The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 80: Changes in Rongguo Mansion

The sky was clear just now, but in the blink of an eye it was covered with dark clouds.

At this moment, Li Hu's heart was just like the weather, with dark clouds and thunder. He wished he could give himself a slap in the face!
Originally, people thought that Jia She asked him to enter the back hall to talk about some "shameful" things, but unexpectedly, he just talked about the future plans of Rongguo Mansion and some decisions made by Jia's grandmother.

Jia Zheng's behavior not only broke Jia's mother's heart, but also made her see the crisis, so she decided to train Jia Lian, the only one among the Yu generation who still had some ability, to support the face of the Rongguo Mansion.

Although Jia Lian was also in charge of the external affairs of the mansion in the past, he was only responsible for running errands and had no access to even the core affairs of the four major families, let alone the lineage of the four kings and eight dukes.

After listening to Jia She's explanation, Li Hu realized that the so-called training was nothing more than letting Jia Lian take on the responsibilities of the heir to the title of Rongguo Mansion in advance, participate in the external affairs of Rongguo Mansion in a formal capacity, and have a certain say.

To put it bluntly, Jia Zheng was too embarrassed to deal with other families, so he pushed the first wife out to clean up the mess.

No wonder Jia Zheng was so generous and spoke well of Jia Lian.

Thinking of this, Li Hu sighed deeply. It was nothing, but he was just too talkative and had to ask: Why don't you personally take on the responsibility of the inheritor of the Rongguo Mansion and serve as an official in the court, just because you beat the emperor when he was still a prince?
As a result, a shocking piece of news was exposed and he heard a fatal royal scandal.

Qin Keqing was born from the affair between the deposed prince and the emperor's concubine, which led to the deposed prince being deposed for more than half a year. Jia She secretly protected Concubine Qin on the orders of the deposed prince and raised her in a separate courtyard, where she gave birth to Qin Keqing.

After the deposed crown prince was restored to the throne, Jia She thought that the matter was over, but who would have thought that Jia Daishan suddenly fell ill and his condition was critical.

Just when the Jia family was busy and exhausted, bad news came from the other courtyard. A fire broke out in the other courtyard, and Concubine Qin and her child were buried in the fire. Then the Imperial Household Department came with an imperial edict, and Jia She was thrown into prison on the charge of plotting against the law and seeking undue favors.

This incident also implicated the Jia family and put Rongguo Mansion in danger. The Jia family was forced to hand over the military power of the Beijing Camp to Wang Ziteng, which indirectly led to the death of the seriously ill Jia Daishan.

When Jia Daishan submitted a report before his death, the retired emperor, out of sympathy for his meritorious service, released Jia She and allowed him to inherit the title, but gave the management rights of Rongguo Mansion to Jia Zheng.

After the intervention of the retired emperor, the eldest branch of the Rongguo Mansion only had a title and salary, while the second branch had no title but controlled the property of the nobility.

From then on, the hereditary rule of Rongguo Mansion was divided between the two branches, and the "division" of Rongguo Mansion undoubtedly weakened their overall strength, which was of great benefit to the imperial power. The move of the retired emperor was very clever.

In addition, this incident happened when the retired emperor suffered a sudden illness, after which the retired emperor ordered the transformation of the palace into a place for him to receive congratulations after abdication.

In other words, the retired emperor might not really want to deal with the Jia family, but rather intend to play a trick with the prince, one playing the good guy and the other playing the bad guy. After the prince ascends the throne, he will show favor to the Jia family so that the Jia family will fear his power and be more willing to assist him.

As it turned out, man proposes, God disposes. The emperor recovered from his illness and regretted his illness.

In this way, the Jia family daydreamed for more than ten years until their dream was shattered.

Li Hu put down the tea bowl, looked at Jia She, and thought: No wonder the emperor did not purge him, the abandoned prince's party, it turns out that he had been abandoned by the retired emperor a long time ago.

Jia She sighed: "Thinking about it now, perhaps the events of the past were all planned by the Emperor Retired, in order to force the Jia family to hand over the military power!"

Li Hu shook his head. Every sip and bite is cause and effect. If the one who controlled the military power of the Beijing camp that day was not Wang Ziteng, the fence-sitter, but Jia She or Jia Jing, who had accompanied the deposed prince since childhood, the outcome might be different.

Li Hu suddenly remembered: "How did Qin survive? And how did she marry Jia Rong?"

Jia She's face looked a little grim. After a long while, he sighed again: "The deposed crown prince learned the news in advance that day and sent people to rescue the child. Later, for some reason, the child was adopted by Yangshengtang and finally adopted by Qin Ye, the keeper of the garrison."

Li Hu frowned: "Isn't Qin Ye the one who deposed the crown prince?"

