The True Winner of the Red Chamber

Kang He didn't wait long after lying down, when a white line appeared faintly in the sky, he sighed, and jumped off the bed.

"I'll go first." Kang He was silent for a moment and then said: "I know you are tight-lipped, but... I feel uneasy. You must never mention these things to anyone."

Zhen Yingjia nodded, and stood in front of Kang He and hugged him tightly. Their chests were pressed tightly together. Zhen Yingjia could feel the strong and vigorous young heart in Kang He's chest.

"take care."

Kang He hummed, pushed open the door and left.

Zhen Yingjia's head was throbbing suddenly, and because he didn't sleep all night, he always felt that his head was covered with a layer of veil, and he couldn't think clearly, but at this moment he was exceptionally sober, and he turned three times this night. The truth is becoming more and more confusing at this moment, but no matter what, the funeral of the princess is coming, let's pass this test first.

After a while, there were voices outside the door. After Zhen Yingjia got dressed and washed, Zhibin led him to the place and stood up. Not long after, the funeral began.

Zhen Yingjia's left and right were court ministers, and those who were able to attend the burial of the Crown Princess were considered to be relatives close to the royal family. Although it was not easy to exchange pleasantries on this occasion, they all nodded to each other within the scope allowed by etiquette, which was regarded as a greeting.

Further ahead are the people from the princess's natal family.

Seeing them, Zhen Yingjia finally understood what Kang He meant by "getting married in a hurry".

How a person is doing can be seen from his face. Although it is a funeral, they all wear mourning clothes of different specifications, but their identities can also be seen from subtle places, such as shoes, crowns and so on.

The princess's natal family has no official status, and the only one is the prince's father, who bears the title of first-class uncle.

Zhen Yingjia sighed, Kang He had such a hard life, it became more and more difficult to get the throne.No wonder the cause of the Crown Princess' death was something strange even to an outsider like him, but there was no one in the Crown Princess's natal family.

On such occasions, the elders did not show up, so the emperor and empress did not come, nor did the prince. Only the emperor's younger brother, who was in charge of the royal family tree, came.

The closest to the coffin of the Crown Princess is the heir of the Eastern Palace.

Kang He was ranked first, followed by Kang Quan, followed by a dozen people.Zhen Yingjia stared at Kang Quan closely, his face was still very pale, even the palest one among the heirs of the Eastern Palace.

Zhen Yingjia went to look at his hand again, trying to find some flaws, but the distance was a little far away, although he had some doubts, but he couldn't check it out.

The funeral official cleared his throat, and the funeral officially began.

As an observer of the ceremony, Zhen Yingjia only followed and bowed from a distance, but he saw Kang He kowtowed and bowed nine times, thinking that he didn't sleep all night last night, and only then did he know the earth-shattering news, and he became more and more worried. , I'm afraid that he will run out of energy for a while, or can't hold back the evil fire in his heart, then——

Then you will be caught in a trick!

Zhen Yingjia suddenly realized that Mrs. Zhao chose to tell Kang He about this matter on the night before the princess was buried.

At this time, the funeral ceremony came to the stage of toasting. Kang He and Kang Quan took the lead, each with a wine glass in their hands.

not good!

Zhen Yingjia looked at Kang He holding the wine glass tightly in his hand, and fixed his eyes on Kang Quan, knowing that he might not be able to help but pour the wine on it.

"Toast!"

Jian Kanghe, the official who presided over the funeral, did not move for a long time, and reminded him again.

Zhen Yingjia became more and more worried, and even raised her head to look at Kang He regardless.

There was silence at the funeral, almost everyone was looking at Kang Ho.

The circles of his eyes suddenly turned red, there was a muffled sound in his hand, the wine glass shattered, and blood mixed with the wine flowed down.

The official exclaimed, and was about to call someone, when Kang He spoke.

"It's okay, bring the wine again."

Zhen Yingjia breathed a sigh of relief, and Kang He's tone seemed to have calmed down.

