Survive in the world of Red Mansions

Tianxiang Pavilion, which is deserted during the day, becomes lively at night, with brilliant lights and candles, singing and dancing, and light gauze tents.

As soon as the young servant standing in Tianxiang Pavilion saw the eldest son of the Bao family coming, he hurried over and led him in, "Master Bao, tell me inside! Do you want to sit in the lobby or go upstairs? Tonight Miss Liniang will meet you." Playing the piano in the hall..."

"I'm going upstairs to the private room..."

Just as Bao Wenjiang was about to go upstairs, he saw a friend he met a few days ago sitting in the lobby, turned around and walked back.

"Brother Ji, why did you come to Tianxiang Pavilion to visit your confidante?"

"Brother Bao, please sit down, please sit down!" The young man surnamed Ji looked at Bao Wenjiang standing beside him, stood up and cupped his hands.

"Brother Bao, it's not that I don't know that I just arrived in Yangzhou City, and I'm still a confidante? It's just that I heard the inn's waiter talk about Tianxiang Pavilion. He said that if you come to Yangzhou City, you must come to Tianxiang Pavilion to see it. It's not in vain!

"That's right, I have a private room upstairs, so I might as well go up together. This hall is a bit noisy, and Miss Liniang can be seen playing the piano in the private room."

"convenient?"

"What's the inconvenience? I don't have an appointment either, I'm the only one."

"Then bother!"

After Ji Sen sat down in the private room upstairs, he looked down, and sure enough, he could see the high performance stage in the hall, but it was a little far away.

"Brother Bao is usually a busy person, why are you here alone today?"

"Get busy, how about you, how long can you stay in Yangzhou again?"

"I'm not in a hurry. I'll stay for ten and a half months. I'm just out for fun this trip, and I'm not limited to any place." After speaking, he sighed, picked up his glass and started drinking.

"What? I don't think Brother Ji is very happy! By the way, I remembered you said last time that you are now a scholar. Isn't there a township exam in autumn today? You should be preparing for the exam at home, right? Why are you still free? Come out to play?"

Ji Sen met Bao Wenjiang a few days ago when he was having dinner in Taibailou.Usually when I invite people to eat at Taibai Building, I always ask someone to make an appointment in advance. I went alone that day. Taibai Building's business has always been booming. There are no private rooms upstairs, and there are no vacancies in the lobby.Xiao Er also apologized again and again, but later saw a person next to him sitting alone at the table, he was a bit hungry and didn't want to change places, so he shared a table with him, and that's how he got to know Ji Sen.

After sitting at the table with Ji Sen, we chatted casually, not wanting the two of them to talk very speculatively.Later, I met a few more times, and knew that although this Ji Sen was not yet 20 years old, he was already a scholar, and this time he was also out for a study tour.

Bao Wenjiang himself knew that because of his family background as a businessman, he was looked down upon by many scholars.On the one hand, those scholars are interested in the Bao family's money, but on the other hand they despise the smell of copper on the Bao family's body. Although Ji Sen is also a scholar, he chatted with Bao Wenjiang very speculatively, and he would not flatter him because of the Bao family's money. He will not despise him because of his status as a businessman. After the two met several times, they have been chatting very speculatively.

"Examination? What's the use, I think? Brother Bao, drink, drink." When Ji Sen heard Bao Wenjiang mention the imperial examination, his mood became more depressed, and he started to drink heavily and stopped talking.

The noisy hall suddenly fell silent, and after a while, the melodious sound of the piano sounded.After the sound of the zither stopped, Bao Wenjiang saw that Ji Sen was getting a little drunk from drinking, and persuaded Ji Sen: "Brother Ji, what's on your mind, if it's convenient, please tell me for your reference. , and maybe it can help."

"Exam? I want to, too! It's a pity that I can't take part!" Ji Sen held his wine glass and looked at Bao Wenjiang opposite him with drunken eyes.

Hearing what he said, Bao Wenjiang also aroused his interest, and hurriedly asked, "Why can't I participate?"

"Why? Because my half-brother can't take the exam this year, my aunt won't let me take part in this year's autumn, saying that I'm still young and don't worry."

"Why can't your brother attend?"

"In the last courtyard test, although my elder brother won the honor of a scholar, he was only in the last dozen or so. I was in the top 29, and my elder brother was hit hard. My aunt looked at me and wanted to eat me. In the past, my family invited me The gentleman has always praised and praised his elder brother, saying that he is smart and sensible, and has the talent of Jinshi, but he didn't know that he came back from the bottom of the exam during the college entrance examination. He did better in the exam, and much better.

After the college examination, my aunt dismissed the original husband in a fit of anger, and hired someone to find another husband. The new gentleman said that my brother is not suitable for taking the provincial examination at present, and it is better to wait for the next department or the next department before taking it. confident. "

Bao Wenjiang listened to it and said, "You are not allowed to participate just because your brother doesn't participate? Why don't you discuss it with your father?"

"One side is the aunt son, the other is the concubine son. I want to know who is more important and who is more important. My mother said that I hope that the two brothers will participate together. How can my father not agree? A few months ago I was infected with a cold, and it was not serious, but I took medicine. After taking it for a long time, it didn’t improve, but it became more and more serious. My aunt suspected it, but she couldn’t find any other reasons at the time. She thought that there was something wrong with the medicine, so she didn’t dare to say anything, so she could only take the medicine secretly. Go out and find someone to watch.

I spent some money to find a few doctors, but they didn’t find out. In the end, one came out of the palace. Now the old doctor who returned to his hometown for the elderly saw that there was something wrong with the medicine. It has not improved all the time, and it will make people weaker and weaker, but because the medicine is very slow, it is generally considered that the patient's condition is getting worse, and they will not think of other things.

