Battle of the Red Chamber Ring III

At night, it was quiet and cool, and Jia Huan lay quietly in the tent with his hands on his chest. When they arrived in the northwest, they could no longer use the sky as their quilt and the ground as their bed. Fortunately, there were post stations along the way. A small desert was only two or three days away, and the yamen servants were accustomed to walking, so they found a leeward place early in the afternoon and set up camp.

The wind blowing outside made him a little upset, and his closed eyes became more and more dry.He heard the crackling of the firewood burning outside and suddenly stopped. The surrounding area was so quiet that even the sound of the wind had subsided. He felt something was wrong, opened his eyes silently in the darkness, and sat up.

He reached out to touch the stone he had found before going to bed, held it in his hand, quietly got up, lifted the coarse cloth hanging outside, and the bonfire in the middle of the tent had indeed gone out, and if the wind hadn't stopped suddenly, he wouldn't have realized it. arrive.Shi Xiangyun stayed in the small town that he passed by during the day. After all, he could live more comfortably. On the way, he bought a servant girl who seemed to be from the Northwest, so they could take care of each other.

Jia Huan waited for his eyesight to get used to the night, and saw the moon hanging brightly, shining on the yellow sandy ground. Jia Huan looked around, and found something was wrong after just two glances, and tiptoed over.

Zhen Baoyu was in a deep sleep, and he turned over unconsciously in his sleep. As a result, when the log behind his head moved, he woke up. Just as he was about to reach out to hook the log, he suddenly felt a burst of heat in his ears, and opened his eyes. His eyes saw a man facing him with a ferocious face, as if he wanted to kill himself in the next second.

Isn't it true, exile will also cost the young master's life?Zhen Baoyu was wailing in his stomach and was about to hide when he heard a bang. The man's body softened and he fell on the ground at an angle, revealing Jia Huan holding a stone behind him with an expressionless face.

benefactor!Panting heavily, Zhen Baoyu moved himself out, giving the other party the best sleeping position that he had finally found in the evening.

"What's the matter?" Zhen Baoyu took two breaths and finally managed to breathe evenly, and asked unconsciously.

Jia Huan threw the stone up and down, and glanced at the person lying down on the ground: "Maybe, maybe, someone wants to kill you?" He raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhen Baoyu thoughtfully. Did Baoyu come, or did he come for Zhen Baoyu?There seems to be no difference between the two, and what is the difference.

Zhen Baoyu curled his lips and said, "It's definitely not aimed at me, I'm such a real person!" He felt good about himself, and felt that he had never done anything harmful to nature before.

Jia Huan turned his head and thought for a while, but he really couldn't think of it, so forget it, put it aside and say: "What should I do with this person?"

Zhen Baoyu opened his eyes wide: "Are you asking me?"

Jia Huan nodded and looked at him sincerely.

Zhen Baoyu thought for a while with a bitter face: "Why don't you throw it outside..."

Jia Huan felt that it was too kind to let a person who wanted to kill him go away alive, but the number of people in this team is fixed, if there is really one less, it would be troublesome, so he pouted, took a sip, and simply picked it up. Shi Shi hit the unconscious man head-on again, and after beating his face, he called Zhen Baoyu and carried him to a place downwind.

It would be his blessing if he survived, and if he died right away, he would lose a lot of worries.

After Zhen Baoyu followed Jia Huan and the two of them walked for a stick of incense, they threw it from a high place to the back of the hill, and the man rolled down the small slope and drowned most of it along the yellow sand.

"Will he die like this?" Zhen Baoyu was more timid than Jia Huan.

Jia Huan frowned and thought for a while: "Probably." He couldn't tell for sure, so he called Baoyu back to sleep.

Early the next morning, everyone came out one after another. The northwest was dry, and there was basically no water to waste to wash your face, so I took the opportunity of eating snacks to rinse my mouth with hot soup, and then wiped my face with my sleeve.

The three or four yamen servants counted people, one of them murmured to the other: "One is missing."

The taller one took a look and said, "I'll go take a look around."

Because Baoyu and others were not far away, they saw it after a while, and the tall one called the short one to come over, and pointed again: "I guess I fell down when I peed at night, let's go, I must be dead." .”

When he heard that he was dead, Zhen Baoyu was shocked all over, and looked back at Jia Huan. When Jia Huan heard about it, he went to see it together with a few brave ones. The calf is exposed.

"This desert is full of quicksand, if you accidentally fall down, it's hard to save the gods." The tall yamen servant shook his head. He was used to this road. He thought that no one died in the past two years, but this year Come one, fortunately, they are usually not implicated in this kind of thing, so they will be reported when they go back and it will be over.

