Cross the Sea in the Red Chamber

For Wang Ziteng's death, it's not impossible to say that he himself committed suicide in a proper way. He did a lot of deceitful things, not to mention Situ Sheng, even Jiang Yuan hated him very much, and everything was calculated according to the law. It is absolutely no problem to sentence him to beheaded five or six times.But if we really want to talk about the cause of his death, what caused so many troubles is Xue Pan's beating to death.

If Xue Pan had always been obedient and obedient, and hadn't ordered the servants to beat people to death, how could Wang Ziteng, an uncle, help him cover up the death crime and contact Yin Tianfu?If he didn't need to contact Yin Tianfu, how could he be involved in the matter of beheading the white duck?If it weren't for the crime of beheading a white duck, he would not have been caught and beheaded.

Even though Wang Ziteng had hundreds of damning reasons, he still died in helping Xue Pan conceal the murder case.And if Wang Ziteng is not dead, the Jinling royal family will naturally be able to live well with a first-rank member like him personally protecting him. How could they be bullied at will like this now, but they dare not even speak back, for fear of provoking trouble? big shot.

Although Wang Ren was quite a troublemaker, his words seemed reasonable no matter how he heard them.So what if Xue Pan died too?He carelessly disregarded human life, and if he killed someone, he should pay for his life, even if he died, he deserved it, but Wang Ziteng was dragged down to death by their Xue family, so of course Wang Ren can ask the Xue family to settle the debt.

Three years ago, Xue Pan was interrogated by the three divisions and sentenced to death. Aunt Xue passed out on the spot after learning about it.She still wants to spend money to find someone to rescue her son, but the case of Prince Teng buying Ying Tianfu Yin and beheading the white duck was personally intervened by His Majesty the Emperor. Is it because the old birthday star hanged himself because he thinks his life is too long?

Wang Ziteng, a dignified first-rank official, couldn't save his life, let alone a little imperial merchant Xue Pan?How could the result of the joint trial of the three divisions be so easily overturned?It's no use begging anyone, you can only admit it.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, after the sound of the drum, Xue Pan was beheaded by the executioner, and Aunt Xue passed out directly...

After she had been in a coma for a whole day and woke up crying, she still had to go on living the day.

As the only son of the Xue family, Xue Pan is dead, and the head of the Xue family is considered extinct. Even according to the Dajing Law, the daughter of the extinct family can inherit the family property, but the family property can be inherited by her. And the family property is gone.

The title of the Imperial Merchant does not only belong to Xue Pan and his family, but to the entire Xue family, just like a hereditary title, unless it is expelled from the government, it will be handed over to the clan to inherit. How can it fall into the hands of a daughter's family who can't show their faces?

The elders of the Xue family in Jinling went to the capital to look for Aunt Xue. More than a dozen people surrounded her, and there was only one meaning in the words. If possible, it is best to hand over the imperial business certificate issued by the Ministry, including their family's property, so that the clan can get a share!

Who caused Xue Pan to cause so many troubles, and made the family feel ashamed and responsible. Now that he is dead, but he died so dishonorably, shouldn't the Xue family give an explanation to the family and compensate him? A loss in the clan?

This is clearly to rob the family property!

But what if they knew what they were thinking?Aunt Xue has always been a no-brainer, she is a little clever on weekdays, she can deal with a dispute in the back room, but this time it is not the right thing to do.She hesitated and didn't know what to say, so she could only watch the clan elders in front of her persecute their mother and daughter.

No matter how clever Xue Baochai is, what's the use?She is just a ten-year-old girl, how can anyone listen to her?Not to mention that she didn't choose the princess to accompany her because of Xue Pan's affairs, so what if she was chosen?For the sake of her reputation in the boudoir, would the princess still keep her?I'm afraid she will be kicked out of the palace as soon as she hears about her brother...

Xue Baochai, her status locks her up. In this age of emphasis on parentage, as an orphan girl, she simply cannot compete with the elders of the clan.

