newbobooks Chapter 179 Lin Daiyu's younger brother in Dream of the Red Chamber 12
Chapter 179 Lin Daiyu's younger brother in Dream of the Red Chamber 12
News came from the palace that Jia Yuanchun, the eldest daughter of the Rongguo Mansion, had been appointed as the Minister of the Phoenix Palace and given the title of Virtuous Consort.
The Rongguo Mansion was full of signs of prosperity. Even Grandmother Jia was overwhelmed by the joyous occasion and took Madam Xing and Madam Wang to the palace to express their gratitude.
Although Wang Xifeng's face showed joy, she was somewhat disappointed that she could not enter the palace to express her gratitude. Jia Lian had no official position, and she had no imperial title, so naturally she could not enter the palace.
Lin Jiyu looked at the Rongguo Mansion with a meaningful expression, and mentioned a few words to Lin Ruhai. Lin Ruhai warned him not to meddle in other people's business. The emperor had long wanted to take action against those with merits, but because the retired emperor was still alive, he was only asking those families with merits to pay some interest.
In the courtyard, Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian were discussing the matter of the imperial visit to her family.
"Hurry up and serve the rice. We still need to go to Uncle Zhen's house to discuss some matters after we finish eating," Jia Lian suddenly said.
"What did the old man want to talk to you about just now?" Wang Xifeng asked.
"It's about my eldest sister's visit home," Jia Lian said calmly, taking a casual bite of his food.
"So, the Emperor has approved the visit to his family?" Wang Xifeng asked, overjoyed, after learning that Grandmother Jia had gone to the palace to express her gratitude the day before yesterday.
With a look of delight, Jia Lian said, "Although it's not entirely accurate, it's about 80% accurate."
"Amitabha, so that's how it is. In other words, our family should prepare to welcome our young lady." Granny Zhang said with great joy.
Then, the three talked about receiving the emperor, and also about the Zhen family, subtly mentioning using the emperor's family's money to benefit the emperor.
Suddenly a maid came in and said, "Second Madam, our mistress said she asked if you have finished eating."
Knowing it was about visiting relatives, Wang Xifeng quickly said, "Oh, I see. You go ahead."
Ping'er brought over mouthwash supplies, and the remaining maids slowly cleared the food off the table.
A voice came from outside the door, "Second Aunt?"
Wang Xifeng went out, and saw Jia Rong and Jia Qiang walking over.
"What is it?" Wang Xifeng asked.
“Aunt, Father sent me to tell Uncle that the masters have already decided to build a separate residence for the emperor’s family, starting from the East Garden and extending northwards, covering a distance of three and a half miles,” Jia Rong said.
“This is the right idea, it saves a lot of trouble.” Jia Lian lifted the curtain and came out from the inner room.
"The master has sent his nephew to Suzhou to hire tutors, buy girls, and procure musical instruments and equipment." Jia Qiang was overjoyed.
Jia Lian stopped what he was doing and hesitated, "Are you...can you do it?"
Jia Qiang quickly explained, "I'll just learn how to do it."
Wang Xifeng said with a smile, "Oh dear, you worry too much. The children are all grown up. Even if they haven't eaten fatty pork, they've seen a fatty pig run. In my opinion, they're just fine."
Wang Xifeng appears to be speaking on behalf of Jia Qiang, but in reality, she is seizing control of the Imperial Visit Residence.
Jia Lian understood Wang Xifeng's meaning; she simply wanted to relinquish some of her power, otherwise the Ningguo Mansion would not be satisfied.
He then jokingly added, "I'm just doing some planning for them."
He turned to Jia Qiang and asked, "When you went to Jiangnan, where did you spend your money?"
Wang Xifeng suddenly spoke up: "The Zhen family in Jiangnan still owes us 50,000 taels of silver. Let's use 30,000 taels first."
Jia Lian replied, "Grandpa Lai had the same idea."
Jia Rong said, "Auntie, if you need anything, just put it in the account and have Brother Qiang buy it for you."
