The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

Last time, I said that the little girl came up to pass on the news that the three mothers and daughters of Zhongxinhou's mansion and Sister Feng came to visit together.But when everyone in Jia's house heard this, their hearts tightened and they stood up in a hurry.Mrs. Xing looked at Jia's mother helplessly for a moment, very pitiful.

Mother Jia sighed softly, put down the bowls and chopsticks more and more bored, raised her hand and rubbed her throbbing temples, waved her hands and told the girl: "What are you waiting for, why don't you hurry up and welcome the concubine into the house."

As he spoke, he stood up and ordered: "Yuanyang supports me, let's go to the gate of the courtyard to meet Mrs. Zhongxinhou and his party."

Yuanyang responded in a low voice, and hurriedly helped Jia Mu to go out, and the other wives and girls followed behind, standing silently in a row in the courtyard.All of them were terrified, with apprehensive faces.Affected by this, Mrs. Xing felt even more guilty.

Taking advantage of Jia's mother staring at the yard with heavy thoughts, she quietly moved to Mrs. Wang and said, "You said that Sister Feng is the same, she can't solve her own family affairs at home, and she even quarrels outside." It's—could it be that she is jealous, unable to have children, unable to serve her own man, and there is something wrong with a man marrying a concubine outside? Even if she goes to court, she will be a criminal."

Mrs. Wang is upset about this matter.Hearing Mrs. Xing's words, she said coldly: "Since that's the case, you can just say these things to Mrs. Hou Ye if you have the ability. What are you talking about with me?"

Mrs. Xing was so choked by Mrs. Wang's words that she couldn't speak anymore, she snorted embarrassingly, turned her head away and stopped talking.

After a while, the family members of Zhongxin Hou's mansion and sister Wang Xifengqiao walked into the courtyard under the guidance of the girl, and Jia Mu hurried up with the support of the mandarin duck, and said with a smile: "I haven't come here some days to have a look." , how is his aunt?"

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Xue immediately took a step forward, took Jia Mu's arm and said, "The old lady is fine too!"

As he spoke, he explained calmly: "It's not that I didn't come on purpose. It's not that I'm still young, and I need a careful person to watch over me. I can't get out of my body for a while. Until now five It’s been six months before I can lift my hand for a while and come out to walk around.”

When Jia Mu heard this, she immediately smiled lovingly and said, "Xu'er is really smart and cute. It's no wonder that my aunt was reluctant to lift her hand when she saw Tian'er in her arms. I went to see Tian'er even in Baitian. One glance, that small appearance, smiling from ear to ear all day long, not to mention being a lover. When he is one year old, my concubine must tell me that I have to go and see this old bone."

Mrs. Xue said with a smile: "What is the old ancestor talking about? What is the relationship between you and my family? I will definitely invite you in person at that time. Why do you have to be so distinguished?"

Mother Jia nodded in satisfaction, and said in agreement, "Indeed, what kind of relationship between our two families is it?

As she said that, she looked at Wang Xifeng who was holding Miss Qiao behind Mrs. Xue with pity, sighed lightly, opened her arms and said, "Girl Feng, I have wronged you."

Before he could finish a sentence, Wang Xifeng burst into tears.He threw himself into Jiamu's arms and cried, "Old ancestor!"

Seeing this, Mother Jia sniffed sadly, stretched out her hand to caress the top of Wang Xifeng's head, and said, "I am old and frail now, and no one will listen to what I say. I can't make decisions for you. It's hard for my aunt to leave me alone." My brother, come here in person."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Xue immediately smiled and said: "What did the old ancestor say? Since Sister Feng is married to the Jia family, she is the daughter-in-law of the Jia family. Even if I am her aunt, I can't say anything about her husband's family. It’s just that in the early morning, Miss Feng came to our house with Sister Qiao weeping and weeping—although the old saying says that this girl’s marriage is like pouring out water. But if the girl is really hurt I was wronged, and I went back to my mother’s house to cry. As the elders of the mother’s parents, if we didn’t hear a word and spread it, I would think that we are the mother’s family without a backbone... Every family has hard-to-read scriptures, and the ancestors should be considerate of the younger generation. .”

Seeing this, Mother Jia twitched her lips in embarrassment.

The original intention of her uttering the previous words was to remind Mrs. Xue that although the Zhongxin Hou Mansion is related to the Jia family by marriage, they should not rely on their status to meddle in the Jia family's affairs.But Mrs. Xue refuted Jia's mother's words because the juniors from her natal family came to complain.He also bluntly said that if he ignored it, the outside world might guess that the Zhongxinhou Mansion was afraid of the Rongguo Mansion's influence, and even his own daughter didn't dare to stand up when she was wronged and went home crying.

Mrs. Xue said bluntly, I don't like to take care of the family affairs of your Jia family, but if you lose the reputation of Zhongxin Houfu, that is a big deal.

