Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 112 Banquet
If nothing unexpected happens, the person in front of Chen Siyuan is the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, Jia Hua - Jia Yucun!

This person merely examined the poem and briefly confirmed his identity, without saying anything else. Furthermore, the way he looked at Chen Siyuan at this moment seemed faintly excited... Why was this?
Chen Siyuan, who came from the Que family, never believed in free lunches. He couldn't help but feel suspicious. How could he pass the test so easily?

Before he could think any more, Jia Yucun in front of him had already served tea and sent the guest away.

Chen Siyuan stood up and bowed respectfully before leaving the private room. Coming down from the second floor of the teahouse and getting into the carriage, Chen Siyuan couldn't help but frown and think deeply.

He had a deep memory of the Red Mansion, and according to what Mrs. Xing had said before, Jia Yucun was the person Lin Ruhai chose to entrust his son to.

This man was a Hanlin scholar, and after being dismissed from office, he was reinstated with the help of Lin Ruhai. Furthermore, the two men were both Jinshi in the same class, and their friendship was extraordinary.

At that time, the "Eight Discussions" system was in place, and ordinary officials and nobles dared not form factions. However, there was a group of people who could form factions openly - yes, people in the same class, on the same list, and even teachers and students could form factions openly.

When the imperial court recruited officials, it was intended to let the new generation surpass the old generation.

As for the reason, the previous Jinshi had long ago taken advantage of the benefits in officialdom and occupied the lion's share, and having served as an official for many years, it was inevitable that he had the intention of deceiving his superiors and concealing the truth from his subordinates.

Since the new scholars could not defeat the old bureaucrats, the emperor simply asked the scholars of the same exam to stick together for warmth. This was also a kind of imperial power strategy.

Lin Ruhai and Jia Yucun were both admitted to the imperial examinations, so they should have supported each other. Later, Lin Ruhai helped Jia Yucun recover his position, which was a great favor.

Jia Yucun was a man of noble character and valued virtue and reputation the most, so Lin Ruhai entrusted Daiyu to Jia Yucun before his death.

In Lin Ruhai's view, whether it was because of a previous favor or Jia Yucun's own reputation, he had to take good care of Daiyu, otherwise his fellow Jinshi would certainly look down on Jia Yucun. Without the support of his fellow Jinshi, how could Jia Yucun make any progress?
On the other hand, I'm afraid Jia Yucun also regards Daiyu as a rare commodity.

Under the guise of repaying Lin Ruhai's kindness, Jia Yucun was able to win over fellow Jinshi candidates—Lin Ruhai's entrusting his son to Jia Yucun suggests they were close family friends. Lin Ruhai's trust in Jia Yucun speaks volumes about his character. Thus, Jia Yucun gained immense influence among his fellow Jinshi candidates.

Moreover, Lin Ruhai died in office, and the emperor must have felt guilty. If I had taken good care of Daiyu, I might have won his favor!

So for both public and private reasons, he wanted to find a good family for Daiyu.

The question is, is the Rongguo Mansion a good family?
Maybe, but Baoyu is definitely not a good choice.

Daiyu was born into a noble family. The Lin family had been marquises for generations, and Lin Ruhai had won the third place in the imperial examination. It could be said that they were from a family of nobles and scholars.

What about Baoyu? As the second son of the second wife of the Rongguo Mansion, his title is inherited by Jia Lian. If Jia Lian dies, there is still Jia Cong. Even if Jia Cong dies and the title falls on the second wife, it will be inherited by Jia Lan, the eldest grandson of the second wife.

Yuanchun was made a concubine, which seemed to be an honor for the second branch of Rongguo Mansion. But in fact, even if she was promoted to a noble concubine in the future, according to the rules, Jia Zheng could get the title of Cheng'en Marquis and Lady Wang could get the title of Chaopin Imperial Edict, and the rest had nothing to do with Baoyu.

To put it bluntly, neither Yuanchun's title of virtuous concubine nor the title of noble in the Rongguo Mansion had anything to do with Baoyu. If Baoyu were a man who knew how to study and make progress, it would be fine, but he was cynical and looked down on the imperial examinations from the bottom of his heart, believing that they were a way for traitors to gain political benefits.

