The Fenghua Years of the Red Chamber

Jia Lian took Jia Yun and four followers with him. After landing, he galloped on horseback. Five days later, he arrived at the Pingyuan government office. Lu Yuan was unable to take care of the former Tongzhi because of his mother's illness, so he reported to the imperial court and was transferred to a neighboring province closer to his hometown.

Special staff Mr. Li and Mr. Wang arrived at Pingyuan Mansion before Jia Lian. Mr. Li and Lin Ruhai studied under the same person. He agreed to come this time, mostly for Lin Daiyu's sake.Mr. Wang came to Pingyuan Mansion for a simple purpose, all because of the high salary promised by Rongguo Mansion. Mr. Wang was born in a poor family, and now there are old and young, and children are using money for weddings and funerals, so he agreed to come to Pingyuan Mansion Be a teacher.

Jia Lian himself is proficient in common affairs, and with the help of the two gentlemen, he avoided many traps and found out many ways. In just a few days, they knew that the Pingyuan Mansion was not peaceful, and the former acquaintance was transferred away. It's not just for superficial reasons, so he is more cautious, for fear of being calculated if he doesn't pay attention.

While Jia Lian was busy with his official duties, he did not forget to ask Jia Yun to inquire about the house. According to the regulations of the court, the Tongzhi only had seven houses. The former Tongzhi only brought his wife and children to take office.However, he brought a lot of people, besides Wang Xifeng, Jia Qiang, Jia Yun's mother and son, he also brought four servants, and other staff members, so of course it was not enough to live there.

Staff Mr. Li and Mr. Wang did not come alone. Mr. Li brought his two sons and his wife, while Mr. Wang brought his parents, wife and children, a total of eight people. Now both families live in the post.

When Wang Xifeng and his party arrived, Jia Yun had spent 2000 taels of silver to buy two adjacent three-entry houses, and transformed the west three-entry house into six single-family houses of different sizes for the two gentlemen. He lived with his servants, while Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian lived with Jia Qiang and Jia Yun, their mother and son.

On the third day of Wang Xifeng's arrival, before everything was packed, he went to visit the magistrate's house with gifts. Only then did a fellow Jinshi come out, and now there are a lot of children and grandchildren, including three sons and two daughters, all of whom have married.

The magistrate Yang's mother, wife and female relatives received her. Old Yang Yiren was over seventy years old, with a strong body, good spirits, and a ruddy complexion.The Yang family specially asked the two young granddaughters who had not yet left the court to meet. Mrs. Yang was plain-looking, but she did not expect that even the granddaughters in the family were as beautiful as flowers, the older one was as gentle as jade, and the younger one was cute and cute.

Wang Xifeng was not afraid of this human relationship the most, she opened her mouth and boasted: "When I first came here, I heard that your mansion has two daughters who are as beautiful as flowers and jade. When I saw them today, they really lived up to their reputation. The two of them are more common than I used to be. Not bad." After speaking, he took off a pair of silver bracelets made of twisted shrimp silk from his wrists and put them on for the two of them.

"They are from a family of children, how can they deserve to be praised by Yiren? Yiren is really good-looking, bright and generous, as expected of being from a wealthy family." The old lady agreed with a smile, her mouth was modest, but her expression was very flattering. I am very happy to be flattered by the words.

"You two are pleasant, ten days later, I will have a banquet in my mansion, and I would like to invite you to come here." Wang Xifeng personally sent the invitation card.After another round of flattery, Wang Xifeng left after eating.

"Grandma, the old lady of the Yang family has a kind face, just as amiable as the old lady in our house." Xiuping waited on Wang Xifeng to get into the carriage, and said with a smile.

"That's not true." Wang Xifeng said with a smile, thinking that Mrs. Yang is really amiable, but that Mrs. Yang is a ruthless character, and she is definitely a greedy person. Mrs. Yang and her second daughter-in-law would look at her from time to time On her face, and when she gave the two girls silver bracelets, she could conceal her disappointment from others, but not from Wang Xifeng.

After Wang Xifeng left, everyone in the Yang family went up to check the various gifts, and saw six fine Jiangnan items of various colors, six pieces of fine Jiangnan silk and satin, six sets of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and a box of womb flowers that attracted the female relatives.

After the old lady asked people to divide the things, she left Mrs. Yang to talk to the two granddaughter-in-laws: "What do you think of this young Jia Yi?" the old lady asked.

"It seems that he is straightforward and smooth in dealing with the world, but he doesn't notice anything else." said the eldest daughter-in-law.

"There is also a view of wealth and honor. I can't see less than 5000 taels of silver for the hair I wear, the clothes I wear, and the outfit, but I am stingy. I only give our sister a silver bracelet." The second daughter-in-law opened her mouth. silver.

