Old things in the Red Chamber

The weather gradually became hotter, and the thick clothes were lost one by one. After a day and a night of labor pains, the concubine gave birth to the twelve princesses.

The next day, officials from the inner government came to the door, and went to Rongguo Mansion and Zhongwuhou Mansion respectively to announce the decree, allowing the female relatives of the two mansions to go to the palace to pay respects to the concubine.

The female relatives of the two families met at the gate of the palace, and Mrs. Tong asked Shi Taijun to go first.At the gate of the palace, even if the two families are enemies to each other, they must first let go of their personal enmity and let go of their personal enmity.Although Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xing felt sick to death about the fact that Zhongwuhou's mansion also entered the palace, in fact they couldn't say it even if they had opinions.

This is not the first time, even Mrs. Xing felt aggrieved when half of her family's glory was divided.

Regardless of what they think, Mrs. Tong took her daughter-in-law and walked slowly behind them, keeping a certain distance from the front. According to the usual practice, she first went to the Queen Mother's Palace to say hello, and then went to the Queen's Palace to say hello, so that the Rongguo Mansion's female relatives They have mixed feelings in their hearts: no eunuch guided them to the imperial concubine's palace to greet them, nor did they guide them to the fourth concubine's palace to greet them, and took them directly to the Pixiang Hall of Hefei.

Shi Taijun was an old man, even though his heart was turbulent, he didn't show it on his face, he asked and asked attentively to the concubine with a tired face, and even hugged the little princess.What made her happiest was that she also met the two princes. The Ninth Prince's demeanor was even better than in previous years, and his gestures were all royal demeanor. Even though he was still a boy, Shi Taijun could see some of Mingjun's appearance from him Come.The old lady watched with tears in her eyes, and felt that even if she died immediately, she would be worthy of the ancestors of the Jia family.

The main house in the backyard of Chungmuhou Mansion

"You haven't seen the old lady's appearance, she's become a genius. Tears come as soon as they are said, and disappear as soon as they are said to disappear. Our daughter-in-law said that all the elders have this ability."

Mrs. Tong took off her hairpin and talked to Jia Gu who was sitting on the couch playing chess pieces. After listening to Jia Gu, he snorted, "Even if you practice for another ten years, you still won't achieve a positive result. Don't be envious."

"That's for sure. The old lady is over 70 this year, and I'm only a little old. I just need to practice for another 20 years, and I'll be happy if I have half of her skills."

Jia Gu looked up at her and put down the pawn, "Even after 50 years, you are not as skilled as her. If you know that your girl is disabled in the palace, you can come out happily, and she can, Very happy”

Mrs. Tong sat next to Jia Gu, "Even you gentlemen know it, I feel something is wrong today, don't care what happened to the imperial concubine, even if there is only one breath left, there should be dignity and etiquette, I have never heard of anyone who is sick and exempted from paying respects to the wives. Even if it is exempted, the wives should be allowed to kowtow outside the palace. The concubine’s family members have to kowtow outside the Pixiang Hall before they can leave. I’m still thinking about it today, you said it’s so obvious that the Jia family can still laugh?”

"Of course I can't laugh, but I can't cry in the palace. I quickly prepare plain clothes for the children. The imperial concubine will die soon."

That night, Mrs. Wang fell ill, and the next day she invited the imperial physician, who said it was a cold, and she was told to drink medicine to make her sweat.

Xue Baochai came out of the yard to say hello to Mrs. Wang, and when she saw Mrs. Wang sitting on the bed blankly, she quietly sat aside, peeled some fruits and put them in one place. Words of advice.

"My son, when did he come, and he didn't talk to me."

"Auntie didn't sleep well, so don't sleep for a while."

Mrs. Wang shook her head, "My son," she began, and couldn't bear it anymore, thinking that this is the niece who is going to be a daughter-in-law, so there is nothing to say, "I dreamed about your cousin yesterday."

Xue Baochai understood that he was missing Concubine Jia.

"Auntie, you think about it every day and dream at night. In a few days, when your mother recovers from her illness, you can go to the palace to pay her respects."

Mrs. Wang shook her head, "Women, how can you think about seeing your mother's family every day when you get married? Even I, when I got married, I didn't see your grandmother from time to time. It's probably Chinese New Year. Go home and visit relatives. Your eldest For a sister like this, although I can't go home to visit relatives, fortunately, I can send a post to see her every month, which can be regarded as the emperor's grace."

That said, but the fear in my heart did not lessen.

Holding Xue Baochai's hand, "My son, I dreamed about your cousin yesterday. She came to the house wearing a court dress. She is majestic. The whole family bowed down. She is even more magnificent than the visiting relatives that day."

Xue Baochai persuaded her empathetically, "Auntie, it's probably because something good for your mother is coming soon."

"Really?" Don't dare to say anything, as long as it is not bad about the empress, Mrs. Wang will listen to it. At this moment, Xue Baochai's words have given her a lot of confidence, "If it is really what my son said, aunt can rest assured .”

Xue Baochai talked with her for a while, then turned back to the garden and passed by the Yihong Courtyard. She spent most of her time in the Yihong Courtyard every day. At this time, she had something on her mind and came here unconsciously.In broad daylight, Baoyu was not there, and the yard was quiet.

