Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain
Chapter 8: Visitors from the Palace
Chapter 8: Visitors from the Palace
The sound of firecrackers can be heard sporadically from outside the high wall, and the New Year's Eve of the tenth year of Jiazhao of the Great Zhou Dynasty is approaching.
The Rongguo Mansion became busy both inside and outside. Door gods were replaced everywhere, and spring couplets, plaques, and peach charms were newly painted and painted. Everywhere one went, the atmosphere was filled with the joy of welcoming the spring.
Yesterday, Jia Zheng sent someone to the Guanglu Temple to collect the silver awarded by the palace for the spring festival, which was specifically used to worship the ancestors in the ancestral hall. This was more decent than having tens of thousands of taels of silver at home.
The neighboring East Palace also sent a lot of wild animals such as big deer, roe deer, bear paws, deer tendons, etc., saying that they were from the Black Mountain Village in the East Palace.
In Rongqing Hall, Jia's grandmother sat high on a soft couch, with her maid Yuanyang hanging her legs lightly beside her.
Two bronze incense burners were burning with silver frost charcoal, making the room as warm as spring.
Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang were sitting next to them, whispering from time to time about the trivial matters of the Mid-Year Festival arrangements in the East Courtyard and the West Mansion. While listening, Lady Jia also said a few words from time to time.
The Chinese New Year is a big event for officials and wealthy families, and it is the busiest time of the year for the women in charge of the inner court.
Not only does one have to entertain and greet colleagues and relatives, but one also has to host the annual spring ancestor worship ceremony.
There are countless trivial matters at home, such as hanging red ribbons, making clothes, family banquets, inviting plays, festival gifts, rewards for each room, settlement of shops and farms outside, etc. Only a shrewd and experienced woman can handle them.
Grandmother Jia no longer cares about these trivial matters. When she hears her two daughters-in-law talking about the New Year decorations in the East Courtyard and the West Mansion, she thinks it is just for fun.
Sitting below Mrs. Wang was a simple, elegant and dignified young woman. She was wearing a snow-blue jacket with a bamboo pattern and a white jade hairpin in her hair. She had delicate features and wore no makeup.
Sitting next to the young woman were four young and beautiful girls, each of them had a fairy-like appearance and graceful manners.
A handsome young man wearing bright red arrow-sleeves and a purple gold crown inlaid with jewels on his head was joking with the girls, causing them to giggle like silver bells from time to time.
The warm curtain was opened, and a crisp sound like a silver bottle breaking was heard: "Oh, everyone is here today."
Before he finished speaking, a beautiful young woman came in. She was dressed differently from the other girls, with brilliant embroidery, like a goddess or fairy.
She wore a golden hairpin with eight-treasure pearls and a five-phoenix hairpin with pearls; a red gold necklace with a dragon pattern around her neck; a bean green official ribbon with a double fish and a rose pendant on the hem of her skirt; a scarlet satin jacket with a hundred gold butterflies and flowers, and a five-colored carved silk coat with a stone blue and silver mouse outside;
She has a pair of red phoenix triangular eyes, two curved willow-leaf eyebrows. She is slender and has a coquettish physique. Her pink face contains spring power without revealing it, and her lips smell red before she smiles.
It was Wang Xifeng who was now helping Lady Wang manage the internal affairs of the West Palace.
When Mrs. Wang saw her come in, a faint smile appeared on her face.
When Mrs. Xing saw her legitimate daughter-in-law, there was a hint of disgust in her eyes.
Grandmother Jia laughed and said, "Where did you go to make trouble this morning? We were just talking, but there was no sign of you."
Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "I am not destined to suffer. If I could get a little bit of the wealth and prosperity that our ancestors have given me, it would be enough for me to relax for the rest of my life and get rid of this life of suffering."
Grandmother Jia liked her granddaughter-in-law's lively and festive speech the most. She laughed and scolded her when she heard her words: "You monkey, you are talking nonsense again. You are going to be slapped in the mouth."
Wang Xifeng said with a smile: "It's the New Year now. I know that our ancestors love to listen to operas and storytelling, so I sent people to find an outstanding female opera troupe and a clever female fairy yesterday.
I just showed some people around this morning, and we've decided to go into the garden tomorrow morning to perform for our ancestors for a few days, so we can also enjoy the glory of our ancestors and have some fun."
Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "That's a good idea. I was just thinking about listening to operas and storytelling. Feng girl knows my heart."
Wang Xifeng added, "I should have come here to pay my respects to the old ancestor a long time ago, but I didn't expect to encounter an unusual incident and was delayed."
Grandmother Jia asked curiously, "What rare thing did you encounter? Tell me about it."
"Just now, someone from the Jiashun Palace said that he was a seventh-rank companion and was sent by the prince to look for Congge'er..."
