Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 893: The Marquis' Mansion is going to perform a ritual
Inside the palace,

The night slowly fades away like a veil, and the stars gradually disappear in the faint light of dawn. Only a few remaining stars are still twinkling stubbornly in the sky, as if they are lingering on the tranquility of the dark night.

As the eastern sky began to turn pale, the soft white color of Namo spread out, as if emitting a base color, and revealed thousands of golden rays of light, tearing through the last trace of haze in the night and sprinkling on every inch of land in the harem.

The glazed tiles of Chunyun Palace sparkled brightly in the morning light, just like the golden dome in the sky.

In the side hall,
Baoqin carefully counted several large boxes in the house, as well as various items that had been delivered, including several boxes of loose silver. These were all sent in by General Manager Xia from Rongguo Mansion.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, we have finished counting the things. Eunuch Xia sent someone to say that these things were sent in by the old lady of Rongguo Mansion and the second wife after privately asking for permission. I checked them and found that they are the most important things for Your Highness now."

Baoqin took the pen and wrote down the details carefully, and told the number of things.
"Madam, twenty thousand taels of silver notes, one thousand taels of silver change, thirty ten-tael silver notes, ten batches of Jiangnan brocade, five batches of Shu brocade, a box of utensils and gifts, and a lot of gold and silver jewelry, etc."

After carefully writing it down, Yuncai was a little surprised. The Queen had rarely taken money from Rongguo Mansion. Now,

"Your Highness, these are all urgently needed. Today, I have to go to Kunning Palace to thank the Empress. Many of the things that the Empress is responsible for are in need of silver rewards. They are used properly."

With this money, Your Highness will surely be able to quickly gain a foothold in the palace and consolidate her position. It may not be a bad idea to just wait for the Queen's permission and stay by her side.

In the palace,

Jia Yuanchun was now dressed in gorgeous clothes, dazzling with gold and jade. She wore a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin on her head. The hairpin was made of gold, and the phoenix tails were finely woven and adorned with pearls, which swayed brightly. She was wearing a bright red gold-woven brocade robe, which was embroidered with colorful phoenixes. The stitches were delicate and lifelike, and the phoenixes seemed to be about to break through the clothes.

The collar of her dress was inlaid with a pair of snow-white mink fur, which made her fair skin look even more noble. She also wore a leather belt inlaid with mutton-fat jade around her waist, which had a warm jade color. She wore a woven gold skirt of the same color, and the hem of her skirt was embroidered with fine sea water cloud patterns, which made her look very elegant.

Especially on the delicate jade wrist, a pair of jade bracelets flashed, and the delicate luster was hidden in every gesture.

"Has there been any news from the mansion?"

Jia Yuanchun had a complicated expression as she sat in the main seat, looking at the empty palace. The newly arrived palace maids and eunuchs were still outside taking care of the yard.

There are only two maids, Baoqin and Yuncai, who have been with her all the time. She thought that once she reached the age, she would be able to return home to reunite with her family. But now that she has been named a noble concubine, she is afraid that she will never be able to return home again.

Yuncai, who was serving beside him, nodded and responded.

"My lady, I sent someone to tell her that everything is fine in the palace. She just hopes that you can live better in the palace. As for the visit, you can just wait for her."

A trace of sadness flashed across Jia Yuanchun's beautiful face. The old lady's words were like a sharp blade attacking her, cutting off her last hope. The so-called living well in the palace was nothing more than gaining a firm foothold. There were many concubines in the palace, but there were very few who could be the first wives of a certain rank. One reason was that the emperor was not interested in this, and the other was that the women in the harem had no children. Only the empress had three princes. If they left the palace to build a mansion, the position of the crown prince in the future would be chosen from among them.
As for the rest, even if she was the principal wife, she had to have children if she wanted to fight for it. After she entered the palace, she had been serving the Empress in Kunning Palace. Over the years, the Empress had no children. She vaguely guessed that the Emperor was not in good health before entering the palace. She had heard about this vaguely in the harem. Thinking of this, she trembled and quickly extinguished the idea.
"Well, it's good news that everything is fine at home. I heard that Baoyu participated in the special examination and made progress."

She said it casually, but deep down, she was still a little worried about Baoyu. She thought that Baoyu had grown up now. If Baoyu could pass the special examination and gain fame, then his mother's lineage would have someone to take care of in the future.

