Jiazhu of the Red Chamber

Speaking of the new emperor's enthronement, everyone in the court watched for half a year and saw that although Zhong Congyu was young, he was clearly rewarded and punished, decisive and resolute, regardless of previous suspicions, and the faction of the eldest prince was mainly gentle, except for the eldest prince, the rest were not punished However, the eldest prince committed an unforgivable crime, so his royal title was cut off, and he was ordered to guard the imperial tomb as a punishment.Since then, all the ministers who have wavered from side to side for many years have surrendered and devoted themselves to running errands to show their loyalty to the new emperor.

Autumn comes and winter goes, another year, after the New Year, the country name is officially changed to Cong Tai, called the first year of Cong Tai.

Spring goes to summer, and it's the end of summer in a blink of an eye. Jia Zhu is running between the Rongguo Mansion and the palace. Zhong Congyu always likes to call him into the palace if he has nothing to do. The time for reviewing the book was reduced by half. Seeing the township examination approaching, he couldn't help being impatient. He mentioned it to Zhong Congyu a few times in good faith, asking him to restrain himself. It is hard to violate the holy will to invite someone, so Jia Zhu had no choice but to follow along with the book.It's just that Zhong Congyu pestered him to do this and that, but Jia Zhu couldn't resist, so he had to obey him.When he got home, he regretted it, so he turned on the lamp to read at night, not wanting it to be cold at night, and he caught a fever and cold. He didn't take it to heart until Zhong Congyu found out that he invited the imperial doctor to take medicine, and it took more than a week for him to recover.Zhong Congyu was very regretful, and called him less often. Jia Zhu devoted himself to his books, preparing to sprint before the exam, but it was a pity that there were too many hard-working students in the world. The name fell to Sun Shan.

He was really depressed for a while, and it was useless for Zhong Congyu to try to tease him. At this moment, Zhong Congyu regretted that he was too obedient. If he knew that he would bribe the examiner, Jia Zhu would have to pass the exam no matter what.

Fortunately, Jia Zhu is not a person who likes to be in the wrong. After a while, he thought that he hadn't bothered to study for most of this year. Now that the situation is stable, if he comes back three years later, he will surely pass the exam.Zhong Congyu had no choice but to follow him, and agreed with Jia Zhu to meet twice a week instead of once a day, and let him re-enter the mansion to listen to Li Shouzhong's lectures.

When Jia Zhu arrived at the mansion, he found out that Shui Rong hadn't been there for a long time. He heard that he had taken an official position and devoted himself to errands; and Wu Zhaoqi hadn't been here since last summer. Take it to heart when you leave, and only listen to good people to find out. The gate of the Lingnan Prince's Mansion in the capital has been closed for many days, and no one has come in or out. Maybe it's unknown when you return to Lingnan.

Jia Zhu couldn't help being a little disappointed, thinking that he hadn't seen Shui Rong for a long time, so he went to the Beijing Palace to look for him after school, but the doorman said that Shui Rong was still in the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry and would not be back until evening.

Later, Jia Zhu went to look for him a few more times, but every time he was in vain, he gradually lost his mind, concentrated on reading, and didn't think about it anymore.

It was New Year's Eve again, and the two houses of Rongning and Ningxia celebrated the festive season together. Because Jia Zhu was welcomed by the new emperor, even though he had no official position, everyone in the capital saw him and looked at Jia's house differently.Everyone in Jia's house sat around a group, beaming with joy, chatting for a while, Jia Amnesty suddenly mentioned: "Because the emperor kept his filial piety, there was no draft last year. After the new year, he was eighteen and had no middle palace. Only two of them were brought over from the palace." I'm serving you, her family background is low, and her grade is not high. I heard that the draft will be held in the first year of the year. Our eldest girl is sixteen, and she will be over the age of next year. She should also prepare for the election. This is our family. top priority."

Jia Mu laughed and said, "I'm also worried about this, because I'm afraid that the Holy Majesty will have to observe the three-year filial piety period before mentioning the draft."

