The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

In the afternoon of the same day, Xue Pan triumphantly left the palace with the handwritten letter he begged from Tu Zhen and the girl "Baoqin" who had been replaced by the common people.

When he was at the gate of the palace, he happened to run into Prince Zhongshun who had returned to the palace.

Xue Pan snorted coldly, looked at the dog-like loyal prince with a half-smile, and said with a sinister smile: "I have seen the prince, and the prince is safe."

Prince Zhongshun curled his lips disapprovingly, nodded and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, why be so polite, today you are the one who greets me, but tomorrow I will kneel down to my sister-in-law."

Xue Pan responded with a smile, and said with a meaningful smile: "Isn't that right? In this way, it's really a feng shui cycle. It's impossible to say that one day the proud will be disappointed, and the frustrated will be successful. So I advise you In a word, it is better for the lord to give himself three points of leeway in his daily affairs, so that when he loses power in the future, no one around will speak for you."

Prince Zhongshun looked up at Xue Pan, and said indifferently: "Young Master is kind, and I appreciate it. It's just that the world is shallow, and it's always easy to add flowers to the cake, but it's hard to give charcoal in the snow. What's more, you and I are in the dust of the officialdom, and we are always guarding the palace wall. Inside, you should get used to the actions of those individuals stepping on the red and stepping on the white, adding insult to injury."

Not much speculation.

Xue Pan immediately stopped talking, and said with a cold expression: "The Holy Master ordered you to carefully select the gifts belonging to our Zhongxinhou Mansion from the property seized in Rongning Second Mansion and send them to our mansion. A little affection from my sister."

A cold light flashed in Prince Zhongshun's eyes, but he smiled like a spring breeze on his face.

"Young Lord really values ​​love and righteousness. Now that Rongning and Ning's second residence has such a big event that loses their heads, others are avoiding it, but Young Lord is going to push forward. Such a bold and reckless act, Xiao Wang doesn't know how to evaluate it?"

"My lord does one thing in front of his face and another behind his back. I don't know how to evaluate the behavior of laughing at Yan Yan today and bringing his lackeys to the door tomorrow to search!"

Xue Pan responded tit for tat, but felt that it was meaningless.Immediately cupped his hands and said goodbye: "Don't forget the will of the Holy Majesty. I have something to do, so I will leave for now."

Prince Zhongshun raised his eyebrows casually, his gaze fell on Baoqin who was following silently behind Xue Pan, and he blinked his eyes thoughtfully.

Xue Pan got into the carriage angrily with the qin in his arms, turned his head and told Lian Ying who was driving outside: "After a while, you take my greeting card to Prince Zhongshun's mansion, and you must give me the things to get back."

Lian Ying knew that what Xue Pan was talking about belonged to the Jia family, so he immediately nodded in agreement.

Jia Yuanchun, who was silent all the way for a long time, couldn't help but said: "Our family..."

"You still have the guts to ask?" Xue Pan glared at her angrily, and reprimanded: "Leaving aside other things, you have stayed in the palace for more than ten years, and you can't even tell the good from the bad. So You were easily instigated by others. Now that you have died of illness, apart from being a girl who was released from the palace by your master's grace, you are not even as good as a decent aunt. What's more, Rongning's second mansion and three hundred The person who opened the mouth is unlucky with you. It's really... the loser."

Jia Yuanchun's face turned blue and red after being scolded by Xue Pan.She entered the palace since she was a child, and was later made a virtuous concubine by the Holy Grace, and everyone around her flattered and praised her.Even those concubines in the palace who didn't want to see her spoke politely.How can there be Xue Pan who scolds and insults like Xue Pan?

Jia Yuanchun's eyes were red with anger, but now that he no longer has the status of a virtuous concubine, and he dare not do anything to the celebrity in front of the Holy Majesty, he can only grit his teeth and endure it.

Seeing Jia Yuanchun weeping silently, looking pitiful and silent, Xue Pan let out a soft sigh as his headache grew worse.Turning around, opening the curtain of the car, staring intently at the outside, not speaking.

Not long after the carriage arrived, it stopped at the gate of the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.Xue Pan turned back and told Jia Yuanchun to stay still and not to move, and then he got out of the carriage under the company's attendant.Just standing still on the ground, Wang Shoubei, who got the pass, immediately came out from inside.Xue Pan didn't talk nonsense, and handed the Holy Majesty's handwritten letter to Wang Shoubei, and said: "The Holy Majesty has ordered me to take the female family members of the Rongning Second Mansion to take care of them at home first, and then deal with them after the court has made a conclusion. .”

When Wang Shoubei heard the words, he immediately cupped his fists in the direction of the palace and flattered him: "The Holy One is generous and benevolent, and he can't bear the suffering of women, children, orphans and the elderly in this prison. It is really a blessing for the officials and the common people."

