The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 148 Chonghua Palace

Even if they were helping with the funeral, it was impossible for Youshi and Qinshi to spend the night in Dongkuayuan, so at the second watch, seeing that there were not so many things going on right now, her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went back by car.

Sister Feng felt sorry for Jia Lian's going to the Yamen tomorrow, and she didn't want him to have any rest, so she forced him to go back to sleep, saying that she would take care of the rest.

Jia Lian agreed after thinking about it.

Sister Feng is a strong person, if she doesn't go to sleep, Sister Feng will definitely follow suit.

He will go to the yamen to hand over the affairs tomorrow, but the courtyard here is the busiest tomorrow morning.At that time, all men, women and children of the whole family would come to kowtow, and when he was not there, Wang Xifeng would naturally need to take care of the family affairs, and she would not be able to get a rest.

It's better to go to sleep for two hours first, and when it's four o'clock, she will also go to sleep for two hours after getting up, which is worse than two people working together.

When I arrived at the house I lived in when I was a teenager, the inside had already been completely renovated by Sister Feng.

A series of items such as bed sheets and bedding have been changed, and charcoal fires have been burned underneath.

The most eye-catching thing is that inside the large and fluffy quilt, there is a subtle arc. On the pillow at the head of the bed, there is a small, well-behaved and cute little head resting quietly, which looks extremely beautiful.

But the beautiful little girl Xiang Ling has fallen asleep.

"This room has not been lived in for a long time, and the kang is not burning. It is very cold. I was afraid that you would not be able to sleep for a while, so I asked her to lie in to help you warm up. Who knew she fell asleep, really..."

After Sister Feng explained, she was going to wake Xiangling up.

But Jia Lian stopped her, "Forget it, let her lie down. Once you wake her up, the heat that was so easy to cover will dissipate again."

While speaking, Jia Lian sat down on the bed, pressing the quilt.

Sister Feng's eyes became full of meaning, but when she saw Jia Lian's cheeky and naive look, she curled her lips and said, "Now I don't have time to mess around with you. If you like it, you can take her back when you are free." I don't care if the house is closed.

I asked you to accept her before, but you were serious and refused, and now you are busy for a while? "

Sister Feng has already recognized the existence of Qingwen and Xiangling from her heart. If it is said that she still has a bit of defense and suppression towards Qingwen, but she is much more at ease with this stupid Xiangling who likes to read books. .

Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent Qingwen back to look after the house, but left Xiangling here and asked her to warm Jia Lian's bed.

She was just worried that Jia Lian would waste precious time and energy tonight on a whim, and make things wrong tomorrow.

"Don't worry, I have a sense of proportion." Jia Lian said, and immediately began to take off his shoes.

Sister Feng didn't say much, and knelt down to help Jia Lian take off her socks. When Ping'er came in with the footwashing water, she checked the lamps and candles in the room, and then left a maid to serve outside. Then he took Ping'er, who had washed and wiped Jia Lian's feet, out.

In the room, Jia Lian slipped into bed wearing only her middle coat. Seeing that the girl Xiang Ling hadn't woken up yet, she thought that she must be tired today.

He glanced at her face for a few times, and didn't intend to tease her too much at this time. After lying down, he stretched out his hand to hug her small, tender and warm body in his arms.

Perhaps his body and hands were still a little cold, but Xiangling was woken up like this.

"Second Master...you..."

Xiang Ling rubbed her eyes, only to realize the situation at this time.

Jia Lian tightened her arms and whispered in her ear: "Don't talk, go to sleep. We will get up in two hours, there is no time to talk about anything else."

When Xiangling heard this, she didn't dare to move any more, her body was tense in Jia Lian's arms, and she didn't dare to move.

After a while, Xiangling found that Jia Lian was really breathing evenly and seemed to be asleep, and Xiangling really relaxed.

After thinking about it, I hid under this warm chest with peace of mind, and fell asleep again.

That night, Jia's mansion was brightly lit up and down, and neither master nor servant had a good night's sleep.

The second and third days are the time when the brothers of the Jia family in the eighth house in Beijing come to worship and help. At the same time, the Jia family also conveys the news of Jia Amnesty's death to all old relatives and friends. Starting from the fourth day, people came to express condolences one after another.

Before relatives and friends came to express their condolences, the Rongguo Mansion needed to support Jia Amnesty's mourning hall, Buddhist and Taoist ceremonies and ashrams, and set up formal official funeral specifications.

So these two or three days are also the busiest time.

It wasn't just Jia Lian, Wang Xifeng and others from Dongkuayuan, the entire Jia family's two houses and eighth house brothers were all running back and forth for this matter.

When the emperor heard the news of Jia She's death, he ordered the Mansion of the Extraordinary Clan to give 500 taels of sacrificial silver as a token of relief.In addition, Enzhun Jia Lian took a month's leave to take care of his father's funeral at home.