The yamen servants called everyone to gather, and tied a linen rope one by one, "It's not because I'm afraid that you will run away, but because if you don't run away, you will die nearby and delay the business of the men, don't you understand!" Say so to everyone.Probably someone died, so everyone was not in a high mood. They dismantled the tent and packed up and set off. All the tools were carried by horses.

Zhen Baoyu was also shocked, but was infected by everyone's calm attitude, and silently recited the Great Mercy and Great Compassion Mantra in his heart, and then followed Jia Huan all the time, showing no concern.

If you say that you are seventeen and Jia Huan is only fourteen, you have to put on a cheap elder brother's self-esteem, you can't let your younger brother worry about yourself, for Jia Huan, Zhen Baoyu is finally a man for a while.

Out of the desert is Xining. Unlike the desolation of the previous two days, Xining has its own vitality due to the large number of troops stationed there.After entering the city gate, I saw people coming and going inside, the tall yamen servant brought everyone to the mansion office for handover, most of them were taken away, only Jia Huan and Zhen Baoyu were placed in the side room.

After a while, someone came in with someone. The man was wearing a general's official uniform with a crystal top, a sixth-rank square handkerchief on his chest, and white pheasants embroidered inside. He should be a guard.

Zhen Baoyu was still looking at the decorations in the house. When the person came in, he was surprised. He stood up from his seat, and then rushed to the other person, blushing and shouting: "Father!"

Sure enough, it was Zhen Yingjia, Jia Huan sighed in his heart, and suddenly found someone calling him, so he turned his head, followed Zhen Baoyu's face, but much fatter than Bai Bai, twisted his hands, and called out: "Third brother."

Jia Huan nodded and called out to his second brother, it was Jia Baoyu brought by Zhen Yingjia.

As soon as Jia Huan called her second brother, Zhen Baoyu turned her head to answer, and then realized that she was not calling herself, so she turned her head in embarrassment, drooping her head and looking at Zhen Yingjia in embarrassment.

Jia Baoyu looked at Zhen Baoyu, then at Jia Huan, but said nothing.

Zhen Yingjia is a real person, after picking up Zhen Baoyu, he did not forget Jia Baoyu and Jia Huan's people, so he ordered the coachman to take the three of them back home.

It was cool in the northwest, and it was already November when Jia Huan's people arrived. The loess all over the sky covered the entire street one after another. It was not yet dark, and the street was deserted. Rubbing his sleeves, he turned his head unconsciously three times in a row to ask Jia's house, but he didn't know where to start, so he kept silent, then pointed to the small shop outside and said, "I'm older than you. It's earlier, and tomorrow I might as well take you to see the scenery on the street." He asked cautiously, a little expectantly.

Jia Huan knew what Jia Baoyu was thinking, but he didn't explain, and looked at him straight.After all, he was a brother, he suddenly realized that his heart had softened a lot, sighed, looked at Jia Baoyu's fat face, and asked, "Did the master of the Zhen family treat you badly?"

Jia Baoyu nodded: "Then Master Zhen, you are very kind to me. The other people don't know that I am Jia Baoyu, and everyone in the family thinks that I am a son, and I serve them with all my heart." Since Zhen Yingjia wants to do it, do it. Perfectly ten, absolutely will not give others a chance to doubt.

After Jia Huan heard this, he sighed and said, "It's fine to come out. You are not in the capital. You didn't know that the mansion was implicated by the Ningguo Mansion. Now the house has been ransacked. Mother Jia, Sister Feng and others have all passed away."

When Baoyu heard him say that Jia's mother had passed away, he was taken aback for a moment, then covered his face and called out to his ancestors, and began to cry. There are nine times out of ten unsatisfactory things in life. Jia Huan thought that this time Jia Baoyu was eating After suffering, good people sit at home, and misfortune falls from the sky. Not only did they suffer, but they also missed the last side of Jia Mu.

Even though Zhen Yingjia was a real person, Jia Baoyu was not the son he raised by his side, so it was impossible for him to treat Jia Baoyu as meticulously as Zhen Baoyu, even though they were indeed brothers.

Jia Huan suddenly felt a little ridiculous. He had no blood relationship with them, but he had been brothers with both Baoyu.

Baoyu cried for a while, feeling a little stuffy in his chest, and seeing Jia Huan's expressionless face, he said: "The old ancestor's body is obviously good. I haven't heard anything wrong before I left. Could it be that he was stimulated when he ransacked the house?"

Jia Huan asked, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Jia Baoyu said, "Is there something I can't know?"

