Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 307
Hearing the name, Jia Rui was stunned for a moment, and then a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Zhou Lang's father, Zhou Heng, was the governor of Lanzhou and controlled all the armies in Gansu. Although he was his old subordinate and very loyal to him, if they really became in-laws, wouldn't the relationship between the two parties be more stable? ?

Jia Rui nodded, and then said happily: "I know this young man Zhou Lang is very motivated and capable. It would be a good choice for Yingchun to marry him."

Xue Baochai smiled softly, and then said: "Then I will go to Rongguo Mansion tomorrow to talk to the old lady about this?"

Jia Rui thought for a moment, and then said: "We haven't told the Zhou family about this matter yet, so we just settled it like this. Isn't it a bit hasty?"

"Uncle, I'm afraid that the Zhou family is eager to be related to our family, and they will definitely not object, but the Yingchun side has no time to wait, so let's kill it first and then play the game." Xue Baochai's eyes showed a trace of worry.

When Jia Rui thought about it, it was the same reason. If the delay continued, Jia Yingchun would probably marry the Zhongshan Wolf like in the Dream of Red Mansions.

"Okay! You go to Rongguo Mansion tomorrow to find out what's going on. If their family agrees, I will write to Zhou Heng immediately." Jia Rui agreed to Xue Baochai's suggestion.

"Okay, I'll go there tomorrow." Xue Baochai said happily.

After a night of silence, Xue Baochai took Jia Rui away the next morning, dressed up, and then took his maids and guards with him and rode a carriage to the side entrance of Rongguo Mansion.

The Rongguo Mansion, which had received the news, sent a housekeeper to greet him.

Xue Baochai got off the carriage, took a sedan in front of the second gate, and soon arrived in front of Jia Mu's Rongqing Hall.

Here, Jia Mu's personal maid Yuanyang personally greeted him.

"Grandma Rui is here. Our old lady said yesterday that she hadn't seen you for a long time. I didn't expect you to come here today." Yuanyang stepped forward to support Xue Baochai and said flatteringly.

"I've been busy at home these days, otherwise I would have come to visit the old lady long ago." Xue Baochai said perfunctorily with a smile.

Then Yuanyang helped Xue Baochai into Rongqing Hall. In front of Jia Mu's house, the little maid lifted the door curtain and shouted inside: "Grandma Rui is here."

Xue Baochai entered the room and saw Jia Mu sitting in the middle, Lin Daiyu sitting next to Jia Mu, and the Sanchun sisters sitting next to each other.

Seeing Xue Baochai come in, sisters Lin Daiyu and Sanchun quickly stood up and saluted Xue Baochai.

Although the etiquette was thoughtful, Xue Baochai clearly felt that Lin Daiyu and the Sanchun sisters were alienated from him.

But it's normal to think about it. In fact, I didn't live in Jia's house for long before I married Jia Rui. I haven't been close to them all the time. It's normal for them to feel alienated.

Xue Baochai helped Lin Daiyu up, patted her hand gently, and then returned the gift to the Sanchun sisters. Finally, Yingying stepped forward to salute the old lady Jia Mu.

"Hurry up." Jia Mu quickly called Yuanyang to help Xue Baochai.

With Yuanyang's support, Xue Baochai stood up.

After that, Jia Mu ordered Yuanyang to place an embroidery pier for Xue Baochai beside her.

Xue Baochai sat on the embroidered pier and began to chat with Jia Mu about everyday things.

Although the Rongguo Mansion was in some financial difficulties during this period, it was still very happy in other aspects. After all, the Jia family was now at its peak, and few of the powerful people in Beijing had the courage to cause trouble for the Jia family.

While talking, Xue Baochai asked intentionally or unintentionally: "I heard that the second girl is getting engaged?"

Jia Mu smiled and replied: "Her father has already made arrangements, and she should be celebrating soon."

"That's a bit unlucky. I was just thinking of saying something nice to the second girl. Could it be that I was delayed?" Xue Baochai looked very regretful.

A glimmer of light flashed in Jia Mu's eyes, and then she said with a smile: "There is a saying: a girl from a family can beg for help from hundreds of families. Her marriage has not been decided yet, so why not just ask other people's families?"

Xue Baochai immediately understood what Jia Mu meant, so she followed Jia Mu's tone and said, "The old lady really cares about the younger generations. Yingchun and the others have a grandmother like the old lady. It took them several lifetimes to get her."

Jia Yingchun, who was sitting below, stared blankly ahead without saying anything, but Jia Tanchun, who was sitting next to him, said jokingly: "Our old lady is the most kind. Which of us sisters would not be grateful?"

Xue Baochai nodded repeatedly as if he agreed very much.

The smile on Jia Mu's face became sincere, "Haha, you will fool me with nice words."

Although she said this, everyone knew that Jia Mu was very happy at this time.

Jia Mu was happy for a while, then she asked Xue Baochai, "You just said you wanted to arrange a marriage for our second girl. Which family were you talking about?"

Xue Baochai seemed to have remembered what he had just said, and hurriedly continued to answer: "It's Zhou Lang, the son of Zhou Heng, the governor of Lanzhou."

