Old things in the Red Chamber

Concubine Zhen passed away, and the people of Rongguo Mansion also went to the palace to cry, and the Zhen family who was far away in the south of the Yangtze River also traveled thousands of miles to Beijing.

The Rongguo Mansion has always said that they are old relatives with the Zhen family, and everyone knows the close relationship, and the Zhen family's visit to Beijing this time is not just for crying.Since the Zhen family entered the capital, the water in the capital has become cloudy.

Lin Daiyu was tidying up at home and watching the servants packing up their things. The porter came to report that people from Rongguo Mansion had come to the door.

Lin Daiyu asked, "Whose person is here?"

The wives came to report after asking, "It's their second wife's companion, from Zhou Rui's family, with a few wives, looking at the clothes, they are also very rich, but they don't look familiar."

Lin Daiyu was puzzled, Aunt Wang had always looked down on her, besides, the people she was in contact with were all old ladies. I heard that the Zhen family was spreading money all over the capital in the past few days, so my second aunt would also lead the way.

Lin Daiyu thought for a while, and looked back at Xin'er lying in the cradle, holding a tiger-toed shoe with both hands, playing beautifully by herself, so she said to her mother-in-law, "Tell them, our brother has been making trouble these days." As for the people, I don’t see any guests anymore, I will go to my grandmother to pay my respects and send them away politely.”

The mother-in-law agreed and went down.

When Gu Yun came back in the evening, he went to change his clothes first, and then roasted his hands on the smoker cage, then went to pick up his son, threw him a few times, and said to Lin Daiyu, "I see, this kid is getting fatter again. It’s been a long time since I’ve lost my hand.”

Suddenly remembered another thing, "In a few days, the spirit will be sent. The Supreme Emperor means that the courtiers and wives will send Zhen Taifei's mother and son to the imperial mausoleum. Our family, the second brother is going, you can choose some ones tomorrow." Send the good fur material to my sister-in-law, so that their needleworkers can be more efficient, so that my second brother can wear it before he leaves."

"It's better to pick up some sturdy hand stoves and send some good soft fabrics, and make a few more, which can be replaced."

Gu Yun nodded and asked Lin Daiyu, "Are you okay at home today?"

"What can I do? It's just some human relations. I have ordered the birthday gifts of the three families today. By the way, my second aunt took a companion room to come to our house. I haven't seen her. I don't think we were close in the past. This file They didn't even let them in."

Gu Yun nodded, "If you block today, you can't block tomorrow, just wait and see, and come back in a few days."

Word came out from the palace that they were going to be buried in the imperial mausoleum. Among other things, no one wanted to go in the cold winter months. The master and the concubine would never dare to work, besides, there is no decent daughter-in-law who funerals the concubine's mother. The next one is the noble concubine."

Concubine De said, "It won't be our turn after the imperial concubine, and the imperial concubine Donggui should step up."

The four concubines glanced at each other, and Concubine Rong also said, "Since people are overpowering us everywhere, this kind of hard work will continue to overwhelm us, and we don't have to compete with others. The glory of funeral is not worth fighting for." Pretty."

Concubine Yi also said, "We still have to take care of the palace affairs. In a few days, it will be the Chinese New Year. The palace is more hectic than usual. We definitely won't be able to leave."

After discussing it, this glorious thing belongs to the two sisters.

While talking, a palace lady came to report, "Just now the imperial doctor went to the Pixiang Palace, and the imperial concubine is pregnant."

Well, Concubine Dong Gui couldn't go anymore, and the fourth concubine thought in her heart why this person was so lucky.

Concubine Xian is okay, she has a son and a daughter, she is not too jealous, the others hate it so much, "All the good things in the world have been won by those two sisters, the older one has been named a concubine for the first time, and the younger one has already given birth. Having two is still not enough, and now I have to give birth to a third."

Everyone in the palace secretly prayed that this was a princess in Hefei's belly.

The eleventh prince sat in front of Concubine He, looked at Concubine He's stomach that had not changed, and said, "Concubine Mother, where is little brother?"

Although she had two sons, Concubine He was still a little shy, and said to him with a blushing face, "You will find out in a few months."