In this way, Daiyu really married Baoyu, which could be said to be a marriage of low status.

In this world, marriages are usually between people of equal social status or marry someone of higher status or someone of lower status, but rarely the other way around.

What's the other way around? It's the imperial reward for the princess! If you become the princess's groom, and don't pay the servants and wet nurses, you won't be able to see the princess easily. If the princess isn't in a good mood, your trip will be in vain.

How easy is it to be a son-in-law?
The two were not a good match, so Lin Ruhai wanted Baoyu to marry into his family, and only changed his mind to marrying into the family before his death. And his condition was that the eldest son would inherit the Lin family business.

Thinking more carefully, how does Jia Yucun view Rongguo Mansion and even the Jia family?
This man was a Jinshi and was well-versed in books, so how could he not see the rise and fall of nations?

During the first and second generations of the founding dynasty, the nobles were naturally extremely powerful. After the third generation, the emperor, having lived in the inner palace and having no contact with the nobles, would be wary of the overly powerful nobles due to his instinctive respect for imperial power.

If you don't believe it, look at the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin gave up his military power with a toast, while Zhu Yuanzhang killed countless people. Before the third generation, the first emperor took action himself.

The situation was slightly better under the Dashun regime, which had decided to lower the rank and inherit the title, but at least they didn't massacre the nobles to protect the imperial power. However, the decline of the nobles was inevitable, and the civil officials would inevitably replace them.

How many good-for-nothings could pass the imperial examination these days? Jia Yucun must have noticed.

But there was no better choice that day. If Lin Ruhai had given up the Lin family ancestry, to exaggerate a little, Daiyu would have been qualified to be the Crown Princess!
To this day, Jia Yucun must be dissatisfied with the Jia family, but at this moment, someone else suddenly stood out.

She had a long history with the Lin family, was planning to take the imperial examination, and had some literary talent. If he passed the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination someday, Jia Yucun would surely be happy to marry Daiyu to him.

To put it bluntly, even if he failed the provincial examination, with himself as a comparison point in the past five years, Jia Yucun could use himself as a catfish to threaten the Jia family.

After figuring everything out, Chen Siyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Jia Yucun needs himself as a catfish. Who knows if he won't soar into the sky one day?
No matter what, the first thing to do is to pass the provincial examination, and before that, you have to graduate from the Imperial College this morning.

The road ahead is difficult and dangerous, so we must keep moving forward.

The carriage returned to the Rongguo Mansion. Chen Siyuan had no intention of teasing Baochai and went straight back to his own courtyard. Once inside, Liu Wuer came up to him and said, "Master, Sister Ping'er came by a while ago and said that the Second Mistress was hosting a banquet for you tonight."

There is something to this banquet. Formal ones have to be arranged at least three days in advance. Inviting guests on the same day is not called an invitation, it's called a promotion.

However, Feng Jieer was straightforward, and during the banquet that day, she seemed to be treating Chen Siyuan as not an outsider.

Chen Siyuan asked about the time of the banquet, and when he heard it was 3 p.m., he nodded and went into the study.

I flipped through the "secret book" Mei Hanlin had given me, taking notes as I flipped through the pages. It was already a sea of ​​questions, so there were no key points. I just jotted them down.

When it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Siyuan dressed neatly and walked through the East Courtyard, which had begun to be demolished, and went straight to Fengjie'er's courtyard.

Walking around the large painted screen wall, Chen Siyuan arrived at the door. Seeing that it was Chen Siyuan, the maid Feng'er hurriedly greeted him, and Ping'er came out smilingly.

"Uncle Yuan is here, come and invite him in, our grandma is waiting for him."

Chen Siyuan paused and asked with a smile, "Second Brother Lian is not here?"

Ping'er laughed and said, "It was there originally, but something went wrong with the materials, and the Second Master hurried off to find Mr. Shanziye to settle the matter."

