Love of Friends in the Red Chamber

However, no matter how the Rongfu tried to find out, Jia Zhen's case was still stuck.The Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the Dali Temple will jointly try the case. It is difficult to quickly find out the cases of the second sister You and the third sister You, because they have an affair with Jia Zhen, they are filthy by everyone, their reputation is ruined, and they commit suicide in shame and indignation. Jia Zhen Although there is a lack of personal morality, it is different from killing people, not to mention that no matter the officialdom or the people, they always criticize women for such things, and men just scold them for being romantic.

As for seducing the children of the aristocratic family to gamble, it is also the same case. Jia Zhen is a master of eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. Even the third son of Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice often participates in gambling games, how can this be investigated further?Just trying to smooth it out.

What made Jia Zhen unable to pass the test was the case of Qin Keqing.Originally, the father-in-law's adultery with his daughter-in-law is already immoral and unacceptable to saints, not to mention that what Jia Yucun is investigating is Qin Keqing's life experience, which is the key to uprooting the Jia family.Under Jia Yucun's instruction, the Ministry of Criminal Justice went to the court several times, lightly brought up other cases, seized Qin Keqing's case, detained several servants of Jia's mansion, tortured them, and gradually dug out some unknown cases. privacy.

As soon as Jia Yucun went to court that day, the steward came to report that Mr. Gou, Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, had been waiting in the living room for a long time.Jia Yucun changed his court clothes and came to meet in the living room. The two of them had finished their greetings, and the family offered tea. Then Yucun retreated from the crowd and asked directly, "I don't know if Mr. Gou can find out Qin Keqing's background?"

That Gou Shangshu rubbed his forehead, frowned and said, "Master Jia, this matter is not easy to deal with. Then Qin Keqing was adopted by Qin Ye from the Yuyingtang, and this matter is well known in Jia's residence. Master Jia suspects that Qin Keqing is The legacy of Prince Yi, who broke things first, is really unsubstantiated." Jia Yucun sneered, "From the beginning when I was in contact with Jia's mansion, I felt strange, just look at the other men in Jia's mansion who are all married. Which family's girl is it? It's all the daughters of the Xungui family. Jia Rong is the eldest grandson of the Jia family. It is said that he has to choose a young lady to marry. How could he marry a small family with unknown origin? Someone else's daughter?"

Gou Shangshu said: "The lower officials also feel suspicious, but all the members of the Qin family are dead, and there is no place to ask what happened to the Yuyingtang back then, and then Jia Zhenjiarong and his son insisted that this matter was decided by the old lady. Although Qin Ye's daughter is from a small family, she is gentle and virtuous. In addition to her beautiful appearance, the old lady likes it, so she decides to marry her. My lord thinks, I can interrogate criminal officials, but the old lady of Jia's mansion is a first-rank imperial order. How dare I ask? It’s just so stalemate.”

Jia Yucun sneered and said, "What about the adultery between Jia Zhen and Qin Keqing? If this crime is suppressed, he will be sentenced to death, and the Jia family will never be able to lift their heads up again, and their reputation will be ruined. You can use this to force Jia Zhen to tell Qin Keqing's background. Gou Shangshu took a sip of tea and said: "There are many clues about Weng's daughter-in-law's adultery, and there are rumors among the servants, but when it comes to evidence, there is no conclusive evidence. Jia Xiang, you think this is What kind of reputation, Jia Zhen refused to admit it to the death, but Jia Rong was young and pretended to be confused, he probably didn't know it, and just cried and exchanged tears. The servants said it with their noses and eyes, but how could such a thing be justified? What about rumors? It is said that Jiao Da, an old family member of Jia’s mansion, yelled at the beginning. He may know something, but when the officials asked Jiao Da to ask, the old servant jumped three feet high, Hu Swearing and cursing, looking for death and life, he is over 90 years old, and the lower officials are afraid of killing people before the trial, so they dare not use extreme torture."

Jia Yucun pondered for a while, and said: "How can an old slave know the bottom of the inner curtain? My lord may have thought too badly, and I should find the maids who were close to Qin's side at that time. They will definitely know, and there is no need to use torture. Girls are spoiled and spoiled, if they are only locked in a prison for two days and starved, they must talk about everything." He thought he had a trick, and laughed.

Mr. Gou was still not in a hurry, and replied: "Jia Xiang, this lower official also thought of it. But at that time, the Qin family had two personal maids, one named Ruizhu and the other named Baozhu. Ruizhu was in the Qin family On the day of her death, she touched the pillar and died, but that precious pearl was willing not to marry for the rest of her life, to be the adoptive daughter of the Qin family, and to watch for her in the temple. The lower official also thinks it must be something strange, and these two servant girls must know something."

Jia Yucun asked eagerly: "Forget it if it's dead. Did you ever ask for the orb that became a monk?" Lord Gou replied regretfully: "My lord, when the lower officials send people to look for it, the old man in the temple Ni said that two years after Qin's death, that Baozhu had an emergency and died of an illness." Jia Yucun fell to his feet and sighed, gritted his teeth and said, "It must be that Jia Zhen who murdered and silenced her, she is really vicious."

Gou Shangshu shook his head and said, "Miss Jia, the lower officials are also under tremendous pressure. This case is not easy to try. Jia Zhen has sharp teeth and sharp mouth, and she is still a piece of beef tendon that cannot be stewed or cooked properly. Chew." Jia Yucun sneered and said, "Since he is so disregarding of shame, Mr. Gou doesn't have to be soft-hearted. There is a saying: people are bitter insects. If you don't beat them, you won't fight." Gou Shangshu took a breath: "Mr. Jia, you Do you mean that you want to be demoted and tortured?" Jia Yucun asked, "Why not?"

Gou Shangshu murmured: "It's not impossible, but after all, Jia Zhen is a meritorious person, and she is also deeply rooted in Chaozhongjing. I am afraid that someone will come out to speak out if she is tortured." Jia Yucun said coldly: "As long as he If you get the truth, it will be a shocking case, which may be involved in the old case of Prince Yi's rebellion. Those nobles are too busy to take care of themselves, who dares to be a horse? Lord Gou just go to the trial, don't be afraid of those The outdated dandies come out and bark, and everything is borne by the truth."

That Gou Shangshu had already boarded Jia Yucun's boat, so he had to give up and do it. When he went to trial, he changed his face, and if he disagreed with him, he would use punishment.He originally thought that Jia Zhen was a dandy, pampered, skinny and tender without being beaten, under the three trees, why not recruit him?Who knew that Jia Zhen was so stubborn that under the torture, she passed out several times, but she cried out for her grievances and refused to admit a single word.

This Gou Shangshu was angry, anxious, and annoyed. He wanted to completely destroy Jia Zhen's resistance, so he detained Jia Zhen's nephews and servants in the lobby of the Ministry of Punishment, and let them watch their master being tortured. Look at one or two of them who couldn't stand the fright, and find out something.Who knew that Jia Zhen's tragic situation annoyed the old servant Jiao Da, he cried and cursed at the presiding judge in the lobby, and then yelled "Bian Tianqu", crashed to death on the desk in the lobby of the Ministry of Punishment, blood spattered Gou Shangshu's face .

The minister of Dali Temple who was interrogated also had friendship with Jia's family, so he couldn't stand Gou Shangshu's torture to extract a confession. Seeing that someone was killed, he walked away and immediately wrote this chapter to participate in Gou Shangshu. The emperor was furious when he heard about it.He also heard that Jiao Dayuan had performed the Southern Expedition and Northern War with Ning Guogong Jia, and made great achievements, so he couldn't help but sigh, so he ordered Jiao Da to be buried generously.

As for Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, the charges were also reduced. The verdict was that Uliasu served in the Taiwan Army before serving as an official in the Ningguo Mansion, and all her family members were hired and sold.It's a pity that there are only two Youshi mother-in-law and daughter-in-law left in the whole Ningguo Mansion, who have nothing, and come to see Jiamu crying.

Mother Jia was very sad, but she had no choice but to comfort Youshi and said: "This is also the fate of their father and son. Although they have been punished now, they can escape their lives. As long as there are people, there will be a way." The house was allocated to house You's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and Mrs. Xing put You's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in disgust. Mrs. Wang, Baochai, Daiyu and others all gave some daily necessities such as clothes and hairpins.

Because Jia Zhen and his son are going to go on the road immediately, but there is no toll. It is necessary that Jia's mother allocated some silver taels from her remaining money to send them on the road. Jia Amnesty and Jia Zheng also gave 1000 taels each There were many other orders, and Jia Zhenjiarong accepted them one by one with shame, and set out on the road in pain, even without a chance to meet his wife.

From then on, Youshi took his daughter-in-law to rely on Jia Mu to live. She was originally the mistress of the family, and Jia Zhen was loving and harmonious. out of pain.

The most pitiful thing is that there are hundreds of servants in Ningguo Mansion, all of them are put up for auction in the official market like livestock. Everyone knows that they are family members of Jia Mansion, so who dares to buy them?The cold winter has come, these people are still wearing the clothes of early autumn, which are already in tatters, and they are dragged to the market every day, standing there for a whole day, suffering unspeakably.The Ningrong and Rong mansions were originally one family, even the servants were connected by blood, and there were relatives in the two mansions, so someone begged relatives and friends, begging the master of the Rongguo mansion to save them.Some people also begged to report to Youshi, and Youshi inevitably cried a lot, but he didn't even dare to mention a word to Jiamu.

Because Jia's mother is in poor health, Jia Zheng and Jia amnesty are strictly forbidden to mention anything that makes the old man sad in front of Jia's mother. What's more, the Rong Mansion is in trouble now, and even its own servants can't support so many. How can there be money to buy those people? ?For a moment, people were in panic, running around like headless chickens trying to find a way out.

These days Daiyu has been accompanying Jiamu, trying to make her grandmother feel at ease, and she doesn't say a word about the rest. Fortunately, Jiamu has kept her own living place at Jiamu's bedroom, which is in the green cupboard behind Jiamu's bedroom. , quiet and warm, and she lived comfortably.On this day, Mother Jia had taken medicine after lunch and wanted to take a nap, so Daiyu went to her room to rest.The Zijuan came in to wait on her, and quietly replied: "Grandma, Si Qi just came, and I want to tell grandma about that."

Daiyu knew that the matter was settled, she thought for a while and said, "Let her in." Si Qi knelt down and kowtowed to Daiyu when she came in: "Grandma, my parents and the whole family are grateful for grandma's kindness." Daiyu Yudao: "Get up quickly, so you can talk, what are you doing?" It turned out that Si Qi's father was a son of Ningguo Mansion, and Si Qi's grandmother's family was Wang Shanbao's family brought by Mrs. Xing. Therefore, she married her daughter to Si Qi's father. It is said that most of Si Qi's father's lineage are slaves of Ningguo Mansion, and this time they suffered accordingly.Si Qi begged Daiyu secretly, and Daiyu secretly sent a message to Aunt Lin, and sure enough, without anyone noticing, she bought the whole family and sent them to a village outside the city to settle down temporarily.Only yesterday did Si Qi dare to ask for leave to go out of the city to visit. After seeing that everything was in order, she came back to report to Daiyu.

Here Si Qi said: "Back to grandma, when my father was in Dongfu, he was in charge of the errands of the farm to collect the rent for four seasons. There is nothing about the farm that he doesn't know. Now he is very stable there. My Uncles and aunts are also able to bear hardships and stand hard work. They don't want to go back to the city to do work, but just ask grandma to give you a bowl of food in the farm. The master has already brought a letter, saying that it would be useful to ask the housekeeper Bao Yong to take up his post, so that your father can be the housekeeper in the farm." Si Qi was overjoyed, and quickly kowtowed to thank him, and went away without mentioning it.

Zijuan straightened the bed and pillows, and persuaded: "Grandma has been working hard for a long time, so let's take a rest. The old lady is old and sleeps lightly. She will wake up after a while, and she will go to grandma again." Daiyu Smiling slightly, he said: "That's fine, actually I'm feeling better now, and I don't feel too tired." Even though he said this, he leaned on the big pillow, closed his eyes and fell asleep.Zicuckoo waited for him to go out to serve.

Daiyu was just about to fall asleep in a daze, when she suddenly heard a movement, she opened her eyes and saw that it was Xiren kneeling in front of her, with tears in her eyes, infinitely pleading.