New Dream of Red Mansions

Baoyu only had time to see Jiamu for the last time, and neither Jia Amnesty nor Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen were released. With so many children and grandchildren, in the once prosperous Jia family, only Baoyu dressed Jiamu in mourning.

People who used to come and go with Jia's mansion also avoided them for fear. When Xiyan and Yingchun arrived, Jia's mansion was very deserted.

Yingchun felt sad from her heart, and fell down in front of Jiamu's spirit crying.

Baoyu knelt on one side as he was about to die, and Baochai lost a lot of weight. When he saw Xiyan approaching, he forced a smile.

Xiyan asked in a low voice, "What's the matter? Tell me and see what I can do to help."

Baochai couldn't help crying, shook her head slightly and said, "Thank you, there's nothing wrong with it." Favors should be used wisely, not to mention, in their current situation, those favors cannot be abused.

Xiyan went to the back to see Li Wan and the others, and heard a servant woman commenting that Baochai did not do her best in organizing Jiamu's funeral, which was very different from what Sister Feng did in Qin Keqing's funeral.

"After all, she is not the granddaughter-in-law chosen by the old lady. How can she be more dedicated? Didn't you see that the old lady said she was sick and didn't go out when the old lady left?"

"You can't say that. I heard that the family's money is almost spent in order to take care of the old man."

"That can't delay the old lady..."

Chunlan gave those people a secret look, and said in a low voice: "Madam, the servants in the mansion are too rampant now, dare to say such things in front of us."

Xiyan didn't speak, but walked back with a few people.

The servants of Jia's mansion have long been spoiled to the point that they have no masters in their eyes. Sister Feng and Tanchun were fine when they were there. After all, they were still a little afraid. , but raised them up.

Xiyan sneered, they can talk about Baochai wildly now, but after a while, I'm afraid they will ask to stay.

What Xiyan said is correct, the Jia family originally demolished the west wall to make up for the east wall, once Jia She and others were imprisoned, the west wall and the east wall collapsed together, but they still couldn't remedy Jia She and others, so now they have to suppress Living with tight belts, but there are many servants in the house, the monthly expenses are unknown.

Now the Jia family can still hold on, but who knows how long it will last?

No wonder Baochai became so thin.

Li Wan is also very helpless. His wife has hinted to her many times that she hopes she can provide some money to help the family, but her dowry is not much, and the money saved over the years is also the monthly money of her and Brother Lang. As well as the bounty money Jia Mu gave her, the money is to be reserved for Lang Ge'er's future imperial examinations, so it can't be used at this time, can it?

Baochai also knew that Li Wan was stingy, and now everyone in the mansion had their own schemes, and she couldn't do anything about it if they were not on the same page.

On the third day after Jiamu's death, Tanchun rushed back from the border.

She rushed back as soon as she heard that Jia's mother was seriously ill. As soon as she entered the door, she heard all kinds of comments. She couldn't help being furious. If I hear him gossiping behind his back again, don't blame me for being rude!"

Most of the people curled their lips and didn't take it seriously. Tanchun was just a married aunt. If she was born in the first place, they were afraid of what she would say in front of Mrs. Wang, but she was not even born in the first place.

So they are not very afraid of her.

The few people who have always been cautious have restrained a lot. Although they are still a little sabotage, they will no longer discuss in private.

Tanchun knew that this was not the time for an attack, so he suppressed his temper and helped Baochai arrange the old lady's funeral.

Because the Jia family didn't have enough money, Tanchun went to find Mrs. Wang, but no one knew what they said. Anyway, the Jia family pawned a lot of good things they had accumulated over the years.

After Xiyan found out, she sent someone to tell them that she accepted all the things that Jia's mansion wanted to sell at more than [-]% of the market price.

Baochai breathed a sigh of relief, these things were taken to the pawnshop, and the money pawned was only one-third of their value, she felt distressed when she saw it, but now that Xiyan was willing to stand out, she couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

Mrs. Wang felt that since Xiyan could help Baoyu out of prison, could she also help Jia Zheng?

