Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 402 Lin Daiyu enters the Hou Mansion
In the Hall of Mental Cultivation,

Emperor Wu Zhou Shihong was pleased, seeing that the three princes in front of him had grown up, and their fledglings were about to fly.

Just three days after Emperor Wu of the Yangxin Palace made up his mind to let the three princes officially leave the palace and build a palace, Zhang Jinyu, who was in the side hall, had no scruples about eating and enjoying the imperial dining room in the palace. The delicacies here are not luxurious. How should I put it? They are poor and exquisite. There are many kinds of ordinary dishes and they are not very tasty. They are not as delicious as the two dishes from Jiangnan Buzhengshi, let alone the taste of Zuixianlou in Beijing. When it comes to luxury, it can't compare to the one in the Marquis Mansion, let alone the dining scene in Rongguo Mansion.

After all, I am afraid that the emperor and others were deceived by the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the dead eunuchs in the imperial kitchen. This is an interesting thing. When the three princes leave the palace to open the palace, they will definitely cause trouble. Then eat some Delicious food fills their mouths.

After finishing the meal, Zhang Jinyu put down the bowls and chopsticks and shouted to the door;

"Little father-in-law, I have finished eating. You can lead the way and take me out of the palace."

The little eunuch standing outside the door walked in with careful steps and replied,

"Master Hou, this is Xiao Dongzi. You have had dinner. Is it delicious?"

"Well, yes, it is indeed the royal dining room in the palace. It is a rare delicacy in the world and is well-deserved. I am so lucky to have such a good meal today, but I am really lucky to have benefited from the favor of the emperor and the empress."

With a smile on her face, Zhang Jinyu began to brag about her good things, as if they were delicacies that were out of print in the world. This compliment made Xiao Dongzi and the serving maids and eunuchs around her smile with joy, and lowered their heads to laugh secretly.

Xiao Dongzi said with a smile,
"Master Marquis, you still have discernment. This is carefully prepared for the Marquis by the imperial kitchen. It is fried, grilled, stewed, etc., I am afraid that the Marquis will not be satisfied with it."

"Okay, let me thank the father-in-laws in the imperial kitchen for this prince. This is a reward for you."

"Thank you Lord Marquis for your kindness."

Zhang Jinyu took a hundred-tael silver note and handed it over. The little eunuch took it in surprise and hurriedly thanked him. Looking at the flattered look, it was probably the first time he received money from a foreign minister, so Zhang Jinyu stopped making fun of him. ,

"Young father-in-law, don't be polite. Please send me out of the palace. I'm dirty and uncomfortable."

The little eunuch came to his senses, collected the banknotes, and confessed.
"Master Marquis, please forgive me, Xiao Dongzi was negligent. Come on, go this way, Master Marquis, please."

Zhang Jinyu strode back along the path pointed out.

And Mrs. Wang and others,

I have returned to the Hou Mansion long ago.

After all, this was Lin Daiyu's first time entering the mansion. After getting off the carriage, she looked around curiously. She was so majestic and luxurious. Another point was that the entire mansion was made of the same bright yellow and red as Ouchi. Although it seemed that the bright colors were used later. The yellow has been wiped out, but there is still a small amount of paint on many pillars and beams, which is enough to show the power of the Hou Mansion. There are craftsmen coming and going in the backyard. It seems that the house is still being repaired, and there are guards on the side. guard.

I walked through three courtyards, all of which were pavilions and pavilions with red and green tiles. The pines and cypresses in the courtyard were all newly transplanted, and there were not many other plants.

Inside the atrium courtyard, I was amazed to see such a high attic.
Qin Keqing looked at Lin Daiyu who was a little stunned, gently pulled Lin Daiyu's sleeve with her hand, and said with a smile,

"This loft is called Dongyun Tower, which is my mother's residence. I heard that there is also a loft with the same name in the old residence of the Hou Mansion outside the Pass. How about it? It's not bad. When I came here for the first time, I was a little surprised. The loft It can still be built that high.”

Lin Daiyu reacted, her face turned red, and she moved her steps and praised her.
"It's very good. Yu'er has never seen such a tall one before. It's so beautiful."

"It's beautiful, why don't you go in and take a look."

Qin Keqing not only did not let go of her sleeves, but instead stretched her hand down, grabbed Lin Daiyu's beautiful hand, held it, and led him directly into the attic.
into the house,
The house was as warm as spring and magnificent. All kinds of furniture and utensils exuded ancient charm and must be valuable. There was something shining on a high platform in the central hall. Everyone didn't care. They just felt warm as spring. It was very... curious.

After taking off the fox fur, the free maid took it. Mrs. Wang had already arranged for the servants to prepare meals and called the maids to wash up.

"But Qing, just keep an eye out here. I'll go back and change my clothes. Come back as soon as you go."

"Yes, mother, but you understand."

Qin Keqing responded generously,

Not far away is Ningguo Mansion,
Wang Xifeng dealt with some of the housekeepers' slaves last night, but not even a trace of news from the house reached the second wife. Privately, everyone was afraid of Wang Xifeng's methods. They all said that the second wife's housekeeper was becoming more and more severe and ruthless now. .

The pear orchard in the east courtyard,

Wang Xifeng got up early now. One of them was to arrange the day's work for the people in the house, and the other was to ask Ping'er to always pay attention to what was going on at the Chamber of Commerce. Now that the caravan had set off for more than half a month, she didn't know whether the waterway was safe or not. Nearly 300 people from the Jia family followed him out of the prison to deliver goods. Although they were followed by bodyguards, they were still worried.

