The Rich and the Idlers of the Red Chamber

Since she was young, she was well-clothed and well-fed, and after entering the palace, she has been honored and favored all the way. After a long time, even the empress of that year had to kill the concubine Zhen Gui who shunned her for a long time.

Although Concubine Zhen Gui is not yet forty, she has experienced a series of blows. To be honest, she already has the meaning of being ashamed. Her mother’s family is completely gone. She showed her unfeeling feelings towards her, which caused Concubine Zhen Gui, who had hardly suffered any setbacks, to start to break down mentally.Once a person's heart is dead, then, there is no will to live, so it is very logical for her to be sick.

Even after the old sage found out, he tossed the imperial doctor a lot, saying that if the imperial concubine could not be cured, they would bury her with her.But the problem is that medicine can cure diseases, and if a person loses the will to survive, even if there is an elixir, it will not cure his life.

In the end, Concubine Zhen Gui passed away quietly on a rainy night. When she was about to die, she called away all the waiters, and put on a plum blossom makeup for herself when she was still a girl, and she still wore the same girlish makeup. She wore her hair in a bun and wore the jewelry she wore when she was just presented to the old saint by her family. Then she lay on the bed very peacefully, closed her eyes, and stopped breathing not long after.

Although Concubine Zhen Gui became haggard and aged a lot in the end, but when she died, her complexion was like that of a stranger, showing a strange beauty.

After the old sage heard about it, regardless of other people's dissuasion, he went to the dowager's bedroom overnight, looked at the face of the dowager, and finally let out a long sigh.

Concubine Zhen Gui passed away, and the old saint was obviously very sad. Tu Minghao cried like something in front of Concubine Zhen Gui's death. How could Tu Minghao not cry? , I have a little tolerance for him, but he is just looking at him, but he is the only son of Concubine Zhen Gui. As long as Concubine Gui is alive, she will naturally be able to give Tu Minghao a certain amount of protection, at least with the old saint. Someone who can still talk.

But the imperial concubine died. On the one hand, Tu Minghao lost a biological mother who had always been able to accommodate and tolerate him infinitely. On the other hand, there was no one in the palace who could speak for him. After leaving Concubine Zhengui, after a long time, whether the old sage will forget about his son, this makes Tu Minghao feel very panic.

People in the royal family are very practical, no matter whether Tu Minghao lost his mother's love or his protection, he felt like his sky was falling.In the past, Tu Minghao actually always felt that his mother had nothing to do with his father's favor, but in fact he didn't have much knowledge, and he had never been able to rely on this favor to give himself more capital.But now that I think about it, that is actually the wisdom of Concubine Zhen Gui.What kind of person is the old sage, a favorite concubine, if he loses his duty, no matter how much the old sage loves Zhen Gui's temperament and appearance, it is impossible for the old sage to tolerate Zhen Gui for a long time.

I have to say that Tu Minghao has been able to live a very nourishing life for so many years, and even appears to be quite arrogant in many cases. This is largely because his biological mother is Princess Zhengui, and there are so many princes in the palace. There are so many, and Tu Minghao didn't take up the title of eldest son, nor was he a young son, he was stuck in the middle, not up or down, but he was able to win the old sage's preference among the princes, maybe it was just because he was so good looking. Well, my mouth can talk, and I can act coquettishly.God, as long as they can get the favor of the saint, those princes in the palace can't do anything.

Everyone naturally takes Tu Minghao's sadness as a matter of course. The saint actually doesn't have any feelings for Concubine Zhen Gui. The mother's family is strong enough, and she has a son, so she can be named a concubine. In fact, she is not the dish in the old saint's mind at all.The sage said, however, that the concubine is the concubine's mother. Over the years, she has served the old sage with all her heart and made great achievements. Therefore, she directly announced that after the concubine's death, no banquet and music will be allowed within a year for any family with a noble family, and no common people will be able to marry in March. , All orders and so on are entered into the royal class according to the noble system.In short, the death of the noble concubine was a filial piety for the country.

And the old sage also said that the imperial concubine is going to be buried in the imperial mausoleum. Although she can't lie with her in the future like a queen, she should be buried in a place closer to her. He also asked the Ministry of Rites to give Zhen Gui Concubine has a series of posthumous titles with very beautiful meanings. In short, after the death of Concubine Zhen Gui, she was extremely mournful, and her funeral was only a half way behind the empress dowager's funeral.

However, the dead themselves don't know how great the scenery is after death, it's just for the living to see.Although the old sage said that he was very sad when the imperial concubine passed away, he didn't mention the Zhen family at all.

