The Son-in-law of the Lin Family in the Red Chamber

At the beginning of the seventh year of Chengrui, in the suburbs of Beijing.

Jia Yue is already 13 years old. Over the years, Jia Yue has insisted on practicing riding and shooting, and her body is becoming stronger and stronger day by day. Now, Jia Yue is tall, with ape arms and a wasp waist. Although there is still a trace of childishness on her face, she is no longer the frail and sickly woman she used to be. children.

At this time, a convoy of trains came slowly from far to near. This convoy belonged to the Gu family, or in other words, it belonged to Gu Sheng, the Minister of War and Hussar General.

Looking at the tower-like man galloping towards him on a fast horse, Jia Yue's mood was very complicated.

Jia Yue said silently in her heart: "Traveling is not my wish, I am not your nephew, but since I have occupied your nephew's body, I will honor you for your nephew."

Gu Sheng got off his horse and stared at Jia Yue intently. Then, the eight-foot-tall man rolled down his tears and cried, "You are sister's child, and you look exactly like sister."

After saying that, Gu Sheng hugged Jia Yue into his arms and cried loudly: "Sister is gone, I haven't even seen the last face of sister!"

Hearing Gu Sheng's heart-piercing cry, Jia Yue felt very uncomfortable, her eyes were red, and she persuaded, "Uncle, don't cry..."

After a while, Gu Sheng stopped crying, let go of Jia Yue, and shouted behind him: "Come here."

Then, a group of big men like iron towers appeared in front of Jia Yue.

Gu Sheng pointed to a 30-year-old eight-foot man, and said to Jia Yue, "This is your cousin, Gu Dao."

The corner of Jia Yue's mouth twitched, he was already as tall as an adult now, but in front of these big guys from the Gu family, Jia Yue's height was not enough to look good at all.

Jia Yue greeted this big man who was two or three heads taller than him and old enough to be his father, and said, "Big cousin."

Then, Jia Yue greeted Gu Qiang, Gu Jian, Gu Ji, Gu Axe, and Gu Yue in turn, calling him "Second Cousin" and "Third Cousin"...

After a while, the convoy arrived in front of Jia Yue. Jia Yue stepped forward to greet her aunt Wang Shi. Although Wang Shi was getting old, she still had a charm. It can be imagined that she must have been a beauty when she was young.

Mrs. Wang, who has a burly husband, [-] burly sons, and a group of grandsons who will "definitely grow up to be a burly man", looked at Jia Yue, who was dressed in a scholar's attire, with a face like a jade crown, handsome and unrestrained, so rare that he said: "Someone bullies you, tell auntie, auntie asked your uncle to lead your cousins, and the copycats will vent your anger on you!"

When she was young, Wang Shi was a very gentle woman, but after she married Gu Sheng, Wang Shi became a tigress, extremely tough. I don't know if it's because of her nature or because of Gu Sheng's influence.

After hearing Wang's words, Gu Sheng agreed: "Your aunt is right. If someone bullies you, tell your uncle that our family has nothing else but a lot of people. Even though your nephews are young, they are not vegetarians." of."

The Gu family is Ding Xingwang. Gu Sheng is 45 years old this year and has six sons. The eldest son Gu Dao is almost 30 years old, and the youngest son Gu Yue is also 20 years old. Gu Sheng’s six sons have given birth to more than ten grandchildren for him , and there will be more in the future.

What Gu Sheng said was the truth. The Gu family lacked everything, but no shortage of manpower. Gu Sheng had been doing the killing business in the frontier for these years. Gu Sheng's eldest grandson and second grandson are about the same age as Jia Yue, but they have already practiced with Gu Sheng on the battlefield.

The strange thing is that Gu Sheng has a group of children and grandchildren, but he doesn't have a daughter or granddaughter. Gu Sheng and his wife are almost crazy about girls, but they can't ask for them.

Wang comforted herself in her heart and said: "It's good if I don't have a daughter, otherwise, I have no place to cry after being taught by our master to be as brave as her brothers."

Gu Sheng looked at Jia Yue, and said in a gratified tone: "Yue'er won the Juren at the age of 11, and she will definitely be the number one in high school in the future. Yue'er has a promising future, and my sister can close her eyes even when she is underground."

For these years, Gu Sheng has been fighting in the frontier, and did not go to Beijing to meet Jia Yue. However, Gu Sheng once sent his confidant servants to Beijing to inquire about the news. He knew that Jia Yue had been studying with Lin Ruhai all these years, and that Jia Yue lived in the Lin family. excellent.

Although Gu Sheng is a military commander, there is no one without a brain. Gu Sheng's heart is like a mirror. If it were not for Lin Ruhai, Jia Yue would still be living under the roof of the Rongguo Mansion. As for him, it is a blessing to be able to become a guard. Let alone be promoted to be the Minister of the Ministry of War, or to be named Hussar General.