Some words are justified and well-founded, while overwhelming people with power, they still do not forget to move people with emotion, the words are tactful, and the conversation is lively.It was quite different from the dazed and reckless one when he first came to Beijing.Mother Jia looked carefully at Mrs. Xue who was smiling and smiling in front of her, and sighed softly.

In the end, it was Mrs. Hou who was so proud of the Holy Majesty, it was quite different from previous years.

After a moment of bored silence, Xue Baochai and Xue Pan immediately stepped forward to salute and said, "Xue Pan (Baochai) has seen the old ancestor."

Jia's mother looked at Xue Baochai, her eyes lit up, and she said with a smile, "Isn't this Baochai?

I heard that you are waiting to be married at home by the emperor's order, why are you so leisurely and carefree now, and you come to the door in person? "

Xue Baochai pursed her lips secretly, but said with a smile on her face: "This time I came out of the mansion, originally following the order of the imperial concubine Min in the palace, to go into the palace to talk with her old man. I heard that my mother and brother are going to send the wind. When my sister went back to Rongguo Mansion, Baochai thought she hadn't come to pay respects to her ancestors for a long time, so she stopped by."

What Jiamu thinks in her heart, I won't show it for the time being.On the face, he became more and more satisfied with a loving smile and said: "Okay, okay, you have such filial piety, it is the best."

At that moment, he led everyone back to the main hall and took their seats.Jiamu took Xue Baochai's hand to let her sit beside her, and said with a smile, "Your status is different now, and you have many opportunities to enter the palace. If you have time, you might as well go to Fengzao Palace to see your elder sister Yuanchun. She is struggling alone in the deep palace, and her mother's family can't rely on her. I'm afraid life will be very difficult. You often go to see her now, maybe the people in the palace will not dare to ignore her because of the Zhongxinhou's mansion. gone."

After a pause, he sighed meaningfully: "Actually, this woman, whether she is a concubine in the palace or a daughter-in-law outside the palace, the most important thing is to have an heir by her side. Now Lord Faithful and Pan'er are the most important in front of the Holy Majesty. If you are powerful, the Holy Majesty will definitely listen to your words. Why don't you say something good about Yuan Chun in front of the Holy Majesty, so that she has an heir by her side, so she can be settled in the future!"

When Xue Pan heard this, he looked at Jia's mother with a half-smile.He said very bluntly: "Since the scandal of the Empress Dowager Tong's self-reliance on helping her mother's family to commit crimes broke out, the Holy Majesty was furious, and she was very concerned about the involvement of the previous court in the harem. The old ancestor was convinced that I should speak for the empress in front of the Holy Majesty. ? It’s just that once there are other consequences, the ancestors have to bear it all.”

Mrs. Wang's expression darkened when she heard the words, and she said calmly: "Don't say that the concubine Yuan is your cousin. Xue Jia's family is in-laws. Could it be that the old ancestor begged you so shamelessly? Not willing to help with anything?"

Xue Pan sneered, looked at Mrs. Wang and said, "If you don't speak, I'll forget it. Back then, Tong's joint counselors impeached my Xue family with ten crimes, one of which was plotting to commit crimes and causing chaos. Jin Ling was the one who testified Yin Jiayu Village of Shuntian Prefecture... If I remember correctly, this Jia Yucun came to Jinling to work as an errand after following the second master of the mansion."

As soon as this remark came out, Mrs. Wang's face changed drastically.Even Jiamu's brow showed a hint of worry.

But Xue Pan continued to sneer and said, "Because Jia Yucun took the post in Jinling with the handwriting of the second master in his hand. In the spirit of the four families' sympathy, our Xue family is very polite to Mr. Jia." It's just that Mr. Jia is not clear-headed, mistook politeness for blessing, and stood in the wrong team, and now he is ransacking his home and exiled, which is no different from others! I said that Jia Yucun's actions are self-inflicted, and my aunt thinks it is no?"

Listening to Xue Pan's insidious words, Mrs. Wang's face was dripping with sweat.Immediately said awkwardly: "I am a woman, what can I know about the affairs of the men outside?"

"I don't know?" Xue Pan raised his eyebrows, shook his head and sighed: "I don't know anything, but I dare to give Jia Yucun's filial money--it was after he slandered my Xue family. I should say that my aunt is really bold, even The family belongings of criminal officials and ministers dare to hide. The concubine Yuan in the palace has a mother like you, it is better to keep a low profile. Lest one day someone inexplicably reads a book and doesn't even know how she died. "

This is really too serious.At the moment, everyone in Jia's mansion, up to Jia's mother, down to the sensible maids and women, were all shocked.He looked at Xue Pan and the others in panic.

When Jia's mother heard this, she realized that the family members of Zhongxin Hou's family came to the door today to help Sister Feng, and the most important thing was to come to Xingshi to question her crimes.

