A Dream of Red Mansions: Zhu Yan drunk

(early winter and after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month)

One day Daiyu ordered Zijuan to go to Baochai's place to greet Xiangling. By chance, Xiangyun and Xiren also came to visit. Seeing that her complexion was very bad, everyone sighed secretly and said something else to make her happy.Baochai smiled to Xiangyun and said, "It's all about you, a poet lunatic. She is so sick, and she is still holding her poetry collection in a daze every day. Look, she has fallen in love with Tao Weng's poems again in the past two days." Seeing "Tao Yuanming Collection" next to Xiangling's pillow, Xiangling said: "I am reading "Peach Blossom Spring" these two days, dare to ask if there is a paradise in this world?" How bad is the Xanadu in the garden? You will recover from your illness soon, and we will go to the garden again, how many poems will we not be able to write?" They chatted and laughed with her again, and told her to rest.Baochai sent Xiangyun to wait out, and Xiangyun said to Baochai: "Sister Bao, when you have nothing to do at home, you often go to the garden to see us. I don't see you these days, and Baoqin hastily left with the Mei family again. I'm in Beijing, who knows how soon I'll be back." Baochai was worried about housework recently, and it was inconvenient to tell Xiangyun in detail, so she only responded.

Baochai sent the three of them back, and asked the old woman who guarded the gate, and found out that Xue Pan had not come back yet.It turned out that recently Xue Pan was either coerced by Jingui and Baochan, or scolded by Aunt Xue. He couldn't even stay in the outside room, so he went out impatiently and went to play with opera singers, and he didn't come home for a few days.So Baochai came to discuss with Aunt Xue: "Mom, let's get our brother back and let him discuss with his sister-in-law, and pick a few capable servants that my sister-in-law brought to our shop to cook together. Business, tidy up the accounts, keep her mouth shut, and go around saying that our family has taken over her natal family's business all day long. Since Xiangling said she would follow me, she bought her room and let Baochan live in it. Xing dialed it to her. After all, the two of them are masters and servants from her natal family, so there is some friendship between them, so I confess both of them, and I just hope that the family can live in peace." Aunt Xue didn't have any better ideas, she nodded and sighed: "This is really a bad fate. I married two Bodhisattvas that I can't afford to offend. I just feel sorry for Xiangling, who was trampled by them."

Seeing that Xue Pan made such an arrangement when he came back, Jin Gui knew that Aunt Xue Baochai and others had finally bowed her head by her, and she was very proud, but seeing that Baochan was also proud, she was angry again, and said in her heart: How dare you follow me? Messy, I am the master, you are the servant, I will eventually let you die in my hands.One day, I did not know where to find out the story of copying and inspecting the Grand View Garden, so I learned to secretly start planning.Unexpectedly, Baochan saw that he had already torn face with Jingui, knew her temperament, expected that she would have a cruel move, and was afraid of death in her hands, so he wanted to be the first to act first, and secretly planned.It's true that a pair of master and servant are ruthless when they turn their faces.Now that Jingui had made up her mind, she refused to show it on her face, and only pretended to be good for me, and then I gave up. She also gave Baochai powder, decoction and Xiangling, and allowed Xue Pan to go to whomever she wanted. Whose house is going to the house, pretend to be the main room and look magnanimous.Baochan is also very obedient. He greets Aunt Xue every day, and sees Kong's serving to curry favor with Jingui.Xue Pan didn't go into the details of the reason, but said that he was finally safe now, so he didn't go out to seek waves.Aunt Xue also let go of her suspense, saying that she was finally clean, but Baochai said: "Mum, let's wait a little longer. I think it will be really good if it is still quiet in two months."

It was less than half a month after these words were said, the Xue family became noisy again.In the afternoon of that day, Xiangling suddenly had colic in her heart and abdomen. Aunt Xue ordered Xue Biao to call the doctor quickly. When the doctor arrived, Xiangling was already unconscious. Oh, this girl is already sick, and the poison is highly poisonous, and the dose of poison is not light, so I'm afraid it won't work." Aunt Xue Baochai, who was shocked, came out from behind the curtain and said hurriedly: If it doesn't work, please ask the doctor to prescribe a prescription to save you." The doctor saw the chaos of life and death, so he prescribed a prescription calmly, and then said to Aunt Xue: "Excuse me, this girl If you didn't have the desire to seek death and kill yourself, you should report to the official as soon as possible." Seeing Xiangling's sluggish expression and miserable pain, Xue Pan recalled how beautiful and pitiful he was when he first met him, and he finally had some compassion, so he yelled : "Quick report officer, quick report officer, which black-hearted person did such a cruel thing." While holding Xiangling's hand, he cried, "I shouldn't hit you, I shouldn't hit you." Hearing this, Jin Guibaochan and others all came over and made a gesture, sighing and wiping away their tears.

