Chapter 792

Rongguo Prefecture, Rongqing Hall.

The incense burners were warm and fragrant, hairpins and jewelry gleamed, and the maid Hupo served freshly brewed Laojunmei tea; the refreshing fragrance of tea drifted slowly, exuding a sense of comfort and laziness.

After hearing Lady Wang's method, Jia Mu also felt it was a feasible matter, and it would be even better if it could accumulate family assets for her Jia Baoyu.

Therefore, both of them were in a very relaxed and satisfied mood, drinking tea and chatting about idle matters, occasionally laughing heartily, appearing quite content.

On the wind-and-rain corridor outside the hall, Xue Yima, accompanied by Xue Baochai, saw that they were approaching Rongqing Hall and slowed her pace slightly.

She asked, "Bao Yatou, do you think that if the old lady speaks up to mediate, Jia Cong will be constrained by the ties of affection and agree to this matter?"

Baochai smiled and said, "Mother, Brother Cong does things with great method, and he is a person of outstanding ability; his temperament is the least likely to be controlled by others."

"The Xin Chun Firm has been open for three years, and business has been rising year after year; there must have been people who had the intention to distribute and seize profits, and among them, there must be no lack of high-ranking officials and nobles."

"But no one has ever succeeded, which shows how firm and determined Brother Cong and Miss Qu are regarding the matter of distribution, not allowing outsiders to change it in the slightest."

"Brother Cong is also someone who is favored by the Emperor; everyone knows that his background is unfathomable, and they dare not overstep the mark."

"Just relying on Aunt's appeal to family affection as a pretext will be very difficult to make Brother Cong submit; after we enter the hall later, Mother must be careful with her words, and it is better to listen more and speak less."

……

When Hupo came forward to refill the teacups for the second time, Xue Yima was just entering Rongqing Hall with Baochai.

Seeing her sister's self-satisfied expression and the old lady's smiling face, Xue Yima knew that her sister had already spoken about the matter, and the old lady seemed to have given her approval.

Lady Wang smiled and said, "Sister, I have already informed the old lady about the matter, and the old lady also thinks it is excellent."

"The old lady has already sent someone to call Jia Cong; as long as the matter is spoken of openly, it can be accomplished."

"Close relatives in a family going into business together is both decent and stable; there is no better thing."

Xue Yima thought of her daughter's words just now; Baochai and Jia Cong had quite a tacit understanding, and if she said this matter could not be accomplished, then there would be no mistake.

It was ridiculous that her sister was already triumphantly boasting about close relatives going into business together before there was even a shadow of a plan.

Just as her daughter said, Jia Cong had a strong temperament for doing great things; how could he change his own plans and ideas because of family etiquette?

But although she was clear-headed in her heart, she would not say a word about it, still humoring her sister's face.

She smiled and said, "The Xin Chun Firm is now a major imperial merchant of the Imperial Household Department; if this matter can be accomplished, it is naturally excellent."

Seeing that her sister's words were enthusiastic but that she had stopped halfway, Lady Wang felt that her usual eloquence for flattering and boosting others seemed to have misfired.

Although she felt a bit suspicious in her heart, she did not care; anyway, the old lady had agreed to come forward to mediate, and she did not need to owe her sister any favors.

Jia Mu smiled and said, "Bao Yatou, a few days ago you and Jia Cong discussed the regulations; have you had any progress?"

Baochai smiled and said, "Replying to the old lady, we have already finished the regulations and sent them back to Jin Ling several days ago."

"Now the second uncle at home is reorganizing the shops according to the regulations, and they can be subleased to the Xin Chun Firm before the end of the year, at which time this matter can be concluded."

Jia Mu smiled and said, "Bao Yatou is still the capable one; it is a pity that you were born a woman. If you were born a man, I fear you would be as capable as Jia Cong."

"Aunt is still the blessed one; the few girls I raised are not as capable as Bao Yatou in this regard."

Xue Yima hurriedly smiled and spoke a few modest words, and Jia Mu smiled again and said, "If this matter is accomplished today, there will be another happy event in the family."

"Since Bao Yatou has these abilities, you should help your aunt more when you have free time; everything inside and outside is one family."

Baochai smiled and said, "The Xin Chun Firm is a major merchant firm of the Imperial Household Department; as long as there is no official objection, this matter can naturally be accomplished."

"When the time comes, we are one family and will not speak as two; as long as my aunt has any use for me, I will naturally do my best."

……

Jia Mu and Lady Wang both had deep impressions; when the incident with Jia Zhen occurred, it was rumored that the embroidery shop could earn fifty thousand taels of silver a year.

Nearly three years have passed, and the embroidery shop has become an imperial merchant shop of the Imperial Household Department; the silver it can earn each year is likely even more...

Now that their own shops could get a share of the profits, even if each shop could not share ten thousand taels of silver, the sum of the two would still be more than the harvest from the Western Mansion's hereditary estate!

Thinking of this, Jia Mu and Lady Wang were both immersed in joy and happiness, as if they had instantly found a reliance, and they did not even hear the subtext in Baochai's words.

Just as everyone in the main hall was happy and had their own thoughts, they suddenly heard a maid outside the hall say, "The Third Master is here."

