Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

Jia Zheng came in with a grasshopper cage and smiled. The old lady smiled when she saw her grandson, "You're being naughty again. Be careful when your father finds out and hits you. How do you get along with their brothers?" Jia Zheng listened When the grandmother mentioned the two boys of the Wang family, she had a strange look on her face: "I talked to them for a while, and they hurried out because they still had some errands. But the manager of their family was very polite and took me with them. Go out for a walk. Grandma said that I don’t feel sleepy at night, so I’m looking for something to relieve my grandmother’s boredom.” Jia’s mother looked at her son, her eyes softened: “The two younger brothers of their family have already got jobs. You should also walk around with them often and learn from them."

"Zheng'er is still young! The child is pitiful. He used to study hard day and night. The good child was stupid in studying, and he followed the exam. The good child fell into a serious illness and lost half of his life. , are you still thinking of forcing him to study? He is the flesh that fell from your body. You don’t feel sorry for me, but I still feel sorry for my grandson. Why do our children use hard work to study hard? I want an official for Zheng'er. It will save you from pushing and rushing the children all day!" The old lady has become even more doting on her grandson since her father-in-law was gone.

Jia Zheng's face turned red when he heard what his grandmother said. He didn't go out very much in Jinling before, so he didn't think it was a big deal.But when he came to Hangzhou and saw the two boys from the Wang family chatting with Wang Ziteng and Wang Ziji, Jia Zheng suddenly felt very humiliated.He knew everything, and I listened to the Wang family brothers talking about the official affairs, the details and reasons of the errands, and even the situation in the court.I'm an idiot in comparison.

He also wanted to walk in the officialdom like Wang Ziteng and the others, who could confidently stand in front of others and talk freely. Unfortunately, his grandmother doted on him, and Jia Zheng's hope of following his father to see the officialdom was easily stifled by his grandmother.Although Jia Zheng was disappointed, his face still didn't show anything.

Jia's mother immediately shut her mouth in a sensible way, and she refused to let the child suffer. The affairs of the officialdom are too complicated.The reason why she said those things in front of the old lady was actually to get the old lady to express herself and get Zheng'er a position.The family has only one title, which can only be inherited by the eldest son, and his youngest son has to earn his own future.When it comes to reading, she doesn't want her child to study day and night, don't read anything well, and break the body first.To be an official, you have to pay attention to your experience and qualifications. It is very hard to get up from the bottom slowly, and she doesn't want to see her pampered child, who is bowed and bowed to others outside.It's best to ask the old lady to use her connections. In that case, Zheng'er can have a relatively high starting point.Now that the old lady had spoken, Mother Jia felt relieved. She smiled and brought a cup of tea to her mother-in-law: "The old lady has been tired all day. I asked the kitchen to make hot chicken soup. The old lady had dinner and went to bed earlier." .Tomorrow their old lady will definitely invite us over."

The old lady nodded: "We just came here in the midst of chaos, thank you for remembering it. Forget it, you are tired for a day and go to bed early. We will pay for all supplies by ourselves, so don't make others restless."

"This is natural. Even relatives should settle accounts with brothers. However, the Wang family is not a stingy family. I have already prepared all the gifts, and I will ask someone to send the gift list to the old lady for review. Someone quietly sent over here first, everything is ready for us when we come, so it doesn't bother us at all." Mother Jia was shrewd and forthright in her work, and no one could find fault with her.

The old lady was very satisfied with her daughter-in-law's ability: "Very well, you are thoughtful. Since this is the case, go and rest, don't come, I will have dinner with Zheng'er. You have something to do over there, call Zheng'er and Min'er Be by my side."

After dinner, Zili was strolling in the yard to digest food, when he suddenly saw a girl holding a lantern, and Ziqian staggered in with the help of a little girl. "Big sister is here, it's so late, if there's anything to ask them to tell them. Is there something important?" Zili affectionately pulled Ziqian into the room, sat down and called the maids to bring tea.

"I don't drink tea, I just walked to your door and thought about you, come and have a look. You saw their girls today, what do you think of their three girls?" Sitting and talking about nothing important Gossiping, Ziqian brought the topic to the third girl of the Jia family.She is sister Lin's biological mother, and like a mother, like a daughter, she is naturally a fairy-like figure.Zili complained about the elder sister's words in his heart, pretending to be confused and said: "She is so delicate, I dare not talk to her anymore. It seems to be made of flour, or piled up with the thinnest silk. If you are not careful, it will be broken." Mother Jia loves her daughter too much, although Jia Minmei is beautiful, it is a pity that she is too weak.The source of Sister Lin's sick beauty is here.

