The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

It was night, and the lights in the study behind the Ruirong Hall of the Xue family mansion were still on.

Mrs. Xue wore a squirrel cloak carved in stone and blue silk and pushed the door in. Seeing the master of the Xue family who was working at his desk, she couldn't help but angrily said: "Tomorrow we are about to leave for Beijing, why are you still cooking oil like this? "

"I was just about to tell you about this. I can't go to Beijing with you tomorrow, and I have some important things to deal with at home. I'll go chase you after I have taken care of it." Xue Zhizhang rubbed his swollen nose and sighed He took a deep breath and said a little tiredly.

When Madam Xue heard this, she couldn't help being stunned. "Didn't you agree to go together? What's the reason?"

"It's not the Zhen family's fault. You must have heard about their family repaying their debts. Today's incident should be caused by this." Xue Zhizhang stretched his waist and said slowly.

"What does their family's debt repayment have to do with our family, and the master who is involved can't go to Beijing with us?" Mrs. Xue raised her eyebrows and said with some dissatisfaction.Seeing Xue Zhizhang's tired appearance, he shook his head helplessly, went around behind Xue Zhizhang, and kneaded his shoulders and neck.

"En!" Xue Zhizhang snorted in enjoyment, and then said: "Pan'er told me. Because their family repays the debt with their family, they have to sell some large farmland shops. Because these are good things, they will be full for a while. There are very few people in Jinling who can swallow it. Besides, I was a little reluctant emotionally, so I had to take advantage of us in the end."

"It turned out to be this matter. I did hear Pan'er mention it at dinner." Mrs. Xue nodded, and said: "This can be regarded as their family's return, but knowing a pearl recipe, their family will profit for nothing. How much, this is what Pan'er really is. If someone else doesn't get enough oil and water by himself!"

"Hey, you don't understand this! You can't do business for a long time. You always think about advancing and retreating. It's better to leave room for it." Xue Zhizhang reached out and patted Mrs. Xue's well-maintained hands, saying: "For a family like us, it is more important to be kind and make money, and to form good relationships. The money can't be earned and spent. It makes no sense to make complaints about a little money. People's hearts are betrayed."

"I don't understand the affairs of your men's family. I always know that you are right." Mrs. Xue thought of her husband and son, and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

"By the way, I have something to tell you when I come to Beijing this time." Xue Zhizhang suddenly thought of something, straightened up immediately, and said to Mrs. Xue seriously.

"What's the matter?" Seeing that Xue Zhizhang was so serious, Mrs. Xue became suspicious instead.

"Speaking of this matter, it is still a matter of your Wang family." Xue Zhizhang said, he took out a few pieces of paper from under a stack of books in the right corner of the desk, and handed them to Mrs. Xue. "What I mean is, when you come to Beijing this time, you should stay far away from Jia's house!"

"Why is that?" Mrs. Xue couldn't help being a little stunned.When she was in the boudoir, she was no match for her sister.Otherwise, my sister wouldn't have joined the Hou family, and she married into a merchant.But who would have thought that God has eyes, Xue Zhizhang, as a man, needless to elaborate on his scheming methods, and even his personality is gentle and careless. Although she has occasionally played tricks for so many years, she is the only serious couple in the house after all. , giving birth to a pair of children is also more competitive than the other.Originally, I thought that it would be good to have a peaceful life like this, but when I got old, I even earned her a wife with a commanding life...

Now is the time for her to be elated, and she is planning to go to Beijing to show off, why is this master not allowed?

After many years of husband and wife, Xue Zhizhang saw the little Jiujiu in Mrs. Xue's heart at a glance, which was a little funny.But he still knows what his wife is like.Although there are some small calculations, but her nature is still pure and good, I am afraid she can't compete with the "second lady" in Beijing.It's better to stay far away.In case you can't show off, you will cause a commotion instead.

"What's the reason, you'd better read these things before you talk about it!" Xue Zhizhang was a little bit embarrassed, after all, it was a matter of his wife's natal family, so he just said it so bluntly, which was not beautiful.

