Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 113: Return of an Old Friend in the Snowy Wind

While thinking about it, perhaps because she couldn't bear to watch any more, Aunt Xue came out from inside and said with a stiff smile, "You men are drinking, how can you let Yan'er come out? Today is a good day, Pan'er, drink less, don't drink too much."

As he spoke, he took Liu Yan'er back.

Aunt Xue's intention was obvious, but Xue Pan was a frivolous person and continued to invite everyone to drink. As for Jia Lian and Jia Rong, although they usually acted like dandies, they were not stupid at heart.

He drank another glass, stood up and laughed, saying that it was getting late and he would leave.

Xue Pan looked unhappy, so Chen Siyuan said, "Brother Wenlong is getting married today, and the banquet is just to cheer him up. How can we hide such a happy event?"

Xue Pan thought about it and agreed, then he stood up and sent the three people out.

After leaving Lixiang Courtyard, Jia Rong and Jia Lian walked forward along the eastern alley, while Chen Siyuan walked west. After just a few steps, they arrived at their own courtyard.

It was already late, and Chen Siyuan saw the main door open, and a pretty figure holding a lantern came out to greet him. He thought it was Liu Wu'er, but when he got closer, he realized it was Hongyu.

Chen Siyuan frowned slightly, pulled her hand and said with a smile: "It's only been a few days and you're in such a hurry to come back?"

Hongyu said angrily, "Master, you are talking nonsense again. I, why should I be anxious? Today is the fifth day."

The two of them had just made love the next morning when Hong Yuyue's letter arrived. Fearing that she had defiled Chen Siyuan, she hurried back home to rest.

Chen Siyuan did not expose it at the moment, but just pulled it inside.

Liu Wu'er lingered in the study for a while, and when she put down the book, she suddenly saw Chen Siyuan and Hongyu huddled together and whispering something.

Hongyu looked affectionate and giggled from time to time, with one arm around Chen Siyuan's neck. Where was her usual dignified and capable self?
Liu Wu'er's face flushed, her heart ached, and she felt a pang of bitterness. She gritted her teeth, not daring to linger any longer, and found an excuse to return to her room.

With no one else inside, the two of them became even more unbridled. They were both new to the experience, and it was a time of sweetness and passion, so they washed up early and headed to the warm room.

After several passionate and affectionate moments, Chen Siyuan, who had been feeling depressed for a few days, finally indulged himself and fell into a deep sleep while hugging Hongyu.

The next morning, when Chen Siyuan woke up and had breakfast, he saw Hongyu holding a bowl of medicinal soup and letting it sit.

Chen Siyuan was puzzled. As he stepped forward and smelled the strong aroma of medicine, he couldn't help but ask with concern, "But what's wrong with you? Why do you suddenly need to take medicine?"

Liu Wu'er was also there at the moment. Hongyu blushed and didn't want to show off. She pulled Chen Siyuan and went into the west room. Then she lowered her head and whispered, "Master, this is the contraceptive soup."

Chen Siyuan blinked, then suddenly realized. These days, there were few contraceptive methods, either using fish bladders or sheep intestines, or women taking contraceptive soup.

However, medicine is toxic. If taken for a long time, women will suffer from poor health and may even become unable to have children in the future.

Chen Siyuan thought: "Choose the date, you don't need to take it these few days."

Hongyu smiled and shook her head: "I'm not afraid of a thousand, I'm afraid of one. If I'm not careful... wouldn't it ruin my reputation?"

When the children of the Jia family reached a certain age, Grandmother Jia would always assign two attractive maids to serve them personally. The reason for this was self-evident.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, communication between the East and the West had become increasingly convenient, and countless diseases had also been transmitted. Noble families were afraid that their children would be infected with diseases, so they used beautiful maids and servants to relieve their sexual desire.

It would be fine if it was a servant, but most of the maids would take contraceptive soup afterwards, so even if they got pregnant by chance, they would have a miscarriage. Later, in order to protect the reputation of the master, the maid was sent away far away.

Hongyu was intelligent and clever, so how could she be so foolish? Whether it was Miss Lin or that Third Sister You, Hongyu dared not have a child before either of them entered the family. Otherwise, if she gave birth to a bastard child, wouldn't he become a thorn in the eyes of the future mistress?

Chen Siyuan moved the medicine aside and said solemnly, "Listen to me, you don't need to drink it this time."

Hongyu's eyes were full of confusion.

Chen Siyuan thought for a moment and said, "Next time...next time we'll just have to think of another way." As he spoke, he leaned over and whispered a few words to Hongyu.

Hongyu covered her mouth and laughed softly, "Master, don't you think it's unpleasant?"

Chen Siyuan said, "What's wrong with that? Even medicine is poisonous. It's better to be a little tedious than to hurt yourself."

Hongyu was very pleased and nodded in agreement. After Chen Siyuan turned and went into the study, she picked up the feather duster and swept the dust from the room, but she had other thoughts in her mind.

Although there are some young men in the mansion who are kind and considerate to women, which one of them would be as considerate and considerate as my master is?
Everyone says that Master Bao is kind to others, but the amount of contraceptive soup he sent to Qixianzhai is not enough?