Licorice brought the medicine, and the mother of the eleventh prince coaxed him to go out to play. Licorice saw that there was no one around, and said distressedly, "I haven't raised it yet, and I'm pregnant again, it hurts my body."

Concubine He drank the medicine in one gulp, and handed the empty bowl to the licorice, "I'd rather keep giving birth, it's better than not seeing the emperor for ten days and a half months. I was weak when I was in the boudoir , I don’t know how to please others, until now, I still have this temperament, apart from having children, I also don’t know how to please the Queen Mother and the Emperor, fortunately, my stomach is up to date, so that’s fine.”

In the evening, the rewards arrived at Pixiang Hall like flowing water, first from the emperor, then from the queen mother.The emperor also came to sit for a while, so that the concubine and concubine could raise the baby well. "The imperial doctor told me that your body is weak, and this pregnancy will be more difficult. I also ordered you not to disturb you with trivial matters, and stopped the business of greeting you outside the palace. The queen mother will not spare you these days. , there is no need to go to the queen. You just give birth to this baby properly."

Concubine He respectfully agreed.

Concubine He is pregnant again, which is even more joyful for the Rongguo Mansion outside the palace.

There is no need for Shi Taijun and Jia She to say more, because among Guoxiao, even if there are happy things, they have to be tense, so Shi Taijun is very happy.Wang Xifeng was also happy, and said to Jia Lian, "I only hope that my mother and I will have boys in our stomachs. When the time comes, we will get closer and become more legitimate."

Jia Lian stroked Wang Xifeng's stomach, "You can't say that, if it's a princess, our family can have a son-in-law, right?"

Wang Xifeng was right after thinking about it, "That's a good relationship. My mother has already raised two sons. It would be better to have one more son. It's fine if she's a princess. It's a beautiful thing to have both sons and daughters."

Jia Lian crouched beside the bed, "Tell you, the people outside are fawning on our family when we send the old lady into the palace today. The carriages of the second-rank and third-rank officials will give way to us. All of them took our old lady first. I heard how glorious our family was in the past, but now I see it, I am fascinated."

What he was looking forward to in his heart was not only that, but he thought in his heart that if one of his nephews really ascended the throne, he would be even richer in the future.

"Why don't you understand? This wealth is like flowers in a mirror and moon in water. You can't see it." Jia Gu looked at no one around. From then on, the team went to the imperial mausoleum, and Jia Gu was only responsible for going to the outskirts. Mrs. Tong at home was going to the imperial mausoleum.

Today was considered a rest day, and many family members of officials came to deliver clothes and food. Jia Amnesty also brought a food box with two plates of vegetarian dishes and a bowl of white rice, and came to find Jia Gu.

"My old brother, our mother is doing well, why do you call the flower in the mirror the moon in the water." Jia Amnesty was very annoyed, seeing Jia Gu sitting on the ground directly, kicked him, "Don't sit still, the ground is cold, and the air is very cold."

"I have strong firepower." Jia Gufeng ate the meal, "The emperor is still fine, the prince is still a boy, don't you think this is the moon in the mirror? You should also think about it, even if it is a sure-fire prince, there are still people who are deposed. That day, let alone a prince who has nothing."

Jia Amnesty thought about it too, "It's because I'm too aggressive."

"Go back and find your old lady, and let her take care of the old and young men in your family. The people in the old Jia family are afraid that the world will not be chaotic. Jia Cunzhou can't hold back, and so can you."

Seeing his younger brother finished his meal, he asked the boy to pack up the food box. You are not allowed to make noise, and people will watch your actions, so you dare not stay for a long time. You walked back with the food box, and met many people who came to deliver the food on the way people.

When everyone saw him, they clasped their fists and shouted enthusiastically, "Brother Jia", "Old Mister", "Gong Xie"...

He made it look like he was his own brother. Anyway, Jia She felt that his own brother would never greet him so affectionately from afar.

The more polite others are, the more humble he is, and he is more humble than others. I am sorry, I am an old dandy, and when others say that his heart is fond of gold and stone antiques, I ask him to appreciate them. He said that his old eyes are too dim to see clearly. Stop playing.

Jia Amnesty's heart was also bleeding. What people said were all good things. The tiles from the Yu Song Dynasty from the Han Dynasty, the inscriptions from Cao Wei and the stone carvings from the Five Dynasties. I was beaten so badly that I forced myself to go back...

