Love of Friends in the Red Chamber

However, for Baoyu, he undoubtedly suffered another blow. Yingchun's marriage was settled soon, and Mrs. Xing took Yingchun back to her upper house to be married, so Zilingzhou was also uninhabited, and the Grand View Garden became more and more desolate. .

For Jia Cong, this is not a bad thing, because in the past, when there were many people, it was inevitable that there would be entertainment at the flower club of the poetry society. The voices are teasing the young man's heart.Now these voices are more sparse, just in time for him to concentrate on studying in preparation for the coming spring.

Daiyu has only been a guest twice with Aunt Lin over the house these days, but Mrs. Wang's lukewarm attitude has completely cooled her heart, so she gave up the idea of ​​returning to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion again, thinking of her noble family Daughter, the most important thing is to respect, but she is so unwelcome, how can she bear it, so she stays in the Lin family and lives with Aunt Lin wholeheartedly.During this period, the relationship between Bao and Dai reunited again. The reason was that Baoyu showed Daiyu the sacrificial oration he wrote to Qingwen, which aroused Daiyu's sorrow for hurting others. Reconciliation as before.It's just that Baoyu was still thinking about Jia Mu making the decision to betroth Daiyu to him. Aunt Lin just responded lukewarmly. How to plan.Jia Cong had no choice but to study harder.

In the blink of an eye, the New Year is coming, and everything is going on as Aunt Lin expected.In addition, Jia's mother had long intended to use Yuanchun to solve Baoqin's marriage crisis, and it was also because she and the Xue family were both prosperous and harmless, so she did her best.On the first day of the first lunar month, all grandmas and wives who have orders in their bodies will enter the palace to celebrate the new year. Jia's mansion also wished Yuanchun and Qianqiu. Said: "This is the picture of the joy in the Grand View Garden drawn by the four girls in the family. It has not been completed yet, but I just thought that my mother would remember the family, so I brought it here for my mother to taste." Looking at the scene, she said, "It seems that I have returned to the garden again. I don't think the fourth sister has such talent." Mrs. Wang laughed and said, "How can she draw so well? It's her cousin Baochai from the Xue family." I taught her to draw.

Concubine Yuan looked at it carefully for a while, then pointed out that the white snow and red plums on the hillside of Changcui Temple were the most vivid, and asked which sister it was, Jia Mu took the opportunity to praise Baoqin, and then talked about Baoqin's marriage, It was originally betrothed to Mei Hanlin's family, and Baoqin has been recognized as Mrs. Wang's name, and she can also be regarded as the righteous sister of Concubine Yuan.

Concubine Yuan is a very smart person, so she suddenly understood the meaning of her grandmother, so when Concubine Yuan went to the Queen's Palace to celebrate the New Year, she happened to meet Mei Hanlin's wife, and Yuan Chun wanted to talk about her cousin Baoqin betrothed The matter for the Mei family was commonplace, so the queen naturally didn't care, and asked a few words, and the others made fun of it, and let the matter pass the light.The Mei family knew how powerful it was - as the younger sister of Concubine Baoqin, the Mei family never dared to mention the matter of regretting the marriage.

So under the ingenious arrangement of Jia's mother, Baoqin's marriage was settled with a single painting. On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Mei's family took the initiative to visit Aunt Xue to discuss the matter of marrying Baoqin. The Xue family was overjoyed. .However, Mrs. Wang realized the usefulness of her noble concubine daughter from this incident. She knew in her heart that Mother Jia was determined to ration Daiyu to Baoyu, but she herself despised Daiyu for being sick and beautiful. She looked frivolous, so after thinking about it, Madam Wang finally made up her mind, and took advantage of the opportunity of visiting relatives every month, she brought up Baoyu's marriage in front of Concubine Yuan.

Concubine Yuan is a cautious person, and she doesn't make decisions lightly. She just asked: "Baoyu's marriage should be decided by her parents, but Baoyu is loved by the old lady and has always been kept by her side. To whom do you intend to distribute it?"

Mrs. Wang then sighed: "This is exactly where the old lady and I have a headache. Now the old lady just wants to kiss each other. First, I know the root and the bottom, and second, I grew up with Baoyu, and the child is willing in his heart. It's just that the family There are two girls from relatives' families who are both good, and I don't know which one to choose—one is Daiyu from your Aunt Lin's family, and the other is Baochai from your Aunt Xue's family—I saw both of them when I was visiting relatives. Therefore, I would like to ask the empress what she means."

Concubine Yuan thought about the situation at the beginning, and began to worry: "These two younger sisters are both good-looking and well-bred, so they are indeed suitable for Baoyu, but their temperaments seem to be very different. Baochai is dignified, but I don't know which one my mother prefers?"

Mrs. Wang was waiting for this sentence, and immediately she said eagerly: "Your Majesty said very well, if it is compared to appearance, family background, spirituality, the two girls are not bad, if it is compared to temperament and character, then Daiyu is the same." It’s not as good as Baochai’s kindness to others. Besides, Daiyu is sick, her body looks like your aunt’s, and she doesn’t seem to have a long life. It’s just that the old lady knows that Baochai is safer, but because Daiyu was raised by her side since childhood Yes, I really couldn't bear to marry her off, so I have been delaying until now."

