Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 204
Jia Lian also woke up a little.

No wonder the yamen officer didn't know what was going on. It turned out that he had directly gone to the top level, and it should have been a direct order from Shen Wence, the Minister of Civil Affairs.

Jia She also nodded with satisfaction, but he soon became serious, "Bring the gift and go to Dingxihou's Mansion. Don't let Brother Rui say that our family doesn't understand the rules and etiquette."

"Yes."

Jia Mu, who was sitting at the top, also said, "There is another glazed screen in my warehouse. You can take it with you."

If it was before, Jia Mu would not be willing to give away such valuable things, but it is different today. No matter how much things are given, Jia Mu is willing to give them away.

Jia Zheng, who was sitting aside, stroked his beard and lectured: "When you take office, you must be diligent and love the people. You must not take bribes. You must be loyal to the emperor. You must not take bribes and bend the law."

Jia Lian felt a little unhappy after listening to Jia Zheng's words. You've started to teach me a lesson before I even took office. Besides, I don't have any experience as an official. I haven't moved up to the fifth rank for so many years. If I do what you say, I'm afraid I'll be kicked out of my job within a few days.

Although he disagreed in his heart, on the surface Jia Lian still listened to Jia Zheng's lesson very carefully, and then repeatedly said yes.

In this way, Rongqing Hall was enjoying itself.

About an hour later, the nagging of the three old men inside ended, and Jia Lian escaped from Rongqing Hall.

When he came outside, Jia Lian let out a long breath, which had been suffocating him just now.

After that, Jia Lian immediately began to be arrogant. He walked in a square step, imitating the walking style of officials outside, and slowly returned to his yard.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Wang Xifeng, Ping'er and the maids and women in the yard waiting for him.

As soon as Wang Xifeng and others saw Jia Lian coming, they prayed for good fortune together.

"I've met Master Jia."

Jia Lian felt proud now. He pretended to cough, and then said:

"Get up!"

Wang Xifeng got up, and then Jia Lian, surrounded by a group of people, returned to the house.

After entering the house, Wang Xifeng pretended to ask Jia Lian about the ins and outs of becoming an official.

Jia Lian could only tell Wang Xifeng about Jia Mu's guess.

Wang Xifeng seemed to be very grateful to Jia Rui, and took out one of her jade Ruyi and asked Jia Lian to give it to Jia Rui.

Jia Lian naturally agreed.

While they were talking, the sound of mandarin ducks was heard outside, and Ping'er hurried out to greet them.

After a while, Ping'er came in by himself, but there was no mandarin duck.

"Grandma, Second Master, Yuanyang brought the old lady's glazed screen, and then left without staying any longer."

Jia Lian patted his head and said, "I almost forgot. Just now the old lady said that she would also give her glazed screen to Jia Rui."

Wang Xifeng became interested as soon as she heard it. You must know that the old lady had eaten it before, and there were many treasures in her warehouse that Wang Xifeng had never heard of.

"Why don't you hurry up and have someone carry it in? I'll see what you can do."

Ping'er glanced at Jia Lian and saw that Jia Lian had no other expression, so he went out and asked several women to carry the screen in.

Wang Xifeng was a little tempted when she saw this screen.

I saw that the screen was as tall as one person and as long as two people.

It consists of twelve leaves, supported by a figure-eight base.The screen frame is painted black and decorated with various branches and flowers using gold tracing techniques.The black sand in the center of the screen is inlaid with various flowers using the emerald technique.Each screen frame is inlaid with transparent flat glass.The skirt panel is decorated with stilts at the ends and corners, and in the middle are gold-painted branches and flowers.The perimeter of the screen is decorated with gold-lacquered edges and screen caps.

Moreover, there are interfaces between each screen leaf, which can be separated and connected freely.

This is simply an ingenious work of art.

Wang Xifeng couldn't move her eyes away. She touched the screen and looked at Jia Lian pitifully.

Jia Lian felt a little distressed after seeing the screen. It was an incredible treasure.

Coupled with Wang Xifeng's pitiful eyes, Jia Lian felt a little soft-hearted and wanted to stay.

Ping'er, who was next to him, quickly interjected: "The old lady gave this to Uncle Rui. If we stay, we won't be able to explain to you two in the future."

As soon as Jia Lian heard Ping'er's words, he immediately woke up.

Although this screen is valuable, it is nothing compared to the official Suzhou Tongzhi.

When you get to Suzhou, this paradise on earth, is there anything you want?What is this screen?
So, Jia Lian seemed to have not seen Wang Xifeng's pleading eyes and said to Ping'er:

"You ask someone to put the screen in the room next to it, and I'll pack up some things and take them away together later."

Seeing that there was no hope, Wang Xifeng sat back on the bed angrily.

But Wang Xifeng still didn't give up. What she was thinking was: If you don't give it to me, someone will naturally give it to me.

In the afternoon of the same day, Jia Lian entered the Dingxi Hou Mansion with several large boxes.

However, Jia Rui was not there that day, and Jia Lian could not spend more time with Xue Baochai, so he sent a thank you gift and left.

After Jia Lian left, Xue Baochai opened the box sent by Jia Lian and looked at it one by one.