The next few steps went smoothly. Zhen Yingjia looked around from the corner of her eye, and felt that Kang Hecai's actions just now were interpreted by these people as reluctance for the princess, and she finally calmed down a little.

Regardless of the truth of the matter, he just hoped that nothing would happen at the funeral.

But when the coffin entered the underground palace and before the door of the tomb was closed, Kang He lost control again.He suddenly called out to his concubine mother, and quickly ran into the underground palace.

There was a lot of whispering, and Zhen Yingjia's heart twitched again.

None of the officials presiding over the funeral had seen this before, so they looked around and asked the only emperor uncle present for advice.But the emperor had never seen this before. The coffin went in and sealed the underground palace, and opened again to let people in, just waiting for the prince to go.

He stroked his beard, feeling very embarrassed, "This..." After a long time, he still hadn't figured out what to do, but he saw Kang He coming out by himself.

Zhen Yingjia breathed a sigh of relief, and so did the emperor's uncle.

But when he saw Kang He's whole picture, he immediately shouted angrily, "Nonsense!"

At this time, Zhen Yingjia also saw it, and he couldn't help but gasped.

Kang He's hair was cut off, and he still held a box in his hand.

Kang He knelt in front of the emperor's uncle, bowed his head and said, "I came back late, and I didn't even see my mother and concubine for the last time. In my heart..." He sobbed twice, and the expression on the emperor's uncle's face changed immediately.

"It's not your fault." Uncle Huang stretched out his hand to pull Kanghe, and his face was very sympathetic, "The world is impermanent, who would have thought that she would just disappear like this."

But Kang He couldn't get up, and said: "I took this out, it's for my mother's concubine's daily use." He paused, "Many things in my mother's concubine's room were buried with me, I..." Kang He said With tears in his eyes, he seemed to be unable to speak anymore.

The emperor's uncle became more and more sympathetic, and said softly: "Your concubine mother loves you the most, and she won't blame you."

When these words came out, Kang He burst into tears.

Hearing this, Zhen Yingjia couldn't help but want to cry too.

Others don't understand why Kang He is crying again, but Zhen Yingjia, who stayed with Kang He all night last night, does understand.

He is not only sad for the death of the princess, but also the princess who raised him for more than ten years may not be his own, and even deeper, crying that his father is ruthless, no matter what the reason is, he finally forced the princess to death They are all princes.

It was precisely because of the argument between the prince and the princess that night that the princess finally decided to commit suicide by swallowing gold.

For Kang He, the person who originally protected him died, and his father, who was able to maintain a peaceful surface, had revealed his true face of ruthlessness, as well as his concubine brother who was eyeing him, and his concubine mother who had no idea.

Zhen Yingjia looked at Kang He who was kneeling on the ground and wept bitterly, and wished she could run up to comfort him immediately.

After a while, Kang He stopped crying under the persuasion of the emperor's uncle, raised his head and said: "The body is hairy and skinny, and I received it from my parents. I left a strand of beard and hair in it to repay my mother's upbringing, and took this thing again." Come out to express your condolences."

After finishing speaking, Kang He raised his head and looked at the emperor's uncle sadly.

Uncle Huang was taken aback for a moment, then sighed for a while and said, "That's all, I agree." After speaking, he turned his gaze to the official at the side.

The official got the emperor's uncle's instruction and immediately said: "Shut the door!"

Zhen Yingjia hastily lowered her head again, but when she lowered her head, she met the gaze that Kang He handed over. In a split second, Zhen Yingjia understood!

The box that Kang He took out contained the things that the two mothers-in-law stole from the princess's house!

What is he going to do!

Zhen Yingjia went to see Kang Quan again, and he looked at the things in Kang He's hands with a pale face, but his face was already pale, and another layer of things was applied on his face, so he couldn't see the real face clearly.

The next step is to go through the process.

The door of the tomb was sealed by several large stone slabs, and Kang He led the people from the East Palace to offer sacrifices again, and all the people who participated in the ceremony offered incense, and the burial was considered complete.