Chen Siyuan agreed with a smile, thinking to himself, this guy Jia Lian doesn't take me seriously... or is he afraid to speak up and just avoids him?
While he was thinking, he entered the inner room. Sister Feng had already come out to greet him. She said with a smile, "I said I would invite Brother Yuan a long time ago, but one thing followed another and I was so busy. Your second brother Lian was here earlier, but who knew he would be called away on urgent business now?" Sister Feng laughed twice and said, "The banquet is ready and the guests are invited. Don't you think we can still eat pigs without Zhang the butcher? Well, today, let's not invite him. I, as his sister-in-law, will entertain Brother Yuan for once."

Chen Siyuan smiled and bowed, saying, "Second sister-in-law, you're too polite. I was just helping out with errands a while ago, and it was Second sister-in-law who came up with all those chores. This banquet... I'm having a hard time eating it."

As Feng Jieer invited Chen Siyuan to the west side room, she said to Ping'er with a smile, "Look, he's a scholar after all, so he speaks so sweetly. Now that Brother Yuan is here, don't be so formal. Let's talk while we eat."

"it is good."

When Chen Siyuan entered, he saw a table under the kang, on which were all kinds of food and wine.

Feng Jieer greeted them and sat in the main seat, with Chen Siyuan sitting beside her, and Ping'er also sat near the door.

Chen Siyuan thought that Feng Jieer would ask about the marriage certificate during the meal, but unexpectedly Feng Jieer did not mention it at all. She just smiled and occasionally mentioned interesting things in the past, without any intention of asking about it.

Even though they were related, drinking with the two women, Chen Siyuan didn't want to drink too much. So after that pot of wine entered his stomach, Chen Siyuan refused to drink any more.

However, after mid-afternoon, Chen Siyuan pretended to be drunk and stood up to say goodbye and leave.

Sister Feng glanced at him and said with a smile, "I'm sorry I didn't treat you well enough today. I'll let your second brother spend some time with Brother Yuan when he's free in the future."

Chen Siyuan laughed it off and was sent back to the courtyard by Ping'er.

He thought to himself that although Sister Feng had covered it up well, her last sentence had given her away. He thought that Jia Lian must have been unwilling to do so, so he had avoided it.

Chen Siyuan didn't care. He was not money, so how could he be loved by everyone?

The next few days were peaceful, with Miao'er and Tiao'er coming over from time to time. Mrs. Xing hadn't even come to look for him. Chen Siyuan couldn't help but think to himself, this woman really forgets her lover after having a child. Mrs. Xing's behavior was simply destroying the bridge after crossing it.

This day is the second day of the twelfth lunar month, which is considered an auspicious day according to the almanac.

Chen Siyuan calculated the time and left the house at the end of the afternoon. As luck would have it, he had only taken a few steps when he ran into Jia Lian coming out of the East Courtyard.

Chen Siyuan stopped, a hint of amusement on his face, and said with a smile, "Second brother is coming to the wedding too?"

Jia Lian looked embarrassed and gave a curt bow, saying, "Ha, that's right... Brother Yuan also got an invitation?"

Chen Siyuan said solemnly, "Wenlong and I have long since reconciled our differences. Brother Wenlong is grateful for my good teaching of Yan'er. I don't know how to express my gratitude. So, didn't I send you an invitation?"

Jia Lian was feeling rather disgusted. He had come to Lixiang Courtyard several times in recent days to borrow money from the Xue family, so he had certainly seen Liu Yan'er.

This woman's charming demeanor made Jia Lian's heart burn with passion. When Chen Siyuan just mentioned "well-taught," did he mean well-taught in bed?

At that moment, he secretly cursed Xue for being a fool. He stole something that someone else had used and treated it as a treasure, and even wanted to hold a formal banquet to celebrate it. What kind of logic was this?

Jia Lian had become increasingly certain that the marriage certificate was a fake, and he disliked Chen Siyuan deeply. He laughed it off and said nothing more. The two of them walked side by side into the Pear Fragrance Courtyard.

The Xue family held a banquet to celebrate the conquest of a concubine. The Lixiang Courtyard was draped with red silk, and the lanterns in front of the door were changed to bright red ones. Because of Liu Yan'er's background and the fact that she had already been married into the Xue family, there was no need for her to be carried in by a sedan chair through the corner gate. A banquet was held directly.

