Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 506 Jia’s Provincial Prospect
postscript
Qijia Mansion Provincial Provincial Family

On the morning of the fifteenth day of the first month of the second year of Wu Zheng's reign, Rongguo Mansion.

The main door, which had not been opened for a long time, was rarely opened. It could be seen that it had been specially repainted and decorated. The vermilion background color was matched with golden copper nails, and the same golden plaque "Edict to Build Rongguo Mansion" made it look a bit different. At that time, it had the style of "a family with two kingdoms and the first family with martial arts".

Jia Lian, inheritor of Rongguo Mansion, first-class general, fourth-rank concubine, and magistrate of Shuntian Mansion, was wearing a brand-new court uniform, standing in the middle with great joy. On both sides were Jia Qiang, inheritor of Ningguo Mansion, fourth-rank cavalry captain, and Jinling Xue Xue Pan, the head of the family and a member of the imperial army, is in short supply. Shi Gang and Shi Luo, the heirs of the Baolinghou Mansion and the imperial army, are in short supply. Shi Chun and Shi Shao, the heirs of the Zhongjing Mansion and fooling around at home, look like this. thing.

At noon, a group of elite imperial guards came running forward. After opening the "human wall" on both sides, under the "guard" of two rows of palace ladies and maids, four vehicles hung the royal yellow-bottomed dragon pennant. The four-wheeled luxury carriages came to the door one after another, and as the carriages stopped, the "welcoming team" in front of the door, which had some voices, was instantly silent.

"The humble minister Jia Lian respectfully greets Sheng An, and concubine Shu Gui." Seeing the carriage stop, Jia Lian, who has received strict etiquette training, hurried out of the queue, bowed in front of the carriage, and then continued, "Your Majesty Lai Long En, at home The Family Visiting Hospital has been completed, and I respectfully invite the four ladies to go home to visit their relatives!"

"Holy greetings!" Yuan Chun first replied to Jia Lian's "Blessings, holy greetings" in the car. Then, after the accompanying maid held the piano and lifted the curtains on the window of the car, he said to Jia Lian through the curtain, "Brother Lian, thank you for your hard work." , The family originally did not have to be like this, but the royal dignity cannot be disrespected, so I bothered my second brother to be here. I and my three sisters are here today. They do not pay any attention to the national ceremony, but only talk about family ties, and I also ask my second brother to lead the way."

"I obey the order." Jia Lian then called a few "back-up personnel" to open the way and led four carriages straight to the Provincial Courtyard - not even going to the Rongxi Hall, the main hall of Rongguo Mansion, Jia Lian and other men also He was directly stopped outside the provincial hospital.

After the four carriages entered the gate, the two imperial guardsmen who had been serving as a "human wall" on both sides of the gate quickly dispersed and opened a line of defense around Ningrong's Second Mansion; the female officials and maids who accompanied them, in addition to the female guards who came for personal protection, In addition, all the others stayed in the pre-packed Xiangyang Hall of the main courtyard to wait. Sichun only took his personal maid with him, and got off the car after entering the Provincial Family Courtyard.

"Sister Yuanyang!" However, before the carriage could stop, the lively Xichun had already jumped out, cheering and threw herself into the arms of a beautiful woman who was bending to greet her at the gate of the Provincial Family Courtyard, "Gee, come on, listen earlier. He said that my sister is very happy, but I haven’t been able to see my little sister, but I finally made up for it today!”

"Concubine Tian (titled by Xichun), you—" The mandarin duck couldn't laugh or cry as he was hugged, and couldn't push him away. He could only hug Xichun helplessly and said, "Although I have His Majesty's grace today, I promise that I don't have to worry about it." National gifts, after all, there is still royal majesty. If the empress is mentioned like this, what should we slaves do?"

"Hehe, my fifth-grade imperial edict is pleasant, why are you still a slave?" Tan Chun, who got off the car immediately, laughed and teased, "Now that I am Second Brother Lian, don't I have to listen to your greetings honestly? What if? If she dares to disobey, you will use the golden duster given by His Majesty to whip her hard. As long as she is not dead or disabled, you can do whatever you want!"

Since the news of the "empty back house" was released at the end of April last year, Jia Lian has not received any response from any family in the capital. Not only is no family willing to get married, but there are not even official media who come to visit. In desperation, Jia Lian can only spend a lot of money to invite the most recent Famous matchmakers came to ask for advice, but none of the more than ten matchmakers dared to accept his money.

