Fun Kan Red Chamber 290: Shocked by bad news, the palace princess is terminally ill, and she is ordered to enter Beijing, and the Zhen family in Jiangnan visits the capital
After the Lantern Festival, two far-reaching events occurred, one was Wang Xifeng's miscarriage, which led to a series of "change of law" measures such as Jia Tanchun's housekeeper and reform of the Grand View Garden. The other was that the old lady in the palace fell ill, which attracted the Zhen family in Jiangnan.
These two events were the key twists in the fate of the Jia family, and there would be no good things after that.
The Zhen family in Jiangnan is not the first appearance, the second time Leng Zixing gave a speech on Rong Guofu, he mentioned them, and the first student of Professor Jia Yucun was also Zhen Baoyu of the Zhen family.
Strictly speaking, Zhen Baoyu is Lin Daiyu's "brother-in-law", but Jia Yucun was tossed by him very badly, and soon resigned and never returned.
The seventh time Jia Baoyu told Qin Zhong that his teacher had taken a leave of absence to go home, it was the story of Jia Yucun. Zhen Baoyu and Jia Baoyu had the first time-space intersection here.
Before Jia Yuanchun province pro-, Wang Xifeng also mentioned that the Zhen family in Jiangnan had received four "Holy Ancestor Visits to Shun Patrol". It is certain that this story borrows from the story of the Kangxi Emperor's descent into Jiangnan. This experience of the Zhen family in Jiangnan does have the shadow of the Jiangning weaving Cao family.
Gossip aside, the Jia family and the Zhen family are old relatives for many years, and they have 50,000 taels of silver in the Zhen family. The two sides have close contacts, and they will continue to give gifts to each other every New Year's Festival, and the final fate is also the same destination. More on that later.
On the same day, Jia Tanchun had just discussed the distribution of the Grand View Garden, and the people of the Zhen family had already come to the door.
(Fifty-sixth time) Just said, only to see Lin Zhixiao's family come in and say: "The family members of the Zhen Mansion in Jiangnan came to Beijing yesterday, and today they enter the palace to pay tribute." At this moment, the first person to send gifts please be safe. With that, he delivered the gift slip. Tan Chun took over, and saw that it was: "Twelve horses of makeup satin python are used on the top, twelve horses of variegated satin are used on the top, twelve horses of various colors of yarn are used on the top, twelve horses of palace silk are used on the top, and twenty-four horses of various colors of satin yarn are used for officials." Li Yi also looked at it and said, "Reward him with a high-grade seal." "Because he ordered someone back to Jia Mu." Jia Mu then ordered people to call Li Feng, Tan Chun, Bao Chao, and so on, and also came over and read the gifts. Li Yi received it, and while instructing the people in the inner library, he said, "Wait until the wife comes back to see it." ”
The Zhen family's entry into Beijing was very sudden, but the Jia family was not surprised, indicating that it had been expected. The Zhen family is even richer and more official than the Jia family, and entering Beijing is of course not like the Xue family who drags the family to the Jia family, but settles down first and then sends someone to send gifts to please.
The Zhen family had many gifts, mainly silk brocade on all kinds, a total of seventy-two horses, at least two large carts. It can be seen that once the Zhen family enters Beijing, just a gift will be given away.
Jia Mu was accustomed to seeing big scenes and knew that a big family like the Zhen family had no more etiquette than that. The gift is only one layer, and a woman will be sent in to ask for peace. So he instructed the people to prepare for the "ruler.". Without finishing a word, the person replied: "Four women from Zhen Mansion have come to invite Ann." Jia Mu listened, and busied herself with ordering people to bring them in.
"Ruler" also refers to satin clothing. Although the Zhen family had just sent dozens of pieces of cloth, Jia Mu still prepared the ruler according to the rules.
At that time, the etiquette was for men from outside to give gifts, and it was good to use the red envelopes of the high-grade rewards directly. But the women came in on behalf of the host to ask for peace, and they could not also use "red packets" to tip. Instead, use a ruler as a gift.
In ancient society, men cultivated women weaving, and giving women cloth was the best gift. Like Later Wen Wang Xifeng first saw Second Sister You, he also sent a ruler. At that time, all those related to cloth gifts were said to be "rulers", which were specially given to women.
(Fifty-sixth time) Those four men were all forty years old, and they were not very different from their masters. Please Say hello to Ann, Jia Mu ordered to take four feet to step on, the four of them thanked and sat down, and when Bao Chao waited to sit, Fang Du sat down. Jia Mu then asked, "How early or late did you enter Beijing?" The four of them hurriedly got up and replied, "The capital that entered yesterday." Today,mrs. took the girl into the palace to invite Ann, so she ordered the women to come and greet the girls. Jia Mu smiled and asked, "I haven't entered Beijing in all these years, and I don't want to come this year." The four of them also laughed back: "Exactly, this year I entered Beijing on a mission." ”
Cao Xueqin noted that the four women were all in their forties, and there was no difference between the decorations and the master, indicating that they were at least the kind of stewards of the Lin Zhixiao family, representing the façade of the Zhen family.
