Chapter 505: The Zhen Family in Jiangnan

The next day, Jia Lian came to the Zhen Family as promised.

Zhen Yingjia, the master of the Zhen family, paid enough attention to Jia Lian and personally received him in the main hall.

"We haven't seen each other for three years, but I didn't expect that my good nephew would rise to the top. Now he is famous all over the world. It is no exaggeration to describe him. Heroes have been born since ancient times."

Zhen Yingjia is a somewhat frail, middle-aged man who dresses elegantly. His temperament is somewhat similar to Jia Zheng's.

In fact, three years ago, when Jia Lian went to the south of the Yangtze River to bring Daiyu to Beijing, he visited the Zhen family once when he went to Jinling to look for Xiangling.

At that time, Zhen Yingjia also received him for the sake of the friendship between the two families. However, because at that time Jia Lian was just a child of an obscure aristocratic family, and he did not study, and was only known for being quick-witted in secular affairs, he was not taken seriously by Zhen Yingjia.

So it was enough for a quick visit and a few pleasantries. As for the rest of the Zhen family, basically no important one was seen.

But today is different.

In addition to Zhen Yingjia, the fourth master of the Zhen family, Zhen Yingfu, and the eldest son of the Zhen family, Zhen Yutang, were all accompanying the guests.

This Zhen Yutang is not the son of Zhen Yingjia, but the eldest son of Zhen Yingfu, the fourth master of the Zhen family. The Zhen Baoyu whom I saw on the street yesterday was Zhen Yingjia's direct son.

Just from this simple detail, it can be seen that the relationship between the Zhen family seems to be quite complicated, not as simple and clear as other families.

Because Jia Lian was an official, a noble, and even an imperial envoy, the Zhen family had no intention of simply treating Jia Lian as a junior.

After a few polite greetings, Zhen Yingjia asked Jia Lian to sit at the front seat of the guest seat. Zhen Ying leaned over to sit on the guest seat opposite to accompany him. On the contrary, Zhen Yutang, the eldest son of the Zhen family, could only stand beside him to accompany him.

"I heard that my nephew did several big things in Yangzhou, and he experienced life and death several times because of it. I wonder, everything is safe now, is there any trouble?

If there is, my nephew can come and come. Our Zhen family still doesn’t have a good reputation in Jiangnan. If there is someone who can help my nephew, I will definitely not refuse.”

Xian After talking for a while, the fourth master of the Zhen family suddenly said with a smile.

Jia Lian handed over his hand and said, "Thank you Uncle Shi for your kindness. Although I went through a little trouble, thanks to His Majesty's blessing and protection, I managed to finish my errand. In a few days, my nephew will be ready. Let's set off back to Beijing."

"So soon?"

Zhen Yingfu and Zhen Yingjia looked at each other, and then Zhen Yingjia laughed loudly and said: "Since my nephew has already taken care of everything. Well prepared, naturally we can only congratulate our nephew in advance and return to Jingrong as soon as possible to hear the award. "

After saying something for the occasion, Zhen Yingjia added: "Speaking of my nephew's errand, I also remembered one thing.

I heard that the Wang family, a salt merchant who has been in Yangzhou for more than ten years, has been confiscated and executed by his nephew because of corruption, perversion of law, disregard of human life, and the audacity to assassinate imperial envoys? "

"It is true. "

Although it was something that had been confirmed for a long time, seeing Jia Lian admit it so indifferently and calmly in the face of their inquiries, the two masters of the Zhen family couldn't help but feel a little shocked, knowing that the rumors were true. This Although Mr. Lian is young, he is really not a simple character.

He is decisive and ruthless, daring to fight and kill, but you cannot be deceived by his gorgeous appearance. No wonder even today’s Majesty, some troublesome people I always like to leave things to him.

“That’s it. My nephew should also know that our Zhen family has been stationed in the south of the Yangtze River since the early years of the Supreme Emperor, and has been dealing with aristocratic families from all over the south of the Yangtze River for many years.

The Wang family also had some dealings with our Zhen family in the early years... However, later we realized that the Wang family acted arrogantly, and there were frequent rumors of illegality reaching our ears. Gradually, we He cut off all contact with him.

Who would have thought that he would end up like this today. Although it is his Wang family’s fault, I am afraid that the Wang family still retains some objects that were exchanged with our family back then.

Although these are normal exchanges, if the court knew about them, they would inevitably doubt the loyalty of the Zhen family.

So, I have a heartfelt request..."

"Uncle Shi, please speak. "

"Since my nephew is the imperial envoy in charge of this matter, I think that all the items that were seized from the Wang family have passed through my nephew's hands.

