Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 166: Wenhua Moves Jiangnan

The end of November in the twelfth year of Jiazhao.

Nearly two months had passed since Prince Ning returned to the capital, and the main hall of Da Ci'en Temple had been basically completed, with only the finishing work remaining such as painting the murals inside the hall and gilding the Buddha statues.

After more than a month of copying scriptures, Jia Cong finally finished copying all the twelve Buddhist scriptures approved by Emperor Jia Zhao.

After being approved by officials from the Ministry of Rites, it will be sealed and placed in front of the Empress Dowager's spirit to offer incense when the main hall of the Da Ci'en Temple is officially completed. After the Sutra Repository of the large temple is completed, it will be moved to the pavilion for permanent storage.

A few days before this, Jia Cong finally learned from Qin Ye that Keqing had left Jinling with Madam Qin a month ago.

Qin Ye mentioned this matter casually when Jia Cong asked about the completion time of the main hall, but he intentionally or unintentionally mentioned that his daughter was returning to Beijing to get married.

Keqing left without saying goodbye. Jia Cong felt uncomfortable. He could probably guess why Keqing did that. Perhaps this was the outcome they were supposed to have.

……

There are still five or six days before the main hall of the temple is completed. Jia Cong decided to take advantage of this time to do something he had been planning to do for a long time.

Since we know that Xiangling's mother Feng is still alive, she should be living in her father Feng Su's home. The mother and daughter have been separated for more than ten years, so it is reasonable and moral for them to be reunited.

Although he liked Xiangling very much, he also knew that once he allowed her to recognize Feng's mother and daughter, he might not be able to keep her by his side for long.

But since he knew that Xiangling's biological mother was still alive, he couldn't pretend to be ignorant because of his own selfishness. Otherwise, what was the difference between him and people like Jia Yucun.

Even if he sent Xiangling back to her mother, he would not just ignore her.

Because Feng Su was not a good person. When Zhen Shiyin broke up his family and went to him for help, he took the opportunity to embezzle his son-in-law's money. He was a very bad person.

No one can say for sure whether there is any connection between Zhen Shiyin's becoming a monk and this.

When Jia Cong and Xiangling said that they would send her to Gusu to reunite with her mother, Xiangling looked a little overwhelmed. She was abducted when she was less than three years old and had a very vague impression of her parents.

She lived in a cowardly manner with Dong Laoer for more than ten years until she was bought by Jia Cong and began to live a good life. In her eyes, Jia Cong was the person she trusted and relied on the most.

After hearing what Jia Cong said, Xiangling asked timidly, "Master, is my mother really in Gusu? If you send me back, do you mean you don't want me anymore?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Then I can't bear to part with it."

Xiangling blushed when she heard this, and her originally uneasy mood was calmed down by Jia Cong's words.

"It's just that your mother is still alive. You've been missing for more than ten years, and you and your mother should be reunited.

I have asked Yingtian Prefecture to help with the search. Your mother is now living with your maternal grandparents. Your maternal grandfather was originally from Daruzhou, Huai'an, and later moved to Gusu, where he married into the Zhen family of Gusu.

We will go to Gusu tomorrow and make plans for the future after we meet your mother."

……

The Divine Capital, Judefang, Rongguo Mansion.

Ever since Prince Ning, Yang Hongbin and others returned to the capital, Jia Cong's two new poems have gradually spread in the capital.

Recently, officials from various departments in Shenjing have been traveling frequently between the two places, and the latest news from the south has been constantly brought to Shenjing.

It is said that Jia Cong's two new lyrics were sung everywhere, not only in the brothels of Jinling, but also in the fragrant Qinhuai wineries.

His calligraphy is so exquisite that it has become a school of calligraphy and is even more praised by people.

All these anecdotes were widely circulated in the six states and one prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River. Although he was still a teenager, he had already established a great reputation in the literary world of the south of the Yangtze River. His extraordinary circumstances and flourishing literary talent were said to be unprecedented since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Jia Zheng's mood has been unusually good these days, and his colleagues in the department have been inviting him to dinner and banquets more often.

The most talked-about topics at the banquet were nothing more than Jia Cong's assistance to Prince Ning in solving a major case at the Water Inspectorate in Jinling, and the two wonderful poems that caused a sensation in Jiangnan.

Whenever he had free time at home, he would usually invite guests such as Shan Pinren and Zhan Guang to discuss elegant matters such as the choice of words and rhymes in Jia Cong's two new poems.

He privately fantasized about how successful Jia Cong was at a young age. He had probably also fantasized about this when he was young, but he was far from having the opportunity and talent to accomplish it like Jia Cong.

I couldn't help feeling full of emotion and regret in my heart. Although my thoughts were surging, I couldn't compose a wonderful poem like Jia Cong. Fortunately, the Jia family was fortunate to have a man of such great literary talent as Cong.

It seems that the day when the Jia family will be recorded in history and praised by everyone is just around the corner.

Although Jia Cong is now being educated in the second house, he is not his own son, which is a bit of a pity, so he is even more strict with the schoolwork of Baoyu, Jia Huan and others.

Jia Huan was fine, but with Baoyu's unique reading logic, he would naturally be scolded or slapped on the hand by Jia Zheng every few days.

Naturally, there emerged various scenes in the inner chambers of the Jia Mansion, such as Mrs. Wang's secret hatred, Lady Jia's slamming the table, and Wang Xifeng watching silently.

Later, as the news from the south became more and more detailed, various legendary stories about Jia Cong's annihilation of the Japanese ronin, the mobilization of troops from Yangzhou Prefecture, entering the city to capture the criminal, and sending messages to curb the situation began to spread in the capital.

