The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 174 The Jia family's sordid ways are not worth praising.

Just as Lin Daiyu was heading to her new residence, some people from the Ningguo Mansion next door were discussing what had happened that day.

There were only a few people sitting here; they were all male members of the Jia family's two mansions.

The five men, Jia Jing and Jia Rong from the East Mansion, and Jia She, Jia Zheng, and Jia Lian from the West Mansion, sat in two rows.

Jia Jing sat at the head of the table, still dressed as a Taoist priest, but now he looked much plumper and fairer than before.

He looked at Jia Lian on the other side and said:

"The original message was that San Yatou would come back, so why didn't she come back in the end?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian quickly replied, "I don't know the reason for this either. Last night, when we first arrived outside the capital, San Ya was still thinking about going home as soon as possible."
However, the next morning, when Prince Su returned to the palace, she sent word that he would not be returning for the time being.

This statement reveals that Tan Chun's decision not to return to the Jia family mansion was made on short notice.

The reason that influenced her to make this decision was likely not from Prince Su's side, but from the Jia family's side.

From last night to this morning, the only people Tan Chun came into contact with were those sent by the Jia family to greet her.

Therefore, Jia Zheng turned his gaze to Jia Rong, who was sitting next to Jia Lian.

"You were the one who led the men to greet us yesterday. Do you know the reason behind it?"

Since Jia Rong left the capital with Tu Chengyu, he has been assigned to many tasks. In addition, after returning to the capital ahead of schedule, he was specially trained by Jia Zheng.

They are no longer the timid and cowardly people they used to be.

Gradually, he became capable of handling things independently, as evidenced by the fact that the two Jia families entrusted him with the task of welcoming Lin Daiyu.

Upon hearing Jia Zheng's question, he immediately replied:

"Grandfather, I may know the reason, but I'm not sure."

Jia Zheng noticed that he still had some of the timid and fearful traits he used to have, but he didn't reprimand him. He simply said:

"Speak freely, and let others judge for themselves whether it is right or wrong."

Seeing this, Jia Rong no longer hesitated. He glanced at Jia Zheng sitting opposite him and said:

"Could this matter be related to the arrangements made by the Western Prefecture?"

Although Jia Jing's position allows him to represent both Jia family mansions, he cannot openly interfere now that the people from the West Mansion are right in front of him.

So he looked at the two brothers, Jia She and Jia Zheng.

When the two men first met Jia Jing's gaze, Jia She remained completely calm and showed no reaction.

In contrast, Jia Zheng's expression was somewhat stiff.

The main reason for this is that the current manager of the Rongguo Mansion in the west is Lady Wang, Jia Zheng's wife.

The arrangements for the welcoming ceremony were also made by Madam Wang and Wang Xifeng.

Jia Zheng thought to himself that there might have been a mistake in Madam Wang's arrangements.

Unfortunately, no one in his family had mentioned this to him, and now that it's being brought up here, he can't hide it anymore.

So he said, "Brother Rong, just say what you need to say, it doesn't matter if you say something wrong."

With the elders having already made their decisions, Jia Rong was no longer worried and began to share his thoughts.

"Last night, I took my family to the post station outside the city. When I met my third aunt, she was very happy and kept asking her nephew about things at home."

She kept talking about her plans after returning home, and at the time it seemed that my third aunt really wanted to go home.

However, after I left, my third aunt spoke with the maids and servants sent by the West Mansion, and her attitude changed from before.

She refused to see us again, nor did she mention going home, until the next day when she sent someone to say that Prince Su forbade her from returning home.

If Jia Rong was not lying, then the turning point occurred when Tan Chun met the maids and servants of the West Mansion.

Although they could immediately summon the maids and servants to find out the reason for the matter, it was not advisable to let too many people know about it.

So they decided to let Jia Rong speak first, and then have Jia Zheng go home and have the maids and servants verify the story.

Therefore, Jia Jing had no intention of stopping Jia Rong and let him continue.

Jia Rong continued, "This morning, after my third aunt said she wouldn't be coming home, I went to the old woman in the East Mansion and asked her about what happened."

According to this old woman, when the third aunt met with the old women from the west mansion, she also inquired about Aunt Zhao and Uncle Huan.

An old woman, whether she was just being careless or had lost her mind, mentioned that Aunt Zhao had been forced to kneel by the West Mansion Madam the previous morning.

