The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 68: Preparing to Seize the Throne (Wife)

It is said that Aunt Xue asked Mrs. Wang to help urge the marriage that day, but a lot of trouble broke out in the Rongguo Mansion, and the mess lasted all day without a break, so this matter was delayed.

After everything was settled, Aunt Xue brought up the old matter again. Mrs. Wang then remembered it and mentioned it to Jia Zheng.

Now that Master Zhan was in the limelight and had a very close relationship with the Rongguo Mansion, Jia Zheng, although a rather upright and pedantic person, knew that he should establish a good relationship with him, so he agreed and the next day invited Master Zhan to his house for a banquet.

After receiving the invitation, Mr. Zhan gladly agreed and drove to Rongguo Mansion for the banquet.

This was the first time that Mr. Zhan officially entered the Rongguo Mansion. He had been hanging out in the Ningguo Mansion before.

The last time he came to Rongguo Mansion was when he was sending Aunt Xue to Beijing. He ended up being left sitting outside the courtyard for the entire afternoon. This time was different. When the servants from afar saw the carriage from the Zhan Mansion approaching, they were already waiting respectfully at the door.

Master Zhan didn't even get out of the carriage. He just threw out a silver ingot and asked the leader to lead the carriage with a smile on his face. He entered the mansion directly through the corner gate and drove straight in until he stopped in front of Rong Xi Hall.

When he got off the carriage, he saw Jia Zheng smiling and waiting for him at the door. He hurriedly went up to him and bowed, saying:

"I have come to see you, uncle. It is my fault that you have troubled me to welcome you."

When Jia Zheng heard his intimate address, he immediately smiled, reached out his hand, pulled him up and led him into the hall.

"My dear nephew, when you have time, please come to our house more often and teach Baoyu some principles. Don't hang around in the East Palace all the time. If outsiders see us, they will think that our two families are not on good terms!"

Mr. Zhan apologized:

"This is my nephew's fault."

"The main reason is that there are too many young ladies in the mansion, and as a man outside, it is inconvenient for me to go in and out frequently, so as not to attract the attention of idle people."

Jia Zheng heard this and said with a smile:

"Your and my families are close friends, why should there be so many rules?"

"You are Baochai's future husband, so the many sisters in the mansion should call you brother."

"When brothers and sisters meet, who would dare to say anything?"

"But there are indeed quite a few servants in this mansion who gossip. They were disciplined a few days ago and all those talkative people were cleared out. My dear nephew, you can come here in the future without worrying."

Seeing how magnanimous Master Zheng was, Master Zhan couldn't help but secretly admire him. It turned out that he and Brother Zhen were both uncles and brothers, and they were both willing to let a wolf into the house.

In that case, how could Mr. Zhan refuse? He immediately agreed with a smile.

"Since uncle has said so, I will be disrespectful to refuse. I will definitely come to bother you often in the future. Please don't think I am being presumptuous."

The two smiled at each other, sat down at the table hand in hand, and started drinking happily.

After three rounds of drinking, Jia Zheng said, under the influence of alcohol:

"My dear nephew, you have been taking concubines one after another these days, but you lack a legitimate wife to manage the household affairs. I wonder when you and Baochai will officially get married?"

Baochai is now in the possession of Master Zhan, and he can have her whenever he wants. However, if they get married now, Baochai will definitely move out of Rongguo Mansion after marriage, which will be disadvantageous for him to steal her in the future. So Master Zhan prevaricated:

"Uncle, you may not know that Baochai had a fever when she was young and has been taking medicine all these years. We need to wait until her body recovers before we can get married. Otherwise, it will only harm Baochai's health."

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment. He knew nothing about this matter, so he could only say:

"I see that Baochai is in good health. I haven't seen her taking any medicine in the past few days. I think her health has recovered and it should be time for them to get married."

Mr. Zhan said:

"The disease in this fetus is not easy to cure, so it won't be too late to observe for another year or two."

After hearing this, Jia Zheng understood Mr. Zhan's attitude, so he changed the subject and stopped talking about it.

After the banquet, Mr. Zhan said goodbye and returned home, and Jia Zheng told Mrs. Wang about this.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang frowned and said doubtfully:

"Why haven't I heard about Baochai's illness?"

