Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 37 Father and Son Fight
……

Time flies, and it is April in a blink of an eye.

The last of the three stages of the imperial examination, the academy examination, came quietly.

As long as he passed this test, he could officially take off the hat of a scholar boy, and from then on he would be honored with fame and honor, he would not have to bow when meeting an official, and he would sit in a high seat when entering the palace. Ordinary people could also be exempted from corvée labor, and even the many harsh taxes of the court would not be imposed on the scholar.

For this reason, Xishan Academy gave early holiday to the 68 students who had passed the provincial examination.

"Master is back!"

As if he had calculated the time well, Lai Er appeared at the west corner gate of Ning Mansion on time, bent over and walked forward with a smile to greet Jia Rong.

"Don't you have anything to do all day? How about switching places with Li Er, the gatekeeper?"

"Ah ha ha."

Lai Er was startled, and hurriedly said with a smile: "Master, you misunderstood. My mother sent a maid to deliver the shoe samples. I was afraid that she didn't know the rules, so I waited at the door. I just happened to see you coming, so of course I had to greet you first."

"Qingwen, come quickly and meet Master Rong!"

After a moment, a cute little girl in a green dress came out from the door. She had a bun on her head, beautiful eyebrows, a cherry-like mouth, a pointed chin, and a white neck...

"Meet Master Rong."

Qingwen stepped forward cautiously and knelt down politely.

"Oh, you are Qingwen?"

Jia Rong couldn't help but look at it twice more.

Lai Er was overjoyed when he saw this and quickly gave Qingwen a wink.

"Replying to the master's question, this servant Qingwen."

Qingwen bowed again obediently.

Lai Er smiled and said, "Master, I heard that your courtyard is short of a maid to serve tea and water. Why don't you let Qingwen go over and try?"

Qingwen lowered her head and dared not look at Jia Rong, her little hands were clenched so tightly that they turned slightly pale.

This time she is taking a gamble, if Jia Rong doesn't want her... she doesn't want to go to the West Mansion!

Jia Rong naturally saw the little girl's embarrassment, smiled and said, "Okay, go find your sister Xiaoxiao."

Of course, Qingwen, who came to her doorstep, had to stay.

Can it be given to Baoyu?

Qingwen immediately smiled, but fearing that Jia Rong might dislike her frivolity, she quickly restrained her expression and knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Qingwen, I meet you, Master."

This time he recognized his master.

"No need to be polite."

Jia Rong reached out his hand to help Qingwen up, and said with a smile, "You know where my yard is, right?"

Qingwen nodded quickly: "Master, I know."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "That's good. If you need anything, just go to your sister Xiao Xiao and she will arrange it for you."

"Ai!"

Qingwen agreed and walked inside while suppressing her excitement.

She really came into a family of scholars!

And Uncle Rong has a very good temper.

Qingwen secretly warned herself: I must control my temper in the future and not make the master angry.

Lai Er didn't expect things to go so smoothly.

He originally only intended to let Qingwen show up in front of Master Rong so that he could take advantage of the opportunity after Master Rong passed the imperial examination. He didn't expect that Master Rong would accept her directly!
"Master, this is the indenture of Qingwen..." Lai Er hurriedly took out a indenture from his sleeve and bent down to hand it to Jia Rong.

"Haha." Jia Rong took it and said with a smile: "You've prepared even this? Great!"

Lai Er smiled and said, "As soon as the old master said so, I went to prepare. Are you satisfied with Qingwen, my lord?"

"Okay."

It must be said that Jia Rong suddenly felt that Lai Er was somewhat pleasing to the eye.

At least it's not so annoying anymore.

Lai Er was naturally overjoyed.

If I can please Jia Rong, won't my position in the mansion be secure in the future?
I hope Miss Qingwen can control her temper and not cause any trouble.

...After accepting Qingwen, Jia Rong came to the East Courtyard to pay his respects to Master Zhen.

Master Zhen has recovered well recently and can walk around on his own with the help of crutches. In order to concentrate on the exam, Jia Rong thinks that he should find another opportunity to be filial to Master Zhen.

"Evil beast, I heard that you are going to take an exam soon?" Jia Zhen asked with dignity on his face.

If it weren't for the old master always protecting him, he really wanted to tie up Jia Rong and beat him up severely to show his authority as a master!
Think about how powerful Master Xifu was when he beat Baoyu. When will it be my turn to show off my power?
Jia Rong was not frightened by Master Zhen's majesty, but said calmly, "Master, the examination will start on April 12, in three days."

As the saying goes, “No one knows his father better than his son.”
How could Master Zhen's little tricks be hidden from Jia Rong's eyes?
Want to beat him to establish your authority?
impossible!

He is different from Jia Baoyu.

No matter how much Grandmother Jia doted on Jia Baoyu, she had no right to discipline him. She could only discipline Yingchun, Tanchun and other daughters.

Jia Zheng is the legitimate disciplinarian of Baoyu. He can beat him or scold him as he pleases. Grandmother Jia can only try her best to protect him or save him.

Grandmother Jia did not deprive Jia Zheng of the right to discipline his son.

Jia Jing is different.

As early as a few years ago, Jia Jing had deprived Jia Zhen of his disciplinary power due to his misconduct.

The right to discipline Jia Rong lies with Jia Jing.
Only Jia Jing can teach him a lesson.

Jia Zhen, that’s not possible.

"Humph……"

Jia Zhen frowned and snorted.

He was very unhappy that Jia Rong was not afraid of his authority.

What he wanted to see most was Jia Rong kneeling on the ground, trembling and begging for mercy.

It just can’t be realized for a while...

Maybe I can only wait until my grandfather passes away...

"Will you fail the exam?"

Jia Zhen suddenly looked at Jia Rong and asked seriously.

If Jia Rong makes great progress and passes the imperial examination or becomes a Jinshi, will he still be able to beat and scold him at will and get revenge for all these years?
Jia Rong: “…”

"If you don't make the list, you will fail."

Jia Zhen: “…”

Isn't that the same as not saying anything?
The father and son were silent for a while, and Jia Zhen waved his hand: "You can go back. You don't need to come to pay respects recently. Just study peacefully and don't let the master worry."

Pei Feng behind him winked secretly, and Jia Rong understood. He apologized and left the east wing, wandering around the garden next to it.

After a while, Peifeng came quietly.

"uncle."

"How is the master doing lately?" Jia Rong asked directly without any further ado.

Pei Feng shook her head and said, "The master has secretly visited Aunt Wang's courtyard twice in the past few days, both times around midnight, but each time he was away for a short time, coming back in less than half an incense stick, so I don't know what the master did there, or whether he did anything out of the ordinary."

Jia Rong nodded.

What can you do in less than half an incense stick of time?

After all, Master Zhen’s health is not good anymore.

"Okay, you go back."

"I've been at home these past two days. If there's anything going on, remember to tell me right away."

Pei Feng suddenly smiled and said, "Master, what good is it for someone to take such a risk and offend the master to be your informant?"

"Can I buy you a bunch of candied haws?"

"I want two!"

"Okay, two skewers is fine!"

……

Nothing to say for a day.

The next day, midnight!
……

(End of this chapter)