Chapter 608

Rongguo Prefecture, East Courtyard.

Jia Cong and the sisters were chatting in the side hall of the inner courtyard when the maid Seeing Seeing Caiyun walked in quickly; Lady Wang saw her and asked what was the matter.

Seeing Seeing Caiyun looked at Bao Yu, appearing somewhat hesitant, and said: "The Bao Er Ye has accompanied Grandmother into the main hall of the inner courtyard, and Grandmother invites the Lady and the Aunt to the main hall, as the relatives of each family are about to arrive.

The Master says that since the outside guests have not yet taken their seats, Master Bao should not leave without authorization, and asks him to return to the outer courtyard immediately to entertain the guests.

The Master also says that invitations have been sent to the nobles of each family, and soon the male guests of the same generation will arrive, and he is afraid Master Bao will not handle it properly.

The Cong Sanye has dealings with the heirs and young masters of each family, so he asks the Cong Sanye to go to the outer courtyard to help and look after things."

Everyone present heard Seeing Seeing Caiyun's words and could more or less taste the meaning; Lady Wang's face was slightly embarrassed.

When Bao Yu heard Jia Zheng's message, his face turned even paler; just now, when he saw Lin Daiyu and the other sisters coming over, he was like a bear seeing honey, ignoring everything else, and came over to cling to them.

Such behavior, in Jia Zheng's eyes, was naturally extremely displeasing; if it were not for the fact that there were guests inside and outside today, Father Zheng would likely have reprimanded his son to his face.

The other sisters did not care much when they heard these words; Bao Yu's daily conduct and sense of propriety were always like this, and they were all accustomed to it.

Xia Gu Niang, who was to the side, could not help but feel contempt when she heard this; she looked at Bao Yu, who was dressed in a bright red outfit, looking like a steamed crab, which was truly somewhat of an eyesore.

Bao Yu's face, which could be considered handsome, did not look pleasing to Xia Gu Niang at all; she only felt that he was effeminate and sticky all over, making one feel that he was neither refreshing nor useful.

He was the same age as Jia Cong, but in everything, he was far inferior to Jia Cong, yet this boy's words and behavior seemed to make him think he was quite good...

He held a banquet for his own birthday, but he could not even handle entertaining a few outside guests reliably, and still needed Jia Cong to help him handle it; he truly grew a decent appearance in vain, while his stomach was full of fodder.

Truly, what kind of person raises what kind of bird; that Mrs. Jia is a stupid creature who eats dirt, so the son she raises is naturally unreliable in every way...

In fact, when Jia She originally lived in the East Courtyard, the size of the East Courtyard was limited; although it was divided into inner and outer halls, there was no clear distinction between the inner and outer courtyards.

This time, when Jia Zheng moved to the East Courtyard, Jia Cong, to make his stay comfortable, enclosed the Mengpo Study of the West Prefecture's outer courtyard into the East Courtyard, which gave the East Courtyard a distinction between inner and outer courtyards.

Today was Bao Yu's birthday banquet, and Bao Yu was the host entertaining guests; Jia Cong could only be considered a guest, so according to etiquette, there was no need for him to go to the outer courtyard to entertain guests.

But since Jia Zheng had spoken, naturally he had to go out to help; the noble heirs who came last time, although mostly military men, all had some depth of character, and Bao Yu could not handle them at all.

Jia Cong heard Seeing Seeing Caiyun's message and stood up to leave the side hall of the inner courtyard; the sisters did not care much, probably all feeling that Bao Yu was indeed not suitable for supporting the situation...

Only Xia Gu Niang felt full of disappointment when she saw Jia Cong's departing back; it was so hard to meet him, and yet it was ruined by that effeminate Bao Yu.

Although Bao Yu was resentful in his heart, even if Jia Zheng was not present, he dared not say a word of refusal.

He could only harbor feelings of resentment, looking back three times with every step, his eyes full of lingering attachment as he looked at the sisters several times, and of course, at that beautiful and lovely Xia Gu Niang.

