Daiyu's wife in the Red Chamber

Daiyu was guessing, not sure. Zhang Kuang and his wife are far more capable than herself and Wei Ruolan. Although her husband and wife are somewhat respectable in front of Emperor Changtai and the Queen, they are not capable of arbitrarily exempting the crimes of offenders. Zhang Kuang Even if Madam asks for help, she should not be herself. I don't want the next morning, after Madam Zhang arrives, she just takes a sip of tea and mentions the young daughter who married far away in Jinling at the beginning of the year.

First of all, I said that I have only one daughter in my life, and the other children are separated from me by a layer of belly, and they are not close to me. I also said that I am a mother who is worried about her daughter. Every word and every word contains infinite sadness.

Daiyu was stunned when she heard Madam Zhang go on to say: "She is only 15 years old this year, she is smart and well-mannered, and she looks well-mannered. I married Zhen Baoyu and we only got married at the beginning of the year, who would have thought that the Zhen family committed a crime and ransacked the house, and she would suffer along with her, I really had no other choice, so I came to beg the county magistrate."

Speaking of this, Mrs. Zhang sobbed aloud, her face was full of tears, she was very sad and sad, although she cried hard, there was a hint of sternness in her crying, but her words and deeds did not look embarrassed, and her ugly face could not hide everyone's demeanor.

Madam Zhang has been pampered and respected for decades, and she has always been supported by everyone in Ping'an Prefecture. It is sad to see this suddenly.

Daiyu concealed a trace of doubt that quietly emerged in her heart, handed her a handkerchief, and after comforting her, she asked: "What do you beg me for? To tell you the truth, Madam, although I am somewhat respectable in front of today's sages and empresses with my father's shadow , often in and out of the palace, but it has nothing to do with court affairs, dare not ask, dare not speak. Before I left the cabinet, there was no elder to lead me, and I rarely went out. I left the capital when I got married. There are very few of them, and it is even more impossible to influence the court's handling of offenders' family members."

These words really came from the heart, Daiyu never thought that she had the ability to influence the court's judgment, and neither did Wei Ruolan. If she had such ability, she would not be particularly worried about the life of Xichun and other sisters In his heart, he was extremely afraid that Xichun would be convicted together with Ning Rongguo's family if he didn't leave the court before the family raid.

Mrs. Zhang took the handkerchief, wiped her tears, and said: "I beg the county lord to be merciful, and send a letter to Mr. Zheng, asking him or someone in-law to intercede with the Zhen family. Don't care about anything else, at least don't hurt the innocent."

The so-called innocent person is naturally her daughter.

Daiyu said without hesitation: "My Madam is making things difficult for me. My second uncle is only a member of the fifth grade now, and he can't even go to court. How can he plead for the Zhen family? If he had, he wouldn't have just watched the Zhen family be convicted. Besides, although I have lived at my grandmother's house for several years, I can count the number of times I see my uncle on one hand throughout the year, so how can I send a letter at this moment?"

People often say that uncles are relatives, but in her opinion, this uncle-nephew relationship is far inferior to sisters like Fengjie Baoyu Xichun, and even Tanchun Baochai. She and Jia Zheng have never even spoken a word. , How to write a letter to run around for others?

The Zhen family was raided, so besides accepting the things that the Zhen family sent over, what other actions did Madam Wang do?

Mrs. Zhang's complexion changed, and then she begged: "Master, now only Mr. Zheng can do this. I implore the Lord to help you. I am grateful to the Lord from the bottom of my heart. Tomorrow, I will ask my daughter to give the Lord a long life. Tablet."

Daiyu asked curiously, "Where did you say that? I don't even know what Second Uncle can do."

As soon as the words came out, Daiyu suddenly remembered Jia Zheng's ability in the manuscript. He was clearly a member of the fifth grade, but he could easily find a job in Shuntian Mansion for Jia Yucun. In addition, Lai Shangrong, Fu Shi and others all relied on Jia Zheng. Mrs. Zhang also thinks so?

Mrs. Zhang said: "Who doesn't know the skills of Mr. Zheng? In the past 20 years, Mr. Zheng has found real vacancies for many people who have no connections, but those who can't recover and those who donate officials can't find good jobs. He is always satisfied. Our lord always praises and admires Mr. Zheng very much. Mr. Zheng can even control important matters such as donating officials and rehabilitating him, let alone saving my poor innocent daughter from the sea of ​​suffering? Rescuing her is only a matter of politics. It's a matter of a word from the master."

