Mrs. Xing of the Red Chamber

Mrs. Xue nodded with a smile, thought for a while, and said:

"Wait, you go back and prepare. Tomorrow you will go to the prison with us. Then you and others will wait for us to come out near the prison."

"Yes, the slave will definitely handle the matter properly, Madam, don't worry!"

"Well, then you go down!"

After the steward left, Mrs. Xue and Xue Baochai began to talk very happily.

"Mother, I didn't expect that there would be a surprise this time. I haven't seen my brother for a long time. I don't know how he is doing in prison now?"

Mrs. Xue wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and said with a heartbroken face:

"My poor Pan'er, how could those people have the heart to let you take your life for a poor scholar? If your uncle hadn't gone and the Rongguo Mansion had collapsed, how could my Pan'er have to suffer this? !"

When Xue Baochai saw his mother crying with great heartache, he felt very uncomfortable. Yes, if the backers of the Xue family hadn't collapsed, his brother would be fine.

Now that the people in the government have arrested his brother in prison, it's not because his uncle and the Rongguo Mansion have fallen. The Xue family has no connections in the government to get his brother out.

That's why his brother was sentenced to death, which the Xue family could not accept no matter what. Now the Xue family only had his brother as a man. If there was no brother, how would he and his mother live in the future?

But seeing his mother in such pain, Xue Baochai said comfortingly:

"Mother, don't worry, let's go to the prison to meet the eldest brother tomorrow. After meeting the eldest brother, we are trying to find a way to clear up the relationship. Those people took so many benefits from our Xue family before, but now they want to get away. Such an easy thing."

After hearing what Xue Baochai said, Mrs. Xue stopped wiping her tears and asked in surprise:

"Baochai, do you have any way to save your brother? Come on, tell me!"

Xue Baochai has always been a more intelligent member of the Xue family. Before she got married, she also helped manage part of the Xue family's property. Although she was not very sure, Xue Baochai would not accept her fate until the end, saying:

"Well, when our Xue family had uncles and them as backers, didn't they send money to some people? I still have some lists that are not easy to record in the ledger. I have sent people to talk to those people in the past two days. Someone secretly contacted, before there is no definite news back and forth, I don't want your mother to have a good time with Kong, so I didn't tell it. "

At this time, Mrs. Xue didn't care to blame Xue Baochai for not telling her in advance, and asked with a bit of surprise:

"Then Baochai, tell me this now, is there any good news coming back, isn't your brother going to be fine soon, right?"

Xue Baochai looked a little hesitant, and didn't want to deceive his mother, gave her too much hope, and said:

"A bit of news came back today, but I'm not sure. It's just that those people promised to help us take care of it. It's not sure what will happen in the end. After all, the story of my brother has been spread to many people. People dare not commit public wrath.

However, those people reluctantly agreed because they accepted the gift from Xue's family, but at the same time they agreed to help, the lion opened their mouths. Once they asked, they would ask for 50 taels of silver, otherwise they would not help. "

Madam Xue didn't care how much money they wanted, as long as she could save Xue Pan's life, she would not hesitate to lose her family and property, and said anxiously:

"It's easy for them to ask for money. Nothing is more important than your brother's life."

"Well, but I saw that the money left by our Xue family is no more than this much money. We have sold a lot of shops for my brother's business, and the woman from the Xia family took a lot of money and ran away. Well, our Xue family doesn't have much left now."

Speaking of the woman surnamed Xia, Mrs. Xue became angry. She and Pan'er were so kind to her on weekdays, and she was the woman that Xue's family matchmaker was marrying in. She was busy thinking of ways to save her precious son when Pan'er was in prison. In the spare time, Xue's family and her dowry were taken away and ran away.

In vain, I used to think that she was just tempered, jealous, and disrespectful to me, but she still had true feelings for Pan'er. I didn't expect that I and Pan'er really misunderstood her. If I let myself know where that woman went If I go, I will never spare her.

