Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 154: A Fated Couple

Jia Zhu drank a few glasses of wine with Jia Yun, during which he kept lecturing Jia Yun, asking him to remember the emperor's words and to be strict with himself and honest in his work after taking up his post in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After a few drinks, Jia Zhu was already tipsy and had no intention of drinking any more. He was not fond of alcohol and rarely got drunk.

At this time, the slightly tipsy Jia Zhu asked Jia Yun, "You are nineteen years old now, right?"

The Chinese New Year just passed recently, which means Jia Yun is now nineteen years old.

"Yes, uncle."

Jia Yun responded respectfully. According to the Jia family genealogy, the Cao generation has a lower seniority, so Jia Yun calls Jia Zhu "Uncle" and Jia Lian "Second Uncle".

Jia Yun stared at Jia Zhu, and he immediately realized that Jia Zhu would not suddenly ask about his age for no reason.

Sure enough, Jia Zhu continued, "You are nineteen years old now, and it is time to arrange your marriage as soon as possible."

In this era, nineteen years old is not a young age for a boy. As the heir to the title and the head of the Ningguo Mansion, and who is about to enter the officialdom, Jia Yun should indeed arrange his marriage as soon as possible.

Jia Yun said without hesitation: "It is said that parents decide and matchmaker decides. My father died early, so I think it is better for my uncle to decide my marriage."

"I know that now that I am the heir to the title and the head of the East Mansion, marriage is no longer a personal matter. It concerns the West Mansion and our Jia family. I must be cautious."

"I have discussed this with my mother before, and she said that this matter must be decided by you, my mother has agreed, so I have to trouble you with this matter."

When Jia Zhu heard this, he felt relieved. He thought that Jia Yun's insight and ideas were worth his efforts in promoting and recommending him.

Indeed, given Jia Yun’s current status, his marriage is not just a private matter, but concerns the Rongguo Mansion and the entire Jia family.

Jia Zhu praised Jia Yun and then said, "Since you have this idea and your mother has agreed, I will make arrangements for your marriage."

"There is one thing I can tell you right now, and that is that you are not suitable to marry into a powerful and wealthy family. Do you understand why this is so?"

Jia Yun paused and said, "I think that our Jia Mansion is now in a state of prosperity, with flowers and brocade, which has caused a lot of criticism."

"Besides, my uncle recommended me to join the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a deputy minister, which is bound to cause controversy."

"Under such circumstances, my marriage should be low-key and I should be sensible in everything. If I were to marry into a powerful and wealthy family, it would be a bit out of line."

"Not only will it attract more criticism, it may also displease His Majesty."

"This is just an idea of ​​mine. I don't know if it's right or not. Please give me some advice, uncle."

Jia Zhu felt relieved again and nodded: "That's right, and it should be so. I hope you can understand my good intentions and don't feel resentful because you can't marry into a powerful and wealthy family."

Jia Yun said hurriedly, "Uncle, what you said is too polite. I have just said that my marriage is decided by you. You have taken the trouble to consider me. How can I not know what is good for me?"

"Besides, I am able to have the status and wealth I have today thanks to my uncle's support and promotion. How can I ignore the overall situation and dream of marrying into a powerful and wealthy family?"

These words come from the bottom of my heart.

Jia Yun originally came from a poor family, but with the help of Jia Zhu, he rose to prominence and became a powerful official. He was extremely grateful to Jia Zhu, and he was also a person who took the overall situation into consideration.

Jia Zhu said: "According to the national filial piety system, as a noble family, we are not allowed to marry for 100 days, but we are also not allowed to have banquets or music for a year."

"I think it would be best if you get married a year after the late emperor's death."

"It's less than a year since the late emperor passed away. It will be a year in two months. There is no need to rush. I will look for someone for you. You can get married in the fall or winter of this year. It won't be too late even if you get married next year."

Jia Yun nodded and said respectfully, "Thank you for your consideration, uncle. It is entirely up to you to decide on this matter."

……

……

After dinner, Jia Yun respectfully sent Jia Zhu to the gate of Ningguo Mansion. If Jia Zhu had not refused, Jia Yun would have sent Jia Zhu to the Rongguo Mansion next door.

After seeing Jia Zhu off, Jia Yun returned to the inner house and entered the inner study, preparing to read for an hour before going to bed.

Jia Zhu repeatedly told Jia Yun to read more books, and Jia Yun himself shared the same idea. He knew that reading more books would be beneficial to him.

Seeing that he was about to become an official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Jia Yun felt that he needed to read more.

At this moment, Jia Yun came to the inner study and found that the maid Xiaohong was guarding the inner study. She had lit the lights in the room and prepared a washbasin and hot water.

The maid, Xiaohong, was only sixteen years old. She wore some half-new clothes and had her black hair tied up in a bun. Although she was not a stunning beauty, she was pretty and clean, and had some looks.

Xiaohong has a long face and a delicate figure, while Jia Yun has a long face and a tall figure.

The two are similar in this respect.

Xiaohong was originally a servant in the Rongguo Mansion. Her surname was Lin and her nickname was Hongyu. However, because the character "Yu" in her name resembled the names of Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu, this character was hidden and she was called "Xiaohong" by everyone.

Her parents are Lin Zhixiao and his wife, who are the most powerful servants in Rongguo Mansion.

Prior to this, Jia Zhen was exiled to the frontier to serve as a soldier to atone for his sins, and the title and property of Ningguo Mansion were inherited by Jia Yun. Jia Rong was very unwilling to this and was unwilling to move out of Ningguo Mansion.

Grandmother Jia felt sorry for Jia Rong and didn't want him to move out of Ningguo Mansion.

