The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

Yu'er, eat something more. If you don't worry about your own health, you have to think about Sheng'er.

On the day he received the letter, Chen Heng did not dare to delay. Arrangements were made for the ship heading north the next day. Due to the emergency, Chen Heng's family had no choice but to take a sea ship to Beijing.

Sheng'er shouldn't have come, but Chen Heng was really worried about Daiyu's health. In addition, Sheng'er couldn't get used to the nanny's milk, and Daiyu couldn't live without her son. Chen Heng simply took him with him to give Daiyu something to think about.

This trick worked really well. Daiyu, who had no appetite at first, managed to eat half a bowl of rice and held Sheng'er tightly in her arms.

Knowing that his wife had not been in the mood to talk recently, Chen Heng could only focus on the child.

Fortunately, Sheng'er's troubles with Daiyu were not in vain, and she has been very strong since she was born. Since he got on the boat, he has never been taken out to sea for fun. The little guy was lying in his mother's arms, eating and drinking and sleeping soundly.

After spending several days at sea, we finally disembarked at the Jingshi Pier. It was already evening when we arrived in the capital. Thinking that the child was still with him, Chen Heng took his wife and Lin Jue back to the Lin family first.

When the servants of the Lin family saw Miss Guye and others returning home, they quickly sent someone to Rongguo Mansion to spread the message. As the son-in-law, Lin Ruhai did not have to keep filial piety for Jia Mu, but the court still approved the leave just like Chen Heng.

Lin Jue no longer had the flying and jumping spirit of the past, and just stood beside Daiyu honestly, holding Sheng'er for her. Chen Heng took his wife to sit in the hall for a while, and soon saw Lin Ruhai and Jia Min coming back in a hurry.

Mother Jia's body will be laid to rest for seven or forty-nine days, and the masters of the two religions will have to make a grand ceremony for relatives and friends from all over the country to express their condolences. Chen Heng and others had a long journey, but it was not too late to arrive.

But as soon as Jia Min saw Chen Sheng in Lin Jue's arms, it triggered the past incident of her taking her children to Yangzhou.

This memory was so painful that she immediately shouted: You are also a mother, why are you still so confused? How old is Sheng'er, and you dare to take him around?

Chen Heng was also startled by Jia Min's sudden anger, but Lin Ruhai immediately understood the reason.

He hurriedly walked to his son, took his grandson, and checked it carefully. Then he said to Jia Min: Look, this child Sheng'er is sleeping soundly.

Daiyu's temperament is actually very similar to Jia Min's, but she is not as outspoken as Jia Min. After being brutally beaten by her mother, and feeling aggrieved in her heart, she could only silently wipe her tears with a handkerchief.

Wait until Lin Ruhai holds Sheng'er and walks in front of Jia Min. Only then did the censor's wife focus on her grandson.

Relatives and friends in Yangzhou saw Chen Sheng's appearance and said that his features resembled Daiyu's. When Jia Min saw this porcelain doll-like grandson, he couldn't think of teaching Daiyu a lesson.

He took the child and complained to Lin Ruhai: It's been so many years and I can't even learn to hold a child.

Perhaps it was because of the death of Jia's mother. During this period, Jia Min was full of explosives when she opened her mouth, which was very irritating. But thinking about her relationship with Jia Mu, we can understand her anxiety.

Lin Ruhai knew that he was in the wrong, and he didn't dare to say anything. Back then, he was focused on his official duties and wanted to make a future for his family. When Daiyu and Lin Jue were still learning to talk, the care he gave them was indeed not enough.

Lin Ruhai happily stood beside Jia Min, acting like a mute god. However, their movements woke up the sleeping child.

He saw Sheng'er opening his eyes and looking at him curiously. Even though Jia Min was feeling sad and angry, she couldn't help but coaxed softly: Sheng'er, I am your grandmother.

When this kid was in Songjiang, Lin Jue and Chen Qingyue would take him out for fun whenever he had free time. Having seen many new people, he is not timid at all. Seeing Jia Min teasing him, he boldly reached out to grab the other person.

Seeing Sheng'er holding her thumb in her mouth as soon as she woke up, Jia Min quickly asked with concern: Has Sheng'er eaten?

She and Lin Ruhai had returned from having snacks at Jia's Mansion, and it was already late.

