Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 160: The Female Family of Rong Mansion Enters Yuanzhao Garden
Yuanchun often maintains a dignified and virtuous demeanor, but she inevitably gets emotional sometimes.

For example, at this moment, when Yuanchun heard the hidden meaning of Yuan Qingbai's words, she became excited and stared at Yuan Qingbai with eyes full of expectation.

After Yuan Qingbai ascended the throne, he followed the will of Emperor Chengtai and issued an edict allowing the families of Emperor Chengtai's concubines to visit the palace on the 2nd and 6th of every month. At the same time, he also issued an edict allowing the families of his own concubines to visit the palace on the 6th of every month.

Because of this, Lady Jia and Lady Wang from Rongguo Mansion have visited Yuanchun in the palace several times.

Yesterday was the sixth day of February, which should have been the day for Yuan Qingbai's concubines and their families to visit him.

However, because they moved to Yuanzhao Garden yesterday, the viewing was cancelled, which made Yuanchun, Youshi, Wang Xifeng and others feel disappointed.

At this time, Yuanchun saw that Yuan Qingbai was willing to allow her family to visit Yuanzhao Garden and enjoy the "natural paintings". How could she not be excited and looking forward to it?
Yuan Qingbai smiled and said to Yuanchun, "Since we moved to Yuanzhao Garden yesterday, the visits from the concubines' families have been cancelled. I intend to allow them to visit Yuanzhao Garden in a few days. Then you can receive the people from the Jia Mansion in this 'natural painting' and take them to enjoy it."

When Yuanchun heard this, she was really excited. She didn't bother to refuse the offer and bowed to Yuan Qingbai, saying gratefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

Yuan Qingbai smiled and said, "Don't thank me yet. I have something else to say. You will be happier when you hear it."

Yuanchun asked with sparkling eyes: "Your Majesty, please tell us."

Yuan Qingbai deliberately asked, "How long has it been since you last saw your brother?"

The brother here naturally refers to Jia Zhu.

Yuanchun immediately understood the hidden meaning of the words and became even happier. She said, "It has been three months since we last met."

Yuan Qingbai knew that Jia Zhu and Yuanchun had a deep relationship as siblings, so he had allowed Jia Zhu to visit Yuanchun. However, if Jia Zhu wanted to visit, he had to apply to Yuan Qingbai in advance.

Jia Zhu was aware of the overall situation and knew that this matter was inconvenient, so he only applied once, which was three months ago.

Yuan Qingbai stared at Yuanchun and said with a smile, "When the ladies of Rong Mansion come to the garden to enjoy the garden in a few days, you can ask Jia Zhu to accompany them and bring your little nephew with you."

When Yuanchun heard this, she was obviously even more excited and happy. She felt that if she just thanked him verbally, it would not be worthy of Yuan Qingbai's good intentions.

Yuanchun suddenly lowered her head and said shyly, "I will serve His Majesty well tonight."

Yuan Qingbai smiled knowingly: "Okay."

……

……

A few days later.

The family members of Yuan Qingbai's concubines went to Yuanzhao Garden to visit.

Among them, Yuanchun met with Jia Mu, Wang Fu-ren, Jia Zhu, Li Wan, Zhen Baofen, Lin Daiyu, Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, Jia Xuan and others from Rongguo Mansion in the "Natural Painting".

Lin Daiyu and Sanchun followed along.

"Your Majesty and the Queen are truly in harmony. Such a beautiful view was bestowed upon the Queen, which once again proves that the Queen is extremely blessed."

Jia Lian's wife Zhen Baofen flattered Yuanchun.

Although Zhen Baofen is the eldest daughter from the Zhen family in Jiangnan, her personality is very different from that of Yuanchun, the eldest daughter of the Jia family. Instead, she is similar to Wang Xifeng.

This time, everyone in the Jia family was able to visit Yuanzhao Garden, and Zhen Baofen took the initiative to go along, not only because she envied the luxury of Yuanzhao Garden and wanted to broaden her horizons, but also because she wanted to curry favor with Yuanchun and even Yuan Qingbai.