Jia Huan thought for a while and replied: "It's about your mother, so I don't know if I should tell you.

When Jia Baoyu heard that it had something to do with Mrs. Wang again, he immediately hesitated.But in the end, being raised by Jia's mother since childhood, Mrs. Wang is naturally just a loving mother in his heart, and the old ancestor is his reliance. He nodded and said: "You can finish with me."

Jia Huan said: "Since you want to know, I will tell you, but now we are both on the carriage, and we can't finish talking in a while, why don't I tell you in detail when we get to the place."

Jia Baoyu was right when he thought about it, so he stopped talking. The carriage drove to the yard where Zhen Yingjia was placed. It was a yard with three entrances and three exits. From the outside, it is not only clear who lives inside. The Zhen family has become a little more low-key in the northwest. The Zhen family, like the Jia family, has stolen the house. After all, there is no going back.

Thinking about it, he knew it, that's why he didn't want to bring Zhen Baoyu to the northwest to suffer, but now he still came, Jia Huan could only sigh helplessly when he thought of this.

The four got out of the car at the gate, and the gate opened from the inside with a sound of "嘿嘿——" and the steward of the Zhen family came out. The steward saw the two Baoyu's eyes, and immediately realized that his real young master had returned, and he was overjoyed He greeted him frantically and said: "The young master is here too. Could it be that Tongshou didn't arrange the young master well, or..."

He didn't say anything after that, but it can be guessed. Seeing Tong Fu, Zhen Baoyu rushed forward and hugged him: "Housekeeper Tong, Baoyu misses you so much."

Seeing Zhen Baoyu hugging Tong Fu, Zhen Yingjia frowned slightly, and said, "You have worked hard all the way, go wash up first, your face is dark, can you still see people?"

Zhen Baoyu turned back and said, "Why would Tongfu despise me? Even if it's bad, it doesn't matter, right?"

Tong Fu, who was about to go back to his childhood, naturally didn't dislike the young master, but before he said this, his master looked over with cold eyes, Tong Fu immediately swallowed the words back, and said with a hey smile: " Young master, let's go wash up, I'll order my servants to prepare hot water."

That Zhen Baoyu nodded, then pulled up his sleeves and took a sniff, he really hit the mark, the stench coming out of his nostrils made him feel sick unconsciously: "My whole body is actually rotten. ” Turning back, he called Jia Huan and said, “Huan’er, smell it quickly, do we both smell like rotten salted fish? Why don’t we feel the smell on the road?”

Because everyone on the road smells bad, Jia Huan thought to himself, but he just smiled and didn't speak.

Zhen Yingjia saw that Zhen Baoyu and Jia Huan seemed to be in a good relationship, and after running around in her mind with some ideas, Zhen Yingjia urged Zhen Baoyu to wash up.

Seeing that Zhen Baoyu had left, Jia Baoyu turned back to Zhen Yingjia, saluted Zhen Yingjia and said, "I'm taking my younger brother to my room now."

Zhen Yingjia said: "I arranged for the two of you brothers to live in the same courtyard, and the room is also opposite the door. If there is anything missing, please ask the servants to ask for it." After speaking, she also raised her feet and walked in the direction Zhen Baoyu was walking.

Jia Baoyu responded, his room was not far from the master bedroom, and after walking for a while, he arrived at the place. Baoyu was about to take Jia Huan back to his room, when the servant behind him said, "I'm already talking to Master Jia Huan." If the house is ready with hot water, why don’t you go take a shower first.”

After hearing this, Jia Baoyu let go of his hand in dismay, and asked the servant to take Jia Huan to wash up.Jia Huan was led by a servant to the door at the other end. The servant opened the door, and his room was indeed placed opposite Jia Baoyu. Open the door to find tables and chairs. The big bed was not fine but very clean. Jia Huan saw that the tub next to the bed had been filled with hot water, so he took off all his clothes.Stepping on a low stool, he slowly climbed into the bathtub, the hot water flooded his body, washing away all fatigue, he lay in the bathtub, the steam of the hot water blurred his eyes, the hot water rose slowly, sour , and also slightly hot.

He stretched out his hand to scoop up water and splashed it on his face, then untied his hair, picked up the saponins on the side and began to wash his hair.After taking a bath for a long time, the water in the tub was changed back and forth three or four times, and the servants outside began to mutter, so Jia Huan changed into new clothes and opened the door.It's just that the slightly damp hair was still dripping even though he had wiped it many times. He thought that no one else would see him, so he might as well just go out like this.

