The Red Mansions

Chapter 996 Sister Feng: How did you meet this friend again?
Tangli Palace, in the palace
The palace where Princess Xianning lives in the boudoir is luxuriously and exquisitely furnished, with bright and clean windows, and entering it, the fragrance of vanilla lingers in the room.

Jia Heng and Princess Xianning took their seats again, while Chen Ze on the side wrapped Jia Heng around, raised his face, and said, "Brother-in-law, did Master Lu lie to me?"

Jia Heng said: "He just didn't tell the truth. There were quite a few civil servants who were domineering. In the Song and Ming Dynasties, civil servants even spit and flew around in front of the emperor, and there were many civil servants who bullied the young master."

Princess Xianning stretched out her slender fingers, tapped Chen Ze's forehead, and said with a chuckle, "You, don't listen to the one-sided words of those rotten scholars, they just want to teach you more about civility than martial arts, civil and martial arts. You can't ignore it, your brother-in-law is not only engaged in martial arts, but previously he controlled the river and patrolled the salt, which one was achieved by fighting and killing?"

Today's young girls are increasingly taking on the role of Jia Heng's wife.

Chen Ze nodded, with a thoughtful expression on his small face, he said, "Brother-in-law, can you teach me to read history? These ancient things sound very interesting."

Jia Heng smiled and said: "If I'm not busy, you go find your sister, and then I'll talk to you."

Then, looking at Princess Xianning, he smiled lightly and said, "This age is exactly the age of curiosity about something. He is talented, keen and eager to learn."

Xianning and Chen Ze are two siblings who were born of the same mother, so they must have deep feelings.

Chen Zejian said bluntly: "Then I can ask my brother-in-law for advice, sister, don't you mind?"

Princess Xianning Yuyan smiled, pinched Chen Ze's face, and said: "When your brother-in-law is not busy, you can ask again, your brother-in-law is busy all day long, I can't see you for a year Several sides."

Jia Heng looked at the girl and said, "Isn't it just that I went outside the customs earlier and delayed a little longer?"

Princess Xianning sighed: "At first I wanted to go there with my husband, but it still didn't work out."

The cousin has been with the husband for a long time, and the relationship between the husband and the cousin must be much deeper than her.

Li Chanyue looked at the two of them and Chen Ze, Zang Xingyunyue's eyes were full of envy.

She also wants to have such a sister, um, she seems to have one soon, right?

I don't know what to think of, the girl's jade cheeks are stained with blush, and her heart is a little uneasy.

Princess Xianning looked at the young man with bright eyes, and said with a light smile, "Sir, the Three Kingdoms should still be written."

Jia Heng took a sip from the teacup, put it down and said, "I almost forgot if you didn't tell me, I'm going to write the fourth book in my spare time these days."

It's time to write about the Battle of Chibi, laying the foundation for three parts of the world. Well, to some extent, it also corresponds to the situation of the Han captives after the victory in Ping'an Prefecture?
"Sister, I usually read the Three Kingdoms script written by my brother-in-law, okay?" Chen Zeyang looked at his sister and said.

Princess Xianning reproached and said: "You still don't know how to read, it's time to read more scriptures, what are you doing with those scriptures? The concubine mother should say that you are not doing your job properly."

Chen Ze smiled and said, "Sister, I'm not young anymore, I can read almost a thousand characters."

Jia Heng smiled and said, "Xianning, it's okay to look at it at this time."

Do you want to bet on this brother-in-law?

It's just that he is so smart, if he really becomes the emperor, will he be the first to deal with himself?

Jia Heng tossed his mind back and forth, looked at Xianning, and said softly: "It's not so hot now, it's still early, why don't we go out for a walk?"

During the Dragon Boat Festival, staying in the palace is not much fun. As for playing around with Xianning and Chanyue, it's not easy to do with Song Yan and Chen Ze.

The palace followed the rules, and the etiquette could not be worse.

Princess Xianning hesitated for a moment, and said: "Sir, my concubine won't let brother go outside, saying that there is some chaos outside."

Chen Ze raised his face and said, "Sister, take me there, I want to go outside too."

Song Yan looked at Jia Heng, her big bright eyes flickered, and she clenched her handkerchief.

Just like when you are young, you should not meet someone who is too amazing. Although it is only a short time to get along with each other, Jia Heng, the cousin-in-law, has gradually left a deep impression on the girl's heart.

While everyone was talking, they drove out of the palace in a carriage and headed towards Qujiang Pond.

