Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 22: Strange Military Feat
"Zhishao, Zhishao..."

Jia Cong shouted at Zhishao who was staring at him in a daze.

Zhishao seemed to be awakened all of a sudden, her face flushed red: "Third Master, what's the matter?"

"You are going out with me today. I am worried about you being alone at home, so I will send you to a place first. When I come back from Nanxi, we will go back home together."

Normally when Jia Cong was around, Jia She and his wife would never go to Zhishao to lobby or force them, even though in their eyes, Jia Cong was no better than the dirt on the ground outside the second gate.

However, it was too embarrassing and difficult to ask for his son's personal maid to be his concubine in front of his son. Although Jia She was domineering, he still had to at least have some dignity.

Moreover, if the quarrel got out and the news reached the old lady, she would be even more annoyed. From then on, they would never be able to turn their lives around in the Jia family, and would have to work like burnt papers in the east courtyard for the rest of their lives.

Jia Cong saw through all this, so he tried his best to prevent Zhishao from staying alone in the mansion to prevent Jia She and Madam Xing from taking advantage of her.

Zhishao knew that Jia Cong cared about her and took her with him whenever he went out, so that she would not be oppressed by the master and the mistress at home alone. Thinking of this, she felt sweet in her heart.

Jia Cong pushed open the door and found that everything was white. Tanchun said yesterday that the clouds were heavy and it would snow today. She really came true, and it snowed all night last night.

When my feet stepped on the snow, the trap went half a finger deep and made a crisp creaking sound.

The carriage had stopped outside the black oil gate of the east courtyard, and two servants followed on horseback.

This carriage did not belong to the East Courtyard. Jia She would never get away with it, so he arranged a carriage for Jia Cong and let him ride in it to show off.

This was the carriage from the West Mansion, which Jia Zheng had arranged a day in advance. He even had the carriage go to Shuyun Villa in advance to avoid delays due to unknown route.

The driver was Zhao Ma's son Guo Zhigui, who was Jia Cong's maternal brother. Logically, they were very close, but Jia Cong had never seen Guo Zhigui since he was a child.

Guo Zhigui is the same age as Jia Cong.

Don't be fooled by his young age. He has learned the driving skills from somewhere. No matter how bad-tempered an animal is, it will be obedient in his hands.

Just relying on this skill, he had worked as a coachman in Xifu for a year at such a young age.

Jia Zheng usually rode in Guo Zhigui's car when he went out, because Guo Zhigui was smart and drove fast and steadily.

Jia Cong saw his foster brother sitting steadily on the shaft of the cart, his face was dark, and he was wearing a felt hat with snow all over the brim. He thought he had been waiting here for a long time.

Seeing Jia Cong coming over, Guo Zhigui grinned, revealing his white teeth. He jumped off the shaft of the carriage and took down the small stool: "Master Cong, please get in the carriage."

Jia Cong saw that although he was the same age as himself, he was tall and strong, like a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old.

……

Shuyun Villa, where the Nanxi Literary Society was held, is located on Qifeng Mountain in the western suburbs of the city. It takes another hour for a horse carriage to arrive from the city gate of Hongde Gate in the west.

Jia Cong helped Zhishao get on the carriage. It was still daybreak and most people in the East Courtyard were still asleep. No one came out to disturb them.

The carriage left Judefang in the snow and wind that blocked out the sun. After traveling for half an hour, it stopped near Chunhua Tower in the west city.

Jia Conghe and Zhishao got off the carriage and asked Guo Zhigui to wait there.

His foster brother has an honest face and doesn't look like a treacherous person, but the Jia family is a wealthy family with deep waters, so it's always better to be careful.

The two crossed two streets and came to a sparsely populated alley, where they stopped in front of a small courtyard at the end of the alley.

Zhishao was surprised to see Jia Cong take out a key and open the pillow lock on the courtyard door. When he opened the door, he saw a small courtyard with four rooms and a tall mulberry tree in the middle of the courtyard.

This was the place Jia Cong had rented in West City a few days ago. He settled Zhishao down, closed the gate, and walked back to Guo Zhigui's carriage. When the carriage drove out of Hongde Gate, Jia Cong saw several carriages passing by, some simple and plain, some luxurious and rich.