Suddenly, it was reported that something happened to Xue's family in the courtyard of Jia's mansion. The leader of Shuntianfu's fast class, the servant Wu Zuo, rushed there. Unfortunately, Xiangling died before taking the medicine. Asked.That Wu made countless conclusions. After the autopsy, he asked the doctor about the symptoms, and he made a decision in a moment. He returned to the head of the team and said, "It is true that he died from taking food." So he checked the soup, medicine and food that Xiangling drank today, and asked again. Who did it, and searched each house, and found a little bit in each of Jingui's and Baochan's houses. Both of them shouted, "Which god damn planted me and made her die!" He came out and testified: "The day before yesterday when I was drinking with Wu Zhe, a young servant from Xia's family, I heard him say after drinking that his girls were not to be messed with, and asked him to buy them all, but I don't know what to do with them." A fellow Xue quickly testified: "We also drank together, he really said so." Jingui couldn't help it, and started to curse nonsense, but was stopped by a yamen servant.

The team leader asked: "Who is serving in front of you on weekdays?" Ying'er hurriedly replied: "Miss Xiangling is usually kind and friendly, and she only gets angry with grandma and Baochan, but it happens that both of her front and back feet are here to visit today." However, when we came here, our young lady was talking in the wife's room, and I was busy pouring tea and decocting medicine, so I didn't pay attention to her situation, so I can't vouch for it." Jingui blushed immediately, and scolded angrily: "Okay, okay. , this family is really a nest of snakes and rats, and they teamed up to frame me. Let me tell you the truth. I have been bullied in this family for a long time. I couldn't find it, but now I found it again, Baochan knew the things in my house best, I didn't know anything about it." Baochan said in a panic, "Grandma pushed it so cleanly, grandma hid such a harmful thing, why don't you He would tell me that he knew that his grandma came to give me a lot of makeup and clothes a few days ago. She wanted to sneak poison into my house so that I could take the place of the dead. Grandma can't tolerate us all knowing, and I want to be like Qiu Ling was also killed by grandma." Seeing the two of them yelling and scolding each other, the anxious Xue Pan sighed.The team leader asked: "Isn't it Miss's maid who died? Is it called Xiangling or Qiuling?" Baochai replied: "Qiuling changed her name later. It was originally called Xiangling, and she was also my brother's aunt. Due to illness, I will recuperate at my place." The head of the team understood the situation somewhat, the initial judgment was a homicide case in the family's house where the wives were jealous, and such cases are not uncommon.After careful investigation, he found that there was nothing suspicious in the other rooms, and the other people had no suspicious motives, so they took Jingui, Baochan, Yinger, Wu Zhi and others away for interrogation.The next day Ying'er and Wu Zhe were released, and in the next two days Xue Pan, Xue Bian, Wen Xing and others were sent to ask for evidence, and Jingui and Baochan were tortured. But in the end, the weak body couldn't stand the torture, and they all confessed.

It turns out that Jin Gui once ordered Wu Zhi to steal some meth and hide it in his house, but Baochan found out by accident and stole some of it.They both thought of this thing when they were planning recently, so Jingui took some and hid the rest in her room when Baochan was not prepared, and when the opportunity came, he would poison her with poison.Unexpectedly, Baochan also left some gunpowder in his hand, and hid it in Jingui's room while Jingui was not looking.Seeing that Baochai treats Xiangling very kindly, they pretend to be close, and they both want to use Xiangling as a method.After observing for the past few days, it happened that both of them got their hands on this day, and they both thought that their plan would be successful, but who knew that the two of them could not get away with it.It turned out that both of them were afraid that the matter would be exposed and they would be asked to pay back their lives, so the weight of poisoning was light. They just wanted to make a public case, and the other party would be punished. At the same time, Xiangling was already seriously ill, but was poisoned to death by them.The facts of the case are clear, the two were not in collusion, nor did they distinguish between priorities, they were both charged with the crime of poisoning.Baochan was sentenced to death with a stick.

After this incident, Xue Pan moaned and sighed all day, and Aunt Xue saw that he was depressed and decadent, so she couldn't bear to criticize him any more.I also saw that relatives and friends rarely asked for comfort. How could Xue Pan bear this useless thing? After dismissing Xiangling's funeral, he resigned from Aunt Xue and asked Baochai to take care of his mother. In the near future, I still went out to sell goods with my friends, and the return journey is expected to be at least after next spring.

