Old things in the Red Chamber

Lin Daiyu wrote a long letter on the spot and handed it to Butler Lin. She reluctantly watched the old man leave before helping the maid to bid farewell to her cousin, and went back to the backyard in a carriage.

With the end of this wave of gift-giving, the new year came, and on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, Jia Huan personally escorted the carriage and sent Jia Yingchun and Lin Daiyu back to Rongguo Mansion.

Shi Taijun was very happy to see Jia Huan, pulled him to sit in front of him, and asked him what he ate and played, Jia Yu said dryly, and answered her, "Meals are just some cakes and rice porridge, winter vegetables Not much, radish and cabbage are eaten in rotation, some sheep were killed in Zhuangzi a few days ago and brought in, plus dried bacon and sausage, each meal can eat two large pancakes, one bowl of white rice and two bowls of stewed vegetables."

As for playing, "If father is at home, it's just playing chess." In fact, Jia Huan practiced constantly every day, racing horses and archery, and went outside the city to hunt some game and came back to add food.But it's better not to talk about this kind of thing with an order like Shi Taijun. The women in the capital are all surprised.

Shi Taijun asked again, "How many clothes did you buy this year? How many shoes and socks did you make?"

Jia Xun didn't know much about this kind of thing, as long as he had clothes to wear, he didn't care if he had new clothes or not. Anyway, the clothes he was wearing today were his father's old clothes.

Shi Taijun sent him to drink with Baoyu Jialian and the others, leaving Lin Daiyu's maid Zijuan to talk with him.

"...The sisters in the mansion, weaving cloth soles when they are not on duty,... There are not many vegetables in the food, that is, the eggplants and winter melons stocked in autumn, and some radishes and cabbages, but there are fresh mutton and chicken. Two The girl likes to eat, and I see that what Miss Lin eats is also delicious."

Shi Taijun waved Zijuan back, leaned on the ground, and let Yuanyang beat his legs.Thinking in his heart, he took out more than 30 taels of silver at once, guessing that Jia Gu had no money in his hands.As the old saying goes, the father's debt is repaid by the son, and the Duke of the State's debt is not a debt to Jia Gu if he pays it back. The Duke of the State has also worked hard for him in those years.After all, Jia Gu's side was left with nothing but an empty shelf, not even the dignity of the Dianhou Mansion, and he couldn't even bear to buy vegetables in winter.

However, Shi Taijun just sighed for a while, and didn't mean to make up for Jia Gu and his son at all.

The men of Rongguo Mansion were drinking in Ningguo Mansion. Jia Gu wore a cotton cloak and followed the boy who led the way into the yard. He heard the shouting and drinking from a distance, and the sound could be heard outside the yard. It sounded like he was already drunk.In the courtyard, apart from the maids who were smeared with paint, they were also smeared young masters. When he opened the door and entered, he saw a few handsome boys who wanted to stick to someone's mouth. He suddenly remembered that there was a word called "child molestation".

Jia Xun stood at the door, stopped the boy to report, turned around and left.

"Master Xi, why don't you go in, it's warm inside, there are high-quality Huiquan wine and beef and mutton, I heard that today, Uncle Xue from the Xue family brought in some fish and shrimp that can only be found in the south, it's very tender..."

Jia Xun strode out of the courtyard and asked the boy who led the way, "Where is Master Zhen? You've come to Ningguo Mansion, so you should pay a visit."

The boy looked back at the yard, "Uncle Zhen is also in the room, and brother Rong is also in the room."

At this moment, Jia Xun was standing at a fork in the road. Hearing what the young man said, he looked back at the yard, "Are all the men from Jia's family here?"

"Second Master Bao is not here. I heard that he is studying with Grandma Rong's brother Qin's brother recently."

"Where does this road lead to?" Jia Xuan asked the boy casually, raised his legs and walked back and forth, preparing to return to Rongguo Mansion.

"Go this way to the ancestral hall."

Jia Xun didn't stop. Their father and son were not included in the genealogy, so naturally they couldn't enter the ancestral hall to pay homage. Religious etiquette is like this. The Ningrong Second House has never been a family.

At the end of the year, when other people’s family worshiped their ancestors, the three members of Zhongwuhou’s family ate and drank in Mrs. Tong’s room. Jia Gu said to Jia Yu with a three-pointed drunkenness, “When I die, you can worship the ancestors. If I live , let’s not mention ancestor worship.”

Mrs. Tong looked forward to next year, thinking that the bride would come in and hold her grandchildren in the next year. She was so anxious that she wished to hold her grandchildren for the new year. She couldn't help but said to her son, "...that's when you gave birth to a girl. I'm happy too."

Immediately following the first day of the lunar new year is the Grand Court Meeting, a family of three in Zhongwuhou's Mansion, Jia Gu and his wife are going to the palace to congratulate, and even Jia Xuan has to go to work.The front court was too boring, but the harem was bustling. The eunuchs from each mansion gathered together, arranged according to the ranks of the officials, and slowly went forward to congratulate the empress dowager.

The Empress Dowager was beaming with joy. Over the years, the clouds opened to see the moon, and her whole temperament changed drastically. She was very kind and gentle like an ordinary old lady.The queen's position is a little lower than hers, and the whole process depends on the face of the queen mother, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law spent the whole morning discussing and discussing.

At noon, there was a banquet in the palace. Mrs. Tong paid attention to the girl next to Princess Anyang. It was said that she was her future daughter-in-law. She looked beautiful and behaved well, so she was very satisfied.At the banquet, she toasted frequently with other people and drank a few more glasses. When she went to a side hall to change her clothes, she met a maid who gave her water.

