The True Winner of the Red Chamber

Chapter 36

In the next few days, Zhen Yingjia went to the Imperial College to study during the day, and from time to time, he went to Jijiu to brush up his presence. After all, he met in front of the Imperial Study Room. Jijiu was kind to him, and sometimes Zhen Yingjia took the article. You can also get two pointers if you go.

Come back at night to listen to the housekeeper and daughter's report on the gains of the day, teach my son to recognize two characters, and then go to see the little gossip of the East Palace when I am alone.

Otherwise, checking Weibo is the most waste of time. Zhen Yingjia went to bed earlier every day, but slept later every day. She even knew about the trivial things like Concubine Zhao washing her face with sugar water and the crown prince's nails being chopped off.

It's just that there is no news about the cause of the princess' death.

But no news is another kind of news.

During the few days that Zhen Yingjia watched, the crown prince and side concubine Zhao had met four times, and the crown prince was not mentioned once.

There is also Kang Quan, although he is guarding in front of the spirit with the children of the Eastern Palace twelve hours a day, but people have to eat, and he comes out quite a few times a day, but here, he and Concubine Zhao The number of times they met was a bit small, and the content and length of the conversation between the two of them was not at all like the "indulgence" in Kang He's mouth.

Zhen Yingjia yawned, sleeping late was not without gain, he felt that Kang Quan might know something, that's why getting along with his mother became completely different from before.

Moreover, this kind of inexperienced child was spoiled and brought up since he was a child. As long as Kang He used dim sum, he could get something out of Kang Quan's mouth no matter what.

After two days, the crown princess's rest period expired, and it was time for the funeral.

The status of the crown princess among the women of the royal family can probably be ranked among the top three. Besides, there is no empress dowager now, so she is the queen below, so the funeral is very grand.

A large part of the civil and military officials have gone to the funeral, and there are also wives who have to stay in the Taimiao for more than a month.In addition, officials and families with titles are not allowed to hold wedding banquets and so on for a period of time according to their official titles or titles.

Zhen Yingjia walked in the long queue, planning to find out something for the funeral of the princess this time, but the primary goal was to meet Kang He first.

After a series of complicated ceremonies, the coffin of the crown princess was placed in the ice palace, followed by chanting sutras for 49 consecutive days before the coffin could be buried in the ground.

There is no business for civil and military officials below. After they had a vegetarian meal in the temple's wing room, they began to leave one by one.

Zhen Yingjia was a little anxious, and deliberately ate slowly, falling behind.Not long after, a person came in from the side room and saw Zhen Yingjia's eyes lit up, and when there were no one around, he stepped forward and whispered: "Your Majesty is waiting for you at the old tree under the west wall."

Hearing this long list of addresses, Zhen Yingjia was inexplicably excited. He nodded as if nothing had happened, slowly picked up the last two pieces of tender tofu in the bowl, ate them carefully, and then got up and walked outside.

According to the man's dictation, after turning a corner, Zhen Yingjia really saw Kang He.

Compared with the last meeting, he became thinner and thinner. The sharp edges and corners were sharper now. Zhen Yingjia remembered that he had secretly inquired about the affairs of the East Palace in the past two days, and Kang He had hardly communicated with anyone. Can't help but sighed, stepped forward and said: "You said you should take good care of yourself."

The corners of Kang He's mouth turned up slightly, his already mature temperament now has something more charming, he said slowly: "Kang Quan drank three cups of ginseng soup this morning, smoked moxa, and The imperial doctor pricked the acupoints to survive." Kang He's eyes shone brightly, "If you get close to him now, you can still smell the faint scent of ginseng."

There was even a bit of nostalgia in Kang He's tone, and he said unhurriedly: "He has hurt his roots this time, and I'm afraid he won't live long."

Hearing him say such words in such a tone, Zhen Yingjia inexplicably felt a numbness rushing up his spine, like an electric shock, which made all the hairs on his body stand on end.

It's just that for Zhen Yingjia, although it was a bit scary, she became more and more excited.

But now there is no time to think about it, he said: "Can you find out what is missing in the princess's room?" Zhen Yingjia frowned, and said: "The pawnshop over there can't see any flaws, all the stolen goods He was searched by the prince's subordinates and said that he was going to be buried with the prince's concubine."

