Chapter 333 Finale: Five Years Later!

Spring is coming to an end again, and early summer is nothing, and the lotus leaves are blooming. There had just been a shower, and the rain clouds that had not completely faded away allowed the half-done warm sun to shine a neon glow on the horizon. The neon light is reflected on the dewdrops on the lotus leaves, and the two shine together, making it even more transparent and charming. The raindrops falling from the corners of the eaves hit the oil-paper umbrellas of passers-by, making a tinkling sound like the sound of a spring, making people even more intoxicated in the long summer afternoon.

People in Yangzhou love leisure, while people in Suzhou love elegance. These two qualities can be seen in the people of Jinling. In such a comfortable afternoon, even the air is refreshingly cool. The fun-loving people of Jinling naturally go out on the streets to have fun.

Mr. Chen, who was the prefect of Jinling at that time, was a wonderful man who was very knowledgeable about enjoying things with the people. While he is in charge of the government, he often encourages the people under his rule to play tricks. Therefore, before the Dragon Boat Festival, Jinling City was already very lively.

There were constant cheers outside the wall, inevitably attracting neighbors to stop and watch. The two little guys, who didn't know how high the sky was, took advantage of the absence of their elders and climbed up the rockery in the courtyard at some point to watch the parade from a high place.

They watched it with great interest, but they didn't know that the servants in the mansion were looking for them crazy. Qingwen asked several servants in succession, but none of them knew where the young master and young lady were. She has a thunderous temperament and is far less fond of whispering than Zicuckoo.

"Look again, but I can't find the young master and young lady within a quarter of an hour. You all go to Manager Chen to get twenty pieces of bread." Qingwen said urgently and harshly, obviously very angry.

The two wives of the family went to a temple outside the city today to fulfill their vows, and Sister Zijuan also accompanied them on the journey. I was left to look after the house by myself, and it had only been noon when something like this happened. If you tell me, you should think that our prefect has no rules to control his servants.

As the only girl in charge of the inner courtyard, when Qingwen got angry, even Chen Sheng's book boy did not dare to say anything. It took them a lot of effort, but when someone passed by the rockery, they heard Chen Sheng's excited shouts.

Qingwen, who came after hearing the news, immediately called for someone to take the young master and young lady out. Looking at the two arrogant carrot heads in front of her, Qingwen herself was speechless and said bluntly: "I will definitely report this matter to the master and his wife when they come back."

Chen Sheng knew he was in trouble, and his grandfather and grandmother had arrived in Beijing one day early. Thinking of such a big family, I can't even find a supporter. He was busy trying to be nice, and said with an apologetic smile: "Aunt Qingwen, I have finished reading all the homework left by dad. He promised me that as long as I finish reading, I can play as I like."

Qingwen's favorite title in the past was no longer useful at this moment. She looked at the handsome boy in front of her and said angrily: "The master promised the young master to play around in the house, but he didn't allow you to take the young lady to climb high places. If you fall down, even your father will have to pay for it." Got scolded by the eldest lady.”

Chen Sheng immediately explained: "My sister wants to see it."

Han Yuan blinked and followed: "Brother is right. Aunt Qingwen, Han Yuan wanted to see it, so she asked my brother to take me up."

I have lived in Jia's house for half my life, and I don't know how many times I have eaten bones for you two to use this method to fool me. Qingwen had a straight face and sneered: "Isn't the lady most afraid of heights?"

Hanyuan was dumbfounded for a moment. After she climbed up, she was only thinking about the excitement outside and suddenly forgot about it.

She is the only daughter of the Chen family. Although she was born to Yinglian, she is extremely loved by Chen Heng and Daiyu.

In the blink of an eye, she has passed four years old, and the adults in the family are still reluctant to give her a name. They still call her "Hanyuan" and "Hanyuan" all day long.

It is said that the name of a person is the shadow of a tree. She is obviously a girl from a wealthy family who speaks in a coquettish voice, but as long as she gets together with her brother, she becomes a skinny monkey climbing up and down.

Han Yuan knew that her secret was exposed, so she couldn't help but raise her hands to scratch her hair on both sides, and looked at Chen Sheng helplessly, "Yes, brother, I'm afraid of heights. What should I say now?"

Chen Sheng didn't expect that the second sister only said two sentences in total, and she had already fully explained herself.