The old sage didn't speak, and the sage was happy not to mention it.To be honest, the collapse of the Zhen family is really a good thing for the saint. The Zhen family has acquired a lot of money over the years, although a lot of it is used for enjoyment, or it is used to form a party for personal gain. Therefore, Zhen In the father-in-law's house, it really didn't have much money.But the problem is that the masters of the Zhen family, big and small, have a lot of private property, and even those slaves have a lot of money in their families. Therefore, after the inspection, all kinds of gold and silver treasures, gold and stone antiques, etc. Call countless.In addition, there are various houses, shops, Zhuangzi and so on. These are all considerable figures.

What's more, some henchmen of the Zhen family were also taken down, and their family properties were also confiscated.Naturally, their family wealth will not be obtained from the salt tax withheld for so many years. Naturally, there are other sources, such as the output of their own property, the filial piety of others, and corruption and bribery in other places. Well, the national treasury has been enriched this time, even the saint's internal treasury has many more treasures.

Of course, the sage also expressed anger about this. The Zhen family almost covered the sky with one hand in the south of the Yangtze River. Even better, for example, a pair of red coral bonsai confiscated from the Zhen family's warehouse, each seven feet high, even in the palace, there is no such treasure, and this pair of corals, according to the Zhen family's The confession by the side was clearly a tribute, but the Zhen family fell in love with it, and then took a pair of four-foot ones from their own house and replaced the pair of seven-foot ones, and then took the pair of red coral bonsai for themselves to enjoy. up.

This kind of thing didn't just happen once or twice. After reading the confession, the sage wished to punish the Zhen family and the nine clans.Therefore, although Concubine Zhen Gui died, the disposal of the Zhen family was not delayed because of this, nor was it lenient to them, pardoning them once or twice, and how to continue the sentence. Therefore, the officials below knew what to do. Well, the Zhen family is completely over this time.Even if it revives in the future, it will be a matter of the offshoots of the Zhen family, and Zhen Yingjia's line, it is very likely that there will be no room for recovery in several generations.

However, the Zhen family suffered from bad luck, and it didn't have much impact on other people at all. Even, the impact on these people was worse than the death of Concubine Zhen Gui.At least, the orders of each family have to go to the inner palace to cry and watch the spirit every day, and every one of them is so annoying.

Among the people crying and guarding the spirit, Shi Shi and Xiao Wang are indispensable. After all, they are imperial orders, so they should appear on such occasions.That's all for Xiao Wang, she is really inconspicuous in the edict, and she is not a high-profile person, but Shi Shi is a first-rank duke and wife, her edict is only under a few concubines, but, in the Among those people, Shi Shi was very embarrassed.Her husband has passed away, her son is useless, and the Rong Mansion is now in great decline. Therefore, those people who were flattered in front of Shi Shi, are now able to stand in front of Shi Shi because of their husbands and sons. He straightened his back.

Even, some people who know some old things in the past are still full of contempt for Shi Shi. For them, those things that Shi Shi did, if they were, they would have been too ashamed to go out. It's embarrassing to show your face.

Shi Shi was isolated by everyone, even those people who were four kings and eight kilometers away, even relatives of her mother's family, put on an appearance of keeping her away from her, Shi Shi was full of anger every day.However, he had to bite the bullet and continue to enter the palace every day. After all, the number of times the Rong Mansion was able to show up in these years is really too small. Shi Shi felt that the Rong Mansion had almost been forgotten by many mansions in the capital.

Compared with the Shi family, the Zhang family is quite proud. It seems that Jia She has never been in court these years, but no rewards from above can be missed. It is said that the old sage will go to Jia She from time to time. Going up to the mansion, sometimes the sage would submissively go to Jia She's place, which shows how Jia She's family is.The most important thing is that Jia She has a status and can make money. In the eyes of many people who are living on their own and are struggling to live, it is like a shining golden light. They want to try their best to build a relationship with Jia She.

In addition, the Zhang family will soon have a princess as a daughter-in-law. In the future, Jia Chen's line can barely be counted in the ranks of the clan. Therefore, the Zhang family has almost the posture of being a star in the circle of imperial orders. Seeing that Shi Shi wanted to grind her teeth, she wanted to put on airs of an elder with Zhang Shi, but when she saw Zhang Shi's half-smiling eyes, Shi Shi immediately lost her confidence.After all, Jia Amnesty was adopted, so she is at most an aunt now, so what can she do with Mrs. Zhang!Sometimes Shi also regrets that she should not have agreed to adopt Jia Amnesty at the beginning, so that now, many things are done with hands tied, and without Jia Amnesty's check and balance, it is difficult for her to completely control Jia Zheng. , the most important thing is that Jia Zheng is a muddy person who can't stick to the wall at all. Shi Shi just feels that he has lost all face because of such a useless son.Of course, she won't reflect on herself. After all, many things come from her in the final analysis, but she never thinks about it.

