The Hairpin of the Red Chamber

Baochai's marriage has long been a concern for Aunt Xue.She only has one son and one daughter under her knees, needless to mention the kind of cherishment.Besides, Baochai is handsome, dignified and elegant, and handles housework, internal and external management. Aunt Xue thinks it is enough for her daughter to be a prince.But there are several delays, such a good daughter, the marriage has been delayed so far, and she has done such stupid things again, and lost Yuanhong. Every time Aunt Xue thinks about it, she has to sigh for a long time, both for the reputation of the century-old family, and for the future of her daughter , with a loving mother's heart, full of worries and difficulties.

Xue Pan knew what was on Aunt Xue's mind, so after Baochai left, he deliberately kept the news from the other end, and he didn't even tell her that Baochai had gone to Suzhou instead of Jinling.

Unexpectedly, he was still dealing with errands in the Imperial College that day, when suddenly a close servant ran from home in a panic, winking at the entrance of the school.Xue Pan was worried about his own marriage, so he sent this person to watch at home, and would report back whenever there was trouble. Therefore, although he pretended to be reading, his eyes kept glancing at the door. Pretending to let go and slipping out, the young man waited for him to go out and said anxiously: "Master, Master Lin said that we must marry our girl, so Miss Zhang will be allowed to marry here."

Xue Pan was startled, and said, "What does it matter to me whether my sister gets married or not?"

The young man smiled and said: "This is what the capital said. They are afraid that the sister-in-law will be difficult to deal with, so if there is an older unmarried daughter in a family, most of the married people will have some concerns."

Xue Pan stomped his feet and said, "It's hard for me!" The voice became louder for a while, and the instructor heard it, and raised his voice: "Xue Pan!"

Xue Pan hurriedly said to the inside: "I have a stomachache, go out!" He dragged the boy to a secluded place, asked him about his insides, and asked Aunt Xue about Baochai's recent situation.Unexpectedly, he also listened to the news, inquired a few times at random, and rushed all the way to report the news. He couldn't say anything new for a long time. Xue Pan was so anxious that the supervisor of the school came to urge him again. I had to send this young man to go back to inquire again, and go back by myself, finally got to school, rode the horse all the way home, and went straight to Aunt Xue's residence when I entered, and saw maids and women standing outside the door from a distance, Seeing him, everyone waved their hands and told him not to come near.

Xue Pan hesitated for a moment, but still walked over, and as soon as he entered the door, he saw Aunt Xue sitting on the upper seat in the east, her face covered with tears, and the first thing she said when she saw Xue Pan was, "You ignorant bastard!"

Xue Pan knew exactly what she was scolding, but put on a smile on his face, leaned over and hugged Aunt Xue and said, "Why did Mom suddenly scold me again? Could it be that my boys are being naughty again? Mom Tell me, I'll have someone beat them!"

Aunt Xue sneered and said, "Your boys are all good, I'm angry with you!"

Xue Pan pretended to be stupid and said, "What did Mom say, I've been in school all day, why are you mad at Mom again?"

Aunt Xue patted the table and said, "How dare you say that! Let me ask you, where did your sister go?"

Xue Pan bit the bullet and said, "Didn't you go to Second Uncle's place? I went with Jia Laoer, and Mom and I sent them out of the city in person. Mom doesn't even remember?"

Seeing that he was stubborn, Aunt Xue put a little force on his head in hatred, pushed him away from her side and said, "Okay, you are still coaxing me at this time! Let me ask you, didn't Jia Lian say to go to Yangzhou?" Do you do business? How come you rented a shop in Suzhou and started to trade? Your sister said to look for your second uncle. Why is the person who reported the funeral for your second uncle here? When I asked, he said that he had never seen him What about her?"

Xue Pan complained in his heart, knelt down slowly, crawled on the ground and said: "I really don't know where my sister has gone, and my mother also knows that my friendship with Jia Laoer is very special. I handed my sister to him. I'm very relieved, so I didn't ask too much, and my sister never mentioned the other side in the letter, so how do I know that my second uncle died suddenly?"

Aunt Xue said: "You don't know, so how come I asked all your servants, but everyone knew? It turns out that you are not the head of the house, but your servant?"

Xue Pan was speechless, and forced a smile: "I'm also afraid that my mother will be worried. I've been persuading my younger sister. Now she's all moved. After a while, she will get up and go to Jinling."

