Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Ningrong Street, Earl's Mansion, Dengxian Pavilion.

As March approaches, the spring breeze becomes warm and the cold weather melts away.

Soft ivory curtains are hung around the Dengxian Pavilion, gently swaying in the spring breeze, exuding a soft and leisurely charm.

The roof of the pavilion is covered with blue-gray glazed tiles, which reflect a deep glow in the morning light.

The flying eaves extending on all sides block the glare of the sun, but allow the warm spring light to shine into the pavilion, making the inside bright and clear.

In a sunny corner of the pavilion, there is a desk with four or five books on it, rice paper, and writing brushes and ink.

Jia Cong was sitting in an armchair, reading a book quietly, his expression focused and comfortable. The spring breeze blew in from outside the pavilion, and the hairband on his head fluttered slightly in the wind.

Yinglian wore a jacket embroidered with apricot-red magnolia branches, a plain white cotton horse-faced skirt, and a necklace made of red gold.

She held a book in her left hand, supported her pretty face with her right hand, leaned on the desk, and dozed off in the warm spring sunshine.

……

Jia Cong wrote and read in his study every day. A few days ago, he felt a little depressed, so he set up a desk on the Dengxian Pavilion as the spring weather outside was unusually bright.

After nearly half a year of hard study, not only did he become more familiar with the meaning of the classics, but his eight-legged essays became more and more proficient. He also quite approved of Liu Jing'an's daily comments, and he was 80% sure that he would pass the imperial examination.

On the other side of the pavilion there was a chessboard where Shi Xiangyun and Xing Xiuyun were playing chess. The two of them were playing in silence, with only the occasional sound of chess pieces falling on the board.

Among the sisters, Xiangyun is the best at chess, but her skills are much inferior to Yingchun's. Whenever they play chess, she usually loses more than she wins, which makes Xiangyun, who is always competitive, quite bored.

Fortunately, Xing Xiuyan had an open-minded nature and a generous style of play, and she did not care about winning or losing. The two of them were actually evenly matched, so they often enjoyed playing chess against each other.

Jia Cong had been studying in Dengxian Pavilion these past two days, so the two of them had come together to keep him company and join in the fun.

When the chess game was almost over, Lingguan entered the pavilion. Jia Cong gave a few instructions, and Lingguan woke up the dozing Yinglian. Then they went out together, and no one knew what they were busy with.

When the sun gradually rose higher, Xing Xiuyan had lost seven or eight pieces, so she smiled and admitted defeat.

Xiangyun was quite proud of winning the game and was just about to clear the board for another round when Yingchun's maid Xiu Ju came over with a message, saying that the second and third young ladies were visiting the West Mansion and invited her to go with them.

Xiangyun thought that Baoyu had a strange disease. Although it was a bit ridiculous, they were sisters who grew up together after all. She hadn't visited him for a few days, so she took the opportunity to go and visit him.

Xing Xiuyan stayed to clean up the chessboard and chess pieces. She turned around to look at Jia Cong who was reading. Seeing that the tea in his cup was half full, she stood up and lit the fire on the tea stove.

After a while, white smoke rose from the tea stove, and she picked up the kettle and heated the cup, then filled Jia Cong's cup.

Xing Xiuyun learned reading and writing from Miaoyu since she was a child, and also learned Miaoyu's exquisite tea art.

Jia Cong saw her skill in making tea, and every move she made was graceful and elegant, which was very pleasing to the eye.

Jia Cong saw Xing Xiuyan's pretty face through the mist of tea. There was a trace of haggardness on her face, which made her look somewhat pitiful.

Asked: "Is your uncle's illness much better now?"

……

The Xing family's ancestral home is in Jiangnan. Xing Xiuyan's father, Xing Zhong, has lived in Suyang for half his life. Since he came to Shenjing to live with Madam Xing last year, his life has been much more comfortable than in Gusu.

However, since Xing Zhong was a southerner living in the north, and he was over fifty years old, he was not as strong as young people. He was not used to the climate and water there, and contracted an acute illness after the New Year. He was unable to get out of bed for more than ten days, and his situation was rather dangerous.

Xing Xiuyan served and took care of him day and night, and after more than ten days, he looked much less haggard.

Xing Xiuyan smiled and said, "Thanks to my cousin for inviting Doctor Zhang, my father has taken seven or eight days of medicine and has recovered greatly. He is now walking around normally and eating well.

My mother saw that I was having a hard time, so she didn’t let me stay with her every day and asked me… asked me to come back first.”

When Xing Xiuyan finished speaking, a slight blush appeared on her face, making her look even more pretty and lovely.

Jia Cong asked Xing Xiuyan to sit next to him, and also refilled her cup of tea, saying: "My uncle is old, and it is normal for people from the south to move north and not be able to adapt to the local climate.

