The Red Mansions

Chapter 681 Jia Heng: Fortunately, it's not too late

Chapter 681 Jia Heng: Fortunately...it's not too late

Ningguo Mansion

When Qin Keqing and Qin Keqing returned from the Qin residence, it was already afternoon, because the summer was long and the sun was still lingering in the western sky, but the heat had subsided by five or six minutes.

Jia Heng sipped a cup of tea in the living room, thought for a while, and headed to the kitchen in the backyard, intending to personally inspect the superb cooking lady whose origin was unknown.

The kitchen of Ningguo Mansion is located in the southeast corner. There are trees all over the courtyard. It is midsummer, and the trees sway with the wind, and the shade of the trees becomes waves. The maids and mothers moved things in and out.

This is the small stove of the master of the Ningguo Mansion, so it is naturally different from the big stove in the servants' house.

Apart from Jia Heng, Qin Keqing and Xichun, the only ones who can be called masters in the Ningguo Mansion are Miaoyu and the two sisters of Youshi who live here.

And in the courtyard, the third-class nanny, who was washing vegetables by a wooden basin, looked up and saw Jia Heng, she was shocked, she clearly did not expect Jia Heng to come to the back kitchen in person, she quickly got up from the small bench, and put her wet hands on her waist He wiped the scarf tied around his waist, and with a flattering smile on his wrinkled face, he asked, "Master Heng, why are you here in the back kitchen?"

"I have nothing to do, come and have a look." Jia Heng looked at the woman, nodded, and asked softly: "The food in the past two days is quite delicious, which cook did it?"

"You mean Cook Xiao? She's preparing dinner now. I'll call her right away." The nanny laughed.

Jia Heng quickly stretched out his hand to call out, and said, "I'll just go and see for myself."

At this moment, in the back kitchen, by the window, a slender figure, wearing a lotus-colored floral skirt, black silk coiled on her head, and wrapped in a blue and white square scarf, stood in front of the stove, with her hands resting on iron Under the pot, under the stove, a girl delivered dry firewood, and the flames were blazing.

Because it was midsummer, the weather was hot, and the girl was cooking again. Her forehead, which was as bright as jade, together with that elegant and refined melon-seeded face, was almost sweating. She turned away from time to time, and wiped the sweat with a handkerchief.

Chen Xiao's expression was focused. The saintess of the white lotus picked up the kitchen knife and put it on the willow tree cutting board beside her. Cut it, then pinch it with both hands, put it into the oil pan, and the sound of "sizzling" suddenly sounds, and the heat is mixed with the aroma.

The girl picked up the shovel and turned it over. The skillful movements, coupled with the youthful and beautiful exquisite curves, are quite a beautiful landscape in the back kitchen of all the yellow-faced women.

And this scene naturally fell into the eyes of the young man who quietly entered the back kitchen, his brows were condensed, and thoughts appeared in his eyes.

As the saying goes, stand out from the crowd, stand out from the crowd, this is how this chef Xiao gave him the impression, could this kind of person be an ordinary cook again?

It's not Xilaile's Xilaile, a genius doctor, who has a lion's head in one hand, and that's the charm of a good family with a plain spoon.

Well, his thinking seems to be a little divergent, and it's all because Princess Chu, Zhen Qing, who led him into the ditch.

"Master, why are you here?" The woman who was busy in the kitchen, seeing the boy in plain brocade robe standing in front of the window, all stopped their work and greeted him with smiles.

This naturally made the girl who was concentrating on cooking turn around, followed the prestige and looked a little surprised.

It is impossible to describe what it was like to look back suddenly. The melon-seeded face under the golden-red sun in the afternoon, with clear eyebrows, cheek contours and lines, half-hidden, almost has an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

For a moment, I almost thought it was Xianning.

Well, this cook Xiao's temperament, no, or the layout of her eyebrows, eyes and facial features, seems to be somewhat Xianning.

"Come and have a look, you are all busy." Jia Heng waved his hand, and let all the women back away, walked up to the girl, looking at the girl with starry eyes, and asked, "Is it Chef Xiao?"

"Master Heng." Under Chen Xiao's beautiful eyebrows, her clear eyes were condensed, and she clenched her hand holding the shovel, feeling a faint feeling of something bad in her heart.

"The dishes I have cooked in the past few days taste good. Come here and see a cook who can cook northern and southern cuisines." Under Jia Heng's sword-like eyebrows, his eyes were clear, and he looked at the girl opposite. If Shi Fendai's cheeks can be explained by youth, then the slender fingers and calluses on the tiger's mouth undoubtedly show that it is not just caused by holding a spoon and carrying a knife.

