When the Queen Mother returned to the palace, she saw Xiangyun who had sent the manuscript to Ouchi.
"The daughter of the people, Xiangyun, bows to the Queen Mother, a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old!" Xiangyun Yingying bowed down.
"Hey, are you the woman that Ji Xiaolan bought in exchange for three ancient paintings?" When the Queen Mother heard her name, she immediately asked gossiping, "She is really good-looking. No wonder Mr. Ji is attracted to her."
"Queen Mother Rong Bing, Mr. Ji didn't save me out of personal love." Upon hearing this, Xiangyun quickly explained.
"Okay, tell me." The Queen Mother said with interest.
Everyone is curious, and the Queen Mother is no exception. What's more, Xiang Nan is an important minister of the imperial court and the most talented man in the world. His romantic stories are naturally worth listening to.
Xiangyun immediately started talking.
How she married Chen Weiyuan, how she was sent by Chen Weiyuan to work as an undercover agent next to Cao Xueqin, how she preserved "A Dream of Red Mansions", how she met Du Xiaoyue and Xiang Nan... they all were told.
After hearing Xiangyun's story, the Queen Mother couldn't help but shed tears, "So that's it. It seems that you are also a poor person. Mr. Ji exchanged three ancient paintings for you, which is a good deed."
"Thank you, Queen Mother, for showing mercy." Xiangyun bowed down.
"Okay, you go down and receive the reward." The Queen Mother said again.
"Xiangyun can't leave." Xiangyun refused.
"Why is this?" The Queen Mother was puzzled.
"The original manuscript of "A Dream of Red Mansions" was messy. Mr. Ji was afraid that it would be inconvenient for the Queen Mother to read it, so he left Xiangyun to read it with him," Xiangyun explained.
When the Queen Mother heard this, she thought, "Mr. Ji is a thoughtful person."
Xiangyun then talked about "Dream of Red Mansions" to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was fascinated and overjoyed.
…
In the Yangxin Hall, Qianlong summoned Heshen and Fukang'an to discuss matters.
"Do you think "A Dream of Red Mansions" is really an anti-book?" Qianlong asked, "After reading this book, I really didn't find the intention to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. It seems that I made a wrong decree before."
"Your Majesty, you can't say that." Upon hearing this, He Shen waved his hands and said, "Although "A Dream of Red Mansions" has no intention of reversing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, its intention is very sinister and goes against the teachings of Confucius and Mencius."
"Oh?! What's the explanation?" Qianlong was startled and asked in confusion.
"Your Majesty, think about it, Jia Baoyu, the protagonist of "A Dream of Red Mansions", never likes to read the Four Books and the Five Classics. He only likes to read books like "The Romance of the West Chamber" and "The Peony Pavilion". Isn't this going against the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?"
"Well, that makes sense, go on." Qianlong nodded.
"Yes, Your Majesty. There is also Jia Zheng, who is a well-educated man, but he is written as a stubborn, disgusting fake Taoist, hypocrite, and disgusting." He Shen continued, "Isn't this against education? meaning."
"Yeah." Qianlong was convinced.
"So Your Majesty, if people read this book and follow Jia Baoyu's example and stop reading the Four Books and Five Classics, then who will you rely on to govern the country?" He Shen said alarmingly.
"Oh, what I said to Aiqing hit the nail on the head!" Qianlong clapped his hands excitedly.
"Your Majesty, I also agree with Lord He's point of view. In the past few days, I have been investigating counter-book cases and found that there are many people who privately engrave and copy "Dream of Red Mansions" among the people. They have been banned repeatedly, which shows that their poisonous nature is endless.
The slave suggested that all of them should be confiscated and burned to prevent them from disturbing people's hearts again. "Fukangan quickly agreed.
When Qianlong heard this, he frowned.
Now that "Dream of Red Mansions" has been widely circulated, it is not appropriate to set up a literary inquisition for such a book.