It was just that Ying Chun, Tan Chun, and the other sisters were all surrounding Lin Daiyu, looking at her fiddling with the Rubik's cube with great interest, and no one paid any attention to Bao Yu.

Xia Gu Niang did not know if she saw Bao Yu's fawning gaze, but Bao Yu felt that she was staring straight at him, which made Bao Yu feel very comforted; in this world, daughters were ultimately worthy of respect.

Feelings of self-pity and self-satisfaction rose in his heart, making his gait as relaxed as possible as he followed Jia Cong out of the side hall.

Jia Cong and Bao Yu entered the main hall of the outer courtyard and found that the guests were basically the same people as before, and there were not many more; not a single person of the same generation among the old noble relatives was seen.

There was not much time left before the banquet started; could it be that these guests were all timing their arrival to the minute?

Although Jia Cong felt somewhat strange in his heart, it did not concern him, so he did not care much.

Wang Ziteng had been sitting alone in the main hall for a long time; among the guests, his official rank was the highest, and others could not chat with him much, and he was too lazy to socialize with everyone, lest he lower his status.

When he saw Jia Cong enter the hall, he did not put on the airs of an elder; he stepped forward to chat with Jia Cong for several moments, and did not forget to teach Bao Yu a few lessons, telling Bao Yu to study harder and take Jia Cong as a model in everything.

Wang Ziteng was teaching his nephew, but in reality, he was just showing favor to himself, which made Jia Cong feel somewhat uncomfortable; he had long been on guard against this person, and even if he spoke until the sky fell, it would be useless.

As the saying goes, an uncle is greater than the sky; Bao Yu was lectured by Wang Ziteng and naturally looked respectful and careful, lowering his head to receive the instruction, while inwardly feeling incredibly disgusted by this uncle.

On this matter, he and Jia Cong had a rare moment of tacit understanding...

It was just that Wang Ziteng had not chatted with Jia Cong for long before Xue Pan came up to strike up a conversation; fundamentally, they were all somewhat related.

It was just that the big fool Xue Pan spoke without any method, hitting here and there, which made Wang Ziteng, an official who had deep meaning in every word, feel very disgusted.

Originally, he wanted to say something close to Jia Cong to properly win him over and mend their relationship, because he had vaguely heard rumors that Jia Cong had been going to the firearms workshop on the outskirts of the city recently.

Everyone in the court and the public knew that Jia Cong was the leader in firearms research in the Great Zhou; now that he was still in the period of mourning, he was traveling to the firearms workshop so frequently, so he must be busy researching new firearms.

Although Wang Ziteng held the position of Regional Commander of the Capital Camp, it was just an empty title.

According to the regulations of the Great Zhou, the various armies of the Five Armies Camp should all be under the command of the Regional Commander of the Capital Camp, but the main generals of the Five Armies Camp, such as Shi Ding, were all confidants of Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, and Wang Ziteng was just a figurehead.

But even so, Wang Ziteng still knew quite a bit about the Divine Machine Camp of the Five Armies.

The new firearms currently equipped by the Divine Machine Camp were all the result of Jia Cong's research, and whenever there was any matter of manufacturing new firearms, it was something the current Emperor was extremely concerned about.

Wang Ziteng could foresee that if Jia Cong created new firearms again, he would definitely gain increasing imperial favor; how could he not be jealous when he saw this?

It was just that Xue Pan suddenly came in to clown around; with several juniors present, Wang Ziteng found it difficult to say anything warm, as he had to save face, after all.

He saw Xue Pan's glib appearance and could not help but feel annoyed, deciding to tell his sister later that Pan'er was becoming increasingly lacking in decorum and needed to be properly disciplined!

Jia Cong watched Wang Ziteng walk away in a somewhat disappointed manner, sneered coldly in his heart, and was too lazy to pay any more attention to him.

Two years ago, because of Xue Pan's collision with Ying Lian, Jia Cong had always detested the big fool Xue Pan; although they had lived in the same mansion for many years, they had almost no dealings.

But today, Xue Pan's reckless style actually helped him drive away a piece of trouble.