After this treatment with the herbal medicine, I will not suffer from water-related diseases again, and my cousin can rest assured."

Xing Xiuyan took the teacup, took a sip, looked at Jia Cong's warm and handsome smile, and faced the soothing spring breeze outside the pavilion, feeling warm in her heart.

……

At that time, Jia Cong was constantly rising in the Jia family, and because of his contribution to the pacification of Liaodong, he was granted the hereditary title of Weiyuan Earl.

Because Mrs. Xing had abused this illegitimate son since he was a child, she thought that Jia Cong was of humble origin, not even as good as the dirt outside the second gate. She never expected that he could become so successful.

She was greedy and money-loving by nature, and as Jia Cong's biological mother, she naturally could not easily miss out on such power, wealth and convenience.

But she and Jia Cong had a bad relationship since childhood, so she really couldn't find a reason to get close to him.

So when Jia Cong was about to reach the age of dancing elephants, she fantasized about betrothing her niece Xing Xiuyan to Jia Cong as his wife so that she could also share in the wealth and benefits of the Earl's Mansion.

However, she didn't expect that Lady Jia was a hundred times more shrewd than her. In order to remove obstacles for her niece's granddaughter Shi Xiangyun, she used verbal attacks to trick Lady Xing's wife into taking a concubine.

When Lady Jia said this in Rongqing Hall, many people in the Jia family heard it with their own ears. This not only stopped Mrs. Xing's thoughts, but also invisibly confirmed Xing Xiuyun's status.

Although Yingchun and other sisters do not mention this matter in daily life, they all treat Xing Xiuyan differently in their hearts.

Yingchun even placed Xing Xiuyun in her own courtyard, taking meticulous care of her food, clothing, housing and transportation, treating her as if she were Jia Cong's concubine who was just too young to be taken in, and kept her by her side.

Mrs. Xing was so embarrassed by being fooled by Lady Jia that she was too embarrassed to tell her brothers the truth, but there was no way she could keep such a thing secret.

Mr. and Mrs. Xing Zhong thought they were lucky enough that their daughter had married into such a wealthy family. However, they were naturally very disappointed when Mrs. Xing embarrassedly confessed the truth.

Mrs. Xing's father was once an official in the imperial court. Although his official position was low, the Xing family was considered to be of a respectable official family. It was a shameful thing for the legitimate daughter of the family to become a concubine.

Although Xing Zhong was unwilling in his heart, Jia's grandmother had already spread the news in Rongqing Hall in order to prevent future troubles. In this world, people's gossip has always been terrible and will spread by word of mouth.

The couple wanted to find a good match for their daughter in the capital, but others were worried about the rumors about the Jia family and didn't dare to get involved.

In order to justify herself, Mrs. Xing exaggerated and praised her illegitimate son, whom she had cursed in her heart all day long, in front of her brother and his wife, making it seem like nothing she had ever seen before.

But the unhappiness in the hearts of Xing Zhong and his wife still could not be completely eliminated. They felt that they had traveled thousands of miles to be tricked by their own sister.

But now that things have come to this, it seems that they cannot be undone.

I heard that the nominal niece, now the eldest daughter of the Earl's Mansion, loves her daughter very much and takes good care of her on a daily basis.

Although being a concubine was not very decent, the young Earl of Weiyuan was powerful and prominent, so it was still a good destination for his daughter.

They could only turn a blind eye and let their daughter be raised in the Earl's Mansion...

……

However, Xing Zhong and his wife never expected that not long after their family arrived in Shenjing, their brother-in-law Jia She, who was a noble lord, suddenly had an accident and died.

What was even more unexpected was that Jia Lian, who had originally been able to inherit the title, was convicted and exiled to Liaodong because he was involved in the Datong Salt and Iron Case, and the Jia family's title was actually inherited by Jia Cong.

Jia Cong also became the co-master of the East and West Mansions of the Jia family. As a fifteen-year-old boy, he possessed the astonishing power and glory of inheriting two titles, and also shattered the last bit of reserve in the hearts of Xing Zhong and his wife.

This time, Xing Zhong fell seriously ill, and Xing Xiuyan went out of the house to take care of him for more than ten days. It was thanks to Jia Cong's invitation of Zhang Youshi to treat Xing Zhong that his condition was finally stabilized.

As soon as Xing Zhong's condition stabilized, Xing's mother urged Xing Xiuyan to return home, as if her daughter would lose Jia Cong's favor if she left the Earl's Mansion for too long.

However, Xing's mother didn't know that Jia Cong's daily life was taken care of by his trusted maids, and Xing Xiuyun had no say in anything. In addition, Jia Cong was busy studying in the past six months, and the two of them had few opportunities to get close to each other on a daily basis.

