Heir of the Red Chamber

Among the founding nobles, the four princes with different surnames have always been the heads, and the princes of Beijing County, which still inherits the king's title, are especially respected.Apart from the royal family members, the most honored imperial concubine and concubine of the Beijing Palace are naturally the most honored.

Seriously speaking, Princess Beijing's family background is not high, but the general's daughter, but the old prince was too tough back then, and killed four noble ladies in succession, and only she could hold it down after searching all over the capital. , so he was hired here, and later he raised a son safely, and even killed the old prince.

Because of this background, there have been many incidents in the Beijing County Prince's Mansion in the past 30 to [-] years.

Although the royal lineage of Beijing County is as noble as the country, the concubines of the previous generations were considered kind. Since the eminent monk approved the order and said that the concubine is suitable, the mothers-in-law of the upper layers also regarded the concubine as a good person. When I was my family, I wasn't very affectionate, but I didn't treat him with any kindness, and the servants were all respectful. There were big rules and regulations, and everyone just followed the etiquette.

But the concubine still had a lot of resentment.She was born in a poor family, so her thoughts inevitably became heavy. Others didn't feel that they were doing anything to her, and she was not even talking about her, but she always felt that they were insinuating and looked down on her from a small family.

Two layers of mothers-in-law are fine. There are not many mother-in-laws in the world who really love their daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law she has been silently thinking about for many years has become a mother-in-law, and she doesn't hold any grudges.But there is another regular visitor in the Prince's Mansion of Beijing County, the old Princess who married into the second room of Zeng's family.After all, the concubine had to call the princess aunt.

The old princess was the apple of the eye of the palace before she got married, and after she got married, she was also the master of the house, and the young daughter-in-law who was taken care of by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law would inevitably not be considerate when speaking to a junior. If you meet someone with a heart-warming heart, just laugh it off, it's all trivial things, and it's not worth remembering for a day.

It's a pity that Concubine Toffee remembered it, and she kept it firmly in mind for more than 20 years.This dissatisfaction and resentment reached its peak when the old prince surpassed her and settled for the old princess' granddaughter for his only son, Shui Rong.For so many years, the concubine has been virtuous and virtuous all her life, but she disobeyed the old prince just once. The husband and wife had a big quarrel, and they didn't even say a word for more than half a month.

Although the old prince was still strong in the end and took the idea of ​​his son's marriage, but the concubine was the biological mother of Shui Rong, who took advantage of the righteousness of filial piety. Once the filial piety period passed, the old prince filled his son's backyard to the brim, and one of them was married to the princess. The daughter of the Zeng family, a Jiangnan salt merchant with the same surname, always makes the servants feel embarrassed, and they are not sure how to call her.This year, Zhengdan also let out the word that the descendants of the prince's mansion are not prosperous, and they want to hire concubines from good families to spread their branches and leaves.

Fortunately, Shui Rong loves Princess Zeng, who he has known and played with since childhood. The eldest son, the second son, and the eldest daughter are both born of Princess Zeng. Once caught, Ren Ji's concubines cried.The concubine could not tie her son with a rope and send her to the concubine's house, so she had to ask her confidants to reward the concubine generously from time to time, and especially encouraged those who could be treated differently, and promised to seal them off as soon as they had children. Side concubine, I don't know, I think the concubines in the palace are so embarrassing.

The old princess was naturally furious and almost knocked at the door, but it was Princess Zeng who persuaded her.Now that her heirs have both sons and daughters, and the husband and wife respect and love each other, how can they not let the old concubine do anything?When people are old, there are always things to do. The stewardship of the palace was handed over to Concubine Zeng directly by the late mother-in-law when the old prince was alive. She couldn't take it back even if she wanted to. If the concubine was not allowed to do even some amusing things, then the concubine would have to think about other things.

Besides, Concubine Zeng is really not afraid of the concubine's methods.What's so terrible about such a foolish person who pretends to be false without the truth?Back then, the old princess could offend the concubine, but it was because she spoke bluntly, but every word was for pointing her out, and she was suspected of her sincerity.On the contrary, Old Madam Shi from the Rongguo Mansion was good at winning people's hearts when she was not out of the cabinet. When she saw that the concubine was hired by the Prince's Mansion in Beijing County, she joined her and became a direct sister. Well, there are really fools who take others as their own sisters with all their heart and soul.