Aunt Xue really had no choice but to beg the Jia family first, and the Jia family opened their mouths openly, asking for half of the Xue family's property. Willing to save the Xue family.Mrs. Wang said that it would not be difficult for Xue Baochai, and she would not be forced to marry. As long as she got half of the estate, their second wife would be willing to sell. But her husband is only a small official from the ninth rank, how can he control the members of the Xue family?

Although Aunt Xue was a little cowardly, she also knew that once Xue Baochai became the Jia family's concubine, not to mention how humble her status would become, the entire Xue family would be completely lost by the Jia family.They can't beat the members of the Xue family, can they beat the Jia family?In the end, I am afraid that all the family property will be chewed up and swallowed by the Jia family, and when they are useless, will her good relatives continue to take care of Baochai?I'm afraid that he will torment her to death even if he tries hard.

As for Mrs. Wang's words, she couldn't listen to a word at all.Why doesn't she talk about good luck anymore?It's not because she has good intentions and doesn't force the marriage, but because she simply has no ability to keep the Xue family's property.Why don't you just find an excuse to cheat a sum of money from your younger sister, make an empty promise and expect her to help?It's not bad if she doesn't make trouble.

Aunt Xue had no choice but to brazenly go to Wang's house to beg Wang Zisheng.After all, Wang Zisheng still had a family title and a donated official body. The members of the Xue family didn't dare to provoke him too much. In the end, they had to give up the idea of ​​making progress, and only wanted the certificate of the imperial business, so they didn't take advantage of the situation. Taking away the property of the Xue family finally allowed the mother and daughter of the Xue family to survive this hurdle.

But Wang Zisheng is not a person who values ​​relatives. He will never do anything that is just for nothing. In addition to taking away half of the Xue family's property, he also asks his son Wang Ren to come to the Xue family to ask for money and things from time to time. For protection, they can only rely on their Wang family, and they continue to squeeze them, as if the Xue family's money belongs to their Wang family.

No matter how much Aunt Xue refused, she would not really dare to offend the Wang family and his son.Therefore, she had no choice but to spend money to avoid disasters, and to give money honestly, no matter how much she wanted, even if Wang Ren had become more and more serious over the years, she did not dare to disobey a little.

If the people of the Wang family were really pissed off and Wang Zisheng no longer protected their wives, why wouldn't the Xue family of Jinling go to Beijing and devour their entire family's property?At that time, the two of them might not even have a place to stand, and they can't talk about whether they can survive.

Even if the Xue family is willing to let them go, how many vicious people like wolves will be attracted to the Xue family's millions of assets?If it really started to be robbed, wouldn't they have to die... The front is afraid of wolves, and the back is afraid of tigers. How can they two weak women fight against so many vicious wolves?

At the beginning, evil results were brought about by evil cultivation. If the Xue family had not done all the evil things, how could they have incurred such evil retribution?

Why did Xue Pan dare to beat people to death in broad daylight? Isn't it the Xue family's upbringing?Has Xue's family done fewer things that killed people and ruined their families?Have you done less things that make the tenants have no way to go to the sky and nowhere to go to the earth?Since the Xue family can persecute others and kill them, what can they do to prevent others from persecuting themselves?

"I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you!" Aunt Xue took out the silver bills and pushed them all in front of Wang Ren. The tens of thousands of taels of silver bills were obviously to Wang Ren's appetite. Wang Ren sent him away.Seeing the outsider leave, Aunt Xue cried bitterly on the table, but she still had to wipe away her tears and continue to live after crying.

Xue Baochai, who was sitting in the room, also wiped away her tears. The Xue family is now surrounded by front and back, and there is no way out anywhere, so they can only struggle to survive in the cracks.The Xue family has already lost the land under their name, and lost the only male in the family. It can be said that they are extremely weak, and no one takes them seriously.

If the Wang family is allowed to ask for money again, so what if the Xue family has a million fortune?It's not enough for the Wang family to extract.When the Wang family squeezed out all the money, they might not be like the Jia family, leaving their mother and daughter to fend for themselves. At that time, they would not care about any relatives at all, and it would be fine if they didn't force them to death.

