[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

In the evening, Xing Zhong and Xing Li came back. These days, they went to Jiangning County to see Xing Dequan and Xing's sisters, because they had quarreled again after selling some money from this year's harvest.It was heard that the second sister of the Xing family wanted to be in charge of the family and took the rest of the family wealth as her dowry. How could the third sister of the Xing family agree, so the two sisters fought.Xing Dequan wasn't the one to do anything. He was a bad gambler and owed some debts. Mrs. Li only took care of Xing Zhong's economic lifeline, so she didn't ask her husband to pay off all the debts of his cousin.

Because if the three of the Xing family knew that they were rich now, it would be an unbearable burden.

Xing Xiuyan talked about Jia Lian's unexpected visit and his relationship with the brothers and sisters of the Shi family. Xing Zhong said: "This is really a coincidence. Then, the wife of the head of the Rongguo Mansion was originally very rich."

Xing Xiuyan nodded upon hearing Shi Hui's mention, saying that the old man of the Shi family used to be a first-rank tutor and taught Prince Yizhong, so he is already an extremely human minister.Xing Zhong took a deep breath, growing up beside Xiaoguan, he certainly knew what a first-class concept was.Now the ministers of all ministries are the second-rank officials, and only the bachelor is the first-rank, but the title of bachelor is still not as good as Sangong Sanshi or the first assistant.Even if it is a capable minister from the most capable and well-established family, if he wants to be the first rank, three masters and three masters, he really has to beg for a burst of character.

But Xing Li said: "I heard you said that there is a brother in the Shi family who is already a candidate. Now he enters Chunwei in Beijing. I'm afraid he will be a Jinshi." He was only 20 years old when he won the exam.If you become a Jinshi again, you are really young and promising.

Xing Xiuyan said: "I don't know if he will win, but he was taught by everyone. If he fails this time, he will have a chance in the future."

Mrs. Xing and Li said: "I don't know if he said we kissed. The girl of the Shi family likes Xiuyan. If Xiuyan can marry the young master of the Shi family..."

Xing Xiuyan smiled wryly, and said: "Mother, I don't want to marry, and what kind of family is the family, Shi Hui and I are one thing, but getting married is another. At this time, the Shi family has been waiting for more than ten years. The resurgence of the family is exactly the time when a family of in-laws who can help is needed."

Xing Zhong sighed: "We are also useless."

Xing Xiuyan said: "How can I blame my parents? If I want to blame my parents, who should I blame?"

Xing Li's heart is a little obsessed, although she is greedy for money, it is because she is afraid of poverty, not like the three brothers and sisters of Xing Dequan who are all heartless.Now that she has enough financial resources, she is more worried about the life-long event of her daughter who is getting closer and closer. She is 12 years old.

Since Xing Xiuyan started to make a lot of money, she kept most of the money, and Xing Xiuyan kept only one-tenth of it for her to buy some needed things.Seeing that her daughter is filial and not greedy for money, Mrs. Xing and Li feel more pity for her. When she has no worries about food and clothing, she naturally misses her only daughter.

Xing Xiuyan asked again: "How about the second aunt's marriage?"

Knowing that her daughter was Zaohui, Xing Li knew that it didn't matter if she closed the house, and said, "I entrusted the Iceman to find her, and introduced three families, but the second sister was not satisfied."

Xing Zhongdao: "She is looking at the eldest sister, but how can the wife of the Duke's Mansion fall from the sky? The elder sister is growing up every day, the second elder sister is nineteen, and the third elder sister is also eighteen. How can we wait for such a rich family!"

Xing Xiuyan felt melancholy when she heard it. These two aunts are not easy to use. Xing Xiuyan is really afraid that one day, her reputation will spread from the circle of noble ladies to the people. If the two sisters know about it, they will not drain their family and have no land. Justify it.

If they can marry far away, then they will be fine in Gusu for the rest of their lives.But they also need to be willing.

Xing Zhong and his wife still have to worry about it, and they always want to settle the matter of the two sisters this year.

In the evening, Xing Xiuyan discovered her own crisis even more. She used to say that she was afraid of starvation, but now that she has money, she can't keep it. They can't even stop the potential danger of their family members.

But now where can I find a man who is capable of protecting her, does not take concubines, and is not a poor scholar who wants her to support.Even if he accepts the reality and lets him take a concubine, is there such a thing as not letting a concubine bother her?

There are really not many ways for women in ancient times. For example, in the original book, Qianhong cried and Wanyan was sad together, which is a very realistic portrayal.

There was still no result in the hard thinking, and I fell asleep leisurely after being extremely tired.

……

Time passed, and now it has been three years since Chengqian, in fact, Tu Yuanyi has been enthroned for the fourth year.

This is the first time since the new emperor ascended the throne. Due to the previous abdication, there has been no spring for six years. There are more students in this backlog, so this group of Jinshi is very good.The emperor took 208 Jinshi, and Shi Rui was lucky, and got 19 Jinshi.

