Daiyu's wife in the Red Chamber

Chapter 116

When the old concubine passed away, the imperial court had issued an edict that no banquet and music would be allowed within a year in any household with noble titles, and common people would not be allowed to marry in March. At that time, the Supreme Emperor passed away. The family is still the same as before, and they are not allowed to gather for fun, but the common people are not allowed to marry for half a year, and stay for three more months to show the dignity of the Supreme Emperor.

After receiving the news, Daiyu hurriedly ordered people to check it, and temporarily removed the brightly colored lanterns and other things. Fortunately, the court did not force the officials and eunuchs to keep everything clean. Lan Fengguo is filial and does not mourn.

The more experience she has, the more she understands that people's hearts are unpredictable, and there are not a few people who are officials and butchers are impeached for trivial matters.

Thinking of canceling the selection in the palace, and then not being able to discuss relatives within a year, Tanchun will be 16 years old in the next year, and it is impossible for the imperial court to recruit talents at the end of the year. Daiyu couldn't help but sigh a little, and she was worried beyond words.

Although she was very worried, Daiyu always respected Xichun's wishes, she could only persuade her, she did not dare to force her, she only hoped that Xichun would change her mind after seeing the fate of the Zhen family's women and others.

As she expected, Xichun was really a little scared when she learned that the girls from the Zhen family were enslaved and sent to work in the House of Internal Affairs.

Sister Feng took the opportunity to persuade: "My good sister, thanks to the kindness of today's sages and their thoughtfulness, the girls from the Zhen family were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as slaves. Although they worked hard, no one acted as if they were fans. If it was rewarded to some high-ranking official The homes of the nobles, or sold on the street, do not know how they are ruined. They look neat, how many men who are greedy and lustful can hold back? I am afraid that there are also those old bustards from unclean places who are staring at them and want to buy them. Going back, Miss Qianjin is degraded, how many people watch this excitement? Even if they are dispatched to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they will become official slaves, and they will only be able to intermarry with official slaves in the future, without grace, and will be slaves for generations."

Xichun's face was pale, and her heart was already a little shaken, but she still said firmly: "I just know that our family may not end up better than the Zhen family in the future, so I don't want to hurt others, not to mention the reputation of the East Mansion. The Zhen family was raided, their family What happened to the eldest girl and the second girl who came out of the cabinet? Presumably life is not good in the husband's house?"

Sister Feng rubbed the "Everna" on her temples, and said: "Silly girl, according to what you say, the aunts and grandmothers who have accidents in their natal families should have a bad life? Girls who have no natal family to rely on don't have to marry? Don't say it." The house was ransacked, even if the natal family encountered natural disasters and man-made disasters, it is not uncommon, but how many husbands really treat such daughters-in-law harshly? Unless they are implicated in the nine clans, the girls who marry out have nothing to do with the natal family. If there is something unsatisfactory, it will pass after a while.”

Then, he told Xichun about the situation of the two aunts of the Zhen family, and said: "The husbands of the two aunts of the Zhen family also committed crimes, earlier than the Zhen family, and they paid several 10 taels of silver to be exonerated. Dismissal is very hurtful. The two aunts have already had children, and their husband's family is not a wolf-hearted person. Although they feel uncomfortable, they did not treat them harshly."

Xichun lowered her head, pondered for a moment before raising her head and said, "If I want to avoid future misfortunes and don't need to bring others into trouble, wouldn't it be good for me to become a monk and practice? Although there are dirty and bad nunneries, it's not like there are no clean places. Sister Lin’s mother-in-law’s place is an excellent place to go, or the Muni Temple where Miaoyu’s deceased master once placed orders is also very solemn and solemn.”

Sister Feng was dumbfounded, and hurriedly said: "Good Miss Qianjin, where did you get all these thoughts? It's just a decent life, what kind of family and what kind of business should you do? Master Miaozhen refused to remarry, and Miaoyu was weak and sick since she was a child, so she came out. House's."

Xichun tilted her head and smiled, "I also have a reason."

Sister Feng asked what was the reason, and Xichun said with a smile: "I was trying to avoid disaster, but when I left home, I ended up clean. People who were born out of this world are not in the world of mortals. Even if they ransack their homes and exterminate their clans, it has nothing to do with me."

