The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 225 The Jia Family Mansion is in a Hurry

Once Jia Jing saw the token in the constable's hand, he lost the will to stop him.

Because what they were holding wasn't from Shuntian Prefecture at all, but from the palace.

Clearly, this matter was approved by the Emperor, and it is very likely that the Emperor instructed the Shuntian Prefecture to do so.

Having figured this out, he not only didn't want to stop them, but he also lost the desire to inquire further.

He could only say to the head constable, "Please wait a moment, sir, I will bring the person out right away."

After saying that, he called Jia She over and whispered his story to him.

After all, this is the Western Prefecture, and there are some things he can't easily make decisions about.

Jia She was somewhat frightened after hearing Jia Jing's description.

They originally thought that Jia Lian's matter only required going through the motions at Shuntian Prefecture, at most he would have to admit his mistake.

Unexpectedly, Jia Lian hasn't returned yet, but his wife is being taken away by someone.

Moreover, the Emperor himself intervened in this matter, which is practically threatening to kill people.

Jia She said with a pained expression, "Brother Jing, what should we do about this?"

Jia Jing said, "Judging from the current situation, the person will definitely have to be handed over. However, judging from the words and actions of these constables, the matter shouldn't be too serious, otherwise they would have rushed in and arrested the person long ago, instead of waiting at the door."

Jia She said, "I can see that too, but Lian-ge'er's wife is, after all, a woman. If she is arrested and taken to Shunshuntian Prefecture, wouldn't that ruin her reputation?"

Jia Jing sighed and said, "There's nothing we can do but send a few more servants to stay by Lian-ge'er's wife's side."

Jia She said, "Could you send someone to ask Prince Su to intercede on our behalf?"

Jia Jing shook his head and said, "Since the Emperor has intervened, inviting Prince Su over will probably be of no use. However, we can still give it a try. Send someone to the backyard now and bring out Lian's daughter-in-law."

Upon hearing this, Jia She could only lower his head and send people to carry out the task.

After the others left, Jia Jing and his brother wanted to invite the constables to their residence for tea and a short rest.

Normally, these officials would be overjoyed to be invited into the homes of the nobles of the capital for tea.

But today, faced with such a good opportunity, these people all politely declined, standing at the door without showing the slightest intention of entering the Jia mansion.

This made Jia Jing even more certain that the Emperor must have given instructions.

The fact that a large group of government officials had gathered at the gate of the Jia mansion early in the morning had already attracted attention.

Moreover, these officials, after arriving at the Jia family's gate, neither went in nor left, but simply surrounded the place.

This situation is not the worst of all; the strangest thing is...

The fact that the two masters of the Jia family's east and west mansions personally accompanied these lowly government officials, and that they looked so distressed, is thought-provoking.

In every high-ranking household in the capital, there were people who kept around gathering information on the streets.

These people usually have nothing to do, so they wander around and look around.

Now that the Jia family is in such an obvious predicament, how can they possibly avoid the eyes of these people?

Before long, the spies who had received the news rushed over.

Before long, many prominent families in the capital also received the news.

Although the Crown Prince has only been out for a short time, his status is still there, and many people have sought refuge with him, which naturally attracts people to gather information.

Therefore, the crown prince soon received the news.

The Crown Prince had just returned from court and was discussing the day's events with his advisors.

He was somewhat shocked when he heard the servant report this news.

"You said there were constables surrounding the Jia family?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

The crown prince frowned upon hearing this and asked again, "How many constables are surrounding us?"

The servant said, "It doesn't look like many, just over twenty constables."
They didn't know what to do, they just stood around the doorway, and nothing else happened. Jia Jing and Jia Lian from the Jia family stood at the door to keep them company.

"It's too strange that two high-ranking officials from various dukes are waiting at the gate with a group of constables," the Crown Prince said slowly.

At the same time, he was thinking about the affairs of Shuntian Prefecture.

When he heard yesterday that Tu Chengyu had mobilized everyone in Shuntian Prefecture to search for something, he thought that Tu Chengyu had lost something important.

Later, upon hearing that the Emperor had ordered the withdrawal of most of the officials from Shuntian Prefecture, he worried that Tu Chengyu's side would not have enough manpower to search for the items, so he hurriedly sent some people from his own residence out to help with the search.

To his surprise, instead of finding the item, it was taken to Shuntian Prefecture along with the Jia family.

