The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 525 Make a good relationship
As the saying goes, even kings, princes, generals and ministers cannot avoid having a few poor relatives. Liu Laolao's son-in-law was called Wang Gou'er. His ancestors were related to the Wang family of Jinling, and his father's generation used to visit the family on a daily basis, but by Wang Gou'er's generation, all contact was completely cut off.

Wang Gou'er had no special skills and only relied on two acres of thin land to support his family. His wife, Liu, was quite fertile and had two children in three years. As a result, there were more mouths to feed and fewer hands to work. He had no choice but to ask his widowed mother-in-law, Granny Liu, to come and help take care of the children. But their lives got worse every year. After finally tightening their belts and getting through the New Year, they didn't even have money to buy seeds when the spring plowing season was approaching. If they missed the farming season, they were afraid that the whole family would starve to death this year.

Wang Gouzi was at his wits' end and could only take out his anger on his wife. Granny Liu couldn't stand it and gave him an idea, saying that your family's ancestors were once related to the Wang family of Jinling, and now the second daughter of the Wang family (Mrs. Wang) was married to the Jia family of Rongguo Mansion, so it would be better for him to shamelessly go to their house and beg for some money to tide over the difficulties.

Wang Gouzi was a thin-skinned person, and the two families had cut off contact long ago, so he naturally didn't want to go out and argue with others and make himself look bad. However, although Liu Laolao was over seventy years old, she was worldly-wise and very "aggressive". Seeing that her son-in-law was useless, she personally brought her grandson Wang Ban'er, who was only a few years old, into the city and went straight to Ningrong Street.

However, when Liu Laolao arrived at Ningrong Street to inquire, she was disappointed. She learned that something big had happened to the Jia family last month. Not only was the Ningguo Mansion ransacked, but the main house in the Rongguo Mansion was also confiscated. Thinking about the Jia family, which had two dukes in the past, it was so glorious and honorable. However, in the blink of an eye, the Jia family fell into decline and both lost their titles. It really is true that things in the world are unpredictable.

For a moment, Granny Liu was in a dilemma. Although Master Zheng of the second house of Rongguo Mansion was saved, it was said that many servants had been dismissed not long ago, which showed that life was not easy for him. It was really inappropriate for her to go to his house to ask for money at this time.

After thinking it over, Granny Liu finally decided to try her luck. After all, her family was already struggling to make ends meet, so she went forward and knocked on the door to ask to see Mrs. Wang.

Granny Liu was lucky. When the servant passed the message, Mrs. Wang was waiting on Grandmother Jia in her room. Grandmother Jia's condition had improved greatly in recent days. In addition, she was in a good mood yesterday when she learned that Jia Huan had done well in the exam, so she ordered Granny Liu to be called in to see her.

Although Granny Liu was a poor village woman, she was quite knowledgeable despite her age. She was also eloquent and could make Grandmother Jia laugh all the time. When Grandmother Jia was so happy, she summoned all the girls, including Xue and Lin, to meet her.

In the original novel, the character of Granny Liu has quite a lot of scenes. She is an important clue character. She has visited the Jia Mansion several times and witnessed the entire process of the rise and fall, honor and disgrace of the Jia family. So Jia Huan also became interested and went to Grandmother Jia's room with the other girls to meet this wise but foolish village grandmother.

Grandmother Jia had just recovered from a serious illness and was still in a rather weak spirit. After everyone had greeted each other, she sat for another half an hour and then asked Mrs. Wang to take Granny Liu away and entertain her well. Jia Huan and the others also went back to the garden.

Mrs. Wang didn't take poor relatives like Granny Liu seriously in the first place. In addition, she was in a bad mood recently and had limited financial resources, so she only ordered the servants to prepare some food to entertain Granny Liu, and gave her ten taels of silver before sending her away.

