Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

March 15th, the 15th year of Jiazhao.

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Standing on the marble screen outside the hall, Wu'er was wearing a light yellow double-breasted jacket with dark patterns and a moon-white long skirt embroidered with plum trees. Behind her was a little maid holding an exquisite bamboo basket in her hands.

At this time, Yuanyang came out from the hall and said with a smile: "Sister Wu'er, can you tell me something good to talk to me about?"

Wu Er smiled and said, "Because the Third Master is going to take the imperial examination, Lingguan went out to buy a batch of top-quality southern and northern delicacies from the East Palace and prepared to cook them for the Third Master to bring to the Imperial Examination Hall.

Now that Second Madam is pregnant, the best southern food is somewhat nourishing, Third Master asked Second Madam to send some, and this portion is for Old Madam, just to give her a taste of something new. "

Lingguan bought a lot of high-quality southern goods, but Jia Cong only needed a small amount of them when he was about to use them, and most of them were actually kept for future use.

Jia Cong thought that whether Wang Xifeng had been busy with the matter of entering the bedroom or the reduction and reorganization of the population in the West Palace recently, regardless of whether she had selfish motives or not, it was beneficial to the family after all and was quite busy.

She asked Wu'er to pack some high-quality southern products and send them to Wang Xifeng. Since they were given to Wang Xifeng, it would naturally be good for Lady Jia to do the same.

Yuanyang smiled and said, "Third Master is really thoughtful. He thinks about the old lady in all these matters. Who is Lingguan? Which girl did Third Master bring back from Jiangnan?"

As the two were talking, they heard the clatter of jewelry in front of them and saw the fluttering of skirts and gowns as several women approached, led by none other than Lady Wang.

Wu'er didn't know the other two people following behind, but Yuanyang had seen them at Mrs. Wang's birthday party that day. They were the mother and daughter of the Guihua and Xia family.

……

That day, when Mrs. Wang heard that more than half of Baoyu's maids and servants had been laid off by Wang Xifeng, she felt greatly embarrassed.

Fortunately, Mrs. Xia persuaded Baoyu that it was not a big deal for him to lose a few maids. As long as he could maintain his status in the West Mansion, it would be a long-term plan.

After listening to Mrs. Xia's persuasive words, Mrs. Wang gave up the idea of ​​going to the West Mansion to argue with Wang Xifeng and complain to Lady Jia.

Perhaps it was the panic of the second house's decline, the pressure of various external and internal factors, and Mrs. Xia's provocation of "relying on her father's status" that finally made Mrs. Wang develop some thoughts about Miss Xia.

Mrs. Xia was shrewd and cunning. She knew Mrs. Wang's intentions well, so she naturally went along with everything. These days, the two families had increasingly close contacts.

After mid-March, it is the season when camellia flowers are in full bloom. The Xia family of Guihua is in the flower and tree business, so the number of precious flower species at home is no less than that in the imperial gardens of the palace.

In order to get along well with Lady Wang, Mrs. Xia gave her a pair of rare cinnabar purple robes. This precious camellia only grows in Yunnan and is very rare in the capital.

Mrs. Wang didn't know whether she understood the value of this famous tea that was more expensive than gold, but because she had feelings for Miss Xia, she would be pleased if the mother and daughter of the Xia family came to visit her.

Mrs. Xia was an extremely clever person. Not only was she good at bewitching people, she also knew how to strike while the enemy was at it.

Seeing that she had made Mrs. Wang happy, she said that she had come to the Jia Mansion twice but had not visited the old lady, which was a bit rude.

Mrs. Wang had already had feelings for Miss Xia and was thinking of spending more time with Lady Jia. With Lady Jia's involvement, things would be more logical and they would naturally hit it off.

So he took the Xia family mother and daughter, out of the black oil gate of the East Mansion, and went around to the West Mansion to visit Lady Jia.

But I didn’t expect that before I entered Rongqing Hall, I met Yuanyang and Wuer at the entrance of the hall.

……

Mrs. Wang was fine when she saw Yuanyang, but when she saw Wu'er also appear at the entrance of Rongqing Hall, she couldn't help but frown slightly.

Perhaps because she hated Jia Cong, Mrs. Wang was fed up with him and naturally disliked the maids around him.

She always felt that those maids were all coquettish and looked like bad people.

Since Zhishao usually stayed in the East Palace and rarely visited the West Palace, and since she had some connections with the palace, people were a little wary of her, so Mrs. Wang did not dare to show any unkindness to her.

