Through the Ring of Red Mansions

In other words, Jia Huan wished he could personally investigate the case of the frivolous court lady who was detained by others, but he had no choice but to deal with important matters, and what was involved was the reputation of the harem, and he could not easily pass the test with Shui Lang's trust.What's more, he went back to the villa to think about it, and he couldn't help sighing that the timing of this man's scheme was cleverly chosen.

Firstly, because the Empress Dowager is not feeling well recently, the Holy Majesty would often go to the Empress Dowager's Palace to check on her safety after lunch, and would return after more than half an hour. Everyone in the palace knew about this, and of course in the eyes of others, Jia Huan also knew it very well. Some people would think that Jia Huan really relied on the fact that the emperor would not come back, so he would be daring.

Concubine Wu Gui was not as favored as before because of the death of Concubine Wu. Recently, from time to time, she would look for opportunities to offer her courtesies to seek her favor again. It was not just once or twice that she sent a young eunuch and court lady to pay her respects, and there was nothing suspicious about it.

Jia Huan was very suspicious of Mrs. Wang and Yuan Chun because of the fact that the purse rewarded by Yuan Chun was on the body of the maid Xiaotao. He just thought about it. No matter how you try to save face for Jia Mu, it is still a situation where you hurt one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred yourself. Maybe Mrs. Wang can still make such a foolish trick, but Jia Huan doesn't believe that Yuan Chun is so clueless.

However, it was not easy to find out the news from the palace, and Shui Lang seemed to cover up the matter very tightly. For a few days, there was not a single bad news in Beijing, and Jia Huan was deeply admired, knowing that the world is the most difficult to guard against. It is the mouth of everyone, especially the two surrounding areas of the harem and the imperial study room, where many factions and forces are deeply rooted, how can it be so easy and foolproof.

In addition, although Jia Huan's in-depth investigation was not possible, Rongfu's side was easier to handle, so he asked Moyan and Qingxiao to go to the third wife's place to collect all the things related to him. They moved back to the villa together, took the opportunity to inquire about the mansion, and the two came back and said, "There is nothing suspicious about it, except that a third-class girl named Xiao Que in the third wife's room said seven or eight days ago. She was picked up by her mother to visit relatives and accidentally fell into the pond and drowned. Zhang Nanny gave their family ten taels of silver on behalf of his wife, and Grandma Zhu also said that she was pitiful, so she rewarded their family with an extra five taels. Their family has gone to the funeral."

Jia Huan couldn't help being taken aback.He didn't have a deep impression of this little girl named Xiao Que. He thought that she was just a little girl with a small face that hadn't grown up yet. She was one year younger than him, and now he said that she accidentally fell into the water and drowned Well, the timing was so coincidental that people couldn't help but feel a chill from the bottom of their hearts.Although he had done a lot of psychological construction earlier, he knew that Daqing was not the legal society of the later generations, but he never felt it so deeply as today.The death of two young girls in the blink of an eye probably wouldn't even make the eyes of those behind them blink.

Therefore, I can't help but think, if I hadn't met Shui Lang at the beginning, how could he, the third wife, and Jinxiu Pavilion be here so well now?

Jia Huan used to think that he and Shui Lang were nothing more than an equal cooperative relationship. Even if he owed Shui Lang [-] points of favor, sooner or later he could use [-] points of interest to repay it. I feel more and more unclear.

A few days later, when Jia Huan's leave was not over yet, he suddenly saw Yang Xiong rushing from outside and said, "Have you received the letter yet? Concubine Wu Gui has been relegated to the cold palace!! The crime is that she relied on her favor and colluded with her." Foreign relatives, framing ministers and causing chaos in the inner court. What a serious crime, this time even the Wu family was not spared, and the two princes Zhongshun and Renjing were reprimanded for her affairs! When did you offend her?! "

Jia Huan was taken aback, never thought that it was Concubine Wu Gui whom he didn't know at all, and didn't understand how Shui Lang could be so angry, he hurriedly said, "Even I was confused, I didn't expect it to be her, I have never had any grievances with her Qiu, how could it be her who is so good?"