The good nephew also knows that our Zhen family has been in charge of the Jiangnan weaving business for many years for the Supreme Emperor, and there are countless people in the court who are jealous. In order to avoid suspicion and cause unnecessary trouble, I would like to ask my nephew if he really copies things and letters related to my Zhen family from the Wang family...

Of course, we will never let my nephew Doing things that violate the law. My nephew, please check it first and make sure it is of no importance. Please, out of consideration for our family, destroy it or return it. We will be very grateful. ”

Jia Lian laughed when he heard this.

He had stayed in Yangzhou for so long, not to mention that he had thoroughly investigated the background relationships of all the salt merchants in Yangzhou. At least, The three houses he had plundered must be clear and clear.

He understood why the Zhen family suddenly mentioned this. Because he knew that under WangBefore the family got involved with the Prince's Mansion, their biggest backer was the Jiangnan Zhen family!

Perhaps some people don’t quite understand that the Zhen family has no hereditary title and no one holds important positions in the central government. How can He De serve as a protective umbrella for a big salt merchant?

In fact, this can be understood from the words "Tai Shang Huang" mentioned by Zhen Yingjia just now.

That’s right, this Zhen family is the family that the Emperor sent to the south of the Yangtze River to supervise the major weaving bureaus in his early years!

All weaving bureaus in Jiangnan are under the supervision of Jinling Tirenyuan.

The current master of the Zhen family, Zhen Yingjia, holds the official position of "President of Jinling Provincial Tiren Academy".

This official position, just by the name, you know that it is specially awarded by the emperor. It doesn't matter if it's big or not, after all, he only supervises the Weaving Bureau, and his rank is only about the fourth or fifth grade.

But it’s not too small to be small. After all, the word “imperial envoy” refers to the imperial court and the emperor. To be precise, it is the emperor.

As for why the Emperor trusted the Zhen family so much and gave them a "hereditary" official position, this goes back to earlier. Perhaps, from what Jia Mu mentioned in Rongqing Hall that day, the origin of the title of "Xiu'an County Lord" given to the old lady of the Zhen family, we can understand something.

In short, the Jia family, which is a dual family, and the Zhen family, which has been on an equal footing for hundreds of years, have enough wealth and heritage.

This can be seen from the fact that when others mention the Zhen family, they usually refer to the "Jiangnan Zhen family" instead of the Jinling Zhen family. The influence of the Zhen family is no longer limited to Jinling City, but radiates to most of the south of the Yangtze River.

This is also the reason why Jia Lian never underestimated the Zhen family from beginning to end.

However, time has changed, and the Zhen family is just like the Jia family before. The things they were once proud of are gradually dissipating and disintegrating. Today's wealth looks more like a shaky castle in the air.

This is why a small salt merchant dared to abandon the Zhen family and cling to the Prince's Mansion.

Yes, the relationship between the Zhen family and the Wang family is not like what Zhen Yingjia said, where they saw the Wang family going into the abyss and took the initiative to cut off the relationship, but the Wang family saw that the Zhen family was becoming more and more incompetent and took the initiative to find them. New family status to climb!

In other words, the Zhen family was "betrayed" by the Wang family.

Among the noble families, this kind of behavior should be deeply abhorred, but the new one the Wang family clings to is the Prince's Mansion.

Therefore, the Zhen family wanted to take revenge, but they did not dare to act rashly. They could only hold a bad breath in their chests, which was naturally very uncomfortable.

Who knows, I won’t wait until the Zhen family finds itThe Wang family had a chance, but the Wang family was uprooted by Jia Lian because of the collective death of the salt merchants. At this time, while the Zhen family was enjoying themselves, they were a little worried, because the relationship between the Zhen family and the Wang family in their early years was exposed, which caused the court's dissatisfaction with the Zhen family.

It just so happened that the imperial envoy Jia Lian in charge of this matter had been friends with the Zhen family for hundreds of years, so it was reasonable to ask Jia Lian to destroy the evidence of the two families' contacts through their connections.

When the two masters of the Zhen family saw Jia Lian smiling, they couldn't figure out what Jia Lian meant, so they had to wait quietly for Jia Lian to speak.

"Uncle Shi, don't worry about this.

Speaking of which, when the Wang family was searched that day, my nephew did find two letters related to your house from among the letters. .

However, my nephew has read them all, and they are just ordinary letters. My nephew also thought at the time that it would be better to have one less thing than one more thing. For the sake of the friendship between our two families, naturally we will I helped your house put it away first and did not show it to anyone else.

If Uncle Shi is really worried, my nephew can have the letter sent to your house and let Uncle Shi handle it on his own."

Zhen Yingjia and Zhen Yingfu were overjoyed when they heard this, and immediately smiled and said: "In that case, thank you so much for your good nephew Gaoyi!"

This matter is of mutual benefit to each other. Once the relationship was settled, the atmosphere in the main hall became more harmonious and friendly.

