Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 20

The third day of April.

Qin Yexiumu, the official secretary of the Qing Dynasty, came to Ning Mansion in a small sedan chair.

Jia Zhen and You rushed to the inner hall immediately after hearing the news.

"Why are the in-laws here?" Jia Zhen said with cupped hands.

"Master Qin!" You bowed to Qin Ye Yingying.

Qin Ye was nearly seventy years old and had nothing to do in his early years. He adopted a pair of children. The adopted son died young and left only Qin Keqing as his adopted daughter. Unexpectedly, he came to have a son when he was over 50 years old and gave birth to Qin Zhong.

You's father who passed away was a sixth-grade director of the Maintenance Department of the Ministry of Industry. Like Jia Zheng, he was a subordinate of Qin Ye.

Qin Keqing married Jia Rong. Logically speaking, You's mother-in-law is the same generation as Qin Ye. But considering his father's side, it's not an exaggeration to call him uncle. With this kind of relationship, it's natural that he can't be called "master" like Jia Zhen. , also to avoid embarrassment.

"I'm going to inspect the imperial mausoleum project in a few days. Come and see the siblings!"

"Imperial Mausoleum..."

Just as Jia Zhen said two words, Qin Ye waved his hand and interrupted, "I'll talk about these things later!"

"Hey! Shall I send my relatives there?" Jia Zhen nodded.

"Just let the girl from the You family send me there!" After leaving the inner hall, Jia Zhen winked at You, who immediately followed quickly.

"That kid Zhong'er didn't cause you any trouble, right?" Qin Ye said with a doting look on his face.

"How could it be! This child has always been obedient!"

Qin Ye laughed: "You have to discipline him well, but don't indulge him!"

While they were talking, the two of them walked out of the Yimen and entered the small courtyard to the east. While greeting the little girl to go in and deliver the message, they introduced Qin Ye into the main room in the backyard.

Qin Keqing was resting on his side on the couch. When he heard that his father was coming, he was about to get up.

Qin Ye came in and sighed: "Okay! If you are sick, don't worry about these false gifts!"

Then he said to Youshi: "We, father and daughter, have a few words, and you go and do your work first!"

Youshi responded, ordered the maid to bring a chair, and waited for Qin Ye to sit down before turning around and leaving.

"You look better than last time!"

"Well! Why is daddy here?"

Qin Ye sent away all the maids, and then said: "How is Zhong'er doing recently? What's the situation in the Jia family's school? There's nothing wrong with it, right?"

Qin Ye asked three questions in a row, confusing Qin Keqing.

"Isn't it right? There's nothing wrong with it!"

"A few days ago you sent someone to say that Liu Zhong'er was studying here. I didn't think much about it. I saw Cun Zhou in the yamen yesterday and asked about his school. How can I rest assured!"

Qin Keqing murmured: "I think Uncle Lai is responsible and responsible in his work. My younger brother is late in school. He works hard every afternoon to help his younger brother make up lessons. What could be wrong?"

Speaking of this, he suddenly woke up and said: "Could it be because of..." Then he recounted Qin Zhong's classwork, went to ask, and Lai Shangrong's answer in detail.

Qin Ye didn't care at first, but when he heard Lai Shangrong's understanding and teaching plan of eight-legged essay, a light flashed in his eyes.

He smiled brightly: "It turns out that the crux is here. Lai Shangrong is really a talent. He can have such knowledge at a young age. I think Cunzhou has misunderstood!"

"Then daddy, go talk to Mr. Zheng!"

Qin Ye shook his head and said: "Don't make this matter public. Those generations of officials have been scholarly for many years. I don't know how many generations it took to sum up such a set of things. They all regard it as a treasure and cannot be passed down lightly unless they are directly descended. This is the foundation of those people's heirlooms." Ah! It’s just that he’s young and doesn’t know the pros and cons of it... It’s fortunate that he is able to teach Zhong Er and the others without being conservative and secretive.”

Qin Keqing said in confusion: "Why don't you tell Mr. Zheng to avoid misunderstanding between the two parties?"

Qin Ye sighed: "It's hard to find a famous teacher! If it spreads, I'm afraid the threshold of his family will be broken down. Taking advantage of the fact that his reputation is not obvious now, it is convenient to win over Zhong Er and his master-disciple status." , our family is not like the Jia family, which is completely separated from him."

Seeing that Qin Keqing was still a little hesitant, he continued, "It's also for his own good. If it gets out, it's hard to guarantee that Jia's family won't be made difficult by human feelings. He still needs scientific research, so how can he have the energy to take care of such people."

