The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

The next day is the Mid-Autumn Festival on August [-]th.Before dawn, all parts of the mansion have been cleaned and tidy.Xue Zhizhang took the whole family, including Xue Zhiwen and his children Xue Bian and Baoqin, to the ancestral hall.

After paying homage to the ancestors, paying homage to the ancestors, and all the male and female relatives kowtowed and offered incense, they slowly exited the ancestral hall.Dressed according to the rank and make-up, I sat in a sedan chair and went to the palace to have an audience. After receiving the banquet, I just returned home and changed into homely clothes to start my own celebration.

A long time ago, the mother-in-law who was in charge came back with all the melons, fruits and moon cakes, all waiting to be distributed and given away.Xue Zhizhang nodded, and while letting his servants change his clothes, he turned around and smiled at Mrs. Xue, "It's up to you to welcome and send him off. It's reasonable for me to lead the children to the front to entertain him."

Mrs. Xue nodded and smiled, and Tete ordered a few gossips such as eating less cold wine, and then separated from the men in the mansion.After I went by myself, I started to arrange various trivial matters.

This time, Xue Zhizhang went to Ruanrou Township in person, and dragged Xue Pan and Xue Biao, two lazy people who refused to get up on the bed while changing clothes, out of the backyard, just happened to meet Xue Zhiwen who had changed into court clothes on the way, and everyone They looked at each other and smiled, and walked to the front hall together.Not long after arriving, Yao Bin came to report that the masters and young masters and misses of the Lin family had arrived at the mansion.

Xue Pan was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately passed Yao Bin towards the gate of the mansion.At that time, the father and son of the Lin family who rushed over after changing their court clothes had just walked into the front yard and entered the second gate.Xue Panyang pulled Lin Mozhi's sleeve with a smile on his face and said with a smile: "That's right, everyone gathers together to eat wine and watch the moon. This is the gift of Mid-Autumn Festival reunion."

Lin Mozhi saw Xue Pan's evasive behavior and genuine affection, and shook his head helplessly, but his heart became more open and warm.

Xue Pan greeted Lin Ruhai again and said, "I have met Uncle Lin."

Lin Daiyu had already got off the sedan chair in the side courtyard, and Baochai and Baoqin might have taken her to Wutongyuan to talk at this moment.So there was no sign of her.

Xue Pan grabbed Lin Mozhi's sleeve and led him to the main hall in person. On the way, he met brothers Xue Zhizhang and Xue Bian who hurried up.Xue Zhizhang nodded Xue Pan's head and said with a smile: "I'm spoiled by this child, brother Lin please don't take offense at his abruptness."

Lin Ruhai shook his head with a smile, and said, "I think Pan'er has a real temperament, so that's good."

As he said that, he looked at Lin Mozhi, his adopted son, who was next to him meaningfully, and sighed softly: "If you don't have a plan and a city, you won't have any troubles. You are happy and leisurely all day, and you are really envious of others." !"

Lin Mozhi felt Lin Ruhai's caring and worried eyes, and he licked the corners of his mouth lightly.Dissatisfied with being shot in the knee, Xue Pan pouted and dragged him to the hall.

The clever little girl offered tea and invited everyone to drink tea.Xue Zhizhang, Lin Ruhai and Xue Zhiwen naturally chatted about the upheaval in the court.Xue Pan listened patiently for a while, but felt impatient, so he dragged Lin Mozhi and Xue Biao out of the front hall quietly.

Because they were all from their own family, except for the cousins ​​who were foster fathers and sons, Xue Pan didn't pay much attention to the defense of men and women, and directly led Lin Mozhi and Xue Pan into the Ruirong Hall of the inner courtyard.After seeing Mrs. Xue who was doing business in Zhang Luo's mansion, she immediately smiled and said: "Mother, send someone to Wutong Garden to call my sister out! We are all our own people, there is no need to be restrained by the rules, but we are uncomfortable."

After a pause, he continued: "The mid-autumn festival should be lively and noisy. There are already few people in our house, if we divide them into groups, wouldn't it be even more sparse?"

