[Red Mansion] The third master of jade-like stone treasures

In the evening, Qingwen went to sleep with Baocong as usual, but Baocong drove her to sleep in the small room outside, and warned her not to let others know.

Qingwen was aggrieved and worried, but Baocong couldn't hold back, so she had to hug the quilt and lie outside.

It's just that Bao Cong is stubborn and awkward, and she has to take care of her as a servant girl.

When Bao Cong fell asleep, she wanted to sneak back to his bed.As a result, I went to Baocong's place in the middle of the night to see that he was lying on his back in a big shape, filling up the bed.

Qingwen couldn't sleep, and didn't dare to leave Baocong alone, so she had to sit on the edge of the bed and doze off, and secretly touched Baocong's forehead from time to time to see if he had a fever and was talking in his sleep.

Bao Cong was also a little worried that he would get sick. In fact, he didn't dare to sleep to death. He only slept for a while, and forced himself to wake up and pretend to be asleep.

So both of them woke up and stayed up all night.

When she woke up the next day, Qingwen had two big black eye circles, and Baocong dozed off again and again.

Baoyu was in good spirits, and said early in the morning that he was going to eat shrimp and crystal dumplings at Jiamu's place, and both Baocong and Qingwen glared at him.

After two or three days of staying up, Qingwen couldn't bear it any longer. Seeing that Baocong was fine, she went to sleep on the outer bed by herself.

Bao Cong was also lucky, he couldn't sleep well at night for two or three days, and he had to practice martial arts and study during the day, and he couldn't stand it if he pretended to be asleep.

Seeing that Qingwen finally went to sleep outside, Baocong fell asleep in a daze.Fortunately, nothing happened all night, only a slight fever in the morning.

Bao Cong didn't let others know, he drank a few more cups of hot tea and punched, and he sweated to cool down.

At the end of the year, Mother Jia paid more and more attention to celebrations, and Baocong really didn't find a good opportunity to fight Baoyu again.

So he put aside that idea, only read every day, talked to Lin Daiyu, and often went to Jia Zheng to sue Baoyu, saying that he didn't study in order to avoid laziness, and annoyed a few sisters every day.

At this time, because of Baoyu's young age, Jia Zheng was not yet completely disappointed in him, but hoped that he would be like his eldest son Jia Zhu who died young, and that he could get more honors in the exams.

Another reason is that Baocong and Huan'er are stupid in Jia Zheng's eyes, not as smart as Baoyu, so Jia Zheng is still willing to let Baoyu study.

If he was busy, he still couldn't think of Baoyu, but Baocong often mentioned it to him, and Jia Zheng urged Baoyu to study with him more and more often.

Baoyu only loved to read poetry and other miscellaneous books, but Jia Zheng insisted that he only memorize the Four Books and Five Classics, and the teachings were boring and difficult to understand.For a while, Baoyu complained frequently, and hated the imperial examination even more.

Jia's mansion is full of flowers, and Jia's mother is happier than in previous years because of Lin Daiyu's company.

Bao Cong saw Lin Daiyu's expression, although she always had a smile on her face, but occasionally she appeared a little lonely, so she suggested that she write a letter home to Lin Ruhai.

Lin Daiyu didn't dare to take an extra step at first, for fear that she would be laughed at if she did something wrong and lose her father's face.

She missed her father and Yangzhou, and she was afraid that Jia's mother would know, and mistakenly thought that she thought Jia's family was not good, so she never dared to talk about her feelings with others, let alone write family letters.

Now I heard Bao Cong persuade her, saying: "Now that you haven't shown your filial piety to your father, naturally you should write more letters to comfort his missing daughter. The longing of father and daughter is the way of heaven and human relations. Grandma will only say that you are filial if she knows it. Sensible, wouldn't you be unhappy?"

So she boldly wrote a letter, reported it to Mother Jia, and sent the letter back to Yangzhou together with the annual gift to Lin Ruhai.

After that, although Lin Daiyu saw Bao Cong's cold face from time to time, she knew from the bottom of her heart that his face was cold and his heart was warm, and she became more and more intimate with him.

Happy new year, this year is coming to the time of spring.

Everyone in the streets and alleys is talking about the top three in this year's palace examination, commenting on their talents and articles, and joking about a few people's appearance and character.

Ruan Zhongwen didn't restrict Bao Cong to only study in the study, but took him out for a stroll whenever there was a poetry gathering or the like.

There is excitement to watch, how can Baoyu not join in the excitement?What's more, it's a party he likes like poetry and prose.

So Baoyu begged Jia's mother, saying that Jia was busy with political affairs, and he wanted to study with Baocong's husband with Baocong.

Jia's mother naturally agreed, and passed on Jia Zheng, regardless of whether Jia Zheng was happy or not, it was decided.

Jia Zheng was caught off guard by Baoyu, felt ashamed, and cursed secretly: He and Baocong were studying together, what fart could he read?Still looking for an excuse to play?

After being angry for a long time, he was still worried, so he called Ruan Zhongwen to see him and test his knowledge and character.

At the beginning of the question, Jia Zheng didn't take it seriously, but when he heard that Ruan Zhongwen was a Juren, he admired and respected him, gave him a generous gift, and softly begged, "Bao Cong is useless, so you don't have to worry about it. Baoyu Clever, I have always placed high hopes on him, I hope he will get some merit in the imperial examinations in the future, and I will entrust my husband to teach me well in the future!"

Ruan Zhongwen: "???"

Is Bao Cong who has finished reading "The Analects" and is reading "Mencius" a failure?

He wanted to explain, saying that Bao Cong was also very smart, but he heard Jia Zheng babbling a lot about Baoyu, so he knew that Jia Zheng's prejudice was deep-rooted, so he closed his mouth and listened, and went out in silence.

