The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 64 Stabilize (Second Update)
At Rongguo Mansion, Jia Zheng's face was covered in blood from his nose. One of his eyes swelled up at an alarming rate, and he also had bleeding from multiple teeth, two of which were loose.

oops~
Grandmother Jia was heartbroken. "You wretched child, how could you beat your own brother like this? Are you trying to kill him? Don't you have any respect for your ancestors? Don't you have any respect for your old mother?"

"...Then why don't you ask him what he did and what he said?"

Jia She, filled with resentment and pent-up grief and anger, screamed, "Old lady," he would never call her mother again, "I accept your favoritism, but I don't accept that I have no respect for our ancestors. You should ask your good second son if he has any respect for the Jia family's ancestors, and if he treats me as his brother."

His eyes were red, and he clutched his chest. "My son died, and my wife died in childbirth. I'll never get over what happened that day. Is he even my brother? Ask him what he's saying."

Jia She struggled to stay upright, glaring angrily at Jia Zheng, "Besides being a bully at home, what other skills do you have? People treat you like a fool, and you just stand there grinning like an idiot, thinking you're in control of everything?"
I bother!

What do you mean by being good at studying? Have you ever passed the imperial examination to become a scholar?

"You've been in the Ministry of Works for so many years, besides going to drink tea and read the official gazette, what else have you done?"

He almost shouted the last sentence.

When Jia Zhen arrived, he saw Jia She clutching his chest, using all his strength to suppress his trembling and control his body. Startled, he quickly stepped forward to support him. "Uncle She, let's go offer incense to Aunt and Brother Hu."

When he was young, he only felt sorry for his younger brother and was not moved by his aunt's difficult childbirth.

But now that it's his mother's turn, Jia Zhen finally understands how painful it is to be a close relative.

Moreover, Uncle She not only lost his wife that day, but also his son.

Jia Zhen held Jia She tightly, feeling that he was the one who was most seriously injured in the fight, and quickly added, "They will be sad to see you like this."

"..."

With immense sorrow and despair in his eyes, Jia She shook off Jia Zhen, staggered out, and ran towards the ancestral hall, where his ancestors, his father, his wife, and his son were.

All those who care about him are there.

Jia Zhen followed at a distance, not allowing the servants to get too close. As he watched Jia Zhen head towards the ancestral hall of the Ningguo Mansion, he quickly waved his hand to signal the people around him to stay away.

Jia She opened the ancestral hall door, but then quickly closed it again. Soon after, loud wailing could be heard from inside.

Jia Zhen sighed slightly. It was good that he could cry. He moved aside to avoid the situation, but unexpectedly bumped into his son, who was happily heading towards his mother after school.

"Rong'er."

"Father!"

Jia Rong was no longer as afraid of his father as before. Upon hearing this, he hurried over, "What are you doing...?"

Just as he was about to ask you how you got here, he seemed to hear a voice, "Father, at the ancestral hall..."

“It’s your Uncle She from the West Mansion.”

Jia Zhen didn't want to say it, but with the family in trouble, his son could no longer remain oblivious as before. "He was crying for his wife who died in childbirth and his son who drowned."

Jia Rong: "..."

It's shocking that, even though it's neither a holiday nor a festival, it seems like they've already observed a day of death and sacrifice.

Uncle Lian rarely celebrates his birthday because of his deceased mother and brother, but isn't Uncle Lian's birthday the ninth day of the lunar month? It's been almost ten days since then.

"Uncle She...did the old lady upset you again?"

Jia Rong pointed to the west and secretly asked his father.

"I was upset, but the sight of it also made me feel sad."

Jia Zhen lifted his sleeve to show his son the bruises on his arm. "If it weren't for your Uncle She stopping me today, your father would have already killed someone."

He slowly recounted what had happened that day, “...Rong’er, your father is useless. People have come to bully our home, and we don’t even know who our enemy is.”

Jia Rong: "..."

He saw his father's eyes redden, and thinking of his grandmother's current situation, he couldn't help but clench his hands tightly.

“But I will remember this grudge, and you will remember it too.” Jia Zhen listened to the weeping coming from the ancestral hall and said in a low voice, “The Ning and Rong mansions, two generations of four dukes, as their descendants, we should not be like this.”

To place one's hopes on the emperor or the retired emperor, or on the favors bestowed upon them by ancestors, is a joke.

Jia Zhen now deeply regrets his lack of intelligence. If he had his father's abilities, who would dare to bully him like this?
It's a pity that the Jia family was so deeply involved with the military. To put the two superiors at ease, his father not only didn't inherit the title, but also didn't stay at home. Otherwise, why would things have come to this?
Jia Zhen missed his father terribly, and had nowhere to vent his frustration.

"Rong'er, you must study hard and become like your grandfather, someone who, just by standing there, makes people dare not act rashly."

Jia Rong: "..."

He pursed his lips and didn't say anything.

Everyone says my grandfather was amazing, but didn't he still end up binding himself to the Taoist temple?

Now he has gone down the path of seeking immortality and enlightenment, never to return, and has even abandoned his grandmother and the whole family.

He didn't want to be like his grandfather, someone who only knew how to run away; he wanted to be better than his grandfather.

“Your grandmother doesn’t know about the two midwives yet,” Jia Zhen said, unaware that his son was refuting him from inside his belly. “When you go over there for dinner, don’t let it slip.”

"...My son knows."

Jia Rong hesitated for a moment, "Have you already hired other midwives at home?"

"Please."

Jia Zhen sighed, "It's just that your grandmother is old, and giving birth to your aunt was already a huge hurdle, so we had to find a new one..."

"Grandmother said that my aunt's birthday should be in early April."

Jia Rong said, "Today is March 19th. If Grandmother can stabilize the situation, can we train another midwife that she knows and can trust?"

This?
Jia Zhen looked into his son's clear eyes, swallowed hard, and asked, "Do you think your grandmother can keep things calm?"

"For my aunt's sake, I will force myself to stay calm even if I can't keep her calm."

This this?

It seems to make sense.

His mother can be very formidable when she gets angry.

Jia Zhen let out a long breath and then inhaled again, "Then tomorrow, when we can no longer hide it, you..."

"Let me tell you."

Jia Rong didn't want to put his father in a difficult position, so he agreed, "Father, don't worry, I'll think it over and say something."

"Okay! Okay!"

Jia Zhen patted his son's shoulder excitedly, overjoyed, "If you can help your grandmother get through this ordeal, I will reward you with a hot spring resort in the suburbs of Beijing."

Jia Rong: "..."

His father's brain really isn't working very well.

“You should still be filial to your grandmother!” he said. “Grandmother said last time that she was going to stay at the hot spring resort this winter to learn how to swim. If I go there, I will have to learn too.”

Jia Zhen: "..."

He hadn't studied any of it.

Huh? Now is not the time to dwell on this issue. As long as everything is alright, it doesn't matter what happens.

"Fine, you're the one who doesn't want it."

Relaxing, he quickly urged them on, "Hurry up and go, or your grandmother will get worried."