Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 674: Blessings and Sins Are All Self-inflicted

Suzhou, Chayuan Street, Zhen Family Courtyard.

In midsummer, the weather in Suzhou is much hotter than that in Beijing. The courtyard is full of lush flowers and trees, full of green, and the cicadas sing loudly in the trees.

Zhen Fangqing was sitting on a recliner in the main room, wearing a white gauze top for cooling off in the summer. A faint glimpse of her goose yellow tube top was visible underneath, and her curvaceous figure made her look even more charming and graceful.

She was wearing a long white printed silk skirt, and the afternoon summer breeze blew gently, causing the hem of her skirt to flutter in the wind.

She was fiddling with the handwritten booklet that Jia Cong had given her, which contained several essays that Jia Cong had written for the imperial examination.

Every time she read it more than once, she felt admiration and a bit of envy.

Of course, if she were not a girl, she would probably study hard and fight for this literary glory...

Just then, footsteps were heard on the corridor outside the main house, and the maid Bei'er, with a little sweat on her fair forehead, walked quickly into the room.

Zhen Fangqing laughed and scolded, "I asked you to go out and buy some soap, but you're only back now. Where are you going to hang out again?"

Bei Er pouted and said, "Girl, this is my first time in Gusu too, and the driver is not familiar with the roads.

I finally found out that there are only two shops in the whole of Suzhou that sell Xinchunhao's exclusive products.

I asked the driver to look around for a long time before I found one of the Fengxiang stores. It was really a lot of effort, so naturally I came back late."

Zhen Fangqing smiled slightly and said, "Miss Qu and Miss Qin are really good at doing business, I don't know where Yu Zhang got it from.

There are only two stores in Suzhou that can sell Xinchunhao's products, and the price is not set casually."

Bei'er took out the newly bought perfume soap and placed it on the tip of Zhen Fangqing's nose as if she was offering a treasure.

He said, "Girl, this is Xinchun's new perfume soap. It's different from what we used before. Smell it and see if it smells good."

Zhen Fangqing took a breath and sniffed it, feeling quite intoxicated, and said with a smile: "This smell is fragrant and refreshing, as if mint leaves were added.

Xinchunhao has many innovative ways of doing business, no wonder it has grown so big in just a few years."

Bei Er smiled and said, "I heard from the maid in the store that this is the perfume soap that the shop owner of their store came up with and had Xinchunhao customize.

The old woman even said that the shopkeeper of their shop is a girl."

Zhen Fangqing was slightly stunned when he heard this, and said casually: "Xinchunhao is always unique, and seems to like to use girls to run things."

But she just said it casually and didn't care about it in her heart, because she was a girl and was not in charge of all the businesses of the Zhen family.

The master and servant were chatting, and Zhen Fangqing was about to take a bath with the newly bought soap when he heard footsteps coming from the door.

I saw Liu Xian's family coming in, exhausted.

……

Zhen Fangqing was worried that Chen Rong had fallen into the hands of the Jinyiwei and that his cousin Zhen Shiwen had been convicted, making the situation of the Zhen family difficult to reverse.

So after arriving in Gusu, he stopped his journey and did not rush into Jinling City, but waited and observed the situation in Gusu.

He also sent Liu Xian's trusted servant Wang Hai to return to Jinling to find out what was going on.

Liu Xian's family has been gone for two days. Now that he has returned, he must have brought back news from Nanjing.

Zhen Fangqing saw that Liu Xianjia had sweat on his forehead and looked tired, as if he was exhausted from the long journey.

She asked Bei'er to pour a cup of hot tea for Liu Xian's family and asked, "Aunt Liu, what's the news from Jinling?"

Liu Xianjia said, "I have seen our head of the family. Ever since he sent the letter to the girl, he has been keeping an eye on this matter in the city.

He said that Wang Zhangjiang had returned to Nanjing six days ago, and someone saw him coming down from the dock, but he was not sure whether he had caught Chen Rong.

The Jinyiwei Qianhu Station is heavily guarded, and it is not easy for outsiders to find out who is imprisoned there.

But Chen Xun’s wife was suddenly released from the Jinyiwei prison, and many people saw it.”

After hearing this, Zhen Fangqing's eyes flickered slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Liu Xianjia continued, "Our head originally wanted to go to Chen Xian's wife to ask for information, but he was worried that it would alert the Jinyiwei, so he didn't dare to go.

But on the morning of the next day, someone saw several Jinyiwei riding fast horses out of the city at the north gate and heading north in a hurry.

Our boss guessed that Wang Zhangjiang must have captured Chen Rong, and most likely asked something from Chen Rong, so he was in a hurry to report it to the court.

