The Forest of Red Mansions

The fact is just as Sister Saihan expected, ever since Lin Jinyao became pregnant, Concubine De has repeatedly pressured Lin Jinyao to give someone to the fourth master, but Lin Jinyao blocked her every time, and behind her was the imperial concubine Backing her up, Concubine De couldn't do anything about her for a while, she was already extremely dissatisfied in her heart, and she had long thought of finding an opportunity to poke Kangxi in front of her and give Lin Jinyao some eye drops.

This time, the girl who climbed on the bed and was killed by the stick gave Concubine De a reason to have a fit. She was about to make use of the problem, but who would have thought that before she had time to make a move, Lin Jinyao had already made arrangements in the blink of an eye. After that release, Concubine De had nothing to say, the title of "jealous woman" was unstoppable, and she couldn't help being so angry that her heart ached for a while.

But after thinking about it, then Mrs. Li belongs to her, if she can be favored, it would be a good thing.

So he suppressed it for the time being, only thinking about how to help Li Shi up, and it was rare for him to be safe for a while, so Lin Jinyao's ears were cleansed for a few days, and then he only concentrated on being a matchmaker.

Carefully selected some candidates, Lin Jinyao directly called the four girls from Qinqi, Calligraphy and Painting to ask them to choose by themselves. In the end, Zhiqin and Zhishu chose the two guards next to Si Ye, while Zhiqi and Zhihua chose Lin Jinyao. The two shopkeepers underneath.

The four girls are not high-spirited, and the four men they picked are not very good. They come from ordinary backgrounds, and their appearance can only be considered decent, but they are considered to be in the top ranks under the hands of Fourth Master and Lin Jinyao. You have to employ people, as long as you maintain this kind of energy, don't be foolish and attract the master's taboo, and your future prospects will not be too bad. Just like Lin Jinyao said, don't expect extravagant wealth and wealth. expected.

Lin Jinyao also agreed with their choice, so she asked people to find out what the man meant, but no one was unhappy, and they were all overjoyed.

This is also expected, the maids around the wives and grandmothers in this high-ranking family, especially the big maids, are more sought-after than ordinary Xiaojiabiyu.

To be able to serve in front of noble people, first of all, there is absolutely nothing to pick about in appearance, at least she is handsome and pleasant, secondly, the manners and knowledge are unmatched by girls from small families, and the most important thing is One point, after all, the relationship between master and servant is not broken after many years. In the future, as long as you don't mess around and die, the master will remember this relationship, and you will have to take care of him.

What's more, the four maids of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting all served Lin Jinyao when they were young, and their love is no different than ordinary people. Lin Jinyao is not the wife and grandma of ordinary wealthy families. , her personal servant girl, that is naturally not unusual, how could anyone have any reason to be unhappy?

The marriage of the four girls went smoothly, and the three matchmakers and six engagements were soon passed. Lin Jinyao also prepared a dowry for each of them as she promised, all of which were the same, a box of various gold and silver jewels, some Silk and satin cloth, one hundred acres of fertile land, and another 2000 taels of silver at the bottom of the box.

Such a dowry is worth tens of thousands of taels, not to mention a small family marrying a daughter, even some ordinary officials and eunuchs who marry concubine daughters may not be able to have such a generous dowry, that is, Lin Jinyao is rich and powerful To have such a boldness, sending his maid to marry actually accompanied as many as 4 taels.

With such a dowry in hand, who in the husband's family would not take a high look after marrying in?Even if he can't give birth to a son, his back can be straightened. In the future, as long as he is not stupid, he will be able to live his whole life without worrying about food and clothing.

People outside knew about these things, and they all lamented the kindness of Fujin. The four newly appointed maids couldn't help being excited and full of anticipation when they saw this situation. In the future, if she can get married in such a beautiful way after receiving grace, that would be great.

Of course, there are also some people who secretly laugh at Sifu Jin as a fool, just a mere slave girl, it is a grace to be released early to marry someone happily, she not only picks husbands for slaves herself, but also dowry such a generous dowry, it is simply heaven Big joke, really a prodigal bitch.

However, no matter what others say, Lin Jinyao really doesn't care about this little money at all. Not to mention the dowry she envies the dead, and the shop Zhuangzi under her hand is also running very well, with a considerable income. It's really nothing.

