Chapter 525: Flowing Fire Bestows Beauty

Rongguo Prefecture, large flower hall.

Sisters like Yingchun, Seeing Tan Chun, and Baochai were chatting at the banquet.

Xichun ran in and said happily: "You guys go out and see quickly, there are fireworks outside, and they are very strange fireworks. There are stone bridges, moons, and flowers in the sky."

Xichun was still a young girl, without the leisure and patience of other sisters. After eating her fill at the banquet, she felt bored and slipped out to watch the flower lanterns outside.

It happened that she saw the strange scene of fireworks in the East Mansion, but she was young and didn't have much thought. She only knew that the fireworks in the sky were good to look at, but didn't realize that it was the East Mansion that was setting off fireworks.

Setting off fireworks on New Year's Eve was a common thing, and everyone was used to it. How could stone bridges and moons be born in the sky, and even flowers bloom?

The sisters all thought that a child like Xichun was exaggerating and childish, which was also reasonable, so they didn't take it seriously.

Among the sisters, Seeing Tan Chun and Baochai were meticulous and put their minds on Jia Cong.

Just now they noticed that Jia Cong, Daiyu, and Baoyu left the flower hall one after another, but it was common to leave the banquet to change clothes.

It was just that the time these three left was a bit long. Seeing Tan Chun felt a slight movement in her heart and asked: "Fourth sister, the fireworks there are so beautiful, are they set off by the servants in the outer courtyard?"

Xichun replied: "I don't know about that. It looks so close, as if it was set off in our mansion."

"Third sister, the fireworks are really strange. I have never seen such beautiful ones, as if a painting was drawn in the sky."

Xichun's eyes were bright, full of surprise and envy. This time, even Seeing Tan Chun felt that little Xichun was not exaggerating and talking nonsense, as if she had really seen such strange fireworks.

Although Seeing Tan Chun was very shrewd and intelligent, she would never think of the sachet Daiyu gave Jia Cong because of Xichun's words about stone bridges and red plum blossoms.

It was mainly because Jia Cong's mind for making fireworks was too ingenious and strange. If you didn't see it with your own eyes, no one could guess the truth.

Jia Mu heard Seeing Tan Chun and Xichun talking about fireworks and smiled: "I am old and can't stand the cold at night, so I just nest inside and talk. If you want to see fireworks, just go out and play, don't be restrained."

"After the Zi hour, if you have the spirit to keep watch, come back and keep watch together. If you are really sleepy, go to sleep. What's the big deal? We will be happy together on the first day of the New Year."

Wang Xifeng heard Xichun shouting to watch fireworks, so she arranged for several rough maids to set off fireworks and firecrackers on the open space outside.

Yingchun took Xichun and led the sisters to leave the banquet and went to the entrance of the flower hall to enjoy themselves.

After a gorgeous scene of fire trees and silver flowers, the sisters hadn't returned to the hall yet. A maid from the East Mansion came to pass the message, saying that the Count was setting off fireworks at the Dengxian Pavilion, and invited the old lady, the wife, and the sisters to enjoy them.

Jia Cong's words were just surface rituals. He didn't prepare for Jia Mu and others to come over, so as not to make everyone uncomfortable.

Jia Mu, Lady Wang, and Lady Xing just listened, and no one would really run to the East Mansion to watch fireworks.

Xichun was already jumping for joy, pulling Yingchun to the East Mansion. The other sisters naturally followed. Jia Mu originally asked Baoyu to follow to be lively, but didn't expect that he was nowhere to be seen.

……

Count's Mansion, south slope of Dengxian Pavilion.

Although the boss of Yongjin Studio made the fireworks customized by Jia Cong, because the time was tight, he only managed to make one box, and it was gone after firing.

Yongjin Studio was a famous firework shop in Laizhou Prefecture. The Hong family was a generation-to-generation firework craft, and the fireworks they made were strange and gorgeous, ingenious, and famous all over the country.

Jia Cong recruited gunpowder masters for the firearm construction workshop. Because Hong Silin, the owner of Yongjin Pavilion, had been making fireworks all his life and was skilled in gunpowder configuration, he was valued and selected into the firearm construction workshop.

