The Red Mansions

Chapter 1623 Aunt Xue: 78 is a boy

Chapter 1623 Aunt Xue: It’s probably a boy…

Palace Garden, Kunning Palace

It was autumn, and it had just rained the day before. There was a chill in the air, and a gentle breeze blew the sycamore tree in the courtyard, making a rustling sound.

On a Persian carpet spread on the open space in the hall, one can see a six-eared, three-legged animal-head incense burner, with aroma wafting up from the incense burner.

At this moment, Jia Heng stretched out a hand, gently embraced Zhen Qing's plump and graceful body, leaned close to Zhen Qing's ear and whispered, "Qing'er, it's getting late, I'll go back first."

Zhen Qing's flawless white face was flushed, her beautiful eyes sparkling with shyness and anger under her emerald eyebrows, she said: "You just had to toss me around so hard."

This man didn't even feel sorry for her for giving birth to two children for him. He just kept torturing her.

Jia Heng responded lightly without saying anything else, then quickly left the palace. He did not choose to return to the Qin residence, but returned to Ningguo Mansion, intending to wash off the dust from the long journey.

Ningguo Mansion, in the study room——

Chen Xiao and Gu Ruoqing sat on a soft couch beside the window, playing chess across a chessboard, enjoying the rare quiet time in autumn.

Jia Heng entered the study and said with a smile, "Two people are playing chess."

Chen Xiao put down a round and white chess piece in her hand, turned her head, and looked at the young man in the python costume with her beautiful eyes as bright as water.

Chen Xiao looked at the handsome young man with a pair of heroic eyebrows and asked in surprise, "Didn't you go to your father-in-law's house?"

Jia Heng said, "Something happened in the palace, so they asked me to go in and see. They said that the censors from the Censorate impeached Yu."

Chen Xiao nodded and was about to speak, but when Jia Heng approached, his nose moved slightly, his eyebrows knitted, and he whispered: "Where did you come from? Did you just crawl out of the toilet?"

When Jia Heng heard this, his face darkened.

Xiaoxiao is always so sharp and sarcastic, and she hit the nail on the head.

Jia Heng was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll ask Qingwen to help me take a bath later."

Chen Xiao's expression paused slightly, and under his two beautiful eyebrows, he said loudly: "What do those impeachment memorials say?"

Jia Heng said: "This is clearly an irritation to me, but I regard it as a breeze blowing on my face. I have already informed Li Zan of the cabinet, so I will just ignore it for now."

If the two censors were really severely punished, then it would really be what the civil officials wanted, and his reputation would be completely ruined.

Chen Xiao asked: "What did Queen Zhen say?"

Jia Heng said: "The next step is to perform a play together."

Chen Xiaocuili raised her eyebrows, stared at Liu Bo with her clear eyes, and asked, "What play?"

"It's a play of turning against each other and luring the snake out of its hole." Jia Heng raised his sword-like eyebrows, looked at him with scorching eyes, and said in a cold voice. Then he took the blue and white porcelain teacup handed to him by Gu Ruoqing, and a calmness appeared on his stern and sharp face.

Jia Heng said coldly: "I want to see what Li Zan is going to do."

Chen Xiao looked thoughtful and said, "If we can lure Li Zan and the others out, it might be a good thing."

Jia Heng said in a gentle voice: "By the way, how is the situation in Bashu?"

Chen Xiao said: "Everything has been going smoothly recently. Sichuan has re-selected a group of military generals from the Beijing camp and placed them in the local government guards to control the entire Bashu territory."

Jia Heng nodded and said, "As for Sichuan, I am not too worried because the Duke of Liao is here. After a while, the Marquis of Zhongjing will be transferred to Sichuan to serve as the governor."

By the way, the title of Duke of Liao was originally bestowed on Xie Zaiyi by the King of Chu, although in his opinion, it was more to disgust him.

However, when the new emperor changes the reign title to Qiande next year, Zhen Qing can change Xie Zaiyi's title to Duke of Ying.

Jia Heng picked up a blue and white porcelain teacup with an orchid pattern on it, took a sip of the fragrant tea, and asked, "Has the Jinyifu taken over the personnel affairs of the inner guards in the capital in the past few days?"

Many of the spies planted in the capital to monitor officials were secret agents under the jurisdiction of the Internal Security Bureau.

Chen Xiao was silent for a moment, and said: "I was just about to tell you about this. The inner guards only obey orders from the palace and don't listen to orders from the Jinyifu."