There is no way, the reputation of this "Second Master Lian of Rongguo Mansion" is really bad.

In the end, Yuan Chun, who saw that this was not the case, begged Zhou Yang on the grounds that "I have stolen someone else's use, and I have to return one." Is Jia Lian getting married?Can't afford to lose that person?In the end, after discussing with Sichun, Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, Shi Xiangyun and other girls who were related to the Jia family, we finally made a compromise.

Originally, Jia Lian had the title of "First-class General", and his wife should have been granted the title of "First-Class Imperial Lady". However, because his main wife was vacant, he could not be canonized, so he could only be conferred according to his official position, that is, Zhengwu, who is also a concubine of Shuntian Prefecture. The de facto backyard steward of the Rongguo Mansion, Yuanyang, was given the title of "Fifth Rank Pleasant" in order to ensure that there would be no one left in the backyard.

As a result, after the news spread, the capital was filled with laughter, and the reputation of Jia Lian and even the Rongguo Mansion became even worse. There was really nothing we could do about it. Throughout feudal history, the differences between wives and concubines, masters and servants were a natural chasm, and there was no way to make up for it. Of course, it's hard not to be embarrassed if someone like Jia Lian actually "can't find a wife" and can only make do with a maid.

"In front of the four girls and the second master Lian, Jin Yuanyang has been a servant and maidservant all her life." Unexpectedly, Yuanyang broke free from Xichun's "embrace" and knelt down respectfully to salute, "Please don't make jokes, Madam, how could you do that?" A slave beating his master? Doesn't that disturb the dignity and moral ethics?"

Sichun looked at each other, and Qiqi nodded in approval.

"Okay, sister Yuanyang, don't be nervous. We are here today just to go home and have a look. Besides, you are not a sister in this house. Why don't you help introduce these few around us?" Yuan Chun came over with a smile. He gently lifted Yuanyang up, held her arm and pointed around with a smile.

"Go back to your mother, this is Brother Qiang's wife Youshi in the East Mansion. Because she is the second daughter in her mother's house, the servants are used to calling her second sister." Yuanyang hurriedly introduced.

"Oh?" Sichun frowned, then looked at the other beautiful young woman standing behind Second Sister You, nodded and passed.

Compared with Jia Lian's reputation, Jia Qiang will only die worse, and no one wants to get married. In the end, they can only close the door and accept Jia Zhen's second sister, You Erjie, as his wife. The You family sisters, and You Shi and You Sanjie also did not leave the Jia family's courtyard, but which one belongs to the mansion is not easy to discuss with the outside world.

It's strange for Sichun to like such a person.

"This is Mrs. Xue's family." How could Yuanyang, who was already extremely emotional, fail to see the attitude of the four of them?Hastily pulled over another young woman, and continued to introduce the topic.

"I know!" Tan Chun stepped forward with a smile, gently held the young woman's delicate hand and said, "After all, your Majesty still granted you the marriage. I remember that you are Sister Wan's cousin, and your maiden name is Li Wen, right? When I was in the palace, I often heard her and Sister Bao talk about you, praising you as a good girl who has a prosperous husband and a prosperous family. Now that you are in charge of the Xue family, Sister Bao feels relieved."

"Concubine Min is overly praised!" Mrs. Xue Pan, Li Wen, said with a blushing face.

"Okay, now everyone in Beijing doesn't know that Uncle Pan is unreliable. Thanks to your help, the Xue family didn't do this." Yuanyang smiled and added icing on the cake, but got stuck in the middle of the sentence because the original words were "The Jia Mansion is such a mess." I could only quickly change the subject, "Don't forget, my queen, my sister is now the princess!"

"How dare you forget?" Yingchun nodded and said with a smile, "Speaking of the first time I met this sister, it was Princess Jinghai's sister. We met her twice when she came to the court to pay tribute last year and this year; and there is also sister Qin. That ghost is clever, how can the whole family run outside? Now that we have seen each other, don’t you think I will talk to Sister Bao when I go back, why can’t such a good sister be introduced as soon as possible so that we can have fun? "

In the end, Xue Xun still couldn't hold on anymore. Last autumn, he wrote to the court and passed the throne to his only son, Xue Biao. He and his wife naturally became the old prince and the old concubine. After Xue Biao took over the title of Jinghai County Prince, he was just ten years old. Ba's wife Li Qi rose to the top and became a real princess. After the news came back, she really made the whole capital envious.

