Old things in the Red Chamber

Gu Yun's son's full moon banquet was not a big one, but there were two important guests.

The emperor packed up the seventh and ninth princes and sent them over.As soon as the two princes entered the door, they cupped their hands and bent over, "Uncle He is happy to have a son."

No one in the room dared to sit down.The Seventh Prince celebrated his seventh birthday this year, so he sat on the throne like a little adult, and sent his younger brother, the Ninth Prince, to visit his aunt in the back.He thought he was going to avoid suspicion with women.

The Ninth Prince walked squarely with his hands behind his back, and walked to the backyard with a wobble. Even though he was only three years old, he was followed by a string of eunuchs, maids and mothers. No one dared to stop him. The little guy was unimpeded. into the backyard.

When they went to the room in the backyard, the servants at the door saw that this little thing was wearing a sartorial robe, embroidered with golden pythons, and tied a golden three-finger belt around his waist.Quickly open the curtain and invite him in.

The threshold was a bit high, the little guy raised his arm, and an eunuch behind him bowed to support him, and when he crossed the threshold, all the female relatives in the room had already stood up.

There are still a few princesses and princesses sitting here. They are the same generation as the Ninth Prince, and they didn’t kneel down to say hello. My aunt called very kindly.

The only princes in this age group were the Ninth Prince, and Shi Taijun stood watching, feeling like Huo'er in her heart, no matter how she looked at it, she felt that this child really looked like a wise king.

Of course, the Ninth Prince would be the focus of the audience. The Fifth Princess hugged him on the couch and asked him what he was doing here.

"Father ordered my younger brother and seventh brother to congratulate fourth uncle. Seventh brother is talking to uncle in front. Let me greet aunt and see little brother."

The wives saw that he was articulate and generous, and he was very royal, and he said all kinds of compliments. Regardless of his smallness, he was also a person who had experienced big scenes.The Ninth Prince waved his hand to signal everyone to stop talking, and said to the princess, "Elder Sister, is it convenient for my younger brother to visit my aunt now? Seventh Brother is still waiting for his younger brother to invite his aunt to go back. The emperor's grandfather said that the younger brother and the seventh brother are not allowed If you stay outside for a long time, go early and return early."

The eldest princess is the eldest daughter of the first abolished prince, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief, "Okay, okay, listen to you, Gu Linshi, come up."

Lin Daiyu came out, she was just taking care of the child in the bedroom, when she heard that the prince had arrived, she rushed over here, and her son Gu Xin came with her.The names of her son's generation all have the characters next to them.

The Ninth Prince supported his nanny's hand to get off the couch, first bowed his hands to say hello to Lin Daiyu, and Lin Daiyu squatted down to show him her infant son.

The Ninth Prince shook his head and said, "Same as Zhao, white and fat."

Many wives covered their mouths with handkerchiefs, and the princesses smiled unceremoniously.The Ninth Prince felt that he had lost face, and quickly stuffed a jade pendant into Gu Xin's swaddle, quickly said goodbye to his sisters and aunts, and quickly called his mother to leave quickly.

Although he was so embarrassed that he wanted to fly away, this little guy still put on airs and walked out of the main hall with square steps.

Watching the person walk away, the wives in the hall praised the Ninth Prince fiercely to the princess.In the room full of flattery, Shi Taijun and Wang Xifeng looked at each other. Wang Xifeng felt that Jia Lian's statement was too correct. If he had a son and stayed with the prince, his future future would definitely not be bad.Even if you can't follow the Ninth Prince, our empress still has the Eleventh Prince.Shi Taijun thought to himself, the glory of the prince's family, I have really seen it today, the nine princes are smart and sensible, and they were educated by the Supreme Emperor, their future prospects... Not the emperor but also the king of power, the wealth of the Jia family still depends on their brothers .

With a burning heart, Shi Taijun called his two sons as soon as he returned home. Jia Zheng hadn't come back yet, and Jia Amnesty stayed at home. Hearing his mother's call, he came quickly.

Shi Taijun was not in the mood to speak straight, and praised the Ninth Prince over and over again, "I saw the Ninth Prince today. He looks like a boy under the Bodhisattva seat. He has a good bearing and a good temper. I love it like something. Oh, the empress is so blessed."