Qujiang Pond

At this moment, there are pavilions, towers and pavilions on both sides of the coast, and many dignitaries, including the royal family and nobles, are on the pavilions, either embracing singers, or having banquets and talking about ancient times with friends.

Naturally discussing the imperial examination fraud case that occurred in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

But Jia Heng rode on a horse and went to a restaurant run by the steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, called "Fude Restaurant".

The shopkeeper followed several young nobles from the backyard and went up to the third floor of the restaurant.

At this moment, on the third floor of the same restaurant, Gao Yong, the son of King Zhongshun, Chen Hong, and Chen Rui brothers, entered a box, called the waiter to order the dishes, and pushed the cups to change.

Gao Yong and Chen Hong are old friends who have known each other for many years, but Gao Yong looked gloomy at the moment, took a sip of gloomy wine, and said: "Then Jia Heng obviously has a wife, and the palace still bestows the daughter of the clan to a married man." The wife, the princess with golden branches and jade leaves and other women serve one person, what is the reason, and she even said a tricky way to deceive oneself and others!"

Hearing this, Chen Hong persuaded: "Brother Gao, after all, the Duke of Wei has achieved world-shattering feats, and there is a certain preference in the palace."

In fact, it is better to win over the Jia family and defend the royal family with Yi Yi.

"What nonsense credit! If I can get the benefit of the firecracker and lead the troops to Xuanda, I can also take the head of Huang Taiji!" Gao Yong said in a deep voice with an angry expression on his face.

Although Jia Heng killed the slave chieftain and made great achievements, not everyone was convinced by it.

Chen Rui looked at Gao Yong from the side, and secretly sighed.

Brother Gao clearly planted his love for Princess Xianning early, but Princess Xianning was given a marriage to Duke Wei, which can be regarded as hatred for taking his wife.

Gao Yong drank the wine from the wine cup continuously, and after a short while, he became drunk and complained: "Father went to Sichuan to supervise the army, and the palace agreed to promise me Xianning, but now he has backtracked!"

In fact, Emperor Chongping never said such a thing, it was just that Empress Song and Gao Zhongping's wife joked like this back then, and Emperor Chongping ignored it at the time.

Chen Hong's eyes flickered, and he advised, "Brother Gao, you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk." Gao Yong said in a low voice, after a while, he got up, obviously going to relieve himself.

Chen Hong greeted: "Come here, hurry up and help me."

Two servants from Zhongshun County Prince's Mansion and the generals of Gao's family hurried over to help Gao Yong, and went to the toilet under the guidance of the staff.

Chen Hong turned to Chen Rui and said, "The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, and a new generation replaces the old."

Isn't their father the same?At the beginning, he was trusted by the fourth uncle in the palace and took charge of the House of Internal Affairs, but now he has ended up being deposed as a commoner and guarding the mausoleum of the emperor.

Chen Rui frowned, and asked: "Brother, the Gao family and the Jia family are now favorites in the palace. If there is a conflict between the two families, will the court be in turmoil?"

Chen Hong said with emotion: "Now the court situation is already in turmoil. I don't know what big shots will be involved in the imperial examination fraud case just now."

He faintly felt a little sinister.

Jia Heng is protecting Princess Xianning, Princess Qinghe, Song Yan, and the eighth prince Chen Ze. He climbs up the wooden stairs and comes to another box. He leans against the window and looks up at the dragon boat on the Qujiang Pond. .

The fleet is already paddling and racing dragon boats.

Jia Heng raised the teacup, took a sip, and felt the fragrance on his teeth and cheeks.

Princess Xianning said softly: "Sir, this is organized by the Jingzhao Prefecture. Each of the counties under the Jingzhao Prefecture has a fleet. There has been a race in the morning, and four teams have been determined. Now it is the final."

Looking at the noisy crowd below, Jia Heng seemed to feel the high-spirited momentum.

Chen Ze also looked down through the window, and said, "Sister, is there any prize for winning this game?"

"It seems to be 500 taels of silver." At this time, a guy answered with a smile.

Looking at these people in front of them with gorgeous clothes, fair faces, and the patterns of dragons and phoenixes on the jade pendants, they probably came from the palace.

Song Yan and Li Chanyue also looked down through the railing, and there were expressions of joy on the childish and graceful faces.

While everyone was looking around, there was a sound of quarreling outside the screen door. It was clearly that the servants of Jinyi Mansion accompanying Jia Heng were quarreling with a drunk man.

Jia Heng frowned, got up, looked at Princess Xianning, and said, "I'll go and see."

At this time, Gao Yong said: "What are you, good dogs don't get in the way!"