Xue Baochai wiped away her tears, opened the curtain and walked towards her mother, gritted her teeth, and said, "It's not an option to go on like this. If you continue to indulge the Wang family in asking for gold and silver, I'm afraid the family won't last long..."

Aunt Xue rubbed her red eyes, choked up and said, "What else can I do? Ever since your father and elder brother passed away, our Xue family has been in decline every day, no matter how difficult it is. If you refuse to give money to the Wang family, who will Do you know what the Wang family will do? Now the members of the family are unreliable, the Jia family is unreliable, and the Wang family is also unreliable...Now that you are still at home, mother feels better, and you will get married in two years, mother I really don't know how to live..."

Xue Baochai squatted down, leaned her head lightly on Aunt Xue's knee, and said softly: "Then my daughter will not marry, and will stay at home with her mother."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Is there any reason in the world for a woman not to marry?" Aunt Xue forced her lips into a smile, but there was only indescribable sadness in her eyes.

"Mother, my daughter is not talking nonsense. My daughter really thinks so." Xue Baochai stood up abruptly, looked directly into Aunt Xue's eyes, and said, "After thinking about it, my daughter thinks that we can't keep so much money with just the two of us." Money, if it continues like this, people will swallow it up to the bone in a few years at the most, this million-dollar wealth is not the treasure of the Xue family's protection, but a life-threatening talisman that leads directly to the underworld!"

"The more you want to keep your property and money, the more miserable your death will be, and the more you will be closely watched by outsiders. So my daughter thought, if it's not possible, let's sell all the property of the Xue family." Xue Baochai's expression Seriously, said calmly.

"It's all sold?" Aunt Xue's eyes widened, and she hurriedly said, "Chai'er, are you confused by Wang Ren's anger? It's a family property accumulated by several generations of the Xue family, how can you sell it as soon as you say it? "

Xue Baochai shook her head, "Mother, it's no longer a question of whether we want to sell it, but we have to sell it, and we have to sell it as soon as possible."

She let out a breath, and then said: "Mother, tell me honestly, how much is the remaining property of the family now compared to three years ago?"

Aunt Xue was stunned, her eyes were a little evasive, and she didn't dare to look into her daughter's eyes at all, "It's not missing, it's still the original ones."

Xue Baochai frowned and said: "No less? Mother, you are still young as a daughter, can't you understand the account books at home? In the past few years, the land has been confiscated by the government, and the family has lost a big income. It didn’t work, and then the Wang family persecuted them everywhere, first taking away half of the property, and then taking thousands of taels of silver every time they came. How much silver does our family earn in a year? If you want to pay 10,000+ taels of silver, how can you pay for it if you don’t sell the property?”

"The property in the family is getting less and less every day, and the income is getting more and more insufficient. But the Wang family is eyeing us, and they are not willing to let go. They are getting more and more greedy, and their mouths are getting bigger and bigger. The property in the family can only be sold more and more. .If this goes on, how many more years will the Xue family be able to support? Will the Wang family still care about your life and mine when the money is gone? "

Aunt Xue opened her mouth wide, and wanted to speak several times, but she couldn't speak. Finally, she could only struggle and said, "Then what do you think should be done?"

Xue Baochai sighed: "My mother is right. How can we two girls keep so much property? Since we can't keep it, we might as well sell them all while they are worth some money." It's better to get some money, it's better than being snatched away by people, leaving nothing left. If it was normal, Chai'er wouldn't dare to say such things, but now the Wang family is more and more eager to persecute them, forcing them not to sell them. It's all gone."

Aunt Xue asked, "Even if we sell our property, what will we do in the future?"

Xue Baochai's eyes lit up, "If you have so much property, you can't keep it just because of what the two women say, but if you sell all the property and exchange it for bank notes to hide it well, as long as you and I don't tell it, who can tell?" Think we have so much money in our family?"

