The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 71 Stirring Up Trouble and Fishing with the Insider

When Jia Rong heard that his father wanted to send him to the army, he became anxious. He was a pampered young master who had been spoiled since childhood. How could he survive if he went to the army and spent all his time with peasants?

But he didn't have the courage to refute, so he could only look at Jia Zheng and the others.

Whether out of a desire to help Jia Rong or for some other reason, Jia Zheng asked, "Brother Jing, didn't our two mansions agree to no longer interfere in the affairs of the Beijing garrison? Why are you sending Rong'er to the army?"

Jia Jing said, "If they were capable, I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble. I used to think that our ancestors had built this business, and that our descendants should enjoy it."

"But look at our two families now. In just a few generations, they have become like this. If we don't take action, even ten or a hundred Jia families wouldn't be enough to ruin them."

“Your Xifu shouldn’t wait around either. Someone like Lian-ge’er should be sent out to work. What future can he have if he stays at home all day running errands and doing odd jobs?”

Jia Lian felt that he shouldn't have come today; he had somehow gotten himself involved in all sorts of messy things.

For his own future comfort, he quickly said, "With Master serving as an official outside the West Mansion, I don't need to go out and embarrass myself. Besides, I also need to help manage the affairs of the mansion."

Jia Jing scolded, "Without your cooking, can your West Mansion not survive? You are also the one who will inherit the title in the future. How can you inherit the family business if you just drift along like this all day long?"

After scolding Jia Lian, the Jia family said to everyone, "Not only Lian-ge'er and Rong-ge'er, but also the others in the two households, need to be kept a close eye on. Those who can study should go to school, and those who cannot should be sent to the military camp for training."

"If there are any who spend their days loitering in the inner quarters, laughing and playing with the maids, break their legs and throw them into a charitable institution to be parasites."

Upon hearing this, both Jia Lian and Jia Rong glanced at Jia Zheng discreetly. Jia Zheng himself inexplicably thought of someone, and his expression became somewhat unnatural.

Jia Jing knew what they were thinking and spoke up to remind them:
“When you go back, you should also persuade the old lady not to spoil Baoyu anymore. Baoyu is of school age, and if he is not disciplined, he will not amount to anything in the future.”

By now, everyone has realized that Jia Jing came back today not to deal with the Qin family's annulment of the engagement, but to use this opportunity to rectify the family's conduct.

Although the people here did not want to be disciplined, Jia Jing chose a good opportunity, leaving them no choice but to obey.

Therefore, in the end, today's events became a one-man show by Jia Jing.

He made no arrangements for Jia Zheng and Jia She, but he made plans for the next generation in the family.

First were Jia Lian and Jia Rong, the two older ones. One was assigned to the army for training, while the other sought a favor and was sent to work in any government office in the capital.

As for the younger children like Baoyu, they are not going to send them to the clan's private school. Instead, they will find another family with strict rules and a place where they can study.

Of course, Baoyu's matter could only be accomplished with the old lady's consent.

With these matters arranged, the Qin family will now proceed with the main event of the day: announcing the annulment of the engagement.

Jia Jing simply said, "Let them retreat; we don't need to worry about the rest."

On the Jia family's side, thanks to Jia Jing's shrewdness, they managed to create a situation where they appeared to be at a disadvantage but actually benefited.

The other person involved in the rumor, Hu Guangjin, was not so lucky.

At first, it was said that he lost a debate with a child, and at most he would be ridiculed a bit, which was no big deal.

But after one night, when Tu Chengyu's identity was revealed and everyone discovered that the child who debated yesterday was Prince Su, things took a turn for the worse.

Hu Guangjin could be arrogant and disdainful of princes and nobles in ordinary times. But when he was facing the emperor's son, who was also the crown prince's younger brother, it was a different story.

Don't even dream of becoming the top scholar; just passing the imperial examination smoothly and becoming an official is already considered good.

Hu Guangjin and the scholars who were close to him were very worried.

Those who had long disliked Hu Guangjin hid on the sidelines, gloating.

However, these are all just speculations, and things will not actually develop in this way.

Two days ago, Hu Guangjin visited some officials in Beijing who were from the same hometown. These officials all said that although the current emperor was protective of his son, he was very fair in matters of state and would never put personal interests before public interests.

Hu Guangjin was able to suppress his panic and sit down in the room to prepare for the palace examination only after thinking of such words.

But in the afternoon, Zhu Ruoheng, who had gone out to gather information, brought him bad news.

Zhu Ruoheng rushed into Hu Guangjin's room in a panic, saying, "Brother Shengping, things are bad."

Hu Guangjin asked, "What's wrong? Speak quickly."

Zhu Ruoheng said, "Just now, rumors suddenly spread among the scholars that Prince Su has secretly taken action to suppress you and try to push you into the top three."

Hu Guangjin asked, "Is this true? Does Prince Su really intend to demote me to the top three?"

