The return of Fengxi of the Red Chamber

On the sixth day of June, the doors of Marquis Rong En's mansion were wide open, and Situ Yu arrived early in the morning with the betrothal gift.

To show his sincerity, Situ Yu not only invited the Prince of Li and the old concubine Kong to come forward, but also invited the eldest princess of Changning to accompany him to the appointment.

Most of the betrothal gifts were prepared by the clan's family, so it was not particularly outstanding, but it was notable in Beijing.The most eye-catching ones are the two living wild geese, which Situ Yu shot down with his own hands after running in the suburbs for half a month, which has a very good meaning.

In addition, in addition to the 2000 taels of gold, there are also jewelry and jade, dried fruit tea, snacks and cakes, three animals and six utensils, chicken, duck and fish, incense gun bracelets and other items.These are all necessary things for the prince's children to get married, and it is not surprising, Zuo is just a scene.

Jia Shi and Mrs. Xing looked at them one by one, and after complimenting them, they greeted Kong and Princess Changning for tea.As for Situ Yu, of course he was taken to the study by Jia Amnesty and Jia Lian to entertain him.

Because they wanted to discuss marriage, after Sanchun and others came out to meet the guests, they were also sent back to the house to play, leaving only a few married women to chat and laugh.

When the atmosphere got better, Mrs. Kong said: "Old sister, my sixth grandson is going to get married next month, and then you have to go and have a sit down, we old sisters see each other less, so we should talk more. "

After hearing the words, Jia Shishi thought for a while and said: "Your sixth grandson, do you mean the third girl of Wang's family in Xining County? They are close relatives, so I must go. It's just that the draft has only been a few months away. , why did you finish the six rituals so quickly?"

Concubine Kong said: "Because of this general election, there are many families marrying the empress today, and my family is getting older, so I speed up the speed, so as to save the second half of the year when every family gets together and is crowded."

When Jia Shi heard this, he looked at Kong with a smile and said, "Are you trying to point me out? Your sixth grandson is only this year old, so he's in such a hurry? Don't worry, it's autumn as we agreed. When the day of Qin Tianjian is settled, let her mother decide to go by herself."

Kong Shi also laughed: "I was also entrusted by others. You have to say it, but I am embarrassed."

As soon as these words came out, Princess Changning was delighted: "It's true that you two are like old urchins at a young age, so you don't have to make jokes of the younger generation."

Wang Xifeng hurriedly said: "When we juniors see each other, we can only feel envy in our hearts. The old concubine and our old lady have been friends for decades, and they are still so good now. Who wouldn't say it well?"

Mrs. Kong praised: "I really like this Feng girl in your family. I like her from the bottom of my heart. Needless to say, she looks like a family background. Just her way of life is better than many people. A big family, whether old or young Yes, she can take care of everything, such a big family business is well-organized, so I don't need you elders to worry about it."

Jia Shishi also nodded: "That's right, my granddaughter-in-law wins my heart in every way. Not only me, but her wife also loves her so much, she is the one who worries the whole family the most."

The rest of the people inevitably followed suit, and Wang Xifeng was humbled again, so they skipped over this.

After lunch was over and Situ Yu and his party were sent away, Jia Shishi called Jia She and his wife, together with Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian, they discussed the date of Yingchun's wedding.

"Prince Li and the old concubine gave me the news today, saying that it is the day of the Qintian Supervisor's election, which is August 21th, September [-]st, and October [-]th. Take a look, which one is better?"

Jia She was usually not worried about it, but now that he really wanted to set a date for his daughter's marriage, he felt a little sour in his heart.Thinking that just now in Yingchun, Jia Amnesty ordered his servants to bring her a drink of fenugreek to cool him off from the heat, so Jia Amnesty felt a little bit reluctant.

"Is there no suitable time in the winter moon? Why are the days so close? Or choose next year. When the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, it is no better than rushing so fast now."

Hearing his words, Mrs. Xing secretly rolled her eyes while holding the teacup, but did not reply.

After all, it was born by herself, Jia Shishi said helplessly: "What kind of nonsense are you talking about! The wedding ceremony for the girl was decided by Jinkou today, and now four ceremonies have passed, and when the marriage was proposed, it was decided We will get married this fall."

"King Shenjun is now in his twenties. If it is delayed until next year, what gossip will come out of Beijing? Another thing, there are so many marriages this year, and others are rushing to get married. Only we What do you think everyone thinks about being procrastinated at home? What do you think today?"

Jia Shishi angrily reprimanded Jia She, and then sighed: "If you know it, you love the girl, and you don't want the second girl to get married early, but if you don't know, you think you have a grudge against the girl Ying. Since we have already engaged, we will marry you." You can't just think about your own family, you also have to consider the man's situation, Shenjun Palace doesn't have a hostess, after marrying the girl, after getting to know her for two months, it will be easy to prepare for the New Year banquet."

When Jia She heard this, he came back to his senses, and said a little embarrassingly: "What the old lady taught me is that my son's thinking is wrong."

Jia Shishi had a headache for most of his life, and he had no other thoughts for a long time, so he had no choice but to hear it.

Only then did Mrs. Xing say: "Let's choose September 21st. I don't know if it will snow in October. September is a cool autumn, and the wedding dress will not be hot if it is thicker."

Jia Shishi nodded, and agreed: "I also think September is good, so get ready. I guess in a few days, Shenjun Prince's Mansion will come to ask for an appointment. Feng girl, the dowry for Ying girl is still short. What?"

