Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 422 Li Wan returns disappointed
Rongguo Mansion,
Jia family,

The second wife was still in the house waiting for a letter from Housekeeper Zhou, and Jia Zheng had not left. She still had to look at the wooden pieces of the reply receipt with her own eyes. Nowadays, the imperial examination has become more and more strict. If something is missing or something is added, something should not be added, it will inevitably happen. He was taken away for strict investigation.

I was anxious about waiting, but I couldn't show it.

The second wife asked Caiyun Caifeng to go down and bring some fruits, cakes and tea, and wait slowly.

"Master, don't worry, I guess the time is coming soon. Is the time for this scientific examination available?"

"Well, it's almost decided. It's early April. We have to wait and see when the rankings are released for the specific date, but it's not far off by a few days."

Jia Zheng was naturally concerned about this matter. On the cabinet side, the cabinet elders had initially decided on a time. The specific time would have to be reported to the emperor before making a decision. It seemed almost the same.

The second wife complained a little, maybe she was too anxious and Baoyu was not ready yet.
"Master, are you too impatient? Baoyu is not ready yet, and there are only a few days left."

Jia Zheng's face straightened and he scolded;
"I'm confused. You, a woman, can decide such a big event. What does it mean that Baoyu can be prepared? The scientific test is about courage. Those who say they are not prepared will not be able to do it no matter how much time they have."

Jia Zheng was obsessed with the imperial examination. He had failed many times in the past, but he had never been timid. Because of his pride, the second wife had no choice but to sit down and say nothing.

at this time,

Li Wan got up early, washed and tidied up, and asked Biyue to send Lan'er to the Clan Academy to listen to his teacher's lecture. He told Lan'er to review the Four Books carefully, and then tidied up.
After eating, he gave instructions;

"Suyun, we'll clean up later. Please accompany me to my wife's place."

Suyun naturally knew what the lady was talking about and was a little worried.

"Miss, why don't we forget it and ask the Marquis for a letter of recommendation? When we get there, I'm afraid the second wife will make things difficult for you."

Li Wan chuckled lightly and pinched Suyun's face.

"What do you know? This matter must be done. Wait until she doesn't agree. No one can stop Lan'er from taking the exam this time."

Although Li Wan had a smile on his face, his words were so decisive that Su Yun no longer tried to persuade her, but followed the young lady to Rongxi Hall.

After passing a few courtyards, I was not in a hurry and waited for a while before entering the Rongxi Hall.

Went to the east room,

Seeing Caiyun carrying cakes and preparing to enter the house, Caiyun stopped to say hello when she saw Li Wan.
"This slave has met Grandma."

"Well, are the master and madam here?"

Li Wan asked nervously, Caiyun nodded and replied;
"Go back to Grandma, everyone is inside, and the slave girl is still carrying cakes."

Seeing the pastry in Caiyun's hand, it must be what the second wife wants, so she no longer hesitated and let Caiyun go in first and followed behind.

into the house,
I have done enough etiquette and bowed to Jia Zheng and his second wife.

"My daughter-in-law has sent her regards to the master and his wife."

The second wife was a little surprised, why is she here?

"Come on, come here and sit down. Why do you have time to come here today? But what's wrong with Lan'er?"

Li Wan didn't reply immediately, so he leaned down and sat down next to the second wife, smiling carefully with him.
"Don't worry, mother. Lan'er is fine. I just have something I want to discuss with the master and my wife, but I don't know how to say it."

When Jia Zheng saw Zhu'er's daughter-in-law looking embarrassed, he thought it was about his grandson Lan'er, so he asked worriedly;

"Whatever you say, it will be done. Someone will make the decision for you."

Li Wan saw that his father-in-law was open-minded and that the matter might be turning around, so he spoke;
"Master, madam, Lan'er has now entered a private school and studied ethnic studies for several years. She is quite ambitious. Now Lan'er also wants to take part in the imperial examination. I would like to ask the master for a letter of recommendation."

Jia Zheng was stunned. Lan'er wanted to take part in the imperial examination. It was a bit sudden, so he didn't agree. After all, he hadn't seen Lan'er, mother and son for a long time.

