Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

In the outskirts of Shenjing City, in the Nunyu Temple, there is the meditation room of Master Xiushan.

When Master Xiushan saw Miaoyu coming in, she said, "Every time Jinghui comes back to see me, I can always see that she looks happy and her eyes are full of joy. It was indeed a good decision to let her follow Yuzhang."

Miaoyu smiled calmly and said, "Now I know that Master has a sharp eye. It is indeed a very good choice for Jinghui to follow him..."

Master Xiushan did not notice her disciple's expression and said, "When I first saw him in Panxiang Temple, he had an extraordinary bearing, a natural demeanor, and a full spiritual energy, which I had never seen before in my life.

I knew he was no ordinary person. He has been extraordinary in everything he has done over the years. He is truly unrivaled. I originally thought Jinghui was just blessed."

Miaoyu couldn't help but smile when she heard this, but she heard the hidden meaning in her master's words and said, "He is excellent in everything, isn't that a good thing? This way Jinghui can follow him and be safe enough."

Master Xiushan said, “But when I looked at his face today, I found that he had a more evil aura than in previous years. Perhaps he had just inherited the title of Dual Lord, and his destiny had changed.

I heard from Zhishao earlier that he was in his prime this year, and when I saw his aura was changing, I casually asked about his and his father’s birthdays, and I felt something was wrong.”

Miaoyu knew that her master, Master Xiushan, was proficient in innate numbers. She had followed her master for more than ten years and had also acquired some of her true skills.

Although she was not as profound as Master Xiushan, she had heard some of the meaning in her words, and she couldn't help but feel a little surprised...

Master Xiushan said: "People's existence in this world is all caused by the interaction of the energy of heaven and earth. It is not accidental, but has traces to follow.

The combination of the four pillars of heavenly stems and earthly branches contains the changes of yin and yang, which are collectively called the Eight Methods. They are deduced according to the mechanism and understand cause and effect.

Parents and children are connected by blood, their Qi is connected, the eight changes of Yin and Yang, divination and fortune are all closely related and must have a destiny.

But I just asked Yu Zhang about his father's date of birth, and compared it with Jia She's mourning period. Using my unique innate numerology, I found that the fates of father and son are not compatible, which goes against common sense...

Now everyone in the world knows that Weiyuan Earl Jia Cong is a descendant of Jia She's concubine, which is a bit strange. "

Miaoyu thought of how she and Jia Cong had just talked over tea in the Zen room, and how they had a tacit understanding and were peaceful and happy. But suddenly she had such a terrifying doubt and felt uneasy.

In her mind, Jia Cong is the blessing of her junior sister Jinghui, so she naturally hopes that nothing unpredictable will happen to him, so as not to involve the fortune or misfortune of others.

"Although the master's innate numbers are mysterious, if one wants to understand the fate, one must have all eight numbers, with the assistance of qi meridians and divination. The calculations are complicated, so even if there are mistakes, it is within common sense."

Master Xiushan said, "You are right. Although I know the year and month of their birth, I do not know the time of their birth. Moreover, I have never seen Jia She's facial features, so it is difficult to make a perfect deduction.

But Jia Cong was a man of extraordinary talent and ability, different from ordinary people. He achieved success at an early age and brought glory to his peers.

However, at Wu Xiang's age, his official rank is already so glorious, his luck is so strong, and his position is so important.

Once such a person's fate is unclear and his birth pattern is unpredictable, it is very easy for him to win today and lose tomorrow, his fortune will collapse, he will be involved in misfortunes, and good luck will turn into bad luck!

Your sister-in-law will either be blessed with great fortune or doomed to failure if she follows a man like him. It is really hard to predict now."

After hearing what her master said, Miaoyu's beautiful eyes sparkled, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if she was thinking about something, with a heavy worry in her heart...

……

Earl's Mansion, Jia Cong Courtyard.

It was already past noon when Jia Cong and Zhi Shao returned to the mansion. Before Wu'er went to the West Mansion, he was worried that they would not be able to return in time, so he asked the kitchen to prepare rice and vegetables in advance.

After their meal, Jia Cong and Zhi Shao returned to the study to work on the day's homework. It was almost sunset when they heard light footsteps outside the yard.

Through the window, Jia Cong saw a beautiful apricot-red shadow outside. The light at the study door flickered, and he saw Tanchun coming in with a sweet smile.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Third sister, you have been gone for quite a long time today. You have only just returned home now. It must have been fun. Did you encounter anything new?"

Tanchun wrinkled her nose slightly, looking somewhat helpless, and said, "I went to Xia's house for most of the day today, but it was really boring. I finally waited until the lady said goodbye, and then I went back home.

I was feeling uncomfortable and wanted to talk to my third brother to cheer me up, but you started making fun of me. There was nothing fun or new about it.

