King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 440 You have to control him

Zhu Jinghong thought it was a big deal, but these words surprised him.

Hunting events in Shanglinyuan do not happen often. They happen every two to three years, and the standards are very high.

Relatives of the royal family, nobles in the capital, and envoys from the chieftains of various vassals and alliances will be invited to participate in this event, including of course the emperor himself.

The last hunting party in Shanglinyuan was nine years ago, and it has been exactly three years since then. Zhu Jinghong stole the show that time.

"Fourth brother, I understand this little thing..." Zhu Jinghong said with a smile.

Zhu Jingyuan breathed a sigh of relief, and then taught Zhu Jinghong some more, and then the two of them went separately.

Zhu Jinghong went to Shanglin Garden, but he didn't know that Baochai had been summoned to the East Palace by Yuanchun.

The reason why Yuanchun summoned Baochai was because of the business affairs of Prince Xiang's Mansion. As the eldest sister-in-law, she had to "take charge" of it.

However, Baochai didn't know Yuanchun's purpose, so he made preparations in all aspects to ensure that he could deal with it properly.

At this moment, the two of them were wandering around the back garden of the East Palace, talking about interesting things they heard about the fateful wives.

Then naturally, Yuan Chun asked about Prince Xiang's Mansion sending Xue Pan to Ningguo Mansion to pay his respects.

"There are so many people in the palace, and the chief historian is not available...can we also send some eunuchs? Why should Brother Pan go? After all, his surname is Xue!"

Following Yuan Chun, Baochai respectfully replied: "Reporting to the Crown Princess, it's all because something happened in the palace in recent days. The eunuchs deceived me because I was inexperienced and acted recklessly to embezzle money from the treasury. The prince and I are rectifying it... How can we let them Go to Ningguo Mansion!"

"The eunuchs are not busy, but the chief historian is busy too?" Yuanchun asked with a smile.

Although she was smiling, it couldn't change the fact that at this moment, she was questioning Baochai's true nature.

When the matter was asked to this point, Baochai really couldn't answer it. Lying was meaningless at this time.

Before Baochai could reply, Yuan Chun turned around and said, "The thirteenth brother has a straightforward personality. I'm afraid this is what he meant!"

"I know about his grievances with Jia Zhen. It seems that he is still angry, so he arranged it like this!"

Baochai knew best whether this was actually the case, but since Yuanchun had said so, of course she would not make any more excuses.

"He is just that kind of person, and I have tried to persuade him...it's a pity..."

"Thirteenth brother is straightforward, which is better than some people. There is no need to mention this matter again!" Yuanchun's smile became warmer.

The two changed the topic and walked forward for a while. Yuan Chun suddenly asked: "I heard that you sent people again and took money to do business?"

It was impossible to hide this matter, so Baochai replied: "No, this is his idea again!"

"I told him that although the palace is short of money, it can still live a simple life, but he said that in addition to cutting costs, it also needs to increase revenue!"

"Throwing away 10 taels of silver in one breath, I was almost stunned to death because of this!"

"Tell me... how hard it is to save that money. I worked so hard to save some money, but he just lost it all. This life is really unbearable!"

Although Baochai said it was Zhu Jinghong's handiwork, these words clearly show that she is the most "money-greedy" person.

And this is also to solidify her "money-greedy" persona and make people think that she is just a little smart.

In this way, one of her husband and wife is stupid and the other is greedy, so they pose no threat to their two legitimate brothers, and they can safely do their own important things.

"I heard that Prince Rui's family lent you [-] yuan. Now that the thirteenth brother has done this, I'm afraid the treasury is almost empty!" Yuanchun asked with a worried look on his face.

"Alas... I don't know how to repay the money that Sixth Sister-in-law borrowed!"

Baochai can guarantee that she really said this out of emotion and was not trying to make a misfortune with Yuan Chun.