Hearing Xue Baochai say that the money is not enough, Mrs. Xue asked quickly:

"How much silver does our Xue family have left now? If it's not enough, we should sell the remaining shops. I still have my dowry here. It should be enough if I put it all together?"

The Xue family has sold everything that can be sold now, and now they only have 10 taels of silver. If they sell the last few shops and the things in the shop together, how can they have a 2 taels of silver? .

Now everyone knows that the Xue family is in a hurry to save their elder brother, and the prices of those Zhuangzi shops that sell out are reduced to very low prices, but in order to collect money, they can only bear with the behavior of those people taking advantage of the fire, otherwise they will not be sold. , Not having enough money is not a solution.

Those officials and jailers only recognize bank notes, but not others. Every time Xue Baochai sees that the mansion is spending money like running water for her elder brother, she feels very heartbroken, but the Xue family still belongs to her elder brother, in order to save him. Even if I spent all the money when I came out, my mother was willing.

As a married daughter and younger sister, I still have to rely on my mother's family to live, so I can't say anything about it, and I have to help out with ideas.

The Jia family is unreliable now. If Jia Baoyu can take care of himself, Xue Baochai will be thankful. What's more, there are so many Jia family members who need to take care of them to some extent.

Every time I think of this, Xue Baochai regrets that she chose to marry Jia Baoyu before. Who would have known that the Rongguo Mansion would be ransacked in the end, otherwise she would not have lived such a miserable life!

Seeing his mother anxiously asking him, Xue Baochai said:

"There are still 10 taels of silver in the mansion. If those shops are sold, there will probably be more than 2 taels of silver. Mother, do you really want to sell your dowry?"

"My dowry and the things in the house are sold together, so I can still have 30 taels of silver, add up to the 12 taels you just said, and the total is 42 taels of silver, which is still 8 taels short of what those people said. "

There is still a shortfall of 8 taels of silver, what should I do?

Mrs. Xue and Xue Baochai looked at each other, wondering where the remaining 8 taels would come from?

Xue Baochai thought for a moment and said:

"It seems that the Niu family and the family received 5 taels of silver in the past. Although they said it was a loan, they also helped our Xue family solve a lot of troubles. According to my father, the 5 taels should be regarded as remuneration.

So I never came to ask for it, and their Niu family also knew what it meant, otherwise they would not have reciprocated so much help to our family.Mother, do you think we should send someone to get the 5 taels back? "

For the sake of her son's life, Mrs. Xue couldn't care less about offending others, and said cruelly:

"Let's send someone to come back. You are the only male left in the Xue family now. Mother can't just sit and watch him have an accident. Even if the old face is gone, I will save you!"

Now that there was no better way, Xue Baochai could only agree, and after ordering his servants to go to Niu's house with the receipt to ask for money, the two continued to sit down and talk.

"If there are 3 taels left, you can let people sell our Xue family's mansion together. How can we say that the Xue family bought this house for 8 to [-] taels before. There must be four to fifty million taels of silver. In this way, we can still have some money to live on."

After saying this, Mrs. Xue sighed a little listlessly. She never thought that the Xue family would be defeated by her own generation. If they got to the bottom in the future, she didn't know how to face Pan'er and his father. ah!

"If you even buy this house, where will you live, mother?"

Xue Baochai didn't ask where he and the Jia family lived. He said he married into the Jia family and belonged to the Jia family. Now it's okay to live in his mother's house temporarily.

After a while, he settled his elder brother's affairs, and when he arrived, he should move in and live with the Jia family.

As long as Xue Pan can be saved, Mrs. Xue doesn't care about these things, and said:

"We still have a small courtyard in Beijing that has not been sold. When the time comes, I will move there first. When Pan'er comes out, I will let him decide where to live in the future."

Now that her mother had already made up her mind, Xue Baochai had no objection and said:

"Then let's do it according to your wishes, mother. There are still ten days left. After we go to see the eldest brother, we can get rid of the things in our hands and make up enough money."

Xue Baochai saw that her mother had decided to sell the house as well.