Hongyu didn't want to force her master to use things like fish maw and sheep intestines, even without using contraceptive soup. Having lived in the mansion for many years, she'd often overheard things, and she knew most of the secrets of the bedroom. Suddenly, an idea struck her. Hongyu hesitated for a long time before making up her mind. She decided to go find something to buy, hand over some money, and try it out.

For several days, Chen Siyuan remained in his study, oblivious to the world outside and absorbed in reading the books of sages.

The Four Books and the Five Classics together contain 700,000 to 800,000 words, and are annotated by Zhu Xi. Even if you choose one classic as your main text, memorizing it will still take a lot of effort.

That would be fine, but the introduction and continuation test one's familiarity with and understanding of the Four Books and Five Classics. The eight-part essay that comes after it requires the arrangement and parallelism of the essay, and even the tone cannot be wrong.

Later on, there were test poems... In short, the imperial examinations at this time were just a play on words. They tested memory, adaptability, and intelligence.

It is said that there was a purple list in the imperial examination, on which were all the essays with incorrect eight-part format, incorrect rhythm, and wrong rhyme in the trial poems. Those who were able to take the imperial examination were all Juren from all over the country. Even Juren could make mistakes, so you can imagine that the imperial examination was simply a trick!
If he had not studied the Eight-Legged Essay, Chen Siyuan would probably still be like in his previous life, thinking that the Eight-Legged Essay was conservative and useless to the country; but after truly understanding the Eight-Legged Essay, Chen Siyuan realized that the Eight-Legged Essay was just a means to select officials.

Using this method to select scholars, there are more than 300 people in one subject. I dare not say that all of them are outstanding people, but most of them definitely have a high level of intelligence.

As for governing the country, one either entered the Ministry of Personnel to study or entered the Hanlin Academy for further study. To put it bluntly, the eight-part essay selection was to select talents, and only after training could they become officials.

The more Chen Siyuan studied, the more frustrated he became. At that time, the average age of those who passed the imperial examination was 34. Although he had read the Four Books and Five Classics in a hurry, how could he compare to those who had studied hard in the serious studies?
Feeling melancholy, Chen Siyuan couldn't help but become more diligent. He locked himself in the study for several days and didn't even have the heart to tease Miao'er and Tiao'er.

Mrs. Xing was so puzzled that she couldn't help but come over to take a look. Seeing that the little thief was indeed studying very hard, she couldn't help but feel a little bitter - is Daiyu really that good? This little thief was almost desperate!

Although she knew it was wrong, Mrs. Xing couldn't help but say a few sarcastic words.

Chen Siyuan pulled his thoughts away from the book, realizing that Madam Xing was jealous. He immediately sent the maid away and approached Madam Xing, becoming obsessed with her.

"Why are you going crazy for no reason?" Mrs. Xing snorted and ignored him.

Chen Siyuan turned around and stood on Madam Xing's other side, saying, "Yes, are you planning to consult the imperial physician in the next few days?"

When the unborn child was mentioned, Mrs. Xing's eyes lit up and her face became kind. She said, "There's still a short time. I think we can talk about it at the end of the month."

"That's fine... Has the master heard about it?"

Madam Xing said, "A few days ago, he came back from drinking, and I mentioned it to him. He hesitated and didn't seem to care."

"It's better to set up an ambush so that we won't reveal our secrets later."

Mrs. Xing glanced at her and said, "Is Daiyu really that good?"

It’s really good.

Thinking this, Chen Siyuan said, "What are you thinking about? I'm doing this for myself. If I don't study hard now, how can I pass the provincial examination? These days, everything is inferior except being an official. If I don't become an official, how can you support the children with your little money?"

Although Madam Xing knew this was probably false, she felt relieved. She glanced at him, then smiled and said, "You do have some conscience. Yes, the master mentioned it yesterday, saying he'd take you to visit the Imperial College in a few days. The Ping'an Prefecture governor's letter of recommendation has been submitted, and it will soon be sent from the Ministry of Rites to the Imperial College. You'll be there after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month next year."

Chen Siyuan was thrilled, but also clearly troubled. If he couldn't find a way, the Imperial College would take him three years, and how could he afford to wait?

Mrs. Xing lingered for a while, and seeing that Chen Siyuan was becoming more and more unruly, although she was happy, she refused him in the end and hurriedly led her maid back to the east wing.

By the next day, Chen Siyuan had accumulated a lot of doubts, so he simply took a carriage to Mei Hanlin's house in the afternoon.

It happened to be snowing that day. When the carriage left the inner city, Chen Siyuan lifted the curtain to look around. Suddenly, he saw the streets full of bamboo hats and cotton caps with words written on them in vermilion.

Chen Siyuan looked carefully and saw a bamboo hat with the words "Chen's Rice Shop, High Quality and Low Price" written on it. Another cotton hat had the words "Food is Fresh, Food is Fairy" written on it.

