The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 50 Reading Makes One Wise
The Wang family was in a flurry of activity all night.

Jia Zhu investigated quickly, and Wang Ziteng agreed with his direction of investigation. As a result, the Wang family's masters were not at peace because of Wang Zisheng, and the Wang family's servants were trembling with fear.

"My nephew is incompetent!"

Jia Zhu, whose eyes were red from crying, was on the verge of tears in front of Wang Ziteng. "The maid who called my second aunt 'second uncle' is dead."

He didn't use that much force.

He wanted to extract a confession slowly.

But when I went back this morning, the maid had already committed suicide.

"...What about her family?"

The veins on Wang Ziteng's forehead were throbbing.

Did you think that death was the end of it?
He wanted to grind her entire family to dust.

"Her father died when she was young, and her mother and brother also died four years ago."

Jia Zhu lowered her head and said, "It was my second uncle and aunt. They were angry with their previous mistress and took it out on her mother and brother. They were both beaten and died because they didn't receive timely medical treatment."

Wang Ziteng: "..."

“She was promoted from a lowly maidservant and has been following my second aunt for the past two years. She must have been thinking about revenge all along,” Jia Zhu said. “But this is something she couldn’t have done alone. Someone must have noticed her and made contact with her first.”

It's infuriating that once this lead is cut off, it will be difficult to investigate further.

"...How did she die?"

Wang Ziteng couldn't resist going to see it.

"Hit the pillar!"

Hitting a pillar?

Wang Ziteng gritted his teeth, "She didn't even hit the pillar when she was being tortured last night, how come..."

She didn't have a chance last night.

Jia Zhu shook his head and said, "The rope that tied her up was worn down little by little. We have already consulted a coroner we know. He said she killed herself by hitting her head against a pillar after the rope was worn down."

"Was she alone at the time?"

Wang Ziteng looked at his good nephew and couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

“My nephew is afraid that there are still her accomplices in the mansion, so the few people with problems are being kept in separate custody.”

Wang Ziteng: "..."

He was breathing heavily.

Jia Zhu was also very upset. "My nephew even specially assigned guards. It's hateful that those servants thought it was almost dawn and that nothing much had happened. One went to fetch hot water, one went to get breakfast, and two others went to the outhouse."

"Beat them! Beat them all, beat them hard!"

Wang Ziteng was furious.

"Yes!"

After working for a day and a night, Wang Jin quickly ran out the moment he was glared at.

Jia Zhu remained silent.

He knew he hadn't handled the matter properly.

I should have told my uncle last night.

But his eldest uncle had finally managed to get a short nap, and he couldn't bear to...

"Never mind, this matter must be related to the military."

The most crucial issue remains with that military horse.

Wang Ziteng looked at his younger brother across from him, feeling full of regret and resentment. "Zhu'er, go back and find your elder brother Zhen from the East Mansion and ask him for help."

"……Yes!"

Jia Zhu agreed.

It is neither appropriate nor feasible.

To outsiders, the Wang and Jia families were essentially in cahoots.

"I'll go back and find Brother Zhen right away."

He also looked at his second uncle, who had stayed up all night and whose face was even more ashen, and felt a pang of sadness. "Uncle, you...you must take care of yourself too."

"Don't worry!" Wang Ziteng's eyes fell on his younger brother. "Uncle will not fall until this grudge is avenged."

The situation in the capital garrison is complicated. Those who are also from the retired emperor's faction want to remove him and take over themselves, while those from the emperor's faction... are even more so.

There were also several of the prince's men inside, and they all wanted to bring him down...

Wang Ziteng ground his teeth again. "Help me lie down first, then you can go."

He needs to sleep; he needs to recover from his injury as soon as possible.

Otherwise, would he still have a place in the Beijing garrison if he returned?

"Remember, speak to your Brother Zhen carefully, and don't choke on your words."

"Don't worry, Uncle. Brother Zhen has always been very good to me."

Jia Zhu helped him lie down and tucked the blanket around him. "He'll definitely help with the Beijing garrison."

The Beijing Garrison was once my great-grandfather's domain. Almost all the officers there had been his soldiers.

It was he who gradually helped them rise through the ranks.

My maternal uncle's transfer to the Beijing garrison was the result of the combined efforts of the two government offices.

As he mounted his horse and left the palace, Jia Zhu couldn't help but look back one last time.

He feared that his overly arrogant eldest uncle would devour the Jia family, ultimately harming both himself and others. However, he also feared that the people behind the scenes who were attacking his eldest and second uncles were either targeting the two families or... trying to sow discord between them.

Without the eldest uncle, the Jia family is like a toothless tiger.

Without Jia's eldest maternal uncle, even if he remained the military governor of the capital, it would be a title without real power.

Jia Zhu only hoped that the two families could continue to support each other as before.

His horse quickly started running.

At this moment, Jia Zhen was accompanying Shen Ning for a stroll in Huifang Garden.

The spring sunshine was just right, and Shen Ning was very content, strolling around, stopping to bask in the sun.

"When we get there, read me a passage from the Book of Songs!"

what?
Jia Zhen was stunned.

I'd heard that whenever Rong-ge'er came to pay his respects to his mother, he would recite everything from the Thousand Character Classic to Tang and Song poems, but he...

He'd long forgotten everything about the Book of Songs!

"What are you thinking about?"

Shen Ning rolled her eyes at him. "I asked you to read it, not memorize it."

She didn't think as highly of him as her eldest son thought. "Your sister must really enjoy reading. She always moves around a lot when Rong-ge is reciting his lessons."

Jia Zhen: "..."

I'm so worried!

Ideally, it should be a younger sister; definitely not a younger brother.

The West Mansion was favored because Zheng Shu loved reading.

"It's done!"

Despite his inner turmoil, Jia Zhen smiled and said, "I'll read it to her."

With their father away, he, as the older brother, had to bear the burden more.

"By the way, you've already given Yingchun a copy of the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government), so why are you still reading the Book of Songs to your younger sister?"

With a touch of mischievousness, Jia Zhen said, "Otherwise, I'll read the Zizhi Tongjian to her!"

"also!"

Shen Ning didn't notice, "Qingzhu, go back and bring me the Tang Dynasty Chronicles that you didn't finish reading yesterday."

"Yes!"

Qingzhu hurried off to find a book.

Now, she reads to her wife every night.

Last night I read the eighth volume of the Tang Dynasty section of the Zizhi Tongjian.

"Mother, are you really reading the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government)?"

Jia Zhen suddenly felt his future was bleak.

If everyone in the family goes to school, but he doesn't...

He knew that Ms. You had been reading recently.

The other day before I went to bed, I wrote a large character.

Oh my god, are they going to leave him no way out?

"Ok!"

Shen Ning nodded with a smile, "I'll have Qingzhu read it to me."

At this point, she seemed to have thought of something, "I'll have Madam You set up two literacy classes in the mansion later! The servants and maids can all learn something; it'll be a skill for them."

"……become!"

As long as it doesn't harm him, that's fine.

Jia Zhen is still under a lot of pressure. "When I get back, I'll tell her that she's been studying recently, just like you."

"Is not it good?"

"it is good!"

Jia Zhen didn't dare hesitate for a moment, "My son wanted to praise her to you."

"That's pretty much it."

Shen Ning said slowly, "Reading makes one wise and leads to a bright future! You're so old now, I don't expect you to achieve anything in your studies, but you should still read the Great Zhao Code more often, as well as the court's gazette. Not only should you read it, but the guards and schools should also read it."

The former is to restrain people from doing things they shouldn't do, while the latter is to enable people to open their eyes to the world.

(End of this chapter)