Jia Amnesty had never added the Ninth Prince, but after hearing what the old lady said, he became interested, "Did the old lady see the Ninth Prince today? It doesn't look like Er Ya's profile picture..."

"Nonsense, what is the second girl, that is the empress in the palace, the empress with title, you can also talk nonsense."

Jia She shrank his neck, "Yes, yes, is the Ninth Prince the same as the concubine?"

"Let me say that except for the nose that resembles our empress, nothing else looks like the emperor. Yes, I have seen the emperor before, and the face of the ninth prince looks like the emperor." Thinking about it this way, I became even happier , "You all say that I dote on Baoyu, but you don't know how much he resembles your father."

Jia She recalled his own father, and thought that Shi Taijun might have forgotten the old man's appearance. Among these grandsons, the one who looked the most like Duke Xian was Jia Xuan.The temperament is similar, and the appearance is also somewhat similar. In fact, Lian'er is also similar, but Lian'er has peach blossom eyes. No one in the old Jia family has peach blossom eyes. These eyes are like people from the Zhang family, so Lian'er has no peach blossom eyes. Long and manly.

Seeing the old lady happily counting some aspects of Baoyu’s personality like the Duke’s, I felt uncomfortable. I thought that the Duke killed people like hemp, Baoyu didn’t even dare to kill a bird, and the Duke walked like a gust of wind. Baoyu walks limply, the Duke of the State does things quickly and neatly, and Baoyu does things crookedly...

"You've been tired all day. I'll go to my old brother's house and tell him that the Ninth Prince is out of the palace today."

Shi Taijun was poured cold water over his enthusiasm, thinking that the eldest son still had no sense, "Don't be too busy, he is the Minister of Guards, and he knew who was out of the palace before you."

Originally, Jia Amnesty didn't want to hear Shi Taijun say that Baoyu was good, but now it doesn't matter whether Jia Gu already knew about it.Hmm. "Then you should rest too, my son will go back now."

Shi Taijun watched him go out, thinking it was all right, when the second child comes back, I will tell the second child.

Jia Amnesty really went to find Jia Gu, and Jia Cong went with him. This time, Jia Gu failed in the talent test. Speaking of which, Jia Cong fell ill, and his head was dizzy after he left.I wrote it indiscriminately, so naturally I didn't make it to the list.

The kid was pouring wine for Jia Gu and Jia She, and Jia Gu asked Jia She, "He's always been half-dead."

"Isn't it? I don't know who leaked the news of his end, and was laughed at by the people over there."

Jia Gu patted his head, "You won't laugh back, anyway, you can still get off the court, and those who laugh at you don't even have the qualifications to end. A group of servants, even if they are released for three generations, they can't pass the imperial examination."

Jia Cong said irritably, "If the slaves laugh at me, I don't take it seriously. The one who laughs at me is Brother Huan'er."

Jia She explained, "It's the bastard son of Jia Lao Er. They played together when they were young."

"You shouldn't be sluggish, your father still let you take the exam, and your brother is pointing at you because he's not good at studying. Do you think Jia Baoyu is not good enough, can he have a good life like Jia Huan?"

Jia Cong was not comforted.

Seeing his appearance, Jia Amnesty was upset, "Go, go, go and play with your nephews and nieces."

Watching Jia Cong retreat, Jia Gu clinked a cup with Jia Amnesty, "Second Jia really doesn't intend to let the bastard stand out."

"Well, he's pointing at Baoyu. Even if Baoyu dies, there's Lan'er. Huan'er won't make it through."

"Oh," Jia Gu sighed, "Jia Baoyu is hard to get ahead."

"How do you say that?"

Jia Gu looked around, it was fine, he and his elder brother were the only ones in the room, motioned Jia Amnesty to stick his head over, and lowered his voice, "Let me tell you, Shi Hou brothers already hate you two."

"Isn't their niece betrothed to Princess Wei's family?" It was also a custom in the court to add the husband's surname in front of the princess, indicating that the princess married to a certain family.In the previous dynasty, some people also added surnames in front of the princess and the prince, which indicated that they were born by the empress of a certain family.

"Yes what's the matter?"

