The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 11: First Visit to Rongguo Mansion

The capital city is located at the foot of the emperor and is the best place in the world. Its atmosphere is very different from that of other places.

The streets and alleys were crowded with merchants and people. It was no exaggeration to say that they were shoulder to shoulder.

In addition to the large population, there are also many officials in this capital city.

Any commoner scholar on the street could be a censor of the Censorate.

Therefore, if you want to make a living in Beijing, most of you must have a pair of bright eyes, a pair of sharp ears, a clever head, and a smart tongue, otherwise you will not be able to make it.

Therefore, the news that the Xue family, the relatives of the Ning and Rong families, were coming to Beijing spread faster than the speed of the Xue family’s carriage.

As soon as the carriage arrived at the gate of Rongguo Mansion, the doorman came to greet us with a smile on his face.

"Hey, my aunt, we're home now!"

"Ever since your letter arrived, the ladies in the mansion have been thinking about you, thinking that your carriage should have arrived a month ago, but you never came, and they were always worried that you might have encountered some trouble on the road. Who would have thought that you would arrive today!"

Xue Pan got off his horse and together with Baochai who was in the carriage, helped Aunt Xue out.

Aunt Xue looked up and saw that she recognized the man. He was originally a servant of the Wang family. He came to Rongguo Mansion with her sister as a dowry. His name was Zhou Rui. She smiled and nodded, saying,
"Who am I thinking? It's Zhou Rui!"

“I haven’t seen this in many years.”

"There was some trouble on the way. Steward Xue fell ill and died on the way, so we were delayed for some time."

Butler Xue is an elder of the Xue family and holds an extraordinary status. He cannot disappear without any reason, so he was arranged to die suddenly.

Originally, he wanted to put on a full show and put Butler Xue's body in a coffin and send it back to his hometown in Nanjing, but Butler Xue had done so many bad things that he was beheaded after a public trial, so he couldn't bear to see the light of day.

There was no other choice, so Zhan Ershisi had to pretend that Steward Xue had contracted an epidemic disease. In order to prevent infection, he burned his ashes and had them sent back to Nanjing.

Nowadays, many people die from acclimatization and infection when traveling away from home, and no one would doubt it.

In addition, he gave more silver for funeral expenses, and asked Aunt Xue to write a letter to the Jinling clan, asking the Xue family to arrange a good job for the son of Steward Xue. Probably, the matter would be over.

For safety reasons, he did not use his own people to deliver the ashes. Instead, he directly found a shop of the Xue family on the road and asked people in the shop to deliver the ashes to prevent the news from leaking due to improper handling.

"Oh my, I actually encountered such a thing!"

Zhou Rui was startled and started asking hurriedly.

"Is the concubine in good health? Do you want me to ask a doctor to come over?"

Aunt Xue waved her hand hastily, "No need, I'm not sick, I'm just a little tired from the journey, it's not worth it, let's go see my sister first!"

Zhou Rui glanced at Aunt Xue's face and saw that she had red lips, white teeth and a rosy complexion. She did not look sick at all. He said no more and simply extended his hand, inviting Aunt Xue to get in the car again. He then drove the car into the Rongguo Mansion from the east corner gate.

Zhan Ershi also got off the horse and followed the carriage, walking inside. The people in Rongguo Mansion did not know his identity and did not dare to stop him, so they let him go inside. Rongguo Mansion was very spacious. The carriage went for more than a mile before reaching a small gate. Aunt Xue got off the carriage again, and Hongye and Chengju supported her on both sides. They walked through the small gate and continued to walk inside along the stone path in the courtyard.

The reason why Hongye and Chengju were asked to play the role of maids was to serve as a insurance policy.

Now that Aunt Xue has returned home, Zhan Ershisi is not worried that she will rebel. However, Aunt Xue is a woman with no vision and a soft personality who will not lie. Therefore, he arranged the most shrewd and capable Hongye to be by her side to remind and help her at all times to prevent her from acting carelessly and exposing herself.

As for Huangqi, Lvliu and others, they were also assigned tasks and completely replaced all the original maids of the Xue family, leaving no one behind. Otherwise, if someone informed on the secrets for personal gain, all their lives would be in danger.

When important matters arise, children cannot afford to indulge in personal feelings.

Baochai and the others cannot be replaced, otherwise Zhan 24 would not have left these loopholes!
Aunt Xue walked in front with her children, and Zhan Twenty-four followed slowly behind, looking left and right, sizing up the layout of the Rongguo Mansion, especially the doors and walls, as if he was walking on a plate.

I saw that the courtyard was very large. The width between the two walls was at least ten or twenty feet, and the wall was nearly ten feet high. Unless you carry a ladder from inside or outside, it is impossible to get in and steal.

After passing through this courtyard, there is another flat and wide area, and after this is the east wing courtyard.

The group entered the yard. There were several side rooms on the right side. There were several maids and old women sweeping and cleaning in front of the door. When they saw them coming in, they bowed and saluted but did not come over.

After passing through the three-entry courtyard, I reached the end and saw three small main rooms, all with carved beams and painted rafters.

However, Zhou Rui did not go in, but led everyone to the innermost east courtyard on the right, which was Mrs. Wang's territory.

On the steps at the entrance of the East Courtyard, several maids dressed in red and green were surrounding a beautiful woman, waiting there.

The woman had a pair of triangular eyes, willow-shaped eyebrows, a slender figure, and a charming body. Her fair face contained a charming charm, and her red lips showed her smile before it even opened.

She wore a golden bun with eight treasures and pearls on her head, a hairpin with five phoenixes and pearls in the shape of the morning sun, a red gold necklace with a dragon pattern on her neck, a bean green palace belt on the edge of her skirt, and a double-balanced rose pendant. She was wearing a narrow red satin jacket with gold-thread butterflies on it, a colorful carved silk, stone blue and silver mouse coat on the outside, and a crepe skirt with jadeite flowers on it.

When she saw these people coming, the woman hurriedly came up to them with a smile, bowed and called them aunt.

"My young aunt is finally home, otherwise my ears would be nagging from my eldest aunt!"

When Aunt Xue heard her call her aunt, she knew that this was her niece who had also married into the Wang family, Jia Lian's wife, named Wang Xifeng.

Although both of them were members of the Wang family, she married early. Wang Xifeng was still young when she left, so she did not have a deep impression of her. But now that she saw her, she was moved and could not help but hold her hand and help her up.

"Since we last met, I didn't expect that even you, Feng girl, have already married. Time really doesn't spare anyone..."

Aunt Xue couldn't help but shed tears while sighing. Wang Xifeng laughed and joked:
"My little aunt, you sound so old-fashioned. If you don't know me, you might think you are already in your seventies or eighties!"

"But my niece, your appearance and skin don't look old at all!"

"Those who know you would say you are my aunt, and those who don't would think we are the same age!"

Thanks to the apprentice "Drunk Roast Goose" for the reward of 500 coins!
Thanks to the book friends "Xiaobai Yidiandian", "Chen Jiabang", "Shu Guangyin", "zhengshuo", "Never See Mountains and Rivers Again in This Life", "Book Friend 2021030110400257888", "Book Friend 20230319165518559", and "Book Friend 20210614163804024" for rewarding 100 coins!
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(End of this chapter)