After the Rebirth of the Red Chamber

The Xue family deserves to be an imperial merchant, and their political sensitivity is much higher than that of ordinary families. Almost as soon as the news came out, Xue Duan immediately made a decision.

Indeed, as Lou Yuzhen expected, the Xue family's attitude towards the Lou family became more gentle and intimate.When Mrs. Lou came to the Xue family for help, she was very embarrassed.For half of her life, she went smoothly and rarely bowed her head to others. If it wasn't for her daughter, she would never give up her old face and make such an almost embarrassing request to her in-laws.

But Mrs. Xue, who received her, had an extremely natural attitude. Unknowingly, Mrs. Lou was guided by her and revealed the purpose of her visit.

"What else do I care about?" Xue Wang didn't care at all, as if Mrs. Lou said that instead of cashing in a large sum of dowry in one day, she turned her palms.

Mrs. Xue Wang took Mrs. Lou's hand cordially, and said with a smile, "They are all relatives of our own family. How can such a small matter be called a petition?"

Mrs. Lou was very grateful: "It's really troublesome for the in-laws."

Xue Wang glanced at her reproachfully, and said with all her heart, "We are all parents. Is there anything I don't understand about your thoughts? It just so happens that my girl also wants to save a dowry. How can you give me such a ready-made good thing?" Save me trouble."

It's very pleasant to listen to.What's more, what she said was all the truth, which made Mrs. Lou feel that the relationship is really good.

The two talked a lot about themselves again, during which time, Wang Xue imperceptibly interspersed with many taboos in the palace, as well as entanglements about the eldest prince's birth mother and adoptive mother.Mrs. Lou listened carefully, and was about to cry when she went back, so she relayed the story to her eldest daughter so that her eyes would not go dark when she entered the capital.

When it was time to leave, Mrs. Lou left with [-]% gratitude.Xue Wang saw her off, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

——She hasn't been so flattering for a long time, and she was really exhausted for a while.

"Ma'am." Ge Zi and Liu Erjia rushed forward to support her, and Liu Er's family said distressedly, "Madam, get on the couch and lie down for a while." Then he turned his head and told Bai Ling, "Go and put the red dates that are warming on the stove. Black-bone chicken soup, bring it to my wife."

Mrs. Xue nodded and ordered: "Go get someone to tell the master, it's done."

"Yes." The eldest servant girl, Myna, took the order and left.

When she was on the couch, the pigeon knelt and sat beside her, pinching her shoulders and thumping her back with moderate strength, loosening her muscles and bones.

Not long after, Bailing came in with a cup of black-bone chicken soup, lifted the curtain, and said with a smile: "The kitchen was stewed early in the morning, and by this time, the bones are all stewed. The servant asked He's family Carefully skim off the oil, it is nourishing and not greasy, my wife should use more."

"I'm tired of you." Xue Wang's voice couldn't hide the exhaustion, "Give me a bowl."

"Hey." Bailing responded crisply and loudly, quickly filled a bowl of yellowish chicken soup in a small lotus bowl, and was about to hand it to Xue Wang, but was robbed by Liu Er's family: "Come and give it to me." Bar."

"Come on, ma'am, be careful." Liu Er's family scooped up a spoonful, blew it cool gently, and brought it directly to Xue Wang's mouth.Xue Wang just drank half a bowl, then waved his hand and stopped drinking.

The Liu's family handed the soup bowl to Bai Ling, and while pinching the handkerchief to wipe Xue Wang's mouth, he asked puzzledly: "Although the eldest girl of the Lou family is with the eldest prince, she is just a concubine. My aunt is flattering her. She has a side concubine and a princess on top of her. Why does the wife have to be so polite to their family?"

Mrs. Xue Wang smiled lightly, and said: "The thing about grace is the most uncertain thing. She is just an aunt now, who can guarantee that she will not have the fate of becoming a side concubine in the future?"

The two of Liu's family nodded, flatteringly said: "Master and wife still have far-reaching thoughts."

Xue Wangshi smiled, but did not speak.

In fact, she still has deeper considerations that she hasn't said: she has learned the lesson of the old sage when the princes seized the throne, and has suppressed the other princes except the eldest prince.If the eldest girl of the Lou family is promising enough, she will have great luck in the future.

It's just that the harem is dangerous, and I don't know if she has this life.

******

Besides, after Xue Duan got the news from his wife, he started to prepare a gift for the eldest prince.

Of course, now this gift can be sent through the Lou family, one gift can earn two favors.

There are gemstones of good quality, jade, agate, turquoise and other gemstones, the most fashionable materials in the south of the Yangtze River, and the latest jewelry from the workshop.

These are given to the eldest girl of the Lou family, which can be regarded as makeup.

And the ones given to the eldest prince are relatively simple and rude.

It is the two pawnshops in the capital.

While Xue Duan was still considering whether there was anything inappropriate about this gift, Wang Ziteng's handwritten letter arrived.

"Ha ha."

