Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 366: Beauty Changes Old Heart

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Baoqin said, "The eldest girl knows that the old lady's birthday is next month, so she made her a jade brocade headband and a short silk cloud-patterned longevity jacket to wish her a happy birthday."

Grandmother Jia's face showed joy, and she quickly asked Yuanyang to take the birthday gift package from Baoqin's hand.

Her eldest granddaughter had been in the palace for many years, and once she got the chance, she still remembered to be filial to her, which touched Lady Jia's heart.

After all, this was her granddaughter who she had raised since she was a child. Sending her to the palace for many years, and having her stay there alone without any result, Grandmother Jia felt a little regretful.

Baoqin continued, "The young lady also said that the old lady was kind and wise, and that was why the younger generation was blessed with the remaining blessings and was able to produce such an outstanding son as the Third Master Cong.

Miss, please be merciful and take good care of me. I'm sure you will be the one who restores the family's reputation in the future."

When Grandmother Jia heard this, she was slightly stunned. After thinking about it for a while, she understood the meaning of this sentence. Her eldest granddaughter valued this boy's ability very much and regarded him as the future of the Jia family.

These words contained a hidden meaning of persuasion for his grandmother, which was well-intentioned.

But Grandmother Jia always felt regretful and sorry for her Baoyu. If he was half as capable as that boy, there would be no need for his sister to say such things to her.

Baoqin continued, "My eldest daughter and I have also made two brocade robes for Master Bao and Master Cong. I wonder if Master Cong is at home?"

At the beginning, Yuanchun wanted to make two brocade robes to give to her two younger brothers. Baoqin volunteered to make the one for Jia Cong, saying that she had changed Jia Cong's clothes that day and knew the size of his clothes.

Yuanchun just smiled and didn't say much, just asked her to do it with all her heart.

Baoqin had been in the palace for many years, accompanying Yuanchun day and night. Apart from the palace maids and eunuchs, she rarely saw other outsiders.

That day, she undressed and changed Jia Cong's robe, and they spoke and laughed without restraint, which left a mark in her heart and she has never forgotten it since then.

She spent a lot of time and effort on this brocade robe, and every stitch was made with great care and consideration.

She also knew that she would have to live with the girl in the deep palace for a long time and had given up any other thoughts. But now that she had come to the Jia Mansion to give gifts, it would be nice to meet him by the way.

Daiyu said, "Third brother, I went to the Firearms Department in the north of the city this morning. I'm afraid I'll be late for work."

When Baoqin heard this, she felt very disappointed and sad.

But she didn't know Daiyu, so she couldn't help but look at her a few more times.

Tanchun was very perceptive and saw what Baoqin was thinking. She said, "Sister Baoqin, this is Sister Lin, the old lady's granddaughter."

In fact, Baoqin had noticed Daiyu as soon as she entered Rongqing Hall, because she had seen Yingchun and Tanchun when she was a child and could probably recognize them.

Only Daiyu was a stranger, and her beauty was rare in the world, so she naturally attracted her attention.

Now, hearing Tanchun say that this was Miss Lin, I felt a little confused.

This Miss Lin was so proud of herself, no wonder the Third Master was obsessed with her. He chatted with the Miss about family matters in the palace and let the secret slip in front of her unconsciously.

Only someone like Miss Lin can be truly worthy of him.

On that day in the palace, Yuanchun told Baoqin that the Third Master showed great concern for Miss Lin in his words, and if they could become a happy couple, it would be of great benefit to the future of the Rongguo Jia family.

Now, whenever Miss Lin mentioned the Third Master, joy would appear in the corners of her eyes and brows. This was indeed a very smart girl. She was able to guess exactly what the Third Master had said based on just a few words that day.

Yuanchun and Baoqin said that day that the old lady had come to the palace to pay homage in recent years and Yuanchun had met her several times. The old lady had mentioned Miss Lin and Master Bao several times, and it was obvious that she had the idea of ​​getting them married.

Baoqin knew very well that although she was a girl in the boudoir, she was always thinking about the long-term peace of her family. She hoped that her brothers could support the family and protect the clan members.

Now, apart from the Third Master Cong, there is no one else in the Jia family who can do this.

Therefore, the girl did not dare to disclose the affair between the Third Master and Miss Lin easily, fearing that the old lady would object and cause more complications, which might lead to disaster.

When Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang heard that Yuanchun had made a brocade robe for Baoyu and Jia Cong respectively, they felt differently.

It was only natural for Yuanchun to make clothes for her younger brother Baoyu, but she didn't expect that she would also take good care of Jia Cong.

After hearing this, Grandmother Jia nodded secretly in her heart. She thought her eldest granddaughter was a sensible person who did not only care about blood ties. She knew how to win over successful brothers in the family and would be able to achieve great things in the future.

When Mrs. Wang heard this, she felt a little unhappy. Her daughter valued that boy and even compared him with Baoyu. Why didn't she think about the fact that Baoyu was her real brother?

……

Baoqin presented a birthday gift. Due to the strict rules in the palace, every time one left and returned would be recorded in a book, so she didn't stay for long.

Yingchun asked her to sit for a while with her zither in her arms, and asked someone to take the eunuch to the side hall for some tea. She then gave Xiuju some detailed instructions.

After a while, Xiu Ju came back from the East Palace, bringing back four bottles of top-grade Shuiyu perfume, two exquisite wooden boxes of scented flower pancreas, and two pieces of top-grade Suzhou embroidery satin.

Yingchun smiled and said, "Sister Baoqin, these are perfume and soap from Xinchun, and two pieces of satin with new Suzhou embroidery patterns. Please bring them to my elder sister. They are good for your own use or as gifts."

Whenever Xinchunhao came out with new samples, Hongxiu and Keqing would send a lot of them to Jia Cong, for him to use himself or give to his sisters at home. Now there are still quite a few left in the East Palace.

Ever since Yingchun moved to the East Palace, Jia Cong has become a hands-off manager, leaving all the affairs of the inner house to his sister. Yingchun was a little unfamiliar with it at first.

Fortunately, she is a reserved and patient person. When she is serious about doing something, she has enough patience and is never afraid of trouble. Otherwise, she would not be so diligent and happy on the chessboard.

After a few months of trial and error, she gradually became familiar with the household affairs. Occasionally, Jia Cong's classmates and colleagues would visit the East Palace, and Yingchun would arrange for the servants to receive and deal with them.

Sometimes Tanchun would come to help her, and now Yingchun had become very familiar with doing these household chores.

When Grandmother Jia and others saw Yingchun's behavior, they were also surprised. Their second granddaughter used to be a wooden person. She didn't even cry out in pain when pricked by a needle and was usually taciturn.

He has only lived in the East Palace for a few months, but he has become so smart and clever, and his responses are so thoughtful and appropriate, it's like he has become a different person.

In Grandmother Jia's heart, among her granddaughters, except for the eldest granddaughter Yuanchun, she values ​​the third girl Tanchun the most. She thinks she is straightforward and capable, and is somewhat like herself before she got married.

Grandmother Jia has always somewhat neglected the second girl, Yingchun.

There are foreign guests present today, and the eldest granddaughter sent someone from the palace to deliver a birthday gift. I haven't thought of the welcoming and farewell etiquette yet, but the second granddaughter, who has always been shy, thought of it for me first.

Moreover, what she did was so delicate and kind that it really made Lady Jia look at Yingchun with new eyes.

When Grandmother Jia saw this situation, she realized that her second granddaughter had become the head of that boy's family. It was obvious that it made sense for her to agree to let her live in the East Palace.

What Grandmother Jia didn't know was that Jia Cong had mentioned to Yingchun several times about his meetings and conversations with Yuanchun in the palace, and his words showed his admiration for the elder sister.

Now that the eldest sister has specially sent a brocade robe to Jia Cong from the palace, Yingchun, as his biological sister, naturally wants to express her gratitude, and she estimates that Cong will definitely like her doing so.

……

Grandmother Jia never thought that Yingchun's original dull and honest character was caused by the loss of her mother at a young age, her father's indifference to her, and her long-term loneliness and repression.

But when a person truly has concerns and responsibilities in her heart, a strong inner driving force will cause her words and actions to change greatly.

Jia Cong moved into the West Mansion four years ago because of blood relationship, sympathy, and because Jia Cong had always been close to her and caring for her.

Yingchun took care of her brother by arranging his clothes and shoes and taking care of his warmth and coldness. From then on, Jia Cong became her greatest sustenance and support.

Yingchun knew that this brother spent his daily life studying and going to the yamen, and he was willing to spend time talking to her, playing chess, and making her happy.

