Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 363 Rain Curtain Tea Fragrance

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Grandmother Jia had already hosted a banquet for the women of the Zhen family and had seen them off when they left the house. Before leaving, Miss Zhen San asked Yingchun to help her ask Jia Cong for a calligraphy work.

However, Jia Cong was suddenly summoned into the palace, and sisters such as Daiyu, Yingchun, and Tanchun were all worried.

Jia Zheng was also very concerned when he heard the news. He went in and out of the Ministry of Works on a daily basis and knew that there had been a lot of turmoil in the officialdom of the capital recently. The Court of Inquisition was arresting officials and putting them in prison for interrogation, causing panic among the people inside and outside the court.

At this time, Jia Cong was suddenly summoned to the palace, worried that something unexpected might happen.

Grandmother Jia asked Yuanyang to wait in the East Palace, and then go to Rongqing Hall to talk to Jia Cong when he returned home.

When Jia Cong returned from the palace, it was already past noon, and he followed Yuanyang to Rongqing Hall.

Upon hearing the news, Jia Zheng also went to Rongqing Hall, and Daiyu and other sisters retreated behind the green gauze cabinet and waited.

After Jia Cong entered the hall, he found that Jia's mother, Jia Zheng, Mrs. Wang and others were all present.

Jia Zheng asked hurriedly, "Brother Cong, why did the emperor suddenly summon you to the palace?"

Jia Cong discussed the affairs of Nanjing for a long time in Qianyang Palace with Emperor Jiazhao, Gu Yankui, Wei Guanyao and others. During the discussion, many cautious arrangements were made, which naturally could not be told to others.

He said, "Your Majesty wants to open a branch of the Firearms Department in Nanjing to promote firearms and recruit famous scholars from the coastal areas. I will go to Nanjing soon to take charge of it."

Mrs. Wang felt uncomfortable after hearing this. This kid was really valued by the emperor. He was sent on imperial missions for everything, and he never went without success. When he came back, he would usually be promoted and given benefits. There was no peace at all.

My Baoyu is almost old enough to dance with an elephant, but he still cannot go to school. What will happen if this continues...

Grandmother Jia asked, "The last time you went to Jinling, you either solved a case and arrested someone, or strangled a Japanese. You even offended your relatives in Jinling. Will you be in danger again this time?"

But Grandmother Jia did not forget that during the last major case involving the Jinling Water Conservancy, two sons of the Jinling Shi family were implicated and imprisoned. The Shi family went to find Jia Cong, hoping that he could come forward to help.

However, Jia Cong refused to let them in and even refused to see them. As a result, one of the historian's sons died in the Jinyiwei prison due to torture, and the other was also convicted and exiled.

At that time, Mrs. Shi Zhe, the seventh branch of the Shi family in Shenjing, even cried and complained to Lady Jia about this matter, because the son of the Shi family who died in prison was a close relative of the seventh branch.

This incident made Lady Jia very embarrassed, and she still remembers it in her heart.

But it was not appropriate to mention this matter too much, because Grandmother Jia had some taboos in her heart. This grandson had a too difficult fate. A few months ago, Shi Zhe was dismissed from office and exiled to Qiongzhou for resisting the emperor's new policy...

Jia Cong said to his mother, "We are here in Jinling, just for routine work in the Firearms Department. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is an excellent assignment. It is all smooth and ordinary work, and there is no risk."

Just now, he had made a report to Emperor Jiazhao in the palace, and proposed to adopt the method of loosening the exterior and tightening the interior. Even if he was sent to Nanjing to assist in investigating the case, he had to keep a low profile on the surface and try not to cause any waves.

Therefore, when he talked about this matter with Jia Mu and others, he naturally downplayed it and gave it the name of a good job.

Jia Zheng stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "That's just right. I don't know how long Cong will be gone, but I hope he won't delay next year's imperial examination."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Your Majesty sent me to Jinling, not to stay there permanently. I am only to set up the branch structure of the Jinling Firearms Department and start implementing various affairs. Then I can return to the capital to submit my orders. I will be back in two months."

After hearing this, Grandmother Jia felt relieved. Since it was a smooth and favorable assignment, it was a good thing. It would prevent Jia Cong from causing any trouble when he went to Jinling and from being blamed by his relatives in Jinling.

When Daiyu saw that Jia Cong had returned from Liaodong, she felt sad and reluctant to leave because he would have to go south to Nanjing on business in just two months. Yingchun, Tanchun and others were also unhappy.

