Chapter 102

The sky was slightly bright, and Jia Cong woke up as usual.

Seeing Wu'er sleeping soundly on the couch in front of the bed, a head of cloud-like hair was piled up by the pillow in thousands of threads.

Her pretty and exquisite little face was flushed with two blushes, delicate as a flower, her right hand stretched out from the quilt, her plain white soft light gauze undergarment was rubbed up, revealing a section of white wrist that surpassed frost and snow.

Jia Cong stared at that section of wrist, actually giving birth to an impulse to touch it.

However, he didn't get up; he knew that Wu'er slept very alertly, and as long as he got up, he would wake her up.

Ever since she heard that Jia Cong was reported and might lose his merit, Qingwen cursed the reporting students and shed tears in worry.

Wu'er was more thoughtful than Qingwen and worried in her heart, fearing that she would touch Jia Cong's pain, so she didn't show it in front of Jia Cong.

It was just that her complexion was much worse; yesterday it was her turn to keep watch at night, and Jia Cong heard her tossing and turning all night without sleeping, only falling asleep until the sky was slightly bright.

He lay there admiring Wu'er's beautiful sleeping posture for a long time, her eyelashes curled, her chest rising and falling, warm and fragrant, like jade soaking in fragrance.

Jia Lian didn't care at all whether this brother could be the top rank; these few days he was having fun with the wife of Bao Er in the East Branch, so what did the top rank have to do with him.

These two days he hadn't even crossed the gate of the Qingzhi Zhai courtyard, as if the monstrous wind and waves outside had nothing to do with him.

The day before yesterday, the prefectural examination students gathered at the Ministry of Rites' South Court yamen to report the top rank of the current prefectural examination.

How many people had come to offer congratulations in these few days; now it was good, the old face of the Jia family was about to be torn off.

And Jia Cong, who was at the center of the storm, although a bit silent, didn't show resentment or panic, still getting up early to write and study.

Listen to the Master's words, read some books, and have a future plan in the future, which made Baoyu feel uncomfortable.

Feng Jie was a strong one; Jia Cong, who was like a frozen cat a few years ago, was becoming more and more outstanding, and she began to look at him with high regard, but she didn't expect him to encounter such bad luck, so her heart turned cold.

A few days ago, although the Jia Prefecture couldn't be counted as a bustling market, there were relatives and guests coming from time to time to offer congratulations on Jia Cong being named the top rank of the prefectural examination.

Yesterday, the Censor of the Censorate in the court impeached the Ministry of Rites for negligence and petitioned the court to dismiss Jia Cong's top rank merit.

These messages spread like wildfire, and now everyone in the Jia Prefecture knew about it.

Lady Wang saw that Baoyu was absent-minded, and only after asking did she know that because Jia Cong achieved the top rank, the sisters in the garden hosted a celebration for Jia Cong and also called Baoyu to go along, but Baoyu returned like this.

No one knows a son like his mother; how could Lady Wang not know why Baoyu would be like this? Her own son was born with jade in his mouth and was originally so noble, but now he had to suffer such idle anger.

In these two years, they had been together day and night on Mount Luocang, so how could Jia Cong not know Wu'er's heart? This was a girl as delicate as an orchid, and every joy and anger of his pulled at her heart.

Waiting until the sky turned white, he got up; as soon as his feet touched the ground, he saw Wu'er's delicate body squirm, and she sat up, looking at him and rubbing her eyes.

……

That lowly woman back then, pregnant, entered the Jia Prefecture, and after giving birth to that kid, she cursed a bunch of people to death; now that she's dead, she's still not at peace, even harming her own son; it's truly a sin!

Jia Cong smiled slightly, then got up to get dressed; Wu'er put on her clothes and followed behind him to help him wash, and a new day began like this.

Jia Mu was stunned when she heard these messages, her face somewhat lost; she had achieved the top rank so well, why was it going to be dismissed again, and why did these things happen again.

Daiyu, Tan Chun, Yingchun, and others had come several times, fearing he was angry in his heart, and all spoke soft words of comfort, but saw him talking and laughing freely, and even told the sisters not to worry.

Actually, it wasn't that he didn't care; Cai Xiaoyu came again yesterday afternoon, letting him know that this matter had already reached the court, causing endless court discussions, and the situation had already become uncontrollable.

Now, it wasn't just a group of students going to the Ministry of Rites yamen to report, but it had become a confrontation between the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate, involving the ancestral system of the imperial examination and human ethics.