……

The first time Jia Cong went to Jinling, he was looking for Zhishao and tracked her all the way to Gusu. He met Xing Xiuyan for the first time at Panxiang Temple.

At that time, Xing Xiuyun was still a young girl. When Jia Cong went to Jinling for the second time and met Xing Xiuyun again, she had grown into a graceful girl.

When Xing Xiuyan first met Jia Cong, she was still naive and didn't even know that Jia Cong was her aunt's illegitimate son and that they were cousins, but she already admired Jia Cong's literary talent. A few years later, they met again in Suzhou, and Jia Cong was even more charming than before. Xing Xiuyan was also aroused by a letter from her aunt about marriage, which was arousing her desire at the age of 16.

But Xing Xiuyun had followed Miaoyu in reading and writing since she was a child, and was deeply influenced by Buddhist philosophy and Zen books. She had an open and calm mind, and was much wiser and clearer than her parents.

She knew that with her family background, it was difficult for her to hope to become Jia Cong's principal wife, so she never had the entanglement that her parents had. As long as fate dictated it, she would just go with the flow and be content as long as he could always be by her side.

Since entering the mansion, Xing Xiuyan usually went in and out of Jia Cong's courtyard with her sisters, and the two of them rarely met alone.

……

Sitting together and drinking tea like this was something that she was very happy with.

Although she is still a young girl, she is still in love. With her lover by her side, her heart is beating fast. She seems to hear the sound of her own heartbeat and her face feels a little hot.

In order to hide her embarrassment, she picked up the teapot and refilled Jia Cong's teacup.

When she picked up the pot, her sleeves fluttered, her hair was black at her temples, and her cheeks were rosy. Jia Cong could smell the faint scent of powder on her body, as well as a hint of the sweet and moving fragrance of a young girl.

As he glanced over, he could still see a hint of bright pink on the rim of the girl's teacup, which was refreshing.

The fragrance of tea is overflowing in the hand, the daughter is charming beside him, and the spring sun is shining outside the pavilion. It is a good time.

……

On the south slope below Dengxian Pavilion is a plum forest that was newly planted at the end of last year.

The plum trees planted here were transplanted from Xuanmu Mountain in Gusu by Zhishao at Daiyu's request.

In the depths of winter, Daiyu was able to enjoy the magnificent sight of plum blossoms blooming in her hometown, in the capital.

Therefore, Daiyu loved this plum forest very much. She often came here to stroll and appreciate the plum blossoms, and would prune branches and water the trees in her spare time.

It is now March. The plum blossoms that bloomed at the end of last year have fallen to the ground, and new green leaves are dotted on the branches of the plum trees.

Daiyu took Zijuan for a walk in the plum grove, laughing and talking, her skirts fluttering in the wind. They picked up the withered fallen flowers on the ground and put them into the prepared silk ribbons. There was a flower hoe with a purple bamboo handle leaning against the foot of the tree.

These plum trees from Suzhou are the mark of Daiyu's hometown. These withered flowers in the dust once pleased her throughout the cold winter.

Now, he couldn't bear to see them rot in the mud, so he decided to pick up the buried flowers.

The two were busy when they heard footsteps coming from the edge of the plum forest. They saw Yinglian and Lingguan holding up their skirts and running quickly into the forest, and they seemed to be holding something in their hands.

Daiyu laughed and said, "You two are in such a hurry, what are you doing?"

Lingguan was holding a light yellow bag in her hand, which had very fine holes on it and looked a bit strange.

She said, "A few days ago, the plum blossoms began to wither, and the Third Master asked Sister Wu'er to find someone to make this kind of bag. Today, I saw the young lady collecting the fallen flowers, so the Third Master asked me to get it for her to use."

Daiyu took the strange bag from Lingguan and found it very light in her hand, as if it held nothing. The bag also felt noticeably rough to the touch.

She was curious and asked, "Brother, is there anything special about making this kind of bag? Can it be used to hold fallen flowers?"

Lingguan laughed and said, "Third Master said to put the fallen petals in a silk bag and bury it in the soil. The silk is tight and will not be damaged for a long time. However, the fallen petals will rot in vain and are not clean.

The bag that the Third Master had made was made of top-quality raw hemp. The girl filled it with flower petals and buried it in the ground.

It won’t be long before the sack and the fallen flowers will dissolve into the soil, and they can also nourish the roots of the flowers, which will make it cleaner.”

Daiyu was surprised when she heard this and asked, "This is really strange. Could it be that Third Brother knew that I was going to collect the fallen flowers and made this novel bag in advance?"

Yinglian was honest and straightforward. She would think things through directly rather than in a roundabout way. She smiled and said, "What's so strange about this? The young master is a great man and can think of everything."

