Chapter 1 Cao Family ()

In Jiangnan, when it comes to the Cao family, people may not think it is the Jiangning Weaving Mansion. After all, there are many people in the world with the surname Cao. But when it comes to the Jiangning Weaving Mansion, everyone knows that it is the Cao family, one of the most prominent families in Jiangnan.

Thirty-nine years have passed since the second year of Kangxi, the Ministry of Internal Affairs established a weaving office in Jiangnan. The first weaving Cao Xi went to Jiangning to serve. Ten years ago, Cao Xi died of illness and was graceful to the present. His eldest son Cao Yinzi inherited his father's business and succeeded Jiangning Weaving.

The Jiangning Weaving Mansion has an ordinary yamen, with a public yamen in front and a private yamen behind. The difference is that the main hall on the middle road of the backyard is empty, and the gardens on the east road and the yard are also the same. Only Wujie on the west road is located, and Cao Yin's family lives.

Because of the heavy yard, the yard does not seem crowded.

The innermost courtyard on the west road is the residence of Cao Yin's mother, the old lady Cao Sun family.

When you enter the courtyard, you will first find a screen wall with hundreds of words "利" written on it. Behind the screen wall is a spacious courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard is a rockery made of lakes and stones. The rockery is surrounded by shallow pools.

The golden scales swim in the pool, and two large white cranes stood proudly on the water surface, occasionally lowering their heads and sucking the fish in the pool to eat.

There are five main rooms with high ridges, green tiles and grey stones. At the door are three large characters "Xuanruitang" written by an imperial pen. On both sides of the main room are long corridors, connecting to the courtyard gate, and leading to the small backyard garden.

It was midsummer, and the owners of all courtyards took a nap, and the maids and mothers naturally extinguished the sound. Only a few little girls who were stuck in the yard had finished their work, leaned beneath the west corridor, dozing off.

No one noticed that a boy in a long silver suit walked out of the room lightly, stood in the east corridor, staring at the white crane in the water in a daze.

If any maids and mothers see it, they must come forward to curry favor with each other, because this boy is the beloved son of the old lady in the mansion, Cao Yan, the only son of the master and his wife.

In fact, this Cao Yan is no longer the same Cao Yan. Three days ago, a man named "Li Yong" whose soul awakens in this body hundreds of years later. Although the names of the two sounded similar, they were not even different. One was a young man from a seven-year-old family born in a wealthy compound in the Qing Dynasty, and a twenty-six-year-old office clerk who was mixed in a modern law firm.

Cao Yan woke up for three days and was also confused for three days. Although he had never forgotten his experience in that life, all kinds of scenes that he could remember in this life were all in his mind.

The kindness of the elders of the family and the flattery of the servants were all circling in their minds like slides. When they saw Sun (grandmother Cao Yan), Li (mother Cao Yan), Cao Yan (mother Cao Yan and his mother), and even Cao Yin were a little close, as if he was Cao Yan, and Cao Yan was originally him, but he was just a big dream, and now he was awake.

Three days, I was anxious, sad, and then despair. It seemed that I had encountered the legendary time travel, and I traveled to a family that was not unfamiliar with Cao Xueqin. Although I was not a fan of the popular movie, I knew a little about the Cao family because of the Red Mansions in recent years.

It is said that the ancestors of the Cao family were generals of the Ming army. After defeating the war in the Northeast, they surrendered and became the Manchu Zhengbai Banner. Later, they entered the pass from Long and worked in the Interior Office. Later, Cao Xi's wife and Cao Yin's mother Sun were selected as Kangxi's wet nurse. Cao Yin grew up with Kangxi since childhood. He first worked as a companion and then became an imperial guard, and the Cao family became rich.

Cao Yin's father Cao Xi was appointed as the weaving factory in Jiangning. Later, Cao Yin, Cao Yin's son Cao Yong, and Cao Yin's adopted son Cao Fu held this position one after another. It was not until Kangxi's death and Yongzheng ascended the throne to the Cao family. The reason seemed to be that the Cao family and his in-laws Li family were involved in the royal battle for the throne and stood in the wrong team. First, they supported the crown prince and then the eighth prince, but they did not identify that the fourth prince was Qianlong.