After Tanchun and Baochai knew what she was thinking, they quickly dissuaded her: "Mother, Second Brother Bao is only able to help because of a minor crime, but the two masters and Brother Zhen are ordered by the Holy Majesty himself , how can she make the decision? It's just asking her to manage the prison so that they don't suffer too much." But they can do these things, why bother her?

Only then did Mrs. Wang fall silent.

As soon as Jiamu's funeral was over, Baochai complained of illness and handed over the affairs of the mansion to Tanchun.

Tanchun sneered, and directly ordered people to copy the homes of the subordinate servants, Lai everyone was the first to bear the brunt.

Lai Rong originally heard that Jia Amnesty and others were imprisoned, so he wanted to let Lai Da and others redeem themselves, and told Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang and Baochai also felt that there were too many servants in the family, so they agreed verbally.

But because Jia Mu's funeral was delayed, now that Tanchun came back, he directly took over Fuzhong Zhongfu.

Lai Rong's face was ugly, and Lai Da even knelt in front of him, asking him sharply what he did wrong.

Tanchun didn't see him either, he just asked Lin Zhixiao to pass on the word that if he did nothing wrong, he would know if he ransacked the house.

Tanchun sneered at Baochai and the others: "Back then you were thinking that you had copied your own home, but now ours is about to be taken, so why not copy it all together and leave no one behind. "

Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xing have ugly faces. Are you telling them this?

Some people with a guilty conscience wanted to go back and transfer things, but Tan Chun had already had someone block the door, and directly asked the guard who escorted him to take people to the place where the servants lived to search for them.

Mrs. Wang looked at the boxes of things that were brought out with a livid face.

"You don't need to keep these things, anyway, they are all for the benefit of others, so sell them all, return all the money, and manage the relationship between the upper and lower levels, so that the two masters and Brother Zhen can't suffer in prison." Tanchun already knew from Xiyan that during this period of time the emperor has imprisoned many families, even the king of Nan'an was said to have been imprisoned, now the emperor is only concerned about the previous few houses, and he can't find their houses for a while. In this way, it is better to pay back all the money owed before, so as not to owe favors to others in the future.

Mrs. Wang looked at the boxes of confiscated jewelry and the Grange shop that had been exchanged for silver and returned it. She was heartbroken, and hinted to Tanchun that these things could be exchanged for her and Baochai's dowry.

Tanchun said: "Ma'am, our four families have always been prosperous and all of us have been harmed. Let alone the historians, my uncle has already gone, and the Wang family can't see it. Our family is also like this. Madam thinks your dowry is safe." ? Instead of asking others to raid the house due to favors outside, why don’t we go away first, so we don’t have to tire those favors.” There is another sentence that Tanchun didn’t say, if the emperor just ransacked the house, he might still beg for it in the future When it's someone else's time, wouldn't it be easier to speak up if you returned those favors?

It was rare for Tanchun not to be afraid of Mrs. Wang at this time, and after ransacking the house, he sold most of the family, including Lai Da's family, leaving only Lin Zhixiao and Zhou Rui's family.

Mrs. Wang also turned a blind eye, but Baochai felt that it was too much, and was about to admonish her, when a servant from Xue's family hurried over and said, "Auntie, something serious happened, the uncle beat someone to death."

"Ah?" Baochai stood up and hurriedly asked, "What do you mean?"

The servant wiped the cold sweat from his brow, and said: "The uncle was drinking in the tavern, and for some reason, he collided with the trough and beat him to death."

Baochai hurried back to find her mother and Xue Biao.

Xue Biao already knew it, and was about to pack some things and go over to have a look, when Aunt Xue asked Baochai to beg Jia's family to see if he could get away with favors.

Baochai smiled wryly: "It's not that Mom doesn't know what's going on in his house now. She can't protect herself, let alone help her brother."