After hearing this, Sister Feng was at a loss for words, and it took a long time before she said, "You girl, why can't you justify it? You are so young, why do you want to see through the world. You are at the right age to talk about marriage, even though our two families are not well-known. Great, but you have lived in this mansion since you were a child, and the girls in our family are all well-known. They say that they are relatives, with a dowry, and they will leave the cabinet safely. Don't worry about Sister Lin very much. Tell me, is what I said reasonable or not? At that time, you don't care about your brother, sister-in-law, nephew, nephew and daughter-in-law, can you tell Sister Lin to take care of her? She is only one year older than you, and our house spent 5 on her Two silver coins, apart from adding makeup to a few things, you didn’t prepare any dowry for her, so what face do you have to ask her to take care of everything?”

Seeing that Xichun seemed to be moved, Sister Feng continued her efforts and said: "Your elder sister Lin is already very kind in managing the people in this mansion, how about those in the East mansion? How tired is she? You can bear to watch her work hard. Your second elder brother and I don’t dare to dream about the future. If so, we don’t know how to arrange for the two children, for fear that they will be convicted together, and become slaves like the girl from the Zhen family and Zhen Baoyu. Have you avoided the disaster? Why don’t you know how to cherish the opportunity you have? I don’t plan to find you a wealthy family, but just find a family with a solid family, a simple population, good conduct, and know how to make progress. It's just our family, they don't have anything to do with them, and it's not considered a burden."

Xichun was silent for a long time, and said with a wry smile: "It's too late to say anything now, it's better for me to take some belongings and become a monk, and then I will take care of the elder brother and sister-in-law in the house, so don't bother sister Lin. Listen to me, sister-in-law. I understand it in my heart, I know what my sister-in-law said is reasonable, but once the emperor and the courtiers, we don't know when our family will be like the Zhen family. Who knows what will happen next year? Or the house will be ransacked within a year."

Thinking of what would happen to the whole family after Zhen's family was ransacked, Xichun's face showed a trace of fear, no matter how loud she said, she was still very scared, and she was afraid that the house would be ransacked soon and it would be too late to avoid it.

Hearing these words, Sister Feng was shocked and her face changed color. She felt that Xichun's words were reasonable. Indeed, they knew that their family was in prosperity and decline, and their fate was not very good, but after all they didn't know when something would happen. Therefore, I want to become a monk.However, as she watched Xichun and these sisters grow up, she always hoped that Xichun would get out of the pavilion to get married instead of becoming a monk to practice.

Xichun was afraid that Sister Feng would stop her, so she laughed again: "My good sister-in-law, the reason for becoming a monk now is to avoid disaster and not to stay with us anymore. If the limelight passes in the future, it's not impossible for me to return to vulgar life. Why are you so worried?"

Sister Feng snorted, and said: "It's easy for you to say, just think about the old lady, how can you have such an idea?"

Xichun smiled and said: "I already have a very good reason. I will pretend to be sick from tomorrow, and I will be sick for a year or so, and then I will invite Master Miaozhen or Master Jinghui to come and say that I have a predestined relationship with Buddhism and Taoism, and the only way to become a monk Only then can we see each other."

Sister Feng spat: "Why are you not sick? Girls are so sick that you have a good reputation? Even Sister Lin was weaker before, and the nuns around her also tried their best to take care of Sister Lin, so that there would be no rumors of being weak or sickly." Fame. You are fine. If you are in good health, you must say that you are sick. Don’t do that, wait until I think of other ways.”

Before saying a word, Xiaohong said loudly outside the door: "Grandma, girl, the second master is back." As she spoke, she stood up from the eaves, walked over and opened the curtain, and invited Jia Lian to come in.

When the Supreme Emperor passed away, Jia's mother and others were all dressed up according to their rank, and they entered the court every day with sacrifices. It has been a month now, and they were all escorted into the court by Jia Lian.

Sister Feng and Xichun got up one after another, saw Jia Lian entering the room, stomped her feet, and clapped her hands, quickly picked up Sister Feng's stove and hugged her in her arms, her lips were black and purple from the cold, Sister Feng said, "Second master is back? Why is it so cold?"

There was no maid in the room, so she hurriedly picked up the teapot on the stove to make tea and handed it to Jia Lian.

Sitting on the kang, Jia Lian said, "How can it not be cold? It's snowing all over the world, riding a horse, drinking a lot of wind and snow, but you can't complain. It's better for old ladies and gentlemen to sit in sedan chairs. Baoyu suffered a great crime. The old lady hated Baoyu's hard work and asked him to pretend to be sick, but Baoyu refused, and went out early and returned late like me every day."

