Old things in the Red Chamber

Mrs. Tong watched her niece and daughter-in-law come back, but she didn't see her son, so she couldn't help asking, "Where did Xun'er go? Didn't you come back with you?"

Qi Jing'an stood up and replied, "I met the fourth master of the Gu family, and now I have invited the fourth master to talk in the front yard."

Mrs. Tong subconsciously glanced at Lin Daiyu, afraid that her behavior would make people think too much, "You are also tired, go back to the yard to get some rest, and have dinner in your yard at night, don't run back and forth, save yourself from freezing .”

He also asked Lin Daiyu to drink a bowl of ginger soup to sweat when she went back.

In the front yard, Jia Huan poured the warm wine into the cup, and said what happened just now, "You too, you don't need to do such trivial things every day, why bother to involve these bullshits?" things."

"Of course I don't care about other people's affairs, but the fifth-rank doctor in the official department is my deceased wife's biological father. Do you think I should go there?"

Jia Huan looked up at him, "It is said that you have not married for so many years because you are deeply in love with your dead wife. Is that true?"

"It's a joke to talk about deep love at this time, but I'm sorry for her. I know that my stepmother is like a tiger and wolf. When she left, she didn't properly arrange her. She was so tired that she lost her life. And... if my son is born , and now they are running all over the yard."

"Year after year, you should also marry a successor to fill in the house earlier, otherwise, it will be the same as today, and there will be no one to talk to you when you go back."

"Now I have a very bad reputation. Who in the capital is willing to marry their daughter to me? Besides, people who don't dislike me are probably here for my official position. My elder sister persuaded me to marry a girl from other places. , Live in peace and contentment, I also have this plan, entrust my second brother to go, let my sister-in-law inquire for me."

Jia Huan raised a glass to clink a glass with him, and after the snow stopped, Fourth Master Gu said goodbye and came out on horseback.

At the end of the year, even the idle yamen became busy, and so did the Taipu Temple. The officials who had been sent on business trips a few months ago came back. Jia Xuan was talking to these officials about the horses in the ranch these days. , I decided to go to the summer ranch in the spring of the coming year, and also take a look at the new autumn and winter horses, which I heard are extremely handsome.

Jia Huan still thought in his heart that he wanted good horses to be put on the battlefield, and the second-class horses would be sent to the capital to be ridden by these nobles.

There is something going on in the yamen, and there are also big and small things at home. It's not that there are moths in the house every day. Today when Jia Xun came home, the concierge reported that a relative had come to vote for the invitation, and he would come to visit in person tomorrow.

Jia Xun wondered what kind of relative this was, and opened the greeting post to see that it was signed by his nephew Zhao Qi.

Jia Xun thought about it, but couldn't figure out what kind of nephew this was.Invite the old butler of the Lin family to inquire.

The old butler looked at the old man, who was still in good health, and when he heard that he was looking for him, he hurried over. Jia Huan showed him the greeting card, "I'm young and don't know what to do, and our father and son don't have time to return to Kyoto. Chang, I don’t know where this is a relative, does the old man know?”

"The old slave knows that this is the son of the eldest aunt's family in Rongguo Mansion. Our wife, the three concubines above, have all disappeared a few years ago, and the girls of their generation are all gone."

Oh, Jia Huan knows, this counts, according to blood relationship, this person surnamed Zhao really calls his father his uncle.

"Master Biao, it's just that the relatives of the Zhao family are not from the direct line. The Zhao family has no offspring from the direct line, and all of them are from the second wife, so..."

So there is no blood relationship, and it is only in etiquette.

Jia Xuan nodded and understood.

The next day Jia Gu Xiu Mu, when Jia Gu Xiu Mu, Jia She ran over, or Jia Gu ran over, like two old children, just waiting for Xiu Mu to play together, The two brothers sat in the hall, and the Zhao family's nephew came in with Chang Sui, and presented a list of gifts to pay their respects to the early years.

Jia Gu looked at him, a chubby fat man.With a look of frog eyes, he called uncle flatteringly.

"I wanted to come here to pay my uncle a long time ago, but I have no reason at ordinary times, so I waited until now."