Daiyu frowned slightly, and said: "I didn't know that the second uncle had such ability. There are many people in the capital who are more capable than the second uncle. Why did Madam ask me to write a letter to ask the second uncle?" Thinking, Daiyu was amazed at Jia Zheng's ability to influence the imperial court to appoint officials, not like someone without ability.

Mrs. Zhang said confidently: "The county lord is the niece of the lord Zheng, and she is very respectable in front of today's saints and empresses. General Wei is also honored by Long's grace. The county lord writes letters in person. Naturally, it is easier than us to get the consent of the lord Zheng. .”

Instead of being angry, Daiyu smiled, waved her hands and said, "Madam, don't say that, I don't think I have such a big face."

Seeing a trace of dissatisfaction flashing across Mrs. Zhang's face, Daiyu immediately smiled and said, "Tell my wife a heart-to-heart statement. What I said before is not a lie. If my wife doesn't believe it, I will find out by asking someone to go to the capital to find out. She lost her mother at that time, and when she first came to the capital, she had never even met the two uncles." The implication was that she was not close to the two uncles.

Mrs. Zhang still had a look of disbelief, and said: "I don't believe it. Mr. Zheng is the uncle of the county lord's direct relative. He is humble and kind, and he has the legacy of his grandfather. No one in the world knows it. How can he not even give the county lord this bit of dignity?"

Daiyu said: "The love of flesh and blood has nothing to do with the important affairs of the court. The second uncle is upright, and he doesn't like to bend the law for personal gain."

She doesn't like to take matters into her own hands. Although she is very clear that women and children like Zhang are innocent, but since she has enjoyed the prosperity and wealth brought by her family, she should bear the suffering brought about by the family's prosperity and decline, just like herself, Just like welcome to explore.It's just that people are not ruthless, Ying Tanxi is the sisters of the past, I can't bear to see them in trouble, so I can help, but I don't have such thoughts for Zhang Shi, maybe this is the difference between relatives and outsiders.

Seeing that Daiyu disagreed, Mrs. Zhang continued to beg, "I can't ask Mr. Zheng, the county magistrate waits for General Wei to come back, how about asking the two Mr. Chen in the capital? The two Mr. Chen are very powerful, so a few words can solve the problem." The suffering of a little girl."

Daiyu hurriedly said, "I dare not ask for my own uncle, let alone his uncle?"

Mrs. Zhang couldn't help but said: "In life, who doesn't have a time to ask for help? People like us are supposed to help each other. If we refuse like this, if something happens to me tomorrow, what should the county lord do when faced with other people's pushback?"

"Don't worry, ma'am, there are just me and him in our family. If we are not cautious enough, how could we do something illegal? Even if fate is bad, if you offend someone and lose power, you can only blame yourself." Sensing Mrs. Zhang's embarrassment and anger, But Daiyu is not afraid at all, the two families have long been at odds with each other in private, talking and laughing on their faces are just to maintain each other's face, how can there be any friendship at all?

After hearing this, Mrs. Zhang had no choice but to return bitterly.

But Daiyu refused to be rude to her, and instead sent her back to the second door. When she came back, Zijuan said worriedly: "What should I do if I offend them? Although Mrs. Zhang is difficult for others, there is some truth in her words."

Daiyu said nonchalantly, "It's a good thing to refuse, but it's a big deal to agree."

Zijuan was a little puzzled, so Zihao simply pulled her out, explained to her in detail, and agreed to Mrs. Zhang's request without saying that it was illegal, which would make Emperor Changtai dissatisfied. Wouldn't it be against Emperor Changtai to save the female family members of the Zhen family?Said that Emperor Changtai was harsh and hurt the innocent?How did Emperor Changtai trust Wei Ruolan afterwards?Moreover, if Zhang Shi is saved today, there will be Li Shi and Wang Shi in the future, who don't want to follow her husband's family to be convicted, so they all come to look for Daiyu, what will it be like?After hearing this, Zijuan suddenly realized, and praised Daiyu for doing the right thing, but she made a mistake.

Daiyu said: "Don't talk about it here, go and pack your things, let's move to Zhuangzi earlier and enjoy the fun of the countryside." , to be analyzed, so as to know everything outside.