It turned out that just now Gao Yong went to the toilet, he walked along the corridor in a daze and wanted to go to another direction, not wanting to be blocked by two well-dressed men, so he started pushing and shoving after a few words.

Afterwards, the Jinyi mansion guard showed his waist card at this moment, and shouted angrily: "Who are you scolding?"

Gao Yong saw the waist card clearly, squinted his sleepy drunken eyes, saw the seal seal on the card clearly, and murmured: "Jin Yiwei?"

I couldn't help feeling timid in my heart, but immediately my heart surged with anger, my eyes were blood red, and I roared angrily: "So it's Jia Heng's subordinate!"

He raised his fist and punched the black-faced Captain Jinyi in the face.

At this time, the servants of the Zhongshun Palace and the servants of the Gao family who were guarding Gao Yong's convenience also ran over in a panic, held Gao Yong tightly, and said, "Third Master, don't be impulsive."

Jin Yifu was punched in the face, his nose became sore, nosebleeds would flow down immediately, he was furious, and said angrily: "You guys are so courageous! Attack the Son of Heaven's army! Go call someone."

Although they came in casual clothes, there were about a dozen guards in the Jinyi Mansion, mainly guarding Jia Heng and Princess Xianning and his party in the boxes on the floor.

Chen Hong and Chen Qin, sons of the Zhongshun Prince in the private room at the northeast corner, rushed over upon hearing the news, hurriedly approached, with eager expressions on their faces, and said, "Brothers, misunderstanding, misunderstanding, it's because they drank too much, and they didn't intend to offend."

As if he was worried that the two people in Jinyi Mansion would not give up, Chen Hong took out a waist card and said quickly: "This is the king of Zhongshun County, Chen Hong, brother Jinyi, please forgive me, this is the third son of the governor of Liangjiang, Mr. Gao. I drank too much, and I was reckless for a while, this brother will forgive me, come here, quickly invite this brother to be a doctor."

Not long after, a young man in a green shirt and a straight suit appeared from the corner at the end of the corridor. Dao's gaze under his sword eyebrows was as dark as a falcon.

Chen Hong's heart trembled slightly, and his eyes narrowed.

Duke Wei, Jia Heng!

Chen Rui also caught a glimpse of the young man in green shirt, and shivered slightly. When he met him in Dongcheng Horse Market, he suffered a lot back then.

In fact, this was the first time Jia Heng met Chen Hong, and he hadn't had much face-to-face with this son of the Zhongshun Palace before.

The King of Zhongshun seems to be very low-key.

At the beginning, King Zhongshun was involved in the collapse of the imperial mausoleum, but he was deposed by the Supreme Emperor and became a commoner.

Afterwards, Emperor Chongping favored his son, Chen Hong, and succeeded him as the county king, which can be regarded as showing the filial piety and affection of the Tian family.

"But the Duke of Wei is in person?" Duke Zhongshun bowed his hands to the young man, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart.

Jia Heng nodded, ignored Chen Hong, looked at the two guards of the Jinyi Mansion, and asked, "What happened just now?"

"Captain, just now this man drank and trespassed. The humble official was ordered to guard and stop him. He revealed his identity as Jinyi, but he scolded him, and then punched the humble official involuntarily." The Jinyi mansion guard said in a low voice.

Chen Hong said: "Misunderstandings are all misunderstandings."

Jia Heng looked at Gao Yong, whose cheeks were already drunk, with cold eyes.

Looking at the young man, Gao Yong opened his sleepy eyes and said, "Jia Heng, I know you. If my father hadn't gone to Sichuan, how could you be useful? How could Xianning be married to you?"

Jia Heng interrupted his words and said: "Come here, take down this lunatic who attacked the Son of Heaven's own army and has no respect!"

Li Shu heard the words behind him, he promised loudly, and the guards of Jinyi Mansion shouted together, and then several guards of Jinyi Mansion stepped forward and pressed Gao Yong who was drunk.

Seeing this panic, Gao Yong waved two fists, trying to stop the guards of the Jinyi Palace from approaching, but he was staggering drunk, how could this drunken fist be the opponent of all the guards of the Jinyi Palace? The mansion guard held him tightly, humming non-stop on the ground.

Jia Heng looked at the Jinyi mansion guard who was holding a handkerchief to his bleeding nose, and said in a deep voice, "Why did he beat you, you beat him back!"

The captain in Jinyi's face was stunned, and then he came to the realization, his eyes flashed fiercely, and he punched Gao Yong's face fiercely.