Our boss also explained the reason. He said that although the Jinyiwei were powerful, the master was a high-ranking official of the third rank.

After all, the Zhen family is a prestigious family in Jinling. Without the imperial decree, the Jinyiwei dare not touch our Zhen family..."

After hearing what Liu Xianjia said, Zhen Fangqing's pretty face turned pale.

He said: "Uncle Xian's guess is correct, Wang Zhangjiang must have captured Chen Rong and asked him to confess.

Most likely, the third brother's crime has been proven. Even if Chen Rong really doesn't know the truth, the Jinyiwei has a way to make him confess what they want."

The Jinyiwei cavalry went north five days ago. Their speed is much faster than ours going south.

It is most likely that it is almost reaching the capital city now, or perhaps it has already arrived there. The imperial court may have already learned the news.

It would take at least five or six days for His Majesty to make a decision on the matter and for the news to be passed back to the Jinling Jinyiwei.

That is to say, in five or six days, the fate of our Zhen family will be revealed."

……

After hearing this, Liu Xian's wife looked a little sad. He and his wife were both born servants of the Zhen family and had grown up in the Zhen family all their lives.

Subconsciously, they are members of the Zhen family. Now that the main family is on the verge of ruin, they are naturally shocked and sad.

He said, "Miss, our boss said that everything you asked for before going to the capital has been completed.

A few days ago, all the silver that could be withdrawn from each store had been withdrawn, leaving only the necessary amount to cover up the truth.

All idle properties in various places had been sold for silver, and all important items had been loaded onto the ships in batches before the last ships left the port.

All matters in the family were handled according to the young lady's wishes. Even if the Zhen family really encountered a disaster, at least 70% to 80% of the family property left by the second master would be preserved...

In addition, some time ago, the first wife asked someone to withdraw money from the shop. Since it was taken from the first wife's share, I, the head of the household, could not stop it completely for fear of arousing the first wife's suspicion.

But after finding various excuses, the first wife did not take much money. "

Zhen Fangqing smiled bitterly: "The first wife still hasn't figured it out. As long as something happens to the Zhen family, no matter how much money the first wife takes away, she won't be able to keep even a tael."

Liu Xianjia said, "The young lady asked me to take the second wife out of the city. The carriages and horses and related personnel are all ready.

The girl had already told the second wife what she meant and asked her to keep it secret for the time being.

But the second wife said that the situation is really so dangerous, should we take the old lady away with us, and should we just leave the first master and the first wife alone..."

Zhen Fangqing smiled bitterly and said, "My mother is kind-hearted. It's not that I'm unfilial and don't care about the old lady's life or death.

My mother used to go back to her hometown in Huizhou for a short stay every one or two years. She visited there so often that even when she left Jinling, it would not attract much attention.

I was worried that she had always been ill and couldn't stand the torture and shock, so I wanted to get her out of this dangerous situation as soon as possible.

Besides, the Jinyiwei were concerned about the people from the first wife, and the orphans and widows from the second wife were irrelevant to the overall situation in their eyes.

But the old lady was different. She was old and in a high position. Her sisters and brothers had all passed away, and she had not left Jinling for almost forty years.

Now that they have to suddenly leave Jinling, what excuse can they give? Once they leave, the Jinyiwei will soon become suspicious, and then no one will be able to leave.

The old lady is so old. Even if something happens to the Zhen family, the court will not bring disaster to a person over 70 years old, so as not to offend the emperor. I will find another way to arrange her placement in the next few days.

As for the eldest master and the eldest mistress, because of the third brother, the first house has become the target of public criticism. Where can they go?

After the incident, only the Zhen family was punished. The third brother was dead, and the others were not sentenced to death.

If they want to escape now, they won't be able to find a reason to do so. This will give the imperial court an excuse, and then no one in the Zhen family will survive!"

Zhen Fangqing thought for a moment and said, "Auntie, I'll need you to make another trip and return to Jinling today.

My mother doesn't know the seriousness of this. You should go into the inner courtyard yourself and explain these ideas to my mother clearly so that she can leave as soon as possible.

If you meet your family when you return home, tell them that you left Beijing in advance to report the news. I left Beijing later and am still on the way, so as to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

These are helpless actions. Only by doing this can the Zhen family suffer as little as possible. As long as everyone can save their lives, there will be a long future..."

Liu Xianjia quickly agreed, and suddenly remembered something, and said, "Miss, when I left Jinling, our head of the family also said something important.

He said that the first wife had been organizing the first house's valuables a few days ago, packing more than a dozen boxes of valuables, and had also made two trips to the first house of the Wang family in Nanjing.

