Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 1395
In Prince Jane's Mansion, there was laughter in the upper room.

The well-dressed clan Fujin and his wife, the uncles and wives of Wanyan Yongjia's natal family, as well as the in-laws and old family members of Prince Jian's residence, came to add makeup two days before the first day.

It stands to reason that Zhen'er is the only heir apparent in Prince Jian's mansion, and he is Wanyan Yongjia's only bloodline, so it's no surprise that the dowry is well prepared.

Who would have thought that those exposed to the outside are only considered to be above average, and the number is not as rich as everyone expected.

Among the clan's female relatives, some elders looked at each other, knowing that Wanyan Fujin was so prepared that he was unwilling to pass Princess Furui.

But Princess Furui was only a registered daughter of the Prince's Mansion when she came out of the cabinet. She was awarded the title of Princess only because she was the granddaughter of the Emperor; much higher.

Forget about others, Liu Gege's two aunts and niece, who love her dearly, have prepared a generous amount of make-up.

After dinner, the guests dispersed, and it was the turn of the palace ladies to add makeup.

Mrs. Namudulu took out four sets of inlaid jewellery, two sets of fashionable styles outside, and two sets of Mudulu's dowry back then. They looked gorgeous and rich, and they were not light in weight, but they were not too expensive. color.

Seeing this, Mrs. Six just curled her lips.

Thinking that when the eldest son and his wife had no status, they flattered Ji Fujin in every possible way; now that they have a status, they changed their faces.

The fifth lady was puzzled, because she remembered clearly that her husband said that the prince had prepared a big gift for the younger sister long ago, and her family couldn't compare to it. She ordered herself to prepare more money in the box for the younger sister, and she did her best.

Unexpectedly, such an accident happened again today.

Fifth Madam couldn't help looking at Mrs. Shizi suspiciously, but Mrs. Shizi was smiling all over her face, and she couldn't tell anything unusual; then she looked at Fujin, her expression was warmer than usual, and she couldn't see anything else.

After Mrs. Shizi, it's Madam Fifth's turn to add makeup.

The fifth lady had no choice but to bite the bullet and asked someone to "lift" her makeup up.

That's right, it was lifted.

In addition to two pairs of golden heads and masks, there are four sandalwood boxes.

When the box was opened, everyone was stunned.

There are four full boxes of silver curries, but the thumbs are big enough to be rolled into "peanuts", "lotus seeds", etc. They look small and cute, but they are different from ordinary silver curries, as if there are dark lines covering them .

Wanyan Yongjia picked up a peanut-shaped silver carpenter and took a closer look, only to find that it was covered with Ruyi and Fu characters.

The fifth lady blushed, and said: "It's our master who picked him up and stared at people personally... He said it was for my sister to reward people..."

This silver box is about one tael at most, and it is a box that is one foot wide, one foot half long, and half a foot high, and it is full of it.

When the four boxes come down, the seven and eight hundred taels may not be able to hold them down, or else the two strong servants will not be able to carry them up.

For other families, this gift is a heavy gift, but in the palace, it seems a bit straightforward and not refined enough.

Even the fifth lady, who is not from a high family background, felt that her preparation was a bit inappropriate when she saw a foreigner adding makeup today.

But Wanyan Yongjia knew that preparing such a gift was not easy for the fifth elder brother and his wife.

Although he is the prince's first son, because when the imperial family was entrusted in the third year of Yongzheng, the emperor did not suppress Jian's palace, even the third elder brother who was the eldest son was only named the Duke of Zhen, and the fifth elder brother's title was even lower. Waiting for the general of the town, the annual salary is 410 taels.

Today's make-up would probably cost Fifth Elder Brother three years' salary.

Although the sons and daughters of the clan all share the Zhuangtian, and their salary is only a small amount, the addition of makeup is not light.

If it was in private, Wanyan Yongjia would never accept anything, but now under the watchful eyes of everyone, she nodded with a smile and said: "You two are bothering... I see that these silver coins are exquisite, and they are just right for pressing money..."

It was Madam Six's turn, with the same four sets of jewelry.

After saying a lot of auspicious words, seeing the smile on Yongjia's face, Mrs. Liu glanced at Mrs. Shizi proudly.

What about the daughter-in-law?