It can be said that the Internal Guard is Zhen Qing’s channel to control the court and collect information from the outside world.

How could he easily give his last trump card to Jia Heng?

Jia Heng was silent for a moment, then asked, "Who is in charge of the internal security now?"

Chen Xiao said: "In addition to Zhen Lin and Zhen Jue, there is also an old eunuch appointed by Kunning Palace to assist in the internal guards. Outsiders cannot interfere at all."

Jia Heng sighed and said, "These are all Zhen Qing's close friends. They will never hand over this secret spy force to anyone else."

Even if it was him, it probably wouldn't work, or maybe Zhen Qing was mainly on guard against him now.

Chen Xiao nodded and said worriedly: "What are you going to do next?"

Jia Heng thought for a moment and said, "Let Jinyifu rebuild its own intelligence force, and you will be in charge of the training. In addition, take over the White Lotus Sect's spies in Beijing and merge them into an intelligence force."

Since Chen Yuan was captured alive in Bashu, it basically declared the complete collapse of the White Lotus Sect, but it did not mean that some of the White Lotus Sect's secret forces had been controlled by Yiwan Dajin from then on.

Chen Xiao said: "I can't make the decision on this. You have to talk to Master in person."

When Jia Heng heard this, his eyes were dazed for a moment, and he couldn't help but think of the beautiful woman with plump breasts like the moon. He said, "Then I will meet your master in the next two days."

At this moment, Gu Ruoqing stood aside, with soft and sparkling eyes under her trimmed eyebrows, quietly looking at the young man in the python robe.

Jia Heng talked to Chen Xiao for a while, then told Qingwen to go and take a bath.

With Qingwen's help, Jia Heng took off his dragon robe.

A trace of resentment welled up on Qingwen's palm-sized face. She bit her pink lips with her cherry teeth and said, "Sir, don't be so unrestrained."

Jia Heng was speechless and said, "It's not that I don't know how to control myself, it's just that I happened to do it at the right time."

Then, playing around with Qingwen was not considered as being unrestrained in Qingwen's eyes.

Qingwen snorted with her delicate and straight nose, then picked up a snow-white towel and helped Jia Heng scrub the mud off his back.

At this moment, Jia Heng closed his eyes slightly and began to think about the upcoming court situation.

In other words, how to treat Concubine Duanrong and the Eighth Prince Chen Ze.

If Li Zan and others really support the eighth prince Chen Ze, then the next step will be to take action against him.

But apart from assassination, Li Zan and Xu Lu's strategy was probably to use Zhen Qing's power to deal with him.

Jia Heng was in a state of deep thought, and could not help but think about this matter over and over again in his mind.

After an unknown amount of time, Jia Heng got up, and with the help of Qingwen, he changed into casual clothes of a blue shirt and straight robe, left Ningguo Mansion again, and rode to Qin's residence.

At this moment, it was already afternoon, and Qin Ye had finished his meal with Qin Keqing, Qin Zhong and his wife.

Qin Ye stared at Qin Zhong and said, "You must prepare well for this year's Enke. You can take the exam next spring. If you pass the exam, you will be selected as an external class, and your career as an official will be assured."

Qin Zhong nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

A maid entered the hall and said, "Master, Prince Wei just arrived."

Qin Ye smiled and said, "We have already eaten. I wonder if Zi Yu has eaten in the palace."

Qin Keqing smiled jokingly and said, "The palace must have given us some food as a reward."

Although Qin Keqing took care of her husband and children in the rear house, she was not completely ignorant of the situation in the outside world.

After a while, the young man in the python robe came in quickly from outside. He was very graceful as he walked, and a big smile seemed to appear on his resolute face. He said in a low voice: "Father-in-law, Keqing, I've been waiting for a long time."

Concern welled up in Qin Ye's old and cloudy eyes, and he asked, "Is there anything important that Queen Mother Xuan Ziyu has to go to?"

Jia Heng said, "It's nothing important. Recently, the censors of the Censorate have submitted several memorials, impeaching me for being overbearing and disrupting the government."

Qin Ye frowned when he heard this and asked with concern: "Zi Yu, what did the palace say?"

Jia Heng said: "These are all groundless rumors, slanderous words, and they are all in the past."

Qin Ye nodded and said, "I am also confused about what is happening in the court, but Zi Yu should not make too many enemies. From now on, you need to be cautious in everything you do in the court."

Jia Heng agreed and said, "My father-in-law reminded me of this."

Qin Ye's face was full of wrinkles, and he smiled kindly. He said in a gentle voice, "Zi Yu hasn't eaten yet. Let the kitchen prepare some food."

