Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 889 Jiangnan's Ship Arrives
The outer pier of Beijing,
There was a thin layer of mist on the surface of the river, like a layer of gauze, rising and falling on the surface of the river. Near the pier, a row of black-sailed boats, like dots of ink, were looming in the gauze. The oars paddled the river, making sounds, and imprinted the bustle on the shore.

The dock was bustling with people. Porters and a large number of helpers were bare-chested, carrying goods back and forth between the cargo ships and the warehouses on the dock. Many ship owners were urging them loudly, eager to transport the goods to the capital.

Such a busy scene is intoxicating!

On the east bank of the pier, a ship was slowly approaching. Looking at the flag, it was the flag of the Caoyun Yamen Guard. The ship approached the shore, and a team of soldiers came down from it. They were wearing black armor and black swords, which was very scary.
On the building boat,
Master Miaoyu who came from Jiangnan, and many nuns from Xuanmu Panxiang Temple, were also standing on the deck of the ship, looking at the extremely busy dock. They couldn't help but feel a little curious. It was really worthy of being the territory of the capital. A dock was built like a city.
"Madam, we have arrived at the dock. A steward from the Marquis' Mansion will come here soon. You can take a carriage to the Marquis' Mansion in the capital. Once there, listen to the Marquis's arrangements."

The captain had already arranged for someone to go to the dock to pass on the message to the Houfu Chamber of Commerce. I believe that people will arrive soon.

The morning mist cleared, and Miaoyu stood at the bow of the boat. She was wearing a moon-white silk gown that swayed gently in the wind. She was wearing a light blue waistcoat and a plain silk ribbon around her waist, which made her look even slimmer. She was wearing a hat and a scarf on her head. Although her figure was not clear, it was known that she had a stunning face.

"Then let's wait. I wonder what the Marquis will do?"

Miaoyu's heart trembled. The soldier just called her Madam. She wanted to refuse but was unmoved. After all, her father still needed the help of the Marquis. How could she cause trouble at this time? If he could really help and rescue her father, she would agree to many things.
The captain was on guard on the ship. Who dared to disobey the Marquis' orders?
"Madam, when you arrive at the mansion, the Marquis will make the arrangements. I will only escort you to the capital."

Simple conversation,

Miaoyu felt like she was talking to a cow. She wasn't asking about these things. It really didn't have the Jiangnan style of writing.

at this time,

The abbot and several nuns behind him also came over following the voice, put their hands together, and chanted the Buddha's name;
"Amitabha, it's good that you've arrived. Miaoyu, you still have unfinished business in the secular world, how can you enter the practice? Only when you have resolved all the causes and effects can you return to Buddhism."

Abbot Shuiyan walked to Miaoyu with a strange look in her eyes. Everything was caused by this girl, and she saved them. This time, it was the Bodhisattva's blessing that saved them from danger.

"Yes, Miaoyu, the word fate is indescribable. We monks do not live in seclusion from worldly affairs. Now that we have come to the capital, we can rest assured."

Nun Shuiyue was even more worried. After this disaster, they could only rely on Marquis Luo Yun when they arrived in the capital. As a nun in the temple, she needed the marquis to arrange her shelter. Besides, how could such a beautiful person like Miaoyu really become a nun?

If you ruin this body for nothing, even if you enter Buddhism, it will be a disaster for Buddhism.

Miaoyu's eyebrows were as dark as distant black, and her eyes were as cold as stars, deep and bright, but sometimes she looked extremely aloof, with a coldness that kept people away from her. As the abbot and the nun said, she was born in an official family, so how could she not know those dirty things?
"Abbot, Master, I understand,"

It was at this time,
A team of soldiers came from the dock and escorted the carriage to the shore. They lifted the curtain and a young man in white came down. He was wearing a green robe and holding a folding fan. He looked very impressive. The cloud pattern on the carriage was made of gold and yellow threads, with a red cap, which was the custom for a prince. The escorting soldiers had bright clothes and armor. Such luxury could only be found in the Zhongshun Palace in the capital. The man was none other than the eldest son of the Zhongshun Palace, Zhou Yunzhen.

"Has the ship arrived yet? Why is it so slow?"

A deep voice rang out. Zhou Yunzhen was arranged by his father to go to the dock early in the morning to receive valuables shipped from Shu. He said that the palace was preparing for the birthday banquet of the emperor next month. According to the agreement, the ship should have arrived early.
But looking at the empty berth at the palace, the prince had a gloomy face. The birthday banquet of the retired emperor was extremely important. If the things sent did not arrive and delayed the important matters of the palace, then, they would never be forgiven.

