Old things in the Red Chamber

how? Jia Gu saw that he was almost lying on the painting.

"Authentic work, real work, if you sell it outside, it can sell for five or six thousand taels of silver." Jia Amnesty didn't ask him where it came from, but only appreciated this painting, "The fine brushwork of flowers and birds, stamped with a private seal, and this thin gold body , the real work, the real work.”

"I like to take it with me when I'm going to leave. Since my younger brother went to be on duty in the palace, we only see each other two or three times a month, and we will drink a few cups when we have lunch later."

Jia Amnesty put down the picture scroll reluctantly, "Forget it, you treat me as an older brother, even if you are not at home, I can come into your study, come and see when I miss you. If you take it home, the old lady will definitely ask for it." , Either gave it to Baoyu or sent it to the palace, that is, passed through my hand."

Jia Gu found a place to sit down, "In the palace? Don't old sages and sages like this?"

Jia Amnesty also sat down, "My old brother thought it was given to the emperor? No, it was given to an old eunuch in the palace. Jia Cunzhou's eldest girl is a female historian in the palace. The whole family has spent no less than this for her." counted."

He stretched out his palm, and Jia Gu looked at it, "5000 taels?"

"5 million taels."

"Hey," Jia Gu was dumbfounded, saying that, according to folk prices, one penny can buy a plain bun or a steamed bun, and one tael of silver is one thousand cash. 5 taels of silver is a very spectacular mountain of steamed buns.

"My brother is in the north, and he raises an army, and it only costs 1 taels of silver a year."

Jia Gu thought to himself that he thought his private money would last for dozens of lifetimes, but it turned out that in the capital, it would only be spent for a lifetime.

Jia Amnesty shook his head, "The mansion is not as good as it is every year."

This is a heavy topic. Jia She, as an old dandy, an old bastard with the name of the patriarch but not the real power of the patriarch, who is drunk and dreaming of drinking with his concubine all day, knows that Rong Mansion is not getting better every year. As the actual patriarch, Jia Government should be clearer than Jia Amnesty.

But Jia Gu didn't want to discuss this with Jia She, thinking that even if the Rong Mansion fell into poverty in the future, he could still support this muddle-headed twin brother. When they were young, the relationship between the two was very good. It was Jia She who sent him silver rice and cloth every month when he was sent to Beidi. Even if he didn't contact him when he was older, Jia She was an irreplaceable relative for Jia Gu.

Jia Gu changed the subject bluntly: "By the way, there is something I want to discuss with my brother. I only have Xun'er under my knee. Now that he is not in the mansion, it seems that this place is even more desolate. I heard that my brother has a daughter. Why don't you let me go?" When my younger brother comes to the mansion, there will be someone to greet him sooner or later, which can be regarded as a kind of comfort, don't worry, don't rob your elder brother's daughter, live in my mansion for half a month, and send her home for the remaining half month."

"It's okay to give it to you, but that girl is stupid, she won't please people, and it would be annoying to give it to my old brother."

"Look at what my brother said, the children are all good for my own family. I am an uncle, and I don't have to stare at him every day. I have Tong's family to educate her. She thinks girls from any family are good. My brother's daughter is close in blood." On the first level, Tong Shi and I should treat ourselves as our own, and please rest assured, brother."

Jia Amnesty thought for a while, "Alright, tomorrow, no, let the long follower go back to deliver the letter now, and I'll send you the man."

Jia Amnesty thought it would be absurd for outsiders to see it, and his own daughter was busy sending it to someone else's house, but he was so careless.

Jia Gu and him are real brothers. After hearing what he said, he immediately called Jia Gui, "Tell Madam, clean up the courtyard next to our main courtyard and set it up quickly. My niece and daughter will be here in the afternoon. By the way, the box of pearl hairpins I brought back last time is for the lady to use for the lady."

Jia Gui immediately sent word to the back.

Mrs. Tong in the backyard heard this, and she was slumped on the floor in disgust. After hearing the girl's reply, she immediately regained her spirits, "The girls in Kyoto are all delicate and expensive, but unfortunately, I don't have a daughter. That's our half daughter. Hurry up, pack it up, let Jia Gui set up the carriage, and bring the child back as soon as possible."

In the study room in the front yard, Jia She shook off the girls in the Rong Mansion, "Yingchun belongs to brother Yu's family, Tanchun belongs to Jia Cunzhou's family, Xichun is Dongbian Zhen'er's younger sister, and she still lives in Miner's family. My father is an official in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is also a girl from the Xue family. I heard that she is very popular with the old lady. The Xue family is a good family business. Their family members are extraordinary and spend money all over the sky. The family is rich."

"His family's money has nothing to do with us. If he has money, he can still live there? If he has money, why can't the Zhuangzi buy a house? It's about fighting for power." Jia Gu put a piece of pastry in his mouth, thinking to himself, the four big families are really in decline. When I was in the capital, it was true that every time the wind blew, they were the trustees of the four major families, the four princes and the eight princes. Now, there are fewer people mentioning it, and the Xue family has no qualifications to stand on its own, and has been reduced to ordinary merchants. sheltered.

