Old things in the Red Chamber

When Jia Gu came home, he saw Jia Amnesty walking around in the study.It can be seen that Jia She is not at peace.

When he saw Jia Gu coming back from the window, he ran out quickly and asked him hastily, "How is it? Did you buy it?"

Jia Gui handed over a box he was holding to Jia She, "My lord's things are all in here."

Jia Amnesty carried the box and went back to the study with Jia Gu.

Opening the title deed in the box, the two looked head to head, "Although the location is not very good, speaking of which, these places are quite close to the capital."

Jia Amnesty tossed and turned, looked and looked at several land deeds, finally put them in a box, closed the lid, and pushed Jia Gu to him reluctantly.

"You keep these things before everything is settled. If Jia Zhen rebels, these things will be filled into the treasury in my hands in the future."

The two brothers pushed back and forth, but it seemed too fake.

So Jia Gu simply accepted it, "Okay, if there is a harvest, I will take care of it for you. Put this thing with me first, and one day you will directly share it with their brothers."

Jia Amnesty nodded.

Jia Gui brought some food and wine to the study, picked up the box, and asked the two of them.

"What should I do with the head of the Zhuangzi?"

Jia Amnesty picked up a peanut with chopsticks and threw it into his mouth, "Don't look at me, ask your Lord Hou."

Jia Gu thought that he would take care of the property for his brothers for the past ten years, so he ordered Jiagui, "Send some of our old brothers who are still able to walk to Zhuangzi for the elderly. After a few years, I will find a good place. Now, take them out again."

Jia Gui understood what he meant, but it was inevitable to ask more questions, "The old village heads, we will drive them away, but what about those farmers?"

"If you want to go, you can go. If you don't want to go, you will be haunted by a dragon, and you will be squatting if you are a tiger. Our family is not so particular. If anyone dares to say something about the face of several lifetimes in front of the manager, let them embarrass them all." Things go away."

It was too late, when Wang Xifeng was about to fall asleep, Ping'er came in from the outside.

Wang Xifeng quickly sat up, "What about the boys who went out with the master?"

"I found out clearly that the money from our master's private house was used, and it was Lord Hou over there who came forward to handle the affairs. It's just that the head of the household written in black and white on the land deed is Lord Hou. Second Mistress, do you think...?"

As long as the name on the contract is not my family's name, I can't rest assured.Wang Xifeng thought about it for a long time, and took Ping'er to discuss this matter.

"What do you mean by our master?"

Ping'er thought about it with her mentality, "Now that our Third Master Cong has not married a wife, is the Master worried about us, worried that you and the Second Master will steal his property from it?"

Wang Xifeng snorted, "You're right. The master only has these two sons. Of course, any good things belong to them. Although the princes in the palace have noble status, they are still people from other families after all. This field will be passed on. It is still necessary to pass on to the two brothers. You said that our second master is the son-in-law and the third master is the concubine. Outsiders judge and judge, will our second master take the big head and the third master will take the small head."

Ping'er persuaded her, "Now don't say anything, what is going on? We don't know, and what we said tonight is just something we came up with. If these Zhuangzis really fell In the hands of Master Hou, we can only watch as there is nothing we can do."

"You're right, this matter can't be rushed. By the way, Brother Fang is back, let him hang around the master more often. The master has only one grandson. When he pleases the master, naturally our second master will be indispensable." benefit."

At present, this is the only way to operate. After all, the field is not in my own hands, so there is nothing I can do if I am anxious at the moment.

The Ninth Prince asked people to stare at a monk and a monk together, because these two monks and demons kept appearing near Rongguo Mansion several times.So the Ninth Prince's people have been staring at the Rongguo Mansion.Hard work paid off, and the pair of monsters finally appeared.

When they appeared, it was when Wang Xifeng's sweetheart, Jia Fang, came home from school.

Being a companion in the palace is actually tantamount to being a book boy for the princes.I only go home once in ten or so days. Everyone knows that the work is hard work. In addition, the children are young, and the children who are sent in grow up almost instantly. Even so, there are still countless families who want to send their children in.First, I want to get a taste of the knowledge of the masters in the palace, and second, I want to have a good development of the family in the future.

Jia Fang was a naive child when she didn't go to the palace.But after being in the palace for a few months, he has become slick.

