Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 125 Qingqiu Rise Softly

When Li Tianling, the founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, unified half of the south of the Yangtze River, he first established a country in Nanjing, and later went north to defeat the Mongols and unify the country.

Only then was the capital moved from Jinling to Shenjing, so Jinling was actually the secondary capital of the Great Zhou.

The four kings and eight dukes who followed Emperor Taizu of Zhou to conquer the world and restore the Han clothing and customs all left their ancestral homes in Jinling.

Although the Jia family's old house in Xinglongfang is not as luxurious as the Ning and Rong mansions built in the capital, it was the birthplace of the two lords Ning and Rong and covers a considerable area.

Ever since the direct lineage of Ning and Rong followed the royal family north to the capital, the old house of the Jia family has been empty. Although the Jia family still has eight branches in Jinling, those side branches are not allowed to set foot into the old house.

Jia Cong waited for the carriage to arrive at the left corner gate of the old house, then got off. He saw two long benches under the eaves of the main gate. Four or five old servants were sitting there guarding the gate, and two of them were playing chess with chess pieces on the ground.

The strangest thing is that these old servants are all disabled. Some are blind in one eye, some are missing arms and legs, and the most complete one has a scary scar on his face.

Jia Cong was puzzled as to why the Jia family’s old house kept such ferocious-looking old servants, who seemed to be there to protect the house.

Seeing Jia Cong's expression, the housekeeper Jin Cai explained, "Third Master, you don't know that these old family members were the personal guards of the former Duke.

They all followed the Duke of Xian to fight on the battlefield, but because they were left with disabilities and could no longer stay in the army, they were raised in the old house to spend their remaining years in peace. "

After hearing this, Jia Cong finally understood that they were the Duke's former personal soldiers. No wonder these old servants were so violent. Only those who had been on the battlefield for a long time and had seen many deaths would be like this.

If these people were kept in the Duke's Mansion built in the capital, it would inevitably be an eyesore, but keeping them in the old house in Nanjing would be quiet and peaceful.

Jin Cai sent Jia Cong to the second gate and asked her woman to take Jia Cong into the inner courtyard.

Jia Cong followed Jin Cai's family for a long distance before they arrived at a two-courtyard house where he was accommodated. Jin Cai's family knocked on the gate and a little maid with an unfamiliar face came out to open the door.

Jin Cai's family said that because today was a bit rushed and the old house was usually vacant, there were not many people on hand, so right now they only had a little maid guarding the gate, and tomorrow they would transfer two more smart little maids over to do the rough work.

Jia Cong saw that this courtyard was much larger than Qingzhizhai in Rongguo Mansion. It seemed a bit empty with only him, Wu'er and Qingwen living there.

When I entered the room, I saw that Wu'er and Qingwen both had long hair that was wet and black, and it seemed that they had just taken a bath.

They drifted on the boat for nearly ten days. Although the official ship was fully equipped, using water or bathing was not as convenient as in daily life.

The two little girls had been through a lot along the way and probably endured it for a long time. The first thing they did when they came back was to take a nice bath.

Both of them were wearing small gowns made of cloud silk, Wu'er's was rain-green and Qingwen's was pine-green, which set off their pretty figures and were quite charming.

When Wu'er saw Jia Cong coming back, a look of joy appeared on her face, and her smile was as beautiful as a flower.

"The Third Master is finally back. You must be exhausted after sitting on the boat for so many days. I have prepared some hot soup for you. Go and take a shower. Qingwen and I have already taken a shower."

When Jia Cong slid into the hot water, all the pores on his body opened up, and the fatigue from sailing for several days slowly disappeared.

A faint fragrance of virgin came from behind him, and a pair of soft little hands opened his bun, soaked it with warm water, and then rubbed his hair with soap water soaked with bay leaves.

Although Jia Cong had two close maids, Wu'er and Qingwen, over the years, he did not develop the ridiculous habit of having the maids help him take a bath.

But when washing her hair, she must ask Wu'er or Qingwen for help, because her hair is too long and it is too uncomfortable to wash it by herself.

Wu'er's movements were careful and gentle. Jia Cong closed his eyes comfortably. The relief brought by Wu'er's fingers rubbing on the top of his head gradually flowed to his whole body, and he seemed to be floating in the air.

He looked up and could see Wu'er looking down at him, her long black hair hanging down and her eyes bright as stars. Her delicate and pretty face was truly pleasing to the eyes.

The rain-green cloud silk dress showed off her graceful and slender curves, from the slender waist to the slender and soft flesh at the bottom.

"Wu'er."

"Ah."

"I will wait until the foundation of Da Ci'en Temple begins before I can officially enter the temple to copy scriptures. I will have a few days of leisure time after that."