However, although Zhen Baofen was flattering Yuanchun verbally, she was full of jealousy in her heart. She felt that she was not inferior to Yuanchun in terms of family background and beauty, so why didn't she have such great fortune as Yuanchun? Yuanchun was able to become the queen and had a loving relationship with the emperor, but she married Jia Lian and the couple were not harmonious.

When Lady Jia, Lady Wang, and all the maids and servants in the Rongguo Mansion heard what Zhen Baofen said, they all agreed with it.

Oh, the eldest daughter of our Rongguo Mansion is so blessed!

Yuanchun just smiled faintly and did not respond to Zhen Baofen.

Yuanchun didn't like Zhen Baofen. Although she had not met Zhen Baofen very often, she knew her a little and knew that Zhen Baofen was a person who was greedy for power, money and liked to show off.

Zhen Baofen smiled and asked Yuanchun, "Empress, doesn't the emperor have time to spare today? Given the harmony between the emperor and you, and the emperor's concern for our Rong Mansion, if the emperor is free, I guess he will come here to accompany you to meet the old lady and the madam."

When Yuanchun heard this, she snorted inwardly.

As expected, you are a flamboyant and restless person. Is this something you should ask?

His Majesty is such a noble and busy person. In the past, he would meet the old lady and the wife in person when he was in the mood. It is normal for him not to meet them.

Could it be that you, Zhen Baofen, asked this on purpose because you wanted to see His Majesty?
Yuanchun speculated so.

Yuanchun disliked Zhen Baofen for another reason. When Zhen Baofen met Yuan Qingbai before, Yuanchun was keenly aware that Zhen Baofen looked at Yuan Qingbai with a strange look, either flirting or resentment. This second wife of Rongguo Mansion might have had some restless thoughts on this matter... However, Zhen Baofen was Jia Lian's wife after all. Now that Lady Jia and Lady Wang were in front of them, Yuanchun didn't want to ruin the happy atmosphere, so she simply replied, "Your Majesty is busy with state affairs and has no time to spare today."

Zhen Baofen felt disappointed when she heard this.

Lin Daiyu, Yingchun, Tanchun and Xichun were also a little disappointed. They had all been looking forward to meeting Yuan Qingbai today.

"Brother Zhu, sister-in-law, Xuan'er is five years old this year and will be six next year. It is rare for me to see him today. It will be difficult to see him again in the future. I want to take this opportunity to test his talent."

Yuanchun said to Jia Zhu and Li Wan with a smile.

Although Yuanchun became the queen, when she met Jia Zhu, if Yuan Qingbai was not there, she would call him "Brother Zhu" as before.

Jia Zhu and Li Wan have two sons, the eldest son Jia Lan and the second son Jia Xuan.

Jia Lan and Jia Xuan are both Yuanchun's nephews.

Yuanchun loved both of her nephews because of her deep brotherly love with Jia Zhu, and also because both nephews were quite talented and well-educated by Jia Zhu and Li Wan.

Jia Lan entered the Shangshufang last year to serve as a companion to the prince. Although he is only ten years old now, he has already shown signs of being both civil and military. He studies hard, is very good at reading, and even has good martial arts skills.

Although Jia Xuan was only five years old, he had already read many books and knew thousands of words by heart.

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At this moment, Jia Zhu and Li Wan saw that Yuanchun wanted to personally test Jia Xuan's talent, and the couple were both very happy. They both had confidence in the talent of their second son Jia Xuan, and they also wanted Jia Xuan to be closer to Yuanchun.

Grandmother Jia and Mrs. Wang were also happy to see this.

Immediately, Yuanchun led everyone from Rongguo Mansion to Langyin Pavilion, which had become her study and piano room in "Natural Painting".

In the Langyin Pavilion, Yuanchun first asked Jia Xuan in detail about his reading and literacy.