"You are nonsensical." Mrs. Xue shook her head amusedly, but followed Xue Pan's wishes and ordered Tonggui to go to the inner courtyard to call Baochai people over.

But for a moment, there was only the sound of clothes rubbing against each other, and several beautiful girls who looked like fairy maidens or god concubines filed in.Yingying and Yanyan gathered around to greet Mrs. Xue, and then met Xue Pan and others, and then they were divided into two rows to sit down.

Although the people in the room are familiar with each other, they haven't seen each other for many years.This time they met suddenly, but they didn't deliberately feel strange, instead they chatted non-stop.For example, Sister Baochai kept holding Lin Daiyu's hand and asked with a smile, "I haven't seen you for a long time, how is my sister?"

Today, Lin Daiyu is 16 years old. Because of the long-term maintenance of her body, her complexion is ruddy and her figure is light. She looks like a fairy concubine in her glances, graceful and beautiful, and her temperament is like a fairy.

At this moment, she was pulling Baochai's sleeve with excitement, and said softly, "I'm fine, where's my sister?"

"It's the same for me. I just stay at home all day, feeling depressed."

"Me too, always wanting to visit Sister Bao. However, there are many trivial matters at home, and Sister Bao is bound by palace rules, so I can't see each other for a while. Seeing that Sister looks good now, I feel relieved. "

Pulling Baoqin again, he said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a while, and my sister has grown into an adult. She is graceful and graceful, and she is better than before."

"My elder sister is the one who looks like a fairy, looking forward and shining brightly. I am so envious..."

The women's side chatted lively, and the men's side was not free either.Xue Pan is fine, because he and Lin Mozhi have been teaching the prince together recently, and they often see each other.Xue Biao and Lin Mozhi haven't seen each other for a while, and since Xue Biao was born in the imperial examination, he admires the elder brother of Sanyuan Jidi the most.On weekdays, Kongzi admired and had no chance to talk in detail, but now that he has this opportunity, he holds Lin Mozhi's hand, asking for advice on a collection of classics and history, discussing some poems and articles, and chatting about some anecdotes in Beijing.The topic was chatting, and somehow it turned to the rampant plagiarism in Rongguo Mansion a while ago.

This incident caused a lot of uproar in Beijing, and even officials publicly impeached him in the court, imploring Tu Zhen to punish the Jia family for a crime of lax family management.It's just that since the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, Tu Zhen, considering various factors, keeps the impeachment papers unpublished.

However, in the harem, Tu Zhen was depressed and unbearable, and finally ordered to reprimand Concubine Xiande's mother's family for being lax.It's a fault of royal dignity.

Such a decree made things worse for Yuan Chun, who was already walking on thin ice in the palace.I heard that with Tu Zhen's order, Concubine Xiande fell ill.He didn't even attend today's Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet.

Listening to the side of the female relatives, Lin Daiyu frowned and interjected first: "The rules of Ningguo Mansion are getting more and more chaotic. In the early years, some status and reputation could be taken into consideration, but now they are even more disregarded. It's just such a big publicity Copying the inner courtyard, if it spreads out, wouldn’t it bring down the reputation of all the young ladies in the mansion? What can we do in the future?”

Since Lin Daiyu entered Jia's mansion that year, she has a very bad impression of Jia's mansion.This kind of prejudice has continued until now, hearing this rumor, it is getting worse.

Hearing what she said, it was rare for Xue Baochai to discuss in public: "It's really disgraceful for this matter to spread."

As he said that, he asked Xue Pan specifically: "I heard from Yinger that the Second Master Bao from the Rongguo Mansion came over yesterday and stuffed you with a big girl from his house? How do you say that?"

Before she finished speaking, everyone looked at Xue Pan in surprise.

Xue Pan shrugged helplessly, and explained: "What can I do? I didn't want to help. Just looking at Baoyu's pitiful appearance, I can't just stand by. I just talked to him and left him behind. Stay at the house for two days, and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, he will take people back."

Lin Mozhi frowned in annoyance, and said, "This precious jade always causes trouble for others."

