Love of Friends in the Red Chamber

But when Jia Cong came out of the Gongyuan, he saw Jia Lian and the family servants who came to meet him, but he waited for a long time for Yin Jidong who had made an appointment.Cai An had no choice but to go to Longmen Gate to look for it again, and after a while he dragged the dejected Yin Jidong over, only to find that Yin Jidong's test basket was gone, and a large piece of his old robe, which had been slit to prevent cheating, was torn for some reason Very embarrassing.

Jia Lian and Jia Congyuan also guessed that there must be a reason. Seeing him like this, he asked him quickly. Yin Jidong said with a pale face: "Hey, the fortune is not good, and the fate is so difficult. Why did you lose this time—two poems that were originally good. , and accidentally dropped it on the inkstone when handing in the paper, and knocked over the tea bowl, making it a mess—it might be posted.”

Jia Cong couldn't help but sighed for him. Fortunately, Yin Jidong was very open-minded. He had been slumped in the arena for a long time, but now he looked away: "Third Master, you don't need to feel sorry for me. Everything is fate. You can't help it at all. Fortunately, Third Master This time, Lord must be in high school, I will congratulate you here first, so let’s say goodbye.”

Jia Lian grabbed him and asked him where he wanted to go. Yin Jidong smiled bitterly and said, "I can't go back to my hometown, and I don't have the face to go back. I have to go to a fellow villager in Tongzhou to find a restaurant and eat a living. I will do it again in three years." Jia Lian was an enthusiastic person, so he wanted to invite him to Jia's mansion to make a long-term plan, but Yin Jidong just refused and insisted on leaving. Jia Cong knew that his character was aloof and arrogant, and he didn't want to break his brows and bow his waist. The dignitary, who would rather gain fame with his own ability, took out a purse from his bosom, which contained 20 taels of silver, which was originally given to Yin Jidong by Madam Cai just in case. Talking about making money, Yin Jidong didn't give in. He took it, bowed to the ground, and said: "Forget it, I accept the kindness of you two. The green mountains are not old, the green waters flow forever, and we will meet again soon." went back to the ground.Jia Lian looked at his back and sighed: "This man is an upright gentleman. I wanted to ask my uncle to find him a place as a guest, so that's fine..."

The two brothers talked and laughed and went back. This time Jia Cong was not as tired as the last rural examination. He had already discovered that he was resistant to cold and not heat. Nervous and almost fell ill, this time I just felt refreshed after leaving the Gongyuan.

Back at Jia’s mansion, Jia’s mother and other elders had their own condolences and praises. Jia Cong felt like he had nothing to do after the college entrance examination. In high school, after all, he is only 15 years old, and his writing style is too immature, but even if he is in the sub-list, he is proud enough. He is too young to be appointed as a foreign official. The number of places to stay in Beijing.If he can't win, no one will laugh at him.He thinks wildly like this every day. Although he sometimes picks up a book or a pen, he is not in the mood to read or write, so he puts it down again.

Ten days later, when the list was released, Jia Cong still sent his servant to the Longmen of the Gong Yuan early in the morning to read the list.This time, the whole family gathered in Jiamu's room and waited eagerly. The list was released in the morning, and the servants came back one after another, but Jia Cong's name was never seen. Even Jia Amnesty was a little frustrated and walked in the courtyard Walking around, seeing that it was noon, Jia Zheng persuaded: "Although Cong'er's writing is not bad, after all, he is young and developed too early, which is not conducive to his solid foundation. He will practice hard and study hard for three years." In the annual book, you must be a high school student..."

Just as he was persuading him in this way, he only heard the commotion outside the second door, and only heard a series of "I got hit, I got hit..." In an instant, Cai An flew in, knelt outside the curtain, panting and giving Jia Mu, Jia She, and Mrs. Xing waited for congratulations. Jia She was impatient and shouted: "Stop talking nonsense, how much did you win?" Cai An then kowtowed and said, "Master Cong won No. 11, and the total number of this class is 140." Two tributes. The palace examination is scheduled for April [-]st." Immediately, everyone was beaming with joy, and a stone fell to the ground.

Then there was another round of opening the ancestral hall, worshiping the gods, and feasting the guests, and then Jia She and Jia Zheng led Jia Cong to thank Fang Shi from house to house. I was so busy that Jia She didn't know how to love this man. His son wanted to reward him with two maids, but Jia Cong quickly declined. Of course he didn't dare to accuse his father of being disrespectful, lustful and lustful.Jia Amnesty took it very seriously. He knew that he was not good enough in his career, so he went to discuss it with Jia Zheng.

