Red House Shoufu

Chapter 399

Nanzhili was at the peak of Wenhua, and together with Jiangxi and Fujian, it was called the three major imperial examination provinces of Great Chu.

In the eighth year of Self-government Germany, Lin Shu won six yuan in one fell swoop, and after he won the first Wenkui of Dachu, the literary spirit of Nanzhili reached a peak in an instant.

Even the wind by the Qinhuai River has become very literary. Those Qinlou and Chu Pavilions are singing poems that are said to be composed by Liu Yuanlang every day. Spread throughout the southern Zhili state capital.

The fact that Nanzhili Juzi, who had come to the capital early to prepare for the exam, was bullied by the grandson of Yan Shenggong, was spread to Jinling City by merchants in less than ten days.

Those who can enter Beijing to prepare for the exam several months in advance will naturally have a lot of family assets, and many of them are officials in the court or local village sages.

Although the Confucian family in Qufu is descended from a sage, everyone will more or less sell the face of the sage on weekdays, but it is related to their own nephews. These people who have a great say in Nanzhili and even Jiangnan immediately changed their faces. It began to compete with the Qufu Confucius family.

After the family letter from the capital came from the south, and after these people inquired about the incident of returning to Yanlou, the Shilin in the south of the Yangtze River broke out!

The reputation of Yanshenggong Mansion and even the entire Confucian family in Qufu has plummeted.What happened in Songjiang Mansion was like an ant nest in a broken dam, and it became the first dagger to stab the Confucius family in Qufu.

The Imperial Envoy and Prince Yizhong Gao Wanzhen went south to investigate Xu Huairen in the Songjiang Mansion together with the Criminal Department, Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, Nanzhili Procuratorate, and Nanzhili Governor's Office to investigate Xu Huairen and sue Huang Shiren. Colluding with Zhao Yourong, the county magistrate of Shanghai, in the case of occupying civilian land.

Behind Shanghai County Magistrate Zhao Yourong is Songjiang prefect Kong Rencheng. If an ordinary civil servant served as the imperial envoy to investigate the case, it is really possible that Yanshenggong's mansion would not dare to investigate.

But the person sent by the emperor this time is the son of the former crown prince, the current nephew of the royal family, and the prince of the royal family, Gao Wanjin. He gave orders one after another and turned the Songjiang mansion upside down.

Not to mention the small case of encroaching on civilian land, including Songjiang Prefecture's false reports of disasters, burst embankments and submerged fertile land, seized the opportunity to embezzle land, shoveled inferior goods into Changping warehouses, robbed civilian women, murdered and silenced, and assassinated Nanzhili inspectors. According to the censor Ma Chunzhi and so on, a series of cases have surfaced.

It was the first time for Gao Wanzhen to encounter such a thing. After reading the interrogation statement sent by his subordinates, he couldn't help taking a deep breath.

Songjiang prefecture has one prefecture and four counties. It is more appropriate to say that the surname is Kong rather than Gao.Officials from all over the four counties in one prefecture, except for one or two small officials of the eighth or ninth rank who are still loyal to the king's affairs, are almost all related to Yansheng Gong's mansion.

The Kong family has completely controlled the prefectural and county yamen in Songjiang Prefecture by means of marriage, sworn marriage and even coercion and lure.As for the old gentry, they almost used the method of business alliance to control seven or eight.

If Gao Wanzhen hadn't obeyed the emperor's instructions and used the golden ordering arrow to mobilize the forbidden army of the Jiangnan camp to take control of Songjiang Fucheng as soon as he arrived in Jinling, he might have died in the imperial envoy's office inexplicably.

"Report! Jinling urgent report!"

Gao Wanzhen, who sits in the Yamen of Songjiang Mansion, is having a headache on how to deal with the affairs of Songjiang Mansion, when suddenly there is an urgent report from outside the door.

"what happened?"

A courier of the imperial army knelt on one knee and presented a secret letter: "Report to the prince, Jinling has an urgent report, and the Embroidered Guards are spying on the urgent military situation. A large number of pirates are planning to invade the coastal areas of Nanzhili in the near future. The Libuzheng Shi Yamen and the Commander Si Yamen played an invitation to the prince, please return to Jinling as soon as possible to take charge of the overall situation."

"What a fool, this king is here to investigate the case. Isn't it the job of the governor of Jiangnan to send troops to fight? Go back and tell them that everything is done according to the rules. What do you want to do by forcing this king to violate the laws of the country? Yes Do you think this king didn't die fast enough?"

After a brief shock, Gao Wanzhen's first reaction was that this matter must not be contaminated.

He can be a happy prince now, one is because of the face of the Supreme Emperor and the broad-mindedness of His Majesty today, and the other is that he himself knows the current affairs.

Moreover, the emperor's uncle had saved the lives of his family in the first place, otherwise the fire that night, those burnt black corpses, might have been his family.

