The Honor of the Red Chamber

Jia Zhen's schadenfreude was not unreasonable. The masters in the Rongguo Mansion had a dispute over the distribution of the annual goods. It was almost the same as those assigned to families with few people, and those like Jia Qin who got a lot of benefits from their errands in the Grand View Garden still took a share back. The general distribution didn't take it seriously, but they didn't dare to speak up, so everyone was unhappy. Some people made a fuss in front of Jia Mu, some clamored for redistribution, and some turned their heads to Ningguo Mansion to fight the autumn wind. Unfortunately, Ningguo Mansion closed its doors early.

So entangled until the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, Jia Zheng was so busy that he was dizzy and hadn't settled the matter properly. The clansmen who were so poor that they could only wait for the New Year's goods were full of complaints. Jia Zheng wanted to ask Jia Zheng As usual, Jia Zhen was ill and was closing the door to thank guests.

After all, the You sisters left the mansion a few years ago, and You gave them a sum of money to settle down. The second sister seemed to be out of a pit of fire, with a relaxed look on her pale face. Although the third sister You was still a little dazed, She was also firm, among the three, only Old Lady You was reluctant to part with her, hoping that Youshi would ask them to keep them, but Youshi was not stupid, if she kept such a greedy old woman by her side, wouldn't she be making trouble for herself?What's more, she put her daughter next to Jia Zhen with all her heart, so why did she ever care about the face of Youshi, a stepdaughter?

On New Year's Eve, Jia Mu of Rongguo Mansion led You Shi and others to dress in court clothes according to their grades, and entered the palace to congratulate them.On the men's side, Jia Rong has the highest rank, but his seniority is small, but he is not easy to surpass, so he followed Jia Zheng and others into the court, and Jia Huan was also among them. The long time in the military camp made him completely get rid of his original narrowness and shrinking , became a governor, polite, stable and heroic, and even though he was a concubine, he actually had an official position. He was no better than others, so he followed Jia Rong. Under the guidance of the arrangement, he separated from the Jia family's large army, followed a group of high-ranking first-rank and second-rank officials, and entered the ancestral temple hall with vermilion as the base, dragons and phoenixes painted on the columns, and glazed eaves flying up.

The emperor is already wearing a black embroidered golden Panlong dress, with a bright yellow collar showing at the collar, and a bright yellow crown on his head, with a solemn expression on his face, standing alone on a high place quietly, with an imperial demeanor that is both lonely and majestic , Behind him are the crown prince, the princes, the clan and royal family, and then the court officials who are qualified to enter here, the inner court guards guarding both sides, and the inner eunuchs, court ladies, etc. Hundreds of people, but It was orderly, silent, kneeling and kowtowing with the sound of cannons, it was spectacular!

Such a solemn atmosphere can most arouse the passion in Jia Rong's heart. Other officials can't wait to bury their heads in the ground, but he is looking straight ahead with vigor, so he also noticed another dishonest trick in the crowd The most famous person - Shui Mu.

Today's Shui Mu is different from the usual ones. The pro-royal costume shows the royal grace and luxury, suppressing Shui Mu's usual arrogance and self-willedness. It seems that he is not much different from other princes. At first glance, he looks like a stranger generally.

But what made Jia Rong want to both sigh and laugh was that this guy saw everyone kneeling down, and immediately shook his head to look around at the court officials, staring at a pair of beautiful long eyes. Searching among people, he was clearly looking for someone, but this restless expression immediately exposed his true nature, and he seemed extraordinarily detached among a group of princes.

Jia Rong was raising her head, and met Shui Mu's eyes all of a sudden, so she pursed her lips, slightly bent at the other's peach blossom eyes, and let out a smile, Shui Mu blinked, really embarrassed, immediately lowered her head, and did it again Seeing this, the ceremonial officer who presided over the sacrifice to the sky in front of him retracted the dissatisfied eyes that had been staring at Shui Mu, and Jia Rong was relieved.

Who is the emperor, Jia Rong knows very well in his heart, he must not let the emperor catch him here, let alone let Shui Mu be rude in such an important event of worshiping heaven, the consequences are so terrible that he does not want to think about it.

Jia Rong has not seen Shui Mu for a long time since she came back. Although Shui Mu sent a message to Chibi, the steward of the palace only said that Shui Mu was taken away by the Empress Dowager. What else can Jia Rong say when people live in the palace for a while?

This stay will last until the Chinese New Year. Jia Rong is not in a hurry, he has a lot of patience.

But he knew that if he didn't see her for so long, Shui Mu would definitely be anxious.

At noon, the activities of offering sacrifices to heaven were just over. The emperor led the princes, princes, princes, counties, kings and clans to a family banquet, and the rest of the officials went back to their homes. Distorted, after passing the Meridian Gate, one by one grinned and trembled, completely disregarding the image, even if Jia Rong's body was beaten, he felt cold all over his body, his legs were numb, and it was not his own.