Looking at Qingwen's sneer, he simply closed his eyes, took the initiative to stretch out his palm, and said very sadly: "Everyone is responsible for what he does, Aunt Qingwen, you go ahead and beat me. When you finish, my mother will not be allowed to do anything." Hit me again.”

You are trying to bully me. Qingwen raised her eyebrows and still threatened: "Even if I have been beaten now, I must report the truth to Madam."

Doesn't that mean he has to be beaten twice? Chen Sheng quickly retracted his hand, rolled his eyes, and said, "Am I going to practice martial arts with Uncle Liu this afternoon?"

"He is going to give lectures with the master today. Young master, you should just wait for the master and madam to come back."

Qingwen was not polite and waved her hand directly, asking the servants on the left and right to lead the young master and young lady back to the house.

Disciplining children is a matter that is best left to the rightful master.

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Chen Heng, who had just walked out of Jinling Academy, was immediately stopped on the road by a foreigner after bidding farewell to the teachers and students.

"Master Chen, Master Chen." The foreigner can also be considered an old acquaintance of Chen Heng. He is Li Hua, the successor of Dutch envoy Fan Zhicheng. The two of them had had many interactions with each other in Songjiang in the past few years, and Chen Heng was not unfamiliar with Li Hua.

If he is not in the capital, why is he here in Jinling? Chen Heng stopped on the horse stool, walked down again, nodded towards Liu Xianglian who stretched out his hand to stop the visitor, and then said in a deep voice to the visitor: "It's been a long time, Mr. Li."

Li Hua had just sneaked into Jinling Academy and listened to Chen Heng's lecture for half a day. He had a lot to say. Seeing that Chen Heng was willing to stay for him, he immediately replied: "It's summer, could you please take a few steps with me?"

Thinking that he was about to leave office, Chen Heng also felt that it would be harmless to chat privately. He glanced at Liu Xianglian, and simply put his hands behind his back, accompanying the distant guest to stroll on the street.

Today, Chen Heng went out without the prefect's ceremonial guards, and did not wear formal official robes. If there were no guards following him, how could others recognize that he was the prefect of Jinling.

"I haven't congratulated Mr. Chen on his promotion yet. When he goes to the capital, he may go directly to the center of the six ministries and govern the country."

Before talking about business, Li Hua, a master of Dayong, talked in a way that Chinese people prefer.

Chen Heng smiled lightly as a reply. As an official to this level, he has long cultivated the ability to keep his emotions secret.

He turned his thoughts a little, and didn't expect that the Dutch envoy was so concerned about Dayong's affairs.

The decree of the transfer arrived in Jinling only half a month ago. There are still many officials in the government office who are still kept in the dark. Li Hua's information channels are very fast.

Strictly speaking, this transfer was a bit sudden. Chen Heng first served as the prefect of Songjiang for two years, and then was promoted to the prefect of Jinling three years later.

Even Lin Ruhai felt that his son-in-law would take root in Jinling for several years. After resigning from office, he hurriedly abandoned the capital and Suzhou, and brought Jia Min to Jinling to accompany his grandson.

Who would have thought that he had only completed one term and had not even waited for the evaluation results. Li Zhi was impatient to summon him to the capital. Chen Heng did not know what position he would take up this time in Beijing, so he ignored Li Hua's congratulations.

Li Hua saw Chen Heng's indifference, but did not take it too seriously. He waited at the gate of the academy on purpose, just because the Great Yong Navy had frequently clashed with the Dutch fleet in the waters near Yizhou recently.

Li Hua intended to mediate this matter, and pointed out the friendly exchanges between the two countries when his predecessor Fan Zhicheng served as an envoy. Looking back to the past and thinking about the present, Li Hua repeatedly emphasized to Chen Heng that the friendship between the two countries has a long history and there is no need to go to war.

Chen Heng heard everything from beginning to end and knew that Li Hua was not telling the truth to him, so he simply said empty words, "This matter is not under the jurisdiction of a local prefect like me. The person that Lord Li really wants to find should be the cabinet elders in the court or the governor of Fujian."

"Why is Lord Chen still talking to me in an official tone? You are the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, and you are the head of Shuntian Prefecture. Wouldn't it be more useful for you to speak a few words on my behalf than for me to run around and say good things?"