So Jia Lian handed over and arranged many affairs in the military and horse department in one or two days, and then stayed at home with peace of mind and took care of the funeral in person.

Originally, everything was carried out step by step, and the Qin Tianjian also selected the exact date for Jia Amnesty's death, a total of 28 days.

It was only on the third day after the funeral that the obituary was delivered, a worshiper from the deep palace attracted the attention of the Jia family.

……

On the quiet and solemn Ningrong Long Street, a group of imperial guards with golden knives and golden armor escorted a carriage and slowly parked outside the Dongkua courtyard.

The bright and majestic attire and haughty eyes of those forbidden soldiers made the servants in charge of receiving guests at the entrance of Dongkua courtyard dare not rush forward to inquire.

Jia Rong, Jia Yun and the others came out to have a look, and then Jia Yun quickly went inward to report to Jia Lian, while Jia Rong, leading Jia Qiang, Jia Qin and other children from the clan, waited at the door to see the situation.

After a while, the two little eunuchs put the footstools in place, and then reported to the carriage. Jia Rong and the others saw Hua Zhong's door curtain opened, bowed from the inside, and a man in a big red robe came out. Extraordinary eunuch.

The eunuch put his arms around the little eunuch and walked down slowly. He didn't pay attention to Jia Rong and the others in front of him at all. He only looked at the black oil gate of the Dongkua courtyard, and looked inside through the deep courtyard. Go, after a long time, said quietly:

"It's been so many years since I've been here. I didn't expect to build the Duke's Mansion and change the east corner gate into a main gate. Tsk tsk tsk..."

The voice was high-pitched, with a tone of emotion and sarcasm.

Jia Rong and the others dared not respond.

The eunuchs who left the palace were all envoys of the emperor.What's more, the eunuch in front of him who can bring so many imperial guards with him is obviously of extraordinary status. Before he can find out the identity and purpose of the other party, if he speaks rashly, if he offends, won't he bring disaster to the family?
The eunuch finally lowered his high head, glanced at the people in front of him, and asked, "Which of you is Jia Lian?"

Jia Rong hurriedly bent down and said: "Reporting to the errand, my uncle is inside to accompany the guests, and I have already asked someone to invite him, and I will come out soon...

I don't know what's the point of driving on a business trip? "

The chief eunuch looked five or sixty years old, and he looked a bit old. He pulled an ugly smile and said, "Of course I came to you to worship the undead. What else can I do?"

Jia Rong breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled more humbly on his face: "So, please come in..."

"Not busy, not busy."

The eunuch shook his head, then ignored Jia Rong and the others who were embarrassed, and stood at the door.

After a while, Jia Lian came out and saw this strange old eunuch. He was puzzled, but he didn't show it on his face. He cupped his hands and said, "I'm Jia Lian, how dare you ask your father-in-law's name?"

The eunuch had looked at Jia Lian as early as when Jia Lian appeared.

Seeing that he was really as rumored, with a tall stature and a handsome face.Even at this very moment, dressed in white filial piety, with a filial scarf around his head, he still looks majestic and windy while walking, which makes people feel ashamed.

The old eunuch involuntarily flashed a look of jealousy.

But he still quickly smiled and said: "So it's Commander Jia, I'm disrespectful and disrespectful. I am the deacon and internal supervisor of Chonghua Palace, and my surname is Wang."

When he heard the words "Chonghua Palace", even Jia Lian couldn't help being secretly startled, let alone Jia Rong and the others behind him.

This Chonghua Palace is the resting place where the Supreme Emperor lived after he abdicated.

Before the Supreme Emperor abdicated, he spent a lot of money to draw out a rectangular site on the east side of the Forbidden Palace, and then imitated the layout of the Forbidden City in the previous dynasty to build a small "Forbidden City".

This Chonghua Palace is the apse hall on the central axis of the city, analogous to the existence of Daming Palace in the imperial palace.

In other words, Chonghua Palace only represents one person outside, and that is the Supreme Emperor.

Therefore, knowing that the eunuch was from the Chonghua Palace, Jia Lian had no choice but to be cautious, and cupped his hands again and said, "It turns out that the prince is here, and he has not greeted him from afar. I am disrespectful. Dare I ask you, what is the matter here?" advice?"

Seeing Jia Lian's sudden humility, the chief eunuch Wang Fu felt very proud.

This is the capital of his arrogance. As one of the trusted eunuchs who run errands for the Supreme Emperor, no matter where he goes, no matter whether he is a prince or a hundred officials, he must be polite to him, because behind him is the Supreme Emperor!

"I can't talk about advice, but I just heard that the master of your family passed away, so I came here to express my condolences and express my admiration."

