The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 442: Old Friend
In fact, as a young man, it was not a big deal to go out and have fun, and there was no need to report everything. For example, Jia Baoyu in the original novel often slipped out of the house. Once he even secretly went out of the city to pay tribute to Jin Chuan'er, and he didn't even tell Xiren and others. After he came back, he just made up a lie, saying that one of Prince Beijing's concubines died, and he went to accompany and comfort her. Mrs. Wang didn't even ask any questions and was very tolerant!
However, when Zhou Ruijia deliberately brought up Jia Huan at this time, the nature of the matter was different. It seemed that Jia Huan was very disrespectful to his biological mother, Lady Wang. The key point was that Jia Huan was not yet fifteen years old and was not an adult, so it was reasonable for him to report to Lady Wang before going out.

For a moment, the house fell silent.

Grandmother Jia's face darkened slightly, as if she was unhappy. At this moment, a servant came in and reported, "Ping'er is here."

Grandmother Jia said in a deep voice: "She came just in time. Let her come in."

Soon, Ping'er came in and greeted Grandmother Jia, Lady Wang, and Aunt Xue respectively. Grandmother Jia said with a stern face, "Ping'er, did Huan go out to meet friends today?"

Ping'er saw that Jia's mother looked unhappy, so she answered cautiously, "I was just reporting to the old lady and the madam about this matter. This morning, a friend of the same age as the Third Master suddenly came to visit, so the Third Master left in a hurry. Not long ago, he sent a servant back to say that he would stay at the Diecui Academy outside the city tonight to discuss academic matters with his friends. He will be back tomorrow. He asked the maid to inform the old lady and the madam."

Hearing this, Jia's mother's expression eased a little and she said, "Since they are good friends of the same age, they must have become successful candidates. They are going to a formal place like a college, so there is nothing wrong with that. However, although studying is a good thing, you must inform his mother before leaving. Don't do that again in the future. Ping'er, you used to be smart. Now you are serving Huan'er. If he does something wrong or makes any mistakes, you must remind him and don't let him do whatever he wants."

Ping Erh said quickly, "I understand."

"Well, go ahead!" Grandmother Jia waved her hand and sent Ping'er out.

Mrs. Zhou Rui was extremely depressed. She had wanted to make a big fuss about this incident and attack Jia Huan for being disrespectful to his stepmother, but Ping'er came at this moment instead of earlier or later, allowing Huan Lao San to escape. It was just like today when she was about to deal with Mandarin, but unexpectedly this foreign maid was called away by the princess. How could this be possible? Could it be that everyone who has anything to do with Huan Lao San has such good luck?

Xue Baochai breathed a sigh of relief secretly. Grandmother Jia's move was undoubtedly to treat Brother Huan with care. It can be seen that Brother Huan's weight in her heart has really become heavier. However... the conflict between her aunt and Brother Huan seems to have no signs of easing. I'm afraid it can't be resolved.

Thinking of this, Xue Baochai felt inexplicably annoyed, but Jia Baoyu was talking excitedly in front of her, and she could only respond in a disjointed manner.

Mrs. Wang thought Xue Baochai was tired from the journey, so she said, "Sister, your family is exhausted from the journey, so you should go back and make up your bed first. We can talk again tomorrow."

Aunt Xue was old and was indeed tired and sleepy at the moment, so she got up and said goodbye, taking Baochai and Baoqin away. She and Xue Pan continued to live in Lixiang Garden, while Baoqin moved into Hengwu Courtyard in the garden with Baochai.

Grandmother Jia seemed to like Xue Baoqin very much. After Aunt Xue and her family left, she couldn't help asking Mrs. Wang, "Daughter-in-law Zheng, what do you think of Qin?"

Mrs. Wang was moved and smiled, "That's good, but she has already been promised to someone else. She is the eldest son of the Mei family, the Imperial Academy editor. They will get married after the three-year mourning period is over, which will be just in time for her to be a marriageable age."

The so-called age of jigui refers to the time when a girl reaches the age of 15 and ties her hair with a hairpin, which represents adulthood and the time for her to get married.

When Grandmother Jia heard that Xue Baoqin was promised to someone else, she said no more.

…………

Time goes back to this morning. Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng took a carriage out of the west of the city, and after traveling for about a few miles, they finally arrived at the gate of an academy.

Jia Huan looked up and saw four vigorous ancient characters written on the mountain gate. He couldn't help but blurt out: "Diecui Academy?"

Lu Xiangsheng asked with a smile: "Zisheng, didn't you expect that?"

"I really didn't expect it!" Jia Huan nodded, but he felt quite touched in his heart, and recalled some people and things from that year.

I remember that after I participated in the college entrance examination and obtained the title of scholar, I promised Liu Yi and Zhang Zhilong to join Diecui Academy. However, when I returned to the Jia Mansion from Tongzhou, I was shocked to hear the bad news. Then I hurriedly took Ping'er to the south to carry the coffin. Naturally, I didn't go to Diecui Academy.

Time flies, and more than three years have passed in a blink of an eye. I don’t know whether Liu Yi and Zhang Zhilong have passed the provincial examination, or have already been on the list of successful candidates and become officials in the court.

"Ziming, hurry up. I'm afraid the lecture has already started." Lu Xiangsheng urged as he walked quickly into the academy.

Jia Huan saw a lot of carriages parked outside the mountain gate. It seemed that many people came this time, so he asked curiously, "Could it be that a great scholar is giving a lecture at Diecui Academy today?"