Qingwen was originally Lady Jia's maid and had some status in the West Mansion. Yinglian was not a servant of the Jia family at all, and she was born with a beautiful appearance, so even Lady Jia liked her.

None of the Wang ladies could show their disapproval, except Wu'er. In her eyes, she was just a kitchen servant's daughter and could express her disdain without any scruples.

In addition, Wu'er was assigned by Jia Cong to manage household affairs in the West Mansion with Wang Xifeng. Mrs. Wang was reluctant to leave her old position and felt even more that a lowly maid had climbed over her head.

So naturally she didn't have a good face when she saw Wu'er. Even when Wu'er and Yuanyang greeted her according to the rules, she only nodded to Yuanyang and treated Wu'er as if he didn't matter.

……

But Miss Xia on the side was different. As soon as she arrived at the entrance of Rongqing Hall, she noticed Wu'er almost at first sight.

That day, Mrs. Wang slandered Jia Cong in front of her and her daughter, saying that he only picked the prettiest maids in the mansion to work, and even brought beautiful nuns and actors from outside into the mansion.

After hearing these words, Miss Xia resented Jia Cong for being too romantic, but at this point, Jia Cong and she were still not related at all, so such thoughts were too ridiculous.

Her mind seemed to be bewitched by this incident, and she looked a little weird and sickly. As soon as she entered the West Mansion, she kept looking at the maids passing by, to see if there were any beauties who could catch Jia Cong's eye.

However, along the way, there were many maids in Rongguo Mansion who were good-looking, but none of them were worthy of the word beautiful, which made Miss Xia happy.

When she arrived at the entrance of Rongqing Hall, she immediately noticed Wu'er.

Miss Xia had seen Yuanyang at Lady Wang’s birthday banquet, but this was her first time seeing Wu’er. She was very proud of the pretty, delicate and graceful girl.

Miss Xia has always been proud of her beauty, but when she saw Wu'er's gracefulness, she actually felt a little pressured.

She also saw that Wu'er was wearing exquisite clothes, with gold hairpins and jade ornaments, and was well dressed. She did not dress like a maid at all, but rather like a young lady in a mansion.

But she had met several young ladies from the Jia family at Lady Wang's birthday banquet that day, and none of them looked like the one before her.

She didn't know the real reason. The reason was that Jia Cong doted on and protected his personal maids, and didn't like them to dress like ordinary maids in old-fashioned red clothes and green jackets.

Ever since he moved into his mansion, he has bought new clothes and jewelry for his maids, the best they could wear. But now, from Zhishao onwards, no one in the room is wearing maid's attire.

Wu'er was sent by Jia Cong to the West Mansion to assist Wang Xifeng in managing household affairs. As she was already favored by Jia Cong and because of the prestige of the East Mansion, she had to pay attention to her daily dress.

Wang Xifeng was Jia Cong's confidant, so with her sophistication and worldly wisdom, how could she not try to win over Wu'er and show her favor to her? She gave her a lot of high-quality clothes and jewelry.

Therefore, when Miss Xia saw Wu'er, she found that she was not only extremely beautiful, but also dressed in a way that did not look like a maid at all.

……

Wait until Mrs. Wang brought the Xia mother and daughter into Rongqing Hall.

Grandmother Jia liked the hustle and bustle of the place, and Mrs. Xia was a very eloquent person, so she just chatted with Grandmother Jia for a few words and made her very happy.

Grandmother Jia was in a good mood and kept praising Miss Xia for her beautiful appearance and the demeanor of a lady from a noble family, which was very rare.

Mrs. Wang saw that the atmosphere was harmonious, which was exactly what she wanted, and she agreed with many of the comments. Mrs. Xia felt more confident after hearing this, and felt as if she was sitting on a safe platform.

At this time, Yuanyang was carrying an exquisite bamboo basket and told Lady Jia about Wu'er's delivery of southern goods.

Grandmother Jia also felt a little embarrassed in front of others, and said: "Brother Cong only knows how to hide in his room and study, and doesn't care about the affairs of the family. But this Wu'er is more careful than him and understands the ways of the world."

Yuanyang smiled after hearing this, and naturally did not say anything.

Now there are only two masters in the West Mansion, the Second Madam and the Old Lady. From what Wu'er said just now, I knew that the Third Master actually only gave things to the Second Madam, and might not have even mentioned the Old Lady. It was probably Wu'er who was being considerate and trying to save face for his master.

