The Cloud Feather of the Red Chamber: A Marriage Arranged with Gong Yuanzheng at the Start

Gong Zishang immediately sat up straight, staring intently at the painting in the air; the part she had been most looking forward to was about to begin.

She had a feeling that she could learn a great deal from this painting.

Inside the study, Jia Min looked at Lin Qingyue with gentle eyes. It was both a good thing and a bad thing that her daughter had been taught to be warm and kind.

“Yue’er, I should have taught you these things when you were in charge of the household.”

Jia Min sighed, "Yu'er and Qingyu are both frail, and I devote most of my attention to them."

"The Lin family has strict rules and a small population. It's not like you've seen these messy things before."

"Now that you are married, you will inevitably have to represent the palace and deal with those official families in the future. You should also understand these methods."

"There are some things you don't have to do, but you still need to know the ins and outs of them."

"Especially in the inner quarters, the methods of the ladies and young misses are truly deadly without shedding blood."

Jia Min's gaze shifted to Gong Yuanzheng, who reflexively sat up straight.

“Yuanzheng, since you have decided to help Shangjiao in the future, you should learn more about these methods.”

"The methods of women in the inner quarters are nothing compared to those of the imperial court."

These few sentences instantly piqued the interest of everyone in the palace. Gong Zishang carefully explained the situation to the person taking notes.

"I must remember every single word Madam Lin said!"

After saying so much, Jia Min picked up her teacup, moistened her throat, and then looked at Gong Yuanzheng again.

"Yuanzheng, for you, the easiest way to kill is by poisoning, isn't it?"

Gong Yuanzheng nodded, "Isn't that right? Just sprinkle some poison down, simple and brutal."

If you feel that dying too quickly is too easy for the other party, then use a more potent poison.

Jia Min laughed, "In the inner quarters, poisoning is actually the most low-level method."

"If things get out of hand and attract government investigation, it's easy to expose even more problems."

"In these large, secluded courtyards, who can guarantee that their own house will be completely clean?"

"If you're going to kill someone, you can't let anyone find any evidence against you."

"Didn't you see that we were far away in Yangzhou? The poison that the Wang family used to kill us was all developed by you?"

“Ordinary poisons are too blatant; the Wang family dares not use them.”

Upon hearing Jia Min mention this matter, Gong Yuanzheng felt nothing but hatred.

If he had killed that assassin with a single sword strike back then, Yue'er wouldn't have suffered like this!

Lin Qingyue keenly sensed his change in mood and immediately placed her hand on the back of his hand.

The soft, warm palms soothed the resentment in Gong Yuanzheng's heart.

He turned to look at Lin Qingyue, and from her calm and gentle eyes, Gong Yuanzheng knew that his Yue'er had never blamed him.

Ignoring the young couple's exchange of glances, Jia Min began to recount past events in a melancholy tone.

"Before the new emperor ascended the throne, he had two major supporters: his wife's family and his mentor, the Zhang family, who were his mentors."

"As the new emperor grew older, his reputation for virtue spread throughout the court, and the retired emperor became increasingly wary of him."

"In ordinary families, the eldest son's success is naturally a cause for great joy, but this is the royal family."

"At that time, the retired emperor was in his prime, and the new emperor's prestige was the same as his, or even surpassed his. How could he tolerate that?"

"The first to suffer was Grand Tutor Zhang, and my late sister-in-law was the eldest daughter of the Zhang family."

"A fabricated charge forced Grand Tutor Zhang to commit suicide by crashing his head against a pillar in court."

“All the male members of the Zhang family were exiled to harsh and cold places, and the female members were sent to the brothels.”

"The Zhang family, a distinguished and prestigious family for centuries, collapsed overnight."

"The misfortune does not extend to married women, so my sister-in-law is naturally fine, but she can't help it because there are wolves and tigers watching her home."

“My eldest brother was raised by my grandmother from a young age, so naturally he wasn’t as close to my mother. My mother also favored my second brother’s family and wanted him to inherit everything from the Duke’s mansion.”

“But she was powerless against my elder brother. As the Crown Prince’s tutor, and with his wife’s family being the Grand Tutor of the court, she could only keep her thoughts to herself.”

"The downfall of the Zhang family gave her hope, so she conspired with the Wang family to set a deadly trap for my sister-in-law!"

Tears welled up in Jia Min's eyes. She closed them, trying to calm herself down. After a long while, she opened her eyes and looked at Lin Qingyue.

"Yue'er, do you know that you have an older cousin?"

