The Red Chamber: The Rise of the Lin Mansion

Qin Keqing's eyes fell on the female guest involuntarily, because she seemed to have a cohesion that could attract others' attention anytime and anywhere.

Seeing his daughter coming in, Qin Ye immediately waved to her with a smile and said, "Keqing, come quickly and pay your respects to your uncle and aunt."

Qin Keqing stepped forward quickly, bowed to Lin Heng and saluted, "Keqing, please pay your respects to your uncle."

Lin Heng looked at the beautiful girl in front of him and smiled with satisfaction: "No need to be polite."

Qin Keqing bowed to Jia Min again, and Jia Min stood up and helped Qin Keqing up, looked him up and down, and thought, "She really is a stunning beauty, no wonder Yu'er is full of praise for her."

She took out a handkerchief from her bosom, took out an emerald green jade bracelet from it, put it on Qin Keqing's right wrist, and said with a smile: "It's our first meeting, it's a little courtesy, I hope you don't think it's too light."

Qin Keqing hurriedly said, "Thank you, Auntie, for the reward."

At this time, Daiyu came from behind Jia Min, took Qin Keqing's hand and said, "Sister Keqing, I haven't seen you for a long time, do you remember me?"

Qin Keqing pursed her lips and said with a light smile, "My sister is so cute, I can't forget her even if I want to."

Daiyu said again: "Sister Qing, let's go to your room. I have something to say to you."

"This~"

Qin Keqing looked at her father in embarrassment, wondering whether she should accept Daiyu's proposal.

Jia Min smiled and said, "Go and play."

"Yes."

Qin Keqing, as if pardoned, bid farewell to several people and led Daiyu out of the living room.

...

After the two girls left, Lin Heng immediately smiled at Qin Ye and said, "Dear-in-law, I am not being polite to you. This time I am here, first of all to see Keqing, and secondly to discuss with you. I wonder if you have any suggestions for building a mansion for the two children to get married?"

Qin Ye pondered for a moment before saying: "My requirements are not high, a small courtyard with three entrances covering an area of ​​more than ten mu is enough."

Lin Heng quickly shook his head and said: "The courtyard house with an area of ​​more than ten mu is too small. Wouldn't it be wronged by that girl Keqing? I mean to build a five-entry garden covering an area of ​​tens of mu. Only in this way can it be worthy Keqing's identity as that girl."

Qin Ye was surprised when he heard the words: "Dear father, the land and prices in the capital are very expensive. If you build a mansion according to your request, it will be difficult to build it without 10 taels of silver."

Lin Heng said boldly: "Money is not a problem. My father-in-law, you only need to help purchase the land, and then ask someone to design the drawings and start construction as soon as possible. I will pay for all the money needed."

Qin Ye thought to himself: "It's no wonder that kid Lin Yun is so generous. It turns out that his father is a real local tyrant."

Jia Min smiled and said, "I suggest building the couple's manor closer to my side, so that it will be convenient for their uncle and nephew to come and go."

Lin Heng hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, yes, what my brother and sister said is reasonable, the new house must be near the Lin residence, so that Ruhai can take care of their young couple."

Qin Ye nodded and said: "Okay, I'll take note of this, you allow me a few days, I'll ask someone to see if anyone sells the courtyard."

Lin Heng took out a few silver bills from his pocket, handed them to Qin Ye and said, "This is 5 taels of silver bills. The in-laws can use them to buy land. If it is not enough, I will make up for it later."

Qin Ye thought in his heart: "He took out 5 taels of silver notes at one time, and this father-in-law didn't even blink his eyes. How arrogant."

Lin Heng pretended to be indifferent, but in fact his heart hurts, but these banknotes were all paid by his capable young son.

Before coming to Beijing, Lin Yun gave him 15 taels of silver bills to buy land and build a garden, and told him not to pretend to be cowardly after coming to Beijing, otherwise he would be looked down upon.

So even though his heart hurts badly, he still has to grit his teeth and pretend to be bold and consider money like dung.

Jia Min was drinking tea silently at the side. Yesterday she discussed with her husband and wanted to provide money to help Lin Yun build a mansion, but Lin Heng politely declined.

