The Concubine Wushuang of Red Mansion

Chapter 244 Lin Ruhai Enters Beijing

Jia Cong got up from the bathtub. She Yue blushed and wiped his body with a kerchief. The sunlight slipped in from the slant of the small window and sprinkled on her pink and fragrant skin. A handful of her hair was scattered on her face. Behind him, wetness dragged over his buttocks, as charming as a tail, like a fox demon emerging from the water.

There was a knock on the door, and She Yue was a little panicked. When she was dressing Jia Cong, she almost put on the front and back of the coat wrong.

"Don't panic!" Jia Cong's voice was a little hoarse. He also knew that the young man was abstaining from sex, but today on the carriage back and forth, in order to appease Xian Ning, he made him very angry, so he made a special trip to ask She Yue to Come and serve.

She Yue was also a little annoyed with Qingwen at this time, but compared to Qingwen, She Yue was honest and honest, extremely law-abiding, and would never say a word more than she should have said.

Jia Cong was properly dressed, but She Yue still only wore a bellyband and a small coat underneath. She wanted to comb Jia Cong's hair, but Jia Cong waved his hand, "You take care of yourself first, and I'll go outside first."

He opened the door. Qingwen's hand was about to hit the door, but it missed the shot and almost hit Jia Cong. Jia Cong's sharp eyes swept over her body and went out. Then slam the door shut.

At this time, Yinglian came over. She was afraid that Jia Cong would be angry with Qingwen, so she hurriedly said, "Master Marquis, can I help you wash up?"

"Yeah!" Jia Cong responded and casually sat down on the round stool. He was not from his daughter's house, so he didn't need to look in the mirror.

Yinglian took out a comb from her pocket. When Qingwen saw that Yinglian had taken away her job again, she cursed, "You're going to die, why are you using your own comb to comb the Marquis's hair? Hurry up, the second master is waiting for you." ”

Compared with the careless and pampered Baoyu in the original work, Qingwen is more afraid of Jia Cong. It is precisely because of this sense of crisis that she will act unreasonably like a child and seek some attention in front of Jia Cong. .

Jia Cong has never been willing to indulge in such bad tempers, so he said calmly, "Qingwen, the second master Bao next door wants to take you back, what do you think?"

When Qingwen heard this, she was so shocked that she looked at Jia Cong in disbelief. She had already served the third master personally. Could it be that the third master wanted to send her away?

Even Yinglian was shocked and almost pulled off a strand of Jia Cong's hair. She was not a child of the Jia family, and she had only been here for a short time. She would never have said anything like the attacker in the original work. Order something to spice things up a bit.

However, Qingwen's behavior today was indeed out of line. How could she be jealous in front of the Marquis?
"Is it because of She Yue that the Marquis is like this?"

Qingwen's heart was indeed as high as the sky. Jia Cong glanced at her lightly. Only a person like Baoyu could appreciate such a woman. If Qingwen died because of him, he would not be as leisurely and leisurely as Baoyu. Why? What did Qingwen write about "Fu Rong's Daughter"?

On the contrary, he really couldn't appreciate Qingwen's so-called innocence and return to her true nature.Although there is a saying that Qing is Dai Ying, Daiyu's innocence has always been in moderation, just the right amount, and will never feel like a burden. On the contrary, Jia Cong loves her deeply.

However, Qingwen's temperament inevitably makes people think that she is arrogant, bitter, arrogant as a maid, and even very sharp towards girls of the same class as her.

In the original work, even Lin Zhixiao's daughter was inevitably victimized by Qingwen. Although it was wrong for Zhuo'er to steal, it was not Qingwen's turn to indiscriminately lynch her.

After Yinglian finished combing Jia Cong's hair, Jia Cong went straight to see Jia Zheng. A nanny came to deal with Qingwen and was brought to Ningxi Hall.

Daiyu had to prepare for a wedding to welcome the Spring Festival, so how could she have so much experience? Although You had many years of experience as a housekeeper, she came from a poor family and was Jia Zhen's step-in-law, so her exposure to the world was limited. It just so happened that Xifeng came over. When they visited, Daiyu asked Xifeng to ask for advice on some wedding matters, how to draw up the dowry list, and how to perform the ritual of six letters.
Xifeng smiled and said, "Tell me, how much money will you spend to buy this dowry for our second girl?"

Daiyu didn't know much in her mind, so she was silent for a while and said, "I'm afraid you need thirty to fifty thousand silver, right?"