On this day, he was riding a horse, and a servant in front of him took the rein and led him home.I saw two monks and Taoist priests dressed in dirty and ragged clothes in front of my mansion.

"Could it be that you came to beg for food?"

By the way, for monks, begging is not called begging, but begging.

Because someone was standing in front of her dark and bright gate, Jia Fang had to ask.

"Where did the two masters come from? If you want to ask for alms, you can tell our concierge."

The monk turned his head to look at the child on the big horse, and yelled wildly, "It's wrong, it's wrong, it's all wrong."

Seeing that their speech and behavior did not look like normal people, the servant leading the horse quickly escorted the little master into the yard.While going, he yelled at the concierge, "Where did the weirdos come from? They disturbed the young master. Hurry up and drive them away."

Seven or eight big men ran out of the gatehouse, carrying sticks and poles, and went to chase away the monks and priests.

After rushing a few times, they obviously saw that the stick was about to fall on them, but they just hid.

One of the elderly people suddenly remembered, "I remember, this monk and Taoist priest were the two masters who solved the problem of the second grandma and the second master Bao."

Regardless of whether others remember or not, they all stopped.

Another person said, "Master, you can go to the mansion next door. The second wife there likes to give alms to you monks the most. Besides, you are kind to our mansion, and you may be able to see the second master when you go there."

However, the monk and Taoist still shouted, "Wrong, wrong."

Shouting in his mouth, in the eyes of everyone, the two of them walked out of Ningrong Street hand in hand, and when they turned around, they were no longer seen.

The Ninth Prince in the palace got the news, and it had been several hours since he came out.

The person in charge of the follow-up told him that the two monks and Taoist priests were very evil. "In a blink of an eye, I couldn't see anyone. The little ones searched the nearby streets and alleys, but no one saw them."

Eunuch Liao said to the Ninth Prince, "Could it be that they are demon monks and Taoists?"

Anyway, going out of the palace this time is tantamount to returning without success.The Ninth Prince still didn't give up, wandered around the place where the monks and priests disappeared, and even asked the guards to jump on top of the walls of other people's houses to see if they were hiding in the houses.

Just as he was tossing around with the guards and eunuchs, an old Taoist priest with a gray beard came here.

"Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable," the old Taoist greeted.

The Ninth Prince turned his head to look at him, only to think that the old Taoist priest was wearing worn-out clothes, and was hung several times by branches.However, with a thin face and clear eyes, he looked very ordinary.

The monks and priests he saw growing up were all dignified and dignified, as if they had attained the Tao.Only this one looks more and more ordinary.

"Where did you come from and where are you going?"

The old Taoist smiled and said, "These are Buddhist Zen words. It's okay to tell my little brother. I chased a monk to the capital, but I lost him. I'm looking for him everywhere. That monk looks very handsome. Strange, one has a crippled leg, the other has sores on his head, I don’t know if my brother and his family have seen it.”

Eunuch Liao took a step forward to block the Ninth Prince, fearing that the Taoist priest might plot something wrong.

The Ninth Prince pulled away Eunuch Liao, "To tell you the truth, I am also looking for them."

The old Taoist was very surprised, "Why is this? As far as I know, they have never messed with someone as lucky as you."

The Ninth Prince asked the old Taoist curiously, "Do you also watch Qi?"

"Guarding people's luck is a lie, and only people from the outside world use this to deceive the world. I don't hide it from you. I think you have a very good bearing, and the people around you are also very skilled. In addition, you, a servant, have a white face and no beard. Think about it. He should be an eunuch. If you can drive such a person, your status will not be lowered."

"So there is no such thing as fortune-telling?"

The old Taoist shook his head, "It can't be said that there is no, but the calculated things are not accurate. It's just something for Bo Jun to laugh at after dinner. It's okay if you don't believe it. If you believe it, you are a fool."

This person was inexplicably trusted by the Ninth Prince. When others told him such a truth, he was only skeptical, but he completely believed what the old Taoist said.

The Ninth Prince stood there, and after thinking for a while, he asked the old Taoist priest, "You must have guessed my identity. Why are you looking for those two people? If you can help me, I will naturally help you."

"As I just said, sideways are also a kind of Taoism. There are always some people who go astray, instead of pursuing the great way of heaven and earth, but stick to some small ways. These small ways are often called sideways. I don't know if you believe it or not, In addition to beings like human beings, there are also some elves that are naturally raised in the world?"