Mrs. Wang felt a little uncomfortable when she heard Lady Jia's implicit words praising that dead girl Wu'er.

Suddenly, someone next to me asked, "The woman who was talking to Miss Yuanyang just now is the young lady from the mansion. She sounds like she is from the East Mansion. How come I have never seen her before?"

Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xia were both a little surprised to see Miss Xia suddenly speak and ask such an irrelevant question.

Little did they know that Miss Xia's sexual desires were twisted, and because of Madam Wang's slanderous words, she developed a strange obsession with the beautiful women who walked around the West Mansion.

Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "She is Wu'er, Cong'er's personal maid. She is not a young lady at all. She is a maid born in the Jia family. She is smart and capable."

Mrs. Xia flattered on the side: "The Rongguo Jia family is indeed a family of nobles and the old lady is also very good at managing the household. I saw it with my own eyes just now. Even a maid is so outstanding. It really opened my eyes."

After hearing this, Jia's mother smiled and felt very happy. She said with a smile: "Wu'er has been serving Cong'er since he was a child, so he is naturally a better person.

Now she is helping Cong-ge to manage the household affairs of the West Mansion, but not every maid in the family is like this."

Yuanyang smiled when she heard this. The old lady's words made it sound as if she valued the Third Master so much that she specially picked good maids to serve him. It was also a way to save face in front of outsiders.

Grandmother Jia continued, "Originally, when Cong was over fifteen, I was going to pick a good one for him to marry, but he insisted on taking this Wu'er first. He is also a protective person."

Mrs. Xia was somewhat accustomed to such things happening in wealthy families and did not take them seriously. She just echoed the others' comments.

When Miss Xia who was standing by heard this, she felt so sour that she became a little upset.

After all this time, it turned out that the woman was just a servant of the Jia family and Jia Cong's maid, but he still wanted to take her as his concubine. No wonder she looked so coquettish!
I thought Jia Cong was a good person, but it turned out he was a pervert. He only liked this kind of promiscuous people, but I didn't know whether nuns and actors were also of this kind.

The Jia family is a lawless place. Jia Cong has no wife to discipline him, so he behaves recklessly. He even praises a servant girl to such a high esteem!

……

Shenjing, Wenhan Street, Xiao’s Bookstore.

After leaving Huang's house, Sun Shouzheng did not return to his own residence immediately. Instead, he called a carriage and went to Wenhan Street to find the Xiao family bookstore that Huang Hongcang mentioned.

He was grateful for Huang Hongcang's support and had also heard of Huang Hongcang's talent and literary reputation. After a conversation with him in Huang's study, he admired Huang Hongcang's knowledge and breadth of mind.

When he heard Huang Hongcang highly praise Liu Jichuan's articles, he naturally became more curious.

When he was a teenager, he often heard about Liu Jichuan's deeds. Because he missed the former Song Dynasty, he wrote articles to criticize Emperor Taizu's founding of the country. Although Emperor Taizu did not punish him for this, it was inevitable that he was not recognized by the Great Zhou government and was even deliberately ignored and excluded.

In the first fifty years of the Great Zhou Dynasty, although Liu Jichuan's articles and books were not explicitly boycotted by the government, they were probably in a semi-banned state.

But even so, Liu Jichuan's literary reputation is still circulated among scholars, which shows that he must have extraordinary qualities.

A talent like Huang Hongcang, who was ranked second in the imperial examination, and famous officials and scholars all praised his articles so highly, which shows that this man has an extraordinary cultural heritage.

In fact, when Sun Shouzheng was young, he had some curiosity about Liu Jichuan, a taboo figure.

It's just that scholars at this age are full of vigor and vitality and inevitably yearn for strange and adventurous things. It's just that Liu Jichuan's writings are rarely circulated, so he has never been able to do so.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has been established for nearly a hundred years. Due to the long time, no one cares about Liu Jichuan's trivial deeds in the past, but it is still difficult to change the fact that his works are rarely circulated.

Now that he has received Huang Hongcang's guidance, Sun Shouzheng will naturally not miss such elegant fun.

Of course, Sun Shouzheng cared about this matter and went to look for Xiao's bookstore as soon as he left Huang's house. There was another hidden reason for this.