I heard that my third aunt was quite unhappy when she heard this, but she didn't say she wouldn't go home.

The "Lady of the West Mansion" refers to Lady Wang of the Rongguo Mansion.

At this point, Jia She suddenly interjected, saying:
"Do you know who that loose-lipped old woman is?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Rong's eyes darted around, especially trying to see Jia Zheng's expression.

Although Jia Zheng's expression turned even uglier after hearing Jia She's words, he did not try to stop it.

Jia Rong then answered with relief, "As far as I know, this old woman is the one who serves Madam."

From this, we can see that this old woman was a trusted servant of Lady Wang.

Such an old woman is certainly not the type to speak without thinking; she may very well have said it on purpose.

Everyone knows the idea.

Next, Jia Rong continued, "We went outside the city to welcome our two aunts home. We prepared two carriages, one for each of them."

Later, at Bao Er's uncle's house, the carriage sent by the Prince's Mansion to pick up Miss Xue broke down for some unknown reason.

The servants of the Wang family then asked someone to discuss with the old woman by the lady's side about borrowing a carriage to take Miss Xue back to the Wang Mansion.

They said they would return the carriage the next morning, so I didn't think much of it and lent it to them.

This matter shouldn't have been told to Third Aunt, but the old woman mentioned it while talking to Third Aunt.

She added, "Miss Xue is a guest in our house, and the carriage should be reserved for guests. Even if she doesn't return tomorrow, she can still ride in the carriage with us old women."
I suppose the young lady wouldn't look down on us old women and wouldn't want to ride in the same carriage as us.

These words don't sound like something a servant would say to their master.

However, in the Jia family's western mansion, the old matriarch promoted those servants who had served her for a long time, and Lady Wang, as the mistress of the house, indulged those around her.

Over time, the Jia family developed a habit of treating their servants with great respect.

Especially older servants, even younger, respectful masters would treat them with deference.

This caused them to gradually lose their sense of hierarchy and become accustomed to putting on airs in front of younger masters.

Especially those of status like Aunt Zhao, and people like Tan Chun.

Everyone is aware of this problem in Xifu.

Therefore, when Jia Rong revealed that the old woman had been taking advantage of her age and bullying Tan Chun, no one doubted that he was lying. Jia Jing thought for a moment and then asked, "Has the borrowed carriage been returned?"

Jia Rong said, "The Wang family kept their word and returned the carriage that very night."

Although the carriage was returned, the old woman could not take back what she had said.

This shows just how despicable the old woman's actions were.

At this moment, Jia Zheng suddenly asked, "So, San Yatou doesn't want to go home because of the humiliation she suffers at home from the servants?"

This old woman is someone close to Madam Wang, and anyone with eyes can see that this matter is probably related to Madam Wang.

However, Jia Zheng could not involve Lady Wang, so he directly pinned the blame on the old woman.

His plan was shrewd; as long as he got the old woman to admit to the crimes when he got home, there wouldn't be any problems.

However, someone clearly didn't want him to get his way.

Jia She then said, "Let Rong-ge'er finish speaking."

Jia Zheng then asked, "Rong-ge'er, is there some other reason?"

He clearly didn't want Jia Rong to continue the conversation, but Jia Rong either didn't see the sordid affair between the two uncles, or he didn't understand Jia Zheng's implied meaning.

He nodded and said, "There are indeed other reasons."

Upon hearing this, Jia She chuckled and said, "I knew it. Third Sister isn't such a petty person. How could she not go home just because of such a small matter? Tell me the other reasons."

Jia Rong sat up straight and continued, "This third reason is very likely due to my momentary negligence."

Jia Rong suddenly took the blame upon himself, which surprised everyone.

If it were someone else, upon realizing they had made a mistake, they would likely have shut up when Jia Zheng hinted that they should stop talking.

However, considering Jia Rong's timid and fearful nature, and his aversion to taking responsibility, he dared not conceal such a matter.

This time, Jia Jing's face hardened, and he said in a deep voice, "What exactly happened?"

Jia Rong said, "When arranging for people to greet us yesterday, the original plan was for me and Uncle Bao to go together to greet us."

However, just before their departure, the family said that Uncle Bao was unwell and might not be able to go.

