Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 94 Repeatedly
What's the point of a double-edged sword? Mrs. Xing was listening absent-mindedly, and now she was just lamenting her bad luck... If Jia She had gone with him, how could she and that little thief have a good time?

After a few vague nods of agreement, Jia She, feeling tired, yawned, and stood up to go look for the concubines.

Mrs. Xing was at a loss for a moment, and she was worried about the outcome. After thinking for a long time, she could not make up her mind and decided to go look for Chen Siyuan another day.

Chen Siyuan's daughter.

Chen Siyuan heard a rustling sound and opened his eyes to see a snow-white back facing away from him. After sharing a bed for several days, Hongyu was initially a little shy, but later grew bolder. Last night, she'd claimed the kang was too hot and had actually taken off her midriff at night, crawling into bed in just her undergarments.

The two of them naturally rubbed their ears and cheeks together. Now that they were awake and looking back, it was a delight to the eyes. The back was snow-white, tied with a red string for a bellyband, and the lower body was covered with underpants that barely reached the thighs.

After putting on her undergarment, Hongyu turned her head and met Chen Siyuan's amused gaze. Although she looked shy, she said openly, "I heard that there are tofu skin buns again this morning. Master seems to be very proud of them. I'll go there early and get some more for him."

"Ah."

Chen Siyuan responded and stretched out his arms from the quilt. Hongyu then snuggled into his arms like a young swallow flying into the forest.

Chen Siyuan rubbed his back and said softly, "In a few days, I will go to Miaofeng Mountain with my aunt. You should prepare the things in advance, and you don't have to go with me."

Hongyu asked curiously, "If I don't go, does Master want to take Yunxiang with him?"

"She should stay too." Chen Siyuan said, "It's a 200-mile round trip, and we might even run into a snowstorm. You and Yunxiang won't have to endure this ordeal."

Hongyu couldn't help but grumble, "I came here to serve you, Master. How could I be so afraid of hardship and difficulty? Now you're asking me to think about myself. If this gets out, people will say I don't know the rules."

Chen Siyuan gently hugged Hongyu, pecked her tender pink lips, and said with a smile: "I treat you as my own, so shouldn't I feel sorry for you? Anyway, I can go by myself and will be back in three or five days."

Hongyu huddled in his arms, speechless, her heart aching with both comfort and a touch of bitterness. Her master was unlike the other young men in the mansion; she'd heard he'd already weathered many storms in Yangzhou. Back then, he'd only had Yan'er to serve him, so she'd probably had to do a lot herself.

I was right. It is really great to be with such a person.

Hongyu knew that Chen Siyuan never changed his mind after speaking it, so after thinking for a while, she said, "Then I'll go talk to Sisters Miao'er and Tiao'er and ask them to take care of Master."

"Yeah." Chen Siyuan responded, and this time he didn't say anything else.

The two of them were briefly affectionate, and Hongyu got up to tidy up, first went to get the lunch box, and then helped Chen Siyuan get up.

But within a few minutes, Hongyu's face had turned grim. Chen Siyuan pondered for a moment and then asked jokingly, "Are you being troubled by Sister Liu?"

Hongyu shook her head and said, "Everything else is fine, but it's a little weird."

Chen Siyuan laughed and said, "You're not going to say that you've already said it, but I haven't said it yet?"

Hongyu said, "Wouldn't that be selling out the master? What if Sister Liu gets angry and spits in the soup again?"

This question stumped Chen Siyuan. Hongyu added, "I've thought about it carefully, and it's a good idea for Wu'er to come over. At least we won't have to worry about food in the future."

Chen Siyuan said, "Isn't there a small kitchen? We can try making it ourselves later. How much money can it cost?"

Hongyu said, "Even if I cook it myself, I still have to ask the kitchen to buy meat and vegetables. I can't bring food from outside into the house."

Seeing Chen Siyuan's surprise, Hongyu repeated the rules of the Rongguo Mansion. Generally speaking, food from outside is not allowed to be brought in unless it has been inspected... Perhaps they are afraid of being poisoned?
Hongyu observed Chen Siyuan's expression and saw that he was silent, so she said, "Because I just agreed with Sister Liu, if you are not happy, you can deduct Wu'er's monthly salary from me."

Chen Siyuan reached out and poked Hongyu's cheek, then said with a smile, "I still need that little bit of money from you? Well, what you said makes sense, then let Wu'er come."

Hongyu then smiled and said, "It's good that Master agreed. Otherwise, I don't know how to explain this to Sister Liu. Then I'll bring Wu'er to meet Master someday."

Chen Siyuan pondered for a moment, wondering why he felt like he'd fallen for Hongyu's rhetoric. He glanced at her, seeing her expression normal, and felt a pang of surprise. She hadn't mentioned it before, and now she was bringing Wu'er over. What was Hongyu thinking?
"uncle?"

