[Red Mansions] Why does Xiaoye want to whitewash

The servant girl knocked on the door and came in to serve tea to the three of them. Zhang Xiujin stretched out his hand to ask Jia Lian to drink some tea, and then said, "It's not that you can't, it's just that you don't have the ambition."

Jia Lian didn't argue about this, and talked about another matter: "I don't know if my cousins ​​think I'm troublesome, but my brother-in-law Meng Chengyun's grandfather has recently returned to the capital to live for a while, and I ask him to help guide you. one time."

Zhang Xiujin knew about Meng Chengyun, his grandfather was a great Confucianist in the dynasty, so Jia Lian asked the great Confucianism to guide them, the two of them were naturally grateful and nodded their thanks.

Zhang Xiujin even said: "Since we came to Beijing, our family has worked hard to take care of my cousin, which is beyond words."

Jia Lian waved his hand indifferently, "Jia Lian also took a lot of things from my cousin, and I have never been polite. Why are you being polite?"

In fact, if the two brothers of the Zhang family were not really good people, Jia Lian would not be so concerned. He is not a fool with a lot of money, so of course he wants to be nice to those who deserve it.

Then Jia Lian made an appointment with them, and tomorrow he would come over from the Fourth Translation Hall early and take them to visit Meng's house in person.

The Zhang family brothers naturally agreed, and asked Mr. Meng what he liked by the way. Be more correct, but gifts are second to none."

"That also needs to be fully prepared." After finishing speaking, Zhang Xiujin called someone to go and ask the maid to bring the paper with Meng Lao's preferences to his wife to prepare.

Jia Lian watched him finish his work, picked up an apple from the table unceremoniously, and asked the two brothers while eating, "Xiu Qi's age is about the same, how did Uncle and the others prepare for Xiu Qi's marriage?"

"The family's intention is to wait until Xiu Qi is admitted to Jinshi before considering marriage."

After all, the current situation of the Zhang family is actually a bit embarrassing. Although there are some backgrounds, after all, no one with the Zhang surname has been an official in the capital for many years, and Zhang Xiuqi is still a little entangled in his marriage, so after he is admitted to Jinshi, he will have more options. .

Jia Lian also understood, and just said: "If you need it, you can find me. I have no other skills, but I know more people. I just helped my concubine sister get married. If Xiu Qi needs it, I can also help. have a look."

If Jia Lian could help, it would be better than their being so passive, so Zhang Xiujin smiled and said, "Then I will thank my cousin in advance, and then we will give you a generous gift of thanking the matchmaker."

"Cousin, I will definitely not be polite to you."

And Zhang Xiuqi, who had been listening silently by the side, looked up at the two elder brothers, clutching the book in his hand tightly, with a hesitant look on his face.

Jia Lian noticed his expression, and asked a little puzzled: "Xiu Qi, what's wrong with you? Do you have any thoughts?"

Zhang Xiuqi gritted his teeth, finally looked at Jia Lian, and asked seriously: "Cousin, that young lady from the Xue family can't choose the princess's attendant, is she planning to get engaged?"

"Yes..." Jia Lian didn't expect that he would suddenly ask about Xue Baochai, and he had some guesses in his heart, but felt a little unreal.

Seeing the two elder brothers looking at him, Zhang Xiuqi gritted his teeth and said, "I think Miss Xue's family may have feelings for me, and I... also think she is very fond of her. Can I ask my cousin..."

"...Really?" Jia Lian remembered that they met once when they were in Shandong, and when they got off the boat, did they have a good impression of each other?Why is it so unbelievable?

Zhang Xiuqi said anxiously: "It's true! I said this in front of my cousin. At that time, she was staring at me at the Shandong pier. Did it mean something?"

Jia Lian turned his eyes, looked at Zhang Xiujin, and asked him if he knew?

Zhang Xiujin was also at a loss, his eyes fell on his younger brother, with a bit of searching, but it was just like what Zhang Xiuqi said, he didn't show it all the time, so no one knew...

At this time, if he had any thoughts, he couldn't say anything in front of his younger brother, so he dismissed him openly, "I'll talk to your cousin for a while, you go back to study first."

"What does it matter if you say it in front of me?" Of course Zhang Xiuqi knew that they were going to talk about their own affairs, and worried that his brother would disagree, so he said to his cousin: "She is a good girl, isn't she? Cousin, do you want to help me?" Say nice things."