Yang Xiong said, "I just heard such a letter from the clan's mansion, so I hurried to tell you what's going on, I'm afraid you'll have to go back to the imperial study to find out. But now those noble people in the capital Speaking of it, it seems that Concubine Wu Gui wanted to frame you to deal with Concubine Jia, but fortunately Concubine Jia was deeply honored, so Concubine Wu did not succeed."

Jia Huan frowned and said, "It sounds like the attachment of those idlers. If the imperial concubine is favored, what will the empress think?"

The two were talking, and another person came running from Rongfu on a flying horse, and said, "The old lady, the master, and the third wife just heard about the things in the palace, and their faces changed because of the scares. Immediately order Brother Huan to go back to the mansion." .”

Jia Huan originally wanted to enter the palace, but he heard that the third wife was in a hurry at home, so she had to go back to Rongfu first, but the whole family surrounded Jiamu's room.After seeing each other for a while, Jia's mother embraced Jia Huan with tears in her eyes and cried, "That day you said you were going to ask for leave when you were sick, but you kept us in the dark, and you didn't tell your family about such an important matter! Although you don't want to It's good for us to worry, but for such a big matter, even if we are incapable and unable to help, there will always be a lady in the palace who can say something for you anyway, so you just don't say a word, In case of being wronged, which one should we hurt?"

Everyone hurriedly tried to stop them, and said, "Huan'er is very measured in her actions, so she's fine this time. The old lady, please calm down!"

Aunt Xue also said, "Although Brother Huan is a bit bolder, it is not because he does not disturb the old lady. It is rare for him to be so steady at such a young age. Even if this matter falls on us adults, we feel very frightened. Fortunately, the Holy Majesty still Take good care of the empress and the house more, and don't let our family be wronged because of that Empress Wu."

Mother Jia remembered it again, and only scolded Concubine Wu Gui, "Sooner or later, the black heart will be punished for framing the two siblings for no reason, and they deserve to be relegated to the cold palace!"

The third wife also took Jia Huan's hand and cried to Mrs. Jia Zhengwang, "This time, thanks to your empress' dignity in front of the Holy Majesty, wouldn't Huan'er be wronged? Even though they are siblings, this kindness cannot be ignored. remember."

Jia Mu nodded and said, "That's a good statement. I never said these things in front of their brothers and sisters. It was to prevent you from forgetting your appearance because of your mother's presence in the palace. But As if this time, is there any reason for us to be bullied by others? We should ask the empress to make the decision. Next time I enter the palace, I will go with you, and Huaner will prepare some good things for the empress. Let us thank the empress. "

Baoyu, Daiyu, etc. all laughed and said, "Don't dare to use the guise of the empress to cause trouble, even Huan'er, who will only add glory to the empress's face. Who can let others count?"

Mrs. Wang couldn't help but smiled, and said with a smile, "We are all sisters and brothers. How could the empress not help Huan'er? How dare the old lady enter the palace for this? It's just like usual. I, the eldest wife and the third wife go."

The maids and mothers-in-law below also flattered and said that the empress is deeply favored by the sage. Jiamu and others thought that Yuanchun was in power and her face was very honorable, but Baoyu had never paid much attention to these things, and Daiyu's face was also faint , so the two were exceptions, and the third wife and Tanchun only cared about Jia Huan, and they couldn't say how happy they were, even Jia Zheng looked relieved.When Jia Huan saw this, he sneered in his stomach and said without saying anything, "It's a pity that I can't follow, so I will trouble the second wife too much. The Holy Majesty granted me a leave of absence for this matter, and he will definitely pay me back." To be fair, now that the truth is revealed, I have to go to the palace to thank you tomorrow."

Tanchun's thoughts were very fast, and he came over immediately and said, "Thanks to the sage, if the incident happens and you are arrested without asking, my wife and I will be scared out of my wits immediately."

Jia Zheng couldn't help being puzzled, and asked, "When did you sue the Holy Majesty? Could it be that the Holy Majesty believed you so much that he allowed you to go home without even interrogating him, and promised to give you justice? "

Jia Huan said, "Why didn't you ask me before? I specially called Chief Zhou of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Imperial Study Room to ask me in front of the saint."