They were actually going in the same direction as him, so they must be going to attend the Nanxi Literary Festival. As time went by, there were more and more carriages traveling along the same road.

The carriage that Jia Cong was riding in had the logo of Rongguo Mansion on it. Along the way, Jia Cong noticed that many people in passing carriages often lifted the curtains and looked over here.

Some people may find it strange that the children of wealthy families with military achievements are usually in the military and are always very rude.

It is extremely difficult to produce a serious scholar under the influence of such a family reputation. How come some famous person in Rongguo Mansion also went to participate in the Nanxi Literary Society?

However, some people also thought that the Ningguo Mansion, which was of the same lineage as the Rongguo Mansion, had a Jia Jing, who was a noble Jinshi.

The family of military honors produced a Jinshi who was named in Qujiang. This is the only family of this kind in the past fifty years in the country. Is the Jia family going to do the same thing again?
Jia Cong didn't know that he had already caused quite a stir among the great scholars and celebrities attending the literary gathering before he even arrived at Shuyun Villa.

Ten miles out of Hongde Gate, no villages or people were visible. Jia Cong lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw a vast snowy field covered in silver.

Not far away there was a large river covered with solid ice. Some broken pieces of ice floated slowly along the undercurrent at the bottom of the river, colliding with each other and making sharp sounds like metal.

In the dense woods along the river, the branches stretching towards the sky are covered with jade-like snow, and they appear unusually clear and enchanting in the cold wind.

When Jia Cong saw the scene before him, he could not help but think of the great man's poem: The scenery of the north, a thousand miles of ice, ten thousand miles of snow drifting, looking inside and outside the Great Wall, there is only vastness; the great rivers, up and down, have lost their roaring sound...

However, he would only recite this poem silently in his heart throughout his life and would never dare to read it out loud.

The carriage traveled less than ten miles before arriving at the foot of Qifeng Ridge. Servants from Prince Jiashun's mansion were already waiting there, leading the way for the arriving carriage.

Jia Cong's carriage followed the leading servant and turned a corner. In front of them, they saw a tall archway with a huge plaque with black background and golden characters reading "Shu Yun Villa" hung on it.

Behind the archway is a neat stone staircase that extends to the mountainside. At the end of the stone staircase, there is a white wall and green tiles, and the eaves of the buildings are looming, just like a palace in the clouds.

Dozens of horse-drawn carriages of various types have been parked under the archway. The owners of these carriages should all be here to attend the Nanxi Literary Festival.

Many of the people getting off the carriage knew each other and greeted each other by clasping their fists. Some of them also got to know each other through introductions from others and expressed their long-standing admiration and respect for each other.

When Jia Cong's carriage stopped under the archway, it immediately attracted a lot of people's attention because the Rongguo Mansion logo on the carriage was too eye-catching.

Just like the carriage owners they met along the way and the people under the archway, they were all very surprised that such a prominent military family as the Rongguo Mansion was actually invited to participate in the literary gathering.

When the people got off the carriage, everyone's looks became even weirder.

The person who got off the car was not a steady and proper adult, but a teenager. When did the Nanxi Literary Association start inviting children to participate?

Everyone saw that the young man was wearing a bright red gorilla felt cloak, revealing a moon-white robe with silver bamboo patterns underneath. He was wearing black velvet thick-soled Buyu boots, and in his hand was a purple copper hand warmer inlaid with blue.

The outfit is elegant and refined, yet not extravagant.

His black hair was tied up with a jade hairpin. Although his face was a little thin, his facial features were very handsome and delicate. He had a pair of warm and clear eyes, with a calm and peaceful look.

He has a slender figure and a straight back, and he stands tall and graceful. His bright red gorilla felt cloak flutters in the cold wind and is illuminated by the snow all over the ground, making him as dazzling as a plum blossom in the snow.

Many people admired him in their hearts. Although he was just a child, it was rare to see such a beautiful appearance. They wondered when such a young man appeared in Rongguo Mansion and why they had never heard of it.

"Hey, isn't this Brother Cong? Why are you here?" A young man's voice broke the strange atmosphere at the scene.

Jia Cong looked back and saw a young man in his early twenties walking towards him quickly. It was Liu Bi, whom he had just met a few days ago.

(End of this chapter)