This is... my idea was taken away for free by King Ping of Yan?
Chen Siyuan pondered inwardly, wondering how much the King of Yan Ping would earn this time. He actually hoped to earn more, so that the King of Yan Ping would come back to him for advice, and he would be useful, so he wouldn't be sold off so easily by the King of Yan Ping.

As for the future, they will naturally collude for the sake of profit and mix with each other. King Ping of Yan cannot do without him, and not only will he not sell him out, but he will do his best to protect him.

While thinking, he arrived at the Mei family's house. Mei Chong was the receptionist again. Chen Siyuan waited for a long time before Mei Yucheng returned. He looked for books to ask for advice, and Mei Hanlin explained everything in detail.

After all, he was a Hanlin scholar, and his background was far superior to that of ordinary Juren. Chen Siyuan's advice, while not entirely enlightening, was nonetheless very helpful.

It was not until dark that Chen Siyuan returned in a carriage.

This time, the carriage stopped directly at the back door. Chen Siyuan tipped the driver a dime and leisurely entered the Rongguo Mansion. A moment later, he entered his own courtyard. Yunxiang, with her little face tilted upward, came out to greet him with a smile: "Master, Master! Sister Xiangling is back!"

"Ok?"

With a creak, the door opened. Chen Siyuan looked up and saw that the person leaning against the door looking out was none other than Xiangling!

Chen Siyuan took a few quick steps, and Xiangling rushed into his arms like a young swallow. Her eyes instantly turned red, and she cried, "I thought I would never see you again!"

Xiangling was escorted south by Qian Feihu and two bodyguards. At first, she didn't notice anything unusual, but when she thought about it from time to time, she felt that Chen Siyuan was extremely abnormal during those days.

Xiangling was obedient after all, and she resisted the urge to open the brocade bag. She only opened it secretly after reaching Daming Mansion. It turned out that there was only 5,000 taels of silver in the bag, and nothing else!
Xiangling was clever, and after a moment's thought, she knew Chen Siyuan was afraid things might go wrong, so she immediately decided to return. Later, during the day, she went to find Qian Feihu, but Qian Feihu said, "Brother Chen is so clever, I think he must have found a way to escape... What's the point of going back now? I'm afraid you'll only hinder us."

Xiangling pondered this and realized it was indeed the case. Frustrated and worried, she had no choice but to continue south.

When he arrived in Ruzhou, he found his biological mother Zhen Feng in Fengjia Village!
Feng Su was a greedy man. Not only had he taken his son-in-law's wealth, he also treated his daughter, Zhen Fengshi, harshly. Xiangling glanced from afar and saw her mother washing clothes in the winter, her hands covered in cracks from the cold!

Xiangling was heartbroken and wanted to meet Zhen Fengshi, but Qian Feihu stopped her. Qian Feihu then secretly eavesdropped and told Xiangling everything that had happened. The next day, he coaxed Zhen Fengshi out, and the mother and daughter were finally able to meet.

Xiangling knew that her grandfather was not a son, so how could she bear to leave her mother to suffer here? She immediately boarded a carriage with her mother and hurried back to the capital.

However, Zhen Feng had been in poor health over the years and fell ill halfway through the journey, which delayed her for a few days. She only arrived in the capital yesterday.

Xiangling and Qian Feihu, aware of Chen Siyuan's unusual behavior, didn't dare to come directly to him. Qian Feihu first went to the city to find Ma Panlong and Xu Dabiao. After inquiring about Chen Siyuan's current situation, he found a house to house Zhen Fengshi early this morning and returned Xiangling to Rongguo Mansion in the afternoon.

Hongyu also came out at that moment. Seeing this situation, she felt a little sad and hurriedly welcomed the two of them in.

When everyone sat down inside, Hongyu knew that the two of them might have something to say, so she simply left.

In the western room, the smoke from the incense was rising. Xiangling wiped away her tears. Chen Siyuan asked, "Have you found your mother?"

"Well, it's all thanks to you, Master. My mother has been living very poorly these past few years, so I brought her back. Now she's staying at an inn outside the city. I'll find a broker tomorrow and rent a house for her."

Chen Siyuan nodded and said, "It's the coldest time of the year, why rush back? We can still make it back when spring comes and flowers bloom."

Xiangling smiled and shook her head, her eyes filled with tears.

She suddenly pulled out the brocade bag from her bosom, handed it to Chen Siyuan, and said, "Master, you should keep this brocade bag."

Chen Siyuan took the brocade bag, feeling a mixture of emotions. He had planned to escape thousands of miles that day, but who knew that his fate would be reversed so quickly? After a moment's hesitation, he handed the brocade bag over again and said with a smile, "Why don't you keep it for the betrothal gift?"

Xiangling immediately shook her head: "I have money, I don't need your betrothal gift."

If you marry her as a concubine without paying any betrothal money, she will be considered a noble concubine.

Xiangling got up and went to the boxes. A moment later, she brought back a small bundle. She unfolded it, revealing jewelry and a small box. When she opened the box, she found hundreds of silver notes inside.

Chen Siyuan took a quick look and couldn't help wondering, "Where did all this money come from?"

(End of this chapter)