As a result, after Yongzheng came to power, the Cao family and Li family were searched one after another. The Cao family was fine, but Yongzheng was still decent. Although the house was searched, two properties were left in the capital, allowing the orphans and widows of the Cao family to move in. The Li family was not so proud. The wife and maids sold them locally in Suzhou. After ten days of sale, no one dared to buy them. The miserable scene was beyond words.

Thinking of this, Cao Yong felt chill all over. Now he became Cao Yin's biological son. Although he didn't know how old he had lived, he died of illness at a young age and left a posthumous son. Then Cao Yin's adoptive son inherited the family business. Thinking of this, he was a little amused and confused. He accidentally became Cao Xueqin's elder, and it was very likely that he was his father. Even if he was not his father, he was his uncle...uh... he was his uncle.

Although three days were not long, Cao Yong knew a lot about the Cao family through his body memory. He knew that the old lady was already 68 years old. Although he was a bad girl in the palace when he was young, he was not the wet nurse in the legend in later generations, but as a nanny of Kangxi.

The royal nanny is not the kind of old mother who serves children as everyone thinks, but the senior caretaker who is also called "My Fair Princess". She is the life manager around the prince and the daughter, and is considered the actual adoptive mother.

From the spring of the 11th year of Shunzhi to the emperor's wedding in the fourth year of Kangxi, Sun has been serving as Kangxi's "Mrs. Jingqi" and his relationship with Emperor Kangxi is no less than that of his biological mother and son. Therefore, after Kangxi took power, he was named Sun as the "Madam Fengsheng" and a first-class imperial edict, and his husband Cao Xi was awarded the title of first-class male. In addition, during the third southern tour of Emperor Kangxi two years ago, he settled in Jiangning Weaving Mansion, so Jiangning Weaving Mansion was also called the "big palace" by the people of Jiangning.

In order not to cross, Cao Yin retreated to the west courtyard, emptying the main house that welcomed the sage and the courtyard on the east to show respect. It was during that southern tour, Kangxi mentioned the three big words "Xuanruitang" for the residence of the nanny Sun, and called Sun the "this is my old man" in front of the officials who accompanied him. Or it was because he had been working in the palace for too long that he had been separated from his husband and Sun had no biological son. Cao Yin was actually the eldest son of the Cao family. His mother died early and was raised in the name of Sun and served as the legitimate son.

Cao Yin was smart since childhood, able to speak in October, able to read at the age of three, and able to write at the age of five. Although he was four years younger than Kangxi, he did go to the palace to study as a companion. After he was sixteen, he became an imperial guard and has been a close minister of the emperor since then. It was not until his father Cao Xi was old that he was sent to Jiangning to take over. He first served as a weaving manufacturer for Suzhou. After Cao Xi died, he took over as Jiangning Weaving Man. Suzhou Weaving Man was replaced by another confidant of Kangxi, Cao Yin's inner brother Li Xu. Li Xu's mother Wen was originally Kangxi's nanny, but she was not as long as Sun's.

The first wife Cao Yin married was Gu, the daughter of a wealthy family in Jiangnan. The couple was very loving, but the offspring was difficult and they never got a son or half of their daughters. Later, Gu died of illness, Emperor Kangxi pointed out that the marriage was made, and Cao Yin married Li Xu's cousin Li as his second wife.

When Cao Yin married the 18-year-old Li family, he was over 30 years old. In the first year of his marriage, he had his eldest daughter Cao Yan, and a few years later, he gave birth to his eldest son Cao Yong. Because Cao Yong was weak since childhood and was afraid of not being able to support him, he never gave him the name, and his nickname was "Lien Sheng". When Emperor Kangxi visited the south of the year before, he lived in the weaving house and personally gave him the name "Ying" and was awarded the title of "First Class Light Vehicle Commander", which was only four levels lower than his father Cao Yin's second-class son, and he also received a salary of 235 taels of silver in the court every year. Because it was a great name given by the emperor's golden words and jade words, the nickname "Lien Sheng" was not used. The whole family changed their mouths. The one who should call "Yinger" was called "Yinger", and the one who should call "Yinger" was called "Yinger".