Xue Baochai naturally looked down upon other things, and only the glazed screen could not be separated from Xue Baochai's eyes.Xue Baochai's family used to be the richest of the four major families. After joining Jia Rui, they continued to be rich and prosperous. Even she had never seen anything before, which shows how precious this glazed screen is.

At that moment, Xue Baochai was not going to put the glazed screen back into the warehouse, so she had it placed in her room.

When Jia Rui came back in the evening, he suddenly found a glazed screen in the room.

Moreover, this screen is so luxurious and exquisite that there are only a few in the palace.

So he asked curiously: "You still have this thing at home, why haven't I seen it before?"

While serving Jia Rui to change clothes, Xue Baochai said with a smile: "Didn't you get an official for Lian Er? This is a return gift from him."

After saying this, she asked Ying'er to bring Jia Lian's gift list to Jia Rui.

Jia Rui glanced at Ying'er's hand and then didn't care.

From this day on, Rongguo Mansion became lively.

The news that Jia Lian was released to Suzhou also spread among relatives.

At this time, many Jia clan members also began to inquire about Jia Lian's news to see if they could follow Jia Lian south.

After all, when they were in the capital, although they were taken care of by Rongguo Mansion, Ningguo Mansion and Dingxihou Mansion, they were still at the bottom. But if they followed Jia Lian to Suzhou, they would be the upper class.

After all, if the gentry in Suzhou wanted to do anything, they had to go to Jia Lian, and if they wanted to get close to Jia Lian, they had to let people like them make connections.

In this way, the money given to them is naturally a lot. As long as they follow Jia Lian for a while, it will be enough for them to buy some land and live peacefully in the future.

Jia Lian was very worried about these people. You said you should not take them with you. They are all relatives. You said you should take them with you, but you were afraid that these people would be domineering and cause trouble for him.

In the end, I really couldn't reject Jia Lian, so I had to choose two of them. They were quite clever and were said to be of good character. I took them with me.

In addition to this trouble, Jia Lian also encountered another trouble, that is, Wang Xifeng insisted on taking office with Jia Lian.

How could Jia Lian be so willing?

You must know that it was not easy for him to leave Rongguo Mansion and take charge of his own affairs. If he takes Wang Xifeng to take office, it is not certain who will make the decision.

At that time, if you go out in the officialdom, have a drink or something, you won't be beaten to death by Wang Xifeng?
Fortunately, Jia's mother finally spoke and asked Wang Xifeng to honor her elders at home and let Jia Lian take up the post alone.

Jia Mu also had some considerations.

The only person in the Rongguo Mansion who can afford this family is Wang Xifeng. If Wang Xifeng leaves, the whole family will probably have to live in dire straits.

In the end, Wang Xifeng pretended to be very unhappy and reluctantly agreed to Jia Mu's suggestion.

In order to appease Wang Xifeng, Jia Mu also took out a coral ornament from her warehouse and gave it to Wang Xifeng.

In this noisy situation, seven or eight days later, Jia Lian left the capital with a dozen boys and two tribesmen, accompanied by relatives and friends, and went to Suzhou to take up his post.

Jia Lian left the capital in high spirits, boarded the official ship in Tongzhou, and then headed south.

He planned to take a boat to Suzhou, which would be fast and stable, and nothing would happen on the way.

Unfortunately, his good mood only lasted three days.

On this day, his official ship had just entered Shandong and was temporarily anchored at the dock of a small town at night.

After only a few days in the capital, Jia Lian felt a little lonely, so he quickly ordered his personal servant Zhao'er to go to the brothel on the dock to find some beautiful women.

It's a pity that Zhao'er found several people, but none of them were to Jia Lian's liking.

After all, this is just a small place, how could there be so many beautiful women that could catch the eye of Jia Lian, a veteran in the world of business.

In the end, Jia Lian had no choice but to find a handsome boy to vent his anger.

Jia Lian worked hard until midnight, and just after falling asleep, Zhao'er outside suddenly knocked on the door anxiously and said: "Second Master, wake up quickly, the official is here."

Jia Lian reluctantly opened his eyes, then pushed Xing'er next to him and asked him to help him get dressed and get out of the cabin.

"Where did the official come from?"

"When I came back to the Second Master, it seemed that he was a messenger from the Ministry of Official Affairs."

When Jia Lian heard that he was from the official department, he quickly ordered someone to invite him.

After a while, Zhaoer led a middle-aged official into the cabin.

The officer did not salute when he saw Jia Lian, but instead handed him a document arrogantly.

"Mr. Jia, there was a mistake in your official position. The gentlemen in the ministry have appointed you as the magistrate of Hainan Prefecture."

After hearing this, Jia Lian felt dumbfounded and dizzy. Then his eyesight went dark and he didn't know anything anymore.

I don't know how long it took, but Jia Lian woke up in a daze.

When he opened his eyes, he only saw a few close servants, anxiously surrounding him.

When Jia Lian woke up, he suddenly wanted to sit up, but immediately felt dizzy and lay down again.

"Where is the official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs? Call him quickly."

(End of this chapter)