Jia Heng was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm not hungry at the moment."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Qin Keqing and his daughter Jia Fu, and said, "It's getting late. Keqing, Fu'er and I should go back early."

Qin Ye smiled and tried to persuade him to stay: "It's okay to play here a little longer."

Jia Heng nodded and looked at Jia Fu who was being teased in Qin Zhong's arms. The little girl was laughing happily.

Jia Heng also felt a sense of inexplicable joy in his heart.

"Jing Qing is not young anymore. Isn't it time for him to enter the government?" Jia Heng turned to look at Qin Zhong and asked in a low voice.

Qin Ye said: "Jing Qing is still taking the imperial examinations, so he will have to wait until next spring."

Jia Heng nodded and whispered, "If you enter the government as a civil servant, your future career will be much smoother."

Qin Ye said: "I think so too. In the future, the country will have fewer wars and will fully turn to civil governance."

Jia Heng said: "In the next five to ten years, there will be wars, but these wars will mostly be in overseas areas. Domestic wars will be much less."

Qin Ye nodded.

The father-in-law and the son-in-law talked about the affairs of the court, and they seemed to have quite a good idea of ​​what was going on.

At this moment, Qin Zhong's wife, Zhao, gently held Jia Fu's slender hand and listened to the young man in the python robe talking with Qin Ye.

By evening, when the sky was filled with sunset glow, Jia Heng and Qin Keqing, holding Jia Fu, left Qin's house and returned to Ningguo Mansion.

……

……

Grand View Garden, Hengwu Garden

Baochai has been pregnant for more than a month, but her pregnancy is not yet fully visible. She is sitting on a soft couch covered with a mattress. Her plump and lovely face has become rosy and flushed because of her pregnancy.

At this moment, Aunt Xue came closer, her face full of smiles, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were about to burst into pieces.

Ying'er smiled and gently brought a bowl of bird's nest porridge, saying, "Miss, this bird's nest porridge can nourish your body. Try it."

Baochai hummed softly, and without saying anything else, she took the blue and white porcelain bowl of porridge from Ying'er and said softly, "I can do it myself."

Ying'er said in a soft and charming voice, "The girl has a child, so let me take care of her."

At this moment, a maid called out loudly, "His Royal Highness Prince Wei is here."

After a while, a young man wearing a black and red satin flying fish python robe walked into the hall and said softly, "Sister Xue."

Under Baochai's emerald eyebrows, her watery almond eyes seemed to be overflowing with a faint light, and her attachment was silently overflowing. She said in surprise: "My lord, you are here."

Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Brother Heng, Baochai is taking good care of her pregnancy. The doctor said that this baby is most likely to be a boy."

Well, her grandson will definitely be the Crown Prince of Wei in the future.

Baochai:"……"

Liren blushed, "What is mom talking about?" She seemed to be afraid that others would not know how much she wanted to have a boy.

Or rather, he felt helpless about his mother's conspicuous bag.

While Jia Heng was talking, he walked up and sat down.

Ying'er's expression paused slightly, and with a hint of eagerness in her voice, she said, "Your Highness, please have some tea over here."

Jia Heng nodded, took a blue and white porcelain teacup, took a sip of the fragrant tea, and asked, "Sister Xue, did the imperial physician prescribe pregnancy-maintaining medicine recently? How many doses did you take?"

Baochai's voice became more charming as she said, "It has been opened. I have boiled several doses of medicine in the past two days and have used them."

Jia Heng smiled and whispered, "Sister Xue, you should take good care of your pregnancy and don't work too hard."

Baochai responded softly, "I haven't worked too hard. The affairs of the mansion are all left to Sister Feng. Mom also comes to help out at home."

Jia Heng nodded and said, "Aunt is an experienced person. It would be a good thing for her to help you take care of it."

Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Don't worry about Bao girl. I'll make sure she's well taken care of."

Jia Heng said, "Sister Xue, I will come to see you often these days."

Baochai uttered a "hmm", and her flawless white face flushed, her charming eyes were as bright as water, and a sweet feeling welled up in her heart.

A layer of blush seemed to cover Baochai's rosy and flawless face, as white as a pear blossom, as she stared intently at the young man in the python robe.

At this moment, Aunt Xue asked a few maids to leave the wing room and said with a smile, "Brother Heng, you two should talk together."

Jia Heng responded lightly, and then said nothing more.

Baochai didn't say anything else. She looked at the young man in the python robe and said, "Your Majesty."