Jia Zheng said strangely, "There is absolutely no such reason. Why should you be asked to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to explain the reason? How can you let the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs rush to see you?" It is also surprising to be here.

Jia Huan suppressed a smile and said seriously, "I don't really understand the rules here. I don't know anything. I heard the emperor lose his temper outside. He thought that the servants in the imperial study room were all idling away. I went out to persuade him." , Who would have thought that a little eunuch came and said that the head of the State Department of Internal Affairs had sent me to invite me, and the Holy One was getting angry, so he said, 'Let Zhou Zhi come by himself!', how dare I say no."

Jia Zheng said, "Damn you for saying that! Why did you welcome the majesty outside when he lost his temper? Don't tell me you don't know the ceremony of welcoming and sending off the king, and you don't know how you work in the imperial study every day!"

Jia Mu said, "I am a benevolent emperor today. Perhaps seeing that Huan'er is young, he can't bear to be harsh. This is a good thing. Huan'er's general etiquette must be good."

Jia Huan said with a smile, "What the old lady said is that the Holy Majesty is very gentle and never cares about these things. There is only one thing, I am very puzzled, and I have to wait for the interview with the Holy Majesty to know the result."

Mother Jia waited to ask what was the matter, and Jia Huan told the story that the purse bestowed on her by Yuan Chun fell on the murdered maid for some reason. To deal with Yuanchun, fortunately, the sage was wise, Wu Guifei's treacherous scheme did not succeed and she was punished instead, etc. The details inside are not clear.Now hearing Jia Huan say that there is such a thing, everyone is more shocked than when they heard Jia Huan was framed.

Jia Mu patted the table and said angrily to the third wife, Li Wan, etc., "You are all dead people. How come no one has noticed such a crawling animal? Don't we have to wait for someone else to find out about it? Did you know that the terrible thing hid in our house and came to copy our house?"

Li Wan and Tanchun were so busy that they knelt down, and the third wife also cried, "I said, why did you pack up all the things that day? It turns out that our house is not clean! Who is the black-hearted thief who deserves to be killed a thousand times? If there is anything, come to me, why bother to hurt my poor son..."

Baoyu and others hurriedly helped Li and Tan up, and persuaded Jia Mu and the third wife, "This man is in the dark, but we are in the light. Isn't it impossible to guard against it? Besides, the purse is not worth much. Who I will watch it every day. I really can’t blame the third wife and sister-in-law.”

Baochai, who had never said a word, also persuaded, "Which one of the people in the third wife's house is not the best girl trained by the old lady, there is absolutely no one who betrays the master and harms others like this, but those who can't get on The little girls in the room are young and have shallow eyelids, in my opinion, it is possible for them to be coaxed into doing such a thing for a while."

After hearing this, Jia's mother shouted loudly to bring all the little girls in the mansion to question her. Tanchun sighed, "I'm afraid it's too late!"

Baoyu asked why, and Tanchun said, "Don't you think about the dramas we have seen and the stories we have heard on weekdays, how can those bad guys still have a reason to harm others? If they really do such a thing, I'm afraid they will soon I just hid it, so why would we wait for us to find it? Now I remember that a few days ago, there was a girl named Xiao Que in my mother's yard who asked her to pick it up at home, but she came back and said that she drowned in the pond. At that time, I wondered, since I went home to meet relatives, there must be many people together, how could she be drowned without being able to save her!"

Jia Zheng hurriedly ordered people to look for Xiao Que's family members, saying that his old lady had not come back from the funeral, so she hurried out of the house to look for it, and she couldn't find it!Mother Jia was so angry that she called Sister Feng again, "You still take care of this side, first check all the people in the house one by one, and drive out those who don't look good as soon as possible, depending on which master he is I don’t need to bother with my confidantes. I’ve been thinking of doing good for my children and grandchildren all these years, and I’ve raised more and more of these ungrateful beasts!!”

Seeing that Jia's mother was furious, everyone quickly responded one by one. Jia Zheng and others wanted to find Xiao Que's grave and dig it up. They asked Ying Tianfu's assistant to take a look at the corpse. Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Criminal Justice had preempted it. Knowing that there are internal thieves in Jia's mansion, but seeing that the culprit has been arrested, they didn't disturb the people in the mansion.