"Oh, okay." Chen Siyuan agreed.

Hongyu smiled and nodded, then helped to tie Chen Siyuan's hair into a bun. After breakfast, Hongyu said something and went straight to Sister Liu's house to announce the good news.

She had not originally thought of bringing Liu Wu'er here, but this morning she heard the gossip of the maidservants below, saying that the maid from the east wing rushed to treat her master to rouge, and the master did not understand the situation and instead said a lot of things about the inappropriate color of the rouge.

Hongyu felt uncomfortable listening to this. As the saying goes, one can be on guard against thieves within the household, and without asking, one knows for sure that it must be one of the mistress's close associates. Now that Xiangling is gone, the chambers are short of servants, so who knows? The mistress might have sent one of them over.

Hongyu is just brave, but those two are shameless! If one of them comes rashly, I'm afraid there will be a fight later!
Thinking carefully, Liu Wu'er was conceited and arrogant, so she probably wouldn't use those tactics. If she was brought here, she might not be able to replace me for a while. Once Xiangling came back, those vixens outside would have to watch no matter how tricky they were.

It was because of this thought that Hongyu changed her mind. She made a promise with Sister Liu early this morning and then quickly talked to Chen Siyuan.

After rinsing his mouth, Chen Siyuan returned to his study to study contemporary Chinese literature. Over the three hundred years since the Ming Dynasty, eight-part essays had already exhausted all possible topics.

Perhaps the eight-legged essay was more important during the early Ming Dynasty, but today, the introduction and continuation of the essay are more crucial. Why? Because the provincial education commissioners and local officials are so unruly, and who knows which scoundrel suddenly came up with the idea of ​​a tangled topic.

The first sentence is from the Four Books, and the second sentence may be from the Book of Changes. These two sentences, which are originally diametrically opposed, are put together, and you are forced to say something about them. It's purely making things difficult for you.

Moreover, there is no standard answer to this eight-part essay. Your introduction and development are self-contained, which is naturally better than others. Even if the subsequent eight-part argument has some flaws, it can be said that the merits outweigh the flaws.

However, Shuntian Prefecture was at the foot of the emperor, so the prefectural and provincial examinations had to be respectable. While the questions might be a bit biased, they rarely included inexplicable, tangential questions. Furthermore, Shuntian Prefecture naturally accepted more scholars and juren than other places, so there were countless cases of people impersonating or transferring their permanent residency.

I heard that during the reign of the Supreme Lord, an incident occurred. The Supreme Lord appointed a Hanlin to accompany him, and suddenly asked one of them about his hometown. The man, speaking with a Shaoxing accent, swore, "Your Majesty, I am from Shuntian Prefecture."

The emperor was so angry that his nose almost turned crooked. He turned around and asked the Grand Secretary to investigate the matter and dismissed seven Jinshi. Later, when he found that he could not control it, the emperor came up with a unique idea to create a censor who listened to people's voices.

What is the Tingyin Censor?

During the imperial examinations, candidates were asked their place of origin and their accents were analyzed. If they didn't speak correctly, they would be dismissed immediately. Chen Siyuan wasn't afraid of this, perhaps because he was from the north in his previous life, and his accent was very similar to that of the capital, with only a few words slightly different.

It's like saying "how soon" now, which, after all the changes, has become "how soon" in the past life. Chen Siyuan, with his past life's foundation, was confident that within a year or two, not only would a half-baked imperial censor, but even a native of the capital wouldn't be able to recognize his accent.

While he was pondering, there was a noise outside. The maid Yunxiang called out, and then Miao'er came in. She came closer, bowed, and said, "Master, the mistress is looking for you. It seems like she has something urgent to do."

"Emergency?"

Chen Siyuan began to frown, thinking to himself that Mrs. Xing was good in every way except that she was not cunning at all. Who could he hide this from?

She stood up and wrapped herself in her cloak. Since Hongyu wasn't around, Miao'er pursed her lips and went forward to tie the ribbon for her. After tying it, she raised her eyes and glanced at him shyly. Just as she was about to lower her head, Chen Siyuan suddenly reached out and took her right hand, examining the wound on it and said, "Sister, how did you hurt your hand?"

Miao'er's heart was pounding, and she stammered, "I was half asleep early this morning, inserting a hairpin for the Madam... and accidentally cut my hand."

Chen Siyuan said, "This wound looks quite deep. Sister, please don't get wet for the next few days, or it will swell and fester. Well, I'll bandage it for you."

As he spoke, he pulled out a handkerchief he carried with him and carefully wrapped up his thumb. The young girl, like a wooden stake, let him fiddle with her, at first only daring to glance at her, but later, she boldly stared at him, wishing she could throw herself into his arms.

