Chapter 62

Rongqing Hall.

The Old Matriarch was leaning on the couch, her expression somewhat listless; after all, she was old and couldn't handle the anger.

Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, Seeing Tan Chun, and the other sisters were all sitting to the side to keep her company. Having just seen the Old Matriarch faint in the East Road Courtyard, they were all worried and thought about keeping her company to help her relax.

Before long, Wang Wang Xifeng entered the Rongqing Hall; after the Old Matriarch left the East Road Courtyard, she had asked her to keep an eye on the end of the matter there.

A scandal of witchcraft had occurred in the house; if it wasn't handled properly, it would be a great detriment to the family.

There were government officials from the Zhen'an Prefecture in the East Road Courtyard, so the Old Matriarch couldn't stay for long, and she had the men of the mansion handle it, but she was still worried in her heart.

Seeing Feng Feng Jie enter, she asked: "Is the matter in the East Road Courtyard settled? Did that shrew receive family law and get taken away by the government officials?"

Wang Wang Xifeng said: "Originally, the Second Master ordered fifty strokes, but the official from the Zhen'an Prefecture was afraid that Wang Wang Shanbao's wife wouldn't survive fifty strokes and die, and he wouldn't be able to explain it to his superiors when he returned."

"Later, Brother Cong said to break her legs; that way, her life would be spared, and the family law would be upheld."

She suddenly remembered the new poem she had seen on Jia Cong's desk.

It was a pity that she was only a woman; otherwise, she could also learn from Third Brother Cong to be so clear about love and hate, so spirited and unrestrained; only then would living this life not be in vain.

"She is a slave of my Jia family; using witchcraft to harm her masters, even if she were beaten to death, what would it matter? It would be nothing more than paying some salary and silver."

Jia Baoyu and the sisters were all somewhat horrified upon hearing Jia Cong's style; they had lived in silk and satin since birth, living in the flower-filled gardens of the house.

But Jia Cong had grown up in hardship and danger since he was a child, and his temperament and behavior were truly very different from theirs.

If the Zhen'an Prefecture had anything to say, at worst, the old woman would dress up and go into the palace to plead guilty to the Empress Dowager; sacrificing her old face, there wouldn't be any major issues.

"The hungry eagle is willing to be used, the cold horse is even prouder."

Wang Wang Xifeng asked: "Old Matriarch, is there something wrong?"

Lin Daiyu felt afraid in her heart when she heard that Jia Cong had ordered Wang Wang Shanbao's wife's legs to be broken.

"The banners carry the forest, the flute music contains the wind."

But in the blink of an eye, not only had he escaped from the East Road Courtyard, but the matron who forced his maid to her death had also met such an end; to say these were all coincidences, Lin Daiyu found it hard to believe.

"The vast wilderness is empty, the thorns burn fiercely."

Thinking of this Third Brother Cong, who started off just being confined in the East Road Courtyard and raised harshly, how many things had happened since she heard about him, and he had even been beaten by her eldest uncle to the point of almost losing his life.

Seeing Yingchun didn't think so deeply; she was simple and wooden by nature, as long as Brother Cong didn't suffer or get beaten, whatever else he did didn't matter to her.

Although Seeing Tan Chun felt somewhat afraid, her eyes shone brightly; she knew that Jia Cong doing this was to vent his anger and seek revenge for Hearing Zhi Shao; for a man to have such affection and spirit in this world was admirable.

The Jia family had been peaceful for these years; these young men and women in the boudoir had never experienced such terrifying things.

"The killing spirit of early winter condenses, the clear frost meets the morning."

"He just waited to see Wang Wang Shanbao's wife get her legs broken and then get dragged away by the government officials before returning to his own courtyard as if nothing had happened; the maids and matrons in the East Road Courtyard were all terrified by him."

"Why didn't I see it before? He is such a ruthless person; Wang Wang Shanbao's wife was cursing and begging him, and he didn't even blink."

The Old Matriarch to the side snorted coldly: "Why did Zheng listen to that boy's words? That shrew should have been beaten to death with fifty strokes!"

No wonder there was such a chilling, sharp, and killing aura in that poem; could it be that Third Brother Cong had foreseen today's events?

"You all saw that shrew's crazy behavior of implicating others in the hall just now; she still had some scruples while in the mansion."

"But once she reaches the Zhen'an Prefecture, in order to survive, what scruples would she have? She would just ramble on, causing trouble, and by then, I fear it will be difficult to clean up."

Although people like Lin Daiyu and Seeing Tan Chun in the hall were clever, they were, after all, unmarried young ladies with limited experience; they didn't have the deep calculations of the Old Matriarch.

Hearing these words from the Old Matriarch, although they had lingering fears, they didn't understand where the difficulty in cleaning up lay.

The Old Matriarch looked at the grandsons and granddaughters around her; some things were not easy to say in front of the younger generation, so she let them disperse, leaving only Lady Wang and Wang Wang Xifeng in the Rongqing Hall.

Wang Wang Xifeng was a hero among the powder and rouge; unlike the immature Lin Daiyu, Seeing Tan Chun, and the other sisters, she had managed the Lady Rongguo mansion for several years and had long since broadened her horizons. As soon as she heard the Old Matriarch's words, she understood her meaning.

Today, the people from the Zhen'an Prefecture came to arrest Wang Wang Shanbao's wife with solid evidence, and they found paper figures and yellow talismans for witchcraft in her room; on the surface, the evidence was conclusive and irrefutable.