Just listen to Yuanchun say: "You girl, now that you have become a princess, you must take up the dignity of a princess. You must advise and say what you need to say. You cannot always let the thirteenth brother do whatever you want!"

"Now there is still some money left in the East Palace. You can take 3 taels of silver over there first. On the one hand, you can repay the money of Lao Liu's family, and on the other hand, you can live a better life!"

There are not many places to spend money in the East Palace, and the economic situation is better than that of Prince Rui's Palace, so it is not a big problem to spend 3 taels of silver.

Of course Yuanchun could come up with more, but she felt that instead of doing the whole thing, it would be better to do it in several times.

"This... how embarrassing is this!" Baochai acted extremely embarrassed, as if she was really embarrassed.

"Sisters help each other, what's the shame?"

Yuanchun stopped again and asked, "Is it possible that you can take money from an outsider like Chen Zhi, but you can't take money from my cousin?"

You always have a way to force me to take the money and leave... Baochai secretly laughed in her heart.

"But this..."

"Okay, don't worry about saving face and suffering. Our sisterhood is stronger than gold, so what's a little money?"

"Then...thank you sister Yuanchun!" Baochai thanked her very solemnly.

Here she calls Yuanchun "sister", which somewhat expresses the closeness.

After taking the money, Yuanchun seemed to be more confident, and then he taught her a lesson.

Of course Baochai responded one by one. After having lunch in the East Palace, she returned home with 3 taels of silver.

When the sun was about to set, Zhu Jinghong came back from Shanglinyuan. He was exhausted from playing polo with the Dragon Guards.

There will also be a polo competition this year, but Zhu Jinghong won't be able to play, so he can only play with the guards.

When he entered the palace, he saw ten boxes. When he opened them, he saw that they were all filled with silver. This made Zhu Jinghong change his color instantly.

He only needed a rough estimate to know that it was about 3 taels, which was by no means a small amount.

"Where did the money come from?" Zhu Jinghong asked in a deep voice.

The eunuch on duty in the palace immediately replied: "Report to the prince...it was brought back by the princess!"

"Huh?" Zhu Jinghong suddenly had a bad idea.

Could it be that Baochai was really reluctant to part with the money and ordered someone to bring the money back from the treasury?

"This woman is so long-haired and short-sighted that she has ruined my life..."

While Zhu Jinghong was muttering, a voice came from the side hall: "Which woman has long hair but short knowledge? Who ruined the prince's important affairs?"

Zhu Jinghong followed the sound and saw Baochai walking out of the side hall with a somewhat dissatisfied look on his face.

"Where did this money come from?" Zhu Jinghong asked with a serious face.

"The Crown Princess called me over this morning. Seeing how pitiful we were, she lent me 3 taels of silver!"

Walking to Zhu Jinghong, Baochai adjusted his sleeves and asked, "My lord hasn't told me yet, who ruined your important event!"

"Princess...it's all a misunderstanding!"

Baochai rolled her eyes at him, without any intention of going into details, and then said: "Of the 3 taels of silver, the Crown Princess asked us to take out 1 taels and pay back the money from Prince Rui's Mansion!"

"Why worry about paying back the money!" Zhu Jinghong sat on the chair and took the tea from the eunuch.

"You really don't plan to repay it!" Baochai was still a little surprised. The education she received since childhood told her that this was wrong.

"No one wants it, so why should we give it back!"

Baochai didn't say anything more about this, because she was actually not willing to pay back the money.

Sitting next to Zhu Jinghong, Baochai said slowly: "The Crown Princess also asked about condolences to Ning Guofu. I told her..."

The couple talked and listened, and the scene was harmonious and peaceful. But as someone listened, he got into Baochai's arms.

"Oh...you are so stinky and sweaty, go take a shower and change clothes quickly!"

Baochai exclaimed in disgust, tried her best to push Zhu Jinghong away, then covered her mouth and left.

…………

The 12th year of Orthodoxy, the 22nd day of the first lunar month.