Concubine Zhen Gui was finally buried. The tomb of the old saint is still under construction. Concubine Zhen Gui was buried not far from the tomb of the old saint. Naturally, the tomb of the old saint and his own queen share.The old sage had three queens in his life, and the second one was fine. She was involved in the conspiracy and assassination. Although she committed suicide in fear of crime, the old sage directly deposed her as a queen. In the end, she was only buried as a concubine. up.Therefore, in the tomb of the old sage, there is only a place reserved for the Empress Yuan and the current Empress Dowager. As for Concubine Zhen Gui, since her status is not good enough, she is considered a noble concubine, but in essence, she is still a concubine, so she has to be wronged At one o'clock, he was buried in the tomb next door.

The burial of the noble concubine means that for a family with a title, there is no entertainment for one year, and there is nothing more to do with marriage. To be honest, for Jia She and his family, there is really nothing to say of.

For the Rong Mansion, there is nothing to say, the Hongying girl from the Zhen family, her grandparents died and her parents were exiled, she was supposed to guard her grandparents, and she was not allowed to marry for a year.

However, Concubine Zhen Gui didn't know what she was thinking. After hearing about the Hongying girl, she actually ordered the palace servants before she died to leave some belongings for her niece of her mother's family. her dowry.

This is also the helplessness of Concubine Zhen Gui. The Zhen family has completely collapsed. The man will either die, be exiled, or be enslaved in the palace. If he is fined, he will be reduced to a grassroots citizen after returning home, and within three generations, he will not be able to participate in the scientific examination.In other words, apart from the sisters and nieces who were married before, the natal family who are closer to Concubine Zhen Gui's blood relationship will be ruined in this life.

On the contrary, this concubine's daughter from a brother's family still met her beloved.Concubine Zhen Gui's feelings towards the Jia family are actually very complicated. The Rong Mansion is indeed not a good family. She also knows that the Shi family and Jia Zheng will never save their niece without any benefit. Therefore, it can only be that Zhen Hongying still met her beloved and met Jia Zhu.Concubine Zhengui felt sorry for herself, but in the end she hoped that her niece would have a good future.

Concubine Zhen Gui has been favored for many years, and the old sage has always loved her. When a man dotes on a woman, it is natural for her to have money to spend as she pleases. But at this time, as an emperor, what is the point of doting on a concubine? Good stuff, so appreciate it!Anyway, the old sage gave Concubine Zhen Gui all kinds of rewards every day and every day. Gold and silver were just vulgar things. , never without her.Even if there are some materials that are not very popular, Concubine Zhen Gui also has them, so if you can't wear them, it's good to put them in your own box and have a look.

Concubine Zhen Gui's natal family is also quite rich, and every year some money will be sent in for Concubine Zhen Gui to take care of, or make rouge money for her, plus some filial piety from other people.Therefore, Concubine Zhen Gui's private treasury is very expensive. Before her death, Concubine Zhen Gui arranged which ones she would take underground to continue using, which ones were reserved for Tu Minghao, which ones were reserved for Princess Ronghui, and , and gave Zhen Hongying, who is almost the only one who is still a good citizen and has a decent home, a reasonable dowry.

In this dowry, all kinds of things are complete, such as clothing materials, head jewelry, calligraphy, painting and antiques, as well as gold and silver at the bottom of the box. After all, these concubines Zhen Gui have nowhere to go, so they can't be taken out of the palace.However, there is also a value of about 2 taels. This dowry is not too thin no matter where it is placed. At least, in the current situation of Jia's family, this dowry is already relatively generous.Concubine Zhen Gui didn't give more, no amount would be enough, and Zhen Hongying, an orphan girl, couldn't keep her.

These were sent to the Ning Mansion by the people in the original Dowager Zhen Gui's palace after the burial of the Concubine Zhen Gui. It was specified that these were reserved for Zhen Hongying. Please look at the Ning Mansion for the sake of friendship with the Zhen family. , take these, and buy a decent dowry for Zhen Hongying.

The Qin family has made all the preparations. Zhen Hongying’s dowry was paid out by herself. Jia Zhu also took out her private house for so many years and quietly gave it to the Qin family for help. To prepare for Zhen Hongying, the Qin family also felt that Zhen Hongying was pitiful, besides, she also knew some of her husband's plans. Zhen Hongying was certainly out of the sea of ​​suffering, but what her husband meant was that Zhen Hongying would give it to her. Shi Shi and Jia Zheng stepped in, thinking about the people in the Rong Mansion, Qin knew that Zhen Hongying's life in the future might not be very easy, so she gritted her teeth and took a few thousand taels The money came out, and a dowry was bought for Zhen Hongying.

