Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Rongguo Mansion, Jia Cong's courtyard.

The sky was gradually getting brighter. Qingwen carried a copper basin of hot water and walked to the door of the main room. She knocked twice as usual and then pushed the door open.

Because Jia Cong had maids coming in to serve him every day when he got up, when he went to bed at night, although he closed the door, he usually did not lock it to facilitate the maids to come in and out in the early morning.

This is the inner courtyard of the Earl's Mansion. Jia Cong lives in this courtyard, which is locked separately every night, so it is normal that the door of the main room is not locked at night.

Qingwen had served him for many years, so she naturally knew this rule.

Every morning when they entered the room, they would knock twice according to etiquette, then push the door open and go in. They had already become accustomed to it.

Today, Qingwen pushed the door but found it was locked from the inside. Qingwen was very surprised. She thought, "The Third Master is so strange. Why did he lock the door today?"

Zhishao heard the knock on the door in the room. She felt a little embarrassed and at a loss for a moment. She looked at Jia Cong pitifully and called him "Third Master" with a look of help in her eyes.

Jia Cong couldn't help laughing and said, "Don't be afraid, they will know it anyway, at most they will make a few jokes."

Zhi Shao blushed and said, "No, I don't feel like seeing anyone right now anyway."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Just lie down and relax. I will take care of Qingwen."

He walked to the partition in front of the bed, lowered the hanging curtain, covering the bed, and then went to the door to open it.

Qingwen, who was outside the room, began to feel suspicious without even opening the door. She thought of the intimacy between Jia Cong and Zhishao yesterday, and the strange atmosphere when they were enjoying the cool last night.

Could it be that Sister Zhishao really had something going on with the Third Master while she was on duty last night? Thinking of this, Qingwen's pretty face suddenly turned red.

As for what it meant to do good things, Qingwen was well-informed. She had heard the maids in the mansion say dirty words since she was a child, so she naturally knew it clearly and was also very curious.

Last night Qingwen couldn't resist her curiosity and wanted to go see what was going on, but it happened to be raining and thundering, so she couldn't leave the room at all. She fell asleep in a daze.

It must be that the Third Master and Zhishao had done that last night, and they had even locked the door beforehand. Qingwen was entangled in thoughts, and suddenly felt a little lost...

……

Jia Cong opened the door and saw Qingwen holding a copper basin of hot water. She seemed to be in a daze, with a pretty face still rosy, looking quite attractive.

When Qingwen saw that it was the Third Master who opened the door, instead of Sister Zhishao, she felt more and more that she was right and could not help but snort.

Jia Cong was a little surprised to see that the little girl suddenly became a little arrogant so early in the morning.

Qingwen placed the copper basin on the basin stand, wrung out the cotton cloth, handed it to Jia Cong, and said, "Third Master, wash your face."

When Jia Cong took the cotton cloth, Qingwen's eyes swiveled back and forth, and she asked, "Why is Sister Zhishao gone?"

Jia Cong said casually: "Zhi Shao is not feeling well and has not gotten up yet. She is resting inside."

Her eyes suddenly lit up. The curtain that was always hung in front of the bed was now lowered, covering the inner room tightly.

Qingwen became more and more curious. Why was the curtain in the inner room, which was never used, suddenly drawn?

"Third Master, Sister Zhishao is not feeling well. I'll go in and take a look at her."

When Zhishao inside heard this, she felt very ashamed. She was afraid that Qingwen would come in. She would be so embarrassed in this state.

She thought about getting off Jia Cong's bed and going to the side couch where she had originally slept.

Just as he was about to get out of bed, he moved a little too hastily, his face turned slightly pale, and his waist and abdomen began to feel uncomfortable, so he quickly stopped.

……

Jia Cong saw the mischievous look in Qingwen's eyes and felt helpless about her love of gossip. He reached out his hand, put his arms around her slender waist and pulled her back.