After tying the handkerchief, Chen Siyuan shook it and said with a smile, "Your craftsmanship is not good. How about I ask Yunxiang to come over and untie it and then wrap it again?"

Miao'er shrank back, put her wrapped hands behind her back, and smiled with moist eyes: "That's great, thank you very much, sir."

Chen Siyuan said, "Master, it sounds strange. Sister is my aunt's daughter, so it's normal for her to call me brother."

Miao'er smiled sweetly with her lips pursed.

There was another noise outside; Hongyu must have returned. Miao'er, feeling guilty, quickly stepped back, straightened her clothes, and then urged Chen Siyuan to head east across the courtyard.

After passing through the inner ceremonial gate and entering the main room, Chen Siyuan turned around the screen and saw Madam Xing leaning on the soft couch, with a look of sadness between her brows.

As soon as Chen Siyuan greeted her, Madam Xing waved her hand eagerly and said, "Everyone, please leave. I want to talk to my brother."

Miao'er and Tiao'er each left. Before Chen Siyuan could even take his seat, Madam Xing said anxiously, "Oh no! Oh no! I don't know what the master did yesterday. He actually said he wanted to go to Miaofeng Mountain too! What should we do?"

"Hmm?" Chen Siyuan asked in surprise, "Why would he go to Miaofeng Mountain for no reason?"

Madam Xing scolded, "That old man must have heard from somewhere that Ma Shang from the Zhiguo Mansion had gone to Miaofeng Mountain and had sex with two concubines, and both of them were pregnant..."

Chen Siyuan was at a loss for words and said, "Let him go, we can deal with that matter later..."

"No!" Madam Xing stood up and walked quickly to Chen Siyuan. She sat down with one leg behind her back and frowned. "I've been planning this for half a month. It was about to be accomplished, but suddenly something unexpected happened. If I miss this opportunity, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult next time." After a pause, she looked at Chen Siyuan and pleaded, "You, you should think of a solution quickly."

Chen Siyuan asked, "When the eldest master leaves, will the concubines go with him?"

"That's not what I said."

"Well, if there's only one Jia She, then that's fine..." Chen Siyuan smiled and looked at Madam Xing, lowering his voice and saying, "Just knock him out too."

Madam Xing said, "That's a nice thought, but how can it be done? The medicine I got from Ma Dao-po can only make two maids unconscious, how can it possibly make him unconscious?"

But Chen Siyuan smiled and shook his hand, then stuffed an oil-paper bag into Mrs. Xing's hand.

"This is--"

"This drug is supposedly a hundred times more potent than the one Ma Dao-po gave me. It contains two black pills. You can secretly hold them under your tongue. Then, mix the powder into the brazier and the fumigation cage. In less than a cup of tea, not to mention a human, even a wild ox would be knocked unconscious."

"Really?" Madam Xing pinched the oil-paper bag, her face lit up with joy at first, then she raised her eyebrows and said angrily, "You really are a thief! Tell me, how many girls have you harmed with this thing?"

Chen Siyuan was at a loss for words: "What's the connection? I'm using this smokescreen for self-defense. I've never done anything immoral..."

Madam Xing said quietly, "You half-intimidated and half-deceived me that day, and you still dared to say that you were not a bad person..."

So you can’t reason with women.

Chen Siyuan smiled and reached out to hold her in his arms, saying, "It's not something I can do."

Mrs. Xing just kept on rambling, but didn't say anything more. She frowned and thought for a while, then sighed, "How about... just forget it this time?"

"Tsk!" Chen Siyuan was unhappy. He had finally come to his senses. Madam Xing was a completely naive person, the type who cherished her life when it came to big things, and forgot her principles when it came to small gains. If he didn't make up his mind today, he was afraid there would be more rebellion in the future.

Yin Shi then said, "Why forget it? Anyway, I climbed over the wall at night. If he hadn't fainted at that time, I'm afraid we would have fainted."

"You..." Madam Xing gritted her teeth, but she was reluctant to give up her half-month plan. In the end, she nodded and said, "Well, then, let me try?"

"Ah."

Seeing the resentful look in his eyes, Chen Siyuan had to spend some time talking to him before he slowly returned.

The remaining days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the fifth day. Early that morning, Chen Siyuan arrived at the east wing of the courtyard and saw that everything was ready. As expected, Jia She had not brought his concubine with him this time.

Mrs. Xing was still feeling uneasy while waiting for the carriage, looking troubled. Chen Siyuan ignored her and went forward to talk to Jia She. Jia She spoke briefly and then sent Chen Siyuan away.

Chen Siyuan wrapped his cloak tightly around his shoulders, mounted his horse, and led several servants in front to clear the way. The black oil-painted gate opened wide, and three horse-drawn carriages emerged from the inner and outer cities, heading along the official road to Miaofeng Mountain in the northwest of the capital.

(End of this chapter)