Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 133 Qixia meets Prince Ning

The old house of the Jia family, in Jia Cong's courtyard.

The afternoon sun was shining brightly. The little girl in the yard was sweeping the courtyard. Everyone in the room was doing their own thing. The atmosphere was comfortable and warm.

Qingwen was making a navy blue carved silk eight-pattern fur coat. The needle and thread were flying on her hands, and her movements were deft and pleasing to the eye.

Although Nanjing is not as northern as the capital, its winters are much colder than those in Zhejiang and Fujian. In addition, the south is more humid than the north, so the winters are even colder and damper than in the north.

The climate in Da Zhou has been abnormal in recent years, and the weather has been getting colder day by day since September.

Jia Cong's imperial mission this time will last until the end of the year, so Qingwen started preparing new winter clothes for him early.

Wu'er was stewing a pot of jujube paste, yam and green stalk porridge on the flower corridor outside. The air was filled with the fragrance of yam and the sweet and glutinous taste of green stalk rice.

Wu'er has been influenced by Sister Liu since he was a child, and is very knowledgeable about the expensive food in the mansion.

Jia Cong writes and reads every day, which is most demanding on his eyesight and mind. This jujube paste, yam and green stem porridge is the best for replenishing blood and producing essence, and it can also warm the spleen and stomach.

Ever since Jia Cong asked his servant to deliver a letter to Jia Yucun, the matter of the fool Xue had nothing to do with him anymore, and he was too lazy to care about it.

Yesterday, Qin Ye sent someone to bring the news that the Da Ci'en Temple would be built on the western foot of the center of Qixia Mountain in Jinling.

Now that the land measurement has been completed, tomorrow has been chosen as an auspicious day for the foundation laying and consecration ceremony of the temple. Jia Cong needs to be present tomorrow to begin reciting scriptures and praying for blessings.

Xiangling was neatly stacking a set of imperially bestowed writing brushes, ink boxes, inkstones and other writing supplies in a book box. She would take these things to Qixia Mountain for use tomorrow.

These days are the best days Xiangling has ever had.

There was no need to worry about being beaten or scolded for misbehaving, nor did they have to stand by the slippery well every day to fetch water and let the carrying pole hurt their tender shoulders, and they did not have to worry about being sold at any time.

She is gentle and shy, and gets along very well with Wu'er naturally.

Even Qingwen, who was sharp-tongued but kind-hearted, felt like she had stumbled into cotton when she met Xiangling's delicate personality. In just two days, she was assimilated by Xiangling and sometimes they could even talk and laugh with each other.

She seemed to adapt to her new role quickly and kept Jia Cong's study tidy every day.

She also often helped Qingwen with needlework, and learned how to make tea and soup from Wu'er, and soon the three maids became friends.

Even Jia Cong was a little surprised by Xiangling's friendliness.

That morning, Jia Cong went to Dazaimen to find Qian Bin, because Qian Bin's shop also did business in foreign goods and he was familiar with the circulation of foreign goods in Jinling City.

He asked Qian Bin to help him keep an eye on the foreign goods coming in and out of Jinling, especially the Japanese Iwate Mountains' water jade bottles. He was very optimistic about the water jade bottles used to package perfume.

If the business is successful, it was agreed that Qian Bin would continue to receive a commission.

Although Qian Bin is a man who is good at dealing with people in the market, he also has some vision and insight. The people he comes into contact with on a daily basis are either peddlers or small-time figures like Dong Laoer who run a business on their own and do supporting work.

He also vaguely realized in his heart that if he continued in this way, he would only be a small shop owner in Dazaimen for the rest of his life.

To him, Jia Cong was a person of another class, a young man born into a wealthy and noble family, with extraordinary wisdom and strategies. What was important was that he was willing to associate with someone like him.

Qian Bin even vaguely felt that being able to make friends with such a person was much more worthwhile than earning a few taels of commission, so he readily agreed to what Jia Cong asked him to do.

In addition, Jia Cong sent half of the water jade bottles he bought back to Shenjing through the post station, and asked Qu Hongxiu to launch a batch of fine packaging perfumes to see the sales market in Shenjing.

If this perfume packaged in a water jade bottle can sell as well as he expected, he will collect and stockpile these Japanese water jade bottles in Jinling.

You can even open a branch of Xiuniang Incense Shop in Jinling.

Although he is now pursuing an official career through the imperial examination system, he is not like the people of that era who look down upon and despise the ways of business. He knows better than anyone that the ways of business have an irreplaceable role in strengthening the country and enriching the people.

As for individuals, having abundant wealth is an important way to survive in any era. Who would complain about having too much money?

……

Qixia Mountain, where the Da Ci'en Temple is located, is a two-hour drive from Xinglongfang, so a lot of time is spent on the road.

The Ministry of Rites arranged for Jia Cong to copy scriptures with a schedule of three days and a rest. That means he had to live at the temple site and copy scriptures for three days, then rest for one day. The specific schedule would be adjusted according to the construction period of the temple.

Qin Ye requisitioned a library in Ding'an Temple near the site of Da Ci'en Temple as a residence for official management of the temple construction. As the highest official in charge of the temple construction, Qin Ye had to stay here so that he could inspect the construction site every day.

