Chapter 505: Why Speak of Concurrent Inheritance

Rongguo Prefecture, Rongxi Hall.

Jia Cong rushed over with Ping'er. Just as he stepped into the hall, Guo Lin smiled: "The Count of Lord Weiyuan is truly a noble person who is late. Today the palace is proclaiming the edict, but you are late."

Guo Lin's words were like giant hammers, one after another, slamming into the hearts of Jia Mu and Lady Wang. For a time, they were either scattered or mourning as if their parents had died.

Their hearts were filled with absurdity and unreality. Today the palace is proclaiming the edict, isn't it for the second house to inherit the title? Why does the imperial official proclaiming the edict raise that boy in every sentence? Jia Cong hurriedly said: "The residence on this side didn't pass the message just now. I really didn't know that Eunuch Guo was coming to the residence to proclaim the edict today. I am late, please forgive me, Eunuch."

Guo Lin glanced at Lady Wang, whose face was ashen, and smiled at Jia Cong: "I probably already know the reason. The Ministry of Rites secretary who passed the message was low in rank and position, and didn't know the content of the imperial edict.

There was a deviation in passing the message to the residence, and it is understandable that people in your residence had misunderstandings. Fortunately, the auspicious time was not delayed."

The Ministry of Rites director Zhang Zhenghe hurriedly said: "Before the imperial edict is proclaimed, according to the law, it is not good to spread the content of the imperial edict in advance, lest there be suspicion of slighting the monarch.

The Ministry of Rites secretary handled the matter poorly, and I will definitely reprimand him when I go back."

Guo Lin waved his hand and said: "This matter is a joyful omen, and that secretary did not overstep his bounds, so don't be too harsh. It's just that there are too few people who understand now."

He took out a pocket watch and looked at it, saying: "The auspicious time has arrived. Disciples and titled ladies of the Rongguo Jia family, receive the decree!"

Jia Zheng and Jia Cong hurriedly knelt to listen to the decree. Jia Mu's body was somewhat trembling, but fortunately, with Yuanyang supporting her on the side, she could barely kneel. Lady Wang's legs were soft and powerless, and the whole person was in the clouds.

Guo Lin unfolded the imperial edict in his hand and read loudly: By the order of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

The person inheriting the title of Rongguo Jia family has passed away, and the hereditary title has been left vacant. Because the noble rank of the state is solemn and precious, it cannot be occupied by those without talent and virtue.

Now the super-grade titled lady Jia Shi has submitted a memorial, saying that the eldest branch of the Rongguo family has no bloodline, and requesting to follow the laws of the Da Zhou Imperial Clan Court, for the younger brother to succeed the elder, and for the title to continue to the second house, with the legitimate second son Jia Cunzhou inheriting the title.

The ancestors of Rongguo had the merit of founding the country and expanding the territory, and the blessings should not be neglected by descendants. I have therefore taken the matter seriously, summoning the Imperial Clan Court, the Ministry of Rites, and high-ranking nobles to gather in the hall for special discussion.

The legitimate second son of Rongguo, Jia Cunzhou, is upright, but he has failed to teach his son. His legitimate son Baoyu is wild, immoral, foolish, lazy, and untalented, speaking sycophantic words, insulting the Retired Emperor, and his bad name has reached the court and the public, making him difficult to bear the weight of the noble rank.

The noble rank of the Da Zhou Imperial Clan is inherited by the father and succeeded by the son. The second house of Rongguo has lost its legitimate bloodline inheritance and should no longer speak of inheriting the noble title.

The super-grade titled lady Jia Shi said that the eldest branch's bloodline is broken; this statement is absurd and biased. Now the eldest branch still has a second son, Jia Cong, whose character is precious, talent and virtue are thick, and he has repeatedly made meritorious deeds. He is titled Count of Lord Weiyuan and is known to the court and the public.

Jia Cong's birth mother, Lady Du, was granted a fifth-grade title, her status is solemn, and her son is outstanding, which can be considered the legitimate bloodline of the eldest branch, and can pass on the uprightness of the bloodline.