It wasn't something a hairy kid like him could control; the only thing he could do was to wait and see, and there was no other way; if he expected the Jia family to come forward to resolve the risk for him, then he was thinking too much.

If it's a blessing, it's not a disaster; if it's a disaster, you can't hide from it; thinking this through, his anxious heart actually completely let go.

Qingwen kept watch by Jia Cong's side, serving him intimately, almost never leaving his side; she was a maid and didn't have much knowledge, nor did she know what words to say to enlighten the Cong Sanye.

Wu'er went to the kitchen early in the morning to get breakfast; when she returned, her eyes were red, her pretty face was pale, looking like she had cried.

A few days ago, the whole mansion spread that Jia Cong had achieved the top rank in the prefectural examination, which made those matrons and wives in the kitchen jealous and red-eyed, and they said many good words in front of Sister Liu.

But Jia Cong had only been the top rank for two days before something happened; it was said that the imperial court disliked him being the son of a top courtesan, hurting the face of scholars, and wanted to dismiss his top rank merit.

And he wouldn't be allowed to study and enter school in the future; that kid was originally born lowly, and if it weren't for being able to study, could he have emerged in this mansion? Now he has been beaten back to his original form.

So the small kitchen, like the foolish world, was full of mockery, sarcasm, and dirty talk flying everywhere; if it weren't for Sister Liu managing the kitchen, I fear they would have said even uglier things.

The matrons and wives in the kitchen had been mixed in the Jia Prefecture for several generations and had seen too much of the snobbery of the big mansion, and their hearts had long been corrupted; very few didn't climb the high and step on the low.

And they weren't like those mistresses of the house who always had to keep some face and wouldn't show it on their faces, so those actions looked even more hateful.

Baoyu often said that when a girl gets married, she turns from a pearl into a dead fish eye; I guess it was because he had seen the actions of the household wives and matrons that he had such feelings.

These people saw Wu'er coming over, and the "Sister Liu" of the past turned into "Liu's girl," and the dirty talk of knocking and hitting, they had no scruples when saying it.

Sister Liu sighed; before, she had looked down on Jia Cong's background, but after these two years, this Cong Sanye Cong was someone who couldn't be faulted.

Every time Wu'er returned, she was smiling, and when she asked, she always said the Cong Sanye was polite and loving, and treated her very well; seeing her daughter like this, how could Sister Liu not know in her heart.

And this Cong Sanye Cong was also too good at studying; the first time he went to take the examination, he achieved first place in Yongzhou, which was definitely a star of literature descended to earth.

But in the end, he was defeated by his background, but could this be blamed on himself? Who could choose their own mother's womb to be born into?

Now Sister Liu would no longer say those words of looking down on Jia Cong to her daughter, because she knew it was useless to say them again.

Ever since her daughter entered Cong Sanye Cong's room, her whole heart was on her master; even if Cong Sanye Cong was stripped of his merit, even if he was driven out of the Jia Prefecture to beg for food, she feared her daughter would still follow him.

This was also no wonder; he was born with such a proud appearance, and which girl wouldn't be moved when seeing him? This was her daughter's fate, and neither fortune nor misfortune could be controlled by anyone.

……

Actually, Wu'er wasn't sad because of those cold sarcasms.

She just felt sorry for the Cong Sanye; these two years she accompanied the Cong Sanye to study on Mount Luocang, and she and Qingwen knew better than anyone how hard the Cong Sanye studied.

He spent these years of hard work and finally was named the top rank in the prefectural examination; originally, she thought the Cong Sanye would have a foundation to stand on in the future, and no one would dare to look down on him again.

But who knew such a thing would happen; I don't know which conscience-less person was so vicious as to want to harm the Cong Sanye into losing his merit; if the Cong Sanye couldn't study, how could he stand in the mansion in the future?

Yesterday she met the Second Mistress in the garden; she pulled her to look at her for a long time, only praising her for looking good; among so many outstanding ones in Baoyu's room, there wasn't one that could compare.

Thinking of the Second Mistress's look and tone, Wu'er felt a wave of unease in her heart.

Two years ago, that Baoyu asked for her in front of the Old Lady; now that these people saw the Cong Sanye had lost his support, I don't know how they would trample on him.

In short, she would never leave the Cong Sanye for half a step, which wouldn't be in vain for the Cong Sanye treating her like this; these two years she finally understood why Zhi Shao was like that back then.

(End of chapter)