Xu has martial arts in him.

Jia Heng looked at the girl with a calm expression, and asked, "Is the cooking done? I have something to ask you."

"There are two more dishes." Hearing this, Chen Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes were calm.

If he exposed himself, this person would never say whether the cooking was done, let alone be so calm, he should just suspect her.

Jia Heng glanced at the dishes being fried in the pot, and said, "Let's finish this dish, there's no rush, don't get confused."

"Yeah." Chen Xiao said softly, and turned around to fry the dishes.

This cook Xiao is quite suspicious.

Jia Heng thought about it, and stayed away. Looking at the girl's back at this moment, she frowned, thinking, this back is really familiar, but compared to the previous sudden look back, the appearance and facial features are somewhat similar to Xianning It's different, he should have seen this back view before, but it made him unable to remember when he saw it.

"Where did you see it?" Jia Heng's eyes flickered, searching for memories in his heart.

Because of the occupational habits of his previous life, he has a deep memory of the people he has met, and he will not forget them for a long time.

On the other side, Chen Ling looked calm and was still frying the dishes meticulously, pouring vinegar and sprinkling salt from time to time, without any signs of panic.

After a while, the girl put the stir-fried dishes on a plate and asked a nun to take them away. Then, she wiped her hands on the scarf and said, "Master Heng, let's go."

Jia Heng didn't say much, and led the girl to a spacious room not far from the backyard.

And Chen Xiao stepped into the hall, while wiping his hands on the scarf, he observed the surrounding environment calmly with bright eyes, looking for an escape route after being exposed later.

"Sit." Jia Heng sat down on a pear wood chair behind the small table and invited the girl.

Chen Xiao said softly: "In front of the uncle, the slaves dare not, but the uncle has something to order?"

Jia Heng smiled, looked at the calm and composed girl opposite, and asked, "It's okay, just chat casually, where is Miss Xiao from, and who did you learn this cooking skill from?"

Although it is only suspicion, it is enough to inquire.

There was no smile on Chen Xiao's face, but Qingshuang was still the same, and he cherished his words like gold and said: "I am from Yangzhou, and I learned cooking from my mother since I was a child."

"Yangzhou people?" Jia Heng put down the teacup, looked up at the girl opposite, staring at the clear eyes, and asked: "But Miss Xiao can cook more than Yangzhou dishes."

Chen Xiao looked at the young man opposite, and said in a low voice: "I have learned a lot of dishes, because I like to cook, so I can cook them after a long time."

Jia Heng pondered for a moment, then said: "Then how did Miss Xiao enter the mansion?"

Chen Xiaoqing said in a clear voice: "I came to the capital to seek refuge with my relatives, but I couldn't find them, and I ran out of money. Fortunately, I met a nun in the house who kindly took him in. She said that there was a lack of a cook in the house, so she recommended herself to cook in the West Mansion."

Jia Heng thought for a while, looked at the girl opposite, smiled lightly, and said, "It's reasonable to say so."

Chen Xiao: "???"

But there was a blank look on his face at the right time, as if he didn't understand what Jia Heng said, and asked: "Master, but what's wrong with me?"

The person in front of him turned into a first-class uncle of a big man and a governor in brocade clothes with a piece of commoner clothes, which is definitely not an easy generation.

Jia Heng said: "It's nothing, Miss Xiao's cooking skills are very good, and her knife skills are also good."

As he said that, he moved closer, his eyes met, his eyes were aggressive, and he suddenly asked in a low voice: "Miss Xiao has martial arts?"

This cook Xiao probably has a problem, who is the eyeliner of the faction?

From the present point of view, there is no harm, and his suspicion is more like an intuition, unfounded, but he is [-]% certain in his heart, and he will ask the government guard to investigate this cook named Xiao.

As if frightened by Jia Heng's aggressiveness, Chen Xiao lowered his eyes, and said in a calm voice trembling, "Master Heng, I can't dance."

My cousin has danced since elementary school, but she doesn't know how to dance. Of course, the man asked if he practiced martial arts, so he could only pretend to be deaf and dumb. He really doubted her.

Jia Heng observed the changes in the girl's expression, and did not expose the girl's pretending to be deaf and dumb, and said in a low voice, "It's fine if you don't know how to dance."

In front of him, it was precisely because he was so calm and calm that it was a little abnormal. So, which party's eyeliner was it?Don't be a person sent by the Son of Heaven, right?Maybe the skill of cooking like this was learned by the palace?

Not long after, Jia Heng looked deeply at the girl, and said softly, "Okay, there's nothing else to do, Miss Xiao, let's cook, I really like the dishes that Miss Xiao cooks."