For Lin Ruhai, Gu Sheng was extremely grateful.

After Gu Sheng settled down in Shenjing, he brought his wife and children to visit the Lin Mansion. Lin Ruhai and his wife welcomed Gu Sheng and his wife in person.

After Lin Ruhai was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Officials, the Supreme Emperor expressed his intention to let Lin Ruhai take over as the chief assistant of the cabinet. Lin Ruhai instantly became a "hot" figure in the capital. , Gu Sheng successfully became the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Wang also integrated into the social circle of Shenjing.

After Gu Sheng entered Beijing, the Supreme Emperor gave him a mansion, and Gu Sheng wanted to take Jia Yue to live in his home. Mrs. Wang said: "Our family is full of big bosses. Brother Yue is a scholar. I am afraid that he will live in our house." I'm not used to it, and besides, Brother Yue is already a Juren, and at this time next year, he will take part in the general examination, and staying at Lord Lin's house, it is convenient to ask questions."

Gu Sheng thought about it, and felt that what his wife said was right, so he said to his wife: "You are right, then let Brother Yue live in Mrs. Lin's house, but...you clean up the house for Brother Yue, When we are free, we will take Brother Yue and live there for a few days."

Then, Gu Sheng said again: "Yue'er is thirteen, and it's time to see her daughter-in-law. We don't know each other well in Shenjing, and we don't know who has a suitable girl. When you have time, go ask Lin Ma'am... Brother Yue is already a Juren, and he is a disciple of Master Lin. He must be an official in the imperial examination in the future. Our family is all military officers, so I can't help you. I was thinking about finding someone from a scholarly family for Yue'er daughter in law."

Wang nodded in agreement.

Jia Yue is already 13 years old this year. Gu Sheng originally thought that the Rongguo Mansion had returned Jia Gong's and his wife's property to Jia Yue. Jia Yue was only living in the Lin Mansion temporarily because she was alone.

As a result, Gu Sheng learned from Lin Ruhai that Jia Yue's family wealth is still in the custody of the Rongguo Mansion.

Gu Sheng suppressed the anger in his heart, and asked: "Yue'er is so old, and she is about to marry a wife. When does the Rongguo Mansion plan to return the property left by her sister and brother-in-law to Yue'er."

Lin Ruhai smiled wryly, but did not speak.

Lin Ruhai is the son-in-law of the Rongguo Mansion, although he has a high position and authority, it is not easy to take action against the Rongguo Mansion, but Gu Sheng has no scruples.

Gu Sheng said: "In a few days, I will go to the Rongguo Mansion to seek justice for Yue'er. What orders does Master Lin have for the subordinates?"

Lin Ruhai thought for a while, and said to Gu Sheng: "The Supreme Emperor and the saint are both enlightened emperors, and they despise such things the most."

Gu Sheng understood Lin Ruhai's meaning and smiled knowingly.

The ancestors of the Gu family used to be officials under Rong Guogong Jia Yuan, and the Gu family can be regarded as the old department of Rong Guogong.

On the second day, Gu Sheng led his six sons and rode tall horses to Rongguo Mansion in the name of "meeting the old master".

Today, there is no distinction between young and old in the Rongguo Mansion, and now the second householder is in charge. Jia Zheng is upright, respectful and kind, but not ordinary.

Gu Sheng knew that if he talked to Jia Zheng about this matter, Jia Zheng would readily agree to it, and then the matter would be left alone.

Therefore, Gu Sheng specially picked a day when Jia Zheng was not at home, and went to Rongguo Mansion to visit.

Jia Zheng was not at home. Although Jia Amnesty was only having fun and not doing business, he had to send

Gu Sheng welcomed him in.

After taking his seat, Gu Sheng mentioned Jia Yue's family wealth straight to the point, saying that Jia Yue was old and asked the Rongguo Mansion to return it.

On the same day, Jia Gong and his wife passed away one after another. Jia Gong and his wife's family wealth was divided up, and Jia Amnesty also received a considerable sum of money.

Jia She is greedy for money and lustful, so naturally he excused himself in every possible way.

The Rongguo Mansion is extremely prosperous, and the court is full of old relatives and relatives. Jia She is full of confidence, thinking that Gu Sheng will never dare to stand up to him, and will definitely retreat in spite of difficulties.

But in fact, Gu Sheng stood behind Lin Ruhai and Xiao Qian, two great Buddhas, and they were generals who fought in the bloody wind. How could Gu Sheng put Rongguo Mansion, which was only a shell, in his eyes.