Jia Rong waited in front of the Jia family's carriage, and before the Jia family's main force arrived, he saw a familiar young eunuch, dressed in a plain blue padded jacket, moving his head through the crowd nimbly, and quickly passed by his side with a look on his face. Unknowingly, Jia Rong stuffed something into her hand, Jia Rong was only stunned for a moment, then reacted, she hurriedly shook off her wide sleeves to cover her hands, and when she raised her head again, the little eunuch had disappeared.

After getting into her exclusive carriage and ordering Chibi to guard it, Jia Rong took out what was in her hand, which turned out to be a silk book the size of a handkerchief wrapped in a white jade porcelain vase.

Jia Rong shook open the silk book, the gloating tone made Jia Rong dumbfounded.

"Hey, can't walk anymore? Are you dizzy or not? How many times have you kowtowed, so what are you doing so stubbornly? Didn't you see Mr. Liu next to you kowtowing in vain? Bai has a clever look. Look, you are so stupid! I will hurt you for you, let me rub your forehead and knees with this medicine, I guarantee that you will be able to walk around alive and well at night and harm others!"

Didn't this person kowtow to the ancestors of the Shui family? Who is so smart for nothing?

After returning to Jia's mansion, it was the Jia family who worshiped the ancestral hall by themselves. In previous years, it had its own routine, but this year it was very embarrassing. Even Jia Rong, the head of the house, did not even know where to stand.

For any family, it is not a trivial matter to change the patriarch suddenly, and the changes that follow are extensive and cumbersome. On that day, when Jia Zheng became the new patriarch, even though he passed the elders' approval, he couldn't get over the opinions of the whole family. Not to mention Jia Jing, who got the news from outside the city too late, even his elder brother, Jia She, was also indignant. , more and more took the money from the public and stuffed it into the sea, which added a lot of constraints to Jia Zheng's development of the patriarch's affairs. At this moment, Jia Jing was annoyed and stood angrily on the seat of accompanying sacrifice. Jia Zhen stood aside with an ugly face. Rong waited for the arrangement expressionlessly, Jia Zheng was as big as a cow, and he couldn't ignore the three generations of his grandfather and son, Jia Amnesty was even more eccentric, and he didn't know what he was thinking, Jia Lian Baoyu lowered his head, as if he didn't see what was going on here Swords were on the verge of breaking out, and the other disciples with slightly lower status dared not say a word.

In the end, a family sacrifice that was supposed to be solemn and dignified came to an end without embarrassment.

The dinner was also moved to the Rongxi Hall of Rongguo Mansion. It was changed from the plain old one, decorated gorgeously and warmly, with a completely new look. A room full of colorful female relatives surrounded Jiamu to serve. With the help of Sister Feng, the arrangements were well thought out.

After drinking tea, they returned to their seats one by one to receive the gifts, distributed lucky money, purses, gold and silver locks, and put on a feast for reunion. In the celebration of the new grandma's stay, there was another commotion after the meal. Jia's mother got up and went into the inner room to change clothes, and everyone left.

Jia Rong pretended to be full of worries, how could she be in the mood to drink and eat?Then he stopped the crowd's toast, and ate a few mouthfuls. Besides, he saw the extravagance and flashiness of the Rongguo Mansion, with noisy voices, chatter and laughter. Irony - this is so rich that it rots out of the core!

Taking advantage of Jia Zhenyou's busy schedule and no one paying attention, Jia Rong slipped back to Ningguo Mansion, took some samples, and followed the crowds of people on Ningrong Street, rushing away at night.

But he didn't know, or he didn't care, there were two pairs of fiery eyes in the noisy crowd, and after watching him leave quietly, their brilliance dimmed.

The inside of Prince Zhongding's mansion has been completely rebuilt, but the outer wall has not been raised. For Jia Rong, it is like walking on the ground. He waited impatiently for the concierge to inform each other, and flipped over from the wall with a flick of his robe. .

Listening carefully, the palace is not as lively as Jia's house, the sound of firecrackers is also in twos and threes, not to mention the noisy voices of people, it seems to be separated from the bustle, quiet but lonely, he wondered, while groping Going to the Shuimu dormitory, a black shadow suddenly jumped out of the slanting stabs, moving swiftly, with Jia Rong's skill, it may not be impossible to dodge, but he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance at the tip of his nose, he couldn't help but pause his movements, let it go The shadow threw him to the ground.

The black shadow sat arrogantly on Jia Rong's strong belly, turned upside down, and fumbled up and down with his hands, while messing with Jia Rong's clothes, while laughing, "I'm sure you have to go this way, follow me Like a thief, I have been guarding half the night, let me catch it?"

Jia Rong felt the bursts of cold air coming from the other party's body, as well as those ice-like hands, sighed, grabbed the other party's icy hands and rubbed them vigorously, "Are you afraid that I won't come? What if I really don't come?" Come on? Are you going to keep watch all night? It’s so cold... well, you’re sure I won’t let you watch the night alone, right?”

Shui Mu gave a short smirk, and let Jia Rong rub his hands for him, but Jia Rong could feel that the other party's mood was very relaxed and warm, which made him feel hot in his heart, but—this place was too warm. ...

Holding Shui Mu's hand, Jia Rong looked at him helplessly, "Don't you know how cold it is? You still put me on the ground, thinking that I won't be able to get up tomorrow because of the cold?"