Jia She snorted coldly, "He's not here to fight for power, you don't know, I heard that Xue Pan, the Patriarch of the Xue family, just pays back, and spends his days studying at home. They want to overwhelm our girl in everything, and the Jia Wang family even lifts her higher than Lin girl, have you ever seen this kind of family who comes to ask for protection and is more domineering than the master?"

"Oh, said Lin girl, take it together. At least that girl knows how to return the gift."

Jia Gui hurried to get a carriage again.

"I think back then, the four major families were headed by our Jia family. Now, it is the prince who is in charge, and the brothers of the Shi family have two minds and don't want to have more contact with us." , is also the eldest son who has been the eldest son for so many years, so he still has some knowledge that he should have.

Jia Gu was a little hungry, and even hungrier after eating some cakes, so he told the boy outside the door, "Go to the kitchen, see what's there, bring it here, and boil a pot of good wine that I got from you."

After a while, someone came over with sauced meat and cold dishes, put down the wine, said that the hot dishes would be served soon, and left.

Jia Gu poured Jia Amnesty a glass, "What are the four major families? They are just grouped together to make up for the number. Look at those four talents, four sons and four beauties, who have lived and died together. The historians have a family and two princes, so they naturally look down on them." The Jia family is not motivated now, so it is right to abandon you. The Wang family, the Wang family also has a high-ranking head. If he really wants to help, what are the girls of the Rongguo Mansion still doing in the palace? High-ranking concubines No, there is no position for her. Besides, the Xue family is taking power, why not go for the Wang family's power, uncle or aunt, which one do you think is closer?"

"Of course it's uncle."

"The Wang family is more powerful than the Jia family, and closer than the Jia family. The Xue family still voted for the Jia family. Why? It can only be said that Wang Ziteng didn't want to get involved in this matter. The Xue family's affairs are not clean."

"Not clean?"

"Don't worry about this matter. You didn't know about it before. It's because this matter is shameful, and you don't have the manpower. Who will help you investigate? Leave it to me. Within a month, the stories of the eight generations of the Xue family's ancestors will not be revealed. But it is still possible to look over the past two years of the Xue family."

Jia Gu raised his glass and had a drink with Jia She.

In the Rongguo Mansion, a brightly dressed servant woman in her 30s stood in front of Shi Taijun, "...Our wife has tidied up the yard, opened the warehouse to select materials, and there are new beddings at home. I will not insult the two girls." .”

Lin Daiyu was sitting next to Shi Taijun, and Jia Yingchun was sitting under her, both of them felt a little puzzled.

"Where's our elder?" Shi Taijun raised his eyelids and asked.

"Drink with our Lord Hou in the study."

Drinking in the study, hmph, there are no rules, is the study a place where you can drink?

"The old lady doesn't have these two girls, so she can't eat well. Let me tell you, Lord Hou, they are not blessed and can't bear it, so they won't go."

The woman in front of Mrs. Tong is Jia Gui's wife, who is called Jia Gui's family. She was originally the daughter of a criminal officer. She was exiled to the North with her father and brother, and later married Jia Gui.

Jia Gui's family pretended to be surprised and asked, "The slaves are here to pick up General Jia's daughter and Lord Lin's daughter. It turns out that their eldest maids are still serving you meals. They can do without them. We used to have The servants, they just escorted the guy so slowly, and rushed over after the Lord Hou became a marquis. Our wife gave each of the two girls two big maids, four second-class maids, and four sweeping women. There are three rooms in the main room, and I dare not wrong the two girls. The carriage is outside, with a color photo screen, and you support Miss Lin, vanilla and licorice, and Miss Jia."

The four maids were right at the door, and with a promise, they went out with the two of them. The one from Jia Gui's family was still blocking the door to say goodbye to the old matriarch. Unable to stop it, Shi Taijun was so angry that his heart ached, he called people to call Jia Amnesty back, and then asked people to pass on the second child, and there was a commotion in the hall.

Because Jia Gui's family just entered the Rongguo Mansion and changed to a small sedan chair, and now they will push the two girls into the sedan chair, the four big maids said offended, two of them lifted the sedan chair, and the remaining two followed, He quickly walked out of the vertical flower gate, walked through the front yard, and went directly to the carriage.

Poor Jia Yingchun had a cowardly nature, and Lin Daiyu was startled again. The two of them dared not shout out for the sake of face, so they were brought out by four maids.

In the frontier, both men and women are able to go out and fight with the barbarians. It is said that before Madam Tong married Jia Gu, she followed her mother and beheaded the barbarians.Women in frontier fortresses do not bind their feet. When men fight, women are in charge of logistics, and strong women can be used as men.So, the daughter of the prisoner who was once delicate, and now the stout Jia Gui family's smiling proud Rongguo Mansion backyard, came out of the backyard calmly as if in no one's land, and slapped a servant who was ordered to tie her up. A bloody tooth was shot out on the spot, scaring the others even more so.