As the saying goes, a man's head and a woman's waist should not be touched easily. When Qingwen was suddenly hugged by Jia Cong, her face turned red and she forgot about it for a moment.

Jia Cong put a comb in Qingwen's hand and said, "Help me comb my hair quickly. I have something for you to do later."

Qingwen said "oh" and picked up the comb to help Jia Cong comb his hair, her eyes always glancing towards the curtain.

Suddenly she sniffed and said curiously, "Third Master, you smell so good. Why do you smell like Sister Zhishao?"

Jia Cong looked a little embarrassed, and suddenly remembered that Qingwen had a problem: her nose was particularly sensitive.

Back then, she could smell Qu Hongxiu's scent in her own room, so naturally she could also smell Zhishao's scent.

Jia Cong said, "Zhi Shao was in my room last night, and I smelled like her. What's so strange about that?"

Qingwen didn't believe it when she heard it. She was also in the Third Master's room when she was on night duty, but how come he never smelled like her?

……

Here, Qingwen had just helped Jia Cong comb his hair, and he was using toothpaste to clean his mouth when he saw Lingguan enter the room.

He said, "Third Master, I have prepared it early. After Third Master uses it, he still has to go to the government office."

Jia Cong asked, "Lingguan, why are you the one taking care of things? Why is Wu'er not here so early in the morning?"

Lingguan said: "Sister Wu'er went to the West Mansion early in the morning. Yesterday, the doctor said that the second wife is about to get pregnant and may give birth this month. We must be careful about everything.

Therefore, Second Madam can no longer worry about the household chores in the West Mansion, and Sister Wu'er and Sister Ping'er have to do it for her, so Sister Wu'er leaves home very early."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "I think this doctor's medical skills are ordinary. They say that pregnancy takes ten months, so it should be the seventh month. What's the matter with the sixth month?"

Lingguan didn't care and said with a smile: "Third Master is amazing. He even knows this."

Jia Cong didn't say this casually.

Because according to the original context, Wang Xifeng should have given birth to a daughter, Qiao'er, and that girl's birthday was the seventh day of the seventh month.

Because she was weak and sickly when she was young, the country girl Liu Laolao came up with a saying to fight poison with poison and turn misfortune into good fortune, and named her Qiao'er.

If things had gone according to the original thread, then there would have been no mistake at all, and Wang Xifeng's due date would naturally have been the seventh day of the seventh month.

However, after I came into this world, many things in the Jia family have changed dramatically.

Daiyu will never die of tears again.

Yingchun refused to marry Sun Shaozu, and was tortured to death.

Qin Keqing escaped from her original sadness and had a completely new experience.

Yinglian and Qingwen also changed their fate and will no longer suffer misfortune.

The second branch of the Rongguo Mansion also underwent tremendous changes due to his own rise.

Jia Zheng, the second son of the family, became a side branch and moved out of Rongguo Mansion and moved into the East Courtyard. However, his own first son, the eldest son of the family, inherited the Rongguo property and became the main branch of the Jia family in the capital.

Even the premature destruction of Ningguo Mansion was closely related to him...

Jia Cong didn't know whether there were other unpredictable changes due to his appearance, but even he himself didn't know.

Although Jia Lian's exile had nothing to do with him directly, it was still a complete deviation from the original track.

Under such circumstances, it is unknown whether Wang Xifeng will give birth to a daughter, Qiaoer, on the seventh day of the seventh month.

……

Jia Cong, Qingwen and Lingguan left the room and closed the door. He knew that Zhishao was shy, so he had to give her some buffer time.

When Qingwen saw that Jia Cong deliberately closed the door, she became more suspicious and wanted to push the door open to find out what was going on. She was so curious.

Are they the same as what Mrs. Chen said...

Seeing Qingwen's strange expression, Lingguan asked curiously, "Sister Qingwen, what's wrong with you? You're so weird."

When Qingwen saw Jia Cong enter the hall, she whispered in Lingguan's ear, "Do you think Sister Zhishao is really feeling unwell?"