When Jia's mother heard that he was the son of Lanzhou Jiedushi, there was a hint of surprise on her face.

The Lanzhou Jiedushi commanded a large number of troops and was considered a moderate figure in the court.

The second girl in their family is a well-known Ermu, and her father is also an unknown person. How could someone like the Lanzhou Jiedushi fall in love with Jia Yingchun?

But soon, Jia Mu realized that what they were interested in was not Jia Yingchun, but the relationship between Jia Yingchun and Jia Rui.

No matter what the other party likes, this is a good thing for the Jia family.

Now his second son Jia Zheng has become the governor of Hainan, which means that his family's family status has also risen. If Jia Yingchun marries anyone randomly, it will be bad news for the girls in the future.If you marry the son of the Lanzhou Jiedushi family, you will be a perfect match. There will be no delay in marrying other girls in the future.

"What is the character of the son of the Zhou family you are talking about?"

Although Jia Mu had already agreed to the marriage in her heart, she still had to ask on the surface.

Xue Baochai had heard what Jia Mu was thinking, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Old lady, don't worry, Zhou Lang is young and promising. He was sent to Hainan by my husband some time ago to serve as the admiral and commander. Hainan Military, speaking of it, he is also a second-grade senior official."

After hearing this, Mother Jia was even more surprised.

"Okay, this kid has a lot of potential and is a perfect match for our second daughter."

After saying this, he looked happily at Jia Yingchun sitting below.

At this time, Jia Yingchun finally had a reaction. She first looked at Jia Mu timidly, then raised her head and looked at Xue Baochai gratefully.

"Old lady, my eldest brother has the final say on this matter. Of course we are inseparable. But I am afraid that the eldest brother has already arranged a betrothal for the second girl. That would be a bit bad."

Mother Jia frowned, then patted the bed board gently, "Without my nod, no one can marry off my Yingchun family. If he dares to do anything wrong to me, I will break his legs."

Xue Bao was relieved after hearing Jia Mu's categorical words.

"Then please don't worry about it, old lady. If there is news from your side, I will ask them to propose marriage immediately."

Jia Mu nodded happily, "Don't worry, I will give you news in a day or two."

Seeing that things were almost done, Xue Baochai left happily.

Jia Yingchun, who had been sitting there dumbly, stood up at this time and said, "Old lady, I'm going to give you a treasure hairpin."

Mother Jia was naturally happy that her granddaughter had a lot of contact with Xue Baochai, so he nodded and said, "Send her out properly."

Jia Yingchun quickly nodded in agreement, and then followed Xue Baochai outside.

When they reached a deserted place, Jia Yingchun stepped forward, grabbed Xue Baochai's hand and shook it. With tears in her eyes, she looked at her gratefully.

Xue Baochai patted Jia Yingchun's hand and said, "Don't worry, my uncle already knows about your matter and will never let you suffer."

Jia Yingchun nodded with tears in her eyes, "Thank you, Brother Rui, for me."

Xue Baochai smiled softly, and then said: "In addition to thanking our uncle, you also have to thank Baoyu. If he hadn't sent the news, I wouldn't have known that you had encountered such a difficult situation."

When Jia Yingchun heard that it was Baoyu who had spread the news, a smile appeared on her face. She gently replied: "I will make a pair of shoes for him with my own hands and send them over."

Xue Baochai was about to say a few words before leaving, but when he glanced at Jia Yingchun's hair, he found that it was not decorated with any jewelry.

Xue Baochai frowned. Although the life of Rongguo Mansion is not as good as before, it doesn't mean that the few girls don't have hairpins and other things on their heads?

But it's hard to ask Xue Baochai too many questions now. After all, if he asks too many questions, Jia Yingchun's face will be difficult.

So she casually picked off a phoenix-nodding Bu Yao from her head, and then gently inserted it into Jia Yingchun's hair. Then she held Jia Yingchun's head and looked at it from side to side, and then said with a smile:

"As expected of our girl, she is very handsome."

Jia Yingchun felt a little embarrassed when Xue Baochai told her not to, so she quickly took off Jin Buyao from her head and gave it back to Xue Baochai.

Xue Baochai waved his hand, pretending to be very disgusted and said: "It's stuck on your head, how can I use it."

After saying that, he patted Jia Yingchun's hand and left with Ying'er.

Jia Yingchun looked at Xue Baochai's leaving figure, her face full of gratitude.

Just when Jia Yingchun was about to go back to Jia Mu, a person jumped out from the rockery nearby.

"Second sister, how should you thank me?"

Jia Yingchun was startled by him, and when she looked carefully, it turned out that it was Jia Baoyu who jumped out.

Jia Yingchun lowered her head and replied softly: "I don't have much to thank you for. I will make two pairs of shoes for you later."

Jia Baoyu said happily: "That's just right, I'm wearing short shoes now!"

"Can your shoes be worn short in this house?"

"Second sister, you don't know who made those dirty shoes you sent me. How can I wear them?"

Jia Yingchun shook her head gently, then turned around and walked inside.

Jia Baoyu hurriedly followed, and beside Jia Yingchun, he kept talking about the style of shoes he wanted and what patterns he wanted to embroider.

(End of this chapter)