The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

Because Li An and Wang Ziteng would hand over official duties tomorrow, Chen Heng slept directly in Dusi Yamen that night.

Needless to say, there was no need to say much about the atmosphere at the dinner. Wang Ziteng took the initiative throughout the whole process. Ang Lee was mostly at a disadvantage and drank a lot of wine for this. Chen Heng really couldn't understand and felt that Prince Zhongshun was really a pig teammate. There is no way to rush thousands of miles to find happiness for yourself.

After returning to his room, Manager Xu brought a change of ointment and freshly brewed ginseng tea. Seeing Chen Heng sitting on the desk thinking hard, he couldn't help but persuade him: Master, I have to send Mr. Wang off tomorrow, so it's better to go early. Get some rest.

When Chen Heng heard this, he nodded to indicate that he understood. Manager Xu had just come to help him and was not very clear about his own routine. Thanking Manager Xu for his kindness, Chen Heng changed the ointment after he left, finished reading the book, and then lay on the bed and fell asleep.

The next day, it was just dawn. There was noisy movement in Dusi. Chen Heng fell asleep last night with his thoughts on his mind, and his sleep was extremely restless. The slightest movement outside would wake him up. After simply changing his clothes and coming outside the lobby, Chen Heng hid among the farewell officials from Dusi, quietly watching Wang Ziteng who was about to go back.

After everyone waited for a long time, Li An sent someone to send a message, saying that the prince drank too much last night and could not deliver it in person. The prince, who was in a hurry to return to the capital, laughed angrily and didn't pay much attention. He led his guards and staff to ride on the military horse.

Everyone, after I leave, you still need to do your best to help Prince Zhongshun do his errands. Wang Ziteng pulled the reins and glanced at the officials at the yamen gate.

No one knows what these words mean to others. Chen Heng couldn't guess, so he didn't bother to guess. It doesn't matter if the person below has a small idea, there is Li Zhi behind Prince Zhongshun. Comparing the two, it goes without saying who has the initiative.

Chen Hengduo glanced at Wang Ziteng and suddenly noticed something strange. At Wang Ziteng's age, should he still ride back to the capital? If you think carefully about the recent events in the capital, there is nothing worthy of the prince's speed, right?

Wang Ziteng raised his eyes to look at the sky, and then looked at the person seeing him off. Then he waved his riding whip and ran towards the city gate anxiously. Yishui's border athletes responded to the call. Suddenly the horse's hooves thundered and the wind howled.

Just as Chen Heng couldn't figure out why Li An came all the way to suffer a loss, Wang Ziteng couldn't figure out why Li An came to seek this bad luck. His first reaction was that Li Zhi wanted to use Li An to drag him to Shenzhou. During the years of patrolling the border and leading troops and supervising battles, Wang Ziteng's contact with the capital was indeed continuous, but not much more.

The Four Kings and Eight Dukes are the source and foundation of Wang Ziteng's power. He absolutely did not want anything to go wrong with this group of people, and he was worried. Wang Ziteng naturally wanted to return to the capital immediately so that he could see it with his own eyes.

Afterwards, Chen Heng learned. Wang Ziteng returned to Beijing on this trip and took the eight-hundred-mile expedited route from the Ministry of War. That means traveling day and night, rain or shine. It took him eight days to follow Li An to Shenzhou. When Wang Zitang set off, it took only four days to reach the capital.

It’s really scary for others to think about it.

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Wang Ziteng entered the capital with his entourage, and Liu Xianglian also followed other relevant personnel to Shenzhou. As soon as he saw Chen Heng, he started to complain, Okay, now you don't even tell me when you go out.

Li An arranged a separate office space for Chen Heng in Dusi Yamen. The room was not big, but it was well-equipped with everything. There are also several free desktops for posterity. Chen Heng smiled apologetically, It's an urgent matter, and the prince didn't give me any time.

Liu Xianglian hummed twice and turned sideways to let out the officials who came in with her. Most of them are from the Ministry of Household Affairs. The leader is Wen Yu, who is only twenty-two years old. He was the nephew of Wen Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance. He failed the examination and was taken to the Ministry of Finance to become a young man.

Brother Wen. Chen Heng quickly stood up to greet him, and he also saw other officials following him. Wen Yu had worked with Chen Heng before and was a very good-tempered person. The two of them got along quite well. Knowing that it was Chen Heng who invited him, Wen Yu didn't refuse and came directly to Shenzhou.

Brother Chen. Wen Yu returned the gift, introduced the people behind him again, and then said to the documents held in everyone's hands: I have brought all the documents you want from the Sixth Department.