"Mandrill? Water Charm?"

"Yes, these elves are separated from the world and are unknown to the world. However, every person and every creature has its own luck. There are always some deviant ways to deceive them, torture them to death, and let them Deviating from one's own luck, the serious ones die and the Dao disappears, and the light ones are servants of others. The monks and priests are just monsters and monks who do this kind of thing."

The Ninth Prince was desperate to know how to resolve this matter.His eyes were too eager, his expression too urgent.The person opposite directly explained it to him.

"Everyone talks about the way of heaven and the great way. They are actually a kind of rule. No one can see or touch these things. But they have existed forever. Just give this little brother an example. If the emperor says that a certain person is If the evil spirit behaves crookedly, then he will be rejected by the Dao of Heaven immediately. From then on, he will lose all his magic power and his god position. He will slowly dissipate between the heaven and the earth."

The Ninth Prince suddenly remembered one thing, "Is this the so-called law of speaking? What if the emperor issued an imperial decree and sealed it with a jade seal?"

"The person he reprimanded will never stand up. Even if the emperor later reverses the case for him, then he will have no chance to make a comeback."

The sun had dipped below the horizon, and the street was completely dark.The old Taoist took a step back slowly, bowed his hands to the Ninth Prince, and strode away.

"So it is, so it is."The Ninth Prince muttered to himself, "Ma Daopo wanted to use my hands to do something, but she didn't expect to lose her life first."

"Master?" Eunuch Liao gently reminded from the side, "It's too late, if you don't rush back, the palace gate will be locked. Even if Master Hou is willing to give you this convenience, let's not let him Difficult to do."

The Ninth Prince broke free from his own thoughts, and said to the people around him, "Take the team back to the palace."

On the carriage back to the palace, the Ninth Prince was more determined than ever to compete for the throne. He calculated countless possibilities in his mind, and felt that if he took the fastest way to win the throne, he could only force the palace by force.

But if this thing is done, it will definitely be winner or loser.When you are done, you will become the next emperor father, honor your father well, and let him be the emperor in the palace.If he fails, even if he flees to the ends of the earth, he will be hunted down by his father's hidden guards.

The emperor didn't know his own son, and he desperately wanted to drive himself off the throne, and the reason was a bit ridiculous.

At this time, he was in the Queen's Palace, watching Princess Changsha pick up a wooden sign, and the Nineteenth Prince read the words on it in a childlike voice.

The queen said to the emperor, "Among the brothers, only this little guy has the best talent, is smart, clever, well-behaved, and more obedient. I love him like something."

When Princess Ruhe heard what the queen said, she quietly turned her head to look at her father who was sitting on it.

The emperor didn't know that his daughter was watching him secretly, so he jokingly said to the queen, "Why don't you put this kid in your name, and let him be filial to you later."

Princess Ruhe's heart was almost in her throat, and she was a little excited at this moment. If the queen mother really agreed to the emperor father, among the brothers and sisters, only Xiao Nineteen was the most honorable. She kept praying in her heart that the queen would agree to this matter. thing.

"Look again, he is still young and raised in front of me. Could it be that I raised him and didn't record him in my name, so he can't be filial to me?"

"I just said that casually, and you know that although I am not recorded in the name of the queen mother, thanks to her kindness, she has raised me for so many years, and I am no different from my biological mother in my heart. Don't worry, even if I am nineteen It is recorded in your name, if he dares to disobey you, I will not spare him."

The queen just smiled when she heard this, and said after a while, "I am satisfied with the current situation. I will support the three who died. I will raise the three who are alive. In the future It's all my luck."

The couple on this side are talking, while Princess Ruhe on the other side lowered her head sadly, with an indescribable disappointment in her heart, but she didn't dare to stop in her hand, and handed a wooden sign to her younger brother, and the little guy read it happily out.

The maid came in and reported, "The Ninth Prince is out to see you."

After the Ninth Prince came in, the Nineteenth Prince yelled at him, "Brother".

To the Ninth Prince, this sound was very moving.It's one thing to hear that this little guy can talk, but it's another thing to hear him call brother today.

He didn't care about paying respects to the emperor and empress, with tears in his eyes, he hugged his younger brother and kissed him on the forehead.

"good."

With the action of hugging his brother, he wiped the tears from his eyes on his clothes.He raised his head again, and put away that expression of extreme surprise.

