The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 155 Jia Huan takes the pulse
When Jia Huan arrived at Lin Ruhai's house, he smelled a strong smell of medicine before he even stepped through the door. A servant girl went in and reported: "Second Master Lian, Third Master Huan, and Butler Diao are here to see the master."

"Let Brother Lian and Brother Huan come in. Butler Diao is waiting outside." Lin Ruhai's weak voice came out faintly.

So Jia Huan and Jia Lian entered the room, and Diao Sheng had to wait outside the room, pricking up his ears to listen, obviously worried that Jia Huan would accuse him of blackness.

It turned out that Diao Yide was ordered by Jia Huan to have his hands broken that day, and the next day he left Xiaohezhuang and rushed to Yangzhou to cry to his son Diao Sheng.When Diao Sheng learned about it, he was naturally filled with hatred and fear, but there was nothing he could do about Jia Huan. In addition, there was a very important thing at hand that had not yet been completed, and he did not want to cause trouble, so he just comforted me and settled the matter, planning to do it again later. Look for opportunities to take revenge.

Not long after, Jia Huan sent another letter, which happened to fall into the hands of Diao Sheng. Seeing that it was from Jia Huan, the latter dared not give it to Lin Ruhai directly, so he secretly opened it and read it, and found that the letter was indeed He was telling himself that he was in trouble, so he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, and even hid the letter. At this time, Lin Ruhai was very ill and confused, and Diao Sheng controlled everything in the house, covering the sky with one hand, so Lin Ruhai didn't know that Jia Sheng had no idea. Ring sent him a letter.

Diao Sheng originally thought that Jia Huan was still in the period of filial piety and would not come to Yangzhou in the short term. But when he came, he was afraid that Lin Ruhai would be dead and the matter of the letter would naturally go unnoticed. Unexpectedly, Jia Huan suddenly suddenly After arriving, Diao Sheng was naturally worried that things would get out of hand. At this moment, he was anxious, hateful, hateful and afraid.

When Jia Huan entered the room, the first thing he saw was the dying Lin Ruhai sitting on the bed. He was shocked and couldn't believe his eyes.

At this time, Lin Ruhai was very skinny and out of shape, and the beautiful beard on his chin had almost fallen off, leaving only a few sparse strands like dry grass, and his skin was yellow and bluish, unlike the middle-aged Mei Fengyi. Compared with the old handsome guy, he is completely different.

Although Jia Huan didn't meet Lin Ruhai many times, this was one of the few elders whom he respected from the bottom of his heart. Thanks to Lin Daiyu's guidance and Lin Ruhai's several articles, he passed the county examination. In this year, Lin Ruhai gave him all of his money, so Jia Huan was very grateful to Lin Ruhai. At this moment, he suddenly saw that the other party was so tall, and he was about to run out of fuel at any time. After being shocked, he couldn't help feeling sad, and his eyes circled. Slightly reddened, he stepped forward to salute and said: "Jia Huan pays homage to Uncle, I haven't seen him for more than half a year, why is Uncle in such a state?"

Lin Ruhai had barely forced a smile to greet him, but when he saw Jia Huan's true feelings revealed, he couldn't help but feel warm in his heart, and said weakly: "The sky has unexpected events, and people have misfortunes and blessings. People's life and death have their own destiny, Brother Huan." There’s no need to be sad, go meet your sister Lin.”

Lin Daiyu was looking at Jia Huan carefully, but tears fell down when she heard this.Jia Huan turned around and saluted Lin Daiyu, calling out: "Sister Lin!"

Lin Daiyu returned the gift with tears in her eyes and said: "Brother Huan."

After a three-year separation, Lin Daiyu's figure has also grown, like a corn with tassels, her eyebrows are like distant mountains with black eyes, her eyes are like autumn waters as gods, she is naturally charming and romantic, the moon is ashamed, and even the fish and the wild goose are not enough. Describing her beauty, it really deserves to be the fairy grass of crimson pearl described by Cao Gong. It is no wonder that in the original book, when Xue Pan saw Lin Daiyu, his legs became weak and he couldn't walk.

