Old things in the Red Chamber

When Mrs. Tong came home, she called her son back and learned the words of the Empress Dowager Today. Jia Xun knew that his father and son had been assigned to the Nine Princes by the emperor, and even if he wanted to get away, he had to ask the emperor whether he would agree or not. .

Jia Huan comforted Mrs. Tong, "We will listen to what the queen mother said, but we must never dare to put money from the prince's family in front of the ninth prince."

Madam Tong also nodded in agreement.

That's what Jia Gu came back to mean. The whole family made up their minds to be modest. After all, their family's name is not right, and it's best not to get involved with Jia's family.

There is a saying that the tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop. Within a few days, Jia Xie went home from a casual visit and met a few young men who went out to drink together, including Jia Baoyu and Xue Pan. When Baoyu went back, he ran into Jia Huan on the way, and with one voice took him to drink.

"Don't dare to go. If my father finds out, it will be a family law. When the thick board comes down, it will be my brother who will hurt." Jia Huan would not follow them to drink, so he naturally found a way to shirk.

Several other people felt it was a pity when they heard this. Since Jia Xun came to the capital, he has never been to drink flower wine or hold an opera show. He has been working like an old man all day long, but he said it again. At a young age, he is one of the Jiuqing, one of the famous high-ranking youths in Kyoto.

Seeing that he would not go, the others didn't force it, and said, "I'll come to visit Jia Xiong in a few days." "I heard that in a few days, Jia Xiong's Palm Pearl is full moon, and my brother will go to ask for a glass of water and wine."

Only Xue Pan is still stalking, "We are all close relatives, when Hui Lian and Brother Zhen come, too, Hiccup..."

Jia Huan ignored him, turned the horse's head and left.Few of the dandies in the capital are Xue Pan who can't wink at people.These dandies came out to eat, drink and have fun with their own money, and they didn't let their fathers and brothers beat them to death. Naturally, they have the ability to sniff out the movements of Kyoto at the wine table. Do something shady.Just now I talked to Jia Huan politely, not in a hurry to build a relationship.

A few of them laughed at Xue Pan in their hearts. In the capital, whoever in the officialdom didn't know about the bad things of the Jia family, even if they didn't know, they could guess a little by looking at the appearance of Jia She and Jia Gu.The two families did not get along with each other, and Xue Pan was still pulling the banner of the Rongning Second Mansion to seek relationships. Didn't you see that Master Xiao Jia didn't look at Second Master Bao?

Jia Xun was worried about the full moon gift for his family in a few days. For a long time, his father and son have never made money in their positions. It is the official practice, and it is not uncommon for officials from other places to be filial. However, there is indeed no large-scale contact with various families. After a few days, someone sent a valuable gift. According to the family practice, it is necessary to give back a gift of equal value. Otherwise, there will be suspicion of bribery, but although the family has money, they dare not use it.

After returning home, the concierge came up to announce, "The uncle from the north has arrived, and now Lord Hou is talking with him."

When he heard that it was the eldest uncle, Jia Xuan didn't even change his clothes, so he went to see him first.

Mrs. Tong's eldest brother is a strong man in his early fifties. He is tall and mighty. Everyone says that his nephew looks like an uncle. Jia Huan looks like this uncle by five points, and his size follows him. I haven't seen my nephew for a few years. , the elder of the Tong family hugged Jia Huan's shoulder and looked at it for a while, "He is a man after all."

This sentence made Jia Xun so ashamed that he couldn't lift his head up. He said that he changed clothes to drink with his uncle, and then retreated.

When I went out, I asked Jia Gui to clarify, "Uncle encountered a difficult situation, why did he leave Wupu so easily? Didn't you say that the owner of the castle will not leave Wupu easily?"

"It's a long way from the north to our place. My uncle left a month and a half ago. I heard from my second uncle that my grandma might give birth to a boy. I thought it was your eldest son, Madam's." The eldest grandson, the young master of the next generation of our family, came here in person."

It turned out that the uncle came here to maintain the relationship between the two families. He traveled thousands of miles, and now he is an elderly person. Jia Huan felt very sorry, thinking that if the uncle didn't come, his father and himself could still forget the Tong family.I hurried to the study to change clothes, and came to drink with me.

