The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 218 Canglong is old, bid farewell on a rainy night!
After nightfall, it started to rain lightly, and it beat on the roof.Wang Ziteng rode a sedan into the house in the rain. His old wife quickly asked the maid to bring hot tea, while nagging: "I came back so late, where did I stumble? The kitchen is still heating up the food. "

Prince Teng was nearly sixty years old, and now his official career was getting bigger and bigger, and the needle pattern between his eyebrows was getting deeper and deeper. His temperament was sinister and deep, making people more unpredictable. He just heard him say calmly: "As a woman, what are you asking? What's the point? I've already eaten dinner. If you don't come back when it's time to eat, you don't have to wait for me and you can eat first."

The old wife agreed solemnly, but hesitated to speak. Wang Ziteng took the hot tea brought by the maid and took a sip, and asked calmly: "Is something wrong?"

"The eldest lady (Mrs. Wang) came here in the afternoon, and the eldest man and Brother Ren also came in the evening." The old wife replied in a mumble.

Wang Ziteng frowned and said, "What did they say?"

"It's all for one person, the eldest girl's concubine Huan Ge. In my opinion, he's just a concubine, and he deserves to have them work so hard." The old wife shook her head and said, her expression full of contempt and confusion. .

Wang Ziteng pondered for a moment and said calmly: "I will handle this matter. I will sleep in the study tonight. Don't disturb me if you have nothing to do."

The old wife nodded and retreated silently.

In fact, if you pay careful attention, you will find an interesting phenomenon. The women of the four major families of Jia Shi, Wang Xue and Jia, Shi and Xue are all literate, and Xue Baochai, Jia Tanchun and Shi Xiangyun are all very talented. Only the women in the Wang family are illiterate, which is obviously related to their family education. The Wang family believes that women's lack of talent is a virtue, so women's status in the Wang family is very low. Even Wang Ziteng's first wife is submissive in front of her husband. She obeys orders, and besides carrying on the family lineage, her role is similar to that of a maid.

Wang Ziteng returned to the study and sat down. He rubbed his brows and yawned. He was exhausted. He had been worried about many things recently, but now there was one more thing.

Jiahuan!

Wang Ziteng took up his pen and wrote two words on the bamboo paper, then crossed it and said, "A woman's view is really short-sighted!"

Wang Ziteng originally wanted to win over Jia Huan, and even ordered his brother Wang Zisheng to marry a legitimate daughter to Jia Huan. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wang was short-sighted and felt that Jia Huan would threaten the interests of her and her son Jia Baoyu. The "witchcraft thing" forced Aunt Zhao to death and messed up the matter.Jia Huan angrily scolded Wang Zisheng who came to talk about marriage, and completely broke up with the Wang family. Naturally, the marriage could no longer be discussed.

However, although Wang Ziteng is optimistic about Jia Huan's potential, since this son cannot be won over, cannot be used by the Wang family, and has irreconcilable conflicts with the Wang family, the greater his potential, the greater the threat to the Wang family in the future, so It must be nipped in the bud and never allowed to grow.

In fact, Wang Ziteng has been paying attention to it all these years. He is ready to take action at any time without Mrs. Wang saying anything, and will never let Jia Huan pass the imperial examination.

However, Lin Ruhai and Jia Huan are now getting involved, which is unexpected by Wang Ziteng. Moreover, it is said that Lin Ruhai mentioned Jia Huan several times in the secret compromise given to the emperor, so the meaning of support could not be more obvious, so Now that the emperor is probably familiar with the name Jia Huan, he is in some trouble now.

Fortunately, with Wang Ziteng's current power and connections, it is not impossible to manipulate Jia Huan, so Wang Ziteng is not too worried.

In fact, the biggest problem facing Wang Ziteng now is not Jia Huan, but Emperor Kangping!

That's right, it's Emperor Kangping.

This person naturally gets sick more when he gets older. No one can escape the natural law of birth, old age, illness and death, and the Supreme Emperor Kang Ping is no exception. As he grows older, Emperor Kang Ping's health is obviously not as good as before. He has been sick recently. It was windy and cold intermittently, and it took nearly a month to get better.

The reason why Wang Ziteng went home after dark today was because he went to Xiyuan to visit the Supreme Emperor. The latter was obviously much older, like a waning army, the Canglong was old!

Wang Ziteng was single-handedly supported by the Supreme Emperor. He knew that once this person died, his situation would definitely be very bad, so he had been having trouble sleeping and eating, and had a strong sense of crisis.

Unexpectedly, the war in Liaodong has been unfavorable in the past few years. Of the two Liaodong managers, one was defeated and beheaded, and the other burned himself to death. As a result, the prestige of the Supreme Emperor was greatly damaged. The emperor also took this opportunity to seize military power and control of the court.

