Survive in the world of Red Mansions

In a blink of an eye, it will be the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of May, and the yamen will naturally not have to go to work on this day.

Yangzhou City is close to the Yangtze River, the canal runs through the whole city, and the water network is well developed, so that there are many merchants, salt merchants and rich merchants, so every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, these merchants will pay for the dragon boat race. Lin Hai, as an important official in Yangzhou City, naturally also among the invited.

Originally, Lin Rui got excited when he heard that there would be a dragon boat race on the Dragon Boat Festival, and said that he would go to watch the race with Lin Hai, but Lin Hai said that he and Daiyu are still in love, and it is not suitable to go out for fun, just like a balloon with a hole in it. It collapsed immediately.

Although they couldn't go out to play this day because of keeping filial piety, the gentlemen of Lin Rui and Lin Daiyu still gave them a holiday.Lin Rui and his brother were also painted with the word "king" on their foreheads with realgar wine by the mother around them. They wore multicolored silk threads on their wrists, cut tiger charms and tied them on their arms, and wore sachets around their waists to avoid evil and drive away epidemics.The nuns also relaxed today, and took Daiyu to talk about the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival while making zongzi. Lin Rui had no other place to go, so he also mingled and listened.

As Lin Hai is an important official of Yangzhou City, no matter who is behind him for support, these big salt merchants still rely on the officials of the salt government to make a living, so Lin Hai's viewing position in today's dragon boat race is very good.

In fact, Lin Hai is not interested in watching dragon boat races at all, but on such an occasion today, all the officials and wealthy merchants in Yangzhou City will gather here, so it's good to go and have a look.

When Lin Hai came to the shed set up by the lake, he not only lamented that these wealthy salt merchants in Yangzhou would enjoy it, but also were willing to enjoy it. Every year, the dragon boat race in Yangzhou is funded by these wealthy salt merchants, and they also provide the prizes.

On the table are blue and white bone china tea sets, top-notch Longjing tea, Pu'er tea, and Dahongpao. In addition to tributes, they are also rare in the homes of some first- and second-rank officials. Exquisite refreshments, exquisite tea sets, and wandering in the Among them, the pleasing maids and servants tried their best to give the visitors an ultimate enjoyment.But it was too noisy, and Lin Hai felt a little headache when he sat inside and listened.

Although these were provided by those businessmen, they were not qualified to sit with officials like Lin Hai, and the most they could do was to come over to say hello.

When Zeng Junwen, the magistrate of Yangzhou, stepped forward to give an opening speech as the highest official of Yangzhou, a servant with a teapot came from outside the shed and came to Lin Hai to pour tea again.

"Master Lin, please have some tea."

When the manservant was pouring the tea, he pressed his hand on the bottom of the cup. Lin Hai felt strange and couldn't help but looked up at the manservant. The manservant had a respectful face, and bowed and retreated after pouring the tea.Lin Hai looked at the teacup and saw something at the bottom of the cup, so he quickly picked it up and put it in his hand.Zeng Junwen was still delivering a speech on the stage. Seeing that everyone was not paying attention to this side, Lin Hai hurriedly opened it and looked at it, then put it away calmly.

The dragon boat race was lively and lively, and Lin Hai waited until almost the same time before leaving home.Thinking of what he saw just now, although Lin Rui was only mentioned above, it still made Lin Hai feel nervous and angry.As soon as he returned to the mansion, Lin Hai immediately sent someone to bring the housekeeper Lin Zhong over, and after thinking about it, he ordered someone to bring Lin Rui over as well.

"I have seen the master."

"Well, Lin Zhong, did anyone who served the uncle and the girl do anything special during this time?"

"Returning to the master, ever since the master ordered to pay attention to the people who serve the two young masters, he has always sent someone to watch, and he has not found anyone acting abnormally recently."

"Father, are you looking for me?"

"Rui'er is here, you should sit by the side and listen."

When Lin Zhong saw that his 4-year-old master was coming to listen to these, he was surprised at how much Lin Hai valued his 4-year-old son, but also a little sad. He was not a few years older than his master, and he had done it a few years earlier. Grandpa, my two little masters are still childish, alas!

"Because I received news from people in Bao's house during the dragon boat race today, mentioning Rui'er, Rui'er is in the mansion every day, if you want to do something to Rui'er, you must do it through the people in the mansion. All the people who wait around the uncle and the girl, including their family members, have been sent to watch closely, and special attention should be paid to eating, and you let Madam Li watch closely in this regard."

Lin Hai calmed down his emotions slowly, and tapped on the table in a leisurely manner. The Bao family would not suddenly decide to do something to their son for no reason. Is there something he didn't notice?

"Lin Zhong, think of a way to send a few more people into Bao's house, especially the maids. It would be best if they could go to Jiang Guixiang's side, so that it will be convenient to spread any news in the future. Jiang Guixiang's current status is inconvenient and she often contacts the servants. , and it is easy to cause unnecessary trouble.”

