The Rise of Ning Mansion in Red Mansions

Chapter 39 Jia Zheng’s Weakness

The second year of Taikang, New Year's Day.

The auspicious snow heralds a good harvest and a new atmosphere in the new year.

A heavy snowfall last night covered up the noise of the old year and finally made Ningrong Street fall into silence.

On the street, there were only a few servants who got up early, yawning and lazily clearing away the snow.

"Da da……"

The rumble of horse hooves, from far to near, suddenly broke the silence of Ningrong Street.

After a while, a neat row of cavalry, with bright armor, slowly appeared where the snow and sky met.

In an instant, they drove to the gate of Rongguo Mansion, and the whirlwind brought up splashed the two stone lions, which were covered with silver again.

Several people sitting at the door of Rongguo Mansion were startled, their faces turned pale, and their legs were trembling unsatisfactorily.

Something serious had been committed in the mansion, and the heavenly soldiers came to arrest him so early in the morning despite the heavy snow and road closures!
Liu He, who was at the door, was also helpless. He signaled with his eyes a few people who often fawned over him. The disciples pushed him left and right, but refused to come forward to ask.

He had no choice but to get out of the crowd, and while sending a servant to report to Jia Zheng's room, he tremblingly stepped forward to ask.

The leader of the cavalry team is Li Kui, a rough man who only likes to carry a pair of Xuanhua axes and kill with pleasure.

Yesterday, Jia Dai sent him on an errand to escort Jia Baoyu. The boss was not happy in his heart, so he did not dare to disobey.

At this moment, he was sulking. How could he give Liu He a good look?

Li Kui just glanced at him sideways, and then turned his big round head away. His black face was full of disdain, and he didn't talk to him, and he had no intention of dismounting.

Liu He is a little old man who is over forty years old. He is a bit thin and he is an old man in the house. He still has some ability to observe people's emotions.

I know that since the death of Jia Daishan, the number of cars and horses in front of Rongguo Mansion has become increasingly scarce, and there are almost no visitors. No dignitaries come to visit.

Today, I suddenly saw a group of soldiers approaching. They were very rare visitors, and I was a little frightened. They were coming with bad intentions.

Looking at the leader, he is quite savage, with a cold expression, and does not talk to him.
For a moment, Liu He was a little confused. He couldn't move forward or retreat. He stood there stupidly.

Despite the cold wind blowing, he just begged Jia Zheng to come out quickly so that he could escape.

"Jia Zheng, may I ask the general..."

At some unknown time, the main door of Rongguo Mansion opened wide, and a somewhat wealthy middle-aged man, about thirty-six or seventeen years old, walked out.

I saw him wearing a mink fur cloak, with a smile on his face, and asked with his hands raised.

"Hmph! Are you Jia Zheng?"

"Jia Baoyu's father?"

Li Kui snorted and sat on his horse, condescendingly saying, "Shout out Jia Baoyu quickly!"

"This damn weather is windy and snowy. It's freezing to death. I don't have time to wait for him!"

"If I finish the general's errands early, I can go back to the camp early, drink heavily, and eat large pieces of meat. Wouldn't I be happy..."

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment after hearing this. He had just received a report from his disciples and almost scared him to death. He thought it was Jia She who had committed a crime, which made Shengyan furious and came to Rongguo Mansion to arrest him.

When he heard that it was for Jia Baoyu, Jia Zheng was furious and wanted to sneak Jia Baoyu out and beat him to death.

Jia Zheng suppressed his anger and politely invited Li Kui into the house to have tea. At the same time, he asked Jin Chuan to go to the blue silk cabinet and summon Jia Baoyu.

A few months ago, Jia Zheng had just taken office as the Ministry of Industry. In order to make good friends with his boss Qin Ye, he invited him to have a drink in his house and learned that his only son, Qin Zhong, had not yet been appointed to the army.

Jia Zheng then suggested that he and Jia Baoyu could study together with the Jia clan.

Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong were similar in age, so they became friends. The two hit it off, talked happily, and agreed to go to the Jia family to study and enlighten in two or three days.

Mrs. Xing knew that Jia Baoyu was Jia Mu's darling. If she pleased Jia Baoyu, she would please Jia Mu, and she would be able to set fewer rules.

Therefore, Mrs. Xing joined in the fun and said:
"Why don't you keep Mr. Qin and stay at your house for one night?"

"Tomorrow, I will go to Qingxu Temple with Brother Bao to fulfill my vows. The day after tomorrow, we will go to school together to study."

"Isn't it a good idea to have two things at your advantage?"

After hearing this, Jia Baoyu's face was overjoyed, she put her palms in her hands and smiled, rolled into Jia Mu's arms and acted like a baby, begging Jia Mu for permission with a smile.

Jia's mother was almost sixty, and she was angry again in Dongfu, but she couldn't stand his fuss, so she thought to herself:

"I just want Qin Zhong to stay in the house for one night. Besides, he is young, only six or seven years old, so I expect he will be fine."

Therefore, Jia Mu agreed with a smile, hugged Jia Baoyu in her arms, and gave him a few heartfelt instructions.

Just say, don't make it too late or miss the auspicious time.

No, Qin Zhong pretends to be polite and shy in front of others.
But when he was alone with Jia Baoyu, he had a different look, immediately exposing his lustful and shameless roots.

He often teases Jia Baoyu with words, making him unable to leave her.

Qin Zhong was a frivolous man, and he talked a lot of nonsense, which made Jia Baoyu smile and think about it. For some reason, the two of them tossed around until late at night before they managed to fall asleep.

No, Jia Zheng sent the golden necklace from the room. The two living treasures, Qin Zhong and Jia Baoyu, were still sleeping soundly in the blue silk cabinet, with no intention of waking up.

"Qianxue, what's wrong? Are you still asleep?"

"Master, I'm waiting over there. If Master Bao doesn't go there, I'm afraid he'll come to get someone again!"

After hearing this, Qianxue was startled, put down her work, and tiptoed to Luohan Babu's bedside, trying to shake Jia Baoyu awake.

However, Jia Baoyu just rubbed his eyes, turned around, hugged Qin Zhong's smelly feet and fell asleep again.

Seeing him like this, Qianxue sighed and shouted:
"Second Master, the master is here."

Sure enough, this trick worked on Jia Baoyu. He sat up straight and said anxiously:

"where?"

"Hurry up and help me get out of bed and hide!"

When the girls in the Bisha Cabinet saw him, they burst into laughter and stepped forward one after another, helping Jia Baoyu get dressed, braided, put on shoes, wash up, etc.

After a lot of work, Jia Baoyu was cleaned up, and he first went to Jia's mother's room to say hello, and then saw him and Qin Zhong off before returning through the hanging flower arch.

Not long after, Ming Yan, Hu Yao, Ban He, and Mo Yu came to the front hall surrounded by Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong.

Jia Baoyu went in first to meet his father, Jia Zheng.

When he saw Jia Zheng, Jia Baoyu was so timid, his head was droopy, and he had no energy at all.

Jia Zheng became even more angry after seeing this, and couldn't help scolding Jia Baoyu. After a long while, he remembered that Li Kui was still waiting!
Jia Zheng put on the air of a humble gentleman, looked at Li Kui who was about to jump in a hurry, and said with an apologetic smile:
"The child is naughty, thank you General for your troubles..."

"Humph, that's a long way to go!"

It was said to be a while, but it actually made me wait for more than half an hour.

The clay figurine is still angry!
Li Kui said a few words, picked up the Xuanhua ax, turned around and left.

Jia Zhengti slipped Jia Baoyu and followed them carefully. Watching them go away, he stamped his feet angrily and returned to Mengpo Zhai.

(End of this chapter)