Only then did Qin Keqing nod her head and said: "Daughter knows! Just listen to Daddy!" "The imperial tomb is busy these days, and I'm going to inspect it tomorrow. When I come back, I'll invite him to my house for dinner."

"Well! You have to take care of yourself after all the hard work on the road!"

"You also have to take good care of yourself. I'm only a few years old now. Your brother will still have to count on you in the future!"

Qin Ye did not wait for Qin Zhong and Lai Shangrong, but left early.

If you want to win over Lai Shangrong, you naturally can't be too cold when you first meet him. There are many people in Ning Mansion, so clues will be picked up, so it's better not to see him.

At the same time that Qin Ye left Ning Mansion, Lai Shangrong also ended his morning lectures and took Qin Zhong out of the school.

In order to prove his 'innocence', Baoyu left every time after school and never stayed, which also made Lai Shangrong's prepared precautions useless.

Although this was Baoyu's decision, Pan You'an didn't know this. He only thought that Baoyu had listened to Lai Shangrong's instigation, so he alienated himself and transferred his resentment to him.

Facing Lai Shangrong's leaving back, he spat hard.

"Bah! You don't have the ability to please the second master, so you try to stumbling over others. All your relatives who are beyond your reach are trying to get in on you, and you've completely disgraced the scholar!"

He cursed secretly, and the hand holding the rag unconsciously burst out with a few veins, and he pushed it viciously on the table twice.

"Are you safe! Why haven't you done it yet?"

Uncle Qin Xian's voice interrupted his inability to vent.

"Let's go first! Remember to lock the door later!"

"Eh!"

As soon as Qin Xian and others left, Pan You'an threw the rag on the table hard, sighed, then weakly picked up the rag and began to wipe it aimlessly.

After wiping the last table, and just about to leave, he caught a glimpse of a beautiful figure at the door, leaning on the door frame and staring at him.

"Cousin...why is cousin here?" After saying that, he hurriedly put the hand holding the rag behind his back.

Siqi pretended not to notice his move to put away the rag, and said with a smile: "Today I asked the second lady for leave! Why did you leave last time?"

After hearing this, Pan You'an panicked and said, "You...you weren't seen by anyone when you came, right?"

"Don't worry! I hid in the alley and watched them all leave before coming here. I heard that Uncle Lai recently went to Dongfu to teach the young master of the Qin family and will not come back."

"Did you run into him last time? He... he wouldn't know, would he?"

"It's a good thing you saw the opportunity and left early last time. You don't know, that girl from their family..." Si Qi told what happened again, and then said: "I came here just to remind you that if anyone asks, you will I insist that I don’t know anything. If I dare to pull down the emperor even if I am willing to be killed, I don’t believe it and don’t dare to publicize it.”

Seeing that Pan You'an was in a daze, he just thought he was worried about him and said hurriedly: "If he really dares to tell the truth, you must not jump out. I will bite him to death. The worst he can do is be kicked out."

Pan Youan murmured to himself: "No wonder! No wonder he's always targeting me recently. He even promoted me to help the young masters organize their books a while ago!"

When Siqi heard that Lai Shangrong was targeting his cousin, he was immediately furious and said angrily: "Everyone is responsible for what he does. If he is angry, he should vent his anger on me. I'm embarrassing you...what are you doing!"

She was also so angry that she almost blurted out what to do to a woman, but fortunately she remembered in time that she was a woman.

Pan You'an complained: "What's the use of talking about this now? Why didn't you discuss this with me? Now, it's good that Second Master Bao obviously appreciates my talent and is about to... use it in a big way, just because he is obstructing it..."

Siqi couldn't help feeling a little chilled after hearing this. Yesterday at Jia Mu's place, I heard that Lai Shangrong went to Ningfu to make up lessons after school, so he asked Yingchun for leave and hid in the alley in advance. He planned to wait for Pan You'an to come out and call him back. I didn't see him until I left, so I just came in.

Last time I was bumped into by Lai Shangrong, and I never had a chance to see my cousin. The more I thought about it, the more worried I became, fearing that Lai Shangrong would deceive him into something, and he would rush to warn him when he got the chance.

She considered everything for him, and even risked being kicked out of the house to protect him. Unexpectedly, she showed no concern at all, and instead complained about her recklessness.

But seeing him worried about gains and losses, I couldn't bear it.

"One person is responsible for his work, so I'll go find him and explain it clearly!"

After saying that, he turned around.

(End of this chapter)