serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 362 The Leader of the Royalist Party

"Second Master, Miss Lin is here." Hu Huo reminded in a low voice.

"Ok?"

Jia Hu quickly looked up.

At some point, Lin Daiyu was already standing at the entrance of the courtyard, looking at him and smiling.

Jia Hu smiled and waved to Lin Daiyu, "Why are you standing at the gate of the courtyard? Be careful of drafts." Then he walked towards her.

Xue Baochai hesitated for a moment and then followed.

"Oh, it turns out that Sister Bao is here. It just so happens that we will have dinner together later. There are so many people."

Lin Daiyu came forward, glanced at Xue Baochai first, and then turned to Jia Hu and said, "I heard that you are back. The old lady sent a message, saying that if you are okay, you can come over."

"what's up?"

"I don't know."

"Then don't go."

"When the old lady asks, don't rely on me."

Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes at him, looked around, and then turned to Baochai: "What do you think?"

Xue Baochai thought for a moment: "It's all good. It's just that the backyard is a bit empty. It would be great if someone could plant a few peonies and a few sycamore trees."

Lin Daiyu smiled: "Let's talk about it later."

While they were talking, Xichun and others finally came out of the house. When they saw Lin Daiyu coming, they all smiled and greeted her: "Sister is here."

After a while of fussing, Lin Daiyu said with a smile: "Grandma Liu's family in Wanping just sent a few baskets of very fat crabs, which she raised on her own field. I have already steamed them in the small kitchen." Right again Xichun said, "You were clamoring for crabs before, but now I agree with you."

Xichun smiled happily.

Xiangyun and Tanchun looked at each other, and then said with a smile: "We will get busy around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Why don't we take advantage of this free day and sit down to eat crabs and enjoy the osmanthus flowers."

Tanchun continued: "That's right. The two sweet-scented osmanthus flowers at the foot of the Ouyang Champs Elysees are blooming beautifully. After dinner, let's invite the old lady and the others to enjoy the sweet-scented osmanthus together. After eating the crabs, let's start a poetry club again. Wouldn't it save trouble and benefit everyone? It’s lively.”

After saying that, he stepped forward and took Lin Daiyu's hand, "This is also the last time that Sister Lin will accompany us to a poetry club."

"Sister Lin, are you leaving?" Xichun was anxious.

Everyone was startled at first, and then laughed.

Xichun was confused and looked at Jia Hu at a loss.

Jia Hu smiled: "Silly girl, what your third sister means is that you will change your tune in the future."

Hearing this, Xichun came back to his senses, glanced at Tanchun dissatisfied, then walked to the other side of Lin Daiyu and hugged her arm, as if he was afraid that she would leave.

Lin Daiyu touched her head gently, and then glanced at Jia Hu proudly.

Jia Hu didn't share her common knowledge, so he turned to Tan Chun and said, "I'll leave this matter to you. There are still a few jars of 30-year-old daughter's red in the wine cellar, and four or five tables of fruit plates. Well, you can see for yourself. Let's do it." Then he turned to Lin Zhixiao's family, "You help the third girl."

Lin Zhixiao's family: "Yes." He answered and walked to stand behind Tanchun.

Tanchun smiled: "Second brother, don't worry, I will definitely host this crab feast."

Jia Hu nodded and said to Lin Daiyu and Xichun: "You two, don't eat too much. Although crabs are delicious, they are not good. If you eat too much, your stomach will hurt." Then he glanced at Xue Baochai subconsciously.

Xue Baochai's face turned red.

Jia Hu: "This is the same for you, just give it a try."

Everyone hurriedly agreed.

Tanchun looked at Jia Hu: "Second brother, what do you want to do this afternoon?"

Jia Hu spread his hands: "It's hard to say, maybe something will happen now." As he said that, he immediately felt footsteps outside the courtyard and turned to look towards the courtyard door.

As expected, the sound of hurried footsteps soon came from outside the courtyard, and then Lai Sheng's family hurried in and reported to Jia Hu: "Your Majesty, someone from the Ministry of War has invited you to go to the Yamen to discuss something."

Jia Hu: "I understand. Tell the people at the Ministry of War that I will be there in a moment."

Lai Sheng's family: "Yes." He answered and walked out quickly.