However, since the beginning of this year, the emperor has become more and more seriously ill, and the imperial physician's consultation cannot solve the state of the emperor's stroke.Now lying on the collapsed bed, I can't speak, I can't lift my pen, my mouth is crooked, and I can't move.

The situation in the court is becoming more and more obvious. The original emperor's people are either serving as the new emperor, or being promoted secretly, or being held accountable. The new emperor in the court is not as restrained as before.Prince Cheng and Prince Lian, who were originally supported to block the new emperor, also lost a lot of momentum, but Prince Cheng still holds half of the military power in the northwest.This is the biggest obstacle that the emperor has put on Tu Yuanyi.

At the end of spring in the third year of Chengqian, the new emperor toured the south in the name of inspecting the river engineering, accompanied by the emperor's uncle Prince De, the guards of the northern camp of the Imperial Army, the northern camp of the Xiaoqi camp, the southern camp of the fire/qi camp, and the guards of Jinyiwei who had basically retired in the first dynasty of Emperor Gaozong. .As soon as Tu Yuanyi came to the throne, he started to strengthen the Jinyiwei. In the past four years, he recruited civilian martial artists, most of whom were heroes from Shandong, Lianghuai, and Huguang.When he travels in micro-clothes, but when he encounters martial artists among the people, he always has to teach them a lot. Those who can be used will be given grace to be the imperial bodyguards, and he will train them when he has time.

The new emperor finally landed in Jinling. Within a few days, the new emperor toured the Qinhuai River, Miyun, and water conservancy, and met Jinling officials.

But on the day when the new emperor, who had been staying for a month, was finally about to set off for Hangzhou, great turmoil occurred in the south of the Yangtze River. There were bitter masters suing imperial courts, and an evil gentry in Jinling, Wu Liang, invaded fertile land, raped women, and arranged lawsuits.

The emperor ordered Jin Yiwei to arrest Wu Liang, and there were all the witnesses and material evidence. The new emperor was furious and ordered to ransack the house.Just when the matter was thought to be over, at this time, various injustice cases came to the fore, and the turmoil in the south of the Yangtze River kicked off.

……

The turmoil of the government is always too far away from civilian life, and Xing Xiuyan is completely ignorant of the changes in the government.

But she herself encountered a big thing. Seeing a group of people in front of the door arguing endlessly, she had one head and two big ones.

From the bottom of her heart, she hoped that she would be lucky enough to escape the shadow of Xing Dequan, Second Sister Xing, and Third Sister Xing.But there is no wall that is impenetrable. In December last year, the three Buddhas already knew about it and came to make a fuss about money.They have all heard that a niece's embroidery can be worth several thousand taels.Money touches people's hearts, how can they sit still like this?

So in the twelfth lunar month, she stayed at Xing Xiuyan's house, making her unable to work. Until the New Year's Eve, Xing Li had to withdraw 3000 taels of silver bills and distribute them to three people to satisfy them.

After they left, the family of three had a stable year.I lived an ordinary life for two months, but I didn't expect that the three nieces of the Xing family would make trouble again, and they even brought someone.

The three of them received business widely in the Jinling area of ​​Gusu, and received a deposit of several thousand taels from the family, asking her to embroider various works for customers.

At this time, the three of them fought over who should come first in the Xing family.

"I'm the eldest brother, so the eldest niece should embroider mine first!" Xing Dequan was confident. The 1000 taels given by Mrs. Xing and Li last time was almost squandered, and he was in urgent need of money.Now he has taken over the embroidery work of the Chen family, a great salt merchant in Yangzhou, and the Li family, a wealthy merchant in Jiangning. Xing Xiuyan is really well-known in this area.

The second sister Xing said: "You are a man who doesn't have a strong family, but you have the nerve to ask your eldest niece to embroider for you! I am so ashamed for you! My eldest niece, you can embroider for my second aunt first. The Zhang family is the uncle's family of the prefect of Hangzhou. If you can climb into this relationship, it will be good for you in the future, right?"

Second Sister Xing's 1000 taels of silver has not been spent yet, but she has to save the dowry, and the woman always has some plans for the future.

Third Sister Xing said, "Second Sister, I am the youngest, you should let me be the one. My wedding dress is what the sister-in-law of the Buzhengbu family wants to do. I have to get married in winter, so it's too late."

Xing Xiuyan couldn't help but admire the trio's ability to make money, and they were able to hook up with these people. Doesn't it mean that the Xing family is down and out?However, if they use her name to contact the slaves of the big shots, they will always have a chance to get in touch with the big shots, and two months is enough for them to receive business.

The three brothers and sisters of the Xing family gave her a deposit again, saying that they were of great help in finding her a business.Each job ranged from 300 taels to 500 taels. Given her hard-to-find situation, it was obvious that they took up more than half of the deposit.

Xing Xiuyan said: "I don't want your money, and I don't know how to embroider."

Xing Dequan said: "Miss, isn't this a breach of trust? If you repent, you will lose money. That's not how people do it."