Even in the case of the daughter of Zhenxia Pavilion falling into the water in Zhongjinghou's mansion in the past, there were countless female relatives there. How many wives, grandmas and girls watched coldly, and they all alienated and cared about Mrs. Shi afterwards. The concubine really took the scar on her forehead to save herself, and she is grateful to this day.

If she didn't understand that Shui Rong had deep feelings for this widowed mother, Princess Zeng would still have thousands of means waiting to be used.

No matter what everyone thinks in their hearts, the concubine's birthday is still under the management of a filial son and a virtuous daughter-in-law. On this day, the royal relatives, relatives, founders, dignitaries and high-ranking officials will have a banquet outside with the palace garden as the boundary. Official guests, banquet guests inside.

Among the official guests, the eldest sons and grandsons came here on behalf of their fathers. The grandsons were not very old, but they were full of momentum. Six people plus one Yizhong County King Chuxi sat at the front table.From Dongping, Xining, and Nan'an, the masters of the family came with their own relatives and nephews in person, which gave enough face to the Prince's Mansion of Beijing County.

Men eat wine, watch plays and talk about family and country affairs, and there is a lot of excitement among the men, but it is another scene among the female relatives inside.

None of the princes and concubines came in person. The most senior Concubine Nan’an was caught in the cold a few days ago and did not show up. The highest ranking and most honored person present was the Concubine Beijing Jing. The greetings of the juniors from various families in a room, the well-maintained white and fat faces are full of kind smiles.

This time, all the ladies from various families in Beijing have arrived.Needless to say, the four kings, eight lords and twelve families, there are also many civil servants, and the highest status are the girls from the Zeng family.In terms of kinship, the three daughters from the Zeng family are all cousins ​​of Concubine Zeng, and they are close relatives of the palace.

But this is the concubine's courtyard, and all the servants are used by the concubine. Shi Xiangyun, the three granddaughters of the old matriarch Shi of the Rongguo Mansion who is closest to the concubine Beijing and the eldest daughter of the Shi family who is loyal to the Marquis of Jing, sits there. Not to mention the girl from the Zeng family, there is another girl who is unfamiliar to everyone who is also in the front row.

Miss Zeng Er and the younger Miss Zeng Wu looked at their eldest sister quietly. Miss Zeng, who had already made an appointment with Lin Ya, found that her eldest sister and his wife and grandma were all ranked among the female family members of the Jia family. And the aunts and aunts who saw the strange woman's lower head all looked indifferent, so they also lowered their eyebrows and sat down obediently.

The Zeng family treated it indifferently, without showing the slightest concern or dissatisfaction, but the prying eyes of others could not leave them for a moment.

The strange woman and girl who came with the Jia family are the mother and daughter of the Xue family.

As the Xue family, in Jiangnan or other places, they can still use the names of the four Jinling families to scare people by pulling the tiger skins of the other three families. If he couldn't get it, he was able to come this time because he borrowed the face of Jia's family and two princes and Wang Ziteng, who is the emperor's important minister.

——Even Wang Ziteng's face was brought on by them themselves.Wang Ziteng himself despises this younger sister who is especially not good at thinking, and her children are not up to date. He doesn't want Xue's mother and daughter to show up at the birthday banquet of Princess Dowager Beijing.

The fact that the Xue family can come is because Mrs. Wang wants to pull out her younger sister and niece, and the other is because Jia's mother is dissatisfied with the relatives that the Lin family has taken over, and she intends to go with the flow, and wants to give the Zeng family a big embarrassment with the help of Princess Wang of Beijing.

The Dowager Princess of Beijing did not disappoint Mother Jia's expectations, as can be seen from today's seating arrangement.

With such a virtuous and filial reputation as Concubine Zeng in the capital, the Zeng family, as the natal family of a serious princess, should be able to win the top seat, but look now, the historians, Jia family, and Wang family are all on top of the Zeng family, and they even got out of the ground. The dilapidated Xue family has been snatched to the head.Acting in such a petty way, and looking at the gentle and submissive face of Princess Zeng who was standing beside her, everyone couldn't help but sigh in their hearts that it was the late former concubine who judged people, and knew in their hearts who could be the director of the family.