Xifeng was shocked when she heard that the Ning Guo Hou Mansion was indeed rich, but the Rong Guo Mansion was not as rich as it is today. Considering the situation back then, it would be good to marry a few girls and spend 5 silver per person. Now the two girls alone spent thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver, which was too much.

Xifeng took a breath and glanced at Youshi. Seeing that Youshi's face was not shocked, she couldn't help but feel jealous. Although Youshi was a widow, being a widow in the Ningguo Marquis Mansion was not as good as being the second mistress in the Rongguo Mansion. It’s still pretty, right?

"No wonder they refused to go back when you were living like this. The old lady also said that she wanted to take the second girl over. To be honest with you, it was because of the Sun family or the father's house that the eldest master booked for the second girl. marriage. I wonder what kind of person our Lord Marquis has chosen for the second girl? "

It was Youshi's turn to be surprised and thought to herself, has Rongguo Mansion gone to the stage of selling their daughter?
Xifeng saw Youshi's expression, and she couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. She squeezed her legs tightly together and squeezed the handkerchief very tightly, feeling particularly unwilling.

Logically speaking, she should feel extremely superior in front of Youshi now, but she doesn't.

"He belongs to a thousand households under the control of the Marquis. Although he is a military general, he was a scholar in the past. The Marquis said that such a person has the meticulousness and etiquette of a scholar and the open-mindedness and generosity of a military general. He does not have an uncle to serve him at home. There are no sisters-in-law to pay each other, so my second sister is an excellent family."

Youshi also hurriedly said, "This is why Brother Cong is thinking about his second sister. I would say that these sisters are extremely lucky."

Xifeng also felt that choosing such a person was really for the sake of welcoming the spring, and she would inevitably envy the Sanchun sisters in her heart. Thinking about herself, she really expected to inherit the title by marrying into the Jia family, and so could she. She became a noble lady with a high rank, but now, her plans have all come to nothing, and she still has resentment in her heart.

Daiyu pretended not to have heard Xifeng say that the old lady wanted to take the second girl over, so she asked Xifeng to help make suggestions. How to buy a dowry, a canopy bed, furniture, a farm shop, etc., all of which needed to be carefully prepared.

The third sister-in-law talked for a while, and then the steward in Jia Cong's study brought Qingwen over.

Xifeng vaguely heard that Baoyu's big setback this time was related to the second wife's original idea of ​​attacking Qingwen, so she saw that even though Daiyu had something going on here, she would not leave, and planned to watch the fun from the sidelines.

The mother-in-law did not say what Qingwen had done, but only said what Jia Cong asked Qingwen if she would like to serve Master Bao. Before Daiyu could say anything, Xifeng smiled and said, "Qingwen also came from the old lady's house at the beginning. When I came out, I remembered that your needlework was excellent. I have never seen anyone better than you in this household.

However, I can warn you. Nowadays, all the top-notch people in Baoyu's house have been pinched by their wives. If you want to go back to the old lady's house, you can. If you want to serve Mr. Bao, you should give up this intention as soon as possible. "

Ever since Xiao Junzi happened, Mrs. Wang had determined that it was the maid next to Baoyu who had seduced Baoyu. She had made great efforts to rectify the situation in the past two days, but she could not catch the Xiren who had a real physical relationship with her son. When he came out, he drove Charming away.

The name Meiren made it clear that she was not a good thing. However, the name Meiren was not given by herself, but by Master Bao Er.

Qingwen only felt that her face had been lost. She never dreamed that the Marquis would one day drive her away. After all, she was the one who shared the sorrows with the Marquis and had done nothing wrong. Could it be that the second master Ren was there? Wait, what is this coquettish She Yue doing secretly with Mr. Hou inside?
Qingwen felt aggrieved and sad, and said with hatred, "Why do you want me to go out? Do you want to dislike me? I won't leave this house even if I'm killed."

As soon as Daiyu saw this posture, she knew why Jia Cong couldn't tolerate Qingwen, and said with a smile, "The Marquis is just joking. Since you have served the Marquis, how can you still serve the Second Master Bao? However, since you are not at ease with the Marquis, If you serve me in front of me, then you can serve me in front of me from now on, and there is no need to go to Lord Marquis."

Although Qingwen was not angry, she was also quite arrogant. She could no longer think about where her way out would be in the future, so she had to accept it.

Daiyu stayed with Xifeng for dinner and thanked Xifeng for her help. I am a relative and an unmarried woman. I don’t know what to do here every two days.
Youshi and Daiyu looked at each other, Xifeng saw it, pursed her lips and smiled.

Baochai had already come in, smiled and saluted the three of them, and said, "I heard about Second Sister's good deeds and came here to congratulate her."

