Survive in the world of Red Mansions

The yamen began to be sealed on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month. Although the Lin family’s head mother was seriously ill, it was time to prepare for the New Year. Two months of monthly money will be added.

Lin Hai also took advantage of this vacation to get to know the servants of the entire Lin family and tidy up the front and back yards of the entire Lin family. He didn't want to be too hasty after Jia Min passed away.

Because Lin Rui was too young, he used to follow Jia Min and lived next to Jia Min and the others. This time, he finally got his own independent courtyard as Lin Rui wished. The name of the courtyard was based on the name of the villa area where Lin Hai and his son lived. It was named Runzeyuan, regardless of whether other people would have any thoughts when they saw it.

The servants around Lin Rui were all served by Jia Min in the past. This time, taking advantage of the rectification of the servants at home, they recruited four people from Lin Rui's side. Wei, plus some rough envoys and little maids, all led by the nanny.

Lin Daiyu also has two little servant girls, Xueyan and Xueque, who are not much different in age from Lin Rui and Lin Daiyu, and if nothing unexpected happens, they should be able to accompany them for many years.

Although Mr. Qiu has come, but because of Jia Min, Daiyu has not followed the formal study for the time being, and only occasionally sees Mr. Qiu when she has time.

Soon it was New Year's Eve, because it was neither the ancestral home of the Lin family in Suzhou, nor the old Lin family home in the capital where the Lin family had lived for generations, but the attached house behind the government office, so the matter of worshiping the ancestors was much simpler.

There is a courtyard behind the official office. When Lin Ruhai came to work, people cleaned it out and put the tablets of the ancestors of the Lin family in it.On the night of the New Year's Eve, the servants put out sacrifices such as rice cakes, fruits, animal meat, and wine early on. Lin Hai read the sacrificial text as usual, and took Lin Rui to worship the tablet of the ancestors of the Lin family. Kowtow three heads before coming out.

When worshiping ancestors, only men can come in, and women can only kowtow outside.Originally, Jia Min was like this this year, and it was hard for others to say anything if he didn't come. Lin Hai didn't have any special feelings for the ancestors of the Lin family here, so he told her not to come, but Jia Min insisted on coming and had to let her.Lin Hai asked someone to prepare a chair with a thick cushion on it for Jia Min to sit and wait outside with Lin Daiyu.Jia Min doesn't have many days, and Lin Hai is not stingy with his little thoughts to make her last days easier.

After Lin Hai and his son came out, they went back to the main room together with Jia Min and Daiyu, and let Jia Min sit on the couch beside him, together with a few nuns and maidservants who were usually more respectable in front of the master, and everyone gathered together to watch the new year.In these years, everyone is used to going to bed early and getting up early. Before Xu time, Xiao Daiyu nodded and asked the cook to bring up the cooked dumplings earlier. After everyone ate one or two, Lin Hai made people wake up early. It's gone, I have to get up early tomorrow morning to be busy.

When she got up early the next morning, Lin Rui was put on a red dress by the maidservants, and finally Li took out jade pendants, purses, necklaces and other odds and ends, and asked Lin Rui to take them with her.Mammy also knows that Lin Rui doesn't like to wear these, but today is the first day of the new year, so she should be more particular about it, and Lin Rui doesn't want to talk to Mammy, so it's better to wear it, it's considered auspicious.

Lin Hai sat in the main room, and Jia Min cheered up and sat on the side.Seeing Lin Rui walking in led by Nanny Li, wearing a red dress, he looked like a moving red lantern from a distance.When he got closer, he saw the helplessness on Lin Rui's face, and he knew that his son was forced to put on a red dress, and he was not happy.Lin Rui came in and kowtowed to them for the new year. Lin Hai and Jia Min each gave a purse. Lin Rui held it in his hand and played with it, feeling that it was much more tactile than the red envelopes he got during the New Year.

Lin Rui had just finished paying New Year's greetings, and when she saw Sister Lin coming in in a festive red dress, she finally felt less depressed. After the family had finished breakfast, people began to visit for New Year's greetings.

Because we all know that Jia Min is seriously ill and it is difficult to get up, so the subordinate officials and friends who came to pay New Year's greetings this time did not go with them. They all sat and chatted for a while, drank a cup of tea and left.

Lin Hai also took Lin Rui out to various houses and walked around. In addition to harvesting a basketful of good words about being smart, sensible, and having a fatherly demeanor, he will be the number one scholar and younger brother in the future, Lin Rui also harvested a bunch of gold and silver. .