Xue Pan smiled: "Last time when Brother Cong had his birthday, I went to Dezhou to do business with a few friends; because I was not in the Love Shenjing, I could not offer my birthday wishes to Brother Cong, so I hope Brother Cong will be magnanimous."

Jia Cong smiled slightly and said: "Brother Xue is too kind."

Xue Pan looked at Jia Cong's expression; he originally wanted to talk about his sister, but he felt it was really hard to bring up.

He smiled again: "Brother Cong, my way of doing things is inevitably somewhat reckless; my sister often tells me this, and now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense.

If there was anything inappropriate in the past, Brother Cong, please don't take it to heart; after we take our seats later, I will definitely toast you properly, and we brothers have a long road ahead.

I heard that your Xin Chun Hao business in Jin Ling is very prosperous; although our Xue family has moved to the Love Shenjing, we have not abandoned our business in Jin Ling.

The Ziyun Pavilion in Jin Ling is a Xue family property and is one of the top business firms in Jin Ling; the Xue family also has generations of connections and relationships in Jin Ling.

If Brother Cong needs any help with your business in Jin Ling, feel free to ask me; I will write to the manager in Jin Ling later, and if Xin Chun Hao has any requests, we will definitely do our utmost to help."

Jia Cong was somewhat amused by Xue Pan's familiarity.

The Jin Ling Xin Chun Hao had been managed by Qu Hongxiu and Qin Keqing for several years; Qu Hongxiu was a person from the world of martial arts and had methods and courage beyond ordinary people, while Qin Keqing was a first-class manager of internal affairs.

The momentum of Xin Chun Hao in Jin Ling today might not surpass the local old business firms in terms of connections and foundation, but in terms of prosperity, it was likely second to none, so it seemed they did not need the Xue family's assistance."

Jia Cong could also hear that Xue Pan was just making conversation, and he did not know what he wanted to say, but one does not hit a smiling face, and besides, he had to consider Baochai's face to some extent.

He said: "In that case, many thanks, Brother Xue."

Xue Pan saw Jia Cong's expression soften and felt happy in his heart; he looked at Bao Yu, who was greeting the Wang family relatives, as if he had suddenly thought of something.

He asked: "Brother Cong just came out from the inner courtyard; I heard that today is Bao Yu's birthday, and Aunt also invited Mrs. Xia and Xia Gu Niang from the Osmanthus Garden; is that true?"

Jia Cong heard this and felt a slight stir in his heart; there was probably no one in this world who knew the origin of Xue Pan and Xia Jingui better than he did. Now that the big fool Xue Pan did not ask anyone else but specifically asked him, it was truly somewhat mysterious.

He smiled: "Brother Xue is indeed well-informed; the Lady did indeed invite the Xia mother and daughter as guests, and I saw them in the inner courtyard just now."

Xue Pan heard this and was slightly stunned; he actually had nothing to say for a moment, and did not know what he was thinking.

At this moment, the sun was gradually climbing higher, but the guests in the main hall were still the same ones as before, and there were not many more.

After a long while, Shi Heng, the eldest son of Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding, entered the hall to offer his congratulations.

Jia Cong was chatting with Shi Heng when he heard a retainer come to report to Bao Yu: "The mansions of the Earl of Zhongcheng, the Marquis of Jingyang, the Duke of Liguo, the Duke of Zhiguo, and seven other noble families have all sent servants to deliver birthday gifts.

The wife of the Marquis of Cheng Yang and the wife of Marquis Zhongjing have also arrived and have entered the inner courtyard; Grandmother and the Lady are currently welcoming the guests and talking."

Bao Yu just listened, but Xue Pan, who was to the side and often traveled outside, heard some clues and asked: "Besides sending birthday gifts, who from their mansions came to attend the banquet?"

The retainer replied: "These seven families only sent birthday gifts, but no one came to attend the banquet; each of them said they had matters at home and could not conveniently come over..."

!

Bao Yu heard this and just frowned, not saying anything.