Lingguan thought for a moment and said, "Third Master loves Sister Zhishao so much, if she was really not well, Third Master would have asked someone to call a doctor long ago.

How could she be left alone in the room with the curtains drawn to prevent anyone from seeing her? So Sister Zhishao must not be sick."

Qingwen murmured to herself, "She is not sick, but the Third Master hid her, as if he was afraid that someone would see her."

Lingguan suddenly realized something, her pretty face turned red, and she said: "The Third Master didn't let Sister Zhishao see anyone at that time, most likely Sister Zhishao was shy and didn't want to see anyone.

Hehe, Sister Qingwen, you were the one who told me the story about Mrs. Chen, and you still can't figure it out. They are in love."

Qingwen felt that Lingguan's words made sense and snorted in dissatisfaction.

Lingguan couldn't help but smile and said, "You look sour. Is it because the Third Master doesn't like you that you are jealous?"

Qingwen immediately fought back, saying, "Don't act like nothing happened. Look how much you listen to the Third Master.

Every time you massaged Third Master's head and shoulders and sang little songs for him in the study, I don't know how happy you were in your heart. Even a fool could see it.

Don't tell me that you don't want to be with the Third Master."

When Qingwen spoke about the real issue, Lingguan's pretty face turned red. She was only thirteen years old, and although she seemed to understand, she did understand at all.

She was sold to an opera troupe by her family when she was young and had long lost her thoughts of home. She met Jia Cong in Suzhou and from then on she was free from her wandering life.

When a person is saved and cared for by another person in the darkest and most lonely moment, he or she will naturally have an indescribable attachment to that person. He or she will always involuntarily want to give everything to the other person. Although Lingguan was still young, she also had similar feelings.

When Qingwen saw that Lingguan was being sarcastically criticized by her, she was not angry at all. Her bright eyes were shining with a look of admiration and joy, and no one knew what she was thinking.

It's probably because I hit the nail on the head, otherwise why would the little girl look like that?

Just when Qingwen was feeling a little anxious, she suddenly heard Jia Cong calling her and hurried into the main room.

Jia Cong asked her to pass the message to the outer courtyard, asking Jiang Liu to wait at the second gate, as he had something for him to do.

……

In the main room, Zhishao rested on the bed for a while, then got up and washed.

She blushed again, rolled up the fallen red sheet and hid it, then covered the bed with a new sheet. She breathed a sigh of relief, and the shame she felt in seeing people seemed to have faded a lot.

I heard the door being pushed open and saw Lingguan coming in with a food box.

Said: "Sister Zhishao, Third Master asked me to bring you some breakfast."

Lingguan placed the breakfast on the table one by one, but her mind was thinking about the topic of love she had just talked about with Qingwen, and her pretty face flushed.

She looked up curiously at Zhishao, and saw that her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were full of light. She couldn't help but say, "Sister Zhishao, you look so beautiful today."

Zhishao touched her face with a smile and said, "When you are a few years older, you will be more beautiful."

Zhishao has some unusual preference for Lingguan, whom Jia Cong brought back from Suzhou.

Although the little girl is a little stubborn, she is hardworking, has a clever and clear mind, and is pretty. Also, they are all from Suzhou.

Even when Zhishao was not feeling well, she would ask Lingguan to take her place on night duty.

Although Lingguan was very dependent on Jia Cong, she was young after all, a few years younger than Qingwen, and the thoughts between men and women in her heart were not that strong.

Even though she guessed that Jia Cong and Zhi Shao were in love, she didn't seem to mind too much. While Zhi Shao was eating breakfast, the two of them chatted and laughed from time to time.

At this time, Jia Cong entered the room, and Zhi Shao asked curiously, "Third Master, why haven't you left the house yet when it's time for you to go to the government office?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Jiang Liu has asked for leave from the Hanlin Academy for me. I will not go to the Hanlin Academy today. I will stay at home for half a day and talk to you."