Jia Rong really doesn't know how to speak. All he wants is to get some money from the family visit. There are four people here. Even if they have some ulterior motives, they shouldn't say it out loud. After all, it's something everyone knows but doesn't want to talk about. If they say it out loud, they'll leave themselves open to criticism.
Wang Xifeng retorted directly: "Bullshit! I don't even have anywhere to put my things, why would I need your sneaky behavior?"
After saying that, Wang Xifeng went out.
The three exchanged a knowing glance, understanding each other perfectly without saying a word.
The Emperor arranged for five or six nobles to visit their families, and the market for stone and timber in the capital was booming.
The only thing that bothered Lin Jiyu was that the carriages in the capital were more congested than usual, and Grandmother Jia had invited him and Lin Daiyu to visit the Rongguo Mansion several times.
Lin Jiyu declined, saying he still needed to study. Now that Lin Ruhai has returned to the capital, Lin Jiyu has a place at the Imperial Academy and goes to study every day, only getting one day off every ten days.
Lin Daiyu found it difficult to refuse. Her father had talked to her about marriage, and Lin Daiyu was a little unhappy. She felt uneasy and didn't want to get married. She just wanted to stay with her father and younger brother.
At the Rongguo Mansion, Lin Daiyu would visit once a month, or at the time when Jia Baoyu was going to study. Her father said that Jia Baoyu was not a good match and told her to stay away from him.
Throughout the year, the Rongguo Mansion was busy with the construction of the Imperial Residence for the Imperial Family. Lin Daiyu would sometimes invite the three sisters, Shi Xiangyun, and Xue Baochai to visit the Lin Mansion.
The Lin family was not busy, and the young ladies always had a great time, composing poems and painting, enjoying themselves immensely.
After nearly a year of hard work, the Imperial Residence for the Imperial Family was finally completed, and Jia Zhen, Jia Zheng, and others were about to go to inspect and check it.
Jia Baoyu had learned something over the years, and Jia Zheng summoned him to write the couplet for the Imperial Visit Residence.
Jia Baoyu made a name for himself, and the rumors spread among the pleasure-seeking guests that he was very talented and poetic.
Lin Jiyu met with several friends again. Qi Yunchu had passed the imperial examination last year, but his ranking was a bit low. His family planned to let him study for another three years. After all, he was only twenty-three years old now and would only be twenty-six years old by then. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a young talent.
Jiang Zhujin and Qi Yunchu took the same exam. Jiang Zhujin was slightly better than Qi Yunchu, ranking in the middle, which would earn him the title of Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination). Moreover, as the second son in his family, he did not need to shoulder the family's responsibilities. Jiang Zhujin's father was more lenient with him, as long as he could pass the Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest-level imperial examination) exam.
Shen Hui, Wei Chi, and Lin Jiyu were all scholars who had passed the county-level imperial examinations. They were all young, so they decided to wait a few years to gain experience before taking the imperial examinations.
Hearing the people in the restaurant talking, Wei Chi looked puzzled and said bluntly, "Why do the servants of the Rongguo Mansion always talk about things? If this were in our Wei family, they would be sold off."
Jiang Zhujin said speechlessly, "Brother Wei, why don't you comment on everything? Who among us doesn't know what's going on here?"
The Emperor arranged for the empresses to visit their families. Smart people all knew what the Emperor meant, but no one said it out loud. Those meritorious families who were proud of this were probably being ridiculed by them behind their backs.
But who would dare to say it? To say it would be to slap the Emperor in the face.
"Let's not talk about that anymore, let's drink," Shen Hui joked.
Lin Jiyu chuckled. Jia Yuanchun, the eldest daughter of the Rongguo Mansion, was granted the rank of Consort, the highest among the concubines. She was also used as a shield. Jia Yuanchun's conferment was probably the result of a power struggle between the Emperor Emeritus and the Emperor. The Emperor Emeritus tacitly agreed to the Emperor's arrangement for her to visit her family, giving the Emperor some face and knowing that he wanted some interest.