The son of the red mansion is unscrupulous

When Jia Amnesty turned his back on him and told the boy to ask his concubine to get back the money, his younger brother Jia Zhengzheng was so shocked by the news that Lin Zhixiao brought him that he couldn't say a word.

"Brother Lian's words, are you serious?"

"Second Master Lian doesn't seem to be joking," Lin Zhixiao said.

Jia Zheng's hands trembled slightly. He already knew that he would not be able to be an official. Now that Jia Zhuzi's stepfather became an official, it is considered a blessing from his ancestors. "Do you know, sir?"

Lin Zhixiao said: "Thinking about it, Second Master Lian will not tell the Elder Master about this matter. If Second Master Lian tells, the Elder Master will definitely ask Second Master Lian to be an official."

"...you go and ask Second Master Lian what he wants?" Jia Zheng was sure that Jia Lian must have a conspiracy in resigning from the Ministry of Industry.

Lin Zhixiao saw that Jia Zheng was blushing with excitement, and quickly agreed to leave. He walked all the way to the West Courtyard along the alley. Hearing that Jia Lian was taking a bath, he waited outside the door for about two minutes. The door of Jia Lian's room was opened, and then he lifted the curtain and went in with the young ones. Jia Lian was only wearing moon white satin underwear, lying on the Ba Bu bed, reading a book in front of a lamp, and the young ones knelt on the bed. On the footsteps in front of the bed, he took a handkerchief and wiped his black and greasy hair.

"Second Master, Second Master asked, what does Second Master want?" Lin Zhixiao asked.

"Ask him to guess. If he guesses right, it's fine if I like him. If he guesses wrong, I'll be free if I'm free. I'll just go to work as an errand for the second master."

Lin Zhixiao wondered what kind of talk this was, and said with a smile: "Second Master, don't embarrass the young one, how can the small one dare to say such things to the Second Master?"

"Then cut it out and keep it simple, just tell him 'guess'."

"Second Master is joking again." Lin Zhixiao waited and waited, but Jia Lian didn't see any more words, and he didn't dare to interrupt his reading, so he had to take Jia Lian's words to tell Jia Zheng.

"I guess?!" Jia Zheng was furious when he heard those two words, and sent Lin Zhixiao out. Sitting sickly in the study, he felt even more miserable. He leaned on his forehead and went to Mrs. Wang's room. With their backs turned to him, Feng Er sighed, "Hey, I came for the imperial decree, who knows that the imperial decree might as well not come."Jia Zheng was furious, when he heard this sentence, he became suspicious that Cailuan and Caifeng would laugh at him for emptying the bamboo basket, and immediately shouted: "Come here, kill these two quickly."

Caifeng and Cailuan immediately knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.

Mrs. Wang was alarmed, and hurried out of the room with Pearl, Caixia, and Caiyun. Seeing Cailuan and Caifeng kneeling on the ground, Jia Zheng was so angry that he couldn't speak, and immediately shouted: "Bring Cailuan and Caifeng to the ground!" Feng led him to the back of the house and knelt." In twos and threes, he walked to Jia Zheng's side and helped him to the room.

Jia Zheng was still indignant, entered the room, took a sip of tea, and kicked out all the little girls before telling Mrs. Wang what Jia Lian said, "Tell me, what exactly does he want?"

"No matter what he wants, the master can just give it to him. Let the elder know, how can the elder be willing to ask Zhu'er to be an official?" Mrs. Wang said anxiously, although Jia Zhu is definitely a person who will be named on the gold list, but if he can save Wouldn't it be good to put in that effort and become an official directly?

"But what exactly does he want?" Jia Zheng said fidgeting, how could someone not say the conditions when he was threatening someone?

Mrs. Wang couldn't think of what Jia Lian wanted. Seeing Jia Zheng's embarrassment, she quickly helped Jia Zheng to lie down on the bed, and then persuaded Jia Zheng to pick one or two from the people Jia Zhen brought and asked them to return to Beijing quickly to inquire. True and false.

On the second day, the couple were still thinking about this matter. When they heard that Jia Lian and Yingchun went to Xue's house to say goodbye to Aunt Xue, Xue Pan, and Xue Baochai, Mrs. Wang said awkwardly that Jia Zheng didn't see anyone from Xue's family to practice with them. On Madam's head, it's just that she has been married to her for many years, and Madam Wang has been wronged because of Jia Mu, so she only got angry with Cailuan and the others, and dared not do anything to Madam Wang.

