Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

The emperor was about to tour the south, Wang Dingqian's eyes flickered, and then he returned to normal. Seeing that his parents had something to say, Wang Ziqian gave his sisters a wink, and the three sisters hurriedly stood up and quietly left.

There was no one else in the room, and Wang Dingqian and his wife talked about the news of the emperor's southern tour, "Why do you want to make a good southern tour? Back then, the emperor had to waste all his energy to move the capital to the capital. Why do you want to come back?" Mrs. Tang wrinkled her slender eyebrows worriedly. As the emperor grew older, the emperor's actions became more unpredictable and unpredictable. The ministers fought with fear every day, lest they commit some taboos and be treated as a blowing bucket by the emperor, and it would be easy to lose their official positions. Yes, who will you reason with if you die?She could have spent a few days in peace and prosperity in the south of the Yangtze River, but the emperor suddenly came.Mrs. Tang couldn't help lowering her voice and said worriedly: "Is there no obstacle on your river project?" Wang Dingqian couldn't laugh or cry because of his wife's worried tone: "Hey, in your eyes, am I just an official who is greedy for ink? You should also understand Well, it's impossible for you to do a project like Hegong's one-on-one. Naturally, there is room for maneuver. Your Majesty Mingjun is very clear about the doorway in the officialdom. How can you make a fuss about such a trivial matter? I think The Holy Majesty’s southern tour should be for the public opinion of the people in the south of the Yangtze River. Rong Guogong is the confidant of the Holy Majesty today, I think you should tidy up the garden and invite his wife to stay.”

Rong Guogong Jia Daishan won the emperor's favor. Naturally, the emperor first came to Jinling to worship the ancestors during his southern tour. Rong Guogong would definitely accompany the emperor throughout the southern tour, and the next stop of the emperor's southern tour was Hangzhou.Jia Daishan and his wife will definitely come to Hangzhou.The friendship between the Wang family and the Jia family has always been deep, and the Wang family naturally invited the Jia family to stay.

"I'm also thinking about it. If the news is confirmed, I'm going to vacate the East Side Courtyard. Then there is a street gate leading to the outside, so it will be convenient for them to go in and out." Mrs. Tang asked for her husband's idea.

"I think the news is correct. Just use the excuse of your child's marriage to tidy up the house, and just tidy up there together." Wang Dinggan recalled his son's marriage and sighed: "When I went to pay my mother's greetings, I found that my mother seemed to be in a mess. She felt a little regretful about Zi Teng's marriage. She always felt that the Zhang family's girls were not as prominent as the Zhen family. It was her father who saw far away. No matter what hinders, we will also be unlucky together."

Although Mrs. Tang was born into a family of military generals, she began to abandon martial arts and follow literature in her previous generation. The family can be regarded as a scholarly family, but it is a pity that it is not very prominent.She has been married to the Wang family for many years, and finally she is going to be a mother-in-law.She didn't want her only son to marry a daughter-in-law who was born better than her. In that case, there would be no place for her in front of the old lady. The whole family would have to look at the face of the new daughter-in-law. How decent would it be?Therefore, Mrs. Tang firmly stood on the old man's side in the matter of her son's marriage. The girls of the Zhang family were mild-tempered. From now on, they would live with Wang Ziteng and his wife without worrying about his son being angry with his wife. "The old lady is still more knowledgeable than us. I think the girl from the Zhang family is very good. The old lady loves her grandson and she likes beautiful girls. I have met the girls from the Zhen family, and they are indeed better than the girls from the Zhang family. There are many beautiful ones. I am worried that our children will not have the good fortune to enjoy such beauties." Mrs. Tang thought of the girl from Zhen's family, and couldn't help admiring. How can ordinary people afford such a girl?

"The Zhen family's family education is excellent, and it's not surprising that such girls are brought up. Just talking about the use of other people's children, the daughters have grown up a lot, and it's time to plan for their lifelong affairs." Wang Dingqian had a feeling in his heart. The account, the son's major affairs have been settled, and marrying a daughter-in-law means starting a family. With his father personally teaching him, he doesn't have to worry about Wang Ziteng going astray in the future.After the son made arrangements, it was the turn of the daughters. Mrs. Tang was also thinking about the marriage of the daughters, she sighed, "Ziqian's waiting for election is over, and she is getting old, what is the master's plan?" People who have passed their forties are not very concerned about the concubines in the harem. I heard that the ones who have been favored recently are all low-level but charming low-level concubines.But the crown prince is in his prime, although he already has a grandson and several grandsons, but the sage loves the crown prince deeply, and every three years he will choose a woman from a good family to be the crown prince to enrich the East Palace.Liang Di, who is now the crown prince, will be the emperor's concubine in the future, and many officials' families still have a bit of a desire to climb the dragon and attach themselves to the phoenix.