But Jia Zheng had an idea, he just said: "In this way, let all the gentlemen of the two prefectures collect the latest mansion newspapers, consider the current affairs, and predict the topic for Cong'er. After all, Cong'er is young and has no experience in government affairs. , and then draw up some outlines for his answer sheets. Now the imperial examination only takes one item—the theory of current affairs policy.

Jia Amnesty then said: "That's right, you can't count on the first class. If you can get the second class, you will be glorious. The third class is from the same Jinshi, and you will have an extra word. If there is such a first-class madman, we will fight against it." It is really hateful to use 'Ru Ma'am' against 'Tong Jinshi'." Jia Cong knew that his father was worried that he could only win the top three, but Jia Zheng said in his heart that the top three is also good, and it is also the blessing of his ancestors , but my brother is a loner, so he naturally didn't want to spoil his interest, so he said: "Yes, even in the yamen, there is such a trend now. They are of the same year and the same level, and when they sit together, they just want to discuss In terms of family background, in short, those born in the imperial examination are higher than those born in Enyin, and the second-class in the imperial examination is higher than the third-class, and even the third-class has to be compared with each other to rank them, regardless of seniority and seniority, etc. ” After finishing. wry smile.

Jia She nodded, knowing that this younger brother hated his failure to take the imperial examination, so he changed the subject: "I heard that Mr. Shen Boyue, Cong'er's master, was also one of the ministers who read the papers during the palace examination. I led Cong'er the day before. Going to his house to give gifts and kowtow, he also mentioned that the Lin family uncle strongly recommended Cong'er, and now that the Lin family's uncle is a holy family member, he may have drafted the examination questions for current affairs policy this time, so Cong'er has to go to the Lin family often It's about walking."

Jia Cong was eager for this sentence, so he naturally agreed.But Jia Zheng remembered something again, and said: "One and three have to listen to the hadith, and sometimes the Holy Majesty will personally make a proposition and order to compose poems. Cong'er lacks this talent, so he should consult more with the sisters in the garden. The niece of the Lin family is talented, but it's a pity that it's a daughter's family, otherwise she would be ten times better than a man." After saying this, Jia Cong could hear it even more, and quickly responded.

During this month, Jia's life was extremely busy. First, Yingchun got married in a hurry, and the dowry was so low that it was embarrassing. The people in the Jia family just pretended to be deaf and dumb when they pointed at Sang and Huai, and just perfunctorily married a daughter who was as beautiful as a flower.

Jia Cong heard in a daze that his father had sent his family's silver. After Sun Shaozu came to beg for it several times, Jia Amnesty came up with a way to tell Sun's family that the dowry for Yingchun had already been prepared. The daughter was forced to marry to pay off the debt.Maybe the Sun family didn't just want the 5000 taels of silver, they wanted to get involved with Mrs. Wang and Concubine Yuan through the marriage, but Mrs. Wang didn't solicit it, she was very indifferent, as long as it was good on the surface, such a marriage Thinking about it with his feet, he knew that his daughter would have to endure hardships when she married, but Jia She didn't care at all-he only asked Mrs. Xing to arrange the wedding of Yingchun, and he didn't take this taciturn daughter to heart.But Mrs. Xing is the one who plucks the wild goose. Originally, the dowry for welcoming the spring was four to five thousand taels of silver, but after Mrs. Xing's hands, there was only one or two thousand taels of silver left.

However, Jia Cong didn't see these things in person. Jia She ordered him to study hard to prepare for the palace examination. He didn't even have his sister's wedding wine, so Yingchun got into the sedan chair aggrieved.

Next, Jia's mansion organized another happy event——the making ceremony of Baoyu and Baochai.But since the imperial concubine's decree of bestowing marriage came down, Baoyu has become stupid and foolish, and everything is manipulated by others, even more than an idiot.Mrs. Wang was worried that he would cry and make a fuss, and that Daiyu would not marry her, so that everyone could not step down from the stage, but he calmed down after a short time, so she didn't care about it. After passing through the door, Baoyu naturally turned around gradually.

Besides, Daiyu, since this incident, Aunt Lin has tried her best to explain it to her. During the day and night, the two sister-in-laws took turns talking and doing things with her, lest she was not careful in one thing, and Daiyu was naturally grateful.Furthermore, although she has unspeakable feelings for Baoyu, Mrs. Wang's contempt for her is something her self-esteem can never tolerate. She is a delicate person, how can she let herself be treated with such contempt and disdain? Therefore, although she was reluctant to part with Baoyu, she had already shaken her belief in marrying Baoyu before the concubine Yuan bestowed her marriage-after all, there is a mother-in-law who hates her, and any girl would be timid-not to mention getting it from Aunt Lin. Knowing that the Jia family built the Grand View Garden with the property given to her by the Lin family, but they no longer admit it, it is really chilling - they just postpone it and don't say they don't want it, thinking that there will be some improvement in time.Therefore, Concubine Yuan's will can be regarded as making up her mind for her, and since then, the longing for Baoyu has gradually cooled down.Needless to say, Daiyu will not attend Baoyu's betrothal ceremony, but Aunt Lin came with a gift. She only said that Daiyu had another cough in the spring and could not congratulate her cousins ​​in person. Talking and laughing, my heart is very happy.

