both sides. However, in early spring, lotus leaves have not yet grown, and the withered leaves last year can still be seen in the water.

The willow trees on the shore have turned green all over, and Zhang Xuan unexpectedly saw the tender buds that had just grown on the willow trees. The air also had a hint of warmth, and spring came unknowingly.

At this time, Zhang Xuan saw a fisherman wearing a straw raincoat and a hat sitting by the small lake fishing. Zhang Xuan suddenly became a little interested and walked quickly behind the fisherman and looked at the harvest in his fish basket. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, with only a few small willow-leaf fish. It seemed that the harvest was not very good.

"It's better to use a longer fishing rod. The water is still relatively cold now, and big fish are usually in the center of the lake."

Zhang Xuan kindly reminded him, but the fisherman ignored him. Zhang Xuan was bored, shook his head and turned around to walk away. At this moment, the float suddenly sank, and the fisherman quickly stood up and wanted to pull the fishing rod, but unexpectedly he couldn't pull it up. It was a big fish that took the bait.

The fisherman screamed and shouted repeatedly: "Hurry! Help me!"

Zhang Xuan was stunned for a moment. The fisherman turned out to be a young woman. He hesitated for a moment and went forward to help her grab the fishing rod. "Slow down, don't break the thread."

Zhang Xuan had some experience in fishing. He carefully pulled the fishing line to the ashore bit by bit. A big carp weighing more than ten pounds finally appeared on the water. The young woman screamed with joy. She stepped forward and grabbed the carp tightly in her arms. Even the hat she was wearing was accidentally dropped.

Only then did Zhang Xuan see clearly the appearance of this young girl. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was tall and tall. According to the standards of later generations, she was at least about 1.75 meters. Her shoulders were round and wide, with an oval face, and a tall bridge of her nose. Her facial features were distinct, her eyebrows were picturesque, and her almond eyes were particularly bright. At this time, her face was bright, and a big fish worth more than ten pounds made her laugh.

Although she looks pretty good, Zhang Xuan’s first impression was that she was a tomboy. Women in this era rarely became as bright and unrestrained as hers. They even even fished by the lake in an old farmer’s straw raincoat and hat.

At this time, a maid ran over with an umbrella. She glanced at Zhang Xuan timidly and said to the girl anxiously: "Girl, go back! The lady can't find you everywhere, and she's all angry."

The girl curled her lips unhappily and had to carry the fish and follow the maid to the inner courtyard. However, after only two steps, she remembered something, ran back to the lake and put the carp back into the lake, turned around and smiled at Zhang Xuan, "Please let this young master help me put all the fish in the fish basket again, thank you!"

"No problem, I forgot my hat."

A word reminded the girl. She quickly took off her straw raincoat, handed it to the maid, tidied up her dress, and then hurriedly walked towards the inner house.

The tranquility in the back garden was restored. Zhang Xuan shook his head and walked to the water to put a few small fish in the fish basket back into the lake. At this time, Pei Jin hurried over, followed by two little maids, holding oil-paper umbrellas. Pei Jin apologized: "I'm sorry, I thought the young master was in the inner hall and couldn't find it after searching for a while, so he got wet from the rain."

Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if a little drizzle is a little bit."

"How can that be? The banquet has been set up. Please follow me to Chunfeng Hall."

Zhang Xuan took an umbrella and followed Pei Jin to the Chunfeng Hall in the southeast corner of the garden.

Chunfeng Hall is a small restaurant in Pei Mansion, which is usually used to entertain distinguished guests. The dining hall is decorated very elegantly. There is a white jade screen in the middle. In front of the screen are six exquisite small rosewood tables, and the jade letters and gold bowls are all neatly arranged. There are a row of beautiful maids standing on both sides.

There were already three people sitting in the dining room. On the right are two middle-aged ladies, both wearing bright long skirts, dressed in graceful and luxuriously, sitting seriously on the seats. On the far side of the left is a middle-aged man, who is less than fifty years old and looks kind. He is somewhat similar to Pei Jin's eyebrows and eyes. He should be an important figure in the Pei family, but he looks like a small businessman.

Pei Jin whispered to Zhang Xuan, "That's my father!"

Zhang Xuan nodded secretly. It turned out that this middle-aged man was Pei Xuanqi, the prefect of Shangdang County, and Pei Yun's eldest son. I wonder who the two ladies opposite were?

At this time, Pei Xuanqi walked out quickly and bowed and smiled, "Let General Zhang wait for a long time!"

Zhang Xuan hurriedly replied, "I really disturbed my uncle today!"

"Where! Where! We are neglecting our guests."

At this time, the two noble ladies also stood up and Pei Xuanqi introduced them. Zhang Xuanqi learned that the two wives, who were about the same age, were actually mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The older one was Pei Yun's re-seal Mrs. Xu, and the other was Pei Xuanqi's wife, Mrs. Wang, who was Pei Jin's mother.