Fortunately, the old man of the Wang family didn't think much of those people's thoughts. He simply used connections and removed Wang Ziqian's candidacy on the grounds of illness.Therefore, Wang Dingqian and his wife can rest assured to plan a marriage for their eldest daughter.Wang Dingqian sighed, and said in a low voice: "The old man is not very optimistic about the East Palace. He dislikes the prince and is always submissive and has no idea. However, the emperor loves the emperor's grandson very much. We have to be more careful in the future. King Ning's side I have always been unconvinced to the prince."

Mrs. Tang was startled when she heard this: "The emperor wants to abolish the crown prince? Then we have to distance ourselves from that side first?" Mr. Wang has been a mentor to the crown prince. Of course, he only taught His Royal Highness a few days of martial arts and gave advice. A few efforts.But this has already labeled the Wang family as an ecstasy.If the crown prince is really abolished, the Wang family must be implicated.

"It hasn't reached that point yet, the crown prince is the crown prince and the foundation of the country, and there is no one who can easily shake the foundation of the country. I mean, you should always be careful when you meet people in the future, and don't get close to King Ning when you are a daughter-in-law. "Wang Dingqian took a look at his wife and reassured her.

It turned out that it was for his daughter's marriage. Wang Dingqian was worried that he would marry his daughter to the wrong family.These days, marrying a daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law don’t just depend on what the other person is like. Marriage is a good thing between two surnames. Marrying a daughter-in-law depends on the family status, and marrying a daughter also depends on the family status. It also depends on the three views of the other family and your own family Can it be on one frequency.Mrs. Tang was a bit confused about her daughter's marriage, but now that her husband has made a point, Mrs. Tang has some confidence.

"I think it's natural to want a hometown. It's better to know the basics. The four of us are the ones who come out of the hometown to be officials together. Which one of them is more suitable for the master?" Madam Tang thought that if her daughter married far away, she would not be used to it. What about the customs and habits there?It's better to choose a place where they all come out, so you can rest assured.

"Well, I have to look at what my father means. I think the son of the Shi family is good. The two brothers of the Jia family, Brother Zhen of Ningguo Mansion, are married, and the eldest son of Rong Mansion is also married. The second son of the family heard that he is not good at studying. Seriously, he is spoiled by their wives and lawless. He is the second son, and he cannot become a nobleman. Now he does not know what his future will be. Xue's family is still stable, but his children are much younger than Ziqian. The ones that are suitable are all side branches, and they are not suitable, I think Ziqian's age is not too old, let's take it slowly." Wang Dingqian sighed, not very satisfied with the three families.Mrs. Tang has her own plans, Ziqian's temper is not as lively as Zili's, and she doesn't know why this child is always preoccupied. Hearing from the girl next to her that the eldest girl is always bored, it doesn't matter. Come why not happy.Mrs. Tang began to worry that it was not because the child was big-hearted and had something on her mind. She observed secretly for a few days but found no clues. Mrs. Tang could only think that Ziqian had such a personality.She was worried that Ziqian would marry far away in the future. What if she was wronged and her family was not around? For the in-law's family, it's best for the two families to communicate frequently, so that the daughter's mother's family can come out immediately if there is anything unsatisfactory.Hearing my husband talk about several old acquaintances in Jinling, it turned out that only Shijia and Jiajia were suitable.Mrs. Tang immediately became worried: "Why is it so difficult? Why don't the master see if there are any children who know how to make progress? As long as they are good-natured and gentle, their family background is not as good as ours, but they are just helping them with a few taels of money. The daughter fell from me. As you can see, she is a person who cares about everything in her heart, and she will be wronged if she encounters unkind people in the future. She is also your daughter, so you can't just ignore her."

"What are you talking about? I don't care what kind of person my daughter is! The son-in-law is also half a son, and we only have one son, Ziteng. If we can have a good son-in-law to help us in the future, it will be a blessing to the Wang family and even more so to us." The Shi family and the Jia family will definitely come to Hangzhou with Shengjia, and they will bring their children with them at that time. At that time, you should take a cold look. If the children of the two families are not good, I will not believe it on the ground in Hangzhou. We can't find a complete person. Besides, we are officials, how can we never stay in one place forever. Don't waste your time, we have to leave again just after the child is settled. It is better to find a reliable character .” Wang Dingqian looked slowly into the distance, as if something was on his mind.

Mrs. Tang frowned, and asked nervously: "You have done a good job in the river, are you going to be promoted?"