Jia Zhu took the initiative to suggest to Yuanchun: "Xuan'er can recite the poems written by the three emperors during their spring outings. I wonder if the Empress is interested in taking a look?"

Yuanchun's eyes lit up and she smiled sweetly: "Oh? He is so capable at such a young age? I'd like to take a closer look."

So, in front of Yuanchun, Jia Xuan wrote down Emperor Jing'an's "Spring Walk", Emperor Chengtai's "Spring Suburbs", and Yuan Qingbai's "Spring Suburbs" from memory.

These three poems were published in the first issue of "Da Zhou Bao" and have become "famous poems" of Da Zhou. Most of the readers in Da Zhou know these three poems, especially Yuan Qingbai's "Spring Suburbs", which has been highly praised by the majority of readers and is beneficial to Yuan Qingbai's reputation and prestige.

Jia Xuan actually wrote out from memory the three spring outing poems of three generations of emperors, without making a single mistake.

Jia Xuan, who was only five years old, was able to do such a miraculous thing. It was not only because of his extraordinary talent and good upbringing, but also because Jia Zhu had Jia Xuan memorize these three Spring Outing poems, thinking that perhaps Yuan Qingbai would personally test Jia Xuan one day. If Jia Xuan could recite and write out these three Spring Outing poems, wouldn't it be easy to gain Yuan Qingbai's appreciation?

Last year, when Yuan Qingbai visited Rongguo Mansion in disguise, he personally tested the talents of Jia Lan and Jia Xuan. It was during that test that both Jia Lan and Jia Xuan were appreciated. Jia Lan got the opportunity to enter the Shangshufang as a companion to the prince, while Jia Xuan was rewarded with gifts.

"Brother Zhu and sister-in-law are so lucky. Lan'er is already a very talented and accomplished person. Now it seems that Xuan'er is also the same."

Yuanchun was so delighted that she couldn't help but sigh.

Oh, look at my Rongguo Mansion. We have successors. Although the generation of the eldest master and the second master are not good, brother Zhu is a very capable person, and the younger generation, Lan'er and Xuan'er, both have hope of becoming capable people.

Yuanchun was happy for Jia Zhu and the Rongguo Mansion, and also for herself.

She knew that if her two nephews, Jia Lan and Jia Xuan, could grow up well, they would have a good chance of becoming Yuan Qingbai's trusted ministers when they grow up, which would be beneficial to her as the queen.

However, when Yuanchun thought of Jia Baoyu, she felt a little disappointed.

Compared with Jia Lan and Jia Xuan, Yuanchun cares more about Jia Baoyu, who is her beloved younger brother and is even somewhat like a mother and son to her.

Jia Baoyu is also extremely talented, no less than Jia Zhu, Jia Lan and Jia Xuan, but he is not ambitious. Even though he entered the official school of Xian'an Palace last year and is already fourteen years old this year, he still shows no signs of becoming a successful person.

After questioning Jia Xuan, Yuanchun gave him a reward and then avoided the female members of the Rongguo Mansion, including Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang. She wanted to talk to Jia Zhu alone.

Jia Zhu took the opportunity to tell Yuanchun about the affair between Jia Rong and Xie Luan not long ago, and felt that Yuanchun should know about this matter.

After hearing this, Yuanchun was distressed and sighed, "Brother Zhen is already like that, and now even Brother Rong is also like this! Alas, this family is really committing evil! Brother Zhu handled this matter very well!"

Yuanchun immediately told Jia Zhu: "Our Jia family is now flourishing, and Lian Yun has become an official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You must be careful in your future actions. It's hard for Brother Zhu, you have to be busy serving the emperor and taking care of household chores."

Jia Zhu smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Queen. Please rest assured that I will serve Your Majesty faithfully and live up to your great favor. I will also be diligent and careful in my household affairs."

Yuanchun nodded, feeling fortunate to have such a brother.

If it weren't for her brother Jia Zhu supporting her, she, the queen, would be troubled...

(End of this chapter)