Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Earl's Mansion, Jia Cong Courtyard.

In the early morning, before dawn, although it was a day off, Jia Cong still got up early.

The room was filled with the faint scent of perfume and the candlelight was still bright, emitting a flickering yellow glow that illuminated Qingwen's fair and pretty eyes, making her look exceptionally beautiful and charming.

She helped Jia Cong put on his clothes and button them up, then nimbly moved behind him, put her hands around his waist, helped him tie the jade belt, then pushed him into a chair and began to unbutton and comb his hair.

When Jia Cong was ten years old, he moved from the East Courtyard to the West Courtyard, and Qingwen began to serve him.

The two were already used to getting dressed and combing their hair in the morning like this, and they seemed to have a tacit understanding of each other. As Qingwen's comb slid, Jia Cong's scalp felt numb and he closed his eyes, looking very comfortable.

Qingwen is the same age as Jia Cong, but she is a few months younger than Jia Cong. She is not even fifteen years old yet. However, girls grow up early, and she has already grown into a graceful and attractive girl.

She saw in the dressing mirror that Jia Cong had his eyes closed and his handsome face looked relaxed. He seemed to enjoy the manipulation of his head as she did so, and she couldn't help but smile.

Qingwen casually inserted the comb diagonally into her own black hair, and with a little force with both hands, she tied up Jia Cong's hair, and then deftly put it into a bun.

She pulled out the jade hairpin that she had prepared earlier from her own hair and inserted it horizontally into Jia Cong's bun. She smiled and looked at herself in the mirror for a few more times, and only stopped when she was satisfied.

At this moment, the door was pushed open and Yinglian came in quickly.

Qingwen smiled and said, "Yinglian, the Third Master doesn't have to get up early to study now, but you still get up so early. Be careful not to get enough sleep, or you won't grow taller."

Because Qingwen is one year older than Yinglian, she is always proud of it, especially in front of Jia Cong, she would mention it from time to time.

Yinglian walked to Qingwen unconvinced, and straightened her slender waist in a huff. She was taller than Qingwen, and looked like a newly sprouted willow branch in spring, very fresh and lovely.

She ignored Qingwen's teasing, grabbed Jia Cong's hand, and said, "Master, today is the fifteenth day, and you said that today is the day when the results of the palace examination will be announced.

I have never seen a person pass the imperial examination since I was a child. If you go to see the list today, take me with you so that I can also broaden my horizons. At most, I can just sit in the car and not show my face. "

Qingwen's eyes lit up and she said, "How could I have forgotten this? The Third Master will take me to see something special. Yinglian and I will just stay in the car and not come out."

Jia Cong looked at the two people with excitement and curiosity, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He said: "Originally I could take you to watch the fun, but I can't open the list today, so I have to do it another day."

Among the girls around Jia Cong, Yinglian is the most knowledgeable. She reads with Jia Cong in the study every day and has some knowledge.

Curious, he asked, "Young Master, didn't we agree that the imperial court would announce the results on the 15th? Can the imperial court just ignore its words?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "It's not that I don't count, it's just that something unexpected happened. Anyway, I promise to take you to watch the excitement when the results are announced."

……

At this time, a light and playful voice came from the door: "Third brother brought people to watch the fun. It's such a good thing, why didn't you think of me?"

Jia Cong saw a graceful figure swaying at the door. Daiyu was smiling with her lips pursed. In the morning light, her fairy-like figure and her skirt fluttering in the wind seemed real and illusory, out of this world. Her maid Zijuan was following behind her.

Although she was smiling, she just stood at the door and did not enter Jia Cong's bedroom, because Jia Cong had just gotten up in the morning to wash and comb his hair, and had not yet left the inner room, so she had to be more or less cautious.

Although she is close to Jia Cong, she is somewhat different from Qingwen, Yinglian and other people close to Jia Cong.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Sister, you got up early today."

Daiyu smiled and said, "I felt sleepy last night and went to bed earlier than usual, so I got up early today. I knew that my third brother was at home on a day off today, so I came over to take a look."

The two of them went to the main hall together, and Daiyu asked, "Brother San originally said that the results of the palace examination would be posted on the 15th, so why is it not the case anymore? Has the court issued a notice?"