According to the order to investigate the case, as long as nothing goes wrong, the reward will never be less after returning to Beijing.He can also be like his ninth uncle Zhongshun Wang Gao Yongheng, be the number one rich man in the capital, and live happily ever after.

But if it is really contaminated with Jiangnan's military and political affairs, isn't it stabbing the emperor's lungs?He will never do anything that would kill him!
And it was a coincidence that the pirates came here, just after I took control of the Songjiang Mansion, the pirates were about to come, do those people in the Jinling Mansion really want me to take charge of the overall situation?
"My nephew Wan Yu respectfully invites Your Majesty Shengan. In mid-October, my nephew arrived in Jinling... Songjiang Gang'an, but broke through the emergency military situation. The pirates invaded. Your Majesty, Songjiang hastened to ask for the Holy Judge, to put the hearts of the Jiangshan community and the people at ease..."

Gao Wanzhen, together with a copy of the emergency military situation and the official documents of various cases he investigated after he came to Jiangnan, stuffed the thick stack of reports into a special small box.

"Come here, send it to the capital in eight hundred li urgently, and you must personally deliver it to His Majesty!"

Creaking, a seemingly ordinary carriage stopped in front of the gate of the Songjiang Mansion Yamen. Geng Xiangnan, who was dressed up, lifted the curtain of the carriage to look around, and then handed a post to the driver.

After some negotiations, the carriage went straight into the Yamen, and Geng Xiangnan was led into a secret room.

"Chenxiuyiwei Commander Geng Xiangnan pays respects to the prince!"

"Please hurry up with the matter of Geng Chen, you have done me a great favor by coming this time!"

After the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, and after the host and guest were seated separately, Geng Xiangnan directly talked about his intentions to Gao Wanzhen.

"My lord must not go back to Jinling at this time, the pirates were recruited by those people in Jinling City..."

……

The big wedding is coming soon, Lin Shu is no longer as usual, he ran to Wang's house for nothing.

As the weather became colder and colder, beggars who died of freezing and starvation in the capital were carried to the incarnation field from time to time.

The Shuntian government office applied for food and other items from the household department, and began to set up a porridge factory in Wengcheng, so that these poor people had hope of surviving the cold winter.

According to the usual practice, Daiyu was the master of the Lin family, and donated a lot of food and cloth to the porridge factory, which caused a wave of donations. There were many rich and noble families in Beijing. donate.

After the discussion between the Ministry of Rites and the Shuntian Mansion, some of the prominent people in the donation were given plaques engraved with the Home of Renyi. The Lin family, who was the first to advocate, naturally also received one.

Lin Shu sent off the officials of Shuntian Mansion dumbfoundedly, and said to Daiyu: "If we send a few more yuan, our family will have no place to hang it."

"I think Mr. Wen would like the Ministry of Industry to make a few more plaques for the House of Renyi. One piece is worth a thousand taels of silver. This time, the Ministry of Households has saved nearly ten thousand shi of grain."

Daiyu recalled what Lin Shu said before, and said with a smile: "Exchanging a dozen plaques for ten thousand stones of grain, in Duke Wen's opinion, the imperial court has made a lot of money."

"By the way, has my brother seen Baoyu recently? Yesterday I went to visit my grandmother, and Baoyu hesitated, as if he wanted to tell me something embarrassing, but when I asked him, he didn't say anything. He just asked my brother when Have time."

Jia Baoyu?
Lin Shu asked puzzledly, "Brother Bao, did you tell me what you want from me?"

Daiyu shook her head, logically she and Jia Baoyu were first cousins, and they talked about everything when they were young, so it didn't make sense for Jia Baoyu to seek out his elder brother Lin Shu first.

"Forget it, I'm free today, so let's go to Rongguo Mansion."

When Lin Shu came to Rongguo Mansion, Jia Baoyu was secretly making rouge in his small courtyard.This is his little hobby, but unfortunately, except for a few sisters, almost everyone in the family says he is not doing his job properly.

Hearing that Lin Shu was coming, the sorrow on his face disappeared instantly.He said to the pretty maids in the room: "You should avoid it, Cousin Lin is a gentleman with strict rules, if you say something wrong, I'm afraid you will offend Cousin Lin."

Jia Baoyu was right. As soon as Lin Shu entered the small courtyard, he frowned and looked at the dense bamboo sea in the courtyard. There was someone secretly looking at him there. Fuquan whispered, "There are people in that bamboo forest..."

"It's okay, it should be Brother Bao's group of maids."

Lin Shu had already seen Jia Baoyu who came out to greet him, and saw that there was still a spot of rouge on his face, and couldn't help laughing: "Brother Bao, what game are you playing, why is there a mark of rouge on his face?"

Ah!
Jia Baoyu screamed, wiped Lin Shu's finger with his hand, and said with a blushing face, "I just made a new box of rouge, and I was trying to see how it would work, but cousin Lin came and didn't have time to wipe it off. If you are rude, please don't blame my cousin."

