The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 419: Yueweiju

Before Jia Huan went south, Jia Yuanchun had not yet been named a noble concubine. The Grand View Garden was also built during the years when Jia Huan was away. It is located between the Rongguo Mansion and the Ningguo Mansion, integrated with each other, with gates connecting them, making it convenient to enter and exit.

Even though Jia Huan had been mentally prepared, he was still shocked by the magnificent garden when he stepped into it. He saw deep courtyards, pavilions and towers everywhere, lush forests and bamboos, clear streams and waterfalls pouring out, springs and pools, winding paths and secluded rocks. To borrow Jia Yuanchun's original words: "It is built with mountains and water in mind, and it took a lot of effort to build it. It has all the scenery of heaven and earth, and the fragrant garden deserves the name of Daguan."

Wow, it has all the sceneries of heaven and earth, which means that all kinds of sceneries of heaven and earth are available here, so it was named the Grand View Garden. Maybe it is a bit exaggerated, but it is enough to illustrate the luxury of this garden. The estimated cost is also a very exaggerated figure. According to the research of a certain Redologist in later generations, the Jia family suffered serious losses in order to build this Grand View Garden, and was able to make up for it and survive only by relying on the inheritance that Jia Lian brought back from the Lin family.

Now it seems that there is some truth to it, because Jia Huan feels that it is impossible to go downstairs to buy this garden without more than 100,000 taels of silver.

Let's get back to the topic. Lin Zhixiao's wife was responsible for taking Jia Huan, Ping'er and Mandalin on a tour of the garden so that she could teach Jia Huan to choose a suitable place to live.

At this time, everyone passed by a courtyard, which was surrounded by Xiangfei bamboo. Although it was winter, the bamboo was still emerald green, and it was really cool and cool.

Jia Huan's heart moved and this should be the Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

Sure enough, Lin Zhixiao introduced with a smile: "This is Miss Lin's residence, Xiaoxiang Pavilion. To the east is the Third Miss's Qiu Shuang Zhai. To the west is Yihong Courtyard. Second Master Bao lives there now, so none of these can be chosen. Third Master Huan, please follow me and go forward."

Mandalin has a lively personality and doesn't like Xiaoxiang Pavilion, thinking it is too quiet and cold.

They continued walking forward, passing Qinfang Pavilion and walking north along the willow embankment by the lake. They saw a building on the hillside. It had black tiles and green walls, and it looked antique. A few red plum blossoms could be seen faintly inside the wall. Ping'er couldn't help asking, "Auntie Lin, what is that place?"

Lin Zhixiao's wife laughed and said, "That is Longcui Temple. Now a nun with untied hair lives there. Her Buddhist name is Miaoyu, but her secular name is unknown."

Ping Er asked curiously, "Is he a relative of the Jia family?"

Lin Zhixiao shook his head and said, "Not really. It was because when the imperial concubine returned to her parents' home, the Longcui Temple needed a learned abbot. We happened to hear that this Master Miaoyu was the daughter of a scholar-eunuch, born in a scholarly family, and was a nun in Beijing with her hair untied. She was of good character and appearance, and was familiar with the scriptures, so we invited her to be the abbot of the Longcui Temple. This person is aloof and particularly fond of cleanliness. It's not easy to get along with her. Don't disturb her easily in the future, so as not to bore yourself."

Ping'er nodded and said "oh" softly, keeping it in mind.

At this time, Mandalin pointed to a building in the east and said happily, "That's a nice place, Aunt Lin, can we live there?"

Lin Zhixiao's wife saw Jia Huan smiling and seemed to be very fond of this blonde foreign maid, so she said, "That is Nuanxiangwu, where the fourth lady lives, so I'm sorry."

When Mandarin heard that someone had already moved in, she shrugged in disappointment. Lin Zhixiao's wife smiled and said, "Don't worry, Miss Man. We still have many buildings in this garden. There must be one you like."

Upon hearing this, Mandalin followed with great interest. After passing Nuanxiangwu and heading east, they arrived at Daoxiang Village where Li Wan and her son lived. Then turning north, they arrived at Zhuijin Pavilion, where Jia Yingchun lived.

At this time, a very elegant courtyard appeared in front of everyone. In front of the door was a row of willow trees and a pond with fish swimming clearly in the pond. There was also a small pavilion built in the middle, with a curved bridge connecting the two sides. There was a plaque on the front with the three words "Fish Viewing Pavilion" inscribed on it, and on both sides were a sentence: You are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish; you are not me, how do you know that I don’t know the joy of fish!
Jia Huan pointed to the yard and asked, "Auntie Lin, this place must be empty."

Lin Zhixiao's wife laughed and said, "Master Huan San really has a good eye. This place is called Jinlin Hall, and indeed no one lives here yet."

Jia Huan nodded. No one would choose this place for sure. The name Jinlin Hall was too grand and too vulgar. As the saying goes, a golden scale will turn into a dragon when it encounters wind and cloud. As women, Daiyu, Chai and Sanchun would definitely not choose this place. Li Wan was even less likely to do so. As for Da Lianbao, he hated official career and economy the most, so he would not choose this place either. What's more, Lin Daiyu chose Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Da Lianbao would definitely choose to live next to Xiaoxiang Pavilion so that he could be closer to his sister Lin and visit her conveniently.

"Let's go in and take a look!" Jia Huan walked into the Golden Scale Hall, and Ping'er and Mandalin followed hurriedly behind him.

The name of this Jinlin Hall is not very good, but the interior is very nice. Various exotic flowers and trees are planted in the yard, and there is even a well, which makes it very convenient to get water. In addition to the master bedroom, there are two side rooms on each side, which can be used as a study and a tea room.