The problem is, if Jia Rong does not move out of Ningguo Mansion, wouldn’t he be disobeying Yuan Qingbai’s orders?

Fortunately, Jia Zhu was not confused about this and persuaded Jia Zheng, and together with Jia Zheng, persuaded Jia Mu and Jia Rong. As a result, Jia Rong moved out of Ningguo Mansion indignantly, and with him, Jia Zhen and Jia Rong's wives and concubines also moved out, as well as some servants, mostly maids.

Some maids who had been involved with Jia Zhen and Jia Rong naturally found it inconvenient to serve Jia Yun again.

Some of the maids served Jia Zhen, Jia Rong and their wives and concubines, and it was not convenient for them to serve Jia Yun.

This resulted in a shortage of maids in Ningguo Mansion.

It was still Jia Zhu who provided assistance and asked Lin Zhixiao and his wife from Rongguo Mansion to select several maids from Rongguo Mansion and send them to Ningguo Mansion, including Xiaohong.

Xiaohong was not only sent to Ningguo Mansion, but also became a maid serving Jia Yun.

Because Jia Yun has not yet married and does not even have a chambermaid, Lin Zhixiao and his wife hope that their daughter can become Jia Yun's chambermaid and have the status of a concubine.

Xiaohong also had the same idea. She felt that she was quite pretty and really wanted to move up the ladder.

After entering Ningguo Mansion to serve Jia Yun, Xiaohong wanted more and more to become Jia Yun's roommate, because Jia Yun was not only powerful, but also young, handsome, with a good personality, and hardworking.

Therefore, Xiaohong often deliberately showed off in front of Jia Yun.

Jia Yun really fell in love with Xiaohong and even had the idea of ​​marrying her.

If Jia Yun had not suddenly gained the wealth of the Ningguo Mansion and had still lived the hard life as before, it would have been his luck to marry a wife like Xiaohong.

However, now, with his status, if he married Xiaohong as his principal wife, it would be inappropriate to let a maid like Xiaohong become the mistress of Ningguo Mansion.

Even Jia Zhu would not approve of such a thing, because once it happened, it would attract criticism.

At this moment, in the inner study, Jia Yun smiled slightly and asked Xiao Hong, "Why are you here?"

Xiao Hong smiled and replied, "I guessed that after Second Master sent Master Zhu away, he would definitely come here to study, so I came here to prepare first. Second Master, wash your face and refresh yourself so that you can study well."

Jia Yun fell in love and immediately washed his face with Xiaohong's help. During the process, Xiaohong's hands touched his face, which made him feel moved.

When Xiaohong wiped his face with a towel and they looked at each other closely, his heart was filled with not only ripples but also waves.

He couldn't help but stare at Xiaohong, showing an expression of fondness and even a little obsession.

At this moment, Xiaohong was more infatuated than Jia Yun. Her pretty and clean face had turned red, as if pink peach blossoms had bloomed.

Xiaohong couldn't help but lower her head, then immediately raised it again, bravely looking at Jia Yun, and murmured, "Second Master..."

Although she is just a young maid, she is good at climbing up the social ladder and is bold and daring enough to pursue her own love and future.

On the contrary, Jia Yun was more nervous than Xiaohong in the face of the current situation, but he was not as courageous as Xiaohong.

Jia Yun coughed dryly and said, "I should study now."

After saying that, he sat down on the couch.

Xiaohong felt a little disappointed, but still forced a smile, went forward to help Jia Yun pick the wick, and poured him a cup of hot tea.

After pouring the water for washing her face, Xiaohong sat near Jia Yun again, doing needlework while accompanying Jia Yun who was reading. Whenever Jia Yun needed service, she would immediately put down her needlework and go forward to serve him.

Although Jia Yun was studying seriously, he couldn't help but look at Xiaohong many times. Thinking about his hard life in the past and comparing it with his current self, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart that he was lucky.

An hour passed quickly.

Jia Yun is still studying hard.

At this time, Xiao Hong stood up and stepped forward, reminding him with concern: "Second Master, you have been reading for an hour. It is night, and you should go to bed."

Jia Yun nodded, and accompanied by Xiaohong, he returned to his bedroom. With Xiaohong's help, he washed his face and soaked his feet.

Before this, Xiaohong had taken the initiative to offer to warm Jia Yun's bed, meaning that because it was cold, she would sleep in Jia Yun's quilt first, and after the quilt was warm, Jia Yun could sleep later.

This kind of thing is very normal among wealthy families.

However, Jia Yun politely declined Xiaohong's offer and even forbade her to stay in his room to serve him tea or call him to get up and sit down at night.

Jia Yun felt that he had just become a powerful official and should not be too pampered, and he should not have sex with Xiaohong so soon.

Tonight, Xiaohong once again suggested staying in Jia Yun's room to facilitate nighttime service, but Jia Yun politely declined.

Xiaohong had no choice but to leave. Before leaving, she suddenly took out a handkerchief, placed it on the edge of the bed, and said to Jia Yun: "I embroidered this handkerchief and gave it to you, Second Master."

After saying that, she walked out with her face red and her head lowered.

Jia Yun picked up the handkerchief and took a look, and found a pair of exquisite mandarin ducks embroidered on it!

He was moved again.

He sighed in his heart that although it was not convenient to marry Xiaohong, he wanted Xiaohong to become his roommate.

In the original novel, Jia Yun and Xiaohong became husband and wife.

Now, although the appearance of Yuan Qingbai has changed a lot of the original trajectory, Jia Yun and Xiaohong seem to be destined to become a pair of mandarin ducks...

(End of this chapter)