Daiyu was still sobbing in a low voice, so naturally it was Chen Heng who came to answer. He faced Jia Min's dark face and said, Mom, I came here in a hurry on the way, and Sheng'er hasn't eaten yet.

Jia Min glanced at Daiyu in shock, but felt uncomfortable continuing to scold her. She had no choice but to say to her good uncle: I'll take care of you two later.

After finishing the busy work inside and outside, we waited until a few adults finally took care of the children. Jia Min concentrated on holding her grandson, listening to Lin Ruhai talking about the affairs of Rongguo Mansion to the children who had just returned home.

After all, the cause of Jia Mu's death was a scandal among the elders. Both Jia Min and Lin Ruhai deliberately concealed it and did not want their children to worry about it.

Shan said that the etiquette for visiting tomorrow was very important. There were no living elders in the Lin family, and the old Duke of the Jia family left early.

Jia Mu's funeral was the first elder's funeral that Lin Jue and Daiyu attended.

High-ranking families pay a lot of attention to this. He is definitely not as careless as country people.

After Lin Ruhai finished speaking, Jia Min said again: Sheng'er is still young, so there is no need to take her there. Yu'er, you should go less often...

Your grandmother's death does not lack your filial piety. If you take good care of Sheng'er, you will be like Amitabha.

Such a big child cannot live without his mother. But the ancients also felt that there was a lot of death energy in the mourning hall, and it was not easy to contaminate it to young children.

If you want to cure Daiyu, you still have to look to Jia Min. As soon as her mother spoke, Daiyu argued a few words, and then she got the idea from Jia Min that she went there every day for half a day.

After cleaning up Daiyu, Jia Min asked the steward at home to take the palace badge and rush to the Taoist temple in the city to ask the abbot for a peace charm.

This talisman should be placed in a small sachet and tied to the child's clothes to report the safety of the grandson during the mourning period.

Later, the two mothers got together and briefly chatted about the Jia family, and unknowingly they focused on Sheng'er.

Fortunately, this boy was here. One moment he wanted to hug his mother, and the next he reached out to his grandmother. Gradually, the two of them forgot to hug each other and cry.

Seeing that their attention was diverted, Lin Ruhai was even more grateful. In this life, people will inevitably have to deal with death.

Lin Ruhai has been accustomed to this scene since she was a child, and has been struggling all the way to revive her current family business. Naturally, I don't want Jia Min to be overly sad and break her body from crying.

He winked at his son-in-law, and the two of them left the main hall together and came to the study in tacit understanding. Now that there are no outsiders, Lin Ruhai can tell Chen Heng more about the Jia family.

Lin Jue is still young, and Daiyu has a keen temper. Lin Ruhai couldn't gossip with them, but it would be very unpleasant if he didn't let go of the worries in his heart.

After hearing the cause and effect, Chen Heng was also speechless about Jia She's anger at Jia's mother.

It's just that the elder has passed away, no matter how dirty things are. It's not easy to mention it in front of Jia Mu's funeral.

Chen Heng thought for a while and asked, Will the court be lenient?

Lin Ruhai shook his head decisively and asked: Do you think His Majesty will stop rectifying military affairs?

Chen Heng thought the same thing. In politics, we can only deal with human feelings. The most we can do is postpone the sentence a little.

From this point of view, the Jia family's Dafang will only be in jail until next year at most.

Lin Ruhai's judgment is even more pessimistic. Judging from the events caused by the Jia family, His Majesty may take action by the end of the year at the latest.

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After resting at Lin's house for a night, the next day the family, old and young, changed their clothes and went to Jia's house to look for them. Sheng'er doesn't need to go, the old aunt in the mansion will take care of her properly.

When I got off the carriage, many guests had already arrived at the door of Jia's house. When they saw Lin Ruhai and Chen Heng, who were the first, they came up to reminisce with serious expressions.

Jia Min wanted to take the children over to kowtow to Jia Mu and didn't want to pay attention to these idle people. But Lin and Chen are popular people in front of His Majesty. It is true that the Jia family has lost power, but their relatives are more capable.

After finally getting rid of the chatting guests, when Chen Heng followed Lin Ruhai into the mourning hall, Daiyu was already crying with Lin Jue in her arms.

Seeing his wife looking so sad, Chen Heng couldn't stop her. I had no choice but to suppress my worries and hurried up to kowtow to Jia Mu.

