Chapter 177: Rumors Cause Ripples

Rongguo Prefecture, Rongqing Hall.

Seeing that New Year's Eve was approaching, the atmosphere of the New Year was increasingly apparent; it was also an annual custom for the visits between old relatives to become frequent.

The Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue families had intermarried for generations, and with all the twists and turns, they could almost all be considered relatives; it had always been a matter of course for them to stand together.

Not to mention the distant ones, just the three generations of housewives in this Rongguo Prefecture Jia family gathered the direct daughters of the Shi and Wang families, which was enough to see the point.

Among the four great families of Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue, in terms of power and status, the Jia family had two Dukes in one household and should be the leader.

But when it came to having a deep foundation in Shenjing and being full of talent, the Jia family was not as good as the Shi family.

The Jia family had twenty branches in total, but only eight in the capital, all of which were descendants left by the old Duke; it was just that over the past sixty or seventy years, they had gradually become distant.

By the time the Jia family reached the 'Wen' and 'Yu' generations, those still in office were only Jia She and Jia Zhen who inherited titles, and Jia Zheng who was a Vice Director in the Ministry of Works; none of the other branches had produced any officials, and the signs of decline were obvious.

The Shi family had eighteen branches in total, but twelve in the capital; the reason they could move so many branches into Shenjing.

And Lady Jia had the highest seniority among the women of the four great families, and her title was the highest, so the housewives of each family were naturally willing to come and get close.

"In terms of seniority, they are all my nephews; they are all outstanding juniors of the Jin Ling Shi family. Since something happened, I can't just stand by and watch them die."

But the topic eventually circled back to Jia Cong, because Jia Cong had done too many glorious things this year, and whenever the old relatives talked about the younger generation, Jia Cong seemed to be an unavoidable topic.

Today, several housewives of the Shi family's collateral branches came to visit, and Lady Jia and Lady Wang were accompanying them, drinking tea and chatting.

Wildfire cannot burn it out; the spring breeze blows it back to life. Even if the Marquis of Lady Bao Ling's branch fell, relying on the foundation of the collateral branches, the Shi family still stood firm.

In the light of the year-end festival, the topics of the women in the inner chambers were nothing more than those trivial matters of the household, and the topic finally circled back to the sons and nephews of each family; it was human nature for women to discuss children, the same in ancient and modern times.

Among them, there were naturally those among the Shi family's matrons who knew Jia Mu's mind; they catered to her preferences by bringing up Baoyu's handsome and outstanding appearance, as well as the various benefits of his being born with jade in his mouth, and spoke at length, coaxing Jia Mu into a state of complete satisfaction.

Lady Jia was shocked: "What happened in Jin Ling?"

It was because, besides the direct line of the Marquis of Lady Bao Ling, the other collateral branches of the Shi family had frequently produced capital officials over the years, and the whole family had moved into Shenjing.

The great families of the world valued the prosperity of their descendants and the formation of power in the officialdom.

It was just that today, these few Shi family ladies, when talking about Jia Cong, revealed some dissatisfaction in their words; Lady Jia was old and sophisticated, and naturally could taste the flavor in them.

"The men in charge of the family over there heard that Young Master Cong in the residence is capable, and he did several big things in Jin Ling city, and he can speak on the official side, and these Jia and Shi families are close relatives."

The one who suddenly spoke was the mistress of the seventh branch of the Shenjing Shi family; her husband, Shi Zhe, was currently the Director of the Golden Department of the Ministry of Revenue, a proper third-rank graduate, and had only moved to Shenjing ten years ago.

Although these few housewives were not from the direct line of the Shi family, and their official positions were not as noble as the Marquis, their husbands were all capital officials in various ministries, and they could be considered the best among the twelve branches of the Shi family in Shenjing.

Lady Jia always felt a bit disgusted by this, especially since the one she disliked the most made stories every few days, comparing her Baoyu to him.

From this point of view, the Shi family was far better than the Jia family.

This was just a common social routine for official families; accumulating karma in leisure, burning more cold stoves, and at the critical moment, you never know which branch will bloom and bear fruit.

Therefore, in recent years, Lady Jia, Jia Zheng, and others with some worldly knowledge had valued interacting with the old relatives of the Shi family.

That Lady Shi Zhe said: "Recently, a major case occurred in Jin Ling, implicating many people in the officialdom. Several of our Shi family's official descendants also fell into trouble and were taken into the Embroidered Uniform Guard's prison."

A few days ago, the Marchioness of Lady Bao Ling came to the residence and talked about Jia Cong's glorious deeds in Jin Ling; although Lady Jia was not close to this grandson, hearing it was considered decent, so it was fine.

"Old Ancestor might not know yet, but the few branches of our family left in Jin Ling have suffered a great disaster recently."

"So they begged at Young Master Cong's door, but who knew that this young master said he was recuperating and not seeing guests, and simply didn't even let them in the door."

"As a result, it was delayed for a few days, and a descendant of the Jin Ling fourth branch couldn't withstand the Embroidered Uniform Guard's torture and died inside. If Young Master Cong could have helped mediate at the beginning, it wouldn't have ended like this."

Speaking of this, Lady Shi Zhe's eyes turned red, because the one who died in prison was her husband's nephew, and also the one she had watched grow up since childhood.

Although Lady Shi didn't have the intention of being a bad guest today, her words about Jia Cong's lack of family affection couldn't pick out any faults, and it also vented the pent-up anger in her heart.

"Is there really such an unreasonable thing!"

Lady Jia's face turned cold; she had always valued the decency between relatives the most in her life. Standing together and covering for relatives was also the most basic rule between old relatives.

