Yu Tang Golden Boudoir

Chapter 331 Extra Story [-]
It's another year of competition, this year's competition, Huguang's performance has never been better, it is actually a very fat and fruitful year.

There have been seven or eight small courtyards beside the lake behind Qingfeng Building. Back then, the fifth prince dominated the lake. He almost never came here after he got married. The concubine said that with the approval, the restriction on the back lake was opened, and seven or eight small courtyards were built along the lake. Now these seven or eight small courtyards are elegant places loved by the most noble people in the capital.

In one of the small courtyards, eight or nine men in brocade clothes sat around a round table in a water pavilion near the lake. A beaming middle-aged man speaks.

"...Let's talk about Prime Minister Jiang first. Prime Minister Jiang was born as the number one scholar. He entered the middle school in his thirties, and now he has been the prime minister for ten years. The prosperity of the holy family is really unprecedented!"

"Mr. Jiang is the flagpole of our scholars," a fair-faced young Jinshi in his twenties said with admiration, "Not to mention, just his demeanor, tsk, it's like a fairy descending to earth!"

"If you want to talk about demeanor," the middle-aged man laughed: "It is said that the civil and military affairs of the Manchu dynasty are good-looking. The prince and Jiang Xiang are both god-like figures. The tabloids in the capital even commented on it, saying that the prince's demeanor is natural, and the beauty lies in it." Gui, although Jiang Xiangtian's appearance is slightly inferior, but his temperament is slightly better than Wangye Tsinghua, and he is evenly matched!" The table full of new scholars all laughed.

"Let's go on to talk about Prime Minister Jiang. Xiang Xiu's skill is prudence and independence, and his personal virtues are excellent, and he can't find any faults!"

"I heard that the two sons and daughters of Jiang's family are Jiang's illegitimate children in the north..."

"Hush!" The middle-aged man hastily signaled the Jinshi who was speaking to silence: "This is nonsense spread indiscriminately, please don't mention a half word in the future, you will know after listening to me, this pair of children, is it true?" Jiang Xiang adopted a pair of twins on the road when he returned to Beijing from the north. His son, Jiang Dalang, studied with Jiang Xiang with the son of Prince Funing since he was a child. Yes... I heard that they were sworn brothers, so let's forget about it. That is, a few days ago, the officials made the decisions. They just appointed that girl, Mrs. Jiang, to the son of Prince Funing. , Tell me, can these twins talk freely?" There was a sound of astonishment during the banquet, and the middle-aged man laughed and said, "The fact that Prince Funing and Jiang Xiangshi are at odds is a headache for the officials. Shengsheng pinched the two of them into sons and daughters in-laws!"

"I heard that the princess in Prince Funing's mansion is extremely difficult?"

"Hmm!" The admiration on the middle-aged man's face is indescribable: "This princess is surnamed Li, and she was born in the Duke of Yongguo. Have you ever said that?" Some people nodded at the banquet, but most of them shook their heads. The middle-aged man described the tragic events in the Yongguo Mansion in detail: "Oh! After her grandmother died, the big shopkeeper fell into the well, and a Thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls, leaving ordinary people behind, have already been calculated to have no bones, but..." The middle-aged man stopped in the middle of speaking, stood up, turned around the windows and doors, and came back shouting haha Said: "Let's not talk about this, the concubine is a woman in the inner house, it is too impolite for us to talk like this, and besides, it is also against the law of etiquette."

"It's okay to talk about it!" The people at the table were listening, and when they saw the middle-aged man wanting to stop talking, they hurriedly urged him. The middle-aged man smiled and shook his head: "This is the second taboo I want to tell you. Brothers and sisters in the mansion can't talk nonsense, and the concubine of Prince Funing's mansion can't talk nonsense. The reason in the middle... I will choose what I can talk about. The first one, the dowry of the princess, everyone, I'm afraid no one has it Have you heard of it?" The people at the table smiled and nodded together: "Who doesn't know this!"

"Even this Qingfeng Building is the property of the princess." The middle-aged man pointed to the newly blooming lotus and the sparkling lake: "The princess has a rich dowry, and she is kind and generous. Now the righteous schools all over the world are said to be the empress's. Madam, in fact, it is the concubine who gave the money, not to mention this capital, because of this, I don’t know about it in other places. In this capital, the concubine is extremely respected by the people. If you gossip about the concubine, someone may choke you. Firstly, secondly, the concubine and the prince are deeply in love with each other, and the prince is extremely defensive, so offending the concubine is worse than offending the prince. Thirdly, Prime Minister Jiang came from the sect of Master Xu, who has a family of three. A, the No. [-] man married Jiang Xiang's direct sister, and Tan Hualang married Jiang Xianggu's cousin, the young lady of Nanning County's palace. Jiang Xiang's sister and the princess are also very good handkerchiefs. Now Mrs. Wen Guogong, who is in charge of the North Route Army, and the princess are as close as sisters. The princess regards the old lady of the Qingjiang Houfu as her mother, and the old lady of the Qingjiang Houfu is a scholar of Xu University First-line sister..." The middle-aged man almost stunned the table full of new scholars when he made the call: "According to this, isn't this princess stepping on Jiang Xiang's faction and the prince's faction?"