After hearing this, Sister Feng ordered Xiaohong to order the kitchen to boil soup to drive away the cold and send it to Baoyu, Jiamu and others. She turned around and smiled at Jia Lian, "I am very pleased to hear that Baoyu is becoming more and more manly." , the smell of fat and powder has reduced a bit."

Jia Lian also smiled, and asked, "What are you two sisters-in-law talking about? Xiaohong is guarding the door outside, and there is no one in the courtyard."

Sister Feng sighed, and told him exactly what Caicai and Xichun had said just now, while Xichun sat below, with both feet on the brass pedals, rubbing the corners of her clothes with both hands, bowing her head in silence.

Jia Lian said: "Just in time, I have some good news for you. The fourth younger sister does not have to worry about not knowing when the house will be ransacked and she will have to avoid disaster and become a monk. The Supreme Emperor died, and we will sacrifice for ninety-nine and 81 days. Although it is only one month now, Your Majesty is Son of Heaven, you have to deal with state affairs, so you can go to the court to govern three days ago. Early this morning, a decree was issued to urge the payment of money and food owed by each family in the capital and other places outside. The limit is three years. Those who commit crimes shall be punished according to the law."

Sister Feng was overjoyed, and blurted out: "Does this mean that we will have no worries for three years? If we pay off our deficits and borrowed money in these three years, maybe we can avoid the disaster of ransacking our house?"

Xichun suddenly raised her head, a look of joy flashed in her eyes.

Jia Lian took a sip of hot tea and said with a smile: "So the sage Long En, compared to the Zhen family, we have received great grace. We will not commit heinous crimes such as treason, and we will have no worries for three years. The Zhen family ransacked the house without any warning. No, it’s not that there are many people who impeached the Zhen family in the past 20 years, and they were suppressed by the Supreme Emperor when he was in power. They were sent to make up for the shortfall by sending them the weaving and salt administration. They themselves failed Long. Well, the money is extravagant and wasteful, and they refuse to return the shortfall and borrow money. Moreover, the Zhen family has done many evil things, which I find unbearable, let alone a saint."

Sister Feng recited Buddha repeatedly, clasped her hands together and said, "Amitabha, Amitabha, really is the Lord Long En. In the past three years, we don't know how much we can do, or we will speak louder about the end. We will get together and pay back some more." Giving the money to the court can alleviate some crimes." She has neglected the laws and regulations in the past few months, and she has committed the crime of ransacking the house, but it should not be like the Zhen family's harm to young children.

She looked at the crimes of the Zhen family word by word, and compared them one by one with those of her own family. Except for the two major crimes in the family, deficit and money owed, the rest had nothing to do with their family.

After she finished speaking, she looked at Xichun and said with a smile: "Take your idea of ​​becoming a monk as soon as possible, I have three years to grind with you."

Xichun sighed, didn't know what to say for a while, but made up her mind, she just wanted to become a monk, not a cabinet, besides Daiyu and Wei Ruolan who are deeply in love, who else is living well?Even Yingchun, who has just given birth to a son, has to face concubine Ji.

Jia Lian nodded in agreement and said, "Fourth sister, your sister-in-law is right. Our family doesn't want to be a monk or not. You are not like the third sister. Three years is enough for our family to choose a good family for you to marry. You are a member of our group, and you are smart, so if it is about your life, you should not hide it from you, otherwise, it would have passed you and made the decision."

Xichun's eyes turned red, and said: "I know in my heart that my brother and sister-in-law are kind to me, I never thought that Lonely would grow up so big, and have a good brother, sister-in-law and considerate sister."

Sister Feng hurriedly said: "It's early, there is still a year to go, enough for my sister to think about it."

Jia Lian took it very seriously, and stopped persuading Xichun at this time. She had to figure out these things by herself and leave the cabinet willingly, otherwise it would be bad for everyone. Although the girls in their family are good, they can't bully others like this.What's more, Xichun's original intention of becoming a monk was to avoid disaster, and now that she didn't have to rush to avoid disaster, she naturally wouldn't think about becoming a monk.

At this time, Jia She sent someone to call Jia Lian. Jia Lian guessed that it was related to this purpose, so he hurriedly put on the cloak that was put on the smoker cage, and hurried out to take a car, went straight into the black oil gate, and went straight into Jia She's study. , Sure enough, he heard him say: "I think you already know the decree today, what do you think?"

