Chapter 220: Staying
Can Wang Xifeng even ask for advice on the Dazhao Law?
After returning, Shen Ning asked someone to check it out, and sure enough, Wang Xifeng copied whatever she asked them to learn.
That's good!
Shen Ning is not afraid of her learning, but is afraid that she will not learn.
Now the economic situation of the two mansions is good. Yuanchun, who spent the most money, got married, Jia She, who worked hard to ruin the family, has settled down, Jia Zheng can support himself, and the servants in the mansion have been cleaned up several times. Although it is not as thorough as that in the East Mansion, it is definitely better than before.
Wang Xifeng is a good housekeeper. With a virtuous cycle, she will have a happy ending, right? In the Dream of Red Mansions, Shen Ning still likes Sister Feng very much.
If she had been more cautious towards her aunt Lady Wang, she wouldn't have ended up like "one obeys, two orders, three people become wooden, crying towards Jinling, the matter is even more sad".
That night, Shen Ning slept well again, which was a rare occasion.
But Prince Jin couldn't sleep.
He is very cold.
Broken legs and arms are very painful.
Today he tried hard to crawl and find someone to ask for help, but no one stopped for him. Some people even kicked him because he was blocking the way.
If there weren't a few beggars who took pity on him and gave him some food...
King Jin wanted to cry but had no tears!
He trembled and waited for dawn.
He wanted to bask in the sun, he wanted something warm, even if it was just a bowl of water.
Time finally passed slowly as he kept calling for it, and the day gradually brightened.
Early in the morning, Jia Zheng went to the city carrying the couplet he had written.
He didn't know why it was so long and tiring after more than ten miles of walking! But he had to sell the couplets! He had heard from the village chief that there was a woman among the young generals who were confiscating the house.
It must be Lanzhi without a doubt.
Yes, she came from the border town.
The generals who came from the border towns have no roots in the capital, so the emperor should trust them more.
Once Lan Zhi takes root in the capital...
Jia Zheng was afraid that if he couldn't pay the money back, she would come and beat him again.
Two bamboo poles, a rope and a bench constitute his stall.
Jia Zheng carefully hung the written couplets on a rope and let others choose. If they really couldn't choose one, he could write it on the spot.
Of course, he also took out a letter writing service, hoping to earn a few cents.
You really have to lower your expectations, because the farmers are very good at bargaining.
So far in the village, he has given away fifteen blessing characters and two good harvests.
Not only did I have to pay for the writing brush, ink and red paper, but I also had to listen to a lot of nonsense they talked about.
Jia Zheng didn't know what was wrong.
This was not the pastoral life he had imagined.
His ideal pastoral life is one in which he can read and write and be full of wild fun.
He once thought about herding cattle himself, but he never imagined that the cows would have such big feces and their urine would be like a small river...
This was not his idyll.
In the past, he imagined that when the rooster crowed, he would get up and read, but now when the rooster crows... he is so annoyed.
There was no hot tea, no hot, fragrant food, not even a hot towel to wash your face.
You have to do everything yourself.
He had to get up shivering, boil water for himself to wash his face and brush his teeth, and all he had every day was porridge.
If it were just that it would be fine, but this porridge... often has a weird taste.
That's something that even the third-rate maids in their house wouldn't eat!
After Jia Zheng swallowed a large bowl of strange-tasting porridge with tears in his eyes today, Wang Shi discovered that there was a rat dropping in the porridge.
This day...
Sometimes Jia Zheng thought angrily that it would be better for him to die happily than to live like this.
But no matter how much you think about it, you still have to live.
He and Wang lived in harmony.
"How do you sell this couplet?"
An old lady came over, and seeing her shrewd eyes, Jia Zheng went ahead with gritted teeth.
From a distance, Long'er watched their second master bargaining with others, and when he saw that the eight cents were finally taken away by the other party, he couldn't help shaking his head.
The second master is at a great loss by doing this!
At the end of the year, red paper is already quite expensive, but he worked so hard to write the words but couldn't even keep the money for the red paper.
At this moment, he didn't know whether the second master and their master were equally distressed brothers.
Their masters now carve wood and stone, and the things they make are often not as valuable as the original wood or stone.
Oh~ "Give me a bowl of chicken soup with wontons!"
Long'er stamped his feet and shouted at the shop owner.
"Hey, sir, please sit down!"
After a while, the shop owner brought over a bowl of wontons sprinkled with chives and coriander.
The fragrant chicken soup wontons are not something that ordinary people can afford.
Everyone only had wontons, but no chicken soup.
Long'er took a sip of soup and ate a wonton. After a while, sweat started to appear on the tip of his nose.
Jia Zheng, who received the eight cents, also wanted to have something hot, but he lost money again, and these eight cents could be said to be the first time in his life that he earned money by himself.