The second butler beside him hurried over to explain;

"Your Highness, please be patient. Almost none of the boats at the dock come on time. There was a thin mist on the river last night, so the boats of the palace have to be more careful. So they will definitely be late. Your Highness, why don't you go back to the car and take a rest. When the boats come, I will inform you."

Zhou Yunzhen frowned, thinking about the things shipped from the palace. It was said that a rare auspicious sign was discovered in Shu, and it was seized by the governor of Shu and secretly sent to the Zhongshun Palace. It was only because it was too far away that it entered Hanzhong and turned to the northwest by water. By the way, some special products of Shu were sent to Beijing, and no one noticed. In this way, it should not be a problem.
But I couldn't see the boat at the dock, and I couldn't let it go for a moment.
"Send someone to wait at the dock and pass on the message as soon as there is news. Also, go to the stall on the corner of the street and buy some food."

"Uh, it's the prince."

The second butler was stunned, and quickly agreed, then called two servants to buy food for the prince. Strangely enough, the prince's appetite became better and better.

Seeing that there was no movement at the dock, Zhou Yunzhen returned to the carriage, lifted the curtain, and waited. With nothing to do, he looked around and saw a ship parked to the east of the dock. It was magnificent and majestic. There was a woman in blue standing on the bow. Upon closer inspection, he saw that she was a stunning beauty. He immediately became interested. He didn't know which family the lady was from, so he asked around.
"Butler, whose house is that ship in the east, and who is the woman on it?"

The second butler of the palace was somewhat puzzled by the question. He looked up to the east and saw a two-story ship docked there. It was obviously not owned by a small family. The appearance of this ship was like a warship of the Caoyun Yamen. Could it be that it belonged to the guards?
But after a closer look, it was not the case. There were soldiers and armor on the ship. The style of the armor made the second butler's eyes focus. He approached the side of the carriage and whispered;
"My Lord, that ship should have been built by the guards of the Caoyun Yamen. The style of the weapons and armor looks familiar. It seems to belong to the Marquis of Luo Yun's mansion. As for that woman, I think she is from the mansion. My Lord, you must not have any thoughts about her."

It's not that the second steward is meddling in other people's business; he is the master after all. But the prince has instructed that the transportation of the goods is important and that no complications should arise, so I still want to give him a reminder.

Zhou Yunzhen's face darkened, and he immediately pulled down the curtain. Was he such a person who couldn't tell the difference between the important and the unimportant? Although he couldn't see the woman's appearance clearly, she must not be an ordinary woman with such a figure. Why would Luo Yunhou, a romantic man, provoke him? Even if she was not, he must not touch her. The current state of Ningguo Mansion was really sad.

I don't know how much effort Luo Yunhou has put in behind the scenes.

"How could this prince lose the greater for the smaller? I just asked casually, but I never thought that Marquis Luo Yun would reach out to the guards. If the Ministry of War had not strictly ordered the guards to return to the Canal Transport Office, the guards here would probably have all fallen into Marquis Luo Yun's hands. The Marquis's Mansion really dared to take that ship."

Although they didn't know why the guards' ship appeared at the gate of Luo Yunhou's mansion, for this reason, none of the ministers in the court dared to...

"Your Highness is wise, the boat is coming!"

The second steward bowed slightly and gave a warning. When he looked up, he happened to see two ships coming from the west. The flag of the Prince Zhongshun's Palace was hanging on the bow. They were approaching the dock slowly from far away.
I heard the boat had arrived here.
Zhou Yunzhen got off the carriage again and gave the order;
"Hurry, let those people get ready and load the things onto the car. We'll go first, and let the people from the Chamber of Commerce slowly transport the rest."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The steward did not dare to neglect it, and ordered the soldiers who had been prepared to run to the shore quickly. After the ship docked, he immediately boarded the ship, took the waist badge, and went into a secret room in the bottom warehouse. He took out the key to open the copper lock, and saw several black boxes locked inside. When the second steward saw it, he knew that the things were there, and immediately shouted;

"Someone come down and carry the things back. Be careful." "Yes, butler."

Many servants came in, and four of them lifted the three boxes ashore, put them into the carriage, and tied them up with ropes. Zhou Yunzhen did not delay any longer, got into the carriage, and immediately led his men back to the capital.

This scene,
The captain who came down from the ship saw that the carriages prepared by the Chamber of Commerce of the Marquisate had already arrived on the shore, so they had to ask many "masters" to get off the boat and board the carriages and head to the capital. Although the actions of the two houses were not small, they were nothing unusual at the huge Beijing dock. More merchants came in groups, relying on the dock coolies to load and unload the warehouses.