"I can't be promoted. You know that the emperor appointed me to this river channel, and his purpose was to lead troops to repair the embankment. Now that the embankment has been repaired, why would the emperor order hundreds of thousands of troops to stay in the south of the Yangtze River?" The sphere of influence of the abolished emperor in the previous dynasty, the emperor came out and ordered the army to repair the river embankment.Now that people in Jiangnan are at peace, Wang Dingqian also knows that his mission has been accomplished. According to the emperor's personality, he should be free to speak out.

Her husband might be on the battlefield, and this realization made Mrs. Tang lose the mood to take care of her children's lifelong affairs. She stared at her husband and forced herself to look calm: "If the master is promoted, it is our good fortune." Although this is a joke What she said was that her eyes were already red.

Why are you crying, although I am going to the battlefield, how can I really be shrouded in horse leather!Maybe I can save some more dowries for the girls in our family.Don't cry, if a man can't keep his wife and son, is he a waste?Wang Dingqian watched his wife cry, and reached out to wipe her tears, but Mrs. Tang turned around and avoided her, her face flushed slightly: "You are already a person who is going to marry a daughter-in-law, but you still call the children like you!" What's the matter if you see it? Do you want your face?"

When Wang Dingqian returned home, the atmosphere at home became more relaxed. Within a few days, the news of the emperor's southern tour came out. Wang Zili secretly marveled at the fact that Jia's family really has a background. Before there was any news in the Jiangnan officialdom, they already knew about it. The news of the emperor's southern tour.It seems that Rong Guogong really has the deep trust of the emperor. Who knows that in a few decades, the prominent Jia family will disappear in smoke, and it is not known whether the fate of the daughter of the Wang family can be changed.Wang Zili sighed, then got up and began to check the accounting work left by Mr. Cheng.Facing the old man's education method, Wang Zili was also drunk. What kind of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are learned by all the ladies, those pretentious things are actually not pretending.Therefore, the girls from other families come out one by one, who look like young literary girls, but why are the girls from the Wang family, who look like 2b young girls, who open their mouths to eat, drink, have fun, read books, and manage servants.But Mr. Cheng, who has been calling for so many times, is a very capable person.

I remember that Mr. Cheng, who Wang Zili watched from behind the curtain, was immediately disappointed. A half-old man with a small stature and a rustic atmosphere came in.Mr. Cheng has a round face tanned by the sun and a mustache. He is dressed in a light blue dress that is old and not old. His black satin shoes and white socks are spotless.Although Mr. Cheng looks like Mr. Dong Hong in a small village, and his whole body is original, but this man is convincing when he speaks. It can be seen that Mr. Cheng reads a lot, and he is definitely not a man who has been taught by the Four Books and Five Classics. Indoctrinate the stupid pedant.He has the temperament of a scholar and the slickness of an old world. He has a thorough view of the world. Mr. Cheng didn't ask the three girls in the house to read about women's rings. The foundation has been laid for the three students. Today we will start to talk about Zizhitongjian. You will all be in charge of Zhongfu in the future. A family can be as many as a hundred or at least dozens of people. Housekeepers are the same as men running a country. You can't just focus on the minutiae. Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Although I am not talented, but thanks to the old lady's appreciation, I will teach you all the principles of life and family management." Mr. Cheng always smiled when he looked at it. , but he is the kind of person who smiles but makes you feel that he is not easy to mess with.Wang Zili loves and hates this Mr. Cheng.

Mr. Cheng's lectures are lively and interesting. If you don't open your mouth, you are a woman who has no virtue or talent. Even a young girl who is still a young girl listens to Mr.'s lectures with great interest.It's a pity that Mr. Cheng is very strict with Ke Ke's schoolwork. It stands to reason that he only needs to explain the principles of bookkeeping to the ladies of the Wang family, and how to read the account books.Because although the girls of the Wang family will be the housekeepers and grandmas of rich families in the future, the housekeepers and grandmas of other families don't have to settle the accounts themselves.The accounts are made by Mr. Accountant for review by the grandmothers and wives.Unexpectedly, Mr. Cheng asked the sisters to learn to keep accounts. Fortunately, Wang Zili has the experience of studying economics in modern society.Although ancient and modern accounting standards are different, the theory is the same.She is already the fastest among the sisters, and the rest of the eldest girl and the third girl are all having a headache.Especially the youngest third girl, she was just ten years old and hadn't learned how to multiply and divide within a hundred. Keeping accounts was simply an impossible task.It's the big girl, listening to the girl next to her say that the big girl refuses to admit defeat, and often stays busy late into the night to figure out the homework left by her husband.