Jia Cong replied: "I didn't see the notice, but I encountered an unexpected incident on my way home yesterday, so there will definitely be no notice posted today."

Jia Cong told Yang Hongbin about his meeting with him yesterday and the major fraud case that was exposed in the imperial examination.

Daiyu was surprised when she heard this and asked, "How did this happen so suddenly that even the third place on the list was involved? Third brother is the first place winner and is in the spotlight. Will this also be a hindrance?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Don't worry, sister. Since the old master passed away last year, I have been in mourning and have been staying at home.

The spring examination is about to begin, and candidates from all over the country are coming to Beijing. Master Liu said that the spring examination is the final stage of the imperial examination and has always been fraught with risks. He asked me to close the door to visitors in the name of filial piety and concentrate on my studies.

So in the past few months, I hardly left the house. Apart from some people from the firearms workshop who came to visit on business, I didn't see any other outsiders.

Many candidates who came to Beijing to study came to visit me, but I always wrote letters to decline their requests and never met them. There was never any entanglement between us. Even if they wanted to implicate me, they would not be able to do so. "

After hearing this, Daiyu saw that Jia Cong looked calm and was no longer worried about the matter. She just found some other small talk about family matters.

……

Yesterday, Jia Cong learned from Yang Hongbin that there was a fraud case in the imperial examination, and he became alert.

If the examination fraud case was hosted by the Dali Temple, the Dali Temple Minister Wei Guanyao and the Temple Chief Yang Hongbin, both of whom were officials of impartial character, would surely be able to judge the case impartially while also taking the overall situation into consideration.

But letting Zhou Junxing of the Magistrates' Court preside over the case is another matter. This man rose to prominence through framing people with cruel means, and he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. This has been rumored by people in both the government and the public.

Lin Zhaohe ranked third in this year's imperial examination and was one of the hot candidates to win the championship.

Zhou Junxing implicated such a prominent figure in a fraud case. It is obvious that he is ruthless and unscrupulous.

Although Jia Cong spoke to Daiyu in a relaxed manner, he had been studying behind closed doors for nearly half a year and had no contact with any of the current imperial examination candidates, so he had no problems to find.

But since the fraud case was controlled by a person like Zhou Junxing, we could not be completely unprepared.

At that time, Zhou Junxing's son Zhou Zi'an was jealous of Jia Cong's winning the top spot in the provincial examination. So he made false accusations against Jia Cong at the examination notice posting site, inciting criticism from the scholars.

Many officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate submitted memorials requesting severe punishment for Zhou Zian, with the spearhead directed at Zhou Junxing.

Emperor Jiazhao could not ignore the public opinion and issued an edict to deprive Zhou Zian of his academic title and prohibited him from taking the imperial examination within three years.

Because of this incident, Jia Cong and Zhou Junxing became enemies. If he made any mistakes, Zhou Junxing would not be lenient towards him.

In recent years, Jia Cong has heard a lot about Zhou Junxing's past. When the emperor first ascended the throne, he had a special relationship with Zhou Junxing. Later, due to the overall situation of the court, he demoted him to Dezhou for many years.

However, he was recalled to the capital five years ago and entrusted with the important task of managing the Court of Judges.

Jia Cong would not be careless at all against a person like Zhou Junxing, with a shady background and ruthless means, and with the current emperor standing behind him.

Even though he holds the fifth rank in officialdom, is granted the title of Earl of Weiyuan, and is the top scorer in this year's imperial examination, he is only a fatter fish for Zhou Junxing.

But at the moment he was not afraid of Zhou Junxing causing trouble.

Yesterday, the firearms workshop completed the production of the finalized breech-loading musket. Today, Jia Cong will deliver a report to the palace, which will surely be a remarkable achievement.

No matter how Zhou Junxing acted, the Jia Zhao Emperor knew the importance of the scale in his heart, so naturally the evil spirits retreated and there were no taboos...

……

Jia Cong and Daiyu had just chatted for a while when Yingchun, Tanchun, Xiangyun, Xing Xiuyun and other sisters entered the yard.

Because they all knew that today was the day when the palace examination results would be announced, they had originally come here to wait for good news, so naturally their trip was in vain.