Gu Sheng didn't have a lot of eyes, but it was like playing with Jia She's idiot. Gu Sheng said a few words very bluntly, directly poking at the pain in Jia She's heart, and the anger in Jia She's heart was aroused.

Then, Jia She sent tea to the guests, and Gu Sheng walked out of the gate of Rongguo Mansion angrily.

This is not a big deal, but it has strangely become the number one gossip in Shenjing.

Then, the Supreme Emperor also found out that Dai Quan, the head of the Daming Palace, told the Supreme Emperor...

After Emperor Xingzu ascended the throne, in order to limit the power of the eunuchs and avoid the "eunuchs" in the Ming Dynasty, he abolished the eunuchs' power control institutions such as the Silijian and Yumajian, which fundamentally cut off the eunuchs' control of the government. possible.

However, although eunuchs could not interfere in the government affairs, they were the closest people to the power center of the Ming Dynasty. The senior eunuchs working beside the emperor would not dare to offend easily, even if they were senior officials of the first or second rank.

The highest-ranking eunuch in this dynasty is known as "the inner minister of the Daming Palace".

The country name of this dynasty is "Ming", and the Forbidden City is also called "Daming Palace". It is not as good as the eunuch who was in charge of seals in the previous Ming Dynasty.

Xiao Qian, the chief assistant of the cabinet with power over the ruling and opposition parties, and Lin Ruhai, the minister of official affairs who is deeply trusted by the Supreme Emperor, belong to the current Daming Palace who is in charge of the palace. They dare not offend people and need to be careful to please them.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

After the new year, the Taishanghuang's health improved a lot and he was able to stand up. On this day, the Taishanghuang was walking and asked Dai Quan if there was anything new in the capital.

Dai Quan "hesitantly" for a while, and said: "A few days ago, something happened in Rongguo Mansion, which caused a commotion all over the city."

As the Supreme Emperor got older, he felt more and more pity for the old ministers. Rongguo Duke Jia Daishan had passed away for more than 20 years, but the Supreme Emperor still remembered Jia Daishan's kindness and was extremely conniving to the Rongguo Mansion.

This is the reason why Rongguo Mansion was able to maintain its prosperity even after Jia Daishan passed away and all the men were ineffective.

The Supreme Emperor asked: "What is it that caused the city to be full of turmoil, you tell me the truth, and there must be no falsehood."

Dai Quan told the story, but changed some details in the process of narrating, for example... Rongguo Mansion was too aggressive, Gu Sheng went to Rongguo Mansion with the mentality of "going to die", what Gu Sheng asked for was not family property, but justice ...

After Gu Sheng entered Beijing, the Supreme Emperor summoned Gu Sheng, because it hadn't been long, and the Supreme Emperor remembered Gu Sheng's performance very clearly.

"A simple, honest and reckless man", this is the Supreme Emperor's evaluation of Gu Sheng.

The Supreme Emperor had a good impression of Gu Sheng, and thought that if Gu Sheng did not do well in the Ministry of War, he would let Gu Sheng be the chief soldier.

The chief soldier is a military officer of the second rank, holding real power, and is at the same level as the minister of the Ministry of war.

In the heart of the Supreme Emperor, 1 Gu Shengs together are no match for Jia Daishan's one fingernail.

However, the Taishanghuang was not foolish enough to understand that there was nothing wrong with Gu Sheng. Although Gu Sheng had offended the Rongguo Mansion, the Taishanghuang did not mean to blame Gu Sheng. Instead, he paid more attention to Gu Sheng because of Gu Sheng's "integrity".

Why did Dai Quan tell the Supreme Emperor about this?

Because, Dai Quan took the silver from Lin Ruhai, which was not much, only 100 taels—Lin Ruhai ordered someone to give Dai Quan 1000 taels of silver. Dai Quan didn't dare to offend Lin Ruhai, the future chief minister of the cabinet, so he only accepted it. 100 taels of silver, and ordered people to send the remaining silver back to the Lin Mansion.

The matter involved the Rongguo Mansion, and the Supreme Emperor did not help his relatives. Although he did not blame Gu Sheng, he did not intend to punish the Rongguo Mansion either.

Now that the money has been collected, no matter how much it is, it must be done.

Seeing that the Supreme Emperor was not angry, Dai Quan said "unintentionally": "Nowadays, the people on the street are spreading rumors that the Duke of the State is incapable of teaching his children, and that he has raised two bastards, and that there is such a son. I'm afraid the father-in-law is not a good person... The slave deserves to die! The slave deserves to die!"

Dai Quan has served the Supreme Emperor for decades, and Dai Quan can still guess the Supreme Emperor's mind pretty well. The two things that the Supreme Emperor cares about most in his life are the throne and Jia Daishan.