Lin Zhong waited for a while, seeing that Lin Hai hadn't said anything else, he said, "Master, if you don't have any other orders, the younger ones will go down first to make arrangements."

"Well, it's hard work, you go down and arrange!"

Lin Rui waited for the big housekeeper to go down before asking, "Dad, does the Lin family also raise someone to be a spy?"

"What kind of spy? How can a family like the Lin family that has been passed down for hundreds of years not have some dark hands? Even our Lin family is the same. At that time, if we wanted to check something under the table or do something, it was impossible for us to do it ourselves. Everything is done by the hands raised by the family behind the scenes.

In this era, people can be bought and sold, and these aristocratic families will maintain a large number of people to inquire about news and deal with some shady things. Of course, the Lin family has been passed down for so many years.As the chief housekeeper, Lin Zhong's most important thing is to manage these people. Some of these people are selected from the servants of the Lin family, and some of them are the orphans they took in.These people have been trained since childhood. On the one hand, they cultivate their loyalty to the Lin family, and on the other hand, they train them in various skills so that they can serve the Lin family in the future. "

"Oh, it's just brainwashing them since childhood..."

Lin Hai knocked on Lin Rui's head, "What brainwashing? These servants of the Lin family, their personal future is tied to the master's family. Lin Zhong's son Lin An should have followed you, but the age difference between you is too big. It's too old, it's not suitable, his first grandchild is a girl, if it is a boy, he will follow you now. Now this 2-year-old grandson will come to you and serve you in two years.

Let you come here today to listen to these, but also to let you know what to do, and to raise your vigilance at ordinary times.Pay more attention to the people around you and Daiyu, pay more attention to their behavior, you are only 4 years old now, those people may ignore you when they do things.

Besides, Jiang Guixiang mentioned just now is not from the Lin family, and this woman is quite pitiful.His cousin, who has been engaged to him since childhood, is a 17-year-old scholar who passed the exam and both of them are planning to get married. They don't want to go to a restaurant to attend a party of the same year. Half of his life was left when he came out. How could this scholar bear such humiliation, and he committed suicide after returning.Seeing this situation, the two families of course didn't complain angrily, but if you think about it, one is the Zhen family, which no one in Jiangnan dares to touch, and the other is a small country gentry and landlord with a small family property. Think about it, you know what the consequences will be?

Jiang Guixiang's fiancé's family is also her uncle's family, and the relationship between the two families has always been very good. His father and uncle failed to file a complaint, but were secretly beaten to death.Only orphans and widows were left in the two families, and they were frightened from time to time, and they died one after another not long after.Jiang Guixiang was very beautiful, and the people who worked under the Zhen family saw that they were greedy and wanted to snatch her back as a concubine.This Jiang Guixiang is considered strong, and when she heard the news, she cleaned up the house, and sneaked out at night with her 6-year-old brother, and happened to run into Lin Ruhai. "

Lin Rui heard this from the side, and couldn't help saying: "This Jiang Guixiang and her uncle's family are really unlucky!"

"Yes, after Lin Ruhai found out about Yuan Wei, he wanted to investigate the connection between the Zhen family and those salt merchants. Jiang Guixiang wanted revenge, so it hit it off, and Lin Ruhai specially asked someone to train her, and then tried to send her to the prison. The Bao family has not sent any news in the past two years, but she did not expect to get the news this time.

The Bao family gave their prostitute daughter to Zhen Yingjia as a concubine, and they already have a son and a daughter. With the support of the Zhen family over the years, they have developed into one of the largest salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River.If you want to bring down the Zhen family, starting with the Bao family is also a good choice.The Bao family has been the purse of the Zhen family and the third prince these years.

To get such secret news from Jiang Guixiang, it should be because my aunt has succeeded in taking the position, and she is still favored. Now I send someone in to help her do things, and it is more convenient to send out news. "

"Dad, what if she falls in love with that man in the future, and what if she has a child in the future? Does she not want revenge?"

Lin Hai looked at his son like he was looking at a fool, "Don't say that her brother is in my hands, she and her fiancé's blood feud with these people alone, it is impossible to fall in love with these people, you think it is those small words and novels, as long as there is Can you love anything regardless?

What I'm thinking now is why someone reached out to you at this time. The Zhen family has been dissatisfied with me for a long time. Even if they do something, it should be against me. Even if you have something to do, it can't change the current situation?Is this the idea? "

"Dad, what do you think?"

"I was thinking, is it my idea that the Zhen family is planning? Ever since Jia Min passed away, I have always said that I will not remarry. Could it be that what they think is that if there is no son, I will also find him for the succession of the family?" Have a son? They are really thoughtful, but even if I want to marry, I will not marry someone related to them. If this is the case, just wait, there will be a follow-up soon."

On the fourth day after the Dragon Boat Festival, Lin Hai received a letter from Jinling from Wei Shijie, Governor of Lianghuai.

The author has something to say: