Love of Friends in the Red Chamber

It is already the twelfth lunar month, and the year is approaching. Mrs. Wang and Baochai are busy with their annual affairs. Tanchun and Li Wan are relaxed in the garden. Today, Tanchun was writing a post in the room, and Aunt Zhao came and said something crazy. It's nothing more than persuading her to marry into the Beijing Palace, so that she can follow the scenery. Although Tanchun ignores her, he is inevitably depressed and distressed, so he walks out of the room, not wanting to see Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang, thinking After thinking about it, I went to Lixiangyuan to find Daiyu to talk.

Entering the room, I could only smell the fragrance, Qingzhi came over and smiled and said: "Third Miss, please sit down, our grandma is changing clothes, please take the girl for a while." Saying that Zijuan has brought tea, Tanchun walked away Sipping tea slowly, while flipping through the books on Daiyu's desk.I saw a post and an account under the white jade lying rhinoceros paperweight. Tanchun took it out and looked at it. It turned out that it was a new year's goods list from Baishui Village outside Guanwai, where Daiyu married, and it read:

Twenty big deer, twenty roe deer, twenty roe deer, twenty wild boars, twenty wild sheep, twenty domesticated pigs, twenty domesticated sheep, twenty sturgeons, and sardines. Twenty fish, twenty breams, twenty croakers, twenty three-flowered fish, fifty chickens, ducks and geese, fifty pairs of pheasants and rabbits.Two hundred catties of various air-dried sausages.

Twenty sticks of top-quality wild ginseng, twenty stalks of top-quality ganoderma lucidum, twenty pairs of top-quality deer antler, twenty catties of frog oil, ten pieces of mink fur, ten pieces of mer deer skin, ten catties of tiger bone, ten pieces of bear bile, and ten pieces of bear bile. Twenty pairs of palms, twenty catties of deer tendons, twenty catties of dried sea cucumbers, fifty deer tongues, fifty beef tongues, fifty pairs of large prawns, and one hundred catties of dried shrimps.

One thousand catties of high-quality silver frost charcoal, twenty stones of imperial rouge rice, two hundred stones of Xiangshui rice, twenty stones of variegated grain, two carts of dried mushrooms of various colors, one cart of dried vegetables of various colors, and one cart of dried fruits of various colors.

A total of 1 taels of silver were used for the delivery of sorghum, grain and livestock.

Just as she was watching, Daiyu came out from the back room. She had newly changed into a snow-green and fluffy waistcoat, and underneath was an apricot-red cotton skirt, with lily and jade hairpins inserted diagonally—she was even more beautiful than before the wedding.Daiyu saw that Tanchun had a shelf full of books and didn't read, but looked at the list of New Year's goods, so she smiled and said: "You are really a genius who knows economics, since you have been a housekeeper, you like reading these books more and more— —I didn’t have the patience to look at it when it was sent in yesterday.”

Tanchun also laughed and said: "Who said it wasn't? It's just that the family account is not as good-looking as this--now the family is getting more and more difficult, with more out and less in. It's really hard for Sister Bao. The New Year’s goods haven’t been shipped to Beijing yet, and if it’s a few days later, even the New Year’s Eve dinner may not be ready, so it’s sitting on wax.”

Daiyu frowned and asked: "What's the reason? I arrived here a while ago, but I just unloaded all the heavy things to the hot spring village outside the city, and only brought in supplements and delicate things. I also forgot to ask if the road is easy to walk."

Tan Chun replied slowly: "Sister, I don't know. The former managers of the Guanwai Zhuangzi in our mansion were all old people, in their seventies and eighties, and they barely followed them to take care of them a few years ago. Since last year, they have stopped moving around and only sent them away. His son escorted the car to Beijing, and the date is short. This year's weather is cold and snowy, so it is estimated that there will be delays on the way."