Although he was conferred the title of Hanlin Lecturer by Emperor Jiazhao, it was only an imperial decree conferring the title upon him for passing the imperial examination.

The emperor did not want him to live a luxurious life in the Hanlin Academy. The Firearms Department of the Ministry of Works was his main responsibility.

Jia Cong was very clear about this, and so was Hanlin Academician Ge Hongzheng. Therefore, Ge Hongzheng would not care at all if Jia Cong took leave occasionally.

As for Jia Cong, due to the current patriarchal ethics, he could not give Zhishao a corresponding status. The same was true for Wu'er, who had already performed the family rituals.

But contrary to the current ideas and cognition, at certain special moments, he feels that providing more simple companionship is something he should try his best to do and is able to do.

……

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy was the official residence of Ge Hongzheng.

The Hanlin Academy is a first-class noble government office. Hanlin officials are busy with imperial edicts and articles, and are buried in documents and papers, so they are somewhat oblivious to what is happening outside.

Therefore, Hanlin officials were rarely involved in court disputes, and very few of them were involved in crimes.

But an accident happened in the Hanlin Academy these days, which caused the chief officer of the Hanlin Academy, Ge Hongzheng, quite a headache.

Before this spring examination, three officials from the Hanlin Academy, where the top scholars gathered, were selected as officials for the examination.

One is the co-examiner for the joint examination, and the other two are the examiners for the joint examination.

Seventy-five failed candidates jointly filed a complaint, implicating these three Hanlin officials.

Although they were not convicted and imprisoned, they were all demoted by the Ministry of Personnel due to their inappropriate behavior and damage to the integrity of the Hanlin Academy.

It was common for Hanlin officials to serve as officials outside the capital.

However, it is extremely embarrassing for a Hanlin official to be demoted for a crime other than a crime. The Hanlin's reputation will be damaged, and it will be difficult for him to achieve success in his future career. The Hanlin Academy will also lose face.

At this moment, in the official residence, in addition to Ge Hongzheng, there was also Li Congmian, a fifth-rank academician of the Hanlin Academy.

Li Congmian had served in the Hanlin Academy for many years, and had been promoted from the seventh rank to the fifth rank, making him a senior Hanlin official.

Moreover, Li Congmian was even of royal blood, as his ancestor was a distant cousin of Taizu Li Tianling.

When the Great Zhou was founded, all the members of the Li family rose to power. Li Congmian's ancestors served as officials in the court, but they were not high-ranking officials. They just had a better family background than ordinary people.

Counting from his ancestors, they were actually the five degrees of mourning from the direct descendants of Taizu. By the time of Li Congmian, he had no connection with the royal bloodline anymore.

Therefore, the Li family can be traced back to the royal family, but there is no mention of Li Congmian in the royal jade book.

Li Congmian relied on his hard work in studying poetry and books since childhood. He passed the imperial examination and was admitted to the Hanlin Academy before he was 30 years old.

He worked diligently and conscientiously, and he was also very talented. In addition, he had some family connections, so he was able to stay in the Hanlin Academy.

Several chief officials of the Hanlin Academy all agreed with him, allowing him to be promoted step by step from a seventh-rank Hanlin editor to a fifth-rank Hanlin academician without any change in his expression.

There are rumors in the Hanlin Academy now that Li Congmian has extensive experience and is likely to be the next chief of the Hanlin Academy after Ge Hongzheng.

Li Congmian and Ge Hongzheng had a good personal relationship and Li Congmian was also Ge ​​Hongzheng's trusted subordinate. Today, the two of them gathered in the official residence to talk about the demotion of Hanlin.

……

Ge Hongzheng sighed, "The three of them are all veteran Hanlin scholars with three years of experience. They are all well-educated and never overstep the boundaries in their daily lives.