Cao Yong was the eldest son and grandson of the mansion, so he naturally became the top son of the old lady of Sun. He was raised by his side at the beginning of his death. It was not until his seventh birthday was held half a month ago that Cao Yin moved to his parents and sent him to the clan school to study. Unexpectedly, he fell ill after only ten days. Cao Yin and his wife wanted to hide it from the old lady, but they did not want to be exposed. It turned out that the old lady was afraid that her grandson would get angry, so she sent someone to the school to send herbal tea. She received the letter. Knowing that Cao Yong had been sick, she hurried to the front yard, scolded her son and daughter-in-law, and asked the maid to pack the grandson back to his yard with the daily necessities.

When Cao Yong thought of this, he narrowed his eyes. Didn’t he say that time traveling with butterflies’ wings? Since he knew that his little body was not good and he would not be prevented in advance? It is just the 40th year of Kangxi, and the tragic "Nine Sons Fighting for the Throne" has not yet begun. As long as the Cao family avoids this disaster and then makes up for the deficits of the welcome, what reason can Yongzheng have to search the house?

After thinking through these things, Cao Yong felt relieved for many days, and missed his family in that world more and more. He was the old son of his parents and was also raised by his heart, so he would indulge himself in a life of being too high and not being too low. His niece in his brother's family was only four years younger than him, and his brother and sister-in-law also treated him as if he had given birth to a child. Before he could repay these close relatives, he inexplicably wore it more than three hundred years ago. How could it not make people regret it? Before he knew it, his eyes were red.

"Why are your eyes red? Is your body not good?" With a soft voice, a pair of small hands stroked Cao Yong's forehead.

Cao Yong heard the sound familiar, and looked up. A thirteen or four-year-old girl was wearing a milky white silk jacket with purple vests on the outside, which made her look even more red in lips and white in teeth. Cao Yong secretly praised in his heart. If an outsider saw such a decent appearance, he would have regarded it as a lady from the family, but in fact he was the second-class maid in the old lady's house, named Zi Jing.

Seeing that Cao Yong was not as lively as before, Zi Jing had a few more worries in her eyes. Although Cao Yong was small, he was a person in his twenties inside. How could he bear to worry such a young child? He had to hold the corner of his mouth as he remembered, and called "Sister Amethyst". He said that he was almost sore.

When Zijing saw Cao Yong showing his former appearance, she felt relieved and bent down to make him talk. Footsteps came from behind. Zijing and Cao Yong both turned their heads to look, and the thin bamboo curtains at the main entrance of the hall were lifted. A little maid in teens, wearing goose yellow clothes and two bags of hair walked out. When they saw the two, they smiled and said, "The old lady is awake and looking for the old man!" The second-class maid in the old lady's room was also named Cha Jing.

After hearing this, Zi Jing bent down to help Cao Yong tidy up the front and back clothes before taking a step back and said, "Good man, go in quickly, so that the old lady can't wait in a hurry!"

Cao Yong was very uncomfortable when he was treated like a child like this, but he was helpless. The old lady regarded him as a treasure, and the whole yard was staring at him with eyes wide open. If he had a slightly different behavior from the past, he would scare a group of people, causing him to learn to play the role of "child" according to his memory.

With a sigh in his heart, Cao Yong walked up the room with his short calves. Cha Jing was already carrying the ears of the little girls in the corridor and teaching them a lesson. His voice was low, but his hands were exerted. The little maids were all in their teens, with red ears. They wanted to cry but dared not cry. They kneeled on the ground very pitiful. Although Cha Jing was about the same age as them, she was trained by the old lady since she was a child. Last year, she took the monthly routine of second-class maids. Of course, these little girls who cleaned outside did not dare to resist.

Cao Yong frowned slightly and couldn't help but look over there for a few more times. Cha Jing then stopped and rushed over to lift the curtain. Seeing Cao Yong looking at her, he smiled brightly, revealing two small dimples, and said, "It's better, so he ran to the yard to stand, and taught the old lady to think about it!"

Just after being cared for by a little girl, but being taught a lesson by another little girl, Cao Yong couldn't help but have a headache.

No wonder Baoyu is talking about maids all day long. He can't do it. Since he entered the old lady's yard, he didn't see a second man except Cao Yin and himself. What were walking around in front of him were actually maids of all sizes. Just talking about the old lady's yard, there were more than twenty, four first-class, eight second-class, and less-class. Those who often came were around his wives, a few concubines, and the ladies were all visiting each housekeeper every day. Cao Yong was just helpless. Fortunately, he was a twenties. If he was an ordinary child, it would be strange if he was not a sissy growing up in such a fragrance of makeup.
Chapter completed!