"Could it be that Master Zhan intends to delay this marriage?"

"If you really think about it, now that the Zhan family is on the rise and the Xue family is on the decline, the two families are indeed a bit incompatible. But the way he did it is a bit ungentle, isn't it?"

Jia Zheng also sighed:
"After all, they are a family of merchants. They have no integrity at all and only care about the benefits. But they don't remember who used the Xue family's relationship to get close to them!"

Mrs. Wang was depressed and went to find her sister to talk about this matter.

After hearing this, Aunt Xue already knew Mr. Zhan's attitude. She didn't dare to expose the truth, so she had to continue speaking according to what Mr. Zhan said.

"It's not that Master Zhan is talking nonsense. Baochai does have this congenital disease, but she hasn't had this disease for many years, so I never told you about it."

Mrs. Wang hurriedly asked about the matter, and Aunt Xue told her about Baochai's illness and said:

"That day, the bald monk said that Baochai's illness was caused by heat poison from her womb, and that she needed to be properly treated. He gave her a prescription for the sea, and also a packet of medicinal powder as an induction, which had a strange fragrance and was very effective."

"Originally, I had to take it every month, but something happened on the way to Beijing, and I lost the finished medicine. Now the new pills are not ready yet. I haven't taken them for several months, and I haven't had any attacks. Maybe I've recovered completely."

Mrs. Wang suddenly realized that she had misunderstood Mr. Zhan, a kind gentleman, and clapped her hands and said:
"That's easy. I'll ask the imperial physician to come over and take Baochai's pulse. If he makes sure she's recovered and can get married, then Mr. Zhan will have nothing to say."

Aunt Xue was also moved after hearing this. Although she already knew Mr. Zhan's attitude, she still wanted her daughter to get married as soon as possible to avoid any further complications, so she agreed.

The next day, Mrs. Wang asked someone to invite the imperial physician to come and see Baochai.

It just so happened that Master Zhan got Master Zheng's permission yesterday, and today he brought a bunch of gifts to meet the sisters in the mansions, and he was unwilling to delay for a moment.

Everyone knew that Mr. Zhan was always generous, so when they heard that he was coming, those who were interested came to join in the fun.

Sure enough, as soon as Mr. Zhan saw people after entering the door, he started to give rewards and attracted a group of people to follow him.

When they arrived at the hall, Master Zhan first presented the old lady with a gold-carved Buddha statue that had been blessed by a high monk, and then presented antique calligraphy and paintings to Master She and Master Zheng. Then the heads, mistresses, young masters and young ladies of each family also received gifts, leaving no one missing.

Even the widow Li Wan and the young master Jia Lan were not left out.

Such generosity and magnanimity were of course praised by everyone, and no one said anything bad about him.

Mrs. Wang invited the imperial physician in public and told him the situation. Mr. Zhan was put on the spot and had to agree. As long as the imperial physician confirmed that he would not have a relapse in the future and they could get married, she would invite someone to discuss the wedding date.

Anyway, the wedding date depends on an auspicious date. If it is delayed for three to five months, it will be enough for Master Zhan to find a few girls in the mansion.

The imperial physician must have received Mrs. Wang's instructions. He felt Baochai's pulse in public, then wrote a few prescriptions, smiled and bowed to Master Zhan, saying:
"Master Zhan, don't worry. Miss Xue is in good health now and it won't affect her marriage."

"I have prescribed a few more prescriptions to strengthen your body and replenish your vital energy. Miss Xue only needs to take the medicine according to the prescription. You can stop taking the medicine in a month at most, and you won't have the disease again."

Everyone congratulated Mr. Zhan and Baochai together and tricked them into giving them some tips.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Jia Zheng ordered a family dinner. Not only did he invite Jia She and his wife, he also asked Baoyu and Jia Lian to attend. Even the many young ladies in the mansion showed up to accompany them and formally introduced them to Master Zhan.

In fact, Zhan Twenty-four had met these people before in Ningguo Mansion, but only after this formal introduction did they become true friends. Even if they met in private in the future, they would not have to avoid each other and could chat and laugh normally, just like a meeting between brothers and sisters, and no one would gossip.

After the banquet, Mr. Zhan came back and began to prepare to find someone to go to Rongguo Mansion to discuss the wedding date. He also wanted to bribe the fortune teller to postpone the auspicious day as much as possible.