When Baoyu heard about what happened to Xiangling, she was really pitiful, and thought that Daiyu must be very sad, so she went to Xiaoxiang Pavilion to comfort her. When she entered, she saw that the curtain was half covered, and Daiyu was lying on the bed. I've been standing in front of the window for half a day, and I just fell asleep." Baoyu asked, "But have you cried again?" Zijuan said, "I've been sentimental about Xiangling two days ago, and I wrote it again today." I'll be there for a while." Baoyu saw that there was a piece of paper on the table in front of the window, and a bowl of clear water was pressed on it, and a copy of "Tao Yuanming Collection".On paper it is:

Mourning Xiang Ling

Duckweed Yiyi, chasing the waves away.From Qingtan, moved to Biyuan.

The son Yiliang sighed with regret.Intersect with children, also friends and know.

The catkins are gray and gray, and follow the wind.Sent back and forth, but abandoned each other.

It hurts and sighs when this is not good.May you drive away and return your soul to your hometown.

After Baoyu looked at it, he stood dully for a while, and then returned to Yihong Courtyard.Xiren Sheyue and others were turning out the stove and wiping it carefully. Seeing Baoyu coming back, Xiren said, "It's going to snow in the sky, so I'd better stay in the house." Baoyu sighed, "People are still here." Stay in your hometown well, if you go far away, you will be fine, if you are not good, you don't know how miserable it will be." When Xiren saw this sentence suddenly, he knew he was talking about Xiangling, because he said: "July Separation and reunion are really impermanent, and what kind of hometown is it? For example, Baoqin, her whole family is here. How many years have I not been back, these few years her brother got married, her father passed away, she can't even see half of her face, this is in her hometown." Baoyu said very much when he heard this, and went away with a long sigh.Heavy snow came quietly outside the window.

It snowed heavily for two or three days. At the beginning of the day, the eunuchs in Yuanchun Palace were busy cleaning. Baoqin and two maids were combing Yuanchun's hair. Baoqin showed Yuanchun two gold hairpins. , Yuan Chun said: "Put this one on." Baoqin gave Yuan Chun a gold hairpin with pearls and emerald greens and inserted it into his temple.Baoqin said: "I heard that your majesty is giving a banquet to appreciate plums in the plum garden today." Yuan Chun said: "Xueqin's stamens are full of branches, and your majesty is really in a good mood." Then he asked: "Is Taoist Chizhang still in the palace?" Qin Dao: "Xiao Xiazi said that this old Taoist often served in front of His Majesty recently, and offered some elixir from above the sea. His Majesty was refreshed after taking it. The imperial hospital was just being cautious and couldn't find the prescription. He was so angry that he dared not speak up. "Suddenly two eunuchs came to pass the decree, ordering the concubine Xiande to go to Meiyuan to serve her, holding the piano and leading a few court ladies to go with Yuanchun.

It turned out that the Holy Majesty saw that the winter plums were in full bloom, and it was tasteless to enjoy them alone, so he called all the princes and relatives into the palace to give a banquet.Halfway through the banquet, I took the queen and other people to enjoy the flowers, and ordered the painter to draw the plum blossoms in full bloom immediately. After the painting was completed, there were no poems to fill in the blanks, which was very indecent. .When Yuanchun arrived at Meiyuan, he saw the Holy Majesty and the Empress seated, with Concubine Wu, Concubine Zhou and others present, so he saluted the Majesty and Empress. How about a poem?" Yuan Chun bowed his knees and said: "The concubine is not talented, I hope to add color to the winter plum, and I will read it under your majesty." Suddenly listening to the Zhongshun prince on the seat, he put the wine glass away and said with a smile: "The virtuous concubine is too I am humble, I come from such an elegant family like Jia's, and I have a great literary talent. I heard that your mansion caused other people's homes to be destroyed in order to ask for a few literary fans. If you can't recite poems well, you will bear the reputation of elegance for nothing." Yuan Chun I was shocked, I didn't know the reason for the fan, I couldn't say anything for a while, I saw that the Holy Majesty didn't say anything, and after thinking for a while, he replied: "I have a few words from my concubine, please identify them." The Holy Majesty said: "Read it." Yuan Chun said :

Wing Plum in Winter

Knowing that there is a snowstorm coming, it is still open to the cold.

There is no time to sigh, and there are slanderous branches.

Don't dare to leave the mud and dust without waiting for the gentleman's reward.