Jia Lian smiled, and waved away Zhang Xiujin, "Your brother knows it well, hurry up and study."

When the person left, Zhang Xiujin shook his head and said, "Xiu Qichun, why do I think it's not what he said?"

"My cousin lived in Rongguo Mansion for so long, because Xue Pan failed to be a candidate, and then..." Jia Lian paused, not wanting Zhang Xiujin to misunderstand Baochai, so he said, "Later, my second aunt wanted Xue's family to marry me." I got closer to Baoyu and was stopped by Big Brother Zhu. I never heard of other secrets. Outsiders don’t know about this matter. It’s just my mouth and your ears, but my cousin is indeed Outstanding."

"Then why...?"

"I don't hide it from my cousin. Baoyu studied with Dean Zheng. The other party hinted that Big Brother Zhu wanted to get married, but the family didn't know about it. If there was no such thing, in fact, Baoyu is lucky to have a wife like his cousin. "

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiujin pondered for a moment and asked, "So my cousin thinks highly of her, can I hire Xiu Qi?"

Jia Lian shook his head and sighed: "Cousin is indeed very good, but Xue Pan is too slow, he is spoiled, he is loyal, but he is also a bit of a dandy, easy to get into trouble, he used to be a slave when he was in Jinling You have committed murder and killed someone, otherwise my cousin would not have lost the election."

"..."

Seeing that he was silent, Jia Lian continued, "Because of Big Brother Zhu's request, I asked someone to take care of Xue Pan, so that he wouldn't cause any trouble."

Zhang Xiujin himself has no objection to the royal merchant Xue's family, but he just listened to Jia Lian's words, Xue Pan is really a dude, and he felt that this marriage was not good for Xiu Qi, so he resisted a little.

However, Xiu Qi is not young anymore, and Zhang Xiujin couldn't ignore his wishes, so he nodded to Jia Lian and said, "I'll ask Xiu Qi again later."

"I think my cousin is not as interested in him as Xiu Qi said, and Xiu Qi doesn't necessarily care about her cousin, so when my cousin says it, it's best to explain the pros and cons to him in advance, so don't have it later. Please don’t regret it.”

"The Zhang family's upbringing won't do it, don't worry."

Jia Lian nodded, he believed in the character of the two Zhang brothers.

At noon, when Jia Lian stayed at Zhang's house for dinner, Zhang's nephew asked him why Lin Ke, Qiao's sister, didn't come. stop expression.

Then until Jia Lian left, the two older brothers didn't mention it again, leaving him to worry about it.

After returning home, out of gossip, Jia Lian told Wang Xifeng about it, and asked her to test Baochai when she was a guest at Xue's house.

Wang Xifeng had an impression of Zhang Xiuqi, she naturally thought more about her own cousin, and felt that it would be a good thing for Baochai if such a marriage came to fruition, of course she hoped it would happen.

But she also had a sense of proportion, knowing that the woman should not take the initiative in this matter, so when she invited Li Wan to Xue's house, she mentioned that sentence when Baochai's mother and daughter greeted Jia Lian.

After returning, Jia Lian sat on the couch with Xi'er in his arms, and as soon as she saw her come in, he immediately asked, "How is it? Did Baochai look different when you mentioned my cousin?"

"No." Wang Xifeng did not immediately go over to hug her daughter, but stood a little further away to warm her body and said, "I said my cousin will be in the spring next year, so I asked her if she had any impression of Xiu Qi, Baochai. He only said that he looks very similar to Sister Qiao."

"Then it seems that Xiu Qi is acting affectionate!" If she pays more attention to Sister Qiao's appearance, it is indeed possible, but Zhang Xiuqi may be too pure, and the girl will panic and think that she is interested after looking at her a few times, ha ha , but also strange and interesting.

"I think it would be great if my cousin can get married with Baochai." Wang Xifeng felt the clothes were no longer cold, walked over to pick up Xi'er, and then continued to say to Jia Lian: "My aunt is worried about the marriage of my cousin and my cousin. Well, both of them are considered to know the basics, and it is a good thing to succeed."

"With Xue Pan, Uncle and the others will definitely not be very willing. Besides, Xiu Qi has a bright future, so he definitely wants to find a more capable in-law."

This is a fact, but Wang Xifeng didn't want her natal relatives to be looked down upon, so she spoke for the Xue family again: "Although the Xue family is an imperial merchant, it is a descendant of Ziwei, and it is also a scholarly family. It has a lot of background!"

