Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 26 Engagement
For the next few days, Chen Siyuan tried to see Jia She but was denied a chance. Jia She was either in his study, meeting guests, or visiting the Ningguo Mansion to greet visiting nobles, completely forgetting Chen Siyuan.

Chen Siyuan wandered around every day, but since he never saw any signs, he never went to Bajiao Hutong to look for Sun Guangcheng.

Hongyu was indeed a clever woman. She took care of everything and never ran short of food and expenses every day. Xiangling was absorbed in books, and the two of them often spent time together at night, which deepened their friendship. The little maid Yunxiang was the most talkative. Perhaps she was thinking of finding a job for her third sister Luoxiang, because whatever she heard, big or small, she would tell it to Chen Siyuan when she came back.

So Chen Siyuan knew that in the afternoon of the day he ran into Jia Yun, Xue Pan sold Jia Zhen a coffin for one thousand taels of silver, saying that it was made of some kind of mast wood and was originally prepared for the old Prince Yi Zhong, but the old prince ruined the plan, so it was sold to the Ningguo Mansion.

Then, officials from the Yin-Yang Department of the Imperial Observatory arrived, chose a date, and laid the body for forty-nine days. They also invited one hundred and eight monks and ninety-nine Taoists to perform rituals.

I also heard that Jia Zhen had adopted Ruizhu as his granddaughter, and her coffin was now resting in Dengxian Pavilion. Baozhu, Qin's maidservant, had willingly become his adopted daughter, pledging to carry the coffin and escort the coffin. Everyone in Ningguo Mansion now called her "Miss Baozhu."

On the third day, the funeral procession was held and the obituary was delivered. Friends and relatives came one after another. Then, the eunuch Dai Quan came in a sedan chair to pay his respects. Within a few days, rumors spread in the palace that Jia Rong had donated a fifth-rank Dragon Guard.

The seventh day had passed in a flash. Chen Siyuan had just finished lunch when his wife came to the door and said, "The master wants to see you. Please hurry up, Master Yuan."

Chen Siyuan took a quick look and saw that it was indeed Qin Xian's family that came.

Then he said, "Sister Qin, please wait a moment. I'll change my clothes and go."

Qin Xianjia agreed and turned to leave. After Chen Siyuan changed his clothes, Hongyu asked, "Master, would you like me to come with you?"

Chen Siyuan said, "That's not necessary. Yunxiang is young, and Xiangling can't take care of things. You should stay in the courtyard."

Hongyu nodded in agreement and then sent Chen Siyuan out of the hospital.

Chen Siyuan made a detour and entered the black oil gate in a blink of an eye. The gatekeeper, Yu Si, whispered, "The eldest master just returned from Ningguo Mansion and seems to be in good spirits."

Chen Siyuan understood what was going on, smiled, nodded, and turned away from Yu Si. This man was greedy, but it was not good to spoil him. To prevent him from asking for too much in the future, Chen Siyuan did not give him any reward this time.

After passing through the ceremonial gate and following the servant into the outer study, he saw Jia She sitting behind the desk, examining a vase.

The servant said, "Master, Master Yuan is here."

Jia She then put down the vase he had been rewarding, and after Chen Siyuan had exchanged greetings, he said, "We need to choose a burial site for Qin Shi at the Ning Mansion. With so many friends and relatives coming to visit us lately, Rong'er and Qiang'er are very busy. And since this matter can't be delayed any longer, why don't you go with the people from the Yin-Yang Department and make a visit."

"Yes, nephew has noted it."

Perhaps he felt that it was a bit unreasonable to send him away like this. So Jia She asked again: "You have been here for a few days, do you have any plans?"

Chen Siyuan said, "Uncle, my nephew has made some progress in his studies and plans to go to the Imperial College for further studies."

Jia She narrowed his eyes and said, "It's easy. The schoolmaster can get in by donating 180 taels of silver. Zhu'er's daughter-in-law's father was once the chief academic officer of the Imperial College. I'll make some connections in a few days, and Yuan'er can go to the Imperial College to study."

Chen Siyuan cursed inwardly! Do I need to ask for permission to donate my prison? Couldn't I just pay money to get in? The problem was, there were no other benefits to donating my prison, other than the convenience of getting around. If I really wanted to donate my prison, why would I wait for Jia She's instructions?

Chen Siyuan was about to say something else, but Jia She lost interest and just waved his hand, saying, "Go down and do your job carefully."

Chen Siyuan did not move, but bowed and said: "Uncle, there is something that I cannot make the decision on, and I need your advice."

"Hmm? What's up?"

Chen Siyuan shook out his sleeves, fished out a piece of paper from his sleeve pocket, and walked a few steps forward to hand it over to the desk: "Uncle, please read this."