Aunt Xue sat blankly on the chair and murmured: "If we had known this, we shouldn't have agreed to this marriage..."

Baochai lowered her head and said nothing.What's the point of talking about it now?

Back then, Xiyan plotted against Xue Pan and Jia Yucun, and finally Jia Yucun was exiled. Wang Ziteng helped Xue Pan clear the case, but in order to avoid disaster and relax his mind, he went south to do business. After going there for more than a year, he even had a relationship with Liu Xianglian By mistake, Jia Lian couldn't spare a little time because he had a serious job and had to take care of the general affairs of the Rongguo Mansion, so there was no one who secretly married Second Sister You and set up a bridge between Third Sister You and Liu Xianglian. thing.

Xiyan thought that Xue Pan's matter was over like this, but unexpectedly, Xue Pan beat someone to death again, but was still imprisoned.

All Baochai can think of now is Tanchun and Xiyan.

Zhang Shicheng is now at the border, and something happened to Qi Guogong's mansion this time, too late, she had no choice but to ask Xiyan for help.

Xiyan has no feelings for Baochai, and even admires her talent, but it doesn't mean she likes Xue Pan, not to mention that Zhang San was wronged by Xue Pan.

She had no choice but to evade, and just asked: "You beat someone to death somehow?"

"...It was just a misunderstanding. My elder brother wanted to change the wine, but the trough refused, so there was an argument. My elder brother poured the wine on him, but he accidentally hit him on the head... Their family is also poor and crazy ..."

The expression on Xiyan's face became slightly cold, and she only let Baochai go back, "I never dare to ask about these outside matters, and the old lady will be upset if she finds out..."

Baochai forced a smile.

As soon as Baochai left, Xia Yuntian opened the curtain and brought his son in, teasing them and said, "I asked the people below about this, the husband of Zhang Xu died 19 years ago, leaving behind three sons. , Zhang Da, Zhang Er, Zhang San, Zhang Da and Zhang Er died first, and now only Zhang San has a son, their Xue family bribed the county magistrate, changed the injury on the autopsy report to the one on Liberty's head, and minimized it Yes, they have some skills."

Because of Xiangling's matter, Xiyan has never had a good impression of Xue Pan, and said: "We don't care about him, let them go."

Xia Yuntian sensed the disgust in his wife's tone, and when he came out, he called Leng Quan and ordered: "Go and let the county magistrate enforce the law impartially. Recently, the Holy Majesty has been very strict in investigation."

Leng Quan hurriedly left.

Even if the hearts of the people in the capital are fluctuating, the New Year still has to be passed. After the New Year, the three children can not only crawl smoothly, but also stand up tremblingly and move forward carefully.

The character traits of the three children can be seen from their learning to walk.

The boss walks the most steadily, he always stands firm first before walking forward, and raises his head slightly, aiming at Xia Yuntian's direction and rushing over; the second brother has to be more careful, tilting his head to think about it every time , just took a step; the third child is much more heroic, he always gets up and rushes forward, even if he falls, he quickly gets up by himself and then screams "Wow" and rushes forward...

By the time the child was one year old, the three boys could walk more than ten steps in a row, and the Jia family's judgment came down.

Jia pardoned Jia Zhen and others were exiled, Jia Zheng escaped, but was dismissed from his official position. On the eve of the Chinese New Year, Jia's family was ransacked and driven out of Ningrong Street. Both Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion were taken back. Unfortunately, The Grand View Garden was also closed.

And Xue Pan's sentence came down, because he was sentenced to death for intentional homicide.

Baochai and Aunt Xue knew that Xiyan was unwilling to help them, so they had a grudge in their hearts, so they stopped interacting with Xiyan immediately.The Xue family was also implicated and lost their qualifications as an imperial merchant.The wall fell and everyone pushed, and the business of the Xue family was cut off. It was Xue Biao who decisively closed and sold a lot of shops, which saved most of the property, but even so, it also shrunk a lot.