Jia She said: "He originally had this intention, but all the ministers tried to persuade the emperor to listen to the government, how can there be no master in the harem, and he is afraid of being criticized, so he agreed to this spring's draft."

Everyone had joy on their faces, thinking that Jia Zhu had a close relationship with the emperor. If Yuan Chun could enter the palace smoothly, the Jia family would have double reliance, and their future would be guaranteed. How could they not be happy?

Only Jia Zhu was in a complicated mood among the people in the room. On the one hand, Yuan Chun did not need to be the concubine of the older emperor, but Zhong Congyu's concubine who was similar in age. He was happy for his sister from the bottom of his heart; The love is pleasing, but Yuan Chun became Zhong Congyu's concubine, and his brother and sister serve the same person, so it is inevitable that he feels embarrassed.Although he had known that Zhong Congyu would marry a concubine one day, he just felt different when he heard it with his own ears, not to mention that there was another person who was his younger sister.He thought about being a man again, and suddenly realized that if one day people knew about his relationship with Zhong Congyu, how would he face the world?

He looked up in panic, and saw Yuan Chun's face was flushed and shy, but her upbringing forced her to sit beside Jiamu calmly, pretending not to hear everyone's discussion.

Jia Zhu's hand trembled, the wine glass fell to the ground with a bang, everyone looked over, Madam Wang asked, "What's wrong with Pearl?"

Jia Zhu took the handkerchief from Wen Xin, wiped off the wine on her body, and said with a forced smile, "It's all right."

Jia She said with a smile: "I think Zhu'er is flustered when she sees that her younger sister is going to marry. Let me tell you, Zhu'er and Lian'er are not young, so they should pay attention to their marriage."

Jia Mu laughed and said, "That's exactly the reason. I mentioned it two years ago, but Zhu'er was ashamed and didn't want others to talk about it."

Mrs. Wang said: "As parents, you should also pay more attention to your children."

Jia Zhengdao: "He failed in the autumn exam last year, and he will raise this matter after two years of passing the exam."

Jia Mu laughed and scolded: "What a fool! Your two brothers relied on the virtue of their ancestors to seize the official position. They don't know the hardships involved. Their brothers have already worked hard at school, and having a virtuous person to accompany them can relieve their fatigue."

Jia She smiled apologetically and said, "Mother is right. For a family like ours, it's really worthless to donate an official if we don't pass the exam. Why make my brothers work hard and compare themselves with those poor children!"

Jia Zheng refused to accept it and said: "The imperial examination is the right way, and it will be good-looking for officials in the future. My brother-in-law has been selected by Tan Hualang. Although he has only become a doctor at Lantai Temple, he is highly regarded by the emperor."

Seeing that he mentioned Lin Ruhai, Jia Amnesty stopped talking. Everyone here knows that Jia's mother loves Jia Min the most, and she also loves her husband and son-in-law very much. Sure enough, Jia's mother said: "If you can be like his uncle, you are also from Jia's family." Luckily. As long as there is no conflict between this matter and the marriage, choose a girl from the right family, and such a background does not value a title."

Jia Zhu was very depressed, he was still thinking about meeting Zhong Congyu the day before yesterday, but he didn't mention the draft, and he didn't know why.Seeing Jia Zheng mentioning that he failed the exam, knowing that he had failed his father's expectations, he was a little disappointed. Seeing Jia's mother and others talking about his marriage, he became even more irritable. He sat for a while but his face was really ugly. Mrs. Wang asked him What's going on, Jia Zhu took the opportunity to find an excuse to leave the table first, and went back to the house to lay down with her clothes on, a nameless fire didn't know how to dispel it, she wished she could go to the palace immediately and ask that person for clarification.But rationally, Jia Zhu also understood that without Zhong Congyu's call, it would not be easy for him to enter the palace. He has no official position or status, and he has no reason to ask the guards to report. One day Zhong Congyu no longer summoned him, and he didn't even have a chance to meet him.