It's not just Li Qi, but now everyone knows that although the Jinling Li family has cut off the incense, there is a concubine Wan and a concubine of the vassal king, and the worst one is mixed with the fifth-rank pleasant lady, the current majesty The sister-in-law who gave the marriage approval, now Li Wan has discussed with the Queen Mother Li Hong who was born in the Li family in Longxi.

"Concubine Ning!" Li Wen blushed and did not dare to speak. The interaction between the five of them also made the You sister who was first introduced look dim.

"Alright, sister Yuanyang is serious. Why don't you introduce the other sisters?" Seeing that Li Wen was so embarrassed and didn't know what to say, Tan Chun smiled and pulled Yuanyang to "scold" her.

"These two are the sisters-in-law of the second wife of the Shi family. They are the wives of Shi Gang and Shi Luo. They are both Qiu Liangqiu, a human girl who is one of the commanders of the [-]th regiment of the Beijing camp." Yuanyang naturally would not continue stupidly. To stall for time, "these two are the sisters-in-law of the third wife of the Shi family and the wives of two young masters, Shi Chun and Shi Shao."

With Yuanyang's introduction, Sichun still doesn't understand that the first two are "one of our own". Qiu Liang, Shi Gang, and Shi Luo are all generals of the [-]th Regiment of the Beijing Camp and need to be carefully won over. The last two don't matter at all. Knowing that there are these two people, and preparing a random "reward" afterwards, you can get through.

Of course, this kind of thing cannot be said due to competence. Although Sichun's emotional intelligence is not very high, his status is obvious. After the introduction, he started walking around the garden chatting and laughing. He was responsible for communicating with these female relatives along the way. Even You The sisters can be greeted by a few words from time to time, and it can be said that the guests and hosts enjoy themselves. "Speaking of which, His Majesty and our sisters decided on the names for the plaques in these places after comparing the drawings." Entering along the opposite road, after passing a small bridge, everyone stood by the water named " In the pavilion of "Qinfang", Yuan Chun smiled and pointed to the plaque in the courtyard not far away and said, "Just like here, after Sister Lin read the introduction and the location, she recognized it immediately and named it 'Xiaoxiang Pavilion' herself. '."

"Sister Lin is not shy. When the sisters were together in the poetry club, she insisted on naming herself 'Concubine Xiaoxiang'. Which of our sisters didn't have a title, so she took 'Concubine' with her." Xichun joked with a smile, " And the eldest sister didn’t tell me who got the names on these plaques, but the inscriptions were all written by the third sister.”

"Damn you, what are you talking about?" Tan Chun blushed and patted the fourth sister before quickly changing the subject, pointing to a courtyard directly opposite the Xiaoxiang Pavilion and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that Sister Lin has ordered the 'Xiaoxiang Pavilion' As for the location, he just said that the name opposite is 'Yihongyuan' and that he could come and stay if he had time, but no one understood why he came up with this name."

"Okay, if you can think of everything, you are your Majesty." Yuanchun smiled and pulled up his third sister, walked out of the pavilion amidst the laughter of the female family members, boarded the cruise ship on the water not far away, and walked along the Around the waterway closure, the embankment planted with willow trees along the way is called "Willow Embankment", and the small bridge built after the waterway is narrowed is called "Bee Yao Bridge". Until a place is built on the "peninsula" that protrudes into the water, "Here is "Fourth sister's"

"Lotus Xiangxie!" Xichun took over the conversation, "It's a pity that I can't live here forever."

"Concubine Tian, ​​it's okay to stay in this courtyard by the water occasionally, but it's harmful to your health if you stay there all the time." Li Wen persuaded with a smile.

"That's what His Majesty said."

"Your Majesty really does," Second Sister You said with envy, "doting on all of you."

"Hehe!" Xichun's cheeks turned red and she hid in Yuanchun's arms and stopped talking.

Along both sides of the artificial lake, there are courtyards such as Aojingxi Pavilion and Zhujin Tower. There are also two waterways on both sides of the lake, connecting Daoxiang Village and Hengwuyuan on the east side, and Longcui'an and Tubi Villa on the west side. , and the "auditorium" for provincial relatives on the northernmost bank - Gu Ensiyi Hall. Behind the hall is the "official residence" prepared for Sichun - Daguan Tower.

"I have seen four empresses!" Finally, more than an hour later, Sichun took a group of female relatives to visit the other courtyard, entered Gu Ensiyi Hall, and saw Jia Mu on both sides. Supported by Jia Baoyu and Fu Qiufang, he knelt down tremblingly to pay his respects, "Your majesty's holy greetings and my empress' golden greetings!"