Concubine Yuan knew that her mother's words were too high for Baochai's identity. Daiyu's family was the most noble and scholarly family for generations, and even Jia's mansion could not compare. A business word, it will not be noble.It's just that when she returned to the province, she ordered her sisters to compose poems. She also compared Baochai and Daiyu, and felt that Baochai's response was more suitable.Especially when she asked Baoyu to compose poems, the little eunuch who served beside her told Baochai to change the taboo words for Baoyu, and Daiyu wrote poems instead of Baoyu, which made her a little displeased with Daiyu.She had lived in the deep palace for a long time and was familiar with human relations, so she thought it was Baochai who could help Baoyu, so she took her mother's words for granted, so she said: "In this case, I will do it once more and give a decree to marry Baoyu and Baochai. In this way, grandma doesn't have to be in a difficult situation, and mother also has to be satisfied—even if grandma doesn't want Daiyu to marry outside, there are several brothers in the family who haven't married yet."

Mrs. Wang said happily: "That's what your mother said." At present, the two plans of mother and daughter have been decided.

This matter was all thought out by Mrs. Wang alone. No one in Jia's mansion knew about it beforehand, and they were all stunned by the sudden Yi's decree.Mother Jia was happy about Baoqin's marriage, and was thinking about discussing Baodai's marriage with Aunt Lin on Daiyu's birthday. Unexpectedly, Concubine Yuan's will came. Only after receiving the order, she thought about it for a while, and naturally guessed the beginning and end of the matter.

It's just that Jia's mother never expected that the daughter-in-law, who has never said a word, would be so bold and reckless this time, competing with herself on such an important matter as Baoyu's marriage, but the fate of the concubine Yuan was irreversible. He had no choice but to turn his head to comfort Baoyu first.

Baoyu got this decree, and fell ill in Yihong Courtyard as if his soul had been blown away. He kept his eyes fixed and said nothing, and only cried and begged in every possible way when Jiamu went to see him. Grandmother went to beg Concubine Yuan to take back Yi's decree, but it worked. Mother Jia had to comfort Baoyu with false words, and at the same time shed all her anger on Mrs. Wang.

As soon as she came back from Baoyu, Jia's mother called Mrs. Wang to tell her: "You only think that I am partial to Daiyu, so I want to marry her to Baoyu, but you don't think that this is really for Baoyu—the princes of the Lin family." , The scholarly family is so noble, and now that the Lin family is burning, it is also helpful to your master and Baoyu. Look at the Xue family again, let alone have such a son who does not live up to expectations, it is a disaster The family business, just talking about the status of an official and a businessman, is not on the table. Although Bao girl is good, she is the daughter of a merchant. What's more, Lin girl was the daughter of a merchant when I agreed to her father, so I got the Lin family's property and covered it all. The family's garden, what do you give back to the Lin family now?"

At that time, Mrs. Wang was bothered by Baoyu's craziness and foolishness, and she was unhappy because Xue Pan's newly married Xia family was very aggressive. After hearing Jia's mother's complaint, she couldn't help feeling ashamed and anxious, but she could never admit it. I did this wrong, so I could only argue reluctantly: "I didn't know that the imperial concubine would be so optimistic about Baochai. Now that she is, she really failed Miss Lin. A member of our family——Huan'er is about to get married too."

Jia's mother immediately changed her face: "What is Huan'er, don't you know? Such an unpopular thing, it's lucky that you can say such a thing!" Mrs. Wang didn't dare to mention it again. But he had other thoughts and didn't say it out, just waiting for Chunwei to see Jia Cong's fortune.

On the face, he said lightly to Mrs. Wang: "Now you have made up your mind and married Baoyatou, but although Baoyatou is good, it is useless for Baoyu not to love her. I only hope that they will be able to win over when they are young. Didn't you kill these two children?"

But after the Xue family accepted this decree, Aunt Xue, Xue Pan and others were very happy, but Baochai was not happy in her heart. She knew that Baoyu only had room for Daiyu in her heart, so where would there be room for others?She was originally a girl with pride and self-esteem, and she was unwilling to sacrifice her life's happiness in vain for the prosperity of the Jia family.It's just that Concubine Yuan's will can't be disobeyed. Even if Baochai doesn't like it anymore, she has to stay at home to get married. Aunt Xue's house is busy preparing the dowry for the two girls, but the daughter-in-law is not quiet, making noise every day. Chickens fly and dogs jump, all relatives and relatives know about it, and they all shake their heads and sigh.

That Baoyu was sick in Yihong Hospital, looking for death and life all day long. Mrs. Wang only said that it was a child's silly idea, and she didn't take it to heart. She didn't allow Xiren and others to report to Jia's mother. Take the medicine for peace of mind.As soon as the wedding ceremony is over in March, the happy event will be held in early summer. Mrs. Wang's plan is that Baochai is also a rare beauty. Just wait until she gets married and sees her every day, Baoyu's heart will naturally change.

Ever since the Lin family heard the news of Concubine Yuan's marriage, although Daiyu was sleepy, she cried several times behind her back, but Aunt Lin comforted her, and she was accompanied by two sisters-in-law, but her description did not bring out much grief Desperate, she just cut off Jia's house on her own initiative, and even Jia's mother sent someone to pick her up on her birthday, but she refused to go.The housekeeper waited to deliver things and spread the message, but she couldn't even enter the second gate if she wanted to see Daiyu. People from the Lin family came out to receive her and politely blocked her—although she didn't turn her face publicly, Jia Zheng heard about this. This matter is already frightening——now that Lin Jiarui plays an important role in the court and is deeply trusted by the emperor, Jia Zheng is not very satisfied with the marriage of Baoyu facilitated by Mrs. Wang, but for the sake of the empress in the palace. It's easy to say it, but it's even more alienated from Mrs. Wang. I only sneak into Aunt Zhao's room during business hours, and never come out again.

Who would have thought that Mrs. Xing had been very close to Aunt Lin during this time, and she even met Daiyu many times. She often went to Jiamu's side and said that Daiyu had lost weight again, which made people feel distressed, Jia Mother sighed.

In such a situation, Jia Cong ushered in the most important exam in this life.