Later, the firearm workshop developed sharp weapons such as improved Lumni guns, porcelain mines, and new red-clothed cannons. Hong Silin's gunpowder configuration skills played a great role.

Because the firearm workshop formulated secrecy regulations for firearm construction techniques according to Jia Cong's ideas, all the direct relatives of key firearm construction craftsmen had to move to the Love Shenjing for settlement.

One was for monitoring and prevention, and the other was for the welfare guarantee of key firearm construction craftsmen.

In order to let their families stand in the Love Shenjing, the firearm construction workshop would provide necessary livelihood assistance.

The Hong Silin family also moved from the ordinary Laizhou Prefecture to the prosperous capital at the foot of the Son of Heaven because of this reason.

Hong Silin's son, Hong Chengye, inherited his father's skills and resumed the business of firework production in the Love Shenjing.

And after Yongjin Studio reopened in the Love Shenjing, the business was more prosperous than before. In addition, Hong Silin became a great craftsman in the firearm construction workshop, not only having a generous remuneration but also a proper status.

For a family like the Hong family that had lived by craftsmanship for generations, having a proper official status was no different from a rebirth.

So they didn't mind the alternative reason for settling in the capital. They just wanted to use their family skills to work for the government, and they were naturally grateful to Jia Cong, the head of the firearm construction workshop, for giving such a god-given opportunity.

The fireworks customized by Jia Cong were complicated to make. Hong Chengye only managed to make one, but he asked his wife to bring things over and sent Jia Cong many exquisite common fireworks as New Year's Eve pleasure.

Jia Cong and Daiyu set off the customized fireworks, and both were still unsatisfied, so they thought of letting the sisters come to enjoy them together.

……

Sisters like Yingchun, Seeing Tan Chun, Xichun, Baochai, and Xing Xiuyan followed the maid from the East Mansion all the way to the Dengxian Pavilion.

Everyone saw that by the plum forest and water, many bright tile lanterns had been set up. The light reflected the water, the waves were rippling, bright and sparkling, adding to the charm.

Under the cover of plum branches and water pavilions, many beautiful figures walked back and forth, and the laughter was like bells. Looking closely, they were all Zhi Shao, Wu'er, Qingwen, Ying Lian, Ling Guan, and others in Jia Cong's room.

Several maids had already set up various fireworks by the water, and just waited for the sisters like Yingchun to arrive, and Jia Cong ordered them to be lit one by one.

The fireworks of Yongjin Studio were well-made and were originally more gorgeous and colorful than ordinary fireworks. They were lined up by the water and bloomed together, which was even more imposing.

In an instant, flames were spitting by the water, the sky was full of purple and red, thousands of threads, ten thousand stars, brilliant and bright.

Although it was not as beautiful and unique as the stone bridge, red plum, and bright moon fireworks, the grandeur and magnificence were even better.

The fireworks all over the sky, the bright and transparent light, illuminated every smiling face like a flower by the water, which seemed to be brighter and more dazzling than the fire trees and silver flowers in the sky.

……

In the wind and rain corridor of the Rongguo Prefecture, Baoyu searched for Daiyu's traces everywhere, and finally returned to the large flower hall in vain.

As soon as he entered the hall, he found that more than half of the people inside were missing. Only Jia Mu, Lady Wang, and others were talking in the hall, and none of the other sisters were seen. His round and rich face couldn't help but collapse.

……

After New Year's Eve, from the first day to the third day of the first lunar month, the two mansions of the Jia family were unusually busy.

The Rongguo branch of the Jia family had opened the mansion for more than eighty years. Whether it was official connection or blood connection, there were many relatives and old relatives.

From the first day of the New Year, various New Year greetings, visiting relatives, and visits were endless. The inner and outer courtyards of the Rongguo Prefecture were full of shadows, wine banquets were endless, and people were rubbing shoulders.

In previous years, such things were handled by men like Jia She, Jia Zheng, and Jia Lian in the outer courtyard, and managed by Lady Wang and Wang Xifeng in the inner courtyard.

