Dowry maid's daily life [Red Mansion]

On September [-]th, Du Yun'an received a letter from Brother Song, saying that he had been injured in an accident and couldn't bear the fatigue of the journey, so he had to postpone the trip.

The letter was sent to Wang Ziteng's mansion, and the concierge happened to be Yinxian's father. He immediately went to the manager's room to ask for leave after receiving the letter.

Wang Fu, the housekeeper of the Wang family, did not dare to neglect, and quickly called Lai Shun'er's mother: "Go and deliver something to your daughter."

This letter has only passed through the hands of Yin Xian's father, Shun'er's mother, and Shun'er, and even Wang Fu has never touched it.When the lights were on that day, Shun'er took the opportunity to send the letter to Yun'an.

Yun'an hasn't had a chance to tell her brother that she has done Sister Feng's dowry, but in fact it's more than that, compared to other things, this is already the most insignificant thing.But writing on paper is the most unsafe. Even if Du Yunan has thousands of things to tell her brother, he still has to endure it for now.

Of course, Yun An didn't really believe that Brother Song Chen's letter said "he was injured", which obviously refers to Eucommia.Fortunately, Song Chen's letter clearly stated that there is no worry about life, which made her slightly relieved.

----

In fact, Eucommia's injury is really dangerous.That day, shortly after he boarded the merchant ship, he suddenly developed a high fever, and he was insane.Fortunately, Song Chen was vigilant, and after discovering it early, he decisively took him off the ship at the Yangzhou pier to seek medical treatment.

At that time, all the famous doctors in Yangzhou City were invited by Mr. Lin Ruhai, the censor of salt inspection, to the mansion to treat his wife. After Song Chen inquired, he knew that Mrs. Lin suddenly had a relapse of her old illness the day before yesterday. Dying phase.

Eucommia was burned all over his body. After seeing it, Ordinary Lang said that he was seriously injured, and he was suffering from poisonous evil and cold inside, so he refused to take over the treatment. He only said that in Yangzhou, only Huichuntang, Mengfangtang, and Lilixuan's three families were in charge of such serious diseases. The miracle doctor can save.Song Chen had no choice but to take Du Zhong to Lin Ruhai's mansion for medical treatment. Fortunately, Du Zhong had some connections with the Lin family. The two stayed temporarily in the outer courtyard.

Song Chen couldn't be more grateful, but Chen Ziwei pointed at the comatose Du Zhong and said, "This is the second time I've seen him like this, and it's happened once again! If we meet again, let him live on his own." Exterminate." These words are both persuasion and warning, recently because of Dong Weng Lin Ruhai's wife Jia Min, Chen Ziwei suddenly felt that "life is short, cherish blessings and fate", I really can't see people like Du Zhong who neglect life.

Seeing that Mr. Chen misunderstood that his senior brother was aggressive and aggressive, Song Chen couldn't explain why.But Jinling is so close to Yangzhou, the news of the drowning of the third son of the Zhen family, Zhen Yu, nicknamed Jinling Drug Overlord, was reported to Chen Ziwei by his subordinates that day.What a smart person Chen Ziwei is, he immediately thought of Eucommia, whose wound was soaked in water and caused a high fever and coma. This "Zhuge of the Lin family" immediately clapped his hands and laughed: "Good! What a hero who is happy to be kind and friendly! Clean and neat!"

Lin Ruhai frowned deeply, and just entered the study, when he heard this sound, he couldn't help saying, "Ziwei?"

Chen Ziwei then talked about the letter from Jinling's spies and Du Zhong's serious injury and seeking medical treatment. Even Lin Ruhai and other Qingyao gentlemen said: "Good death!" I don't know how many storms have been caused by the names of these two people.

"Where is Madam?" Chen Ziwei looked at Lin Ruhai hesitantly.

Lin Ruhai's expression was gloomy, and his eyes were reddish: "Although the meth that Madam has imported is very small, but the poison is too strong, it's only a matter of these few days..."

Chen Zi resented slightly: "Zhen Yingjia is deceiving people too much!"