Jia Zheng was reluctant to do so.
He put the eight cents in his bosom, touching it again and again.
He didn't know that his appearance had been seen by many beggars.
While hungry, Jia Zheng wrote another letter for someone and read two letters for others, and only then did he barely earn 32 cents.
He was starving at noon, and looked around, and only pancakes were the cheapest and most filling.
Of course, the main reason was that he ate thinly sliced food and had had enough.
"Boss, how much is this cake?"
"Two cents each."
"Come one!"
Jia Zheng was happy to take out the money, but as soon as he took out the purse, it was as if a gust of wind hit him.
“Ouch~”
He staggered after being hit, and when he came to his senses, his money bag was gone. "Thief, thief, catch the thief, my money is gone!"
Jia Zheng cried out to the sky, this was the first time he had made money in his life! In the distance, a caravan was entering the city. Xue Baochai heard the noise, lifted the curtain and took a look outside, but was stopped by Aunt Xue, "It's cold, don't blow in the wind."
"Mother, should we go to my uncle's house or my aunt's house now?"
My cousin Yuanchun is the wife of Marquis Xinping.
It seems like there are relatives everywhere in Beijing, but whose house should I live with...
Xue Baochai always found it difficult.
"Go to your aunt's house."
"But Auntie..."
"How is your aunt? We just arrived in Beijing, how can we know?"
Aunt Xue wanted to send her son to study at the Jia family, but since the eldest brother was not at home at the Wang family, she had no hope at all.
Her son was already a mixed-up person, if he learns from his second brother...
Aunt Xue never thought about returning to the Wang family.
"Besides, your cousin is at the Jia family."
Wang Xifeng?
Xue Baochai pursed her lips and said nothing.
There are letters between my home and my uncle's family. My uncle's family believes that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. My cousin can only recognize a few words and write... Xue Baochai has seen her greetings to the family, and her handwriting is so ugly.
"Girl Feng is different now than before."
Aunt Xue sighed, "So your aunt wanted to strengthen the relationship. If there was anything, she could just tell Feng girl, but she didn't expect the two families to suddenly separate."
With this separation, the relationship between the first and second wives was reversed.
Now Feng girl is the real mistress of Rongguo Mansion, what is her sister?
"Since Jia Lian is a doctor in the Armory, she will be a concubine of the fifth rank."
Aunt Xue also felt uncomfortable.
No matter how rich the Xue family is, they are just businessmen.
"See you, show some respect!"
Aunt Xue knew her daughter well, because she had often corresponded with her sister before. She knew her sister's attitude towards Feng Yatou, so she inevitably looked down on her. "Things are different now. Your aunt is not at home. We still have to rely on her to gain a foothold in the Jia family."
Entering the palace through the imperial examination is certainly one way, but just look at Yuanchun to know how difficult this road is.
Although the Xue family can use money to pave the way for their daughter, but in Jiangnan, the Xue family also relies more on the Zhen family. The Zhen family has the Prince of Jin, so it is impossible for them to set up their own business.
"Mom, I still want to enter the palace."
Xue Baochai knew that her family wanted to turn things around, and marrying into a marriage alliance with anyone would be considered dependence.
In that case, why not enter the most honorable place in the world? "My father wanted me to enter the palace."
Her father regretted that she was not a boy and could not set up his own household, but he also did not want to let her intelligence and talent down, so he hired a teacher who said he was teaching her brother, but was actually teaching her.
"Okay, okay, let's do this one by one."
At this time, they did not know that a mutiny had just occurred in the capital, the Prince of Jin had fallen, and the Zhen family was already in danger.
The Xue family's convoy headed all the way to Ningrong Street.
When Wang Xifeng heard that Aunt Xue and her family were coming, she was completely stunned.
While she asked someone to tell the old lady and the lady, she and Li Wan went to the second gate.
Li Wan is the nephew's wife. Since her aunt is not at home, who else can take over?
As for Xue Pan...
Jia Zheng was not at home and Jia Zhu was in the Imperial College. For the sake of Wang Xifeng, only Jia She could receive him.
This family welcomed the guests passively, so the smiles on their faces inevitably seemed a little forced.
But what kind of person is Aunt Xue?
Pretend not to see.
If she didn't live in the Jia family, how could she, an orphan and a widow, intimidate those housekeepers? Now that the Jia family was doing so well, if she had said she would go and take refuge, then she would go and take refuge.
Of course, this gift...
That is enough.
Even Mrs. Xing got sicker.
"……old lady……"
After paying respect to the old lady, Aunt Xue tried to hold back tears and said, "I really didn't know my sister would be so confused."
"Alas~"
The old lady had no idea how miserable her son was at this moment.