"Master, it's not that you don't know that I can't read. What do you want me to read?" Mrs. Xue shook her head in a funny way, "We are old couples, so we can't say anything in person."

"Then I'll tell you." Xue Zhizhang sighed, and said: "It says on it that they are all loan sharks in Beijing, and there is a copy of 'Second Master' among them, and they traced back to the source and finally went to Jia's mansion." Lian's Second Mistress. As for who this Lian's Second Mistress is, don't I need to elaborate?"

"You mean girl Feng?" Mrs. Xue was shocked when she heard this. "No way! Did the master make a mistake? When our daughter of the Wang family came out of the cabinet, there was a lot of dowry. Even if money is really tight for a while, at most, some dowry will be sold. How come it is a usury? This is You want to beheaded!"

"That's exactly what I'm wondering about." Xue Zhizhang pressed his temples with some headaches. "You also know that Brother Lin entrusted Daiyu's niece to us, and he also told us to send the girl to Rongguo Mansion in Beijing. I must find out about the situation in Jia's Mansion, and live up to Brother Lin's entrustment. That's right. What's more, there are nephews from the Lin family and Mr. Zhuang in it now, so we have to be more cautious. Who knows that this inquiry will not talk about other messy things. Just this one item is enough to kill It's over."

"This, this..." Mrs. Xue was sweating a little when she heard this, "Your sister is really true, both of them are in Beijing, and they are both married into a family, why don't you talk about Feng girl, and just let her do things like this? "

"Not only that, from my observation, I'm afraid that your 'virtuous' good sister is also involved in this matter. What's more... Feng girl is just a girl who has just left the cabinet for a few years. When she was in her mother's house, she She was just a serious girl in her life, she was really doted on by thousands of people, the master who wanted nothing but a word, and the girls and boys beside her were also the right people selected by the inner house, where did they know about the loan sharks? The reason? I’m afraid it’s your good sister who let it out.” Xue Zhizhang snorted coldly, and said disdainfully: “It’s just that she is superior in chess, and she wants to gain benefits but not lose her reputation. In the end, the scapegoat has to be yours. That stupid niece recited it by herself. Poor your stupid niece, who is so obsessed with being aggressive, and in the end she was just used as a weapon for nothing."

"This is really... this is really..." Mrs. Xue was dumbfounded by Xue Zhizhang's words, and she couldn't even speak a word over and over again.

Seeing this, Xue Zhizhang knew that Mrs. Xue had understood the seriousness of the relationship, so she stopped threatening, but stretched out her arms and hugged Mrs. Xue, and persuaded softly: "So when you go to Beijing, don't go to Rongguo Mansion to make do with it. , Our family also has several real estates in central Beijing. I have asked someone to clean up one. Although it is not as prosperous as the main house in Jinling, the basic necessities of life are not inferior to those of rich and noble people in central Beijing. When you arrive in central Beijing, you can only live there for a couple of days. After a month, I will go to Beijing to join you as soon as I finish my work here."

Madam Xue nodded hurriedly when she heard the words.However, I suddenly remembered something, and said in a hurry: "Today, my sister suddenly sent a letter, saying that she knew that Baochai had reached the age of the draft, and invited us to stay in Rongguo Mansion for a while! She also said that this matter is also The order of the old lady of the Rongguo Mansion, you see..."

"Huh?" Xue Zhizhang frowned indistinctly.Now that the letter has come, it is still the elder's intention. It's fine if they don't plan to go to Beijing.But they not only want to go to Beijing, but also send Daiyu to Rongguo Mansion.So everyone met and confronted each other... It would not be good if they blatantly refuted the other's face.After all, Rongguo Mansion can be regarded as half a "local snake" in Beijing.Although their Xue family is rich and powerful, they don't care about such a toothless paper tiger, but after all businessmen regard peace as the most important thing, and there is no reason to be too rigid with their in-laws.After all, it is necessary to get by.

"Master?" Seeing this, Mrs. Xue called out cautiously.

"Since that's the case, you might as well stay for a while when you go there. Just take care of Daiyu's niece. But there is one thing, whether it is money or food and lodging in the past, try to separate from the Rongguo Mansion, and don't ask the second lady to have anything to do with it." It's an excuse to implicate us." After pondering for a moment, Xue Zhizhang said slowly.

