The Red Mansions

Chapter 528 Yuan Chun: Big deal

Chapter 528 Yuan Chun: Big deal...

The night fell and everything was still.

A round of bright moon as big as a jade plate climbed up the top of the phoenix tree, and sprinkled thousands of cool moonlight. Octagonal palace lanterns had already been lit in the palace garden. Circles of red and yellow intertwined lights and shadows fainted on Danbi.

Under the carved beams and painted buildings, there is a palace with three characters of "Kunning Palace" written in seal characters hanging vertically. The lights are bright, the eyes are full of beauty, and the clear water floor reflects the figures of court ladies and eunuchs standing with hands down.

Empress Song is entertaining Song Jing, his wife Shen, and niece Song Yan. Concubine Duanrong is sitting with a pair of children—Princess Xianning and the eighth son Chen Ze. In addition, there is Qinghe County who is a guest in the palace. Lord Li Chanyue, and Liang Wang Chen Wei.

"When you arrive at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you must do a good job and don't disappoint the expectations of His Majesty and me."

Empress Song is wearing a vermilion dress embroidered with phoenix and hibiscus. Under the tall and beautiful bun, she has a bright and graceful snowy face like a peach pistil in March. Her narrow and long phoenix eyes are bright and energetic, and the eye shadows are gorgeous, but there is a serious look on her face, which makes the mature beauty a bit more gentle and maternal.

Song Jing listened to her eldest sister's instructions, nodded and said: "My brother must be careful and meticulous, and handle the errands assigned by His Majesty well."

Concubine Duanrong smiled and said, "Sister, Shuyu has always been diligent, so he doesn't need to be told."

Empress Song said softly: "The House of Internal Affairs is no different than the others, and the Kuaiji Division spends more money and food, and its position is humble and powerful. After all, Shuyu has never done these things in Honglu Temple before, so he needs to pay extra attention."

Song Jing's wife, Shen Shi, said with a smile on her face: "What the empress said is that it is not a bad thing to be more careful, and the concubine should remind the master when he goes back."

Empress Song nodded, and was about to say something when suddenly, a sharp call from the inner prison came from outside the hall: "Your Majesty is here."

Everyone stopped talking and stood up.

Not long after, Emperor Chongping, surrounded by Daiquan and other eunuchs in the Daming Palace, entered the palace like stars and moons, his majestic eyes darted to the few people in the palace, his eyes fell on Song Jing's face, and he paused.

"The humble minister (concubine) has seen His Majesty."

Song Jing and his wife Shen hurried over to pay respects to Emperor Chongping.

Concubine Duanrong and Princess Xianning also got up from their seats and saluted Emperor Chongping.

Empress Song smiled and said, "Has Your Majesty had dinner yet?"

"It's already been used." Emperor Chongping said softly with a calm face, then took a seat on the main seat, looked at Empress Song with a smile on his face, and asked, "What did Zitong just say? Look so lively?"

Empress Song smiled, and her voice was as soft as water, and said: "Just now, I told Shuyu that when we go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we must do our job well and live up to your majesty's expectations."

When Song Jing heard this, a respectful expression appeared on his elegant face, and he also explained: "Just now, my humble minister is listening to your mother's teachings."

Emperor Chongping pondered for a moment, with an unnatural expression on his face, and said: "I'm afraid I have to look at the errands of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After all, Shuyu has never been trained in common affairs. In my opinion, he might as well be transferred to the Ministry of Industry and Engineering For Langzhong, since the imperial mausoleum collapsed, the project needs to be rebuilt again, and the progress needs to be accelerated compared to before."

Empress Song's original radiant smile froze on her face, she was slightly startled, and couldn't help but whispered: "Didn't Your Majesty say..."

Emperor Chongping said: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs has recently raided many criminal officials. I saw that there are several large boxes of account books. After all, Shuyu was a guest at Honglu Temple before. He suddenly went to the Kuaiji Division to write off the account books. He may not be familiar with the affairs. , I thought that I might as well go to the estimation office first to estimate and sell the civil engineering materials of the imperial mausoleum, and by the way, I can hone the ability of general affairs, which can be used later."

As Emperor Chongping spoke, he felt a little embarrassed.

Wuhe, Jun Wuyan, I promised well before, but now I suddenly changed my mind. Fortunately, I didn't make an order, otherwise it would be even more embarrassing.

Secretly thought, Jinyang gave him a problem.

