Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 353: The Flowing Waves Are Deep

July 15th, Ghost Festival, Earl’s Mansion in Judefang.

Of the two mansions of the Jia family, only Huifang Garden in the East Mansion had fresh water introduced from the Liuyang River in the east of the city, which gathered into a large river channel and waterside pavilions in the garden.

Many pavilions and towers in Huifang Garden were built by the water, and are magnificent and beautiful. The later Grand View Garden was rebuilt based on this layout.

Green lotus flowers are planted scattered among the canals and pavilions in the garden, and they bloom lushly in midsummer.

Although the flower buds close at night, the green leaves are still like a cover, swaying in the evening breeze, as if it is real or illusory.

Two cruise ships were cruising in the river, and the ringing laughter of silver bells, mixed with the flickering starlight in the sky, echoed among the clear green waves.

Today is the Ghost Festival. In the morning, the two mansions were busy with ancestor worship and burning paper. Jia Cong then followed the customs of the Ghost Festival and invited the sisters from the West Mansion to go boating on the lake in the East Mansion.

Of course, out of courtesy, he also invited Lady Jia, Lady Wang and other family members, but Lady Jia said she was not feeling well and did not come. Since Lady Jia did not come, it was naturally difficult for Lady Wang to come either.

Ever since Jia Cong moved to the East Palace, he has been guarding the threshold of the Earl's Mansion very tightly and has rejected several arrangements put forward by Jia's grandmother. The old lady has been unhappy and naturally unwilling to support this evil grandson.

But this was exactly what Jia Cong wanted. The two generations of grandparents and grandchildren disliked each other, and they were all uncomfortable when they were together.

Jia Cong was so happy that he invited Daiyu, Baochai, Tanchun, Yingchun, Xichun and other sisters to come over. Qingwen also invited her good friends Yuanyang, Amber, Jinchuan and others to play together.

When Baoyu got the news and knew that so many sisters had gone there to play, he also wanted to come. However, this time he was beaten too hard by his father and it was inconvenient for him to move, so he had to give up in disappointment.

The girls on the two cruise ships released river lanterns with lit candles into the river one by one. The flames reflected on the waves, floating with the waves, and seemed to complement the stars in the sky.

Setting off river lanterns is a major custom of the Ghost Festival and is also something that women in the inner house must do to pray for blessings and make wishes during the Ghost Festival.

Daiyu, Sanchun, Zhishao, Yinglian and others were all beautiful and talented, and they often wrote poems and couplets on the river lanterns, which they considered elegant and fun.

Although Qingwen, Wu'er, Zijuan, Yuanyang and others do not have literary talent, some of them are illiterate.

But the girls and maids in each room were all good at needlework and could draw embroidery patterns, and they were very dexterous. They laughed and painted auspicious designs of peonies, birds, etc. on the river lanterns, and then put them into the river for fun.

Since Jin Chuan became Baochai's maid, she has come back to life. Although her temperament is still straightforward, her behavior has become more stable, as if she has grown up a lot.

When Yuanyang saw the pattern that Jinchuan painted on the river lantern, she felt a little strange. What Jinchuan painted was not flowers or birds, but an octagonal exquisite well.

Yuanyang felt strange, but after thinking about it for a while, he understood something.

But Jin Chuan stared at the river lantern in a daze, then let it float into the river. The river lantern swayed and drifted downstream, floating towards the cruise ship in front.

On the cruise ship, Jia Cong was chatting and laughing with Daiyu, Tanchun and other sisters. Jin Chuan was staring blankly at the river lantern in the river and the handsome face reflected in the waves...

Yuanyang was curious about Jinchuan's expression and followed her gaze. She saw the young man's shadow flickering in the waves beside the swaying river lantern. Her heart began to sway and her face felt hot.

……

On the boat, Daiyu smiled and said, "Third brother, you are an excellent poet, but since you wrote a few poems in Jinling last time, I haven't seen any new works from you. It's a pity to waste such talent.

Today, the sisters are traveling together. It is a beautiful day and a beautiful scenery. I wonder if the third brother has any new works. "

Jia Cong smiled and said, "It's not that I don't want to do it often, but my talent is limited. I can't always do it well, and I don't want to make a fool of myself."

Tanchun at the side said with a smile: "Look at what Third Brother said, what you have done is not good, all the poets in the world should be ashamed."

Today is the Zhongyuan Festival and we are releasing river lanterns. The sisters have each composed a few poems. Even little Xichun, who has just started school, composed one to suit the occasion.

Jia Cong could not stand their teasing, so he looked at the beautiful lotus and peach trees beside him, and took a blank river lantern and wrote on it:

The lotus buds bloom in the fire, and the delicate red and green petals linger among them.

As bright as the stars in the sky, as quiet as the flow of wine.

How can we know that reincarnation is empty and has no form? In the mortal world, we sigh that disaster becomes fate.

When will the wind and frost of the years end, and the fish and dragons will be soft and fragrant under the water.

Ever since Jia Cong came back from Jinling last year, no one had seen him write poetry. Now that they finally saw him picking up the pen again, everyone gathered around him curiously.

It's just the first two sentences that make everyone feel the fragrance in their mouths after reading them. Today, the sisters are taking a boat trip and releasing river lanterns on the night of the Ghost Festival, but these first two sentences fully express the meaning.

