Chapter 37 The Thirty-Seventh Day of Transfiguration

Jia Zheng was excited when talking about building a separate courtyard for the imperial visit. "I haven't calculated the exact cost yet. However, I have discussed with my nephew Zhen. We can build a separate courtyard for the imperial visit in any place three and a half miles from Huifang Garden in their mansion to the north across our mansion. Then we can move the rocks, trees, pavilions and towers in my elder brother's old courtyard there. It won't cost much."

It would be great if it really "won't cost much", the old lady thought. "Who will take care of it then?"

Jia Zheng was stunned. He had no idea about these mundane affairs, so he looked at Jia She, and when he saw Jia She's bruised face, he turned back silently, "Nephew Zhen, let's leave it to Brother Lian to run errands... uh..."

Suddenly remembering that Jia Lian was no longer at home, Jia Zheng paused again.

"Huh", the old lady hummed again, and Jia She shrank his neck.

"Bring us the maps of our two mansions." After Yuanyang brought the map, Jia Zheng showed the old lady the layout of the other courtyard according to the old lady's instructions. The old lady said without blinking, "Reduce the scale by half."

"Ah" The people below looked at the map, all puzzled.

"Although it is a royal grace, it is not appropriate to be overly extravagant." The old lady said.

Jia Zheng said, "Mother thinks that if it is too shabby, it will be unfair to the queen."

"Do you think that if you really build a fairy palace, it will be decent. The first bird to stick out will be shot. The queen has just been promoted to the position of concubine, so it is better to be stable." The old lady persuaded.

"But by then, not only our family, but also the families of Concubine Zhou and Concubine Wu will start to build a lot, not much worse than us. If the emperor knows that we are not careful, this... Isn't this disrespectful?" Mrs. Wang couldn't help but say. Besides, it was the eldest sister's good life, and she would rather fight for face than for bread. At this time, who would not build a villa to save face for their own queen?

"Yes, mother. The emperor and the empress dowager are also watching. Such a great grace is our blessing." Jia Zheng said.

Wang Xifeng on the side just drank tea silently this time. She had just come back and received family training. She didn't dare to speak casually like before. Jia She and Mrs. Xing, as outsiders, were happy to watch the show.

The old lady glanced at the people below who had different thoughts, and patiently explained, "It is a blessing, but how is a family like ours compared to Prince Beijing and others?"

They didn't know what the ancestor meant, and looked at each other.

Fortunately, the old lady did not need them to answer, "We are just a middle-class family, we can't compare with the extremely rich, but we don't need to show off by comparison. As long as the intention is there, I believe the current emperor, the retired emperor, and the empress dowager will understand. Otherwise, do you want to empty your family's savings to build a separate courtyard for the sake of face?"

The old lady glanced at Mrs. Wang, "I see, according to your method, it will cost two or three million, it can't be built."

Mrs. Wang's pupils shrank, the family didn't have two or three million! Jia Zheng didn't know how much silver there was in the family, but it was indeed too extravagant to spend two or three million to build a separate courtyard.

As for Jia She and Mrs. Xing, they were hurt by the two or three million taels. How could they be willing to empty their family's savings? After all, this was the mansion they would inherit in the future. So, the two of them said, "The old ancestor is right. We have to think long-term."

The old lady nodded with satisfaction, "The most important thing for our queen is not her face, but the heir. Besides, being too ostentatious will easily cause trouble for the queen."

This became the straw that completely broke the camel's back for Mrs. Wang. Yes, the heir!

The deep palace is a place where people are eaten. If you want to stand firm, it is more important to give birth to the heir.

Thinking this way, whether it is a separate courtyard or not is not important in Mrs. Wang's eyes.

In this way, no one has any objections, and the tone of the construction of the separate courtyard is set. The Ningrong Mansion is busy from top to bottom.

The only one who is free is Baoyu, but he is worried about Qin Zhong's illness at this time.

On this day, Baoyu was about to visit the Qin family. Who knew that before he went out, the news of Qin Ye's death came. Then it was heard that Qin Zhong spit out a mouthful of blood and fainted immediately, and he was about to die.