"Up to now, my family and the Zhen family are on the same page. If my wife... passes away, it will become a fact that the Zhen family poisoned the female relatives. I am afraid that he will see that he has crossed the bottom line of the family, and simply stop doing it and implicate my child. "The officialdom is like a battlefield. Officials can do their best to fight for life and death, but they all have a tacit understanding that they will not harm their wives and children, especially in the complicated marriage relationship between aristocratic families.

This time, it was Jia Min who saved Lin Ruhai from the disaster. It was Lin Ruhai's daily health-care decoction, but his servants sent it to the main room by mistake.This Lin family focuses on health preservation, and the master of the family has his own health-preserving soup every day. Jia Min saw that he accidentally delivered the wrong soup, but he didn't care. But who knows how these two mouthfuls of soup turned into that Yan Luo who urged his life?In less than half an hour, Jia Minwu's stomach hurt like a wrenching pain, before the enshrined doctor of the Lin family could reach the main room, Jia Min vomited a mouthful of black blood.

It can be seen that the dosage is so large that Lin Ruhai will die instantly after drinking the tonic soup.

The cause of this calamity was the power struggle between the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River, and Lin Ruhai's painstaking efforts to maintain a balance pierced the lungs of the Zhen family.

"Lianghuai salt merchants are headed by eight families, and the Zhen family has won over three of them. As long as they get another one, they can strangle the throat of the salt road—even Dong Weng will be powerless. According to what we found: the five At home, the Huang and Jiang families are fans of the Third Highness, and the Ma family is optimistic about the Fourth Highness. Only the Li and Cheng families have not stood in line. Among them, the Cheng family is vacillating between the third and fourth Highnesses, and only the Li family It can be a fuss. Although the Li family is a bit declining due to no successors, as long as Zhen Yingjia takes him under the door, the situation can be changed immediately-after all, although the Huang, Jiang, and Ma families are now united under your coordination, but Ma The family and the other two families are actually their own masters, and there are many internal conflicts, with three enemies against four, which is really worrying."

Chen Ziwei continued: "If the Li family falls to Zhen Yingjia, no matter whether the Cheng family chooses the third or fourth highness, it will no longer affect the overall situation. He has become an outcast."

Lin Ruhai nodded: "Choose the third highness, the Ma family is the only one under the command of the fourth highness in the alliance here. Even if I coordinate, I am afraid that the Ma family will not dare to form an alliance, otherwise the three families must first unite to swallow him, and then work together to fight against it." Support the other four of the six princes. Merchants value profits, that’s all.” No matter which prince they turn to and support, the first consideration of salt merchants is to expand their power and earn more money.

"If the Cheng family supports the Fourth Highness, the allies will face each other two by two, and they will fall apart sooner or later." The salt merchants supported the prince and chose to stand in line for the purpose of obtaining more benefits from the power of the dragon in the future. These families will never Those who are willing to entrust their entire wealth and life to a certain prince are things that even the saints of all ages could not do.

The rich and rich in the world belong to the salt road, and the prosperity of the salt road depends on the Lianghuai River, and the throat of the Lianghuai River is in Yangzhou.This saying has been handed down from the previous dynasty to the present, and the internal struggles among the big and small salt merchants in Yangzhou have intensified. , the chaos is at its peak—every moment someone falls and rises.At this time, if the officials in charge of Yangzhou's salt administration are not careful, the situation will completely get out of control, and if it is serious, the salt shortage disaster in the last years of the previous dynasty will reappear.

An important reason for the downfall of the former dynasty was that the court officials only cared about making money, and the management of the salt road was unbalanced.On the one hand, the salt merchants tried to use salt to curb government affairs, but on the other hand, serious internal strife resulted in the accumulation of salt mountains in the Lianghuai River and Huaihe River, causing the salt price to soar. Yisheng... The Taizu of this dynasty once said that half of the previous dynasty died on the salt.

The Lin family was originally a big family in Gusu with a large population. It was precisely because of the salt drought that ruined the lives of most of the young and strong members of the family that they ended up in the current predicament of withered descendants.Lin Ruhai knows the power of it best, and he has the heart to serve the country. All these years, he has devoted himself to the affairs of the Salt Road, planning in every possible way to maintain the balance, but he did not expect that one day he would kill his first wife and even his only daughter. How could he not be discouraged? Feeling cold?