Although the four of them are servant girls, they have been serving her for ten years. Apart from Zhihua's situation, the four of them have nothing wrong with them. They have always been loyal and diligent in serving her. With all her heart and soul, she gave them a dowry to get married in a glorious manner, which was really nothing, it was just the love of master and servant for the past ten years.

A few days after the four maids got married, they heard that Mao, the concubine of the next-door eighth elder brother's mansion, was pregnant.

He just lost a child earlier, Yinhu didn't say how heartbroken he was, but he still had some regrets and sorrows. After a few months of hard work, the good news came out again. He was very happy in his heart, and immediately set up a few tables of wine, please He joined the theater troupe and invited the brothers to come and have fun, and there was no official invitation, just a verbal invitation. Although it was a happy event, after all, he was just a concubine who was not on the stage.

The fourth master and his wife are naturally also within the scope of the invitation, but Lin Jinyao excused not to go because she was not feeling well. She saw Guo Luoluo on the fourth master's birthday last time. What kind of big move is she holding back? Is she crazy or stupid? Go up to the site with a big belly. In case Guo Luoluo really wants to plot against her, this opportunity is very convenient today. She just keeps it in her belly The little ancestor honestly thought it would be better to stay in his own home.

After listening to her words, the fourth master naturally has no reason to disagree. She and the child are the most important. As for Guo Luoluo, he just taught her a little lesson last time. Since she still doesn't give up... Fourth master narrowed his eyes slightly He opened his eyes, and the murderous intent flashed away.

For the fleas who love to bite and die unrepentantly, he prefers to see the right time to kill them with one blow!

I thought that the brothers were afraid that they would have to drink until late again, so Lin Jinyao lay down on the bed early after dinner, who would have thought that fourth master would come back when she was still asleep.

"Why did the banquet end so early?" Lin Jinyao sat up and looked at him in surprise.

Fourth master said indifferently: "The host's joy begets sorrow."

Lin Jinyao was taken aback when she heard the words, "Could something have happened?"

"It's a good thing you didn't go today." The fourth master sat on the edge of the bed and hugged her, stroking her belly, and felt the little guy inside stretched out his little hand or his little foot to touch his stomach in a gentle manner. hand, a gentle smile flashed across his face, and in an instant, there was a gloomy look in his eyes, "The little concubine of Lao Ba gave birth to a miscarriage."

Lin Jinyao was shocked, and instinctively protected her stomach, "What's going on? Could it be Guo Luoluo again?"

"Guo Luoluo accidentally fell down, and the people around him were so tired that they all suffered. At that time, a group of Fujins and maidservants fell into a pile. At that time, the concubine was carefully serving her with her arm. Naturally, he never escaped."

"Guo Luoluo did it on purpose? How dare she?" The last time she was severely reprimanded for losing a concubine's child and was fined to copy Buddhist scriptures for several months, she had already registered with the top few. Well, how dare she do it this time under the watchful eyes of everyone?But to say it was an accident would be too coincidental.

Thinking about it, Lin Jinyao trembled involuntarily. It's really a good thing she didn't go there, otherwise such a fall would really cause serious trouble.

The corner of Si Ye's mouth curled into a sarcasm, "Not only did my concubine lose her baby, but Guo Luoluo's Bafujin was also knocked so badly that he passed out on the spot and bled a lot."

Lin Jinyao was dumbfounded when she heard this, and even for a moment she really suspected that maybe it was really just an accident, but she immediately dismissed this idea. You must know that there are a group of sisters and sisters here today. Maybe she would let that little concubine come out and let her sister-in-law see her jokes. Under normal circumstances, that little concubine should be pushed away by her and huddled in her own room.

Guo Luoluo asked that little concubine to wait on him in a good manner, and even let her help him, which is very weird no matter how you think about it.

"Grandpa, what do you think?"

"This is an open conspiracy." The fourth master sneered, "Guo Luoluo's goal is the child in that concubine's womb. There is no doubt about it. I believe most people can understand it, but this time it really happened. There's nothing wrong with her."

"If it's a conspiracy, such as poisoning or borrowing a knife to kill people, etc., there must be a process of calculation, and there must be a few insiders to handle it. But if it is done, it will definitely leave traces, no matter how it is done... Seamless, as long as someone is determined to investigate, there will always be some clues, and once the evidence is found, she will not be allowed to deny it."