Moreover, he only learned this morning that what he lost yesterday were just a few pieces of jewelry, nothing important.

At the time, the crown prince only felt that his younger brother was too troublesome, but he didn't care too much.

As for Geng Chunchen, who was imprisoned in Shuntian Prefecture, he didn't care much about him.

But now the Jia family is suddenly being chased by constables, and Jia Jing and his companion are even willingly standing outside the door to keep them company. This is quite puzzling.

The crown prince had many questions in his mind, but he didn't rush to voice them.

He patiently asked the servant who came to report about the details before sending him away.

"Have someone keep an eye on the Jia family. If there's any sign of trouble, report back immediately."

After everyone left, the crown prince looked at his advisors and asked:
"Mr. Yang, what's your opinion on this matter?"

This Mr. Yang was one of the many officials in the Crown Prince's residence, and also one of the few advisors who could speak with the Crown Prince.

The others were all busy with their own affairs today, so he stayed by the Crown Prince's side.

Hearing that the Crown Prince wanted to ask, he thought for a moment and said:

“Your Highness, although the Jia family has been much quieter in recent years, they were once a family favored by the former Emperor Emeritus. Moreover, they have been getting close to Prince Su in the past six months. Unless there is something major going on, no one would dare to openly come to their door and besiege them like this.”

Apart from the Emperor Emeritus's statement, the other crown princes generally agreed.

So he asked, "Mr. Yang, what do you think happened that made the people from Shuntian Prefecture dare to come to our door so openly?"

Mr. Yang shook his head and said, "No matter what happened, the Shuntian Prefecture wouldn't have the audacity to surround the gate of a government office."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince said, "Are you saying that this was someone sent by Father?"

Mr. Yang said, "It may not have been someone sent by the Emperor, but the Emperor must have known about it and certainly agreed to Shuntian Prefecture doing so."

The Crown Prince naturally understood that without the Emperor's permission, who would dare to offend the noble families in the capital? This wasn't just a matter of one family or one household; offending one family would offend all the noble families.

Even if Shuntian Prefecture had the guts, it wouldn't dare to do such a thing.

It's not surprising that I thought of this, but what's hard to understand is why such a simple matter would alarm the Emperor.

It's just two petty thieves who died. The Shuntian Prefecture can investigate. Why did the Emperor have to intervene?

Could it be that the Emperor took it seriously because it involved the sons of two noble families, Jia Lian and Geng Chunchen?

However, these two individuals are merely junior members of their respective families and are not yet qualified to gain the Emperor's attention.

The crown prince couldn't understand it, so he asked about it.

Mr. Yang probably shared the same doubts as the Crown Prince, and as soon as the Crown Prince asked, he immediately replied:

"Your Highness, in my humble opinion, His Majesty may not be concerned about these two noble families, but rather about you, the Crown Prince, and Prince Su."

The crown prince asked thoughtfully, "What do you mean by that?"

Mr. Yang said, “Your Highness, think about it. Geng Chunchen is the Crown Princess’s elder brother and is currently working in the Crown Prince’s residence. So, in other people’s eyes, what he does has Your Highness’s intentions in it.”

The Jia family, on the other hand, had become quite close to Prince Su, and the court generally accepted that the Jia family was Prince Su's man.

Last night, Geng Chunchen and Jia Lian had another misunderstanding and got into a fight. Perhaps the Emperor is worried that this matter has caused a rift between you and Prince Su, which is why he intervened to investigate thoroughly and clear up the misunderstanding between you and Prince Su.

Although his analysis was very logical, the Crown Prince still felt that things were not like that.

He understood the Emperor; the Emperor would never make a big fuss over something so trivial.

Even if the Emperor knew about the Crown Prince and Prince Su's concern, and even if the Emperor truly believed that the Crown Prince and Prince Su had some misunderstanding, he would only call them over and let them clarify things face to face.

Therefore, the Crown Prince said directly, "That shouldn't be the reason. Given my relationship with Prince Su, Father Emperor wouldn't do that."

Upon hearing the Crown Prince's words, Mr. Yang fell silent. These were the most words he had heard since entering the Crown Prince's residence.

Whenever Prince Su was mentioned, the Crown Prince would always emphasize how close his relationship with Prince Su was.

There's no need to overthink anything involving Prince Su; he would never harm the Crown Prince.