The old dandy went home with a sad face.

I just came home and heard that my cousin Jia Jing died of illness. The national filial piety met the family filial piety. The family gathered countless people and said a lot of praises to the ancestors and the concubine. In addition, Jia Zhen is a dutiful son, so I don’t look sad , and even heard that he made fun of the maids at home, Jia Amnesty stayed behind closed doors during the Chinese New Year and pretended to be sick every day.

Finally, the funeral procession hurried back to the capital before the new year. Except for a few families, most of them received the filial piety from the Zhen family, even the clan members. He made friends with many idlers from the clan, and he did not let go of the ministers of the court and the idle nobles.

In a fit of anger, the emperor downgraded the title of prince in their palace to the title of county king, and the new county king was named Runan king.

King Runan is still a child, and the palace is entirely presided over by the princess, but she can't control these bastards now, and

In order to get a title for themselves, the concubines of the former kings even showed their magical powers.

Because Jia She was too cowardly to meet people, many people followed the path of Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen to flatter the Jia family.This is especially true for officials from other places. They don't know the filth among the Jia family brothers, so they go directly to the Rongguo Mansion to meet Jia Zheng.Although this New Year's Day is held in the National Filial Piety and there is no theater and wine, the Jia family is still very lively.

Jia She ran to Jia Gu angrily, "When I had a title, he stood up for me, but now that I'm done with him, he still stands up for me."

Jia Gu glanced at him, "Go, take a brick and cover his forehead. In less than half a day, the whole capital will know that he can't stand for you."

"No," Jia Amnesty didn't want to deny it. "If the censor finds out and tells me what to do, I will admit it, and then involve me in the palace. If it is because I am a bastard, the empress and the princes Being laughed at is not worth the candle."

"If you have a pustule on your body, and you squeeze the pus and blood before it rots, you will suffer less. If the pustule rots, you will have to cut off the rotten flesh. Tell me, which one will suffer more?"

"It's not yet that time," Jia Amnesty said indifferently, "Jia's second child is not yet pustule."

Jia Gu sighed, "Then be honest, don't do bad things, and keep your seal. Especially take good care of Lian'er and Cong'er."

Jia Amnesty patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry. If nothing else, I can still manage the two of them."

The dullness of this year, for Shi Taijun, gave birth to a wave of melancholy. With so many years of life experience, she always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't find out what was wrong.

On the first day of the first lunar month, there is a grand banquet for courtiers and orders, which is also Concubine Jia's birthday.

Concubine Jia Gui fell ill. The reason was that she fell ill on the way to the imperial mausoleum, and she didn't recover after coming back. The eunuch who sent the message said that she was coughing intermittently.On New Year's Eve, I went to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. I felt that there were stars in front of my eyes, so I couldn't get up this morning.

At the big banquet, the empress showed her face as in previous years, and the empress dowager still presided over it. In addition to caring about Concubine Jia, Shi Taijun also cared about concubine He. He concubine's belly was not showing, and she was seen from a distance helping the maid to kowtow to the empress dowager , was helped away again.

This is what Shi Taijun thinks is weird. People with poor health and concubines also help them out to see the ceremony, and accept some low-ranking concubines and some orders to bow down. Even if the concubine is too sick to get out of bed, logically speaking, she will It's time to send someone to come forward on her behalf, even if it's a pleading guilty, there should be this process, after all, she is a noble concubine, the second most important woman in the palace.

The imperial concubine's illness is not a big deal for the Jia family. People eat whole grains, and who can not get sick? Last year, the imperial concubine fell ill, and it came on fiercely. Didn't it make it through? The palace has the best imperial physicians and the best medicinal materials Therefore, the members of the Jia family didn't take it seriously, except for Shi Taijun who felt a little disobedient and Mrs. Wang who was worried about her daughter, the others didn't care.

Soon, Mrs. Wang stopped worrying about her daughter, and put her mind on her son.

Baoyu is a good boy, this is the consistent thought of Jia's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.As long as there is something wrong with Baoyu, others will lead him to learn from it.Not long after the new year, the weather was still cold, and the attackers came to sue my colleagues.