At this time, everyone is in the prime of youth and beauty. It is the most beautiful time of life. Jia Cong compares them to being as bright as the stars in the sky and as quiet as the flow of wine.

Daiyu, Tanchun and other sisters all appreciated Jia Cong's praise for them in the poems, and felt warm and happy in their hearts.

But when they read the third sentence: "How can we know that reincarnation is empty and has no form? In the mortal world, we sigh that calamity becomes fate." Everyone was slightly confused. They all knew that Jia Cong was an outstanding scholar and warrior, with a strong will and determination, and he was not an ordinary person. How could he have such a confusing statement?
Baochai is well-versed in various fields and has read a lot of Buddhist scriptures and Taoist books, but she can sense that Jia Cong's words are about the afterlife.

But he was so proud of himself at a young age, how could he have such thoughts...

When everyone reads the last sentence: When will the wind and frost of the years end, the fish and dragons will be soft and fragrant under the water.

Yingchun only has thoughts about brotherhood, Xichun is ignorant and naive, while the others read the romantic and charming feelings and can't help but have fantasies, love and anger...

……

July 15th, Ghost Festival, Jinling.

Zhou Zhengyang's residence is located on Linqing Street in the east of Jinling City. This street is a prosperous area in Jinling. There are many shops on both ends of the street, and many vendors come here to make a living early every morning.

Although it is only a short distance from Zhou’s residence, the streets are very clean and there are very few people setting up stalls to do business nearby.

Eight out of ten people in Jinling City know that this mansion is home to a big shot in Jinling City, Zhou Zhengyang, the commander of the Jinling Guard, who is in charge of thousands of soldiers guarding Jinling.

Therefore, the two servants guarding the gate of Zhou's mansion did not have to worry about being blind and causing trouble.

They got up lazily early in the morning, opened the door, and took a bench and sat at the door, yawning out of boredom.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves and chaotic footsteps were heard from the other end of the street, and the two gatekeepers showed surprise on their faces.

Since Zhou Zhengyang moved into Linqing Street, everyone in Jinling City knows about it. Whoever dares to make such a noise here is just asking for trouble.

The two men were about to stand up, go see what was going on, and give the guy a good scolding.

Before he could even stand up, he saw countless ferocious-looking brocade-robed cavalrymen wearing flying fish robes and carrying embroidered spring swords, rushing towards the mansion gate like a tide.

The two gatekeepers had never seen such a scene before. Their faces changed drastically. One of them bravely shouted, "Do you know whose house this is? How dare you act so presumptuous here?"

But before he could finish his words, the leading centurion in brocade uniforms had already pulled out the scabbard of his embroidered spring sword at lightning speed. The scabbard was pulled out so quickly that his mouth was full of blood and he spat out two broken teeth.

The two gatekeepers were knocked to the ground by the Jinyiwei, and the rest of them kicked the door open. People rushed into the Zhou Mansion and soon voices of fear were heard inside the Mansion, and the place was in chaos.

Yang Hongbin also quickly dismounted and rushed into the mansion with the palace guards.

This is Jinling. The person he wants to capture is the leader of the Jinling Guards, and the ones cooperating in the arrest are the Jinling Jinyiwei Qianhusuo. To them, he is an outsider after all.

He had to be extremely cautious.

Yang Hongbin led more than 200 Jinyiwei to surround Zhou's mansion and turned the entire mansion upside down, but the final result made him feel depressed.

The people in charge of Zhou Mansion now are Zhou Zhengyang's concubine and his illegitimate daughter.

According to them, Zhou Zhengyang's wife went back to her parents' home to visit relatives two days ago, and brought Zhou Zhengyang's ten-year-old son with her.

As for Zhou Zhengyang himself, he took his close subordinates to inspect the military training of his Qianhu Division yesterday and has not returned since. This kind of thing has happened frequently in the past, so his family members don't care about it.

At this time, the Jinyiwei came to report that Jin Qianhu Ge Zhicheng brought another team of troops to raid the Jinling Guard Command Office, but the office was also empty and nothing was gained.

Yang Hongbin looked at the concubines and servants of the Zhou family who were kneeling on the ground in the Zhou Mansion, his face turned ashen.

He traveled day and night from the capital, traveling light and with a small entourage. Since entering Jinling, he has been extremely cautious because Zhou Zhengyang has a special status in Jinling. Once the news leaks out, unexpected events will arise.

Unexpectedly, he still managed to get away. Yang Hongbin was sure that the news was not leaked after he came to Jinling.

Because Zhou Zhengyang had left home yesterday and had not returned, he was still on his way to Jinling at that time.

His wife and children even left Jinling a few days in advance on the pretext of visiting relatives.

This shows that Zhou Zhengyang had already known that the court was interrogating him, which allowed him to arrange for himself and his family to escape so calmly.

In order to avoid suspicion, he even sacrificed his concubine and concubine's daughter to cover up his tracks.

Yang Hongbin could infer that the news had leaked from Shenjing shortly after he obtained Zhou Suqing's confession.

Someone traveled day and night from Shenjing to deliver the message to Zhou Zhengyang before him.

Thinking of this, Yang Hongbin felt a chill in his heart. The major case of the Water Supervision Bureau that year not only involved the third-rank commander of the Jinling Guard who commanded thousands of soldiers, but was also related to certain figures in Shenjing.

(End of this chapter)