Ziqian's eyes flickered when he heard the second sister's words. She fiddled with the silk in her hand and looked around Zili's room.According to the rules of the Wang family, the girls clean up their houses by themselves. Zili likes simple decorations, and there are no rich ornate decorations in the house.It's just that the room is full of huanghuali furniture, and there are no carvings. The bed is exquisitely covered with exquisite bedding, and the curtains also change colors and patterns according to the seasons.It's spring now, and the thick winter tent has been replaced with a sky-blue one embroidered with various flowers and plants. "I remember that the old lady gave you a silver-red double-sided embroidered bird curtain. Why do you still hang this?" Ziqian frowned slightly, and looked at Yuhou and Mingqian reproachfully.It seemed that the girls were lazy and neglected Zili.

It's none of their business, I use that tent well in winter, seeing the weather is getting hotter, the colors are too bright and annoying.I just found it and hung it up, it's all good anyway.Why did my sister suddenly think of the third girl from Jia's family? Tomorrow the old lady will hold a banquet to welcome the wind. The girl from their family will definitely come. We don't have many people to talk to each other on weekdays. What's wrong with talking with someone?No matter how he looked at it, Zili felt that Ziqian seemed to have something on his mind.

"I was looking at the girl in their family, and I suddenly became sad for some reason. Our two families are the same. Her father is in Jinling weaving, and our father is also in Hangzhou weaving. But look at their girl, she is really precious. Listen People from the Jia family said it was because there were fewer people around the girl when she came out. When they were at home, there were eight big girls around the girl. As for us, there were two big girls in total, and we were all stupid. Waiting to see the Empress Dowager and Empress Empress, the girls are all rich and dignified, so we will appear to be indifferent." Ziqian sighed, frowning in worry.

Does this need to be sad too?Zili looked at the eldest sister in disbelief, wondering how could she have such an idea?Are you actually envious of how many girls are waiting around?In Zili's view, having too many people around is not a good thing at all.She already felt like she was in prison now, the two maids followed her all day long, let alone the nurturing mother and nanny who always hid in the dark and jumped out at any time to shout rules to Zili's every move.She couldn't simply and rudely break up with the wives, but she also had to put on a good look and talk nonsense with them in circles.If you follow Jia Min's specification, kill me!You have to have two maids to support you when you walk, and the two maids are holding things. When you sleep, there are two women going to bed outside. Don't you want your sleep talk to be heard!

"My life is poor, and there are too many people around me to make a fuss. I think the third girl of Jia's family looks weak, and they are usually served too much by servants. They don't do anything all day long, and good people can I'm sick from holding it in. Why is my sister suddenly envious of her?" Zili expressed his unreasonable envy to Ziqian.

"Oh, I've been talking about it for a long time, you silly girl, but you still don't understand what I mean? I heard that our family has an agreement with their Jia family-forget it, you don't understand anything, so I told you in vain. I I wanted to tell you to treat the old lady tomorrow, so you just stop messing around. This is not the past, there are guests here. You are a joke for scorpion stings!" Ziqian sighed in resentment, and told Zili to leave tomorrow Playing around, embarrassing yourself in front of guests.

"How could I? I'm not a child anymore. I was ashamed when my mother took us out before? You should tell Sanmei what you said." Zili became more and more confused about Ziqian's intention.

Ziqian said calmly, "She has her own way of raising the nuns and maids, so I don't have to waste time with her. That's you. It's getting late, go to bed early." Ziqian stood up and faced Mingqian and Mingqian. After the rain, he said: "You help the girl to go to bed earlier. What about the women? Who goes to bed at night? You should be more alert at night, and you can sleep until dawn. If you are careful, my wife will know." Ziqian took the attitude of a big sister, Instructed the servants around Zili.

The mothers-in-law said in unison: "Yes, don't worry, big girl, even if we have ten guts, we wouldn't dare to be lazy." After saying that, they surrounded Ziqian and went out.The yard was quiet, and after the rain, she called the little girls angrily: "The door is closed for rest. Grandma hasn't dared to point fingers at the people in this yard yet. Someone came to point fingers, we are all trash!" The nurse stared. Glancing at Yuhou: "Be quiet, don't let others hear and embarrass the girl." Zili heard clearly from inside the room, waiting for Yuhou to come in and help Zili to sleep.She said to Yuhou: "I don't dare to order you anymore, you should go out." Although Yuhou was angry and was taught by Ziqian, it is a pity that Zili is not the kind of person who protects servants indiscriminately.This is an unequal world. As the master, Ziqian taught the slaves a lesson, so naturally he should listen after the rain.If she was wrong, Zili would naturally comfort her, not to mention that Ziqian just told the maids to be careful, so she couldn't be careless.Being angry with her sister for the servant, it seemed that she and her sister were separated.