Although Jia Cong is in mourning and away from his post, his family rituals are complete and he worries about state affairs. The country is peaceful and his heart and blood are exhausted. He does not delay day and night, building vital military instruments of the state. His power can reach the border, he can be a model for court officials, his talent should be praised, and his virtue should be displayed.

Imperial grace comes from above. Merit should not be stingy with rewards, and talent should not avoid glory. Now I specially bestow upon the Count of Lord Weiyuan, Jia Cong, one body, two titles, descending to inherit the Rongguo second-grade general title, leaving his post and hanging the noble rank, to be inherited by his descendants.

Respect this.

……

Lady Wang, who was kneeling to receive the decree, felt as if she had been struck by five thunders when she heard the content of the edict. Every word in the edict was like a sharp knife, cutting and slicing her body.

Hearing that the edict described her Baoyu as so unbearable, and even that the second house lost the qualification to inherit the title, it ultimately boiled down to her Baoyu being despised by the palace to the point of being worthless.

She was ashamed and angry to the extreme, her whole body was trembling violently, and she forcibly suppressed the strong impulse to go crazy.

Her Baoyu was born with jade in his mouth, had a first-class appearance, and had been guarding his home since childhood, never going out to provoke trouble. Apart from not liking to read, what other flaws did he have?

He had only said a few inappropriate words in the inner residence, yet he was slandered by the royal family like this, and even used this as an excuse to deprive the second house of its title.

The Rongguo title she had been thinking about for half her life was finally inherited by the son of the prostitute in the East Prefecture, and it was the great honor of "one body, two titles."

Lady Wang felt that this was the most vicious, absurd, and unbelievable nightmare she had ever encountered in her life.

By the time Guo Lin finished reading the edict, Lady Wang was already sweating profusely, the makeup on her face was washed out by sweat, the shining pearl crown on her head was crooked, and the titled lady's dress on her body looked wrinkled, somewhat ridiculous and funny.

Fortunately, she was also from a great family and had seen some of the world, knowing that she absolutely dared not act presumptuously at such a moment of proclaiming the edict.

This was why she forcibly suppressed the surging breath in her heart, and desperately suppressed the strong desire to open her mouth to question, or even curse.

If she really did this, there would definitely be no joyful event, and a funeral would likely follow……

……

Jia Mu was stunned after hearing Guo Lin read the edict. Although before the proclamation, Guo Lin questioned twice why Jia Cong was not present, which had already given Jia Mu a very bad premonition.

But Jia Mu never dreamed that the person inheriting the title in the edict was not her son Jia Zheng, but Jia Cong, who had long been granted a title.

Jia Mu had two sons, but she had doted on her second son Jia Zheng since childhood. It was just that she was stuck with the righteousness of the legitimate eldest son inheriting the title, and she couldn't twist the ritual and human heart, so she could only let her eldest son inherit the title.

Fortunately, the old Duke Jia Daishan was also a hero of his generation. Even when he was dying, his mind was deep and clear. For the sake of family balance and longevity, he let his eldest son inherit the title and his second son inherit the mansion, fulfilling half of Jia Mu's wishes.

Originally, the eldest son Jia She passed away, and Jia Mu was naturally very sad, but the younger brother succeeding the elder allowed her second son Jia Zheng to completely inherit the Rongguo family business, which Jia Mu was very satisfied with in her heart.

A more important point was that the grandson Jia Mu loved most in her life was Baoyu. Jia Zheng inheriting the Rongguo mansion meant the Rongguo family business naturally belonged to Baoyu, which was truly fulfilling Jia Mu's wishes.

Since Jia She passed away and the eldest grandson of the first house, Jia Lian, got into trouble, in Jia Mu's plan, it was naturally her second son Jia Zheng who would inherit the title. For Jia Mu, this was a matter of course.

Even if she had thought of countless possibilities, she never dreamed that Jia Cong could inherit the title. Not only because Jia Cong was a concubine-born son of the first house, but also because he had long been granted a title, a point she had subconsciously filtered out.

The matter of "one body, two titles," even since the founding of Da Zhou, was an extremely rare situation. Jia Mu, an old woman who lived in the inner residence, had never even heard of it.

The moment Guo Lin finished reading the edict, Jia Mu's heart was already withered.