Jia Lian thought that it was as expected, and said: "What can you think? Thinking of the fate of the Zhen family, my son feels that we can only be innocent if we pay the money and food owed."

Jia She was so angry that he threw the teacup on the ground and scolded, "What do you say? If the mansion can return, why should I ask you?"

Jia Lian lowered his head, a look of indifference flashed in his eyes, and said in a low voice: "My son is dull, except for this method, which is sure to fail, I really can't think of any other way to solve this matter."

Jia Amnesty stood up and sat down, sat down and got up again, walked around the room, returned to his original seat after half a day, and said: "That year, the money from the Lai family was stolen and returned to the treasury. Well, even if there were 20 million taels in the warehouse at that time, I’m afraid it’s gone now. Everyone else is selfish and refuses to pay. How can I pay for it? To tell you the truth, I only have ten Seventy to eighty thousand taels, I plan to leave it to my grandson, and I'm thinking of quietly transferring it out."

Hearing Jia Amnesty reading to his son, Jia Lian couldn't help being touched, and hurriedly said: "It was just a transfer in the past, but now the sage has ordered the master to do this. Isn't it just a crime of transferring property to myself? Brother Xuan took it." My heart feels uncomfortable. Master, don't forget that when Zhen Yingjia was sentenced, one of the crimes was transferring property."

Mrs. Zhen quietly sent things to several families, but not everyone hid them like Mrs. Wang did. There were two families who were afraid of getting into trouble, so they handed over their things to show their innocence.

Jia Amnesty's expression changed, and he said angrily, "Do you want my grandson to be poor all his life?"

Jia Lian sighed: "Who told him that his fate is bad? After thinking about it, my son, there is really no other crime in our house, only that one, which is a serious crime. If you don't pay it back, I'm afraid the grandson of the master will end up with Zhen." Baoyu has the same fate, and by then it will be too late to regret.”

When he thought about his long-awaited and clever grandson, like Zhen Baoyu, who was finally obtained so easily and became a slave, or sold in the street, and who would fall into the hands of someone, Jia She was very anxious, and said in a repeated voice: "Then what should I do?" What should I do? Then what should I do? How can my precious grandson be someone else's slave, or he will not be able to redeem himself for the rest of his life without grace?"

At first, he didn't take it seriously because he felt that every family was like this, not only his own, and the court didn't urge them to pay, so he let it go. Now that Emperor Changtai made a decree, he is a man with children and grandchildren, and seeing what happened to the Zhen family, Don't dare to ignore it anymore.

Jia Lian's spirit was refreshed, maybe he could use his son to persuade Jia Amnesty to try to return the owed money?He thought about it for two years, saying that the mansion is very poor, but in fact, everyone has a ladder in their hands. Besides, he has paid back 10,000+ taels, and the remaining [-] taels can't be made up, or he can't get it together. I can't make it out, and the family also has antique houses and land to sell, but life will be more difficult in the future.But with the savings that my husband and wife had placed with Daiyu early on, it was enough for me to live a prosperous life with a house.

After thinking about it, Jia Lian explained to Jia She in detail, saying: "My son remembers that there are several antique treasures in the warehouse, and there are ten or twenty items worth tens of thousands or thousands of taels, like coral five feet high. Precious trees, pairs of Chenghua color-fighting cockpit cups, crystal-clear and golden bonsai gemstones, authentic calligraphy and paintings by famous masters throughout the ages, the mansion did not dare to touch them, and they were afraid that they would not have the money to redeem them after they had pledged their silver for use. I stayed. One house and another one hundred thousand, together with the good things in the hands of the old lady, can make up four to five million taels of silver. The remaining two hundred thousand taels can be made up by selling houses, land and slaves Some, even if it is still not enough, the master’s loyalty is here, and he did not push back like other families, and the saint will definitely not punish our family very severely in his heart."

Jia She couldn't stop nodding, and said: "Hearing what you said, I can really get it together. I'll take out [-], and the remaining [-] to [-] will be given to Brother Xuan. It's better than ransacking the house with nothing in the future. Let me think about it. There are not only the ten or twenty items in the warehouse, but also the display calligraphy and paintings taken out of the warehouse and displayed in the next room, which can be sold for silver, which belongs to the public, not everyone. The place in Jinling The old house can be sold for tens of thousands of taels, it's not like this mansion was bestowed by the imperial court, and it will be taken back when the old lady is gone."