The wife and grandma are well-informed, and they have found out the identities of the Xue family's mother and daughter after entering the house for so long, adding a layer of contempt in their hearts.

However, Princess Beijing still thinks she has a plan. Now that she has dealt with the situation, she beckoned to Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baochai, and told them to sit beside her. Doing some small things, playing and so on, but among so many girls, being pulled by the concubine to talk alone is undoubtedly a great dignity.

Shi Xiangyun is better. Even if her parents are dead and she is raised by her uncle and aunt, she is still an unquestionable eldest daughter of the Shi family and the first daughter of the Hou family. I don’t know how many times I have experienced similar scenes. Seeing her is the real intimacy, so you should smile and talk, playful and lively, it doesn't matter if others look at her.

Xue Baochai was a little worse.She obviously dressed up on purpose today. The elegant and calm outfit that Mrs. Wang has praised and praised in the mansion on weekdays has been put down for now. Eight long skirts sprinkled with gold and water patterns of day lilies, and a purple glazed hairpin on her head is inlaid with oriental pearl flowers, which further complements her plump muscles and bones, and her skin is whiter than snow. In addition, she always has a three-point dignified smile on her face At the beginning, the wives and grandma who looked at her secretly nodded inwardly.

But after a long time, no matter what the concubine and Shi Xiangyun said, she always looked the same, and occasionally echoed a few words, and someone laughed secretly and said that she must have practiced in front of the mirror for a long time, and she only looks like this .Although these words are a bit harsh, but a teenage girl, at the age of a flower, puts on airs like a woman, she is indeed boring and dull.

In addition, the concubine and Shi Xiangyun accidentally talked about the tea at the concubine's place and the concubine's of Nan'an, Xue Baochai's words were a bit showy and disgusting, and everyone looked at her and thought she was very unworthy.

The words were spoken by the concubine as she pleased, and she didn't intend to compete with the concubine Nan'an at first, but the old man just wanted Shi Xiangyun to comment a few words when he was in the mood to tease the younger generation he loved.Generally this kind of problem, if you act coquettishly or say that you love it, you will get over it, and everyone laughs.However, Xue Baochai was quick to pick them up. The Beijing County Prince's Mansion loves to use good Maojian to entertain guests, and the Nan'an Palace prefers Wuyi Dahongpao. Xue Baochai has always cared about these details. He has been asking a lot these days in Beijing, and now he is dignified and elegant. They commented on Maojian'er and Dahongpao.

She thought she was very good, knowledgeable, and decent, but she didn't know that a room full of high-ranking women looked at me and looked at you, and they were like the flowers she praised, saying that the good girl brought up by Mrs. Xue actually had all her belly I burst out laughing.

This is treating everyone as a fool who doesn't understand anything and wants her to be taught by a little girl?He even said that the price is worth a thousand pieces of gold. These people spend a lot of money on food and clothing at home, and if they pick out anything at random, it is worth a thousand pieces of gold. They really can't get rid of the businessman's habit.

Those who knew more turned their eyes to the gentle and silent Miss Zeng.Miss Zeng's clothes and jewelry are all the fashionable styles in Beijing this year, except for a high-quality mutton jade hairpin on her head, there is nothing very rare and special.But it's the color and style that everyone is wearing, which shows that Miss Zeng really has outstanding temperament and excellent education. Just sitting with a smile like that, the calmness and calmness naturally exuded in her dignity is better than that of Xue Baochai who seems to be tense. Much stronger.

If he couldn't stay idle any longer, he silently compared the girls from the Zengjia family.Be it Jia's family or Zeng's family, there are three girls here today.When the two girls go out, the clothes and jewelry are exactly the same as the sisters, which is also the rule of the big family.

But if you think about it carefully, you can feel the Jia family's irregularities.

Regardless of the number of rooms in the Zeng family, the ones who came today were all daughters born under the name of Zeng Shilang's son, and it was only natural that the daughters were exactly the same, only Miss Zeng had a suet jade hairpin on her head, which was also her eldest grandson. Women naturally have an extra piece of jewelry than their sisters.