Jia Cong roughly explained the reason. Although the sisters were surprised, they did not take it to heart when they saw that Jia Cong was calm and composed.

In their minds, Jia Cong was the top scorer in this year's imperial examination and he would definitely pass the imperial examination. It was just a matter of waiting a few more days.

When it was past noon, Yingchun, Daiyu and other sisters went to Rongqing Hall in the West Palace to pay their respects to Lady Jia, while Jia Cong took the memorial he had written earlier and went to the Wumen Gate to present it to the palace.

……

Rongguo Mansion, Fengjie's Courtyard.

It was dawn that day, and behind the large painted screen wall, the windows of the three main halls were already lit.

Maids and old women were going in and out of the corridors carrying hot water, towels, breakfast, teacups and other things.

Since the fifteenth was the day when the palace examination results were announced, Jia Cong could not help but be happy about having passed the exam.

Although Wang Xifeng was not feeling well, she still got up early and prepared to ask Wu'er and Ping'er to arrange the celebration at home.

After the morning hour, Qingwen came over and said, "Third Master has received confirmation. The imperial court will not announce the results today, so Second Madam will not be busy today."

Wang Xifeng felt strange after hearing this, but since it was Jia Cong's idea, it must be correct.

She also heard her maid come to report that she saw the Second Madam and Master Bao enter the west corner gate.

Wang Xifeng thought of Baoyu, who had been acting strangely since his birthday banquet. He suddenly broke his head and stayed in the East Courtyard, where he was said to be studying.
Although Baoyu stayed in the East Courtyard for nearly a month, he did not return to the West Palace.

But to say that he was studying, Wang Xifeng felt that it was a lie. With his temper, he might as well be playing with the little maids in the East Courtyard.

But early this morning, Mrs. Wang and Baoyu suddenly came to the West Mansion, and Wang Xifeng found it a little strange.

Now the West Mansion is the property of the eldest wife. Baoyu has lived in the West Mansion for so many years that he has become a nobody.

Last time, I dismissed most of his maids and servants, but afterwards, he acted as if nothing had happened and stayed there without moving. If the old lady said that she doted on him and couldn't bear to let him go, that was one reason, but even though I did this, my aunt didn't say a word, which showed that she was really patient.

Now the mother and son went to Rongqing Hall early in the morning. Most likely, the old lady missed Baoyu and sent a message to call them back specially. She was afraid that Baoyu would move back and make trouble again. Wang Xifeng couldn't help but have a headache.

……

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Mrs. Wang brought Baoyu into the hall. She had been feeling mixed emotions since yesterday.

Since that day, Baoyu acted foolishly in the Mengpo Zhai study and his father Jia Zheng broke his head in anger.

Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang were worried that the scandal would be exposed, so they kept Baoyu in the East Courtyard for nearly a month under the pretext that he could study.

In the past month, the Xia family has been peaceful. Jia Zheng and his wife have the same idea. The maid who was toyed with by Baoyu did not reveal any flaws after returning home...

Although this can be managed, keeping it will always be a disaster. Only when Baoyu and Miss Xia's marriage is completed can the trouble be truly resolved.

But after a long time passed since Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xia proposed marriage, there was still no news from the Xia family.

Yesterday, the maid from the Xia family brought a box of festival gifts. When Mrs. Wang asked about her recent situation, the maid said that the family business was busy recently, and her mistress went to Tong County to take care of the business and would be back in a few days.

Mrs. Wang was also at a loss as to whether Mrs. Xia and Miss Xia would agree to this marriage. The woman who delivered the gift was useless, so Mrs. Wang naturally would not say much to her.

Besides, according to Mrs. Wang’s idea, the Jia family is a noble family of dukes, and Baoyu is the legitimate grandson of Duke Rong.

She had already humbled herself by proposing marriage to the Xia family, so naturally she would wait patiently for their reply and there was absolutely no reason for her to urge them any further.

Otherwise it would be a huge shame. The Xia family thought that Baoyu had nowhere to find a marriage, so they relied on her, a girl from the Xia family.

……

The maid from the Xia family came this time and also conveyed the news on behalf of Mrs. Xia that the palace selection had ended and the eldest daughter of the Jia family had not been selected this time.