"Father, empress, forgive me, when I suddenly heard my brother talking, my son lost his composure."

The queen laughed unceremoniously, "You, you don't know. He called out brother to everyone today. It was the same when your father came in."

Although he knew the truth, the Ninth Prince was not disappointed at all.

In his mind.The little brother persistently called out to everyone, brother, probably knowing that only the brothers are still in this world. After all, the mother is no longer there, and the father is the emperor first and then the father.

Don't tell anyone else about these small thoughts.

The Ninth Prince sat in the queen's bedroom for a while, his eyes kept on his younger siblings, and he kept talking, the emperor knew that he wanted to talk to himself alone.

"Empress should also go to bed early. I will go back to the bedroom today and take Xiao Jiu away. Our father and I will talk on the way."

The queen took Princess Ruhe of Changsha and the nineteenth prince to send their father and son away.

"Is there anything you can't say in front of your mother?"

The emperor did not take the car, and the father and son walked in front, followed by the guard of honor.

"This matter can only be discussed with you. I want to build a temple for my concubine."

"Baoen Temple? Ci'en Temple?" When the emperor said this, his tone was teasing.

"How dare you compare it with the Ci'en Temple. It's just thinking about enshrining the mother and concubine. It only needs three to five acres of land, and it's enough for someone to look after it."

"You know that I have always stayed away from these things about gods, gods and ghosts. In order to curb these things, I have been stuck in the past two years not allowing people to become monks, but you took the lead in opposing the father."

When the Ninth Prince heard this, he didn't show any sincerity or fear.

"My son definitely doesn't have this kind of thought, nor does he have the idea of ​​asking the Buddha, and he has no nostalgia for the matter of longevity. It is really inconvenient to sacrifice in the palace, and the mother and concubine are not eligible to enjoy the imperial temple."

The emperor looked at the top of the Ninth Prince's head, and the son had already reached his shoulders.He can be regarded as an older child, and among the children of the imperial concubine, he is the only one who never forgets his mother.Filial piety is a virtue, but too much filial piety is not good.

"I know what you think, but there are some things that can't be the first. You did it, and your other brothers want to do the same, so how should I tell them?"

The emperor's refusal was already expected by the Ninth Prince, so he took advantage of the opportunity to propose his next idea.

"The son begs you for one thing, we just need to do it in private. The son will not make it public. But this time, I beg you to make an imperial decree to seal the mother and concubine as a god in the sky. After the jade seal is sealed, the son I will immediately burn this imperial decree in front of you. As for offering sacrifices to the concubine and building a temple, this matter will never be mentioned again."

The emperor stopped and looked at the Ninth Prince, "Why are you so troublesome?"

"Not long after the mother passed away, my son once dreamed of her. He only saw her vaguely on a mountain surrounded by sea water. She was worried about her sons and officials and wanted to wade away, but she couldn't even go down the mountain. , my son seems to hear the fairy voice..."

The emperor laughed loudly, "My lord, such things as dreams are all nonsense, why should you take them seriously."

"This is an obsession for the son. No matter whether it is true or not, I just ask the father to agree."

"What if you don't agree?"

The father and son faced each other, and the Ninth Prince said to the emperor word by word, "Son will naturally handle this matter himself."

What to do, when to do it, the Ninth Prince didn't say anything.Just this sentence expresses the attitude.

The emperor patted him on the shoulder, "Good job, do you know where your father admires you the most compared to your seventh brother?"

"It's my son who is so courageous that he always dares to tell the truth in front of you."

"You're right. How could my son be so obscene that he dared not say something to replace him. Being a man should be so upright. You are the emperor's son, and you don't have any brothers born in the same family. Only you have the most noble status. When Concubine He was dying, I had already written an imperial decree to make her a concubine, so you should have this courage."

The Ninth Prince did not become complacent because his father praised him.

"Did you agree to what the son said just now?"

"Holy decree?"

"Yes."

"This matter is too childish. If you tell me, I don't even know the significance of you asking me to write this imperial decree. Let me tell you, neither the jade seal nor the imperial decree can be easily moved."

"You don't have to worry about what your son is doing outside with this thing. After all, this thing will fall into the brazier the next moment it is passed from your hand to your son's."

The emperor thought about it, and felt that things would not develop in a complicated place.

"Since this is your obsession, I promise to give it to you now, so that you won't be able to sleep tonight."