Zhu Jinghong got up early in the morning and changed into his robes under the service of the eunuch. Today was a hunting day, so he was dressed smartly.In the palace grounds, his luggage was ready, and his bow and arrows and saber were placed on both sides of the saddle.

He was cleaning up, and so was Baochai on the other side. Today she was going to the palace to pay her respects to the queen.

Normally, as a daughter-in-law, she should go every day, but because the queen likes to be clean, she avoids this rule. Baochai usually only enters the palace every three to five days.

"Sister Bao, Brother Thirteen has packed everything over there!"

When Baochai stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself, Yang Jingting's voice made her turn around, only to see that she had also changed into the dress of a concubine.

That's right, most of the time Yang Jingting would enter the palace with Baochai. As the queen's biological niece, she would naturally go to pay her respects.

"Okay... let's go!" Baochai smiled lightly.

The two of them came to Yin'an Hall together. At this time, Zhu Jinghong was standing in the courtyard, adjusting the tightness of his wrist guards himself.

"It's finally here... hurry up and go, you're going to be late!" Zhu Jinghong's tone was dissatisfied.

Baochai didn't pay attention, but said to Yang Jingting on the side: "Look at him... he doesn't pay attention to other things, but he is very active in hunting, riding and shooting!"

However, Yang Jingting disagreed with this. In her heart, Zhu Jinghong will always be her beloved thirteenth brother.

"Let's go, let's go...the carriage has been waiting for a while!"

Zhu Jinghong is indeed very positive. After all, he can fill the cup again today.

The three of them got into a carriage and headed towards the imperial city.

At the same time, Prince Rui and his wife were also driving to the palace, but Zhu Jingyuan's expression was a little solemn at this time.

Growing up influenced by poetry and books, Zhu Jingyuan had little interest in martial arts, and was even more repelled by things like hunting, so he didn't like to participate.

In his opinion, the important thing about being an emperor is to strategize, rather than fighting like a reckless man.

Of course, he could only think about these words and would never dare to express them in front of his father.

"The prince gave Old Thirteen tens of thousands of taels of silver. Do you know about this?"

"Know!"

"They are quite generous. They offer [-] yuan at a time..."

Seeing that Zhu Jingyuan didn't answer, Chen Zhi frowned and said: "I just don't know...when will the Thirteenth Family repay our money? They spend too much money!"

At this time, Zhu Jingyuan finally spoke: "It is simply wishful thinking for someone like Thirteenth Brother to expect him to have a plan to save money!"

Having said this, Zhu Jingyuan sighed: "Just think of it as wasted, just 1 taels of silver!"

Chen Zhi said with an unhappy expression: "That's it? You're very generous. If you say you don't want it, then you don't want it. Who was the one who got angry and threw things after learning that I borrowed money a few days ago?"

Zhu Jingyuan didn't want to argue with her, so he turned his head to one side and thought about matters in the court.

Last year, the biggest issue for the imperial court was to clear the emperor of Yingtian Mansion, but this year it is to be fully implemented in Jinling. This is an opportunity for him.

He had received news that in order to ensure the smooth progress of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court wanted to make adjustments to local officials in Jinling.

From the county yamen to the government yamen, and even to the three divisions and the censor's yamen, the court would re-adjust the appointed officials, which was an opportunity for him.

Over the years, many people have been released outside Jixian Hall, but it was still too slow for Zhu Jingyuan, so he had to seize this opportunity for his men.

On the one hand, followers can quickly get into real jobs, and on the other hand, they can use Qingzhang's deeds to make meritorious deeds, and they will be promoted at a faster speed.

However, Zhu Jingyuan still needs to carefully calculate how to operate.

In addition to making good friends with Zhao Yushan, he also had to get support from his old father, which was quite troublesome.

"I wonder if the fourth child will take the opportunity to deploy people!" Zhu Jingyuan thought to himself.