When the lady arrived at the Xia family, Mrs. Xia invited her into the inner room to talk. She talked for a long time but didn't come out. Miss Xia took me to the garden to have tea and talk."

Jia Cong's heart was slightly moved after hearing this. Tanchun's unintentional words made Jia Cong feel something strange.

Logically, when Mrs. Wang brought her daughter to visit, the mother and daughter should talk and entertain each other in the same room. This is the correct etiquette.

But when Tanchun arrived at Xia's house, Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xia kept talking behind closed doors, as if they had deliberately sent Tanchun away, leaving only Miss Xia to accompany her. What were they talking about that Tanchun couldn't bear to hear?
Jia Cong asked, "That's strange. You said that Madam and Madam Xia have only known each other for a short time, so how come they are getting along so well?

They are talking to themselves, and I guess you two former young ladies won't have much to say, so it's bound to be boring."

After hearing what Jia Cong said, Tanchun had a strange look on her face and said, "Third brother, you are wrong. Miss Xia is very talkative. She never stops talking and says a lot."

Jia Cong was slightly curious and asked casually, "This is rare. You haven't seen her many times, but she has so much to say."

Tanchun said, "Miss Xia is very curious about the family background of the Duke and Earl of the Jia family. She asked me a lot about the two mansions and kept asking me to take her to visit the Jia family garden."

Jia Cong felt even more strange after hearing this, and asked, "Last time when Madam Xia and her daughter came to visit the East Courtyard, didn't Madam ask Baoyu to meet the guests? Didn't Miss Xia mention Baoyu?"

Tanchun was slightly startled when she heard this, and blurted out, "Miss Xia asked a lot about family matters, but she never mentioned my second brother. Instead, she often mentioned my third brother..."

Jia Cong was a little surprised when he heard this. Could it be that he had misunderstood? There was no story between Xia Jingui and Baoyu...

When he heard Tanchun say that Xia Jingui mentioned him, he said with some discomfort: "Why did she mention me? We don't know each other. It's really inexplicable."

……

Tanchun thought of what happened at the Xia family today and felt a little strange. Miss Xia was an interesting person and asked a lot of questions about the gossip in the mansion.

For example, are the sisters in the Jia family very close to each other in their daily lives?
I heard that my third sister lives in the Earl's Mansion. She must be loved by Earl Weiyuan?

Miss Xue is a girl from another family. Does she also often go to the Earl's Mansion to hang out and have fun?

There is also a Miss Lin in the mansion. I heard that she is the eldest daughter of the Lin family in Suzhou. She was raised in the Jia family since childhood. She is an extremely outstanding and standard person, and she must be very close to the sisters.

I heard that the main hall of Rongguo Mansion is called Rongxi Hall. It is the residence of the family heads of all generations. It must be a luxurious place, but I don’t know what it looks like?
Questions like these came one after another, leaving Tanchun overwhelmed.

In fact, it is not strange that most people envy the wealth and glory of the Duke's Mansion and ask these questions out of curiosity.

……

Although Tanchun is a rich lady who has been raised in seclusion and does not have much experience with the shady tricks of the outside world, she is a very smart and shrewd woman after all, and is not easy to fool.

Miss Xia had been talking about these kinds of questions intentionally or unintentionally for most of the day, and finally Tanchun noticed something fishy.

In addition, Tanchun has always had deep feelings for her third brother and her thoughts are mostly on him, so she can sense something strange in these words.

That is, whenever Miss Xia talked about the Jia family, it seemed that it always involved her third brother.

Tanchun thought again of the time when the Xia mother and daughter came to visit the East Courtyard, and Miss Xia occasionally mentioned her third brother.

The charming and alluring voice made Tanchun feel a little nauseous involuntarily. Thinking back on the events that had occurred before, she naturally figured out what Miss Xia was thinking.

But as far as Tanchun knew, Miss Xia had only seen the third brother once from a distance, and they had never even spoken a word. This third brother was really...

However, Tanchun was too embarrassed to tell Jia Cong about these speculations.

Because this kind of secret love and admiration in the boudoir was too absurd and inappropriate, Tanchun was too embarrassed to express it to Jia Cong.

Moreover, Tanchun knew clearly in her heart that Jia Cong had mentioned Miss Xia several times. Although she did not know the reason, it was very obvious that he harbored disgust and estrangement towards her in his words.

In addition, the Xia family is just a royal merchant family, and there is a big gap between the Jia and Xia families. That Miss Xia is a little wishful thinking...

Besides, Tanchun still has some childish thoughts in her heart. If she tells this to her third brother and lets him know that there is a girl secretly fancying him, wouldn't he be very proud? Humph!
The two of them only talked about Miss Xia for a while, and then they were too lazy to mention this person. They talked about a lot of daily gossip. Time passed quickly without them noticing, and the sun was setting outside the window.

