In the first month, it is said to be early spring, but it is still the appearance of winter. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info on Ningrong Street, there is a lot of traffic. From the east to the west.

Jia Yuanchun was promoted to the rank of noble concubine in the winter of last year, and Jiafu became the top noble family in Beijing. Friends and nobles, relatives, officials, protégés, and all kinds of people who want to cling to Jiafu come and go. All kinds of gifts and good words poured in as if they didn't need money.

The door is like a city.

Jia Rui, who was a small leader in the gatehouse of Jiafu, experienced a little bit of the taste of "seven officials in front of the prime minister", and his hands were soft when he received red envelopes from the gatehouse.

On the morning of the fourth day of the first lunar month, Jia Rui and several subordinates of Jiafu rested and bragged in the ear room next to the south hall.

Jia Rui married in the autumn of the eleventh year of Yongzhi under the auspices of Jia Dairu, and the silver for marrying his daughter-in-law was still given by Jia Huan. The children are almost a year old.

When the four or five people were chatting, they saw Baoyu and the four of them going to the south hall, preparing to enter the inner door and enter the back house of Jiafu.

Several slaves guarding outside the hall to the south were flattering and talking around Baoyu, and some begged for Baoyu's small belongings, saying, "Second Master Bao, this thing rewards the slaves, right?" ”

Looking at Baoyu, who was surrounded by slaves outside, looking handsome, Jia Rui sneered: "Wu Er and the others are blind. In this house, sooner or later, the third master is in charge. A few days ago, the ancestor worship was the third master. ”

It's easy to understand that Jarry is in line. He and his grandfather Jia Dairu both received the favor of the third master of Huan.

A long-faced man smiled and said, "That's what Uncle Rui thinks." But the master is only the second master's sister-in-law..."

A group of people laughed and argued: The third master will return to the house at the end of the year, and it is unstoppable, and the hottest topic in the house now, except for some gossip, is this.

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Baoyu entered the Neiyi Gate, passed the Rongxi Hall, and did not go to the East Cross Courtyard to find Jin Chu'er and others to play, and went straight back to the residence.

In the back house of Jiafu, all the upper rooms are arranged with wine for days, and Mrs. Wang and Wang Xifeng come forward to entertain them. He doesn't like to be lively.

Charming and Qian Xue greeted Baoyu. In early spring, the weather is cold. And there is a smoked cage burning in the Xuanyunxuan, and the exquisite house is as warm as spring. After Baoyu entered the house, the maids were busy changing his clothes.

In front of the bright floor-to-ceiling mirror, Baoyu opened her hands and cooperated with the maids. Seeing that Baoyu was sullen, Qian Xue pursed her lips and asked with a smile, "Didn't the second master go out to accompany the master to meet guests?" How did you come back to this picture? ”

Baoyu went out just now, and saw the grandson of Zhenguo Bull Qing, who is now a first-class Bo Niu Jizong, who is a powerful faction among the four kings and eight princes, and sighed: "It's all cliché words, what's the joy?" Just before leaving, the old man asked me about my homework again, how can I not be bored. ”

It's all the black-hearted ghost of Huan Laosan, who wants him to go to the clan to study. How much does the lord care about face? If he really takes the penultimate test on the eighteenth day of the first month, he is afraid that he will draw a pass for the master, and he will have to shed his skin if he does not die.

Meiren stood behind Baoyu, helped Baoyu change her hairstyle, and said gently: "Then the second master went to find the girls and laughed." Maybe I'm in a good mood. ”

Speaking of this, Baoyu was even more depressed, and lay down on the bed sullenly, "Don't go." ”

The sisters in the house, the most outstanding are Sister Lin and Sister Bao. But they were no longer close to him. Moreover, the third sister is obviously towards the third child.

Mei and Qian Xue glanced at each other and laughed.

Miss Bao is the fiancée of the third master, and the third master will marry as long as he is a junior scholar. Miss Lin made it clear that she was close to the third master and was lonely on her deathbed. The three girls were looking forward to her brother. Now the situation in the house, I am afraid that the second master will be panicked. It's better to just treat it like this, so as not to mess around in the pink team at home all day long.

Baoyu made a big fuss in Jiafu a few years ago, and the most direct consequence was that the girls in the mansion were alienated from him. is as Xiangling said: Bao Er Ye is really a person who is difficult to get close to.

Baoyu was talking to the maids in his house, and when it was almost lunch, Mrs. Wang's eldest maid, Yu Chuan'er, came to deliver a message, "Second master, my wife has instructed, we will go to my uncle's house on the sixth day of the new year to pay New Year's greetings." ”

"Okay."

Baoyu was originally lying on the bed, but when she did it all of a sudden, her spirit suddenly rose. Although he didn't care much about outside affairs, he also heard that his uncle was extremely displeased with Jia Huan. What should I do if you are in the third and sixth years of the new year?

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It was Yu Chu'er who informed Baoyu, and it was Caixia who informed Jia Huan. In early spring, the cold wind blows on the treetops of the garden in Jiafu.

Caixia wore a purple-red tooth-pinching vest and walked on the road from the east courtyard gate to the north. The sky was slightly overcast. People come and go in the house, and the guests are like clouds. She is a maid and is not conspicuous. I thought about Jin Chu'er and Caiyun's teasing, and I thought about seeing the throbbing of the third master. Perhaps, you can say a word to the third master alone.

Caixia went out of the corner gate from the north and entered the backyard of Mochizuki Residence in a few steps. A maid was drying clothes on a rope in the yard, and hurriedly beckoned, "Sister Caixia is here." Sister Ruyi, they're in the house. ”

Caixia is now sixteen or seventeen years old, and she is Mrs. Wang's personal maid, and the little maid in Jia Huan's house should be called sister. Nodding, thanking him, he headed inside.