Lin Shu thought, this Jia Baoyu didn't lie to him, he was an honest person.Dealing with such a person is a relaxing thing, and it feels good.

He waved his hand and said: "There are thousands of people in the world, and no one has a little preference. I have heard from Yu'er that Brother Bao is good at making rouge and gouache, and maybe in the future they can make a century-old brand."

"Cousin Lin is joking, please come in, I have someone make good tea, please taste it!"

Of course, Jia Baoyu didn't ask Lin Shu to taste the new tea. He was actually in trouble. After thinking about it, only Lin Shu could solve it, so he asked Daiyu.

However, Lin Shu's visit today made Jia Baoyu somewhat at a loss as to where to start.He hesitated and hawed for a long time, unable to utter the words welling up in his throat.

Lin Shu put down the teacup, smiled and asked: "Brother Bao seems to be in trouble, tell me, what's the matter that made our Second Lord Bao so difficult?"

"Cousin saw it?"

"It's pretty much written all over your face."

Jia Baoyu blushed, and then let out a sigh.

"I'm afraid that others will laugh at me if I say it... I want to see sister Xiluan, but my uncle went to Shandong, and my aunt stopped me from going in."

It turned out to be for such a small matter?
It doesn't make sense, according to Wang Ziteng's scheme, he wished that his daughter and Jia Baoyu would fall in love and get entangled together.Why did Wang Ziteng's wife stop Jia Baoyu from going to see Wang Xiluan?
Back then, in order to use Wang Xifeng to tie Jia Lian, Wang Xifeng almost lived directly in Rongguo Mansion.What secular rules, in the eyes of the Wang family, can be thrown aside for the greatest benefit.

Lin Shu asked in surprise: "Since your aunt disagrees, why don't you ask the old lady to have a word?"

"The old ancestor can't listen to the affairs of my uncle's house, and... I invited Sister Feng to talk, but my aunt still stopped me from approaching Sister Xiluan's yard."

Jia Baoyu seemed to have been hit by a huge blow, and he finished the ins and outs of the matter listlessly: "Actually, I just want to ask Sister Xiluan, if she doesn't want to marry me, I will go to the palace to ask Elder Sister to cancel the plan." It's a marriage. I figured it out, instead of seeing each other and hating each other, why bother to harm an innocent woman's life?"

This logic was indeed something Jia Baoyu could figure out.It's a pity that he still hasn't seen through this world. If Wang Xiluan doesn't marry him, I'm afraid it will be even worse.

Wang Ziteng's heart is ruthless!
"Didn't you ask Cousin Lian? He is also the son-in-law of the Wang family, which is more convenient than me, an outsider."

Lin Shu was a little curious about the reason why Mrs. Wang Ziteng did this, but after all, some things he did were not justified, but Jia Lian was different, a serious son-in-law of the Wang family.

Jia Baoyu shook his head again and again: "Second Brother Lian has been there, but my aunt still doesn't let me see Sister Xiluan, she said it's the rule. Second Brother Lian won't let me go out again after he comes back, saying that he should stay at home and be filial to the elders. Ancestor, we will see you after the big wedding."

The rules of bullshit made Lin Shu's curiosity even stronger.

At present, there is indeed a custom that after a marriage is arranged, a man and a woman cannot meet before the wedding.But Jia Baoyu and Wang Xiluan are direct cousins, and they often played together when they were young, and when did the Wang family follow the old rules, isn't this nonsense?
It’s tricky!
This was Lin Shu's first thought after hearing the incident, and Jia Lian probably thought of this as well. The reason why he stopped Jia Baoyu from going out was probably because he was worried that Jia Baoyu would ruin his plan.

Sure enough, Jia Lian, who had just returned home from the Dragon Guard, sent Xing'er to invite Lin Shu. Jia Baoyu looked at him pleadingly, and Lin Shu smiled slightly: "Brother Bao, don't worry, I'll go talk to cousin Lian, see Is there any way, I will come to find you in a while."

……

"So, the Wang family is planning to hide this scandal?"

Wang Ziteng's wife is indeed hiding something, and Jia Lian has sent someone to investigate the matter clearly.Wang Xiluan, the heroine bestowed by the palace and Jia Baoyu's nominal wife, unexpectedly had an affair with someone else.

Lin Shu didn't know whether he should feel sorry for Jia Baoyu, because he was cuckolded before he was officially married.

Jia Lian said angrily: "This is trampling my Jia family's face under their feet. The Wang family stopped Baoyu from letting him meet Wang Xiluan because Wang Xiluan had just given birth and was raising her body. What a shame, what a shame! "

Lin Shu didn't know how to comfort Jia Lian, if this happened to the Lin family, he probably wouldn't be able to bear such an insult.

However, he still wanted to figure out the whole story, so he asked, "Who is that man? Is it something before marriage or after marriage?"

Jia Lian replied bitterly: "Our old acquaintance, Zhen Baoyu from the Zhen family!"

(End of this chapter)