Mrs. Wang shook her hands and said hurriedly,
"Come, have a sip of tea first. Lan'er wants to take the exam, but how can she do it? Even though you are still young, it's not like you don't know this place. It can be very frustrating."

Mrs. Wang naturally didn't want to agree. On the one hand, she really felt that Lan'er was too young, and the other was Baoyu. How could uncle and nephew take the imperial examination together? It would be great fun if one of them won the exam in the wrong order.

Li Wan had known this would happen, so he thought of an excuse and said,
"Madam, Lan'er is not young anymore. He is eight years old after the new year. He is only taking the child examination, and there is no time to stay up. It is not the same as last year. It only takes two days, that is, one night. Let him try it. If it doesn’t work, I’ll wait until next time, when I’m old enough and have experience, sir, don’t you think so.”

Jia Zheng was startled when he was asked. What he said made sense. It was just a child test, so it didn't matter, so he was ready to agree.
"This matter."

"This matter needs to wait. Lan'er is indeed too young. Otherwise, we have to wait until next time. Moreover, the recommendation letter from the master has already been given to your Uncle Bao. If Lan'er needs it again, he will have to use the one from the house, the eldest wife's place." I’m afraid it won’t be good.”

The second wife interrupted Jia Zheng's words, which made Jia Zheng a little ashamed. He kept silent and did not dare to look at Li Wan again.
Li Wan wanted to say more, but the second wife picked up her hand and comforted her,
"That's it, this time is also a test. Next time, Baoyu will take the exam again with the Rongguo Mansion. I would like to give the master's share to Lan'er. Lan'er is still too young now, so there is no harm in waiting. "

Although he was comforting, Li Wan knew that the second wife had already made up her mind, and she was afraid that no matter how much she begged, she would never get it. Unexpectedly, she only had Baoyu in her eyes. Although she had been prepared in her heart, she was still sad. As a last resort, she nodded and her mother stopped shouting. ,

"I understand, Second Madam, my daughter-in-law is resigning."

Before Li Wan left, he didn't say a word to Jia Zheng. Naturally, everyone knew the resentment in his heart. After they left, Jia Zheng asked in shame,

"Why are you doing this? It's just a letter of recommendation. Why don't you use it from your house?"

He spoke quite angrily and couldn't bear to see what his second wife, Mrs. Wang, was doing.

"If word of this gets out, where do you want me to put my face?"

"Master, I'm not doing it for her own good. Lan'er is so young, I'm afraid it will be difficult to survive the night. What should I do if she freezes in such a cold weather?"

The second wife was not willing to admit it. She argued, but was interrupted by Jia Zheng waving his sleeves.
"You are doing it for Baoyu's good. It's not like I failed the Tongsheng test. The two days went by quickly. Although the night was difficult, I brought all my things and the night passed. The next day, I can hand in the paper after the morning. Everything is over. , there are so many young people everywhere, why don’t you become mature when you get here? They are all from your own family, but don’t be too biased."

Such words were pointed at the second wife's face. Jia Zheng was also dissatisfied during this period. Aunt Zhao came to her many times and accused the second wife, Mrs. Wang, of bullying them, especially Jia Huan's monthly salary.

How could the second wife have imagined that Jia Zheng would accuse her like this? She blushed and said aggrievedly,
"The master seems to dislike me. I have to take care of them in such a big family, and they are still in a bad situation. What am I trying to do? It's for Baoyu. He finally got the courage to take part in the imperial examination. If Lan'er also goes, then It’s easy to say if you win, it’s easy to say if you don’t, but if it happens, you know what to do.”

Jia Zheng heard Mrs. Wang's cry. Although it was reasonable, he wanted to avoid Mrs. Wang's crying.
He waved his sleeves, said nothing in anger, and slammed the door.

He didn't say a word. Thinking about this, he was afraid that he would annoy his daughter-in-law, so he felt ashamed to see others, so he simply changed into his official uniform and prepared to go to the Ministry of Industry.

Unexpectedly, he came back just as he left, picked up the letter on his seat, sat down and opened it to read.

