Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

"Girl, we've arrived at Jinling. It's time to get ready to disembark." After the rain, the curtain was opened and Zili came in. Zili's boat had three floors, beautifully decorated, and the furnishings inside were the same as those on the shore. It was the shaking of the hull, and I thought it was in the room on the shore.Zili was not in a hurry at all, she leaned against the window and looked out at the gradually bustling scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and said casually: "Really, what's the rush, let's wait for brother's arrangement."

"Of course we should go back to our own home first. Our Wang family has a solid foundation in Jinling, so we can make others look down on us." Wang Ziteng's voice came from outside.Zili smiled and stood up and shouted to the outside: Come in quickly, I haven't smashed our house in Jinling yet.Brother has worked hard, pour tea before tomorrow.

Wang Ziteng came in with a smile, and sat down on the opposite side of Zili, with his legs crossed comfortably: "I'm here to see you." Said Wang Ziteng, holding a teacup and slowly sipping tea without saying a word, Zili paused. Zizi understood what brother meant, seeing that when they arrived in Jinling, Jia Zhen must come to ask Zili to disembark and go to Jia's house, how could the Wang family just send their own girl to someone else's house.Because many things were not settled properly when they first arrived in Jinling, the Jia family couldn't even send a bridal sedan chair and a welcoming team to wait on the pier every day.Therefore, Zili must have been deserted when he got off the boat and went to Jia's house, maybe he wouldn't even go through the main entrance.They are sending off the bride and not relatives and friends visiting each other, so the etiquette that should be there can also be less.

"Brother has come to my place to hide quietly. What should they do if they can't find him and just entangle with his cousins? I think Zisheng is young, and if he can't stand him, he will show his flaws with a few words. After all, he is always on the ground. You can't give up any face." Zili knew that Wang Ziteng was very dissatisfied with Jia Zheng and Jia Daishan's inability to come to welcome them in person, and he thought my sister was married, so how dare you look down on her.Along the way, Wang Ziteng showed Jia Zhen a lot of face.Although Zili was very grateful to her brother for helping her to support her, Jinling and the capital were separated by hundreds of thousands of miles. Once she entered, she would be his daughter-in-law.So Zili persuaded his elder brother to save some face for the Jia family.

"My sister is worried about offending their family and getting angry in the future? Don't worry about it being grandfather and father, even I will not spare them. Also, don't worry that their family will hold grudges and trip you up. Get along along the way. Jia Zhen is a sensible person when I come down. He also knows that I am not angry at him. The Jia family has always been the most sensible. How can they hold grudges against our family. I am giving them a warning, don't look far away from the capital. You can do whatever you want. As long as our family continues to prosper, even married aunts and grandmothers will be untouchable by ordinary people." Wang Ziteng raised his eyebrows arrogantly and suddenly turned to Yuhou and Mingqian and said: "You guys From now on, you will be the most capable person around the girl. Today I will put the ugly words first. Don’t forget who you grew up on when you entered the door of someone’s house. Thinking that you are the person next to the girl, you can If you are close to the water, you will get the moon first. If you want to hook up with the son-in-law, you will also find a master. What's more, you want to bully the girl. You first think about whether your three generations of ancestors have that blessing. You should also do it for the family Think about it!"

After Yu and Mingqian did not expect that Prince Tengneng, who had always been amiable to servants, would suddenly become ferocious and terrifying. The two girls trembled in fright, blushed and knelt on the ground: "We grew up with girls, How can we do such a thing against the Lord? If we have any unreasonable thoughts, we will immediately be hit by thunder and bombardment, and die in broad daylight."

"I'm just beating and beating you first, so as to save you from being gulped down by others in a few words. Since you can understand the truth, it's your blessing, and you can swear that you don't need to be so vicious in the future. It's okay if you die Think about your own family." Wang Ziteng waved to the two girls, Yu Hou and Ming Qian hurriedly left.

Although Zili was surprised by Wang Ziteng's actions, he was very grateful. His brother felt sorry for him, and he was worried that he would not be able to control the girl and be bullied. "Brother, I—" Zili gratefully held Wang Ziteng's hand, her eyes were red.