According to regulations, every year during the Chinese New Year, in the first month, one must find a time to entertain his boss, his subordinates, staff, relatives and friends to the house as guests.

Now Jia Min basically stays in bed every day. If there are female family members who come to entertain guests at the mansion, no one will entertain them, and if they have a banquet at the mansion, there are many things to worry about, and Jia Min can't handle it.So Lin Hai simply ordered a table at Taibai Building, and when sending the stickers to each mansion, he also asked the guests attending the banquet to understand the situation in his mansion.

Because the yamen was going to open the seal on the [-]th day of the first lunar month, Lin Hai saw that Jia Min was in good spirits on the Lantern Festival on the [-]th day of the first lunar month. After dinner, he took Lin Rui and his brother to accompany Jia Min to talk.

When the talk was about the same, Jia Min sent someone to send Daiyu and brother to go first, and then said to Lin Hai:

"My lord, I shouldn't have said these things when I was celebrating the New Year here, but I also know that I can't delay it for long, so I will talk about it now while I can. Big families all pay attention to a 'bereaved women and eldest daughters do not marry', and then There is a master who is busy with work, and after I go, the master will send them to my mother in the capital, although my second sister-in-law is the housekeeper in that house now, but with the old lady around, no one will make them feel wronged."

"Why do you need to worry, Ma'am? Wouldn't I be good for these two children? Daiyu's two siblings have been weak since birth, especially Rui'er, who only took care of her body in the past few months. Even My grandfather's family is not as comfortable as my own, and the food in the capital is very different from that in Yangzhou. It is a question of whether their bodies can bear it after a change.

Furthermore, Daiyu also invited Mr. Qiu to come. The few female students Mr. Qiu taught in the capital are now well-known when they get married, so try to find a way to invite a well-known nun for Daiyu. There is no need to worry too much about Yu's future upbringing.

I know that you want to send Rui'er and Daiyu to Rongguo Mansion, because you are worried that I will marry new people in the future, and if there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather.I'm in my forties, and our Lin family has been passed down from generation to generation. For the sake of Rui'er and Daiyu, I won't find anyone to suppress them.

This time, I asked people to go to the capital to give gifts, and I deliberately asked them to pay attention to the situation with the mother-in-law. Now the second wife is the housekeeper, and the second uncle is also the one who is in charge of the outside world. This is not a way to start a family for a family.Baoyu, the second bedroom over there, is now raised by her mother-in-law, and Daiyu is also 6 years old this year, so it should be taboo.I shouldn't have said these things, and it was my husband and wife who mentioned them. We only have one son and one daughter, so I can't blame me for thinking more. "

"My lord, I also know that my mother is partial to the second brother, but the second brother likes scholars and filial piety unlike the elder brother. No wonder the old lady likes the second brother, and the sister-in-law who remarried is not very popular, and she is a bit petty, so the second room is the housekeeper. "

Lin Hai heard what Jia Min said, and knew that Jia Min was not happy with his answer today. He said Mrs. Xing was petty, why did Jia's mother find such a daughter-in-law at that time? Jia She is not very old, can't he find a better candidate?Mrs. Jia may really like her second son, but for her unshakable position in the Rongguo Mansion, she deliberately let the big house that should be the housekeeper find a small house that can't manage the house, so as to achieve the current balance. The eldest and second householders have to watch her face to live, and no one can shake his status as the old Fengjun!

"Madam, don't worry, if possible, I will try my best to send Daiyu and Rui'er to Rongguo Mansion to meet the old lady. This means that I can't leave the position of Yanzheng this year, and I will be transferred back to the capital after one more term. It is also convenient to meet in the capital."

"Master is right, let me think about it again!"

As the days passed, Jia Min's sleepiness became longer and longer. When she was awake, she said to her nanny Zhang Momo several times, "Why hasn't anyone come from Beijing yet?"

Nanny Zhang didn't know how to comfort Jia Min.What Zhang Momo thought was that years ago, the master sent someone to report to the Rongguo Mansion that his aunt was seriously ill, but no one has come over until now. No matter what the reason is, it always makes people feel that Madam's natal family attaches great importance to Madam. It’s not enough, but how can such a guess be told to Madam?

On the morning of the sixth day of February, Jia Min, who had been lying in bed for many days without getting up, was in such good spirits that she was helped to get up!

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