"My lady, Master Bao took part in the special examination this year. Although he did not pass, it was the first round of the exam. He will definitely pass if he takes the exam again in three years. But I heard that Brother Lang from Grand Madam's courtyard passed the exam and ranked third. He was appointed as a ninth-rank official and worked in the Imperial Academy, in the Outer Palace Academy. I heard all this from the eunuch in charge. He spent a lot of money."

There was a puzzled look in Yuncai's eyes. She knew the eldest grandmother, Li Wan, who was not a talkative person. After Master Zhu passed away, she no longer managed the household. I guess she also inherited Master Zhu's literary style. Yuncai spent a lot of money on these things.

"That's it, that's it,"

Speaking of this, Yuncai also felt something was wrong. Later, there were many things involving Ningguo Mansion, and she didn't know whether to tell him or not.
Jia Yuanchun frowned. Although her elder sister-in-law was nice, her mother would definitely not like her lonely personality. It was obvious that Lang'er was able to pass the imperial examination because he participated in the special examination and took the same exam as Baoyu. However, Baoyu failed, but Lang'er did. Why was that?
Thinking that the chief examiner of Hanyuan Hall was Luo Yunhou, the top three must have been selected by him, but why Baoyu did not pass the exam was really puzzling.

"Tell me, what else?"

Yuncai put down the teapot in his hand, leaned over, and whispered;
"My queen, I heard that after Master Jing of Ningguo Mansion passed away, Madam You left behind a son and a title. Master Jing and the old lady were afraid that the title would fall to someone else, so they moved Lang'er and the eldest grandmother from the family tree to Ningguo Mansion for future use."

Upon hearing this news, Jia Yuanchun's eyes widened and she couldn't help but shout;
"Mother is confused!"

He was shocked and immediately shut up. How could Jia Lan, who was an official, be adopted by Ningguo Mansion? If it was a girl born by Mrs. You, the title would go to Jia Lan, and the official title would be redundant. Baoyu would be the most suitable person to inherit the title. Why would his mother be so confused? And the old lady, this...
"Do you know the reason?"

"I don't know about this, but I heard that the old lady gathered all the ladies and young ladies in the courtyard and Master Jing to discuss it together. At that time, the second wife also agreed. I don't know the details."

Yuncai was also a little puzzled. How could he not fight for the title of Duke of the State Mansion? However, he seemed to have heard that the properties of Ningguo Mansion were gone. Could it be because of this?
"My lady, I guess that maybe it's because the income from the Ningguo Mansion has been divided up. I heard that Master Jing divided up the assets under the Ningguo Mansion, leaving only the family's public property. Jia Rong moved out of the Ningguo Mansion overnight on the day of Master Jing's burial to divide up the family property."

When Jia Rong was mentioned, Jia Yuanchun's mind immediately came up with the image of Jia Rong from Ningguo Mansion. Although he was not a bad person, he was extremely greedy for money. To make him willingly move out that night, it was obvious that he had taken enough benefits. After all, Jia Zhen was stripped of his title and exiled, but his title was not lost.

Baoyu is a soft-hearted person, and Enke must have been helpless. The current opportunity was missed. Alas, my mother was confused this time.

"That should be the case. It's my mother's temper. That's all. Let's not talk about it. Let's get ready and go to Kunning Palace."

"Yes, ma'am."

Luoyunhou Mansion,

Zhang Jinyu was lying in the room. His wife Qin Keqing was no longer on the bed. He turned over several times, and his clothes fell off, as if he was dreaming.
Outside the yard,

I didn't know what was going on in the front yard, but I could hear the "dong dong" sound of a wooden fish being struck.

It turned out that last night, Abbot Shuiyan and Nun Shuiyue received the Marquis's promise and were grateful. Since they wanted to pray for the mansion and get rid of the bad luck, they naturally had to hold a big ritual. They told the steward in the courtyard and also prepared some Buddhist items.
The steward nodded in agreement. By early morning, everything that needed to be prepared had already been prepared. Seeing this, Master Shuiyue got up early, called all the disciples in the temple, had them wash and eat, put on moon-white monk robes, and the nuns went to the front yard of the marquis's mansion to prepare for the ritual.