Jia Cong invited Tanchun to have dinner in his own courtyard, and asked the maid to instruct the kitchen to add a few side dishes that Tanchun liked.

The brother and sister ate and chatted at the same table, laughing and having a great time. Tanchun's boredom at Xia's house during the day was naturally swept away.

When the lights were turned on and the table was cleared, Jia Cong sent Tanchun back to his own courtyard. ...

Shenjing, Qingyufang, Xia Mansion.

Although the Xia family was not a family of officials, they were wealthy and their daily life and meals were very lavish. When the mother and daughter were just eating together, the table was filled with more than ten delicious dishes.

How could the two women have such a big appetite? There were more than ten delicious dishes, but they only took a few bites from each dish with their chopsticks. They finished their dinner and the maids came up to clear away everything. It was quite extravagant.

Compared with Jia Cong and Tanchun, both of them were children of the Duke's Mansion, but the brother and sister had only a few exquisite side dishes for dinner, but they ate happily and seemed very simple and casual.

The mother and daughter of the Xia family waited for the maid to clear the dining table, and then brought a water basin for them to rinse their mouths, and then a warm tea for digestion. After they drank two sips, the table was cleared again. During this time, five or six maids in the main room were busy coming in and out like water.

Although the Xia family is only a royal merchant family, the elegance of their meal alone is no less than that of the Rongguo Jia family, a noble family.

After drinking tea, Miss Xia said, "Mother, you can ask Mrs. Jia to come over today and just visit her. Even if you can help her daughter to get in touch with the palace, it will be considered as my family's connections.

Why should I lend him four thousand taels of silver for nothing? Although my family is rich, the money doesn't come from the wind.

She is just daydreaming and dreaming of becoming a royal relative. She should have wasted her money on her. Why should our family give her money for nothing?

Mrs. Jia's hypocritical look made her daughter angry.

I have inquired about the matter from outside, and they all said that it was because Jia Cong was capable and Baoyu was a fool that the palace allowed Jia Cong to inherit the family title. This is such a good thing.

But Mrs. Jia just couldn't accept it and always had a hard time with her nephew Jia Cong. She caused a lot of dirty things. Why should we help this woman who doesn't save money? "

When Mrs. Xia heard her daughter's words, she couldn't help but frown again. She became particularly excited when her daughter talked about Jia Cong.

She had never spoken a single word to the man, yet she was still protecting him. She was simply hopeless. That boy was so charming that he could make her daughter so infatuated with him.

He said, "My dear daughter, you should calm down a bit and stop mentioning Jia Cong in everything. No one knows you are the one, so why bother? You should think of something serious and reliable.

I was very friendly with Mrs. Jia, and took the trouble to help her plan her daughter's affairs in the palace. I even lent him four thousand taels of silver to do the job. In the final analysis, it was all for you.

Have you forgotten that time when we visited her home, mother specifically brought up the topic and asked Baoyu to come over to meet us. Baoyu is also a legitimate son of the Jia family. "

Miss Xia was also a smart person. When she heard her mother's words, she knew what they meant.

He said unconvincedly, "I was wondering why mother asked that damn Baoyu to come over to meet her last time when she was at Jia's house. So it turns out that she had this idea in mind.

He is still taking such good care of that hypocritical Mrs. Jia. It turns out he wants to help her find a marriage partner. But I don't agree with that.

That Baoyu is a bit silly and seems to be a bit lacking in ideas. It's not like I can't get married, but I don't want someone like him. He can't be compared with Jia Cong at all."

……

Mrs. Xia said angrily, "You are such a troublesome person, you have no shame. You keep calling Jia Cong all the time, but you can forget about him. No matter how much you talk about him, it will be useless.

It is naturally nothing wrong for a family like ours to marry into a family as prominent as the Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Cong is a member of the Rongguo Mansion, so isn't Jia Baoyu the same? Moreover, he is much more convenient than that boy, so isn't he a better path? Don't think you are being too picky."

Miss Xia said, "I have heard about everything. Baoyu was criticized by the clan affairs office, and even the imperial edict called him a fool. He couldn't even pass the examination to become a scholar, so he has no future.

Although he looks good, it depends on who he is compared with. He is not even as good as the mud under Jia Cong's feet. I don't want such a waste! "

Mrs. Xia scolded: "What are you talking about, girl? Just shut up. I advise you to be more polite.

Now you are saying such nonsense at home, and you will be called a bald-mouthed person in the future. Even after you get married, you will still be so outspoken. I wonder how you can live a good life.

What you said does make some sense, but before you criticize someone, you should also consider your own status. You are also a smart person. Do you think Jia Cong is worthy of you?