Although there was an oolong, the birth of a daughter is also a happy event. Jia Gu personally poured wine for the uncle, said some words after parting, and sent the uncle to the guest room. Jia Gu personally wrote several letters to the old man. Colleagues, entrust them to take care of the Tong family.

It is simply that this time the Tong family brought a lot of valuable things. There are two small boxes packed with ginseng and Dongzhu, and there are a lot of fur and bacon. There are also two carts of gold and silver ornaments in the style of the Western Regions. You can take it out for your own use.

Mrs. Tong brought Lin Daiyu to prepare a lot of gifts in return. She packed a lot of seeds of various crops and new books on the market. These were for boys from her natal family. These are for sisters in law and nieces.He put all kinds of prescriptions in a box and told the master of the Tong family that on the second day after Erniuniu's full moon ceremony, Jia Huan personally sent it out of the city for a hundred miles. Seeing that his uncle was gone, he came back.

Because the gift brought by the Tong family master, plus some things in his own warehouse, can be regarded as the full moon gift, and most of the gift givers are quite satisfied when they see the gift in return.

When Wang Xifeng came home, the eldest sister in the carriage had a gourd-shaped purse, which was filled with beads of various colors, golden, pink, black, and there seemed to be more than 20 high-quality beads, second-class beads. There are fifty or sixty in total for the third class. Thinking about the presents she gave in the past, a thick-skinned person like Wang Xifeng would blush.

Shi Taijun was waiting for her in the upper room, and when he saw her come back, he first asked, "Are there many people going today? Is it lively?"

"There are a lot of people who go. I have never seen so many nobles when I grow up. Not only the princesses and princesses have gone, but even the eldest princesses who don't go out easily, and even a few princesses from the palace. Concubines, concubines, concubines, and grandmothers have all gone too. Take out the second girl of their family, the nobles in the room are all relatives, let the daughter-in-law embrace her and recognize her relatives."

Wang Xifeng talked lively, but actually looked at the expressions of Shi Taijun and Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Wang still twirled the beads, and Shi Taijun just pondered for a while.

"Now that Xun'er has grown up and become a father, take out the saber owned by Duke Xian from my treasury. Baoyu and Lian'er don't need it. It's a pity to leave it alone. Give it to Xun'er, and let Lian'er run away again." One trip, take this to his brother."

Wang Xifeng stood up and took over the errand for Jia Lian.The eldest sister behind her fumbled in her purse for nothing, and wanted to take out a bead to play with, but the beads were accidentally poured out, and the beads fell to the ground with a crisp voice, saying that big beads and small beads fell on the jade plate, and now they fell on the jade plate. The ground also felt that the sound was pleasant, and the maids in the room quickly squatted down to pick up the beads.

Wang Xifeng's heart was so distressed, if some girl hid one secretly, and she didn't know, but what to do, there was nothing to do in a hurry, so she could only pretend that nothing happened.

After a while, he picked up these beads, put them in a purse for the eldest sister, and coaxed her to put them away.Mrs. Xue looked at it and said, "I see it is Dongzhu, and there are a few hard-to-see colors."

"Auntie, there are only a few East Pearls in it, and most of them are South Pearls." Wang Xifeng quickly turned to Shi Taijun and said, "A few days ago, the uncle of Zhongwuhou's Mansion came and brought several large carts of gifts. Four or fifty people escorted the cart." , there are more than 50 oriental pearls in it, I went there today, Madam Hou gave some of them to my eldest sister."

Shi Taijun thought about it again, Jia Gu didn't have money in his hand, but his in-laws had money, and his in-laws relied on him, so they would naturally offer a large amount of money, and he couldn't help but regret it a little, but now it's useless to say more. The old master Jia and his father were holding money, but now it seems that it is not enough.We have to change the method.

He waved his hand and asked his daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law to go down, and he slowly thought about how the two families should get along in the future.

Mrs. Wang wanted Wang Xifeng to talk in her yard, but seeing Ping'er holding a box, Wang Xifeng said, "You go back first, and Lian'er will come to me after the explanation."

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng obediently agreed, and took her daughter back to the yard.Seeing that Jia Lian was at home, the elder sister stretched out her arms for a hug. Jia Lian was in a good mood today, hugged her daughter to coax her a few times, and then impatiently talked to the little girl.

