Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Rongguo Mansion, Grand Flower Hall.

Yingchun, Tanchun, Baochai and other sisters were chatting at the table.

Xichun came running in and said cheerfully, "Go out and have a look! There are fireworks outside. They are really amazing fireworks. There are stone bridges, the moon, and flowers blooming in the sky."

Xichun was still a young girl. She did not have the leisure and patience of her other sisters. After eating her fill at the banquet, she felt bored and slipped out early to go see the lanterns outside.

It also happened that she saw the spectacular fireworks in the East Palace, but she was young and didn't think much about it. She only knew that the fireworks in the sky were beautiful, but she didn't realize that the fireworks were being set off in the East Palace.

Setting off fireworks on New Year's Eve is a common thing and everyone is used to it. But how can there be a stone bridge moon or even flowers blooming in the sky? This is something very rare.

The sisters all thought that it was normal for a child like Xichun to speak in an exaggerated and childish manner, so they mostly did not take it seriously.

Among the sisters, Tanchun and Baochai are the most thoughtful, and both of them focus on Jia Cong.

Just now they noticed that Jia Cong, Daiyu and Baoyu all left the flower hall one after another, but it was common for them to change clothes and leave during a banquet.

It was just that the three of them had been gone for a long time, and Tanchun's heart was slightly moved, so she asked, "Fourth sister, the fireworks over there are so beautiful, are they set off by the servants in the outer courtyard?"

Xichun replied, "I don't know about that, it looks very close, it seems to be placed in our house.

Third sister, the fireworks are really amazing. I have never seen anything so beautiful. It is like a painting in the sky."

Xichun's eyes were bright and her face was full of surprise and envy. Even Tanchun could sense that little Xichun was not exaggerating childishly, as if she had really seen such bizarre fireworks.

Although Tanchun was very smart and shrewd, she would never associate Xichun's words about the red plum blossoms on the stone bridge with the sachet that Daiyu gave to Jia Cong.

The main reason is that Jia Cong’s thoughts on making the fireworks are too ingenious and strange. If you don’t see it with your own eyes, no one can guess the truth.

When Grandmother Jia heard Tanchun and Xichun talking about fireworks, she laughed and said, "I am old and cannot stand the cold at night. I just stay inside and talk. If you want to watch fireworks, you can go out and play without restraint.

After midnight, if you are still energetic, you can come back and stay together. If you are really sleepy, you can go back to bed. It’s no big deal. We can continue to have fun on the first day of the new year next year.”

When Wang Xifeng heard Xichun clamoring to watch fireworks, she arranged for a few servants to set off fireworks and firecrackers in the open space outside.

Yingchun took Xichun and her sisters away from the table and went to the entrance of the flower hall to enjoy the fun.

After a splendid display of fireworks, before the sisters returned to the hall, a maid from the East Palace came over with a message that the master was setting off fireworks in the Ascension Pavilion and invited the old ladies, the wives, and the girls to enjoy the fireworks.

Jia Cong's words were just a formality. He had no intention of inviting Lady Jia and others to come over, so as to avoid making everyone feel uncomfortable.

Even though Lady Jia, Lady Wang, and Lady Xing had heard of it, no one would actually rush to the East Palace to watch the fireworks.

Xichun was already jumping for joy, and pulled Yingchun towards the East Palace. Naturally, the other sisters followed them. Grandmother Jia had wanted Baoyu to go along to join in the fun, but she didn't expect to see him around.

……

Earl's Mansion, south slope of Dengxian Pavilion.

Although the owner of Yongjinzhai made fireworks customized for Jia Cong, due to time constraints, he only had time to make one box, which was gone after being set off.

Yongjinzhai was originally a well-known fireworks shop in Laizhou Prefecture. The Hong family, the owners, had passed down the fireworks skills from generation to generation. The fireworks they made were strange, gorgeous, and ingenious, and were famous throughout the country.