"That's great. Master San will just rest at home for a few days. You must be exhausted after sitting on the boat for so many days."

"It's too boring to stay at home. I'll take you and Qingwen out for a walk."

"That's fine. We'll all listen to Third Master. Jin Cai's family said this afternoon that Jinling is a big commercial port, and many foreign ships will dock there. There are many new and exotic foreign gadgets on the market.

Some of them sound like the things in San Ye's stories. There is a Dazaimen Alley in the west of the city, where all these things are sold. Why don't San Ye take us to see some rare things?" There was no conversation that night, and I had a deep and sweet dream.

……

Early in the morning, the yard of Jin Cai's house was filled with various gifts that Jia Cong brought this time. Jin Cai and her wife were sorting and classifying the gifts for each family according to the gift list.

Among these gifts, some were given by Grandmother Jia to the eight branches of the Jia family and the Shi family in Jinling, while others were given by Lady Wang to the Wang and Xue families in Jinling.

According to the closeness of each family on the gift list, some ordinary gifts for old relatives were asked to be delivered by Jin Cai's family.

For important gifts for close relatives, Jin Cai would go personally to deliver them. After all, she had to attend to social events and being a woman was not very useful.

Jin Cai's wife asked, "Master, why don't you let Third Master Cong deliver the gifts for the closest relatives? Wouldn't it be more respectable for the old lady and the wife if he delivered them?"

Jin Cai replied, "You think I didn't think of it, I went to ask early in the morning, and the Third Master was taking his two girls out, saying that he had something to do in the next few days, so I could deliver the gift.

Don't underestimate the Third Master because he is an official and it would not be appropriate for him to give gifts to every household.

Even my daughter wrote in her letter that the Third Master is the most outstanding man in the Jia family and is the most respected by the Second Master, so she asked us to take good care of him.

In fact, Jia Cong had nothing to do these days. The Da Ci'en Temple was still measuring the land and had not yet started laying the foundation. These were the days when he had the most free time, otherwise he would not have taken the two girls out for a stroll.

He just had no feelings for the relatives of the Jia family, so naturally he would not be eager to send these gifts and use himself to save face for others, and just find a random reason to give to Jin Cai.

Jin Cai's family said, "Yuan Yang brought a letter from far away and said all these things. This is not like usual."

She thought of Jia Cong's handsome appearance again. It was the first time she had seen him in her life. Could it be that her daughter...

"Master, Third Master Cong is so proud of his appearance, could it be that our daughter likes him, otherwise he would have sent a letter from so far away and given all these instructions."

"Don't worry too much about your daughter's affairs. She is the most opinionated person. It is a great blessing for her to be valued by the old lady. People should be content with what they have.

This Third Master Cong has been an official since he was a teenager, and he is also a talented man. Such abilities have only been seen in the Dukes of the Jia family's ancestors. We are not of high status and cannot marry him, so don't even think about those nonsense.

It is important to give these gifts to the elders as soon as possible."

……

Early in the morning, a horse-drawn carriage drove out of the Jia family's old house in Xinglongfang, and the driver was Zhao Ma's son Guo Zhigui.

After traveling for a long time, the carriage arrived at Dazaimen in the west of Jinling City. The entire street here was lined with shops selling foreign goods.

From small items such as daily necessities such as toad cloth, toad fruit, local grains, seasonings, Hu beds, Hu chairs, etc.

There are also foreign pearls, corals, gems, gold and silver utensils carved with foreign patterns, and colorful glass.

There are also many pocket watches, table clocks, scroll boxes, crosses inlaid with colored stones, strange foreign musical instruments, etc.

In the shops on both sides of the street, there were local people from Jinling, foreign merchants buying goods, and many foreigners with blond hair and blue eyes.

Wu'er and Qingwen both changed into men's clothes and dressed up as Jia Cong's servants. They were both excited and looked at the busy scene on the road.

In this era, maids in wealthy families, like the young ladies and ladies in the house, almost never stepped out of the front door. Even messages from outside the second door had to be delivered by older maids.

In this world, there are probably very few people like Jia Cong who would change his personal maid's hairpins into a hat and take her out for a stroll.

Jia Cong bought a lot of things along the way, including pearls from Japan, jewel-studded rings, Nishijin cloth, gilded bronze pocket watches, scroll-shaped sound boxes, and a bunch of Western books that looked like scribbles.

Some are gifts and toys for sisters, while others are bought for personal study and play.

He understood better than anyone how great the impact of the emerging Western science and technology would be on future generations.

When passing by a small shop, Qingwen suddenly picked up a crystal clear light green bottle from the basket at the door.

"Third Master, look, how beautiful this bottle is!"

(End of this chapter)