First, Master Shuiyue had an altar set up in the center of the courtyard. On the altar were placed an incense burner and candlesticks. Precious agarwood was burned in the incense burner, and smoke rose. A low altar was also set up, on which were placed tribute fruits and a lot of vegetarian cakes.
After the sun rose to mid-air, several nuns, dressed in monk's robes and holding instruments, came in one after another. The leader was Master Shuiyue, who was holding a willow branch with a calm face and sprinkled water everywhere. Miaoyu, holding a wooden fish, stood in front of the altar and waited for Shuiyan to take over. After the other party bowed to all four sides, she gathered all the nuns around the altar and began to chant scriptures.

This scripture is the rare "Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata's Original Vow and Merit Sutra!"

"Namo Bhagavati."

While reciting the sutras, they struck the instruments of the sutra. The host slowly turned the rosary in his hand. Miaoyu, on the high platform, led everyone to strike the wooden fish.

The chanting became louder and louder this time, and the knocking sounds were heard from far away. It was close to the East Garden, so the sounds were inevitably louder. Zhang Jinyu was disturbed by these sounds, so how could he fall asleep again? He opened his eyes and stood up.
As soon as there is any movement,
Baozhu, who was outside the house, hurried in.

"Son-in-law, you are awake. The young lady went to Dongyun Tower to pay respects to the old lady."

As he spoke, he clumsily took the clothes and put them on.
Zhang Jinyu was obviously still asleep, and put on her clothes in a daze, but the noise outside continued, so she asked unhappily;
"What's going on? Why is it so noisy outside?"

What exactly was being said? The voice coming from it was unclear.

"Sir, it's the master in the front yard who is performing a ritual. He said it's to pray for the Marquis's mansion to get rid of the disaster. Aren't these the people the Marquis invited?"

Baozhu was a little surprised and looked at the Marquis. They said that the Marquis's mansion had been abandoned for a long time and there was some bad luck in it. The young lady and the old lady were thinking of waiting until things settled down and inviting some Buddhist or Taoist disciples to perform a ritual to get rid of the bad luck. Unexpectedly, the Marquis had already invited people. Why did he forget about it this time?
"Uh."

Zhang Jinyu was also a little confused. What did they mean by "invite people here?" Suddenly, he thought of Miaoyu and others who came to his house secretly in the dark yesterday. The key point was, they came and settled outside the city, but why did they really perform a ritual? He just said it casually to give them a way out. The whole mansion knew about this incident.

"Ahem, it's a coincidence. Those people yesterday, Baozhu, you know, those young masters in Jiangnan, are now in trouble and have come to the capital to hide. How could I be the kind of person who would watch them die without helping them? It just so happens that I have seen the rituals at Ningguo Mansion these days. It is said that the mansion has never held one, so I asked them to come and chant the sutras."

It was a little embarrassing, but what he said made sense. It seemed that according to local customs, when a newcomer moved into a new house, he would worship the gods and perform rituals to get rid of bad luck. It seemed that he really didn't care about these things. He asked those personal soldiers to wear armor and enter the mansion. It seemed that the armor and blood had the same effect.
"Oh, the Marquis is wise. The young lady mentioned this a few days ago. After all, there is bad luck in this mansion. I was thinking about inviting the monks from Jing'an Temple to chant scriptures to get rid of the bad luck. I didn't expect the Marquis to arrange it first."

Baozhu's eyes were full of joy, and she was still thinking about whether she should invite a few more monks from the temple and find some Taoists to perform rituals. However, there didn't seem to be anything strange happening in the Marquis' Mansion, so it was not a good idea.

Zhang Jinyu glared at Baozhu. In the capital, whoever has nothing to do and performs a ritual, if they do it in a blatant way and cause rumors to spread in the capital, wouldn't that be looking for trouble?

"You, please concentrate. There are 500 soldiers living in the backyard of the mansion. There is no need for such superstitious things. Just take care of the front yard first. Today, we have to go to Rongguo Mansion again."

Zhang Jinyu was really concerned about Xuanzhen Temple and Miaoyu's father. He arranged for these nuns first. After all, they had a relationship. Miaoyu stayed in the mansion and slowly chanted sutras. As for the Ministry of Justice, the eldest son had to intervene. If he wanted Lord Chang to suppress the case, he might not dare to do so without the eldest son's involvement. The Weaving Bureau was too involved.
After making up my mind, I put on my clothes, sat down, washed up and ate. Outside, I could still hear the chanting of scriptures.
Inside Dongyun Tower,

Madam Wang and her people were sitting in the inner hall, while Yueshu and her two daughters were serving beside them. As they served tea and water, the noise from the front yard was obviously heard here.