"Princess Wei wants to retire. There are rumors that the girl from the Shi family and Jia Baoyu have a private life, and they were caught by the Wei family. The concubine Wei was a little vacillating at the time. He and Miss Smith's father had a good personal education, so they let their son marry him. The family's daughter is also because of their friendship, and the Wei family's second child is a sweet pastry. Well, this good thing has become a disgusting thing. The Shi family doesn't want to retire. The two brothers came to the door in turn. The boy in the family is sick, Princess Wei is determined to divorce, she has never been strong in her life, this time she will not listen to anyone, she insists that her son was restrained by that girl."

"Are you pretending to be sick?"

"It's really sick. It's about to die. The imperial doctor in the palace has stayed in their princess mansion. The eldest brother of their family stepped forward on behalf of his younger brother, and the two families quietly divorced. They said it was because the man was not well. Their girls live forever. It’s just a nice way of saying it, and those who are well-informed know it. Some people say that Princess Wei will not let the girl of the Shi family watch over his family even if his son dies.”

Jia Amnesty was startled when he heard that the historian family was his maternal ancestral family, and the two historians were his cousins.

"What's the matter?"

"Ask your second child. If the Jia family wants to keep this relative, just marry their girl in."

"The Wei family?"

"I must have offended you. Let me tell you, the boss of the Wei family is small-minded. Just wait. It's okay if his brother is not dead. At worst, he will embarrass the Rongguo Mansion and dig a hole for Jia Baoyu. If his brother really It's gone, it's really an endless relationship, it must be a one-off shot, killing Rongguo's future or Baoyu's life."

"Their second child's illness was not caused by Baoyu."

"The Wei family thinks it's Baoyu, the second child of their family who got sick. Let me tell you, Princess Wei cries every day, and Boss Wei's complexion is like the bottom of the pot these days. I sent the couple to the princess mansion to visit Wei's second child. Now, you wait for Xun'er to come back and see what Xun'er has to say."

Jia She was uneasy, "When a person sits at home, the disaster comes from the sky. Who spread the gossip? Who ruined the reputation of the girl? Who put the hat on our old Jia family."

"Wei's family thinks the hat has changed color."

Jia She stood up from his seat, and kept pacing with his hands behind his back. Jia Gu looked at it for a while, but he was not in the mood to drink anymore. Seeing Jia She go around in front of him, he was almost dizzy. .

After an hour, it was completely dark, and Jia Xuan and Qi Jing'an came back.

Jia Amnesty caught Jia Xun and kept asking, "How is Wei's second child? How do you say it? Did the Wei family show you any facial expressions?"

"I didn't look at other people's faces. Wei's second child is now breathless. The Shi family thought of a crooked trick, saying that their girl would marry over to celebrate the joy. Wei Ruomei kicked him out. I see, after what happened here , the two have no friendship."

Jia Amnesty took Jia Huan's hand, "Good boy, is their second child really bad?"

"Well, the imperial doctor won't prescribe any medicine." Jia Xun looked at Jia Amnesty, "Uncle hurried back to discuss with Jia Langzhong, what should we do about this matter? If you can resolve it, resolve it, if you can't resolve it, stop the loss in time."

"This...the Rongguo Mansion suffered an unreasonable disaster. Ah, a rumor has harmed the three of us."

Jia Amnesty put on the cloak, "I'll go back first, if there is any news, send someone to tell me sooner or later."

Watching Jia Amnesty leave in a hurry, Jia Xuan asked Jia Gu, "If we don't tell, will their family not know?"

"The Wei family won't publicize this matter because of Wei Ruolan's reputation, and the Shi family won't say anything about it because of the reputation of other girls in the family. If it weren't for your wife and Wei Ruolan being cousins, we wouldn't know about it if they came to seek advice. , the Rongguo Mansion doesn’t even know about it.”

"I'll beat that traitor to death." Jia Zheng was furious. If Jia Amnesty hadn't stopped him, he would really have beaten him to death.

"Both of you, now take the old ginseng that Chou Er honored me to the Princess Mansion. Be humble and leave this place clean. I'm going to the historian's house now. By the way, let Lian'er look for those famous ginseng in Kyoto. Doctors, go quickly."

Jia Zheng hugged Shi Taijun's leg, "The old lady is so old, she still has to run around for her unworthy descendants..."

Shi Taijun also shed tears, not only the princess's mansion but also her natal family were offended this time, at her age, it depends on the face of her nephew and daughter-in-law.