"But such an open conspiracy is different. Although everyone knows that she has done good things, there is no evidence. What evidence can there be? She just accidentally fell and got involved. Others, as long as she kills an "accidental" by herself, no one can do anything to her. There is no law that stipulates that people can't wrestle on the ground, right? There is no evidence to prove that she deliberately wrestled to harm others, and her own head It also opened a hole and fell to the head, how to deal with this matter? In the end, it can only be let go."

"But it's one thing to deal with it without evidence, but everyone who should know knows it. Isn't she afraid of being hated by the eighth child and rejected by the emperor and empress dowager?" Lin Jinyao was a little puzzled, Guo Luoluo said so Regardless of unscrupulousness, is it crazy?

The fourth master pondered for a moment, and said: "In my opinion, this Guo Luoluo family is really going all out. She doesn't care if Lao Ba hates her, and she doesn't care what the emperor and the empress dowager think of her."

But Lin Jinyao said: "That's not right. I can understand that she doesn't care about the views of the emperor and the queen mother, but she doesn't care about the eighth child. Is this possible? If she said she doesn't care, why did she take advantage of herself to get rid of that concubine?" Child? But if you say she cares, it's really stupid to do this, and it's not like there are more concealed means, so why expose yourself so clearly?"

She really didn't understand what Guo Luoluo was thinking, it was too weird to behave like this, why was it so confusing?Is Guo Luoluo crazy, or is he stupid?

Lin Jinyao was dizzy and confused. Fourth master thought of certain things and had some guesses in his heart, but he would not tell her.

After a pause, he only said: "You don't care what she thinks, you just need to know that she is uneasy and well-intentioned, and she wanted to come with you today, but if you didn't go, only Lao Ba's concubine will be unlucky. This Guo Luoluo's behavior is too weird and insane, you remember not to have too much contact with her, now that you are heavy, you can't stand the slightest mistake."

Lin Jinyao nodded repeatedly. Now that Guo Luoluo doesn't follow the routine, she naturally dare not have more contact with her. Who knows if she will suddenly go crazy again one day?

"By the way, Lord Cai just met Nian Shi."

"Nian? Nian Wanying?!"

Today, the eighth elder brother Yinhu said that he only invited a group of brothers, but there are always people who are good at making money in this world. Now that the eighth elder brother shines brighter, there are naturally people rushing to curry favor. Taking advantage of today's opportunity, there are many people He came to the door with a generous gift to say hello.

Yinhu and Yinzhen took different paths. Yinzhen dared to offend anyone, but Yinhu took the path of being a corporal, so how can there be any reason to drive guests out of the door?Therefore, there are still many "outsiders" around today, and Wanying was one of them back then.

At that time, something happened to the female relatives, and the whole Eighth Master's mansion was in a mess, the guests left one after another, and the Fourth Master had no interest in watching the show, so he also left with the crowd, who would only take a few steps, Then I met a young girl who was extremely romantic, charming and enchanting.

"My maidservant has seen the fourth elder brother." The soft and melodious voice is very pleasant to the ear, and even every frown and smile reveals a charming amorous feelings, the eyes are shining, and the meaning of temptation is strong.

Although he had never met each other in this life, how could fourth master forget this person, a woman he could recognize even when she turned into ashes.

Nian Wanying!

At that time, fourth master even wanted to strangle her to death for a moment, but fortunately he came back rationally in time.

After all, this woman is not an ordinary person, and she cannot be killed so easily, otherwise he would have crushed her long ago, but it is a pity... Before she is fully sure, acting rashly will only scare the snake.

Therefore, fourth master tried his best to suppress the murderous intent in his heart, glanced at her coldly, and said with disdain: "What kind of status are you, you dare to block the way of master? A mere actor who looks at Yan Xingxing dares to dream. "After that, he lifted his legs and left.

Nian Wanying was stunned for a long time, staring at his back, her pretty face turned green.

Yanshimei OK?actor?

This is simply pointing at her nose and scolding her for being full of dust!

Earlier, I heard that the fourth elder brother's mouth is very poisonous, if you don't open your mouth, you can poison people to death, but who would have thought that he would be so... so...

Nian Wanying was so angry that she couldn't speak for a while. She never doubted whether the fourth master was targeting her on purpose. After all, he and her were strangers now. She just thought that the fourth master was as true as the rumors In general, just like the stones in the latrine, they are really smelly and hard, and they don't understand the style at all. It's really annoying that they can speak so viciously towards a beauty like her.