Kang He nodded, pulled out a roll of paper from his sleeve, and said, "This is the list. I don't have a day off today. I'm afraid people will find out if I carry this thing with me. Take it to a pair and see. See if there are any omissions."

Zhen Yingjia agreed, and said again: "Zhiyin has been a female official under the concubine's hand, and she will live there for a month, so you can tidy up a room for her and come out. She is the only one in our family and only brings one Mother-in-law, it is better to be quiet inside than messing around with people outside."

Zhen Yingjia paused, "Besides, there are those two women who stole things, maybe we can find out something."

For a moment, Kang He's expression became a little cold, and he turned his head slightly, as if thinking about something embarrassing, "It's very strange to say. These two women have been locked in the woodshed , Nothing happened. The prince didn't ask anyone to deal with them, and even Mrs. Zhao was quiet and didn't move at all."

Kang He shook his head, "What's going on? Could it be that those two people really stole something? It's such a coincidence?"

"You will only find out after the investigation." Zhen Yingjia said: "Besides, you also said that the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess have been at odds for many years, but after the death of the Crown Princess, they are extremely affectionate. There must be something tricky about it."

Hearing this, Kang He immediately became firm, "This month...how can the truth come to light."

The two spoke a few more words, Zhen Yingjia patted him on the shoulder, and asked, "Have you noticed that in the past two days... Kang Quan and Concubine Zhao are not so close?"

Kang He was taken aback, with surprise on his face, "I actually neglected this! The crown prince is taking care of Kang Quan these days, and Mrs. Zhao basically ignores him." Kang He narrowed his eyes, "He must know something!"

The two agreed on the time and place for the next meeting, and Zhen Yingjia sighed: "Although it's mostly nonsense, I still want to tell you that you are fine. Don't let yourself lose half of your life because of that health." .”

Kang He shook his head and said solemnly: "Up to [-]%."

The parting was imminent, and the two of them didn't know what to say. After a while, Zhen Yingjia stepped forward to hug Kanghe and said, "Take care." Then he followed the servants and left.

Zhen Yingjia got into the carriage and went back to Zhen's Mansion, took out the list she got from the pawn shop, and matched it with the list Kang He found out, there was nothing wrong with it.

Silver curly characters, golden curly son, and a pair of rings made in the early years, etc., were all chased back by the prince, and they planned to be buried with the princess this time.

Even the families of the two wives were fine, everything was the same as usual, and even after the news came out that the family had stolen the Crown Princess's belongings, the expenditures of the two families actually decreased.

It goes along with the performance of nervousness and fear.

But the more there is no flaw, the more Zhen Yingjia feels something is wrong.

He didn't know exactly how the Crown Princess died, but nothing could be found out. It could only show that it was not the Zhao family who dealt with the aftermath here, but the Crown Prince!

That's why there is no clue of meaning.

Zhen Yingjia thought for a long time, only hoping that Zhiyin and Kang He could get something out of those people.

On the way back to the city, not long after the carriage drove out, someone caught up behind him and shouted, "Youzhong, wait for me!"

This voice...Jia Zheng!

Although Zhen Yingjia really wanted to pretend that he didn't hear it and left like this, but all the civil and military officials returning to Beijing along the way would always be criticized by others, so Zhen Yingjia asked the driver to pull over the car and stop. .

Zhen Yingjia lifted the curtain, and looked at the two brothers of the Jia family who jumped out of the car behind, with interesting expressions on their faces.

Jia Zheng was in high spirits, while Jia Amnesty looked at his younger brother with an impatient and disgusted expression. Presumably, if it wasn't for the funeral of the Crown Princess today, he would definitely ride in the car separately from Jia Zheng.

Seeing Zhen Yingjia, Jia Zheng was very happy, turned his head and said to Jia Amnesty, "I know you are impatient with this, I will go back in Youzhong's carriage, you can do what you want."

Zhen Yingjia coughed and looked at the carriages passing by. Even if it was for his own reputation, he really couldn't refuse at this time, but he had already started thinking about how to find a way to break with the Jia family.

Jia Zheng followed Zhen Yingjia into the carriage. Although Zhen Yingjia had a cold face, but today was the princess's funeral, no one dared to laugh in front of everyone, so Jia Zheng didn't think the cold face was directed at him.