In a blink of an eye, it was the day of departure. Early in the morning, Jia Zheng, Mrs. Wang and Jia Lian took a carriage and left the old house. When they arrived at the ferry, they joined Wang Zisheng's family and changed boats.

In order to ask Jia Zhen to help test Jia Lian's tone, Jia Zheng told Jia Zhen what he said.

Jia Zhen thought about it, and felt that what Jia Lian inquired from Liangjiang Governor's Mansion could not be false - after all, Jia Daishan was the official whom Jia Daishan asked for at the beginning, and the sage would not take back the official for Jia Daishan's sake, but could only reward him There are other men in Jia's family - in front of Jia Zheng, he would naturally agree to test Jia Lian for him, but who would have thought that Xu Yuheng boarded their boat and talked to Jia Lian every day, waiting for the cloudy words, Jia Zhen wanted to There was no chance for temptation, but Jia Zheng thought they were serious about reading and wanted to give them some advice, but when he entered the cabin, he saw that they had added some messy ink blobs to the beautiful articles, and he said in his heart that it was not proper, but he couldn't intervene. Let's talk.

Fortunately, after the boat sailed for two days, it met the boat of Xu's family, governor of Jiangsu Province, and Xu Yuheng was called to his own boat. Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen took advantage of Jia Amnesty's inattention and went into Jia Lian's cabin together.

"Brother Lian, does Brother Lian know that Sister Feng is also on our daughter's boat?" Jia Zhen came in and said some nonsense, then saw Jia Lian's room with a window open, and she was burning two sticks of incense against the window, Jia Lian shook her head by the window Endorsing the book, he hurriedly smiled and said, "Brother Lian's examination for the first prize has been delayed."

Jia Lian turned around and saw Jia Zhen and Jia Zheng coming, first put down the book, and then said with a smile: "Whether Miss Wang is here or not, what does it matter to me? Brother Zhen said that on purpose, it is really bad intentions."

Jia Zhen sneered, pretending to be a serious scholar, she glanced out, and sure enough, she caught a glimpse of the Li family's female boat slowly passing by outside the window, recalling the startling glimpse of Li's house when she boarded the boat, she secretly thought that Jia Lian had a good eye, but it was just so It's a waste of personal matching with Jia Lian, "Forget it, I won't mention it again." First ask Jia Zheng to sit down at the desk, and then ask Quan Fu to close the door and window and go out.

Quan Fu looked at Jia Lian's eyes, served three cups of tea and came in before closing the door and window and going out.

"Brother Lian, listen to my big brother. In a rich family, peace is the most important thing. You have already taken over the title of the first master, and the second master's position should be handed over to Brother Zhu." Jia Zhen acted as Peaceful and old-fashioned.

Jia Lian sat on the stool with his back straight, his hands flat on his knees, and he said kindly: "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have told the second master."

"But what exactly do you want?" Jia Zheng frowned.

"you guess."

"Brother Lian!" Jia Zheng said angrily, and the words came out again, making him dizzy with anger.

"Second master doesn't even want to guess, it's too much contempt for the official given by the sage." Jia Lian was determined to ask Jia Zheng to make an offer first, so that he could bargain, otherwise, he would feel uncomfortable if he asked for a price rashly and didn't make a counter-offer.

"Brother Lian, you're not an outsider. The whole family speaks well. It's right to sell my big brother some face." Jia Zhen said angrily.

"Back when my father didn't die, my elder brother made a deal for the second master, right? How can I sell my elder brother's face? I have to ask a sage to sell it." Jia Lian glanced at Jia who had a slight beard on his chin. Zhen, laughing at Jia Zhen, does it mean that Jia Zhen thinks that the patriarch is too powerful?

Jia Zhen's face changed, she was speechless, she helped the trembling Jia Zheng back.

Jia Lian sneered, he didn't believe that Jia Zheng dared not give a high price, went to the window and pushed it open, just saw half of the face on the opposite boat behind the curtain, recognized it was Wang Xifeng, pretended not to see it, and lit two sticks again Xiang, continue to hold books and study diligently for the rise of scholar-bureaucrats.

Wang Xifeng on the opposite boat opened the curtain because she knew Jia Lian was here. Seeing him dignified and dignified in his book and not looking at her, she couldn't help cursing: "You really are a villain who is crazy when he succeeds! An ungrateful bastard!"

