The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The sun is like fire!

A trellis was built with green bamboo in Jia's mother's courtyard, and the trellis was covered with lush green ivy.

On both sides of the shed, more than a dozen old women were using suction cups to draw cool water from buckets and spraying it onto the roof. The air was filled with mist and the vines and leaves were dripping with green.

As I walked into the courtyard, I felt the thick shade and the coolness penetrated my body.

A small, homely stage had been set up under the scaffolding, and the Wang family sent a troupe of newly-produced plays to congratulate Jia Yuanchun and the fifth prince.

Grandmother Jia had set up several tables for a family banquet in her upper room. Before the banquet started, Li Wan was watching the old women and maids wiping the tables and chairs and preparing tea and wine utensils.

"Miss Shi is here." The voice of the old woman came from outside the door.

Before he could finish his words, Shi Xiangyun came in with many maids and wives.

As soon as she saw Li Wan, Shi Xiangyun hurriedly bowed and called her "sister-in-law".

Li Wan smiled and said, "You came so late, why don't you go in and congratulate the old lady?"

Shi Xiangyun smiled as she entered the back hall, only to see Lin Daiyu sitting next to Grandmother Jia on her left. In the basement, Lady Xing, Aunt Xue, You's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, Jia Xichun, Xue Baochai, and Xue Baoqin were all in the room, but Lady Wang, Wang Xifeng, and Jia Baoyu were not there.

Seeing Shi Xiangyun coming, Lin Daiyu and others hurried forward to meet her.

After a few jokes, Shi Xiangyun hurriedly congratulated Lady Jia and paid her respects to Lady Xing and Aunt Xue.

As soon as Shi Xiangyun sat down on the right side of Jia's mother, she couldn't wait to talk to Lin Daiyu who was sitting on the left side of Jia's mother.

Grandmother Jia listened to her for a few words with a smile, then interrupted her: "Where is your second aunt?"

Shi Xiangyun then remembered: "Second Auntie will wait for Second Uncle to return from the palace before coming together."

Grandmother Jia smiled and nodded.

When the Qingxu Temple was holding a ceremony to pray for blessings, Jia Yuanchun sent out the eunuch in charge, presenting tributes such as incense, candles, tea, and silver, and also brought a message saying that state affairs are trivial and one should not be too ostentatious. She also summoned Lady Wang into the palace to talk to her for a few words.

Mrs. Wang then reluctantly lowered the scale and, in accordance with Jia Yuanchun's wishes, only invited the Shi family, the Wang family, the Xue family, the Li family, and the Jia family.

Grandmother Jia was a person who liked to be lively, but in this matter, she supported Jia Yuanchun and was very satisfied with Jia Yuanchun's arrangement.

Although only four families were invited to the banquet, the Shi, Wang and Li families all held military power and had great influence in the court, enough to support the Jia family's reputation without causing dissatisfaction from the Queen and the Prince.

Shi Xiangyun looked at Lin Daiyu and said, "Sister Lin, are you going home today?"

Lin Daiyu: "Yes."

Shi Xiangyun said "Oh" and asked again: "Is Brother Baoyu not at home?"

Grandmother Jia continued, "Now that you are older and the weather is hot, I don't let him come over."

Shi Xiangyun: "How is Second Sister-in-law Lian?"

Grandmother Jia changed the subject: "It's time to do the one-year-old ceremony in the uterus."

Shi Xiangyun wanted to say something, but was stopped by Lin Daiyu with her eyes.

Shi Xiangyun pouted and Lin Daiyu shook her head. Now the power in the backyard of Rongguo Mansion was taken back by Grandmother Jia. Lady Xing and Li Wan brought Jia Yingchun and Jia Tanchun to help; Rong Xi Tang was under the control of Lady Wang; Wang Xifeng was better, but she did not dare to leave the small courtyard.

At this time, Li Wan walked in.

Li Wan: "Madam, the little actors are all ready."

Grandmother Jia stood up and said with a smile, "Let's go and listen to the opera."

When a baby is one year old, it is called a "Zhou", also known as one year old. On this day, not only is there a celebration, but a grand ceremony of grasping the week is also held.

Grasping the week, also known as testing the child or testing the week, is a very important ceremony in the first birthday ceremony. It is a ceremony to predict the future and temperament.