On the day Jia Cong held his birthday banquet, Bao Yu had seen the heirs of these families; these people were all vulgar and uncultured martial men, so it was clean that they did not come, saving him the effort of entertaining them.

Xue Pan, who was to the side, heard the retainer's words, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a trace of gloating, bad-natured smile, as if he were too lazy to hide it.

Jia Cong just thought about it slightly, and his heart was as clear as a mirror; he understood why these noble relatives who had been sent invitations were all making excuses not to come, only sending a birthday gift to fulfill their duty.

The heads of these noble families were all sophisticated and worldly people; mixing in the officialdom, seeing which way the wind blew, weighing pros and cons, and protecting themselves were all their basic inertial rules.

If Jia Zheng were still the head of Rongguo Prefecture, perhaps the noble families of each family would give some face.

But now, the second branch of the Jia family had been reduced to a side branch and had no connection with the hereditary power of Rongguo Prefecture, not to mention that Bao Yu had been demoted by the Imperial Clan Court and had left a bad name in the palace.

With the family's decline and reputation damaged, they were immediately thrown to the back of their minds and from then on, no one asked about them; although it was somewhat snobbish and cruel, the world's tendency to fawn over the powerful had not always been so?

When Jia Cong held his birthday banquet, they would flock to it, and no one would easily be absent.

But when Bao Yu held his birthday banquet, they would not easily come to touch bad luck; respectfully sending a congratulatory gift to the door was considered leaving basic face.

Wang Ziteng also heard the retainer's words from the side, and his face changed instantly; he could not help but sigh in his heart, not expecting his sister and brother-in-law to have fallen to this point.

Bao Yu had been treated as precious as gold and jade in Rongguo Prefecture since he was a child; now he was holding a grand fifteenth birthday banquet, and although invitations had clearly been sent, these noble families were all making excuses not to attend.

These great families were so uninhibited, doing such things that tore at their face; in their hearts, they had mostly written off the second branch of Rongguo Prefecture, concluding that they would never have a day to turn things around!

For his sister and brother-in-law to fall into such a situation, it would be difficult to rely on the connections of Rongguo Prefecture in the future.

Wang Ziteng thought of this and glanced at Jia Cong, who was the same age as Bao Yu in the hall but whose bearing and demeanor were dazzlingly brilliant, and a trace of helplessness and gloom appeared in his eyes.

East Courtyard, inner courtyard main hall.

Today, Jia Mu and Lady Wang were both dressed in luxurious and noble attire; when they first entered the main hall, they were both full of smiles and joy.

They each chatted and gossiped with Xue Yima and Mrs. Xia, and the atmosphere was very harmonious and joyful.

It was just that as the sun gradually climbed higher, the noble female relatives who should have arrived for the banquet long ago were actually late.

This made Jia Mu and Lady Wang feel somewhat impatient.

After another while, the wife of the Marquis of Lady Bao Ling, Li, brought a birthday gift, and later the maid came to report that the wife of the Marquis of Cheng Yang, Xu, had arrived at the mansion, and now she had entered the inner courtyard.

Jia Mu and Lady Wang heard the news, and their moods finally relaxed slightly, only feeling that the other noble female relatives were somewhat impolite to be timing their arrival for the banquet to the minute.

When the two Marchionesses took their seats, Jia Mu smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries, and the atmosphere in the inner hall became harmonious again.

The Marquis of Lady Bao Ling, Li, brought his eldest son to offer congratulations, and Jia Mu was happy in her heart; after all, they were her own family, coming early to support the scene, unlike other families, which seemed somewhat neglectful.

At this moment, the Marquis of Cheng Yang, Xu, had the accompanying old woman carry in the gifts; Jia Mu looked and saw there were actually two boxes, which looked somewhat grand, and she was also somewhat happy in her heart.

Among these old noble families, only the Marquis of Cheng Yang's mansion and Rongguo Prefecture were real in-laws; after all, they were somewhat different from other families, and this etiquette was also quite thoughtful.