However, as if God did not want her to be too happy, the banquet was full of relatives and friends, and there was a lot of laughter. Both Mrs. Wang and Aunt Xue were dressed in festive auspicious clothes. When the wine was served, the master of ceremonies began to read the Xue family's list of gifts aloud, and Aunt Lin listened attentively, because she knew that this was the dowry that the Xue family gave Baochai: a total of eighty pieces of gold jewellery, all jewels.Forty makeup pythons.120 pieces of silk and satin of various colors.There are 120 pieces of clothes for the four seasons.In addition, there are all kinds of sheep wine and so on.Although it sounds rich, but compared to Xue's rich reputation, it is not commensurate with it.Aunt Lin calculated it in her heart, and it was only a dowry of 1 taels of silver. The Xue family was really poor. There was only such a charming girl in total, and they didn’t even have a decent farm to accompany them. There were only two shops—who Everyone knows that the Xue family's store business has already been tossed by Xue Pan to the point of losing money.

However, Mrs. Wang is satisfied. She is a simple-minded person, and she will never turn back when she decides on something—she has always loved Baochai's dignity and stability, and now she is hired as a daughter-in-law. She is really happy from the bottom of her heart. Yan, compared to the pale complexion of Jiamu, who was at the same table, made Aunt Xue feel slightly embarrassed.

It was bustling here, and suddenly Xue Biao came in sweating profusely, and before he could greet Jia Mu, he ran to Aunt Xue in a panic, and whispered a few words in his ear, Aunt Xue was horrified, and got up quickly , only said that there was something at home, and left the table in a hurry, without waiting for the people from Jia's mansion to see him off, and went straight out to get in the car.

At that time, although the etiquette was over, the banquet was not over, and the relatives and friends in the audience looked at each other in blank amazement.Mother Jia frowned and said, "Girl Feng, send someone over to ask what's the matter. Now it's a family affair. Everyone is concerned about it." Mrs. Wang is also really concerned. In a hurry, I didn't have time to think carefully about Jia Mu's voice, so I just urged Jia Lian to go over to the mansion to inquire, and the banquet was hastily dispersed here.That precious jade is like a clay puppet. When others ask him to salute, he salutes; go back to the room.

Aunt Lin pursed her lips and smiled, and greeted Jia Mu: "I didn't see Mr. Cong today. I don't know if he is sick or studying hard?" Jia Mu smiled and said, "His father is afraid that he will miss the main task because of his fun. Let him study in the garden." Aunt Lin nodded in admiration and praised Jia Cong. The family members who went to inquire about the news of Xue's family came back, but they brought a bolt from the blue: "Master Xue's family beat someone to death outside, and got involved in a life lawsuit."

The family member of Lin Zhixiao who inquired about the news said: "It is said that Uncle Xue got angry with a shop boy after drinking and accidentally injured someone's life. At this time, he was detained in the county government office. Xue's family's house was in great chaos at the moment, his daughter-in-law was crying and screaming, looking for death and life, Mrs. Xue was so flustered that she had no choice but to cry, but Miss Bao was still calm and was assigning people at home to take the two The shop and dozens of rented houses were sold, and they were exchanged for taels of silver, so that Second Master Xue can be sent on the road."

Mother Jia felt bored when she heard this, and she just sighed: "Forget it, that girl is a good girl, but it's a pity that there is such a troublesome and incompetent elder brother, what should I do? I just got engaged, and it turned out like this." , Without even looking at Mrs. Wang, he sent her out and left Aunt Lin to have tea and talk.

Mrs. Wang couldn't help going to Xue's house in the evening to comfort her younger sister. The two sisters talked and cried for a while. Aunt Xue repeatedly begged Mrs. Wang and Jia Zheng to plead with the county magistrate. When I mentioned it to Jia Zheng at night, Jia Zheng really refused to come forward to fight the death lawsuit, and complained that Mrs. Wang was ignorant of the matter and entered into such an inappropriate marriage.Mrs. Wang was so angry that she didn't dare to share the certificate face to face, and she only shed tears on her back.