"What's the matter, master?" Baochai, who was helping to arrange the gift list, heard this ambiguous smile and couldn't help asking curiously.

As far as she knew, every time her uncle Wang Ziteng wrote a letter, there were only two things.Either, let his father help him collect some news about Jiangnan; or, let his father secretly make trouble for his grandmother and third uncle Wang Zisheng, lest they spoil what he is planning.

Could it be that there is an exception this time?

Xue Duan shook his head "tsk tsk", and sighed mockingly: "You aunt, I really don't know what to say about her?"

Back then, Xue Duan had already guessed Wang Ziteng's reaction when Jia Wang's family tried to use his mother-in-law Zhen's to put pressure on their family.If not, even if he is worried about Wang Ziteng, he would not dare to turn his back so simply.

Baochai took the letter and looked at it, and couldn't help sighing: This is really impossible!

Doesn't my aunt know that her biggest, and it can be said to be the only backer, is her second uncle?

Grandmother seems to be doting on her, but that is just for the world to show that she has not treated her original children harshly.But when it comes to actual interests, my grandmother will definitely kick my aunt away without hesitation.

"Is the master ready to help?"

In the letter, Wang Ziteng asked Xue Duan to help build a bridge with Jia Amnesty, and it seemed that he really wanted to give up on his aunt.

"Help, why don't you help?" Xue Duan said, "Your uncle used the Jia family's contacts and owed the Jia family a favor. If he is not allowed to return the favor to Jia She, he must return it to your uncle. body."

It is an unspoken rule in officialdom to pay back favors owed.If Wang Ziteng relied on the decline of the Jia family, he would dare to eat for free. In the future, it would be difficult to find allies in the officialdom.

After all, such ungrateful people are most likely to sell their allies for profit.Because the bottom line of this kind of person is lower than the average person.

That's why, even if Wang Ziteng looked down on Jia Zheng in the past, he would still help him when he got into trouble.

If not, how could it be possible for Jia Zheng to sit firmly in Yuanwailang's position for 20 years with Jia Zheng's lofty temperament and almost incapable of handling affairs?

Baochai didn't understand these things at first, but after hearing his father's explanation, he couldn't help but suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

Then, she took the two land deeds that were going to be given to the eldest prince, and asked hesitantly: "Isn't it too simple to give only two shops?"

Xue Duan said with a smile: "This is enough, if there is more, our family will be regarded as a fat sheep."

Although these two pawnshops are making a lot of money every day, compared with the Xue family's property, they are just a drop in the bucket, which is really not worth mentioning.When Xue Duan picked out these two title deeds, he didn't even bat an eye.

Not only that, Xue Duan counted the existing pawn items in the pawn shop, including the antiques in the warehouse that had not been transported in time, as extras and sent them out together.

These are nothing to the Xue family.But for the prince who pays less than [-] a year, it is not a small sum.If there were more, it would make the First Prince feel uncomfortable.

After all, it's nothing compared to a businessman having money, but it's another matter if a businessman throws money at him.

Baochai hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously: "What my daughter means is that seeing that the Eldest Prince is doing well, since Master wants to entrust the four major families, why don't the whole family join him?"

This is the basic operation for most businessmen in the world to find a backer.

The powerful borrow the money of the merchant, and the merchant borrows the influence of the powerful.In name, after the whole family defected, all the money belonged to the rich and powerful, but the rich and powerful still needed businessmen to earn more money for them, so naturally they would not be so careless.

In Baochai's view, if the Xue family really wanted to get rid of the influence of the four major families, it would undoubtedly be an excellent way out to join the eldest prince.

But Xue Duan shook his head and sighed: "Others can, but our family can't."

"Why is this?"

Xue Duan said: "You don't know. When your grandfather was alive, he worked as a secret agent for the old sage in the south of the Yangtze River and controlled some of the General Secretary. Later, your grandfather went early. I was just 16 years old at that time. The old sage was worried about me. That's why we withdrew the branch of our family. But when I was young, I was also contaminated by these things. The First Prince is not a saint after all, if I become his disciple, neither the old saint nor the saint will be at ease. "

This is the first time that Baochai knows that her family still has this relationship.

In this way, it will be impossible for the whole family to go to this road.

At this time, Xue Pan's hearty laughter sounded outside the door, Baochai was about to go out to have a look, Xue Pan pushed open the door of the study all at once, laughed uncontrollably and said, "Master, I really told you to talk about it." If so, then Ji He himself will commit suicide."

Xue Duan frowned: "Speak well!"

"Oh, oh," Xue Pan took a few breaths and suppressed his smile, "You don't know how badly Ji He was beaten by the Xiao family? Ouch, tsk tsk, that face was dyed." It seems that two tubes of nosebleeds are drooping, and I don't know if the bridge of the nose is broken?"

"Ji He?" Xue Duan was puzzled, "Who is Ji He?"

After so many days, Xue Duan has long forgotten such a small person.

Xue Pan's excitement stopped abruptly, and the joy of sharing was greatly reduced.