Jia Rong, the smiling tiger of the Red Chamber

In the east of the capital, there is a long street named 'Fugui'.Gaoxuanhuayuan, pavilions and pavilions on both sides, whether it is day or night, are full of all kinds of cries or laughter, which is a well-known bustling and lively place in the capital.

Since this street is called Fugui Street, the people who can come here are naturally rich and powerful people who are either rich or expensive.Some high-ranking officials or nobles in Beijing, children of nobles, or princes of aristocratic families often haunt here.

There are countless restaurants on this street, the most famous of which is naturally Tinglanju opened by Huang Shangyue's family.This is an extremely elegant place. Not only are there delicious food and wine, but in the hall on one side, there are also poems written by many students who came to Beijing to catch the exam.There will be an exchange meeting at the end of each month.

The so-called exchange meeting is to gather a lot of young talents to discuss and learn from each other. On the same day, the best one in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting will be selected and hung in the hall for people to appreciate and comment on. Ting Lan There will also be heavy gifts given out here.After more than ten years of development, this has become a major feature of Ting Lanju. Every month at the end of this day, the place is particularly lively.

It is precisely for this reason that Tinglanju is the favorite place for some scholars.

And Jia Zheng, who has always regarded himself as a scholar, naturally came here a lot.And when it's not the end of the month exchange meeting, it's a must-see.

When Jia Zheng came to Tinglanju, he was not alone, but brought with him some Qing Ke who had been raised by him.It is said that this is Fugui Street, most of the people who can come here have some family background.So every month, but there's a hefty expense here.

For this reason, Mrs. Wang complained a lot.

On this day, at the end of the month, after Jia Zheng came down from the yamen, he only changed his clothes at home, and asked the young man who was waiting by his side to take 200 taels of silver from the office. Then he went to Tinglanju together with his few Qing customers.

When they arrived, Tinglanjuli was already very lively, bustling with many young talents, this Tinglanjuli was very lively.

"I didn't see you, brother Zhou, waiting here. I just thought you weren't coming. Why is it so late today? But something happened at home, and I got stuck?" As soon as Jia Zheng came in, he saw the usual Li Yi, a white-faced scholar in his 30s, whose name is Bai Yi and whose name is Zhong Hong, came over and smiled.

Jia Zheng also bowed his hands immediately, and replied: "There is nothing wrong at home, but the affairs in the yamen are a little tight, and it is a bit late. Brother Zhonghong missed me, and I am really sorry."

Bai Zhonghong waved his hand and said, "Brother Cun Zhou is really polite. That young talent Zhou Qingyang who is famous in the south of the Yangtze River also came here today. I was still thinking that it would be a pity if you didn't come."

"Zhou Qingyang? He's here. I really want to see him. I just don't know if his talent is as it is in the rumors. Is it real or is it just something touted?" Jia Zheng Hearing Bai Zhonghong's words, he frowned, and said so.

Zhou Qingyang is from Suzhou. He comes from the Zhou family, a scholarly family. He has been a well-known child prodigy in Suzhou since he was a child. He passed the examination as a scholar at the age of eight, and passed the examination at the age of 14. Now at the age of 19, he is already Emperor Longqi. The Tanhualang point.Absolutely worthy of the name of the young talent.

Hearing Jia Zheng's words, Bai Zhonghong rolled his eyes invisibly, this week Qingyang was a young and handsome talent whom the emperor praised and praised.But what is Jia Zheng?It's just Meng Zuyin, who just entered the Ministry of Industry and became the chief bookkeeper. In more than ten years, he has only achieved the position of Yuanwailang. When it comes to actual achievements, he doesn't even have the reputation of a scholar.How dare he use such a questioning tone to talk about Zhou Qingyang? I really don't know where his confidence comes from?

If it weren't for the benefits of making friends with him... it's just who is willing to associate with him.He's just a hypocritical person.

But although he thought so in his heart, on the surface, Bai Zhonghong still followed Jia Zheng's words and said: "Brother Cun Zhou's words are reasonable, whether it is true or not, we will know later when he comes. What we are standing here is useless. It is better to come in and talk." After speaking, he made a gesture of inviting in and came out.

Jia Zheng nodded, and went inside with Bai Zhonghong.

The two of them just went inside, and they saw that they were surrounded in a circle in a part of the hall, and many people were whispering.

"What happened here?" Bai Zhonghong pulled a person casually and asked.