The Xia family members tried their best but failed to achieve anything. Because they worked for the girl from the Jia family, they offended others in the palace and were assigned bad tasks, thus suffering misfortune.

Mrs. Wang had spent all her private money on the downfall of the second wife, and was desperate to get the emperor's favor for her eldest daughter so that the second wife could make a comeback.

Unexpectedly, the plan failed at the last moment. The 10,000 taels of silver were gone without a trace.

Even though Mrs. Wang came from a noble family in Jinling and had been the mistress of the house for more than ten years, ten thousand taels of silver was still a large sum of money.

But the Xia family said that the Xia family members who worked for them suffered because of this matter, so even if Mrs. Wang wanted to complain or question, she couldn't find a reason or a way to say anything...

After the old woman from the Xia family left, Mrs. Wang felt anxious and uncomfortable the whole day.

It was not until Jia Zheng told a story after leaving the yamen that Mrs. Wang's depressed mood eased a little.

However, Mrs. Wang thought that her daughter had missed this year's selection and would no longer have any chance to climb the palace ladder. After the ten-year period was over next year, she would have to let her go back home.

If it were four or five years ago, his daughter was in her prime, and with her outstanding talent and beauty, she could easily marry into the family of a noble in the capital and become the mistress of the family.

But now that they are at an age of youth and it is already very difficult for them to find a decent marriage. I never expected that my two children would fall into such an embarrassing situation.

If we trace the root of this matter, if Jia Cong had agreed to use public funds and act under the name of Rongguo Mansion, his daughter's affairs would most likely not have ended like this.

When Mrs. Wang thought about this, she naturally became even more jealous of Jia Cong.

Early that morning, she was still in a depressed mood when she met Jia's mother, who had sent her personal maid to the East Courtyard, telling Baoyu to go to the West Palace.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang felt hope again.

Now, it is completely hopeless for my daughter to gain favor from the emperor.

If she wanted the Second Wife to avoid losing more and more importance in Rongguo Mansion, her greatest reliance was Grandmother Jia's favor for Baoyu.

So, when Lady Jia's maid came to urge her, Mrs. Wang hurriedly brought Baoyu to the West Mansion.

Mrs. Wang entered Rongqing Hall and spoke warmly to make Grandmother Jia happy. She also said that Baoyu should not just focus on studying, but should be more filial to the old lady on behalf of his master.

Grandmother Jia was delighted and immediately asked Baoyu to move back to the West Mansion today so that he could accompany her every day.

……

At this time, Wang Xifeng heard that Lady Wang and Baoyu had entered Rongqing Hall early in the morning, so she came over to pay her respects to Lady Jia, and also intended to interrupt and disrupt the situation.

But just as she entered the hall, she heard Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang talking enthusiastically, and Baoyu was sitting next to Lady Jia, leaning against her will. She realized that she was a step too late and it would be too late for her to make any changes.

When Grandmother Jia saw Wang Xifeng, she asked, "Feng girl, I remember saying before that the 15th is the day when the results of the palace examination will be posted. Did Cong go to see the list?
He is the top scorer in the exam, and he might even pass the imperial examination. It is a happy event, so the family needs to prepare for it, so as to avoid the same chaos as last time."

Wang Xifeng did not expect that Jia's mother, who had always been indifferent to the third son Cong's academic examination, actually remembered this matter now. She had really changed her character, which was quite rare.

She was just about to tell Lady Jia that an accident had occurred today and the court would have to postpone the date for posting the notice.

But before Wang Xifeng could open her mouth, Mrs. Wang spoke first: "Madam, the master mentioned the matter of Cong's palace examination results being posted yesterday when he left the yamen.

During the morning court session in the palace yesterday, an imperial censor impeached the candidates for cheating in the imperial examination, and even the chief examiner was implicated.

The emperor was furious and had ordered the Magistrates' Court to investigate the major fraud case. The city was in turmoil all day yesterday, and many candidates who had passed the imperial examinations were thrown into jail.

The imperial court has abolished the original palace examination list. If this continues, I am afraid that the examination list will not be preserved. It is unknown how many candidates have committed fraud.