Among the several elder brothers' mansions, the sixth elder brother has the lowest title because he is a concubine, and his family background is also the weakest, but his private property is the richest.Not only got the dowry from Fujin, but also the private house that Fujin managed the palace for more than ten years.

Thinking of this, she glanced at Wanyan Yongjia suspiciously.

Outsiders say that this Fujin is a sensible person, even his husband respects his aunt, and the palace has been under his command, and it has been peaceful for many years, without the moths that outsiders say.

As for the fact that her mother-in-law took money in the name of the housekeeper, does Fujin know about it...

The make-up at Prince Jane's Mansion was lively, and the next day at Cao's Mansion, makeup reminders and makeup drying were also lively.

Forget Cao Yong, there are not many guests who need him to accompany them in person, most of them just show up; Li Shi and Chu Yu have actually accompanied the guests for two days, and their faces are sour from smiling.

Mrs. Li is old and old, Cao Yong and his wife were afraid that she would be tired, so they went to Lanyuan to visit the guests after seeing them off.

Mrs. Li was in good spirits, but she was a little annoyed and impatient to speak. After a few words with her son and daughter-in-law, she sent them back to her yard to rest.

On the kang table in the upper room of the Jiuru courtyard, there are two account books, which are gifts from outside these two days.

Seeing this, Chu Yu recalled what the Li family had done yesterday, and hurriedly told her husband.

Hearing that Li Wei's present was 500 taels of gold, Cao Yong couldn't help frowning.

500 taels of gold is equivalent to 5000 taels of silver. This amount is too much, and it is more important than the annual gift of the Li family during the Chinese New Year.

Thinking of Li Wei's behavior in the past few years, he seems to have maintained the bold temperament of the past, and he can act more like an old man in the officialdom, his face is getting thicker every year, Cao Yong feels a little bad.

He thought for a while and asked, "Are there any unmarried teenagers of the right age in the relative's house?"

When Chu Yu heard this, she couldn't help being startled, and then she smiled and said, "Master, I forgot, this year is the year of the draft, how many people are waiting to get married?"

Due to the rules of the Eight Banners, marriageable daughters are not allowed to marry in private without going through the draft, so the year of the draft every three years is also the year when the nobles of the Eight Banners gather to hold wedding events.

Cao Yong paused for a moment, then said, "Is there anyone equivalent to Nongchao?"

Chu Yu understood what her husband meant, and said in surprise, "Master! My niece still has two and a half years of filial piety, how can I say this?"

Cao Yongdao: "Li Wei seems to be reckless, but he has always been sensible in what he can do. This time he gave a heavy gift for no reason, which always makes people feel uneasy... In case he proposes marriage in front of the emperor, it's okay if he decides to get married, but it's not sure. How can someone evade it?"

Chu Yu's complexion was a bit grim: "If it hadn't been for him, the second room wouldn't have become what it is now. Since the master has already declined the marriage, how dare he force the marriage?"

Cao Yong said: "Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just in case."

Chu Yu frowned and said, "If in order to avoid the marriage between the two families, the niece is hastily settled, if there is a bad thing, wouldn't it be more deceitful?"

Cao Yong felt annoyed, stroked his forehead and said: "Minger will ask Xiao Er to talk about it..."

The next day was the day of Tianyou's wedding.

Everyone in the East Mansion has already "removed white clothes in a hundred days", except for Cao Xiang and his wife who have already removed their clothes, and everyone else is wearing clothes, so the ones who help the head of the house to entertain relatives and friends, except for Cao Xiang and his wife, are the Zuozhu couple. With the Zhuang couple.

The juniors are like the Cao family's own nephews, and they don't feel slighted when their close relatives and friends arrive.

In Fuyuan Hall, Mrs. Li personally entertained the distinguished guests.

Concubine Mi arrived in the morning.

In order to serve her mother-in-law, Prince Zhuang Fujin and Mrs. Fifteen Baylor had a face-to-face meeting in Prince Jian's Mansion, and then hurried to Cao's Mansion.

Not long after, Princess Qin also came.

Afterwards, Prince Guo Fujin also followed.

Including the female family members of Prince Ping's residence and Prince Chun's residence who arrived first, the clan accounted for less than half of the Cao family's guests.