"Zhen Yingjia is sure to win the Li family, and she is sure - Mrs. Li's mother is the daughter of the Zhen family. But the only son of the Li family, Li Shou, was seriously ill. Dong Weng intervened and delayed the son's life for half a year. , the Li family is grateful, and the Zhen family also hates us to the bone..." This is the reason for the poisoning.

Lin Ruhai said indifferently: "Being kind and righteous while getting married, if Li Shou is not dead, the Li family will not stand in line." Things froze.

Chen Ziwei set up the chessboard by himself: "The Zhen family wants Li Shou to die, and Li Shou's death can revitalize the whole game of chess. We want Li Shou to live, and he can hold back Yandao if he lives. The meaning of which one you prefer is considered a draw - Dong Weng holds both sides with one hand, and it is a draw. But the Zhen family can't, unless the sixth prince is in charge, otherwise he will be liquidated by the new king in the future. For them, a draw It's a dead end."

"It could have lasted at least this year, but Li Shou's serious illness attracted the eldest lady of the Li family to join the game. Now the entire Li family is presided over by this person. Miss Li married the second son of the Jinling royal family, Wang Ziteng, who is the highest ranking Weight, this is equivalent to the sudden insertion of a powerful force from elsewhere—with Mrs. Wang Ziteng in the trap, whether Li Shou is dead or alive, the Li family's tendency has become Wang Ziteng's dominance." Whoever Wang Ziteng stands in the Li family will stand. If Wang Ziteng is a pure minister, the Li family will not rely on anyone.

But everyone knows that Wang Ziteng is cunning, he doesn't see rabbits and doesn't scatter eagles, no matter how high the posture of a pure minister is, he will never be persuaded by Zhen Yingjia until the holy will is clear—"So, Dong Weng, you attracted Mrs. Li? "

Chen Zi brushed off half of the baizi slightly, and looked up at Lin Ruhai.

Lin Ruhai knew that his confidant and staff were extremely smart. Since Chen Ziwei recovered the whole thing and started from the beginning, Lin Ruhai knew that he probably guessed it.

"That's right, Wang Ziteng and I have a tacit understanding in secret, and we have combined the strength of the two families to protect Li Shou's life. Not only that, I also asked my wife to write a letter to Mrs. Li. In the early years, they were old, but I didn't Thinking that Mrs. Li will go to Gusu to take charge of the Li family." Then, the Li family's will completely changed to Wang Ziteng's, and the Zhen family's abacus even broke the abacus beads.

Chen Ziwei nodded, Dong Weng's wife is the daughter of Duke Rong, and Mrs. Jia's second sister-in-law's elder brother is Wang Ziteng, so it's not surprising that she is acquainted with Mrs. Wang Ziteng.

Although Lin Ruhai only wanted to maintain the balance of the salt road, and never had any enmity with the Zhen family, his political actions always became an obstacle to the Zhen family and the sixth prince. It is no wonder that Zhen Yingjia's plan to control the salt road was completely broken Then angered and poisoned him.

"Mrs. Wait... I intend to send my little girl to the ancestral home outside the capital to avoid disaster." Lin Ruhai said suddenly.

Chen Ziwei nodded: "It should be done."

"Ziwei is willing to protect my child to go to Beijing?"

Chen Ziwei hesitated, Dong Weng was in danger, and he was unwilling to leave unless something serious happened, but the young lady was Dong Weng's only flesh and blood...

"Perhaps there is someone ready to escort Miss to Beijing!" Chen Ziwei's eyes suddenly lit up, pointing to the west: "That Du boy is not bad."

"The two of them are talents in the bodyguard company, and the rules are the most important. They are still bold and cautious. They only look at Zhen San's affairs. I am sure that these two people can protect the young lady. When the young lady goes to Beijing, it is also human to hire a bodyguard. It's normal." Chen Ziwei said: "It's better to bring some nannies and housekeepers for Miss."