Silly girl, why are you crying? You have been at home since you were a child, and there are not many messy things in the house. How can you know that people's hearts are sinister.At the beginning, I was like you, too well protected by my family.What you see and hear in the officialdom are all unheard of things.I'm not the kind of vicious and mean person, but sometimes I have to be ruthless.I think you two girls are honest, you don't have to be polite to the girls of the Jia family.You don't know that in the minds of those slaves, it's hard to pick one who is loyal and honest, but there are quite a few tricky ones.And that Jia Zheng, you don’t have to be too submissive to him, he’s still an idiot, he’s talking about exams, but when things come to an end, he often turns into a coward.Wang Ziteng babbled to cheer up Zili.

"I remember what my brother said. Don't worry, I'm not a fool. I ordered them to bully me casually." Just as he was speaking, Wang Zisheng's voice sounded outside: "Is big brother there, I have already sent him away , our family is already waiting at the pier to pick you up." Wang Ziteng stood up with a smile and said to Zili, "Look, Zisheng is not bad."

Jia Rong Guo Mansion, when Jia Mu got the news, the corners of her mouth twitched unnaturally, but her tone was still soft and she said to her husband: "Hey, in this case, let's follow the Wang family's wishes." But he knew very well in his heart that how could a girl from the Wang family enter the Jia family's gate quietly, she would naturally be carried in with a lot of noise.I didn't hear Jia's mother's dissatisfaction, but Jia Daishan put the responsibility on the family members, and couldn't do a little thing well. He missed the auspicious day of getting married because he was delayed on the road.The new date has not yet been set, and the Wang family's old house is not far from the Jia's house, so no one wants to go over and help clean it up.

They distributed countless dowries and sent the girl here in a splendid manner, but I was not thorough on my side, and I always felt wronged when I met people from the Wang family in the future.He squinted and saw Jia Zheng standing beside him. After several illnesses, Jia Zheng's complexion did not look very good.Jia Daishan snorted angrily: "It's because of our etiquette first, not to mention that he has a foundation in Jinling, what's going on if he came to someone else's house for no apparent reason!" Jia Daishan thought that if Jia Zheng was not sick, he could go to the capital to personally To welcome the bride, the Wang family looked at the sincerity of the Jia family, or they could even take a higher look at Jia Zheng.It's better now, Jia Zheng was sick and couldn't take the exam during the exam, so he missed an opportunity in vain.When she got married, she was still sick and made her lose face. Fortunately, the Wang family didn't make much of a fuss. If they got angry with Jia Zheng's physical condition, it would be another disturbance.

Jia Zheng was ill and advised his servants to blame him for not serving him well, so Jia Daishan turned his guns on the maids around Jia Zheng: "It's all the maids around you who are incompetent. If you don't serve well, the master should be kicked out!" Although Jia Zheng knew I can't blame the maids for their poor service when I'm sick, but my father is angry, so he can't help the servants to contradict his father.So Jia Zheng bowed his head and was scolded without excuse, but Jia's mother was a little sick.She blamed herself in her heart for being smart and confused for a while, and became willful about her son's marriage.The Wang family's marriage is naturally a good one, but Jia's mother feels a little uncomfortable seeing her son's beaming expression all day long.She couldn't help being hostile towards her future daughter-in-law.

"Even if the subordinates are not good, if the master wants to fight or drive out, we have to wait for his daughter-in-law to marry in. Our family has always been a benevolent family, and we never beat and kill servants casually. It depends on Zheng'er and his future daughter-in-law. For the sake of saving face, let them go for the time being, and then slowly rectify. Since the girl from the Wang family is here, I think we should wait for them to settle down before discussing the wedding date." Jia Mu changed the subject and proposed to renew the engagement date.