The two sat down respectively, and the carriage started to move again.

Jia Zheng asked, "I heard that you have entered the Imperial Prison?"

Zhen Yingjia was in a bad mood at the moment, so he decided to take it out on Jia Zheng.

He nodded seriously and said, "That's right, I've been studying for a few days." Zhen Yingjia shook his head and sighed, "Only when I went to the Imperial College did I realize how short-sighted I was in the past. There is no limit to learning and working hard." , Guozijian really lives up to its reputation."

Jia Zheng's eyes lit up, "I really admire your courage to resign from office and retake the imperial examination."

Zhen Yingjia smiled and lowered her voice, as if she was about to say something secret, with an expression of "I'll tell you because we have a good relationship between our two families", "Your Majesty has praised me for my actions." After finishing speaking He said very proudly: "I will end this August."

Jia Zheng became excited and said, "You are going to take the provincial examination!"

Zhen Yingjia nodded inscrutablely, and threw out another one, "My lord allows me to change my yellow book, and I will take the rural examination in August in the capital."

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment. Their ancestral home is Jinling. Earlier, Jia Zhu wanted to go back to Jinling for the imperial examination. Baoyu will be the same in the future. If the yellow book can be changed, the whole family can be settled in the capital, and there will be no need for the imperial examination in the future. Running back and forth.

"It's true!"

Zhen Yingjia nodded, lowering her voice, "The examiner this time is Lord Sun."

Jia Zheng also became serious. He knew that the candidate for the examiner must not be revealed, so he asked Zhen Yingjia again, "The new sacrificial wine for the Imperial College?"

Zhen Yingjia nodded again, and said: "It is the right way to take the imperial examination to become an official. I figured out what the Holy One meant, and wanted to set me as an example."

Jia Zheng stopped talking. His official position was obtained by his father in a letter before his death. Therefore, he has been stuck here for many years and cannot be promoted. If...if the Holy Spirit encourages this kind of behavior...then he...

"Cun Zhou's knowledge is much better than mine, and he grew up and studied in Beijing. If he can be trusted in Beijing, the junior three yuan must be followed by the big three yuan, at most three years," Zhen Yingjia said, "I'm afraid it will happen. The cost is the one with the shortest scientific examination time.”

Sure enough, Jia Zheng's excited nose began to open and close.

Zhen Yingjia looked at his expression and knew that he had fallen into a trap.

The emperor praised this matter, he can change the yellow book after resigning, and he can also establish a good relationship with the examiner in advance, go to the Imperial College to study, etc., Jia Zheng's character, if he doesn't bite the hook, Zhen Yingjia will follow him as Jia up.

Sure enough, Jia Zheng didn't say a word until the carriage returned to the capital.

Zhen Yingjia ordered the coachman to drive the car directly to Rongguo Mansion, saying: "Cun Zhou must be kept secret, I will tell you alone."

Jia Zheng nodded in a trance, and Zhen Yingjia said again: "Think about it carefully, or wait until after August when my township has tried it, but when I entered the palace a few days ago, I vaguely heard that Duke Li and Duke Zhen The grandson of the family also wrote to resign."

Jia Zheng jumped out of the carriage, Zhen Yingjia patted the dust off his body, and sighed, "It's just that I'm afraid there won't be such a good opportunity in the future."

Jia Zheng agreed and entered the yard in a daze, not remembering whether he said goodbye to Zhen Yingjia or not.

Aunt Zhao came up to greet her, and said with a smile: "Our master is still capable. Master Zhen, who has invited you several times and never came, actually sent you back in person. Why don't you invite him in?"

Jia Zheng suddenly came to his senses, "I want to—"

"What do you want?" Aunt Zhao didn't hear clearly, so she asked again.

I am resigning.

Jia Zheng looked at Aunt Zhao, but he couldn't say anything about it.

If you tell her, the whole family will know. The old lady has the most stable temper, and she will definitely not agree. Why don't they all go to the Taimiao to funeral the princess this month and settle the matter!

Next year, he will start to take the entrance examination for children... Jia Zheng thought while doing the calculations: Maybe it is true what Zhen Yingjia said, and within three years, he will be able to enter the Imperial Academy!

Jia Zheng stroked his beard with a smile, and said, "During the national mourning period, you must avoid taboos. I will sleep in the study at night."