The maids in Baoyu's house are much more noble than those in other places. Anyone who has some connections among the family members wants to send their girls to Baoyu's courtyard. The four big maids in the village teamed up to hold down these little girls to prevent them from advancing. If anyone got along with Baoyu in private, they would definitely be beaten and scolded by these people after this period of time.

Xiren always had a virtuous appearance, and Sheyue Qiuwen didn't stand out, only Qingwen, who had a bad temper, sharp teeth and a sharp mouth, was favored. She always did the job of beating and scolding little girls, so she had a bad reputation.Sometimes she herself disobeyed discipline and dared to talk back to Xiren, which made Xiren bear a grudge for a long time.

Xiren knelt in front of Mrs. Wang, "Qingwen has a bit of Aunt Lin's manuscript, and Baoyu thinks highly of her. She often doesn't care about her slack in her errands." She glanced at Mrs. Wang secretly, and Mrs. Wang's face was clouded. densely covered.

Although Xiren is not a family-born child, he can guess a little bit about Mrs. Wang's thoughts.

After thinking about it, Mrs. Wang, Wen Yan pulled Xiren to say a few words, watched Xiren leave, and called her confidant Zhou Rui's family.

"Prepare the car, I'll see the old lady later, I heard that the old lady took Jia Xun to the garden last time, our uncle Xun fell in love with Baoyu's girl, you will take someone to Zhongwuhou's mansion later, Just say it was rewarded by the old lady."

Zhou Rui's family agreed to go on.Yuchuan helped Mrs. Wang get up, checked the front of the clothes in front of the coat mirror, and Mrs. Wang helped her to Shi Taijun's yard.

"It's not appropriate. That's still Baoyu's girl. How could she give it to Xun'er? It won't make people laugh if it spreads."

"Although that girl has served Baoyu for a few days, she is still under the name of the old lady, holding the monthly money from the old lady. She was trained by the old lady. I also heard people say that Xun'er was drunk and said that the girl looks good. Mei, I thought, since the girl's reputation has spread, it's not good to keep it at home."

Shi Taijun didn't know that there was still this trouble, "Did Xun'er praise that girl after she was drunk?"

"I've heard people talk about this matter once or twice, maybe it's not true." Mrs. Wang twirled the rosary, "Whether it's the old lady's person, whether to keep it or let it go, the old lady has the final say."

Shi Taijun thought for a while, "They are all my grandsons. Although that girl is leading my money and food, she is Baoyu's person. If Xun'er takes a fancy to the emerald glass crystals in my yard, I won't say anything. Someone sent it to him, and gave Qingwen to Xun'er, after all, it hurt Baoyu's face. It's not good for Xun'er's reputation."

"I thought so too, but it's not appropriate to stay in Baoyu's room."

Shi Taijun understood what she meant, she disliked that Qingwen had an affair with Xun'er.If we met that day, I was also looking at it, that is, the girl gave Xun'er a cup of tea, and Xun'er gave her an extra look... Xun'er did give her an extra look. Take one more look at her.

"Forget it, let's find some wives."

Seeing Shi Taijun shaken, Mrs. Wang felt complacent, "The daughter-in-law sent someone to pack up her things, and send them over early to finish this mess." Seeing Shi Taijun nodding, she stood up and went out.

Several women came to Shi Taijun, took orders, and went to the garden. Qingwen had already been pulled up from the kang at this moment. In the middle of the night before, relying on her strong body, she ran into the yard in a small dress to frighten people. After he was ill, he mended Baoyu's fur at midnight.After more than ten days of raising her, she didn't see any improvement. She just drank the medicine and fell asleep when she was pulled off the kang.

When she was about to scold someone, she opened her eyes and saw Mrs. Wang, she was so frightened that she didn't dare to speak. Mrs. Wang saw that her hair was fluffy, her face was sickly, and that kind of delicate and weak appearance did indeed resemble Lin Daiyu. My heart became angry, and I thought that the goblin got married after all, and there was still a shadow here pretending to be a seductress, so I must get rid of it early, otherwise it will take a long time, and if Baoyu gets sick again because of her, the loss outweighs the gain. .