Jia Cong recruited a gunpowder maker for the Firearms Department. Hong Silin, the owner of Yongjin Pavilion, had been in the pyrotechnic business all his life and had profound skills in gunpowder preparation, so he was selected by Jia Cong to join the Firearms Department.

Later, the firearms workshop developed improved Rumi guns, porcelain mines, new red cannons and other powerful weapons, and Hong Silin's gunpowder configuration skills played a big role in them.

Because the firearms workshop followed Jia Cong's idea and formulated confidentiality regulations for firearms manufacturing techniques, all key firearms manufacturing craftsmen and their immediate family members had to be relocated to Shenjing for resettlement.

One is for monitoring and prevention, and the other is to provide welfare protection for key firearms craftsmen.

In order to allow their families to settle down in the capital, the Firearms Department would provide the necessary livelihood assistance.

It was for this reason that Hong Silin's family was able to move from the ordinary Laizhou Prefecture to the prosperous capital at the feet of the emperor.

Hong Silin's son Hong Chengye inherited his father's skills and resumed his business of fireworks making in Shenjing.

After Yongjinzhai reopened in Shenjing, business became more prosperous than before. In addition, Hong Silin became a master craftsman in the Firearms Department, so he not only received a generous salary, but also had a decent background.

For a family like the Hong family, which has been making a living by craftsmanship for generations, having a legitimate official family background is like a blessing of rebirth.

Therefore, they did not mind the alternative reasons for settling in Beijing. They just wanted to use their family skills to work for the government. Naturally, they were grateful to Jia Cong, the head of the Firearms Bureau, for giving them such a godsend opportunity.

The fireworks that Jia Cong customized were complicated to make, and Hong Chengye only had time to make one. However, he asked his wife to bring some things over, and also gave Jia Cong many exquisite and common fireworks as a gift for New Year's entertainment.

After Jia Cong and Daiyu set off the custom-made fireworks, they were still not satisfied, so they thought of inviting their sisters to enjoy them together.

……

Sisters Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, Baochai, Xing Xiuyun and others followed the old woman from the East Palace all the way to the Dengxian Pavilion.

Everyone saw that many glazed lanterns had been set up along the banks of the Meilin Waterfront. The lights reflected on the water, making the waves rippling and adding to the beauty of the scene.

Under the shade of the plum branches and the waterside pavilion, many beautiful figures walked back and forth, their laughter was as loud as bells. Looking closely, they were Zhishao, Wu'er, Qingwen, Yinglian, Lingguan and others in Jia Cong's room.

Several maids had already placed all kinds of fireworks by the water, waiting for Yingchun and the other sisters to arrive, and then Jia Cong had them lit one by one.

The fireworks of Yongjinzhai are well-made and more colorful than ordinary fireworks. They are even more magnificent when lined up by the water and blooming together.

In just a moment, flames appeared by the water, the sky was filled with purple and red, thousands of threads, and countless shooting stars, it was brilliant and dazzling.

Although it is not as beautiful and unique as the stone bridge, red plum blossoms, bright moon and fireworks, it is more grand and magnificent.

The sky is filled with brilliant fireworks, with bright and transparent light illuminating every flower-like smile on the waterside, which seems even brighter and more dazzling than the fireworks in the sky.

……

In the wind and rain corridor of Rongguo Mansion, Baoyu looked everywhere for Daiyu, but finally returned to the big flower hall in vain.

As soon as he entered the hall, he found that most of the people inside were gone. Only Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang and others were talking in the hall. All the other sisters were nowhere to be seen. His round and plump face couldn't help but fall.

……

After New Year’s Eve, from the first to the third day of the New Year, both Jia family residences were extremely busy.

The Jia family is a branch of the Rong state and has been in business for more than eighty years. Whether it is official connections or blood ties, there are many relatives and friends in each family.

Starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year, there was an endless stream of New Year celebrations, visits to relatives and friends, and the inner and outer courtyards of the Rongguo Mansion were filled with people, banquets were held, and people were coming in and out and rubbing shoulders with each other.