Pilgrimage to the temple every year, dedicated to the soul of incense.

After a while, the sage said that the virtuous concubine was talented, so he ordered to sit down and drink together.After the banquet, all the people respectfully sent the saint to drive, and Yuan Chun and other concubines respectfully sent the empress back to the central palace, and each went back to the palace.Let's say that after Yuanchun returned to the palace, he ordered a confidant eunuch in his palace to go to Jia's mansion to send a message to Mrs. Wang and Prince Zhongshun about the fan, what happened, and it must be handled properly.Mrs. Wang discussed the matter with Jia Zheng. Jia Zheng heard that it was inappropriate, so he urged Jia She to return the fan. His kindness." Jia Zheng couldn't hear it, and the younger brother couldn't go to rape his elder brother, and he didn't want to let Jia's mother know that he was worried, so he was in a dilemma.So Mrs. Wang persuaded Mrs. Xing to speak to Jia Amnesty, and Mrs. Xing said instead: "Your Majesty is too worried. The Holy Majesty would not care about two fans." meaning.

The end of the year is approaching, who would have thought that there would be several heavy snowfalls one after another this winter, pirates harassing the southeast coast, and gradually became several forces, and even invaded several cities. , the season is cold, the farms are widely affected by snowstorms, the people can't eat enough, the households are short of money and food, the military funds can't be raised, the morale is low, and they can't control it. The Holy One is very worried.The Ministry of Households urgently ordered that all families with high grades in Duzhong should hand over the surplus money and food to be used as military supplies.With this order, the family of officials in the capital, who are generous with a sense of the overall situation, some who pretend to be poor and stingy, and some who criticize the policy behind their backs, will receive money and food to chat after a few days.The concubines in the harem saw that the Holy One was worried, and in order to comfort the Holy Heart, they all reduced their silk and satin makeup.

In a blink of an eye, on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Mrs. Wang went to the palace to visit Yuan Chun. After waiting for half a day, she saw Yuan Chun coming back from the central palace to greet her. That's it." Yuan Chun said: "Just now the empress donated two phoenix hairpins at the beginning, and the concubines donated all their faces. It's a drop in the bucket. It's more or less a wish. It's also part of my duty to share some sorrows for the Holy One. I saw the people in our mansion Donations are too little, we should raise more money." Mrs. Wang asked: "But is there any bad news?" Yuan Chun said: "The wealthy families in the capital think that the war is still thousands of miles away and has nothing to do with them. There are those who raise funds, and there are also those who donate to officials but don’t perform their duties. Our family occupies both ends. Although we say that we don’t blame the public, we can’t guarantee that someday the holy thunder will be used. I will deal with a few to imitate others. I am worried because of this.” Mrs. Wang said. "I'll go back and discuss with your father. It's easy to talk about money, but it's hard to persuade people." Then he told Yuan Chun the whole story of the fan and how to persuade Jia Amnesty, etc. Yuan Chun sighed: "I know that parents are in a difficult situation It's just that this big family all care about their own things, and they don't want to end up with no eggs, and they will suffer in the end." Mrs. Wang said: "So I want to advise your mother to take care, our family still counts on her at critical moments. Turn around the Sacred Heart, who else can you count on?" The mother and daughter talked for a while, and when the time came, Mrs. Wang left the palace.

Mrs. Wang was sent away here, and she came back with her qin in her arms and said: "The little eunuch in front of the Holy Majesty came to pass a message, please remember to prepare the magic talisman holy water tonight, and serve the Holy Ascension Pill. I have accepted." Yuan Chun said after a while: " I was just about to persuade you, and I hope that the sage will stay away from this medicine of unknown origin and spread these words again." Baoqin persuaded: "Your Majesty, think twice, the imperial hospital has told you that this medicine is easy to cause people to go crazy. After taking the medicine, the sage must be careful to serve him. Second, several censors in the previous dynasty were demoted recently. It is rumored that they were also reprimanded by the sage because of the unknown origin of the Chizhang Taoist." Yuan Chun said: "In the Ningfu Uncle has cultivated immortality for half his life, but in the end he didn't die on these pills. Why did the Holy Majesty bestow me with the word "virtuous virtue"? If I just wanted to protect myself and not give honest words because of unpredictable future events, wouldn't I have failed the Holy Majesty. Baoqin knew her nature, and said: "It's just that the Chinese New Year is coming soon. At least my mother should be more tactful, so I can talk about it after the Chinese New Year."