Lin Qingyue naturally knew who Jia Min was referring to; it was Jia She's eldest son, Jia Hu.

“I know. I’ve heard my father mention that Brother Hu is exceptionally intelligent. I heard that he could compose poems on the spot when he was only five years old.”

"Yes, Hu-ge'er has been intelligent since childhood. I'm afraid there are few people in the entire capital who can compare to him."

"The new emperor once jokingly said that he would marry his eldest daughter to Hu Ge'er, and the retired emperor praised Hu Ge'er highly."

"Our Jia family comes from a military background, yet we have produced such an outstanding scholar. It must be a stroke of good luck from our ancestors!"

Jia Min praised with a smile, but a hint of tears flashed in her eyes.

"It was this very intelligence that ruined Hu Ge'er."

"With the Zhang family in trouble and the new emperor trapped in the palace, unable to offer any assistance, my elder brother is naturally doing everything he can to help the Yue family."

"At that time, the retired emperor had only cut off one of the new emperor's arms; he had not yet considered deposing the new emperor from his position as crown prince."

"He will not completely wipe out the Zhang family, and he will turn a blind eye to what his elder brother has done."

“My mother used this as an excuse to obstruct my elder brother’s rescue efforts in every possible way. In order to safely send all the Zhang family members out of the capital, my elder brother moved out to live elsewhere.”

"This is exactly what Mother wanted."

"At that time, my sister-in-law was already more than eight months pregnant. Her family had suffered such a misfortune, and she was already in a state of unease. She also had to spare energy to deal with her mother-in-law's difficult behavior."

"After only a few days, her spirits had deteriorated significantly, so she asked for leave and confined everyone in the main house to the garden, hoping to wait peacefully until her eldest brother returned home."

Jia Min's voice trembled, and she paused for a long while before continuing:

"First, something happened at the home of Hu Ge'er's wet nurse. Her son was stabbed several times by a rogue on his way home from the private school and was in critical condition. The wet nurse asked for leave and hurriedly returned home."

“The next day, an orphan girl suddenly came to the door, carrying a letter written by my eldest brother. In the letter, she said that she was pregnant and asked my sister-in-law to take good care of her.”

"Judging from the dates, the woman became pregnant around the time of Zhang Taifu's funeral."

"My sister-in-law and brother have a deep bond, so she naturally doesn't believe this, but she still brought the girl into the courtyard, waiting for my brother to return so she can deal with it."

"That very afternoon, the eldest sister-in-law's personal maid and Hu Ge'er's head maid were caught in the act by Wang Shi."

“The inner quarters are all occupied by women. Now, these two women, both head maids of their masters, are mingling in the inner quarters. What family could tolerate such a scandal?”

"No matter how much my sister-in-law pleaded or how much the two maids cried out for justice, they couldn't stop my mother from beating those two maids to death."

“With her relatives, husband, and confidants all getting into trouble one after another, even if my sister-in-law is very determined, she will inevitably be affected.”

"She also knew that all of this was aimed at the eldest son's family. After she became pregnant, the power to manage the household fell into the hands of Wang Shi."

"All she could do was have someone notify her elder brother as soon as possible, while she herself temporarily avoided the limelight and stayed indoors with Hu Ge'er."

"In this world, there are only those who steal for a thousand days, not those who guard against thieves for a thousand days."

"No matter how precocious Hu Ge'er is, he is still a child and is always unguarded with his relatives."

"The eldest daughter of the second wife, Wang's biological daughter, now the Dowager Consort Jia, wrote a letter to Hu Ge'er, saying that she had just acquired a chess manual and invited him to play chess together."

"The meeting place isn't far, it's just the lakeside pavilion closest to the main house, and it won't take more than fifteen minutes to get there and back."

"But now their mothers both have a grudge against each other, so they want Hu Ge'er to keep it a secret. She also wants to keep her visit to Hu Ge'er a secret."

"Hu Ge'er couldn't figure it out, but his sister-in-law immediately guessed that something bad was going to happen and rushed to the pavilion in the middle of the lake."

"I slipped on a wet patch as soon as I left the hospital and was immediately taken to the delivery room."

"During the delivery, the young maid was so panicked that she ran into the delivery room and yelled at her sister-in-law."

"Hu Ge'er has drowned!"

Both inside and outside the painting, there was utter silence.

Gong Zishang couldn't help but rub his arms. It was terrifying, truly terrifying!

Hearing this gave her goosebumps.

She has witnessed firsthand what true, bloodless murder looks like today.