But since she established the mansion, she has only lost interest in the household affairs. As the elder sister, she naturally has to do it for her. Fortunately, these things are not difficult, and she is not born stupid. She can do it with more attention.

Baoqin took the gift from Xiuju and hurriedly thanked Yingchun.

When Baoqin left the Jia Mansion eight years ago, Yingchun was still very young and her personality was not yet apparent. She thought that the Second Miss was a careful and considerate person.

I even felt that this was probably what my daughter said, that if you are not from the same family, you will not marry into the same family. The Third Master is a capable man, and even his own sister is careful and capable.

Mrs. Wang, Wang Xifeng and others were very surprised to see Yingchun's demeanor, but they did not think too much about it. They just thought that Yingchun was getting older and had suddenly become more intelligent and understood the ways of the world.

Tanchun was the only one who thought differently. She just felt that her third brother was too amazing and she had never seen a brother and sister like him before.

In the past, whenever the second sister encountered something related to the third brother, she would suddenly become smart, as if she had become a different person.

Now that she is the eldest daughter of the East Mansion, she spends every day with her third brother. Gradually, she has become more capable and tactful, and even has some of the demeanor of a mistress like Sister Feng.

……

After delivering the birthday gift, Baoqin was about to take her leave and return to the palace. Grandmother Jia asked Yingchun, Daiyu and Tanchun to see her off to the second gate personally.

He also asked Lin Zhixiao's family to prepare Lady Wang's carriage and horses at the west corner gate to escort Baoqin back to the palace.

Marquis of Chengyang Xu and her unmarried third daughter, who were present at the meeting, witnessed the entire process of presenting the birthday gift with a zither.

The eldest daughter of the Jia family has been in the palace for eight years, from her youth to the age of twenty, but she is still unknown. Almost everyone in the major noble families in the capital knows her.

Some felt sorry for it, some laughed at it, and there were also many who ignored it.

In fact, this situation is not uncommon. Yuanchun is not the only legitimate daughter of the four princes and eight dukes who has been selected to enter the palace for many years and has never had any troubles.

There are no family affairs in the imperial family. The emperor wants to favor that woman and sleep with that woman. It's all full of weird power balances. It's disgusting to think about it.

In addition, the current emperor is not a man who has a passion for women. Most of the old heroes who tried to sell their daughters for fame and fortune and reverse the decline have ended up throwing meat buns at dogs.

But Xu, Marquis of Chengyang, had just heard with her own ears that the eldest daughter of the Jia family was suddenly favored by the Queen and was even granted extra grace to leave the palace to deliver birthday gifts, which was against palace rules.

The reason is nothing more than that the Earl of Weiyuan of the Jia family has outstanding military achievements and extraordinary talents, which makes the current emperor appreciate him. That's why the queen extended her favor to the palace lady of the Jia family in order to win him over.

This young Earl of Weiyuan is so favored by the Emperor that it is hard to say whether the Emperor will favor this Miss Jia one day...

The Jia family has two nobles, so could they possibly add another imperial concubine? Although this idea seems a little unbelievable.

But this young man from the Jia family was granted a title for his contribution in wiping out the Jurchens before he even reached adulthood. Isn't this incredible? Even if it happens again, it seems not impossible.

This made Chengyang Hou Xu even more shocked, and she couldn't help but glance at her pretty daughter.

I heard that she originally wanted to say goodbye, but now her butt seemed to be glued to the chair, and she continued to talk to Lady Jia with many kind words.

After seeing Baoqin off, Daiyu, Yingchun and Tanchun did not return to Rongqing Hall, but went straight back to the East Palace.

Although they have different identities, they seem to have the same idea, which is that they can't stand someone casually selling women to Jia Cong.

……

In the northern suburbs of Shenjing, there is a workshop built by the Firearms Bureau.

In the past few days, Jia Cong, Liu Shizhen, Madelun and others have been busy debugging the accuracy of the new artillery scale.

Emperor Jiazhao issued a secret decree to allocate five improved red-coated cannons to equip the coastal passes of Songjiang and Suzhou.

In the past six months, Japanese pirates have often attacked these places from the west along the sea entrances.

With current forging technology, after the artillery mold is melted out of the furnace, it needs to undergo a lot of manual polishing and adjustment work to ensure that the artillery's firing accuracy reaches the expected effect.