The situation in the Jia family is different from that of the Zeng family.It is said that they are three sisters, the second girl Jia and the third girl are from the concubine, but the fourth girl Jia is from the concubine. The same mother and sister of the master of Ningguo Duke's mansion are the same as the clothes, and there should be some distinctions in the jewelry.What's more, Miss Jia Si was brought up by Mrs. Shi on the grounds that there was no proper person in the Ningguo government. It has always been that when other people raise girls, they have to be more dignified than their own children in order to show virtuousness and kindness. Is the family's concubine daughter still the same as her own concubine daughter outside?

Could it be that the men in Ningguo's mansion who bully others don't understand the ways of women in the back house, and Grandma Zhen is a weak-tempered second wife who can't afford it?

The wives and grandmas thought of this, and then looked at the old Mrs. Shi, who was relying on the old to sell the old and talked about the descendants of the Queen of Beijing, and she curled her lips inwardly.

Eyes were flying all over the place, even if the girls were immature, they didn't know that the three wives of the Zeng family who came to pay their respects today, the two wives of King Xing of the Rongguo Mansion, and the second grandmother Wang Xifeng and Mrs. Xue Wang were all sperm from the back house. , Of course I feel that everyone's eyes, ears and minds are on them.

The wives of the Zeng family didn't pay much attention to it. In fact, ever since Minister Zeng's entry into the pavilion was a certainty, the women of the Zeng family had been subjected to this kind of scrutiny when they were out walking.In addition, they didn't come here today to win the favor of any girl, but to save face for the aunt next door under the order of the old lady, so naturally they don't care if they don't ask for anything.

The members of the Jia family and the Xue family are different.

Mrs. Wang has been staring at the three Mrs. Zeng from the moment she sat down, hoping to see from their faces that even if it is inappropriate for a blink of an eye, she can go along with her heart. Dirty, treating them no differently than treating others, very gentle and polite.For the sake of the Lin family, Aunt Xue looked and looked at Miss Zeng from across the table, thinking that she was calm, and the more she looked, the more unhappy she felt.

Mrs. Wang endured it for a long time, and she gave Wang Xifeng winks a few times, but the Second Mrs. Wang, who was standing next to them at the table, stopped her, intentionally or unintentionally. In the end, she didn't hold her breath, and talked to Mrs. Zeng with a smile.

"Speaking of which, I haven't congratulated the eldest lady of your family on getting a good marriage." Mrs. Wang is not very good at words, she knows her own weight, and she didn't plan to choke Mrs. Zeng to death as soon as she came up, but just chatted Generally brought up the topic.

The second Mrs. Wang at the side heard the string song and knew the elegance.Although she didn't want Wang Xifeng to be Mrs. Wang's spearman, she was still willing to do this little favor, and then said with a smile: "The eldest son matches the eldest daughter, and the Lin family of Gusu matches the Zeng family of Yuyao. Such a well-matched good marriage really should be drunk." A glass."

If you want to suppress, you must raise first.No one knows what the origin of the eldest son of the Lin family is, so he must be praised first so that he can be slapped in the face.

What's more, they are both mothers. Second Mrs. Wang doesn't believe that Mrs. Zeng is willing to do such a marriage.It's not because of the consideration of the important affairs of the family and the country of the men outside, the cow will press the head forcibly without drinking water, and blind such an outstanding daughter in vain.

Before Mrs. Zeng could speak, Mrs. Zeng, who had received a lot of complaints from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law because of her master's efforts to facilitate this matter, cut off the conversation with a look of disapproval: "Second Mrs. Wang's words are wrong, people like us, The marriage of children depends on the family background, but what is the family background for? Isn’t it because the family background is good, and the children and grandchildren are often well-educated? If you are a wandering and foolish seed, can you still marry because of the family background? Naturally, we still have to pick people, and only good people can agree."

Mrs. Zeng Zeng felt that this marriage had wronged her heart and soul, and she couldn't embarrass her family on the outside, so she nodded in agreement with the third sibling: "Very well, there are those who are good, we just ask The daughters are happy all their lives, so what if they get married? But we must also look after the children so that mermaids don’t look like mermaids.”