Liang Qian, who is now the governor of Jinling, has been regarded by Zhu Jingyuan as the prince's man, so he believes that if the prince arranges for more people to go there, he will definitely get more "care" from Liang Qian.

Compared with these big things, tens of thousands of taels of silver are nothing but trivial matters, and of course Zhu Jingyuan won't care.

As for Zhu Jinghong, he was the first to arrive at the palace gate. After getting off the car, he led Baochai and two people into the palace. When they arrived at Qianqing Gate, they split into two groups.

Baochai and the others went to Kunning Palace, while he entered the Qianqing Gate.

At this moment, in the Palace of Qianqing, Zhu Xianming had put on an ocher-yellow robe, and also put on a hood. The armor was embroidered with various exquisite dragon patterns and auspicious clouds, which looked majestic and noble.

"Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Xiang wants to see you!"

"Ok!"

This "hmm" made the eunuch who reported the matter very uncomfortable. He didn't know whether he had seen him or not, but he still had to go back to deliver the message.

Fortunately, Zhu Jinghong never made things difficult for anyone. He rushed into the dormitory in excitement before waiting outside for ten seconds.

"Dad, you are not healed yet...the generals and envoys are here outside!"

Zhu Xianming turned around, waved away the eunuchs serving on his left and right, and then slowly sat on the chair.

After staring at Zhu Jinghong for a few seconds, Zhu Xianming said: "Old Thirteen...are you waiting for me to say hello to you?"

"Kowtow to my father!" Zhu Jinghong saluted quickly.

Of course he knows how to be polite, but he never pays attention to these rules, focusing on the deep love between father and son and not sticking to trivial matters.

"Dad, when are you leaving?" Zhu Jinghong asked again.

Ignoring the question, Zhu Xianming asked slowly: "You... borrowed tens of thousands more taels of silver from the fourth child?"

"This... the fourth brother gave me money. I don't know the exact amount. It's all under the control of the princess!" Zhu Jinghong answered frankly.

After sneering twice, Zhu Xianming said with a serious expression: "Even if you take out 10 taels, your family really has no money? Isn't it nice to tell others about it?"

"You don't want face, but I still want face!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Jinghong was listening to the training here, but Baochai in Kunning Palace was no better.

The queen met her in the flower hall and asked her about borrowing money.

"Everything I did wrong was my daughter-in-law's fault. She failed to be a good housekeeper and took care of things, which led to my current situation of being stuck in a dilemma..."

Baochai knelt in front of the queen and admitted her mistake. At this time, she looked like she was accepting punishment, which made it difficult for the queen to say anything.

"You are the princess... Everything in the palace is yours to take care of. You have to take care of food, clothing, and transportation. You can't just leave everything to old Thirteen!"

"Let's not talk about anything else. What kind of business does he know? One sale is 10 taels. If you can't persuade him, that's it. Why don't you tell me?"

Zhu Jinghong reported this matter to the emperor, but he deliberately did not let the queen know about it because he was afraid that my mother would stop it.

"What the mother taught me is that the daughter-in-law is willing to accept the punishment!" Baochai replied with his head lowered.

She had been kneeling for several minutes since entering the palace to greet him, and her knees were already in severe pain.

"Only these...I won't say anything, but you have borrowed money from the fourth and sixth sons one after another. How is this inappropriate?"

Nowadays, there are rumors in the palace that Princess Xiang is worthy of being a "merchant". She borrows money and does business, and she has never forgotten her old profession.

For this reason, the queen has secretly killed more than a dozen palace maids and eunuchs in order to protect her youngest son's face.

"You are a good boy. I know that Old Thirteen is here, and you helped him hide it for his own good. You even took the blame for it..."

"But do you think...this is really for his own good?"

Sighing, Yang Qingyin said earnestly: "You don't know the story of Leyang's wife. You can use her as an example to advise your husband, instead of blindly protecting and obeying..."

What a coincidence that the story of Leyang's wife is the source of the allusion of "stopping virtue".

(End of this chapter)