The next day, Jia Huan went to the Ministry of Officials to find Bai Shichen to cancel the vacation. Bai Shichen laughed at him and said, "It's so pitiful that you let three or four people think about plotting against you. It can be seen that I am finally not the target of everyone. Now I am all in your favor." body."

Jia Huan smiled wryly and said, "Are you still looking like a scholar of Shaoyang Palace, still gloating at me here? I'll tell him later, you have a lot of free time now, and you can do a few more important errands." Asked, "Why do you say it was a couple of three or four? Could it be that this time the incident was not only caused by Concubine Wu?"

Bai Shichen hurriedly laughed, "I didn't handle this serious case, and I don't know much about it. I just heard that because the empress was busy taking care of the empress dowager, concubine Jia was in charge of most of the palace affairs. She ordered someone to find him at first. The one who came out with the purse said she was the one who handed you over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for investigation, but Concubine Wu Gui didn't say anything."

How could Jia Huan not understand what he meant? If he put on a business-like face to detain him in the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the beginning, and then interceded to release him, and then earn a favor in front of himself, it would be a bit like Yuan Chun's method .It's just that Jia Huan still can't figure it out, how can Yuan Chun be so sure that he can exonerate himself?

For a while, he slowly entered the Dong Nuan Pavilion of the Imperial Study, where Shui Lang was grading papers, saw him and said with a smile, "Come here and wait for me, I'll be fine when I finish grading this one."

If Jia Huan heard this in the past, but just sat down on the edge of the couch far away, today Jia Huan felt that he couldn't bear to be disobedient, and sat next to Shui Lang's hand involuntarily, and said with a smile, "Why are there so many people outside?" These people were originally just four little eunuchs and two little maids."

Seeing that he was so close to him, Shui Lang felt a wave in his heart. He stretched out his hand to hug Jia Huan's shoulder and shook it, then suddenly smiled and said, "Have you used up the incense that I gave you last time? The incense on my body today is light. Where did you get it?"

After all, Jia Huan was a little afraid to look into Shui Lang's eyes, so he lowered his eyes and said, "I don't like incense, it's the smell of soap powder, I got it when washing clothes with soap powder."

Shui Lang moved his face closer and said, "It's getting cold again, this year I'll pick some more good furs and make you a good waistcoat and robe. Next fall, I'll take you to the autumn hunting. It would be interesting to hunt those two sea greens and hunt a few foxes by myself."

Jia Huan only felt a burst of warm breath on his neck, as if his heart was a little itchy, and he couldn't help feeling a little bit regretful, and was held down by Shui Lang, unable to move, so he had to put all his thoughts on talking The boss said, "You can only retting people, next autumn is still early, now make a wish, just let me look forward to it."

After speaking, Fang felt that his tone was full of coquettishness, and he couldn't help being embarrassed. Shui Lang looked at his red earlobe, couldn't help rubbing it twice, and then smiled, "Why are you so honest this time? Is it this time?" Scared you?"

Jia Huan was free to stand up now, straightened out the papers spread everywhere on the couch, and then asked, "What's going on? I can't figure it out either. Even if it's really Concubine Wu, why do you bother?" so big..."

Shui Lang said, "It depends on who you said it to, just those two restless ones, just to hurt them a little bit?"

Jia Huan looked at him in surprise and said, "Why is there such a thing as Prince Zhongshun and Prince Renjing?"

39. Don't be tempted

Shui Lang smiled, "It's not all, it's true that it was because of them, these two powers are slowly being worn out now, and they can no longer reach into the household department, so they fell in love with Jinxiu Pavilion, so If you want to design you, but also disrupt my arrangement, Concubine Wu Gui and the two of them are on the same rope, and they want to take this opportunity to frame Concubine Jia, how can you not agree? But if I don't show my attitude Severe punishment will definitely make people wonder that this matter is to protect you. In the end, some rumors spread, which will inevitably damage your reputation. You probably can't guess, the most interesting thing is your big sister. Others dozed off. She You have to deliver pillows for others, otherwise you will think how that purse got into the palace!"