Nowadays, the situation in the court is basically a [-]-[-] split, with the two factions of the cabinet and the six ministries evenly matched. Moreover, the emperor has the help of the Donglin Poetry Society, a group of unscrupulous scholars, who have an absolute upper hand in public opinion.During this period, the Donglin Poetry Society directed public opinion at himself, the Minister of War, and made him tired of dealing with all kinds of critical criticism.

However, the house leaked and it rained all night, and the boat broke and was hit by a storm.At this time, another major case occurred in Yangzhou, with wide implications. The emperor sent out his confidant Yi Hongdu, the leader of the Jinyi Guards. Once Prince Yi Zhong is found, the balance between the court and the central government will inevitably be broken, and the east wind will prevail over the west wind!
Youdao is that no eggs are left behind when the nest is overthrown. Once Prince Yi Zhong, who is in charge, falls, the entire line of the Emperor will inevitably be purged, and sooner or later, bad luck will befall him and the Wang family!
Thinking of this, Wang Ziteng broke into a cold sweat unknowingly. He knew that Prince Yi Zhong specially summoned Jia Zheng today, and the purpose was probably to smoothen the relationship with Lin Ruhai through Jia Zheng.

However, Wang Ziteng also knew that although Lin Ruhai was married to the Jia family, he never took sides between the Supreme Emperor and the emperor. He was a centrist who protected himself wisely. This time, the emperor appointed him as the governor of Yingtian to specialize in hearing the case, and sent Yi Hong, commander of the Jinyi Guards. The supervisor obviously intends to force Lin Ruhai to take sides. It is really difficult to predict what Lin Ruhai will choose in the end!

…………

The rain was still falling, and it tended to get heavier. In the Hengwu Garden of the Grand View Garden, Xue Baochai and two maids, Ying'er and Wen Xing, were busy packing their luggage. Xiangling was also sent to help.

It is said that this Xiangling is very beautiful. To use a sentence from Zhou Rui's family in the original work to describe it, it is, "She looks so good, she actually has the character of our Grandma Rong in Dongfu." It can be seen that Xiangling's appearance is indeed outstanding, a bit like Qin Keqing, the reason why Xue Pan, the bastard, wanted to snatch Xiang Ling after beating someone to death was probably because the latter was pretty.

However, what makes people speechless is that after Xue Pan snatched the person away, he actually kept it intact all these years. You must know that this guy is not a good person, and he is open to both men and women. He even went to the Jia Family School to "make friends" , It is really incomprehensible that a beautiful maid like Xiangling, who is so lively and fragrant, can hold back and remain motionless.

Back to the subject, while Xue Baochai and others were packing their luggage, Shi Xiangyun and Jia Tanchun arrived in the rain. Well, there was also a dragster behind them - Jia Baoyu.Xue Baochai quickly stopped cleaning up and served Ying'er tea while saying, "It's so late and it's still raining. It's hard for you to come see me."

Shi Xiangyun said with red eyes: "Sister Bao is leaving, let alone rain, even if a knife falls from the sky, Yun'er will come."

Xue Baochai's eyes turned red when she heard this. Unknowingly, she had lived in Jia Mansion for three years. The sisters got along day and night and had a close relationship. Naturally, they were not very reluctant to leave now.

Shi Xiangyun has no father or mother. He was raised by his uncle and aunt since he was a child. He has no status in the family. He has to do needlework until very late every day. Sometimes he helps the maids in the Jia family to make knots and other things, and he will be beaten. Auntie looked down upon her. Only when Jia's mother took her to Jia's house to play, could she live a few days of leisure and happiness.

And Xue Baochai was kind to others, had a good temper, and was considerate. He cared deeply about Shi Xiangyun and always thought about her. Therefore, in Shi Xiangyun's heart, Xue Baochai was like her biological sister. Now that Xue Baochai suddenly left and went back to Jinling, right For her, it was like a bolt from the blue, and she burst into tears unconsciously.

"Sister Bao, will you come back?" Shi Xiangyun held Xue Baochai's hand and asked with blurred eyes, looking even more charming and pitiful.

Xue Baochai was moved and pityful, but she still shook her head and said: "We don't know yet, at least not in a short time. The business in Jinling was originally helped by my second uncle, but now it suddenly disappeared, and my aunt is sick with phlegm syndrome." In bed, my cousins ​​are also young, so it will probably take a year and a half for them to finish the matter."

Jia Tanchun sighed and said sadly: "Unexpected events can happen in the sky, and things in this world can never escape the word accident. We originally planned to establish a poetry club after the new year, but unexpectedly, Mr. Lin was seriously ill, and it was the first month of the Lunar New Year. So we hurried south, and now Sister Bao is also leaving. This poetry club will never be built. After this farewell, I don’t know when we can meet again in what month or year, and maybe we won’t see each other again in this life.”