When our head of the household heard the rumor, he became suspicious and asked the maid in charge of the second house to inquire in the inner courtyard, and only then did he learn the news.

The first wife wanted to send the eldest wife's wealth to the Jia family in the capital for temporary storage to prevent it from being dispersed if anything happened in the future.

Later, the eldest wife's younger brother came to the house several times, taking away a few boxes each time.

Yesterday, her brother brought several servants from the first house and boarded a merchant ship heading north."

When Zhen Fangqing heard this, her face turned even paler, she bit her lips tightly, and anger gradually appeared in her eyes.

Said: "Before the first wife transported the boxes, she deliberately went to the main house of the Wang family in Jinling. I can probably guess the reason.

The eldest daughter of the Wang family in Jinling, whose real name is Wang Xifeng, has a fierce and aggressive personality and marries into the eldest wife of the Rongguo Mansion.

She is Yuzhang's eldest sister-in-law and helps Yuzhang manage Rongguo Mansion. The eldest wife must want to bypass Yuzhang and use his sister-in-law's connection to collect these boxes.

The first house has already ruined the Zhen family, isn’t that enough? Are they going to drag the Jia family into this? How could they do such a stupid thing! "

Liu Xianjia said, "Miss, those boxes were shipped out of Jinling yesterday. It's impossible to stop them now."

Zhen Fangqing seemed to be thinking about something, and said, “Although the eldest wife’s brothers took these boxes out of the Zhen Mansion several times, they seemed to be cautious and not attracting attention.

But Uncle Xian still noticed it, which shows that such a thing is difficult to hide from someone who is interested.

Wang Zhangjiang is such a shrewd person, he must have spies around the Zhen Mansion. How could he be completely unaware of this matter?
I'm afraid it's difficult, maybe he just wants to play hard to get...

I am worried that Yuzhang's sister-in-law might be deceived and accept these boxes, which would bring disaster to Yuzhang."

Zhen Fangqing thought for a moment, walked to the desk and started writing the letter. After he finished writing, he put it in the envelope and carefully sealed it.

She said to Liu Xianjia: "Auntie asked Wang Hai to deliver this letter to Yuzhang by express horse. Wang Hai has been to Shenjing several times and is familiar with the route.

He was told to travel day and night, hoping that Yu Zhang would see the letter before the boxes.

Even if I really can't make it in time, I have to let Yu Zhang see this letter so that he will know what's going on and can deal with it..."

……

Earl's Mansion, Jia Cong Courtyard.

It was just dawn and before the western clock in the room struck the hour of Mao, the whole yard woke up and the girls and maids began to pace back and forth.

In Jia Cong's main room, apart from Yinglian who was on night duty and helped him comb his hair, Qingwen, Wu'er and others brought water and clothes, with their skirts fluttering in the wind, as they entered and exited the room.

When Jia Cong was studying for the exam, he got up early and studied hard every day, and this situation happened frequently.

But ever since he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, he had not gotten up at the hour of Mao for some time, and he usually went to the government office after the hour of Chen.

It’s not that he started to develop a habit of sleeping after passing the imperial examination.

But now I don’t have to study the scriptures hard, so there is no need to get up too early.

Besides, if he got up a little later, the girls around him would not have to get up early. They were all young and beautiful, still at the age of deep dreams, and they all loved to sleep.

Even after he was conferred the title of Hanlin Bachelor, he still maintained this relaxed schedule during the first half month of working in the Hanlin Academy.

Moreover, since he and Zhishao first experienced love, they have become closer than before.

Every time she was on night duty, we would snuggle up to each other on the bed. He was somewhat attached to the soft and comfortable bed and was not very willing to get up early.

But it was not until two days ago that he received an official document from the Ministry of Personnel, and the relaxing days he had just enjoyed after years of hard study came to an end once again.

According to the official announcement of the Ministry of Personnel, he is now a fifth-rank academician of the Hanlin Academy, the same rank as the chief official of the Hanlin Academy, Ge Hongzheng, and according to usual practice he needs to attend court.

According to the official system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, officials of the fifth rank and above in the capital were required to attend the morning court every day.

However, there are some discrepancies in the details of the regulations for attending court. Among them, the fifth-rank officials who attend court must be the heads of various departments and offices. Officials who are not the fifth-rank officials of the departments and offices are not allowed to attend court.

After all, the number of officials in Beijing is huge, and the number of officials above the fifth rank is considerable.

If they all lined up at once to attend the court, there would be no room even in the main hall. This would be really inappropriate and unnecessary for the hearing and discussion.

Moreover, the Ministry of Personnel has had an unwritten convention for many years that officials of the fifth rank who are not from a scholar-official background are not allowed to attend court unless they have special political affairs.