Just when the air in Kunning Palace was suddenly quiet and several people looked at each other, Song Jing was stunned for a moment, then quickly said: "Your Majesty's words are true. I told my empress before that my younger brother has never done this. I'm afraid I'm going to do it again." I didn't know what to do, I thought that I would not be able to do it for a month or two, so I should ask His Majesty to resign, but now His Majesty has sent my ministers to the Bureau of Survey and Evaluation, to help supervise the repair of the imperial tomb, to work with colleagues from the Ministry of Industry, to increase my knowledge, to say the least It's exactly what I want."

At this moment, Empress Song's face was pale, and the handkerchief in her sleeve was tightly clenched by plain hands. Although she was very disappointed, she still smiled and said, "Your Majesty, it's fine for Shuyu to go to the Ministry of Industry. Thinking that the Ministry of Industry is short of people recently, it would be good to let Shuyu go to exercise."

Emperor Chongping also felt that what he did was a little unreasonable. After thinking about it, he said: "Shuyu went to the Ministry of Industry to do a good job. If the mausoleum is completed in one or two years, all the officials in the Ministry of Industry will report their merits. It is not impossible for Jianba Shuyu to become a third-rank servant official."

When Empress Song heard the words, her face paused, she suppressed the strangeness in her heart, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Shuyu didn't come from the imperial examination. I'm afraid he is really a minister, and there will be criticisms from all over."

"Born in the imperial examination may not necessarily be an upright official. Thinking about Pan Bingyi and Lu Chengan, they were originally born in Kejia, but once they gained power, they were greedy for profit and frantic. They followed the common man Chen Rong to tamper with the imperial mausoleum." Emperor Chongping said In the end, his complexion was not good, and he said in a deep voice: "This time, the two servants of the Ministry of Industry can't limit the career of Kejia."

As a matter of fact, one's family background is limited to those in the Hanlin Academy, Zhan Shifu, and Metropolitan Procuratorate, especially the former, which not only needs to be born in the top two rankings, but also needs to be in the top two.

Facing Empress Song's eyes, Emperor Chongping murmured: "In the future, the court will push, and since Zhao Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, will return to the director of the Ministry, if there is a minister of the Ministry to assist him, it will be enough to deal with the affairs of the Ministry of Industry."

Speaking of which, it was a temporary idea, and the Ministry of Industry only left one servant official, but it undoubtedly added a little more persuasiveness to the words just now.

Instead of going to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he went to the Ministry of Industry, completed his errands, and was promoted to a ministry.

Moreover, the minister of the Ministry of Industry was vacant, and the Qi and Zhejiang parties were agitated upon hearing the news, so he didn't intend to use it.

Empress Song's heart moved slightly, but she frowned and said: "Shuyu's talent may not be up to the task in a department, Your Majesty still has to consider it."

The original plan was to go to the House of Internal Affairs and work with the magistrate in a year or two. The House of Internal Affairs will receive money and food. In the future, Jinyang will not be allowed to go back, and the fourth brother will be in charge of the power alone. At that time, he will certainly benefit, but now For some reason, he changed his mind again.

But at this time, it is absolutely impossible to show other emotions.

Emperor Chongping nodded, and said: "Shuyu is cautious, and he went to the Ministry of Industry to participate in the supervision of the imperial tomb. I can rest assured that the king of Qi County and the king of Chu are young after all, and they have little experience. This is the first time that an imperial tomb has been built. In the past, Shuyu was an elder, so he could help to make a point."

At this time, when the conversation came to this point, Song Jing hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, my brother has never been in the government office, and hastily led the Ministry of Internal Affairs to dispatch me. I don't know how many troubles will happen. As Your Majesty said, this It's a good thing to go to the Ministry of Industry to supervise the repair of the imperial tomb and hone your talents."

Thunder, rain and dew are all the grace of the king. At this time, I can only make mistakes and go to the Ministry of Industry to take up a job. In the future, I will be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

Seeing this, Empress Song couldn't say anything more, and told her: "When you go to the Ministry of Industry, you have to do your errands well. Gongling made such a big mistake. When you go to the Ministry of Industry, you have to work hard on your errands."

Concubine Duanrong looked at this scene and sighed inwardly.

Song Yan squeezed her handkerchief, looked at her father, her bright eyes showed concern, and the cardamom girl's soft and white face, her facial features were very similar to Queen Song's.

Emperor Chongping sat for a while, exhorted a few words, did not stay longer, and led the inner eunuch back to Daming Palace.

Empress Song ordered the female officer to send Song Jing's family of three away from the palace, and Princess Xianning and Princess Qinghe also gradually dispersed.