Jia Huan looked at Lin Daiyu, who was haggard and frail, and didn't know how to comfort her for a while. Instead, the latter wiped away her tears first and asked softly: "How are you doing, brother Huan, these years?"

Jia Huan nodded and said, "Everything is fine. Sister Lin, please take care of yourself. My uncle will be fine."

Lin Daiyu's tears suddenly came out again. Her helpless look was really pitiful. Jia Huan felt inexplicably sad. For a moment, she had the urge to hug her into her arms to comfort her, but in the end she didn't dare to make a mistake.

At this time, Lin Ruhai suddenly coughed violently, and her throat seemed to have a dull sound. Lin Daiyu hurriedly picked up the spittoon and brought it to Lin Ruhai. The latter spit out a mouthful of green-black phlegm. Jia Huan couldn't help but feel shocked when he saw this.

Lin Ruhai spit out a mouthful of phlegm and became more angry. She took a look at Jia Huan, who was wearing a scholar's robe and a square scarf on his head. He nodded and said, "This scholar's clothes are so spirited. Brother Huan has finished his filial piety period?"

Jia Huan nodded and said: "I just took off my clothes last month. I planned to return the manuscript I borrowed to my uncle, but I never thought..."

Lin Ruhai smiled and interrupted when he heard this: "It seems that Brother Huan is very confident. Passing the provincial examination will be a piece of cake. It's a pity that I have no energy now and am dizzy. Otherwise, I will definitely test you."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "The days are long. When my uncle's illness is cured, it won't be too late for Huan'er to listen to my uncle's teachings."

Lin Ruhai knew about his family affairs and was afraid that his time was running out, but in order to avoid causing his daughter's sadness, he smiled and nodded, then turned to Jia Lian and asked, "Brother Lian, thank you for your hard work during this time."

Jia Lian said quickly: "No hard work, this is what my nephew should do... burp!"

Jia Lian let out a long wine burp as he spoke, and a smell of wine immediately spread out. Lin Daiyu and the maid Xue Yan couldn't help but frown.

Jia Lian explained awkwardly: "Today there is a buyer who wants to buy a field in the western suburbs of the city. It is inevitable to socialize when meeting and negotiating, so I drank some wine."

Lin Ruhai didn't take it seriously. He was a member of the officialdom, and it was common for him to have wine with others. He didn't ask Jia Lian how the conversation went. He just waved his hand and said, "Since Brother Lian has had wine, let's go and rest for a while. "

Jia Lian originally wanted to take the opportunity to ask Lin Ruhai for the land deed, but Jia Huan and Lin Daiyu were both there at the moment, so it was not convenient for him to ask. He wanted to wait until Lin Daiyu fell asleep to ask again at night, so he withdrew. At this moment, he was really tired and his back was sore. My back hurts and I need to rest and recover.

When Jia Huan heard about the land sale, he knew that Lin Ruhai was making arrangements for his death. He was thinking about how to tactfully remind Lin Ruhai to leave a way out for Lin Daiyu and not to pin everything on the Jia family.It is true that Jia Mu loves Lin Daiyu, but she is already over seventy years old, how many years does she have left to live?Once Jia Mu gives up and returns to the West, who can Lin Daiyu rely on?Mrs. Wang definitely cannot be relied on. Rather than benefiting the Jia family, the Lin family's wealth is better left to Lin Daiyu to control. The worst is to deposit it in a bank. She can always have money to spend when she wants, without having to look at other people's faces.

Jia Huan organized his words and was about to speak when a well-dressed young woman walked in with a bowl of soup. She was about 25 or [-] years old. She was beautiful and was one of Lin Ruhai's three concubines. , surnamed Zheng.Jia Huan had been here several times and recognized Aunt Zheng. He quickly saluted and said, "Jia Huan has met Aunt Zheng."