That grandson in the East Prefecture was already evil enough, and his ability was so strange. Now he had even occupied all the family business of the West Prefecture.

Back then, there was still an imperial memorial from the Old Duke, which could allow the two houses to divide the family business, but that was limited to the generation of the Jia family's Wen character, not some rule that could not be changed for generations.

Now where could she go to get such an imperial memorial? This time, the title and property were all taken away by this boy in one pot.

She was old and was this boy's own grandmother, so there was nothing to worry about. Unless this boy wanted to be hated by heaven and man, he would have to support her well.

But what should her Baoyu do? He had nothing this time. Could it be that he would have to live by that boy's face for the rest of his life……

Thinking of this, Jia Mu was filled with annoyance, pain, hatred, and even a powerless sense of fear.

She thought of a few days ago, when she wanted Jia Cong to submit a memorial to the Emperor to pray for grace to let Jia Zheng inherit the Rongguo title earlier, but this boy refused on the grounds that it was not in accordance with rituals, and she scolded him severely.

Now that things had changed, it happened that he inherited the title in the end. Wasn't this slapping her old face alive? Thinking of this, Jia Mu was ashamed and regretful, and could no longer kneel steadily, collapsing on the ground.

Yuanyang on the side tried her best to support her, so Jia Mu didn't fall.

……

Here Jia Mu was heartbroken, annoyed, and helpless, but Yuanyang, who served her closely, had a completely different mood, feeling that there was no joy in her heart, only feeling that there was such a good thing in the world.

If it weren't for the Old Ancestor's face, Yuanyang would have been happy.

Baoyu, who was kneeling behind, was also stunned when he heard the edict. Although he kept saying that he despised officialdom and titles, and kept claiming to be a clean person who transcended the vulgar……

But he was not truly stupid, so he naturally knew that if his father inherited the title, it would actually be very good for him……

When he heard that the edict not only deprived the second house of the qualification to inherit the title, let Jia Cong inherit the title, but also praised Jia Cong to the sky and the ground, while he was disparaged to the point of being worthless.

Baoyu's mouth pouted, almost crying. Could this corrupt official Jia Cong really be this good? He had only said a few true words, yet he had to be humiliated to this extent.

Baoyu felt so aggrieved that he wanted to roar loudly. Heaven and earth, what kind of world is this?

He had said he didn't want to come to receive that edict, and sure enough, he had some foresight. Unfortunately, no one in the world understood him.

Baoyu suddenly thought that Jia Cong's "one body, two titles" seemed to be an extraordinary honor. In the future, when the sisters in the house saw him, they would probably like him even more. Thinking of this, his heart ached again……

……

Jia Zheng's hatred seemed to be about to explode after hearing the edict. Although he had regrets and disappointment that he didn't inherit the title as expected, the gap of losing the title was far less than the humiliation brought by the rebellious son Baoyu. He felt like crying without tears. How did he raise such a beast?

That day, he spoke wildly and insulted the Retired Emperor, which had already led to the Imperial Clan Court's reprimand. Today, in the imperial edict, he was described as even more worthless.

"Wild, immoral, foolish, lazy, and untalented, speaking sycophantic words, insulting the Retired Emperor, and his bad name has reached the court and the public, making him difficult to bear the weight of the noble rank……"

The wording in the edict was so severe that it made one's hair stand on end, as if it had reached the point where it would be difficult to apologize to the world without killing him.

The second house of the Rongguo Prefecture became a laughing stock because of this beast, the Rongguo Jia family was disgraced because of this beast, and this beast also became a stain that he could never wash off in his life.

At this moment, Jia Zheng and Lady Wang were heartbroken and lost, but the pain in the hearts of the couple was different.

……

Guo Lin was an old man in the palace, and he was familiar with proclaiming imperial edicts. His tone was ups and downs, and it sounded quite imposing, but his voice was somewhat sharp, and it clearly spread out from the Rongxi Hall.

Wang Xifeng, who had been guarding outside the hall, heard it and called it happy in her heart. Although her husband didn't inherit the title, this title ultimately fell to the first house.

She thought that she was so wise, able to plan ahead, and early on sent her trusted maid to Jia Cong's room. This bet was right. The cards were the supreme treasure, and this was not a full house of color.