Just now when he went to visit Huang's house, he saw piles of ancient books on the desk in Huang Hongcang's study, many of which were being read, and there were also several sheets of rice paper covered with words.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Although it was not convenient for him to read it in detail, he could guess that Huang Hongcang, as one of the chief examiners of the Spring Examination, was responsible for setting the questions for the examination.

Those piled-up and flipped classics and those rice papers soaked with ink must have been the test questions that Huang Hongcang was painstakingly compiling.

And the only book he could see the title of, "Liu Jichuan's Writings", was also being flipped through. Was it also related to the exam questions compiled by Huang Hongcang?

Sun Shouzheng's speculation was not because he had any bad intentions, but mainly because he was currently a co-examiner of the Spring Examination and would naturally pay more attention to matters related to the Examination.

……

When the coachman took him to the Xiao family bookstore, Sun Shouzheng couldn't wait to enter the bookstore.

The Xiao Family Bookstore is quite spacious and is one of the larger bookstores on Wenhan Street.

Maybe because the Spring Imperial Examination is approaching, most of the candidates are studying hard at home, and very few people would hang out in bookstores.

In addition, in today's world, books are just a luxury for scholars and literati. Ordinary people are busy making sure they have enough food and clothing, so who has the spare money or time to buy books?

Therefore, in such a large bookstore, there are not many people coming and going to buy books, and the popularity seems a bit dull.

He saw a young man at the counter. He was wearing a light brown robe with dark floral patterns. He was neatly dressed and had a calm expression. He was using an abacus and checking the account book. He looked like the owner of a bookstore.

There was an old man working as a handyman in the shop, he was about fifty or sixty years old, with wrinkled cheeks and a weather-beaten face. He was wearing clean coarse cloth clothes and was holding a feather duster, slowly and methodically dusting the bookshelves.

The old man saw Sun Shou walking in front of the bookshelf and asked with a smile, "What book are you looking for, sir?"

Sun Shouzheng asked, "Old man, I heard that the shop has printed and sold the "Liu Jichuan's Writings", but I wonder where it is displayed."

After hearing this, the old man's eyes narrowed slightly and he said, "Sir, please follow me."

He took Sun Shouzheng to a bookshelf, took out a book and handed it to Sun Shouzheng. On the cover were written the words "Liu Jichuan's Collection of Essays".

Sun Shouzheng smiled and said, "Liu Jichuan's books are very rare. I heard that only your shop sells them. It turns out to be true."

The old man also smiled and said, "Although Liu Jichuan is not very famous, his articles are quite unique. This official specially looked for his writings, and it can be seen at a glance that he is a well-educated person."

Sun Shouzheng just saw the old man cleaning the bookshelf. He should be just a servant in the bookstore, but he didn't expect that his conversation was quite elegant. He felt a little strange.

But he didn't care. It was reasonable that an old man who could work as a handyman in a bookstore could read and write, and had some knowledge and conversation skills.

He asked casually, "Liu Jichuan is not well-known, and his writings are even rarer. Your bookstore is the only one in the capital that has them. How many people come to buy them?"

The old man smiled and said, "This book is obscure, not many people know about it, and even fewer know that our store has printed it, so we don't usually sell many.

But he always sells a few copies every month. A few days ago, two young men came to buy some books. From what they said, they were candidates for the imperial examination this spring. Although Liu Jichuan is not well-known, his literary reputation is still spread.

My boss is also a book lover and literature lover. He never wanted to make money from Liu Jichuan's collection of essays. He just wanted to promote the ancient sage's articles for his own taste."

After hearing this, Sun Shouzheng smiled and felt more favorable towards the Xiao family bookstore.

The old man who works as a handyman in this bookstore has an ordinary appearance, but his conversation is elegant and eloquent. He must have been a scholar when he was young.

The shopkeeper hired such a person as a servant, probably as a means of doing business. It is quite interesting to make people who come into the shop feel like they are talking and laughing with great scholars and interacting with them like ordinary people.

Moreover, the shopkeeper knew very well that he could not make money from Liu Jichuan's writings, but he still printed and sold them. This act of spreading literary spirit can be regarded as a Confucian businessman with literary spirit, which is worthy of praise.

……

Sun Shouzheng paid the fee for the books with a smile, took the book and walked out of the Xiao family bookstore, but just as he stepped out of the door, he suddenly stopped.

He thought of the situation in Huang Hongcang's study. He had just heard the old man say that a few days ago, a candidate preparing for the imperial examination bought Liu Jichuan's essays.