Jia Baoyu was already feeling sad, and immediately burst into tears after hearing this.Just as Cao Gong said in his writing, Jia Baoyu likes to get together and never leave. He only wishes that the flowers will be red for a thousand days and that everyone will always get together and never leave.

Shi Xiangyun was sad when he saw Jia Baoyu crying as if he didn't want money. It was funny and sad at the same time, so he persuaded him in turn: "Men don't shed tears easily. You are a manly man, how can you howl hard? I heard it carefully outside." Tell the old lady that it will make the old man unable to live in peace."

Jia Baoyu wiped away her tears and said, "Sister Lin is gone, and now Sister Bao is leaving too. What's the point of living in this garden?"

Xue Baochai secretly sighed in his heart. Although this man doesn't like reading, he still has his true feelings. If he and Meier leave, it will be a good thing for him to work hard on his studies. Men must bear the family business after all. How can we end up hanging around in the inner city all day long?

Thinking of this, Xue Baochai hardened his heart and said, "Brother Bao, please stop making trouble. There is no such thing as a feast that lasts forever. I am only staying in your house temporarily. I will leave one day. It's either today or tomorrow. Why bother?" Looking for trouble.”

"Why do you have to leave now? Can't you wait until I die and turn into ashes before leaving? If I can't see or hear, I won't feel uncomfortable." Jia Baoyu cried.

Everyone was angry and funny. Jia Tanchun said quickly: "Second brother is talking nonsense again. It is very unlucky for someone to curse his own death."

Jia Baoyu took the opportunity to grab Xue Baochai's sleeve and said, "Sister Bao, can't you walk? Just let Brother Xue go, or Shu is just an uncle."

Xue Baochai blushed, ashamed and angry, and hurriedly pulled back his sleeves. Seeing this, the attacker who came with him hurriedly stopped Jia Baoyu and said, "Second Master, please stop messing around. Miss Bao, in addition to going to Jinling during this trip, she also has to take care of business." Yes, I will come back naturally after the food is finished over there."

"Really?" Jia Baoyu saw that Xue Baochai's face was angry, and then she realized that she had just been abrupt, so she had to calm down.

When Shi Xiangyun and Jia Tanchun saw this, they secretly regretted coming with Jia Baoyu. This Jia Baoyu usually treated his sisters very well and had an easy-going temper, but when his obsession broke out, it was also a headache. Fortunately, he didn't throw the jade, otherwise it would cause trouble in the house. Restless.

Jia Tanchun handed a letter to Xue Baochai and said, "Sister Bao returns to Jinling this time. If she meets Huan'er, please pass it on to him. Also, I received this pair of Pingbu Qingyun boots this year. Please give it to me too." And handed it over, saying that the third sister wishes him a gold medal and a successful career!"

Xue Baochai nodded, handed the boots to Yinger to put away, and put the letter into his dressing box.

Shi Xiangyun also took out a piece of bright red silk and said with a smile: "After accepting Huan'er's gift, I don't have anything valuable to give him in return. If Sister Bao meets Huan'er in Jinling, please help me give him this for everything goes well." I wish him all the best in high school and good luck!"

Jia Baoyu was already depressed, and when he saw Shi Xiangyun and Jia Tanchun both giving things to Jia Huan, he felt even more depressed and stood there dumbly without saying a word.

Xiren felt bad when he saw this. The second master had always been pampered by the old lady and his wife, the sisters in the middle also loved to play with him, and the maids below were even more obsessed with him. But since Jia Huan suddenly changed As a person, the second master's limelight was robbed by him. Finally, Jia Huan went to Jinling far away. The second master spent some happy days in the garden. As a result, when this man's name appeared, everyone became extremely curious. It seems that if one day Jia Huan is successful in the imperial examination and returns to the mansion as a Jinshi, then the second master will probably be even more embarrassed.

Thinking of this, Xiren couldn't help but secretly hope that Jia Huan would fail in the provincial examination, never pass the examination, and stay in Jinling forever, so that he would not be a threat to the second master.

Although he was thinking this, Xiren was still quite good at being a good person. Seeing that both Shi Xiangqu and Jia Tanchun returned the gift, if the second master didn't return the gift, he would inevitably look stingy, so he took it upon himself to take off Jia Baoyu's belt. The next jade pendant was regarded as a return gift and asked Xue Baochai to take it to Jia Huan.

Next, Shi Xiangyun and Jia Tanchun stayed for a while, and then said goodbye to Xue Baochai. At dawn the next day, Aunt Xue, Xue Baochai and Xue Pan set off for Tongzhou and took a boat all the way south to Jinling. .

(End of this chapter)