She is old and mentally ill.Therefore, most of the affairs in the mansion are left to Mrs. Wang and Sister Feng.Later, Sister Feng cheated and played tricks. After several evasions, she asked Li Wan and Tanchun to come out to do the job.Although Jia Mu didn't say anything, she felt a little grudge in her heart.Her original intention was to make good use of Mrs. Wang and Sister Feng, so that the first room and the second room could be opposed.As a result, Wang Xifeng didn't know what he ate, and he pushed all the power in his hands to the second room.As a result, the second bedroom in the mansion was dominant, and her eyes and ears were also slightly affected.She didn't know anything about Mrs. Wang's acceptance of Jia Yucun's family wealth.

At that moment, Mother Jia's face was gloomy, and she asked in a cold voice: "Young Lord, is what you are telling the truth? Secretly hiding the wealth of an official's family, that is a serious crime of confiscating your home, exile, or even losing your head. You are too courageous."

Xue Pan immediately sneered and said: "Don't think that if you are cautious, others will know nothing. Forty-Nine City is such a big place. To put it bluntly, some girl farted tonight. I wish I could see it tomorrow morning." Everyone in the city knows about it. With such an important matter, who do you really think you can keep from it for the rest of your life?"

Madam Wang's face was flushed by Xue Pan's words, and she immediately argued: "The money sent by Jia Yu Village is for Master Dafang, what has it to do with me?"

Mrs. Xing immediately interjected: "Don't lie. I didn't see how much money Jia Yucun sent and what was in it. You hid it all. of."

Mrs. Wang sneered when she heard the words, and immediately stepped forward, pointed at Mrs. Xing and said, "Don't pretend to be ignorant. This money was originally given to the old man by Jia Yucun's name at that time—"

Mrs. Xing immediately asked back: "Since it was given to our master, why did the money get into your house?"

Mrs. Wang choked for a while, and looked at the old lady Shi who was sitting in the seat, and said, "I'm not trying to make trouble for the family. You know, old lady, that our family has not been as good as it used to be since the imperial concubine and the family garden were built. Guogong Mansion, even if it is frugal, where can I go? I used to have Feng girl to help me make arrangements, but now Feng girl also shrugged off her poor health and lifted her hand. Up and down in the mansion, inside and outside, I can't take care of any place, big or small. Even if a little money from Dafang is used, it's not for this family, so it's possible that Dafang doesn't have the obligation to honor the old lady?"

Mrs. Xing chuckled even more contemptuously, and said: "What you said is very high-sounding. Who doesn't know how much money you have embezzled in the palace over the past few years in charge of the family, and now you have confessed clearly. If you really ask your heart No shame, why don't you show the pair of ledgers and treasury of the chariots and horses today, and see whether this huge Rongguo Mansion has lost its livelihood and lost its money, or whether it has been enriched by others and secretly moved into your own pockets."

Mrs. Wang was furious when she heard the words, and immediately knelt in front of the old lady and confessed: "The old lady must decide for me! I have worked so hard to manage the family for so many years, and there is no credit and hard work. How can she let her arrange me like this? Please ask the old lady to seek justice for me."

Seeing this, Mrs. Xing simply went all out and said: "Don't say you are so wronged. Whether you are greedy or not, everyone will find out."

Mrs. Wang glared at Mrs. Xing bitterly, and said in a cold voice: "Don't be complacent, don't think that your master became rampant after fawning on the Nan'an mansion, even disregarding the old lady's face. To tell the truth, it really annoys me. I will tear everyone's face apart, so I will tell you about the secrets and major events that your big house plotted that are either shady or head-losing, and I want to see who will be the first to be unlucky."

Mrs. Xing was shocked when she heard the words, she immediately waved her hands in a panic, and opened her mouth to defend: "Don't talk nonsense, I don't know about the affairs of the men outside, you are a wife of a deep house, like me, you don't leave the door and don't go out. what do you know?"

Mrs. Wang immediately sneered and said: "Why don't you know, it wasn't you who came to me with a proud face to show off, saying that our lord has no skills, even if you are optimistic about a clearer, you voluntarily ran to your lord's door. You are still in a hurry to give gifts to your master, and to do things for your master. Pooh, you are not ashamed to make troubles because of a broken fan, but you are proud of yourself."

Seeing this, Mrs. Xing knew that what Mrs. Wang said was not a confidential matter in Ping'an Prefecture. She breathed a sigh of relief, and then yelled angrily: "What right do you have to say about me? Our master accepted Jia Yucun's I bought a few broken fans, but those were not ordered by our master. People took a fancy to my master's ability and took the initiative to climb up. How can my master still control other people's behavior? It is you, a woman, who is doing it for a few The money went out to release usury, if this spread, it would be a serious crime!"

Seeing this, Jia's mother became more and more headache.