The construction of the Da Ci'en Temple is a matter of great concern to His Majesty, and it is also the Ministry of Works' top construction task this year. Qin Ye naturally dared not be negligent in the slightest.

When Jia Cong was copying scriptures for the Da Ci'en Temple, he also had to stay in the official residence of Anding Temple.

Before dawn the next day, Jia Cong took Xiangling on a carriage and headed straight for Qixia Mountain to attend the consecration ceremony of the main hall of the temple at 3:35 am.

Because he would be in Qixia Mountain once every three days, Wu'er was worried and insisted that he bring someone to look after his daily life. Xiangling was the most knowledgeable about literary matters such as washing pens and grinding ink, and she also grew up in Jinling, so Wu'er asked him to keep Xiangling by his side.

In the early hours of the morning, the streets of Jinling City were empty. Guo Zhigui was best at driving a carriage and riding a horse, and he drove the carriage fast and steadily.

After driving for an hour, the east gradually turned white, and the outside of the carriage gradually became covered with dense forests with bright shadows of the trees. The carriage began to enter the hinterland of the middle peak of Qixia Mountain.

When they arrived at the site for building the temple, Jia Cong put on his official uniform and got off the car. He found that there were already many carriages parked at the scene. Among them, a luxurious palace carriage with four horses was particularly eye-catching.

Only princes and royal nobles of different surnames could ride in a four-horse carriage, which means that today's foundation laying and consecration ceremony was presided over by a prince.

A large number of Jinling garrison soldiers were guarding the periphery of the ceremony site. Near the site where the main hall was laid, many people in official uniforms of various colors were waiting.

Jia Cong guessed that these should be officials at all levels in Jinling Province. Da Ci'en Temple was the place where the emperor's biological mother was buried and prayed for. Even the princes participated in the groundbreaking ceremony, so officials at all levels must have been present.

He saw Qin Ye talking to several people who looked like officials in the crowd. Jia Cong even recognized one of them, who was Jia Yucun, the prefect of Yingtian.

And these people are centered around a young man.

The man was wearing a moon-white robe with five dragon patterns and a royal hat with silver wings and a tassel on his head. He was tall and slender, with a noble demeanor.

Jia Cong saw that Qin Ye was extremely respectful when facing the young man, and this man could wear a five-dragon robe, so he must be the prince who was present today.

At this time, Qin Ye happened to see Jia Cong and motioned him to come over.

When Jia Cong arrived, Qin Ye said, "Counselor, this is the current Prince Ning, come and greet him."

When Jia Cong was at Qingshan Academy, he heard his classmates talking about the current princes.

Prince Ning is the second son of the current emperor. He is humble and respectful, although his talents are not as outstanding as those of the eldest prince.

But whether studying or working, he is very diligent, and he can make up for his shortcomings with diligence, so he is still very much loved by the current emperor.

Jia Cong saw that he had a handsome face, was modest and gentle, and although he gave people a sense of friendliness, his eyes had a deep and restrained meaning.

Although this vague feeling was not obvious, Jia Cong could perceive it clearly and even felt somewhat familiar with it.

After Jia Cong paid his respects to Queen Hou Ning, Qin Ye introduced him to several other people.

One was Du Hengxin, the commander-in-chief of Jinling, another was Zou Huaiyi, a captain of the Jinling Water Inspectorate, and the last one was Feng Fengnian, a captain of the Jinling Jinyiwei.

These people are all powerful figures in the Jinling officialdom and their positions are extremely important.

The Prince of Ning was quite interested in Jia Cong. After all, Jia Cong had caused too much noise in the past few months, and there were not many people in the officialdom who didn't know him.

"I've heard for a long time that Feng Yilang was selected as the first at a young age. His poetry is exquisite and his calligraphy is amazing. Today I saw it in person. His demeanor is also so outstanding. His reputation is well-deserved."

He added: “This time, the young prince was ordered to go south to Nanjing. First, to act as the agent for the case of the Japanese merchant ship ronin riot in Longtan Port, and second, the emperor is very concerned about the prayers for the rest of the soul of the Empress Xianxiao.

I order the prince to supervise the construction progress of the Da Ci'en Temple during his stay in Jinling, and I also ask Lord Qin and Lord Jia to live up to the emperor's grace and work hard to get this matter done.

From now on, you can go to Xiao Wang’s residence every fifth day to discuss the progress of the construction. If there are any deficiencies in the construction work, Xiao Wang can also assist in making up for it.”

Only then did Jia Cong understand why Qin Ye was so respectful to Prince Ning. It was not because the other party was a prince, but because Prince Ning was ordered by the emperor to supervise the progress of the construction of Da Ci'en Temple.

Li Dekang, the Minister of Works who was far away in the capital, was out of reach, while Prince Ning who was in Nanjing was Qin Ye's actual superior, so of course he had to be respectful to him.

And Jia Cong, a Fengyilang who copied scriptures, had to report his work to King Yongning every five days. He was just a foil to Qin Ye.

(End of this chapter)