The Concubine of the Lin Family in the Red Chamber

Because of Lin Jue's gag, Master Luo relaxed his mood a bit, but he still kept his mind on it. When Li Yibai sent another post to invite him, it was inconvenient for him to shirk his body, so he didn't go to the banquet again.

Li Yibai also understood Master Luo's concerns, and he didn't force it. After a few times, he only invited Lin Jue and Xie Jinxuan.And because Xie Jinxuan often had to go to the clinic, Lin Jue was usually the only one who attended the banquet.

Several times, Lin Jue inevitably noticed some of Li Yibai's intentions, but was always deceived by Li Yibai's serious appearance, and the two seemed to have a close relationship.

In a blink of an eye, it is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is commonly known as Laba.On this day, Lin Jue got up early and was fed Laba porridge by the housekeeper.There is a saying: La Qi La Ba will freeze your chin. Once you drink this Laba porridge, it is equivalent to sticking an extra layer on your chin. No matter how cold it is, your chin will not freeze off.

After Laba, it seems that it is the New Year, and every household, whether it is a small household from a poor family or a large courtyard, has started to get busy.

After Laba, it will be 23 Xiaonian soon.Folk ballads are often sung: 23 sticky melons, 24 cleaning the house, 25 making tofu, 26 stewing big meat, 27 killing stove chicken, 28 decals, 29 going to drink, and making dumplings on New Year’s Eve.This dish is busy, but it really has a Chinese New Year atmosphere.

The Lin family had a new funeral this year, so it was not easy to deal with the New Year and the holidays, so they simply swept the dust on the 24th, and paid two extra months of money to the servants. Except for a few nursing homes and personal maids, They are all given a few days off, and they are allowed to go out of the house to enjoy the flowers and lanterns or go home to visit relatives.

On New Year's Eve, the brother and sister were woken up early in the morning, had breakfast, changed into new clothes, and went to prostrate before their parents' altars before being dragged away by Nanny Fang.Nanny Fang laughed and said, "Because both the uncle and the girl are newly mourned, it's not good to celebrate in the mansion, but the house can't be empty in the first year. It's convenient for the uncle, so why don't you ask the rest of the family to come along with you?" Use the New Year's Eve dinner. Not to mention the excitement, it is also the benevolence and righteousness of our family."

Lin Jue said with a smile: "It's still Mammy's thoughtfulness, otherwise, it's just us brothers and sisters who are too deserted during the New Year's Eve. Now that we're together, it's not against the law, and it's very lively. It's really the best idea. .”

In the evening, Master Luo came to the Lin Mansion with his own bedroll in his hand, and he even called it "I am afraid that my apprentice will be lonely, so I came to accompany him."

Lin Jue kept silent, but did not expose Master Luo.It must be that my senior brother was called by Princess Beijing to the mansion for the New Year. Master Luo was alone here and felt quite lonely, so he found an excuse to come here to torment the little apprentice.

Thinking of this, Lin Jue couldn't help but smile.Old and young, old and young, they don't speak softly, but they speak very hard, which really makes people love and hate.

Although the Lin family is not a big deal, the annual gifts sent to each family are indispensable. Because Li Yibai is familiar with each other, he must also be included in the annual gifts.

Jia's New Year's gift was also prepared early in the morning, and it was delivered directly, but when Lin Jue received the return list, Lin Jue couldn't help laughing secretly.I don't know what Jia's family thinks, this year's annual ceremony photos are more than [-]% thinner than previous years.Jia's mother was not that shallow-sighted. After thinking about it, Lin Jue found that the only one who could do this was the mother of the imperial concubine in Jia's mansion.

Lin Jue has always disdained to associate with the Jia family, especially seeing how they behaved last time, it was far from those well-established wealthy families, and he did not want to marry the Jia family, so he just smiled.Only Mrs. Wang at Jia's mansion listened to the servant's report, and she let go of her high-hanging heart.