Jia Cong didn't need to show up at all, at most he would show up occasionally to help Jia Zheng show the prestige of the Jia family's literary seeds. But this year, he inherited the Rongguo title by imperial decree. This kind of New Year relative and noble visit, he, the head of the family who inherited the title, had to show up for everything, and he couldn't be lazy at all.

Moreover, many nobles and relatives who visited this year came for him, this rising star of the nobles, the young official most valued by the Son of Heaven.

Although Jia Cong was very unhappy with this kind of worldly social intercourse, he was not the shallow kind of Baoyu. If things didn't go his way, he would be ignorant and fearless, speak wildly, and think he was high.

Since he had reached his current position, during the New Year, it was inevitable to drink and socialize with the old relatives and friends of each family, so he calmed down and dealt with it properly.

Except for the second day of the first lunar month, when he took half a day to go to Luocang Mountain to pay New Year greetings to his teacher Liu Jing'an and teacher's wife Cui Shi.

The rest of the time, until the fourth day of the first lunar month, important relatives and guests had all come for a round. After being busy for a few days without stopping, he finally relaxed a little.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, he accompanied Zhi Shao to the Mouni Nunnery outside the city to pay New Year greetings to Abbess Xiushan.

……

Early on the sixth day of the first lunar month, Jia Cong brought a New Year gift and went to a courtyard in the east of the Love Shenjing, which was the residence of Through Ai Li and her mother.

Through Ai Li's mother, Xu Shi, had celebrated the New Year and took Through Ai Li to sit in the Liubiju in Wuma Lane, which was also a place where the two often went to kill time.

Because the Su-Yang snacks here were the most authentic in the Love Shenjing, Through Ai Li liked this sweet, sticky, fragrant, and soft taste the most.

On the second floor of Liubiju, by the window, Through Ai Li was concentrating on tasting the famous hundred-fruit honey cake of Liufangju.

She was dressed differently from ordinary girls, not the jacket and front-opening clothes that girls usually wore, but a light blue embroidered Shu brocade moon-white Hu robe.

She had practiced knives and horse riding since she was a child, and her figure and temperament were more tall and heroic than ordinary girls.

Her waist was straight, her skin was as white as jade, and her waist was tied with a dark blue single-color incense-soaked sweat towel, which tied her slender waist as if it could be grasped, making her figure even more graceful and moving.

Her head was wrapped in a blue dark-patterned headscarf, covering her thick hair, revealing only a few strands of dark gold hair at the bun.

She also put a white gauze veil hat beside her. Since she returned to the Central Plains with Jia Cong, because her appearance was slightly different from that of the Central Plains girls, she had developed the habit of wearing a veil hat every time she went out with Jia Cong.

Through Ai Li finished the hundred-fruit honey cake in her hand, glared at him slightly, and said: "You really have no conscience. You only came to see me once before the New Year. You probably don't remember what I look like."

"After the New Year, that Zhou Guangcheng took your seal and took away three pairs of trained birds from me. You didn't show your face either. Now that the fifteenth day of the first lunar month has passed, you just thought of me."

Jia Cong smiled: "Now that I have inherited the family title, there are many boring things. There are many social engagements during the New Year. Isn't this coming to see you now?"

Through Ai Li rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the flow of people coming and going outside the window, her bright, beautiful eyes revealing a sea-like blue as she said, "Thinking about it, it was still more satisfying back in Liaodong, charging into battle and killing the enemy alongside you."

"Now your official position is getting higher and higher, and things are getting more and more, not as interesting as before in Liaodong. At that time, I was your bodyguard, accompanying you to ride and conquer, and I could talk and tease you from time to time."

Jia Cong smiled: "There were too many things before the New Year. Now that I have finished the vulgar things of the New Year, I will have time next. At worst, I will accompany you out to stroll more."

……

Through Ai Li smiled, very charming and beautiful, saying: "I have remembered this. It's just that you are an official in the Love Shenjing, and we can't go far."