"Which is ungrateful?" Mrs. Wang Zisheng was sitting on the side doing needlework, and beside her was Mrs. Wang who was holding a beeswax rosary and chanting scriptures.

"Nothing, I only remembered it when I heard someone tell a joke." Wang Xifeng hurriedly put down the curtain, still standing by the window, thinking that Jia Lian would be grateful to him if he had tipped off the news, but the person didn't move at all. Unable to swallow that breath in his heart, he quietly opened the bamboo curtain to look, and saw Jia Lian still reading, looking at his handsome face, he couldn't feel his face getting hot, remembering that Li's family and Jia Lian sent tea and books to each other along the way, suspicious Jia Lian read this way because of the bookish red-clothed girl in Li's family. Seeing that the distance between the two boats was only a few feet, he took the fruit pie in his hand and threw it towards the opposite side, two or three times in a row. Finally, he threw a crabapple-like chestnut cake onto Jia Lian's book.

Just after throwing it in, the opposite window was closed.

"What is Sister Feng doing?" Mrs. Wang read the scriptures and saw Wang Xifeng's actions in her eyes.

Wang Xifeng felt sad, and forced a smile and said: "Throwing the white bird on the water." After leaving the window, he and Mrs. Wang Zisheng took the embroidery frame to do needlework, only to hear Mrs. Wang sigh: "The girl from the Li family I saw that day is so good. The appearance, such a bright color can also be suppressed."

Wang Xifeng curled her lips slightly. If it wasn't for the filial piety of Jia's family, she wouldn't be wearing such dull-colored clothes, "Where are the three girls from Li's family, which one is Auntie talking about? According to me, the youngest is holding Yingchun's arm. Girls on board have the best lives."

Mrs. Wang said: "The three of Li's family are all good, and the grandma Fang is also a gentle and gentle person." After saying this, she sighed again: "Being disturbed by my old lady so much, I don't know how many people in our Wang family are. Who can this girl marry?"

Mrs. Wang Zisheng sighed deeply, "The other girls are just young, but this one is the most worrying."

Wang Xifeng was startled, looking at the red, green, and green mandarin ducks embroidered on her hands, she felt ruthless, and then lowered her head to embroider red lotus. After a while, her neck became sore, she went to the window to look again, and saw that Jia Lian's boat had passed away. After the past, if there is something lost in my heart, I have to think for a while when I dock at the ferry at night, when the various families come and go, I will go to Li's house to pay a visit to the young lady Li, and first feel her character.Since she thought so, she was already thinking about what clothes to wear before the boat stopped.

However, it is not as good as God's calculation, the boat stopped, and a young boy who hadn't left his head came to deliver a letter to Mrs. Wang. After reading the letter, Mrs. Wang was so angry that she was dizzy and speechless for a long time.

In this way, even Mrs. Wang Zisheng, who is no longer willing to talk to Mrs. Wang, is busy rubbing her chest and back.

Wang Xifeng hurriedly waited for Mrs. Wang to take a pill of Heavenly Wang Baoxin Pill, glanced at the letter Mrs. Wang was holding in her hand, and looked at the rows of Dou Da handwriting, her eyes were darkened, she didn't know what was written on it.

"Ma'am, the master said, please, for the sake of Mr. Zhu, please make a concession for the sake of Mr. Zhu. If you make trouble, you will know about it, and everything will be in vain." The little boy knelt on the ground trembling. Trembling and authentic.

Mrs. Wang clenched the letter into a ball in a daze, gritted her teeth, and nodded, "...Tell the master, I will obey him." After speaking, she felt more and more unwell.

The little girl boldly glanced at Mrs. Wang, then hurriedly got off the women's boat and went to the men's boat to answer.

The three boats of the Jia family were very tall, each with more than a dozen cabins. The youngest son hurried to answer Jia Zheng, and after Jia Zheng nodded, he hid Jia Amnesty and wrote another letter from Jia Zheng to Jia Lian. Send it over.

After Jia Lian got off the boat, he delivered food and wine to Xu's and Li's boats for Jia She, and followed Xu Yuhang and Li Bizhou to meet Yuan Shi, the wife of the Governor of Jiangsu, Ning Shi, Xu Yuhang's widowed aunt, Xu Yuhang's cousin Xu Yuju, and Xu Yuhang's mother. Yuan Jingfeng, the uncle and cousin of my uncle who is currently studying in the Imperial Academy, the few of them talked together very congenially. At Xu Yuheng's suggestion, a few young people set up an incense table on the ferry, wrote a piece of paper, washed their hands and burned incense to face the full moon in the sky. , became brothers with different surnames.