In ancient times, it was very common for men to take concubines, especially for men in the upper class. It was abnormal not to take concubines. Although Lin Ruhai did not continue her marriage, Ji still took three concubines. The first two were Lin Daiyu's mother Jia Min and others. He was recruited when he was alive, and this Zheng family was recruited after Jia Min's death. He was young and beautiful, so he was favored by Lin Ruhai.

"Brother Huan, no courtesy." Zheng said with a smile, her voice was very sweet, her brows were full of spring, and she was very charming.

She is also charming, but Lin Daiyu's charm is the kind of charming but not vulgar, which is pleasing to the eye, but this Aunt Zheng is seductively vulgar, and people can't help but think of carnal desires.

Jia Huan didn't look sideways, bowed and stepped back. Suddenly he saw a head disappearing outside the door. It seemed to be the housekeeper Diao Sheng. He couldn't help but frown and subconsciously looked at the bowl of soup in Zheng's hand. go.

"Master, it's time to take medicine." Zheng said softly.

"Let me do it." Lin Daiyu took the decoction from Zheng, who seemed to be relieved and took the initiative to step aside.

Lin Daiyu took a taste with a spoon and found that the temperature was moderate. Then she started to feed Lin Ruhai. Zheng looked down at the side. Her expression and eyes seemed a bit awkward to Jia Huan, so she asked: "Uncle What kind of medicine are you drinking now?"

Lin Ruhai was about to take the medicine when he heard this and said, "It's just medicine to replenish blood and replenish qi."

"Is there any prescription? My nephew has read some medical books in the past few years, so he has some experience." Jia Huan said while secretly observing the changes in Zheng's expression.

Lin Ruhai said in surprise: "So Brother Huan also studied Qihuang's technique?"

Lin Daiyu also looked at Jia Huan thoughtfully, and Jia Huan hurriedly smiled and said: "I don't dare, I just dabbled a little, not even scratching the surface. I just don't know what the doctor said about my uncle's disease."

Lin Ruhai said: "Many famous doctors have been invited, but they can't find out what's wrong, they only say it's lung disease, Xiu'e, you go and get the prescription prescribed by the doctor and let Brother Huan take a look."

Xiu'e was Aunt Zheng's name. She agreed upon hearing this, but she still hesitated for a while before turning around and walking towards the door. Before leaving, she glanced at the bowl of soup that Lin Daiyu was holding.

Jia Huan saw this and asked calmly: "Aside from coughing, does uncle have any other discomforts?"

Lin Ruhai saw that Jia Huan was asking serious questions, as if he really knew medical skills, so he replied: "Sometimes I have severe abdominal pain, shortness of breath and heart palpitations."

"Rong Huan'er, dare to give uncle a pulse." Jia Huan stepped forward, and inadvertently knocked over the bowl of soup and medicine that Lin Daiyu was carrying. The soup and medicine spilled all over the floor, and the bowl broke. .

Lin Daiyu and Xueyan cried out in surprise, and Zheng Shi who had just walked to the door also stopped and looked back, with a trace of annoyance flashing in his eyes.

"Huan'er, you..." Lin Daiyu saw that the soup was spilled, and looking at Jia Huan's innocent face, she was not really angry, nor was she crying.

Jia Huan hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe off the concoction on Lin Daiyu's hand, winked and said, "I'm sorry, Sister Lin, you didn't burn it, did you?"

Lin Daiyu's face was a little embarrassed, but when she saw Jia Huan's secret wink, she couldn't help but feel surprised and doubtful. She shook her head and said, "I...it's okay. Brother Huan, have you permed it?"

Jia Huan apologized: "I'm fine too, it's just my uncle's medicine..."

Lin Ruhai coughed and said, "Just fry it again. As long as you are not injured, it will be fine."

The maid Xue Yan quickly cleaned up the things on the floor. Jia Huan sat down on the edge of the bed, felt Lin Ruhai's pulse, and looked outside the house.

Aunt Zheng originally wanted to hear the results of Jia Huan's pulse, but when she saw the latter looking, she turned and walked out the door.

(End of this chapter)