Jia Gu nodded and didn't speak, looked at Jia She, Jia She didn't want to look at the fat man, and he wasn't his sister's son, so he didn't care what he did.

Jia Gu asked about the elder sister's life, Zhao Qi said inconsequentially, and began to say that the aunt loves sweets, and said that she was very involved, and some said that the aunt hates sweets the most. The life of the elder sister who has never met is really not good.This fat man was raised in front of his aunt one by one, but he didn't know many things about his aunt. When talking about his aunt, his face was full of calculations, and he didn't miss the slightest bit. Even if Jia Gu wanted to support him, he couldn't find a way to calm his conscience reason.

In the end, he walked away angrily, and asked Jia Gui to throw out all the gifts that Zhao Qi brought.

After watching the whole process, Jia Amnesty persuaded Jia Gu, "Eldest sister left early, she died within five or six years after she got married, what can he remember?"

Jia Gu felt that Jia She was a person who could not be said. Sometimes he was very humane, and sometimes he was too ruthless. He wanted to plot against Jia Zheng, but he also thought that Jia Baoyu was a good boy, and he treated Jia Cong as well as Jia Lian. Okay, but for Jia Lian's daughter, I really have no affection at all.Take today's incident as an example. When I first came here, I still thought about the good old days of my eldest sister, but now I don't feel sad for her past at all.

Jia Gu felt itchy when he saw that he was not there, so he slapped him hard a few times to feel better.

A few days after this incident, a man in his 30s with a Sichuan accent visited Rongguo Mansion, saying that he was the nephew of Rongguo Mansion, and "rewarded" the concierge with a small ingot, and the concierge sent a message inside. Wu Xindeng, the housekeeper of the family, went to see him and found out that he was the child of the second aunt who married to Sichuan. After further questioning, he turned out to be a businessman, so he underestimated him a little. He came here to sell fabrics. Because the price was low, he offended his peers and accused him of improperly sourced fabrics. The yamen seized these fabrics from him, and wanted to ask the Rongguo Mansion to come forward to intercede.

Wu Xindeng's family found Mrs. Wang with a ticket number of 5000 taels. Mrs. Wang deducted 4000 taels and gave Wang Xifeng 1000 taels. Two taels of silver were taken care of, her companion who came to Wang's house took 500 taels privately, and the errand boys and the clean-up ministers who came forward to intercede took 500 taels, and the rest were dealt with seriously by the people in the yamen .At the end of the year, there are many things in the yamen, and they are perfunctory, and no one takes it to heart. They just say, "Come back after the new year, right and wrong, and the next year will be inspected by the superior."

Mrs. Wang inquired that this batch of fabrics was worth 4 taels of silver. Thinking that the Qian family's wealth would definitely be lost, she held onto Qian Cheng and didn't say anything to death. No matter how difficult it is, it took a lot of hard work.

Qian Cheng has been running a business these years. He is not the kind of ignorant person. He only thought that the brocades in Sichuan would be famous and that they would sell better in the capital, so he bet on some brocades to sell. Who knows how deep the water is in the capital? Pile up the cloth and go back, and it won’t hurt the muscles and bones, but I don’t want to bear it. If I continue to throw money into it, it’s not cost-effective, and I won’t make a lot of money this time. Mr. Fu Yin was moved, and he wanted to bypass the Rongguo Mansion and beg directly at the door.

After inquiring and inquiring, I heard that Fu Yin has no confidant around him now, so he spent 800 taels of silver to buy a nobleman and planned to give it to Fu Yin.

Who knew that at the end of the year, Fourth Master Gu's stepmother would make a fuss for Fourth Master Gu to return to Cheng'en Gong's mansion for the New Year, and asked his younger brothers to invite him, besides the three descendants, there were also two younger brothers who were concubines.Arriving at his mansion every morning, sitting in the living room and waiting for a day, Gu Siye was busy in the yamen on the one hand, and on the other hand he didn't want to see his younger brother. His younger brothers were not like stepmothers. They are also very respectful.

