232 Guessing the Reason
The Murong Family was a large family in Tonghua County, but it was nothing in the scale of the entire Great Chang Nation.
Because of Old Master Qiu, ordinary nobles were still considerably polite to their family, but those old nobles would not befriend them.
Their family were imperial merchants. As the saying went, merchants, farmers, and businessmen had extremely low statuses. Moreover, the first three generations of merchants would not be allowed to take the Imperial Examination. It was not easy to enter the business world, let alone leave the business world.
As long as a family earned a certain amount of money and had a certain social status, they would become a merchant family.
If they only operated a small stall on the street, they would be considered as ordinary people. But if they wanted to do large-scale business, they had to go to the government and sign some documents. Then, their status would be changed to merchants.
However, imperial merchants were different. There was no restriction that they could not participate in the imperial examination, but the taxes they paid would be 20% heavier than ordinary merchants. Even so, they could still earn a lot.
Murong Run could not make up his mind, so he simply brought the invitation to his father.
“Father, I received this invitation, but I don’t know how to respond.” Murong Run handed the invitation to Old Master Murong.
“You’re already so old, so you should be sensible now. You’re able to deal with such a small matter like the invitation yourself. Why are you still asking your father?” As Old Master Murong spoke, he took the invitation. But when he saw the golden words on the envelope and almost lost his grip on it.
“Duke Yong Manor?! Run’er, why would Duke Yong Manor send you an invitation?”
Murong Run shook his head. “I don’t know either.”
This was a very simple invitation. It invited Murong Run to Wanning City to be a guest. It was scheduled to be held during the chrysanthemum banquet in two months.
The date of the invitation was already a month ago. It must have been sent over quickly so there was a lot of time for preparation.
There was no specific mention of the person who sent the invitation. They only said that they were inviting Young Master Murong Run of the Murong family and the invitation was affixed with the official seal of Duke Yong Manor.
It was like an invitation sent to him by the Duke’s Estate.
Master Murong felt his tooth ache. “Is this fake?”
Murong Run was even more uncertain.
“You should ask your grandfather,” Old Master Murong said.
Hence, Murong Run brought the invitation to the Qiu Residence. Old Master Qiu took the invitation and read it for a while.
He looked at Murong Run with a complicated expression. “Run’er, think about it carefully. When you went to Nanhe Town previously, did you encounter any special people or things?”
Murong Run thought for a long time before shaking his head. “There’s really nothing worth noting. I’ve told you about it before. Grandpa, is there a problem with this invitation?”
“There’s no problem. This is the seal of Duke Yong Manor. The handwriting is also commonly used by their butler. It could not be easily imitated.” This was what puzzled Old Master Qiu.
Duke Yong Manor was different from the other noble families. They usually did not interact with the other nobles and kept an especially low profile.
Especially since their bloodline had produced two empresses in the past. However, no relatives of the family had ever interfered in politics so there was no one related to them in the Imperial Court who held important positions.
Duke Yong was once a great general who went into battle to kill enemies. After he retired, he simply raised flowers and played with birds in peace. Some of the descendants had never even heard of his name.
The Murong Family was also very low-key, especially under Old Master Qiu’s management. They did not get too involved with the nobles.
In that case, why would Duke Yong Manor send out an invitation to them?
Or for Murong Run, who was far away in Tonghua County?
Murong Run’s eyes suddenly widened. “Grandpa, could it be-”
Old Master Qiu also reacted. If there was anything they could do to attract the attention of the nobles outside, it would be the fruits Murong Run had sent back previously.
Old Master Qiu had packed two portions. One was given to the Grand Tutor who was his former colleague.
The other was given to Old Master Qiu’s youngest daughter in the palace, who was now Concubine Jing.
This was because Concubine Jing had previously sent a letter to her family saying that she did not have a good appetite and wanted to eat some hometown food.
Old Master Qiu’s heart ached for his daughter and asked Old Madam Qiu to bring a portion into the palace.