Jia She paused and said, "He and the Master of the East Palace are both Jinshi in the same list."

Jia Jing?

Li Hu's eyes flashed. Jia Rong married Qin Keqing after the death of the deposed crown prince. Could it be that Jia Jing was secretly connected with the retired emperor?
If Jia Jing had connections with the emperor, why did he allow Qin Keqing to slowly die of illness? What happened in between?
Is this a token of surrender to the emperor? !
Li Hu shook his head, unable to figure it out!
Jia She stood up, walked back and forth a few times with his hands behind his back, and suddenly asked, "How about letting Lian'er go to the Prince's Ministry of Personnel?"

Li Hu was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Aren't you afraid that the crown prince will be in trouble and the Jia family will be implicated again?"

Jia She smiled and said, "Although the Jia family has no real power, they have been deeply involved in the military and the court for decades, and they still have influence. Sooner or later, they will be involved in this struggle for the throne promoted by the emperor.

Rather than being forced into it, it is better to make a choice now. Not only can it reassure the emperor, but it can also help you consolidate your position in the prince's heart. From now on, the first house will stand with you, and all the military connections will be given to you."

He paused, "The risk is a bit high, but once the prince ascends the throne, or the emperor's grandson inherits the throne, the rewards will also be great!"

Li Hu looked at him. Is he such a gambler?

Jia She looked at him and said, "You need to go and tell the prince about this matter." Li Hu was silent for a moment and asked, "Why don't you discuss it with the old lady?"

Jia She smiled faintly: "This is what she wants."

Li Hu was excited. There must be a story behind this!
Just then, footsteps were heard outside, and Li Hu and Jia She turned around to look.

Then, Jia Lian came running in, sweating profusely: "The Imperial Household Department has sent Xue Pan back! The Emperor has another oral order for Brother Li!"

Li Hu's heart skipped a beat and he looked at Jia She.

Jia She was a little panicked, and murmured: "It shouldn't be like this! There's no reason for it."

Li Hu sighed and said, "Let's go. If it's a blessing, it won't be a disaster. If it's a disaster, it can't be avoided." He strode out.

Jia She closed his eyes and said, "Let's go." Then he strode out.

The sky was gloomy and drizzling.

It was still quite cold on rainy days in early spring. Li Hu, Jia She, Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen were standing in front of the gate of Rongguo Mansion and talking. They were all wearing cloaks, and behind each of them there was a servant holding a huge umbrella over their heads.

At this time, Jia Lian came out from the side door holding an umbrella and said to Li Hu with a smile: "My aunt said that when Xue Pan recovers from his injury, let him come to your house and kowtow to you."

Li Hu quickly shook his hand: "Forget it, I don't want to get into trouble."

Jia She, Jia Zhen and Jia Lian all laughed.

The servants behind him also laughed quietly.

Jia Zheng coughed and spoke again: "Don't say such things anymore. We should try our best to maintain the dignity of our relatives."

Jia Zhen and Jia Lian agreed.

Li Hu and Jia She smiled at each other.

Jia Zheng asked Jia Lian, "What did the doctor say?"

Jia Lian suppressed his laughter and said, "The Xue family has excellent medicine for ulcers. Grind it with wine and apply it on the wound to disperse the heat and poison in the blood stasis. Rest for a while and it will heal."

Jia Zheng nodded.

"When will the Xue family move out?" Jia She suddenly asked.

Jia Zheng was silent for a moment, then said, "An orphan and a widow, and yet another incident like this happened."

Jia She immediately interrupted him: "You are the head of the family, so it is natural for you to make the decisions on the affairs of Rongguo Mansion. But I want to remind you that your every word and action represents Rongguo Mansion, and even the Jia family."

Hearing this, Jia Zheng opened his mouth and finally said "yes".

Li Hu smiled secretly. If Jia Zheng was pedantic and confused, then Jia Yucun was just not yet at a high level of status and power. He could not see through the overall situation, so he believed Wang Xifeng's lies! The root of the problem still lies with the first wife.

Jia Zhen spoke up: "Miss Lin's sedan chair has come out."

Several personal soldiers escorted a sedan chair for four people out of the west corner gate.

Li Hu said to Jia She, "It's getting late today, so we'll go to the palace early tomorrow morning."

Jia She paused and said, "Don't force it."

Li Hu nodded, exchanged a few polite words with a few people, took the reins from the personal soldier, jumped on the horse, and suddenly remembered: "Don't let Baoyu go to Prince Beijing's Mansion." As he said this, he squeezed his legs together and urged the horse to chase after Lin Daiyu's sedan chair.

Jia She's expression became serious.

Jia Zhen's face also became solemn.

Jia Zheng stared blankly at Li Hu's receding back.
(End of this chapter)