Chapter 101: The Law of Lineage and the Grace of Kinship

Chen Chen Minyan thought back to when he first came to the capital to take the exams, his clothes were thin, his pockets were empty, and he studied hard without rest. Wasn't it all for the sake of today's noble status?

If Jia Cong were the son of another high official, perhaps Chen Chen Minyan would have had some scruples in his heart.

Knowing that Jia Cong was the son of the declining noble Jia family, he had no scruples...

Since the death of Jia Jia Daishan, the Lady Rongguo Jia family had left two sons, one an official with an inherited title and one an official with a noble title, a pair of wine bags and rice sacks. The Jia family had long since become a toothless paper tiger.

What do civil officials despise most in the court? Isn't it these nobles who sit in their positions and enjoy wealth and honor?

An absurd noble and the illegitimate son born to a top courtesan—he reported to dismiss this person's top scholar name. It wouldn't make the academic forest feel cold as Guo Guo Youchang said.

It would only make those civil officials in the court who were unwilling to be subordinates and regarded nobles as enemies celebrate, praising him, Censor Chen, for not fearing the powerful and having a heart like the sun and moon, and for being a model of nobility in the court.

Does a Censor do it for a mere Grade 7 official title and that meager salary? Of course not.

The most precious wealth of a Censor is reputation. With reputation as a foundation, one can climb the blue clouds again in the official career!

He cursed in his heart: What kind of dog-shit Censor? He doesn't do his proper job, but he has studied how to take concubines so thoroughly. He doesn't look like a good person at all. Why be a Censor? Going to a flower house to be an old pimp would be more appropriate!

Guo Guo Youchang was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and was deeply versed in the Great Zhou ritual laws.

At this time, there were many hereditary nobles in the court who had friendships with the Jia family. These people had always been mocked by civil officials as vulgar, but now a noble family had actually produced a top scholar in the preliminary exam.

It was only in the past two years that Jia Cong had started to show his head in the Jia Manor, but they mostly saw legitimate sons like Jia Lady Lian and Jia Rong when they visited.

The Jia family had always despised Jia Cong's birth mother, Du Du Jinniang. The so-called parental consent, the offering of assets, and the three rituals of the main wife serving tea were all abandoned. Where did the saying of being a concubine of the eldest branch of the Lady Rongguo Manor come from?

It gave these nobles a sense of shared honor. That Jia family kid who appeared out of nowhere—didn't it just show that what those civil officials said before was all farting?

But outsiders didn't know these things. They said they knew Jia Cong, but there was no way to check. It was nothing more than everyone being in the same party of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes, always supporting each other.

This son of Lady Rongguo, born to a top courtesan, winning the top scholar of the preliminary exam, defying the world—this was the foundation of his, Censor Chen's, reputation!

He couldn't help but feel his blood boil, and he said loudly: "Lord Guo is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He should know that everything in the world must follow rituals."

"Taking a concubine has always required following the three rituals: parental consent, offering of assets, and the main wife serving tea. Only when these three rituals are complete can it be a clear proof of taking a concubine."

"But according to what the subordinate knows, Jia Cong's mother was pregnant when she was brought into the Jia Manor to give birth. The former Duke Lady Rongguo was so angry that he fell ill and eventually died of depression, which is closely related to this matter."

"Since Du Du Jinniang is not Jia She's concubine, then Jia Cong is not the legitimate bloodline of the Lady Rongguo Jia family. He is the illegitimate son of the top courtesan Du Du Jinniang. Naturally, he has no qualifications for the imperial examinations. How can he be the top scholar!"

Chen Chen Minyan's macro-theory from a different path left the ministers in the court dumbfounded. Such a thing could actually be argued like this!

There were even some upright noble military officials who couldn't stand this bird Censor being so eloquent.

However, outsiders didn't know these things. They said they knew Jia Cong, but there was no way to check. It was nothing more than everyone being in the same party of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes, always supporting each other.

This son of Lady Rongguo, born to a top courtesan, winning the top scholar of the preliminary exam, defying the world—this was the foundation of his, Censor Chen's, reputation!

Niu Jizong, the First-Class Count of the Zhenguo Duke, and Liu Fang, the First-Class Viscount of the Liguo Duke, and other military nobles came out to speak. It was nothing more than daily interactions with the Jia family, and they all knew Jia Cong, this descendant of the eldest branch, and so on.

This made the debate, which was originally just between Guo Guo Youchang and Chen Chen Minyan, unexpectedly expand into a melee between the civil and military ranks.

If it weren't for the Censor of Ceremonies reprimanding them on the side.

Some hot-tempered military nobles might have punched the arrogant civil officials. There was an unusual state of disorder in the court.

If someone wanted to dismiss the top scholar kid of the Jia family, one was to share a common hatred, and the other was to share weal and woe as fellow nobles. If they didn't express their stance at this moment, it wouldn't look good for everyone's face in the future.

Some civil and military officials were dragged out to speak, and the court was full of noise and flying spit.