This made Zhang Xuan a little strange. Generally, wealthy families treat guests to dinner. If the guests do not bring their female relatives, the host will not have female relatives attending, but usually accompany guests. The guests or staff members, such as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Pei family, will become a family banquet, which really makes Zhang Xuan a little uncomfortable.

Zhang Xuan and everyone sat down when they saw the ceremony. Usually, male guests sat on the right and female guests sat on the left, and Zhang Xuan sat in the middle seat on the right. This is the guest seat. The upper head next to it should be Pei Yun's seat. The lower head was Pei Xuanqi. At this time, Zhang Xuan found that the woman was missing one person, sitting on the lower head, opposite Pei Xuanqi.

At this time, Zhang Xuan suddenly understood that this was not a treat to dinner, it was clearly a blind date. He immediately figured out that Pei Yun asked him if he had an engagement? Then he met, but he clearly told Pei Yun that he had an engagement. Does Pei Yun still want to ruin the marriage by himself?

Of course, this is a kind of envelopment of the Pei family for themselves, and they use marriage to tie themselves and the Pei family together. This is the most commonly used and effective method in all dynasties, both in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad.

But Zhang Xuan was not willing to marry the Pei family. Although he and Lu Qing had an agreement, more importantly, Zhang Xuan was not mentally prepared to get married yet, what should he do?

The two ladies looked at each other and nodded together. They were obviously very satisfied with Zhang Xuan's appearance and temperament. This is for sure. Although Zhang Xuan is a warrior, he is not as rude as an ordinary warrior. He has a slightly clear and elegant temperament, but his literary quality is not without firmness, which is a very generous and unique feeling.

"I heard from the master that General Zhang is from Guanzhong?" Mrs. Xu asked with a smile.

"Report to the old lady, I am from the Kyoto family. But I grew up in Hanoi County."

Mrs. Xu nodded, "No wonder it doesn't look like Jingzhao accent, it does have an accent around Hanoi. I wonder who else is in General Zhang's family?"

Zhang Xuan retelled his life experience mechanically, and everyone said it again. After saying too much, even he was almost convinced. At this time, Mrs. Wang asked, "General Zhang shouldn't have been engaged yet!"

"I'm sorry, Zhang Xuan has been married to her cousin since she was a child, but the war is in chaos. The whereabouts of her uncle and his family are unknown for the time being."

Mrs. Wang's face suddenly changed, and she was obviously a little unhappy. Since she had already made a marriage, why would they still have a relationship? Moreover, this person is not a child of aristocratic families or ordinary poor families. She even put on airs for the Pei family. Her face began to become gloomy. At this time, Pei Xuanqi coughed gently and gave his wife a wink, so that she would not neglect the guests.

Zhang Xuan smiled in his heart. He could understand Mrs. Wang's unhappiness. Mrs. Wang should be the legitimate daughter of the Wang family in Taiyuan, a famous family in Hedong. Wang Yun from the Three Kingdoms was born in the Wang family in Taiyuan.

The aristocratic families have long been deeply rooted in their hearts. They pay attention to the equality of their families and look down on poor families. This is normal. In the Sui Dynasty, it was incredible that these big families would marry their daughters to poor families. Unless the man is particularly outstanding, they would have the idea of ​​winning over. Today, the Pei family invited themselves to dinner.

Therefore, he could fully understand the dissatisfaction shown by Mrs. Wang and would not care about it. Anyone would be unhappy. He condescends to invite the other party to a blind date. The other party even said that he had already made a marriage, so of course he would be unhappy. This was actually Zhang Xuan said this on purpose, which made the Pei family dissatisfied and finally declined the marriage.

At this moment, footsteps came from the inner room, and more than a dozen maids surrounded Pei Yun and walked out from behind the screen. A tall girl supported Pei Yun. Everyone stood up one after another. When Zhang Xuan saw the girl's appearance clearly, he was stunned. The girl turned out to be the girl who was fishing just now. It turned out that she was Pei Yun's granddaughter.

Pei Yun smiled and said, "There are many things when people get older, so General Zhang has been waiting for a long time."

"Where! I've just arrived."

"General Zhang, please sit down!"

Zhang Xuan sat down, and Pei Yun sat next to him. At this time, the girl was sitting at the bottom of her right. She had already changed into a dress, wearing a long dark red dress with a skirt tied to her armpits, and a double-breasted half-sleeved jacket. Her shoulders and arms were wrapped around yellow silk. Because of her height and large body, she looked very eye-catching.

She put on makeup and applied a layer of powder on her face. She looked more energetic and beautiful than the plain noodles she had when she was fishing just now. However, she did not have the bright smile she had just now. She didn't look at Zhang Xuan at all, and sat down at the edge with her eyebrows lowered and her eyes lowered.