When Cai Ling gave the maid a bounty, the maid immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Mrs. Tong.

"This...how is it suitable? Cailing, quickly help this girl." Mrs. Tong suddenly felt that trouble was coming, and wanted to get out as soon as possible.The maid pulled her sleeve, "The master of this servant is Jia Nushi, and the original name of this servant is Baoqin. This servant and Nvshi came from the Rongguo Mansion together, and they are of the same origin as Lord Hou... I only hope that Lord Hou and his wife are in the noble family." Say a few kind words for our master, our master is grateful, and the Rongguo Mansion is also grateful."

Mrs. Tong had heard that there was a girl in the Rongguo Mansion a long time ago. Upon hearing this, she asked, "Is your master going out of the palace? Although our Marquis is a soft-spoken person, as long as there is a chance, he will definitely beg the nobles in the palace... "

Before she could say anything, she was interrupted by Baoqin, "Madam, you misunderstood, our girl, our girl... want to stay in the palace."

"Girl Baoqin, there is nothing our master can do. If we stay in the palace, we should be the nanny or the master. If we are the nanny, it is easy. If we are the master, the Rongguo Mansion or the Duke's Mansion, we are the ones." Hou Fu, don't you have more face than us in the emperor's lord, our master has been this lord for less than a year, how can you have such a big face and nobles asking for this, besides, when it comes to in-laws, The two historians are also Marquis, relying on their own family, the same branch of your mansion, Ningguo Mansion, is also the mansion of the Duke."

This girl was so eloquent that Baoqin was speechless.

"Girl Baoqin, we still have to go to the hall for a banquet. Our wife is too drunk now, so we're going back." Cailing supported Mrs. Tong, who was a little dizzy and supported her forehead, "I can't drink any more, Why is the wine in this palace different from the ones at home, the ones at home are not as drunk as this one again."

The female family members of the Rong Mansion also entered the palace to congratulate them today. Not to mention anything else, just talking about Shi Taijun's imperial conferment, they were just behind the clan, and the foreign wives were in the front row. Mrs. Wang took the place of mandarin ducks and followed behind Shi Taijun. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were at the banquet Soon, he also pretended to be overwhelmed with alcohol and went to the side hall.

They met Jia Yuanchun.

In the court, on Zhengdan day, even if you want to cry, you have to bear it. Mrs. Wang and Jia Yuanchun hold hands and look at tears. The mother and daughter dare not even speak privately, let alone shed a drop of tears.

Afraid that others would find out, I only picked up the most important thing and said, in less than a quarter of an hour, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law came back, chatting and socializing with the surrounding servants.

Finally in the afternoon, the banquet was over, and the wives sat in sedan chairs at the gate of the palace and went back to their homes. Mrs. Tong completed the task without any risk.

"Lingzi, thanks to you, I'm dizzy. If I'm pestered by that girl, something might happen." Mrs. Tong took Cailing's hand, "Don't worry, I'll give you a copy when you get married." Big dowry."

"Thank you, maidservant, isn't there nothing wrong with it, you go to sleep for a while, and you will go back to our house later."

The day suddenly arrived in February, and the weather was still cold. The caravan of the Tong family had arrived, selling some things from the Western Regions to the capital, and bundled some tea and other things received on weekdays into the car. The Tong brothers were in the capital. After staying for five or six days, I bid farewell to Mrs. Tong, and I want to sell tea and silk to the Western Regions. The next time I come back, it should be summer.

Mrs. Tong sent her two elder brothers away, and then took Jia Yingchun and Lin Daiyu out to socialize. Several wives asked Mrs. Tong whether Jia Yingchun was engaged in private, meaning to be a matchmaker for her. Is Mrs. Tong Jia Yingchun? His mother, not daring to make up her mind, urged Jia Gu to discuss with Jia She.

"No matter what the plan is, I should tell us that I usually take the two of them out to watch the theater, drink tea and enjoy the flowers. I always meet people who ask, and I can answer them when the time comes."

Jia Gu went to ask Jia She, but Jia She didn't dare to be self-confident, and said that he wanted to ask Shi Taijun what he meant.

There is no shortage of girls in front of Shi Taijun. Although she is reluctant to part with Lin Daiyu, Lin Daiyu obeys her father's orders even more. After the Chinese New Year, the ice on the canal has not yet melted. A letter from my master and a big gift to Jia Gu.

Since then, Lin Daiyu was finally able to communicate with her father by letter. Within a month, she only lived in Rongguo Mansion for seven or eight days. No matter how much the old lady was reluctant to cry with Jia Baoyu, she was always very straightforward when she left. Shi Taijun said to her, "" I have raised you for so many years in vain, what good is there in Zhongwuhou Mansion, you are clothed with coarse cloth, and you are fed with coarse grains, how have you ever suffered such a crime?"

Crying for Jia Min again, every time before Lin Daiyu went to Zhongwuhou's mansion, she always cried in her arms.Seeing that Lin Daiyu is often not in sight, and Xue Baochai's reputation for virtuousness is increasing day by day, Shi Taijun sacrifices another card, her niece and granddaughter Shi Xiangyun.

So Jia She went to Shi Taijun to ask several times, Shi Taijun was full of how to make Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu a pair, and he perfunctory Jia She a few times.Jia Amnesty was urged to be anxious by his younger brother, so he had to tell the truth. Jia Gu thought to himself that he should not rely on the other side to make up his mind.So she told Mrs. Tong secretly, just ask others about the children of each family, if you really meet the right one, you should make a decision for Jia Yingchun first.