I was planning to go alone, but just as I came out of the West Mansion, I accidentally ran into Uncle Huan, who was playing there.

At the time, I thought that Uncle Huan was also the master of the West Mansion. Although he was a bit young, he could still take the place of Uncle Bao.

Besides, my third aunt was just outside the city, so there was nothing wrong with having Uncle Huan go to meet her. Therefore, I took it upon myself to inform Aunt Lian and then took Uncle Huan outside the city.”

Hearing this, no one noticed anything wrong with it, and besides, no one would think that such a young child could do anything.

Many people were unaware that Jia Huan was among those who went outside the city yesterday.

Only Jia Zheng truly understood his own child. He knew that Jia Huan, that little rascal, although young, had already learned to stir up trouble.

So he asked, "But did Huan-ge say something inappropriate?"

Jia Rong said, "Uncle Huan and Aunt Huan did have a private conversation, but I don't know what they talked about. However, I heard something today that might be related to what Uncle Huan said."

Jia Zheng quickly asked, "What is it?"

Jia Rong said, "When I came back this morning, Uncle Huan and I were sitting in the same carriage. He told me that neither he nor Aunt Zhao knew that Aunt Huan had returned to the capital."

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on.

It must be that the West Mansion did not tell Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan that Tan Chun was going home, and Jia Rong was unaware of this.

So, in a daze, they brought Jia Huan to Tan Chun, and then Jia Huan told Tan Chun about it.

Tan Chun felt that the Jia family did not value her, and on top of that, the old woman in front of her was stirring up trouble.

This angered Tan Chun, who then decided not to go home.

Thinking of this, Jia Jing looked at Jia Zheng and asked, "Did the West Mansion really not inform Aunt Zhao about this matter?"

Jia Zheng had no idea about the arrangements in the mansion, so he could only say:
"I don't know if I've informed her, but my wife is always prudent and would never make such a mistake."

Jia She said, "Your wife may be good at doing things, but she has never taken Aunt Zhao seriously. It's not surprising that she would do something like this."

The implication is that Lady Wang simply didn't value Aunt Zhao and Tan Chun, and therefore didn't put much effort into arranging things.

Whether Madam Wang acted prudently or not was something no one wanted to know, but the matter was already before them and could not be ignored.

Moreover, the Jia family sent Tan Chun to the palace and went to great lengths to get her to Tu Chengyu's side.

The intention was to use Tan Chun to bring the Jia family and Prince Su closer together.

If, due to negligence at home, one ends up offending Tan Chun, not only will the original purpose not be achieved, but it is also very likely to have the opposite effect.

Now, the best thing for everyone is to find a way to make up for this mistake and prevent its impact from escalating.

However, before that, Jia Jing needed to confirm one thing, so he asked Jia Lian:

"During this time, you've been by Prince Su's side. In your opinion, how has Prince Su treated Third Girl?"

If Prince Su treated Tan Chun as an ordinary palace maid and didn't pay much attention to her...

Therefore, the impact of this matter may not be too great, and the Jia family will be able to deal with it much more easily.

If the opposite is true, then the Jia family must act immediately and cannot afford to be negligent any longer.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian said, "In my opinion, Prince Su values ​​Third Sister quite a bit. Her treatment is roughly equivalent to that of the head palace maid who has served Prince Su the longest."

The relationship between the third sister and Lin sister, in particular, was extraordinary.

Tan Chun had only been in the palace for a short time, yet she had already achieved such a high status.

The Jia family may have been involved, but it also shows that Tan Chun could influence Prince Su to some extent.

Furthermore, Tan Chun's good relationship with Lin Daiyu is also a factor that cannot be ignored.

Thinking of this, Jia Jing asked again, "What is Prince Su's attitude towards Daiyu?"

Without hesitation, Jia Lian said, "Prince Su seems to really like Lin Daiyu, and the two get along very well."

This was a situation that made Jia Jing both happy and worried.

Fortunately, the Jia family's previous schemes had largely succeeded.

The worry is that this scheme may very well go in the opposite direction due to this moment of carelessness.

Now, he just wants to find a way to handle this matter properly as soon as possible.

But what he didn't know was that just this morning, when Lin Daiyu entered the Jia family mansion...

The people from the West Mansion almost offended Lin Daiyu.

(End of this chapter)