Rongguo Mansion,
In the east room of Rongxi Hall,

After Jia Zheng stormed away angrily, the second wife sat there without saying a word. Although she felt wrong in her heart, she thought she had done a good job for Baoyu and had no regrets.
But after Jia Zheng read the letter, he felt restless and looked ashamed. How could this happen? It was not because of Baoyu. Looking at Mrs. Wang's appearance, he angrily said,
"Look at the good things you have done. In this case, if Baoyu fails to pass the exam as a boy, look back and I won't give him a lesson."

After that, he sighed, waved his sleeves and walked out of the room. The second wife sitting on the chair obviously didn't take Jia Zheng's words seriously. She would not pass the exam again next year. Besides, her son is so smart, and now he has enlightened himself. It's just a child test, and I didn't catch it easily, but then I won, and I can look forward to the test.

"Caiyun, take a small half branch of wild ginseng to the kitchen and tell Sister-in-law Liu to use ginseng to make a ginseng soup for Baoyu to replenish Qi and blood. Wait for Baoyu to drink it when he comes back from school, and let her stew it well."

Caiyun standing behind him responded carefully,

"Yes, Second Wife."

Then he walked to the back room in small steps, took out an ebony box from the second wife's closet, and opened the box. Inside was three large and small wild ginseng branches, and one ginseng that was mostly used, with a small section left. , carefully took it out, then covered the box and put it back in its place.

I took the wild ginseng to the back kitchen of Jia's house, turned around a few courtyards, and arrived at a spacious courtyard surrounded by several houses with green bricks and green tiles. In the middle of the courtyard was a large, semi-open room with a stove inside. There are as many as eight of them, and many helpers and cooks are busy here, preparing meals for everyone in Rongguo Mansion.

Sister-in-law Liu, who was in charge of the kitchen, now only had to prepare the dishes for the master herself, while others had to prepare the dishes. When she saw Sister-in-law Liu busy there, she stepped forward and shouted,
"Sister-in-law Liu, you are busy."

Sister-in-law Liu looked up and saw that it was the maid next to the second wife. She immediately came over with a smile on her face and said with a smile,

"It's Miss Caiyun who's here, but what does the Second Madam have to say?"

"Of course. Mr. Bao is studying hard day and night and is very troubled. My wife wants to use this ginseng to make soup for Mr. Bao to replenish his body. It is best to make a meat soup."

As she spoke, she carefully handed over the wild ginseng. Sister-in-law Liu knew that this thing was valuable, so she didn't dare to pick it up with her hands. She took the plate next to her, picked up the ginseng, and put it on the stove.
"My wife still feels sorry for Mr. Bao. Now Mr. Bao is going to take the imperial examination. Everyone in the house is happy for the second wife. With Mr. Bao's ability, the examination is not easy. It's a coincidence that the girl came. Now Zhuangzi today Two pheasants were delivered, which are extremely plump. I will wash them clean later and stew the whole chicken with wild ginseng. The chicken soup is a great way to replenish your vitality."

After saying that, he pointed to a cage in the yard, in which two pheasants were tied. It really couldn’t be fake. Caiyun nodded with satisfaction.

"Okay, Sister-in-law Liu, be careful. Once the stew is done, send a message to the second wife. It's best that the second master Bao can drink it after school."

"That's a bit urgent. Let's stew it now. When Mr. Bao gets off school in the afternoon, he will be able to drink a bowl. This tonic soup needs to be simmered for a long time."

"Then, sister-in-law Liu, hurry up, I'll go back and report to my wife."

Caiyun also knew that the ginseng needed to be stewed for a long time. Seeing that Sister-in-law Liu was really anxious, she didn't stay around. After explaining, she returned to Rongqing Hall.

Not long ago,

unfortunately,

Li Wan and Su Yun were waiting outside the courtyard. When they saw maid Caiyun coming, they stopped and did not enter the courtyard. Instead, they waited outside the courtyard gate, wanting to hear what Caiyun said.

It turned out that Li Wan and the second wife had the same idea. It was quite troublesome to study so hard. Jia Zhu just didn't take good care of her body and couldn't study well. How could Li Wan let Lan'er follow in his father's footsteps and send Ye Shan to the wild mountain by Master Hou? I cut a small section of ginseng and brought it over. I wanted to make ginseng soup for Lan'er.
Unexpectedly, he and the second wife thought of going somewhere. Seeing Caiyun leaving, Suyun was also anxious. There were only those two pheasants in the yard. If they were all stewed by Mr. Bao, what would happen to Mr. Lan's soup?
"Miss, what can we do? Let Mr. Bao get there first. Otherwise, I will go to the market and buy one."