If our Xia family wants to marry into a noble family, we can only settle for the second best and choose a second-rate young man like Jia Baoyu.

I've inquired around. Because Baoyu has a bad reputation, the daughters of officials' families probably would be wary of marrying him. My Xia family can take advantage of this opportunity.

Although Baoyu failed to pass the imperial examinations and usually hangs out in the inner house instead of hanging out outside, he doesn't have many major problems and can be considered a good person."

Miss Xia was so angry at her mother's words that her face turned pale. When she thought of Jia Cong's handsome and majestic appearance, and compared it with Baoyu's effeminate and stupid character, she felt very unwilling.

She said, "Mom, I am your biological daughter, why are you treating me so badly? Why are you trying to stuff these junk that no one else wants on me? I don't want it!"

……

Mrs. Xia said with some regret, "Silly daughter, Baoyu just sounds bad, but in fact, this is the most practical.

He is a legitimate descendant of the Rongguo Mansion, and this identity is real, without any falsehood.

As for the fact that he could not go to school and become an official, what did it matter? The Jia family and the Xia family were both wealthy families. They would never have to worry about food and clothing all their lives. Not becoming an official would reduce troubles and make life more affordable.

He is not like Mr. Xue, who would mess around outside. You think he is a little silly, but that's just because he is easy to control. Once he enters the house, you can hold him in your hand. How refreshing.

In addition, his wife has been traveling around these days and knows about our Xia family's connections and wealth. She won't dare to treat you badly when she becomes your mother-in-law in the future. It's a very worthwhile thing to do.

There is another advantage that is not usually obvious. Although the second branch of the Jia family is now called a concubine, they all live in the side courtyard of the Rongguo Mansion.

But Jia Baoyu is different from others. I have spent a lot of money to make inquiries carefully. The grandson that the lady of the Jia family loves most is not Weiyuan Earl Jia Cong, but Jia Baoyu.

Even though the second wife moved to the side courtyard, the old lady was reluctant to let Baoyu move away, and kept him in the Rongguo Mansion on a daily basis. When Baoyu got married in the future, the old lady would keep him by her side.

My dear daughter, you have to think carefully. Jia Cong's status is too high and unattainable. You have absolutely no hope.

If you had chosen Baoyu, you could still marry into the Rongguo Mansion legitimately and become a proper lady of the Rongguo Mansion. What a respectable thing that would be.

If you think about it carefully, marrying Baoyu and marrying Jia Cong are actually the same in essence. Why bother climbing that cliff that could kill you? "

Miss Xia was originally filled with resentment, but when she heard her mother's tortuous reasoning, her beautiful eyes suddenly lit up, wondering how could she not have done such a thing.

Although she was willful and capricious, she was also smart and capable. She was naturally aware that there was a huge gap between her and Jia Cong in every aspect. She was just unwilling to accept this and was being unreasonable.

These words from Mrs. Xia, the serious grandmother of the Rongguo Mansion, struck Miss Xia's heart like lightning, causing her to feel a slightly morbid intoxication and reverie.

When Mrs. Xia saw her daughter's expression, she realized that her words had touched her daughter, and she couldn't help but feel relieved.

In Mrs. Xia's view, her daughter's infatuation with Jia Cong was only because she was attracted by his noble status as the head of the Rongguo Mansion, so that she could become a legitimate grandmother in the Rongguo Mansion in the future and grab this superior status.

The circuitous reasoning he had just given was exactly what his daughter wanted.

She saw her daughter's eyes flickering, and she knew that no one knows a daughter better than her mother, and she knew that her heart must be in turmoil.

At this juncture, it is necessary to arouse the daughter's mind and give her a push so that she can slowly agree to this matter. Only then can the Xia family truly secure a backer like the Jia family.

He said: "This is just my wishful thinking. If Mrs. Jia knew my thoughts, she might not agree to this marriage.

Don't think that others will come forward to help you. Even if you are willing, it depends on whether they are willing or not. There is nothing even started yet.

If her eldest daughter really wins the emperor's favor in the palace, the power of the second branch of the Jia family will rise. By then, Jia Baoyu will be the emperor's uncle and will be as precious as Jia Cong. Then it will be all in vain."

Although Miss Xia was infatuated with Jia Cong's handsomeness, it was one-sided after all. After listening to her mother's persuasion, she became more and more shaky...

……

The mother and daughter were thinking about their own things when Mrs. Xia's confidant, Mrs. Chen, came in hurriedly.

He said, "Madam, news just came in from outside that Princess Zhao suddenly became seriously ill an hour ago and passed away!"

When Mrs. Xia heard this, her face changed. Even Miss Xia, who was thinking about something, immediately came to her senses and looked surprised. (End of this chapter)