As soon as the words fell, the red brocade curtain with floral patterns at the entrance was lifted, and Jia Cong, with a composed and solemn air, stepped into the hall, with Yuanyang following one step behind him.

Lady Wang had just been full of longing, hoping that the second branch would have rolling wealth from now on, turn the tables, and hold her head high.

But as soon as she saw Jia Cong appear, she felt a subconscious tightening in her heart and could not help but feel a trace of anxiety.

Even though she had brought Jia Mu out to mediate this matter, she knew very well in her heart that she had always been jealous of Jia Cong, but now she wanted to extract benefits from him.

This made Lady Wang feel a trace of shame, but thinking of the Master's kindness and righteousness toward Jia Cong, that vague shame was immediately replaced by a sense of justification.

She also thought that she was originally the mistress of the Rongguo Prefecture, and her sense of justification instantly became a matter of course.

……

Jia Mu smiled and asked Jia Cong to take a seat, and then asked the maid to serve new tea.

She smiled and said, "You are exhausted by your official duties, leaving early and returning late every day; the trivial matters of the family should not have bothered you and wasted your energy in vain."

"But this matter today is a good thing for the family, and if it is accomplished, it will be beneficial to everyone, which is why I asked you to come and talk about it."

Jia Mu told the whole story of Lady Wang's desire to distribute the goods of the Xin Chun Firm, and although Jia Cong already knew, he listened patiently until the end.

Lady Wang was a little excited, waiting for the old lady to finish speaking; even if Jia Cong had something to say, looking at the face of the elder of the family, he would definitely agree.

When that time came, the second branch would have a source of wealth and would never have to live by watching others' expressions again.

Although there was the absurdity of taking benefits from the first branch to compete with them, as long as the second branch had more decency in the future, she could not care about much else.

Just as Lady Wang was full of strange longing, she saw that Jia Cong did not express his stance after hearing the old lady's words, but instead had a gloomy face and said nothing.

Her heart sank involuntarily, and she began to feel that something was wrong, as if it were not within her expectations.

Not to mention that Lady Wang noticed it, even though Jia Mu had said a lot of enthusiastic words, her grandson did not respond, and his face was still a bit sour...

The old lady felt that something was not right, and although she was a bit anxious, she had to wait patiently for Jia Cong's reply and then see the situation before making plans.

Seeing Jia Cong's serious expression, without the slightest appearance of a pleasant family affair, Xue Yima could not help but admire her daughter's foresight and just waited on the sidelines to watch the show.

……

Jia Cong said in a deep voice, "When Miss Qu first settled in the Divine Capital, she was compassionate and adopted five orphans, but she was not very well-off."

"I then founded the embroidery shop with her; because I wanted to pursue the path of the imperial examinations and officialdom, it was inconvenient for me to be a merchant, so the business was managed by Miss Qu."

"Later, she worked day and night, and the shop's business flourished; I did not expect that it would be coveted by Brother Zhen of the Eastern Mansion, who used forceful means to seize the shop, causing a huge disturbance."

"The Emperor heard the rumors in the palace and was quite furious, summoning me into the palace to reprimand me."

"He blamed me, an official in the imperial court, for engaging in merchant business, which was a great loss of decorum and invited trouble."

"In order to redeem my sins, I offered the embroidery shop to the Emperor; the Emperor is generous and benevolent and disdains to compete with the people for profit."

"Seeing that Miss Qu had good intentions and that the incense business of the embroidery shop was beneficial to the country, the Emperor bestowed great favor, allowing the embroidery shop to be listed under the Imperial Household Department and renaming it the Xin Chun Firm."

"The beginning of this cause and effect was all because of Jia Zhen's corrupt morality, greed, and shamelessness, and his delusional thoughts of robbery; otherwise, how could such a disturbance have been caused?"

"Since then, I have deeply detested the descendants of the family who do not think of loyalty and filial piety, are lazy and hate work, bully others by relying on their power, and seize private property."

"The family business created by the ancestors of Ningguo was ruined in one day because of Jia Zhen's immoral actions; he is a sinner of the Jia clan, and he deserved to die, as witnessed by both man and god!"

Hearing Jia Cong not responding to the matter but talking about the origin of the Xin Chun Firm, with cold words, Jia Mu and Lady Wang felt their hearts gradually grow heavy.

By the time Jia Cong reached the end, his words became increasingly stern like a knife, even calling Jia Zhen by his name, saying he deserved to die, and his expression was one of deep detestation.

Jia Mu's face had already changed; her previous worries were indeed correct; this kid was simply unwilling to do this and had started to show his face and scold people.

……

But even if Jia Cong's words were cold and sharp, Jia Mu, as his grandmother, could not find any fault.

Jia Zhen was originally the head of the Jia clan and had a very noble status, but he was treacherous and evil by nature, and his crimes were clear, causing the Ningguo Prefecture to be raided.

When Jia She was alive, whether it was kicking someone when they were down or seeking private gain, he mobilized the clan elders to discuss removing him from the genealogy, and he was not allowed to be buried in the ancestral land after death.

Therefore, even if Jia Cong scolded him as harshly as possible, others could not say a single word against it.

However, is Brother Cong really scolding Jia Zhen...

Jia Mu glanced at her daughter-in-law and saw that her face was a bit unsightly and seemed still a bit unconvinced; the old lady felt a bit of regret in her heart.