Wang Xifeng changed her clothes and came out, and saw that her daughter was going to lean on Jia Lian first, but Jia Lian didn't like her, so she smiled and said to Jia Lian, "Second Master coaxed her, but now she is richer than Second Master, so she has to curry favor with her." Point. Where is the purse of the eldest sister? Take it out and let the big guys see it."

The little girl took out the pouch and poured out the contents. Ping'er had been prepared for a long time, and picked up all the beads into an agate plate. The whole plate was densely packed, and Jia Lian stared at it.

"Where did this gift come from? It's really too heavy."

"Of course it was a gift from my old aunt. She grabbed a handful of good beads and gave them to our daughter. Later, when their sister Xuan saw them and wanted to play with them, she gave those poor-looking ones to their little sisters as toys."

"This is what your wife does. If you don't tell me, we don't know that uncle is rich."

Wang Xifeng cast a glance at him, "There are people here who come to offer filial piety. They have a higher threshold than ours. Naturally, there are people rushing to make offerings. These things belong to girls, so don't think about these beads. I want Keep it for your daughter as a dowry."

Jia Lian's mind was broken by Wang Xifeng. He recently had an ending with a young daughter-in-law in the family. He thought that taking advantage of the family's rouge tiger not paying attention, he would take a high-quality bead and make it into a bead hairpin. He would never lose face. Sometimes I hold it to coax those little daughter-in-laws who have never seen this good thing.Naturally, he didn't dare to let the mother-in-law at home know. Hearing what Wang Xifeng said, he argued, "Am I the kind of person who steals my daughter's private house?"

What he said was righteous, Wang Xifeng knew his virtue, snorted, and told Shi Taijun's order.Jia Lian felt a headache when he heard this, "You think Jia Xun has never seen a magic weapon or something. He is used to using knives, and rarely wears a sword. I heard that the folding knife he used was found by his uncle for him before he went into battle. I measured his height and made it myself. I haven’t changed other weapons for so many years. This sword is a ceremonial sword. It looks fancy and inlaid with gold and jade. The blade is not good steel and not durable. He may not like it. .”

Wang Xifeng stretched out her finger and nodded his forehead, "The old lady asked you to send it, so you can send it. It's theirs whether they accept it or not, and it's theirs whether they like it or not. What does it have to do with whether you send it or not?"

When Jia Lian heard it was the same, he put the sword in a box, changed his clothes, combed his hair again, put face cream on his face, put lip gloss on his lips, and went out like a handsome young man.

Wang Xifeng quickly asked Ping'er to count the beads and register them in the register. She still remembered how Hefei's nanny back then coaxed Hefei's things into gambling. She chopped off the paw of anyone who dared to reach out to the elder sister.

Thinking of concubine He, Wang Xifeng immediately felt the impermanence of life. Who would have imagined that the second girl, who was too useless to prick a needle and dare not say a word, has now become a concubine.Touching her daughter's Baotou, thinking about the nine princes who are still in their infancy, and thinking about the queen who is now acting as a demon in the palace, Wang Xifeng has some thoughts about marrying her daughter to the royal family, but when she thinks of Jia Xuan's two Girl, I feel it's a pity. The second girl in their family is as old as the Ninth Prince, so I suddenly calmed down.

Jia Lian's prediction was right, Jia Xun didn't take the sword, but pushed it back. When Jia Lian brought the sword back to Shi Taijun, he was still a little trembling.Shi Taijun gave him another task, "The garden at home will be repaired in a few days. After Xun'er rests, you can invite him to visit the garden. Also, brother Xun, please tell me what is wrong. There is still time to correct it this time." .”

Jia Lian found Jia Xun again within a few days. Jia Xun has been famous for Jia's garden for a long time. If nothing else, it's just that Jia Amnesty came to talk about this yard, which made Jia Gu and Jia Xun feel itchy. of.

Jia Sheda took out an ancient fan from Jia Gu’s private room in the winter, and it was not too cold. He shook it and said to Jia Gu, “This courtyard is not vulgar. The scenery behind the rocks is quite a feeling of wanting to see it."

Jia Gu heard this, thought for a while, and said bluntly, "It's the same with the screen wall in our mansion, it's just to keep people out."

Jia Amnesty knew that he was blunt, and waved his fan to despise him.