"What did our ancestors say? Baoyu and Qiu Fang sisters didn't help our ancestors to stand up and talk." Compared with Yingchun, Tanchun and Xichun who didn't speak, Yuanchun's answer made everyone present confused, because she waited until Jia After my mother knelt down, she asked Jia Baoyu and Fu Qiufang to help her up. She did not step forward, and after she finished speaking, she led her three sisters to sit down.

At this time, even someone as slow and meek as Second Sister You could see Sichun's attitude.

"Sister Yuanyang, why don't we help our ancestors sit down - all sisters, please take a seat too." After everyone in Sichun sat down, Tanchun greeted with a smile, but everyone was confused again because she didn't give Jia Baoyu made a reservation, and then said, "Brother Bao, I wonder why you are here?"

"I, I" Jia Baoyu, who was already nervous, was speechless.

"Your Majesty, please—" Mother Jia hurriedly stood up, wanting to explain a few words.

"Ancestor, here are all female relatives. If Baoyu is fine, you should go back to study early." Yuanchun interrupted her coldly without saving any face, "Although it is a family relationship, after all, there is still the majesty and dignity of the royal family. According to the rules of etiquette, you must not leave any clues or ruin the friendship in vain - someone, please send Baoyu back."

Yuanyang and the many female relatives who followed him at the beginning were all stunned. They looked at each other and said nothing, but they also understood that even Yuanchun had never thought about saving face for the second roommate. It was obvious that he was extremely dissatisfied with the past things. They were also Understand that in the future, your interactions with Rongguofu will only stop at the big house headed by Jia Lian!

Daming Palace, Imperial Study Room.

"The news is confirmed?" Zhou Yang asked without raising his head, flipping through the pile of materials in front of him.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, it's completely confirmed." Dongfang Bing said seriously, "After your Majesty deliberately leaked the news in August, Jiangnan, which was originally so lively, suddenly fell silent. I sent someone to spread the news that Jiangnan's affairs had been completely exposed. , it is impossible to withdraw, only then there is another reaction."

"Not bad!" Zhou Yang nodded and closed the material, "I leaked it on purpose at the time, just to gain some reaction time. It wasn't because I was afraid of anyone, but because the weather in the north started to get colder in September, and I needed buffering time. If those ignorant people in Jiangnan take advantage of the beginning of this year to cause trouble, it will cause us a lot of trouble - don't talk and be honest!"

"Your Majesty!" Dongfang Bing looked at Princess Yongchang who was kneeling under the imperial desk with a strange expression, and could only continue to report the situation, "According to our information, the Jinling Old Palace has been quietly repaired by them, and the family of Prince Leshan has also They moved in, originally they decided to be the second son, but because of the news released by His Majesty, they simply broke the jar and directly let the eldest son take over."

"It doesn't matter - phew!" Zhou Yang breathed a sigh of relief. After a long time, he saw Princess Yongchang quickly stood up and picked up the teacup with blushing cheeks. "Let them be proud for a few days. Our troops, horses and supplies are all in place. As long as When they start causing trouble, just let them die!"

"Your Majesty, you are acting like a princess again." Dongfang Bing glanced at someone and said coquettishly.

"Who makes this bitch always dishonest? I just asked you to find out the situation. How did she do it? She is already a bitch, but she still has the guts to go to Jiangnan to check it out in person. I really thought no one knew her there. Her!" Zhou Yang said angrily, "I just made her kneel down a few times, but it wasn't too much."

"In that case, I have to thank you!" Princess Yongchang swallowed the tea and snorted coldly, "When the troops are sent out, I will personally go there and clean up those stupid things. Jiangnan is known to the whole world. This rich and prosperous place was turned into a smoky mess in less than a year. It’s really not a pity to die!”

"You -" Zhou Yang pointed at the Princess silently, and finally nodded in agreement, "I originally wanted to go there in person, but Dongfang's advice was right. This kind of 'taking risks personally' thing is really not suitable for me. Go, let’s wait until the war is over and the situation stabilizes before I conduct a southern tour.”

"Oh?" Princess Yongchang looked happy, "You know what's going on!"

"How do you thank me?" Someone said with a smirk.

"The worst I can do is kneel down a few more times!" Princess Yongchang glared at him, "Also, what about the 'stable situation' you mentioned?"

"Leave no one alive." Zhou Yang said with a sneer, "Since you are not afraid of death, then go die!"

(End of this chapter)