Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 296 Chapter 4.92 Jia’s family members
Volume Four

4.92 Jia’s family members
In the blink of an eye, a few days passed. On the 22nd of the first lunar month, God gave a rare sunny day. Unfortunately, the capital city in early spring still did not show anything related to "spring". Even under the bright sunlight, there was no residual snow accumulated everywhere. There is no intention of melting, but the cold cannot stop the young people's desire for fun.

The back garden of Rongguo Mansion has been filled with laughter like silver bells. Except for Jia Yingchun, who has already "went to work", there are almost all the other young female relatives. There are even two more "guests", one of whom is celebrating the Lantern Festival. Shi Xiangyun, who couldn't wait to come over to stay for a while, and Fu Qiufang, who had become increasingly close to Jia's family in recent times.

"Oh, fourth sister, be careful!" During the fight, Xiang Xichun accidentally stepped on a dry branch on the stone road, fell forward on the spot, and fell into the snowdrift on the roadside. Shi Xiangyun exclaimed on the spot Tanchun couldn't help but rush over to check. Unexpectedly, she raised her head on her own, and her funny look made everyone laugh out loud.

"Stupid girl, let's see if you dare to be careless!" Tan Chun kindly helped his sister up, and helped her brush away the dry snow from her clothes and hair. "Fortunately, the snow has not melted yet, otherwise you would have just At that moment, if it is light, it will be covered with mud, if it is heavy, it will be slapped on the ground. If something bad happens if it falls, it is not a joke."

"Humph, I don't agree. Let me see which one of them dares to transform!" If you go into the ditch and stay with those dead branches and leaves, the water you turn into can only be dirty water!"

"Pfft-hahaha!" The female relatives all laughed so hard that they couldn't stand up straight.

"Hey, my fourth young lady, hurry up and accept your magical powers!" Wang Xifeng smiled and came up to hit her. "If someone laughs to death for this Chinese New Year, wouldn't it be your sin? Even if it's the old man, The ancestors are protecting you, and as my sister-in-law, I also want to make you look good - well, why not punish you to fight with this snowdrift, hahaha!"

This time the female relatives laughed even more happily.

"You - you are not good people!" When I picked up my second sister, my eldest sister-in-law also stayed there for one night. I wonder what’s going on?”

"Anyway, it's just a job of serving people. You know what these do." Li Wan's cheeks were slightly red, and he casually said something and then changed the subject, "Okay, I have been outside for so long. Come back to the Nuang Pavilion and drink a cup of hot tea to ward off the cold. If you accidentally catch a cold, no one likes to drink the bitter concoction, right?"

"Sister-in-law, do you have any good tea?" Shi Xiangyun hugged Li Wan's arm and smiled.

"Don't worry, Sister Yun. It just so happened that I didn't want to drink the Tieguanyin tea for internal use given by His Highness Yongchang last time. In addition to honoring my ancestors and my wife, I brought the rest today." Li Wan said with a smile, "It's just that Let me make it clear first, there is definitely not much such good tea. If so many people come together, they will drink it all in three days."

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, I will definitely not use it three times. Take all the remaining girls back. I guess you can use it longer if you drink it yourself?" Shi Xiangyun said with a smile, and was immediately "beaten" by the others.

"There is someone more shameless than Feng Yatou?" Li Wan said in "surprise", and naturally got into a fight with Wang Xifeng.

A few people returned to the conservatory, chatting and laughing, and saw a slightly tall girl skillfully pouring tea into several small cups on the tea table. Her flowing movements brought a heart-stirring beauty, combined with The fragrance of tea all over the room set her off like a lady in a painting, and was also loved by all the female family members in Jia's mansion.

"Sister-in-law, second sister-in-law Lian, and three younger sisters, please have tea!" This woman is of course Fu Qiufang, but she is different from the past. Both her temperament and appearance have been greatly improved compared to before.

When she first entered the Jia family, Fu Shi was just a poor scholar. Although he had the title of "Jia Zheng's disciple", in this place where he was accustomed to flatter others and look down on food, he was no better than a servant girl. Son, she had to be careful to flatter even Ping'er and Yuanyang, a few respectable maids.

Now it is different. Although Fu Shi is the head of the Thousand Households Office, an embarrassing position that no literati of orthodox background would want to go to, that is also a real shortage of the sixth grade. Fu Qiufang is now a legitimate official lady. Except for a few masters, everyone should be polite when they see her.

What's more, relying on Zhou Yang's initial funding and the silver coins that Fu Shi later sent back, she now has enough strength to spend money and buy most of the respectable inner court servants in the Jia family. She, who in this house wouldn't say a word?Even in front of key personnel such as Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang, she gained a lot of dignity.

"Thank you for your hard work, sister Qiufang!" Tan Chun stepped forward and took Fu Qiufang's right hand and smiled, "Although my little sister also likes to drink tea, she has never been as good as my sister. Even making and pouring tea can look so wonderful. It's really .It’s hard to explain; it just so happens that our ancestors are enjoying the meal today, and after noon, I will definitely give you two cups of wine to express my gratitude.”