But they were all ladies with some insight, and they knew that Jia Cong had achieved success at a young age, attracted much attention, and was favored by the emperor. It was impossible for him to live a rich and leisurely life like Baoyu, and he would always be worried and busy.

……

Ever since Jia Cong left the palace that day, no one except Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao knew the content of the discussion between Jia Cong and Emperor Jia Zhao regarding the investigation of the important case in Nanjing.

However, in the next few days, several imperial edicts were issued one after another from the palace.

First, according to the investigation results of the Magistrate's Court, eight officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Dali Temple were involved in cheating in the performance appraisal. They were immediately arrested and imprisoned, and after interrogation, all those involved in cheating were severely punished.

Second, the Ministry of Personnel deployed and supplemented the officials of the Ministry of Performance Evaluation, and jointly with the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Five Military Commissioners' Office and other offices, conducted performance evaluations on officials of relevant offices such as the Shenjing Maritime Customs and the Nanjing Guard.

Third, Nanjing was the secondary capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the central hub of the six prefectures and one city in the south of the Yangtze River, a place where maritime trade and distant barbarians gathered and dispersed. It was a place to defend against external threats from pirates and Japanese pirates, and a place where the new study of the investigation of things flourished.

Jia Cong, the director of the Firearms Department of the Ministry of Works, was specially ordered to go to Nanjing to set up a branch of the Firearms Department in the secondary capital, to lead the firearms training in Jiangnan, to seek out famous scholars in the West, and to cultivate exchanges and blending of new studies.

On the second day after Jia Cong left the palace, the three imperial edicts were announced at the morning court. It didn't take long before the contents of the three imperial edicts were known to everyone inside and outside the court.

The first imperial edict involved the conviction of eight officials from the Ministry of Personnel, which caused an uproar in the court and the country and caused quite a stir in the capital.

The second and third imperial edicts were all about matters that happened in Nanjing, thousands of miles away, and did not attract much attention in the capital.

Perhaps the second imperial edict would cause some disturbances when it reached Nanjing, but the discussion on the performance evaluation of officials in relevant government offices was a common administrative practice and was not something out of the ordinary.

At most, in the official circles of Jinling, there will be a drama in which some are happy and some are worried, but it will have almost no impact on places outside Jinling.

As for the third imperial edict, in the eyes of many people, it was the most ordinary one, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it had nothing to do with anyone.

Although the Firearms Bureau has gained considerable reputation in the past two years, it is ultimately a somewhat obscure craftsman's office.

Those who could enter the Firearms Bureau were either skilled craftsmen or famous scholars from Western countries. Except for Jia Cong and Liu Shizhen, there were very few officials in the Firearms Bureau who came from the orthodox imperial examination system.

Therefore, the affairs of the Firearms Bureau were highly independent and closed, with almost no intersection with other departments.

Sending a fifth-rank Firearms Supervisor to the secondary capital to set up a Firearms Branch had almost nothing to do with other departments and was a very isolated and ordinary internal affair of the Firearms Department.

It seems that it is not easy to attract other people's attention or make them think of something else with such an imperial decree.

After these three imperial edicts, the possibility of other minor events happening in Shenjing City being noticed by others is even lower.

For example, the firearms soldiers of the Fifth Army Firearms Battalion have been reorganizing their forces in the past few days and will soon carry out routine rotations. One thousand firearms soldiers have been dispatched in batches to garrison in the nine borders, and the veterans of the Liaodong Firearms Battalion will return to Shenjing for rest.

The Shenjing Firearms Workshop suddenly stepped up its construction progress and had to complete the casting of five new red cannons within ten days. Their specific purpose and destination were unknown.

Zou Min'er, a pipa musician of the Shenjing Jiaofangsi and a disciple of Du Qingniang, was sent to the Jinling Jiaofangsi by the Ministry of Rites to select opera singers and singers from Jiangnan.

From time to time, middle and lower-level officials from various government offices would receive official documents of selection from the Ministry of Rites. Every now and then, they would set off for the southern capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, to embark on a new journey in their official careers.

Jia Cong, the Director of the Firearms Bureau, received the imperial edict to set up a branch of the Firearms Bureau in the secondary capital. He was busy selecting personnel from the Firearms Bureau who would go south and making various preparations before their departure.