"No, there are two of them. After Sister Liu kills them, we can take one back. There is a pot and a stove in the house, and we can stew it ourselves. I wonder if that little girl Biyue has forgotten her craftsmanship."

Although there was a teasing look on her face, Suyun knew that the young lady was really angry, and it was no wonder that she was so angry. There was no way she would suppress her grandson towards her son.

Li Wan was angry today. Although he had expected it, he didn't expect that his father-in-law Jia Zheng would not say a word of justice. This was because he looked down on their orphans and widowed mothers. He could be worthy of the dead Jia Zhu.

Thinking of my late husband Jia Zhu, he also studied hard for the Jia family. He passed the provincial examination and passed the general examination. He still struggled when he was ill. Who knew that he would be gone all of a sudden? My father also sighed for himself. Not long after, he fell ill and was unable to save himself, so he passed away and left himself in this world. Fortunately, he had the posthumous Zi Laner with him, otherwise he would have gone with him.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get,

Looking back at the courtyard, Sister-in-law Liu skillfully killed two pheasants by herself and placed them on two plates on the stove.

He pulled Suyun and said,

"Come on, go in now, take away a pheasant, and then go back."

The master and servant walked in angrily. Sister-in-law Liu, who had just finished her work, was preparing to boil water. She looked over in surprise as to why the grandmother was here.

"I've met Grandma. Why are you here in person? Just tell me something."

Li Wan was not polite. He came over and pointed at a plate of slaughtered pheasants and said,

"I'm going to take this chicken first and prepare it for Lan'er to make soup to replenish her body. Suyun is coming here to hold it and get some seasonings."

"Yes, grandma."

Suyun walked over, took the seasonings, then picked up a chicken and was about to leave. Sister-in-law Liu hurriedly stopped her and said anxiously,
"Grandma, these two pheasants are reserved for Second Master Bao. If you take them away, and if Second Mistress finds out, this slave will be in trouble."

Li Wan seemed to laugh,
"Then tell the truth, why, Jia Baoyu can eat it, but Jia Lan can't eat it. What's the truth? It's still what the master told you."

"Here, I don't dare to say that, grandma, how dare you, slave?"

These words frightened Sister-in-law Liu and she quickly begged for mercy. She was the second wife of the Jia family, so how could she talk nonsense.

Li Wan did not argue and winked at Su Yun. The two carried the pheasants and walked out of the courtyard. After they left, Sister Liu's face turned pale. What was going on? The kitchen manager came over and asked,

"Sister-in-law Liu, what should we do?"

"What should I do? A pheasant can also be stewed. You should cook it more efficiently. The master's food cannot be skipped at all."

Sister-in-law Liu looked at the people around her and scolded her so hard that the people around her were frightened and continued to lower their heads and work. Even the cooks were more careful in serving her.

Li Wan took the things and took Suyun back to his small courtyard without delay. He called out when he entered the door,
"Biyue, Biyue, turn on the stove and boil water, and make some soup for Lange'er tonight,"

"Here, miss, this is a pheasant, where did it come from?"

Biyue rushed over and asked in surprise when she saw Suyun holding a large plate with washed pheasant on it.

Suyun's face was full of smiles,
"Of course I took it from Sister-in-law Liu with Grandma. Didn't you see that Sister-in-law Liu's face was dark and she was angry?"

"Okay, Biyue, you have stewed the pheasant and wild ginseng carefully. You can make soup for Lan'er tonight. Don't be careless."

"Yes. Miss, do you and the Marquis still want to drink?"

After Li Wan explained, he wanted to go back, but Biyue girl didn't know whether she was stupid or stunned. She asked something that she shouldn't have asked, which made Li Wan blush with embarrassment.

"You little hooves, you talk nonsense, why don't you go quickly."

"Yes, miss, this slave is wrong."

(End of this chapter)