The father and son went to the emperor's bedroom and fetched the jade seal. The emperor personally wrote an imperial decree and stamped it with a big seal.Handed it to the Ninth Prince.

The Ninth Prince knelt down to receive the imperial edict, looked at it for a while, and threw the imperial edict directly into the brazier.

Seeing the flames engulfing the cloth, the Ninth Prince bowed and said goodbye.

That night, I don't know if it was because the Ninth Prince comforted himself psychologically, or because it was just the way it was.In the dream not long after his mother passed away until now, he finally dreamed of his mother.

When he saw his biological mother, all his impressions and past of his mother became clear in his mind.

Still in Pixiang Hall, the Ninth Prince pushed open the door, and heard the chirping laughter of the Eleventh Prince and the milky voice of the Nineteenth Prince in the courtyard, interspersed with the coquettish voice of Princess Ruhe.

When the Ninth Prince arrived at the main hall, there were only mother, younger siblings, and the imperial concubine looking up at the eldest son, and the Ninth Prince also looked up at her.There was a long distance between the two of them, but the Ninth Prince could feel the peaceful and peaceful power of his mother.

This is completely different from the last time he dreamed of his mother, when his mother was only anxious and even in pain.

The Ninth Prince walked over and put his hands on her shoulders with the imperial concubine, "Thanks for your hard work, Zhaoer, without you, the concubine mother would not be where she is today."

For a while, the surrounding scenes were bizarre, and after the colorful lights, the world returned to silence, and the Ninth Prince really fell asleep.During his sleep, the corner of his mouth was raised slightly, it can be seen that he slept quite well.

The four families of Jia Shi Wang Xue, in a few days will be the day when the head of the Xue family gets married, even if the Xue family has been reduced to a businessman now, because the friendship from the past is still there, Mrs. Xue is still alive, and the other families have to send people to help take care of them The matter of getting married.

On this occasion, Wang Ziteng's wife returned to Beijing ahead of schedule, and walked around the capital in the name of helping her nephew to welcome her.

The relationship between the Shi family and the Xue family is a bit far away. The two families have not married in these two generations, so they are more reserved.It was only a few days ago that he came out to show his face, and it was good if he got the meaning.

The most important thing is that the Shi family brothers don't want to meet with members of the Jia family. Even if they do, they will chat awkwardly together, and they will never return to that kind of intimate relationship.

When meeting in this kind of occasion, the safest topic is still money owed.

Everyone's life is difficult, and no one is willing to reveal their wealth. In addition to worrying about the Ministry of Households urging the arrears, they are also worried about relatives borrowing money.

In this weird atmosphere, the topic turned to the bride at the same time.

I heard that the bride's natal family is also an imperial merchant, I heard that the bride's natal family has no brothers, I heard...

In these various rumors, Mrs. Wang's mood brightened, especially when the bride's natal family brought the dowry, the room was full of gold and silver utensils, which made everyone who saw it envious.

"According to the previous statement, wouldn't everything from the Xia family belong to the Xue family in the future?"

"You can say the same thing. Let's not talk about it. Just look at the chief official of Shuntian Mansion, Mr. Gu, who married a girl from the Lin family. Oh, we didn't know. We didn't know that the Lin family is so rich until the day when the dowry is hung out."

"The Lin family had previously said that half of the property belonged to the Lin family, but the Xia family didn't say that. It's different after all."

This made everyone nod their heads in agreement, mainly because the Lin family had spread rumors early on that they wanted to adopt a son.At that time, because of this condition, many people were discouraged.

But the new daughter-in-law that the Xue family is going to marry now is much more considerate than Miss Lin's marriage in earlier years.

So many people congratulated Mrs. Xue one after another, and quietly took over the family property without bloodshed, which is also a kind of skill.

Mrs. Xue's face was flushed, her mouth was modest, and she also felt that the Xia family's things would be her own in the future, and she was proud of herself.

Mrs. Wang, who was sitting beside her, thought the same thing. Xia's money became Xue's, so wouldn't half of it belong to Jia's?

She also followed Mrs. Xue, smiling blushingly. Those who didn't know thought she was happy for Mrs. Xue. In fact, there were not many people in the room who knew her temperament, and they all praised their sisters for their good relationship.

Only Xue Baochai raised her eyebrows worriedly, but on happy days, she dared not put this expression on her face.