At the beginning, these advisors intentionally or unintentionally reminded the Crown Prince that Prince Su was the most likely person to compete with him for the throne, and that the Crown Prince should pay more attention.

However, no matter how many times the crown prince heard them, he never took their words to heart. On one occasion, they were even displeased because they spoke too bluntly, and the crown prince scolded them.

From then on, whenever the Crown Prince said these words, these advisors would remain silent.

The Crown Prince was aware of their attitude, but he didn't pay much attention to it and even speculated about the truth of the matter with Mr. Yang.

Just as the two princes were slowly speculating, their gazes returned to the gate of the Jia family.

The constable standing at the door, having waited so long without seeing anyone come out, grew anxious and walked up to Jia Jing, saying:
“Master Jia, why has it been so long and no one has come out yet? We are acting under orders, and if it takes too long, we will not be able to deliver on our mission.”

If it were an ordinary constable, Jia Jing wouldn't care whether you could deliver on your mission or not, but today's token was too important, and he didn't dare to stop it at all.

So he said, "Please wait a moment, I'll send someone in to urge them."

As he was saying this, he prepared to send Jia She in to see what was going on, but before he could do anything, the steward who had just entered the mansion rushed out in a hurry.

Seeing Jia Jing and Jia She standing beside the head constable, he was anxious, but he didn't come over to report. He simply said:

"My lord, I have something to report."

Seeing this, they knew that what the steward was about to say could not be told to outsiders.

So Jia Jing said to the head constable, "Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

After saying that, he and Jia She walked up to the steward and asked, "What happened?"

The steward said, "Master, the old lady is angry and won't let us bring the person out."

After hearing this, Jia Jing glared and said, "Isn't it enough to just bring the person out? Why did you offend the old lady as well?"

The steward said with a bitter face, "We don't know either. We invited Second Madam Lian, but before we even left the backyard, the Old Madam suddenly came with her people, blocked the road, and wouldn't let us take her away. She even told me to come out and invite the two masters back to the mansion."

Judging from this situation, the old lady must have received the news from somewhere else, which is why she ran out to intercept them.

This was the eldest member of the Jia family, and since things had escalated to this point, Jia Jing and his brother had no good solutions and could only go to persuade them in person.

So the two brothers told the constable and hurriedly ran towards the mansion.

When they arrived with the servants, they saw that the passageway in the backyard was crowded with servants of all kinds.

When the servants saw Jia Jing and his companion arrive, they consciously moved aside to make way for them to enter.

Seeing this, the two men knew that the old lady was serious, otherwise she wouldn't have blocked the road so tightly.

After they passed through the passage and entered the courtyard in the backyard, they saw the old lady sitting in the middle of the courtyard, with Wang Xifeng crying beside her.

Surrounding these two were the First Madam and the Second Madam, as well as younger relatives such as Jia Yuanchun and Lin Daiyu.

Upon seeing this, Jia Jing unconsciously frowned.

He originally planned to take the person out quietly, not wanting to make a scene in the mansion.

Then he would make some arrangements in Shuntian Prefecture to suppress the matter of Wang Xifeng's meeting with the officials.

As long as Wang Xifeng is not found to have any problems, he can secretly bring her back and then pretend that nothing happened.

But now, thanks to the old lady's actions, everyone in the Jia family knows about this, and it's estimated that it won't be long before the whole capital knows.

But since it was the old lady who did this, Jia Jing couldn't do anything about it and could only go over to ask her about etiquette with a bitter face.

Grandmother Jia remained stern and showed no intention of accepting Jia Jing and Jia Mu's greetings.

Grandmother Jia glared at Jia Jing at first, but since he was her nephew, she couldn't discipline him.

So after glaring at Jia Jing, Grandmother Jia scolded Jia She:

"You're such a coward. They've come knocking on our door, and instead of helping to stop them, you're secretly trying to send them over. Lian-ge'er is still in Shuntian Prefecture. Is this how you act as a father?"

Hearing Grandmother Jia start scolding, Wang Xifeng cried even louder.

Seeing this, Grandmother Jia turned around, patted Wang Xifeng's hand, and said softly:

“Don’t be afraid, little Feng. With me here, I won’t let them take you away.”

Lady Wang and others also offered their advice, and some of the younger ones even looked at Jia Jing and Jia She with strange eyes, as if the two men in front of them were bad people.

(End of this chapter)