Guo Lin, who was standing beside Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, looked at the strange scene in the court, his mouth wide open in shock. This kid named Jia Cong was truly evil; he could actually make the court officials stir up into such a state.

Guo Lin saw that Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's face was a bit gloomy, his heart jumped, and he sang in a sharp voice: "Silence!"

The voice was sharp and ear-piercing, pouring into the eardrums of every court official. The originally noisy court suddenly became quiet.

The ministers saw that Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's face was unhappy, and they were all a bit anxious, hurriedly standing back to their ranks.

Only then did they hear Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao say: "The former Duke Lady Rongguo was a meritorious official and should not be lightly insulted. This matter concerns the private secrets of the Lady Rongguo Manor."

"This matter is not suitable for court discussion. Wait for the Ministry of Rites Left Vice Minister Guo Guo Youchang to verify Jia Cong's identity before making a decision."

Chen Chen Minyan originally saw that this matter had actually triggered a court discussion between civil and military officials, and he was a bit excited, wanting to strike while the iron was hot to make the dismissal of Jia Cong's top scholar name a reality.

But he didn't expect that the Emperor would lightly say it was not suitable for court discussion, and the matter was temporarily suppressed. He had to give up for now. Did he dare to offend the Emperor's face directly?

Fortunately, the matter had already been exposed. Today's court discussion would spread throughout the Divine Capital tomorrow.

By then, Jia Cong's reputation would be ruined. Even if he was not the son of a courtesan, the court would have to dismiss his top scholar name for the sake of face!

At this time, another person walked out from the Censorate ranks, who was the Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Liu Yuqing.

People like Niu Jizong were muttering in their hearts: Is the Censorate going to take over the court today? These people with tongues have too many things to do.

"I report to the Emperor, the minister, Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Yuqing, impeaches the Ministry of Works Vice Minister Li Dekang for ignoring the fact that the court discussion on the Empress Dowager Xinxiao's prayer at the Daci'en Temple has not been decided, and arbitrarily transporting materials and craftsmen to Jinling."

"And appointing Ministry of Works officials to Jinling to start the construction of the temple. This is a violation of the Emperor's will and private use of national equipment. The minister requests the Emperor to punish him!"

The ministers in the court had different expressions when they heard this. Liu Liu Yuqing was impeaching the Ministry of Works for arbitrarily starting the construction of the Daci'en Temple, but in fact, he was obstructing the Emperor from building a temple to pray for his birth mother.

This matter had been a common topic in the court since the beginning of the year when the Emperor wanted to build the Daci'en Temple in Jinling, the hometown of his birth mother, Empress Dowager Xinxiao, which had led to much discussion in the court.

The officials who opposed this matter mainly came from the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate, and the reason was that this move did not conform to the national dynasty's ancestral ritual laws.

The current Emperor's legitimate mother, Empress Dowager Yizhang, was still in the middle palace, but the Emperor wanted to build a temple and set up a monument to pray for his late birth mother, Empress Dowager Xinxiao.

The two Empress Dowagers were both alive and dead; how could they be compared? It was contrary to filial piety and ritual law.

The law of lineage and the grace of kinship—which is more important? This is a dispute over ancient ritual laws, especially in the Heavenly Family. Once a precedent is formed, it will even affect the continuation of the imperial lineage in the future, as well as the trend of folk customs.

Among them, the Great Minister of Rites Li Jizong, the Ministry of Rites Left Vice Minister Guo Guo Youchang, and the Censorate Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Liu Yuqing were all leaders who opposed this matter.

Yesterday, the Great Minister of Rites Li Jizong was unwell and did not attend the court today. The Ministry of Rites officials in the court were led by the Ministry of Rites Left Vice Minister Guo Guo Youchang.

Now that the Ministry of Rites was impeached by Censor Chen Chen Minyan because Jia Cong's background was suspected, the two sides had formed a rift.

Just now, Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Liu Yuqing impeached the Ministry of Works for arbitrarily starting the construction of the temple, but Guo Guo Youchang stood there calmly.

Many court officials knew that building a temple to pray for his birth mother was the Emperor's heart disease, but it had been repeatedly opposed by the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate on the grounds that it did not conform to ancestral ritual laws.

This time, Liu Liu Yuqing borrowed the name of the Ministry of Works to raise another issue. I'm afraid the Emperor would be furious.

However, the court officials did not see Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's furious expression. Instead, his expression was calm, and it was impossible to see whether he was happy or angry, and they didn't know what the Emperor was thinking.

Only Guo Lin, who was standing beside Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, noticed that when Liu Liu Yuqing impeached Ministry of Works Vice Minister Li Li Dekang, the Emperor's eyes looked at Guo Guo Youchang, who was standing in the Ministry of Rites ranks.

On the matter of building a temple to pray for Empress Dowager Xinxiao, Guo Youchang, who had always been in the same breath as the Censorate, did not echo Liu Yuqing's impeachment of the Ministry of Works this time.

Guo Lin, who had always been good at secretly guessing the Emperor's will, felt that he seemed to understand something.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 102 =====

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