"It's good that the third sister likes it." Fu Qiufang smiled lightly, took a sip of a cup of tea and said, "I only learned about the tea ceremony from an old woman at home, but unfortunately she has passed away for many years, and I also I don’t know how well I learned it, maybe in the eyes of a real expert, this is just embarrassing.”

"It's just for fun in our boudoir, why do we need to pay so much attention to it." Li Wan glanced at Fu Qiufang appreciatively, took a cup for himself, and began to taste the tea elegantly. "Sister Qiufang is so busy, why don't you see Brother Ai here?" Shi Xiangyun also went up to get a cup of tea, but his tone was obviously distant.

"Sister Yun is joking. Brother Bao has his own masterly upbringing, so there is no need for outsiders to interfere." Compared with Shi Xiangyun, who just had a childish mind and felt more like someone had taken away his "playmate", Fu Qiufang He dealt with it very easily, "Now, he should be studying hard in Qilaizhai, right?"

Li Wan and Wang Xifeng looked at each other, both showing strange smiles, but neither of them meant to persuade.

The original "conflict" between these two men was basically a competition for dominance in the inner court of Jia's house. Unfortunately, because of Mrs. Wang's "sidestep", Li Wan was completely defeated. Although Wang Xifeng succeeded in taking charge of the affairs of Jia's house, there were some fundamental issues. All aspects such as internal treasury keys and personnel rights are restricted by Mrs. Wang.

Therefore, when it comes to "targeting" Jia Baoyu, the two have the same interests. Li Wan originally wanted to obtain more resources for Jia Lando, but now they no longer need them, but this does not prevent her from remembering her original dissatisfaction; Wang Xifeng He was "prompted" by someone, and he was already vaguely aware of the "hostility" of Mrs. Wang and Jia Baoyu.

Not many people in the entire Jia family could see the thoughts of Jia Mu's "introducing" Shi Xiangyun, but Mrs. Wang didn't know what kind of self-confidence she had, and she always looked down upon Shi Xiangyun, who was born as the eldest daughter of the Hou family; Fu Qiufang's thoughts, In fact, it is impossible to hide it from those who are interested. Compared with Shi Xiangyun, who is a double prince, the latter has a low background and is more in line with the interests of Li Wan and Wang Xifeng.

"It's a pity that Brother Zhou went to the south and I don't know when he will come back." While all the family members were joking or carrying guns and sticks, Xichun, who was still innocent, looked at the teapot that had been consumed and sighed, "If not we If you want to drink any tea, just ask him to get it for you. The Snow Brand trades well between the north and the south, so what kind of good tea can't you get?"

"Why, the fourth sister also knows that person named Zhou?" Wang Xifeng's heart moved, but her face remained calm, but the question was obviously a bit sharp.

"Except for meeting her ancestors twice, how could she know her husband?" Li Wan glanced at a certain hottie and calmly changed the topic, "However, what the fourth sister said is not entirely correct. The tea we used today, Even in the palace, there is not much. Fortunately, His Highness Yongchang has the dignity in front of His Majesty, so he can get some rewards. This kind of tribute tea for internal use is definitely not available under the Xue brand."

"Oh?" Wang Xifeng looked at the little widow with a half-smile, "You know a lot, but you can't get the best tea, so the inferior tea will suffice, right? But I don't know if there is a three-pound or five-pound tea. Also let us who have never seen the world have a good time?"

"After all, I am helping His Highness Yongchang sort out the business of Snow Brand in Gyeonggi Province, but I have some contact with Brother Zhou. Huguang is also rich in tea, and the most famous one is naturally Yihong tea. Unfortunately, the output of this kind of good tea is not high, I'm afraid there is no way to press it. I'll give it to you." Li Wan stared at Wang Xifeng with a strange look, "That Xian'an Brick Tea is what you want. If you want it, just come to my yard to get it in the evening."

"I'm just saying in vain, who really wants your tea." Wang Xifeng narrowed his eyes and looked away unnaturally with his pretty face, "Okay, I know you are capable now. If you have that kind of thought, you might as well give it to me. Some sisters get some high-quality rouge and gouache.”

"Hehe, Sister-in-law Feng, what do you think we are using now?" Tan Chun jumped into Wang Xifeng's arms with a smile and said, "It can't be a substandard product obtained by those dog slaves, right?"

"Huh?" Shi Xiangyun's eyes lit up, his beautiful eyes "Bulin`Bulin" looked at Li Wan and shouted, "Sister-in-law——"

"Okay, I have your share too." Li Wan smiled and touched Shi Xiangyun's little head, "You were not here when I gave it to those two girls, so I didn't forget to prepare an extra share."

"Why am I the only one who doesn't have one?" Wang Xifeng muttered dissatisfiedly, but was defeated by Li Wan's half-smiling eyes.

"We had fun, but we don't know how hard the second brother worked!" Xichun picked up a small snack and said with emotion.

At the same time, Qishaizhai.

"Good second master, this is a really good book. I spent a lot of effort to get it." Mingyan, the young man, said hurriedly, "Why don't you give it a try, second master?"

"This - how can we try this?" Jia Baoyu stared at the book with a red face, almost not wanting to look up again...

(End of this chapter)