Jia Amnesty stomped at the door, "Hurry up, hurry up, it won't be good if you're late, hurry up and get out while there's no curfew yet."

Seeing their brothers go out, Wang Xifeng arranged for carriages and horses to go. Shi Taijun told Mrs. Wang, "Look at Baoyu, don't spread the word about it, let me know, and kill it. Don't scare Baoyu And don't let him know."

Mrs. Wang nodded quickly, and watched Wang Xifeng help Shi Taijun go out, and said to the servants beside her, "Don't talk nonsense, girl, did you hear the old lady's orders just now? Whoever has a long tongue will be beaten to death by the whole family." It's over."

Sitting in the main room, Mrs. Wang was in a state of turmoil, thinking what if the master should be wronged and let Baoyu marry Shi Xiangyun?He complained in his heart that the princess' mansion was troubled. It was obvious that their elder brother couldn't live anymore. In order to please the princess, he left it on Baoyu and Shi Xiangyun.Mrs. Wang thought for a moment, thinking that the reason why the princess mansion is so aggressive is because there is an eldest princess. Huh, she just wanted to scare the historians. How can I say that the Jia family has two concubines in the palace, so they are not afraid of you scaring them.

Call Jin Chuan, give her a piece of silver, and tell her who to give the silver to and what to say.After hearing this, Jin Chuan went out for a while and came back again.

Mrs. Wang felt relieved a lot, "We have noble concubines in our family, how many dare not give us face."

The two Jia brothers waited at the gate of the Princess Mansion in the middle of the night, and no one at the concierge of the Princess Mansion dared to hand in the post. When I entered the house, my clothes were covered with snot and tears, my hair was crooked, my eyes were swollen, and I couldn’t sit upright when I got home.

Jia Zheng knelt down and cried loudly. This time, Shi Taijun held Jia Zheng's head and cried together. Jia Amnesty, like an outsider, watched their mother and son cry.

After crying for a long time, Jia Zheng got up and said to Jia Amnesty, "I also ask my brother to go to Jiahou's mansion tomorrow to be a middleman and introduce us to the concubine of the guard."

What did Jia Shexin say about recommending or not? It's not like you don't know Prince Wei. When the old lady celebrates her birthday, many princesses' sons-in-law come to celebrate her birthday. It's not like you haven't seen her before.He also understood that it was because Jia Zheng was about to run out of recruits, and he wanted his old brother to make peace in the middle.

"He has only been in the capital for a few years, and he has no friendship with the son-in-law. Why don't you invite Mr. Wang to go with you tomorrow."

Jia Zheng knew that he was evading, but he couldn't turn against his brother at this time. The mother, son and brother separated temporarily and went back to their respective courtyards.

Early the next morning, Jia Zheng asked Re to go to the yamen to ask for leave, and went to the Princess Mansion with Jia Amnesty, but this time they still didn't see anyone, the two brothers were waiting at the door, but the door just refused to accept invitations.Seeing the sun rising, it shone hotly on his back, and there was a sound of horseshoes in the distance. A knight came over first and shouted, "Our master is the King of Xiangyang, open the gate to welcome him."

The gatemen hurriedly opened the gate, a carriage went in directly, and the king of Xiangyang also rode in afterward.Arriving at the front yard, he reined in the reins and fell off the horse. Prince Wei hurried out and saw an old monk helped out from the carriage, with a gray beard and gray eyebrows, dizzy and unsteady.

"My son-in-law, this is the grand master invited by the prince who drove a thousand and two hundred miles away. This grand master is from the Xinglin family."

Concubine Wei hurriedly supported the old monk to the backyard, but the old monk had been wandering in the carriage for a few days, he was getting old, he couldn't even stand firmly, and he couldn't even walk.Wei Ruomei, who was following Concubine Wei, took a look, bent over and carried the old monk on her back, and ran quickly to the backyard.

The King of Xiangyang was supported by the people from the princess mansion, his legs were shaking non-stop, and he thought that he was probably bow-legged.As soon as she recovered her breath, Wei Ruomei came over beaming, "Thank you uncle, that old monk, no, the master is a genius doctor. After three needles, my younger brother woke up. Now the master is over there considering the prescription. My mother wants Thank you personally."