There are many people, all of whom have followed the ceremony, and they can't help but mention this matter in their conversations, and they can't help but mention the four words "kissing and kissing".

On the surface, it is said that Princess Furui is related to Prince Jane's mansion, but in fact, everyone knows in their hearts that there is also the relationship between the Li family and the clan.

The two concubines were dispatched today not to see the prince marrying a daughter, but to watch Mrs. Li marry her grandson. I don't know if there is any meaning in the palace.

Even if the princess' mansion, which has been awarded the royal title, organizes a happy event, it may not be able to make it to this ostentation.

The sedan chair has to wait until evening, and there is still most of the day's work, so it's not easy to talk all the time.

Cao's mansion borrowed an opera troupe from Prince Zhuang's mansion, and set up a stage in the garden, and ordered everyone to move to the garden to listen to the opera after lunch.

Although there are brothers and nephews to help, Cao Yong and his wife are still busy for a moment.

After finally staying up late into the night, Cao Yong finally got a sedan chair, so he was free and came to meet Cao Song at Hang Seng Yard on East Road.

According to the custom in the capital, holding a wedding event is a taboo for people with filial piety.But if it is a close relative, it is not easy to avoid, so you should avoid opening a sedan chair to enter the door with the newcomer, and also avoid the new house.

After lunch, Zhao Jia took the children back to Dongfu. Because he was thinking about Li Wei, Cao Yong sent someone to send a message to Cao Song, asking him to stay temporarily.

When we arrived at Hang Seng Yard, we were really tired. Before we could speak, Cao Yong poured a pot of tea first, and then he talked about Li Weili's overweight and his own speculation.

Seeing his cousin so tired and worrying about his own affairs, Cao Song was ashamed.

He understood that his cousin was never a random person, since he was guarding against the Li family in this way, besides being willing to marry, there should be a conclusion.

He thought for a while and said, "Brother, I heard from my fourth sibling a few years ago that my eldest cousin asked about Nong Chao's marriage."

Besides Changling from Fucha's family and Li Nai from Li's family, the only ones who can be called big cousins ​​by Cao Song are Fengde from Zhaojia's mansion.

Among them, Fengde is the only one who has a good relationship with Cao Song and walks around with his family.

"The eldest son of Fengde's family is unmarried?" Cao Yong said.

Feng De is only the fourth-rank Shaoqing of the Taipu Temple, and because of his in-laws and good relationship with Cao Song, even if he can talk about marriage, he can only be the eldest son.

Cao Song nodded and said, "I've been studying in a government school, and I'm preparing to take the provincial examination this year. I heard that the marriage will be discussed after the local examination..."

It is said that "marry a daughter from a high family, and marry a woman from a low family". From the perspective of official position, Fengde's fourth grade is indeed inferior to the third grade of Cao Song's first-class guard; It is inferior to the Cao family.

And because Cao Song himself is the nephew of Zhaojia's family, this marriage is really not the other party's high-ranking.

In Cao Yong's heart, he quickly calculated the blood relationship of the two families.

Fengde is Cao Song's cousin in name, but in fact Fengde's father is actually Cao Song's cousin, and his blood relationship is far away.

Foreign relatives are not as good as clan relatives, and have fewer uniforms. In the generation of Fengde's son and Nongchao, they have already issued five uniforms.

Feng De is Cao Song's cousin, and Cao Yong is also acquainted.

Speaking of which, although Cao Song's cousins ​​were a little messy when they were young, they are not bad when they grow up.

Especially when the old Shangshu passed away and the Zhaojia clan was out of favor, he didn't follow the trend, but worked hard on his qualifications in the six parts, and gained a firm foothold in the officialdom step by step.

Now there are three cousins, except Fengde who is a fourth-rank Beijing official, Fengche who is a doctor in the Ministry of Officials, and He Lian who took advantage of the vacancy in Jiangnan's officialdom last year and let him go to Jiangnan as a magistrate.

Considering their age, they can have such a level, apart from borrowing the wind from Prince Yi's Mansion, it is more or less due to their own efforts.

"Fengde's wife, as I remember, seems to be surnamed Dong E?" Cao Yong said.