In Jia Huan's bedroom, the delicate little girl Ruyi is holding a pen to record the gift lists everywhere and summarize the gifts. There were also two little maids on the side to help. Qingwen was nowhere to be seen. Caixia looked at Ruyi enviously. Reading and literacy are great things. The third master's house is different from other places.

Seeing Caixia coming in, Ruyi hurriedly put down her pen and got up, beckoned Caixia to sit down, poured a cup of hot tea for Caixia in the kettle simmering on the copper stove, and asked, "Why does Sister Caixia have time to play today?" She has followed Aunt Zhao since she was a child, and she is also familiar with Caixia.

Caixia thanked Ruyi, sat down, and said softly: "Mrs. asked me to pass a message to the third master." On the afternoon of the sixth day of the new year, we went to my uncle's house to pay New Year's greetings, and in the evening, my uncle would leave a meal. Seeing that Jia Huan was not there, he couldn't help asking, "Is the third master not there?" ”

Ruyi explained: "The third master went to Dongzhuang Town to pay New Year's greetings to the gentlemen. I'll be back tomorrow morning. I will relay the words to the third master. ”

"Hmm." Caixia couldn't hide her loss, sat for a while, and then left.

Third Master, do you still remember the promise given to her?

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During the Chinese New Year, the most popular is all kinds of New Year's wine. The Xue family had a house in the capital, but lived in Jiafu. There are few people in the family, and Aunt Xue has a family of three. There is much less etiquette for the New Year's Festival.

In addition to going to the relatives of the Xue family these days, Xue Pan is going to the family of the imperial merchant to pay New Year's greetings and eat wine.

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, Xue Pan and Wang Chengsi and Wang Wei of the Wang family met at the Shi's bowling house.

Shi Zhi, the second son of the Bowling Marquis Shi Nai, beckoned a group of cousins to eat, play cards, and gamble in the backyard. The maids were waiting.

Wiping the dominoes, Xue Pan lost dozens of taels of silver, and said to Wang Chenghei of the next family half-drunk: "Big cousin, we made an appointment to go to your house for wine on the sixth day of the new year." Hey, Jia Huan's kid is going too, you have to give me a good breath when the time comes. ”

Several people in the audience laughed. The fact that Jia Huan is not popular in the four major families has long spread to the ears of the children of each family. However, it is said that Jia Huan is very imposing in Jiafu. Even the celebrities in Jiafu, Lian's second sister-in-law had to give him three points.

Wang Chenghe, who was in his thirties, slightly fat, and had a short beard, smiled reservedly at this time, and said: "Wenqi, relatives still value harmony. Having said that, he had already decided in his heart that he would give Jia Huan an ugly look the day after tomorrow.

As the eldest son of the Wang family, he knows a little about his father's thoughts. Jia Huan made trouble in Jinling, knocked out Jia Yu Village, which was attached to the Jia family and the Wang family, and made Jia Yu Village belittle Annan, and his father was extremely annoyed.

First, it disrupted his father's arrangement. Jia Yucun's age and Jinshi background can be an excellent supplement to the power of the Wang and Jia families.

Second, his father recommended Jia Yucun to the imperial court, however, Jia Yucun committed an accident, which made his father's face ugly and extremely embarrassing. Hu Shilang, the left waiter of the Ministry of Works, once mocked his father to his face and did not know anyone.

This field is definitely going to be recovered.

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The morning sun emerges from the top of the mountain. In a few moments, Dongzhuang Town was bathed in golden red sunshine.

Hearing the teacher's living area in the Academy, Dean Ye Hongyun sent Jia Huan to the north gate. Two boys followed. After a long conversation all night, Jia Huan and Ye Hongyun were in good spirits.

At the gate of the north gate, Yao Wei and Du Hong, who were in charge of Xianheng Commercial Bank, were already waiting. Through the supply, sale, and tax power of shops and residences, Xianheng Commercial Bank firmly controlled the administrative power of Dongzhuang Town, as well as the derived commercial power, which slowly and continuously expanded and expanded. Another person in charge, Liu Yichen, celebrated the New Year at his home in the capital. He is a native of Daxing County.

As a market town developed by education, Dongzhuang Town, with a permanent population of nearly 100,000 people, lost some of its former prosperity and prosperity during the Spring Festival. The market town is a little quieter and chillier in the early morning. The rich students who used to consume, and the pilgrims who went to the Tanzhe Temple of Jinyun Peak in Miaofeng Mountain were gone.

Ye Hongyun patted the back of Jia Huan's hand and said with emotion: "Ziyu returns to Beijing, be careful in everything." If there is a disharmony, take a step back first, go back to the academy to study, and wait for the spring competition in February, and the situation will be better. "As the dean of the academy, Shanchang is in Jinling, even if he is unwilling, he will still learn some information about the government.

Most of the children of the academy still belong to the Shanchang line. And the mountain chief is good friends with Scholar He. Scholar He and Wang Ziteng and Scholar Xie are not all the way.

He was not optimistic that Jia Huan would be able to pass his uncle Wang Ziteng's level. In the face of politics, sometimes family affection is nothing.

Jia Huan smiled quietly and said, "I know." Mr. Yip takes care. ”

After bidding farewell to Mr. Ye, Jia Huan had breakfast and chatted with Yao Wei and Du Hong at the headquarters of Xianheng Commercial Bank in Dongzhuang Town, and then took the carriage to return to Jiafu in the capital with Qian Huai and Hu Xiaosi.

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At about four o'clock in the afternoon on the sixth day of the first lunar month, the carriages of the Jia family and the Xue family drove into the palace located in the autumn leaf alley of Yongfang.

A moment later, Wang Chengsi and others, who were entertaining guests in the front yard, learned the news: Jia Huan had come to pay New Year's greetings.