Young Master Xue couldn't help but move closer to Xue Chongzi, a hint of fear appearing in his eyes for the first time.

“I was already married at the time, but after receiving the news, I rushed to the Duke’s mansion.”

"On the way, I encountered a drunkard who spooked his horse, and I fell off the carriage."

Jia Min placed her hand on her abdomen, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Yue'er, you originally had an older brother or sister."

She was only a little over a month pregnant at the time, and she hadn't even realized it herself.

Lin Qingyue felt a chill run down her spine, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Gong Yuanzheng was stunned, but he immediately noticed Lin Qingyue's unusual behavior and sat down next to her to transfer his internal energy to her.

"Yue'er, it's okay, this kind of thing will never happen in our family."

The capital is dangerous, and the wealthy and powerful are in great danger!

Young Master Xue really didn't want to leave the palace. Compared to the outside world, the palace was still the safest place.

Xue Zhongzi patted Xue Gongzi reassuringly and looked at Gong Zishang.

"Zhi Ren, are all these coincidences man-made?"

Gong Zishang slowly exhaled, "That's why it's so scary. It's all a coincidence. Even if the government investigates, they won't find a single piece of evidence."

“Those scoundrels who stabbed the wet nurse’s son can be bribed with money, but judging from Wang’s methods, she will likely silence them after the deed is done.”

“A handwritten letter can be forged; an orphan can easily find one.”

Gong Zishang couldn't help but shudder. "The old lady and Wang Shi must have guessed that, given that lady's personality, she would take the orphan girl to the main house."

"The matter of those two maids and the premature birth of that lady were probably both the work of that orphan girl."

As Gong Zishang spoke, she couldn't help but gasp.

They were incredibly shrewd, calculating every aspect of people's personalities perfectly.

These are all just Gong Zishang's guesses, but even such guesses are enough to alarm those in the palace.

In the painting, Jia Min spoke again, and what she said was basically consistent with Gong Zishang's guess.

"When my elder brother returned to the mansion, he found the bodies of my sister-in-law and Hu'er. Lian'er had already been taken back to her room by my mother."

"After his investigation, all the evidence pointed to the orphan girl."

"The orphan girl said frankly that a year ago, her elder brother rescued her from the bandits, but he did not make any arrangements for her future."

"She was forced into prostitution, and she came to the Jia family for revenge."

After saying this, the orphan girl ran straight into the wall and died.

Young Master Xue's face turned pale instantly.

Gong Zishang silently shrank back, suddenly wanting to hug herself tightly.

"If Zhou Rui's wife hadn't succumbed to the poison from the expedition and revealed everything, I'm afraid these truths would never have been known to anyone."

Jia Min's expression turned somewhat cold in an instant.

“I will absolutely not let Wang Shi go. Letting her die would be too easy for her.”

"I want her alive to watch me destroy everything she wants!"

"She'll never be able to leave the ancestral temple for the rest of her life!"

"She wants Baoyu to inherit the Duke's mansion, so I want her son to live a mediocre life and never achieve anything in his official career!"

"She wants Jia Yuanchun to hold a high position and enjoy eternal honor, but I want Jia Yuanchun to suffer endless torment in the harem and be forever inferior to others!"

Speaking of Jia Yuanchun, Jia Min practically gritted her teeth.

"After becoming a concubine, she actually instigated the Emperor Emeritus to issue an edict to bestow a marriage upon Yu'er and Baoyu. What a shameless person she is!"

At this point, Jia Min slammed her teacup down, clearly quite angry.

Gong Yuanzheng stared at the shards of the teacup, blinked, and couldn't help but ask, "Mother, you said it yourself, now that Jia Yuanchun is in the harem, how are you going to take revenge?"

Jia Min glanced at Gong Yuanzheng with a half-smile, "Xiaoxue should really hear about these things too. Reading those storybooks all day long only makes her dumber."

"Young Master Xue, '...' Thank you, I heard you. Also, I think storybooks suit me better."

"Yuanzheng, do you think those noble ladies who marry into the palace are fighting over the emperor's shallow love?"

"How could a daughter carefully raised by a prestigious family have such shallow knowledge?"

"They represent the families behind them, and what they are fighting for is the power of this country."

"It is said that the empress dowager should not interfere in politics, but the empress dowager is closely related to the court."

Besides "terrifying," Gong Zishang couldn't think of any other word.

If all those noble ladies who are so skilled in these methods gather together, how many conspiracies and schemes must be taking place in the palace?

Just thinking about it makes Gong Zishang gasp.