But don't know,
In the tavern on the corner of the dock, the eyes of many secret agents kept turning, following the movements of the dock. After a moment, as if they had discovered something, the figures gathered and disappeared.

In Rongguo Mansion,

Seeing Grandmother Jia crying, Zhang Jinyu felt a little emotional. It was said that Grandmother Jia didn't care about worldly affairs and only wanted to enjoy wealth and honor. In fact, it was not the case. If Grandmother Jia wasn't there, the Rongguo Mansion would have fallen apart long ago with the two ladies. The so-called Duke's Mansion would have been in chaos.

Perhaps Lin Daiyu was touched, and she slowly stood up, her blue dress swaying gently. Her graceful posture was somewhat otherworldly. With a cold face and eyes, she looked at Jia Mu on the kang and spoke slowly.
"Grandma, when mother was alive, she often told Yu'er that she was kind and loved her the most, but she was unfilial and could not serve her closely. She felt guilty for not fulfilling the mother-daughter relationship in this life. When she was leaving, she was thinking of grandma's kindness. Yu'er is alone, but fortunately, you have your husband and sister Bao to accompany you. In the future, you will also have sister Xichun to accompany you. I have no regrets. I will help grandma as much as I can, which is considered to be filial piety for mother."

The voice has not fallen,

Grandmother Jia almost cried out loudly, calling out "My Min'er". Wang Xifeng and others all stood up and tried to persuade her, and she finally felt much better.
In the room, only Zhang Jinyu was staring at Lin Daiyu in a trance. These words were worth a thousand words. It was actually that he had neglected these days. The Jia family's current prosperity depended on these women, and their failure might not be without them. That was all.
"They say that one's family is close, but in my opinion, Yu'er and the old ancestor are closer. Look, after becoming a lady, her words are different."

While everyone was trying to persuade her, Wang Xifeng murmured something and sighed beside Lady Jia, as if she had been wronged.
Grandmother Jia had just shed tears, and when she saw Feng's funny appearance, she laughed and scolded angrily;
"After all, you are a poor family, and you are always a spoilsport. Fortunately, Yu'er has grown up, and grandma will no longer have to worry about it. Since the Marquis has paid for you, I took the initiative. Since I want to make it clear that this courtyard for visiting relatives not only belongs to the Empress in the palace, but also to the Jia family. The grace of the Heavenly Family and the people of the Jia family who have contributed should all be included in the ancestral hall for worship."

With this remark,
Everyone in the room looked puzzled. The ancestral hall only worshipped men, so how could there be a list of women enshrined in it?
Only Zhang Jinyu, who was beside her, understood what Grandmother Jia meant. This was to use the merits and incense of the whole family to build the Grand View Garden. Otherwise, given the current situation of the Ning and Rong mansions, it would probably not be built.

"What the old lady said is very true. Although we are women, our food and clothing are all from the Jia family. Now that we have gone to the East Palace, we are also members of the Jia family. Although the East Palace has been divided, after Master Jing passed away, there are still 80,000 taels of silver left in the account after deducting the expenses. Sun's wife and Madam You should discuss and keep some of the change in the Ningguo Mansion account. The remaining 80,000 taels of silver, not a penny less, should all be sent to Feng girl. What do you think, old lady?"

Just as everyone was trying to persuade them, Li Wan came closer. The young woman was wearing a blue chrysanthemum pattern jacket with a white skirt and a beautiful face without any makeup. There was an lingering tranquility between her eyebrows. She took Madam You with her and decided to send all the remaining silver from Ningguo Mansion. The people in the room looked at each other in silence. Suddenly, they felt that the sister-in-law who usually didn't talk had such "power".

The treasury silver of a prefecture,

Not a penny left,
Baochai was sipping her fragrant tea, and the tea in the teacup once again rippled in circles, and even a tea bead splashed out of the apparently small amount of tea, and even her increasingly voluptuous and beautiful body trembled slightly. It is said that the eldest wife of Rongguo Mansion is cautious and prudent, and never speaks much in the mansion. Now her momentum is not inferior to that of the second wife, Wang Xifeng. Back then, she was
The others were even more surprised. Sanchun was the most familiar with Li Wan, and these words did not seem to come from the eldest sister-in-law. Some of them could not believe it. Those were all the money from Ningguo Mansion.