"Yeah." Chen Ling said in a low voice, and slowly exited the room, feeling relieved.

For some reason, when I was in the same room with this young man, I always felt that my identity would be exposed in the next moment.

Jia Heng was silent for a moment, he had some guesses in his heart, he didn't linger, he returned to the back house, went to Xichun courtyard, intending to see Miaoyu.

Since the kiss that made love that day, she hadn't seen Miaoyu for several days. It is estimated that Wen Qingnv became angry and secretly recited sutras for him.

Thinking like this, I walked towards the Xichun Courtyard through the flower wall hanging from the vines, and suddenly passed the Huifang Garden, heard the sound of laughter and laughter, and saw Xichun was with Xiangyun, Tanchun, Yingchun, and a few others The maids, big and small, were playing catch-and-seek, but Chai and Dai were not seen in the crowd.

It turned out that Jia Heng went to Guining with Keqing today, and the little girls in the West Mansion were not idle. Under Xiangyun's suggestion, in the morning, Chaidai, Sanchun, and Yunxiu came to Ningguo Mansion to look for Xichun to play, and to watch Xichun I drew a few pictures, and then, a few little girls came to Huifang Garden to enjoy the flowers, write poems, play the piano and enjoy the music.

After a while, because Baochai was afraid of the heat, Daiyu also went back to take a nap. Only Xiangyun, Tanchun, and Yingchun were left. They took a nap at Xichun. In the evening, when the weather was cooler, they came to Fangyuan again. Play around.

Playing a game of hide-and-seek, now it's Xichun's turn to catch someone, with a pomegranate red handkerchief covering the eyes of her pretty face, I don't know whose, and Xiangyun, Tanchun, Yingchun and the servant girl Obsessed with hiding.

And not far from here, beside the flowers and trees with sparse branches and leaves, under an octagonal pavilion with red beams and brackets, Xing Xiuyan and Miaoyu are sitting on stone benches, playing chess across a chess field.

Seeing that Xichun was playing hide-and-seek, Jia Heng's complexion paused slightly, his eyes were deeply focused, and then his eyes softened again.

At this moment, Xichun was not wearing a monk's robe, but a girlish pink dress, with airy bangs in her hair, and a bright smile on her pink cheeks.

Seeing this scene, Jia Heng breathed a sigh of relief.

Quietly got in and wanted to speak, but saw that the faces of the maids changed slightly when they saw Jia Heng, and they subconsciously moved out of the way to both sides.

Jia Heng approached, and was about to open his mouth to speak, but suddenly saw the proud little loli, like a butterfly, pounced into her arms, wrapped around Jia Heng's waist, and said with a light smile, "Sister Yun, I caught you!" Bar."

It was Jia Heng's generous body that made Xichun think it was Xiangyun.

Xiangyun covered his mouth with a handkerchief, leaned forward and back together with a smile, and said, "Fourth sister, you didn't catch me. Look who you caught?"

Xichun also felt that something was wrong, she only felt that she was burly and her body was masculine, her heart skipped a beat, she was about to let go of her hands, when she heard the maids around calling for Uncle Heng, she hastily hugged her slightly loosened hands again.

Suddenly, he felt that the handkerchief in front of him was gently untied from the hair on the back of his head.

Then, a handsome and handsome young man's face jumped into his eyes, his eyes were smiling and warm, as if he wanted to melt himself.

Jia Heng reached out and rubbed Xichun's air bangs, and said with a smile: "Fourth sister is all over my chest."

"Oh, Brother Heng, why are you here?" Seeing that it was Jia Heng, Xi Chunfang was both happy and ashamed, and asked in surprise, but she didn't let go of her hand holding Jia Heng's waist.

Tanchun and Xiangyun also looked at Jia Heng. Even the two players who were playing chess in the octagonal pavilion in the distance also turned their faces away. Gladly.

Jia Heng tidied up the girl's bangs again, smiled lightly, and said: "I just came back with your sister-in-law, and your sister-in-law is a little tired, so I went back to the room and rested first, I wanted to go to your yard to see you, Let you draw a picture for me, pass by Huifang Garden, and see you all bustling here."

Saying "you", the clear and deep eyes flashed one by one, which may be delicate, bright, or quiet, not inferior to the faces of flowers and plants in the garden.

In the end, looking through the distance of two feet, looking at the graceful figure in the dark blue cloud pattern Taoist robe under the pavilion with red beams and bucket arches, and meeting the eyes that are like autumn water, the nun's expression is subtle , There was a hint of shame in the bright eyes.