You see, if it wasn't for my aunt's vigilance, I would be buried under the ground now, how dare I mention taking the provincial examination now! "

Ji Sen seemed to be really a little drunk, holding the wine glass in one hand, and lining the table with the other, "Brother Bao, look, even if the aunt has no talent, I won't let me, the aunt, come forward. I also want to be born by the aunt, but Birth is not up to me to decide. Since I already have a son, why do I still have to be born? Brother Bao, do you think I can take the exam if I don’t have my brother as a legitimate son?”

After Ji Sen said this, he lay down on the table, and even rolled the wine glass in his hand to the side, ignoring it.

Looking at Ji Sen, Bao Wenjiang thought of himself. The boy in the family is the eldest, and his aunt's first child was a girl. After waiting for several years, there was no rebirth. Later, his own aunt came in, and he had himself the next year.As the first boy in the family, his father doted on him very much and kept him with him all the time. Even if he had other younger brothers later, it didn't affect him much.

Apart from her elder sister, the aunt doesn't have any sons of her own, so it's okay for them bastards.But no one thought that after more than ten years, the aunt would give birth to a pearl and become pregnant again, and it would be a boy, that is, the fourth brother Bao Wenhai.

Bao Wenjiang always remembered that in the beginning, there were a few concubine younger brothers, and his father always took him by his side and taught him how to do things. At that time, he always thought that he was the heir of the entire Bao family. Even if you want to fight, you can't beat yourself.

It's a pity that this situation has gradually changed since the birth of the younger brother from the direct line. In addition, the elder sister has gradually gained a firm foothold in the Zhen family, and the family's business depends on the Zhen family, which is even worse.

Ever since he had his first-born younger brother, his father gradually began to let the other two younger brothers share the affairs in his hands. Now thinking about it, he was probably afraid that he would monopolize all these things, which would be detrimental to the fourth younger brother in the future, right?Now the fourth brother is not very old, and the business of the family depends on himself and the two younger brothers. What should we do in a few years?

In the past, only two younger brothers would fight with me, but at that time, my father was biased towards me, so I was not afraid. Now I not only have to fight with my younger brother who is about to grow up, but also guard against two younger brothers who are getting older.

If it keeps going like this, will it be like Brother Ji, the aunt stretches out her hand to her for her own son, will she not know how she will die someday?What's more, my fourth brother has the support of his eldest sister who shares the same mother with him?

Although this fourth brother is only 12 years old now, he has already seen that he is not a kind-hearted person. If he really takes over the position of Patriarch of the Bao family, will he let himself go?Obviously not, unless I am willing to be his slave, and will be ordered by him in the future, and bow to him for the rest of my life, would I be willing to live like this?Absolutely not!

Ji Sen didn't leave Tianxiang Pavilion until the next morning, and brought his entourage back to the Yuelai Inn where he was temporarily staying.

As soon as they walked into the small courtyard they had enclosed, the attendants who stayed at the inn immediately greeted them, "What's the matter, didn't you come back last night? We were all very worried. It was too late at night and we didn't dare to go out for a walk. What's the matter? "

Ji Sen walked into the room and sat down before he said to Lin Ran who was staying in the inn: "I met Bao Wenjiang last night. In order to say what was hidden in my heart, I couldn't say it for no reason, so I had no choice but to pretend to be drunk. I just stayed in Tianxiang Pavilion for one night, and things went well. I have explained my experience so clearly, how could it be possible that Bao Wenjiang has no idea about his current situation?

It was there before, but it was just that Bao Chengfu still had expectations. His fourth younger brother was also young. Now, on the one hand, the first-born younger brother is getting bigger and bigger, and the other two younger brothers are competing with him more and more with the support of his father. awesome.Now that he has heard what I said, he still thinks more and more. He definitely feels that these three brothers are his enemies, and he will even become more and more resentful towards his own father, thinking that it is all his fault.

As long as he brings out the thoughts buried deep in his heart, he will find a way by himself. He has followed Bao Chengfu for so many years, and there are many available people.Besides, wouldn't the people who followed him not want him to take power? If they have ideas, they will naturally act.

I think this time we have to wait a few more days, and when we see Bao Wenjiang again, it will be more effective if we take advantage of the situation to light a fire. "

In the study room of the Salt Government, the head steward was reporting to Lin Hai the situation of the Bao family, "It was reported from Lin Ran that the relationship between Lin Quan and the boss of the Bao family is developing well, even after hearing Lin Quan's instigation , During this period of time, he has done a lot of things without telling his father, and also found some secret medicines through some special channels, it seems that he wants to do it."

"It's not in vain that we spent so much effort to send someone to the Bao family and find out some internal situations in the Bao family. Now that he has heard about Lin Quan's experience, the more he thinks about it, the more he wonders if he will also end up in this kind of situation , He didn’t know when he would die. In the past, he just wanted to get the position of Patriarch of the Bao family, and he was more concerned about how to make his father expect him and how to suppress those younger brothers. On the one hand, sometimes human nature is inherently evil, and sometimes it does make sense, just a little provocation is enough.”

"Master, after spending so much energy, there is no guarantee that he will definitely attack his brother?"

"It doesn't really matter whether the Bao family brothers die or not. Anyway, when the Bao family arrives, these people won't be able to please them. At present, it's enough to make their family mess up. I don't believe that Bao Chengfu has been in touch with the Zhen family and the third prince for so long. No trace will be left, and those account books will certainly be there.

In this way, our people only need to find more evidence of Bao Chengfu selling illegal salt during the civil strife in the Bao family, and at the same time, take advantage of the chaos to find the account books and some other information related to the Zhen family or the third prince. "