Xue Pan couldn't answer for a while.I had no choice but to get up and distribute the mooncakes on the table to everyone, and said with a smile: "Our house has a new chef who specializes in making dim sum this year. This ice-skin fruit mooncake is newly made by him. You should try it too. Does it taste good?"

When everyone sees this, it's not easy to hold back the previous things.Then he took the mooncake with a smile, tasted it, and praised: "It's really good."

"If it's not good, I won't recommend it to you." Xue Pan said with a smile: "If you like it, you can pack some snacks when you go back. Or I let the cook write the recipe for you. You You can do it yourself."

Lin Daiyu immediately smiled and said: "That's the best. I really like this ice-skinned plum stuffing. It's delicious and has a long-lasting taste. The most rare thing is that this mooncake is also made like plum blossoms. Look at it." It looks exquisite and cute, and I am reluctant to eat it."

As he spoke, he raised the plum blossom mooncake in his hand.

Seeing this, Xue Baochai shook her head and smiled, "It's just that my brother is greedy and fun, and ordered his servants to make melons, fruits, flowers and plants. Some small things are worth nothing. If you like it, I will let you go." If someone makes another set, I will give it to you.”

Lin Daiyu immediately smiled happily and said, "Since that's the case, it couldn't be better."

While talking, a little girl from outside came in and said: "The three masters in the front hall have already gone to the back garden, and a message has been sent to ask the wife to bring all the young masters and ladies there too!"

Madam Xue got up immediately and said, "Since that's the case, let's not delay any longer, let's go there quickly!"

So everyone got up, left the main hall and went to the back garden.

Zhongxinhou's Mansion is different from other mansions because it has developed the technique of growing flowers in a greenhouse earlier.Even in the twelfth lunar month of winter, the flowers are full of fragrance and colorful.Along the cobble path to the back garden, there are flowers and fragrances all over the way.Because the underground earth dragons ensure the temperature, the garden does not have the cold and desolate autumn night at all.There are glazed palace lanterns hanging on the eaves and corners of each branch, illuminating the road in a magnificent and colorful way.In a trance, it is like a dream and an illusion, not knowing the heaven and the earth.

Lin Daiyu looked at the crystal clear and colorful eyes, and couldn't help but smiled in surprise: "This scenery is so beautiful, it makes people poetic. Why don't we sing poems and sentences later, how about it?"

Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin naturally agreed, and Lin Mozhi and Xue Bian had nothing to do. Only Xue Pan frowned, and said in a low mood: "If you like to compose poems, go and compose poems yourself. Anyway I don’t understand this, and I don’t participate in it.”

Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes, tilted her head and smiled and said, "It's interesting because of brother Xue's Lianshi!"

Xue Pan shook his head carelessly, and said, "I don't compose poetry. We'd rather punch and drink than compose poetry."

When Lin Daiyu heard this, she pursed her lips and threatened, "If you drink and punch in front of Uncle Xue, I will also be careful when Uncle Xue punches you."

"Father won't! He will only paddle with me." Xue Pan replied indifferently, and when he looked up, he saw the lotus pond in his home where the lotus was still in full bloom. Sparkling, exceptionally ethereal.

In the center of the lotus pond stands a flower-viewing pavilion made of white marble and surrounded by clear glass.There are bright yellow transparent gauze curtains hanging around the pavilion, the night wind blows, the fragrance of flowers permeates, the tulle flutters lightly, reflecting the murmur of the pool water and the ringing of lotus leaves, adding to the poetic feeling.

Xue Pan quickened his pace and walked along the white jade corridor to the pavilion in the center of the pond.As soon as he entered the pavilion, he saw Xue Zhizhang came along with Xue Zhiwen and Lin Ruhai on the curved corridor at the other end.

Seeing Xue Pan's escape, Xue Zhizhang shook his head helplessly and said with a smile: "Look at your escape, I just told you in vain."

Xue Pan chuckled and patted his head.