But being stared at by Jia Heng, Miao Yufang's heart trembled, a slight blush appeared on her cheeks that were as cold as frost, she avoided her gaze, and with a "click", it was clearly a chess piece in her hand, which fell on the chessboard.

Ever since she and Jia Heng exchanged their feelings for each other and kissed each other that day, she was originally an official lady who was born in the misty Jiangnan land. In the past few days, she sometimes frowned in embarrassment, sometimes became excited, and sometimes was dazed... Even these two Xing Xiuyan, who was looking for Miaoyu to talk about Zen all day long, could sense Master Miaoyu's distracted mind.

And just now, when they met each other's eyes, they undoubtedly truly realized what it means to not see each other for a day, like seeing a gentleman after three autumns, Yun Hu is not happy.

Xichun's brows were full of smiles, and she was keenly observant. She caught the softness in the clear eyes under the firm and sharp eyebrows, and couldn't help pouting. Did my brother come to see her, or to see Master Miaoyu?

Jia Heng smiled lightly, and said: "Your sister-in-law and I are not at home, you two had fun at home, what were you playing just now?"

Under Tanchun Yingli's beautiful eyebrows, bright eyes were shining brightly, he smiled lightly, and said: "Brother Heng, this is not all caused by Sister Yun, you should take care of Sister Yun, she went riding a horse just now, I also want Sister Lin and Fourth Sister to ride horses and learn how to archery."

Xiangyun pulled Tanchun's arm, and said with a smile: "Third sister still talks about me, as if you didn't want to ride a horse just now."

Jia Heng turned his eyes and took Xichun's little hand, and asked with a smile: "Does Fourth Sister want to ride a horse?"

Xichun looked at the young man, at this moment Jia Heng accompanied Qin Keqing to the Qin mansion to visit her relatives, she did not wear a python suit, and she was already a bit dignified in ordinary civilian clothes, and now her back was facing the setting sun, her heart was beating for some reason, A few minutes later, he said: "Brother Heng, I heard from my third sister that it's a little risky, and it won't be too late to play when I'm older."

Jia Heng smiled and said: "Then I will teach you some time, you are young, I will take you to ride."

Those good swimmers drowned in the water played like Xiangyun, and they were also worried about things like Jia Mu's head being smashed, and there was no tetanus shot at this time.

The bright eyes under Xiangyun's beautiful eyebrows flickered, she was not very old, brother Heng was eccentric, and loved the fourth younger sister the most.

Just as the girl couldn't sleep at night, arguing with Tanchun on the boat who Jia Heng loved most, Xiangyun thought Jia Heng loved Xichun the most.

Jia Heng was talking with a few little girls, then let go of Xi Chun, and then came under the gazebo, calling out: "Cousin Xiuyan."

"Brother Heng." Xing Xiuyan said softly, with a pair of misty eyebrows, a face as white as jade, and a quiet and bookish air permeating her whole body.

Jia Heng looked at Miaoyu and asked: "Master Miaoyu, why do you have time to enjoy flowers and play chess in Huifang Garden today? It's so noisy around here."

Miao Yuxiu frowned, her clear eyes showed no abnormality, she said softly: "It's just seeking peace in the midst of the commotion, Master Heng, do you want to have a hand-to-hand conversation?"

Jia Heng glanced at the chessboard and said softly, "Good."

Miaoyu: "..."

It's fine, what's good?

Jia Heng looked at Miaoyu whose bright eyes were all speechless, and a flash of interest flashed in his heart, um, in fact, he likes Miaoyu, who is a lady like Miaoyu.

Because everyone is there, they can't find Miaoyu to talk about Zen, so it's good to play two games of chess, just for fun.

Xiang Yun smiled and said, "Brother Heng, shall we play chess later?"

"Come here, Sister Yun, I'll teach you how to play backgammon." Jia Heng sat on the gazebo, playing chess with Miaoyu, and a few girls were watching the game, until the servant girl came and asked the girls to go to dinner.

Just now Miaoyu got up, looked at Jia Heng, and said, "Master Heng, it's getting late, poor nun will take my leave first."

Jia Heng looked at the nun, nodded, and said softly: "Then I will find my teacher to talk about the scriptures when I have time."

Miaoyu clasped her palms together, without saying much, she led the little girl Susu away, everyone knew Miaoyu's cold temperament, so they didn't care.

……

……

The moon and stars were sparse, and the night was dark. The maids in each room had already lit up lanterns, and the summer night wind was blowing on the face with heat, making people feel drunk.

After dinner, Jia Heng came to the study, sat down behind the desk, and pulled out the information on Yangzhou salt merchants or Yangzhou salt administration delivered by Jinyi Mansion.