However, plans were not as fast as changes. Before he could arrange everything, he received news from Rongguo Mansion.

Baochai is ill!
To be more precise, Baochai became ill after taking the imperial physician's medicine!

When Zhan 24 got the news and rushed over, Baochai had already developed a low fever and was lying in bed, looking sick and listless.

Aunt Xue sat by the bed, sobbing softly, feeling filled with regret.

Xue Pan and Baoyu were so anxious that they were pacing around, but they could do nothing.

Mr. Zhan glanced at the anxious Baoyu and felt displeased.

This is my wife, why are you in such a hurry to come here?
After thinking about this, he came over and pulled Baoyu out, saying:
"Brother Bao, this matter should be handled by the imperial physician. Let's go out and wait. Don't disturb the imperial physician's pulse diagnosis here."

This time, the Jia family changed the imperial physician. Just by looking at the beard under the imperial physician's chin, one could tell that this imperial physician was of a higher rank than the previous one, but it was unknown how good his medical skills were.

He pulled Baoyu out of the room and made him sit on a chair outside. Then Zhan Ershi called Hongye over alone and asked her about the general situation in detail.

Hongye had always been with the Xue mother and daughter, and knew the whole thing very well. She immediately explained it in detail to Master Zhan.

It turned out that Baochai had taken Lengxiang Pills regularly in the past and had controlled her illness very well. However, when she entered the capital before, she encountered a robbery by Mr. Zhan, and the prepared Lengxiang Pills were destroyed in the process of the robbery.

After all, that thing is not gold or jade, and it doesn't look valuable. Why would the people in the mountain village take this thing back to the mountain?
Baochai and her daughter were on the verge of death at the time, so they had no time to worry about whether to take medicine or not.

Later, after arriving in Beijing, Aunt Xue tried to collect medicinal materials again, intending to re-prepare the Lengxiang Pills, but the materials needed for this pill are special. It requires the stamens of four kinds of flowers that bloom in four seasons, as well as four kinds of rain, dew, frost, snow and medicine from four seasons. It is really difficult to prepare, so much so that it has not been fully prepared until now.

In fact, Baochai's health had improved after many years of recuperation, so even if she stopped taking the medicine, the symptoms did not recur for a while.

But the imperial physician invited by Mrs. Wang was a quack. He did not notice the problem in Baochai's body at all, so he wrote out a prescription at random, thinking that the prescription was mild and safe and would not go wrong. However, he did not expect that it would disrupt the balance in Baochai's body, causing the disease to suddenly break out.

As expected, medicine is something that cannot be taken randomly!

Only then did Mr. Zhan realize that he had to take the blame.

If he hadn't robbed, Baochai wouldn't have lost the medicine, and the current situation wouldn't have happened.

All I can say is, every sip and every bite is predestined.

But Master Zhan was not in a hurry. Thanks to the "precious jade energy", the "dual cultivation energy" he obtained could already be used on others.

Now his body is the flesh of Tang Monk. Although it cannot make people immortal, and may not be able to bring the dead back to life, it should be able to cure Baochai's illness.

With this confidence, he could naturally sit aside and watch the situation, and then go over to rescue after everyone had left.

This is a good opportunity to postpone the originally planned wedding.

A moment later, the old doctor came out of the room, followed closely by Mrs. Wang and Aunt Xue, who kept asking questions.

"Doctor Wen, what kind of disease is this?"

"How should I treat it?"

"How long will it take to heal?"

Doctor Wen had already asked about everything that had happened before in detail. Of course, he was determined not to make any promises now. He just said vaguely:

“This is a relapse!”

"The root of the disease is still the root of the disease that I brought from birth. The heat and toxins invade the body and it is very difficult to treat."

"This disease requires long-term recuperation. I will prescribe a prescription for clearing away heat and detoxifying. Try it. If it doesn't work, come back and ask me to change the medicine."

After saying a bunch of useless nonsense that definitely couldn't be wrong, Doctor Wen left a prescription and left.

Baochai's illness was not an ordinary disease, and the imperial physician had no good way to treat it. It was simply impossible for it to work. However, only Zhan 24 himself knew this, and others did not think so.

So Mr. Zhan did not stop Mrs. Wang from ordering people to run around and prepare medicine for Baochai.

