The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 70 Jia Jing of Ningguo Mansion teaches his son

After finishing his business, Tu Chengyu ate the delicious food made by Quan Wenwei's daughter and then returned to the palace in a carefree manner.

However, the trouble he caused only escalated in the capital.

The first thing is that the debate with Hu Guangjin has gradually spread from the scholar group to the ordinary people.

After all, the scholars who came to participate in the imperial examination were extraordinary figures in the eyes of the common people. Hu Guangjin, who was praised as the top scholar, was like a literary star descended to earth.

Now, this Wenquxing (a legendary scholar) was scolded to his face by a child and was even told he would never become the top scholar. Such news was exactly what the people wanted, and of course it spread very quickly.

If Hu Guangjin's affair was a laughing stock for one person, then the Ningguo family's broken engagement was a laughing stock for both families.

Thanks to Lao Yao and his team's tireless efforts in spreading the news yesterday, the matter has spread everywhere uncontrollably.

From royal palaces to ordinary people, everyone was talking about it.

People admired the Qin family daughter's strong will, daring to refuse a marriage proposal from a noble family despite being a woman.

They kept mocking the Jia family, saying that the descendants of the founding duke were looked down upon by the daughter of a mere official, which was a disgrace to their ancestors.

The news circulated for another full day. On the morning of the third day, Qin Ye went to the Jia family to propose annulment of the engagement. At this point, the rumors became true, and the Jia family could no longer sit still.

At this moment, the Jia family was like a kitten with its tail on fire, wanting to put out the fire as soon as possible, but also wanting to scratch the person who started the fire.

Jia Zhen was the most anxious cat. Ever since Qin Ye came to propose annulment of the engagement early in the morning, he was so angry that he couldn't eat.

At this moment, he was angrily swinging a stick, hitting Jia Rong while viciously cursing:
"Did you, you little beast, do something shameful outside that someone overheard and that's why you came to break off the engagement, making our Ningguo Mansion look so bad in the capital?"

Jia Rong took several solid blows, his body aching terribly, but he dared not dodge, and could only stammer an explanation:
“Master, my son has been staying at home lately, not hanging out with others or causing any trouble.”

Jia Zhen struck the stick again and continued to curse, "You dare to talk back? If you didn't cause this trouble, did you think I did?"

After saying that, he hit her, and after hitting her, he cursed her again.

Seeing that Jia Zhen was about to hit her again, Lady You dared not step forward to stop him, and could only stand aside and try to persuade him:
"Master, please stop hitting him! Rong-ge'er is so young, he can't take such a beating."

Jia Zhen cursed, "Such a little beast deserves to be beaten to death."

Madam You was anxious, but there was nothing she could do but hope that the people from the West Mansion would arrive soon.

Jia Zhen got tired after playing for a while, so he sat down to drink some tea and rest for a moment before preparing to play again.

Fortunately, the people from the West Mansion arrived at this moment. Jia Zheng saw Jia Zhen raising the stick high, rushed over in a few steps, snatched the stick away, and said:
“Zhen-ge’er, how could you bear to beat Rong-ge’er like this?”

Jia Zhen, having his stick taken from him, stood to one side angrily and said:

“This little beast, I don’t know what shameful things he has done outside, and now he has brought shame to my Jia family. It would not be too much to beat him to death.”

Jia Zheng said, "The reason for the matter has not been explained clearly, and you want to beat him to death? How can you do this to your father?"

After speaking of Jia Zhen, he asked Jia Rong, "Rong-ge'er, tell me quickly, what have you been doing these past few days?"

Jia Rong said, "Ever since the betrothal gifts were exchanged, the capital has been under martial law and there have been arrests of rebels. It's been very chaotic. So I haven't gone anywhere else and have been with Uncle Lian all day long. I haven't caused any trouble."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Jia Lian at the door. Jia Lian, not expecting to be involved as soon as he entered, quickly came out and said:
"In response to your questions, gentlemen, Rong-ge'er has indeed been with me these past few days and hasn't caused any trouble."

Upon hearing this, Jia She said, "Could it be that you did something wrong in the past, and now people have heard about it, which is why you broke off the engagement?"

Jia Zheng glanced at his elder brother and said, "Whether it's something from the past or something happening now, it's not important anymore. What we need to think about now is how to calm this down. Zhen'er, what did the people from the Qin family say when they came back?"

Jia Zhen said, "The Qin family only said that they are from a humble family and not good enough for our family, and that they would rather die than break off the engagement. But now that the rumors have spread like this, if we really break off the engagement, others will only laugh at our Jia family."

Jia Zheng said, "This is indeed a difficult situation."

Jia She, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but say, "Why did the Qin family have to resort to such drastic measures to annul the engagement?"

Jia Zhen said, "Isn't it all to give their daughter a reputation for being a virtuous woman? Once this is over, see how I deal with the Qin family."

Jia She glanced at Jia Zhen, then stopped talking, slowly sat down on a chair to the side, and began to drink the tea that had just been served.

Jia Zheng picked up the conversation and said, "Such methods don't seem like something the Qin family would do."

Jia Zhen said, "You mean to say that someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes?"

Jia Zheng said, "Most likely."