On his first birthday, Jia Baoyu got a rouge hairpin and ring. Of course, it is impossible for a prince to have rouge hairpin and ring in the ceremony of the first birthday. As a prince, the ceremony of the first birthday is very grand. After washing and dressing up, he put on new clothes, went to worship the ancestors, reported the good news to the ancestors, and prayed for the ancestors' blessing.

Over the past year, the palace and the court were in a mess, with bad things happening one after another. Finally, a happy event happened. Emperor Yongchang summoned all the princes and ministers to the main hall of the Qianqing Palace to attend the fifth prince's one-year-old birth ceremony.

Two square tables were placed side by side in the middle of the hall, covered with new scarlet felt, and the prepared items for the one-year-old ceremony were placed in a semi-arc shape at one end of the table.

Emperor Yongchang was in a good mood and came personally carrying the fifth prince.

Although he was ill some time ago, the Fifth Prince is still plump and fair and looks very healthy.

The director of the Imperial Observatory was staring at the pocket watch in his hand. Seeing that the pointer was about to fall on the auspicious time selected by the Imperial Observatory, he immediately reported to Emperor Yongchang: "Your Majesty, the auspicious time of heaven and earth has arrived."

Emperor Yongchang placed the fifth prince at the other end of the table, pointed at the items for the "Zhuazhou" ceremony, and motioned him to grab them.

The fifth prince sat on the table, looking at the various things in front of him. He looked left and right, and finally crawled to a brush and grabbed it in his hand.

Catching a brush during the Zhou ceremony means that one will have good literary talent in the future. Princes and ministers were very happy to see this, and they all said auspicious words, whether they were truly happy or pretending to be happy.

The Crown Prince and the Third Prince also smiled when they saw this scene.

Jia Jing and Jia Lian breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that the Fifth Prince might seize something he shouldn't have.

The smile on Emperor Yongchang's face became even wider. Seeing that the Fifth Prince was holding the brush and was unwilling to put it down, he asked Dai Quan to bring paper and ink and teased the Fifth Prince to write.

Seeing that the emperor was in high spirits, everyone gathered around.

Under the gaze of everyone, the fifth prince scribbled on the paper with a pen, then threw the brush away and crawled towards the emperor.

The originally relaxed atmosphere suddenly became solemn.
The pattern drawn by the fifth prince actually resembled a Chinese character, and it was this Chinese character that made everyone change their expressions.

The word drawn by the fifth prince looks very much like the word "敕"!

"Chi", this word is not ordinary. Except for the emperor, only Taoist talismans are allowed to use this word. No one else can use this word without permission.

This word is a symbol of imperial authority, representing the emperor's will and orders. It is highly authoritative and mandatory, so the word "Chi" is closely linked to imperial power.

The entire hall was as silent as death.

Jia Lian's face suddenly turned pale, and cold sweat began to flow from his forehead to his cheeks and then drip onto the ground.

Li Hu was also stunned. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that a one-year-old kid could actually draw a word with a brush, and it was the word "Chi". Could it be that this kid was a child of luck? No, it must be the emperor's doing!

Jia Jing was also a little panicked, with a light flickering in his eyes, obviously thinking about how to deal with the situation.

Although the Third Prince tried his best to conceal it, there was still a murderous look in his eyes.

The prince did not move at all, still looking at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, his expression solemn.

Emperor Yongchang, holding the fifth prince, watched everyone's reactions without saying a word and was about to speak.

Jia Jing spoke up: "Your Highness the Fifth Prince has written the character '敇' well. 敇 means to hit a horse. This shows that Your Highness the Fifth Prince will study hard in the future!"

When these words were spoken, all the officials were stunned, and then a riot broke out.

Jia Lian was like grabbing a life-saving straw, and said excitedly: "Yes, it is 敇, it is 敇!"

Li Hu nudged the prince gently with his elbow: "What's the word 'ce'?"

The prince said unhappily: "Read more when you have nothing to do." Then he wrote the word "敇" on the palm of his hand.

Li Hu looked at it, and then glanced at the fifth prince's graffiti. It seemed to be the case! Then he looked at Jia Jing. This old Taoist priest is good!

Emperor Yongchang took out the bright yellow handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the Fifth Prince's face, then said, "It's hot, hurry back and change clothes to cool down."

Li Hu was slightly stunned. He didn't even have a bowl of longevity noodles. How stingy! (End of this chapter)