Seeing that Hu Guangjin had lost his composure due to the events of the past two days, Zhu Ruoheng reminded him:

"Brother Shengping, the issue now isn't whether Prince Su has made a move or not, but rather why this news suddenly spread. They're making it sound so convincing, as if the person spreading the message witnessed Prince Su doing it. I don't think things are that simple."

Hu Guangjin then realized what was happening and said, "You mean, someone is using this to plot against me?" Zhu Ruoheng said, "If it were just about you, things would be simple. I'm afraid someone is using you to plot against Prince Su."

Hu Guangjin exclaimed, "How could this be? Prince Su is a prince, who would be so bold as to plot against him?"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "Brother Shengping, you have been studying at home recently, so you may not know what has been happening in the capital recently."

“In recent days, Prince Su has been assassinated twice, which shows that there are people in the capital who are targeting him. Now that you have debated with Prince Su, how could the person who is determined to deal with Prince Su let such an opportunity pass by so easily?”

Hu Guangjin had also heard about the assassination of Prince Su, but he hadn't paid much attention to it. Now that he remembered it, he realized that he had been dragged into a huge trouble.

He said, "Brother Mingzheng, what should we do now?"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "Brother Shengping, it's better for you to stay still than to make a move now, and besides, it's too late to do anything."

Hu Guangjin said, "But there is other bad news."

Zhu Ruoheng said, "Before I arrived, someone had already come forward and said they would contact all the scholars to jointly write a letter to advocate for you."

Hu Guangjin stomped his feet in anger and said, "Who wants to harm me?"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "It was a few unsuccessful candidates who, I don't know who instigated them, took the lead."

Hu Guangjin said, "Brother Mingzheng, am I just supposed to stand by and do nothing?"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "There are only ten days left until the palace examination. You just need to close your door to guests and pretend that you don't know what's going on outside. Then the emperor and ministers will naturally take care of things for you."

"If you step in now and accidentally give others a handle to use against you, and anger the emperor, then there will be no way to deal with it."

Hu Guangjin realized that this was the only way. Now he could only hope that the emperor was broad-minded and would not let personal matters interfere with his work.

After discussing for a long time, Hu Guangjin decided to follow Zhu Ruoheng's advice, close his doors to visitors, and focus on preparing for the palace examination.

If we do well in the palace examination, we might be able to turn the tide.

Just as the two were about to do so, they heard the door being pushed open again, and another fellow scholar from their hometown ran in, covered in sweat.

As soon as he entered, he said, "Brother Shengping, disaster has struck."

Hu Guangjin was already a frightened bird. Upon hearing these words, his face turned deathly pale, and he asked tremblingly, "What happened now?"

The scholar who arrived said, "Just now, a scholar publicly submitted a letter saying that Prince Su is interfering with the imperial court's selection of officials. The letter has already been sent to the Censorate."

"There are also some people who are sending letters everywhere, saying that if Brother Shengping is not the top scholar in this imperial examination, then it is because Prince Su is suppressing the scholars."

After hearing this, Hu Guangjin turned pale and said with a bitter face, "They're trying to force me to my death."

Zhu Ruoheng also sighed and said, "Now this is the most complicated situation. Those who want to deal with Prince Su are stirring up trouble in the dark, and those who want to deal with Brother Shengping are also adding fuel to the fire."

"Add to that the scholars who are unaware of the truth, and if things aren't handled properly, the new emperor's first selection of officials could cause a major incident. When the emperor is furious, you, Hu Shengping, will have no way to escape it."

Hu Guangjin was really about to cry. After a long pause, he said, "Heavens, why are you so cruel to me!"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "Brother Shengping, now is not the time to be sad. The situation has reached this point, and closing the door to visitors is no longer an option. We need to think of something to do."

Hu Guangjin said, "They've already pushed me to this point, what else can I do? Let them drive me to my death."

Zhu Ruoheng angrily scolded, "Hu Guangjin, you've studied hard for ten years and endured so much hardship. Now that you've only encountered some trouble, how can you give up so easily?"

Hu Guangjin said, "It's not that I want to give up, but others have already set up a deadly trap. How can I escape it?"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "There's no such thing as a dead end in this world; it's just that we haven't reached a high enough level. Just because we can't think of a way to break the deadlock doesn't mean others can't."

Hu Guangjin asked, "Who else can help me break this deadlock?"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "The selection of officials by the imperial court is a major event for you and me, and it is also a major event for the court. The emperor and the Grand Secretaries of the Council of State Affairs will not ignore it."

"We need to assess the situation carefully and align ourselves with the imperial court; perhaps then we can weather this storm."

Hearing that there was still a way to salvage the situation, Hu Guangjin finally stopped giving up and asked, "Brother Mingzheng, have you thought of a solution?"

Zhu Ruoheng said, "I can't think of a solution in a short time. We can only take it one step at a time."

"Try this first, see how everyone reacts, and then make a follow-up plan."

Zhu Ruoheng explained her thoughts in detail. After listening, Hu Guangjin seemed thoughtful and asked with a puzzled look:
"A radical solution?"

Zhu Ruoheng nodded.

(End of this chapter)