The Red Mansions

Chapter 50
When I returned from the Song family, it was already Xuzheng time.

Originally Song Yuan intended to stay overnight, but Jia Heng refused, so he had to send yesterday's carriage to take Jia Heng back home.

Although Jia Heng smelled of alcohol and his cheeks were flushed, but his mind was clearer than before, he got down from the carriage, stopped the old man who got off the carriage and helped him, and said with a smile: "Old man, I don't need to be supported, I will walk alone It's fine in the past."

"Young Master, is it okay?" the old man said worriedly.

Jia Heng smiled, waved his hands, and said, "It's only a few steps away, old man, let's go back."

The old man said: "Young Master, be careful."

Jia Heng picked up the lantern, said yes, and walked towards the courtyard where he lived.

In the deep night, there were a few dogs barking from time to time.

Jia Heng opened the door and entered the courtyard. As usual, he hung the lantern under the eaves of the corridor and went to fetch water. Before he could fetch water, he saw Aunt Cai coming out of the back room with two children aged about eleven or twelve. The servant girl, who looked a little like her, said, "My lord, be careful not to busy yourself, just let them come."

Jia Heng frowned and said: "This is?"

"My maidservant has seen the young master." The two servant girls knelt on the ground with a "plop" and buried their heads in front of their chests.

Aunt Cai smiled and said: "Brother Heng, I have been paying attention for a long time these two days before I found the one I like, a pair of sisters."

As he spoke, he said, "Get up quickly, raise your head, and let the young master have a look."

Jia Heng frowned, washed his hands, and said, "Get up, the ground is cold."

Then, he took the towel hanging on the rope, wiped his hands, and asked Aunt Cai, who was beside him, and said, "Auntie, how old are the two of them, and where are they from, but have you met them before?"

Before Aunt Cai could answer, the two maidservants raised their eyes to look at Jia Heng. Under the light, they seemed to have just washed their faces. Their two youthful and beautiful faces were slightly malnourished, and there seemed to be tears on their faces.

A young girl with croissant braids and straight eyebrows said: "Master, my name is Bi'er. This year is twelve. This is my elder sister. This year is thirteen. At home, she is called Yan'er. She came from Shandong after fleeing from disaster. Mother." I died of starvation on the road, my father took my younger brother, and in order to make ends meet, I sold my elder sister and me to Ren Yazi for five taels of silver."

The girl named Bi'er seemed to be more articulate, she raised her thin, fair face, and spoke in detail.

Although the two sisters are not very beautiful, they can be considered to have good facial features, but perhaps they are malnourished, and they are both a little haggard.

Jia Heng was silent for a while, looked up at Aunt Cai, and asked: "The two of them are not young, how did you buy them?"

Ordinarily, a maid who is too old, remembers everything, has a long-term temperament, and it is not easy to sell to a girl, if she flees to another place...

Aunt Cai sighed, and explained: Brother Heng didn't know something, the two of them, the two sisters, have been staying with the boy from Dongshi for more than half a year... Just because the elder sister is dumb, the younger sister doesn't want to sell it alone. I had to take my sister with me before I was willing to give up. I sold it a few times, but they refused to work hard at the master’s house. They escaped and went back to Renzi’s place. I was beaten a lot. When I heard people talking about this, I felt that I was a little more pitiful, so I bought it together. The boy asked for 20 taels at first, but I talked about it until I got to ten taels of silver. "

Jia Heng looked at her sister, and saw a face with handsome eyebrows and dark complexion, tears in her eyes, and her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but she just made a babbling sound.

Xu thought that the young man opposite was going to drive her away.

At this time, the girl named Bi'er raised her pale and thin face, her eyes were reddish and said: "Young Master, if you don't want my sister, you can also send me back together."

Jia Heng was silent for a while, and said to Aunt Cai: "Keep them all."

The girl named Bi'er shed tears excitedly and said, "Master Xie, my sister and I will definitely serve you well."

Aunt Cai smiled and said, "Go and prepare the bath water."

"Hey..." Bi'er said, happily pulling her sister beside her, and then went to the stove to scoop up hot water.

Jia Heng looked at the backs of the two girls, sighed softly, and said to himself, this is the tip of the iceberg.