As soon as the Si hour arrives, the mage who recites the scriptures comes out with his disciples and leads the relatives in the mansion to start performing rituals.

As sons, Jia She and Jia Zheng naturally cannot escape. The reception of guests can only be entrusted to Lin Ruhai, Chen Heng and the family stewards.

The relatives and friends who came to express condolences were shocked when they saw that the Jia family still had these two people to rely on.

Don't they all say that Jia's mother will die, and the Jia family will be sad at this time?

You are stupid, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. There are still three nails in the broken ship, and the Jia family also has a noble concubine in the palace.

Chen Heng did not hear the gossip of the mourners. He only knew that after noon, many more old friends of the Jia family came.

Even the Duke of Qi's Chen family, which was already trapped in the center of the whirlpool, sent their children.

The Niu Niu family in Zhenguo really had no way to come. Their entire family was in jail. The miserable situation in his family is now even worse than that of Jia's family.

In addition to these two families, the other four princes and eight princes were all present. Around Shenshi, even Wang Ziteng came to express his condolences in person.

As soon as this person arrived at Jia Mansion, he passed by countless guests greeting him and walked straight towards Lin Ruhai.

Weng and son-in-law had the same thoughts, Lin Ruhai gave Chen Heng a look, and the latter immediately resigned and went outside the hall. Chen Heng knew that the prince came here to intercede with Lin Ruhai for his own affairs.

The relationship between Wang Ziteng and the Jia family is the connection between fruits and tree roots. As soon as Jia's mother arrived, the big ship of the Jia family was about to capsize.

As the most conspicuous person on the ship, how could Wang Ziteng's fate be better?

Unless Wang Ziteng immediately writes a letter to resign from his official position, His Majesty will definitely not let this person go. But when I think about it, Wang Ziteng went through a lot of hard work to climb to where he is now.

Can he really give it up?

Chen Heng didn't know, he only focused on the guests in the outer hall.

The servants of Rongguo Mansion can take care of whatever needs to be done. Chen Heng showed up here a few times, but he couldn't stand the guests' deliberate or unintentional advances. He simply found an excuse and hid in a secluded place to get some peace and quiet for a while.

His position was in the corner corridor, facing the mourning hall where cries continued, and in the middle was a crowd of people coming and going. From here, you can have a clear view of the situation in the mansion, and it will not be easily discovered by guests who have their backs turned to you.

At Youshi, it is time to prepare meals for the guests. The chef hired by the Jingshi Restaurant can certainly prepare a vegetarian banquet.

It was not Daiyu's turn to get involved in the vigil. Jia Min was worried about Sheng'er's condition and even forced Daiyu to go back with her.

Lin Ruhai is old and it is difficult to keep watch all night. In the end, only Chen Heng and Lin Jue were left at Jia's house. Jia Zheng arranged a guest room for them to rest in the middle of the night.

After nightfall, there were not many guests coming. Most of them are people who have traveled far away and come to see Jia Mu for the last time.

Considering that Chen Heng had been busy outside the hall all day, Jia Lian, Jia Rong and other men quickly came out to take over.

Are you hungry, cousin? Can you ask the kitchen to make you another bowl of noodles? Jia Lian rarely took the initiative to care about Chen Heng's situation.

No need. Chen Heng had the nerve to trouble the Jia family.

We are all a family, why are you being polite to us? Jia Rong clapped his hands and said repeatedly, Uncle, wait for me. I will go to the back first to see if there is anything that can fill my stomach.

Jia Rong's father is Jia Zhen, and Jia Zhen is the first cousin of Jia Lian and Baoyu. Jia Rong is a generation younger than Daiyu. Even if he is older than Chen Heng, he still has to be called uncle.

Chen Heng could only watch their enthusiasm, and Lin Jue on the side looked amused. After living in Songjiang for so long, he already knows a little about the ways of the world.

During the holidays, the Chen family never received a gift from the Jia family. On the other hand, when her sister Daiyu prepares for the festival, she always attends the Jia family.

If you don't understand the difference here, you will never take it seriously. But as long as anyone can understand, they will inevitably be angry.

Young people are full of fire. When Lin Jue first discovered this, he naturally complained about the Jia family's cousin and others.

Now seeing them coming to burn his brother-in-law's cold stove, Lin Jue couldn't control the expression on his face.