Suddenly hearing the urgent footsteps outside, Jia Lian turned his head and saw that it was Jia Baoyu whom he had seen yesterday who rushed to the door of the room for the second time. His eyes quickly swept over him, then left and right. Look, an obvious look of disappointment flashed across his face.

"Obstacle!"

Zhen Yingjia was feeling that Jia Lian's future was limitless, and wanted to try her best to maintain the relationship between them. When she saw her son being so rude to Jia Lian, she immediately burst into laughter. After making Zhen Baoyu tremble in fright, he shouted angrily: "I have sent someone to tell you that a distinguished guest is coming to visit, and asked you to come over earlier to accompany the guest. Why did you arrive just now!?"

Zhen Baoyu groaned for a long time, then bent down and said with cupped hands: "The old lady cooked gorgon fruit, candied dates and walnut soup in the house, and she insisted on eating it. My son didn't dare to shirk it, so it was too late."

Seeing the anger on Zhen Yingjia's face, which seemed difficult to vent, Jia Lian almost died laughing.

This scene is so damn familiar.

"Come here quickly and pay homage to your brother Lian!"

Zhen Yingjia, who couldn't stand up to the old lady, could only stare at Zhen Baoyu with a murderous look on her face and ordered. .

Zhen Baoyu obediently stepped forward to greet Jia Lian. When Jia Lian stood up to return the gift, he couldn't help but ask: "Brother Lian, why didn't the cousin of the Lin family whom I met yesterday come?"< br />
　"Brother Baoyu, forgive me. She is weak. She spent a day shopping in Jinling City yesterday and she didn't feel well when she came back. It was really inconvenient to go out, so she rested at home."

"What, she is sick? "What's going on? Is it important or not? Can you please ask a wise doctor to take a look?"

Zhen Baoyu looked nervous. For those who didn't know, she thought he and Daiyu were very similar.

Jia Lian could tell, well, not only did this guy copy Jia Baoyu’s appearance, but his temper was even worse!

"Zhang, what kind of ghost are you making? Why don't you get out!"

Zhen Yingjia saw that Zhen Baoyu asked about the female relatives of the other party's family as soon as they met, and still showed such a look "Brother Pig looks like", I'm really angry. If he wasn't worried about Jia Lian being around, he almost wanted to jump up and give Zhen Baoyu a kick.

After Zhen Yutang pinched her nose and laughed enough, she explained to Zhen Yingjia in a decent manner, saying that Jia Lian's cousin and her cousin at home were very similar in appearance, so Zhen Baoyu could "Extraordinarily caring", this made Zhen Yingjia lose a little more face.

Coming excitedly, but not seeing the person she wanted to see, and being scolded repeatedly by her father, Zhen Baoyu was in a very low mood, and consciously stood next to Zhen Yutang, no longer raising her head to speak.

In this way, the atmosphere gradually returned to its previous state. The two masters of the Zhen family kept chatting with Jia Lian, such as greeting Jia Mu and Jia Zheng, and occasionally discussing some current political issues. It seemed that the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves.

Not long after, a young maid came with two servants to convey a message: "The old lady was very happy to hear that a brother from the Rongguo Mansion in the middle of the capital came to visit her, and asked Mr. Bao to invite the distinguished guest to Shouxuan. See you in the hall."

Zhen Yingjia and Zhen Yingfu both stood up to listen, and then said to Jia Lian: "Jia Ci is old and rarely sees guests. I think he has also heard about my nephew. I want to see the heroic deeds now, and I hope my nephew will not be surprised."

"I dare not refuse when called by my elders. But I am a foreigner after all, so I am afraid of being rude to the members of your family. ."

"My nephew is overly worried. The relationship between your family and ours cannot be described as good as a family, so why should we say it so abruptly?

Baoyu, why don’t you invite your brother Lian in and let the old lady see you!”

“Yes.”

…

After leaving Zhen Yingjia, Zhen Baoyu's spirit and demeanor were completely different.

She followed the maid who had just come to deliver the message, and the elder sister and the younger sister gave short and flattering greetings.

The maid knew that she was in the Zhen family just from her clothes and the attitude of Jia Baoyu and the two servants.Her status is not low, and she must be the most capable maid beside the old lady of the Zhen family.

She should be used to Zhen Baoyu’s fawning, but at this moment she took into account that Jia Lian was nearby, so she glanced at Jia Lian secretly, gouged out Jia Baoyu, and walked quickly pretending to be angry. .

Zhen Baoyu felt bored, thought of Daiyu again, and came forward to ask Jia Lian about Daiyu.

Jia Lian also made perfunctory remarks.

The Zhen family's house is really not small. It only takes a long time to walk from the hall to the so-called Shouxuan Hall.