Although this article is not explicitly stated in the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is a consensus in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty. This shows how strict the hierarchy in the officialdom is.

Zhou Junxing, the former director of the Court of Inquiries, was a fifth-rank official in charge of a yamen, but he was not a scholar, so he was highly valued by Emperor Jiazhao.

However, the Ministry of Personnel refused to give Zhou Junxing an official document to inform him to attend the court. Even the emperor, who was in a high position, could not say much about it.

It was not until Emperor Jiazhao wanted to increase the deterrent effect of the Court of Judges on the court and, against all odds, promoted Zhou Junxing to the rank of fourth grade that it became natural for him to attend court and listen to government affairs.

……

This is also the reason why Jia Cong, who was already a fifth-rank official and the chief of the Firearms Department of the Ministry of Works, never had to attend court.

Another important reason was that the Firearms Department of the Ministry of Industry, which he presided over, was related to important military and national secrets, and it was not appropriate for it to be discussed openly in court.

Emperor Jia Zhao did not care whether he attended the court hearing or not. The Ministry of Personnel was just following the old practice. Jia Cong himself had no ambitions, so he was naturally happy and relaxed.

However, after he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, he was appointed a fifth-rank Hanlin lecturer, an official position equivalent to the chief official of the Hanlin Academy. It would be inappropriate for him to continue avoiding court attendance.

Under this natural premise, the Ministry of Personnel naturally abided by the rules of official system and issued him official documents and imperial edicts for attending court.

Ever since they learned that Jia Cong had received the official document from the Ministry of Personnel, the sisters all came to congratulate him, and Jia Cong's courtyard has been filled with joy over the past two days.

Yinglian helped Jia Cong comb his hair and tie it into a bun, Qingwen helped him put on the official robe that had been ironed earlier, Zhishao and Wu'er both smiled and helped him tidy up his clothes.

Perhaps to them, they did not quite understand what new type of firearms Jia Cong had invented, nor did they quite comprehend its significance.

In their eyes, after Jia Cong passed the imperial examination and was qualified to enter the palace and attend court, this was a true career success.

……

After 2:15 a.m., Jia Cong boarded a carriage and headed for the Meridian Gate, where he joined the officials waiting to attend court.

The moment he stepped off the carriage, he became the youngest person to look up to the sky in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and attracted the attention of many officials.

At six quarters past the morning, as the Meridian Gate slowly opened and the signal cannon blasted, he followed the procession of officials into the palace city with its towering palaces and began his first morning court session in his official career.

When he followed other officials into the Fengtian Hall, the discipline officer from the Ministry of Rites who was on duty came forward and assigned him a standing position.

This disciplinary officer from the Ministry of Rites must have known that this was Jia Cong's first time attending court, so he came over to give him instructions.

This official who was in charge of maintaining the discipline of the morning court would usually stop even the fourth-rank officials from misbehaving in a domineering manner.

But he spoke very respectfully to Jia Cong. Perhaps it was because Jia Cong was still a young man in his prime, but his position in the ranking was above all the fourth-rank officials in the court.

For Jia Cong, every detail of the morning court filled him with curiosity as if he had just arrived.

When those officials attended court day after day, most of them became drowsy listening to the reports made by officials from various departments and the emperor, as they had nothing to do with them.

Jia Cong, however, listened with full concentration and interest, without any sign of fatigue or boredom. Even until mid-morning, he still seemed to be reluctant to leave.

At this moment, an official walked out from the line. He was wearing a black gauze hat and a gold-woven robe with four beasts and flying fish patterns. He was in his thirties and had a very majestic demeanor and appearance.

Jia Cong heard him say in a clear voice: "I am Xu Kun, the commander of the Jinyiwei, and I have something to report."

Emperor Jia Zhao remained calm on the Jade Steps Dragon Throne and said in a deep voice, "Approved."

Xu Kun said: "A few days ago, the Jinyiwei Command of Shenjing received an urgent report from Wang Zhangjiang, a captain of Jinling Jinyiwei.

It is said that Zhen Shiwen of the Zhen family in Jinling was suspected of privately manufacturing firearms. Recently, the fugitive suspect in the case was captured and solid evidence was obtained, proving that Zhen Shiwen was one of the masterminds of the private manufacturing of firearms in Jinling.

The Zhen family of Jinling is an aristocratic and powerful family with many officials, and is well-known in the south of the Yangtze River. However, the eldest son of the eldest son of the Jinling family was involved in the crime of disobedience, which is shocking and a serious matter.

I request that His Majesty issue an order to severely punish the perpetrators and investigate the cause to serve as a warning to others!"

(End of this chapter)