mtl008 Chapter 151 The Concubine of the Lin Family in Dream of the Red Chamber
Chapter 151 The Concubine of the Lin Family in Dream of the Red Chamber
With his mother passing away, Lin Ruhai naturally had to observe the mourning period, but his position wasn't important enough to warrant such a drastic measure.
After sending Old Madam Lin to the ancestral grave, the whole family stayed home to observe mourning. Lin Ruhai had never personally taught his two sons before, but now that he had plenty of time, he naturally spent every day studying with his two sons in the front yard.
Liu Yuxi, on the other hand, took care of Wang Jiawan and Lin Congyu, who were both pregnant. Fortunately, Wang Jiawan was in good health, and her family had been looking after her during this time. She was just a little tired, but the fetus was not affected.
Mourning is a simple and frugal affair, but even behind closed doors, the pregnant woman and the child still require special care in terms of diet. The men in the household mostly live in the front yard now, only occasionally coming to the back yard during the day. After all, there are many taboos during the mourning period, so it's better to sleep separately.
In July, Wang Jiawan gave birth to her first child, a boy. New life always brings hope and anticipation. Since it was during the mourning period, the baby's third-day celebration and full-month celebration were not held. Wang Jiawan understood the special circumstances; as long as the child was healthy, that was all that mattered.
Daiyu and Congyu were very interested in the baby. Daiyu was still young when Congyu was born, and she was later sent back to the Lin family mansion, so she was very curious about the little baby.
Congyu had always been the youngest child in the Lin family, and now seeing a nephew even younger than himself, who would later have to call him Third Uncle, was an absolute delight for him. The two of them would go to Wang Jiawan's courtyard every day to see the baby.
A year later, the grandchildren had finished their mourning period, but Lin Ruhai and her two sisters were still observing mourning. So, the meals at home were separated. Originally, the children wanted to eat with their parents, since they all had a good relationship with their grandmother, and the children did so voluntarily.
But Liu Yuxi disagreed. They were still growing, so it was fine during the mourning period, but they shouldn't follow him anymore after it was over.
Lin Junyu and Lin Jinyu can continue to take the imperial examinations after the mourning period ends. Lin Ruhai felt that Lin Junyu was not yet ready to take the Jinshi exam, so he decided not to take it this time.
Lin Jinyu made great progress through more than a year of one-on-one tutoring and participated in the prefectural examination. She did not disappoint everyone's expectations and passed the examination on her first try.
Because the parents were still observing mourning, the family could not celebrate, so only a few relatives by marriage and a few acquaintances sent congratulatory gifts.
After the mourning period ended, Lin Ruhai wrote a letter requesting reinstatement. Coincidentally, his superior, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, a third-rank official, retired, and Lin Ruhai was promoted one rank. The Lin family's life returned to normal, and the first thing they had to do was arrange the wedding of Lin Jinyu and Liu Qingyu.
Although the old lady had passed away, Jia Min still arranged the wedding for Jinyu according to the standards for Junyu, after Junyu's wedding.
Jia Min started arranging a marriage for Lin Daiyu again. However, it was probably because Lin Ruhai caught the emperor's eye when he was reinstated. There were also many young men in the royal family who were of marriageable age, so the emperor arranged for Lin Daiyu to marry a prince as her primary wife.
The Lin family inquired and found that the prince didn't have any other problems, except that he lacked ambition and wasn't very proactive in serving the emperor. He was good at eating, drinking, and having fun, but living with such a person wouldn't be boring.
As a close confidant of the emperor, the emperor had considered the circumstances when arranging the marriage. Although the prince was playful, he was of good character and knew how to conduct himself properly in matters of love. His parents were also kind-hearted people.
After finding out the details, the Lin family was relieved and began to prepare Lin Daiyu's dowry. In order not to exceed the standard, the dowry chests were specially made to be large, and 10 taels of silver were prepared just for the bottom chest.
The old lady's private property, the public warehouse, and the things Jia Min picked out from her dowry for her daughter—it truly was a magnificent bridal procession.
Following this incident, Lin Ruhai repaid the 20,000 taels of silver he had borrowed from the national treasury earlier, and also reminded the Rongguo Duke's Mansion and his two in-laws.
The reason was that Liu Yuxi told Congyu a short story adapted from a part of the plot of "Dream of the Red Chamber". Of course, this was Liu Yuxi's intention. After listening to it, Lin Ruhai pondered for a few days and felt that the time was just right. Since he already had so much money to give his daughter a dowry, it would be bad to still owe the public money.
Moreover, he didn't borrow much at the time, and he didn't make a big fuss about repaying it, but his brother-in-law could do it that way.
His years of officialdom weren't for nothing. Since the Emperor ascended the throne, his attitude towards these veteran nobles has become increasingly clear. Even now that the Emperor Emeritus is still alive, the Emperor can't directly take action. But to be very disrespectful, the Emperor Emeritus will eventually pass away.
Although Wang Shi has become more restrained in managing the Jia family due to the previous incident, he had still heard about her loan sharking during his years in the capital. Moreover, the Jia family steward lived a more extravagant life than many officials. He had been observing mourning for the past few years and it was inconvenient to visit her, so now was a good time to bring it up.
It is unknown how Lin Ruhai and Jia She communicated, but it is known that the Jia family was in great chaos. Jia She summoned his father's old subordinates and confiscated the property of several stewards in the Jia family. Wang Shi was also imprisoned in the Buddhist hall.
After a few days of commotion at the Jia family mansion, Jia She took many large items that he had confiscated from the servants, such as furniture, decorations, and some clothes, and sold them off at discounted prices on the street.
He settled all of Wang's usurious loans, then took a cartload of money to the Ministry of Revenue to clear the accounts. He also submitted a memorial to apologize, saying that he had not managed his household properly, which had led to Wang's audacity. Although the matter was settled, he still asked His Majesty to punish him.
The memorial had been polished by Lin Ruhai. Given that Jia She had set a good example and repaid the debt in such a grand manner, other nobles and ministers followed suit and went to the Ministry of Revenue to repay their debts, seeing that the national treasury was no longer empty.
After considering the matter, the Emperor did not punish Jia She but instead rewarded him by bestowing upon him the title of Marquis of Rongguo, based on his courtesy name, Enhou. After expressing his gratitude, Jia She took the opportunity to suggest that the Ministry of Rites could send someone to check his household to identify any irregularities so that he could make corrections.
The Emperor was pleased with Jia She's attitude and sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to accompany him back to the Jia residence. No matter how dissatisfied Jia Shi was, she had to keep quiet in front of the officials. Jia Zheng moved out of Rongxi Hall, and the overall scale of the Jia residence became smaller.
Jia Zhen followed Jia She closely, confiscating the servants' property and selling their belongings to pay off their debts. As a result, he was rewarded, and the plaque above his door was changed to "First-Class General." Several other families who actively repaid their debts also received some benefits, but the rest did not.
This time, Jia Yuanchun's title is no longer "Virtuous Consort." No living consort has ever held a double-character title. It's likely that Jia Yuanchun won't die young in this life. At least the Jia family won't be raided.