In the past few days, due to excessive thinking, I was restless and looked a little tired. Ping'er brought a bowl of Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup over, blew on the bowl and said carefully;

"Grandma, don't look at the account book. Drink some lotus seed soup to relieve the anger. There is no need to worry about this matter. The Hou Mansion will bear it. At that time, didn't the old lady of the Hou Mansion say that the money earned will be shared with you, and the loss will be shared with you. It’s up to the Hou Mansion.”

Hearing Ping'er's specious comfort, Wang Xifeng raised her eyebrows, threw down the account book in her hand, and laughed;
"Hey, you are so loud. Outsiders don't know. They think that you are the wife of the Hou Mansion and can make the decision. Besides, my aunt can make the decision, but we can't rely on it like this. You are right. If the Hou Mansion merchants Something happened to the caravan, and other people's caravans will definitely not be able to escape. Bring it over, and I'll drink it right now." "That's right, Mistress, look at what you just said, are you ashamed or not?"

Ping'er put the cooled lotus seed porridge on the table and muttered angrily, which aroused Wang Xifeng's interest. He picked up the bowl and took a sip.

"What am I ashamed of? Anyway, you are always a kid no matter where you go, and I'm ashamed of you for using me. I think you are eager for it, but it seems that there is no room for you in the Marquis's house, so you still stay with me honestly. , when your second master can make some money, I will make the decision and let the second master become famous for you, you can think of it."

Ping'er's face turned red with embarrassment and he refused to obey.

"How can a grandma like you say such nonsense? The second master is not here. If the second master is here, I will torture you as much as I want, but just don't beg for mercy."

When Ping'er got anxious, he even teased her about the private conversation in Wang Xifeng's boudoir. Wang Xifeng choked and immediately put down the bowl, then reached out to scratch her, laughing and cursing,
"You little hooves have gone too far. I wonder if grandma won't take care of you."

After a rough fight, the two of them were disheveled, with part of their white clothes exposed. It wasn't until there was a knock on the door outside that the two of them hurriedly packed up their clothes. After tidying up, Wang Xifeng returned to the table and sat down. Ping'er shouted;
"Who is outside?"

"Sister Ping'er, it's me, Xiaohong."

Xiaohong was not in a hurry and was waiting outside the door.

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng winked at Ping'er. Ping'er nodded, walked over, opened the door, and asked;
"what's up?"

"Miss Ping'er, please tell Second Mistress. The people from the chamber of commerce outside the mansion are watching and say that there seems to be some movement in the Hou Mansion. Maybe the Marquis is back and came back specifically to tell Second Mistress."

"What, came back so soon?"

Wang Xifeng's voice came from behind Ping'er. Seeing that Wang Xifeng was a little anxious, he walked to the door and asked,

"Did he see Marquis Luo Yun come back with his own eyes?"

Wang Xifeng suddenly came over, startling Ping'er and Xiaohong. Xiaohong looked at the second mistress behind Ping'er and replied,

"When I got back to grandma, I didn't see the Marquis, but there were dozens of carriages parked at the gate of the Marquis' mansion, and they were carrying boxes into the mansion. Someone should have come back, and there can't be any lies."

"Okay, you go down first, you did a good job on this."

"Yes, Second Mistress!"

Wang Xifeng praised Xiao Hong and then asked her to go down. Lin Hongyu also knew that the second mistress had something to do, so she naturally resigned.

When Xiaohong walked out of the yard, Wang Xifeng closed the door and asked in confusion;
"Ping'er, it stands to reason that there shouldn't be a letter from Mr. Hou when he returns to Beijing. How could it be so sudden? Could it be that something happened in Jiangnan, and Jia Lian is still in Yangzhou."

Wang Xifeng felt nervous and worried about Jia Lian's situation. Although Wang Xifeng was usually arrogant and refused to give in, she relied on Jia Lian's status after all. If something happened to Jia Lian, she might not even be as good as her elder sister-in-law Li Wan. He also has a legitimate son, and he has nothing. At this moment, Wang Xifeng also realized his situation, but Ping'er comforted him,
"Grandma, don't worry. You will know what happened in Jiangnan when the Marquis comes back. If grandma is really worried about the second master, why don't we go to the Marquis's mansion to see what's going on? If the Marquis or the old lady comes back, we can Ask the second master how he is doing. If he doesn’t come, let’s talk about it. What does grandma think about it?”

Ping'er comforted him with a few words and said the reason. The Marquis returned to Beijing. Whether it was true or not, he would know it when he came to the house.

Wang Xifeng thought for a moment and felt that it was right. Although she came anxiously to visit Jia Lian as soon as she came back, she had no idea what was going on with Jia Lian in Jiangnan.

I really wanted to go to the Hou Mansion, so I didn’t care about it. I got up and took the fox fur and put it on.

"Come on, let's go to the Marquis Mansion. You go and take the bacon prepared by the second master with you, and then bring the game as well. Let's go."

Wang Xifeng walked out of the house as if the wind was blowing under her feet. Ping'er also took a cloak and put it on behind her, shouting:

"Grandma, slow down and watch your step."

As he spoke, he jogged a few steps before catching up. He also called the servants to prepare a carriage and guards waiting outside the house.

On the Anshui River,
The building boat that Jia Lian was riding was almost at the pier in the capital. Jia Lian stood on the deck and was a little surprised that the building boat was so fast. He asked the steward on board,
"Steward, can a building ship be so fast?"

The manager beside him smiled and replied,

"Second Master, you can really do it. There are different sizes of big boats. This big boat is much smaller than the other one in the Hou Mansion, so the boat can run faster. It's just that the wind direction is wrong, so it took less than half a month to arrive. If it goes down with the wind, We can get there in less than half the time, Second Master, please get ready, the Anhu Pier is just ahead."

Following the steward's hand, I saw a vague shadow in front of me, it was almost there.

(End of this chapter)