Every time she thought about the power of the Supreme Emperor and Changtai Emperor, Daiyu felt happy. It was really the people who were used by the Supreme Emperor to bring disaster to the common people.

When Wei Ruolan came home at night, Daiyu told him the matter in detail, and then said: "Is it because the Zhang family has no one to trust in the capital, so they want to follow the second uncle and our two uncles? My The second uncle, if others don’t know, how can we not? It’s been a while since Zhen’s family was raided, have you ever seen him do anything in a timely manner?”

Wei Ruolan smiled and said: "I guess. Before we got married, I saw some criminal evidence from His Majesty. It was related to the people who had contacts with Zhang's family on weekdays. Several families have been dismissed from office and are currently being interrogated. Waiting for the crime to be confirmed will inevitably be ransacking the house.”

Daiyu nodded and said, "That makes sense."

The Zhen's family was raided, and the few Beijing official families who had frequent contacts with the Zhang's family were too busy to take care of themselves. Zhang's family was far away in Ping'an Prefecture and couldn't do anything in the capital, so they naturally thought of Jia Zheng. They seemed to think that Jia Zheng would be able to do this.

It can also be seen from this that Emperor Changtai is gradually controlling the court, and the Zhang family also feels the crisis.

Wei Ruolan said: "I didn't expect that the Zhang family would think of the second uncle. What do they think? They came to you. They wrote their own letters. I'm afraid they are more important than yours and mine. If I remember correctly, Zhang Jia Su has been in contact with Jia's family on a regular basis, it is a family friend, and in recent years because the eldest uncle dare not cause trouble, it has gradually faded away."

Daiyu thought for a moment, and said: "What you said is that you shouldn't ask me. It seems superfluous for them to do this." Busily recalling the words she said in front of Mrs. Zhang, she couldn't help smiling bitterly. Although those words were true, If it reaches Jia Zheng's ears, I'm afraid it won't be good.

Wei Ruolan heard her worry, and comforted her: "What are you afraid of? You are telling the truth, even if they think you are complaining, it's okay, we can also say that we have to say such words in order to reject Zhang's family's request. Didn’t the letter sent back to the capital not go away? I’ll edit a letter in a while and send it to my second uncle, specifically explaining the matter and apologizing to him.”

In fact, Daiyu's words didn't matter to Jia Zheng, they were facts.

Daiyu sighed: "That's the only way. You write this letter. I don't write it. I don't say anything, and the letter has nothing to say. Fortunately, I praised the second uncle in front of Mrs. Zhang for being upright and not liking to bend the law for personal gain." Complaints, such words are pleasant to the ear.

Wei Ruolan sneered, and said: "If the second uncle is upright and not bending the law for personal gain, then Jia Yucun's Fu Shi Lai Shangrong and his like will not be so unscrupulous. If these things are exposed tomorrow, they are all sins, and today's saints are the most taboo What? The most taboo is that the courtiers at the bottom will arrange official positions for others at will. Think about it, in the future, most of the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty or other places will be arranged by others. How can the sage use it with confidence? Speaking of this, I admire it When the father-in-law came, Jia Yucun begged him, and the father-in-law was clearly capable of arranging for him, but he left it to the second uncle to take care of it, and he didn't touch anything at all."

Daiyu spat: "Listen to what you said, it seems that my father is very cunning. Tell me, my father was in Yangzhou at that time, how did he go to the capital to find a job for Mr. Yucun? You have to go to the official department and entrust it to the second uncle. , It’s common sense. However, if you said that if I hadn’t met you, the Jia family in the manuscript was convicted of confiscating the house, would the second uncle’s charges include such a crime?”

Wei Ruolan was stunned, and then said: "Yaoyao, you are so smart, you are saying that if the Jia family ransacked the house and the second uncle was charged with such a crime, it can be regarded as the father-in-law who vented his anger on you."

Daiyu said with a smile: "It sounds like my father has the ability to calculate magically, but in fact he entrusted me to someone else."

She looked at the few autumn chrysanthemums in the flower bag of Ru Kiln, sighed quietly, and said, "However, thinking that I died like that in their house, when they ransacked the house, they would be charged with my father, just as As you said, I feel a little relieved."

Wei Ruolan didn't want to hear about Daiyu's tragic fate the most, she turned her head and poohed twice on the spot, then covered her mouth with her hands, and said displeasedly: "What are you talking about? Twice bah. All the tragedies in that manuscript have nothing to do with us, we all live well and live forever so that this life is not in vain."