Speaking of which, the Zeng family's sister-in-law also thought that the Jia and Wang families were really funny.If other people's families are concerned, their sisters-in-law will naturally feel depressed, but these two families are not afraid.Who in the Jia family and the Wang family has never asked to marry their daughter?Whether it's their old lady, or the princess of the second room, Lao Fengjun, they didn't give a single bit of face.

You come to ridicule that the son-in-law chosen by the old man was born in the countryside, so your family is noble?Children and grandchildren will be successful?Our family still doesn't like it.Let me tell you plainly, one of the boys you are here to mention is a foolish slut who was taught by the family of a good family, and the other is the one who is not very promising and is not worthy of their Zeng family's daughter to marry.

If you can't eat grapes, you will say that the grapes are sour, and it will be embarrassing.

Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Wang's Second Mrs. have both hit a soft nail, and they can't really quarrel about things they know well. Where is she talking?Besides, after scolding Lin Ya for being a child, it would be bad for her precious Xue Panpan to be pulled out by sharp-tongued mean people.

The flags and drums here are temporarily quiet, and the people outside listening to the wall are not happy.

That's the end of it?The woman in the inner house is really not straightforward!

Thinking that he is so dignified and loyal to the county king that he even left his own nephew on the table, just to listen to the group battle between the Zeng family and the four masters of Laoshizi and Jinling, but in the end he just said a few boring words for a long time It's really boring to go out to change clothes if you are so angry.

Chu Xi frowned and sighed again, to the point where he said that he was speechless, so he could only use Chu Ronghua's eldest son, Chu Xu, as an introduction: "It's really outrageous for you to be an older brother, and Chu Xu is alone. There, it is his good skill not to be eaten by the others."

Unexpectedly, Chu Xi's head was raised, and she choked back with a quick sentence: "You are a shameless prince, and the family is worse than mine. Hurry up and hug your side concubine Yu, the third uncle is all right!" No matter who you say, you can’t do better than you dote on the Zeng family in Jiangnan."

The title of Jade Concubine was arranged by Chu Xi.This woman is the daughter of the Jiangnan salt merchant Zeng's family. Her boudoir name is Lingyu. Because her surname violates the taboo of the princess, and the word Ling violates the taboo of the name of the nobleman who is currently in favor, she is called Miss Yu.The Zeng family voted for the Lin family, and Chu Xi and the others thought that Chu Ronghua also wanted to win over the Lin family, so Chu Ronghua joked with Shui Rong once after drinking, saying that he wanted to pamper Concubine Shun Shun anyway, so it was better to pamper the rich family And to be honest, they didn't think much of it.Because for these men, it is really not a big deal which one of the concubines is particularly promoted.

Shui Rong could only smile wryly when he thought of the bad things at home, Chu Xi couldn't stop talking: "What are you, no one will say that you dote on your concubine and kill your wife, didn't you see that Lingxin Garden and Longsi Pavilion are all covered..."

He didn't say anything later, but Shui Rong turned pale with fright, and covered Chu Xi's mouth.

Lingxin Garden and Longsi Pavilion are both palaces built for the two new beauties of the Zhen family, and the names of the beauties are embedded in them to show their favor. Everyone knows this, but Chu Xi is like this. His tone was disrespectful if overheard.

Shui Rong is the most cautious person, even in his own family, he can't let Chu Xi finish talking.

Chu Xi understood Shui Rong's temperament, and immediately rolled his eyes.Because of his natural status, he was forced to be roasted on the fire, but he didn't want to be the grandson of Laoshi's son and emperor.All he wishes in life is to have an uncle who is waiting to see him to inherit the throne, so that he can enjoy good tea and watch a hundred operas in peace.

Why is it so tiring to talk?His good grandfather knew what kind of rotten wood he was, so he could feel more at ease.

Shui Rong wanted to persuade Chu Xi a few more words, but the chief eunuch in the palace arrived with a blank face.

"The two princes are being recruited in the palace." For today's birthday banquet, the eunuch was originally full of joy, but now it's gone: "The words of Eunuch Dai's apprentice said that Princess Zhenjing is gone, and the army of barbarians is gone." ,here we go again."