Empress Song took Concubine Duanrong's hand, and sat down on the phoenix couch in the inner room of the palace. Puzzled on her graceful and beautiful face, she asked, "Sister, why do you think Your Majesty changed his mind?"

Concubine Duanrong shook her head, and said softly: "Who knows? But Your Majesty has always kept his promises, and today is indeed a bit abnormal."

Empress Song frowned slightly, turned her head to look at the female officer beside her, and said in a low voice, "Go tell Xia Shouzhong to ask who went to Daming Palace to see His Majesty this afternoon."

She always felt that it was unusual here.

The lady officer immediately took the order.

After a while, the female officer came back, came to Queen Song's ear lightly, and whispered a few words.

Empress Song's white and greasy face was immediately covered with a layer of frost, and the cold light in her phoenix eyes also flickered away.

"What's wrong with sister, this is?" Concubine Duanrong said softly.

"This afternoon, Jinyang went to Daming Palace." Song Empress Yu Rongzhong regained her softness and said with a soft smile.

"This..." Concubine Duanrong frowned slightly, Yurong was startled, and asked doubtfully: "Jinyang, what is she doing this for?"

She neither likes nor dislikes that sister-in-law, but her daughter has a good relationship with Jinyang.

Empress Song sipped the powder to moisten her lips, feeling annoyed.

That sister-in-law, she has been patient again and again, but she just pushes forward. Now that her fourth brother is going to the House of Internal Affairs, it doesn't get in the way of anyone. How can she get in the way?

Seeing Empress Song's uneasy expression, Concubine Duan Rong persuaded her in a low voice, "Sister, actually, it's better to go to the Ministry of Industry. Didn't Your Majesty just say that, wait a year or two before preparing for the promotion of my fourth brother to be the minister of the Ministry of Industry."

She also thought it was inappropriate before, the fourth younger brother went to the House of Internal Affairs, if he needed money, the fourth brother would not refuse to ask the House of Internal Affairs, if things go on like this, I'm afraid there will be unforeseen disasters.

But she knew what her sister was thinking.

Empress Song stared at her beautiful eyes, nodded and said, "I didn't say it's wrong here, it's better to go to the Ministry of Industry."

With the support of the queen mother behind Jinyang, she can't do anything about it for the time being, but she made a note of it.

……

……

Rikain

It was already night shrouded in the mansion, a bright moon hung in the middle of the sky, and the moonlight shone on the earth, covering the deep pear fragrance in the courtyard with a layer of silver gauze.

Under the eaves of the corridor, Baochai and Yinger opened the cotton curtain, and the light from the room immediately flooded out, illuminating the gold-plated couplets on the pillars of the corridor in golden yellow. Yinger.

Aunt Xue was sitting in front of the high table, sipping tea, looked up at Baochai, and said with a smile, "My dear girl, you're back."

It turned out that Baochai went to Dongfu to talk to Qin Keqing after listening to the play in the afternoon.

"Mom, why did you come back so early?" Baochai asked, sitting nearby.

"I'm a little tired today, so I'll come back earlier to have a rest." Aunt Xue said softly, looking at her daughter, she said with emotion: "Brother Heng still helped Uncle Ni to accomplish that, I don't want to be a fourth-rank official .”

Thinking of the afternoon, seeing the unconcealable joy in the corners of my sister's brows and eyes that almost pushed away the wrinkles, my mind was a bit complicated.

A compatriot from the same mother, but my sister is married well.

Baochai sat on the embroidered pier, took the teacup from Yinger, and took a sip. The girl's muscles and bones were smooth and her manners were elegant. When she lowered her head, the air on her forehead was also covered by bangs on her face. The shadow under the shadow became more and more gentle like water, raised its shiny almond eyes, and said softly: "Mom, when did Brother Heng not fulfill what he said?"

If he can fulfill his uncle's business, then the promise to her can also be fulfilled.

Aunt Xue nodded and said, "Yes."

However, it was inevitable that there was a strange feeling in my heart, what Bao girl said was faintly...

Aunt Xue suppressed the sudden strangeness in her heart, and asked: "My dear girl, I heard that the father of Dongfu Heng's daughter-in-law is also in the Ministry of Industry, and he is a doctor in the first division. My dear girl, would you say you are Brother Heng?" Have a plan too?"

Baochai was stunned, and said in a low voice: "Well, I don't know about it. It's not easy for us to ask if Brother Heng doesn't talk about it, but Mr. Qin is a doctor, so he can't be inferior to Uncle in any way." That's right."