The man was held back by Bai Zhonghong, but he didn't feel any annoyance. Instead, he replied in an excited tone, "It's an interesting story. Didn't the boy from Jiangnan, Xie Yuan and Zhou Qingyang, come here a moment ago?" Is it? I wrote two wonderful poems one after another, which attracted a lot of admiration. Doesn’t this mean that someone is not convinced and wants to come up to challenge him? Coincidentally, the person who challenged him is also a well-known young talent in Suzhou. The man named Liang Ang is also about the same age as Zhou Qingyang. It's just that his fate is not good. During the imperial examination last year, his mother happened to die of illness, which made him miss the last imperial examination. This made Zhou Qingyang a success. The name of Jie Yuan. The two of them just happened to meet here today. Don’t they have to compare and score? Isn’t it the beginning of the game now? There are three games in total, and now it’s the first place field."

Hearing this, Bai Zhonghong's expression became excited, and he said, "This is really interesting." Looking sideways at Jia Zheng, he said, "Brother Cun Zhou, let's join in the fun together. ?”

When Jia Zheng heard about such an elegant competition, he was naturally very interested, so he nodded immediately.

The two people entered inside carefully, and saw two people sitting on one left and one on the right in the middle of the room. They were both eighteen or nine years old. One sapphire blue brocade robe and the other plain brocade clothes were not bad. , it was Zhou Qingyang and Liang Ang.

Between the two of them, there is also a desk with an incense burner on it, and a stick of incense that has been burned a little.

"...Where there are insects in the water, it will be turbid, and if there are fish in the water, fish will be fished. The water is full of water, and the rivers and lakes are small." But Liang Ang, who was dressed in plain brocade, thought for a while, and said so.

Zhou Qingyang in the sapphire blue brocade robe also pondered for a while, and said: "The base under the tree is the base, and the end above the tree. The wood is woody, and the pines and cypresses are dense."

As soon as the two of them finished speaking, they heard the voice of applause among the crowd.

After savoring carefully, Bai Zhonghong couldn't help applauding, and he immediately praised them. The reputation of the two young talents is not in vain.This pair is really neat!

Jia Zheng was the most arty person, and it was not the first time that there was such a talent competition in Tinglanju.There are almost every month. The reason why he was aroused in the past was purely for Zhou Qingyang, a 19-year-old Tanhualang.It's just that I didn't expect that when I came in, I saw that they were not competing for knowledge and talent, but a match.Naturally, I was greatly disappointed.Inevitably said some things that should not be said.

"Although the pair of them are neat and orderly, it's just that they are a bit too nonsense. This pair is just the enlightenment of schoolchildren, even children with yellow mouths can learn it. It is not difficult. The two of them, since they are both in Suzhou The well-known young talent, since it is a competition, how to use the right pair to determine the competition, it is too childish."

However, when Jia Zheng said this, the scene was lively. Although his voice was not low, it was covered by other voices. Except for Bai Zhonghong, only a few people nearby heard it.Unexpectedly, it was such a coincidental time. Jia Zheng finished speaking halfway, and there was some lively scene. For some reason, he actually fell silent for a while, so the second half of his words, not surprisingly, were heard by most of the people present. I heard it all over the place.

So, as soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes immediately focused on him.Even Zhou Qingyang and Liang Ang were no exception.

After standing still for a while, I heard a disdainful male voice, sneered and said, "Who am I to say such outrageous words? It turned out to be Mr. Jia. It's no wonder. Mr. Jia's eldest son is also considered a A well-known talent in Beijing, although he disappeared early. The second son who came tonight is also amazing. He was born in the same year. I don’t know how much attention he has received. I heard that he is very clever. He is not as good as one in a hundred With two sons who are so smart, if you want to come to Mr. Jia as an old man, you can't go there. Besides, Mr. Jia said the same thing just now. That's the case. Why don't you ask Mr. Zhou and Mr. Liang to make room for Mr. Jia , so that Mr. Jia can take the stage and show off his skills."

When Jia Zheng heard this, his face became a little embarrassed and ugly. Looking sideways, he saw a man in a moon-white brocade robe.Jia Zheng was no stranger to this person, and could even be said to be extremely familiar with him.

This man is Jia Zheng's Zhili boss in the Ministry of Industry, Yan Su, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and a fourth-rank official.

Oh... You said that as Jia Zheng's boss, he should not help each other, not to mention protecting him. There is also a reason why he targeted Jia Zheng so much.

Yan Su was born in Boyang Hou Mansion, he is the third uncle of the Seventh Prince's concubine Yan's direct relative.