Compared with other officials who rushed to Nanjing to take up their new posts, he seemed to be unhurried, because the imperial edict did not specify a clear date for his trip south, and he only had to prepare his camera and wait for instructions, so the trip was not urgent.

Beneath those dark waves, these difficult-to-identify undercurrents, their directions are all the ancient cities with the reputation of being a place with steep slopes and steep cliffs thousands of miles away.

……

Ningrong Street, Earl's Mansion, Jia Cong Courtyard.

The summer wind and rain intertwined and dripped, and under the flying eaves and on the indigo-colored tiles, the raindrops flowed like a curtain, and fell on the bluestone at the steps, shattering like flying flowers and splashing jade.

There is a pleasant coolness in the air during summer.

In the study, Yinglian's pretty face was charming, her eyebrows were rouge and red, and she was grinding ancient ink carefully, tilting her head to watch Jia Cong writing quickly. When Miss Zhen San left, she asked Yingchun to help ask Jia Cong for a calligraphy. Jia Cong had never seen this woman, but Yingchun had agreed, so he would not let his second sister down.

He picked up his pen and wrote the first two sentences: The Yangtze River rolls eastward, and its waves wash away all heroes...

Suddenly I remembered what Yingchun said, that Miss Zhen San was an extremely outstanding girl. Although she was a girl in the boudoir, she had the spirit of a heroine, and her bearing and manners were quite extraordinary.

She also specifically told Yingchun that she loved Jia Cong's "Linjiangxian" the most.

Originally, Mrs. Zhen wanted to meet Jia Cong that day, but he happened to enter the palace that day, so she didn't have the chance to meet him.

There were many rumors about this Miss Zhen San among the old relatives. After the visit to Rongqing Hall that day, Yingchun and others heard a lot from the old lady.

She is the third daughter of the Zhen family, but she is not the daughter of Zhen Yingjia, the president of Jinling Tirenyuan, but the legitimate daughter of Zhen Yingjia's younger brother Zhen Yingquan.

This Miss Zhen San has been outstanding in appearance and character since childhood, and is an outstanding figure among the younger generations of the Zhen family. When she was young, she entered the palace and accompanied the old concubine Zhen for many years, and was deeply loved by the old concubine.

Because of this reason, Miss Zhen San was highly regarded by her family elders. She was different from other girls since she was a child. She did not like needlework, was well-read, and had great ideas, not inferior to boys.

Even many of the Zhen family's businesses in Jinling are managed by Miss Zhen San, who is a very capable woman.

……

After Jia Cong finished writing the calligraphy, he went to get the mounting tools and asked Yinglian to help him frame the calligraphy himself.

This was a family skill he brought over from his previous life, and he was very familiar with it.

Ever since everyone knew that Jia Cong was ordered to go to Nanjing on official business, the atmosphere in the courtyard became a little different and everyone became busy.

In the main room, Zhishao was wearing a light green top and a light blue undershirt. She had green eyebrows and dark hair, a slender back and waist, and an elegant and peaceful expression with charming charm.

Her long hair was braided without any hairpins, and she looked casually dressed in a homely manner.

She was helping Jia Cong pack his luggage. Since time was not tight, she had plenty of time to pack slowly.

On the corridor of the courtyard, silver charcoal was burning in a small red clay stove. Wu'er was squatting in front of the stove, stewing a bowl of jujube paste, ginkgo and green stem porridge over a low fire.

A copper spoon in the jade palm slowly stirred the porcelain bowl, and sweet and smoky white mist rose up, making the delicate and pretty little face look extremely charming and beautiful.

Qingwen was helping Jia Cong make a new moon-white soft silk robe, which needed an embroidered border on the blue right lapel and a dark blue belt with a jade buckle.

Two years ago, Qingwen and Jia Cong went to Jinling and knew that the summer in Jinling was very hot and humid. This kind of high-quality soft smoke silk material was the lightest and coolest to wear in summer.

Everyone in the mansion knew that Qingwen was an excellent needleworker. Yingchun often made clothes and shoes for Jia Cong. Her needlework was delicate and exquisite, but it was not as brilliant as Qingwen's embroidery.

In just half a day, Qingwen had embroidered an elegant and beautiful pattern on the right lapel. Although the whole gown was not finished, it already had an eye-catching look.

The last time Jia Cong went to Jinling, he brought Wu'er and Qingwen with him. It was also during that time that Jia Cong rescued Yinglian and found Zhishao.