Granny Liu didn't hold out much hope. After all, the Jia family was not doing well now, so she was quite satisfied to have a full meal and get ten taels of silver. So she thanked him profusely and took her grandson Wang Ban'er away happily. When the two of them reached the second gate, they suddenly heard someone behind them calling, "Grandma, please stay."

When Liu Laolao turned her head, she saw a beautiful woman coming up to her with light footsteps. She was in her twenties, extremely pretty, with shoulders as sharp as a knife and a figure as graceful as a willow branch swaying in the wind.

"Isn't this my cousin Miss Lin whom I met in the old lady's room before?" Granny Liu rubbed her eyes and said in surprise.

The maid who led the way hurriedly said, "Don't talk nonsense. This is Miss Qingwen who serves in Master Huan San's room."

Granny Liu smiled and said, "I am old and my eyesight is dim. From a distance, I think her dignity and bearing are a bit like Miss Lin."

At this time, Qingwen had already approached, and Granny Liu hurriedly greeted her, smiling and saying, "Miss Qing, you are blessed."

Qingwen slightly turned aside, returned the greeting, and stuffed a bundle into Granny Liu's hands, saying with a smile, "I heard that Granny is leaving. This is a gift from our Third Master Huan. Don't open it now. Wait until you get home to look at it."

Granny Liu took the bundle and felt it was heavy. She squeezed it and found it was hard and seemed to be made of gold and silver. She was flattered and said quickly, "Oh, Brother Huan is so thoughtful. I should kneel down and thank him."

Qingwen shook her head and said, "No need. It's quite far from here to the garden. You'd better go home quickly. Be careful not to get lost on the road before dark."

Upon hearing this, Granny Liu pulled her grandson Wang Ban'er to kneel on the spot, kowtowed several times, and thanked the master profusely. Then she happily went out of the corner gate of the Jia Mansion, found a secluded place and secretly opened the bundle. She was immediately overjoyed to find that there was a huge sum of one hundred taels of silver and two rolls of brand new foreign satin inside.

Granny Liu couldn't help but feel mixed feelings of surprise and joy, remembering that Huan was also present in Lady Jia's room at that time. Although he was handsome and gentle as jade, he didn't talk much, and he must have looked down on her as a country girl. She didn't expect him to be so generous. Wow, she really met a living Bodhisattva this time.

Qingwen returned to Yueweiju to report to Jia Huan, who was flying a kite with Mandalin in the yard. She approached and said, "Third Master, the bag has been handed over to Granny Liu. The old lady was so happy that she pulled her grandson to her knees and kowtowed three times."

"Okay, got it!" Jia Huan nodded, but his attention was obviously on the kite that had flown halfway up the mountain. He kept pulling the kite string back and forth, trying to fly the kite, but the kite just wouldn't fly. It swayed and fluttered like it was drunk, and finally fell headfirst.

Qingwen had a stern face, but when she saw this, she burst out laughing, then quickly covered her mouth, looking a little embarrassed.

Jia Huan didn't seem to care. He asked with a smile, "Can you let it go?" Qingwen nodded and said, "I do know how to do it a little bit."

"Then come on. I won't punish you if you can't put it away. I'll just laugh at you." Jia Huan casually handed the coil to Qingwen, then sat down next to the stone table in the yard to drink tea.

Qingwen wanted to refuse at first, but after hearing what he said, she became competitive, took the kite string and started flying.

At this time, Ping'er came out of the house. The maid changed into spring clothes and looked even more slender and plump, sweet and lovely. Jia Huan patted the stone bench next to him and motioned Ping'er to come over and sit down. Ping'er smiled sweetly and walked behind Jia Huan to massage his shoulders, while gently asking, "Does your shoulder still feel sore, Third Master?"

"There's still a little bit, but it's much better now." Jia Huan said.

"After nine days of exams, how can your neck not be sore? Third Master, please take a good rest these days and don't write for a while." Ping'er said as she lifted Jia Huan's right hand and gently rubbed it.

Jia Huan took advantage of the situation and leaned against the pretty maid's soft body, enjoying her service comfortably.