How could Chen Heng make him feel stupid? He raised his hand and patted Lin Jue's back, asking with concern: Are you tired? Do you want to go to the side room and rest first?

How could Lin Jue miss this good show? Even if he heard that his brother-in-law wanted to drive away guests, he still stubbornly shook his head and said: If my brother-in-law doesn't sleep, I won't sleep either.

You and Daiyu are really siblings. Chen Heng twitched the corner of his mouth speechlessly, not bothering to care about his brother-in-law.

They chatted with Jia Lian for a while. Suddenly they heard a quarrel coming from the back house. Several people were worried about the situation and hurried to take a look.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw a broken teapot on the floor. I don’t know what happened before, but Mrs. Wang was crying sadly with Aunt Xue’s support.

Jia She sat aside and panted heavily. It was obvious that he was part of the quarrel just now. Jia Zhen stood beside Jia Zheng, looking comforting to her second uncle.

The juniors, headed by Wang Xifeng, crowded together with Sanchun and were blocking Baoyu in front of them. Only Jia She's wife, Mrs. Xing, and Jia Zhen's wife, Youshi, were left helpless.

When Chen Heng saw this, he knew that what happened must be a household matter. He hurriedly pulled Lin Jue and hid in an inconspicuous place. Jia Lian didn't care, and walked quickly to his father and asked why.

It was a good thing that he didn't speak. As soon as he asked, Jia She's anger quickly increased. He got angry again and said, Call Yuanyang here. I don't believe that I am not included in what the old lady said.

Jia Zheng could no longer stand this rogue, and he couldn't figure out why this man was his brother. He waved to the servants outside, and naturally some people went to find the mandarin duck who was kneeling before the soul.

When the parties involved arrived, Jia She really pressed him to ask about Jia Mu's last words. The eldest son of Rongguo Mansion still can't believe that he doesn't have a share of Jia Mu's dowry.

Yuanyang was a person who witnessed Jia Mu's death with his own eyes, so naturally there was nothing wrong with what he said and answered. How could Jia She believe it? Of course he knew that Baoyu was also present. If you have any doubts, call Baoyu and Sanmei and you can find out the authenticity.

But Jia She chose to make a fuss about Yuanyang, just determined to mess around. He also took advantage of Jia Zheng's shortcomings. During the period of his late mother's death, if there was a scandal over the family property, it would be a joke to the entire capital.

Anyone with a discerning eye can understand it, and Jia Lian will certainly not fail to see it. He was also complaining about his father in his heart, why bother to cause trouble at this time. My own business is to give money to people to ask for their good words, and my old friends are afraid of getting into trouble.

Jia Zhen couldn't stand it anymore and said to his good uncle: The old lady is still outside. If uncle doesn't believe it, he might as well go to the funeral and ask.

The Ningguo Mansion was still pointing out the money to save lives, so how could Jia Zhen sit back and watch Jia She mess around and drive Jia Zheng, an old Confucian scholar, to a dead end.

Mrs. Wang hurriedly said: I can't do it, I can't do it. The most important thing now is my mother's funeral. It's better to wait until the funeral is done and let's talk about it peacefully as a family.

As soon as the second aunt opened her mouth, Jia Zhen couldn't help but answer immediately. Jia She didn't need to betray his younger siblings. He just relied on his being the eldest son and shouted angrily at them:

Don't think that I don't know your plan, and you still think that after Zhen'er and I are taken away, your family's treasure will occupy the good things of both houses? I tell you, you can have your big dream. Go ahead.

I want to be captured, not to mention the title above my head. I'm afraid you won't even be able to save this mansion! Still want to keep it for your grandson who hasn’t shown up yet? You might as well beg your husband to tell you how to save me!

Jia She was really on fire, and what he said was so urgent and venomous that Mrs. Wang's face turned blue and white.

You...you... His wife was humiliated, Jia Zheng raised his hand to protect Jia She, and couldn't help but trembling.

Baoyu didn't know what happened to the harmonious family in the past. Seeing them criticizing each other, he wanted to say something to deal with it, but he was very poor in words. I want to speak, but I don’t have the courage.

But at this moment, Yingchun suddenly screamed strangely, Auntie fainted.

Everyone, including Chen Heng, turned around and saw Aunt Xue slumped on the soft couch for some reason, with her eyes closed and her whole body twitching.

Oh, what a pitiful God.