Jia Heng raised his sword-like eyebrows, his beautiful eyes shining like water, and asked: "Sister Xue, have you had morning sickness in the past two days?"

Baochai's moist almond eyes twinkled slightly under her emerald eyebrows, and she said softly, "Sometimes I have, but I don't have much appetite. I couldn't eat before, so the kitchen cooked the bird's nest porridge."

Jia Heng said: "Then I will feed you."

As he spoke, he reached out and took the bowl of porridge beside him, picked up the spoon and shook it gently. Hot steam kept emanating from the bowl of porridge, and then he slowly handed it to Baochai's lips.

Baochai gently opened her lips which were as bright as peach blossoms, her watery almond eyes shimmered with a soft light, and her heart was filled with sweet joy.

Baochai's beautiful eyes were as bright as water under her emerald eyebrows. She asked, "My Lord, has anything happened in the court recently?"

Jia Heng said: "There is nothing going on in the court."

As he spoke, he gently embraced Baochai's shoulders, moved closer to her soft and slightly moist lips, held those rosy lips, and grabbed and sucked the sweet and refreshing taste.

Baochai hummed, and beneath her emerald eyebrows, her pair of watery almond-shaped eyes were soft and sparkling, and her face was as white and flawless as pear blossoms, with two rose-red halos floating in the air, bright and moving.

After a while, the beauty opened her lips slightly, breathed softly, and under her emerald green eyebrows, a hint of infatuation appeared in her sparkling eyes.

Jia Heng asked, "Sister Xue, what is Wenlong doing recently?"

He is now also worried that Xue Pan will rely on his power to do evil things outside.

Baochai said, "Brother has been busy with foreign trade business at sea these days. Second uncle said he wants to import a batch of goods, which will be shipped to Taiwan by sea and sold to the countries in Southeast Asia."

Jia Heng pondered for a moment and said, "Wenlong is now considered to be a well-established family."

Baochai said, "Brother, his temperament has become much calmer. His temperament was also tempered when he was in the Wucheng Military Division."

Jia Heng nodded and said, "It's been six or seven years. I should know something now."

Baochai uttered a soft "hmm" and leaned her delicate head with long black hair gently into Jia Heng's arms, with a warm and sweet expression on her plump and lovely face.

Jia Heng and Baochai snuggled together for a while, then left Hengwu Garden and headed for Qichi Courtyard.

……

……

Shenjing City, Li's House

In the spacious and elegant study, the lights sway in the autumn breeze.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Li Zan, was wearing a silk gown and had graying hair. He sat in an extremely spacious study, thinking about the state of affairs.

At this moment, an old servant walked quickly into the wing room and said, "Master, General Xu is here."

Li Zan stood up and went out to meet him. When he came under the eaves, he looked up and saw Xu Lu, and whispered, "Brother Deqing."

Xu Lu walked closer and nodded.

Before the two of them could exchange pleasantries, they followed Xu Lu into the study, and sat down as host and guest.

Xu Lu was surprised and asked, "What does the King of Wei say about this?"

Li Zan's face was covered with a gloomy look, and he shook his head and said, "Prince Wei was unmoved. He just discussed the Sichuan Tusi and Liaodong peace issues, and didn't say anything else."

Xu Lu asked, "What does Empress Zhen think?"

Li Zan looked thoughtful and said, "Empress Zhen must have been suspicious of Prince Wei, but later on, Empress Zhen asked Prince Wei to stay alone for questioning, and we don't know... what happened in the end."

Xu Lu whispered, "It is said that Empress Zhen and Prince Wei are like husband and wife. If we want to alienate the relationship between them, we can only start with the young emperor. If Prince Wei really wants to usurp the throne, no matter how deep their relationship is, they will turn against each other."

Li Zan nodded and said, "Let's see what happens in the palace in the next few days."

Xu Lu asked: "Prime Minister, is it possible to win over Xie Zaiyi from Sichuan?"

Li Zan shook his head and said, "Duke Liao and Prince Wei knew each other when they were little, and they have a deep friendship."

Xu Lu thought for a moment and said, "I heard that the first person to make the contribution to the Sichuan invasion this time was Jia Yun. If the court gives more to Jia Yun than to Xie Yun, will it arouse his resentment against Jia?"

Li Zan said: "It will only backfire. Jia and Xie will know that this is our plan after just a little comparison. It will only make them hate the cabinet."

Upon hearing this, Xu Lu frowned, and his thin face with delicate cheekbones showed signs of deep thought again.