Just about to drive her out, the people sent by Shi Taijun arrived. Seeing the mess here, the women knew what was going on, so they dragged Qingwen to a room, and went back to do business after a while. Crying and crying, and not knowing what was going on, several women who followed Mrs. Wang picked her up and put on her clothes, brushed her hair indiscriminately, and escorted her out.

The woman who returned to Shi Taijun saw the maids in the room avoiding her, and said with a smile, "The slaves have checked, and they are indeed perfect."

Shi Taijun nodded, "That's good, if not, I can't wrong my grandson." He waved them off.

"Is this true?" Qi Jing sat up straight angrily.

"Grandma, the person has already been brought." After Zhou Rui's family finished speaking, they hurriedly went to the door and shouted. Two Kong Wu's powerful women came in with a person on their backs, and threw a person in front of Qi Jing'an. He fell to the ground and couldn't struggle for a long time.

"Grandma, we sent you someone, so I'm leaving." Zhou Rui's family was about to leave, Qi Jingan patted the handrail angrily, "Wait a minute."

She gestured to the daughters-in-law standing beside her. These were the dowry maids she brought back then, married to Jia Huan's servants, and now they returned to her to work as errands. The person was limp, unable to lift his head, his mouth was dry and chapped, as if he was going to faint, and when he touched it again, he found that it was still hot.

"Grandma, this man is sick."

"We have a young lady at our house. What if we bring a patient with tuberculosis? How did you bring it? How can you take it away?" Qi Jingan made up her mind not to keep her, and turned to the maids at home. Take all precautions, it's not for the sake of taking advantage of other people's maids.

Zhou Rui's family said proudly, "This is a reward from the old lady. Qingwen is the girl who is best at sewing in the old lady's room. She is specially rewarded to serve Uncle Xun."

"Hmph," Qi Jing'an said, "What about the contract of sale?"

As long as she took out the deed of sale, she would immediately change the name of the girl and sell it to the Rongguo Mansion to see who would dare to serve Uncle Xun.

Zhou Rui's family really didn't bring the deed of sale.

Seeing that the other party was stuck, Qi Jing'an said to the people around her, "Pick him up and send him back, and ask the old matriarch for me, how does this tuberculosis serve him? If it doesn't work, I'll go back and ask my mother to see if this is the case. What kind of service method."

It means to go back to her natal family to sue.

Seeing the person being carried out of the door, Qi Jingan wiped the corners of her eyes, held her handkerchief and went to find Mrs. Tong. First, she cried once and sued the other party. She couldn't let her mother-in-law feel that she was jealous. She only said that the girl had tuberculosis. , There are children in the family, how can such a person be taken in.

"So, I just missed out on this charming little beauty." Jia Xie wiped her feet with a cloth towel, crossed her legs and watched Qi Jing'an pass the socks over, and asked her a question with a smile.

"She's really a beauty," Qi Jing'an looked at his expression, "Why don't I buy a beautiful one for my grandfather to keep in the house, but that one won't work today, it's really sick."

"That's fine too. You must choose someone who is docile and obedient, charming and affectionate." Jia Xun put on her socks and signaled Qi Jing'an to pass over her new shoes for a try. She was only thinking about the court meeting tomorrow and when she got off her horse tonight. I didn't look at my feet, I stepped into a puddle, and I can only wear new shoes tomorrow.

Qi Jing'an gritted her teeth and said, "I'll listen to you, one is not enough, let's buy ten."

exhaust you.

Jia Huan looked at her with angry eyes, and couldn't help laughing in her heart, "I'm joking with you, you really don't know how to be funny, just teasing you. If this is the case, when you are pregnant with Xuan'er, there will be more people in our yard. Use what you say to me right now."

Qi Jing'an quickly stood up, sat next to Jia Huan, and asked courteously, "Master, do these shoes fit your feet? Stand up and walk, it's not suitable for people to change right now. I'm in a hurry to wear them tomorrow."

"Well, it fits."

"Master, then..."

"Clean up the wing room, Nan'er is getting older, move to the west wing, use the empty east wing as his study, and move the front yard when he's five or six years old, so you won't have to think about it every day."

The wing rooms are usually reserved for concubines, and now I move my son in to express that Jia Xun has not thought about it in recent years. Qi Jing'an felt relieved, took his arm, and said sweetly, "Listen to me, sir." of."