Xue Biao planned to take Aunt Xue and others back to Jinling and live on the ancestral property.

After all, Jinling is their territory. Even if they don't have the status of an imperial merchant when they return there, they have been operating for many years, and Yu Wei is still there.

Aunt Xue lost her son, so naturally she didn't want to leave her daughter, so she made the decision to marry Xing Xiuyan to Xue Pan, and asked him to bring his wife back to his hometown, while she stayed with Baochai.

Xiyan lamented Xue Biao's character more than once when she knew about it. If it was in modern times, those nephews and nephews would not be so diligent in fighting for family property.

But now Aunt Xue has no son, even if she can't compete with Xue Biao.

After moving out of the Ningrong Second Mansion, Tanchun rented a third yard on Anping Street to arrange for them.

To Xiyan's surprise, Mrs. Wang kept hinting that Tanchun bought the yard for them to live in, but Tanchun pretended not to see it.

Tanchun said: "I don't know that it's not good to rent a house like this, but you also know that Shicheng's money is now supporting two families. I have been home for almost half a year for my natal family. Not only did he not talk about me, but also Let me make arrangements before going back. I owe him a lot on this point, how can I have the face to use his money to settle my natal family? I have already planned in my heart, and I should leave when the master is released. I'm afraid it will be difficult to meet again in the future."

Xiyan immediately understood that Tanchun's move was probably to repay the friendship of the Jia family.

Xi Yan sighed slightly, and said: "You have done well here, if they want to live in that courtyard, there will always be a way."

The Zhen family can hand over the money to Mrs. Wang for safekeeping. It makes no sense that Mrs. Wang has never thought of a similar method. She is not necessarily short of money to buy a house.

Tanchun smiled heartily, and said, "I'll go back after the three nephews celebrate their first birthday."

When the three boys were one year old, the Pingyang Hou Mansion was crowded with guests, but Baochai, Mrs. Wang and Tanchun still came over.

In just a few short months, most of the people who could still sit and talk together in the past disappeared, and those who could barely talk together before saw the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law as if they didn't see them.

Both Baochai and Mrs. Wang were a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, what those people did was not too obvious. After all, Madam Pingyang Hou invited them here through a post, so they couldn't lose their reputation too much, but in the end they embarrassed the master.

To Xiyan's surprise, Daiyu also sent someone to bring a gift, and Lin Zhong's family personally delivered it. A cart full of things, Xiyan laughed and said: "It's hard for your wife to give you so many things." to choose."

Lin Zhong's family said with a smile: "Our wife didn't have to work hard. The second master accompanied his wife to choose. Originally, I only wanted to choose a few items. Who knew that more and more would accumulate. I didn't know until the final loading of the car. There's a car."

"It's time, your wife should give birth too? I wrote to ask last time and didn't reply me."

Lin Zhong's family smiled even more, "I gave birth, I gave birth, and thanks to the little clothes my wife gave me, our wife has added a young master. Originally, when the child was born, I would write a letter to announce the good news, but Our wife said, it's better to bring the things together when they are delivered, so as not to be delayed once and twice, and the words are still unclear."

This child is the only male heir of the third room of the Su family. As soon as the child was born, the uncle of the Su family packed up his things and ran to Lingnan to hold the child himself. Boy, Sanfang can be regarded as a successor, and everyone is relieved, even the main family of the Su family has lost their minds.

The uncle of the Su family was about to set off firecrackers at the door of the main Su family's house.

Xiyan had seen Su Ziwen's unreliability, so she couldn't help smiling.

The old lady knew that Xiyan and Daiyu were always on good terms, so she also asked Lin Zhong's family to ask a few words.Lin Zhong's family is even more respectful to Xiyan.