Lin Ruhai pondered for a long time, and felt it was appropriate, so he asked the chief attendant to come in and order: "Haosheng sent that Mr. Jia Yucun from Dongkuayuan away, and only said that due to the change in the mansion, the matter of hiring a teacher was postponed."

Lin Ruhai had originally planned to hire a teacher for his daughter Daiyu, but it happened that someone recommended Jia Yucun, who was born as a Jinshi.He was very satisfied, and wanted to choose an auspicious day for his daughter to be a teacher, but unexpectedly Jia Min was poisoned on his behalf, so he couldn't care less about other things.

Jia Min was dying, and Lin Ruhai felt that his family was in danger, and wanted to send Daiyu to her ancestral home to avoid disaster, so he had to choose a reliable person to escort her.Chen Ziwei was naturally the first choice, but Lin Ruhai knew that Chen Ziwei would not leave Yangzhou in the current crisis, so he set his sights on Jia Yucun again, because Lin Ruhai had already noticed that this person had a strong desire to recover, so he wanted to send him a letter of recommendation. Exchanged with him the matter of sending Daiyu to Beijing—Lin Ruhai planned to tell them to leave Yangzhou City quietly, and Lin Ruhai would cover for them.And the most wonderful thing is that Jia Yucun was once the teacher of Zhen Baoyu, the son of Zhen Yingjia, so there is always a kind of incense.

Jia Yucun stayed at Zhen's house for a year, but he failed to get Zhen Yingjia's recommendation. If Lin Ruhai was willing to give him this opportunity, how could he not escort Daiyu insanely?

Lin Ruhai used to know that Chen Ziwei looked down on Jia Yucun's character, so he proposed a safer choice. Lin Ruhai thought about it for a long time, and naturally agreed to Chen Ziwei's suggestion.

Chen Ziwei suddenly smiled and said: "Then Dong Weng has to take the blame for both of them."

Lin Ruhai knew that he was talking about Zhen Yu's drowning, so he smiled freely: "I and his family are already in a deadlock, what's the difference if one more or less! Besides, Zhen Zhen really deserves to die, and deserves this reward!"

Chen Ziwei opened the folding fan with a "crash" and said, "It's not wrong. If we hadn't rescued Eucommia, why would he be doing harm to the people today? It should be your business."

Lin Ruhai sneered, he used such insidious means to harm his wife, he was only regretful that it wasn't Zhen Yingjia who died.

In the guest room, Du Zhong, who was in a coma, and Song Chen, who was guarding him, the two brothers didn't know that a troublesome matter had fallen on them out of thin air, and the favor of saving their lives came first, so they couldn't refuse.

At the same time, the Xue family in Jinling also exploded.

Mrs. Xue scolded Xue Pan while weeping and wiping away her tears, while feeling sorry for his bruised nose and swollen face.

All the shopkeepers and housekeepers were waiting outside, all panicked and talking about it.

This one said: "My shop was smashed to pieces, why did I offend the Zhen family, what should I do?"

The one sighed: "If your gold shop is smashed, it will be smashed. If it melts, let the goldsmith do it again, but my son is a jade dealer, the ancestor of heaven! Even if it is Hetian Baoyu, the scum is worthless!"

Others shouted: "Master Zhen San is crazy. Our young master just parked the boat on the water and didn't kill his son. How can you be so unreasonable and recklessly vent your anger on others!"

The other shook his head and sighed: "It's always like this in his family. What's more, his family's affairs have not gone well this year, and he was reprimanded by the sage for the first time. Now that the main bloodline has died, how can he bear it? There have been rumors that he The feng shui of the family's ancestral grave has been suppressed, and someone in Jinling City has disturbed his house."

"It's nonsense! It didn't take a day or two for the Zhen family ancestor's grave to be erected, so why was it suppressed today?"

"Hey, as the saying goes, 'Feng Shui turns in turns', this is not static. The Zhen family is so unruly, it really seems to be hindered."

"No, Zhen Yu just died, and his old lady cried to death. After waking up, she clamored to marry her grandson so that he wouldn't be left alone—I heard that this was a master's idea. When someone walks through the door, this joyful energy contains both yin and yang, which can counteract the darkness of the ancestral tomb. I also specially calculated the auspicious day, which is on the winter solstice. The sky is short and cold, which is most suitable for yin marriage. After choosing a person, It is not allowed to publicize it, you have to paste the name of the person on a blank piece of paper, and press it under the tablet of Zhen Zhen for 49 days, and then you can go to the door to propose marriage..."