In previous years, such matters were dealt with by the male members of the Outer Courtyard, such as Jia She, Jia Zheng, and Jia Lian, while those in the Inner Courtyard were handled by Lady Wang, Wang Xifeng, and others.

Jia Cong didn't need to deal with it at all, at most he would occasionally show up to help Jia Zheng show off the respectability of the Jia family. But this year he was ordered to inherit the title of Rongguo, and as the head of the family who inherited the title, he had to show up for everything during the annual festivals when relatives, friends and nobles visited him, and he couldn't be lazy at all.

Moreover, many of the noble relatives and friends who came to visit him this year came specifically for him, a rising star among the nobles and the young minister most valued by the emperor.

Although Jia Cong was very displeased with this kind of worldly social interactions, he was not as shallow as Baoyu, who would become ignorant and fearless, speak wildly and think himself superior if things did not go his way.

Since he has reached his current position, it is inevitable for him to socialize with old relatives and acquaintances during the New Year holidays, so he has to calm down and deal with it properly.

Except for the second day of the Lunar New Year, I took half a day to go to Luocang Mountain to wish my teacher Liu Jing'an and his wife Cui a happy new year.

The rest of the time lasted until the fourth day of the New Year. All the important relatives, friends and guests had arrived. After several days of non-stop work, he finally relaxed a little.

On the fifth day of the New Year, he accompanied Zhishao to the Muni Temple outside the city to wish Master Xiushan a happy new year.

……

Early in the morning on the sixth day of the New Year, Jia Cong brought a New Year gift and went to a courtyard in the east of Shenjing City, which was the residence of Ai Li and her daughter.

Ai Li's mother, Xu, celebrated the New Year and took Ai Li to Liubiju in Wuma Lane to sit and relax, which was also the place where they often spent time in the past.

Because the Suyang dim sum here is the most authentic in Shenjing City, Ellie likes this kind of sweet, sticky, fragrant and soft one the most.

Sitting by the window on the second floor of Liubiju, Ai Li was concentrating on tasting Liufangju’s famous fruit and honey cake.

She was dressed differently from ordinary girls. She did not wear the jacket with a front opening that girls usually wear at home, but a moon-white Hu robe with light blue embroidered Shu brocade.

She has been practicing swordplay and horse riding since she was a child, and her figure and temperament are taller and more heroic than those of ordinary girls.

She has a slender waist and a straight back, her skin is as white as jade, and a navy blue scented sweat towel is tied around her waist, which makes her slender waist look as if it can be held in one hand, making her figure even more graceful.

She wore a blue headscarf with dark patterns on it, which covered her thick hair, leaving only a few strands of dark golden hair showing in her bun.

She also had a white gauze veil hat next to her. Ever since she returned to the Central Plains with Jia Cong, she developed the habit of wearing a veil hat every time she went out with Jia Cong, because her appearance was slightly different from that of the girls in the Central Plains.

Ellie finished the fruit and honey cake in her hand, glared at him and said, "You are such a heartless person. You only came to see me once before the New Year, and you almost don't remember what I look like.

After the New Year, Zhou Guangcheng took your seal and three pairs of trained birds from me, but you didn't even show up. Now it's halfway through the first lunar month and you've only just thought of me."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Now that I have inherited the family's title, there are many boring things to do. There are many guests to entertain during the New Year holidays. Isn't this coming to see you?"

Ai Li rested her chin on her hand, looking at the people coming and going outside the window, her bright and beautiful eyes as blue as the sea, and said, "Thinking back, it was more refreshing to follow you in Liaodong to kill the enemy and charge into battle."

Now you are getting higher and higher in power, and you have more and more things to do. It is not as interesting as it was in Liaodong before. At that time, I was your bodyguard, accompanied you on horseback to the battlefield, and we could talk and make jokes all the time. "

Jia Cong smiled and said, "There were too many things that happened before the New Year. Now that I'm done with the mundane things of the New Year, I'll have some free time. At most, I can accompany you out for a walk."