After the rain, her face flushed. Seeing that there was no one in the room, she lowered her voice and said softly, "Girl, don't worry, I'm angry. The big girl even counts on her own sister. I saw my aunt today, and she In the past, she served in front of the old lady, but she rarely came up with my uncle in Zhuangzi. I guess she was called here because there were many things going on at home. My aunt said that our old man had a marriage contract with the Jia family at the beginning, and he wanted to We will become relatives with sons and daughters. The girl from their family will marry and our girl will be their daughter-in-law. However, the girl from their family is not a good match for our two young masters. The girl married. I see that their family is looking for the eldest girl to match their second master. It's a pity that the eldest girl wants to be rich. How can she like their second master. The title is taken by the uncle. The second master didn't pass the exam, and he's still a white man. What she said to the girl, is it for the girl's benefit? Why don't you find a scapegoat!" Yuhou complained to Zili angrily.

A thought flashed in Zili's mind, she is not a fool, the grandson of the emperor Xuan Liang Di, she knows who is bound to marry the Wang family and the Jia family.What Ming Zili didn't expect was her sister, her own sister actually had the idea of ​​using her as a stepping stone.How old is Ziqian? At her age, she is a fool who just entered high school and is overwhelmed by studying every day.She wishful thinking that Ziqian just suffered from puberty syndrome, but she didn't expect that she even tricked her own sister!

Wang Ziqian is more like time travel!Feeling cold, Zili is an only child, and it was the first time she came here that she felt that it would be nice to have a sister.It's a pity that before I had time to carefully appreciate the sister's family relationship, I was poured cold water on my head.Wang Zili disdained the emperor's grandson Liangdi, and he didn't even want to be the wife of the Rongguo Mansion.Before she could figure out her own way out, someone was worrying about her.Zili could tell the difference between joy and anger, looked at Yuhou and said, "I used to wonder what happened to Eldest Sister? I just didn't expect her to think so. Forget it, since she is all about self-improvement, I won't argue with her. Don't fight with her anymore." Anyone said it, it's a joke for a girl to think about choosing a concubine or something." Yuhou looked at Zili worriedly and wanted to say something, but she saw Zili's face and stopped talking.

The next day, the old lady was in the garden to cleanse the Jia family, because the emperor's holy car had already left, and the palace in Hangzhou was being repaired urgently.The old man of the Wang family, Wang Dingqian and Prince Teng were both busy, and Jia Yuan was also busy visiting old friends, so there were only female relatives at the banquet.The old ladies of the two families sat on top, Jia Mu and Mrs. Tang sat beside, and the girls sat at a table below. Although there were not many people, the atmosphere was relaxed and lively.

Ziqian still maintained his previous reservedness, and Zili, as usual, did not act particularly quiet as Ziqian asked.She was chattering about the scenery and customs of Hangzhou with her younger sister and Jia Min, and Jia Min was playing with no one at home.Today, seeing the younger sisters who are similar in age, she relaxes, and no longer puts on the airs of a daughter, and talks warmly with Zili and Zimeng.

The old lady of the Jia family looked at the girls at the table below, smiled and said to the old lady of the Wang family next to her: "We are old, and the children are all grown up. The old sister is very lucky, and the three girls are all good. Where Like the girls in my family, weak and sick, I see that the girls in your family just want to bring back one to be my granddaughter." The old lady of the Wang family brought up the marriage of the two families to the Jia family, and laughed. He said: "It depends on the children's own good fortune. Our family raises the children very rough. There is no need to quarrel with the old sister. Among my three granddaughters, two of them are still young. That is to say, my eldest granddaughter is more sensible. If you don't mind, ask her to talk with you to relieve boredom." The old lady of the Jia family has already taken a fancy to Ziqian, and since the Wang family also spoke of Ziqian, her face suddenly smiled into a flower: "That's good, I will definitely Treat her well and don't let her be wronged."

"Big sister, which play do you like to listen to, let me order it." Jia Min asked Ziqian with a smile while holding the play list. "Ms. Min is a guest. The old ladies and ladies above have ordered, so you can order. I have never liked to watch operas." Ziqian looked flat, and she nodded apologetically at Jia Min: "I'm not good. Excuse me, tell Zili and Third Sister to stay with you." Ziqian apologized and went out.Jia Min was keenly aware of Ziqian's indifference towards her, and looked at Zili with some aggrieved eyes.