If all the people who collected, read, circulated, copied, engraved, marketed, and sold were really arrested and brought to justice, I am afraid that tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people would be implicated.
If the killing is too heavy, it will inevitably trigger a popular uprising. You know, although the imperial court had set up literary prisons before, they only arrested a few hundred people at most.
"Your Majesty, I think it is better to revise than to ban." Seeing this, He Shen suggested with a smile, "If we delete the deviant words in the book and replace them with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, the book can still be published."
"He Aiqing thinks this is appropriate?" Qianlong was a little worried.
Since "Dream of Red Mansions" has been privately copied and copied among the public, major revisions are definitely not possible. If the revision is not as good as the original version, people will still watch the original version, and then the new version will be useless.
"Your Majesty, the last forty chapters of "A Dream of Red Mansions" have been lost. The ending of the story and the fate of the characters are all presented in the last forty chapters. If we let Jia Baoyu also learn eight-part essay, take the exam for fame, marry a wife and have children, honor his ancestors, and continue to be a loyal minister Dutiful son...doesn’t this bring the story full circle?”
"It makes sense, it makes sense, okay, let's do it like this." When Qianlong heard this, he was very happy and said, "He Aiqing is indeed the pillar of the country. She is far-sighted and prosperous. You should learn more from He Aiqing."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Fukangan said quickly.
…
"Your Majesty, there is another problem with this matter." He Shen suddenly spoke again.
"Oh, what else is there to trouble with?" Qianlong said with a frown.
"The folk girl Xiangyun who Ji Xiaolan took in was Cao Xueqin's dying maid. She is the one who knows the story of the last forty chapters." He Shenhui reported, "If she jumps out and says we changed it to the last forty chapters, that's not true. Cao Xueqin’s original intention may cause trouble.”
"Yes." Qianlong nodded after hearing this.
Xiangyun is Cao Xueqin's dying maid, and this title represents the authority of "A Dream of Red Mansions". If she jumped out and said that the revision of the last forty chapters was not good, and then cooperated with the bookseller to revise the last forty chapters, then the court's plan would be in vain.
"In Yihe Aiqing's opinion, how should we deal with this matter?" Qianlong asked again.
"Your Majesty, Xiangyun was originally the wife of the bookseller Chen Weiyuan, and was acquired by Ji Xiaolan in exchange for three ancient paintings. Now she lives in Ji Mansion, neither her master nor her servant, and she has never taken any concubines.
There was a lot of discussion between the government and the public, and the servants thought it was very inappropriate. It not only damages the reputation of the discipline scholar, but also tarnishes the face of the imperial court. What's more, it is not conducive to the education of people's morals. "
He Shen suggested, "So I suggest that Xiangyun return to Chen Weiyuan and be strictly disciplined by him. Xiangyun is a woman who is raised in a deep courtyard and is not allowed to meet outsiders, so naturally there will be no trouble."
"Well, this is a great performance with Aiqing. That's right." Qianlong nodded.
When He Shen heard this, he immediately laughed.
He knew that since Xiang Nan was willing to exchange three priceless ancient paintings for Xiang Yun, he must be in love with her. In this case, he couldn't let Xiang Nan be proud and had to break them up.
The more painful Xiang Nan is, the prouder he becomes.
…
Later, He Shen ordered Chen Weiyuan to complain to Shuntian Mansion, saying that Xiang Nan bullied others, used his official position to oppress others, forced him to write a letter of divorce to divorce his wife, and asked the government for justice.
However, according to Heshen's instructions, the Shuntian Prefecture directly ruled that the divorce letter was invalid without even bringing the defendants Xiang Nan and Xiangyun to trial, and asked Xiangyun to return to Chen Weiyuan.
Fortunately, Xiangyun is currently telling stories for the Queen Mother in the palace, and she can't leave her for a while, so even if Chen Weiyuan regains Xiangyun, he won't be able to see her for the time being.