"boom!"

Gao Yong only felt his nose sore, his eyes glistened, and immediately nosebleeds flowed down his nose, except for a muffled groan, all words were blocked in his mouth.

Jia Heng stared at Gao Yong, and said coldly: "If your father hadn't been in charge of the army in Sichuan for many years, and had worked so hard in the imperial court, because you are so unrestrained today, I will teach you what is the emperor's pro-army, and you should not be insulted !"

Hearing this, Gao Yong's eyes were filled with fear and fear, and his heart was shaken.

Chen Hong, the king of Zhongshun County, changed his face, his lips moved, but he didn't speak a word after all.

"Take it back to Jinyi Mansion to sober up and notify the leader of the Gao family!" Jia Heng said in a deep voice.

"Yes." The guards of Jinyi Mansion shouted in unison, and escorted Gao Yong down the stairs.

When he was escorted away, Jia Heng turned his eyes to Chen Hong calmly, and said, "My lord, His Highness Xianning and His Highness the Eighth Prince are in Box A at the moment, are you going to see him?"

There was a little unnaturalness on Chen Hong's fair face. Hearing this, he smiled slightly and said, "Did Wei Guogong come here with Xianning?"

As the eldest son of King Zhongshun, he is nearly thirty years old, so he is naturally much calmer in the Tian family.

Jia Heng nodded, glanced at Chen Rui who was dodging his eyes, stretched out his hand and said, "Your Majesty, come with me."

He didn't take Gao Yong's little episode too seriously.

Chen Hong settled down and followed Jia Heng to the inner wing.

Princess Xianning was also a little curious at the moment that Jia Heng had been away for so long, and sent a female official disguised as a man with her to go to the place where the incident happened to check the situation.

The female officer whispered: "Your Highness, Duke Wei is here."

Following the sound of footsteps, Jia Heng, Chen Hong, and Chen Rui entered the wing.

Seeing Princess Xianning, Chen Hong smiled on her fair face and asked, "Xianning, are you here too?"

Princess Xianning's bright eyes flashed, she also pulled Chen Ze up, and said, "Let's come over to watch the dragon boat race, what a coincidence, my brother is here too."

Chen Hong is the oldest in the Chen Han clan.

Chen Hong smiled and explained: "I just had a drink with Brother Gao, I don't think he just drank too much, he was reckless and offended Duke Wei, but it was all a misunderstanding."

As she said that, she turned to look at the eighth prince, Chen Ze, and said with a smile, "Ze'er, long time no see."

Chen Ze also called out crisply: "Brother."

The two sides just exchanged a few words of pleasantries, and Chen Hong said a few polite words, but he didn't stay much, so he left with the excuse of having something to do.

After Brother Chen Hong left, Princess Xianning looked at Jia Heng with clear eyes and concern, and asked, "Sir, what happened just now?"

Jia Heng put down the teacup and said in a low voice: "Gao Yong drank too much wine and took the opportunity to provoke. Now he has been escorted to Jinyi Mansion, it's not a big deal."

Princess Xianning nodded and said in a low voice: "Sir, Father still trusts the Gao family very much."

Jia Heng nodded, and said softly: "It seems that it's getting late, let's watch the dragon boat race, and I'll send you back to the palace."

After Gao Yong's incident, everyone's playful thoughts faded a lot.

……

……

As night fell, the lights on both sides of Ningrong Street were lit up, Jia Heng sent Princess Xianning and Li Chanyue back, and returned to Ningguo Mansion through the palace gate.

Entering the outer study room, meeting the girl's staring gaze, said softly: "Xiaoxiao, the public opinion in Beijing is boiling now, and the palace asked me to send someone to assist the Metropolitan Procuratorate in the investigation."

Chen Xiao nodded, and said in a clear voice: "I just sent someone to inquire about it. Yu De, the capital censor of Youqin, has been brought to the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It seems that Han Ge's son is also involved in the case."

Jia Heng frowned slightly, and asked, "Yu Zhen and Han Hui? How could they be involved in this case?"

"I don't know why." Chen Xiao said, "Do you think you are going to spread this matter now?"

"Spread it out?" Jia Heng's eyes flashed, his face thoughtful, and he said, "This is to roast Han and Zhao on the fire pit."

Chen Xiaodao: "Didn't they be suspicious of you these days? They were about to plan to suppress it. Now that the imperial examination fraud has been exposed, they are too busy to take care of themselves, and they are no longer able to point the finger at you."