Therefore, except in the yamen, I hid all the time, and hid directly in the Zhongwuhou Mansion. Not long ago, the emperor went to pay homage to the imperial tomb of his ancestors, and Jia Gu accompanied him. Live with peace of mind.

Not long after Qian Cheng entered the capital, he found out that Mr. Fu Yin was in Zhongwuhou's mansion these few days, so he thought of a way to send the beauty to Zhongwuhou's mansion.Before the man was delivered, the Shuntian Mansion over there investigated his case and asked him to take the Shu Brocade away within two days, so as not to occupy the warehouse of the Shuntian Mansion.

Qian Cheng was extremely grateful to Mr. Fu Yin. He not only sent a few pieces or a few feet of Shu brocade to the people in the yamen who handled this matter as a thank you, but also personally stopped the way to give the Qing Dynasty man as a gift to Fourth Master Gu.

Fourth Master Gu was quite ashamed. Although he was in a remote place, he always felt that there were hundreds of pairs of eyes looking at him, and his whole body was looked on hotly.Angrily, he whipped his horse and left immediately, keeping a straight face all day long.

When Jia Huan found out, she laughed at him, "It's really unlucky, you know, she is a beauty anyway, playing and singing with you every day, making you happy like a fairy."

"Why don't you buy one and come back to be a fairy with you?"

"My son will be born in two years. If I am ridiculous, he will not be convinced when he is in charge of him in the future. Look at my father, no matter what he is doing now, he will whip me with a horsewhip. Every time he whips, he will say, 'I am like When you are so old, every time I say that, I can’t refute it. What are you doing for? If you don’t marry a wife now, you can have a concubine, or you can raise a housemate, otherwise, you can warm yourself at night The quilt is warm in the middle of the night, but it is not warm at all, it is warm, and it is about to go to court, and the heart is sad, which is not enough for outsiders, don't you think?"

Gu Siye glanced at him, snorted, and made a motion of cutting his neck, Jia Xun wisely stopped talking.

Besides, Qian Cheng, who has been running around in the capital these days, also knows the truth of leaning against a big tree to enjoy the shade. He has only been in Beijing for a short time, and he has some resentment towards his foreign ancestors, so he hurriedly found a fellow countryman and asked him to introduce one Good backing.

That fellow countryman is also considered a person, so he told him, "The clan kings have high vision, unless they are big merchants, otherwise they will look down on us, those second-class people, sometimes have no power, even if we do a lot of filial piety, something will happen. It may not be able to keep us when we are here."

Thinking of Rongguo Mansion, Qian Cheng couldn't stop nodding. He spent 5000 taels of silver and failed to get anything done. When it was Shuntian Mansion's turn to handle it, even though he had folded some Shu brocades, he was able to escape from the matter with all his needs. Well, compared to the 5000 taels of silver, the Shu brocade given to the petty officials is nothing, so it can be seen that these second-class people really can't count on it.

"Let me tell you about one family, the Prince's Mansion of Beijing County. Although he is a king with a different surname, the big merchants will not take him in. They are afraid that the higher-ups will notice him, and he is more powerful than those second-class families. He is the one we small merchants can vote for." Home."

As soon as Qian Cheng thought so, he asked his fellow countrymen to introduce him, met with the steward of the county prince's mansion, and gave the nobleman who was bought for 800 taels of silver to the king of Beijing County, and successfully took root in the capital.

The 4 taels of Shu brocade he brought was recommended to several families who wanted to visit their relatives through the relationship of the Beijing Palace, and it was sold out quickly, because the steward of the Palace raised the price. After coming down, besides the capital, throwing expenses on the road, and filial piety to the palace, I made a net profit of more than 3 silver. My younger brother took it over and planned to live in the capital for a long time.

Not to mention during the Chinese New Year, family visits that are worth worrying about in Kyoto are scheduled for the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Wang Xifeng came to the door on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and invited Lin Daiyu to pick her up in the courtyard that day, "The imperial concubine specially ordered her, my sister must go."