"You don't need to tell me about this. I have already written to the Wang family, and now a new date has been set, which will be ten days later. You have to do it yourself and there will be no mistakes. Zheng'er is about to get married, and the children are all grown up. It's done." Said Jia Daishan and waved Jia Zheng over: "The ancients said that you can get married and start a career. I took great pains to find this marriage for you, just to make your future official career smoother. It doesn't matter if you delay this exam, you are still young. , Study hard, and God will not treat you badly. You have to get along well with your wife in the future and don't act like a child. "

Jia Daishan asked Jia Zheng to study hard and get along with his wife. Over there, the Wang family's old house in Jinling was full of heat. Zili held the girl's hand and followed Wang Zhong's house, the housekeeper's daughter-in-law, all the way to the back.Zili looked at the majestic and magnificent houses along the way, and it seemed that the Wang family also had deep roots in Jinling.Wang Zhong's family pointed to a hanging flower door at the back of the main room: "It was prepared for the girl. It was cleaned out a long time ago, and all the things inside were picked up. There is no one here, so I specially selected a few clever people from Zhuangzi. The girl is here to serve the girl. If the girl needs anything, just tell them. My family and I have been looking at the house in this place thanks to the grace of the master. It has been several years since we saw the master. An honorable opportunity.”

Zili said with a smile: "I usually hear my mother praise you for being careful, and today it seems that it is true. I am here, but you are troubled. The foundation of our family is in Jinling. How many relatives and friends do you have here?"

Wang Zhong's family did the math: "It's not too many. There will always be people from seven or eight families who are either in the city or in the countryside. They must come to visit when they hear the girl and the uncle are coming."

"They also have good intentions, and I want my sister-in-law to arrange tea and meals." Zili told Wang Zhong's family to entertain relatives and friends well.After all, he is a relative of his ancestors, and he is in Jinling. Mr. Zili can't be alone and helpless.

The house prepared by Wang Zhong's family was really exquisite, and Zili brought the maids to live in.As soon as they settled down in Wang Zhong's house, they brought a few girls in. Zili looked like they were all girls from twelve to fifteen. Although they all came from Zhuangzi, they still behaved well.Seeing a pair of little sisters, she was very clever, and asked them their ages and names.It turned out that they were a pair of sisters, the girls of the gardener in Zhuangzi. The elder sister, Xiao Ai, had a round face and a cute mouth.The younger sister, Mint, has a duck-egg face, and looks less lively than her older sister. "Just follow Yuhou and Mingqian, the rest of the little girls tell them to wait outside now." Zili told the two sisters to wait inside the house.

Xiao Ai and Bo He immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Zili in joy, "Get up, and study hard." Zili called the two girls to get up, and after the rain and before Mingqian, they had already brought a few wives in with hot water. Yes, Zili took a bath and then rested.

Wang Ziteng and Wang Zisheng didn't rest, Wang Ziteng washed up and changed into a Ning silk gown, and went to Wang Zisheng's room with his shoes on. "The third brother hasn't rested yet?" Wang Ziteng opened the door and saw Wang Zisheng holding a book and reading under the lamp: "You are also tired and don't rest after walking all the way. Just read and do something. Let me see you What's missing here."

Wang Zisheng stood up: "Brother, please sit down. In fact, I am not tired on the road. I will read a book when I have nothing to do. The real hard work is the elder brother. If we can successfully complete the wedding in Jinling, it will be a great achievement. But The Jia family seems to be a soft-spoken person. I saw the servants of their family act and speak with arrogance along the way, which shows that their family is also in Jinling. "

"Don't worry, they don't dare to do anything to my sister. Besides, there are still us, we are all a family, can we still watch our brothers and sisters being bullied and not take action? You have really helped me this time Yes, my father's letter came today, and the new wedding date has been set in ten days. The elders in the family are not here, and everything depends on our brothers. Tomorrow, we will wait for the people from Jia's family to come first, and you will look at me It's a wink." Wang Ziteng murmured in his cousin's ear for a while, the two brothers are both young, and they absolutely don't want to be underestimated by others, and they must compete for power in Zili's marriage.

One is to give the Jia family a bad impression and beat them not to treat Zili slowly.Another thing is to show off the power of the Wang family in Jinling and save face.