She looked back at Ping'er and saw that she was already excited with a crimson face, her eyes full of autumn water, indescribably proud and beautiful.

Wang Xifeng suddenly envied her maid, and laughed at her: "You girl, you have good fortune, accidentally hit by a pie from the sky."

At this moment, Li Wan and Seeing Tan Chun, who were avoiding in the side hall of the Rongxi Hall, also heard Guo Lin's reading of the edict clearly.

Both of them were stunned. There was such a strange thing in the world, unheard of, and today they truly opened their eyes.

Although her father didn't inherit the title, Seeing Tan Chun, as a daughter, should be sad, but she was full of irrepressible joy that this title was inherited by her Third Brother.

Li Wan was shocked and speechless. Brother Cong of the first house not only had outstanding ability, but his luck was truly incomparable. The Jia family produced such a person, showing that the ancestors' blessings were not broken.

It's a pity that Aunt was still deliberately squeezing him out just now. What should one say about this……

…… Guo Lin finished reading the edict and said with a smile: "Count of Lord Weiyuan, receive the decree. I have served the royal family for more than 30 years, and this honor of 'one body, two titles' is the first time I have seen it. It is truly imperial grace."

Jia Cong received the edict from Guo Lin, and his heart was also shocked. In fact, like Jia Mu and Lady Wang, he was also stunned by this news for a while.

He thought quickly, unable to confirm the full reason for Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao bestowing such grace.

Although the first house had bloodline inheritance because of his existence, this was one reason, but absolutely not the only reason.

What he could think of was the breech-loading gun he was developing. Although for the current world, this kind of firearm was an extremely advanced and sharp weapon.

But he vaguely felt that the honor of "one body, two titles" he received should not just be because of his outstanding firearms development.

He also thought of the severe and strange wording in the edict just now, which seemed to specifically disparage Baoyu of the second house to the extreme.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's intention was already very clear. He didn't want the Rongguo title to remain in the legitimate Rongguo branch.

He grafted the Rongguo title onto the Count of Lord Weiyuan's mansion, and the Rongguo Prefecture was equivalent to being abolished in disguise……

However, in any case, this matter was not a bad thing for him personally.

Even if he would have some trouble, with the righteousness of inheriting the title in hand, it naturally wouldn't stump him.

……

The fifth-grade secretary of the Imperial Clan Court, Liu Shizhen, took out a document and said: "The Count of Lord Weiyuan inherits the Rongguo hereditary title by descending a grade, from a first-grade general to a second-grade general.

According to the Imperial Clan Court's regulations, the title property of 2,500 shi is reduced to 2,000. This document marks the list of reduced and retained title property. Please sign and confirm, Count of Lord Weiyuan, and manage it properly. The Imperial Clan Court will file it accordingly."

Jia Mu behind him heard this, and her heart felt a piercing pain, and the whole person felt dizzy.

Yuanyang on the side was busy supporting her, not letting Jia Mu fall. Her pretty face was flushed red from the effort.

At this moment, Jia Mu wanted to cry without tears. This boy really inherited the title and property together. This family business of the Rongguo Prefecture was all his.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from behind, and the maid Caiyun exclaimed. It turned out that Lady Wang saw this scene just now and finally couldn't stand the stimulation and fainted……

It was no wonder Lady Wang had such a strong reaction. She always measured the gentleman's belly with a villain's heart, thinking that Jia Cong must be as dark and vicious as her.

Even if the second house didn't have a title before, it still managed the title property. Now this time, not only was the hope of seeking the title gone forever, but even the title property in hand was lost cleanly. How could she not collapse?

Jia Mu saw this scene and felt even more annoyed. According to the meaning of the imperial edict, the second house of Rongguo had permanently lost the qualification to inherit the title and had become an indisputable side branch.

The boy in the East Prefecture became the master of Rongguo. If he was a ruthless one, I fear the second son and his wife wouldn't even have a place to live in the Rongxi Hall.

By Baoyu's generation, they would even have to move out of the Rongguo Prefecture to live separately. If that boy wanted to do this, even Jia Mu would have no reason to oppose it.