Jia Huan couldn't help sighing after hearing this, "This is really mixed with three or four things. No wonder I always feel that I can't get rid of her shadow in it, but I really don't understand how she got so much confidence in herself. Take it out with me. Probably once Wu Guifei and the others started the incident, she would have left behind."

Shui Lang stretched out his hand and twisted his nose, and said with a chuckle, "Ghost spirit! Didn't you trick you into being grateful?"

Jia Huan couldn't help clapping Shui Lang's hand with a stack of memorials in his hand, and said with a smile, "How can I be so stupid, I really deceived my mother so gratefully, and now everyone knows that Concubine Jia is very grateful." Being favored, even if her younger brother committed some disrespect, the Holy Majesty will not blame her for her face, and she has made a good person in our family!"

Shui Lang listened quietly with a smile, then lowered her eyes after a while and said, "If she is convicted because of you this time, how can the Jia family not be implicated, although it is not your fault, after all, it will be difficult to get along with each other in the future, no, it will be violated again." Did you mean it?"

Jia Huan was taken aback, he didn't know what it was like, suddenly he looked up and saw Shui Lang smiling, he knew that he did it on purpose, couldn't help but raised the fold in his hand and messed it up on his arm Pat, and said, "It's clear that you have moved too many people recently, and you can't send anything else. Otherwise, wouldn't people in the court panic, why do you say it as if... as if..."

I didn't know what to say later, who knew that Shui Lang took advantage of his unpreparedness, grabbed his hand, pressed him down on the couch, bent down and asked in a low voice, "I seem to be what, Um?"

Jia Huan stared blankly at Shui Lang above, and then heard him say, "It seems like I'm only thinking of you, isn't it?"

Jia Huan felt very speechless, and hesitated in his heart whether to speak harshly or to persuade him with kind words. While struggling, he suddenly felt a heat on his lips, and Shui Lang had already bent down, and there was tenderness between his lips and tongue. After a while, I don't know how long it took before Jia Huan heard Shui Lang laughing, "You are the most well-behaved at this time, I can't bear it, but I probably can't bear it for much longer."

Jia Huan's face was so hot that it seemed as if he could boil an egg. He was so angry and anxious that he pushed him and cursed, "Shut up! Let go, I'm going back!!"

Shui Lang helped him up, and said with a smile, "It's not time yet, and you're going to ask for leave again, not this time."

Jia Huan hurriedly jumped up and hid far away, regardless of what Shui Lang said, he lifted the curtain and ran away.

After he had left for a while, Zhou Zhi, the head of the House of Internal Affairs, came to ask to see Shui Lang. Seeing that Jia Huan had left Dongnuange early, the head of the Shan made a pass for him. The empress has already approved it, and ordered the slave to present it to the holy majesty."

Shui Lang took it over but looked at it and said, "Take it and ask the queen to use it as a seal."

Zhou Zhi was about to resign, but suddenly he heard Shui Lang say, "Wait a minute, there is one more thing. I think that many princes from the clan and ministers' families should get married this year. If they meet this year's draft, it will delay If you leave them, you can go talk to the queen and tell the will of the emperor to relax the age and family background of this year's showgirls. In addition to those selected into the palace, she will be asked to pick another group of people. I will give them The aristocrats of the capital who have reached the age point to marriage."

Zhou Zhi heard that Shui Lang's voice was not without jokes, so he guessed that today, for some reason, he was in a good mood today, so he hurriedly laughed and said, "The Holy Majesty and the Empress are going to be a matchmaker, and there will be many good stories about each other. The elders who are waiting to marry their sons and daughters will be overjoyed, this servant will report to the empress!"

The empress is a very dignified and virtuous woman, and she always obeys the emperor's order, and even if she does not propose marriages for the noble children, but brings all these beautiful women into the palace, she has nothing to say.So I listened, but changed the regulations of the draft according to what Shui Lang said word for word and issued an edict to the world.At that time, the news spread all over Beijing, and many families who planned to marry a wife or daughter were all rejoicing, thinking that if the emperor and empress could marry them personally, no matter how low or high the marriage was, they would naturally be more honorable than others, so they went to The orders from the harem to pay respects to the empress and concubine broke through the threshold of the harem.