People from the Jia family really came the next day. Wang Ziteng watched the steward of the Jia family come in. He stood on the steps in front of the main house and said to Lai Zhong with a half-smile: "Why did Mr. Lai come in person? Really? There is a long way to go." Lai Zhong didn't dare to take money in front of Wang Ziteng, he smiled and called Wang Ziteng: "Hello, my father-in-law asked me to come and let me know, this afternoon my father-in-law Come here in person. Yesterday, I got the news that the uncle brought the girl to Jinling. I thought I would come to greet you immediately. But thinking that the uncle just came, there must be a lot of things, so I didn’t dare to disturb. I specially took the time to come and have a look today. Uncle and girl. Our wife asked someone to prepare some special things, which are not very good. They are all local things and food in Jinling, so please relieve the girl's boredom." Lai Zhong waved his hand, and people from Jia's family had already brought in a lot of things. Food and gadgets are all available.

Wang Ziteng stretched out his hand not to hit the smiling man, he stepped forward politely and took Lai Zhong's hand: "Thank you, thank you. After all, the relationship between our two families is different. Please go back and express your gratitude. I really dare not call Guo Gong Lord, come here in person, and if you have anything to say, just give orders." As he spoke, Wang Ziteng pulled Lai Zhongjin to sit down and drink tea.

This is as it should be, the uncle is here on behalf of the old man and the old man in your house, how can we neglect our Duke because the old man did not come in person.Well, I don't know if the uncle has received the news from the capital. The old man in your house has sent a letter to my old man, and the new wedding date has been set.What the master means is to have a good and lively event, but whether to follow the rules of the capital or the rules of our south, and you have to discuss it with the uncle.Lai Zhong didn't dare to sit in the chair straight up, he sat sideways on the chair and talked to Wang Ziteng in a very friendly tone.

Seeing that the Jia family is very face-saving, Wang Ziteng's desire to dominate others gradually faded away. He listened to Lai Zhong's words and said with a confident smile: "We are all from the south. Follow the rules. My sister’s dowry has also been brought along, let’s see how the house arranges it. The new house has been properly arranged, and if the new house is arranged, I will also ask someone to measure it.”

"The new house has been prepared a long time ago. Our second master is the heart of the old lady. He grew up with our old lady since he was a child, and his family grew up like a phoenix. The second master's house was already good before. Now for the second master's marriage, the old lady specially vacated a large yard next to her yard for the second master to live in. This kind of treatment is not even available to our uncle. For the second master's marriage, our house is up and down It's all moving, I don't know when your family is planning to invite relatives and friends here, please give me a share of the days of the treats here, and when I go back, I also told my wife two days to avoid the treats To avoid overlapping." Lai Zhong handled things in an orderly manner, and Wang Ziteng readily agreed.

Waiting for Jia Daishan to come in person in the afternoon, and of course he brought Jia Zheng along.Seeing Jia Zheng following Jia Daishan, Wang Ziteng's eyes suddenly became sharp.He thought to himself that Jia Zheng looked pretty good.Unexpectedly, in just a few months, he fell ill several times in a row, don't be an embroidered pillow that looks glamorous but is actually full of idiots.It's not good to cheat my sister in the future.

Jia Zheng followed his father to Wang's house, he felt a scorching gaze fall on him as soon as he entered the door, Jia Zheng followed the gaze subconsciously, and was startled by Wang Ziteng's expression.Why is Zili's brother looking at me like that?Could it be that he thinks I'm not good enough for his girl?That's right, the last time we met in Hangzhou, Wang Ziteng was still a little boy who followed his father's errands, and he was also an idiot.At that time, the two talked very happily, and they both felt a little sympathetic to each other as children of aristocratic families.

As a result, in the blink of an eye, he was already a serious official, but he was nothing.It's weird to see yourself!Thinking of this, Jia Zheng's face slowly turned red, and he felt that he could not lift his head up in front of Wang Ziteng.

"Miss, look at their second master's face is blushing." Yu Hou stood behind the screen and looked out through the gap.Zili only glanced outside, and said boringly: "Is there anything to see, let's go back."