The two of them were chatting when Jin'er, who was serving tea in the study, came in and replied, "Go back to grandma, the third master said, please have a look at the list of New Year's goods under the jade rhinoceros on the desk, tick off the ones you keep for your own use and honor the old ladies, wives and grandparents." For the supplements of the wife in Lin’s mansion, the rest of the third master will be distributed to Zhuangzi for storage and sent in slowly, and if there are any leftovers, they will be sold in the shop. I don’t know this year, Zhuangzi sent too many things. I have already ordered the head of the village to just pay the cash next year, and tell them what else I want."

Daiyu nodded, then picked up a pen, ordered a few things at random, then handed the list to Jin'er, and said, "I only keep the frog oil to make the medicine. Yes, I can't afford it either. I respect the old lady and the eldest lady. Aunt Lin has no shortage of these. You don't need to give a false gift, just send the opera cat picture Kangping embroidered by Bi Ye. The rest you let the three Let's watch the distribution."

Jin'er wrote it down one by one, repeated it again, and retreated without any mistakes.Here, Qingzhi brought orange peel and red bean soup, and Daiyu smiled and asked Tanchun to say, "Nowadays I don't drink much tea in this room, but there are all kinds of health-preserving soups that keep flowing all day long. This is a gift from Orange Mountain in Suzhou this year. The five-year-old tangerine peel is the most outstanding, try it." Tan Chun took a sip, nodded and said, "It tastes full-bodied, without any trace of fire, it is indeed the old tangerine peel."

After eating the red bean soup, Tanchun said with a smile: "My sister has so many properties here, she must be busy next year, so I won't make trouble." Daiyu stayed and said, "Why should I worry about it? Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Zai also likes to meddle in these nosy matters, I just ask a question or two. But you, aren't you busy in the garden now?"

Tanchun sat down, shook his head and said, "Now the garden is no longer what it used to be. It's very depressed. Only my sister-in-law, my sister-in-law, and my younger sister are still living in the three places. The rest of the buildings are empty, and only the housekeepers are left. Mother-in-law, the wife said to save money, so she laid off a lot of people. At the beginning, the garden was divided, and there were some prospects, but now there are not enough people, and they are all abandoned.

Saying this, the two sighed at each other, Tanchun was full of worries, and wanted to tell Daiyu, but her daughter's reserve made her unable to open her mouth, not to mention that she also knew that these matters were decided by Jiamu, his wife, and the master, and she had already done so. She has become a weight used by her parents to exchange interests. Marriage is beyond her control. Although Mrs. Wang usually values ​​herself, she is not her own. She still has to take care of Concubine Yuan and Baoyu first. Aunt Zhao is thankful for not adding fuel to the flames, how can she expect her to solve her own problems, she shed tears thinking about it.

Daiyu knew what was on Tanchun's mind, but she had nothing to comfort her.It's just a pity that Tanchun's intelligence is clear and bright, and his ambition is lofty. After all, some of his daughter's family can't make the decision. On the other hand, how lucky I am. Although I have no real parents, I have my grandmother and aunt who love me wholeheartedly. .Thinking of this, she felt sour for her, and before she knew it, the two of them were relatively speechless, and shed tears in silence.

It is said that when Jia Cong retired from the palace, Tanchun had already resigned, and Daiyu was still sitting on the smoked cage in a daze. When Jia Cong came in, seeing her unhappy, he deliberately said: "It was such a great adventure last night. Unexpected, unforeseen, rare encounter in a hundred years." Hearing the mystery of what he said, Daiyu really gathered her mind to ask, Jia Cong was relieved, changed her clothes, and sat on the smoker cage. tell her.

It turns out that the Imperial Academy has always had a rule of rotation in the palace, in case the emperor recalls some allusions at night and calls for questions at any time.Last night it was Jia Cong's turn. There were only cupboards, tables and chairs in the duty room, but no bed, so he always practiced calligraphy and reading to eliminate this eternal night.It’s a long night, and I always bring some pastries from home for supper, or I can ask the little eunuch who is waiting outside the palace to bring hot water. Jia Cong always saves trouble, and brings a small tea bag by himself, and boils water on a charcoal basin to make tea , by the way, bring some sweet potatoes and chestnuts to stew in the embers, and it is very delicious to eat while it is hot.