“Who is reading the scriptures there?”

Mrs. Wang had her tea and the sound of the scriptures being read had been making noise all morning, so she asked,
"Replying to Madam, it's in the front yard of the Marquis's mansion. The nun who came last night is presiding over the ritual with several nuns surrounding the altar in the front yard. Madam went to see it just now."

Lan Yue pouted and replied nonchalantly that the bad luck in the mansion had long gone. On the first day they moved in, the old lady and them, together with some old stewards, led people to perform the White Lotus Sect's heavenly offering ritual. The White Lotus Mother descended, and all the bad luck was gone.

"Well, it's good to do it, it will make you feel more at ease."

Mrs. Wang didn't think much of it. There are some things that need to be done.
Rongguo Mansion,
Rongqing Hall,
After yesterday's discussion, the banquet at Rongguo Mansion was considered over. The guests who came to the banquet also arrived at their appointed time yesterday, so the gate of Rongguo Mansion was closed today. The servants in the courtyard were busy running in and out.

One was to collect the unused items, and the other was to start by moving all the collectible items from the east school and several other courtyards to the northwest courtyards, emptying out the houses first, since they were all going to be demolished.
On the bridge between the two mansions, Song Zhen, the master craftsman of Luo Yunhou's mansion, was holding a pen and a blank book, constantly drawing something. Several craftsmen around him also took rulers and roughly measured the distance between the two mansions. It was actually fifty steps away. With the wide road in the mansion and part of the courtyard, the place was not small.

"Brother Song, I just went to Ningguo Mansion and took some measurements. If we include Huifang Garden in the middle courtyard, it will be too big to build a courtyard. How much money will it cost?"

Xu Fei, a craftsman who came from afar, had been with Song Zhen since he was a child. He was sent to Rongguo Mansion by the carriage of the Marquis's Mansion last night and was told that he was going to build a courtyard for the visit. Brother Song said that he would not give a reply until he had seen the place the next day. It didn't matter when he saw it. The Duke's Mansion was so big.
The other craftsmen were also panting with fatigue. How much money would it cost to build the garden?
"Don't worry. Although the place is large, it doesn't have to be completely renovated. The two mansions were built by masters. The palace for the visit should be grand and cost little money. Since the mansion has protected us, if there is a mistake in the craftsmanship, what do you think will be the consequences?"

Song Zhen enlightened several people. The so-called construction of a garden for the imperial visit could be carefully drawn by any craftsman, but the difference was the appearance and the money. Only the craftsman who could spend the least money and build the most satisfactory garden was the craftsmanship of a master craftsman. If they spent too much money and still couldn't build it, not only would the mansion of the marquis not protect them, but they themselves would also lose face. Therefore, they had to be extremely cautious this time. After a lifetime of craftsmanship, everyone knew the twists and turns involved.

After hearing this, Xu Fei and the others were shocked. This is the truth.
"Brother Song is sensible. If this is the case, it's nothing more than changing the courtyard wall and the location of the house. Since it's a separate courtyard for visiting relatives, there must be a reception area. I've observed that the main hall of the Rongguo Mansion's school is very complete, and there's also the Huifang Garden of the Ningguo Mansion, with carved beams and painted buildings. It would be better to combine the two and place them in front of the bridge. It would be very grand and even save on wood and stone."

"Yes, it only takes some manpower to move it, and the rest we can dismantle and rebuild."

"This is not an easy task, just change the location."

After hearing this, the eyes of several craftsmen brightened. In this way, the main hall can be built in about half a year, and the rest of the houses will be easier to arrange.

"Well, that's right. If we have enough manpower, it won't take half a year. We just need to tear down the wall and rebuild it, and three months will be enough."

Song Zhen closed the drawings in his hand and put away his pen. The entire villa for the imperial visit almost fell into his mind. With slight changes in the backyard, and major changes in the west and east yards, and with the combination of a few buildings, the cost of the entire garden could be reduced. In this way, the Marquis would certainly know about it, and maybe they, as members of the same family, could enter the Marquis's mansion and become servants.

Thinking of the refugees outside the city, almost all of them were sent outside the pass, and the ones who survived were directly signed as servants in the Marquis' Mansion. In this way, their lives are not worse than now. As long as their ancestral skills are passed down, they can still have a bowl of rice in the Marquis' Mansion.

Having made up his mind, Song Zhen called a few people and headed towards Rongguo Mansion.

(End of this chapter)