"I can't keep it." Aunt Xue shook her head, "Even if we can hide from the Wang family and the Xue family, how can we hide from the government? The household registration cannot be changed easily, and the pass for passing the customs is even more difficult to change. No matter where we go We will be recognized by the government anywhere, and those wolves can find us as long as they follow the government, and it is useless to hide anywhere."

Xue Baochai shook her head, "My daughter doesn't mean to hide all the money. Just like what mother said, we can't keep the shop, and of course we can't keep the money. It's useless to hide anywhere. So if we don't keep it, my daughter will hide it. Part of the money will be donated to the treasury!"

"Donate to the national treasury?" Aunt Xue was very puzzled.

"Instead of losing everything, it's better to disperse the majority and keep a small part." Xue Baochai said: "We only say that we donate all the family property to the national treasury, and others don't know how much we have donated. I just ask His Majesty the emperor to look at the money that was presented to the Xue family." Take care of us for the sake of money, and don't ask for anything else, just want to keep the rest of the family property so that we can live."

"I heard that the current emperor is the most sage, and he will not embarrass our orphans and widowed mothers. At that time, we will find a small town where no one knows us, and open a small shop. Others only say that the Xue family has no money, so they won't stare at us. You and I manage the family diligently and don't spend money extravagantly. Keeping the remaining gold and silver will always give the Xue family a chance to make a comeback. "

Her eyes were bright, and she spoke with great enthusiasm, "If it was in the past, my daughter would not dare to do this, because the Wang family would see through our actions and would not let our mother and daughter leave and take away all the money. But it is different now. Well, the Wang family father and son are about to leave the capital, and we don't know how many months they will be away. We took the opportunity to sell the property, and even if they know the letter, they won't be able to rush back to the capital. We will definitely be able to leave here while they are not in the capital. of."

"As for those clansmen in Jinling, they think the Wang family is still protecting us, and even if they think it's strange to sell the property, they dare to say more. Most of them just think that the Wang family's persecution is too urgent, and we have no other way to sell it. Wait until they know It's too late for the truth. Thinking about it this way, isn't it the best time for us to leave? When we leave the capital, Dajing is so big, how can they find us?"

Aunt Xue had no idea at first, and she felt very reasonable when she heard her daughter's words. It is impossible for the two of them to keep everything they have. Instead of losing everything, it is better to keep a little bit.

As for the splendor, wealth, and power, who has the spare thoughts to think about these things when they are dying, let's survive first and then think about other things.

The mother and daughter began to sell their family properties without much fanfare. Therefore, the Wang family and the Xue family did not know about Xin'er. After giving the treasury a large sum of money, he left the capital with the last bit of money.They couldn't find out where they went, and all traces were covered up by the government.The two disappeared without a trace as if they had never appeared before.

No one knows that in a small border town in the southwest, a mother and daughter surnamed Xue came. The two opened a small grocery store together, and later recruited a clerk who worked at the counter as a son-in-law. Although poor, but very happy, he gave up his glory and wealth and lived a peaceful life.

There is a saying in Mulan's speech: buy a horse in the east market, buy a saddle in the west market, buy a bridle in the south market, and buy a long whip in the north market...

Hua Mulan joined the army in place of her father and served the country. What she cared about was the righteousness of the country and the filial piety of the family, but these nobles only wanted to save their lives.

All the nobles in the capital bought weapons and equipment, rushed to hire soldiers and guards, and were willing to spend any money to save their lives. Instead, the household department who obeyed the emperor's order and sold weapons and horses made a fortune.All of a sudden, the dandies in the capital almost disappeared, and the teahouses and restaurants that were full of people on weekdays could hear the sound of needles falling, and the capital seemed to become quiet all of a sudden.

Jia's father and son managed to collect all the things they needed to bring to the expedition, but they received a letter from Jiangnan. The content of the letter could be summed up in one sentence: Lin Hai was seriously ill, and his days were numbered. Lin Daiyu was asked to go back to Jiangnan's home to meet him.