Master Wen didn't say anything, did he? Chen Heng asked with concern. Wen Yu and others were holding household registration, land tax and other information in Shenzhou and other places. However, what they brought with them was the supplementary register, and the main register could not easily be separated from the household department.

He didn't say anything. Wen Yu said with a bitter face, But my lord said that since I have come to Shenzhou, I will check the fish scale book here again, and then bring it back to Beijing to report to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and let them do it in the future. One less trip.”

Hao Duanduan had another errand on his plate, which made Wen Yu even more miserable. The salary of the Ministry of Household Affairs is only three taels of silver.

I mean, why did we only invite one Wen Yu, and there were so many people from the household department behind him? Chen Heng nodded, knowing that this was a big project. Then he smiled and comforted: This is better. The affairs of the border city and the household department can be handled together. In total, we can get twice the result with half the effort.

I hope so. Wen Yu sighed. After all, don't you blame yourself for failing the exam? Not to mention agreeing to come to the household department.

A few people chatted for a while, and then helped tidy up everywhere in the house to make room for Wen Yu and others. In the evening, Li An held a banquet to entertain the guests as usual. Today is August 15th, the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Li An saw that everyone was not in high spirits and was worried that they missed their loved ones and would affect his major events. He ordered someone to call a group of ladies from outside to serve and drink with these officials as a warm-up.

Prince Zhongshun spends generously, and all the officials present are accompanied by two girls. Chen Heng is no exception, because he is young and sits near the front. There were two beautiful sisters who singled him out.

Chen Heng couldn't stand the enthusiasm of these people, so he drank a few glasses of wine with them during the trip, and then left on the pretext of being out of courtesy. Only halfway through the yamen, Liu Xianglian chased him out from nowhere and followed him.

I knew you wanted to escape.

Chen Heng didn't feel embarrassed if his feelings were revealed. He just smiled and replied: Don't worry, just drink. I won't go out. I'll just hang around in the yamen.

Come on. Liu Xianglian shook her head, You disappeared in front of me, and I still have to miss you while I'm drinking.

Chen Heng smiled sheepishly. Li Xian's gossip back then had put a tight spell on the monkey Liu Xianglian. He stopped trying to persuade her and simply pulled Liu Xianglian into the soft moonlight. On a whim, the two of them suddenly changed their route and walked outside the Yamen, deciding to walk around in Shenzhou City.

On the way, they walked and talked. Chen Heng suddenly remembered something and felt that Liu Xianglian, as a collateral descendant of the Liu family, might not know the details. I asked the other party about the gap between Li An and Wang Ziteng.

Hey, what a coincidence. If you ask other people about this matter, I may not know it all. Liu Xianglian folded her hands behind her head, swinging the Yuanyang sword at her waist, and said proudly, Do you know the current King of Beijing?

I know. Chen Heng nodded immediately. Wang Shuirong of Beijing is only in his early twenties now. His father was Prince Teng's former military governor of Beijing, and took over the responsibility of the Jia family in Ningguo Mansion. This matter is clearly written in the Ministry of War documents.

Seeing that another prince was involved, Chen Heng hurriedly asked curiously, Can this matter involve him?

Isn't that right? Liu Xianglian showed a gossipy look and said excitedly, Prince Zhongshun escaped from an actor named Jiang...

When Chen Heng heard this, he nodded. Jiang Yuhan and Jiang Qiguan, Baoyu even received a beating for him.

Guess what. The actor didn't actually escape on his own. Someone used force in the dark.

Who?! Chen Heng didn't know the details. Thinking about the person Liu Xianglian just mentioned, he quickly exclaimed, You mean King Beijing?!

Hehehehe, who says it's not the case? Liu Xianglian said with a bad smile, I heard that Jiang Yuhan's beautiful face and fair face are quite as beautiful as Pan An's. Prince Zhongshun loves to show off and often invites guests to watch plays. Coincidentally, Bei King Jing was moved when he saw it.

The person who works for King Beijing is my brother Feng Ziying. You have met him before. He is a good person. Under the night, Liu Xianglian slowly told the secrets of the four kings and eight princes, Also I don’t know what method he used to abduct Jiang Yuhan out of the palace, and then handed her over to King Beijing.

What's behind? Chen Heng heard a lot of dark things. What's this? The original book didn't mention that King Beijing was a seductress.

This Qiguan surnamed Jiang has been with King Beijing for a while. One time he came out and was bumped into by Jia Baoyu. I heard that these two people changed their sweat towels directly. Hahahaha, the most interesting thing is that Jiang Yuhan The sweat towel was given to him by King Beijing. Hahaha.