"By the way, why does Third Master look at Granny Liu differently?" Ping'er asked a little puzzled.

Jia Huan smiled mysteriously and said, "This Granny Liu is quite interesting. We have established a good relationship with her now. Who knows if there will be good results in the future."

Ping'er uttered an "oh" thoughtfully, and sensibly did not ask any further questions. At this time, Qingwen over there had successfully flown the kite, and she turned back towards this side with a bit of pride, and suddenly she looked charming and beautiful.

Jia Huan raised his thumb to show his approval, and made a heart shape with his hands in front of his chest in a mischievous manner. Qingwen's face turned visibly red and she turned around hastily and spat inwardly. It turned out that she had secretly asked Mandarin what the heart shape meant, and it did not mean "all the best, everything goes well" at all.

Ping'er also knew this joke, which was both funny and a bit sour. She unconsciously put a little more strength on her fingers, pinching the person so hard that he grimaced. It was so sour and refreshing.

…………

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of February in the eighth year of Qiansheng. The first day of March would be the day for the announcement of the results of the imperial examination. All the test papers had been graded, and at this moment, the 300 successful test papers were lying in front of him. However, Zhao Mingcheng, a Hanlin scholar and the chief examiner, was in a dilemma.

After the sealed test papers were opened, the first place was Jia Huan, while Zhang Pu, whom Zhao Mingcheng had chosen, was only ranked seventh. Moreover, another candidate from Diecui Academy, Liu Yi, also made it into the top three. This was obviously not what Zhao Mingcheng wanted to see.

Zhang Pu is now a rising star in the Donglin faction. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, he organized a coffin-carrying parade to block the Meridian Gate. Not only did he help Donglin successfully seize power in the Ministry of Revenue, but he also became famous. In addition, he was from Suzhou and a fellow townsman of Zhao Mingcheng, so he was strongly supported by the Donglin Party headed by Zhao Mingcheng.

Zhao Mingcheng's original intention was to use this special examination to promote Zhang Pu and make him a rising star in the political arena. For this purpose, he even gave Zhang Pu "special treatment" before the exam. Unfortunately, Zhang Pu only ranked seventh this time and did not even make it into the top three. It would be difficult for him to pass the next palace examination.

Zhao Mingcheng picked up Jia Huan's test paper and a hint of regret flashed in his eyes. This boy is not only full of talent, but judging from his performance in Yangzhou and Jinling, his ability is far superior to Zhang Pu. He has unlimited potential at a young age. It's a pity that I can't use him!
In addition to the chief examiner Zhao Mingcheng, there were also eighteen co-examiners in charge of this examination, known as the Eighteen Rooms. The successful exam papers were selected by the eighteen examiners and then submitted to the chief examiner Zhao Mingcheng for a second screening.

The three hundred examination papers that were screened for the second time by the chief examiner Zhao Mingcheng were the final examination papers that were selected for this joint examination. Then the chief examiner and the eighteen co-examiners discussed together to determine the final ranking.

In order to ensure fairness and impartiality, the test papers will be covered with names before the final ranking is determined. The sealed envelopes will only be opened after the ranking is determined, and everyone will know which candidate the test paper belongs to.

Now that the ranking has been determined, even though Zhao Mingcheng is the chief examiner and most of the 18 co-examiners are from the Donglin faction, there is nothing they can do about the result. Unless all the co-examiners are from the Donglin Party and are willing to cooperate in changing the rankings, there is no way they can conceal the truth.

Therefore, even if Zhao Mingcheng wanted to promote Zhang Pu, he was powerless at this moment. Finally, he reluctantly ordered: "List the names according to the rankings, send a copy to the Ministry of Rites for record, and send another copy to the Southern Study for His Majesty to review."

The clerk in charge of recording the list hurriedly began to record the list carefully, and the chief examiner, the eighteen co-examiners, and the officials sent by the Ministry of Rites to supervise witnessed it together.

(End of this chapter)