Xue Pan impatiently listened to his flattery, and immediately waved his hand and said: "Stop talking nonsense, and send the person out quickly. Do you have a carriage? If so, directly offer to send the person for me. If not, send someone quickly." Go to the car dealer in Qianjie and tell me to pull me a dozen clean and tidy carts."

Wang Shoubei bowed in response, and immediately followed Xue Pan's words.

But for a moment, there was only the sound of staggering footsteps, and the jail guard came out slowly with the female family members of the Jia family pressed down.The sun was shining in the afternoon, and the female family members of the Jia family, who had been in the prison for a long time without seeing the sun, squinted their eyes a little uncomfortable.The first to come was Mother Jia who was supported by Yuanyang and Amber, followed by Mrs. Xing, Youshi, Li Wan, and then the two maids Tanchun and Xichun, and Aunt Zhao...all supported by maidservants. He walked, his footsteps were flimsy, his face was pale, and he seemed to have been frightened a lot.

Jia Yuanchun, who was hiding in the carriage, saw such a miserable scene for his relatives, couldn't help crying out loudly, looked around for a while with teary eyes, but couldn't see Mrs. Wang and Jia Baoyu, couldn't help but panicked, and asked Said: "Why don't you see the second wife and Baoyu?"

Everyone heard that the voice inside was a bit familiar, and they couldn't help but looked inside suspiciously.

Xue Pan glared at the carriage viciously, Jia Yuanchun panicked and immediately lowered the curtain of the carriage.

Xue Pan turned his head, took two steps forward to support the old lady, and said with a smile: "I have already asked for the order from the Holy Majesty, and the female family members of the mansion will stay in our Marquis' mansion for a while. After tomorrow, The Holy Majesty will decide the matter of the Rongning Second Mansion in the middle of the court, and we will talk about it at that time."

Mother Jia suffered from this blow, and her illness became more and more serious. After hearing Xue Pan's words, she had no choice but to nod listlessly.

During the time he was speaking, all the vehicles ordered by Wang Shoubei had arrived, and a dozen or so green oil trucks were lined up in front of the office of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. After getting into the car, the convoy slowly drove towards Zhongxinhou's Mansion.

After returning to her home, Mrs. Xue, who had received the news early, had ordered her staff to clean up a large courtyard for the female family members of Jia's family to live in.He also thoughtfully ordered his servants to boil a lot of hot water and wait for everyone to wash the dust.All the female family members of the Jia mansion stayed in prison for two days and one night, and their bodies were almost moldy and smelly. They were very grateful and cleaned up, and then they were politely led to the Ruirong hall by the servants of the Xue mansion. .

Mrs. Xue, who was ordering the servants to prepare tables and chairs, immediately helped Jiamu to sit in the upper seat, while she sat down with her, and the rest of the people also took their seats.Xue Pan sighed softly, and said to Jia Mu: "I went to the palace to ask for the emperor's will. The emperor said that the imperial concubine in the palace was seriously ill and had passed away. With grace, the emperor asked me to send the girl beside the empress to the piano. come out."

talking.With a wave of his hand, he signaled Jia Yuanchun, who was hiding outside the door, to come in.

When everyone heard about Concubine Jia's death, they immediately wept and whimpered.After seeing the well-dressed and beautiful "Baoqin", he couldn't help being stunned.

A flash of guilt flashed in Jia Yuanchun's eyes, and he threw himself into Jia's mother's arms and cried, "Old ancestor!"

Mother Jia looked at Jia Yuanchun who was crying in her arms, and felt cold all over her body.

She is not a fool.It can even be said that she grew from a granddaughter-in-law to an old lady, and she has been one-sided in Jia's house all her life. Such mental means can never be described as smart.As a first-class royal wife, although Jia's mother grew up in the inner house, she still has political acumen.Because of this, after she knew that Jia's male was not good enough, she immediately used the excuse of being old and impatient to deal with the rules, and gradually faded out of the Rongning Second Mansion from the circle of the aristocratic family in Beijing.He has brought up his granddaughter to enter the palace, and hopes that one day in the future, the Jia family can continue to flourish with the power of the harem.

Now, the noble concubine who was supposed to enjoy the blessings in the palace died of illness, but the real Jia Yuanchun came to the Zhongxinhou Mansion as a zither, and his own family was so lucky that at this critical moment, the sage ordered the house to be ransacked...

Mother Jia sighed, patted Jia Yuanchun's head as if she was ashamed, and said in a chat, "Ah! If I knew this, why would I..."

As he spoke, he shook his head more and more boringly.

Jia Yuanchun panicked, she no longer has the status of a virtuous concubine, if she gets rejected by Jia Mu again, what should she do?