No matter how itchy you are, you don't just go there, what's more, Jia Gu made up his mind not to go to Rongguo Mansion in his life, and he couldn't help but feel that "you drove me out back then, but now even if you beg me, I won't go." back" thought.As for Jia Xuan, she simply didn't want to get involved with Rongning and the two Dukes.Ever since the Ninth Prince was born, father and son have to be careful with every move they make. Think twice before acting is the code of conduct for father and son. The family staff also advised him and the Rongguo Mansion to behave like ordinary people, even farther than ordinary people A little bit, but we can't cut off the relationship, otherwise some people think that their father and son are too cold-hearted and don't want to be kind.

Jia Xuan refused Jia Lian with a smile, "On the day my younger brother Xiumu took his wife to worship in the temple, it was agreed a long time ago, and I also said hello to the temple, so I don't want to break my promise."

Jia Lian talked to him about the family temple, "If the wives and grandmas in the mansion like to worship the Bodhisattva, they still need to set up a family temple at home. A merit."

Jia Huan doesn't believe this, and few people in the Northland believe this. Everyone doesn't have a few lives in their hands, so what are you asking for in the next life, thank God if you can live in this life.

Moreover, the army is taboo against ghosts and gods. Talking about the reincarnation of cause and effect will easily shake the army's morale. The people who go out to sacrifice are heaven and earth. Thousands of people died after a great battle. It is said that someone saw the souls of the dead soldiers lined up, followed by the dead generals. Going neatly to the underworld, there are ghosts leading the way, and the gods and ghosts avoid the way. This is a national commemoration, how can it be compared with ordinary ghosts and gods.

Jia Xun thinks that a good man should be shrouded in horse leather, life and death, the kind of person who harms this person and asks the gods for forgiveness, even he knows that the gods will not forgive him, thinking that if he asks for a few times, donating some sesame oil money can really get rid of his sins , if this is the case, these gods do not believe in worth mentioning.

The two of them didn't talk speculatively, so they said goodbye early and went home separately.

In the past few days, the concubine's family sent a letter to ask the concubine to go back to her natal family to visit her relatives, and the emperor replied one by one. Not surprisingly, the petition to concubine and concubine was rejected because the ninth prince was young and needed the care of his biological mother.

The emperor looked at his son in the cradle and asked Jia Yingchun, "What does Aifei think? Do you want to go back and visit the garden?"

Jia Yingchun took a small piece of clothing and roasted it on the smoker cage, "There is nothing to see in the garden. The eldest sister came home for the second master, the second wife and Baoyu. I didn't expect to see anyone when I went back. It's better to be with Jiu'er. "

After hearing this, the emperor was in a good mood because of the birth of the Ninth Prince, and he talked to her with a smile, "My concubine, I have been out of the palace to visit my relatives that day, and only you and I are left in the palace. Oh, and the queen, I will accompany you first." Let her have a vegetarian meal and come back to accompany you and the emperor."

Jia Yingchun pursed her lips and lowered her head, picked up the little clothes, hugged the Ninth Prince, unwrapped him and changed him into the little clothes, then held him in her arms and patted him gently. Her husband and son were all by her side, but this deep palace Jiuzhong , the happiness of ordinary people in the palace does not know whether it is a blessing or a curse.

It was gloomy outside the door, and people who were cold were unwilling to stretch out their hands. The inside of the palace was warm as spring, so the emperor leaned on the couch, looked at the weather and said, "It's going to snow soon, auspicious snow heralds a good year. You said to name the emperor, use Rui Or use Zhao?"

"Choosing a name for my brother is the father's business. When we have a princess, the concubine will make up his mind." This is the most presumptuous sentence Jia Yingchun has said since entering the palace.The emperor was in a very good mood, and he got up and put his arms around their mothers, "Then I will make up my mind, Zhao is good, the sun and the moon are bright. In a few days, I will give him a genealogy, the emperor's ninth son Zhao."

Jia Xuan sent someone to the Baita Temple early to book a meditation room, and asked someone to find a place where you can see plum blossoms. Originally, you still wanted to wait for the snow. As the saying goes, white snow and red plums should be thrillingly beautiful.After Mrs. Tong knew his plan, she sent someone to Baita Temple to do things for Lin Hai and his wife, asked Lin Daiyu to kneel for a long time, entrusted her to Jia Yu and Qi Jing'an, and urged them to go quickly, telling Jia Yu "heavy snow" God sees plum blossoms, it freezes people like quails, if you want to freeze your daughter-in-law out, I will greet you with a big stick, she is just confinement, it is time for maintenance, how can I follow you to watch in the ice and snow What Laoshizi plum blossoms."