Now seeing Lin Heng taking out tens of thousands of taels of silver bills at once, she was surprised, but also secretly felt that she had finally underestimated this big brother Heng.

For 10 taels of silver, even she, the direct daughter of Duke Rong, would not dare to take it out without feeling sorry for her, but this Brother Heng didn't even frown. what kind of son.

Next, the three of them discussed the plan of the mansion. This was mainly discussed by Jia Min and Qin Ye. Lin Heng knew nothing about architecture and could only sit aside and listen.

Qin Ye is in charge of construction, and he is proficient in this matter, so it is easy to talk about it.

Although Jia Min didn't know much about architecture, she was born in Jinling Rongguo Mansion since she was a child, and later moved to Rongguo Mansion in the capital. The gardens she lived in were all exquisite, so she could naturally provide some good ideas.

Finally, Qin Ye suggested to Jia Min: "If you can't buy land next to the Lin Mansion, why not buy more land, build two houses, and link them together. Wouldn't it be more convenient to travel?"

After hearing this, Jia Min readily agreed. She originally planned to spend tens of thousands of taels of silver to help Lin Yun build a mansion. Now that Lin Heng won't let her pay, the two families can build a garden together, which can save a little money.

She asked Lin Heng for advice, and Uncle Heng naturally agreed. His son stayed in the capital to work hard and had to be taken care of by Lin Ruhai. He naturally wished for him to live closer.

After discussing the construction of the mansion, the three discussed the arrangements for the marriage. In the end, both parties agreed that the wedding will be held on the sixth day of October, which is an auspicious day.

Chapter 172: Xue Mansion Condolences

While the two in-laws were busy building a mansion for the young couple, Lin Yun, who was far away in Jinling, encountered a trouble.

Although the first batch of dozens of rickshaws put into the wharf were welcomed by tourists because of their cheap prices, they encountered strong resistance from the original forces that monopolized the wharf transportation business.

As long as the rickshaw driver is alone, he will be attacked by hooligans, and the number of smashed rickshaws increases by two or three every day.

Feng Ziying led people to catch a few gangsters who caused sabotage, but they couldn't find out who was the mastermind behind the scenes?Some rickshaw drivers were worried about being beaten and asked to quit.

After Zhong Yi inquired around, he finally found out that the land transportation business at various docks in the south of the Yangtze River was controlled by an organization called the Sihai Gang. The boss of this gang was called Mr. Zhu, and he had more than 10,000 gang members. These people were all It relies on the transportation business at the dock to make a living.

The promotion of rickshaws will first threaten the foundation of the Four Seas Gang, and they will naturally try to do everything possible to destroy it.

Lin Yun asked someone to bring a message to the leader of the Four Seas Gang, and was going to meet with the other party to discuss a mutually beneficial and win-win solution.

...

Despite the unsatisfactory promotion of rickshaws, the perfume shop opened smoothly, and the business was booming.

Suzhou is very close to Jinling, and the perfume sold there has long been passed down.

The noble ladies in Jinling and the girls in their families are all eager for perfume, and now that there are some for sale around them, we naturally don't have to look far away and send people to Suzhou to buy them.

Those famous prostitutes on the Qinhuai River have the strongest purchasing power of perfume. In order to please customers who spend a lot of money, a bottle of perfume of ten taels of silver is just a drizzle in their eyes.

...

March 28 was Lin Yun's first holiday after entering the Imperial College.

It was a rare day to take a break, so Lin Yun was ready to take a good nap.Although he thought well, he was woken up by Xiang Ling early in the morning.

Lin Yun opened his eyes and saw that Xiangling was already fully dressed, and said urgently to him: "Third Master, Uncle Xue from the Xue family sent someone to deliver a message saying that his uncle died of illness."

"Oh,"

Lin Yun was not surprised when he heard the words, but rather curious, Xue Pan's second uncle died, why did he send someone to deliver a letter to him?Do you want him to go to condolences? It's worth it.

After washing up, Lin Yun asked people to call over the person from Xue's family who had reported the news, and asked for details.

It turned out that Xue Pan's second uncle, Xue Shang, died of a heart attack on the way back to Jinling.

The messenger begged Lin Yunken: "Third Master, our uncle said that there are no men in the residences on both sides of Xue's family who can sit in the town, so I would like to ask the third master to go over and help set up a place."