Cao Song nodded and replied: "That's right. Speaking of which, the eldest cousin is Jinghui's third cousin sister...Jinghui was also the closest to the eldest cousin before she was alive... Back when they were in the tide, the two families still had sex. There was a marriage joke, but because of the draft, I didn't take it seriously..." Speaking of this, I can't help but feel depressed.

Cao Yong knew that he was thinking of Jinghui, and he sighed in his heart. Because of the words "Kissing and kissing", he thought of Cao Shuo back then, and said: "What is going on, it's up to you to make up your mind... marrying the Li family may not It's a bad thing; if you get closer, you can't guarantee that your niece will not be wronged 100%... Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so the second brother should think about it and make up his own mind."

Back then Cao Shuo married Xiao Zhaojia, who was still a direct cousin. Because of the disharmony between the husband and wife, it became a tragedy, and the relationship between the two families was broken.

For a while, Cao Yong really couldn't tell what to do.

Cao Song had already made up his mind, and said: "Although the eldest cousin is not of high rank, the family has its own rules and regulations. Jinghui will be the eldest daughter-in-law. Although it is tiring, she is in Beijing and is a relative's family. How much can she take care of her?" ;The Li family seems to be rich and noble, but the foundation is weak, and both wives and concubines are equally important in the inner house, Li Wei is still here... If that day comes, it may be a time of family chaos..."

Seeing that Cao Song's words were clear and conclusive, Cao Yong's mood also relaxed.

He thought for a while, and said: "After all, it is Xiaozhong, and it is not easy to act in a hurry. The second brother can talk to the other side. If Li Weizhen asks for an order, there will be an answer... If the Li family does not ask for an order, then you can go over it carefully." It's not too late to discuss..."

Cao Song nodded in agreement, afraid of delaying his nephew's marriage, he hurriedly urged his cousin to go to the main courtyard to receive guests...

The grade of Liugege is the same as that of Chuyu, both are Heshuogege, so the marriage form of the two is determined by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is similar with minor differences.

It's just that Cao Yong and his wife were the bride and groom last time, and now they are promoted to Weng Gu.

The banquet has already started, and Cao Yong, the master, must go out to accompany the wine.It is said that wedding wine is not easy to get drunk, but it can't stand two cups on this table and three cups on that table.

It didn't take long for Cao Yong to be a little confused.Cao Xiang and Zuo Zhu followed behind him. Seeing him like this, they were afraid of getting drunk and hurting their health, so they hurriedly found a way to get off the table, and helped Cao Yong to the side hall.

The two uncles and nephews went out to accompany the guests on behalf of Cao Yong. Cao Yong drank strong tea to hangover and sat in front of the window of the side hall. Through the window, he watched the guests in the hall pushing cups and changing cups. "Outsider" feeling.

In the blink of an eye 20 years later, the young man became middle-aged, the middle-aged became old, and the old has passed away.

The younger generation is also growing up.

The pictures of the past seem to flash before my eyes, the smiling Ning Chun, the arrogant Yong Qing, the gentle and shy Ma Jun, the flamboyant and aggressive Wei Xin...

In the half of my life, I seem to have done something, and I seem to have done nothing.

There is no regret in my heart.

Whether he was in Jiangning in his early years, or later in Beijing, he has been working in the rich and powerful field, and he is not free.

Cao Yong raised his arm and hammered hard on his forehead.

It has to be said that the emperors of the Qing Dynasty did not show other achievements, but this centralization of power was achieved to the extreme.

The emperor is the master of the world, and the clan is the master and master.

Even if the court was sealed to pay homage to the prime minister, the royal family and the clan would kneel and kowtow three times and nine times.

In addition to the legacy of the Eight Banners, honors are hereditary, and if you stay in the capital, you can't do anything else, you must first bow and kneel.

Now that the eldest son has started a family and started a business, and it is time to let go of the responsibilities of the family, how can he be free?

free!free!
As soon as this idea came out, it was like opening Pandora's box, which made Cao Yong have a roaring villain in his mind.

Could it be that by chance, I was reborn 300 years ago just to be a slave to the royal family? !
His eyes were straight and fell on his wrist...

In the distance, there was the sound of "cracking" firecrackers, and the newcomer's sedan chair arrived at the gate of the Cao Mansion...

*
I really couldn't hold it back anymore, I thought about it for three days and wanted to come up with a way for Xiao Cao to escape. .

(End of this chapter)