After everyone had a tour, not only Jia Huan was satisfied, Ping'er and Mandalin were also very satisfied. Lin Zhixiao's wife was also happy to save trouble, and said with a smile: "Since Third Master Huan likes this place, I will ask someone to clean and decorate it."

Jia Huan nodded and said, "Then let's go here, but the name needs to be changed. From now on, it will be called Yueweiju. Have someone change the plaque outside as well."

Lin Zhixiao's wife smiled and said, "Fortunately, the name of this place was not given by Empress Yuanfei, so it doesn't matter if it is changed now. I will tell Butler Lai later and ask him to make a new plaque."

"Thank you, Aunt Lin. It's taken you a lot of effort to take us on this trip." Jia Huan said with a smile, and Ping'er was also very smart and gave her a tael of silver as a reward.

Lin Zhixiao's wife didn't dare to refuse, so she had to accept the money, then left with a smile, and quickly found someone to clean and arrange. In the evening, the luggage from Tongzhou was delivered one after another. Ping'er and Mandalin counted and packed, sweating profusely. Jia Huan was also busy, decorating his study and sorting out the books he brought back from Yangzhou.

The revolution will not be considered successful if we haven’t passed the imperial examination. We must keep working hard. There are still three months until the joint examination in February next year. Let’s keep sprinting!

…………

That night, Jia Rong returned home. He had just sat down to warm himself by the fire, enjoying the gentle care of his wife Qin Keliao, and talking about how they had gone to Tongzhou to welcome Jia Huan today, when Jia Zhen suddenly broke in, making the young couple very embarrassed. They hurriedly stood up to greet them.

Jia Zhen glanced at the coquettish and timid Qin Keqing, secretly swallowed his saliva, and snorted coldly: "Rong'er, you are so bold, and now you are even more presumptuous. Why didn't you come to see me the first time you returned to the mansion?"

Jia Rong had always been afraid of his father, and would not even wipe his saliva off his face. He was so scared that he trembled when he saw his father was angry. He said in defense, "It's a bit cold outside. I just wanted to go back to my room to warm myself up, so I went to pay my respects to you, father."

Jia Zhen said sullenly, "If it happens again, watch your back and follow me."

Jia Rong hurriedly and carefully followed Jia Zhen away. Qin Keqing looked at her husband's back with a worried look in her eyes. At this moment, Jia Zhen suddenly stopped and turned around and said, "Rong's wife, your mother is sick. Go to my room to get some medicine and boil it. After it's boiled, bring it back for your mother to take."

"Yes!" Qin Keliao hurriedly lowered her head and agreed. She did not dare to raise her head until Jia Zhen left. However, her pretty face was already as pale as paper.

Jia Rong followed Jia Zhen to the study. Jia Zhen sat down on a chair with great confidence and asked, "How much silver did Jia Huan bring back?"

Jia Rong stammered, "I haven't figured it out yet."

Jia Zhen was furious, slammed the table and shouted, "What did you do for the whole day when you were gone?"

Jia Rong was so frightened that he trembled for a moment, and said aggrievedly: "The luggage was full, but I couldn't tell how much silver there was. Lin Zhixiao was tight-lipped and didn't reveal anything. As for Uncle Huan, I didn't dare to ask!"

Jia Zhen sneered, "Why don't you dare ask? Can Huan Lao San still eat you?"

Jia Rong said with lingering fear: "Father, you don't know. Jia Huan is different now. His aura is very scary. He just stared at me and I was frightened. How could I dare to ask more questions, let alone open the luggage to check."

Jia Zhen raised his hand and slapped Jia Rong, cursing, "You useless piece of shit! You can't even handle such a small thing. It's really embarrassing!"

Jia Rong covered his burning face and dared not say a word.

Jia Zhen said coldly, "In order to build the garden for the imperial concubine's visit, our family not only provided the land, but also a lot of money. Now the deficit is serious, and we are waiting for the inheritance from the Lin family to make up for it. You didn't even find out how much money Jia Huan brought back. How can I ask for it?"

Jia Rong said cautiously, "Father, you don't know. Although I didn't find out how much money Uncle Huan brought back, it is said that Uncle Huan didn't bring any of the Lin family's inheritance back to Beijing. Instead, he cashed it all in and bought farmland in Suzhou."

Jia Zhen's face changed drastically when he heard this, and he blurted out, "Really?"

Jia Rong nodded and said, "It should be true, because this matter was handled by Lin Zhixiao, so even if Jia Huan brought back silver this time, it would not be much, probably no more than 10,000 taels."

Jia Zhen said angrily: "Ten thousand taels of silver are not enough to make up for the deficit in our East Palace. How dare you, damned Third Huan, do this!!!"

Jia Rong just lowered his head and dared not say anything. Jia Zhen gnashed his teeth and said, "Huan Lao San is always cunning. Could it be that he embezzled Lin Ruhai's inheritance and deliberately made up these stories to deceive everyone?"

Jia Rong rubbed his slightly swollen cheek and said, "Jia Huan probably doesn't have the guts to do that. At most he embezzled a small portion. How dare he embezzle it all?"

Jia Zhen snorted coldly and said, "If he dares to do this, the master will definitely not forgive him."

Jia Zhen knew that Jia She had been coveting the Lin family's inheritance for a long time, and even sent Jia Lian to the south for this purpose. Now that he failed to get it, he would definitely not let Jia Huan go easily. He just had to watch the show from now on. It would be nice for Jia She to eat the meat and he to drink some soup.

(End of this chapter)