Sister Qin's father is also in the Ministry of Industry, and he is a fifth rank. With his temperament, he will not favor one person over another, so he doesn't know if it is a fourth rank or a third rank.

If it is the third grade...

Baochai couldn't help but hear the young man's words, at that time he would be a high-ranking official in scarlet official robes.

Seeing this, Aunt Xue opened her mouth and finally sighed: "My dear girl, alas."

She couldn't tell why, and her heart was sour.

Looking at my own family, my daughter can't get married, and my son is still in prison. People compare themselves to others, and they are pissed off.

"My dear girl, do you think Brother Heng can help you with your brother's future?" Aunt Xue was thinking, and suddenly her heart moved, and she asked expectantly.

Baochai paused, and said softly: "Mom, after all, there is a layer of separation between her and ours. Besides, my brother is not expected to be an official."

"Isn't it still possible to be a general in the army? Brother Heng is in charge of the Beijing camp now. If your brother is in the army, it's not just a matter of his words? I've heard that, the same clan All the men here serve in the army." Aunt Xue lowered her voice and said.

Clearly seeing Jia Heng helping Jia Zheng get promoted, Aunt Xue's thoughts inevitably came to life.

Baochai:"……"

His eyes flickered, and he persuaded: "Mom, forgot that brother was injured that time? It's not easy to stay in the army without eyes, and you can only seek wealth and wealth."

With my brother's reckless temper, he went to the army. If something happened, Mom would have to complain about him. This is not a good thing.

But my elder brother couldn't help, after all...

Baochai sighed inwardly.

Aunt Xue laughed and said, "I don't think so. I see your brother as a lucky man. Besides, Brother Heng doesn't have to take too much risk if he wants to cultivate him. Look at the prison, your brother doesn't need to eat anything." suffering."

Baochai sighed softly and said, "But our house is separated by a floor after all."

This is actually some kind of guidance, separated by a layer, if you become your old son-in-law, there will be no separation.

"Yeah, brother Heng said he was good to his relatives, but I think it's also a matter of closeness and distance." Aunt Xue was a little sour as she spoke.

"It's a pity to say that, if we had come here half a year earlier, Brother Heng hadn't married at that time, so Mom would have wanted anything..." Aunt Xue looked at her daughter, and quickly stopped talking, really careless Speak your mind.

People are not stupid, Aunt Xue naturally distinguishes the good from the bad, how could such a wealthy son-in-law have not thought about it in the East Mansion?

Baochai said angrily, "What nonsense is Mom talking about?"

"Good girl, alas, it's too late to say anything now." Aunt Xue sighed, her heart was not without depression, and she sighed: "Look at Brother Heng's daughter-in-law, how old is she? But she is a first-rank imperial order , I see that your appearance is no worse than hers... Forget it, it's meaningless to say these things now."

But when she saw Baochai blushing, she stopped talking.

But suddenly remembered something, fixed her eyes on her daughter, and said solemnly: "Girl, you often look for Brother Heng, Mother knows that Brother Heng is at this age, looks good, and has such a powerful position. But don’t get distracted, he already has a regular wife, even if he is a regular wife, although he doesn’t care about size in private, the government didn’t admit it, so it was impossible to seal the imperial order at that time.”

In the Tang Dynasty, the trend of marrying the first son was particularly strong, and it was also known as the equal wife among the Chen and Han folks, but due to the limitations of the etiquette law, it was not recognized by the government. Without him, the ritual law of inheritance would be shaken from bottom to top.

Baochai blushed all of a sudden this time, and said angrily, "Mom, why are you talking about me again."

With that said, he got up and went back to the room.

"Okay, okay, mom won't talk anymore." Aunt Xue quickly stretched out her hand to hold Baochai, smiled and said, "My good girl is sensible, she knows what she wants without mom reminding her."

Previously, I saw my daughter frequently interacting with Brother Heng of Dongfu because of Pan'er's affairs, I was not worried, but considering that Brother Heng's temperament, and my daughter was smart since she was a child, there shouldn't be any problem.

Baochai sat down again, changed the subject and said, "Mom, don't talk about it, um, where is brother? Why haven't you come back yet?"

Because Xue Pan is still wearing a crime, if something happens outside, I'm afraid even his face will be ugly.

While talking, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside, "Your sister is looking for me?"

As soon as the words fell, Xue Pan shook his head, entered the wing room with one foot high and one foot shallow, and said with a smile: "After worshiping the ancestors, I drank two cups with a few gentlemen from Jia's mansion, and I have to go tomorrow It's prison."

Originally, he wanted to go to Cuihonglou to listen to music, but who would have thought that he would be stopped as soon as he left the mansion.