"Sister Bao is a rare visitor, sit down quickly!" Daiyu called to Qingwen who was standing there motionless, "Why don't you go and serve tea to Sister Bao!" Qingwen pouted her lips and went there with reluctance on her face. This Bao Girls come here every two days. Even the cats in the girls' houses know what she is doing. They rush to be someone's concubine. It's really shameless.

Although Yingchun's marriage had just been finalized, because it was Jia Cong's pick, if Ning Guohou's mansion didn't regret it, the other party had absolutely no reason to regret it. Everyone in the mansion knew about it, and Baochai also heard the news.

For this matter, Aunt Xue made a special trip to ask Mrs. Wang. She knew without asking that the person Jia Cong picked would be good, so she was envious of her.

Thinking about it, it would be great if Jia Cong and his wife were willing to choose a son-in-law for their daughter. If they could have someone to rely on, it would be better than relying on Rongguo Mansion now. Once the old lady goes to Hexi, relying on Jia Zheng and his wife Kou Zi, that is absolutely impossible to count on.

Because of this incident, Aunt Xue had another intention to give up on the marriage between Baochai and Baoyu.

Baochai was dissatisfied at first, and when she heard that Yingchun had found a good home, she was even more dissatisfied, so she ran over regardless of the meal and said congratulations, but she didn't mean to inquire.

Coincidentally, Sanchun also came. When Yingchun heard this, her face turned red with embarrassment. She realized later that no matter how long her reflex arc was, she realized at this time that her future was determined, but she had no worries.

Everyone around Yingchun said that this marriage was a good one, and she had a happy-go-lucky temperament. She had seen both sides of the person, and she was actually satisfied in her heart.

"Why don't you come up and thank Brother Cong's daughter-in-law, thank you sister-in-law. I just said that the dowry money for the three of you is 3 taels per person." Xifeng said quickly.

Baochai was surprised. Thirty thousand yuan in dowry was a lot.

Sanchun was also stunned for a moment and looked at Daiyu one after another.

Daiyu smiled and said, "This is what the Marquis wants. It hasn't been decided yet. Let's see what happens! In short, the Marquis said that it's not easy for girls' families. We must not let the sisters in our family suffer."

Xifeng shrugged her nose, "This is a serious lady. Now it seems that when we lived at home, we were really girls from a poor family."

Youshi pinched the handkerchief and smiled, while Baochai looked at it with a smile. Only she knew what she was feeling in her heart.

Sanchun couldn't really come up to express his gratitude, but it was inevitable to express his gratitude to Jia Cong and Daiyu. Although they were both sisters, apart from Xichun, which one of the two was really Jia Cong's responsibility?

In the outer study room in the front yard, when Jia Cong came to see Jia Zheng, Jia Zheng had been waiting for about a stick of incense and drank several cups of tea. Although he was a little impatient, he could see that Jia Cong came in a hurry, but it was hard to blame him.

After the ceremony was over and everyone was seated, Jia Zheng asked about Yingchun's wedding. Jia Cong said, "I hope I can take this matter into consideration. How could the Rongguo Mansion have reached the point where they want to sell their daughter? This is clearly speculation by the Sun family. The old lady There is already a strong prejudice against the nephew there. I think the nephew must be optimistic about it, and the old lady must be against it. She also asked the master to say more good things about it.

The second sister is cowardly and went to the Sun family. How can she be careful in the future? "

Jia Zheng was originally ordered to take Yingchun over by Jia Mu. Unexpectedly, he was so confused by Jia Cong's few words. When Jia Cong sent him out, he thought of how to explain to Jia Mu. Thinking of this, he stopped and said, "Brother Cong, what the old lady wants is to take your second sister over."

Jia Cong pondered for a while and said, "Master, the sisters are living a good life with my nephew. Now the Xifu is not very peaceful. There are always big and small things happening. Moreover, I have asked Lin to arrange the marriage of the second sister. I'm preparing for the dowry, and I've also prepared 5 taels of silver for the wedding. If I go to Xifu, wouldn't all this preparation be in vain?"

When Jia Zheng heard about the money, he, who didn't care about his own business, now knew that the money in the house was no longer available to him. If Yingchun really took over Yingchun and prepared the dowry, who would do it?
Can Lian Er and his wife spend thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver to marry their sister?There was no reason to ask Jia Cong to offer money. He sighed and said, "I'll go talk to the old lady!"

Jia Zheng couldn't help but think, how could his family have reached this point?Then he said, "The matter of the title..."