Tanchun said: "Since the second brother still has something to do, let's go to Ning'an Hall to sit down and discuss the poetry club." He turned around and said to Lin Daiyu: "Sister Lin, we are waiting for you in the side hall." After that, , pulling Xichun away.Yingchun and others all looked at Jia Hu and followed him out.

When they walked away, Jia Hu took Lin Daiyu's hand and walked towards the pomegranate tree, "Grandma Liu is here?"

Lin Daiyu: "No. She asked people from the Chamber of Commerce to bring these crabs."

Jia Hu nodded.

"By the way, there is a letter from father."

Lin Daiyu took out a letter from her sleeve and said, "Counting the time, my father can come to Beijing before the Mid-Autumn Festival." She handed the letter over.

Jia Hu took the letter, took it out and read it. He only read a few lines and smiled, "Our dad is really rich!"

Lin Daiyu: "Bah! I'm so ashamed."

Jia Hu smiled and said: "When you came to Beijing, you brought a boatload of dowry, and now you have two more boats. It seems that I have to build a bank specifically for you." He handed the letter back to Lin Daiyu, After thinking for a while, he continued: "Taoist Zhang chose three auspicious days, August 23st, August 23th and August [-]rd. August [-]th is too hasty, so let's set it on August [-]rd. How about, Bride?"

Lin Daiyu glanced at this shameless man with slight anger and turned her face to one side.

Jia Hu smiled: "After August, we won't have good days until mid-to-late September. It's impossible for my uncle to stay in the capital for so long. Besides, September may be very busy."

This time, Lin Daiyu was not angry or spoke. She said "hmm" and turned around to walk out of the hospital.

Looking at Lin Daiyu walking away, Jia Hu changed his attitude, sighed, waved to Hu Bo, and walked out of the hospital.

Shuntianfu Yamen back garden
"Ma Ruifang is here?!" Zhang Guangru, who was feeding the birds in the cage, was startled. He thought sharply for a moment, and then said to the housekeeper: "Go and invite him."

The housekeeper agreed and walked out.

"Zhang Qingtian is so leisurely!"

Soon, the voice of Ma Ruifang, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, came from outside the garden gate.

Zhang Guangru put down the bird food can and greeted him with a smile: "Brother Ma, if you miss me from afar, you will be offended!"

Ma Ruifang quickly clasped her hands and returned the greeting: "Brother Zhang, you are serious. I am the one who came uninvited. How offended!"

Zhang Guangru supported him: "This is enough. Brother Ma, please come and sit in the living room."

Ma Ruifang: "It's good here." After saying that, he pointed to the pavilion in the distance, "Let's go there and sit for a while." After that, he walked towards the pavilion.

Zhang Guangru was stunned for a moment and then walked over.

Ma Ruifang sat down in the pavilion: "I just went to Mei Mansion and passed by here. I stopped by to chat with you."

Zhang Guangru walked to Ma Ruifang and sat down.

While admiring the surrounding scenery, Ma Ruifang said: "Autumn is coming in August, the weather is getting colder, and many people have been sick recently. Brother Zhang needs to take good care of himself."

Zhang Guangru looked at him and said, "Brother Ma, please just say it if you have anything to say. I have to deal with official business later."

Ma Ruifang turned around and looked directly at Zhang Guangru: "We can't continue fighting like this."

Zhang Guangru: "What do you mean?"

Ma Ruifang sighed: "I only discovered this recently. Many young officials who previously supported us are being attracted by the Mei Party, just because we are helping Korean Tatars and Japanese people speak."

Zhang Guangru was shocked.

Ma Ruifang: "We have all been deceived by Jia Yucun and Mei Changwen. They are trying to sow discord between us in order to annex the royalists."

A flash of lightning seemed to flash before Zhang Guangru's eyes, and he stared at Ma Ruifang with wide eyes.

Ma Ruifang became serious: "I know, no matter how much I say, it's useless." He took out a piece of paper from his arms and said, "From now on, you will be the leader of the royalist party."

Zhang Guangru couldn't believe it, but couldn't help but grabbed it and looked at it carefully. It was indeed a letter written by Ma Ruifang. He was pleasantly surprised: "Brother Ma, why did you do this?"

Ma Ruifang: "Why don't I do this?"

Zhang Guangru was speechless and sat there awkwardly.

Ma Ruifang leaned into his ear and whispered: "Your Majesty is sick again." After saying that, he stood up and walked out.

(End of this chapter)