It was like this last night, Jia Cong asked the little eunuch who was serving him to make a charcoal basin, set up a tea hanging, and sent the reward, opened the frozen ink himself, practiced "Shou Chun Tang" for a while, and read dozens of pages of historical records, It was already late at night, and he felt even colder, so he buried two sweet potatoes that he had brought with him in the charcoal fire, and while roasting the fire to read, he smelled the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes, and when he was enjoying himself, he saw his room. Master Shi Shen accompanied a middle-aged man in a plain robe into the signing room.

Jia Cong was surprised, because he couldn't think of why the Shen University scholar came, and how could he still wander in the palace since the palace gate had been unlocked-the court has rules, after nightfall, even if it is a foreign court, it is not a tour. It is not allowed to enter and exit at will.However, Grand Master Shen seemed very relaxed, and came in with his sleeves swung. Seeing that Jia Cong was reading the historical records, the smile on his face became warmer, and Jia Cong quickly gave up his seat to the two.

The middle-aged man seems to be only a middle-aged man, with a thin face and plain clothes. If he hadn't been with the Shen University scholar, Jia Cong would have regarded him as a teacher in the countryside.But seeing that Master Shen was very respectful to him and let him take the seat, Jia Cong felt awe-inspiring, so he didn't dare to neglect him even more.

The middle-aged man smiled and said: "After walking around this circle, all the yamen on duty in the palace are either dozing off or drinking, but this place is really elegant." As for Jia Cong's calligraphy, Jia Cong's calligraphy has been practiced very well, so he is not uneasy. He just stood aside calmly and calmly with his hands down. Although he was suspicious in his heart, his face was calm. University student Shen secretly praised him, I thought: This child's fortune has come.

After a long while, the middle-aged man put down his book and didn't comment, but opened his nostrils and praised: "It smells so good!" It turned out that the sweet potatoes buried in the charcoal basin were already ripe, and the fragrance was overflowing. Jia Cong secretly felt ashamed , but didn't pay much attention, so he took out the sweet potatoes with tongs, patted off the floating ash, and asked two people to share.Although the man did not reveal his identity, Jia Cong only saw Shen Dashi's respectful appearance, and he already knew it in his heart, but since he was subdued, he was naturally confused.

Now he broke open a sweet potato, the middle-aged man tasted it, it was very sweet, and he ate the whole without realizing it, Shen Dashi was very reserved, he only tasted a little bit, Jia Cong ate the remaining half in three or two bites .The middle-aged man smiled at Shen Dashi and said: "It seems that his resume does not come from a poor family, he is also a son of an aristocratic family, and he is not expensive. This kind of rural snack is very suitable for studying in winter nights. It is a promising person. Yes." Shen University scholar repeatedly said yes, and said to Jia Cong: "Your good fortune, you still don't kowtow to the Lord Long Live!" Jia Cong hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground, apologizing, and the emperor smiled and said: "I said Ye is in the palace. Take a walk and look at the night duty status of the signing rooms everywhere. If you didn’t arrange a deacon, why are you guilty? I see that you are a hardworking and studious person, and you are not flashy. With time, you will surely achieve something, so you should be there The Imperial Academy studied the classics carefully and checked the history of the country." Jia Cong kowtowed again and again and said yes, and the emperor said: "It's like the beginning of the founding of the country, there was a saying that the eight kings discussed politics, but the historical materials are scattered and there are different opinions. You can study it carefully. Prepare my advisor." Jia Cong quickly received the decree, and the emperor didn't delay, and he didn't drink tea, so he walked out of the signing room with Shen Dashi, and there were already personal guards waiting outside with lanterns, and Jia Cong secretly panicked in his heart - stood up The people in the yard were actually unconscious before.

Before going out, Master Shen nodded to Jia Cong, and said: "Remember what the emperor said, and don't disappoint the grace." Jia Cong nodded quickly in response, but he was still suspicious in his heart. The heavy clothes were wet, and it was freezing cold, so he hurriedly brought in a young eunuch, added charcoal fire again, dried the clothes, and did not retreat until it was three poles in the sun.