"Sir, it is not difficult for a general to be knighted and promoted, and there is such an opportunity now. My nephew thinks that whether it is the second brother Lian or the second brother Bao, if he wants to be knighted for meritorious service, I can help. It is true that there are some risks in this. Rich people have to fight with their lives. Our ancestors, the title of Duke Ningrong did not fall out of thin air.

Didn't even Emperor Taizu Gao do the same thing back then, so that he could become rich and famous in the world? "

Jia Zheng knew the truth behind these words, and he agreed with them in his heart, but whether Jia Lian and Bao Yu could go to the army to gain wealth or not was not his decision.

Although Jia Cong also inherited the title back then, how can the title he inherited compare with the title he has today?

After Jia Zheng went back to talk to Jia Mu, Jia Mu didn't eat any food that day and spread the news that something was wrong that night. He invited Dr. Wang to see him that night. He was the nephew of Wang Junxiao, the former main hall of the Tai Hospital. His pulse was fine. Jia Mu was prescribed medicine to rest and rest her mind, and she was told to take a rest.

After all, Jia Mu cherished her life and wanted to compete with Jia Cong in the ring. Now she lies down and dare not do it again. The wedding in Yingchun is not a big deal to Jia Mu. She just wants to use this to arm-wrestle with Jia Cong. How can she do it now? Feeling energetic?
Although Mrs. Wang, Xifeng and others come to visit every day, compared to before, Xifeng is still the same, but Mrs. Wang is more neglectful. From time to time, Mrs. Wang also goes to sit with Aunt Xue, and the two sisters talk about something. Erbao's marriage, with the Spring Festival wedding as a foreshadowing, made Aunt Xue somewhat reluctant to look forward to Shu. She occasionally heard some words about a good marriage, but it was not as well known to everyone as in the original work.

The weather gradually turned cooler. At the end of July, an autumn rain brought coolness. In one day, Emperor Taiqi issued two imperial edicts. First, Zhao Zibi of the Jin Dynasty was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and then Gu Mingchen was appointed as the Grand Scholar of Jianji Palace. Prince and Grand Master.

After Gu Mingchen's position moved forward, Zhang Qilin also followed suit. He was no longer a bachelor of Dongge University and ranked second in the cabinet. Although Yan Min was older and senior in terms of seniority, he could only be ranked third and had to be supplemented by another cabinet member. One of them was Nie Wenda, who moved to the Ministry of Rites as Minister of Rites.

Lin Ruhai came to Beijing according to the order. Because of his outstanding performance in the salt administration of Suzhou, he was recommended by the court as the censor of Zuodu. From then on, he entered the ranks of third-rank officials.

In the morning of early autumn, there was a cool breeze on the pier in the capital. Although the autumn tiger was still raging, it was still cool in the morning and evening. After some rainwater stained the ground, cars and people came and went, and no dust was raised.

Under the weeping willow tree, Daiyu was wearing an autumn-colored cloak and a hood on her head. She was standing with Jia Cong, watching the boats coming on the river. Jia Cong was fine, but Daiyu showed some urgency. , when I see a slightly larger ship, whether it is an official ship or not, I will put my feet up and look at it.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have told you about my father-in-law's coming to Beijing. I will tell you when he arrives in Beijing." Jia Cong held Daiyu's arm, fearing that she might accidentally fall.

Daiyu pursed her lips and smiled, tilted her head and said slightly mischievously, "You returned to Beijing earlier. Although I never came to the dock or picked you up at the city gate, I sent someone to guard you and come back as soon as there is news. Repay me."

When Jia Cong heard this, he couldn't help but laugh. He saw a large official ship arriving, and the person standing on the bow was Lin Ruhai, so he took Daiyu's hand and said, "Let's go, my father-in-law is here."

Lin Ruhai has entered the capital, and if he goes to Liaodong again, Daiyu will not feel helpless in the capital, right?
Daiyu raised her eyes and saw her father. She pursed her lips gently. For some reason, tears fell down.

Lin Ruhai also saw Jia Cong. When the boat docked and boarded the boat, he hurriedly walked over, took a look at his daughter, and said to Jia Cong, "Why did you get here?"

Jia Cong had already wiped away Daiyu's tears. After saluting, he said, "My father-in-law came to Beijing and my son-in-law came to greet him. Kuang Yu'er is also thinking about his father-in-law and wants to see him as soon as possible."

In fact, Lin Ruhai has not been in the capital for many years. Now that he has returned to the capital and moved to the left again, the emperor must summon him and report to him. Jia Cong must talk to his father-in-law about some recent situations in advance to avoid stepping on the thunder. , which made the emperor unhappy.

(End of this chapter)