Xue Baochai was alone, saw no one, did not call for anyone, and walked slowly to the main room.

Inside the concierge, a few little girls were loafing, playing while working.

One of them said, "Yesterday in our family, the old lady and wife went to the palace, and our mother gave birth again. I heard that she is a princess."

The other said, "Amitabha, our mother has both sons and daughters."

The girl in red who spoke first was very emotional, "Oh, I heard that the few households living on the back porch used to serve the empress, and now they regret it to death, if they followed into the palace, they might be nobles now. "

"That's not it," said the one in green, "The maidens in the palace are all young ladies, so they don't come from girl backgrounds. Among other things, I heard that they were still palace maids when they played the piano with the imperial concubine."

The girl in red is not convinced, "I'm not wrong. Everyone in the corridor has said that the girl who followed the young lady married into the son-in-law's house, and she is also the son-in-law's man. The fate of the imperial concubine is bad. Look, the empress even She has given birth to three, why is there no imperial concubine?"

The girl in green was holding a feather duster, and felt that what her companion said was quite reasonable, "You are right, you see, Miss Ping is the daughter of Second Grandma, and she is also with Second Master Lian. It's a good life to be a girl, and in the future, when the girl goes out, she will become an aunt."

The girl in red said, "I don't think so. A girl who is a man has a better life, and grandma can't be dismissed easily when she comes in. Look at Xiren, look at Musk Moon, and Miss Bao will still rely on them."

The girl in green said, "How do you say that?"

"The old ladies in the garden have spread the word that the flowering period of the girls is precious, because the family members need to get married early to give birth to a brother during the flowering period. Not to mention, our imperial concubine spent so many years in the palace, 20 You don't become a concubine until you are old, so what if you have a high status? It's not that you haven't raised a prince, not even a princess. Look at our mother again. She entered the palace during the flowering period and gave birth to a prince in the first year. Another prince in a year, this is the first year, and she has raised a princess. In the future, she will be very lucky even if she does not rely on the emperor, but only on the two Highnesses."

The girl in green thinks so.

The girl in red raised her tail even higher, "So, Miss Bao is as big as us and the empress, and she has already missed the flowering period, but Xiren and Sheyue are different, I heard that ..." Leaning on his companion's ear, Jijiguagua said a few words in a low voice.In exchange, her companion asked her in surprise, "Is what you said true?"

"Really, it's more real than real gold. Otherwise, why would the sisters in the house look at us like thieves?"

Xue Baochai outside the door was trembling all over, leaning on the wall and going out.As soon as I got back to my room, I said to Ying'er, "Pack up your things, let's go home."

Ying'er asked her puzzledly, "You are living well, why did you go home again?"

Xue Baochai was sitting under the window, tears streaming down her cheeks, and Ying'er quickly gave her the handkerchief. "Miss, even if you go home, you need to have a reason? Besides, our house is rented at Jia's house, which is not very spacious. The second master and Miss Qin have also come, and the house can't accommodate many people. The wife said that you can live in this yard with peace of mind."

Xue Baochai also knows this truth, besides, her mother still counts on her and Baoyu's love for a long time.Wiped his face with a handkerchief, "Okay, okay, I just said a word, which caused you to talk so much. You go and ask, what are the three girls and the four girls doing now?"

Ying'er supported her, "It's just about those things, I'll help the girl to visit."

The two masters and servants walked through most of the garden to the boundary of the third girl, Jia Tanchun. Tanchun came out to meet Xue Baochai, "It so happened that a talented girl came, and I was going to find you."

Xue Baochai saw that Jia Baoyu was still sitting in the room. Jia Baoyu stood up and saluted gracefully. Everyone sat down after seeing him. Xue Baochai said, "What's bothering you? Do you still need my help? "

Jia Tanchun saw Jia Baoyu staring blankly at Xue Baochai's wrist, and knew that he had suffered from dementia again, so he said to himself, "It's not a big deal, but last night, the second brother had a dream, let me interpret the dream today." Woolen cloth?"

"What dream, Brother Bao, tell me, let us go into the details together."

Jia Tanchun saw that Jia Baoyu had no spirituality of the past, and sat blankly, so he had to say to himself, "20 years of arguing right and wrong, durian flowers blooming to illuminate the palace, and there is another sentence behind..."

"Three springs contend for the early spring, and the tiger and the rabbit meet and return to the dream." Jia Baoyu continued these two sentences, consciously a little unlucky, "The return of the dream... I don't know who it is..."

Before I finished speaking, there was a lot of noise outside, and an old woman ran in and cried, "It's not good, it's not good, the second aunt sent people to say that our eldest aunt is gone."

The woman who followed was the woman in Tanchun's yard, and the one who didn't stop the intruder was afraid of Tanchun's scolding, so she followed in loudly, "Shut up, are you in the girls' room?" This old pickle can come in, what kind of aunt is not an aunt, we don’t have any aunts in our family.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the teacup in Tanchun's hand suddenly fell, and Baoyu burst into tears. At this time, the people in the room realized that the eldest aunt was the imperial concubine in the palace.

The imperial concubine is gone.