When Mrs. Xue heard this, she immediately felt at ease.He quickly responded with a smile: "Master, don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter properly, and there will never be any mistakes."

"En!" Xue Zhizhang nodded in satisfaction.He still believed in his wife's methods.It's just that they are a little simple, and it's also because of the simple population of their Xue family's inner house.If he went to a place like Rongguo Mansion, he would probably be as sweet-hearted as those two "Wangs"...

Thinking of this, Xue Zhizhang looked at Mrs. Xue's still charming face and said with a smile: "If you want to say that the daughters-in-law of the Wang family have different temperaments, there is still one thing in common. Whether it is the wife or the second wife in Beijing, Lian Er Grandma, you are a bottomless bucket of vinegar, this is your family tradition, right?"

Madam Xue was so ashamed that she turned into anger, she turned her back to Xue Zhizhang, sneered again and again, and said angrily: "We women in the Wang family are jealous, and the master didn't just know about this today."

"I know, I know. I still have a deep understanding of this point of being a husband..." Xue Zhizhang said, and entered the inner room with his arms around Mrs. Xue, while retorting: "It's late at night, a jealous lady should be settled. Come on!"

……

There was nothing to say all night, and Madam Xue got up early the next day just after dawn.He also personally served Master Xue to wash and change his clothes, and then the two of them went out of the inner room hand in hand.

In the main hall of Ruirong Hall, Baochai and Daiyu have already sat down safely.Seeing Xue and his wife coming out of the inner room, they quickly got up and saluted, "Daughter pays respects to parents."

Daiyu on the other side also bowed and said, "My niece greets my uncle and aunt."

"Sit down quickly! Did you sleep well yesterday? We are going to travel a long way today, you must be energetic, otherwise you will feel uncomfortable when you get on the boat, how uncomfortable..." Mrs. Xue said , reached out and took Daiyu's hands folded on her knees, with a loving face.Rubblingly asked, "I'm not worried about our little girl. She has been in good health since she was a child, and she rode horses and hunted with her brother when she was young. Her body is not worse than that of an ordinary boy. Although she has never been on a boat before, It's too far away, but there are no children who grew up by the water who can't swim. Although we are girls from a wealthy family, we are not as tough as children in the countryside, but we know what we should know, and we shouldn't... She I have been tossing and tossing with his brother behind my back for several years..."

When Lin Daiyu heard this, she smiled knowingly at Baochai.Xue Baochai gave her a helpless expression.He secretly pointed to Mrs. Xue again, then shrugged.It means that Mrs. Xue has always been so nagging, just let her get used to it.It's just that the happiness of being pampered and pampered by that guy between his brows can't be covered up no matter what.

Mrs. Xue's chatterbox has not been put down yet.

"...When I called you, I felt that your body was a little weak. In the past two days, I have watched with cold eyes. You are taking medicine more frequently than eating. How is this possible? Let's not say that the medicine is three-point poisonous." Old Lier, this is just a symptom of your inadequacy. After a good recuperation, you will be fine. There is no need to pour medicine every day. Besides, a girl from every family has rumors in the boudoir. Rumors of being 'weak and sick', that's not a good thing. If it's serious, it will affect the future-"

Seeing Mrs. Xue talking more and more vigorously, Xue Zhizhang coughed twice helplessly, interrupting Mrs. Xue's words. "It's getting late, tell the girl to make dinner! Don't miss the time for departure."

He raised his eyes to look outside again, and asked in a deep voice, "Why haven't Pan'er and nephew Zi Yuxian come here yet?"

Mrs. Xue was interrupted by Master Xue, and immediately woke up.No matter what the starting point is, it is always a bit abrupt to talk about marriage in front of a girl who has just lost her father.He was a little embarrassed, when he heard Master Xue's question, he immediately replied calmly: "Could it be that Pan'er was making trouble with my nephew last night—"

Before finishing a sentence, I heard Xue Pan yelling outside: "That's not true! We went to bed very early last night."

