The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 78: Changes in Rongguo Mansion 3
Coming out of Lady Jia's room, Li Hu sighed silently and walked out the door.

Jia Lian was already standing at the stone steps outside the door, obviously waiting for Li Hu.

Li Hu walked down the steps and asked, "Where are you going?"

Jia Lian smiled and said, "The master is waiting for you. Please follow me." Then he extended his hand and walked towards the front yard with Li Hu.

As Li Hu walked, he asked Jia Lian, "What's going on?"

Jia Lian stopped in his tracks and asked in surprise, "You don't know?"

Li Hu: "Mr. Zhen only said in the letter that the old lady was so angry with the second master that she vomited blood. He didn't say anything else."

Hearing this, Jia Lian sighed deeply, and then told Li Hu the whole story from beginning to end.

Li Hu was really shocked. The Censorate was obviously trying to slap Wang Ziteng in the face, but Jia Zheng took the initiative to get himself slapped in the face. Without a cerebral thrombosis for ten years, how could he do such a thing?
No wonder Grandmother Jia was so angry that she vomited blood. No wonder Grandmother Jia didn't want to mention it just now. It was too embarrassing. Embarrassment was a small matter. Jia Zheng's behavior also implicated the entire lineage of the four kings and eight dukes, making all the families embarrassed and lowering everyone's 13th level.

Li Hu suddenly thought: "Has anyone from other families come to visit and ask how he is?"

Jia Lian smiled bitterly: "You are the first."

Before he could finish his words, footsteps were heard outside the courtyard. Then, Mrs. Lai and several housekeepers' wives surrounded Shi Xiangyun and Mrs. Li, the wife of Baolinghou, and came in from the moon gate of the courtyard.

When Li Hu and Jia Lian saw Li coming, they gave up the middle corridor and bowed to her.

Li nodded with a smile. Shi Xiangyun stopped and bowed slightly to Jia Lian and Li Hu: "Second Brother Lian, Brother-in-law Lin." Then she hurried towards Lady Jia's room.

Jia Lian stopped a housekeeper's wife and asked in a low voice, "Is Baoling Hou here?"

The housekeeper's wife replied, "I haven't heard of it."

Jia Lian waved his hands irritably and then sighed.

Li Hu smiled: "Not everyone is as idle as me, with nothing to do."

Jia Lian snorted, "What the hell does he have to do?"

Li Hu waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't let the master wait anxiously." Then he strode towards the front yard.

As soon as he walked into the living room, Li Hu was stunned.

Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen both came and were sitting there quietly.

Jia She was also sitting on the chair at this time, without saying a word.

Jia Lian spoke up: "Master, Brother Li is here."

Jia She raised his head and looked at Li Hu: "Sit down."

Li Hu was not polite and walked over to the guest chair next to Jia Zhen and sat down.

The servant made a cup of tea for Li Hu and Jia Lian, then left.

There was silence.

Li Hu's eyes swept over Jia She, Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen. It looked like something big had happened. Could it be that they needed his help?
After a long while, Jia She sighed and said, "This may be a good thing."

Everyone was startled and looked at him.

Jia She picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and then continued, "As the saying goes, 'How can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed?' The emperor is worried about the four princes and eight dukes, and he can't easily move. If there is no emperor, it would be better. Everyone can take what they need and keep each other warm, and there may be no trouble.

But the retired emperor was thinking... As long as the Duke of Shan Guo and others did not make their positions clear, the emperor would be wary and dissatisfied. With the retired emperor's instigation, the contradictions between the two sides would intensify and a conflict would inevitably occur. In order to save himself, he would inevitably offend the imperial power and eventually be eliminated "justifiably".

"Pang Rang!"

Li Hu looked over and saw Jia Zheng's tea bowl fell to the ground.

Li Hu looked outside the door again. No servant came in. It must be that Jia She had given instructions in advance.

Jia She glanced at Jia Zheng and continued, "The Jia family has lost its military power, and its relationships in the Beijing camp have been broken up by the emperor. It is no longer a threat to the emperor. As long as we keep a certain distance from other families and don't get involved in power struggles, there will be no problem."