Now that there is a gift from Concubine Zhen Gui at the end of her life, the situation is suddenly different.The Qin family handed over the list of rewards from Concubine Zhen Gui to Zhen Hongying as they were, and asked her to keep them carefully. These will be the foundation of her life in the future. Zhen Hongying never thought that she would have such luck.Concubine Zhen Gui was a very distant figure to her. Concubine Zhen Gui once followed the old sage on a tour to the south and lived in the Zhen family. Women are different, they didn't have a chance to go forward at all, but kowtowed from a distance, and didn't even see what the Concubine Gui looked like, but it turned out that Concubine Zhen Gui was like this, which made her feel very complicated.

Zhen Hongying is also a smart person, Mrs. Qin told her to keep it safe, but she still blushed and gave it to Mrs. Qin. She confessed that she didn't know anything about these things, and Mrs. Qin decided everything for her. I couldn't refuse, but I still agreed, but I was thinking in my heart, it's better not to move these things, but I can take out the cash inside, and set up a Zhuangzi shop for Zhen Hongying. Lease it out, at least there will be a fixed income every year, so you won't just sit back and eat.

In addition, the Qin family is going to buy some other things directly for Zhen Hongying. For example, for furniture and furnishings, some of the furniture in Ningfu will be directly used by Ningfu. After preparing for a year and a half, Zhen Hongying's dowry can be regarded as relatively decent even if it is in a noble family.

In the Rong Mansion, when they heard that Zhen Hongying got some relics of Concubine Zhen Gui, Xiao Wang was the first to heave a sigh of relief. Jia Zhu mentioned to Xiao Wang that at least some money would be given to Zhen Hongying. Hong Ying married empty-handed, which is looked down upon by others, and she will not be able to hold her head up in the future. Jia Zhu has hidden her private house for so many years. It was some gold and silver collars that I used when I was a child, they were all melted, and they were sent to the Ning Mansion.

But Xiao Wang was very reluctant. She did prepare something for Jia Zhu, but if she gave it to her future daughter-in-law as a dowry, it would be the daughter-in-law's private property, not her own son's. Jia Zhu would be at a disadvantage , Therefore, Xiao Wang has been dawdling all the time. Although he also sent some to the past later, he didn't send much.

Now I know that Zhen Hongying has installed it herself, and Xiao Wang’s is called an easy one, which saves her from spending more money. In many cases, the daughter-in-law has it, but it does not mean that she has it. Xiao Wang’s dowry is simple and thin, so many years She has suffered a lot for this, she can understand Zhen Hongying, but she values ​​Jia Zhu more, can it be the same for a daughter-in-law as for a son?Jia Zheng wants to spend money, Xiao Wang can confidently say that you go to the public to get it, and don't give Jia Zheng a penny of your own dowry and private house. In the future, it will be the same for your own daughter-in-law. , To do things, I have to have some living money on hand, and I gave it to my daughter-in-law. It is always unreasonable to ask my son to talk to his daughter-in-law.Now it's all over, it's finally settled, the daughter-in-law also has a dowry, and the son won't have to bow his head to ask for money from his daughter-in-law because of financial difficulties in the future.

On Shi's side, he has never seen Zhen Hongying's dowry with his own eyes, but he has some thoughts about it. Xiao Wang's family has always been a Pixiu. I went in with my own money to subsidize it, and I only knew to cry for poverty.But Zhen Hongying didn't have the support of her natal family, and after entering the door, she still didn't let herself decide, there must be a lot of good things in the things that Princess Zhen Gui gave her.When she enters the door, simply hand over the housekeeper's affairs to her.As for Xiao Wang's side, with such a money-greedy temperament, I can't believe that she is not interested in her daughter-in-law's dowry!

As for Jia Zheng, although he still disliked Zhen Hongying, he was a little panicked now. He didn't care about Zhen Hongying's dowry. Jia Zheng was never someone who could think of such things.He just felt that the death of Concubine Zhen Gui was so honorable. After she passed away, she still thought about this niece. He was afraid that the royal family would take a high look at this niece in the future. Such a thing as Zhen Hongying's death from illness is considered unacceptable.Thinking that his daughter-in-law doesn't even have a natal family, and he doesn't have a capable in-law, Jia Zheng feels uncomfortable for a while, but now he can only admit it.