In addition, Mrs. Wang must not discuss with Jia Zheng when she returns home. Jia Zheng was patrolling the coastal defense fortifications and found that the coast was in turmoil. He said: "I also said that I owed money and took my daughter to repay the debt, and now they come to me again to talk about paying the money. I'm afraid I won't be able to pass the Chinese New Year." It is said that there are reports of people starving to death in Zhuangzi this year, and the New Year's goods handed in are really pitiful. If it is said that the savings are not at all, it is enough for the two houses to spend the New Year tightly, but between relatives The etiquette of the family, and the cost of etiquette and customs between the princes and princes who are close to each other cannot be squeezed out. If you send a gift from the Zhang family to the Li family and return to the Zhou family with a gift from the Li family, you can also prevaricate. In the past, people like us just made people laugh.Jia Zheng said: "I have been away for a few years, and I don't care much about housework. I don't know that it is so difficult at home." In the end, I only collected 200 taels and paid up.

At the end of the new year, the war is still uneven, people are in panic, and money and food are constrained, Jia's family hastily passed the new year, the New Year's worship is over, and the family reunion on the fifteenth day of the first month is lively. Yuanchun rewarded new tricks from the palace Lanterns, everyone enjoyed the festival for one night.In the first month, the weather was colder than in previous years. Everyone was free and reluctant to move around. When Jia Zheng was free, he only passed on the filial piety of Jia Lian, Lai Dalin, etc., and asked about Rongfu's expenditure accounts. He had no intention of asking Baoyu, Jia Huan and others about their homework. Baoyu felt relieved, and only said that he would work hard after the first month, and play leisurely every day.Looking forward to the 22nd of the first lunar month, after Baoyu greeted Mrs. Jia Muwang, he went to Xiaoxiang Pavilion and asked Daiyu to stay warm in the house, and then went to Daoxiang Village to talk to Li Wan and Xiangyun for a while, then returned to Yihong Courtyard, only listening De Qiuwen muttered in his mouth: "It's so cold that the rouge paste is frozen." Baoyu asked the little girl to bring a round copper flat-pillar stove and a three-inch thin-bodied flat porcelain plate, and picked out two picks of rouge. The ointment came to melt, and it was melting slowly. A little girl, don't rush to find Xiren: "Sister Xiren, Mingyan is waiting at the second gate, please go quickly, and say that the king of Beijing Jing has a new painting." Beauty picture, hurry to invite the second master to go." Hearing this, Xiren quickly went to get a gray mink hooded cape, and said to Baoyu, "Let Mingyan change cars and go, how can you ride a horse in such a cold day? " Baoyu said: "Don't worry, if you ride a horse in the cold, the beauties in the painting will also feel my heart, and then I hurried out of the garden."

Seeing Mingyan, Guo had already led two young men and led horses to wait outside the door. Baoyu asked Mingyan, "Why did I find you all this time today?" Excuse me, I think the people from the Beijing Palace have seen me go there many times, and they got to know me well, so they sent me a message directly for cheap, and just said that there is no need to say anything, please go quickly." Baoyu was puzzled, so he had to take Mingyan and wait for the horse. went.

After noon, Mrs. Wang came back from Jia's mother and was discussing with Jia Zheng. She said that when the weather was warmer in two months, she would ask Baoyu to move out of the yard and study hard.While talking, I heard the sound of a reining horse neighing outside the courtyard, and then I heard Lai Da shouting in the courtyard: "Who is so presumptuous, riding a horse in the inner courtyard?" When the man ran in, he saw that it was Baoyu, and asked Said: "Is the master in the study?" Lai Dao said: "The master and wife are here, my brother is naughty again today." He hurriedly ordered the boy to tie the horse.As soon as Baoyu entered the study, he went out without saying a word, and then threw himself on his knees to Jia Zheng and his wife. The maids had never seen him like this, so they knew something was wrong, and hurried out.

Seeing that Baoyu was so reckless today, Jia Zheng and his wife were about to speak out to reprimand them, but they saw Baoyu burst into tears and called, "Father, mother," and knelt on the ground and said a few words in a low voice. , Pointing at Baoyu and swearing at Baoyu: "You bastard! Don't talk nonsense! Where did you hear this?" He asked Mrs. Wang again, and Mrs. Wang hurriedly said, "I entered the palace on the first day of the first lunar month to congratulate. Well, my son, you heard me wrong." Baoyu replied in a low voice again, Jia Zheng was taken aback for a moment, and hurriedly ordered someone to call Jia Lian, but Mrs. Wang couldn't bear it, and still asked Baoyu if she had lied to her and his wife. .

I don't know what news Baoyu has, and I'll listen to the next chapter.