Chapter 601: Nanlin Goes North and the Golden Hairpin Gathers (Part 1)
West of Jinling City, Gaoxi Street, Xue Mansion.
"Last night I dreamt of a red building, tonight I sing about the water country. Dark clouds... island clouds are steaming over the sea, the sea... the sea... the sea..."
In front of a rock that looked like a lying ox, a young girl in palace dress sat on a low table, chanting "sea" several times, while her jade-like eyebrows were becoming more and more furrowed.
Suddenly, she threw herself forward and slumped down on the low table, shouting, "No, no! I'm stuck at home all day, how can I have any poetic thoughts? If I continue like this, I'll definitely be despised when I get married."
She complained while her big watery eyes glanced secretly over her scallion-white wrist towards the pavilion opposite. Her starry eyes flickered as she looked around, but there was no trace of dejection or worry in her eyes.
The two maids who were handling writing materials nearby couldn't help laughing when they heard that she was willing to use her future husband as a raft in order to go out and travel.
Even the maids in the pavilion couldn't help but laugh at each other.
Only a graceful woman sitting on a reclining chair in the middle had her brows lowered and her eyes lowered, showing no reaction, as if she had already fallen into a deep sleep.
"Is mother really asleep?"
After waiting for a long while with still no response, the girl pouted her lips, helplessly sat up straight, picked up a brush as big as a rafter, stirred it in the inkstone, and splashed ink on the spread out white paper with her wrist. In just a moment, she had written a five-character quatrain.
After carefully turning the brush upside down and handing it to the maid holding the brush wash, the girl ‘heroically’ raised the poem high up, blew a few puffs of air, and then recited with her head shaking, “Last night I dreamed of the red building, tonight I chanted in the water country.
Island clouds rise from the sea, and mist connects to the jungle.
The moon has no past or present, and love has its own shallowness or depth.
"It's spring in the south of Han, how can I not be concerned?"
After finishing reading, the girl spread the paper back on the table, stroked her non-existent beard, and sighed in a muffled voice, "Alas, this poem is very majestic and well-conceived, but it's a pity that it's too crude and can't be said to have both form and spirit. In my opinion, the poet must still lack some experience. If he could enjoy the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains, the vast sea and sky, he would surely achieve something in the future!"
Before she could finish her words, the two maids beside her were laughing so hard that they couldn't even straighten their backs.
While the girl pretended to comment, she glanced into the pavilion, only to see her mother still lying on the reclining chair, without giving her any feedback.
"Could it be that he really has fallen asleep?"
The girl's face fell, she pursed her lips playfully, stood up from the low table, and walked sullenly to the winding stream beside her.
She wrapped the shark's fin around a large rock, sat sideways, took off her shoes and socks, and immersed her two bare feet, which looked like fresh water chestnuts and tender lotus roots, into the stream water.
It is nearly Mid-Autumn Festival, and although the heat is still there, it is still not as hot as in midsummer.
Therefore, when stimulated by the cold water, she couldn't help trembling slightly, but she was unwilling to pull her bare feet out. Instead, she gritted her teeth and stretched her legs out, stirring her two white feet in the stream like Nezha making trouble in the sea.
In a short while, the girl gradually adapted to the water temperature. She closed her beautiful eyes comfortably, leaned back slightly, and straightened out the pair of proud and thriving breasts in front of her chest.
An unknown amount of time had passed. The girl was in a daze, her mind wandering between the heavens, the earth, and the waters, when she suddenly heard a voice behind her scolding, "You crazy girl, it's so late and you're still playing in the water. Aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"
Hearing this scolding, the girl pursed her rosy little mouth again, splashed water with her feet in anger, and said angrily: "Who told my brother to only care about traveling and leaving me and mother at home without caring!"
As she said this, she turned around and rolled her eyes, but suddenly found that the little maid who was originally holding the inkstone was now holding a bowl of steaming ginger soup.
"ah!"
The girl immediately jumped up, pouted her lips and protested , "Mother was just pretending to sleep!"
Seeing his sister acting so careless, Xue Ke shook his head helplessly and went to the pavilion to greet his mother:
"Mother, do you feel better today?"
The woman had already sat up straight on the reclining chair. Her pale face was full of kindness. She smiled and shook her head, saying, "It's been an old problem for many years. It's not a big deal."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and waved her sleeves, and the maids in the pavilion retreated obediently.
When only the mother and son were left in the pavilion, Xue Ke lowered his voice and said angrily, "Wang Ren only said a few perfunctory words to my son and then sent him away. It's obvious that he doesn't take our family seriously, and he's not willing to stand up for us!"
The Wang Ren he mentioned was none other than the son of Wang Ziteng, the Inspector General of Nine Provinces, and the elder brother of Wang Xifeng, the second wife of the Rongguo Mansion.
At the beginning of the year, he went from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River and temporarily served as an assistant and manager under his father's account. Although he did not have a formal official status, who dared to bypass him, a young master, in all matters, big or small?
The Xue family has recently been involved in some business disputes and wants to seek help from Wang Ziteng, so naturally they have to go through Wang Ren's connection.