"My son, why do you eat so much wine?" Aunt Xue asked worriedly when she saw that Xue Pan's face was flushed and he staggered when he walked.

Xue Pan laughed and said, "I don't like wine in prison, so I ate two more cups."

As he said that, he glanced at his younger sister, and asked with a smile: "Why did I hear Mom talking about cousin Heng with my younger sister just now?"

But I listened to it outside for a while.

Aunt Xue said: "Well, just talking casually."

"Mom, sister, you don't need to worry about it, she understands better than anyone else." Xue Pan laughed.

He looked, his younger sister and cousin Heng were still riding in a carriage today, who knows if there is...hehe.

With Cousin Heng's powerful position, he would not treat his sister badly, and of course, he would not treat his brother-in-law badly either.

Aunt Xue said angrily: "You've had too much wine, you're just messing around here, hurry up and wash up, you have to leave tomorrow."

As she said that, she gradually became sad, her eye circles were reddish and she said, "I only saw you once in half a month."

Xue Pan smiled and said, "Well, it's not that I won't come back, I'll be back in a few days."

As he said that, he didn't say much, and returned to his residence with the support of Tongxi Tonggui.

But it is said that in the courtyard of another Wang family girl, the candles in the wing room are lit, and two figures are reflected on the window screen.

Mrs. Wang also took Yuan Chun's hand and sat on the bed, the two of them were talking about themselves.

"Big girl, I haven't seen you for a few days. Are you okay at the princess's mansion?" Mrs. Wang asked with concern.

Yuan Chun said softly, "Mom, I'm fine."

Mrs. Wang nodded and said: "That's good. I'm worried that you will be serving nobles after all if you leave home, and you will be bullied by others."

Yuan Chun pursed his pink lips and said, "Don't worry, Mom, Brother Heng often visits me and will take care of me."

"No matter what he says, there is no princess Jingui. If something happens, he may not be able to protect you." Mrs. Wang said with a sigh.

The eldest daughter of her family almost regarded the man from the East Mansion as her own younger brother, and kept turning her elbows out.

Yuan Chun said softly: "Mom, don't misunderstand brother Heng, isn't brother Heng taking care of father's affairs this time?"

If possible, she still wanted to resolve the grievances between her mother and him.

"That's what he should do. He has become the patriarch himself. You said how many things happened in the family. You were fine in the palace, but he insisted on taking you out. Now your marriage is not the same. How about you?" There is something about Baoyu." Mrs. Wang said in a low voice, seeing Yuan Chun frowning, said: "Forget it, I know you don't like to hear it, so I won't talk about it. Your father listens to him now, and you are in the palace. Mother knows how hard it is, and it is actually right to come out, but you should also drink less of his ecstasy soup, how he arranges your marriage, mother will also watch."

Yuan Chun's heart skipped a beat.

Ok?

Why did she think of this again in front of her mother?It's... so shameless.

Mrs. Wang sighed, and said in a low voice: "Your father is fine, I don't really care if he can become a third-rank official in the future, the key is that your brother is still young, and he can't ignore Baoyu's future."

He said that he didn't care about the third-rank officials, but he said it in his mouth, obviously he didn't care about it.

Yuan Chun's beautiful eyes were slightly fixed, and Yu Rong, who was as soft and beautiful as a spring flower, was in a daze. After a while, he comforted: "Mom, don't worry, Brother Heng will take care of him."

With her here, Baoyu's future will be assured, the big deal...

Mrs. Wang sighed, and said: "Oh, there is one more thing. The last time I saw Mr. Qin, he was so old and his hair was gray a lot. He should take good care of him. I don't know. How did Dongfu plan?"

She was also a little curious. From her point of view, the old man should be raised by the old man, and he shouldn't be promoted to a fourth-rank official, right?

"I don't know either. Brother Heng doesn't usually tell me these things." Yuan Chun said softly.

Mrs. Wang said: "In normal times, what are you like, you also ask him, and about your brother, you also take the time to talk to him."

Yuan Chun's heart skipped a beat again, and he said, "Mom, I'll ask."

Mrs. Wang sighed again, with a hidden worry floating in her heart.

Ever since the eldest son of the Rongguo Mansion was expelled from his rank, everything has changed.

In the final analysis, it is still the title, the title is the iron crop that guarantees the harvest from drought and flood, and one does not have to be an official for a lifetime. If only the big girl was concubine and Baoyu was the uncle of the country, even if it is like the Zhen family, it is much better than now .

(End of this chapter)