Jia Heng cast his eyes on Chen Xiao, smiled lightly and said, "It's a good idea, but the palace may take this opportunity to suppress the Zhejiang people."

Xiaoxiao is indeed a virtuous housemate, but unfortunately she is also the princess, so she cannot be married like Chanyue.

Chen Xiaodao: "However, right now, it's just helping you to exhaust the Zhejiang Party and silence the criticism. It's difficult to expel the Zhejiang Party from the imperial court."

Jia Heng agreed and said: "I know this matter. Since Han Huang became the chief assistant of the cabinet, the scholars and civil servants in the south of the Yangtze River suppressed the opinions of generals. It can be said that it has become very popular. Now after this incident, their momentum is naturally depressed."

"It's still the same in the court situation, even if there are no Han and Zhao, there are others." Jia Heng said, gently took the girl's plain hand, and put it in his arms.

This is due to Chen Han's political system. It is impossible to prevent scholars from the south from entering the central area. Once they enter the central area, regional disputes will inevitably occur.

Surrounded by her waist, Chen Xiao couldn't help but gently grabbed the boy's hand, and said angrily, "Aren't you hot in such a hot day?"

"What's hot?" Jia Heng paused, and said in a low voice, "Xiaoxiao, we will get married in a few days, are you happy?"

Chen Xiao: "..."

What was she happy about, if she didn't have a grand and solemn wedding, she just went to the bridal chamber?

"Actually, you were mentioned in the palace today." Jia Heng said in a low voice, wrapping his arms around the girl's slender waist, sniffing the fragrance from the girl's hair.

Chen Xiaoxiu raised her eyebrows, and said in surprise: "What did the palace say?"

"Didn't the palace mention the marriage with Chahar Mongolia, and then think of you." Jia Heng said in a low voice.

There was a flash of surprise in Chen Xiao's eyes, and immediately said in a cold voice: "I didn't think of me when it was a good thing, but I did think of me when I was about sending off my daughter and getting married."

Jia Heng held the slender hand, and the tenderness and softness overflowed in the palm, as if he could feel the girl's emotions.

Chen Xiao calmed down, and said: "Just now Zhenxi came to look for you in the study from Qichiyuan, and said that there was a letter from Jiangnan. Seeing that you were not here, she took it back."

Compared to Princess Jinyang who didn't write to ask about Jia Heng's situation, Zhen Qing couldn't calm down and asked about Jia Heng's situation by writing a letter to Zhen Xi.

"I'll take a look at the Qichiyuan later." Jia Heng thought for a while and said in a low voice.

In the few days since I came back, I haven't had time to see Zhen Lan and Zhen Xi. I really can't get away.

Chen Xiaoqing said: "That Zhen Lan doesn't look like a fuel-efficient lamp, you should pay more attention to it, don't let her see your nonsense, if the news about the sisters of the Zhen family spreads, you will also be ruined."

Holding the heavy pear, Jia Heng leaned close to her ear and said affectionately: "Well, I will pay attention."

Chen Xiao opened Jia Heng's hand with some embarrassment, and said in a clear voice, "Over there in the south of the Yangtze River, when are you going?"

Why does this person like this?
Jia Heng said: "After the big wedding, let's go there together."

Without Xiaoxiao to help watch the wind, it would be somewhat unrealistic to meet Zhen Qing.

Afterwards, Jia Heng got tired of Chen Xiao for a while, and left the study room, ready to go to the Qichi Courtyard of the Grand View Garden to see Zhen Lan and Zhen Xi.

At this moment, the night is falling, all the houses are lit, and the summer frogs and cicadas are intertwined, but there is a little bit of "the bright moon leaves the branches to startle the magpies, the breeze sings the cicadas in the middle of the night, and the fragrance of rice flowers says a good year, and listen to the frogs". Feel.

From time to time, nurses and maidservants who were watching the night and listening to orders passed by, smiling and saluting to Jia Heng.

Both Ningrong and Rongfu have been caught in the excitement of Jia Heng being granted the title of Duke and the marriage bestowed by the emperor these days.

Today's Jia family is a bit stronger than the concubine Yuan's family in the original book.

Jia Heng walked through the back house, passed the vermilion gate, and walked along the rocky rockery and the corridor of evergreen pines and cypresses. Suddenly, he was taken aback, but saw a few lanterns coming out of the Yuelian gate.

Sister Feng and Ping'er in red dresses walked over slowly, talking about something.

"Brother Heng." Sister Feng stood still, and looked at the young man with some surprise, her face was first surprised, then delighted.

Why did you meet this friend again?
(End of this chapter)