After hearing this, Daiyu imitated him and made two pee pee, then laughed.

Wei Ruolan played with the string of pearls hanging from her temples, and said: "Mrs. Zhang loves her daughter very much. I think she will definitely write to Jia's second uncle over you and me after she returns. After all, the two families have no relationship."

Daiyu hurriedly said: "In this case, let's write a letter and send it to the capital as soon as possible, so as to get ahead of them, lest they talk nonsense."

Wei Ruolan strongly agreed and asked someone to write a letter with a pen and paper.

Daiyu had already written some letters to Jiamu, Sister Feng, Xichun and others yesterday, and Wei Ruolan wrote all of Baoyu's and Jia Zheng's today. .

Wei Ruolan only talked about how she practiced, how she farmed the fields, how many people were in the camp in Ping'an Prefecture, how much winter clothes she needed, etc., or wrote about the local food prices, field prices, etc., or pleaded guilty so far. There were no traces of gangsters and other things, everything was clear and clear, and these things were not afraid of being intercepted midway, so they were passed on to Beijing by the posthouse as usual.

Because in autumn and winter, renters from all over the country are often sent to the master's house by Zhuangtou for thousands of miles. Most of the master's houses are in the capital. Not sure that the bandits will come and go, but it is best to be prepared, so he trains soldiers more and more carefully. After training, he also has to farm the fields. When the crops are harvested, they can be used for food and wages. Hundreds of people patrolled around in groups.

The bandits are fierce and fearless, and their weapons and horses are of the highest quality. The infantry in the Ping'an State Battalion is far inferior to them. It is not easy for a hundred soldiers to deal with them, so each team has thousands of soldiers on patrol. In order to avoid casualties.

Liu Xianglian has quite a lot of experience in this and has lost many brothers, so she very much agrees with Wei Ruolan's decision.

As for those military officers who dare not confront the gangsters, after seeing Wei Ruolan's ability, they are ten times better than Liu Xianglian, and even the servants around him are no worse than Liu Xianglian. Get drilled like soldiers.

Those gangsters were very calm, they hibernated all the time, and even the soldiers felt anxious. In the past, when they didn't want the gangsters to show up, they often haunted them, looting money and killing people, but now they were looking forward to their coming out so that they could catch them all, but they didn't show up again. .Wei Ruolan was very calm, and felt that these gangsters were well-trained, which was absolutely extraordinary.

When Wei Ruolan was busy, Daiyu safely moved to Zhuangzi for a short stay, euphemistically saying that she couldn't bear Wei Ruolan's daily travels.

Hearing the reason for Daiyu's relocation, someone really laughed at her behind her back for not being ashamed, and she was worried that Wei Ruolan lived in the camp of Ping'an Prefecture and would not go home, but the people who said these words didn't feel sour.

Daiyu turned a deaf ear to this.

Among the four Zhuangzi, only this Zhuangzi occupies the largest area and was built with care. Except for the granary, the houses in the Zhuangzi are all the same color of blue bricks and black tiles. Said that Daiyu had been wronged, but Daiyu felt that it was good. The food and lodging were the same as usual, and whether the house was gorgeous or not was a trivial matter.

Since the house is ordinary, except for the furniture, there are no gorgeous things in the house. Most of them are books, flowers, tea bowls, etc. The gauze curtains and quilts in the bedroom are also selected to match the color of the house, showing a bit of elegance and uniqueness.

When she came to Zhuangzi, Chen Rui had to follow her and stayed in the guest house in the village. Needless to say, Yinglian's mother and daughter also followed Zhou Kui.

In a few days, she and Wei Ruolan sent all the renters of the farmlands from various places. As soon as they arrived at the border of Ping'an Prefecture, they were personally escorted by Wei Ruolan's personal soldiers or Liu Xianglian and other soldiers from the camp.In order to lure the snake out of the hole, Wei Ruolan didn't send anyone to escort the renter at first, but only arranged for a few confidantes to spy quietly. Unfortunately, the gangsters didn't get caught, and they didn't show up three or five times in a row.

Daiyu and Wei Ruolan owned a lot of farmlands, and the two farmlands awarded to them by Emperor Changtai alone amounted to [-] mu each. People supervised and only collected [-]% of the rent after paying the tax. If so, one farm can also collect seven or eight thousand shi of grain. , all have food, and the rest are countless wild game, dried vegetables, charcoal, etc.