Anyway, Baochai just has a low fever now, so there is no need to worry.

After Mr. Zhan talked for a few words with Mrs. Wang and Aunt Xue, he took Baoyu away.

This guy is always good at showing his affection. If you are not careful, he might take advantage of you.

In the following days, Mr. Zhan would go there to punch in on time every day, chat and laugh with the sisters who came to visit Baochai, and then take Baoyu away and give him to Xue Pan or Jia Rong. There was nothing else to do.

The imperial physicians came in turns, and all kinds of good medicines were used, but Baochai's illness showed no sign of improvement. Instead, it became worse day by day. Now she lay drowsy on the bed all day long. Even with two large quilts covering her, she still felt cold and shivering.

In the end, the imperial physicians shook their heads and sighed, indicating that they were powerless.

Everyone in the mansion immediately knew that the young lady of the Xue family was probably not going to make it anymore, and the position of Mr. Zhan's first wife would soon be vacant.

Now, the fierce competition among the maids around Xing Xiuyan became even more lively. Because that was how Grandma Xing was promoted to the position of the first wife, and now with the support of Master She and Grandma Xing, it is possible that Aunt Xing will also be able to jump up and become the first wife.

Correspondingly, the maids Jin Chuan'er and Yu Chuan'er around You Erjie also saw their value rise rapidly. After all, You Erjie was backed by Master Zhen and his wife from the Ningguo Mansion.

After a fierce intrigue in the Rong Mansion Palace, it was Lin Zhixiao's daughter, named Lin Hongyu, who finally won with the full support of her parents, her outstanding appearance and figure, as well as enough scheming and means. She became the maid that Master She was about to give to Aunt Xing.

Master She did not suffer any loss either. Apart from anything else, the gifts given to him by various families alone added up to more than a hundred taels of silver.

If he wasn't worried that Mr. Zhan would be unhappy, he would have just auctioned off the spot.

Finally, after much persuasion from Mrs. Xing, he finally chose Lin Hongyu, who didn't offer the most money but was very smart and beautiful.

Since the candidate had been decided and the money had been received, he no longer delayed deliberately and directly asked Wang Shanbao to send the person to the Zhan Mansion.

The two families were originally close to each other, and soon Wang Shanbao came back and reported to Master She:

"Master, the person has been sent over. Aunt Xing has taken him in and asked me to express my gratitude to the master and his wife."

Master She was sitting on the armchair with his legs spread out. The pain from the injury inflicted by Qingwen last time was still there.

He was playing with the antique vase that Master Zhan had given him. After listening to what Wang Shanbao had said, he asked without even raising his eyelids:
"Have you told Aunt Xing about this?"

"Yes, Aunt Xing said that if she has the chance, she will mention this matter to Master Zhan."

"Well, okay." Master She hummed twice in his throat, waved his hand, and asked Wang Shanbao to leave.

After Wang Shanbao left, Madam Xing came over and massaged Jia She's shoulders and neck, asking tentatively:

"For something like this, shouldn't we first agree on the terms before sending the person over?"

"Why did the master change his mind and send the person over first?"

"What if Mr. Zhan doesn't give us any benefits after accepting the person? Wouldn't that be a loss?"

"Humph!" Jia She snorted coldly, "You have long hair but little knowledge."

"Nephew Zhan is a smart man. Look at his previous behavior. It was all business tactics. As long as he got something good, he would definitely give something back to others. Has he ever let others suffer a loss?"

"Besides, suffering a little loss this time may not be a bad thing."

"Master, what I am thinking about now is not just a little girl's benefit."

After hearing this, Mrs. Xing smiled and asked:
"Master, do you want to help Xiuyan fight for the position of legal wife?"

"Haha..." Jia She laughed coldly, "What are you thinking about!"

"Xiu Yan and You Erjie are both from ordinary families. They are not concubines. How can they be made the principal wives?"

"If you really count it, Yingchun from our mansion is the most suitable to be the first wife of my nephew Zhanxian!"

Hearing this, Mrs. Xing's face suddenly changed.

Jia Yingchun was just a concubine's daughter, a completely accidental product. Her mother was of low status and died young, so she was never welcomed in the mansion.