In front of the royal family, don't talk about being filial or not, if you are told to go, you must go.Knowing this truth, Lin Daiyu went to Rongguo Mansion two days in advance, because the people sent by the palace were teaching the people in Rongguo Mansion how to behave, inspecting the yard by the way, learning how to stand, how to make offerings, and how to bow down.

This time when she entered the Rongguo Mansion, Lin Daiyu lived with her cousin Tanchun Xichun. Xichun was young, and the questions she asked Lin Daiyu were "Is Furong fat, and is she good-looking?" Then she asked, "Xuan'er is learning to read now. Have you done it?" After asking the good boy, he asked again, "What do you use for your daily meals and what do you do for entertainment?"

When I arrived at Jia Tanchun's place, the question I asked became "What does Big Brother Xun do at home? What does Master Hou do for fun at home?"

Lin Daiyu just perfunctory her, "I don't go out of the yard on weekdays, and I don't see my uncle and cousin often, and I don't know what they do."

Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baochai also came to pick me up this time. Xue Baochai was dignified and virtuous, and Shi Xiangyun was cheerful and generous. The two came hand in hand. Xue Baochai talked about daily trivial matters. Know how to get along with them.

The day passed fairly quickly, but the day of visiting relatives was a bit more difficult. During the day, she stood and greeted her. At night, Lin Daiyu added some clothes, and she was so hungry that the noble concubine's guard of honor came out from the palace.

This time, the highest-ranking concubine is the noble concubine, her guard of honor goes first, followed by the fourth concubine, the guard of honor of the four concubines gave way to each other at the gate of the palace, wasting a lot of time, followed by the nobles in various positions, There were also a few low-ranking palace ladies whose families were in the capital, and they also took a carriage and left the palace gate. For a while, the queen mother saw that the number of concubines was reduced by half.Then came the concubine.

"Is that Xiaojiu's mother and concubine?" The queen mother narrowed her eyes and glanced at the concubine He, "Stop standing here in this palace, go and pay the queen's peace, and don't come here again."

Concubine He agreed, and took the low-ranking maid to the queen's palace to pay her respects.

The emperor is right here, sitting on the futon, watching the empress chanting sutras while twirling prayer beads.The ancient Buddha with the blue lamp, except for the bright yellow uniform on his body, the room is dusty, and there is no color at all.

An old nanny came over and knelt down outside the threshold, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, and concubines bring all the palace servants to pay their respects."

The queen continued to spin the beads as if she didn't hear it. The emperor looked at her a few times and said to the old mother, "Let the concubine stay here, and the others leave."

After a while, Concubine He came in and knelt down outside the threshold with her skirt in hand to pay her respects. The emperor didn't let her get up, and the empress continued to spin the beads. The cold wind blew, and Jia Yingchun felt cold all over her body and lost all warmth , the queen opened her eyes.

"Let's go back."

I don't know who to send back, and Concubine He dare not stand up.

After another quarter of an hour, the emperor stood up, walked a few steps to the queen's futon, touched her futon, it was cold.Asking the waiters outside to change her into a warm futon, the queen allowed the maids to help her stand up, then sat down again, closed her eyes, and twirled the prayer beads.When the emperor saw it, he could only sigh a long time, and went out to help Jia Yingchun stand up.

Kneeling for a long time, Jia Yingchun almost fell to the ground, the emperor half hugged her, and carried her out of the queen's palace.The two returned to Pixiang Hall, Licorice was guarding the Ninth Prince, and quickly brought Jia Yingchun a bowl of ginger soup. The emperor did not tease the Ninth Prince for the first time, and lay on the couch without closing his eyes all night.

In the first month, the people of Kyoto can say a few words to the concubines and relatives, which empress has a majestic honor, and which empress has an exquisite garden.He spoke clearly and logically, and even Jia Gu and Jia Huan, who were in the yamen, listened to various versions of Yuanzi's explanation.

"In Rongguo Mansion, the name is Daguanyuan. Listen to me, Daguan, these two words are rare. Unless all kinds of landscapes are in one place, how can it be called Daguan?"

Everyone else nodded yes.