Li Bizhou was the oldest and was the eldest brother; Yuan Jingfeng was next and was the second brother;

After the five people worshiped each other, they first went to Li's boat to kowtow to Mrs. Li and met his sister-in-law Fang; When Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen heard the news, they met with General Jia Amnesty.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, unknowingly wasting most of the night, and sent away the four brothers who were married to Jinlan. Jia Lian went to see Jia She again. Forgive the phlegm and lose your mind.

Jia Amnesty also didn't sleep, and after hearing this, he told Jia Lian repeatedly: "In the future, I will be more loyal and support each other as brothers."

Jia Lian promised again and again, and waited for a while before retreating. He returned to his cabin and yawned. Then he opened Jia Zheng's letter and saw that Jia Zheng put forward three points in the letter: [-]. Mrs. Wang's companion Zhou Rui and others let Jia Lian deal with it; second, they gave Jia Lian [-] silver coins behind Jia's amnesty;

Jia Lian picked up a pen, and in a short period of time under the guidance of a famous teacher, he corrected these three items one by one, and sent them to Jia Zheng.

When Jia Zheng received the letter, he quickly lay down on the bed and asked someone to take a light to look at it. Jia Lian wrote on the letter, "Zhou Rui and others have committed a heinous crime, and they should have been dealt with by nephew; [-] silver can buy the official given by the sage." , it can be seen that the second master is not sincere; Baoyu then called the second master, and there are two families separated by a wall on the left and right, and there is no hindrance to the nephew."

This was what Jia Zheng could come up with after racking his brains. Seeing Jia Lian's rebuttals one by one, he was so angry that he breathed heavily, as if he was pressed by a huge boulder on his heart, and stayed behind closed doors for several days. In the past, when going out of Beijing, there were always countless relatives and friends who came to see him, but now there are none—if there were, they also came to see Jia Lian.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of November, and it seemed that the capital was approaching. When the people sent to the capital to inquire came back and forth, the old officials who were already somewhat pedantic in the court wanted to give his official position to Jia Lian as a reward, and knew that there should be no further delay. After a whole night of torment, I heard the golden rooster crowing and the birds chirping on the shore. When I stepped out of the cabin door, I saw a few young children laughing and throwing snacks on the water, attracting the fish in the water to chatter; On the rocky rock next to the water, in the cold wind, several women got up early to wash their gauze, and a shepherd boy rode a yellow ox leisurely in the distance.

Jia Zheng frowned, leaning against the side of the boat, and suddenly punched the railing, thinking that Jia Zhu is a very talented person, if he takes the exam... But, he won't be able to be an official, when will Jia Zhu make it through?Full of depression and nowhere to release it, he heard "fourth brother" from the opposite boat, turned around and saw Jia Lian coming out of the cabin wearing a blue arrow sleeve.

After Jia Lian called the fifth brother, the voices of eldest brother, second brother, and third brother came from several boats one after another. It sounded very lively, which attracted the girl who was wearing yarn by the water to look shyly and curiously.

When the boat moved, Jia Zhen came out yawning, and asked Jia Zheng with her eyes if Jia Lian agreed to the three items. Seeing Jia Zheng shaking his head, she didn't dare to persuade Jia Lian for him. He is a big brother, it would be boring to be involved again, so he just asked his two handsome servants to chat and amuse him in the cabin.

Jia Zheng thought hard for seven or eight days. Seeing the relatives of the Jia family who had heard the news along the way came to visit Jia Lian and refused to see him after being rejected by Jia Lian, he couldn't help feeling a little sad. After entering the capital, he staggered to Jia Lian's cabin and went out to ask Jia Lian, "What exactly does Brother Lian want, just tell me."

"What does the second master think about the division of the family?" Jia Lian asked slightly, and it turned out that the ancestral property and sacrificial fields could not be divided.

Jia Zheng hesitated and said, "The two families were originally separated."

"The division is not thorough enough. The second master will ask the patriarch to open the ancestral hall. The old lady is here. It is not good to ask the second master's family to move out, and the garden in the east will belong to the second master. But the second master should be more conscious, and don't want the Rongguo mansion. Every penny of the money, the bride price and dowry of the children in the future have nothing to do with our Rongguo Mansion."