The maid at the door called out, and Xue Pan came out from the side room, dressed in a brand new bright red dress. He smiled so hard that his eyes couldn't open when he saw me, and said with a fist clasped, "Second Brother Lian, Brother Yuan, you are finally here. Brother Rong arrived a cup of tea ago."

Jia Lian said with a smile, "I'm a little late. I'll drink a glass of wine as punishment later."

Chen Siyuan also smiled and said, "Congratulations, Brother Wenlong." He then shook his sleeves and presented a gift.

Chen Siyuan presented a fan from a famous artist, and Jia Lian, with a wicked smile, also presented a brocade box.

She whispered a few words to Xue Pan, who was overjoyed. He opened the brocade box on the spot and saw that it contained the Chongzhen edition of Jin Ping Mei.

Chen Siyuan was dumbfounded, but he saw Xue Pan burst into laughter and said, "Hahaha, it's still Second Brother Lian who understands me. Enough of the small talk, let's go inside and talk."

The group followed Xue Pan into the hall. Jia Rong, who had been drinking tea, stood up and greeted them with a smile. Jia Rong seemed to have forgotten the past grudges. Although he looked indifferent to Chen Siyuan, he did not harbor any resentment.

Everyone sat down to have tea, followed Aunt Xue out and said a few words, then went back to their rooms.

The banquet was served all at once, with all kinds of delicacies from land and sea. Looking at Xue Pan's proud look, I don't know how long he had pestered Aunt Xue before the banquet was prepared.

Xue Pan then invited everyone to sit down. Jia Rong, being the youngest in terms of seniority, took the lead, and everyone took turns inviting guests to drink. After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Jia Rong's face was flushed with alcohol, and he couldn't help but teasingly said, "Uncle Pan is so lucky. With a young aunt, he doesn't even go to Jinxiangyuan much anymore."

Xue Pan said proudly, "What's the point of Jinxiangyuan? I just had tea and didn't even see the girl, and I spent twenty taels of silver. I went there a few times before I became familiar with her. When I want to enter the alley, I don't know how much silver I will have to spend."

Jia Lian and Jia Rong burst into laughter, and Jia Lian said, "The brothel owner loves money, and the girl loves beauty. If Wenlong can dress her up well one day, she might become his lover."

Xue Pan curled his lips and said, "Even if I spruce myself up, how can I compare to you? Besides, those girls prefer scholars who recite a few sour poems. How can they compare to my Yan'er?"

Jia Lian said humorously, "Yes, during the last imperial examination, a scholar spent half a year hanging out in Jinxiang Courtyard. In the end, the girl redeemed herself and willingly became his concubine. Tsk tsk tsk ..."

Jia Rong suddenly had a bad idea and said, "Uncle Pan speaks so highly of my young aunt, but I've never seen her. Why not... let her come out and show us?"

This was extremely rude, and anyone else would have been furious. However, Xue Pan couldn't tell the difference between good and bad words. Hearing this, he became even more proud and said, "How difficult is this? Come, go and invite Yan'er to come and offer a glass of wine to Brother Lian, Brother Yuan, and Brother Rong."

The maidservant outside was embarrassed, unable to get Aunt Xue's instructions, so she had to go and ask Liu Yan'er for help. After a while, they heard the jingling of bells and pendants, and Liu Yan'er came in gracefully, leading her maidservant.

Chen Siyuan glanced at her and saw she was wearing a rose-red jacket and skirt, the attire of a newly-minted concubine. Liu Yan'er exchanged glances, then looked away, saying softly, "My concubine greets Second Master Lian, Master Yuan... Master Xiaorong."

The voice was so soft that Chen Siyuan got goose bumps all over his body. Turning his head to look again, he saw Jia Lian staring blankly, and even Jia Rong was stunned for a long time.

Chen Siyuan smacked his lips secretly, thinking, "Has Jia Lian taken a fancy to Liu Yan'er?" Ha, this will be fun from now on.

(End of this chapter)