However, compared to the spendthrift Wang, it was not easy for Aunt Xue to raise a pair of children and take care of them all the time after she became the head of the Xue family.
"I won't talk about her anymore."
The main reason is that the second son is useless.
Grandmother Jia waved her hand, motioning her to sit down, "You are coming to Beijing at this time..."
"…To be honest with you, Madam, I came to Beijing at this time mainly to seek refuge with my sister and Feng Yatou."
Aunt Xue gave birth to Wang Xifeng.
My niece is the head of Rongguo Mansion, and it would not look good to reject her aunt. "You know, after my family left, there was no one to teach Pan'er, and now he is getting more and more naughty. My sister told me before that the Jia family has good learning. If you can't do it, just come here."
It's better to say that she came by invitation than that she came here on her own.
"My hesitation delayed me for a long time, but now Baochai is getting older and needs to enter the palace to be selected."
Aunt Xue looks honest and kind, and speaks softly.
Among the four major families, the Shi family has made some progress again, but their financial resources are spread thin. If they really want to rely on their old relatives, the Xue family's wealth may be consumed even faster.
"Old lady, I didn't expect the change here to be so serious. The house is not cleaned up yet..."
As she said this, she quickly looked around at everyone and found that only the old lady's face was relaxed. She hurriedly urged her, "Look, can we stay here for a few days and move back after we have cleaned up the house?"
This? You can't say that. The words have already been spoken.
Say OK...
Grandmother Jia sighed, "You also know that the family has been divided. Now your sister and her family live in Lixiang Courtyard. How about this? There is a small courtyard next to Lixiang Courtyard. If you don't mind it being crowded..."
“No problem, no problem…”
How could she dislike it? Aunt Xue looked eagerly at Wang Xifeng and Li Wan again.
When the two of them took her to the upper room, although they mentioned many difficulties, they did not make it clear, "I will trouble my niece's wife and Feng girl."
“…I should.”
Li Wan didn't expect that after her mother-in-law left, there would be another elder in the family.
Wang Xifeng used to like to show off her strength, but now because of Jia Lian, she has to think more in many cases.
If I’m not careful, I might end up like my aunt…
Wang Xifeng is afraid! She has no children yet.
Men from the Jia family are very popular nowadays.
Jia Lian is even worse.
That is, they got married early.
"Since Auntie doesn't mind the crowd, I'll have someone clean it up right away."
Wang Xifeng was thinking about the layout of the small courtyard.
Xue Pan was a man from outside and it was not convenient for him to come into the inner house, so they could only open a door in the yard.
She doesn't like opening doors!
There was a mutiny a few days ago. There are so many gates in the East Palace that I don’t know how many people should be deployed to guard them.
What if we don't open the door and let them live in the guest house in the outer courtyard?
It doesn’t seem to work.
Seeing my aunt like this...
Now that you have invested, you probably won't leave easily.
"Go ahead!"
Grandmother Jia didn't think too much about it. She saw that Baochai was very beautiful and said, "You are Baochai. Come here and let me see you."
Xue Baochai hurriedly stood up and saluted, and asked her to pull her to take a good look at her, "Well, what a well-behaved child." The relatives said that this child was really lucky and it would be good for him to be with the emperor.
"The old lady praised me."
Xue Baochai said shyly, "I heard from my aunt that the sisters in the mansion are all very nice."
"What are they so good about!"
Speaking of her granddaughters, Jia's mother was very happy, "each of them has learned some exquisite mischief." She wanted to show off, and said to Yuanyang, "There are distant guests coming, please ask for leave for the girls."
“Hey~”
Yuanyang hurriedly smiled and agreed.
"Are your sisters in school?"
Xue Baochai was very curious.
She never caused her husband any worries in her studies. Not only did her father feel sorry for her talent, but her husband also felt sorry for her.
Xue Baochai wanted to know the difference between herself and these daughters of dukes and marquises.
"Just some words."
Grandmother Jia modestly asked on behalf of her granddaughters, "What books has Baochai read?"
"…I just read the Four Books for Women."
Xue Baochai glanced at her mother and shyly spoke of the Four Books for Women.
Anyway, there is absolutely nothing wrong in saying this.
By the time Shen Ning learned that the Xue family was coming to Beijing and would be living in the Rongguo Mansion, everything there had already been almost cleaned up.
As for Xue Baochai...
She really wants to see him!
She is the leader of the Twelve Golden Hairpins, as famous as Lin Daiyu.
If you say that she is not good, it only means that she is too scheming and can only be viewed from a distance and not up close.
"Then how did Master Xue arrange it?"
Shen Ning also thought of Xue Pan first.
Unlike in the Red Mansion, where the Jia family learns terribly, he learns even worse in there. Now the Jia family learns...
Xue Pan would probably cry if he went in.
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