Ruan Zhongwen met Baoyu the next day and knew that he had finished reading Enlightenment and was now reading a collection of poems, so he tested a few lines of his poems.Baoyu naturally answered well, so Ruan Zhongwen reluctantly accepted Baoyu.

Later, Baoyu didn't pay attention to memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics, and often stayed away on sick leave. Ruan Zhongwen saw that he was getting more and more disliked, and it was all a funeral.

Baoyu was really happy. Ruan Zhongwen's teaching was much more interesting than Jia Zheng's.There are not only Bao Cong, but also Qingshuang, whom he likes very much. Even if he doesn't like the content of the class, there are too many homework, etc., he bears it.

Then Baoyu went to the poetry gathering, copied a lot of poems and came back, put them together in a volume, and took them back to show Lin Daiyu.Bao Cong looked at him coldly for a long time, deeply feeling that he made a mistake.

Reading poetry is a good thing, but if Lin Daiyu only read poetry, she would be in a cocoon.One side's world is narrow, and the mood is naturally easy to hold back.

So he found some travel notes and miscellaneous notes of famous writers for Lin Daiyu, and talked about the bustle of the poetry banquet and the Luming Banquet, and sighed: "Ten years of hard work in the cold window, in exchange for the momentary excitement of the Luming Banquet." .I just started reading "Four Books", and I don't know when I will have such luck!"

After hearing this, Lin Daiyu suddenly stopped talking.

Bao Cong vaguely remembered that in the original book, Lin Daiyu seemed to dislike seeing people take part in the imperial examinations and become an official butcher.Does what he said now make Lin Daiyu feel that he is vulgar?

Thinking of this, he frowned, stared at Lin Daiyu again and again, and hesitated to speak.

Seeing that Bao Cong was unhappy, Lin Daiyu asked timidly, "What's the matter, brother? But what did I say wrong that made brother unhappy?"

Bao Cong knew that she was thinking too much, and didn't want her to be heavy-hearted, so he carefully considered his words, smiled and comforted him: "Why would my sister make me angry? Even if she did, you are the only reason why I won't be angry. You're angry."

Seeing Bao Cong smiling and saying, Lin Daiyu felt relieved knowing that he was not angry.

Bao Cong said again: "It's just that I just saw my sister hesitate to speak...Your sister may wish to speak freely, we brothers and sisters are chatting, why are we so reserved?"

Lin Daiyu forced a smile, and sighed again: "Brother just said that Han Chuang has studied hard for ten years, but in fact it is not. Those who can participate in the Luming Banquet, who has not studied hard for 20 years? The imperial examination is held every three years. If you fail the exam once and then take the exam again, I heard that some people have passed the exam several times, and some even have gray hair."

"I heard such things at first, but it was exaggerated by others. Later, my husband also taught me to read the Four Books, and I found it difficult to read only a few articles, let alone the imperial examination? I heard that I have to finish reading the Four Books and Five Classics and One hundred schools of thought and twenty-four histories, it is not enough to finish reading them, you have to read their annotations, and after mastering them, you can gradually write beautiful articles.”

Bao Cong listened attentively and was extremely surprised.

It is because he has lived for decades and has experienced the society in his previous life that he is mature and has some insight.But Lin Daiyu, a daughter of an ancient boudoir, who is only eight years old, said these words, with such insight, what a natural intelligence and talent!

"My sister has read the four books? Why don't you read them on weekdays? I used to see you only read poetry anthologies." Bao Cong said, "I knew you read the four books. , wouldn't it be more interesting if we study together?"

Lin Daiyu hesitated for a while, and then said: "I don't take the exam for fame, what do you want to do with that? It doesn't matter if you read a few articles at home, come here...with the sisters to talk with, read some poems for fun It's not bad."

Bao Cong shook his head and said: "If you want me to say, we men study hard just to test their achievements. It's really vulgar! A daughter's study like my sister really inherits the wise words of the predecessors, cultivates one's morality, and has gained a lot of knowledge, and lives up to the book." It's gold!"

It was the first time Lin Daiyu heard someone say that, she immediately felt relieved, and suddenly became enlightened.

When she first entered the mansion, she heard Mother Jia say that all the sisters in the family could only know a few words, so they should not be blind. She thought it was a bad thing for a girl to read too many books that a man should read, so she often only read a few words. I have read several collections of poetry, but I have never taken out the Four Books.

Now that Bao Cong said so, thinking back to the time when I studied seriously with my husband in Yangzhou, unconsciously, I was no longer satisfied with those idle books, and gave birth to the expectation of reading more serious books.

Bao Cong urged her again, telling her to pick up the Four Books, and if he didn't understand something later, he could discuss it with her.

Lin Daiyu couldn't get over it, so she agreed, but told him not to tell others, lest the sisters make fun of her, as if she was going to take the imperial examination.

Bao Cong naturally agreed.

From then on, in places where no one was around, Bao Cong would occasionally find out some questions he knew or didn't know, and discuss and study with Lin Daiyu.

At the beginning, he just wanted to let her not think that it was a bad thing for girls to study, but later, the more he asked for advice, the more he admired her intelligence, and he became more serious about asking for advice.

After starting to read the Four Books again, Lin Daiyu's mood became brighter, and her body seemed to be much better. When she was happy, she wrote a letter to Lin Ruhai, saying: "...Everyone in Jia's family is very kind to me, Baoyubao My two cousins ​​love me very much, and often find poems and travel notes for me to read. Brother Baocong also discusses the knowledge of the Four Books with me, and my father does not have to worry that I am like in Yangzhou, no one talks to me... ..”

With such companionship, three years passed in a flash, and Aunt Xue brought Xue Baochai and Xue Pan to live in Beijing, and Bao Cong realized that time had passed so quickly.