Thinking of this, Jia Mu felt a splitting headache and truly felt like dying.

……

Guo Lin was an old man in the palace and was used to proclaiming imperial edicts. He seemed to turn a blind eye to Lady Wang fainting, and was too lazy to even look at her. She was just a short-sighted foolish woman whose eyes only saw three inches in front of her.

He saw that Jia Mu's face was also gray, and her face was full of pain and reluctance.

Guo Lin controlled the Inner Palace and had eyes and ears all over the Love Shenjing, so he naturally knew Jia Cong's difficult past since childhood.

Although he looked down on this confused Old Ancestor, she was a super-grade State Lady, and this status was real. Besides, she was Jia Cong's own grandmother, so he had to be decent in face and etiquette.

He had been serving Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao closely and knew the ins and outs of the Rongguo Prefecture inheriting the title better than anyone. He also knew that Jia Cong inheriting the title was a blow to this biased Old Ancestor.

If this old thing was really angered to death, I fear the Emperor's face wouldn't look good either. He had to make up some words to ease the atmosphere, so as not to cause any accidents at the moment of proclaiming the edict.

So he smiled and said: "The State Lady truly has good fortune to raise such an outstanding grandson.

The story of 'one body, two titles' will soon spread throughout the Love Shenjing, and even the whole world will know. The Jia family has gained great face."

Although Jia Mu was extremely frustrated and disappointed in her heart, today's imperial edict was proclaimed by the Deputy Superintendent of the Inner Palace, and officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan Court were present as witnesses.

The Emperor set up such a lineup, making this matter imperial and unquestionable, and its momentum was like a mountain! Apart from bowing her head and accepting, what else could an old woman in the inner residence do?

Fortunately, Jia Mu was different from Lady Wang. She was a person who enjoyed life, and although she was full of calculations, she hated keeping worries and sorrows in her heart, making her days uncomfortable.

In any case, the Rongguo title was finally passed down. Although the one inheriting the family business was not the most intimate one, Jia Cong was also her own grandson, which could be considered meat rotting in the pot.

Since the facts had become like this, Jia Mu's heart began to soften, and she began to find ways to make up for it.

This was the difference between Jia Mu standing in the Rongguo Prefecture and Lady Wang standing in the second house of Rongguo.

Here Jia Mu began to turn her mind, and Guo Lin's polite words gave Jia Mu an excellent step.

"One body, two titles," "spread throughout the Love Shenjing," "the whole world will know"—these brilliant words made Jia Mu, who had just been mourning and always valued face, suddenly filled with vitality again.

Jia Mu struggled to tidy up her mood, and it took a long while to recover her spirit.

At this moment, she suddenly thought of something and asked Guo Lin cautiously: "May I ask Eunuch Guo, Cong'er now has 'one body, two titles.' The Lord Weiyuan title and the Rongguo title need to be inherited by the same bloodline.

Is the Emperor going to let him inherit both concurrently, or is there some other rule?"

The "concurrent inheritance" mentioned by Jia Mu generally refers to a family with few descendants, where one disciple inherits the bloodlines of two houses of the father's generation, marries two wives, and continues the descendants of the two houses separately.

Although the two wives serve the same husband, they are daughters-in-law belonging to two houses, and they also have a sister-in-law relationship.

Jia Cong's situation now is different from ordinary concurrent inheritance. He is not inheriting the two houses of the father's generation, because of "one body, two titles," descendants inherit by branches, which is equivalent to inheriting the Lord Weiyuan title and the Rongguo title concurrently.

Although there is a distinction between the two, the root is very similar, which is why Jia Mu asked this question.

The reason why Jia Mu asked this was because after accepting the facts before her, another layer of calculation arose in her heart……

She knew that Jia Cong was a count with a hereditary title granted by the Emperor and was highly valued by the nobles in the palace, which was why there was a marriage bestowal before, although it was later taken away because of his father's mourning.

But this time Jia Cong had "one body, two titles," I fear the palace's regard for him would only increase. He was at this age, and there would definitely be marriage bestowals in the future.

Although Jia Mu was Jia Cong's own grandmother, if the palace bestowed another marriage, she would not be able to control which woman was assigned to him.