Since this book is so obscure, why did a candidate from the Spring Examination come to buy it? Is this just some kind of coincidence...

Sun Shouzheng had been working as an inspecting censor for several years, and had long since developed a fixed mindset of getting to the bottom of things and reporting rumors, which was probably what later generations called an occupational disease.

In addition, he was honored to be a co-examiner for the Spring Examination, which made him pay special attention to all matters related to the Spring Examination...

He walked back to the shop and asked the old man who was selling books: "Old man, you said that some candidates who were preparing for the imperial examinations came to buy this book a few days ago. Do you remember their names?"

The old man was quite surprised when he heard this, and said, "Why do you ask this, sir? That happened several days ago, and I don't remember it clearly. I need to think about it carefully."

Sun Shouzheng stepped forward and said, "I have great respect for Liu Jichuan's articles. I just want to find a few like-minded people to discuss literature and philosophy together."

As he spoke, he took out a tael of silver and stuffed it into the old man's hand, saying with a smile, "Please think about it carefully."

The old man took the silver coins calmly, and seemed to think about it for a moment before saying with a smile, "I am not old and confused yet. I can still vaguely remember that the two candidates used to call each other by their courtesy names.

One is in his early twenties, courtesy name Xiwen, and the other is nearly forty, courtesy name Baokun. As for their surnames, I don’t know.

Sun Shouzheng was slightly disappointed after hearing this. Knowing only the courtesy name but not the specific surname was equivalent to knowing nothing.

However, he just asked the old man one more question on a whim. Even though he didn't get the bottom of it, he didn't take it too seriously.

The old man looked at Sun Shouzheng's departing back, with an ambiguous sneer on his face.

He opened the cabinet under the shelf, took out several brand new volumes of Liu Jichuan's works, and put them back on the shelf.

He said to the young man who was using an abacus at the counter, "Jindong, it was rainy a few days ago and my cold legs are still not going away. They haven't healed yet. I'm going to the drugstore to buy some plasters to apply."

The young man didn't even raise his head, and continued to calculate, saying: "Uncle Qin, just go ahead, I'm here in the store..."

……

Shenjing, Qingliufang, Huang’s House.

After Sun Shouzheng left, Huang Hongcang polished the draft of the question again. Suddenly, he thought of something and went to the bookshelf to look for it.

But he searched for a long time and couldn't find what he wanted, and his face looked a little anxious.

At this time, his daughter came in with another cup of hot ginseng tea. Seeing her father busy on the bookshelf, she asked, "Dad, are you looking for something?"

Huang Hongcang said: "Last month, the son of my old school friend came to visit me. As a father, I thought of the old relationship between him and his father, so I wrote a topic and gave him some advice.

I casually put the draft of the title on the bookshelf, but for some reason I can't find it now?"

The woman put down the ginseng tea and went to the bookshelf to help her father look for something. After a while, she found a folded piece of rice paper in another compartment of the bookshelf.

She opened it and took a look, then handed it to Huang Hongcang and said, "Father, is this the proposed title?"

Huang Hongcang took it and looked at it, then heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Although I put it on the bookshelf, it doesn't seem to be in that position?"

The woman said, "My father has been busy with the Spring Examination these days, and he is too distracted. He may have put it somewhere, and I may not remember it clearly."

Huang Hongcang carefully looked at the draft question in his hand, and then carefully compared it with the policy questions that had just been polished on the table, his expression quite serious.

The woman saw Huang Hongcang's unusual expression and asked worriedly, "Father, is there something wrong?"

Huang Hongcang said: "At the beginning, I was not sure that I would be selected as the chief examiner. Out of friendship, I gave two juniors some advice on how to write the questions. Now it seems a bit rash.

However, those two people seemed to be well-mannered and behaved properly, so nothing serious happened.

It’s just that I should have remembered the location of this draft correctly…

The Spring Examination is an event that attracts worldwide attention. It has always been full of dangers and is hard to guard against.

As a father, I suddenly feel a little worried. Although our family is small, we are now the target of public criticism. It is always right to be cautious. "

Huang Hong carefully sorted all the drafts of the questions on the desk, including the final draft, into a pile, and then carefully checked the study to make sure that nothing was missed.

When the woman saw the manuscripts in her father's hands, especially the final title on the top page, her heart tightened.

Huang Hongcang lit the candle again, set the proposed topic on fire, and threw it into the brazier, where it turned into ashes... (End of this chapter)