"When I was in Liaodong, you told me about many beautiful scenery and customs in Jiangnan. I have been thinking about when I can go and see it with you."

"Although my mother is also from Jiangnan, she rarely tells me about her hometown in Jiangnan..."

Through Ai Li just said it casually, but Jia Cong felt a slight movement in his heart. When he first saw Through Ai Li's mother, Xu Shi, in Liaodong.

He felt that she was not an ordinary border woman.

Xu Shi's appearance was upright and clear, her eyes and demeanor were calm and quiet, without a trace of the roughness of ordinary women. She must have received very good upbringing and influence when she was young.

Through Ai Li once said that her father was a Cossack eagle master captured by wild Jurchens, and her mother came from Jiangnan.

But her mother rarely told her daughter about her background.

At that time, Jia Cong guessed that Through Ai Li's mother would not come from a poor family in Jiangnan, otherwise she would not have such an influenced demeanor.

But a Jiangnan woman would be exposed to the desolate northern land and marry a foreign race as a wife.

The reason for this situation may be that Xu Shi's family fell, and she had to flee to the north of Liaoning in desperation.

There is another possibility that she is a female relative of a criminal official in Jiangnan, exiled to the border, and finally fell to marrying a foreign race as a wife.

Historically, officials who committed serious crimes, their own heads were separated from their bodies, and the most miserable thing was that female relatives were exiled to the cold land to be trampled...

Perhaps it was for similar reasons that Xu Shi could not bear to look back and did not want to mention the past to her daughter.

Jia Cong asked: "You said before that Aunt is from Jiangnan. Where is she from in Jiangnan?"

Through Ai Li picked up a piece of hundred-fruit honey cake from the dish, revealed her white teeth and took a small bite, saying: "My mother never said where she is from in Jiangnan. Sometimes I was curious and asked, and she would be angry."

"You know, my mother usually loves me very much and never gets angry with me, except when I ask about her past, she would be like this, so I didn't dare to ask later."

"Actually, my mother is quite capable. Although my father taught me knife skills and horse riding, my father died very early."

"Although my mother had no power to tie a chicken, she knew a lot. She pulled me up since I was a child. She was the only woman in our town who could read. She taught me more than my father."

"Before the New Year, my mother had a illness. Although it was not serious, she started to mutter, saying that she wanted to go back to Jiangnan to walk around and sweep the graves and offer incense to the old relatives and elders."

Jia Cong said casually: "I don't know where your mother is going to sweep the graves for the elders in Jiangnan. I have many friends in Jiangnan, so I can send you over, so there will be someone to take care of you."

Through Ai Li thought for a while and said: "My mother said she wanted to go to Liuhe County..."

Jia Cong was slightly startled. Liuhe County was under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture. Could it be that Through Ai Li's mother was also from near Jin Ling?

But Jia Cong couldn't ask Through Ai Li like this, because she just said that her mother Xu Shi didn't like to talk about her background, even if Through Ai Li asked curiously, she would make her angry.

In fact, knowing that Xu Shi wanted to go to Liuhe County to worship her relatives, just based on this information, plus Xu Shi's age of less than thirty, Jia Cong could roughly find out Xu Shi's background.

Although Xu Shi only said she was going to Liuhe County to worship her elders, and did not explain that this was her family elder, it could not explain that Xu Shi was from Liuhe.

But her background must be related to Liuhe County, otherwise she would not have been wandering outside for many years, and as soon as she had the idea of returning home, she first thought of going to Liuhe County.

Qu Hongxiu's Xin Chun Hao Jiangnan headquarters had been operating in Jin Ling for several years. As long as you spend a little energy, let people check the old things in Liuhe County ten or twenty years ago.

Whether there were Xu-surnamed big families who fell into trouble or committed crimes, or Xu-surnamed official families who fell into crime, you could mostly follow the vine and find out Xu Shi's background.

But Xu Shi was so secretive about her background, and she had the experience of wandering in Liaodong, she must have hidden a painful past.

As an outsider, probing into other people's privacy like this was an immoral act, and Jia Cong naturally would not really do it. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 526 =====