Mrs. Xu had the old woman open a gift box, inside of which were fine brocade fabrics, a purple gold head crown, a jade belt inlaid with treasures, satin-faced cloud-climbing boots, a ruyi jade pendant, and other birthday gifts, which were also very decent.

Mrs. Xu smiled: "This is a birthday gift for Brother Bao for his fifteenth year; I prepared it myself. We are all old relatives, and these are all commonly used items, so I hope Grandmother will not mind."

Jia Mu smiled: "Marquis Lady, what are you saying? This etiquette is somewhat heavy; we are all in-laws and old acquaintances, so it is truly somewhat grand."

Lady Wang saw that there was another box of gifts and was also very satisfied, feeling that the Marquis of Cheng Yang's mansion did things very decently, and this etiquette was indeed somewhat grand.

Mrs. Xu had someone open the other gift box, inside of which were neatly placed writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, which could be seen to be top-quality items.

Besides this, there were folding fans, sachets, top-quality silk handkerchiefs, precious incense, hand-beaded incense strings, and a box of five small gold rings.

Jia Mu and Lady Wang looked at this box of gifts and felt somewhat strange.

Compared to the first box, this box of things appeared much more low-key and simple, but it could also be considered a gesture; it was just that Bao Yu did not often use these things.

Mrs. Xu said: "This box of gifts was not prepared by me; it was prepared by my Third Girl and Xing'er.

Last time my Third Girl obtained Brother Cong's calligraphy, she could not put it down, and Xing'er saw that calligraphy and also kept saying it was excellent.

This box of gifts is a thank-you gift for Brother Cong's calligraphy; it is just a matter of human relations between brothers and sisters of the same generation. I know Brother Cong must be here today, so I brought it along to save another trip.

This box of gifts is all daily items and is not considered precious; Brother Cong can keep them for his own use or reward his servants and maids.

In addition, there is something to apologize to Grandmother for; Xing'er made an appointment with friends a few days ago to go hunting in Tongzhou, and he could not make it back today, so let me offer birthday wishes to Brother Bao on his behalf."

Jia Mu and Lady Wang heard this and were immediately somewhat dumbfounded; they had originally thought the Marquis of Cheng Yang's mansion's etiquette was heavy, as they had actually carried two boxes of gifts into the mansion, and felt they had face.

They did not expect that one of the boxes of gifts was for Jia Cong, which also sounded like the Marquis of Cheng Yang's mansion wanting to be on good terms with the Jia family; Jia Mu felt somewhat disappointed when she heard this, but she still exchanged a few polite words.

Lady Wang, however, felt somewhat disgusted...

Jia Mu glanced at this box of gifts; although Mrs. Xu said the gifts were prepared by her son and daughter together, it was mostly a cover-up excuse.

Anyone could see the path of this box of gifts; it was clearly a young girl's thoughts...

Jia Mu felt somewhat helpless and smiled bitterly; ever since Brother Cong's imperial marriage was revoked, these noble old relatives had all developed ideas.

The Third Girl of the Liu family must have had thoughts about Brother Cong, so naturally, she had her brother send him calligraphy, and unexpectedly, it hit the mark, making him be missed by others...

Look at these gifts the girl sent; one can see she is very delicate and attentive.

Jia Mu sighed in her heart; if the Third Girl of the Liu family had taken a fancy to her Bao Yu, what a good thing that would have been.

Moreover, the weight of a female relative attending the banquet and the heir of a Marquis mansion attending the banquet could not be equated; the invitation had been sent to the East Courtyard three days ago, so why did the heir of the Marquis of Cheng Yang happen to go hunting?

Just as Jia Mu felt somewhat lost, Lady Wang forced a smile, suppressing the displeasure rising in her heart.

Only then did Yuanyang enter the inner hall in a hurry, whispering a few words in Jia Mu's ear before retreating alone; Jia Mu's face looked somewhat ugly.

The maid Seeing Seeing Caiyun also followed closely, whispering the news from the outer courtyard to Lady Wang, but Lady Wang's face turned pale... (End of chapter)