The projectiles and ammunition used in the five improved red-coated cannons must be compared with the initial trial results and undergo two more rounds of testing to be finalized before they can be stockpiled and produced in large quantities.

The number of artillery shells in reserve must be enough to meet the needs of each gun for at least 50 rounds of continuous firing, so as to ensure the normal use of the artillery when it arrives.

The Fifth Army Battalion is currently carrying out routine troop rotation. After the personnel rotation is completed, 500 soldiers from the Fifth Army Battalion will be dispatched to escort the artillery to Nanjing.

Artillery instructor Madelen will accompany the entire journey. After the artillery is transported to Jinling, Songjiang Wei and Suzhou Wei will send troops to receive the artillery.

After this batch of artillery is shipped out of the capital, Jia Cong will have finished his current tasks and will then set off for Nanjing.

……

Ever since he received the imperial edict to go on official business to Nanjing, some people in the capital felt that the emperor's sudden idea of ​​setting up a branch of the Firearms Bureau in the secondary capital was a bit abrupt and strange.

The connection between Shenjing and Jinling is intricate, and the Court of Inquiry has removed the nails they considered suspicious.

However, there are still people who are willing to link the recent people and events related to Jinling with the Zhou Zhengyang case that caused a sensation in Jinling.

But these people noticed that Jia Cong was taking his time, concentrating on making and debugging firearms in the firearms workshop, and had no sense of urgency about going to Nanjing on the imperial mission, and the palace had no intention of urging him either.

All these signs indicate that Jia Cong's trip to Nanjing to set up a branch of the Firearms Bureau was just a whim of the Emperor.

Moreover, the coastal areas of Songjiang have been frequently attacked by pirates and Japanese pirates recently. Perhaps the emperor wants to prepare for a rainy day and strengthen coastal defenses with the power of firearms.

On the tenth day after the imperial edict was issued in the palace, the officials selected by the Ministry of Personnel to be rotated to various government offices in Nanjing had all gone south in batches.

Suddenly, news came from the firearms workshop that it had been raining in the capital for several days, and a large area of ​​the workshop's stored gunpowder had been damp, which had hampered the progress of artillery construction...

Jia Cong, the director of the Firearms Bureau, still ran to the firearms workshop every few days. He seemed very busy and had no time to take care of other things.

And those who had paid attention to him, and even himself, seemed to have forgotten that he needed to go to Nanjing to carry out the imperial mission.

……

Thirty miles north of Shenjing, a cavalry team of 500 people was marching in the jungle where the rain was drizzling. There were also five or six large carts in the team, which were tightly covered with rainproof tarpaulins.

This cavalry of 500 people was mainly led by three people, all of whom were acquaintances of Jia Cong.

The Liaodong Firearm Battalion had Wei Yongzhou as the captain, Guo Zhigui as the battalion commander, and Jiang Xiaoliu as the team leader.

Ten days ago, they received a transfer order from the Fifth Army Camp, asking them to lead their 500 firearms soldiers back to Shenjing for rest and rotation.

After traveling day and night, we finally arrived at a place thirty miles away from the capital today.

Just as the five hundred riders were about to walk out of the jungle, two riders suddenly came galloping in the rain ahead. Judging from their attire, one was a messenger from the Fifth Army Camp, and the other was an official from the government office.

The messenger of the Fifth Army Camp was a colleague of Wei Yongzhou.
The two riders galloped to the front of the team, and the official shouted, "I am Wang Fangwei, the director of the Military Affairs Department. I am here to mobilize the troops in accordance with the imperial edict and the order of the Minister of the Chancellery. Please show us your military tokens."

After hearing this, Wei Yongzhou looked stern. He quickly took out the half of the fish token hanging around his neck and combined it with the other half of the fish token in Wang Fangwei's hand to verify each other's identities.

Wang Fangwei then took out the transfer order from the Ministry of War, and the messenger from the Fifth Army Camp took out the military camp transfer letter. The three of them proofread the two documents and made sure they were consistent, and Wei Yongzhou signed and sealed them.

Wei Yongzhou stared at the content of the transfer order for a moment, his eyes unable to hide his surprise. After calming himself down a little, he waved his hand and shouted, readjusting the queue.

The cavalry of 500 people, including five or six large carts, immediately adjusted their direction of travel, bypassed the Shenjing city far away, and headed south.

(End of this chapter)