Lin Yun thought to himself, "This is probably Aunt Xue's idea. It's no wonder Xue Pan thought of these joints."

...

After eating something in a hurry, Lin Yun changed into plain clothes and rode to Xue's residence with a few guards.

The mansion of Second Uncle Xue Pan lived next to Xue's family. When Lin Yun arrived outside the mansion, the place was already covered with white flags and there were bursts of crying.

As soon as Lin Yun got off his horse in front of the mansion, he saw a man in charge came over and asked him, "Excuse me, are you the third master Lin?"

"It's down."

"Third Master, please come quickly. Our uncle has been waiting for you inside for a long time."

Lin Yun asked people to offer sacrifices, and followed the steward to the mansion.Along the way, almost all the guests who came to express their condolences were strangers.

He secretly said in his heart: "It seems that the Xue family has quite a few relatives and friends in Jinling. Now that Xue Pan has not been involved in a lawsuit, Second Uncle Xue has died as usual. I don't know if Aunt Xue will come to Beijing with her family."

Lin Yun followed the steward into the mourning hall arranged in the inner house, and saw four people kneeling in front of the mourning hall, dressed in sackcloth and filial piety, besides the Xue Pan he knew, there was also a pair of young boys and girls, presumably they were Xue Pan's hall Brother Xue Biao and cousin Xue Baoqin.

Next to the little girl, there was also a blond foreign woman sitting kneeling. She looked pretty and looked very young, as if she was only in her 20s.

Lin Yun followed the crowd to worship, and when passing by Xue Pan, he saw Xue Pan's eyes were swollen from crying, obviously this one was really crying.

After Xue Pan returned the salute to Lin Yun, he said in a hoarse voice: "Brother Lin, wait for me outside, I have something to say to you later."

Lin Yun nodded, without saying anything, turned around and followed the guest out the door.

As soon as he came out here, he saw a woman coming up to meet him, and asked him, "Is this the third master Lin Yunlin?"

Lin Yun: "It's me."

"Our wife asks the third master to talk inside."

"Who is your wife?"

"Our wife is Uncle Xue's mother."

"As expected, it was Aunt Xue who wanted to talk to me."

...

It was really Aunt Xue's idea to ask Lin Yun to come over to offer condolences. There was no other way. Xue Shang's death would be a disaster for her and the Xue family.

Now there are only two underage boys left in the two households of Xue's family. Without a man to support such a huge property, what the outcome will be like, you can know if you don't want to.

Just last night, Aunt Xue met with the eldest brother of the Wang family to discuss what the Xue family should do in the future.

Wang Zisheng gave her an idea to let her family go to Beijing and seek refuge with Jia's family in order to develop.

Aunt Xue couldn't make up her mind for a while, but her daughter Baochai finally persuaded her to invite Lin Yun to ask him what he thought.

Although Aunt Xue didn't think Lin Yun had any good ideas, she still asked Xue Pan to send someone to invite Lin Yun in the spirit of treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

...

Aunt Xue and Baochai's mother and daughter were visiting the sick Xia Shi in the inner house. When they heard that Lin Yun had arrived, Aunt Xue led Baochai out to meet her.

Baochai was also very curious about this elder brother of the Lin family, so she didn't refuse anymore, and went out with her mother to meet the guests.

When Lin Yun saw Aunt Xue, he stepped forward to salute and said, "Lin Yun has seen Auntie, so I ask Auntie to express her condolences and take care of yourself."

Aunt Xue wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, and said, "Thank you brother for coming to express condolences. Baochai, come and pay your respects to your brother Lin."

Baochai stepped forward, bowed to Lin Yun and said, "Little sister pays homage to Brother Lin."

Lin Yun hurriedly cupped his hands in return and said, "Sister, don't be too polite."

As he spoke, he secretly took a look at Baochai. Although the little girl was also wearing mourning clothes, her eyes were neither red nor swollen, nor were there tears on her face, nor did she have the sad expression of Xue Pan.

Lin Yun thought to himself: "Could it be that Sister Bao is really a heartless person?"

Baochai was a little uncomfortable being looked at by Lin Yun, she turned shyly and hid behind her mother.