While talking, Jia She took out a pen and paper, and after careful calculation, more than 70 taels of silver could be scraped together. Jia She was both surprised and happy, and said: "The Taoist said that a lean camel is bigger than a horse. The family really complied with this sentence, so it turns out that they are not so poor that they can’t afford to pay back the money.” If you pay back the money, you will be free from all debts and crimes, and Jia Amnesty handed the paper to Jia Lian with a smile on his face.

Jia Lian took it with both hands, looked carefully, and remembered every stroke clearly. In the end, the total was more than 75 taels. Even if the things were sold or damaged, it would be easy to say that they were short of tens of thousands of taels. After all, they can be seen everywhere in the house. Valuable curio.

Jia Amnesty waited for him to finish, took it back and stuffed it into the shaft of his boot, and said, "Let's go find the old lady."

Putting on the cloak of the lynx cat, Jia Lian ordered someone to prepare the carriage. Jia Amnesty stepped on the stool, and just as he put down the curtain, he opened it again and said, "Lian'er, send someone to call the second master and the second wife. There is something important to discuss." How could they be missing on such a big event.

Jia Lian was looking forward to the repayment of the money from the mansion as soon as possible. After thinking about it, he said with a smile: "My son will invite you in person. How can you invite the second master? The second wife is probably serving dinner in the old lady's room just like the eldest wife." I'll see you when I go. I've lived in our Rongxi Hall for so many years, and I can't let the second master hide when it's time to do my best."

Jia Amnesty smiled approvingly, lowered the curtain and ordered someone to set up a car and go out.

Passing the gate of Rongguo Mansion, Jia Amnesty went west and walked through the side door to Jia's mother's courtyard, while Jia Lian went to Jia Zhengwai's study on the east side of the main room of Rongxi Hall, saying: "It is related to today's imperial decree. Our master goes to the old lady's room." Alright, let’s discuss how to cook.”

During the national filial piety, Jia Zheng was not good at drinking and chatting with Qing Ke, so he was reading in the study alone. Hearing Jia Lian's words, and really thinking about this will, he nodded at Jia Lian and said he knew, and then ordered someone to choose him. Leading the way with a horn lamp, he supported Jia Lian's hand through the corridor connecting Rongxi Hall and Jiamu's courtyard, and arrived at Jiamu's main room.

Mrs. Xing Wang was in Jia Mu's room, as were Feng Sister Li Wan and Baoyu Tanchun Xichun. Jia Mu, Baoyu and Tan Chun Xichun had just rinsed their mouths after dinner, and were about to order Mrs. Xing Wang and Sister Feng to go down for dinner. , Jia Amnesty arrived, and then Jia Zheng and Jia Lian arrived.

After paying my respects, Mother Jia laughed and said, "It's very late now, why are you all here?"

Jia She said: "There are all people, just right, everyone is here, and they can come up with an idea. Lian'er, you go around outside and talk about the decree that came down today, so that everyone can know."

Jia's mother wondered what was going on, and Jia Lian had already stated Emperor Changtai's decree slowly, and finally said: "Looking at this decree being sent to all parts of the world, it must be the sage of today who is ruthless, intending to recover the money and grain owed by each family. Those who don’t return will be dismissed from office and punished, and the house is not without exception. The matter of Zhen’s family is not over yet, Zhen Baoyu is in our house, and everyone knows what will happen to their family.”

One word is about to come out, except for Jia Amnesty who had already discussed with Jia Lian and had already made up his mind, everyone else changed color, and the room was silent, even Li Wan, Tanchun Xichun and others dared not move if they wanted to leave.

Mother Jia was silent for a long time, and asked, "How much money does our family have that we can use?"

Mrs. Wang hurriedly said: "Back to the old lady, money has been spent every year, and more money is spent than money is brought in. There is only less than 1 taels of silver left in the mansion, and each village will only send three thousand taels of silver at the end of the year. not enough."

Before finishing the sentence, Jia She interrupted: "What's the use of saying these insignificant words? Why is there no money in the house? If you don't have money, you can pawn things! I've done the math, just like when the garden was built, each house has no money. One hundred thousand silver, this is 30 taels. The two houses are not separated, so they should both have to bear this old debt. The remaining four hundred thousand taels are sold to sell things, sell houses, sell land, and sell people. The head, clothes, dowry, and other things have all been changed!"