Jia Xun's charming thoughts of meeting the beautiful woman were scolded by the old lady and disappeared without a trace.Laughing at himself, he took his cousin and daughter-in-law out of town.

Not long after leaving the city, the sky was a bit dark. A group of people rushed to the Baita Temple, and the monks in the temple went to kneel with Lin Daiyu. In the afternoon, some snowflakes slowly fell from the sky. The servants and servants persuaded the masters to go back to the city as soon as possible, for fear that they would be late and the road would be difficult to walk, and it would be even more serious to enter the city gate by mistake.

Jia Huan had given up on the red plums in the snow a long time ago, so she had to take the carriage around the plum garden and just take a look at it from a distance.Because it was in the wild, there was no one else around except their own family members, so Lin Daiyu and Qi Jingan lifted the curtain to see a fiery red plum blossom.

There is a light layer of snowflakes on the ground, and a plum blossom blooming in the distance, coupled with the laughter of the female relatives around, this is not like a date, but more like a family outing.

"Grandpa, please ask someone to fold some good plum blossoms and put them in a vase in the house." Qi Jingan has the mentality that most women have. When I see beautiful flowers, I will fold a few and take them back. I don't have that sentimental feeling at all. She didn't have it, but Lin Daiyu did. She hurriedly stopped her, "Sister-in-law, it's already enough to see a few times, why bother to break a few more and take them away, so that their flesh and blood will be separated..."

After speaking, tears rolled in her eyes, and they were about to fall, Qi Jing'an immediately compromised, "Okay, okay, no break, no break, sir, let's go now."

Lin Daiyu wiped away her tears embarrassingly, "I've spoiled my sister-in-law's interest."

"It's nothing, it's just a whim. If you feel uncomfortable, draw me a plum blossom later, and it will last longer than this real flower."

A group of people hurried back to the city before the city gate was closed, heavy snow fell like goose feathers, there were not many people on the road, and when they were about to reach home, they met a group of people when they turned a corner, and let four or five people face each other , riding a horse, covered with snowflakes, saw Jia Xuan, and shouted "Jing Zhi" from a distance.

Jia Xie reined in the horse, only to see that Fang Fang was Gu Siye, and the two of them arched their hands on the horse, which was regarded as a salute.

"Where did Yunming come from?"

"Come out from Song'en Hutong." Many Beijing officials lived in Song'en Hutong. That alley is full of official residences, which can be regarded as collective dormitories. The Ministry of Internal Affairs allocated funds to buy all the yards in Song'en Hutong. If they are single, several people will squeeze into one big yard, and if they are with families, each family will have a small yard.It can solve the livelihood of many shy Beijing officials, but this kind of collective dormitory is not easy to live in. There are many people crowded, and some people have special hobbies, such as raising potted flowers and planting some grass. , The owner of the flowers and plants became angry and depressed, thinking that he must find the place after looking for an opportunity.There are also some people who bring the maid Hongxiu Tianxiang to study at night, and take the maid to do some exercise when it’s okay. Half of the yard is affected and can’t sleep. At this time, there are always some people deliberately reading sour poems in the yard. For the matter, the low-ranking ones please mediate with the high-ranking ones in this alley. If you meet a few high-ranking ones, you must make a fuss in Shuntian Mansion.

"But what happened to the grown-up's family?"

"A fifth-rank doctor from the household department and a fifth-rank doctor from the official department, because of the same pot of charcoal, they asked me to make peace. They were very polite when they met, and the two of them held their identities without red faces. Dadu, can I make peace because of a pot of carbon? Jingzhi is..." Fourth Master Gu looked at the wheels of the carriage, "Come back from outside the city? Look at the mud on the wheels, it should be to go Can't it be done in the temple?"

"I can't hide it from you, Yun Ming is indeed good at punishing officials, and indeed he went to Baita Temple. He took his cousin and wife to burn incense."

The wind and snow were even bigger, and Jia Xun was worried that the talking time would be too long, and the female relatives in the carriage would be frozen, so he suggested, "Yun Ming, why don't you go to our house for a drink, and leave when the wind and snow subside. I'm in the Yamen, and I'm alone when I go home, why not come to our house and let's have a drink and talk."

Fourth Master Gu looked at the weather, "Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."