The eldest girl, Wang Ziqian, looks quiet on the outside, but actually has a lot of personality in her heart. She takes special care of her own sister, Wang Zili, but she is much more distant from the third girl born to her aunt.The third girl was still young, and she was born of a concubine, so she was born with a lack of confidence, so she naturally felt the indifference towards the elder sister.It's a pity that the little girl can't do anything, every time she tried to get close to the big sister, she was coldly avoided by the big girl, and slowly came down several times, the little girl also alienated the big sister.Although Wang Zili traveled from modern times, she discriminated against her younger sister very much, because she knew very well that even if it was to blame, it should not be Wang Zimeng who took the adult's sins.Besides, this year is monogamy and multiple concubines. It is normal for Wang Dingqian to have several aunts around him. Besides, the third girl's mother, Aunt Gui, is a very honest person, and the third girl is also quiet and easy-going. temper.Wang Zili really couldn't bear to raise his eyebrows at his younger sister.Wang Zili really couldn't figure out what kind of eldest sister was not pleasing to the third sister, so she tried to get something out of Wang Ziqian's mouth by insinuating a few times.Unexpectedly, the eldest sister ignored her at all. Wang Zili asked the girls and nurses around him, and they didn't know why the eldest girl had such deep resistance to the third girl.

Her eldest sister is really an elusive and weird person. She is always virtuous and stable in front of people. She is usually reticent and always likes to think about her thoughts in silence.The big girl's house is full of books, but the rest of the decorations are very simple. I usually talk to her, even though the big sister is very angry when talking to Zili, and never looks impatient.But Zili always felt that there was always something separating her from others.You can never touch her mind, it's like looking out of a shop window to see what's inside.

"Miss, let's take a break. It's still a few days before the husband checks his homework. The third girl heard that she hasn't started writing yet, but the eldest girl heard that she is almost done. Unfortunately, the eldest girl is not very satisfied. She yesterday It’s starting again at night, I think the girl’s is the best.” After the rain came over with a teacup, she tilted her head and looked at the book on the desk: “Mr. Cheng is really interesting, girls will do it in the future. The river is not working? Why did you take out the old account of the old master years ago to give the girls homework."

Zili pulled the abacus and sighed for a long time: "How do I know, after I make the accounts, I can start my own business. This number is wrong, and the local party will--" Wang Zili's calculations became more and more wrong, and she After discovering something, he was busy scratching the abacus to check the previous accounts.With the crackling of the abacus beads, Wang Zili's fingers danced on the abacus, and her face became more serious.

After closing the ledger heavily, her face was gloomy and frightening. After the rain and before tomorrow, her complexion was not good. Just as she was about to speak, Wang Zili suddenly stood up holding the ledger and said: "You don't have to follow, I'm going to talk to my father." As she spoke, she hugged the account book and went out in the blink of an eye.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the gate of Wang Dingqian's courtyard, a woman greeted him and said, "The second girl is here, the master is out to meet people, and the wife is in front of the old lady."

Wang Zili is like a deflated ball, she is really confused, today Wang Dingqian left early in the morning, because Wang Ziteng is getting married soon, and Mrs. Tang is also very busy.The accounts looked very beautiful on the surface, with no flaws to be found, but after careful scrutiny, Wang Zili couldn't sit still.There are many unreasonable places in the accounts, just like the high-priced purchase of modern high-speed rail, a tissue box costs 2000.In the accounts of Wang Dinggan River Works, the earthwork and timber are also sky-high.

The emperor is not a fool either, the current life of the Wang family is definitely not supported by the salaries of the old man Wang Changchun and Wang Dingqian and his son.Wang Zili didn't want to wait for the official opening of the Dream of Red Mansions, and the Wang family in Jinling became a model of anti-corruption.

"What's wrong with the second girl, where's your girl? Who made my second girl angry, what does she look like?" Wang Zili was racking his brains to figure out how to persuade his father not to pay him for money. , the old man Wang Changchun suddenly appeared with a servant.Wang Changchun was wearing the clothes he used to go out to meet guests, but he had already taken off the crane cloak because he was too hot, and two maids were holding a feather fan in his hand.The old man threw the clothes to the girl, and waved his fan over the bun on Lala Zili's head.

Seeing the casual looking grandfather, Zili suddenly stopped talking. She hugged the account book and couldn't say a word.When the old man saw the account book in his granddaughter's hand, he flashed a clear smile and waved to the girls, and the two girls bowed slightly to the old man and immediately withdrew.With no outsiders around, the old man said with a smile: "I thought it was the big girl who came to look for it first, but I didn't expect it to be you. Don't worry, grandpa will tell you the reason slowly."