Aunt Xue said: "It's useless for you to argue, I know there must be your hands and feet here, otherwise your sister can't do this alone. Get out quickly, don't let me see you upset." Xue Pan Still refusing to leave, she just stood on the edge and dawdled. Aunt Xue thought of Baochai, with tears running down her face, and said, "My poor son, why are you so confused! There are so many good people in the world who can't go, but just stay behind." This one." Then scolded Xue Pan: "It's all about you! If it wasn't for you, why would we have voted into that family and asked your sister to do such a thing!"

Xue Pan muttered, "It's obviously for my sister's draft, how come it's for me?" Seeing that Aunt Xue turned her eyes to him, he quickly stood up and didn't mention it.

Aunt Xue cried and scolded all the time. Tired of scolding, Fang pointed to Xue Pan and said, "Your second uncle died, so logically you also have to observe filial piety. You are not allowed to go anywhere during this time, just stay at home for me." , let's talk about your marriage!"

Xue Pan was anxious, knelt down again and said, "Mom, Jing'er is like that, how can I bear to wait? I, I can't let her down!"

Aunt Xue said: "It's useless for you to tell me, but it's better to talk to your Uncle Lin. I advise you to change your mouth quickly and don't call you Uncle. This name originally came from Baoyu, and now it's better to avoid suspicion." That's good." Speaking of this, he remembered something again, and said, "Does Lin Hai know that your sister is in Suzhou?" Because he hated Lin Hai for treating Baochai poorly, Xue Pan simply called her by her first name, Xue Pan didn't dare to speak when he heard it, and thought for a while Cai said: "I shouldn't know, otherwise I would have rejected the marriage." After saying this, it seemed that he had inquired about the marriage. Keep your filial piety at ease! Congratulations, ask the housekeeper to take someone to Suzhou to invite the girl back, and say that the second uncle passed away, and the family must observe filial piety, so there should be no delay."

Xue Pan winked at Tong Xi there, and Tong Xi was in a dilemma. After all, Aunt Xue was in charge, so he finally went out to deliver the letter.

Aunt Xue ordered the mothers-in-law to urge Xue Pan to change clothes, and she also changed into plain clothes. Xue Pan couldn't be forced, so she dealt with this hastily, and rushed out of the second door to call her young man: "Ride to Suzhou quickly. The Yuanhe county government told the girl that Mom was going to pick her up! Go quickly! Go now! Just buy clothes and utensils on the way!"

The young man took the silver from Xue Pan, rode on one of Xue Pan's horses, and took the family's long-running mule with him, and flew out of the city as if flying.

The south of the Yangtze River is humid. Although the winter is not as cold and windy as in the north, it does not have a biting coldness.

The Holy Majesty is determined to make a difference, changed the old customs, and exempted the taxes owed by Jiangnan. Therefore, there is no major event in Suzhou this autumn. Baoyu, Baochai, and Daiyu should be at ease in the yamen.Unexpectedly, when it came to the winter season, banditry suddenly broke out on Taihu Lake again. The water bandits used to only rob fishermen, but this time it was probably too cold and lacked food and clothing, and they even robbed the villagers on the shore.

Suffering from banditry, the prefect of Suzhou summoned all the county magistrates under his rule for three meetings a day to take countermeasures.Worrying about Baoyu so much, she returned from the government office every day and asked Wang Cheng, Jia Lian and several masters to talk. Baochai and Daiyu also had something in their hearts. When Daiyu saw Baoyu like this, then Things became more and more serious, and when winter came again, I became lazy. I invited several doctors, and all of them said that they wanted to rest. Guard Daiyu and treat this minor symptom as a serious illness.

The servants in the mansion, except for the maidservants brought by Daiyu herself, were not allowed to come near Daiyu at ordinary times, and it was the first time they saw Baochai taking care of Daiyu's illness, so they thought that Daiyu was about to fall ill.Both Baoyu and Daiyu were very close to Baochai. Once Daiyu left, Baochai might become a new wife, so there was a lot of discussion in the whole house.

The rules of the local county government are different from those of the generations of nobles in Jia's mansion. A few gossips are easily spread to the door, and the doormen add fuel and vinegar, and even the past and present of Baochai and Baoyu are passed on to the county gentry and others. In less than a month, everyone in the county knew about the gossip about the county magistrate's back office, and everyone in the streets and alleys, after dinner and tea, used it as a joke.

Xue Pan's servants hurried to Yuanhe County, and when they were looking for someone to inquire about, they heard the rumor.