As he said that, he lifted the curtain and rushed in, bringing a gust of cold wind.The cold wind was so cold that Lin Daiyu shivered subconsciously.

Seeing this, Mrs. Xue frowned and said, "It's your sister Lin. You sit there for a while, and come back after the cold air dissipates."

Hearing this, Lin Mozhi also stopped in his tracks.Standing where he was, he bowed and saluted: "I have met Uncle Xue, Aunt Xue. The younger sister of the Xue family... the younger sister is also good."

Lin Daiyu hurriedly stood up and returned the salute, "Brother is also good...did brother sleep well last night?"

As soon as the words came out, he felt that something was wrong, and immediately lowered his head embarrassingly.

When Lin Mozhi saw this, a smile flashed in his eyes, and he nodded and said, "It's okay. My sister is thin, so I have to wear thicker clothes."

"Isn't it!" Without waiting for Lin Daiyu to reply, Mrs. Xue interjected, "I'm still worried when I look at her thin face! Although it's autumn now, it's not that cold. But after all, the wind in the river is cold and hard, and we are leaving again. Far away. I'm afraid Daiyu's body can't help it. I found two big fox fur coats last night, and I'm going to wear them for your sister on the way. Although it doesn't look like it at this time of year, the body is always the first. Big deal We can't get out of the cat in the boat. We can't be chilled by the wind, can we?"

She already has a good face, and after so many years of living smoothly, her family is caring, and she is becoming more and more comfortable, wealthy, charitable and happy.Born from the heart, Wuguan, who was already kind, now seems to be more and more kind.Lin Daiyu saw Mrs. Xue being so meticulous and thoughtful and detailed, she couldn't help but think of her mother who died young.On the one hand, he feels sorry for his loneliness, and on the other hand, he envies that Baochai's parents are together, and that the relationship between siblings is appropriate.It's not like her... Not to mention her parents died young, she just got an older brother, and she hasn't said more than ten sentences so far.

Feeling Mrs. Xue's care, she couldn't help but her eyes turned red and her sobs choked up.

"What's wrong with you, but why do you feel wronged?" Mrs. Xue asked in astonishment as she looked at Lin Daiyu's tears.

Even Baochai stood up worried, walked towards Daiyu's side with lotus steps, patted Daiyu's back softly, and persuaded softly: "Why are you crying, you hurt yourself carefully!"

"It's not a grievance, it's just that I am grateful for my aunt's thoughtfulness to me, which reminds me of my mother." Lin Daiyu sniffed, barely holding back her tears.

"Hey, I thought what's wrong with you!" Mrs. Xue took a breath and felt relieved. "I only have one daughter, Baochai, and I usually feel that I don't love her enough. Now that I have a niece like you, I love you like a fairy. Naturally, I regard you as my daughter. Don't be like Baochai." If you don’t get bored, I’ll just ramble on.”

When Lin Daiyu heard this, her heart suddenly moved, she got up and knelt on the ground, and said to Mrs. Xue: "Since Daiyu came to Jinling, Uncle Xue and Aunt Xue have treated me like their own daughter. Daiyu is naturally grateful. Now there is something wrong. Should think..."

Daiyu paused for a moment, then went all out and said, "I want to recognize Aunt Xue as my godmother, but I don't know if Auntie can agree?"

"This..." Mrs. Xue loves Daiyu, not to mention Lin Ruhai and Lin Mozhi, two well-established men of the Lin family.Although Lin Mozhi has Mr. Zhuang's relationship, he also takes good care of Pan'er.But when it comes to relationship, it is naturally not as close as her own family... Now that she is dozing off, she is handed a soft pillow, so why doesn't it make her overjoyed.

At that moment, Mrs. Xue, whose face was full of glory, lifted Daiyu up on the ground, and said softly: "My dear boy, the moment I saw your face, I felt that you and I were very destined. Now that you think so, I am very happy." Yes, but this matter is not up to us girls to decide."

After finishing speaking, he looked expectantly at Xue Zhizhang.