Lu Xiangsheng nodded and said, "Zi Ming is indeed very knowledgeable. The speaker here today is Hanlin scholar Zhao Dehui. Mr. Mingcheng studies the Spring and Autumn Annals. Today he is mainly lecturing on the Spring and Autumn Annals. What a coincidence, the Spring and Autumn Annals is Zi Ming's original book. It will be very beneficial to listen to it."

It is necessary to explain here that in the imperial examination, the Four Books must be thoroughly understood, but the Five Classics can be read in a general way, and then one of them can be selected for intensive reading, which is the main classic. For example, Jia Huan chose the Spring and Autumn Annals as the main classic. When he encountered questions from the Five Classics in the imperial examination, he only chose to answer questions from the Spring and Autumn Annals. This is a bit like the 3+X college entrance examination in the past. Chinese, English, and mathematics are required, and then one subject is selected from physics, chemistry, biology, history, politics, and geography to major in. The purpose is to reduce the learning burden. After all, human energy is limited. If you study every subject intensively, it is definitely impossible.

Let's get back to the topic. When Jia Huan heard the name Zhao Mingcheng, his heart was moved. This man was one of the leaders of the Donglin faction, and he was a close friend of Gu Xiancheng, the president of Donglin Academy. Now, one of them was calling the shots in the court, and the other was using scholars to control public opinion among the people. They worked together like a fish in water.

I remember hearing Master Lin say when I was in Yangzhou that the Donglin Poetry Society under the name of Donglin Academy has been very popular in recent years. Since its establishment, many people have joined the society, from court officials to scholars from all over the world. They use poetry to make friends and participate in politics. Even many court officials often attend the society to give lectures and criticize current social ills. Their influence is growing, enough to influence the implementation of government policies.

It can be said that the Donglin Poetry Society played an indispensable role in Emperor Qiansheng's gradual dominance in the power struggle with Emperor Kangping, the retired emperor, over the years. Emperor Qiansheng, who controlled the Donglin Poetry Society, was equivalent to controlling public opinion. For example, in the Yangzhou smuggling salt case, it was the Donglin faction that waved the flag and shouted, and criticized it with words and pens. First, Prince Yi Zhong was discredited and suffered public rebuke. Then, when the three judicial departments tried the case, the retired emperor's faction was forced by public pressure and naturally did not dare to openly show favoritism. No one dared to plead for mercy. In the end, the unfortunate Prince Yi Zhong was executed by the whole court. The people applauded and thanked the emperor for his wisdom, for killing his own relatives for the sake of justice, and for eliminating a major pest in the empire.

When Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng entered the gate of Diecui Academy, they were stopped by several scholars, probably the students on duty at the academy, who politely said, "You two are late. Scholar Zhao has already started his lecture. No one is allowed to enter now. Please go back!"

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly said, "We came all the way from the city, can you give us some convenience?"

The leading scholar smiled and said, "Most of those who came here to listen to the lecture today came from the city. Some even drove hundreds of miles before dawn. Since you two students wanted to listen to Master Zhao's lecture, why did you come so late?"

Lu Xiangsheng said awkwardly: "We are indeed a little late, please be lenient with us, classmates."

The scholar stopped smiling and shook his head, saying, "Without rules, there will be no order. Since the lecture has already begun, no more people can be allowed in, so as not to disturb others. So you two should go back."

Lu Xiangsheng could only cup his hands and said helplessly to Jia Huan: "This trip is in vain."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "It's okay, let's just go on a trip to the outskirts of the city."

The two were about to leave when they saw a horse coming at a great speed. It ran straight to the mountain gate, tied the reins to a tree, and rushed straight into the mountain gate. The students on duty did not even try to stop him.

Seeing this, Lu Xiangsheng frowned and asked, "Why was that gentleman allowed to enter?"

"That's the teacher of our academy." The student on duty explained quickly.

At this moment, the man who had just broken in suddenly stopped, turned around and walked back quickly. He looked Jia Huan up and down, and after a moment he asked tentatively, "Are you...Jia, the first case candidate?"

Jia Huan was also surprised and asked, "Brother, are you Liu Shouzheng?"

The man's eyes lit up and he said excitedly, "It's really classmate Jia. I haven't seen you for a few years. You've grown so much that I didn't even recognize you at first."

"Brother Shouzheng has also changed a lot!" Jia Huan said with emotion.

Indeed, Liu Yi now has a beard, is unkempt, and has a greasy face. Compared with the handsome and clean-looking guy back then, he is completely different. Although he is still calm, he gives people a sense of melancholy and vicissitudes. I don't know what he has experienced in the past few years that has changed so much.

Liu Yi seemed unwilling to talk more, so he changed the subject and said, "Mr. Jia is here to listen to Mr. Zhao's lecture, right?"

Jia Huan nodded and said, "It's a pity that I'm late!"

Without saying a word, Liu Yi pulled Jia Huan inside, and Lu Xiangsheng quickly followed. The students on duty at the academy did not try to stop them.

Jia Huan asked curiously, "Brother Shouzheng is really a teacher at the academy now?"

Liu Yi nodded and said, "This is a long story. Let's go and listen first, and then we can talk together."

Liu Yi took Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng to Minglun Hall with ease. They saw that the huge lecture hall was already full of people, but it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. A middle-aged scholar was giving a lecture on the high platform in the center.

(End of this chapter)