The Red Mansion

Chapter 47 Aunt Xue's Sorrow is Like a Deep Pool or a Swamp
After Emperor Taishun and Emperor Jingning finished their meeting, they left. Emperor Jingning then sent someone to summon Wang Ziteng.

When Wang Ziteng arrived at Changchun Garden, Emperor Jingning had already finished fishing, so Wang Ziteng went into Qingxi Study to meet the emperor.

Emperor Jingning sat on a rosewood Arhat bed with dragon patterns, a landscape painting hung on the wall behind him, and a gilded Suan Ni censer in the room emitted wisps of green smoke.

Emperor Jingning stared at Wang Ziteng with a piercing gaze. He personally recounted Emperor Taishun's report and informed Wang Ziteng of the punishment. Furious at Wang Ziteng's refusal to fight, he declared, "Lobsang Danjin of Qinghai rebelled. I had originally intended to appoint you as Grand General to quell the rebellion, but today I learned of your crimes! Forget it! Forget it! You've missed a golden opportunity to establish yourself! I only hope that now that you've been demoted to General, you will diligently perform military duties and conduct yourself with integrity. Perhaps you'll have a chance for promotion in the future."

Wang Ziteng lowered his head and knelt on the endless blue brick ground. When he heard this, his body was shaking and he stared at his official uniform as if he wanted to stare a hole in it.

A wild beast roared in his heart, "Why is it so? Why is it so? I just wanted to subdue Jiang Nian, but it wasn't enough to offend the Thirteenth Prince, I actually alarmed the Emperor and His Majesty! I've been punished like this, and lost the opportunity to become the Great General!"

Wang Ziteng left Qingxi Book House with remorse and regret. He did not return to the governor's office in the Beijing camp, but instead sternly ordered the personal guard driving the carriage, "Go home!"

He boarded the carriage, and as soon as the curtain dropped, he punched the wall.

The carriage galloped from Changchun Garden to the king's residence in the inner city of Shenjing...

……

……

Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai were sitting together doing needlework.

Aunt Xue was embroidering a peony picture in her hand. Suddenly, the needle tip deviated and pierced her finger. A drop of bright red blood immediately oozed out.

Aunt Xue seemed not to feel any pain and stared blankly at the blood beads on her fingers.

The maid, Tongxi, was holding a small lacquered tea tray with a celadon teacup decorated with a lotus flower. Just as she was about to serve tea, she noticed a drop of blood on Aunt Xue's finger and exclaimed, "Oh! Grandma's been pricked by a needle!"

Xue Baochai quickly put down the purse she was embroidering with the Three Friends of Winter and said with concern, "Mother, you are uneasy today, so don't do your needlework."

Aunt Xue's face was bitter, and her voice was bitter: "I have a bad feeling that something bad is going to happen to your uncle, and something bad is going to happen to our family too."

Xue Baochai bit her lower lip and hesitated to speak.

She...also had this bad feeling.

At this moment, accompanied by a stumbling sound of footsteps, Xue Pan broke through the bead curtain and rushed in, with beads of sweat on his forehead.

"It's a disaster! It's a disaster!" Xue Pan gasped. "I... I just went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to settle old accounts and calculate new expenses, but I learned that our family's imperial merchant position has been removed!"

When Aunt Xue heard this, the embroidery frame in her hand fell to the ground with a clang.

Xue Baochai's face also turned pale.

Soon, Wang Ziteng rushed in angrily again, his face gloomy as if water was about to drip.

When he came in, he found Aunt Xue sobbing, and Xue Baochai and Xue Pan both looked depressed. But he coldly scolded Aunt Xue: "You still have the nerve to cry!"

Aunt Xue wept and complained, "Pan'er just went to the Imperial Household Department and learned that our family's imperial merchant has been removed!"

Wang Ziteng's eyes widened. He went to see the retired emperor, but the retired emperor only informed him of his punishment in person, but did not tell him about the removal of the Xue family from the royal merchant position.

Wang Ziteng snorted and said, "That's not all! The Emperor just summoned me and told me that His Majesty had reported our affair with Jiang Nian to him, demoted me from Governor of the Capital Camp to General, and ordered me to pay the Qin family three thousand taels of silver."