Li Hua tried his best to flatter Chen Heng, and according to his words, it was understandable. In the entire Dayong officialdom, only the prefects of Shuntian Prefecture and Yingtian Prefecture were ranked as the third rank.

Chen Heng was so young, but he could take on this important position. In terms of the influence of the above sentence on the political situation of the court, it was definitely not less than the governor of Fujian.

Unfortunately, Chen Heng saw that Li Hua was fooling around with him, and he was even more unwilling to pay attention to him. In recent years, as the people of Dayong have been eager to go out to sea, the exchanges between the two sides have become more frequent and close. The court of Dayong is no longer ignorant of European countries.

Li Hua came so eagerly this time not only because of the friction in the Yizhou Sea. It is also because the British, who have been sleeping on straw and eating bitter food for several years, are ready to have another Anglo-Dutch naval battle to regain the position of maritime hegemony.

Compared with the mysterious Li Hua, the British are more aware of the current situation this time. Long before the action, they directly sent people to the capital for secret negotiations.

As long as the court does not choose to take sides this time, the British unconditionally support Dayong to recover Yizhou, and are more willing to send ships to rectify Japan together.

Compared with the low-profile of the British, the Dutch have been a little complacent and self-righteous in recent years.

They still want to rely on a treaty to continue to stabilize the situation in Yizhou. After defeating Britain, come to the South China Sea to make money?

Chen Heng walked leisurely for a while and saw that Li Hua was still using their old friendship to fool around. Thinking that he still had a lot of things to do in his government office, he said bluntly: "Master Li, I am busy with official duties. If there is nothing else, please forgive me for leaving first."

While speaking, Liu Xianglian had already ordered someone to drive forward. When Li Hua saw that Chen Heng was about to leave, he hurried forward to keep the guest, and said anxiously: "Master Chen... Master Chen..."

This time, Chen Heng did not give him a chance to continue speaking.

Whether it is Britain or the Netherlands. Whoever is beneficial to Dayong is Dayong's friend.

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After sending away the uninvited guests, Chen Heng's carriage soon arrived at the Jinling government office. In the past two days, he went to the capital with Lin Ruhai. Everyone with a discerning eye can see that his own prefect is about to be promoted to Beijing, and this is a good time to burn incense. Everyone wants to leave a good impression on Chen Heng intentionally or unintentionally.

This master of theirs is never soft in recommending talents. Jia Yucun, the current prefect of Songjiang, is his old friend for many years. Xiao, the former head of Huating County, is now the magistrate of Lou County.

The smiling faces of the people who came and went were full of their clever thoughts of wanting to make progress. However, Chen Heng knew their abilities and personalities very well. Some of the talented Meiyu among them are indeed worth cultivating.

It is also the prefect's job to leave a letter of recommendation for the outstanding old subordinates. Chen Heng had just made proper arrangements when he heard Xinda come to inform him that there was a guest visiting his home.

Chen Heng couldn't get away for a while, so he asked Xinda to invite the person to the front hall of the government office. Just as he bowed his head to handle official business, Jia Baoyu carefully opened the door and walked in slowly.

"I hope I didn't disturb you."

As soon as he spoke, Chen Heng raised his head and found that the visitor was Jia Baoyu.

"You came at a good time." Chen Heng hurriedly stood up from his seat, called him to sit down, and said with a smile, "Don't disturb me. I have almost finished dealing with the things that need to be dealt with."

Since the Jia family was ransacked five years ago, Jia She and Jia Lian were exiled for three thousand miles, and Wang Xifeng even died of illness in prison. Jia Zheng finally managed to save his life, but he did not dare to stay in the capital any longer. He hastily packed up his small and fragile family, and returned to his former residence in Jinling to survive.

The past is like ashes, and there is nothing else to say other than lamenting that things have changed. Only the second brother of the Jia family returned to Jinling and lived in a shady alley in the south of the city, spending time with Li Wan, Yingchun, Xichun and others.

Baoyu has changed a lot in recent years, and he is no longer as ambitious as before. In addition, Baochai gave birth to a son for him. Now that he has two children, he has gradually realized the hardship of running a household.

It's a pity that he and Jia Zheng were both scapegoats and have no chance of officialdom in this life. Fortunately, there are still a few friends who have helped her over the years, and with Baochai's ability to make a living, the family's life is pretty good.

"I heard from my uncle that you will go to Beijing in a few days." A hint of gloom flashed across Baoyu's face.