Even if he is the biological son of the Supreme Emperor, he is not as important as Jia Daishan in the Supreme Emperor's heart.

For Jia Daishan's two incompetent sons, the Supreme Emperor looked down upon them very much, thinking that these two men were ashamed of Jia Daishan. After Jia Daishan passed away, the Supreme Emperor only summoned them once.

However, looking at Jia Daishan's face, the Supreme Emperor took great care of Jia Amnesty, Jia Zheng and Ning Rong's two houses, and was very conniving. Regarding the bad things done by the Jia family, the Supreme Emperor was like a mirror in his heart, but he turned a blind eye. .

However, in the mind of the Supreme Emperor, Jia Amnesty, Jia Zheng, Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion combined are not as important as Jia Daishan's reputation.

Now, after listening to Dai Quan's words, and thinking of Jia She and Jia Zheng's deeds that would damage Jia Daishan's reputation, the Supreme Emperor became very angry.

For a while, the Supreme Emperor even had murderous intentions, wanting to kill these two embarrassing things for Jia Daishan, but the Supreme Emperor remembered Jia Daishan's begging before his death, and the Supreme Emperor sighed and suppressed the murderous intention in his heart.

Suddenly, the Supreme Emperor's heart moved, and he asked: "Is this Jia Yue, the one who got favored by my aunt, the 11-year-old Juren?"

Dai Quan replied, "Yes."

The eldest princess of Changle once mentioned Jia Yue to the Supreme Emperor inadvertently. In the story of the eldest princess of Changle, Jia Yue was a person with a bleak life experience, but worked hard to make a contribution to Ming Dynasty. , "five good boys in feudal society".

Although the Supreme Emperor had never met Jia Yue, he had a very good impression of Jia Yue. Now, this insignificant favor has become the decisive weight.

The Supreme Emperor made a decision in his heart, and said to Dai Quan: "Go to Rongguo Mansion, tell that prodigal lady, and those two prodigal sons, don't embarrass Jia Daishan! You tell them, I will limit them to take Jia Yue's house within one month. Return the family property to him, otherwise, be careful of the heads on their necks!"

Dai Quan shuddered and replied, "Yes."

After leaving the gate of Qianqing Palace, Dai Quan wiped the sweat from his forehead, it is not an easy thing to fool the Supreme Emperor.

Dai Quan rested for a while, then sat in a sedan chair, held an umbrella and blew the gong, and arrived at the Rongguo Mansion. Jia Zheng and others took him into the Rongguo Mansion in person and asked him to serve tea at the Rongxi Hall.

Dai Quan took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and said, "I have an old sage's oracle for the old lady."

When Jia Zheng and others heard the order from the Supreme Emperor, they were overjoyed, and hurriedly invited Dai Quan to Jia Mu's residence.

When they arrived at Jia Mu's courtyard, Dai Quan cleared his throat, and then tactfully told Jia Mu and others what the Supreme Emperor had said.

Dai Quan was concerned about the Jia family's influence on the Supreme Emperor. Although he was not afraid, he did not dare to offend too much, so he concealed the words "prodigal daughter" and "prodigal son" that the Supreme Emperor said. On the face, it was still like opening a dye shop, red for a while, and blue for a while.

Jia Mu forced a smile and said, "The old lady is bothering you."

Dai Quan said with a smile: "After delivering the sage's oral instructions, I should go back."

Mrs. Jia gave a wink, Madam Wang understood, hurried out of the house, and paid 1000 taels of silver from her father-in-law. Then she felt that it was too little, so she paid another 1000 taels of silver, and ordered someone to send the 2000 taels of silver to Dai Quan. .

Dai Quan received the money and was in a very good mood, so he said: "I have been friends with your family for many years. Looking at the face of the Duke, let me say one more thing, that Jia Yue is a person who is highly valued by saints. The old sage was so angry this time that he almost had a relapse..."

When Jia Mu and others heard this, they were so frightened that they lost their souls, and hurriedly said to Dai Quan: "Old Minister, please show us a clear way."

Dai Quan said with a smile: "It's also easy. If you want to calm down the old sage, you can return all of Jia Yue's family wealth, and return all the profits of these years to him. These 10 taels of silver , to the Rongguo Mansion, it's just a trivial matter."

When Jia Mu and others heard this, they felt as uncomfortable as cutting flesh, but they endured the pain and said: "Thank you, old nephew, for your reminder, I am bothering you, old nephew, to say a few kind words in front of the old sage. "

Dai Quan smiled and agreed, and stopped staying in the Rongguo Mansion, got into the sedan chair, and went back to Daming Palace to report to the Supreme Emperor.

Sitting on the sedan chair, Dai Quan smiled in his heart and said, "Master Lin's 100 taels of silver is really worth the money."