Chapter 607 Baoyu is the host
Thanks to Shentu Mou's loyalty and submission, the war in Jiading Prefecture went much more smoothly.
As the grand elder of the Xuhen tribe, Shentu Mou's prestige and status were even three times higher than that of the clan leader. Therefore, with just one letter, the Xuhen tribe soldiers in Jiajiang City opened the city and surrendered.
Afterwards, the troops from Jiajiang went to Emei, falsely claiming that they were going to rescue the allied forces.
After tricking the city gates open, the soldiers of Xuhen Tribe entered the city first, and then the soldiers ambushed outside the city also rushed into the city, and Emei changed hands!
After six or seven days of rest and recuperation, on April 9th, the army broke camp again and marched straight for Longyou, the capital of Jiading Prefecture. After four days of marching, before sunset on April 13th, Jia Cong, with nearly 50,000 troops, set up camp twenty miles west of Jiading Prefecture.
The arrival of Jia Cong's army also caused chaos in Jiading Prefecture.
…
Shenjing City, Ningguo Mansion.
In Keqing's small courtyard, Keqing, who had just returned from outside the mansion, was tired but her face was full of joy.
Yesterday, the results of the provincial examination were posted. Although Jia Lan and Qin Zhong's rankings weren't high, they both made it onto the list again. Jia Zheng was naturally delighted. He not only summoned Qin Zhong but also hosted a special dinner for them. Even Li Wan, the old lady, gave her a rare word of encouragement.
That was why Keqing had asked the old lady for permission yesterday to go home to visit her family and see her father. Since the old lady really couldn't take care of the affairs of the East Palace now, Keqing's visit was to give her respect, so she readily agreed and even specially selected a few precious items for Keqing to take back.
Early this morning, Keqing had a carriage harnessed to her and took her maid, the old woman, and Qin Lian back to the Qin family, to visit her father and to congratulate Qin Zhong.
Although Qin Ye strictly abides by etiquette, he still looks happy when his daughter returns, especially now that his son has grown up, he is naturally very relieved!
Qin Ye's official position was not low. He was a fifth-rank official, and it was a very lucrative position in the Ministry of Works. In fact, it was one level higher than Jia Zheng's previous position of Yuanwailang. It was not until Jia Zheng was promoted to Langzhong that the two were of the same rank.
However, Qin Ye was more upright than Jia Zheng. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been given such a task, even scraping together twenty or thirty taels of silver. He naturally had a fondness for his son, but due to his age, he couldn't control him. Therefore, when Qin Zhong didn't make progress, he was exhausted.
Fortunately, for some unknown reason, his son had changed his character. He was not only diligent in his studies but also learned etiquette and filial piety. Moreover, not long after, thanks to Jia Cong's connections, he was admitted to the Imperial College and studied hard, which made him even happier.
Qin Ye was extremely grateful to Jia Cong, but what was Jia Cong's position? The stubborn old scholar wanted to express his gratitude, but was afraid that others would accuse him of trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful. Therefore, he simply hosted a banquet for Jia Zheng and asked him to convey his gratitude. After all, he and Jia Zheng were colleagues, so no one would say much if they hosted each other for a banquet.
Keqing stayed at home for half a day, accompanied her father for meals, supervised Qin Zhong, and left dozens of taels of silver for her father before returning home.
"If Zhong'er can write a name on the list this August, he will have a legitimate status." Keqing leaned on the Luohan couch in the hall.
Ruizhu, who was standing by, smiled and said, "The master of the family is really happy today. Now that grandma is living a peaceful life and Young Master Qin is also making progress, the master of the family will enjoy a happy life in the future."
Keqing's eyes were moist. Wasn't everything she had now all given to her by her lover? If not, she didn't know what her life would be like now. If her younger brother didn't improve and really made a fool of himself, given her father's temperament, he would probably be furious.
As the master and servants were talking, a maid's voice came from outside the door, "Greetings, Sister Xiangling, Sister Xiaoque'er."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiangling and Xiaoqueer came in laughing.
After paying her respects to Keqing, she smiled and pulled the two of them to her side. "Why are you two here today? Haven't you been to the Fourth Young Lady's courtyard to play?"
"Ruizhu, bring the fruits we brought back and let them taste them."
Xiangling smiled innocently and said, "They say Master Bao is hosting a party at the West Mansion today, so the Fourth Young Lady went there early. Xiao Que'er was bored in her room, and when she heard that the Grand Madam had returned, she said she wanted to come and see her in the courtyard."
Yes, our Master Bao stayed with the old lady for about a month. After Jia Zheng’s repeated requests, the old lady had no choice but to let Baoyu move back to her own courtyard.
After all, he had recovered from his "serious injury," so Xiren arranged to host a party for Baoyu to celebrate. Baoyu, who had been bored for a month, was happy and immediately wrote a letter inviting all the sisters to come.
There was a grand banquet in Baoyu's courtyard. Most of the sisters who had received the invitations came, even Baochai and Daiyu came.
Seeing Baochai, Daiyu and Xiangyun all arrived, Baoyu was really happy. He went forward to greet the girls into the room.
"Is second brother feeling better now?" Xiangyun asked with a smile.
"He's been well for a long time, but the old lady is keeping him in the courtyard and he can't come out. Today we have nothing to do, so let's have some fun. I've also invited my eldest and second sisters-in-law, they will surely be here soon. Musk Moon, go to the kitchen and ask them to send the wine and food over as soon as they're ready."
"Sister Bao, Sister Lin, you stay at home all day long, why don't you come to see me?"
"We have to learn etiquette on weekdays, so how can we have time to relax? It just so happens that the nanny let us take a day off today, so we came here." Daiyu said.
Baochai, standing by, also laughed and said, "Brother Bao has to study hard under the Second Master, and we sisters are also very busy, so it is naturally inconvenient for us to go and delay Brother Bao's studies."
Speaking of busy, Baochai and Daiyu have certainly been quite busy lately. Learning etiquette is fine, but they also have to rush off to do needlework in the evenings. After all, when it comes to their wedding, it's only right that they embroider their wedding gowns themselves. Baochai is fine, being relatively adept at needlework, but Daiyu has no real talent for it.
She did embroider some on a regular basis, but it wasn't uncommon for a single sachet to take three to five months, or even half a year. Therefore, a massive undertaking like embroidering a wedding dress almost completely stumped Daiyu.
Although Zijuan could help, Daiyu also wanted to do as much as possible herself.
Therefore, he specially asked Xiangyun and Qingwen to teach him personally for a long time, and only then did he make some progress.
Qingwen, needless to say, was one of the best needlework masters in the Jia family. Xiangyun, though a daughter of a noble family, had been learning needlework from her two aunts since she was a child to supplement the family income, so both of her teachers were skilled needlework masters.
Things like embroidering wedding gowns could only be done at home. This was why, if there was nothing else to do, as soon as she had learned the rules, Daiyu would rush back home to get busy.