"This?" The middle-aged man crossed his legs, smiled mysteriously and didn't answer. A new scholar with a gray beard in the seat interjected and asked: "I heard that Feng Yuan on Zhejiang South Road got Jiang Xiang's favor by relying on a painting." , What exactly is this painting about?"

"This..." The middle-aged man pulled his earlobe in embarrassment, grinned like a toothache, and said: "You guys, take it as a drunken talk, but don't take it seriously!"

"Say it quickly! Say it quickly!" Everyone's eyes lit up and hurriedly urged, the middle-aged man leaned his upper body forward to the middle of the table, and said in a low voice: "It's not the painting that got Xiang Jiang's favor, it's said that the painting is very ordinary , it is the line written on the painting that is favored by Jiang Xiang!" The middle-aged man was very good at talking, stopped at a critical moment, took a few sips of tea from his cup, and seeing that everyone was anxious, he continued: "It's two old poems: Take the flowers and look back lazily, half destined to practice Taoism and half destined to be king!" After the middle-aged man finished reading, a table of Jinshi looked at me and I looked at you, all with stunned faces.

"This matter should not be studied carefully, not carefully studied! Ha! Ah? Haha!" The middle-aged man laughed a few times: "Let's talk about important matters. Our official family is a rare Daoist monarch in a century, and the tranquility of this harem is rare in a century." Yes, several princes and princesses are born after the season. This is one, not to mention Prince Funing, there is only the princess in the mansion, "

"I heard that he is afraid of internal affairs?" The youngest Jinshi interjected curiously, and the middle-aged man laughed a few times: "Is this... the princess was chosen by the late Emperor himself, so be careful!" The two looked at each other with a clear face, the middle-aged man smiled and coughed and continued: "If you want to get close to Prince Funing, you have to be careful in this backyard. If you want to get close to Jiang..." The middle-aged man dragged on Voice: "Last month, the new employee of the Ministry of Industry, He Qing, was dispatched to the Shangjing Road to dig a silver mine. Have you heard of it? Those who know about it are reluctant to talk about it. It is normal for you not to know. This is He Qing He was a Jinshi in the last period. He was born in a poor family. He was an orphan. He relied on his wife Liu’s embroidery work to support him. He became a Jinshi when he was 40 years old. Wailang, because Liu's family is over [-] years old, He Qing is going to divorce his wife and marry another one. Liu's family is a violent person, and after receiving the divorce letter, he handed over the certificate. According to Mrs. Liu, she was pregnant with a child at the beginning, and this first child had a lot of money to prepare for He Qing's travel expenses for the exam because she had to work all night. She was too tired and had a miscarriage. The injury was so serious that she couldn't bear children until now, now that He Qing divorced his wife and married another, she can only die."

"This Mrs. Liu is pitiful. Since this is the case, he should have taken a concubine and had a son for He Qing a long time ago. Why didn't you think of this?" Someone interrupted, and the middle-aged man smiled and did not answer. Sentenced personally, as you said, He Qing was considerate of his heirs, it is understandable, but firstly, the Liu family is a poor wife, and secondly, He Qing was able to concentrate on studying for many years, thanks to Liu's support, this love has to be repaid, so Assign He Qingfa to the Shangjingdao Silver Mine to mine for ten years in order to repay Liu's suffering."

"Ten years?" Everyone on the table exclaimed: "How can He Qing come back alive?"

The middle-aged man shook his folding fan with a 'wow', and shook his smile comfortably: "He Qing's family property and salary have been awarded to the Liu family, everyone, think about it carefully. Jiang Xiang and the prince, if they are kind and amiable, Naturally, it is Jiang Xiang. If you are talking about ruthless methods, you are also Jiang Xiang. The choice in the middle depends on your fate! This is the end of today's chat. Xiao Ke still has to gossip with the nobles on Zhejiang Road, so I will leave first. If you have anything to do, just come to find Xiao Ke, we are acquainted once, and you will find Xiao Ke again, Xiao Ke will give you a [-]% discount for the talk. It is only eight taels of silver for an hour, which is very good value! Alright, let’s say goodbye.” The middle-aged man stood up as he spoke, and walked out with his arms folded, while all the upstarts in the room folded their hands absent-mindedly, thinking of each other.

Outside the Qingfeng Building, an indigo silk car was passing by the festive Huanmen Gate, with a corner of the curtain hanging. Jiang Hong was sitting in the car, wearing a long gown, with a scroll in his hand, looking up at the Qingfeng Building slightly. , that scene that year seemed to be singing in his ears again, when he laughed at the people in the play, he didn't know that he was also in the play...

(End of this chapter)