It is no exaggeration to say that when dealing with men, Nian Wanying has always been invincible. Few men can resist her charm. For hundreds of years, I don't know how many men have knelt under her pomegranate skirt, abandoned their wives, and suffered without regard for their dignity. There were not a few people who begged her for mercy, but when it was their turn to carry out such an important task, they were actually deflated, which really made people feel resentful and helpless.

She didn't want to do anything more when she came here today, she just wanted to meet fourth master, try his attitude, and see if he could be attracted to her. If he could take a fancy to her appearance, that would be the best , if he remains unmoved by her, then she can only choose another way.

Thinking of what Guo Luoluo said to her, a faint light flashed in Nian Wanying's soul-stirring beautiful eyes.

……

While sleeping soundly in the middle of the night, Lin Jinyao suddenly felt a shock and woke up abruptly, "An earthquake?" It was pitch black in front of her eyes, and she could only feel that she was still shaking when she got out of the bed, and she was getting more and more trembling in the darkness. It made my heart tremble.

The servant on duty knocked on the door, his voice could not hide his panic, and he got permission to enter the house with a lantern.

Seeing Lin Jinyao's pale face, the fourth master was a little panicked, so he hugged her and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, the master is here, everything will be fine." He wrapped her in a quilt and carried her out the door.

At this time, everyone also woke up from the dream, and ran out of the house one after another, with fear on their faces.

Fortunately, the shock was not very strong. Except for some furniture falling down and some tiles falling from the house, there was nothing wrong with it. Therefore, gradually everyone felt a little relieved.

After an unknown period of time, everything finally returned to calm, but at this moment, a eunuch came to the palace to convey the order, and the emperor called urgently.

The fourth master was still a little worried about Lin Jinyao, but the emperor's order was hard to break, so he had to repeatedly ask his servants to take care of him carefully, then hurriedly changed his clothes and walked away.

Lin Jinyao's mood has calmed down, and she is not as scared as when she just woke up from a dream, but seeing the emperor calling so urgently, she has some bad premonitions in her heart.

Sure enough, Fourth Master didn't come back for two whole days and one night, and only sent someone back to get two pieces of clothes on the way. When Fourth Master came back, his face was very bad, and he brought a shocking news.

"The earthquake in Shanxi affected several provinces. A rough calculation totaled more than [-] counties."

Lin Jinyao was shocked, the impact was so large, it can be seen how strong the earthquake in Shanxi was.

Natural disasters are the most ruthless. Every time they come, they will destroy countless lives. She can hardly imagine what Shanxi is like today.

"Countless houses have collapsed, killing people and animals is immeasurable..."

Because of this incident, the entire imperial court, from the emperor down to the civil and military officials, got busy discussing how to rescue, how to relieve disasters, how to rebuild...

The fourth master was so busy that Lin Jinyao was worried, but she couldn't do much to help. She wanted to help the victims in the disaster area with her own money, but she suppressed the idea as soon as it flashed by.

She was willing to spend money, but she couldn't spend it, at least not like that.

Fourth Master's identity is too sensitive, and he is doomed to never act according to his will. Sometimes it may be just a random action, which may be over-interpreted by others.

Take this disaster relief matter as an example, it is obvious that they just want to do their part, but in the eyes of outsiders, they might think that this is trying to buy people's hearts.

She is not afraid of other people's gossip, but if this happens, the crown prince might not be happy. What is even more worrying is the idea of ​​the one above. It's really a bad thing.

Although Lin Jinyao said that after she was pregnant, her mind was often overwhelmed, but fortunately she was not confused about major matters. After this matter had passed in her mind, there were two ways to try.

One is to remain anonymous and find someone irrelevant to be in charge of this matter, but I also know that once the action is serious, the higher-ups will definitely investigate, and it will still have to be exposed in eight or nine out of ten, and the action will be smaller Well, what is the use of a drop in the bucket?

"This method is not good, but I have another method." Lin Jinyao said without haste, "Our family is afraid that the goal is too big and people will speculate wildly, so why not drag everyone in together? Let the princess take the lead, We several sisters-in-law each gather some, in order to share the worries of the emperor, the ladies in the palace are extremely willing to donate a little private house, and then follow the example. What can the wives and grandmas do to watch?"

"The Crown Princess is the leader, and there is one person at the bottom who counts as everyone's share, so there is no criticism, and one person's strength is limited after all. In this way, you can add up to a little bit, and the total number will be quite considerable. Help some common people. Master, what do you think of this method?"

Fourth master chuckled, "I never thought that Master's Fujin is so intelligent, so wonderful, so wonderful."