"Yes, yes, I didn't say anything." Jia Lian laughed, "No one dislikes the imperial merchant or not. Why did you miss Xue Pan? You must know that unfilial children and grandchildren are more important than birth."

"..." Wang Xifeng was speechless, and Xue Pan couldn't get around no matter what, after all, even she always felt that her cousin was sometimes too careless.

Jia Lian didn't mean to run on Wang Xifeng, but when she saw that she was speechless, she said again: "It's useless for the two of us to talk about it. It depends on whether the Zhang family is really willing to marry Baochai. If they are still sincere, When the time comes, find a powerful wife for Xue Pan, and take care of him."

"I just hope that you will say more good things in the middle. I really hope that Baochai can have a good marriage."

But Jia Lian shook his head and refused: "Let them decide to go, let's mix something in the middle, when the time comes, it will be good or bad, but the two of us are not human."

"Anyway, no one is as smart as you in avoiding trouble."

Having said that, Wang Xifeng didn't insist on Jia Lian's help after all, and after all, her cousin was not as close as their husband and wife. The so-called oneness of husband and wife naturally means that husband and wife come first and then others.

And Jia Lian did as he said it was up to the Zhang family to decide, that is, when they met, he said that Baochai had no interest in Xiuqi. Although Zhang Xiuqi felt a little embarrassed, he still expressed his desire to marry Xue Baochai.

For this reason, Zhang Xiujin also specifically contacted his parents in his hometown. After talking about the specific situation of Xue's family, although they were not very satisfied with Xue's family there, Zhang's parents were quite open-minded and only said that they were happy with Zhang Xiuqi.

That being the case, Zhang Xiujin had a serious talk with his younger brother again, and then asked Jia Lian and his wife to help mention it to the Xue family. If they are willing, they will choose an auspicious day to come to propose marriage after their spring.

Wang Xifeng was very keen on this, and after bringing back the news from Jia Lian, she cheerfully sent a letter to Xue's family saying that she would come to the house.

Seeing this, Jia Lian shook her head and said, "I can't cheat my cousin. You go tomorrow, and by the way, I will ask my aunt for her opinion. She said that I know a lot of people. How about we help Xue Pan find a good wife?" .”

"Don't you want to be human inside and out? Avoid trouble by being a matchmaker!"

"It's fine for others, I'm really not worried that Xue Pan will take his anger out on me, as for my aunt..." Jia Lian didn't care too much, "I really don't care about her thoughts because of her temper that doesn't have any ideas."

Wang Xifeng took a look at Jia Lian, concentrated on arranging the gifts from Zhang's family, and praised: "Although this scholar's family has many rules, he never loses his manners. This is not engaged yet, and all the gifts are ready!"

It was brought back by him, of course Jia Lian knew, just said "um" and continued to read his script.

On the second day, Wang Xifeng dressed warmly, told Nanny Qin and the others to take good care of Xi'er, and went to the door of Xue's house with the gifts prepared by the Zhang family.

The mother and daughter of the Xue family thought it was strange to bring such a thing to the door suddenly at this time of year. Wang Xifeng didn't pretend to be a joke, and said with a smile on his face: "Isn't this for my cousin? Some people have taken a fancy to my cousin. It was a gift they entrusted me to bring here, so it can be seen that they value Baochai."

Xue Baochai blushed, gave her cousin a blessing, and then went back to the house.Xue Wang took Wang Xifeng's hand and asked directly: "Which family is it from? Feng girl, please talk to your aunt."

"Do you still remember the second son of the Zhang family? That is the cousin of our second uncle's family. Now he is preparing for Chunwei. With his talent and learning, he will definitely be able to pass the exam next year!"

"Remember, remember!" When Wang Xifeng mentioned it last time, Xue Wang had talked to her daughter about it. If Xue Pan had someone who was half-promising, their mother and daughter would not be afraid at all. They never thought that they would come to propose marriage to their family Baochai now. !

"But you and Lian'er made peace out of it?"

Wang Xifeng just smiled, and then said: "It's also fate. We came back together before, but it was just a two-sided relationship. The cousin of the Zhang family paid attention to Baochai, so he asked the family's consent, and then let us go. Come here and talk to your aunt!"

Xue Wang was overjoyed, and stretched out his hand to touch the gift on the table twice. Although it was not bad, it was sincere, and his eyes were a little sore. He said: "You still think of Auntie, Feng girl, I am sorry for these two things. The child's marriage is about to be worried!"