While speaking, everyone walked in together.Just now I got Mrs. Xue's order, three tables of table had already been set up in the pavilion, Xue Zhizhang is the head of the family, so he naturally entered the table and sat down.Mrs. Xue took Baochai, Baoqin, and Daiyu and sat down on the left, while Xue Pan, Lin Mozhi, and Xue Bian sat on the right.As soon as they sat down, there were family servants carrying food and drinks and poured in seasonal melon and fruit snacks, clear tea and drinks, and a variety of rich dishes.

Xue Zhizhang, who was sitting at the top table, looked around at the small but happy atmosphere and nodded with satisfaction.Playing with the small wine cup on the table, he said with a smile: "Although our family is small in population, we are sincere. It's not like those big families with a large population. Everyone's thoughts. Just this one place is the best. Besides, everyone gathered together today, and it's not as lonely and cold as in previous years. I think it's very good. As the so-called Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon People are round. Why don't you all exchange a big glass of wine for a celebration."

Before Xue Zhizhang finished speaking, he heard Lin Ruhai nod his head and said in agreement: "Brother Xue is right. I'm in high spirits today, and it would be more refreshing to have a big glass of wine."

While speaking, a clever little girl came to change the big cup immediately.

Xue Zhizhang suddenly remembered something again, and said: "It's okay for others to change the big cup, but Pan'er should not change it."

When everyone heard the words, they couldn't help laughing for a while, and burst out laughing.

Xue Pan is not strong enough to drink because of his constitution.Naturally, there is some resistance to having a big glass of wine.But after hearing the ridicule from the crowd, he immediately forgot what he had thought before, and blushed and shouted: "Why do other people use big cups, but I can't do it? Daddy, are you discriminating against me?"

As he said that, without further ado, he ordered a big glass of wine from the girl.

Seeing this, Xue Zhizhang knew that the child had committed left sex, and felt it was funny.He couldn't help dissuading him: "You don't like to drink on weekdays. Today's Mid-Autumn Festival, you should be happy and enjoy yourself. What's the difference between a big cup and a small cup?"

Xue Pan saw that everyone was about to smile, snorted, and said, "Use a big cup."

Xue Zhizhang shook his head, and wanted to persuade him, when suddenly he heard someone outside the pavilion say with a smile: "If you use a big cup, use a big cup, the left and right are in your own home, what's wrong with going to sleep when you're drunk?"

When everyone heard the sound and looked at it, they couldn't help but feel terrified.Xue Pan blurted out and asked, "Why are you here?"

Tu Zhen was dressed in ordinary clothes, walked into the flower pavilion with his hands behind his back, sat down beside Xue Pan, touched his head and said with a smile, "Why can't I come? Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, shouldn't I be reunited?"

A man in the pavilion immediately fell to his knees like a tide, and shouted: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live."

As for the female relatives, they even hid behind the crowd in embarrassment, bowed and knelt down, touched their heads to the ground, and did not dare to lift them up.

Tu Zhenlang waved his hands with a smile, and said, "You don't need to be too polite. I just came here uninvited. If you suddenly become cautious, it's my fault. It's just a momentary impulse. I just want to come and have a look."

When everyone got up, Xue Zhizhang looked at Tu Zhen who was sitting next to Xue Pan with a wry smile, and looked at his family members, feeling a little headache.

Seeing this, Tu Zhen immediately smiled and said: "It's okay. I remember Pan'er said that there are a lot of gauze curtains around the pavilion of your house. It's better to put down the curtains and use a screen to separate them. At that time, the male The female relatives will naturally separate without delay in talking, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"

Xue Zhizhang glared at Xue Pan calmly, and smiled wryly in his heart, but he had to add the curtain and brocade screen according to the meaning of the drawing.

After a while, everyone sat down again.Under Tu Zhen's persistent request, it became Xue Zhizhang's three elders, female family members, Tu Zhen and Xue Pan, and Lin Mozhi and Xue Biao.Moreover, Tu Zhen and Xue Pan automatically sat under Xue Zhizhang and the others.

Seeing this nondescript arrangement, although Xue Zhizhang was unwilling in his heart, he had to obey it on the surface.

Especially seeing the inexplicably excited expression of his doll's clear eyes, Xue Zhizhang shook his head, feeling even more bitter.