Jia's mother sat up subconsciously from her couch, looking surprised: "Prince Jiashun's Mansion! How could he be related to Prince Jiashun?"
The other people in the hall also looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they all came from wealthy families and had seen a lot of the world, the prince of the current dynasty was also considered a very important figure in their minds. The older generation present, such as Madam Wang and Madam Xing, knew that Jia Cong was born in a humble family and had a bad reputation since he was born.
The old lady had always disliked this grandson. Although she did not abuse and humiliate him as Jia She and his wife did, she ignored this grandson and did not see him once a year.
Now I started to take it seriously, knowing that this matter was a little unusual.
Grandmother Jia looked at Madam Xing and asked, "You are his father and mother, do you know what the reason is?"
Mrs. Xing was a little confused at the moment. Why would a prince come to look for the girl raised by that whore?
Seeing that Lady Jia was asking her, Mrs. Xing hesitated and said, "This evil boy is usually naughty and rude. My master and I always teach him, but he is not as good as a university student. I don't know what trouble he has caused that even the prince has come to visit him."
Grandmother Jia didn't understand her confused reply at all, so she frowned and said, "It seems that you don't know the reason either."
Wang Xifeng glanced at her mother-in-law and felt a little contemptuous of her because she saw that she was confused and her responses were incoherent. Now she was trying to discredit Jia Cong. Was this what the old lady wanted to hear?
"Don't worry, Grandfather. Although he is an official, he is polite and courteous in his words. He doesn't seem to be asking for punishment. He said he brought a letter from Prince Jiashun to Congge'er and would hand it to him personally."
A prince wrote a letter to a young boy. What's the point of this? Moreover, the boy was a bastard with such a disgraceful status. Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang and others were a little stunned.
Only Tanchun's bright eyes moved, as if she had thought of something.
Sitting next to her was a young girl with a timid face and a very clever appearance. She seemed to have noticed something strange about Tanchun, and she kept looking at her with her clear eyes.
Grandmother Jia said, "Then send someone to call him and let him go to meet the people himself. The people from Jiashun Palace should not be neglected."
Wang Xifeng said, "I have sent someone to call him and he said he left home early in the morning."
Upon hearing this, Lady Jia frowned. She was old and knowledgeable, and she was also a superior lady of the state. She went to the palace to pay homage to the Empress Dowager and the Empress every New Year. Her understanding of the origins of the powerful in the court was unmatched by anyone else in the hall.
She knew that Prince Jiashun was the youngest son favored by the retired emperor and had been raised by the wife of Prince Wu since childhood, but the current emperor was still very kind to this younger brother.
Prince Jiashun was a man of talent and elegance. He had never cared about state affairs and only loved reading and studying. He was a wise prince with a very good reputation in the court and the country, and had a very noble status in the royal family.
Such a person cannot be treated with any disrespect either in public or in private. Since he has sent someone to your house to deliver a letter, he must be courteous and considerate, and there must be no criticism, so that everyone will look decent when the message is passed on.
Grandmother Jia glanced at the young man chatting with his sisters, and then said, "Then let Lian'er go to entertain them. Don't be less polite. Ask a few more servants to go find your brother. You are still wandering around during the New Year."
Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "It's not a coincidence today. Lian'er and the master were called away by Brother Zhen of the East Palace. He said he wanted to discuss the list of guests for the New Year banquet. Last year, they sent too many invitations to the wrong people, so they have to be more careful this year."
Grandmother Jia thought for a moment and said, "We can't just leave him there. He doesn't look like a good person. Since he is an official, let the Second Master come out to meet him. It will be polite and we can ask him what's going on."
He then said, "Now that the man has been found and the matter has been resolved, call him over. I want to question him."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wang looked indifferent, while the other young men and women were a little curious, as most of them were not familiar with the young man in the East Courtyard.
Only Tanchun looked somewhat moved. When she heard that Prince Jiashun was sending a letter to Jia Cong and thought of the Xizhou Qu painting in her room, she could vaguely guess some reasons, but she was not sure.
The delicate girl next to her looked at Tanchun's strange expression with a pair of eyes that seemed to be happy but not happy, and she became more and more curious.
When Mrs. Xing heard that Lady Jia wanted to call Jia Cong over for questioning, her face turned stiff and she felt very uncomfortable.
In her heart, she disliked this illegitimate son of humble status the most, partly because Jia She did not like this son. She was the most flattering to her man, so naturally it was only natural that she and her husband should follow his lead.
Another reason was that she also thought that if it weren't for that vicious evil creature and her lowly mother, the old lady wouldn't have treated her husband so badly.
Now it is time for her family to occupy the Rongguo Mansion with honor, instead of being suppressed in that weird east courtyard.
(End of this chapter)
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