The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 56 The Xue Family

In the upper room of Rong Xi Tang, Madam Wang lit a large basin of silver-frost charcoal with a green flame.

Mrs. Wang was sitting on the kang in the south, talking to a mother and daughter. The woman was about forty years old and looked a bit like Mrs. Wang, but she was a little more kind. As for the girl, she looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old. She had fair skin and bones, red lips without makeup, emerald eyebrows without makeup, a face like a silver basin, eyes like water apricots, and a pair of big eyes that were very charming. Anyone who saw them would sincerely exclaim, "What a beautiful girl!"

This mother and daughter are Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai.

"Why did you come to Beijing all of a sudden?" Mrs. Wang had obviously been in contact with Aunt Xue all the time. She seemed to think that this was a bit inappropriate. She handed Aunt Xue a cup of hot tea in a covered bowl and continued, "Didn't Uncle Bao tell you to wait until the case in Jinling was settled before going to Beijing?"

Aunt Xue took the tea bowl and took a sip, then put it down and said, "Bao's uncle sent a letter, saying that we don't need to wait and can go directly to Beijing." Then she turned to Xue Baochai, "Where is your uncle's letter? Show it to your aunt."

Xue Baochai: "Yes." She took out a letter from her sleeve and handed it to Mrs. Wang with both hands.

Mrs. Wang took the letter and unfolded it. She could actually read, but not very many words. She obviously understood some of the contents of the letter. Her face changed, and then she folded the letter and looked at Aunt Xue: "You gave money too?"

Aunt Xue was stunned at first, then nodded.

Mrs. Wang was silent.

Aunt Xue was not a fool and understood that they had been deceived by Wang Ziteng again.

Xue Baochai, who was standing by, was secretly shocked: I didn't expect my uncle to be such a person. He said in the letter that he would soon win a great victory and needed money to manage the relationship in the court so as to move up a level. As soon as he opened his mouth, he asked the Wang family and the Xue family to pay half each. He also mentioned Mrs. Wang in the letter, saying that because of the matter of the Beijing camp, he didn't want to cause trouble for Mrs. Wang and didn't write to her.

Judging from the situation, the expenses were all shared by the Jia family and the Xue family, and even the so-called court relationship was the old relationship of the Jia family. In other words, the Wang family got what they wanted without paying anything.

Wang Ziteng did not expect that Aunt Xue would show his letter to Lady Wang. After all, at the end of the letter he promised to manage the Xue family's relationships in the palace and help Xue Baochai enter the palace, which was something Lady Wang did not want to see.

Mrs. Wang read the letter again and suddenly asked, "Why is this letter different from the usual ones? It seems to be unfinished."

Aunt Xue's heart skipped a beat and she looked at Xue Baochai.

Xue Baochai smiled faintly and said, "Aunt, there is indeed another page. It is the IOU written by my uncle. It is with my brother."

Mrs. Wang nodded, and Wang Ziteng wrote her an IOU. Of course, Wang Ziteng's IOU was never cashed.

Handing the letter back to Xue Baochai, Mrs. Wang looked at Aunt Xue and asked, "What are your plans?"

Now it was Aunt Xue's turn to be silent.

Xue Baochai also remained silent there.

Mrs. Wang: "What's wrong?"

Just then, Mrs. Wang's companion, Zhou Ruijia, walked in.

Zhou Ruijia: "Madam, the master sent a message saying that the concubine is already old, and the nephew is young and does not know the way of the world. If he lives outside, there may be trouble. There are about ten rooms in the Lixiang Courtyard in the northeast corner of our house that are vacant. Clean it up and invite the concubine and her children to live there."

Aunt Xue was overjoyed when she heard this and looked at Mrs. Wang expectantly.

Xue Baochai lowered her head slightly and glanced at the rosary beads that were spinning rapidly in Mrs. Wang's hand.

The rosary slowed down its rotation speed, and Mrs. Wang spoke up, "Your house in the capital has been uninhabited for many years. Why don't you stay in our house for the rest of the winter?"

"Hey!" Aunt Xue had lost all her reserve at this time. She immediately pushed Xue Baochai and signaled her to salute Mrs. Wang.

Before Xue Baochai could get up, Aunt Xue spoke again: "Where is the Madam? I will go and pay my respects to her."