Daiyu smiled. She was not like Yinglian, who worshipped Jia Cong blindly, but this was a good thing after all.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look towards Dengxian Pavilion, and just in time she saw Jia Cong and Xing Xiuyan leaning on the railings of the pavilion, waving at her.

Daiyu also smiled and raised the small linen bag in her hand, waving it at Jia Cong.

……

In the plum forest, Jia Cong and Xing Xiuyan also came to help pick up the fallen flowers. Daiyu asked curiously, "Could it be that Third Brother could foresee the future and thought of making a flower bag that would be useful?"

Jia Cong laughed and said, "This is not a prophecy. I see that my sister loves this plum forest very much. I just share the same idea with her..."

Although Daiyu still had some doubts in her heart, when she thought about it again, her heart was filled with warm affection. Perhaps it was God's will that her third brother could understand and protect her so well. This made her life worth it.

Jia Cong recalled the farce in Baoyu's room a few days ago, which finally eliminated the last trace of fate in the original context...

In the plum grove, the spring is bright and the ground is covered with fallen petals. Daiyu has a graceful figure, a sweet smile, and is as beautiful as an immortal.

There is still the burial of flowers in this life, but there is no more heartbreak and sorrow as in the previous life. The love of family members is still there, the love is recast, and there is only pure joy in the world.

……

Chunhua Tower, west of Shenjing City.

The mansion of Marquis Weiyuan is filled with spring scenery and warmth and beauty, like a paradise on earth. However, the world outside the mansion is always turbulent and unsettled.

As the date of the Spring Examination approaches, referring to the schedule of the examinations in previous years, the day when the imperial edict of the chief examiner of the Spring Examination will be issued is only a few days away.

Perhaps it was the blue-covered booklet circulating in the market that invisibly fueled the trend. During this period, candidates going to take the imperial examinations sent letters to pay respects, held banquets to chat, and called friends to gather together, and the trend became increasingly intense.

And because of the guidance of the blue booklet, a group of official elites and former imperial examination favorites who were sought after by students gradually showed their own style in this trend.

In those years, Gao Dexun, with his rich experience, was regarded as a popular candidate for the spring examination.

When the candidates came to pay visits, most of them behaved in a similar way. Some of them refused visitors with their doors closed, while others were cautious in their responses, not breaking the barriers and leaving no room for gossip.

As for those who lack the qualifications and are only candidates for assistant examiners, or whose official positions are only suitable for the spring examination, they do not have to worry about so many things.

Their role in the Spring Examination was mostly insignificant due to their limited official qualifications. If they could participate in the Spring Examination, the greatest benefit they could gain would be to accumulate rich experience in their official career.

In previous spring examinations, this group of officials were rarely sought after and paid homage to candidates before the examinations.

But before the Spring Examination this year, because of the blue cover booklet, these officials who were not the main characters of the Spring Examination unexpectedly got many opportunities to be visited and met by the candidates.

The reason for this is that the candidates of this year, with the blue booklet in their hands to guide them, are eager to pass the imperial examination and are willing to learn from others.

All officials whose names were listed in the blue booklet were more or less visited and sought after by candidates because of their official positions, talents, and reputation among scholars.

This is also an excellent opportunity for officials who do not have enough qualifications to become the chief officer of the Spring Examination to improve their popularity, build reputation and expand their network.

In addition, all the officials selected in the blue booklet, even if they had little qualifications, had been ranked above the second class. They were the real pride of the imperial examinations and were people of outstanding talent and learning.

So, when they faced visits and acquaintances from the younger generation of candidates, some responded cautiously, some treated them warmly, some spoke carefully, and some liked to teach others. There were all kinds of responses.

Even though the door is open to welcome guests, to exchange ideas, to analyze the direction of the Spring Examination, and to be keen on supporting young talents, there is no shortage of people who come and go with a lot of fanfare.

Many of the officials who were more open-minded and showed off their talents, based on their own knowledge and experience in the imperial examinations, also put forward their own speculations on the direction of the questions in this spring's imperial examinations...

In fact, such things are not uncommon in previous spring examinations.

This situation is becoming increasingly common in some smaller teacher-student groups.

For example, when the spring examination was approaching, Liu Jing'an would draw up various examination topics for his closed disciple, which was also the focus of Jia Cong's daily thinking about writing.

Before the imperial examination every spring, famous scholars of the Great Zhou and well-known academies in various states would compile collections of contemporary essays, either to make huge profits by selling the collections or to guide students to improve their chances of passing the examination.

These collections of contemporary essays not only include famous imperial examination essays that have been circulated in previous years, but also many guesses about the eight-part essay topics for the current spring examination, which are similar to the guessing simulations of various major examinations in later generations.

As the Spring Examination drew closer, these proposed topics for the examination, which were speculated by the officials in the hall, were circulated among different groups of candidates in various ways... (End of this chapter)