Originally, Xue Ke had packed his luggage and prepared to go south to Ningbo Prefecture to visit Wang Ren. However, before he could even leave, he received news that Wang Ren had already arrived in Nanjing.
Xue Ke was overjoyed and quickly prepared a generous gift and went to the door to ask for a meeting.
Who would have thought that Wang Ren accepted the gift but did not mention anything about patronage. He just said some irrelevant words and then served tea to see the guest off.
"well."
Seeing her son's anger and helplessness, the woman sighed: "Even if we have some relatives, what can we, an orphan and a widow, do to make the Wang family look up to us?"
The mother and son looked at each other sadly for a long while, and Xue Ke helplessly cupped his hands and said, "It seems that my son can only go to the capital. I hope my aunt can help me to mediate."
"That's all we can do."
The woman nodded, then shook her head and said, "I originally thought that my eldest brother was a loser, but I didn't expect that he would become a good relative and his business would become prosperous again."
When Xue Ke heard this, his face suddenly turned strange, and he said decisively: "Then it's better not to wait for good relatives!"
The 'aunt' and 'eldest brother' they were referring to were not other people but Aunt Xue and Xue Pan, mother and son - and the so-called 'good relative' was naturally Shangshu Wang, the Minister of Personnel.
The Xue family has had really bad luck in recent years. First, Xue Pan's father passed away, and then his uncle [Xue Ke's father] also died of an acute illness.
As a result, the Xue family, which was once the most prominent among the imperial merchants, was left with only an orphan and a widow.
Xue Pan and his mother are still relatively lucky, after all, they have the Wang family and the Rongguo Mansion to rely on.
The situation on Xue Ke's side was much worse.
Although he is not as foolish and foolish as his cousin, he is young, ignorant and lacks prestige after all. He has been running around all these years. Although he seems to be still rich and prosperous, he has suffered a lot in secret.
Stop talking nonsense.
The mother and son decided to go to Beijing to seek help from Aunt Xue. Mrs. Xue hesitated for a while, then suddenly ordered, "Take your sister with you. When the Mei family returns to Beijing after completing their term of office next year, it will be almost time for them to get married. Let her learn some Beijing rules from your aunt and be more restrained so that she won't be unbearable when she goes to the Mei family."
"this……"
Xue Ke suddenly felt embarrassed.
His younger sister Xue Baoqin has been traveling around with their father since she was eight years old, so he is not worried that the girl will not be able to adapt to the bumpy road.
But the mother has always had phlegm disease, and it is unknown how long the brother and sister will be gone. How can they cope without any relatives around them?
"Mother!"
At this moment, Xue Baoqin suddenly jumped out from behind a clump of oleanders, walked a few steps closer, and bowed her head on Madam Xue's legs, saying in a delicate voice: "I'm not going to the capital! After my brother leaves, I can just be a housekeeper to gain experience. Isn't it a hundred times better than learning those rigid rules?"
"My son."
Madam Xue fondled her black hair, shook her head and smiled bitterly, "Didn't you just want to go out for a trip? Now I can fulfill your wish..."
"It's not like I haven't been to the capital before."
Xue Baoqin raised her head and said with a smile, "It's so noisy everywhere. How can it compare to the beautiful scenery of Jinling? When it gets cooler, I will accompany my mother to live in a farm in the countryside for a few days. It will allow my mother to recuperate and have fun there. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"
Hearing her full of care and affection, Madam Xue's eyes became moist and hot. She lowered her head and rubbed her chin against her forehead, saying softly, "My son, the Mei family will be sent back next year, and I'm afraid they will be of great use. You should go to the capital with your brother, and spend more time with Rongguo Mansion and Wang family. You will have someone to rely on when you marry there."
Ever since Xue Baoqin's father passed away, the Mei family has been showing signs of changing their ways. That's why Mrs. Xue wanted her daughter to go to Beijing first to mingle with some prominent relatives, so that the Mei family would have more concerns.
"I……"
"Master, Butler Liu sent someone to bring in a message!"
Xue Baoqin was about to argue when a middle-aged woman outside suddenly called out to her from a distance.
Xue Ke heard this and hurriedly said, "What did Steward Liu find out? Tell me now!"
It turned out that after he was humiliated by Wang Ren, he did not give up completely. He specially left his butler with him to find out the purpose of Wang Ren's coming to Jinling City and see if there was any opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
The old woman hurried over a few steps, and before she could finish her formalities, she heard Xue Ke urging her, so she hurriedly said, "Butler Liu said that Wang Yanei is leaving Ningbo Prefecture this time to go back to the capital."
Return to Beijing?
Xue Ke frowned and asked in surprise: "If you are going back to the capital, why are you coming to Nanjing?"
To go north from Ningbo to Beijing, one can either take the sea route or the Grand Canal, and you will never pass by Jinling on the way.
"I heard from Butler Liu that they seem to be waiting for General Sun before heading north together."
"General Sun?!"
"General Sun?!"
Two exclamations came out at the same time, but Xue Baoqin got up from her mother's arms first and asked happily, "Could it be General Sun Shaozong, the one who conquered Huguang with one sword in recent rumors?!"