"Although the national treasury is not empty, it can even be said to be quite rich. It is also thanks to the debts recovered by the previous master, and the windfall obtained by copying that old lair." Fourth Master The "that person" in the mouth naturally refers to the four sons of the former emperor who hooked up with the Zhen family and wantonly pried the corners of the Qing Dynasty and searched for the people's favor.

"However, in such a big country, there are countless places where money is needed, and natural disasters occur frequently, and every time the Holy One is left with a headache." The fourth master couldn't help sighing, "We don't ask the people to be grateful, let the Holy One remember the merits, and only do what we can Yes, I hope it can help more victims.”

Lin Jinyao nodded in agreement, "Where is the princess..."

"You don't have to worry about this, the master will take care of it, and the princess will definitely bring this up within two days at most."

Sure enough, Lin Jinyao received an invitation from the Crown Princess the next day.

By the time she entered the palace slowly in a carriage with her belly out, the sisters-in-law had basically arrived at Yuqing Palace, except for Guo Luoluo who "accidentally" fell and knocked his head a few days ago.

When they first heard what the princess meant, some people were not very happy at first. After all, it doesn’t sound like something that can be dismissed casually. personal?

Lin Jinyao silently rolled her eyes when she heard Sanfujin Dong E's crying poor.

Which of these girls from big families can be really poor?Each one has a lot of dowry, which one does not have a few shops and Zhuangzi, has it ever made less money?Moreover, this is a woman's dowry, even if her husband is a prince, he can't move it. How much of it is held in his hands, and he doesn't even bat an eyelid when buying new clothes and jewelry from time to time. Who is poor?None of them are poor!

The Crown Princess also disliked Dong E's pettiness, but she still put on a good face, smiling and gentle, but the words she said were overwhelming, she coaxed, lied, flattered and flattered her. Another high hat was thrown down, and even Da Fujin, who had always been at odds with the princess, let go, let alone Dong E.

This kind of thing, either no one will do it, and all of them will be honest and pretend to be a housewife who doesn't know what's going on outside the window. But you are stingy and clutching the money bag, isn't that intentional to be scolded by others?I don't know if others will scold them or dare to scold them, but they are sure that the old man will definitely scold them!

So, the first step was taken with ease.

The crown princess was the first one, and took out 5 taels, and Da Fujin was not far behind, also 5 taels, and then the third eldest, Fujin Dong E, took out 3 taels aggrieved, Lin Jinyao took 4 taels, and attracted Dong E's stared, Lin Jinyao didn't bother to talk to her.

Next, the five Fujins and the Seventh Fujin each took out 3 taels, and the Guo Luoluo family of the eighth Fujin is still unknown.

Dong E's family was even more unhappy, none of these sister-in-laws knew how to respect their sister-in-law!

Immediately afterwards, the concubines and concubines in the harem who got the news were naturally not to be outdone, and they took out their private money to make fun of it, for no other reason. Haven't you seen that the princes and concubines have already been praised by the sage?

Just as Lin Jinyao expected, with the contributions of the concubines in the harem, the clan and ministers couldn't sit still anymore, and they came to the crown prince one after another. Then there are several thousand taels, and in the end, when they are all added up, there are as many as one million.

Such a huge sum of money can obviously relieve the pressure on the imperial court very well. This can be seen from Kangxi's recent opportunities to praise the princess, a group of daughter-in-laws, and his own women. The old man's generosity to everyone I am really satisfied and happy.

However, who would have thought that Kangxi had been happy for a few days, but suddenly he was furious.

Without him, the people in the disaster area have changed!

Why did the victims riot?There is no way out!

The imperial court allocated money to relieve the disaster, and the female relatives also donated a million taels. How could it be possible that the victims could not survive?You don't need to think about it, you can probably guess that there must be that corrupt official who has the audacity to take over the world.

How can Kangxi not be angry?The earthquake was extremely serious and affected a wide area, especially in Shanxi, where almost the whole area was in ruins. It would cost a lot of money to resettle the people and rebuild the town.

For this reason, his majestic emperor set an example and became more frugal, and the entire palace cut expenses. What happened?In the end, that daring thing dared to pull his hind legs at this time, it was damned!He deserves death!

Immediately, Kangxi sent imperial envoys to thoroughly investigate the case, and it was his fourth son Yinzhen who he considered the most stern and selfless who was entrusted with the heavy responsibility.