Jia Zheng was in a daze, if he hadn't been sitting in the chair, he would have almost fallen over, "Brother Lian, how can we live like this..."

"According to the rules of the clan, the sacrificial land and ancestral property cannot be divided, and the output here will naturally be distributed to the second master in the future. As for the others, the second master will politely decline after returning home." Jia Lian said rather Wei Wei sighed in pity: "I originally wanted to exchange this with the second master with a pleading note, but thinking about it, the second master has nothing for me, so let's just do it."

Jia Zheng's eyes were dizzy, he could hardly see Jia Lian's appearance, and he trembled all over. No wonder he looked down on the [-] silver coins, it turned out to be...

"After entering Beijing, my nephew will enter the palace to thank you. The second master must not think that your nephew will do all three things: thank you, intercede, and refuse to be an official. In order to see more of the saint, your nephew will also Go three times. Therefore, before disembarking, the second master had better write down a written statement and give me an answer."

"Too much deceit!" Jia Zheng slapped the table angrily, then he was afraid of disturbing Jia Amnesty, and regretted it himself, so he had to find Jia Zhen to discuss.

Then Jia Zhen hurriedly persuaded Jia Zheng: "Master, think about it carefully. Although it is easy for people like us to become officials, the ones we buy are only for looking good on the outside. How can they compare with the rewards of the saints? Now we are studying in the ministry to be a master. He will be promoted in two years, and he has a bright future ahead. If Brother Zhu is to be boiled slowly like lamp oil, he may have to suffer for more than ten years... Besides, the nobles and officials are all called Brother Lian to go. Can he allow Big Brother Zhu to rise to the top? Even if the family is not separated, the public will only give some dowry, bride price, and monthly money. I took the ladder to subsidize the second master? According to my opinion, the old lady’s ladder is more than that of the public. No matter how much money the public has, the second master should think carefully about your current situation. If you lose your official position, Can you still protect the money of the public? Isn’t he being sent away with dozens of taels of silver every month? Let’s endure the humiliation for a while, and when Brother Zhu is successful, the second master will bring up the unfairness of family division again. Can the case be overturned? The patriarch of the left and right nephews can still be the patriarch for decades, and the nephew will definitely make the decision for the second master."

What he said made Jia Zheng nod repeatedly, and immediately reluctantly asked Jia Zhen to write down the paper. He signed it, pressed his hand, and quietly handed it to Jia Lian, who also asked Jia Lian to sign and draw a deposit. After coming out, if the ancestral hall is not opened, this document will be invalid." Then he stamped his feet in the room and called Jia Lian shameless.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, when it was still dark, Jia Amnesty, Jia Zhen, and Jia Zheng went together to help Jia Lian put on his official robe, and told him in detail what he should say and do when he faced the saint so as not to overstep.

Jia Lian looked at Zhao Tianliang with a mirror, regretting that his face was not majestic enough, he listened to what Jia Amnesty, Jia Zheng, and Jia Zhen had explained to him, and told Jia Zhen: "Brother Zhen, I'm going , and please take good care of the master, and the eldest sister, also ask people to be more vigilant, the wife is sick, and in the future, I will ask the old lady to work harder and discipline me."

"Brother Lian, just don't worry, the palace is not for jokes, so be careful." Although Jia Zhen is attacking a third-rank general, he is also the head of the clan and the eldest brother of the clan. It's like a big brother.

"Second Master, the boat has docked, and our family's sedan chair has arrived." Zhao Tiandong came to report.

"Brother Liang will follow me, and Second Brother Dong will stay," Jia Lian said.

Zhao Tiandong knew that Jia Lian wanted him to stay and look at the two sums of money and escort Zhou Rui and others, so he quickly agreed, and together with Jia Amnesty and others surrounded Jia Lian and left the cabin.

When the boat docked, I saw that the ferry was full of lanterns and crowded with people. Jia Rong, Jia Qiang, Feng Zi and other people from outside the clan came to meet him. Jia Lian helped Jia She get off the boat and kowtowed to Jia She on the ferry. , and said to the other people not to accompany him, he got on the sedan chair first and went to the palace.

Jia Zheng and others kept watching Zhao Tianliang, Zhu Long and others riding around Jia Lian's sedan chair disappeared, and then sent someone to bring Yingchun back quickly, and his family drove home by car or sedan chair, and got on the sedan chair in a desperate manner. Thinking hard about who did he provoke?