And the houses and courtyards along the way are either magnificent, with carved beams or painted buildings, or lush green and elegant. Overall, it looks no weaker than Rongguo Mansion. Even in terms of details, it is even more exquisite than Rongguo Mansion!

This also shows the difference between the Zhen family and the Jia family. Perhaps in terms of "nobleness", the Zhen family is already weaker than the Jia family at this time, but in terms of "wealth", the Zhen family is I don’t know how many streets away I have left the Jia family.

The residence of the old lady of the Zhen family is as popular as Jia Mu’s Rongqing Hall, and all the decorations are very luxurious. However, the courtyard has the style of a Jiangnan water town and is more elegant.

With the eyes of countless maids and daughters-in-law, Jia Lian followed Zhen Baoyu and others to the main house with the name "Shou Xuan Hall" hanging high.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw an old lady with a kind face and silver hair sitting on the main seat in the middle. She held a white jade crutch with one hand and looked up at him.

Jia Lian knew that this old lady was the head of Xiu'an County who was famous in the old capital in the words of Jia Mu. Except for women from the royal family, there are few people in the world who can be more noble than her status.

Strictly speaking, even his status as a marquis is still below that of the county lord.

"Jia Lian, my junior, pay homage to the old lady and the Lord of Xiu'an County." Jia Lian took two steps forward, bent down and bowed his hands.

The old lady was stunned when she heard this, then shook her head and smiled: "It has been many years, no one has called me this title, I am sorry that you still know it."

" The younger generation’s grandmother often mentioned the old lady when she was at home, saying that the magnificence of Xiu’an County Lord was famous in the old capital, and he was the most envied object in the minds of many young women, so the younger generation is lucky to know about it.”
< br />"Hahaha, the eldest lady of the Shihou family is not a forgiving person. How can she say good things about me behind my back? I don't believe it."

Having said that, the old lady's expression Still very happy, she smiled and asked again: "How is your old lady's health these days? Is she still strong? There are not many old sisters left who grew up together. I can help you anytime."Concerned about her. "

"Thanks to the old lady's concern, my ancestors are still strong and strong. She eats well and sleeps well every day. When she seems fine, she talks and laughs with her granddaughters at home, feeling very comfortable. "

Hearing what Jia Lian said, Old Mrs. Zhen's eyes showed a hint of reminiscence, and then sighed: "She is a lucky person. ”

At this point, he suddenly stopped.

Jia Lian guessed from the attitudes of the two old ladies when they mentioned each other that these two former aristocratic families The relationship between noble girls is probably not as harmonious as that between two families.

On the other hand, the relationship between families and the friendship between the heads of the family cannot be completely equated.

I think that as long as they are not completely hostile to each other, it will not affect the family's dealings. As for competing with each other, or even a little dislike, it will not have much impact.

When Old Mrs. Zhen didn’t speak, Jia Lian just stood quietly with his hands down, making no move or looking around. Because there was nothing interesting to him, and he was not Grandma Liu. For such an extremely wealthy family, he had What a curiosity.

But when his demeanor fell in the eyes of Mrs. Zhen, she couldn't help but nod secretly. After looking at Jia Lian again, she nodded and praised: "Although I have long been gone. I know a lot about the world, but I have heard people talk about your reputation several times.

When I met him today, I was sure that the rumors were true. He was indeed personable and talented.

Your Jia family is blessed with profound blessings. ”

“The old lady has received too much praise, and the younger generation is not worthy of it. ”

Old Mrs. Zhen shook her head, as if she was only belatedly introducing the two women who had been waiting for her for a long time to Jia Lian.

But it was just Zhen Yingjia and Jia Lian had also met Zhen Yingfu's first wife one by one.

Then Mrs. Zhen said: "I'm old and can't stand the wind. It's chilly outside. It's rare for you to come to Jinling. I happen to have many things to ask you about your old lady. Why don't we go into the inner hall to talk. "

Old Mrs. Zhen said, she had already stood up, took her maid's arm, and was about to walk in.

At this time, let alone Jia Lian, even the old lady The two ladies beside the wife were also surprised.

The old lady was curious about what her relative’s eldest grandson looked like, so it was not surprising that she called in to have a look.

But only Just take a look in the main hall. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to call him to the inner hall?

After all, although Jia Lian is a grandson, he is completely considered an adult man, and he is tall and powerful. Yes, enter the inner hall...

Don’t the old lady know that at this moment, almost all the women and young ladies from the Zhen family have gathered in the inner hall, all wanting to come and have a look.

Once inside, they should be frightened and run away.

However, Mrs. Zhen did not explain to them, and they did not dare to disobey the old lady's wishes. They could only look at Jia Lian one more time, thinking, maybe this Jia Lian's demeanor and appearance are beyond the ordinary. It caught the old lady's discernment and made her think it was no big deal.