There were even storytellers in teahouses and wine shops who, in order to attract attention and earn more money from food and wine, compiled the anecdotes of the young master of Rongguo Mansion into a book and sold them for profit in the market.

…In Daiyu’s room, the chessboard was quiet, the jade harp was hanging in the air, and the incense was burning.

Two stacks of books were neatly stacked on the desk, and the ebony bookshelf was also filled with various book collections and picture albums, many of which were neatly marked with bookmarks.

If it weren't for the hairpins, flowers for hair, rouge and powder on the dressing table beside the bed, this room would not look like a wealthy girl's boudoir.

Compared with Nanjing, the capital city in November is already very cold.

Daiyu wore a long double-breasted jacket with pink satin embroidered with gold flowers, a coral-red undershirt with a small collar, and a peach-red pleated skirt. She was as pretty as an orchid, with a slender waist and skin as white as jade, exuding an ethereal and charming demeanor.

At this moment, he was sitting at his desk, reading a letter sent by his father from Yangzhou. In addition to describing his own situation, his father also mentioned that his third brother Cong was in Yangzhou on loan to serve as a salt soldier, as well as various strange things that happened in Jinling.

There was a slight smile on Daiyu's lips. From the words in her father's letter, she could tell that he was very fond of his third brother. At the end of the letter, he also copied two newly written poems by his third brother.

A sweet and refreshing lemon aroma came from outside. It was the white jade soup made by Zijuan on the red clay stove outside the corridor.

This was specially prepared by my third brother when I vomited blood.

A few days ago, thinking about the past, I was upset because my loved one had not returned, so I asked Zijuan to find the recipe that Wu'er had copied and make some of it from time to time.

In fact, she had already read the two poems copied from her father's letter two days ago.

That was what Sister Tanchun got from her second uncle. Ever since her third brother went to Jinling, she had to go to her second uncle every now and then to inquire about the news.

These two poems are naturally excellent, but these are not what Daiyu cares about most.

When she was a child, her mother died and her father left her, so she lived alone in the Jia Mansion. Although she was loved by her grandmother, she missed her relatives and hometown every day, and was worried and naturally became weak.

Since Jia Cong moved into Qingzhizhai that year, unusual bright colors have appeared in the garden.

In fact, everyone in her family, such as her grandmother and sisters, were kind to her.

But the third brother seemed to be different from these people. Somehow, he seemed to understand his own thoughts very well, and his every word and action could touch his heart.

Just like when she was so angry with Baoyu that she vomited blood, although her third brother did not come to visit her every day like her sisters, he spent more time and effort on her than anyone else.

In the past two years, he seldom came back from the academy, but whenever he came back, he would come to her room to talk. When he was too busy with schoolwork to come back, he would also bring her a letter.

She could vaguely feel that her third brother seemed to be able to see through everything and had a special kind of pity for her. He was always thinking about her, as if he was worried that she was being neglected.

Even she herself couldn't explain what kind of strange fate this was.

But what she cared about most was how her third brother treated her. Perhaps no one in the world understood her better than him.

Compared with these, Third Brother’s amazing abilities were not the most important to her.

Although they were all still young, the clarity, warmth and love in his eyes every time he looked at her had become her greatest comfort in the past few years.

Perhaps it is because she has something to focus on that her health has improved a lot in recent years.

……

In Tanchun's room, on the large rosewood marble desk, all the famous calligraphy works on the desk had been put away, and the empty space was filled with a stack of newly written rice paper, on which were written the two new poems that Tanchun had just copied.

At this moment, her white wrists are suspended in the air, her hairpins are gently moving, and her temples are filled with fragrance. As the pen in her hand moves, she writes a poem "Man Jiang Hong" (A Nostalgia for Nanjing), and is writing: Listen to the deep night, loneliness strikes the lonely city, and the spring tide is rushing.

It has been three months since my third brother went to Jinling. Before he left, he said he would come back to celebrate the New Year, so he should be back in less than a month.

Ever since Jia Cong went to Jinling, she often went to her father to inquire about the news. The other day, she heard from the maid that the master had been chatting with the guests at home about his third brother's new words these days.

Out of curiosity, I went to my father's Mengpo Zhai study and copied down the two new works of my third brother.

After that, I read it from time to time and couldn't put it down. Whenever I had free time, I would copy it by hand to pass the time.

Xing'er, the servant of my second sister-in-law, returned from Jinling and brought a lot of news from Jinling. I heard that there has been some chaos in Jinling recently, and I just hope that my third brother can come back soon.

Yesterday she went to Rongqing Hall to pay her respects to the old lady, and happened to meet Mrs. Baolinghou who came to see the old lady.

Because Baoling Hou had many old friends in Jinling and knew a lot about what was going on there, she was happy to hear her third brother do many great things in Jinling, which seemed very impressive.

Later, Mrs. Baolinghou somehow mentioned Sister Yun again, but the old lady's face was expressionless.

She knew that the old lady had always disliked her third brother because of his biological mother, and her third brother had never been willing to get close to the old lady, so the relationship would never be warm.

She had grown a few years older in the past few years, and her mind had become much more delicate and sensitive. She could naturally understand why Mrs. Baolinghou always mentioned her third brother and also mentioned her sister Yun.

Sister Yun was excellent in both appearance and family background, but when she thought of this, she always felt empty inside. For some reason, she felt disappointed and put down the brush in her hand with little interest.

(End of this chapter)