If this letter had been delivered a few months ago, it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Jia family.Lin Hai was bedridden with a serious illness. If he wasn't about to die soon, why would he be in such a hurry to pick up his daughter?As long as one of the masters of the Jia family is sent to follow Lin Daiyu around the south of the Yangtze River, when Lin Hai dies, wouldn't all the wealth of his family fall into the pockets of the Jia family?

But the situation is different now, the Northern Expedition is imminent, and the king's order is hard to disobey, and all the nobles have received orders from the Ministry of War to go to the battlefield.Jia Amnesty and Jia Lian have the emperor's order, so they can't leave the capital. Who will be sent to follow Lin Daiyu to the south of the Yangtze River at this time?

Jia Zheng?Not to mention that Da Fang was worried about letting him, a hypocrite, follow him. Even if he was relieved, Jia Zheng didn't intend to resign his small official from the ninth rank and go to Jiangnan to collect the fortune for Da Fang?No matter how important money is, it is not as important as status. Even if Jia Zheng swallowed all the money and left nothing to the big house, can he keep the money after losing his official position because of the money?Given the examples of Xue's mother and daughter, how much better is Jia Zheng than them?

Jia Amnesty, Jia Lian, and Jia Zheng couldn't go, so who else could they send?Should we send the sick Jia Zhu or the 11-year-old Jia Baoyu?Isn't this nonsense?It's just the two of them who don't know anything about mundane affairs, and it's good not to lose themselves. There's no way to do this.

But if they don't go, are they going to send the Jia family's children from the outskirts?If outsiders know that the branch of the Rongguo Mansion has robbed the Lin family of their wealth, will their family be able to hold their heads up in the future?The most important thing is that this kind of shameless thing must be kept under wraps, otherwise the Yushi will hear the wind, and if there is another rumor, the Jia family will be in trouble.

Jia She was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He had been planning this matter for so long, and even went to Yangzhou to bring Lin Daiyu back to Jia's mansion. Why?Isn't it for the Lin family's fortune?Now that Lin Hai is finally about to die, who knows that the Ministry of War has sent an order to seduce him. Does he have to let go of the money and leave for nothing?

Although it is painful to lose property, disobedience to the order of the Ministry of War is like running away, and that is a crime of beheading!

Jia Amnesty gritted his teeth, but could only temporarily abandon the affairs of the Lin family.He thought well, so what if Lin Daiyu returned to her hometown?The relatives of the Lin family can't die anymore, she has to come back to the capital again, as long as she comes back, the Lin family's wealth will still belong to their eldest family sooner or later, as long as Lin Daiyu doesn't run away, the money will not be able to escape.Now he can only comfort himself like this.

Sending his confidant servants to accompany Lin Daiyu to the south, Jia Amnesty gritted his teeth and waited for the Northern Expedition.

The weather is getting colder and colder. It stands to reason that this is not the best time to send troops, but under the operation of the court, everything is ready.All the camps in Gyeonggi will participate in the battle, and the soldiers from Zhao, Wei, and Qi are already ready to fight. The army and horses in northern Xinjiang are gearing up, and the army and horses mobilized from all over the country have gradually gathered near the capital.

For the Northern Expedition, in addition to the auxiliary troops for transportation, the Ministry of War Soldiers alone mobilized 40 people.Everyone knows that if this battle is not successful, it will be benevolent!If you win, the world will be determined by one battle. If you lose, the situation will be even more bleak than when you were in the alliance under the city.

The generals in the capital are very optimistic. They know that Dajing's current strength cannot be stopped by the Northern Barbarian Kingdom.But those nobles who went out with the army were weaker than each other. It was a battlefield, but no one knew who these dudes were. What if they were hacked by the enemy and shot with an arrow, wouldn't it be...

They are no longer the heroic generals they were when the country was founded. One is more incompetent than the other, and one is better than the other.All generals think about how to get rewards for their meritorious deeds, but they can only think about how to avoid disasters.I don't know how it feels for these honorable ancestors to know their secrets. Jiang Yuan saw that their armor was not neatly dressed, and only let out a cold snort.