But the Old Matriarch, Lady Wang, and Wang Wang Xifeng were all experienced people who were well-versed in worldly affairs, and they all had doubts in their hearts about this matter.

Why would a servant of the Main Branch be so bold as to harm the Old Master and Lady of the Second Branch?

This didn't make sense and was mind-boggling.

Unless she was directed by someone else; Wang Wang Shanbao's wife was Lady Xing's personal maid, and everyone in the Jia mansion knew that Lady Xing had always had resentment toward the Second Branch.

She was the most likely to have directed Wang Wang Shanbao's wife to commit such an act that would make both gods and men angry, likely to regain the management power of the Second Branch.

But even if this were true, the Old Matriarch wouldn't want to expose it.

Because once the matter of the Main Branch directing a servant to use witchcraft to harm the Second Branch was exposed, the Imperial Clan Court would definitely inquire.

One must know that the new Chief Justice of the Imperial Clan Court, Prince Prince Zhongshun, was the brother most trusted and relied upon by the Emperor; he was naturally cautious and had never had a good impression of these old-school nobles like the Four Kings and Eight Dukes.

As long as the Imperial Clan Court intervened, with conclusive evidence, husband and wife being one, the charge of Jia She harming his own brother would be inescapable.

Stripping of titles and removal from office would be certain, and it was possible they would be exiled three thousand miles away, never to return even with an amnesty, dying in a foreign land.

If the Jia family lost the title left by the Old Duke, it would be a failure to the ancestors, but a noble family that had lost its title would no longer be a noble family, and the Jia family would be finished.

Therefore, the Old Matriarch, who had always had a reputation for being kind to servants, would think that Jia Cong had ruined things, and that Wang Wang Shanbao's wife should have been beaten to death with a round of strokes.

Wouldn't killing to silence be the most effective method!

Wang Wang Xifeng suddenly felt her heart jump and said: "Brother Cong is capable, but he is not a muddled person."

"Looking at his style today, I thought he was just punishing Wang Wang Shanbao's wife to vent his anger for the maid who jumped into the river."

"Could it be that he harbors resentment toward the Old Master and Lady, and deliberately left Wang Wang Shanbao's wife alive!"

Lady Wang turned pale upon hearing this: "It wouldn't be that terrifying, would it? He is only so young; how could he have such deep calculations?"

The Old Matriarch's expression was uncertain, and she said: "If it were any other grandchild, it would be one thing, but this evil obstacle... looking at his actions these days, I truly cannot guess what he is thinking in his heart."

The Old Matriarch remembered the main hall of the East Road Courtyard today, in front of the Judge of the Zhen'an Prefecture and her, the elders of the Jia family.

This boy spoke eloquently and almost completely controlled the scene; with just a few words, he had punished Wang Wang Shanbao's wife to the point of wishing she were dead.

Thinking of that scene, the Old Matriarch felt a slight chill in her heart.

She said: "If I had brought him over to raise him early on, like the Second Girl and Fourth Girl, he wouldn't have grown up to have such a cold and unfathomable temperament."

Qingzhi Study.

Jia Cong stood in the small courtyard, looking at the ink-blue, clear night sky in a daze.

Wu'er walked to Jia Cong's side with a graceful figure and draped a cloak over him: "Third Master, it is very cold at night; be careful not to catch a cold."

Jia Cong said warmly: "I will go in after standing for a while; your body is weak, go in quickly, be careful not to catch a cold."

He hoped that Wang Wang Shanbao's wife would put on a good show for him at the Zhen'an Prefecture in order to save her own life.

That day, when he heard Aunt Zhao say that Wang Wang Shanbao's wife had invited Ma Ma Daopo to drive away evil spirits, he began to pay attention and lay out his plans; having read the Dream of the Red Chamber in his previous life, he knew the entanglement between Pan Pan Sanbao and Ma Ma Daopo.

Upon testing it, it turned out that everything was true.

He asked Qu Qu Hongxiu for help to make Wang Wang Shanbao's wife fall into the trap; first, it was to make her pay for Hearing Zhi Shao's life, and even more so to use her to strike at those two in the East Road Courtyard.

Wang Wang Shanbao's wife was Lady Xing's personal maid; her using witchcraft to harm the Second Branch's Jia Zheng and Lady Wang would make anyone suspect that Lady Xing had directed her.

Once such a scandal spread, it would almost certainly trap Jia She and Lady Xing in a desperate situation.

But people like the Old Matriarch and Lady Wang, who managed such great families, were not stupid, and they would likely see the crucial point.

Although they couldn't dream that everything was designed by Jia Cong.

But with the deep foundation of the Jia family having two Dukes in one family, the Old Matriarch would definitely do everything possible to protect Jia She, so that the Jia family could remain stable and not fall.

But this was no longer important to Jia Cong, and he hadn't thought that he could topple the dignified heir of the Lady Rongguo mansion with just this one thing.

Through this matter, not only was Wang Wang Shanbao's wife removed to avenge Hearing Zhi Shao, but those two in the East Road Courtyard were also severely suppressed.

In the future, Jia She and Lady Xing's status in the Jia mansion would decline further, and they would no longer have the energy to scheme against and abuse him.

He could also be considered to have basically escaped from his previous predicament, having more stable time and space to do what he wanted to do.

(End of chapter)