Baoyu hurriedly ordered people to prepare horses and rushed to the Qin family.

On the way, he remembered something and hurriedly ordered Li Gui to go back to the mansion to get ginseng, while he himself went to another house in a gust of wind.

The old lady heard from the people below that the servants beside Baoyu were busy taking out the hundred-year-old wild ginseng, and then she suddenly realized that Qin Zhong might not be well.

From Jia Baoyu's perspective -

"Where is this?"

"It seems to be on the street."

"Qin Zhong is really going to die.

" "Wow, my little handsome boy."

"Hey, look, it's Zhineng, Baoyu took Zhineng."

...

A group of people hurried to Qin's house and saw several people hiding out in panic. Jia Baoyu, with the servants leading the way, came to the inner room and saw Qin Zhong's face was sallow and he was dying, and his eyes were red immediately.

He rushed over and called, "Brother Jing." Jingqing is Qin Zhong's courtesy name.

Qin Zhong opened his eyes with difficulty and saw Zhineng'er with red eyes. He extended his hand, and Baoyu gave up his seat and retreated to the outer room, feeling guilty and sad.

The doctor was called in for questioning, but he was told that the patient was still alive, and it was because the wild ginseng arrived in time.

Baoyu couldn't control his tears.

After a while, Zhineng came out crying, and saw Baoyu and said, "He wants to talk to you."

Baoyu lifted the curtain and entered the inner room. Qin Zhong barely opened his eyes, hummed, and raised his hand to Baoyu, but he couldn't support it halfway and was caught by Baoyu. Baoyu's voice was trembling, "Brother Jing, you, don't leave."

Qin Zhong half opened his eyes, "Baoyu, don't be sad. I, I just left a step early. Zhineng, please take care of me for me."

Baoyu nodded quickly, crying.

"Besides, I used to be proud of my appearance and thought I was more knowledgeable than others, while others were just ordinary people. But in the end, I found that I was muddleheaded and accomplished nothing." Qin Zhong pinched Baoyu's palm with his fingers, "You should still set your sights on fame and do not let down this life in the world!"

At the end, his eyes widened and his arms drooped weakly.

Baoyu immediately cried out, "Brother Jing!"

"Wow, so sad."

"Alas, now that I think about it, Qin Keqing and Qin Zhong left words of advice to Wang Xifeng and Jia Baoyu respectively. "

"It's a pity that neither of them took it seriously. "

"Qin Zhong died young at his age. "

"Not only that, the Qin family is now extinct. " "

The few people Baoyu saw when he entered the room just now seem to be Qin Zhong's uncle and aunt. '

'Oh my god, is he here to make a fortune?'

...

The old lady hurriedly called the servants, "Take a few people to the Qin Mansion and help Baoyu handle the Qin family's funeral."

Baoyu stayed in the Qin Mansion for seven consecutive days. After returning, he fell asleep for a whole day and night. When he woke up again, he asked about Zhineng first. When he heard that Zhineng had left Beijing, he was panicked again.

Daiyu, Sanchun and Baochai all came to see Baoyu one after another, but Baoyu looked haggard, his eyes were dull, and he didn't listen to what anyone said.

One day, he was walking in the yard with the support of Xiren and Qingwen. Hearing the hurried footsteps and noise outside, he asked, "What happened?"

A maid went to see it and reported back, "It is said that the lake stone shipped from Jiangnan has arrived, and it looks very much like a mermaid with pearls flowing towards the moon. Everyone is rushing to see it."

Baoyu frowned, "Who sent the lake stone from Jiangnan? It is placed there."

The little maid was surprised for a moment, but answered honestly, "This is the lake stone sent to the eldest lady's villa for visiting her parents. It seems that it was shipped back by Master Qiang. The villa is built at the junction of the East Mansion and our mansion, so the lake stone is naturally placed there."

Baoyu has been busy with Qin Zhong's affairs recently and has long forgotten that his family is building a villa.

Hearing this, he became a little curious and said to Xiren and Qingwen beside him, "Let's go and have a look."