After hearing this, Jia's mother paused for a moment, raised her slightly flushed face, with some disbelief in her eyes, and more of guilt. She opened her mouth, but said nothing. After all, it was she who arranged for Li Wan to follow her son and be adopted by Ningguo Mansion.

"Yes, old lady, although Ningguo Mansion can't help much, we will give what we need, so don't worry, old lady."

Madam You knew that since Li Wan had spoken, there must be a reason. Ningguo Mansion only had these left, and there was not much left to give.
The two of them said such thoughtful words,

Wang Xifeng's heart was moved and she smiled;

"It's because my eldest sister-in-law cares about the old lady. Now, you have moved all the Ningguo Mansion here. If others know about this, I don't know how to spread it."

Grandmother Jia wiped away her tears at this time. Although her eyes were a little red and swollen, the brilliance in her eyes had not diminished at all. She sat on the kang and looked at the daughter-in-law of the Zhu family in the hall. She vaguely still looked like the eldest daughter of the Li family when she first entered the mansion. Now, after all the hardships, Lang Ge'er was awarded an official position after passing the imperial examination. Her complexion has improved a lot. Although going to Ningguo Mansion was also helpless, it might not be a solution. Now, this step was not wrong.
"You are the only one who talks too much. What Feng girl said is not without reason. I understand your intentions. In this case, leave 20,000 taels of silver for the expenses of Ningguo Mansion. The rest will be recorded in the account in the names of the two of you and used for repairing the courtyard. What do you say, old man?"

Jia's mother changed the subject and asked the eldest wife, Lady Xing. However, Lady Xing had no courage to ask for Jia She's consent. She didn't have the money, and all her belongings were with the master. Besides, the renovation of the courtyard in Rongguo Mansion was also done with the public account of the mansion, so why should the eldest wife pay for it? But now, how could she not say it?

"Old lady, please don't make things difficult for your daughter-in-law. The master is still the head of the family. How dare I, a woman, get involved in these things? You know, your daughter-in-law is just a messenger. No matter how much you want, it's just a message."

Mrs. Xing did not refuse and answered truthfully. She dared not say anything, but she could still pass on the message. Since everything was made clear, Grandmother Jia nodded.

"You are right. Rongguo Mansion will be yours in the future. I don't know how long I can live here. Since that's what you said, the first wife should take out 100,000 taels of silver. What do you say about the second wife?"

When they heard that it was 100,000 taels of silver, everyone in the room fell silent. Mrs. Xing lowered her head and her face changed drastically. How could the master have 100,000 taels of silver? Unless all the things in the room were sold, he might not be able to raise even 10,000 taels, let alone 100,000 taels. Is the old lady trying to "confiscate the property?"

The second wife's mouth twitched, but she kept silent. The first wife had given 100,000 taels, so how could her second wife give less than that? However, she did not have that much money.

It had been a long time since Grandmother Jia saw the Second Madam speak without speaking. There was a hint of coldness in her eyes, as if she was giving an order.
"The second eldest family will also pay 100,000 taels of silver. The remaining shortfall will be made up by the Duke's Mansion. From now on, each family will save some money."

It's set the tone.
Everyone returned to their seats silently, leaving Wang Xifeng alone, fidgeting. She kept looking at Luo Yunhou, as if she was thinking about something, but she couldn't say it out loud because there were so many people around. So even if Zhang Jinyu saw it, she didn't understand.

"Madam, it's getting late. I think the banquet has almost finished. Otherwise, let the ladies go back and rest. After today, the three-day banquet for celebrating the happy occasion will be over. There are too many people outside. It's better to close the door early to avoid any trouble. We need to clean up afterwards. What do you think?"

The reason why Wang Xifeng said this was that she wanted to save some money for the mansion. Also, so many people came this morning, and the servants in the mansion were stopped by so many people. If something bad happened, it would be a very unpleasant day, so she said this. After all, those who should have come have come, and those who cannot come may not come no matter how long they wait.

"Well, what Feng girl said makes sense. In that case, it's just past noon, so we should clean up the front yard and close the door to the guests. For the other people who come, we can just throw some copper coins and let them go."

How could the old lady not know what was happening outside the mansion? Since Feng Yatou had spoken up, it would be better to deal with the matter as soon as possible.

Seeing what was happening at the Jia Mansion, Zhang Jinyu couldn't stay any longer. Even if she wanted to stay for a while, it would be inconvenient with so many female relatives here, so she got up and said goodbye and left.
"Old Madam, since the matter has been resolved, I will not bother you any more. If not, let's have the master craftsman come tonight. You can arrange it as you wish. Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)