"Hmm." Jia She responded, took out the letter with an impatient look and looked at it for a few seconds. Then his triangular eyes suddenly widened and he couldn't help but gasp.

"This...this letter—let me take another look at it!"

Jia She stared at it carefully and saw the words written on it:

To Mrs. Ling Zhengqiao:
I pay my respects to you from afar. I am seriously ill and fear I will not live long. I cannot come to see you in person, so I hope you will forgive me.

Zongyou and I have known each other since childhood and were close friends. Although thousands of miles apart, we exchanged letters. Zongyou's death from illness has deeply saddened me...

...I often miss Zongyou, but I didn't expect that I would be terminally ill now.

I have spent my life repaying the emperor and bringing peace to the people, and I have no regrets in my heart.

When he was dying, he was only worried about his little daughter.

My little daughter, Daiyu, lost her mother at a young age. She is naturally pure and sensitive, and especially delicate at heart. Now that she has lost her parents, I only regret that I cannot see her get married.

I have heard that Zongyou has a son, Shuliang, who is kind-hearted and talented. If Lingzheng doesn't abandon him, I would like to encourage my daughter and Shuliang to marry.

My descendants are few and I am afraid I will not be able to live up to my ancestors in the future. If you agree, I hope that the two of you will perform the ceremony of inheriting the throne together in the future.

The eldest son born inherits the Chen family name, inherits the ancestral business, continues the sacrifices, and is included in the Chen family genealogy according to the order of seniority, and spreads out to other branches and continues the foundation of the Chen family;
The second son married into the eldest branch of the Yu family's family, inherited the reputation of a scholarly family, and took charge of the ancestral property of the Yu eldest branch, continuing the family's aristocratic family tradition and ensuring that both branches had descendants to carry on the family line, so that the family line would not be disrupted and the incense would not be cut off.

If you can show me mercy, I will be grateful for your friendship even though I am in hell.

I burst into tears while writing and didn't know what to say.

With all my heart.

The sixteenth day of the first lunar month in the seventh year of Yankang.

Below it is Lin Ruhai's private seal.

Looking at the signature again, there is Lin Ruhai's signature, as well as the official seal of the Salt Administration and Lin Ruhai's private seal.

After carefully examining the handwriting, it was indeed Lin Ruhai's, without a single mistake or omission. Jia She was stunned!

After a long while, Jia She came to his senses but still refused to put down the marriage certificate. He looked at Chen Siyuan with a pair of cloudy eyes and asked, "Does your family have any history with Lin Ruhai?"

Chen Siyuan bowed and said, "Uncle, you don't know, but my father and Lin Yansi were both successful candidates in the imperial examinations. We even went to Beijing together for the imperial examinations. However, my father failed, while Lin Yansi passed the imperial examination and became the third place overall. Although we were separated by land and water, we kept in touch through letters. When Lin Yansi took charge of the Yangzhou Salt Administration, my father would visit several times every year."

Everything Chen Siyuan said above is true, except that he is lying.

Chen Siyuan then forced a wry smile and said, "My father has long since passed away, and this letter was nearly destroyed when it arrived home. Fortunately, our old servant, Zhongyi, secretly stole the marriage certificate, but unfortunately the previous letter was completely burned."

This was a complete lie. This marriage certificate wasn't addressed to the Chen family, much less to Chen Siyuan. It wasn't known whether it was stolen or robbed; in any case, it was obtained by Sun Guangcheng from Jia Lian. He then used some means to erase some of the text and imitated Lin Ruhai's handwriting to add Chen Siyuan's name. It was only recently completed.

It was also because of this marriage certificate that Sun Guangcheng forced Chen Siyuan to come to the Jia family in the capital to seek wealth and status.

Chen Siyuan was nervous at this moment, afraid of revealing his flaws, but his face was full of bitterness.

Although Jia She stared at him, he did not suspect anything, but was thinking in his heart.

Although Lin Ruhai married Jia Min, he never had a close relationship with the Jia family. He had been in charge of the salt administration in Yangzhou for several years, a position that was considered very lucrative. Even if he was not greedy, he would have made a lot of money just by taking the usual salary.

It was when Lin Ruhai was seriously ill that the Jia family decided to have Jia Lian escort Daiyu south to Yangzhou. His inner thoughts were obvious: he was planning to swallow up Lin Ruhai's property.

Jia Lian had replied to the letters one after another before, and it turned out that Lin Ruhai was seriously ill and could not recover. Not to mention others, Jia She was eager to take action and could not wait to swallow the silver immediately.

Now, complications have suddenly arisen. Lin Ruhai actually gave Chen Siyuan a marriage certificate. Isn't the cooked duck about to fly away?

(End of this chapter)