Wang Fu said with a smile, as if he didn't want to say too much on this point, and then he stopped pretending to be a wolf with a big tail, straightened his posture, and added: "Lord Jia, please lead the way."

Seeing this, Jia Lian didn't want to ask too many questions, so he turned sideways to invite him in.

Jia Rong waited for the old eunuch to go to the front, then quietly pulled Jia Lian's sleeve, "Second Uncle, he..."

Jia Rong pointed at the swaggering back of the old eunuch, meaning something.

Jia Lian understood what he meant.Letting an eunuch enter the door to worship ancestors would seem nondescript, unless the eunuch was following the emperor's or queen's will.

But how many people in the world can the emperor send someone to worship in person?
Therefore, although there are many eunuchs in Beijing, and even many great eunuchs have private residences in the imperial city and the capital, they generally do not socialize.

Not to mention going to weddings and funerals, because they are physically handicapped, and it is easy to be disgusting on such a serious matter.

Therefore, those officials who claim to be clean will never allow a eunuch to come in to worship their parents and elders.

Jia Rong was also worried about this, and felt that spreading the news would be bad for the family's reputation.

Jia Lian shook his head.

Originally, he didn't think of Jia Amnesty as anything in his heart, so naturally he didn't care about it, the visitor was a guest, whether he was a eunuch or a nun.

Second, Jia Lian really didn't believe that a big eunuch beside the Supreme Emperor dared to go to a state mansion to show off his majesty without any instructions from a nobleman.

Don't say it, maybe there is a reason not to say it, let's see what happens next.

……

Forbidden City, Daming Palace.

Emperor Ningkang immediately received the news that the chief eunuch of Chonghua Palace was going to Jia's mansion.

"Your Majesty, your subordinates and others have found out that Wang Fu went to Jia's mansion only to express his condolences. He did not do anything else, nor did he announce any will of the Supreme Emperor."

A deputy commander of Jin Yiwei knelt under His Royal Highness and reported the report with certainty.

Emperor Ningkang became a little puzzled.

As his father, the Supreme Emperor occupied his whole life, and there were too many irreplaceable things.

Even now, the Supreme Emperor is the most respected person in the world, the person he fears the most.

Therefore, there is no room for him to ignore any news from Chonghua Palace.

After waving his hand to make the guards retreat, Emperor Ningkang asked Dai Quan: "What do you think is the meaning of the Supreme Emperor's move? Could it be that the old man thought of Jia Daishan, so he sent someone to pay homage to his son?"

Naturally, Emperor Ningkang was no less knowledgeable than Jia Rong and others. He knew only from the reports of his subordinates that the chief eunuch of the Chonghua Palace went to Jia's house to pay homage, and it must be the meaning of the Chonghua Palace, that is, the meaning of the Supreme Emperor.

Dai Quan didn't have any special opinion on this matter. It was just a trivial matter. When the Supreme Emperor was in power, he often sent people to mourn his confidant ministers.

Although Jia Amnesty is unbearable, he is the successor of the Duke's Mansion after all. It is understandable for the Supreme Emperor to ask an eunuch to pay homage to him, no matter for the sake of Ningrong and Jia Daishan. .

Dai Quan felt that Emperor Ningkang was a little too sensitive.

Of course, as Emperor Ningkang's confidant who accompanied him day and night, he would not question Emperor Ningkang's thoughts, but just nodded and said in agreement: "This old slave believes that the emperor's conjecture is correct.

The old slave heard that when Dai Shangong was young, he had been the companion of the Supreme Emperor, and his relationship was inseparable, and he and the Supreme Emperor had been friends for most of his life.

Although Dai Shangong has been gone for more than ten years, the Supreme Emperor is a nostalgic person, even if he accidentally thinks of his descendants, it is a common thing.

The old slave also heard that since last year, the Chonghua Palace has often called some old officials to enter the palace to receive banquets, and the Supreme Emperor treated them very kindly, making them get together in the Chonghua Palace, often staying for a whole day .

From this point of view, it is not surprising that the Supreme Emperor's move today. "

Emperor Ningkang nodded after listening to Dai Quan's words.

It is human nature for people to miss the past when they get old, and it is precisely because of this that he has found it very difficult to eliminate those former ministers in the past few years, especially those important ministers in sensitive positions. He has to be careful every time he moves. For fear of touching the sensitive nerves of the Supreme Emperor.

For example, the Jingying Jiedushi...

It was time to implement the terms of exchange for the Jia family. In a few days, her mother and concubine would hold a small flower viewing party, at which time he would "accidentally" see Jia Yuanchun, the eldest daughter of the Jia family.Then his mother and concubine will give it to him, and he will reward her logically.

Naturally, Jia's family became relatives of the emperor, and they became a family with him.

It is so reasonable that this matter will not look like a transaction, which will damage his majesty as an emperor.

(End of this chapter)