Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 86 2.63 The first bedroom and the second bedroom are never distinguished from each other.
Volume Two

2.63 The first bedroom and the second bedroom are never distinguished from each other.
At noon on September 27th, Xue Tu unfortunately "died" of illness; seven days after his death, on the fifth day of October, after deliberation among the elders of the Xue clan in Jinling and repeated calculations by real people, it was officially decided to hold a funeral for him. All relevant arrangements were in accordance with the latest arrangements. For the top arrangements, such as the Water and Land Dharma Conference and Youdao Quanzhen, we invited the most famous people in the area, and provided them with enough incense money to allow them to perform according to the most spectacular standards.

At this time, the Xue family's door was white, the personnel were plain, and the courtyard was covered with soul-calling flags. Everyone was mourning along the way. There was a coffin in the mourning hall. Xue Pan was dressed in linen and mourning, crying like a three-year-old child. It was only the day after Xue Tu's death that he was found in a building, and he was still drunk and confused when he was taken home.

The funeral lasted for three days. On the first day, Chen Yejun, the eldest son of the Duke of Qi, who "just happened to" have returned from finishing his work, came to visit and offered his condolences in person, which shocked the whole Jinling. As the younger generation, Zhou Yang and Xue Biao received everyone throughout the funeral. To express their condolences to the guests, almost everyone from Jinling came. Their identities and performances made everyone understand that there was a successor to the Xue family.

The only problem is that all the major forces have realized that Xue Pan, the nominal "official successor" of the Xue family, is of little value. He basically didn't show up during the whole process. After all, he was wearing sackcloth and mourning in the mourning hall. The "family members" who responded to the gift all behaved poorly, either just crying or in a daze, which was really not worthy of his status.

After that, the second eldest son of the Xue family actually took over the position of the Xue family in Jinling. The status of the eldest son of the second eldest son, Xue Biao, rose sharply. Although Zhou Yang had a much higher status, he was not named Xue after all. It was not advisable to interfere too much in many aspects. It doesn't matter, his core goal is not on Jiangnan's side.

"Sister Bao, please forgive me!" As the saying goes, "relatives or remnants of sorrow have already been sung by others." After three days of funerals, the Xue family mansion gradually returned to normal, and even Xue Pan was sleeping soundly in his yard - he again She drank too much, but when Zhou Yang rushed to Xue Baochai's boudoir, he found that she still couldn't recover, "After all, my father-in-law has gone, and you still want to..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sister Bao, who was still pale and in poor complexion, looked pitiful to me at this time and lost all her usual dignity and elegance. "Why? Almost everyone in the family knows that, only my brother and I Still kept in the dark.”

"This is what father-in-law meant." After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Yang said it, "Forget about your elder brother, father-in-law said at the beginning that I didn't want to tell you, and I would explain it after he leaves, so that you don't have to feel sad. He originally."

"I heard that my father died not because of illness, but because of an assassin." Even though he was obviously suspicious, Xue Baochai interrupted Zhou Yang and asked, "Can I know who did it?"

"This is also the main reason why my father-in-law didn't tell you at the beginning." Zhou Yang assassinated Wang Zisheng. The Wang family was probably not very clean, and the Zhen family was one of the black hands. The main reason was that he went to Yizhen County a few days ago to take revenge. After telling the story again, he finally looked at Xue Baochai who was in disbelief and said, "Don't worry, just because we can't take revenge now doesn't mean we won't be able to do it in the future."

"Brother Zhou, I believe you." Xue Baochai burst into tears, "Then what happened these days? There are rumors everywhere in the city that the eldest brother is unable to support him, and it all depends on you and brothers. Otherwise, I can't even hold my father's funeral. Also, when my father took you to meet almost all the branch managers of Xue Zihao in Jiangnan, did he want you to take over the family business?"

"I can't handle it." Zhou Yang shook his head. He had already thought of this from the beginning. "The next thing about the Xue family's entire Jiangnan industry is your eldest brother. Anyway, someone needs to continue to lead this stall. My thoughts He and his energy are all in the capital, and it is impossible to stay here. Compared to Brother Wenlong, your second uncle is more suitable, and in name, the Xue family still belongs to your eldest brother."

"Then why did father take you with him in the first place?" Xue Baochai asked worriedly.

"For you three." Zhou Yang sighed, and he only realized it later, "If your father is gone, the only person in the entire Xue family who is likely to take over the responsibility of Jiangnan is your second uncle, but he is the second brother after all. As a result, your eldest brother's position will be awkward. Putting aside everything else, what should your eldest brother do?
Now that I am here, your second uncle cannot go too far. At least for now, the nominal head of the Xue family is still your eldest brother. In addition, I am the only one who can contact the Duke of Qi in the capital. I will be the one in the future. As long as I can go higher in my official career, you and your eldest brother will not be in any danger. "

"Second uncle, how could he do that?" Xue Baochai was a housewife after all. Even if she was born smart, she would not think so much, so she was frightened. "When my father was here, the eldest and second bedrooms were never separated from each other. , Brother Tadou, and Sister Qin.”