Seeing Liu Xianglian's unstoppable laughter, Chen Heng finally understood why Liu Xianglian was so confident in concluding that the King of Beijing was a womanizer. This sweat towel is equivalent to the rubber band that men tie on their underwear.

It is difficult to evaluate whether King Beijing can give this to Qi Guan. It is even more surprising to think that Jia and Jiang could exchange sweat towels on the spot...

Chen Heng was speechless and asked again: Could it be Zhong...

As soon as he said this, he regretted it. Damn, what should I not ask? What should I ask?

Liu Xianglian raised her eyebrows playfully and comforted her with a smile: Don't worry, you look good, but you are dark!!! Hahahahahaha.

Thank you, I am really comforted. Chen Heng's mind was filled with thoughts and he was no longer in the mood to parade. I only wandered around two places, listening to Liu Xianglian's story about how Wang Ziteng protected King Beijing and offended King Zhongshun.

After hearing what happened, Chen Heng was even more speechless and just took Liu Xianglian back to the Yamen to rest.

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Having purposely returned to the capital in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Wang Ziteng naturally wanted to take the opportunity to host a banquet for the guests. Now, with his own strength, he is responsible for the appearance of four kings and eight princes. To his return, the nobles of the capital reacted enthusiastically.

Prince Teng arrived home in the afternoon, and the door stickers for the afternoon banquet had not yet been sent out. There is already an endless stream of people coming to visit. Among these people, there were some whom Wang Ziteng wanted to invite, and some who came to seek friendship.

Wang Ziteng blocked the latter and only said that there would be a banquet at home that evening. He also arranged for people to rush to Rongguo Mansion to remind the Jia family to come to the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and to give gifts to Jia's mother.

When my uncle came home, the happiest person was naturally Mrs. Wang of Rongguo Mansion. She always felt that her brother Wang Ziteng was her support for the first half of her life. He hurriedly ordered someone to come to Lixiangyuan to look for Baoyu. He also informed his sister that he would take Xue Pan and Baochai to meet their maternal uncle in the evening.

When receiving the news, Baochai was drinking tea and chatting with Aunt Xue to pass the time. When Aunt Xue heard this, she immediately said anxiously: What should I do? Baoyu went out with your brother to play, and he doesn't even know where he is now. If he drinks too much outside and misses the meeting with your uncle in the evening, But what to do?

Where can they go together? Baochai was very smart and immediately ordered the boy: Go to Baixiang Tower and Jinxiang Courtyard to look for it.

Xue Pan is recently obsessed with Yun'er, a prostitute in Jinxiangyuan, and often stays here at night. Baochai didn't want to know about these dirty places, but Xue Pan loved to drag Baoyu with him as soon as he went out. Now, she couldn't even think about it.

The boy received his order outside the house and headed towards the city to find him. Sure enough, Xue Pan and Jia Baoyu were found in Jinxiang Courtyard. They were accompanied by several of Jia Zheng's Qing guests, namely Cheng Rixing, Zhan Guang, Shan Pinren, and Hu Silai. Several more prostitutes followed Jiang Yuhan to drink and recite poems.

They had just admired Tang Yin's erotic pictures and were having a great time. When Jia Baoyu heard the news that the boy came to report, Jia Baoyu was happy, but Xue Pan was afraid. The two of them looked at each other and knew it was hard to continue sitting.

Fortunately, I didn't drink too much today. I almost missed an important meeting with my uncle. Jia Baoyu said happily.

Wang Ziteng always treated Jia Baoyu very well and spoke very pleasantly. Jia Baoyu liked this uncle very much. Compared with him, Xue Pan had a hard time. Wang Ziteng was much stricter with him, and he was often annoyed by his nephew's tendency to get into trouble.

No, no. I have to go home and take a nap first. Xue Pan smelled the smell of alcohol on his body and felt annoyed. When Wang Ziteng saw this look, he decided that he would not be able to enjoy it.

Jia Baoyu ignored him, turned his head, glanced at Jiang Yuhan, and said, I have something to leave today. Let's see you tomorrow, okay?

Today, with this person by his side, Baoyu's annoyance at being rejected by Sister Lin has dissipated to an unknown extent. I couldn't bear to part with him for a while, so I separated from him.

Yeah! Jiang Yuhan is indeed stunningly beautiful, with a tone she has practiced singing since she was a child. Just such a shallow response made Baoyu smile.

After leading Jia Zheng's retainers home, Jia Baoyu rested in the mansion for a while before leaving with Mrs. Wang to her uncle's house. Accompanying us were Aunt Xue's family and Jia Lian's family.