Afterwards, Zhen Yingjia followed the crowd to the wing room and had a vegetarian meal before returning to the capital.

It's just that Zhen Yingjia was thinking of Kang He in his heart, and he had a boring meal for a while, but when he heard many officials around him praise Kang He's filial piety, his heart was both sour and astringent, mixed with various flavors.

After dinner, the officials left one by one. Zhen Yingjia thought about it and went back to the "old tree under the western wall" where he met Kang He last time. As expected, Kang He was wandering under the tree and saw him coming. Showing a slightly bleak look, he smiled more sadly than crying.

Zhen Yingjia walked two steps faster to his side, Kang He winked, and followed the eunuch behind him to watch in the distance, Kang He said: "I—" He stopped after saying this word.

"I prepared wine to splash on Kang Quan's face," Kang He sighed, "but I don't think it's right to startle the snake."

Zhen Yingjia comforted in a soft voice: "That's right. Kang Quan has been hiding for so long. If it is really related to him, we must not make him vigilant. If he destroys the evidence in a panic, or even kills people to silence him, what will we do?" It can't be found out."

Unexpectedly, Kang He did not intend to relax at all, and said again: "I also used the reason of missing my dead mother and relying on the compassion of the emperor's uncle to take those few golden scorpions out of the underground palace."

Zhen Yingjia closed her eyes, as if she couldn't bear it. "I know that you are sincerely sad for your mother and concubine, and your mother and concubine also know that, that's enough."

Kang He hummed, nodded heavily, and said, "No matter what the truth is, I only recognize her as my concubine mother!"

Zhen Yingjia patted him on the shoulder.

Kang He sighed dejectedly, and said again: "You should also be careful, these things...don't let other people know, and don't leak the slightest bit of information. Otherwise, if the emperor's grandfather or grandmother finds out, you Even if he treats him as his nephew again, it won't do him any favors."

Zhen Yingjia nodded, "I know, you are the same, now that the East Palace is like this, take care of yourself."

Kang He said: "I have already told Zhiyin just now, let her go back to the East Palace with me, and I can use the excuse to sort out the belongings of the Crown Princess and stay for a while."

Zhen Yingjia nodded, and the two of them explained each sentence until they had nothing to say.

They looked at each other for a long time, then Zhen Yingjia said, "Does your hand still hurt?"

Hearing this, Kang He shuddered all over, raised his right hand that was already wrapped in white cloth, closed his eyes and said, "It hurts a little bit."

As soon as he finished speaking, he opened his eyes and said, "I should go back, and you should go back to Beijing as soon as possible. The imperial examination will be in August. I wish you high school in advance!"

Zhen Yingjia nodded, the two looked at each other again, turned and left.

The next period of time was very peaceful.

With the new funeral of the crown princess, the entertainment activities in the capital have almost stopped, and there are few people rushing to hold a banquet at this time.

Zhen Yingjia settled down to study, and now the imperial examination in August is the most important thing for him.

He also listened to Kang He's advice and withdrew all the people he sent out to inquire about the news. During this period of time, because the Crown Princess died, and her death was still unclear, those who had tampered with it must have opened their eyes wide. That said, in order not to alert people in the know, we can only investigate slowly after this period of time has passed.

During this period of time, Zhen Yingjia lived very leisurely. Every ten days and a half months, she would send someone to the East Palace to deliver something to Zhiyin, and then send two articles she wrote to the emperor, trying to be recognized by the emperor all the time. In mind.

Although there was no excuse to see Kang He in order to deceive others, but every time Zhiyin heard Kang He's words and heard the news that he was safe, he almost felt relieved.

In a blink of an eye, it was the ninth day of August, and the township examination officially began.

Just as Zhen Yingjia expected in advance, the examiner is really the newly appointed Lord Jijiu Sun of the Imperial College, and the exam questions have been repeatedly emphasized many times in advance, and Zhen Yingjia has also used his golden finger to double insure, so he answered it. Very handy.