Now, in front of so many people, hearing Lady Shi Zhe's words, she couldn't save face, so how could she not be angry.

Why did this evil obstacle have to cause trouble wherever he went? Even if he couldn't do anything, he should have made a show of it. Now he has come to my face to talk about it.

If this spreads out, saying that my Jia family is heartless and cold to old relatives, seeing them die without helping, then the old face and human feelings of these few generations will be lost.

Lady Shi Zhe saw that her words had already broken the Old Lady's face, so she didn't say anything else; her husband was only a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, and he really couldn't do anything to Jia Cong.

However, setting a fire here at the Old Lady's place, Jia Cong would naturally suffer when he returned to the capital. This was his own grandmother, so even if he had more ability, he would be blind, which was considered venting anger for that Shi family brother.

For the rest of the time, several Lady Shis said some irrelevant idle words, and then they all said goodbye.

After the guests left, Lady Jia's stomach full of sullen anger still couldn't dissipate.

Lady Wang on the side said: "Young Master Cong was reckless this time. It was fine that he didn't want to help Pan'er last time, but this time it was a matter of life and death."

"He should have looked at the Old Lady's face and left some face for the old relatives."

Lady Jia said angrily: "Don't talk about looking at my face. He has been granted an official position and went on an imperial mission, and now he is so arrogant that he doesn't see anyone else in his eyes!"

At this time, Fengjie came in from outside and said: "Old Ancestor, a letter came from the old Jin Ling residence, saying that Brother Cong set off from Jin Ling four days ago. Calculating the time, he will be back in the residence in these few days."

Lady Jia replied unpleasantly: "If he comes back, he comes back; what is worth mentioning!"

Fengjie was puzzled in her heart. Where did the Old Lady get such a big temper today? It was like she had just eaten ginger; why was it so hot and spicy?

She talked to Lady Wang about the arrangements for the festival in the residence, and seeing Lady Jia's uncomfortable face, Fengjie didn't say anything else and found an excuse to disperse.

After returning to her courtyard, she saw Jia Lian returning from outside and told him about what happened in Rongqing Hall just now.

Jia Lian sneered: "I can probably guess the reason for this. News from the south these few days says that major cases have occurred in Jin Ling one after another."

"Several descendants of the Jin Ling Shi family were implicated and entered the Embroidered Uniform Guard's prison. The Shi family went to beg the Third Brother to help find a way to save people. To say that this kid is cold-hearted, he didn't pay attention to them at all."

"As a result, a descendant of the Shi family died in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's prison. After such a thing happened, how could he not be hated? The Shi family descendant who died was the nephew of Shi Zhe of the seventh branch in Shenjing."

"Today, Lady Shi Zhe came to visit the Old Lady. How could she not talk about this? The Old Lady values decency the most. Hearing these things, she is naturally extremely uncomfortable."

Wang Xifeng understood the reason this time and said: "Your brother is really able to cause trouble. He can stir up wind and rain wherever he goes. If so, when he comes back this time, the Old Lady will definitely not have a good face."

Jia Lian said with a strange expression: "It's not a day or two that the Old Lady doesn't give him a good face, and it's not a fresh thing. And he has more than this one case; there are even more bizarre ones."

Wang Xifeng wondered: "Why, this one is not enough, he caused others?"

Jia Lian replied: "These few days, many people from various yamen in Shenjing returned from official business in Jin Ling. Among them, several who are on good terms with Brother Zhen gathered together to drink yesterday, and Brother Zhen also called me over to accompany them."

"They said that the Third Brother took a fancy to a nun in Jin Ling, searched all over Jin Ling but couldn't find her, and simply ran to Gusu to find her. I don't know what means he used, but that nun actually followed him back to the residence."

"I didn't see it before; he also likes this kind of thing. It's really incredible. You just watch; this time he wants to bring people back to the residence. If the Old Lady can still agree, that is a good show."

Fengjie spat: "You men are really not a good thing. This Brother Cong is only how old, and he does this kind of absurd thing, provoking the nuns in the temple, and not afraid of losing blessings. I really misjudged him."

At this time, Ping'er's crisp voice came from outside: "Mother Zhou, why are you here? Grandmother is in the room, come in and sit."

Wang Xifeng heard the voice and knew that Ping'er was reminding herself, so she moved in her heart and greeted her from the room.

This Mother Zhou was Lady Wang's trusted maid, and even she had to give her some face on weekdays.

Mother Zhou was full of smiles and said: "Second Grandmother, the Lady sent me to ask if the batches of satin mentioned the day before yesterday have been found. She wants to cut a few sets of clothes for the Old Lady and the young ladies for the New Year."

Wang Xifeng smiled: "I found them in the warehouse in the morning. I will let Ping'er send them to the Lady for review later."

Mother Zhou said a few idle words before leaving.

Wang Xifeng asked Ping'er: "How long have you seen her?"

Ping'er had not been in the residence for a day or two, so she naturally knew the way, so she replied: "I just saw her standing outside the window just now, and she didn't look like she had just arrived."

"That's why I greeted her, to save Grandmother from hearing anything."

Wang Xifeng sneered: "It's not our good words anyway, so it doesn't matter if she hears them. It's just that in a few days, when Cong Third Brother comes back, I'm afraid he won't have good fruit to eat."

Ping'er was shocked and asked: "What happened to Young Master Cong?"

Wang Xifeng smiled, quite gloating:

"What can he have? He went to Jin Ling, not only was promoted, but also did all kinds of romantic things. Don't ask, just wait and see in a few days."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 178 =====