"You still have little knowledge. Mr. Jia was born in the Rongguo Mansion in the capital city. He will definitely become a noble and inherit the Rongguo Mansion in the future. Although the master has a higher official position than him, a person with such a status does not dare to neglect him at all. His wife, Jia Yiren, is also born naturally. A wealthy family, coming from the royal family of Jinling, it is not easy in itself, to manage the Rongguo Mansion of Nuo Da at a young age, without any mistakes, it is really amazing." Mrs. Yang pointed out to the two second daughters-in-law, she has not been idle for the past few days. He sent people out to inquire about the news.

"Go ahead and pass on the word. If you meet the Jia family outside, you must be more patient. Rongguo Mansion cannot afford to offend our family. It will be easy for you to be your master's official." As soon as I became an official, I couldn't make a mistake here.

"Old lady, this time I came with Mrs. Jia, and the grandson of Ningguo Mansion. I heard that he is not yet married, and he is handsome and elegant. If our girl can marry, the future of the brothers You don't have to worry about it." The second daughter-in-law rolled her eyes and said calculatingly.

"The Jia family will have a banquet in ten days. We'll talk about it then." The old lady was also a little moved.

Ten days later, all the respectable housekeepers and wives of Pingyuan Mansion gathered at Jia's house. Jia Lian, Jia Qiang, Jia Yun and two gentlemen received male guests outside together. Wang Xifeng and Jia Yun's mother received female guests in the inner house. The young girls and boys from the various families who came with them were separated and led to other places to play. The housekeeper outside arranged for the servants from each family to come.

Fearing that she might not be used to eating outside, Wang Xifeng specially brought the cook over to add a lot of color to the banquet.Waiting to be opened, people are full of praise, a table full of Huaiyang dishes, the ingredients are not luxurious, but it makes people appetite.In addition, a well-known local Kunqu opera troupe was specially invited to perform in the mansion, and finally the guests and hosts had a good time.

After seeing off all the guests and thanking the fifth aunt, Wang Xifeng washed and lay on the bed to rest. After a while, Jia Lian came in from the outside, and saluted Wang Xifeng with her fists together: "Grandma has worked hard today."

"What's the trouble? It's a concubine's job to take care of the second master's inner house. Besides, it's much easier than the concubine's concubine. But the second master has been busy all day today, and he will be on duty tomorrow. Let's take a break as soon as possible." .” Wang Xifeng stood up and waited for Jia Lian to rest.

"Grandma, I just feel comfortable living today." Jia Lian said with eyes closed. He was a housekeeper in Rongguo Mansion. He was not allowed to make decisions in everything and was suppressed everywhere. Now he is finally in charge of the house outside. He doesn't need to think about other things, and he is dedicated to working hard for his own future. , a lot of fun.

"It's not just the second master, but the concubine is also the same. In the past, taking care of the Rongguo Mansion in Nuoda is not as comfortable as it is today, and she is very motivated in doing things." Wang Xifeng smiled sincerely.

"In the past, both of us were fools, thinking that we could get everything in the mansion, not to mention our hard work, and we were all to blame for any mistakes. Now we only know when we go outside, and the outside is even wider. With my own ability, I can earn you back an imperial wife." Jia Lian embraced Wang Xifeng and said, ambition flashed in his eyes.According to the rules of this dynasty, the imperial concubine is granted to the family members of first-rank officials, and Wang Xifeng is now appointed to Yiren from fifth rank.

The reason why Jia Amnesty arranged Jia Lian to take office in Pingyuan Mansion was that besides avoiding the scourge of party disputes, the most important thing was to find the descendants of a foreign family. The little uncle caused trouble, so there was no contact, and the mountain was high and the road was far away, so there was no news.

As soon as they arrived, Jia Lian sent someone to look at the address given by his father. There were tenants living there. Jia Lian found out that the yard had not been resold, and asked the tenant that the landlord came to collect the rent once a month on the tenth day. , and sent people to wait every day.

Since Wang Xifeng was free, she took over the matter of looking for my uncle. This time it happened to be the day to collect the rent, so she invited the person over in the afternoon. The person who came was my uncle's third son, Zhang Xiping.

After some narration, I found out that the little uncle was afraid that it would be unsafe in Pingyuan Mansion, and also that the mountain would be empty, so he stayed half a day away from the city.

The small village bought a field to settle down, and later saw that the local children were pitiful, so they opened a private school, and now the Zhang family private school is well-known in the local area.

Fearing that the Jia family would send someone over to find him, they came to Fucheng to check on the 20th of each month. They persisted for more than [-] years. Only today did Zhang Xiping know why his father insisted on collecting rent every month. Before that, there were no tenants who demanded a one-time payment of one year's rent. of.Zhang Xiping was going back today, Wang Xifeng specially ordered someone to prepare food and gifts for him to bring, and asked him to bring a message to visit Jia Lian on his holiday.