Yingchun is not Mrs. Xing's daughter, and she doesn't treat Yingchun very well on a daily basis. There is no guarantee that she will not hold a grudge against what happened after she becomes the official wife of the Zhan family.

Rather than letting Yingchun marry into the Jia family, it would be more in her interest to let her niece Xing Xiuyan take the throne, so she forced a smile and said:
"Master knows Ying's character. How can she be the head wife of the family?"

"Don't mess up the backyard of the Zhan Mansion by then, that would be bad."

After Jia She heard this, he frowned, smacked his tongue, and sighed:

"It turns out that I didn't care enough about Ying girl before!"

"In that case, starting tomorrow, we will hire a tutor to teach her how to be a qualified housekeeper."

After hearing this, Mrs. Xing's face became even uglier, and she forced a smile and said:

"This will cost a lot of money. If Master Zhan doesn't like Ying girl, wouldn't it be a loss?"

"If you really count it, then Tan Yatou is more suitable than Ying Yatou."

After hearing this, Jia She waved his finger and said with a smile:
"When it comes to marriage, which one should consider whether the girl's family is suitable? It should also consider the status of the in-laws, right?"

"Master, I am the legitimate heir of the Rongguo Mansion, and I also have a niece who is a concubine in his house. How can my second brother compare to my close relationship with my nephew Zhan Xian?"

"If Tanya was a legitimate daughter, there might be some chance, but she is just a concubine's daughter, so she is not a big threat."

Jia She spoke with full confidence, but after hearing this, Mrs. Xing curled her lips and reminded him:

"Master, please don't just focus on our West Mansion and forget about the people in the East Mansion."

"Not only is Tan a suitable girl, but Xi from the East Mansion is also quite suitable."

"And Xi happens to be the legitimate daughter. If we talk about the closeness of the relationship, it is obvious that the Dongfu and Master Zhan are closer."

"If we really choose a maid from the mansion to marry, I'm afraid we will most likely choose Xi."

After hearing this, Master She's face suddenly darkened.

But soon, he waved his hand and said:

"It doesn't matter. Because she is a legitimate daughter, she will most likely not marry a businessman. She has to find a marriage with someone of equal status, otherwise she won't be able to get past the old lady."

After hearing this, Mrs. Xing curled her lips and muttered:

"Xi girl is indeed a legitimate daughter, but do you think the people in the East Palace have ever treated her as a legitimate daughter?"

"Although the old lady brought her here to raise her, she didn't seem to take her seriously."

"If Master Ruozhen insists on an alliance, can the old lady still bypass the mansion to take care of this matter?"

After listening to this, Jia She also frowned. After a while, he sighed and retracted his previous idea.

"Forget it. Invite nephew Zhan to your house more often. You can also find a chance to secretly test nephew Zhan's intentions."

"If he is really interested, he can arrange a maid to take care of Ying."

"We need to do this in advance. Don't wait until Miss Xue dies before starting. By then, it will be too late."

Seeing that her master had made up his mind, Mrs. Xing did not dare to say anything more and quickly agreed.

After coming out of Jia She's room, Mrs. Xing thought that she had to ease the relationship between her and Yingchun, otherwise if the incident really happened, her situation would be embarrassing.

So Mrs. Xing smiled and came to Yingchun's courtyard. As soon as she pushed the door open, she saw several women gambling there. She immediately took the opportunity to get angry and scolded them:

"I told you to take good care of the young lady, but you are not doing your job and are just gambling and lazing around here!"

"Now that every family in the mansion is rectifying their family traditions, I wanted to let you off the hook, but you turned out to be so unpromising and didn't care about your master at all."

Everyone was terrified and quickly knelt down and kowtowed to beg for mercy, but Madam Xing wanted to use them as a pretext to show her goodwill to Yingchun today, so she would not let them go easily. In the end, she drove the two maids out of the house.

After everyone was silent, she finally smiled, took Yingchun's hand and began to ask about her well-being. She was very considerate and caring, which made everyone feel scared. They wondered if she was possessed by a ghost and why she suddenly became like this.

Yingchun was even more timid and handled it carefully, and only relaxed a little after sending her away.

Several maids approached Yingchun cautiously, not avoiding her, and whispered to each other.

"What's wrong with you, ma'am? Where did you get upset today and why do you come here to vent?" Xiu Ju asked.