There is no need to waste any effort on the content, and most of his energy is put on writing well.

Roll noodles are also very important.

Although I had made preparations in advance, I couldn't bear to curl up and answer questions for nine days in this small pigeon cage-like examination room.

Zhen Yingjia was still awake when he left the examination room, but fell asleep when he got into the carriage, and he didn't know how he was put into bed by his servants. Anyway, when he woke up again, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

He opened his eyes, looked at the golden sunlight outside, and stretched his waist greatly.

Finally finished one more thing.

But when he finished grooming and went out of the yard, and heard Ji Chu report that the eldest girl had returned, his mood was not so good.

Zhen Yingjia stopped suddenly, looked back at Ji Chu, "What's going on!"

Ji Chudao: "It said that there was a heavy rain the night before, and the girl accidentally caught a cold. They thought it would be better to send you back instead of recuperating in the dark room in the palace."

Zhen Yingjia had already turned around and went to Zhiyin's room, Ji Chu followed behind and said, "I have invited a doctor and drank the medicine for two days."

Zhiyin and Baoyu lived at the end of the courtyard, Baoyu lived in the third room to the east, and Zhiyin occupied the third room to the west. When Zhen Yingjia entered the hall, she could smell the strong smell of Chinese medicine mixed with vinegar.

Ji Chu was waiting in the living room, and Zhen Yingjia went in to have a look.

"Young lady just drank the medicine and fell asleep." Mother Hou said, who was serving on the side.

Zhen Yingjia looked at her plump little face, which looked a little haggard now, with a layer of dry skin on her mouth, and asked very distressed: "Do you have a fever? Did you get better after taking the medicine for two days? Yesterday Did you fall asleep at night?"

Mother Hou answered one by one, "It wasn't too hot when I got up in the morning. I didn't fall asleep yesterday because of the fever." She thought for a while and said, "Master, don't blame me for talking too much. After all, Steward Ji is not born and bred in the capital. If you want to invite a good doctor, you can't find a way, besides, the master is not here for the past two days, without your name card, you can only invite ordinary doctors."

Zhen Yingjia looked at Zhiyin's drowsy sleepy face, which was burning red again, and touched it with distressed hands, only to feel that the palm of his hand was still hot, and he whispered: "Please watch carefully, ma'am, I will take it right away." I got a famous post, let him invite someone again."

Zhen Yingjia came out and went to the study to get the famous post that she had just written.

This famous post is also very particular, for example, the one he uses in the capital now, the paper is the kind of tribute specially provided for the palace, no one dares to refuse it.

Zhen Yingjia took the name card, and asked Ji Chu to invite the imperial physician who had retired from the palace, and then went to Zhiyin's room again.

Hearing the commotion over there, Baoyu also came out to look, and asked a few more words, "Why is sister not well?" Zhen Yingjia saw that his eyes were full of panic, and he was not as energetic as usual. I couldn't get sick, so I couldn't help hugging him up, and comforted me: "Your sister is fine, she will be fine after drinking the medicine."

Baoyu grasped Zhen Yingjia's skirt tightly with both hands, and nodded slightly hesitantly.

Zhen Yingjia said: "I'll hold you here and wait. When the doctor comes later, ask him if he's okay?"

Baoyu nodded, quietly leaned against Zhen Yingjia's arms and did not speak.

Not long after, Ji Chu brought a doctor with white beard and hair, and Zhen Yingjia got up to greet him. He originally wanted to go in with him, but he saw that Ji Chu looked flustered, as if he had something important to tell him.

Zhen Yingjia kept an eye out, smiled and said to the doctor: "You go first, I will order to prepare pens, inks, papers and inkstones, so I won't disturb your pulse."

When the doctor came in, Zhen Yingjia and Ji Chu stood at the door, "What's wrong?" Zhen Yingjia asked.

"The crown prince has been abolished!" Ji Chu said anxiously, "The edict issued in the morning has been spread all over the capital!"

Ah!