Hearing this, Wang Xifeng hurriedly took out a list from her body, handed it to a mandarin duck, and said in her mouth: "The furniture, farm, and shop next to it are all ready, and they are all written on this list. Now only the jewelry, head and face are left. The cloth is not ready yet, but there has been a letter from Aunt Cloth, and it will arrive in Beijing in another seven or eight days, and the Silver House has also accepted the jewelry head, and it will definitely be available at the end of the month."

"How many sets have been played? How much money is there at the bottom of the press box?"

"A total of 86 sets of gold and jade head masks, in addition to 36 sets of silverware and pearl head masks, should be enough. Too much is not good, and the style will become out of fashion in a few years, so my wife and I thought, why not accompany some Ruby, sapphire, jade and emerald are all convenient, no matter whether they are for personal use or for rewarding others."

Wang Xifeng explained with a smile, and then said: "As for the money at the bottom of the box, in our father's case, the first daughter's marriage is 1 taels of silver, and the wife adds 5000 taels at her own discretion. Although the second master and I are incompetent, at least we can get together 5000 taels came out, and the total is now 2 taels of silver."

When Jia She heard this, he hurriedly said: "As a father, I will also add some to the girl Ying, let's add another 8000 taels."

Jia Shishi nodded and said: "This looks like an elder. If so, I will also add 1 taels to Yingyatou. She is married into the royal family, and unlike others, she needs to prepare more silver. The betrothal money sent by Shenjun Prince's Mansion today will also be placed in the dowry of the girl, so let's go with her when the time comes."

Wang Xifeng naturally responded with a smile: "The old lady, the wife, and the master are the most merciful, and the second sister is also blessed."

Afterwards, Jia Shishi carefully looked at the dowry list again, and added a courtyard with three entrances to the east of the city, and a Zhuangzi of [-] mu outside the city: "It's enough for me to see, just add these two things in." , it’s just pocket money for buying rouge after the Spring Festival.”

After finishing speaking, Jia Shishi looked at Jia She again: "You are an old man, now that your daughter is getting married, and you are going to be a princess, take out some of the good things in your hand, and use them for nothing. ?”

Jia She laughed twice: "I have prepared. The hot spring village in Xishan was prepared for welcoming girls, but she was still young in the past, so I kept it for the time being. There are also two boxes of antique calligraphy and paintings. I will prepare them later. Don't forget, son-in-law and daughter-in-law, to ask someone to get it in my study."

Wang Xifeng was surprised by Jia Amnesty's bleeding, but nodded in agreement, without saying anything.

Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was the time when the golden osmanthus was fragrant, and it was Jia Shishi's birthday.

This time, Jia Shishi's birthday was even more grand compared to previous years, and because Lin Ruhai's family was staying in Beijing and Yingchun was about to get married, Jia's family also celebrated more livelyly.

For seven full days, Ningrong and Rongfu were not idle, from the managers of various Zhuangzi shops, to the small officials and merchants in Beijing who wanted to make friends, to the old relatives of the four kings and eight princes, and even There are also princes and grandchildren who come to join in the fun.

The end is full of flowers, and the fire is cooking oil, so many people turn red with envy.

Lin Ruhai, as the son-in-law of the Jia family, naturally had to be present. Although he didn't have to do everything personally like Jia She and Jia Lian, it was still a great effort.

Jia Amnesty and Jia Lian's cultural literacy is not high. Even though Jia Lian has worked hard in the past few years, and Mr. Bai has given him one-on-one tutoring for supplementary lessons, it is just barely enough to not be ashamed.Therefore, Lin Ruhai came to entertain the civil servant students who came to the Jia family this time, and Jia Zheng also went out, but his face was gloomy, and he just sat and didn't say much, just for the show.

Lin Ruhai is a former scout, and now he is the left servant of the official department, in charge of the promotion, transfer, and examination of officials, so he can be regarded as a person with real power.

Therefore, those who came to celebrate Jia Shishi's birthday would inevitably gather around him and ask him about his studies and officialdom.Lin Ruhai pondered over his propriety, but he also gave a lot of useful information, which aroused great appreciation from everyone.

Among such people, Lin Qiong, Ping'er's husband, has a completely different mood and thinking from others.

Gein Lin Ruhai's face is five points similar to his father Lin Qing.

In fact, Lin Qiong's family knew about it as early as Lady Lu came back from Yangzhou.For this reason, Lin Qing specially sent his mother to Yangzhou to find out if there was really any relationship between his family and Lin Ruhai's family.

The reason why he acted like this was because Lin Qing was not the biological son of the Lin family.He was picked up by the old lady of the Lin family on the roadside when she was young.

When Lin Qing was picked up, Mrs. Lin's second son had just passed away.

Lin Qing was as old as Mrs. Lin's son, only two or three months old.For the sake of empathy, she took Lin Qing by her side as her own, and no outsiders knew about it.

After being raised for so many years, it is as if she is not her own, but Lin Qing had only a coarse cloth swaddle all over her body at the beginning, and there was nothing else to prove her identity.Therefore, Mrs. Lin has long forgotten about this matter. If Mrs. Lu hadn't mentioned it for no reason, Lin Qing would never know about it for the rest of her life.

It's a pity that the nanny Lin Qing sent to Yangzhou was worthless, and she couldn't even enter the gate of Xunyan Yushi's Mansion.After Lin Qing got the news, she let go of this thought, and only regarded it as a similarity between people.

But today, Lin Qiong was sitting in the corner, the more she watched Lin Ruhai's words and deeds, the more she felt that he was very similar to her father.