As far as he knows, since the eighth year of Chongping, Shandong, Henan and other places have suffered from floods and droughts for years, coupled with the military preparations and bandits, the two places have almost become a financial black hole for the Chen and Han courts.

It is also a coincidence that Chen Han also added border and training salaries to the normal taxation system in order to guard against the eastern captives.

The frontier payment was due to the fall of Liaodong more than [-] years ago and the rise of the Houjin Dynasty, and the garrison of the nine frontier towns increased greatly, and it came from additional levies in order to raise food and military salaries.

As for the training salary, it is natural and man-made disasters in various places, bandits and bandits have sprung up, and the local governors use it to train soldiers, prepare for bandits and guard against bandits, and use it for public security.

However, the century-old state of the country has accumulated a lot of evils. The clan and princes, gentry and wealthy merchants have accumulated land and bought properties.

Jia Heng sighed in his heart for a while, and suddenly felt that something was wrong, and asked, "Auntie, where is Qingwen?"

Turning his head, he saw the candlelight in the wing room.

Aunt Cai pouted towards the wing room, and said in a low voice: "That girl doesn't know why, I called her at night, but she didn't come out to eat, she is embroidering something in the room right now."

Jia Heng's face paused, his eyes thoughtful, and he walked towards the east window wing.

As soon as I arrived at the wing room, I went around the curtain, and saw Qingwen sitting on the bed, with the lights on, as if she was embroidering, but the needle and thread didn't move, she was just pretending.

Jia Heng was amused.

The girl seemed to hear the movement, put down the female worker who was embroidering in her hand, raised her charming face like a spring flower, and looked at herself faintly. Jia Heng was stunned for a moment, and smiled: "Qingwen, are you still asleep?"

"My lord, if you don't come, how dare I sleep?" Qingwen said bluntly, turned her head aside, snorted softly, and couldn't help but said, "My lord, who smells like alcohol, should be waited on for a bath." Just entered the house, and made the room full of alcohol."

Apparently, this pretty maid heard the conversation in Caiyuan just now.

The girl's voice was clear and clear, with a bit of cadence, but it was as sweet as a yellow warbler coming out of the valley.

Jia Heng walked to the side of the case, poured himself a cup of tea slowly, closed his eyes slightly, and said lightly: "I went to a gentleman's house as a guest today, so I came back a little late."

He made a little guess as to where Qingwen was suddenly distraught.

One possibility is that he had promised to teach Qingwen how to read and write books, but today he had a drink and came home late, so he probably couldn't do it.

Another possibility is that Aunt Cai brought two maids with her.

After Jia Heng finished speaking, he held up the teacup and drank the tea, um, the tea was still warm, it seemed like fresh tea leaves, slightly sweet, did honey be added?

Qingwen trembled slightly when she heard the words, raised her bright melon-seeded face, looked at Jia Heng with her eyes closed and rested, and said quietly: "Master, how come you eat wine so late?"

Jia Heng opened his eyes, smiled lightly, and said: "I wanted to go back early, but that gentleman held me back for a while, and I will teach you how to read after taking a bath. By the way, those words, I have to review today, and I will test you later."

Qingwen pursed her cherry lips, and said softly: "I have written down those ten words."

Jia Heng put down his teacup and said with a smile: "Remember if you can't remember, you'll know after you pass the exam."

Seeing that Jia Heng was about to lift the teapot to pour tea again, Qingwen stood up and said softly, "My lord, let me do it."

Jia Heng suppressed the smile on his face, and said lightly, "How dare you bother Miss Qingwen?"

Said without letting go of the teapot.

Qingwen's face turned pale, and said anxiously: "Master, you...it's me..."

Seeing this, Jia Heng smiled lightly, and said helplessly: "Okay, I won't tease you anymore, just don't add any honey to the tea in the future, and I don't know who you learned from?"

Only then did Qingwen turn her worries into joy, picked up the teapot, poured it into a blue-patterned white porcelain teacup with a "splash", curled her lips, and said with a smile: "The old lady eats tea like this in the house. I saw honey in the cupboard. So I added some to it, thinking that the young master would like to drink it."

Jia Heng picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and said with a light smile, "After drinking wine, I'm already thirsty, but the more I drink honey tea, the thirstier I get."

Qingwen frowned, and said with a light smile, "The young master just drank it all."

Jia Heng: "..."

(End of this chapter)