Lianhua curled her lips and shook her head:
"I don't think she was angry. Otherwise, why did she only blame those lazy women outside and never bothered us?"

"It's probably because the mansion really wants to rectify the family tradition."

Siqi sneered when she heard this, and glanced at Yingchun who was standing next to her with her head lowered as if she hadn't heard anything, and said angrily, "I don't want to argue with you."

"Can this family tradition be rectified?"

"The masters don't act like masters, and the servants don't act like servants!"

Yingchun did not say anything in return, but just lowered her head and remained silent, which made Siqi even more angry. She stood up, flicked her sleeves and walked out.

"I'll go to my grandparents' house and ask. You wait for my news."

Siqi's maternal grandfather is Wang Shanbao. He and his wife are Madam Xing's companions and are also confidants of Master She. They are well-informed. If Siqi wants to know something, she can go directly to them and ask them. Most of the time, they can know some inside information.

Sure enough, after hearing what Siqi said, Wang Shanbao lowered his head and pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up, he clapped his hands and said with a smile:

"Good girl, your luck has come!"

"I originally thought that it was Aunt Xing and Aunt You who were fighting, but I didn't expect that Master She wanted to marry his daughter to him!"

"Ying girl is like a piece of wood. When you get there, you, the personal maid, will be the most capable assistant of the grandmother of the Zhan Mansion. I wonder how many people will envy you to death!"

Seeing Siqi's confused look, which obviously showed that she didn't understand, Wang Shanbao explained it to her with a smile. Siqi then understood that her young lady, the wooden man, had unexpectedly received a blessing from heaven and was going to become the legitimate wife of the Zhan family!
After coming out of her grandparents' house, Siqi's mind had not yet fully digested what her grandfather had said before. She walked with one foot deep and one foot shallow, as if she was floating in the clouds.

After entering the courtyard, Lianhuaer and others were frightened when they saw her absent-minded look, and they hurriedly surrounded her to ask questions.

Siqi drank a large bowl of cold tea before she regained some of her sanity. When she told her grandfather about his speculation, everyone in the yard was immediately in an uproar.

"Oh my god!"

"No wonder the wife suddenly did this!"

"So... we are going to be prosperous?"

Siqi waved her hands hastily and explained:

"This is just a wild guess, don't take it seriously!"

"Besides, Miss Xue is still alive, so don't go out and say anything nonsense, or you'll make others hate you!"

"Even if Miss Xue unfortunately passed away, it's still unclear whether this thing will succeed or not!"

But now, no one would care when she said these words again. Everyone only believed what they wanted to hear and treated these vague things as the truth.

"Our master is the head of the Rongguo Mansion. Even if she is a concubine, marrying a businessman is also marrying down. How can it not work out?"

"That's right. Our great grandmother's niece has already gone there to garrison the front. How could anything go wrong later?"

Even Yingchun herself couldn't help but clasping her clothes tightly with both hands, her eyes gleaming with hope, her chest heaving, obviously shocked by the news.

Siqi hurriedly stopped everyone and said:
"Madam just said that we should maintain a strict family tradition. If you go out and talk nonsense, you will most likely be severely punished by Madam."

"You don't want to be kicked out at this time!"

After hearing this, everyone was shocked and fell silent, not daring to speak nonsense anymore.

Siqi warned them again:

"Do your best in the future. If you dare to be disrespectful to the young lady again, you won't need Madam to punish you. Someone with jealous eyes will naturally take your place!"

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Siqi waved her hand and asked them to leave.

Everyone knew that Siqi was Yingchun's maid and the granddaughter of Wang Shanbao. She would definitely be the manager of the Zhan residence in the future and her position was stable and unshakable. They dared not disobey her and went out to work obediently, fearing that they would be kicked out like the two unlucky guys before them just when they were about to become rich.

The next day, because Jia She had expelled two people from the mansion, people from all over the family came to inquire about the news.

Even if these people stopped spreading rumors, the secret could not be kept secret because there were so many of them and they were gossipy. Soon, people in all the mansions knew that Master She wanted to marry his concubine Yingchun to Master Zhan as his legal wife after Miss Xue died.

Thanks to the helmsman "Hua Hu Huang Hua Han" for the reward of 15000 coins!
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(End of this chapter)