Jia Yuanchun's daughter, Jia Yuanchun, entered the Seventh Prince's Mansion as a concubine. Although the Seventh Prince's Concubine never took Jia Yuanchun seriously, Yan Su, who was the uncle of the Seventh Prince's Concubine, naturally felt something when he saw Jia Zheng. Not pleasing to the eye.

Many of the people present were smart. They looked at Yan Su and then at Jia Zheng, and in the end they all stood decisively on Yan Su's side without explaining.

Even Zhou Qingyang had already stood up from his seat, and said flatly, "I've been curious about Mr. Jia for a long time. Now that I have the opportunity, I can see Mr. Jia's demeanor."

This time, Jia Zheng stood there hanging there, unable to get up or down. Under the eyes of many onlookers, his face became more and more awkward and ugly. Looking at the eyes that everyone put on him, Jia Zheng hated him. He couldn't leave now, it was just because of the gazes of these people that he dared not move even more.

He just stood there awkwardly, quite at a loss.

At this moment, even Bai Zhonghong, who has always been on good terms with Jia Zheng, just quietly hides in the crowd, not daring to speak.

"Well... isn't this a contest between Mr. Zhou and Mr. Liang? Why is everyone looking at Mr. Jia? What's the reason for this?" At this moment, a middle-aged man's voice suddenly sounded, resolving the embarrassing situation atmosphere.

Following these words, the atmosphere in the venue began to warm up, especially when he saw that the person who spoke was the well-known rich and generous Xia Shu, and Yan Su himself no longer paid attention to Jia Zheng. Instead, he followed Xia Shu's words.

After a while, the atmosphere in the venue returned to the previous one, as if nothing had happened.

Because of this incident, Jia Zheng's exuberant mood also dropped, so he wanted to get up and go back home.It's just that when he walked to the door, he saw the person who rescued him just now.Jia Zheng prided himself on being an upright gentleman, and he wanted to reciprocate the man who helped him out of the siege just now, so he walked over and thanked Xia Shu for his rescue.

Speaking of Xia Shu, in fact, his status is not high, and his family is also the family of the imperial merchants. Most of the sweet-scented osmanthus bureaus in the capital belong to his family, and the bonsai displayed in the palace are enshrined by his family.This Xia Shu is also very good at being a man. Although he is only a merchant, he has quite a few connections.

After a few sentences, Jia Zheng found a bosom friend consciously. This Xia Shu was also very hospitable, so he dragged Jia Zheng to a restaurant not far away.I asked for a good private room, and ordered a lot of dishes, and asked Xiaoer to bring good wine.The two of them chattered in all directions.

Feeling more and more speculative.

At this time, the wine was half over, both Jia Zheng and Xia Shu were a bit drunk, especially Jia Zheng, whose alcohol capacity was average, at this time his face was flushed, his eyes were blurred, and his sanity was a little unclear.

"Brother Cunzhou, meeting you here today is really a great blessing in life. Why don't we get married and let our children continue our fate." Xia Shu's eyes flickered suddenly , said so.

Although Jia Zheng was a little delirious at this time, he still had two points of reason in his heart. Hearing Xia Shu's words, he was in a daze, "Brother Nian Xi is joking. There are only two sons who are not good enough in my family. They are still young, one is nine years old and the other is ten years old. How can it be done?"

"Brother Cunzhou, I really envy you. I have two sons, so it's difficult for me. I'm over forty years old, and I have only one daughter under my knees, and she's only seven years old." Xia Shu said enviously, paused, then continued Said: "I had a conversation with Brother Cunzhou today, and I really think it is a bosom friend in my heart. If I can marry Brother Cunzhou as a son and daughter, I will be very happy."

At this time, Jia Zheng's head was already in a mess. Hearing Xia Shu's words, he immediately took the jade pendant around his waist, handed it to Xia Shu, and said somewhat unclearly: "What's so difficult. I have A jade pendant, we will use this as a proof, and we will become a son and daughter in-laws, so as to continue the fate between us."

After Xia Shu received the jade pendant, he immediately handed over the jade pendant on his body to Jia Zheng, and said a lot of happy words.

It wasn't until late at night that the two of them dispersed separately, unlike Jia Zheng who fell asleep after getting into the carriage.Xia Shu's expression was sober, he didn't look drunk, he looked at the jade pendant engraved with the word 'Zheng' in his hand, and there was a trace of complacency on his face.

It seems that what that person said is very accurate, this Jia Zheng is really easy to deceive!With just one sentence, it is really worthwhile to climb up to a family like Rongguo Mansion!