……

Ai Li smiled, looking very charming and beautiful, and said: "I will remember this, but you have to be an official in Shenjing, and we can't go far at once.

When we were in Liaodong before, you told me a lot about the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan. I have always wanted to go there with you to see it one day.

Although my mother is also from Jiangnan, she rarely talks to me about her hometown in Jiangnan... "

Ai Li just said it casually, but it made Jia Cong's heart move slightly. He first met Ai Li's mother Xu in Liaodong that year.

I felt that she was not an ordinary border woman.

Xu had a pretty face, with calm eyes and quiet manners, without a trace of the roughness of an ordinary woman. She must have received a good education and influence when she was young.

Ellie once said that her father was a Cossack falconer who was captured by the wild Jurchens, and her mother was from Jiangnan.

But her mother rarely told her daughter about her background.

At that time, Jia Cong guessed that Ai Li's mother would not have come from a poor family in Jiangnan, otherwise she would not have such well-educated behavior and expression.

But a girl from the south of the Yangtze River would go to the desolate north and marry a man of a different ethnicity.

This situation may have occurred because the Xu family fell into poverty and had no choice but to flee to Liaobei.

There is another possibility that she was the wife of a convicted official from the south of the Yangtze River, who was exiled to the frontier and eventually ended up marrying a man of a different ethnicity.

Historically, when officials committed serious crimes, it would be fine if they had their heads and bodies separated, but the most tragic thing was that their female relatives were exiled to a bitter and cold place and suffered abuse...

Perhaps it was for similar reasons that Xu couldn't bear to look back and was unwilling to mention the past with her daughter.

Jia Cong asked, "You said before that your wife was from Jiangnan. Where in Jiangnan is she from?"

Ai Li picked up a piece of fruit and honey cake from the plate, took a bite with her pearly teeth, and said, "My mother never told me that she was from Jiangnan. Sometimes when I asked her out of curiosity, she would get angry.

You know, my mother usually loves me very much and never gets angry with me. She only gets angry when I ask her about her past, so later I didn’t dare to ask anymore.

Actually, my mother is a very capable person. Although my father taught me sword skills and horse riding, he died very early.

Although my mother is weak, she knows a lot. She raised me since I was a child. She is the only literate woman in our town. She taught me more than my father.

A few years ago, my mother fell ill. Although the illness was not serious, she began to talk about wanting to go back to Jiangnan to visit the graves of her old friends and elders. "

Jia Cong said casually, "I wonder where your mother went to Jiangnan to visit the graves of her elders. I have many friends in Jiangnan, so I can take you there and take care of you."

Ai Li thought for a moment and said, "My mother said she wanted to go to Liuhe County..."

Jia Cong was slightly stunned. Liuhe County was under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture. Could it be that Ai Li's mother was also from the vicinity of Jinling?

But Jia Cong didn't dare to ask Ai Li this, because she had just said that her mother Xu didn't like to talk about her background. Even if Ai Li asked out of curiosity, it would make her angry.

In fact, knowing that Xu wanted to go to Liuhe County to pay homage to her parents, Jia Cong could roughly find out Xu's background based on this information alone and the fact that Xu was less than 30 years old.

Although Xu only said that she went to Liuhe County to pay homage to her elders, she did not specify that these were her elders, nor did it mean that Xu was from Liuhe.

But her origins must be closely related to Liuhe County, otherwise she would not have been stranded outside for so many years. When she wanted to return home, the first thing she thought of was Liuhe County.

Qu Hongxiu's Xinchunhao Jiangnan headquarters has been operating in Jinling for several years. With a little effort, people can look up the old stories of Liuhe County from more than ten or twenty years ago.

If there is a wealthy Xu family who has fallen into trouble or committed a crime, or an official Xu family who has been convicted, they can probably trace the Xu family's origins.

But Xu was so secretive about his origins, and his experience of wandering in Liaodong must have hidden a painful past.

As an outsider, it is immoral to pry into other people's private affairs, so Jia Cong would naturally not really do it. (End of this chapter)