In the Northern Song Dynasty, he started by marrying the eighth daughter of the Su family.

"Eight Niang~"

Han Zhi jumped out of the carriage as soon as he arrived at his doorstep, carrying the fragrant oil paper package in his hand once again.

Su Zhen leaned closer, held the umbrella over Han Zhi's head, and looked at Han Zhi's curved eyebrows, asking with a smile, "Why are you so happy today, my lord?"

"Starting tomorrow, there will be a seven-day winter solstice holiday. Also, I bought the big chicken leg that my aunt has been wanting to eat."

Han Zhi gently unwrapped the oil paper and brought it to Su Zhen's lips. The aroma captivated Su Zhen's nose, and she could only gently rewrap the oil paper, saying:

"It's chilly outside, let's go back inside. I also have something to tell you, my lord. It's something that's even more tempting than this chicken leg."

"it is good!"

The couple, with their little white dog, trotted back into their room. They had hot pot for dinner again.

However, on one of the plates, instead of meat, there was a reddish-green invitation card, which looked quite formal.

"Hey? Eighth Sister, what's that?"

Han Zhi and Su Zhen approached the table, reaching out to pick up the invitation as they spoke. However, Su Zhen pressed down on the invitation, saying:

"Sir, you haven't put anything in yet, so how can you take anything out?"

Upon hearing this, Han Zhi paused, then a playful smile appeared on his lips. He turned to Su Zhen with a mischievous look in his eyes and said, "Eighth Sister, this chicken leg was originally brought for you. How about I exchange it for this?"

As he spoke, he gently tore off the oil paper package in his hand, revealing the tempting chicken leg. The aroma filled the air, causing Little Black to excitedly circle around, but it didn't dare to approach and could only sit there, wagging its tail.

Su Zhen was amused by Han Zhi's actions, her eyes sparkling as she playfully scolded him:

"How childish."

Although she said that, she still took a bite out of the chicken leg. In an instant, a tiny mouthprint was left on the chicken leg.

Her eyes were full of satisfaction, and she gently moved her small hand aside, letting Han Zhi take the invitation.

Han Zhi carefully opened the letter, which read in neat and elegant handwriting: "Respectfully addressed to Young Master Han, the long poem you requested has been set to music and is about to be performed on stage. I hope you will spare some time to attend. Upon seeing this letter, you may enter the Pingluan Pavilion."

Han Zhi finished reading, then casually put it aside. He picked up his chopsticks, tore off pieces of chicken leg meat, and put them into Su Zhen's bowl. He then put the book box aside and began to cook the meat in the broth.

Su Zhen was somewhat surprised to see this, so he sat down next to Han Zhi and asked, "Doesn't my lord want to go and take a look?"

"I'm not going." While waiting for the meat, Han Zhi picked up a chicken leg and brought it to Su Zhen's mouth, feeding her a bite.

Su Zhen specially prepared four bowls today, two for vegetables and two for rice.

"Besides, the handwriting isn't as nice as Ba Niang's, it doesn't have that feel. It ruins the first impression, so why should I even bother going?"

"You're so glib." Su Zhen rolled her eyes at her. "My husband has been studying hard these days, which is why I accepted this invitation. If I didn't care about him, how could I have allowed him to go out? Wouldn't that just be making me jealous for no reason?"

Han Zhi smiled, took the meat out, placed it in front of Su Zhen, and then gave Su Zhen a quick kiss on the cheek, saying:

"This tune is nowhere near as pleasant as Eighth Sister's jealous and reproachful melody. Since Eighth Sister agrees, why don't we go together? Let's treat it as an after-dinner stroll and have a good look around, shall we?"

Su Zhen said, "It's your mouth, sir, that's all you know how to do, just to make people happy every day."

Her expression was a half-smile: "My lord's mouth is like a sugar figurine smeared with honey; the words he speaks are so sweet they're cloying, and you can't tell how much of it is true and how much is false."

"How about this, sir, you put on a melodramatic show right here at the dinner table."

Han Zhi took the opportunity to pull Su Zhen's hand and gently stroked her fingertips. "Eighth Sister, you must believe me. How about I take this heart out and show it to you?"

Upon hearing this, Su Zhen quickly withdrew his hand, gently patted him, and scolded, "My lord, don't talk nonsense, eat your food properly."

After a moment, Su Zhen spoke again leisurely, "My lord said that my calligraphy is better than that of the post, but is that just a lie to make me happy? I will write a few more pieces of calligraphy to hang at home in the future, so that my lord can appreciate them every day."

"No problem, no problem, I'll check it every day."

"Eighth Sister, eat quickly, the meat is almost overcooked."

……

After lunch, Su Zhen and Han Zhi went out together. Since no one else was likely to come this time, Su Zhen decided to bring Xiao Hei along as well.

Pingluan Tower wasn't far, so the couple, along with their dog, slowly walked over.

Upon arriving at the entrance of Pingluan Tower, several maids from the tower were already standing there, each carrying a tray. Seeing Han Zhi and Su Zhen approach, they softly asked:

"Gentlemen, do you have invitations?"

Han Zhi nodded, then took the red and blue invitation card from his robes, which the maid beside him, who was empty-handed, took from him. After glancing at the signature, she said:

"Please come in, gentlemen. This is a personal invitation from Madam Chen. This is a private room on the second floor. Please choose your own seat."

……

Even with invitations, the Pingluan Tower was still packed with guests.

Upon reaching the second floor, he suddenly stopped, then slowly walked around to the side. Just as he was about to sit down, he subconsciously glanced at the seats next to him, and the two people sitting there also looked at him.

Immediately afterwards, the three of them simultaneously raised their fingers to their lips, making a "shush" gesture.

It was Lü Huiqing and Zhang Huaimin.

Han Zhi led Su Zhen to sit down, and then he, along with Lü Huiqing and Zhang Huaimin, looked in a certain direction.

Seeing their secretive manner, Su Zhen was a little curious, but she cooperated by not making a sound, scratching Xiao Hei with her fingers to prevent it from barking.

She then followed the gaze of Han Zhi and the other two, and saw Shen Kuo and Wang Qian sitting not far away. Her position was clever; she could see them, but they couldn't see her.

You can even hear them talking.

Su Zhen was somewhat surprised and asked, "Was that Lady Wang from back then?"

"Brother Han, did you also receive the invitation?" Zhang Huaimin asked in a low voice.

Han Zhi nodded and smiled, "I wrote that long poem, so of course I would receive an invitation."

“We originally thought we wouldn’t hear about Brother Shen and Madam Wang’s affair today, but unexpectedly, the heavens smiled upon us and we received this invitation,” Lü Huiqing said with a smile.

Su Zhen looked around and noticed that most of the people dressed were dressed in red. He then said, "Could it be that the people invited to Pingluan Tower today are all from wealthy and powerful families? That's why you two gentlemen were able to receive invitations."

Lü Huiqing and Zhang Huaimin laughed and said, "Of course we know. We just have nothing better to do than listen to music at a brothel?"

"Whether we listen to the music or not is not important; we should check on things over there first," Zhang Huaimin added.

The four people and the dog exchanged glances and then looked over together.