Jinling has special meaning to each of them.

After Jia Cong had framed the calligraphy he had just written, he found a brocade box to put it in, took an umbrella and went to Yingchun Courtyard.

……

As Jia Cong entered the Yingchun Courtyard, he found Xiu Ju and Daiyu's maid Xueyan talking in the corridor outside the main house, and he knew that Daiyu was also there.

When I entered the room, I saw Yingchun and Daiyu playing chess.

Daiyu is good at playing the piano and chess. Among the sisters in the garden, besides Jia Cong, it is Daiyu who often plays chess with Yingchun.

Yingchun saw him come in and asked with a smile, "What's in your hand, brother Cong?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Miss Zhen San and my second sister asked for calligraphy. I have just written and mounted it. My second sister will have someone deliver it to her someday."

Daiyu put down the chess piece, took the brocade box from Jia Cong, took out the calligraphy and admired it carefully, and said with a smile: "Third brother's handwriting is getting more and more mature. How come it is so good? Write me a note tomorrow."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "What's the point of this? My sister wants me to write, and I will write you whatever you want."

After hearing this, Daiyu smiled slightly, put the calligraphy away again and put it into the brocade box.

Yingchun said, "Brother Cong, you will be going to Jinling in a few days. I have told the old lady that I will take Sister Lin and Sister San to live in the East Palace when the time comes, so they can keep me company."

Jia Cong said, "That's great. Otherwise, when I go out, Second Sister will be bored alone. I will have someone clean up the yards of the two sisters and put away their daily necessities."

Yingchun smiled and said, "How can you gentlemen worry about these things? I gave the order at noon."

The three of them chatted some more. The rain outside didn't stop and the sky became dark. Daiyu wanted to go back home, so Yingchun asked the maids in the mansion to take Daiyu back.

However, Jia Cong said there was no need to bother and that he could just take Daiyu back to the West Mansion. He asked Xueyan to hold a glazed lantern to light the way in front, while he and Daiyu followed behind with an umbrella.

Yingchun walked to the gate of the courtyard and watched Jia Cong and Daiyu walking together with umbrellas, gradually going away in the rain. The light from the glazed lanterns in front of them cast their figures on the rain-soaked road surface.

Yingchun smiled knowingly and returned to the yard.

There seemed to be a strange tacit understanding, and both people in the rain slowed down their pace.

Daiyu suddenly said, "Third brother, you happened to enter the palace that day, otherwise you would have met Miss Zhen San. She is a wonderful person with a very beautiful appearance. It's a pity that you didn't see her."

Jia Cong laughed and said, "She is an unmarried girl from another family, how could I see her?"

"That's not true. The Zhen family's wife asked the old lady to ask you to come and see her. If you were at home, you would have definitely seen her. You are now famous and very rare."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "It is indeed very good."

Daiyu felt a little jealous and said, "How could this be true? The sisters have all seen her and she is indeed a very good one. Humph, you may meet her when you go to Nanjing on business this time. Who knows? She may be interested in you.

Otherwise, why would her wife not see Baoyu and only want to see you? "

The light was dim in the rain, and only the glazed tile lantern in Xueyan's hand emitted a bright yellow light.

Jia Cong looked back at Daiyu and smelled a whiff of her intoxicating fragrance. He saw her face reflected in the light, delicate and flawless, with skin glowing and smooth, as bright as the moon. It seemed real and illusory, beyond description.

He teased her, "Unless she is born to look like her sister, it's nothing good there. She's so embarrassed."

Daiyu's pretty face turned red, but she felt sweet in her heart. She said with a little anger: "Third brother is so smooth-talking now, he only knows how to coax people. I won't listen to your nonsense."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "I am speaking from the heart. I have never seen anyone in the world prettier than my sister. Plus, we grew up together, so there is no other match."

Daiyu's eyes turned and she looked back at him, smiling and said, "Although I know you are just saying nice things to please others, I like to hear them. I just hope you will not forget what you said today, and I will be satisfied."

Daiyu sighed again, "I haven't seen my father for many years. It would be great if I could go back to the south with my third brother. Unfortunately, you are an official in the capital, and you have to return to the capital for a short time."

There was a hint of regret and indignation in her words. At this moment, the rain was gradually becoming denser, obscuring Daiyu's subsequent words, making them somewhat unclear...

(End of this chapter)