There are too many people who talk about it, and some people have written a book, some are praising kindness, these people are the concubine's mother's family, some people impeach extravagance and waste, these are the censors, they are a group of people who can find something to impeach if they have nothing to do A number of people, now they are even more caught up in impeachable things, but they are jumping up and down vigorously.There are also some pragmatic officials who say that the family-senting villa is not considered a royal courtyard, but most people would not live in it because they have welcomed the concubine, and it is too deserted to lock the garden. Please make an order from the emperor to allow the relatives of Jiaofang to move into the garden. , bathe in grace.

The emperor approved the book, and there was another carnival all over the capital.Many people with gardens spread posts, inviting relatives and friends to come and play in the garden for a few days, and then choose an auspicious day to move in.The news from Concubine Jia in the palace was to let Baoyu and her sisters move in. This decision was agreed upon by everyone, and followed the example of others, and spread the post widely. Most of the people who accepted the post said they would come, except Zhongwuhou Mansion.

When the steward of the Beijing Palace was drinking with Qian Cheng, he heard his servant say that their master was a relative of the Rongguo Mansion. After curious questions, he realized that Qian Cheng was really the serious nephew of the Rongguo Mansion.After this news was known to King Beijing, he personally invited Qian Cheng to talk to him in his study, and called him "Mr. Qian."

The nobleman who was dedicated to him became the concubine of the King of Beijing. The King of Beijing found out that Qian Cheng had only one younger brother who was a direct descendant, and he had no more brothers and sisters. He also said, "We are all a family now, we should not be outsiders. I heard that Mr. Qian's family members are on the way. I wonder if they have been resettled in the mansion?"

Qian Cheng has been muttering ever since he entered the study, and now he is even more anxious.Every time he answered King Jingjing's question, he always thought twice before speaking.

Seeing that the fire was almost ready, King Beijing said, "Since Mr. Qian is the cousin of Brother Lian and Brother Xun, he should have said it earlier. Brother Baoyu from Rongguo Mansion came to the mansion a few days ago. If I had known, you guys Brothers should see you too."

Qian Cheng said, "Don't dare to climb high." He was thinking about who is Brother Xun?He knows the second master Bao and the second master Lian. The sons of the eldest uncle and the second uncle's family can be compared with the sons of the sons. Could it be the sons of the third aunt's family? Doesn't it mean that the children of the third aunt's family are going to be stupid in reading?After coaxing the stepmother, she took out the third aunt's dowry.But the name doesn't have the word "珹"?

"Mr. Qian misunderstood that Ling's cousin is an amiable person. Even Brother Jia Xun looks quite authoritative. After getting acquainted with him, you will know that he loves to play and laugh. By the way, I have a post here , I will trouble Mr. Qian to send it to the Zhongwuhou Mansion to Brother Jia Xun. After a few days, everyone will go out for a trip outside the city, and Brother Xun must also like to go."

Qian Cheng knew that the key lies in Jia Huan, and he couldn't help showing some doubts on his face, "I've never heard of a relative in the Marquis Mansion, so I came here rashly..."

"Mr. Qian, you don't have to worry too much. Lord Jia is most concerned about kinship. As long as you tell us your identity, Lord Jia will definitely meet you if he is at home."

Qian Cheng couldn't help it, and was curious about the Marquis Jia who had never seen him before, so he respectfully accepted the post. Although he said he was close to him, he was a prince, and he was a common man, so he must not forget himself. identity of.

Qian Cheng himself was also cautious, first asked someone to inquire about the affairs of the headed family in Zhongwuhou's mansion, after inquiring clearly, he bought a generous gift and came to the door.

The concierge in Zhongwuhou's mansion was a man without an arm. He bowed down and respectfully accepted the call letter. He heard that he was the nephew of Lord Hou. He thought to himself why people would come to marry us every year and year after year, so I asked Qian Cheng to sit in the side hall first. Yes, he went to report that Jia Gu was really at home today, playing chess with Jia She, and the big girl Xuaner was making trouble on the side, deliberately changing the positions of their chess pieces.

Jia Amnesty accepted the post and glanced at it, "The surname is Qian, that's the child of the second sister's family."