However, if because of Jia Cong's "one body, two titles," he could also get the honor of concurrent inheritance, he could marry two wives.

The palace couldn't possibly bestow two marriages on him, and would always leave one wife's position vacant for his family to arrange.

In this way, Jia Mu could take the opportunity to arrange a marriage between Jia Cong and her niece Shi Xiangyun. The eldest daughter of the Shi family had to be a legitimate wife.

In this way, Jia Mu's plan to have the Jia and Shi families marry and join forces would be realized.

In this way, although Jia Cong's "one body, two titles" violated Jia Mu's original intention, it could be considered fulfilling a little of Jia Mu's wishes.

Moreover, there was a more important point. Now that Jia Cong had "one body, two titles" and dominated the Rongguo Prefecture's family business, his power and foundation were even thicker.

Although Jia Mu was the grandmother, the two were never close, and even had deep estrangement. Jia Mu really didn't have the confidence and ability to hold this grandson in her hands.

But once she married her niece, whom she raised, to Jia Cong as his wife, there would be an unbreakable bond between the grandmother and grandson.

The pillow talk in this world is the most powerful. With Shi Xiangyun as her granddaughter-in-law, Jia Mu would be better able to sit in the Rongguo Prefecture and continue to be her Old Ancestor with undiminished status.

She could also look after her Baoyu more……

……

No matter how experienced Guo Lin was, how could he guess the twists and turns in Jia Mu's heart? He thought this Old Ancestor was too greedy.

The Emperor had already bestowed "one body, two titles" on Jia Cong, and the Old Ancestor actually wanted to add the honor of concurrent inheritance. At that time, wouldn't the court have to grant two titles? Truly greedy and wanting beautiful things.

Guo Lin said: "State Lady, this time the Emperor did not grant Jia Cong the honor of concurrent inheritance. The imperial edict has clearly stated that the Rongguo title will be inherited by Jia Cong's branch descendants.

In the future, Jia Cong's legitimate eldest son will inherit the Lord Weiyuan title, and the Rongguo title will be inherited by the remaining descendants, without limiting legitimate or concubine-born."

Jia Mu was stunned when she heard this. According to this statement, Jia Cong had two titles, and the Lord Weiyuan title was clearly a grade higher than the Rongguo title.

The Rongguo title, which had been passed down for several generations, would not be inherited by Jia Cong's legitimate eldest son, and it was very likely to be inherited by a concubine-born son.

Since when did the Rongguo title become so cheap that any concubine-born son could touch it? Wasn't the Emperor intending to belittle the hereditary title of Rongguo?

Thinking of this, Jia Mu's mood, which had just calmed down, became ups and downs and annoyed again.

At this time, Jia Cong sent Guo Lin, Liu Shizhen, and Zhang Zhenghe out of the residence gate, and Hearing Zhi Shao and Wu'er, who had come to listen to the news, also happily went to the East Prefecture to report the good news.

In the Rongxi Hall, Jia Zheng stared at Baoyu with bloodshot eyes, his heart burning with anger, only feeling that today's imperial edict had lost all his old face.

If it weren't for the Old Ancestor being present and his wife being unconscious, Jia Zheng would have risen to his power and wanted to beat this beastly son to death on the spot.

At this time, because the officials proclaiming the edict had all left, Li Wan, Seeing Tan Chun, and Wang Xifeng all entered the Rongxi Hall.

Li Wan and Seeing Tan Chun naturally arranged for maids and women to support the embarrassed Lady Wang back to her room to rest.

Wang Xifeng also asked Ping'er and Yuanyang to support the Old Ancestor back to the Rongqing Hall.

Wang Xifeng watched Jia Mu and Lady Wang leave the Rongxi Hall one after another, but her heart was indescribably happy.

Originally, she thought the first house had completely failed and the second house had the upper hand, but she never thought that things would turn around like this.

It's just that although Cong Third got the title and property of the Rongguo Prefecture, the Old Ancestor and Aunt were not fuel-efficient lamps. Cong Third would probably have a lot of trouble in the future.

But in any case, publicly and privately, she would stand on his side…… (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 506 =====

But no matter what, for both public and private reasons, he would stand on his side... (End of chapter)