This time his behavior was too unrestrained. Before the examination, he socialized and feasted with the examinees, exchanged poems and essays, and talked freely about the trends of the examination questions. Although it was impolite, it was not a serious crime.

It would have been fine if the words were sharp and meant to serve as a warning, but it ended up with him being demoted and expelled from the capital."

Li Congmian advised: "This spring, a major fraud case broke out, and the reputation of the imperial examination system in our dynasty has been damaged.

Although the three colleagues' interactions with the candidates before the examination were only minor mistakes, the emperor looked at the overall situation.

The current emperor wants to restore the reputation of the imperial examination system by severely punishing cheating in the imperial examinations and misconduct by officials. It is bad luck that the three colleagues were caught in the act and got caught up in the storm.

Although they were banished from the capital, they were still serving as officials in the court. After a few years, when the turmoil had subsided, they would do their best to help each other out of friendship as colleagues.

Besides, the officials implicated and punished this time include more than just our Hanlin Academy.

It is said that besides Xu Liangxiong from the Ministry of Works, there were 16 other officials who were convicted and dismissed from office, and many of them ended up being exiled to the border areas.

There were more than 30 officials who had taken part in the Spring Examination and were demoted from their official positions in the capital due to their misconduct.

Except for the Ministry of Rites, people from the other five ministries were listed. Nearly half of the officials involved in the Spring Examination were implicated.

The establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty was unprecedented, and one can imagine how furious the emperor was.

Compared to my three colleagues in the Hanlin Academy, none of them were convicted and dismissed from office, but were only banished from the capital. The emperor and the Ministry of Personnel have already taken the Hanlin Academy's reputation into consideration, so you don't have to worry too much."

Ge Hongzheng shook his head and said, "I not only lament the fate of these three people, but it is ultimately because they were not cautious enough in their official duties.

What I am worried about is not only this. Last time, when the scandal of cheating in the imperial examination was in full swing, it suddenly broke out that the candidates had jointly reported the case.

As many as 75 candidates were involved, the law has already established a trend of not punishing so many people, and when it comes at the right time, it is like adding fuel to the fire, which is a bit too coincidental. "

Li Congmian's heart skipped a beat when he heard what Ge Hongzheng said.

Although his superior was the head of the noble Hanlin Academy, he was not a pedantic person who stuck to classics. He was quite perceptive in observing the situation and trends.

He thought for a moment and said, "What you said is not without reason.

It is said that the Dali Temple and the Court of Inquisition have verified that the complaints made by the 75 people are all true.

The people in the Dali Temple are skilled in detective work and have never thought of what your Excellency is worried about. Now that the incident has happened, it must be just speculation without any actual evidence.

Besides, we in the Hanlin Academy cannot handle such matters, so naturally let the government offices worry about it."

As the two were talking, a guard from the courtyard suddenly came to report at the door.

He said, "Sir, Mr. Jia's attendant sent a letter saying that Mr. Jia is dealing with important matters in the workshop and cannot come to the yamen today, so I am asking for leave from you, Sir."

Ge Hongzheng read the letter, smiled slightly, and said to the officer, "Please tell the officer that Jia Xueshi is entrusted with important state affairs and should go to take care of them. I will grant him leave."

When the messenger left the government office, Li Congmian said with a smile: "This scholar Jia is really talented and versatile, and he has many responsibilities."

Ge Hongzheng glanced at Li Congmian, with a smile that showed insight in his eyes.

He said: "Although Yuzhang is young, he is worthy of the title of Hanlin scholar. When he took the provincial examination, he was able to write a four-character essay that was shocking and thought-provoking. He is truly a genius.

I copied a medium-length copy of his four-character essay, which I still hang in my study at home as an encouragement to myself.

Although the emperor conferred him the honor of being a Hanlin scholar, he did not want him to actually become a Hanlin bachelor. He probably knew this in his heart, which was a pity.

Our Hanlin Academy will ultimately rely on rising stars like you to support us..."

...(End of chapter)