When Xue Zhizhang saw this, he also had a three-point meaning.There is no need to elaborate on the relationship between him and Lin Ruhai, both in terms of personal feelings and interests, they are very happy to get along with each other.What's more, he also sees Lin Mozhi, who is a wunderkind...

Therefore, he glanced at Lin Mozhi calmly.

Lin Mo subconsciously glanced at Xue Pan beside him, unable to tell what it was like.What is the fate between him and this bastard? He was the adoptive son of their family in the previous life, but they went around and ran together again in this life.Shaking his head, just about to speak, he heard someone outside laughing loudly: "Brother Xue is a good plan! I accepted your naughty son as an apprentice, and you have to recognize my proud student as your son. The cheapness in this world It actually let you get involved. How can there be room for others to think about it?"

Hearing this, Xue Zhizhang couldn't help laughing heartily: "This is exactly my chance, and others won't envy me."

"But you will be good." Mr. Zhuang opened the curtain and came in.Smiling at Xue Zhizhang: "No wonder your family is entrusted with business, you really know how to calculate!"

"That's natural." Xue Zhizhang stroked his beard proudly, and looked at Lin Mozhi expectantly.After all, Lin Ruhai is not in front of him now, and his eldest brother is like a father, so Lin Mozhi's attitude is very important.

Lin Mozhi looked around, and saw that whether it was the Xue family couple, Xue Pan, Daiyu, Baochai, or his mentor, all looked at him expectantly.Not talking nonsense at the moment, he lifted up his clothes and knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Xue and his wife, saying, "Ziyu has met godfather and godmother."

Daiyu on the side was overjoyed, and quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Daiyu has met godfather and godmother!"

Xue and his wife waited for the two of them to complete the ceremony, and then they smiled and stepped forward to help them up.Mrs. Xue took back a high-quality suet white jade hollow-carved bracelet from her wrist and put it on Lin Daiyu, saying: "This is a gift from your godmother. It was put on by my mother when I got married. I Originally, I wanted to leave it to Baochai, but now it happens that you and Baochai have one each."

Lin Daiyu blushed a little when she heard this.Put your hand on your wrist and just about to withdraw the jade.Baochai clasped Lin Daiyu's hands quickly and said, "My dear sister, this time you are really my sister."

"This gift is too expensive—"

"The things that mother gives to her daughter are only what they want. How can it be said that they are precious or not. If you say this, are you heretics?" Mrs. Xue said with a smile.One in each hand, hugging two precious daughters who are as beautiful as flowers and jade, I only feel that one is charming and romantic, and the other is peerless, both of which have the character of a fairy.At the moment, she smiled proudly from ear to ear, and said again and again: "This time there are two gods as daughters, so let others envy you!"

Xue Zhizhang looked at Lin Mozhi and nodded secretly, very satisfied.Xue Pan approached Lin Mozhi with a grin, and while others were not paying attention, he teased without answering, "Look at our fate, we're together again!"

Lin Mozhi looked down at the triumphant Xue Pan, but smiled and said nothing.

Everyone laughed and ate breakfast.After making the final arrangements, Xue Zhizhang personally led people to send the group of people onto the boat, because Baoyu from the Zhen family also went to Beijing.Xue Zhizhang sent a total of two cruise ships to Beijing.The mother and daughter of the Xue family, together with girls and women, and Lin Mozhi invited them from the palace to give Daiyu's nurturing mother.The other boat was carrying Xue Pan, Lin Mozhi, Zhen Baoyu and several women sent by the Rongguo Mansion.One after the other, Shi Shi ran away.

On the river bank, Xue Zhizhang sighed softly as he looked at the two pleasure boats that were getting farther and farther away until they disappeared.Mr. Zhuang on the side shook his head and joked, "Why, why can't you bear it? If you can't bear it, hurry up and get things done so that we can go to Beijing as soon as possible."

"Then we have to settle things properly." Xue Zhizhang said, shaking his head inexplicably, "I really don't know why the Holy One suddenly sent us to do such a thing?"

"The Sacred Heart is unpredictable, how can I guess it?" Mr. Zhuang shook his head and said disapprovingly, "Just tell us what to do. I don't need to think about other things!"