Mrs. Zhou was busy outside, and she had to make arrangements for the reception, arrangement of banquets, and dispatch of personnel. Several meritorious families couldn't help but feel puzzled.Mrs. Pingyanghou has been here for almost two years, why is she still acting like Zhou's housekeeper?

Xiyan didn't care, she just took the child to eat and drink, and occasionally helped the Zhou family, and waited for the auspicious time to put the child on the long table surrounded by them to catch Zhou.

The old lady felt complete when she saw her, and she said to Madam Su: "It's hard for their sisters-in-law to complement each other in temper."

Su Momo boasted: "I think the third lady has a good temper. If those who are narrow-minded, I'm afraid there will be no peace in the mansion."

The old lady smiled and said, "Then why don't you say that she is lazy?"

"Isn't this just right, the third wife is Lai, and the second wife is diligent, they just complement each other."

Originally, after a hundred days of the child, the old lady intended to give the gift to Xiyan, but Xiyan saw that Mrs. Zhou liked the housekeeper very much, so she asked the old lady to ask Mrs. Zhou to help her, so that it would be fair for her to go fishing for two days. She was lazy and handed over the matter to Zhou Shi.

Seeing this, Mrs. Zhou naturally accepted her affection, not to mention that the affairs of the mansion were well organized, and the servants did not dare to underestimate Xiyan.

So in the past six months, although there will still be some small conflicts between the sisters-in-law, they are all harmless.

In fact, for Nanny Su, the key is that Xiyan has such a heart, and the Zhou family is a widow. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the two of them to reach this point when there is a major conflict.

Mrs. Zhou is a person with a strong desire to control. If Xiyan is the housekeeper, and she can only plant some flowers and plants in her yard like all widows, and do some needlework, I am afraid it will not take long, it will only take a year or two , she can come out to trouble Xiyan.

It's just that she didn't expect that Xiyan, who is the wife of the family, would not like the housekeeper very much, and instead gave the gift to her.

Although it was Xiyan who came out to socialize with the outside, in fact the arrangements were all made by the Zhou family, and Xiyan was just showing up.

Xiyan thought optimistically, isn't this the same rule as the royal family in a constitutional monarchy?

Everyone looked at the three children around and coaxed them to grab something on the table.

"Three children are dressed exactly the same, if they grab something, we can't tell who is who?"

"Didn't you see the child's name on the back of the child? Don't worry, you can't get mixed up."

Some people commented in a low voice: "Didn't it mean that the third child almost couldn't survive when he was born? Why are the three children now the same age?"

Someone just gave that person a dark look, and he didn't wink at him. He was not afraid of getting into trouble if he said such things in the master's house.

Immediately, the people around her moved a little further away from her.The man also knew that he had said something wrong, so he quickly lowered his head and stood aside.

It was the first time for the three children on the table to see so many people around them, and they were so excited that they raised their hands to move around. Xiyan looked at the three children encouragingly.

On the other hand, Xia Yuntian blushed a little, he just danced at home, they are boys after all, so what's the point of dancing in front of outsiders?

Xia Yuntian was fortunate that none of the onlookers understood the actions of the three boys.

Seeing that they had finished performing enough, Xiyan pointed to the things on the table and said, "Come on, honey, go and choose something, if you choose it, it will be yours."

When Brother Xu saw his mother's movements, he thought he understood and ran forward and kicked the things off the table. Brother Zhao looked aside for a while, and then clapped his little hands to cheer his brother up. Brother Zhe saw , quickly got up from the table, and ran forward to join in the fun. He was the fastest runner and the strongest among the three, so he was much faster than him when he learned how to kick things down one by one.

Xiyan: ...

Xia Yuntian: ...

Old Madam: ...

Mrs. Zhou looked at the needles, thread and rouge over there, and then at the books and wooden knives and swords on the other side. She couldn't help but feel lucky. Fortunately, the three children threw those things away. If they threw away the things over there, Isn't that the only way to choose?

The author has something to say: gone tonight