Jia Zhen frowned in thought: "Could it be that some noble family wants to deal with our family?"

Jia Zheng shook his head; he couldn't see the whole story either.

The officials of the two mansions fell into deep thought.

After a while, Jia Zhen said, "If Father hadn't insisted on arranging this marriage for Rong-ge'er, we wouldn't be in this mess now."

Jia Zhen only dared to say such hindsight-based remarks when Jia Jing wasn't around. However, he was unlucky today; he had barely finished speaking when he heard someone at the door say:
"Grandpa is back."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhen shuddered in fright and quickly turned around to look. He then realized that the people standing at the door were servants from the mansion, and Jia Jing had not yet entered. Only then did his anxiety lessen somewhat.

When Jia Jing returned to the mansion, they naturally couldn't wait, and a group of people hurried to greet him.

After they welcomed Jia Jing back into the hall and dismissed the servants and women, they left only the masters of the two mansions.

Jia Zheng asked, "Brother Jing, did you return to the manor because you heard the rumors circulating in the city?"

Jia Jing nodded and said, "That's exactly what it's about."

Jia Zheng asked, "Brother Jing, do you know who is making things difficult for our Jia family behind the scenes?"

Jia Jing pointed upwards and said, "No one else could do something so reckless."

Everyone understood what Jia Jing was talking about. Jia Zhen said angrily, "Why is that? Our Jia family just helped them with something."

Jia Jing said, "Do you think the royal family will reason with you when they do things?"

Jia Zhen continued, "But you can't humiliate my Jia family like this."

Hearing Jia Zhen still harping on these meaningless matters, Jia Jing looked up and stared at Jia Zhen until Jia Zhen felt uncomfortable before saying, "Have you heard what people outside are saying?"

Jia Zhen said awkwardly, "Everyone says that Rong-ge'er is a good-for-nothing and doesn't have any ambition, which is why the Qin family looks down on him."

Jia Jing snorted and said, "You still want to distance yourself? The first thing people are saying about you is that you are licentious, shameless, extravagant, and don't know how to manage the family business. All you know is eating, drinking, and having fun."

Jia Zhen, blushing as his father exposed his lie, said, "Father, these are just rumors."

Jia Jing said, “Do you think I don’t know what kind of person you are? From today onwards, you should no longer manage the family business. Go to the ancestral hall to keep watch over the incense for the ancestors. When you have given up this arrogant, extravagant and licentious heart, you can come out again.”

After scolding Jia Zhen, Jia Jing called out to the outside, "Jiao Da, come in here for a moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, an old but strong voice responded from outside, and then a soldier with gray hair and a straight back pushed open the door and came in.

"This humble servant, Jiao Da, greets Your Excellency."

Jia Jing pointed at Jia Zhen and said, "Jiao Da, take some men and bring him to the ancestral hall. Give him only food and water each day, and don't allow anyone to go in and visit him."

Upon hearing this, Jiao Da disregarded the fact that Jia Zhen was the master of the mansion, stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and pulled him outside.

Jia Zhen was both ashamed and angry, but dared not resist in front of Jia Jing, and was thus taken away by Jiao Da.

No one present expected that Jia Jing's first act upon returning would be to punish Jia Zhen, which was completely unexpected.

After Jia Zhen was taken away, Jia Zheng said, "Brother Jing, now that Zhen-ge'er is imprisoned, how will the clan affairs be handled?"

Jia Jing said, "I will stay in the mansion for a while, and the clan affairs will be arranged properly."

Since Jia Jing had made arrangements, Jia Zheng stopped talking about it and instead asked:
"Brother Jing, how should we deal with the Qin family's annulment of the engagement?"

Jia Jing said, "Let's just withdraw then."

Jia Zheng grew anxious and said, "Are we just going to do nothing?"

Jia Jing said, "What can we do? Go against the Emperor Emeritus?"

After saying this in anger, Jia Jing patiently explained to the group, "The annulment of the engagement has already happened, so there's no point in trying to salvage it. Besides, annulment isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Jia Zheng said, "Could it be a good thing?"

Jia Jing said, "At least this has happened, so the Emperor Emeritus has vented his anger and won't hold too much grudge against me. The Emperor will also feel guilty and will surely make amends to our Jia family afterwards."

While the others were still pondering these words, Jia She, who was hiding to the side drinking tea, suddenly spoke up:

"Brother Jing, were you planning this from the very beginning, when you were arranging the marriage?"

These words sparked a flurry of thoughts among the crowd, and Jia Rong, in particular, mustered his courage to stare intently at Jia Jing.

Jia Jing was so angered by this remark that he shouted at Jia She, "Nonsense!"

Jia She was scolded, but he just smiled and said, "I was just talking nonsense, Brother Jing, why are you angry?"

Distracted like this, Jia Jing lost interest in explaining further and said to everyone:

"Although there were many calculations involved in Rong-ge'er's decision to break off the engagement, it was also inseparable from his idleness all day long."

"He is the future patriarch of the Jia family, yet he idles away his days without any real talent or learning. How can he possibly inherit the family business?"

"So I thought I'd use this incident to plead with the emperor and have Rong-ge'er sent to the military camp, where a familiar general would train him properly for a few years to see if he could become more capable."

(End of this chapter)