When he reached Jia Baoyu's door, he knocked lightly, and the door opened. Sure enough, Jia Baoyu had been waiting impatiently, and seeing Jia Huan, he stretched out his hand and pulled him in.

At the table, Jia Baoyu pulled Jia Huan to sit down, and sat next to Jia Huan himself, poured him a cup of tea and said, "It will be all right, I have ordered someone to prepare food, you will go first Eat some, and talk slowly later."

Although he said so, he couldn't help it, and then he asked: "What happened in the mansion, what did the wife do, and how could it be related to the death of the old lady, my wife has always been soft-hearted." on."

Jia Huan said: "Of course I will tell you about the affairs of the mansion, but there is some cause and effect. I still have some doubts about how you were arrested in the first place."

When Jia Baoyu heard Jia Huan's question, he sighed and said: "It's all my own fault. I was persuaded by others to go out without telling the people in the mansion, but I was knocked unconscious shortly after I went out, but It hurts! When I woke up, I was out of the capital for some reason. Then Mr. Zhen even bribed the yamen servant and said that I was weak, so he kept me in the prison car. I have no way to go to heaven, no way to go down , I had no choice but to follow him all the way to the northwest. After arriving in the northwest, I didn’t suffer any more. He only told me not to tell others, but to send me back to the capital if I got a chance. I believed him, but After coming here for half a year, I see that he will not send me back."

Jia Baoyu sighed and felt that he was a little naive, so he laughed at himself. Looking at Jia Baoyu, Jia Huan seemed to find that he had really grown up a lot.People really need experience, if there is no such thing, he will still be the son of the son who only cares about coaxing his sisters and sisters in Jia's mansion. Now that he is out of Jia's mansion, he has already begun to think about human nature.It's just that I don't know if it's too late now.

Jia Huan suddenly realized that he was like those pedantic people who casually decided that a person's whole life must be a stupid study. After thinking about it, Jia Huan told Jia Baoyu what happened in the mansion.

When Jia Baoyu heard that Mrs. Wang wanted Jia Zheng to reconcile after her house was ransacked in Jia's mansion, she suddenly felt that she was not good, but she didn't dare to let Jia Huan see it, so she tried to keep a straight face.Jia Huan felt that Baoyu was not surprised when he heard that he wanted to be reconciled with Li. He really knew what kind of person Mrs. Wang was.Thinking to himself, he asked Jia Baoyu, "Are you surprised?"

Baoyu shook his head and said, "I'm not surprised."

Jia Huan said, "Why don't you feel surprised?"

Baoyu thought for a while, and finally found a reason: "Women are all hard-working. If they can't enjoy the blessings, why should they involve her and make her suffer with him?"

Jia Huan thought about it for a while, and it turned out that Jia Baoyu knew how to pity and cherish jade better than himself.This is also good, no wonder Lin Daiyu and others liked him so much.Speaking of Lin Daiyu, she thought of Shi Xiangyun, and told him about Shi Xiangyun's oolong marriage with Zhen Baoyu.Then he said to Jia Baoyu: "If you see Shi Xiangyun tomorrow, don't call Sister Yun again, otherwise it will be bad if others hear you. She still came with Zhen Baoyu, presumably because she accepted the marriage."

Jia Baoyu nodded and said, "Of course I know that Zhen Baoyu is also a good man, and his father is capable. I'm also very happy that sister Yun has a home, but I don't know how sister Lin is doing recently?"

Jia Huan thought of Lin Daiyu and didn't know whether to tell him the truth or lie.

But Jia Baoyu said to himself: "I saw a person who looked like Sister Lin in the northwest a while ago, I don't know if I misunderstood it, but Sister Lin should have a good life in the capital, right?" .” Then he looked at Jia Huan, his eyes full of trust.

Jia Huan thought for a while and decided to tell him the truth. The sister Lin he saw might be Lin Daiyu herself: "After you left, the Jia family arranged for your marriage with Shi Xiangyun. Lin Daiyu was originally not well, and she has been bedridden since then. , When I went back, my mother said that she had already been taken out of the mansion, and her whereabouts were unknown." This concubine of the Lin family happened to be an official in the northwest, and it seemed that the person who came to pick up Lin Daiyu was her half-brother!

After Baoyu heard this, he was dumbfounded. Jia Huan thought that he would not think about returning home in the near future.

Zhen Baoyu and Jia Huan were exiled, so they naturally needed to work in Xining, but Zhen Yingjia called the supervisor's office in advance and spent money to hire someone to replace them.Jia Baoyu heard about it, so he took Jia Huan to thank Zhen Yingjia again, but Zhen Baoyu was embarrassed by all the courtesy.