"Don't worry, we will still be indistinguishable from each other in the future." Zhou Yang smiled and gently hugged his sister to comfort him, "As long as I am here, no one can change Brother Wenlong's position. If he can stand up, the Xue family will not It will fall into the hands of anyone else, and don’t forget, you are mine.”

"Stop talking!" Xue Baochai blushed in embarrassment and pushed him away. He looked around nervously and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that no one was around, not even Ying'er. "Brother Zhou, my father has gone." , as a child, I must observe filial piety for three years, if you really can't wait."

"It's 27 months, that is to say, I won't be able to pick you up until the first month of the 51st year of Longwu." Zhou Yang said with a smile, "Don't talk about waiting, don't talk about what my father-in-law did to me back then. Enhui, even for a little thing like you, I am not willing to let you go. Anyway, you are still young, and it is too late for me to finish my filial piety, so I will let you go first."

"Thank you, Brother Zhou!" The circles under his eyes gradually turned red, and Xue Baochai gently lay in Zhou Yang's arms. "Although the little sister is in the inner courtyard and doesn't know what is going on outside, she can still guess that if there is no big brother running around, Xue Baochai It is absolutely impossible for our family to be as stable as it is now, let alone with the protection of the Duke of Qi, we may be able to go further in the future."

"Okay, why are you crying!" Zhou Yang comforted her with a smile, stroking her hair, "You have been following rules and etiquette all day long, but you haven't even forgotten the words 'husband and wife are one body'? Even if you put these aside, If I want to progress in my official career, I cannot do without the support of the Xue family; if I can reach a high position, I will definitely take care of the Xue family, which is good for everyone, right?" "Yeah!" Xue Baochai was so excited that he couldn't speak. , just nodded in Ailang's arms.

After comforting the girl, Zhou Yang left the inner courtyard with peace of mind, but as soon as he arrived at the entrance of the courtyard, he saw Zhang Dehui already waiting there.

"Steward Zhang, do you have something to give me?" Zhou Yang stepped forward and asked with a smile.

"I don't dare!" Zhang Dehui quickly bowed, took out an unsealed envelope from his arms and handed it over, "Before I left, the master asked me to give this to my uncle, saying that I would understand after reading it. "

"Oh?" Zhou Yang's heart moved. He took the envelope and pulled out the letter paper. He found that just as he expected, the only extra content was that the letter did not mention letting him read it, but arranged for Zhang Dehui to do it directly.

Yes, this letter has two contents. One is to ask Wang Shuying to "die for love", and the time is set on the night of the funeral, which is yesterday, the seventh night of October; the other is to explain the reason, clearly stating that Xue Tu met in the western suburbs of the capital. The assassination was arranged by Wang Ziteng, and Wang Zisheng's grudge was emphasized again.

"Uncle, this old slave doesn't dare to make the decision." Zhang Dehui is not stupid, he knows who has the final say in the Xue family's house now.

"Just pretend you didn't see it." Zhou Yang put the letter away and put it in his pocket, looked at Zhang Dehui and said calmly, "Butler Zhang is also an old man of the Xue family. I believe he knows everything that should be known, but there are some things that should not be known. It’s better not to know, right?”

"That's what I said!" Zhang Dehui's face turned pale, remembering the night when the entire Xue family courtyard was stained with blood and stained the stone slabs, and he was so busy that he couldn't clean it up in the middle of the night. "But, after all, the master arranged it."

"With me here, the Wang family can't do anything." Zhou Yang glanced at him coldly, "Or does Butler Zhang want to help make decisions?"

"Old slave, I'm guilty!" Zhang Dehui turned pale with fright, and knelt on the ground with a "pop". In the original book, he was still the most trusted butler of the Xue family until the end, at least in terms of loyalty, there was no problem.

"Okay, go ahead!" Zhou Yang nodded, thought for a while, and turned back to the Xue family's inner courtyard, but instead of going to Baochai Courtyard, he entered the inner courtyard's main courtyard.

The Xue family's house occupies a large area. It is called the "inner courtyard", but it is not actually one courtyard. Instead, it has three main courtyards arranged in the shape of "pin". The southernmost courtyard is the main courtyard, and the Baochai courtyard is on the west side behind it. 's yard.

The east side is naturally Xue Pan's courtyard in name, but he only lives there before marriage. He must have other arrangements after marriage. In fact, he rarely returns to the inner courtyard now. Instead, he has another residence in the main courtyard, followed closely by a In the small courtyard, several of Xue Tu's aunts lived, and at the end there was a large garden in the inner courtyard.

"Is Bao Yatou okay?" Wang Shuying didn't feel surprised when she saw him coming in. She didn't even stop her sewing. Tongfu, the personal maid who was waiting next to her, quickly bowed and left. There was no way that they could hide what happened between them. People around her like this, "This girl is also stubborn. Unless you ask, even my mother can't persuade her."

Seeing how you would look like changing clothes after you arrived, I selected some materials from the small storehouse and took Bao Yatou to make a set for you. Then I will say that it is all her craftsmanship. , and you don’t have to dress up all day long. You are also a father now, so why don’t you pay attention to dressing up? "

"Look at this!" Zhou Yang sighed and handed the letter over, "I didn't want to show it to you, but if I kept this matter from you, I really couldn't bear it. I hope you read it before Prepared.”

(End of this chapter)