Mrs. Wang did not respond but looked at Zhou Ruijia.

Zhou Ruijia understood and told Aunt Xue about Li Hu and Lin Daiyu.

There was silence.

Aunt Xue smiled bitterly. No wonder her sister, Lady Wang, looked a little unnatural when she saw her. It turned out that she had disrupted the family dinner at Rongguo Mansion and came at a really bad time.

At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and the maid came in and reported: "Madam, there is a message from the old lady, saying that the concubine and the wife should go to the flower hall to talk."

Mrs. Wang glanced at Zhou Ruijia.

Zhou Ruijia: "Is the dinner ready in the flower hall?"

Maid: "No, the old lady and Miss Lin just ordered two plays, and they are singing now."

Mrs. Wang stood up and said to Aunt Xue, "Let's go."

There was a great noise of people. In the hall in front of Rongxi Hall, eight tables were set up. Before the banquet started, the young men of the Jia family were gathered together in groups of three or five, talking happily and happily.

Suddenly, a cough was heard from outside the door, and then two old men walked in.

The hall immediately became quiet and everyone stood up.

Two old men sat down at the head table. They were the elders of the "Dai" generation in the Jia family, Jia Dairu and Jia Daixiu.

With a humph, Jia Dairu said, "Sit down."

Everyone murmured in unison: "Yes."

At this moment, Jia Rong walked in accompanied by a young man wearing a thick fur cloak. The young man was not handsome, but he had thick eyebrows and big eyes, especially his honest round face, which made him look a little silly and cute.

The young man folded his hands and said, "Everyone, I am a little late. I have kept you waiting for a long time. I apologize for the rudeness!"

Who is this person? !
Everyone looked at each other and stood up quickly.

The young man smiled and stretched out his hands to greet people: "Please sit down, please sit down, everyone please sit down."

Everyone sat down again in a scattered manner.

Just as Jia Rong was about to say something, the young man spoke again: "To express my apology, Xue will drink three cups of wine to make amends to you all later." After that, he strode towards the chief.

"Uncle Xue!" Jia Rong quickly chased after him and stopped the young man.

The young man was the "Dull Bully" Xue Pan. Jia Lian was accompanying Li Hu, so Jia Zheng arranged for Jia Rong to take him to meet Jia She and Jia Zhen.

Xue Pan looked at Jia Rong.

Jia Rong: "The master said that your seat is the second one."

Xue Pan's eyes widened: "Are you looking down on our Xue family?!"

Jia Rong hurriedly explained: "Mr. Xue has misunderstood! This is not a welcoming banquet prepared for you."

Xue Pan: "What does this mean?"

Jia Rong pulled Xue Pan towards the second seat, saying, "What a coincidence! Today our Jia family is hosting a banquet to entertain our future son-in-law. This is a family dinner."

Xue Pan was very embarrassed and had to sit down reluctantly.

At this time, footsteps were heard outside the door, followed by Jia Lian's voice: "Hurry up, the masters are coming!"

The servants came in one after another and served the wine and food in an instant.

After a while, the sound of voices and footsteps were heard outside the door.

Except for Jia Dairu and Jia Daixiu, everyone stood up.

Then, Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Zhen and Li Hu came in talking.

Li Hu was sitting in the chief seat accompanied by Jia Dairu, Jia Daixiu, Jia She and Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng is a scholar who likes to say some polite words. Fortunately, he doesn't say much. After a few glasses of wine, the scene becomes lively instantly.
The banquet was still going on and everyone was a little tipsy.

At this moment, Lai Da, the steward of Rongguo Mansion, walked in with Li Hu's personal soldiers.

The soldier saluted Li Hu, then quickly took out a letter from his arms and handed it to him with both hands.

Li Hu took the letter, tore it open and read it. As he read, his eyes widened in shock.

Jia She and Jia Zheng were both stunned by his expression and stared at him with wide eyes.

Li Hu calmed down and handed the letter to Jia She.

As Jia She read the letter, his eyes flashed with light.

Jia Zheng couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"

Li Hu: "Wang Ziteng defeated the combined forces of the Zhenghong and Xianghong banners of the Chahar tribe and killed the Beizi of the Zhenghong banner."

Jia Zheng was stunned!
(End of this chapter)