Hearing this, Li Hu sighed in his heart. He was afraid that someone would not want the Jia family to stay away from disputes! Even he himself might drag the Jia family into the power struggle.

Jia Zheng nodded repeatedly: "Not bad, not bad. Zhen'er, what do you think?"

Jia Zhen: "My nephew agrees with the elder master's opinion."

Jia Zheng smiled: "A blessing in disguise."

Does this work too?
Li Hu's eyes widened. He had seen people taking advantage of a situation to get out of trouble, but he had never seen people deceiving themselves. The Jia family suffered a huge loss. Not to mention being alienated by other families, Jia Zheng directly tore off the Jia family's fig leaf, allowing everyone to see the decline of the Jia family, especially the lack of successors!
No one will be afraid of or respect a fallen nobleman with no successor.

Jia She, however, remained silent and turned to ask Jia Lian: "What do you think?"

Jia Lian was stunned for a moment and replied, "It's all up to the masters." With a "bang", Jia She slammed the table, shaking the tea bowls on the table high!

Jia Lian was so frightened that he stood up hurriedly and looked at Jia She anxiously.

Jia She breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "As the head of Rongguo Mansion, if you were asked to make the decision, what do you think should be done next?"

Jia Lian was stunned when he heard this.

Li Hu was also confused.

Jia Zhen spoke up: "Brother Lian, the master is asking you a question."

Jia Lian had never thought about these things. His mind was blank. He stammered and replied, "I, I will leave it to the master to decide."

Jia She could not hide the disappointment on his face. He closed his eyes and said calmly, "Go out."

Jia Lian panicked: "Master"

Jia She: "Go." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Jia Lian had no choice but to go out.

Looking at Jia Lian's receding back, Li Hu seemed to understand something.

Jia Zhen coughed and said, "Brother Lian is still young, it would be good for him to gain some experience."

Jia She still closed his eyes: "I told you, he is cowardly and has no ideas."

Jia Zhen smiled and said, "Brother Lian has some ability, but he has not experienced anything big. Just take your time."

Jia Zheng continued, "In the past two years, Lian'er has been in charge of the external affairs of the mansion, and he has never made any mistakes. This shows that he has a certain ability in handling complex interpersonal relationships and affairs. Although he has a lot of dandy habits, he is at least better than that evil boy Baoyu!"

Is this to push Jia Lian to the top? !
Li Hu raised his eyebrows. Is Jia Zheng so generous?

Jia She opened his eyes and sighed, "I'm not angry that he has no ideas, but I don't even dare to think about it, and I don't even dare to say it. He is a few years older than my nephew's son-in-law!"

Li Hu paused as he picked up the tea bowl. What does it have to do with me?
After these words were spoken, Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen both showed complicated expressions.

Just then, Jia Lian hurried in and said, "Prince Beijing and Princess Beijing are here!"

Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen stood up suddenly.

Jia She trembled violently and stood up as well.

Li Hu was still sitting there, but he sneered in his heart. This "wise king" really would not let go of any opportunity!

As the old saying goes, it is better to help someone in need than to add icing on the cake.

The Jia family was in a state of disgrace at this time. The fact that Prince Beijing chose to visit them at this time was a huge honor for the Jia family. Any normal person would be grateful to him from the bottom of their heart.

I don’t know how the Jia family will respond. If they are not careful, they may arouse the emperor’s suspicion.

Jia She sat down slowly and said to Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen, "I sprained my ankle. You go and greet me."

Jia Zheng hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm afraid this is not a good idea."

Jia She: "I can't see him."

Jia Zhen spoke: "I don't want to see him either."

Jia She waved his hand and said, "You are the head of the Jia family, you have to go."

After hearing what Jia She said, Jia Zhen had no choice but to follow Jia Zheng.

At this time, Jia She looked at Li Hu and said, "You should hurry back to avoid causing trouble!"

Li Hu smiled and said, "If I leave, who will testify for you?"

Jia She was stunned at first, then he started laughing.

After laughing, Jia She said, "Well, let's testify against each other."

Li Hu smiled and nodded.

Jia She stood up again and said, "Let's go to the back hall to talk." Then he turned and walked towards the back hall.

Li Hu's eyes flashed. Is he going to tell him something "shameful"?

(End of this chapter)