By the time they arrived at the palace, the place was already crowded with people. Several stewards of the palace were waiting at the door to greet the guests. When they saw the carriage of the Jia family, someone rushed in and called the young master to come out to pick up the relatives. He went up first, grabbed the reins, and got out of the car to welcome the distinguished guests.

Today's palace is really lively. Most of the four bastards and princes who can come here have sent people. The banquet tables were arranged from the courtyard to the nave. In the back house, there are five or six tables specially reserved for the ladies and ladies of each family.

The Jia family members were divided into two groups. Jia Lian led Baoyu and Xue Pan and stood in the front hall to help welcome and send them off. Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue, Wang Xifeng, and Baochai in the back also helped her mother-in-law's family with a little help.

As the saying goes, there are seven rank officials in front of the prime minister's door. Those who can come to the door at this time are all distinguished guests in the capital. Officials of the eighth and ninth grades, let alone being unable to get in, even have no way of giving gifts.

He must be at least a seventh-rank official in the capital, and he can only sit in the courtyard. The positions near and inside the nave were surrounded by four princes and their close relatives.

Cui Youdao, as a Jinshi waiting for a post in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was also attracted by the Hanlin in the same department to try his luck. Nowadays, there are too few officials and too many people in the DPRK, so there is competition among rivals for every good position. We all ended our political observation period in the Hanlin Academy together, and naturally we didn’t want to fall behind in the same period. I came here to see if I could make friends with some dignitaries.

After spending all his savings to buy the best gift, Cui Youdao and his colleagues sat in the darkness of the courtyard, quietly watching the Wang family call out the names of the distinguished guests.

Have you seen the most handsome person? Someone said, pointing to Cui Youdao, That is the Second Master Bao of Rongguo Mansion. He is a well-known figure in the capital, and his sister is also a noble concubine in the palace. If we get along well, In their family, filling the vacancy at the end of the month might bring some good fortune.

Cui Youdao was silent. He didn't know how many young masters he had seen tonight. The princes and dukes all went out together, as if they had gathered the nobles of the capital, which was really eye-opening.

I have been studying hard for years, do I really want to take this step? Cui Youdao hesitated, and when he looked up, he saw Jia Baoyu in the crowd. The other party looks young and has no fame, but he has become the focus of everyone in the venue, much more dazzling than the master's young masters.

Looking at his position again, Cui Youdao clenched his fists subconsciously. A huge feeling of disparity gnawed at his heart. It was like a lifelong dream that was quietly revealed tonight.

How could Baoyu know the poor Hanlin? He was happily enjoying the crowd. Jia Yuanchun and Wang Ziteng are the two faces of the Jia family. Wherever they are, Jia Baoyu is always the center of attention. Even Jia Lian would give him a second rank, but without him, Jia Lian's mother was not named Wang, and she did not have a biological sister who could be a concubine.

There was so much excitement in the front, but as the official leader, Wang Ziteng was sitting alone in the study, listening to the close nobles in the room talking about the affairs of the capital. Lin Ruhai was promoted to the second rank censor, so he naturally got the news early. Knowing that it would be inconvenient for this person to come forward today, he said to the servant: Go to the back and see if the Lin family is here and who is here.

The people in the room all served in the imperial court. Knowing that the only one of the Lin family who was qualified to ask Wang Ziteng to speak, they all waited with bated breath.

Soon, the servant reported back, Master, the Jia family and the Xue family are here later. Only the Lin family is not here, not one of them.

When Wang Ziteng heard this, he frowned along with everyone else. These nobles are the third force in the DPRK. On weekdays, I am caught between the Supreme Emperor and His Majesty, and I can say that I have both sides. Being deceived by Li An this time made the sensitive Wang Ziteng suspicious. It's unclear whether Li Zhi took advantage of their shortcomings and wanted to deal with his own group first.

Lin Ruhai stopped Jia Min from coming. Was it his own intention? Or does Li Zhi mean it? Wang Ziteng frowned and said again: Go to the front and call Jia... Jia Lian to come over.

The waiting servants got the order and went out for a while before leading the extraordinary Jia Lian in. Seeing Wang Ziteng, Jia Lian, who had been drinking, put on a respectful expression and sat down, waiting for questions.

Wang Ziteng nodded at him and asked, What did the people you sent to the Lin family say in reply today? Did the Lin family say there were other important matters? Or was there some other reason?

Jia Lian was dumbfounded. Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival. He had been in the mansion all day. He really didn't see any servants going to his aunt's house. He said hurriedly: Second uncle also invited my aunt to live there? I don't have any news from here either.

Jia Lian is now an adult, and he is responsible for most of the foreign affairs of the Rongguo Mansion. Hearing what he said, Wang Ziteng didn't know what was wrong.