Daiyu had been busy for more than ten days before she finished cooking, leaving enough food for her family for two or three years, and the rest was discounted to Daying in Ping'an Prefecture at the same price as the capital, and the delivery was clear.

Soldiers in the camp value food more than salary, and they have the strength to do things when they are full.

Before Wei Ruolan came, the salaries of the soldiers below were always deducted layer by layer, and there were very few in their hands, and in many cases, the salary was only enough to survive, not enough to eat, unable to practice, and naturally unable to fight gangster.They complained a lot, and when they secretly decided against the local officials, Wei Ruolan came suddenly.

Compared with those generals who follow the wind, ninety-nine percent of the soldiers in the Ping'an State Camp support Wei Ruolan more in their hearts. Without him, Wei Ruolan is well fed and well-dressed. If you treat them badly, you will teach them some kung fu.

Now that Wei Ruolan's family delivered the grain, they would first discount it to the military camp at a low price. Seeing that the grain was piling up like a mountain, the grains were full and there was no mildew, so they were naturally relieved.At the same time, they are also very grateful to County Lord Jingxiao. In addition to food, County Lord Jingxiao also gave them a lot of game, pork, beef, and mutton for tooth sacrifice, free of charge!

However, there were a group of jealous people who didn't want tens of thousands of taels of silver to be sent to Wei's house, and secretly said: "If you really miss us, why don't you just give us all the food? The money from selling food is an extra The real kindness is to distribute the money to us! At this time, the money is collected before the food is given, what is there for us to be grateful for?"

After hearing this, someone immediately retorted: "Don't be too eager to look forward to Shu. No one is willing to sell grain to our camp at a low price. Anyone who is not greedy for our grain is already a good official. You forgot when you couldn’t get enough food to cover your body? Now you have to eat food, you forgot whose blessing! Don’t the general and the county head usually spend money? Which one does not need money for food, daily life, and human relations? They gave us free money, what do they live on? Who doesn’t know that the big family is very particular, it costs a lot of money for three festivals and two longevity lands, and they have to send gifts to the capital for the Longevity Festival and Qianqiu Festival. Without money, how do you prepare these precious gifts?"

Some people agreed: "That's right, my lord general said that if it wasn't necessary for the daily expenses and human relations, he wouldn't want the money. There is also the output of the county lord's dowry to Zhuangzi in it! That's it, the rest The money you paid will also slowly buy land in various places, so that you can harvest more grain and sell it to the camp at a low price. It can be seen that the general and the county master are not for their own enjoyment. I think you people say these words Deliberately instigating, let's go, let's see the general."

Turned to Wei Ruolan, Wei Ruolan didn't let her go lightly, found out that the Miao family was dissatisfied with Daiyu's actions, and used that person's mouth to disturb the morale of the army, and immediately dealt with it according to the military law, beat thirty army sticks, and killed chickens to make an example to monkeys.The couple originally had good intentions, seeing that the food in the camp was not enough for a month, they wanted to relieve the soldiers from starvation, how could they tolerate such nonsense?

Daiyu sighed when she heard about it, and said: "I am sincere, but I was born in some people's mouths, and it became an act of fame and fame."

Since then, she has become more cautious in her actions, and she has paid more attention to money and goods in these matters. She can't ignore the expenses of her family inside and outside for the soldiers in the camp.

At the same time, the excerpts and letters were sent to the capital, and distributed to the imperial palace and Rongguo Mansion.

When Jia Zheng received Wei Ruolan's letter, he opened it and looked both surprised and angry.Although Zhen Yingjia was on the way to be escorted to Beijing, eight or nine out of ten charges had been settled. How could he help the Zhen family and save the Zhen family's daughters from suffering?Fortunately, Wei Ruolan sent this letter first, otherwise he would be caught off guard when facing Zhang's coming, and it would be difficult to explain.

Jia Zheng is the most upright and outspoken, he doesn't like to bend the law for personal gain, half a day later he saw the servant sent by Zhang's family, after listening to the intention and reading Zhang Kuang's letter, he hurriedly said: "Jiedu envoy asked for it, so he shouldn't resign, but the law of the state Below, this official dare not violate it."

Unexpectedly, the Zhang family sent another woman over to Mrs. Wang's room.