Now that Baoyu is getting older, the master of the family has never mentioned his marriage, and the old lady is so fond of the Lin family's girl, which really makes Mrs. Wang very worried.And now that Yuanchun has become a concubine, Mrs. Wang feels that she has become the emperor's mother-in-law, and she is inevitably a little arrogant in her actions. When she chooses a wife for Baoyu, her vision is even higher. It's time to take a step back.

This is the first year the Lin family lived in Beijing. Mother Jia meant that the etiquette should not be treated lightly. After all, she was her only granddaughter, so she couldn't really be born.But after Mrs. Wang handed over the gift list, most of it was cut down. Mrs. Wang was always afraid that Lin Jue would make trouble again, but now she was relieved to see that he was doing well.He filled his private treasury with the things deducted from Jia Mu's gift list.

Lin Jue didn't have the time to talk to her. In the first year, there were heavy snow disasters everywhere, and most of the national treasury was emptied, and the big families of various aristocratic families gave generously, which helped the victims temporarily overcome their difficulties.Therefore, on the [-]th day, imperial decrees continued to be issued in the palace to commend and reward the officials and people who had contributed to the snow disaster before.Officials were promoted, and the common people gave letters and banquets, and the whole city was full of joy than in previous years.

Under such a decree of honor and favor, Lin Ruhai was given the posthumous title of "loyalty", and the decree of Kaiping Bo was restored, and the decree that his noble was downgraded and inherited by his son did not cause any uproar.

Lin Jue thanked the decree, stuffed a purse to the eunuch who delivered the decree, and said with a smile: "Thank you, father-in-law, and Jue wants to bother you here. I will enter the palace tomorrow to thank you. What do you need to prepare in advance? You know, Jue is also This is the first time I entered the palace, I was really afraid of offending the nobleman."

The eunuch squeezed the purse without any trace, and was very satisfied with Lin Jue's way, with a kind smile on his face, "Master Lin, don't let the villain down, and the palace will send someone to teach him later. His Excellency will have to remember all the matters of entering the palace carefully. When the villain returns to the palace to make some arrangements, he will definitely arrange for someone who is familiar with the palace rules to bring it to him, so that he will not be rude place."

Lin Jue hurriedly stuffed another purse to the eunuch, flattering him all the way, until the imperial envoy was sent away, Lin Jue straightened his waist.I can't complain that Eunuch Xia can get a lot of money every time he goes to Jia's mansion. It is really such a society, and there is really no one who knows the emperor's preferences better than them.Lin Jue, who has no official status and no rank, has never met a saint. If there is no one who is familiar with the rules to remind him, he may have committed a taboo and will be "clicked" after walking a few steps.Spending a few small money, you can get a booster, which is really a good deal.

Sure enough, not long after, some palace servants came to teach Lin Jue the rules. Because Lin Jue was a generous person, the palace servants were able to talk, and now they worked even harder. Lin Jue had to sigh again. Money can turn ghosts around.

On the second day, when it was still dark, Lin Jue was called up by the housekeeper.After washing and dressing, Lin Jue was still staring in a daze before being stuffed into the carriage.After walking all the way, finally arrived at the palace gate, Lin Jue got down from the carriage, was shocked by the cold wind outside, and suddenly became refreshed.

It snowed last night, and the snow on the road has not been cleared yet. Lin Jue walked forward with the eunuch leading the way and several other people who entered the palace to meet Saint Xie'en, step by step.In the palace, only the emperor and high-ranking concubines can be transported by sedan chairs, even if the concubines on the throne do not have this kind of treatment, Lin Jue has no extravagant expectations.

They walked all the way in seven turns and eight turns, and when the sky turned pale, the crowd stopped in front of a palace.The eunuch who was leading the way ordered several people not to run around before going in to report.After a while, the door of the hall was wide open, surrounded by a few young eunuchs, an elderly father-in-law came out unhurriedly, everyone hurriedly bowed and stood still, the prime minister was a junior official, not to mention the emperor who was waiting by his side Yes, no matter how respectful you are.This is not flattery, it's human nature.