Zhang Xuan thought she was Mrs. Wang's daughter, but she didn't seem to be very similar. Mrs. Wang was very cold to her and did not feel the same kind of intimacy between mother and daughter.

Pei Xuanqi smiled and whispered to Zhang Xuan: "The opposite is a little girl Zhizhi, who is only fifteen years old!"

It turned out that the girl was named Pei Zhizhi, but she was Pei Xuanqi's daughter. Zhang Xuan's thoughts and suddenly realized that Pei Zhizhi was not the legitimate daughter. She was not the daughter of Mrs. Wang, so they were nominally mother and daughter, but they did not have the kind of family affection between mother and daughter.

No wonder they are so cold and don’t even greet them with etiquette. It can be seen that their relationship is not good in normal times.

Zhang Xuan was like discovering some secrets, and actually discovered some entanglements within the Pei family through some details, and he suddenly became a little interested.

At this time, a group of maids lined up outside the hall with red painted wooden plates and placed plates of exquisitely made dishes on everyone's table. The maids behind them also filled them with wine.

Pei Yun picked up the wine and smiled at Zhang Xuan, "Today is actually a family dinner. I didn't invite other guests. I hope General Zhang will relax, just like going back to his own home. Come! Welcome General Zhang, we have a drink of this cup."

Everyone picked up the wine glasses and took a small sip slightly symbolically. Zhang Xuan was used to drinking the wine in the glass. He realized that he was the only one who drank all the wine. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Pei Zhizhi, who was opposite, covered his mouth and sneered. Mrs. Wang glared at her fiercely, and she quickly lowered her head.

Pei Xuanqi smiled gently and said, "Drinking is easy, there are no rules. General Zhang can drink well."

Having said that, Zhang Xuan still felt that he was rude. These famous families were very particular about eating and feasting. They were not allowed to drink too much, they were not allowed to speak when eating, and they were not allowed to speak during meals. Everyone drank and tasted the dishes silently. After a simple taste, a plate of dishes was often only tasted a little, and then they were taken down by the maid, and they did not even destroy the exquisite patterns of the dishes. It seemed that the dishes were just for appreciation.

Zhang Xuan ate very dull in this meal, especially when there were women and elders sitting opposite him. Mrs. Xu was a little better, smiling and smiling at herself kindly. Zhang Xuan also understood in her heart. Since it was Pei Yun's successor, her status would not be too high and would be far from comparable to the original wife.

As for Mrs. Wang and Pei Zhizhi, Zhang Xuan felt that they were fighting secretly. Pei Zhizhi did not dare to offend Mrs. Wang on the surface, but was full of resistance in his bones.

It can be seen from her drinking that Mrs. Wang took a sip of wine and took a big sip of wine. Mrs. Wang refused to destroy the exquisite patterns of the dishes, and she would mess up the patterns even if she didn't eat them. Zhang Xuan saw Mrs. Wang's warning eyes at Pei Zhizhi more than once.

Pei Yun was old and only ate a little bit, so he apologized to Zhang Xuan and continued to eat with Pei Xuanqi.

Immediately afterwards, the two wives and Pei Zhizhi also said goodbye one after another. When Pei Zhizhi left, he smiled secretly at Zhang Xuan and made a fishing move. Zhang Xuan couldn't help laughing. This little girl was really interesting.

At this time, only Pei Xuanqi and Zhang Xuan were left in Chunfeng Hall. Pei Xuanqi picked up the wine glass and apologized: "General Zhang is probably a little unacceptable to our family banquet. In fact, it's okay. My father is an enlightened person and will not be too polite. General Zhang just eats and drinks well."

Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "In fact, it's not for the sake of eating. It's just meeting and having a harmonious relationship. Eating is really not important."

"This is a good sentence. I wonder what General Zhang thinks of the little girl?"

Zhang Xuan remembered Pei Zhizhi's look of holding the carp in his arms and laughing loudly, and said with a smile: "Let Ai be straightforward and cheerful. He is a person with a temperament. Most people will like this personality. Pei Jun has such a daughter, which is also a blessing!"

"Haha! I didn't expect General Zhang to have such a sharp vision. She has been naughty since childhood, cheerful and does not like to be restrained. It's a pity that her mother passed away early. I was busy with official duties and didn't love her enough. I felt very guilty when I thought about it."

Both sides were tempting, not saying it out loud, and Zhang Xuan did not refuse it openly. In fact, Pei Zhizhi was straightforward and not pretentious, and he liked it very much, but he knew very well what marriage meant, so he could not make such hasty decisions.

Of course, Pei Xuanqi would not directly ask Zhang Xuan whether he would accept this marriage. Only the common people would be so direct. What aristocratic family like them wants is implicit and tactful. Today, they just meet each other. Both parties are willing to accept it. They also have to find a third party to communicate, so that they will not break up and embarrass each other.
Chapter completed!