Aunt Xue was stunned when she heard this, and immediately burst into tears, saying, "How...how could they even alarm the two saints..."

Xue Baochai's face was pale.

Xue Pan was dumbfounded, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. The three of them were in disbelief, and for a moment it was difficult for them to connect Jiang Nian's figure with the almighty Emperor and His Majesty.

Wang Ziteng glared at Aunt Xue, wanting to slap his sister, but he held back and angrily scolded, "You've brought this disaster upon yourself!"

Aunt Xue was depressed and thought to herself, "Although I made a mistake, how can I be blamed for everything? You made a mistake too!"

But I dare not say it out loud.

Wang Ziteng said coldly, "Bring me 33,000 silver coins. 3,000 is for repaying the Qin family, and 30,000 is for me to bribe. A general is far inferior to a military governor of the Beijing camp, and most likely he will be assigned to a post outside the capital. That won't work! I have to bribe him before I can be promoted back!"

In fact, he knew that if he wanted to return to the position of Jiedushi of the Beijing Camp or a similar high position, it would be difficult to achieve even with 300,000 taels of silver, let alone 300,000 taels of silver.

This kind of thing is not mainly managed by spending money, but depends on the will of Emperor Jingning. When Emperor Jingning passes away, the imperial power will be transferred to Emperor Taishun, which is also due to the will of Emperor Taishun.

He had asked for money from the Xue family many times before, and this time he mainly wanted to take the opportunity to ask for money from the Xue family. He thought that he was being cheated by the Xue family this time, and asked for 30,000 taels of silver as a little compensation.

Aunt Xue became increasingly depressed and indignant, but she still took the money.

She respected Wang Ziteng and felt that she was indeed wrong. She also thought that now that the Xue family had lost even the imperial merchant, they would have to rely on Wang Ziteng even more in the future.

When Aunt Xue handed the banknote to Wang Ziteng, she couldn't help but plead, "Can you please save our imperial merchant? We can't lose this imperial merchant!"

Wang Ziteng shook his head decisively: "This matter was decided by the Emperor Emeritus and His Majesty. Even I have been demoted, how can I keep your family's position as an imperial merchant?"

After saying that, he walked away.

Aunt Xue couldn't help crying again.

Sadness accumulates in the heart, like a deep pool, like a quagmire.

Even Xue Pan knew that the Xue family was in dire straits after losing the imperial merchant. He was so anxious that he kept muttering, "What should I do? What should I do?"

Aunt Xue's tears were pouring down, and the silk handkerchief in her hand was soaked.

Xue Baochai lowered her head and said nothing, her slender fingers tightly grasping the corner of her clothes.

Suddenly, Aunt Xue raised her head and said to Xue Baochai and Xue Pan, "Let's go to Rongguo Mansion this afternoon to ask your aunt. Perhaps Rongguo Mansion can help our family keep the imperial merchant status."

Xue Baochai raised her eyes and said helplessly, "This matter has alarmed the Emperor and the Holy Lord. Even my uncle can't help, and it's unlikely that my aunt will be able to help either."

Aunt Xue wiped her tears, her expression stubborn, "How do you know if you don't give it a try? Maybe it will work! After all, this is the Duke's Mansion that founded the country, and its foundation is deeper than your uncle's!"

In fact, she also knew that this matter was most likely to fail, but she was like a drowning person at this moment. When she saw something floating on the water, she wanted to grab it, even if it was just a straw.

Mrs. Wang of Rongguo Mansion is Aunt Xue’s sister, and Wang Xifeng is Aunt Xue’s niece.

Yesterday, Rongguo Mansion sent someone to invite Aunt Xue. Aunt Xue was not in the mood to go yesterday and had originally postponed it to this morning, but she was even less in the mood to go this morning.

At this moment, Xue Baochai couldn't help but say, "Mom, I...I won't go. How can I have the face to go?"

When Aunt Xue goes there, she will naturally spread the news that Xue Baochai is promised a concubine.

Xue Pan also hurriedly said: "I won't go either, mom can go."

He also wanted to avoid shame, but was afraid of being scolded by the elders in Rongguo Mansion.

(End of this chapter)