The father-in-law walked up to the few people and shook his whisk, bowed slightly and said: "Please move to the flower hall to rest first, and wait for His Majesty to call you one by one."

Lin Jue and the others hurriedly responded.

The father-in-law took a step back and led a few people into the flower hall. When he passed by Lin Jue, he lowered his voice and said to Lin Jue, "Don't worry about Mr. Twelfth. Master Twelfth has given orders, and the miscellaneous family will give some advice."

Lin Jue paused for a moment, and immediately understood what the father-in-law meant. He quickly nodded and smiled to express his gratitude, but a drop of cold sweat broke out in his heart. This Li Yibai stretched his hands far enough.

Lin Jue stepped into the room and found a secluded place to sit quietly. At this time, he didn't dare to look around secretly. There might be many pairs of eyes staring at him.

After hearing that the eunuch summoned her, Lin Jue hurriedly stood up, rearranged her clothes quietly, took a deep breath, and followed her husband into the emperor's study.

Following the eunuch's instruction the day before, Lin Jue kowtowed to the emperor in a proper manner, yelled something, stepped aside, and stood up in a proper manner, without raising her head or saying a word.

The emperor nodded in satisfaction, the rules and etiquette were not bad.

"You are the son of Lin Hai's family, the former Yangzhou inspector censor? Raise your head and tell me to take a look."

Lin Jue answered "Yes", then raised her head slightly so that the emperor could see his face more carefully, but her eyes were always lowered.

The emperor smiled and said: "Lin Hai is Taihe's prostitute for five years. Back then, many women in boudoirs were fascinated by him and shouted that Feiqing would not marry, but he turned around and married the Jia family. I don't know how hurt it is." How many people's hearts!" A flash of nostalgia flashed in the emperor's eyes, and he said sharply, "You don't look like him."

Lin Jue said: "Students are more like dead mothers."

"Oh? But the youngest daughter of the Jia family, Jia Min?"

Lin Jue didn't want to hide his life experience at all, especially in front of the emperor, the emperor's mind is naturally willing to use someone who is extremely smart and has some flaws on his body, so he can control him.So he told the emperor about his life experience.

The emperor nodded in satisfaction, "You have a reputation for raising people, but now you are a viscount, but you can't get promoted through the imperial examination. Are you still willing?"

Lin Jue smiled shyly when she heard the words: "I dare not hide it from the Holy Majesty. The student came today because he wanted to ask the Holy Majesty to take back his order."

"Oh? Are you dissatisfied with the title I conferred on you?"

Lin Jue hurriedly said: "I'm not dissatisfied. Please forgive me. The student has been enlightened since he was five years old. It has been ten years. Not to mention studying hard every day, but he has never stopped. Last year, he was lucky enough to win the Juren. It is inevitable that there are some arrogant thoughts. The so-called "learning the art of literature and martial arts, and the goods of the emperor's family", the students understand that this "art of literature and martial arts" is learned to serve the Holy One and serve the country, how can they be greedy for a moment of comfort? , Abandoned the ambition of life? So the students boldly ask the holy majesty to take it back."

Lin Jue's slapping without a trace really benefited the emperor a lot, "You are a cunning little guy, but you can talk."

There was no sign of anger in the emperor's tone, so Lin Jue felt relieved and smiled again, "Your Majesty, don't blame the student for being an honest person. Although the student thinks that he has resigned from the title, he still wants to have a relationship with His Majesty." What about grace?"

"Oh?" The emperor's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, "What kind of grace?"

Lin Jue was rather shy when she said this, "Your Majesty also knows that my sister and I are divorced, I am a man, and I should be the head of the family and a man, but my sister is a woman after all, so I want to ask the Holy Majesty for a favor Woolen cloth."