Capital, what a dreamy word. That was the place he dreamed of, and he was afraid he would never see it again.

"I just wanted to take advantage of the fact that the news hasn't spread in the past few days to say congratulations to you."

Chen Heng thanked Baoyu for his kindness and lamented the changes in the fate of the two families. He chatted for a while and then asked: "Is everything okay at home?"

"It's all good. Xin'er can already call him daddy." Baoyu had a satisfied smile on his face. Xin'er is Baoyu's son, two years younger than his eldest daughter.

Mentioning his youngest son, Jia Baoyu immediately started talking a lot. He didn't have many friends in Jinling, and after the Jia family lost power, there were even fewer people who were willing to interact with them.

It was rare that my cousin-in-law had free time today, so Jia Baoyu happened to chat with him about home affairs. After telling interesting things about his son, the topic unknowingly turned to his family's livelihood. He and Baochai are now doing small business to support their family's expenses.

Should I say it or not, Baoyu married Baochai, she really married the right person. Baochai took over all the affairs inside and outside, but Baoyu focused all his energy on educating his children.

Chen Heng listened silently, occasionally adding a few words. When he heard that Baoyu had brought gifts to Sheng'er and Hanyuan, Chen Heng thanked his cousin for his kindness on behalf of the two children.

"They are just little things. It's good if they both like them." Baoyu rubbed his hands nervously. These years of hard work have taught him to understand the ways of the world.

He himself is no longer a young master from the Duke's mansion, and the other party is no longer an unknown peasant scholar.

In recent years, if it weren't for the fact that he had a cousin-in-law who was a prefect, the Jia family's situation in Jinling would only be worse, far less relaxed than it is now.

Therefore, the person who was most uneasy about Chen Heng's departure was Baoyu. It seems that as long as the other party is still in Jinling, his life will be stable.

Chen Heng saw his worry, thought for a moment, and said, "The next prefect is a close friend of mine, so you don't have to worry. Times have changed, and even if His Majesty knows your current situation, he won't pursue it too much."

"That's good, that's good." Baoyu was overjoyed when he heard this. He was afraid that the newly appointed magistrate, seeing that the Jia family dared to do business secretly, would raid the house again.

He really didn't want to experience the situation of a tiger being bullied by a dog again.

Chen Heng calmed An Baoyu's worries, and then asked aloud: "How are uncle and aunt's health?"

Baoyu lowered his head slightly and said distressedly: "It's still the same."

Chen Heng nodded silently. It seemed that Mrs. Wang had no chance to recover from her illness in this life.

After the Jia family prepared to return to Jinling, and the death of her brother and Yuanchun, Mrs. Wang finally went completely crazy.

Chen Heng went to see her once. When Mrs. Wang saw Chen Heng, she couldn't help but exclaimed: "Don't kill me, don't kill me."

Chen Heng didn't dare to stay at Jia's house any longer. He just sat there for a moment and then got up and left.

That experience happened when Chen Heng first became the prefect of Jinling. Xue Baochai's small business had only been closed down once by the previous prefect, and it was only with Chen Heng's acquiescence that his family dared to put the stall back up.

The two chatted for a while, and Jia Baoyu finally stood up to say goodbye. Chen Heng had other official duties and it was inconvenient to send him there, so he asked Xinda to do it for him.

The two of them walked all the way to the entrance of the government office. Baoyu said a few words before waving goodbye to the people who were seeing them off.

Xinda suddenly became interested and stood at the door of the government office, watching Baoyu disappear into the bustling crowd on the street before he looked back with lingering interest.

After this separation, the two families may never see each other again.

Goodbye, Mr. Bao of Rongguo Mansion.

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After Chen Heng finished handling his official duties, he happened to learn that Daiyu and Yinglian were back. Thinking about the many things that need to be done when moving a family to Beijing, it is hard for me to really be a hands-off shopkeeper.

He hurriedly slowed down his steps into the study, turned around and came to Daiyu's room, just wanting to greet her. I saw Chen Sheng, the unlucky guy, wiping tears in front of Daiyu.

He saw Daiyu holding a feather duster in her hand, and then looked at her son's red palm.

Chen Heng thought for a while and suddenly felt that it would be better to go to the study room to read.

Things are busy, so don't disturb Madam to show off her power.