"Don't thank me. If I hadn't dragged your brother around in the middle of the night, your brother wouldn't be like this. Come on, you can send me to the palace. I have committed a serious crime by leaving Beijing without purpose. If I admit my mistake If it’s done in time, there might be a life left.”

As soon as Wei Ruomei heard this, she wanted to send him into the palace herself. The carriage that the old monk was sitting in just now was replaced by a horse to help King Xiangyang up.Wei Ruomei explained to the butler, and went out with the carriage guarded.

He glanced at the Jia brothers at the door and snorted.Thinking to settle accounts with them later, at the gate of the palace, Jia Gu asked King Xiangyang to get off the car, watched Wei Ruomei support him, and the two went to have an audience together.

Before noon, the king of Chu hurried into the palace, saw his son deprived of the king's title and sent to prison, angrily slapped him on the forehead a few times.

In the evening, the mother-in-law of Princess Wei's Mansion came to see Mrs. Tong, "Thanks to the good ginseng brought by the uncle and grandma of your mansion yesterday, it all depends on it to hang our second master's life. Master Huiyuan sees it today." Well, if there is such a good ginseng, prepare two more and let our second master drink the ginseng soup from the first half of the year."

"Congratulations, you are also persuading the princess. I heard from my daughter-in-law yesterday that the princess has lost a lot of weight in the past few days. Cabbage, go, choose two good ginseng, and take it away for the mother."

The nanny stood up and thanked, "Our princess said that good ginseng is rare, but there is no market for it. You must accept these kindnesses."

Mrs. Tong pushed her a few times, but the nanny insisted on letting Mrs. Tong take the ticket number. In the end, there was really no other way, so she confided a little truth, "I heard that the elder of the Rongguo Mansion and the mansion Master Hou has a good relationship..."

Mrs. Tong understood that they were afraid that they would use the favor of these two ginsengs to help the Rongguo Mansion.He readily took the box of ticket numbers and sent the nanny away.

Qi Jing'an came out from the next door with her children, and seeing Jia Xuan taking her younger siblings to play counting ticket numbers, she knew in her heart that Princess Wei's Mansion would not let it go.

"Mother, what if the Jia family master comes?"

"Just wait and see, if it weren't for the matter of life, the Jia family wouldn't beg our family. They are afraid that our father and two will play tricks on them secretly."

Lin Daiyu was shaking her son in her arms, and the woman outside came in in a panic, "Grandma, it's not good, the fourth master was beaten by the emperor with the court staff, and he was carried in with blood all over his body."

"Ah..." Lin Daiyu was so frightened that her legs went limp, she handed the baby to the nurse at one side, and hurried out with the hands of the maids. Sure enough, the four women were carrying a low couch, and Gu Yun was lying on the couch, slowly Come here slowly.

"What's the matter?" Lin Daiyu cried and touched Gu Yun's forehead, Gu Yun was still awake, "It's okay, I was negligent in my errand, the emperor rewarded me with twenty sticks, don't look at this bloody one, it's just a skin trauma , didn’t hurt any muscles and bones, and I beat it for others to see, so don’t cry.”

Lin Daiyu assigned someone to carry Gu Yun on the bed, and opened his robe and trousers. The wound was covered up, but the blood on the clothes made him look scary.

"Put my son next to me, and I said I was busy every day, so I was beaten. I have half a month's leave to be with you and my son."

"I don't want you to accompany me like this. I feel uncomfortable seeing you like this."

"Don't cry, I can't move now, I feel bad when you cry, I can't wipe your tears."

Lin Daiyu quickly wiped away her tears. "What is it for? It's so good, why did you get beaten?"

"Hey, a while ago, the former King of Xiangyang violated the curfew. I forgot it when I was busy. I just remembered when His Majesty asked. It was really because I slackened my errand. The twenty sticks were not wronged."

"Before? The emperor has taken the title of King Xiangyang. Could it be that he made a big mistake and implicated you."

"He went out of Beijing without purpose. No matter what the reason is, he violated the taboo of the clan. Although he took away his prince, he didn't take away his heir. When the King of Chu is gone for a few years, he will still be a prince."

When Lin Daiyu heard it, the emperor picked it up high and put it down gently, so Gu Yun who was implicated didn't have to worry about it.Feeling relieved, I tapped Gu Yun's forehead with my finger, "You have to change your forgetfulness, my son and I are still pointing at you."