When the master was studying in the past, there were no such absurd times. Now the scholars have bad minds.

Originally, Congge had won the first place in the exam, which was such a happy event, but he happened to encounter such twists and turns.

Now that he is the champion, he is a big tree that attracts the wind. If he is also implicated, it will be really bad..."

When Grandmother Jia heard this, her face changed and she felt very upset. Wasn't it said that Cong'er could become the top scorer? How come such a thing happened?
……

Baoyu, who was standing by, felt happy after hearing what Mrs. Wang said. He was not gloating over Jia Cong's misfortune, but he just felt a lot of emotion in his heart.

I have always looked down upon those pedantic scholars who read the books of sages as parasites, and was often puzzled by others. But now I know that my insightful views are indeed absolutely correct.

These scholars always call themselves sages, but they do such filthy and shameless things in private. They also falsely call themselves children of famous education. They are even worse than the vulgar peddlers.

I will never be such a person. Even if my master forces me to study, I will just go along with it out of filial piety, but I will never lose this noble aspiration...

It would be great if my sisters like Lin Daiyu also understood my unrestrained mind...

……

Not to mention Baoyu's secret intoxication, Wang Xifeng spat in her heart after hearing what Mrs. Wang said, thinking that her aunt didn't even hope for anything good, and her thoughts were quite sinister.

Now that Rongguo Mansion is the property of the eldest wife's family, Jia Cong is the pillar of the eldest wife's family, so Wang Xifeng naturally wants to protect him with all her strength.

Moreover, after all these years, Wang Xifeng originally thought that Jia Cong had a hard fate, but now it seems that it is definitely his horoscope that is precious and immune to all poisons...

Although Qingwen came to tell her in the morning that the results of the palace examination would not be posted today, she did not mention any cheating, but Wang Xifeng never lost in an argument.

She smiled and said, "Brother Cong has said about cheating since early in the day. There are so many scholars in this world, and it is inevitable that there will be one or two who fail to live up to their expectations. It is not worth making a big deal.

The second wife also thought about it. Brother Cong won the first place in both the college examination and the provincial examination. I have heard people say that as long as you win the provincial examination and do not hand in a blank paper in the next spring examination, you will definitely become a Jinshi.

Brother Cong's ability in studying is well-known throughout the world. Others would cheat in exams, but does he really need to do such a thing? It's so funny to talk about it.

If someone really wants to implicate him in a fraud, that would be even better, and the Second Madam wouldn't have to worry."

Mrs. Wang was very angry when she heard Wang Xifeng's sarcastic words, praising the boy from the East Palace highly, secretly ridiculing her own words, and calling her "Second Madam"!
This is to remind myself that I am the second wife and should not point fingers at the people in the first wife...

Grandmother Jia was surprised and asked, "Feng girl, what you said sounds strange. How can someone implicate him and falsely accuse him? Is this a good thing?"

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "In fact, this kind of thing is not new to Brother Cong. Old Madam still remembers that year when Brother Cong won the first place in the imperial examination, he won great honor for the Rongguo Mansion.

However, there happened to be a scholar who had evil intentions. He was jealous of the Cong brothers for getting the first place in the case, so he reported the Cong brothers to the Ministry of Rites, saying that they were not worthy of being the first place.

As a result, the Cong brothers were not in any trouble, but the scholar was stripped of his official title by the court because of false accusations against others, and now he doesn’t know where he can make a living.

Second Madam, I heard that the scholar was a scholar raised by Second Aunt’s family. It’s been so long since that happened, I wonder if I remembered it correctly?”

When Grandmother Jia heard this, she thought of that stupid woman Wang Ziteng and the old things that happened in their early years. She still felt angry when she thought about it, and even developed some resentment towards her daughter-in-law.

Mrs. Wang's face changed drastically when she heard what Wang Xifeng said. It was not because Wang Xifeng mentioned her sister-in-law, but because she thought about the root of the matter...

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "Old lady, think about what has happened over the years. I have never seen a fate as precious as that of Brother Cong. Many people have tried to harm him over the years.

But every time someone tried to harm him, they all ended up in a bad situation. If there are still people who don’t have eyes, the family doesn’t need to worry, just wait and see…” (End of this chapter)