"So much attention, it's already mid-September, and the girl's name has to be suppressed for 49 days. Doesn't the candidate have to be decided in the near future?"

"I've also heard that the old lady of the third room specially went to ask her sister-in-law. The 'Mrs. It must be worthy of Zhen Zhen."

"Bah! What a dream, how can this kind of people marry their daughter to a dead man!"

"that is!"

"It's okay, the ancestors honored the junior men who were not up to date, and gave up the daughters of the family to seek relatives..."

"..."

The voices of these people became lower and lower as they talked, and gradually became unknown.

Whether it was Xue Pan's yelling of pain and cursing, or Mrs. Xue's crying, they gradually heard it.

The mother and son slowly turned their eyes to the pale-faced Xue Baochai, and Baochai's tears suddenly fell.

"Impossible! Unless I die!" Before Mrs. Xue could speak, Xue Pan was already furious.

Mrs. Xue also cried: "My poor son."

"Mom! Sister, don't cry! I'll go to the Zhen's house right now, and bring out that damned Zhen Zhen. If the Zhen family really dares to plot against my sister, I will call Zhen Zhen to be ashamed!"

"Bah! Who said it was your sister!" Aunt Xue quickly squeezed his mouth.

After all, Xue Baochai was only twelve or thirteen years old, although she was normally intelligent and generous, she couldn't help but not be afraid when she heard the words outside, and leaned into her mother's arms trembling.

Mrs. Xue's heart was pierced like a knife, and she didn't care about Xue Pan's injury any more, so she slapped him on the shoulder: "The evil is not all caused by you!"

As he said that, he immediately ordered someone to inquire about this matter secretly. Whose girl did the Zhen family fall in love with?

Mrs. Xue took her daughter to kneel in front of the Bodhisattva, kowtowed and burned incense, and only asked the Zhen family to choose anyone, and it must not be her treasure.

"Madam!" Zhou Xiang's housekeeper ran in in a panic, and whispered in her ear: "Once the Zhen family wants to marry a living person to match a yin relative, everyone in the big family with daughters in the city will be in danger. The villain screwdriver had a bad intention to bring trouble to the east, saying, saying—”

She hesitated, and unconsciously glanced at the young lady.

Aunt Xue put her daughter in her arms and said angrily, "What are you talking about? You said it!"

"It is said that the old man's painting boat stopped there and hindered the opportunity of the Zhen family's rescue, so it is reasonable to pay a younger sister to Zhen Zhen!" Zhou Xiang's family said with a heartbroken heart.

"Fart!" Mrs. Xue was furious immediately, and slapped Zhou Xiang's family in the face.

……

"Jinling City can't stay here anymore, the Zhen family is going to kill our orphans and widows! Let's go, let's vote for your uncle and aunt! Isn't it because the backers of our Xue family are far away? With the face of your uncle and aunt, how dare the Zhen family do this?"

Xue Pan immediately ordered: "Go and prepare the carriage, we will leave immediately."

"Oh! Stop!" Mrs. Xue stopped the housekeeper, and said to Xue Pan with hatred: "We have to leave, but we have to pack up and prepare first! We can't leave openly, we have to leave quietly! Even if the Zhen family We will find out in the future, after all there is no trouble, we can still keep a little affection for each other."

Xue Pan said angrily: "It's all like this, what kind of affection do you need?"

"Mom is right." Xue Baochai came out from behind, and said with swollen eyes: "October [-]th is the day when we make accounts and replenish goods every year. All the shops and horses come from all over the world. They leave on that day. It's not called awareness to be able to mix in. It's just that my brother must stop making trouble after this, and make them think that our family has accepted our fate..."

Therefore, Jinling and Yangzhou, some "golden hairpins" and "jade belts" from previous generations went to Beijing at the same time, and the two points gradually became closer and closer, and finally coincided in front of the capital city gate.