The Zhen family came to Beijing yesterday and sent someone to visit the Jia family today, on the one hand, it is the importance attached to the Jia family. On the other hand, it is also a last resort.
There is a detail to talk about first, that is, the time of the Zhen family's visit is after noon. It is said that modern people will choose to visit in the morning, why is the time of visiting at that time after noon? This corresponds to the schedule at that time.
The Jia family's meal time followed Jia Mu, and her old man ate nine to three in the morning. Wang Xifeng and other stewards had to eat outside an hour after the mistake.
On the same day, Jia Tanchun first ate a meal, then Ping'er went back to eat, and then returned to talk about the reform plan of the Grand View Garden for half a day. When the Zhen family came to the door, at least it would be late at noon.
The time of the Zhen family's visit must be based on the rules and etiquette of the time. At that time, it was mostly a two-meal system, and after breakfast after ten o'clock, you could pack up and visit guests, which was also polite. And visiting people's homes, it is necessary to rush when the master is not "busy", after noon is generally idle time, and not too close to dinner time, so that the host bothers to keep the meal.
This is a small detail of "Dream of the Red Chamber", really want to come in the morning like Grandma Liu, which is not in line with the etiquette of high society.
Jia Mu asked the Zhen family about entering Beijing, and the women replied very decently. It turned out that the Zhen family had been ordered to enter Beijing yesterday, and the lady had entered the palace today to invite Ann to go, so she sent four women to come and greet Ann first.
There is also a detail to pay attention to here. The Zhen family had just entered Beijing, and the next day they were able to enter the palace to face the saint, indicating that someone was anxious to see them.
The Lady of the Zhen family brought the girl into the palace, and it was only possible to ask the harem for peace. Being able to make the emperor order them to summon them to beijing, and also being able to enter the palace immediately to ask for peace, is undoubtedly related to the old lady's serious illness.
So, what is the relationship between the old lady and the Zhen family? The original text does not explain, can only deduce one or two.
First of all, the old lady is by no means simple.
After the old lady fell ill, the emperor ordered the suspension of all entertainment activities and provincial relatives, and the harem prayed for it with "reducing food and thanking makeup". It proves that the status of the old lady is extremely high.
In the imperial palace at that time, the emperor and the empress, the concubine, the emperor and the empress, the concubine, the old concubine prominently had the word "old", which was undoubtedly the elder of the emperor.
Emperor Taishang was obviously a man of the same era as Jia Mu. Before Jia Daishan's death, shangben's emperor was the Taishang Emperor. Then the old lady was definitely the only remaining figure in the era of Ning Rong's second duke. The most important thing to pay attention to are two points.
First, the old lady must have been kind to the Emperor Taishang. The specifications of her illness and death, said to be the empress dowager, let alone more. It is speculated that the old lady is an elder who is close to the Emperor Taishang.
Second, shortly after the death of the old concubine, the Zhen family was raided, indicating that there was not so much affection between the emperor and the old concubine. The old concubine must be closer to the Emperor Taishang and have a revered status.
In a simple metaphor, the old lady is like the Jia mother of the Jia family. Comparing historical figures is somewhat similar to the existence of Empress Xiaozhuang.
Secondly, the relationship between the old lady and the Zhen family.
As soon as the old lady fell ill, the emperor immediately ordered the Zhen family to enter the capital quickly, and the next day after entering the capital, they could enter the palace to ask for peace. It proves that the relationship between the old lady and the Zhen family is absolutely close.
As for what the specific relationship is, Cao Xueqin did not explain, speculating that there are only two kinds.
First, the old lady was born into the Zhen family and was the daughter of the Zhen family. Therefore, the Zhen family as a foreign relative can be so rich and noble.
Second, the Zhen family is the son-in-law of the old concubine, as a grandson, the old concubine wants to see the posterity before death, and it is also reasonable.
However, the Gulai Ma family is not in power, the Zhen family is very powerful, and it is speculated that the first one may be greater.
But no matter whether the relationship between the Zhen family and the old concubine, like the relationship between the Shi family and Jia Mu or Lin Daiyu and Jia Mu, must be a blood relative. Will be so anxious to be called, so that the old lady can see her relatives in her illness.
From this, it can also be inferred that the identity of the old lady is really unusual, which shows that her condition is very serious this time, and she is almost lacking in surgery.
The importance of the old lady will be mentioned later. Her appearance can be used as a turning point, which is bound to have a huge impact. When she dies, we'll talk more.
Here, when Jia Mu chatted with the four women of the Zhen family, she also revealed a lot of interesting details, and Cao Xueqin also did not write in detail, but she was still able to follow the vine and find out a lot of clues. To find out what happens next, look at the next breakdown!
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