Immediately tugging on Jia Mu's skirt, weeping sadly: "Old ancestor, granddaughter is wrong, granddaughter was deceived by lard, and then she did such a stupid thing. The implicated mansion is restless, and granddaughter is in danger. Death cannot atone for—”

"What's the use of talking about it now?" Mother Jia rubbed her forehead tiredly, and waved her hand to signal Jia Yuanchun to get up.

Jia Yuanchun was flustered and couldn't bear it, and he was thinking about his mother and younger brother, so he couldn't help but asked again: "Why don't you see the second wife and Baoyu?"

Mother Jia's face darkened, and Li Wan who was on the side said, "The second wife's condition is not very good. Because the charges against her are too horrific, the Holy Majesty ordered that she be imprisoned pending trial, and she cannot be released yet. As for Baoyu... After the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, I went back to Yunnan with Prince Zhongyong’s personal soldiers. I have never seen him. But tomorrow will be Brother Xue’s conferment ceremony, and the Holy Order has decreed that all officials above rank six must go to Beijing to pay homage. It must not be today. Even tomorrow, Baoyu will definitely come back."

A look of panic flashed across Jia Yuanchun's face, and he opened his mouth to ask: "What crime did my mother commit? She has reached the point where she is going to be imprisoned pending trial?"

Wang Xifeng sighed softly, no one knew this matter better than her.At the moment, in order to help Yuanchun manage the harem, Mrs. Wang gave away usury privately, and how she indulged the nuns in Shuiyue nunnery to take part in lawsuits to earn money and so on.

After Jia Yuanchun heard this, his complexion was pale and he piled on the ground, weeping silently.

It turned out she was the one who killed her mother.

Seeing this, Mrs. Xue shook her head unbearably, and ordered the girl to pull Yuan Chun to stand up and sit down on Tanchun, and then interrupted with a smile: "The old lady and you have been in prison for a few days. I can't sleep well either, let's eat quickly and have a good rest!"

Mother Jia nodded and thanked, "Thank you, aunt and aunt, for your help. It's just that I don't have much appetite at this time..."

"They are all relatives of my own family, why be polite?" Madam Xue said, she personally served Jiamu a bowl of pheasant soup, handed it to Jiamu and said, "Madam Feng said that the old lady loves this dish the most. Go to the kitchen and watch the servants make soup, the old lady must drink a bowl because of Feng girl's filial piety."

Mother Jia smelled the strong aroma of the chicken soup, and looked up at Wang Xifeng who was standing by the side serving her. Another burst of sadness came from it, and she couldn't help crying.

Wang Xifeng originally had a lot of resentment towards the members of Jia's family, but now seeing everyone's miserable scene, it's too late to feel heartbroken and sad, and any depression in her heart has long been thrown to Java.Then she leaned over to Mother Jia, held back her tears and joked, "Old lady, I managed to boil a bowl of soup while staring at the servants. Why are you still crying if you don't give me a reward?"

Mother Jia grabbed Wang Xifeng's hand and apologized, "Good girl, it's rare that you don't hate us. It's still like this... It's Lian'er who can't do you, and our Jia family can't do you."

Wang Xifeng sniffed, thinking of Jia Lian involuntarily.After all, the two have been husband and wife for more than ten years, and there is such a bond as Qiaojie.Now that Jia Lian is in prison, he doesn't know whether he is alive or dead, so why isn't she worried?

It's just that in front of Jia Mu, Wang Xifeng has long been used to not showing it no matter how much pain she has.Immediately patted Jia Mu's hand as if comforting, and began to persuade: "Old lady, don't worry, with my uncle and brother Xue helping us to make arrangements, there must be nothing wrong. Let's wait until after tomorrow, maybe the Holy Grace will send Rong Ning Is it unknown if all the people in the Second Mansion have been released?"

Seeing Mother Jia's disbelieving expression, Wang Xifeng said again: "Didn't you say that the emperor and the queen will be amnesty for the whole world? Maybe the emperor put the heads of our family in prison first, just to catch up with the emperor this time." Amnesty later!"

When Jia's mother heard Wang Xifeng say this, she felt that hope gradually rose in her heart, and she looked at Xue Pan with hope.

Xue Pan nodded and said with a smile, "Don't worry! The men in the family will be fine."

Mrs. Xue also followed behind to comfort everyone, and Mother Jia's heart gradually eased, and she even drank a bowl of chicken soup while chatting with everyone.

After the meal, Mrs. Xue served tea for everyone according to the rules of the Jia family.Just holding the cup and chatting, I heard someone outside preaching: "Madam Qi, the young master, Prince Zhongyong and the second master Bao of Rongguo Mansion have come back from the south, and now they want to see the young master outside!"