"Jiang Tong, Huang Rishan, Huang Cheng, Bao Zuhui, Ma Xianjun, Cheng Peili, Xiao Hongsheng, and Liu Shengzao, the Huaihuai salt transport envoy, is the nephew of the Supreme Emperor's concubine Zhuang Concubine, and the former salt transport envoy Guo Shaonian is The son-in-law of Princess Kuaiji, the daughter of the Supreme Emperor's noble concubine, is of course very old and has retired not long ago.

The Supreme Prince has many heirs, except for Jinyang, the emperor's sister, there are other concubines who have given birth to many princesses, and they have their own concubines. The oldest ones are all in their 40s.

"So this is really the money bag of the Chonghua Palace, no wonder the emperor has been hesitant and delayed until now." Jia Heng's eyes were gloomy, thinking.

If Emperor Chongping hadn't gradually taken control of the imperial power, he might have waited until the death of the Supreme Emperor, and began to wipe out the four kings and eight princes, Jiangnan Zhen's family, but unfortunately...he was unable to recover.

"Guo and Liu are now living in Jinling, and they don't show the mountains or dew, so there are other officials around them, such as the Nanjing household department that manages the Nanjing salt import and exploration cooperation, Yangzhou local officials and salt merchants, these people No wonder it's a bad account." Jia Heng seemed to look through the information book in his hand, guessing the methods of these salt merchants.

Borrowing silver from the warehouse, and then taking part of the silver to bribe the officials of the Nanjing household department, and then the white gloves of the overlord also took the opportunity to collude, and then made the salt transportation department into a deficit.

And Emperor Chongping sent Lin Ruhai to inspect the salt, and he was already about to take back this part of his power, but Lin Ruhai's temperament was still a little soft, or it could be said that due to the situation of the court, the situation where the two days were suspended made Emperor Chongping unable to stretch.

"The methods used by those salt merchants to poison and assassinate before, we can see that the salt merchants who control the money have cultivated private armed forces and killers." Jia Heng looked at the night outside the window, thinking.

Don't play any tricks on these people, smash down with an iron fist, and sweep away all ghosts and monsters.

"As for the others, you may need to worry about the face of the Supreme Emperor." Jia Heng was thinking.

With more and more information under control, I have thoroughly sorted out the context of all court affairs during the Chongping and Longzhi years, and there is no more fog.

For more than ten years after Emperor Chongping came to the throne, the first five years were busy securing his position and cutting off the henchmen of the prince, King Zhao Zhou and others. Tossing half-heartedly.

Then, in the name of righteousness, Emperor Chongping leveled the civil official group, selected and promoted a large number of civil officials in the imperial examination, divided and won military honors, and began the last game with the remaining power of the Supreme Emperor in the field of Beijing camp.

In order to maintain the declining Chen and Han courts, the two sides tacitly fought without breaking up.

It wasn't until the age of the Supreme Emperor was almost seventy-seven, that Xu Shi really didn't have the heart to fight anymore.

He just happened to complete the whole army and parade the military, so he completely handed over the puzzle of the last bit of power to Emperor Chongping, and Nan'an, Beijing and other martial arts with different ideas have all turned against the emperor so far.

It can be said that the years of Emperor Chongping's succession to the throne have been a process of constantly cleaning up and sweeping away the remnants of the Supreme Emperor.

"To be old and not die is to be a thief. If you died all of a sudden, it would not have caused a dangling government situation. The two ruling ideas hinder each other. The old man is stable, and the young is radical, and then the radical youth will survive until middle age." , was exhausted by natural disasters and man-made disasters in recent years, the window period for the new king to make drastic changes and clean up the accumulated evils was lost, and then missed the time for invigorating and promising, and there was no way to recover." Thinking about the two dynasties and the future.

Even after the death of the Supreme Emperor, how much money did the Zhen family and the Jia family confiscate because of the general environment?

Both Ningrong and Rongfu have boxes of pawn tickets and live on pawns, because the state affairs are declining and the nest is overwhelmed, and there are no more eggs.

The military strength of the Han Dynasty has not completely changed. The king of Nan'an County sent troops and was captured.

Looking at the situation of the Chen Han Dynasty, from the loss of Liaodong to the struggle for the heir apparent, it is true that such a court cannot be killed from the outside, and must first commit suicide.

"Fortunately...it's not too late now." Jia Heng suppressed his thoughts and closed the book, and now he was sitting in the passenger seat, slamming on the brakes crazily.

He was about to get up and go to have lunch, but suddenly a woman's voice came from the outside, and he couldn't help being slightly surprised.

(End of this chapter)