He entrusted Mrs. Wang to handle this matter, hoping that she could use her status as sister-in-law to test Jia Min's wishes. Regardless of whether the Lin family comes or not, they can all get a glimpse of Li Zhi's thoughts.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, a family banquet is held to entertain relatives and friends. What a good reason to miss this opportunity. Next time, I have to wait until the Chinese New Year. Wang Ziteng suddenly became angry and slapped the table hard with his hand, which startled the guests beside him.

The more Wang Ziteng thought about it, the angrier he became, and he felt annoyed in his heart. He had also heard about his sister's quarrel with Jia Min, but he just thought about what big things two women locked in a deep house could do. He never took their problems to heart.

If he had known this earlier, he might as well have let Jia Lian show up. Wang Ziteng's expression was turbulent, and he actually showed a bit of unwillingness. At this point, all we can do is make additional remedies. He glanced at Jia Lian and said, Tell me everything about the Lin family.

No matter how much effort it takes to win over a second-grade official, it is worth it.

Jia Lian immediately straightened his posture and told what he knew in detail.

Seeing that this junior mentioned a person named Chen Heng several times in his words, Wang Ziteng pointed out the origin of this person. Jia Lian also told the truth.

Knowing this person's history in the Ministry of War, Wang Ziteng immediately raised his eyebrows and wrote down this name in his heart. In a few days, he would go to the Ministry of War, where he would be able to take a look at Lin Ruhai's disciples.

After saying this, it was suddenly heard from outside that the palace eunuch Dai Quan came to the door. Wang Ziteng quickly led a room of people and went out to receive the distinguished guests.

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The next day, just after Wang's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet ended, Mrs. Wang returned to Rongguo Mansion and received a greeting card from her sister-in-law. Mrs. Wang was still wondering if something happened to her brother that required her sister-in-law to make this trip in person, and she had only seen him at her parents' house.

As a result, as soon as her sister-in-law came to the door, she took Mrs. Wang and scolded her. Said: You also know your brother's temper. He sent you a message from the front, telling you to invite the Lin family here. My dear sister, you have been so smart in your life, why did you go wrong on this matter?

Mrs. Wang broke her lower lip twice but didn't say anything. Ben, who was still joking, suddenly froze on the spot. She indeed deliberately didn't notify the Lin family because she didn't want to see Jia Min's face.

Good sister, think about it for yourself. The wealth of us women is tied to the men outside. Without them, even if we have intelligence, what use will it be if we are trapped in a deep house all day long?

When her sister-in-law withdrew and went back, Mrs. Wang didn't even get rid of her anger. Since she married into Rongguo Mansion, except for Jia Min, no one has ever treated her like this. Aunt Xue, who was accompanying her, looked frightened, fearing that her sister would be angry.

In the end, her brother's will prevailed. Mrs. Wang took a deep breath, turned her gaze and said to Aunt Xue: Good sister, help me...call your girl here. As a mother, she couldn't do anything. In the future, if Baoyu wants to inherit the title and leap ahead of Jia Lian, he will definitely need Wang Ziteng's help.

Hey. Aunt Xue responded, quickly got up and left.

After Baochai arrived, I didn't know what they said. Soon, a servant left Rongguo Mansion and went straight to Lin Mansion.

Lin Daiyu is visiting the Wei family today. Firstly, she wants to express her congratulations to sister Wei Qijun, who has just married Du Yunjing, a new academician. The second is to follow Jia Min to greet the elders of the Wei family and maintain the friendship between the two families.

When she finished her walk and returned to the house, she heard that Sister Baochai asked her to get together the day after tomorrow. Although Lin Daiyu was a little strange, she still had a good relationship with Baochai, so she asked someone to pass the message to her, saying that she would attend the appointment on time.

Jia Min wouldn't pay much attention to the movements among the juniors. He was only told to remember to bring Zicuckoo, and two additional nuns were sent to accompany him. After completing their trip, they arrived at Lixiangyuan, only to see Baochai waiting here.

Sister Baochai. Daiyu bowed, looked around, and said with a smile, Today is really strange, why are all the sisters not here?

Sister. Baochai glanced at Lin Daiyu with a complicated expression, stretched out his hand to ask her to sit across from him, and said hesitantly, I have something to ask you today.

Daiyu saw that her expression was wrong, and she seemed to have some realization in her heart. Then he picked up the hem of his skirt, stood up and sat opposite Baochai. On the tea table in the distance, sandalwood was rising from the stove, slowly floating in and out.

The two of them fell into a strange silence, seeming to be waiting for the other to speak.

Hahahahaha, I am so diligent. Another nearly seven thousand words.