The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 73 The Old Lady Was Struck by Lightning

The Ning and Rong mansions were only an arrow's throw away from each other, separated only by a narrow private alley.

Such a big commotion in Ningguo Mansion naturally alarmed Rongguo Mansion.

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Grandmother Jia was lying on the Luohan couch taking a nap when she suddenly heard the maid Yuanyang come in anxiously to report.

"Ma'am, something terrible has happened!"

At such an old age, Lady Jia's body was easily tired, but she was just closing her eyes to rest and had not really fallen asleep. She opened her eyes when she heard the sound.

"Why are you so impatient?"

"Madam, the East Palace has been surrounded by the Royal Guards! Master Zhen and Master Xiaorong have all been captured!"

Grandmother Jia looked at Yuanyang, her eyes suddenly fixed, and her heart seemed to be struck by thunder. She asked anxiously, "Why did the Jinyiwei want to arrest people?"

"Master Lian has already gone to ask."

"Send someone else to find out the reason quickly! This is a curse!" Grandmother Jia was very anxious.

How could she not be anxious? First of all, the two Ning and Rong masters had a deep brotherly love, and the Ning and Rong mansions had always been interdependent. As the person with the highest seniority in the Jia mansion, Jia's mother naturally regarded the Dong mansion as a younger blood relative.

Upon hearing this, Yuanyang was about to go out, but saw Jia Lian hurriedly entering Rongqing Hall.

"The grandson sends his regards to the old ancestor."

"It's already this late, and you're still talking about some nonsense of formality. Why don't you just tell me quickly!"

Jia Lian took a deep breath and said, "It was Lord Zhao from the Jinyi Palace who brought people here personally. He said that Brother Zhen had privately set up a bank to lend money at high interest rates and colluded with bandits to rob merchants in the capital!"

Privately set up a bank? Collude with bandits?
When Lady Jia heard this, a look of disbelief appeared on her face, her eyes widened, her breathing became a little disordered, her body swayed, and she almost fainted.

"old lady!"

Upon seeing this, Yuanyang hurried forward to support Lady Jia and stroked the old lady's back. Jia Lian also quickly brought her a cup of tea.

Grandmother Jia drank a sip of tea, took a deep breath, and said worriedly, "We were living a good life, why did Zhen'er become like this? Is there something wrong?"

Seeing that Lady Jia's face was pale, Jia Lian was worried that something might happen to the old lady. He opened his mouth but said nothing.

Who is Lady Jia? How could she not notice Jia Lian's expression?

"What else do you want to say? Come on! I can't fall down yet."

"The Zhiguo Mansion and the Qiguo Mansion were also confiscated. It was said that these two mansions were accomplices of the Dongfu!"

"This"

After hearing this, Grandmother Jia was stunned.

The room fell into silence for a moment.

Soon, Wang Xifeng and Mrs. Wang came to Rongqing Hall, and Jia She and Mrs. Xing also rushed over.

It was Jia Lian who asked people to notify them. After he found out what happened in the East Palace, he immediately asked the servants to notify these important people in Rongguo Mansion.

For such a major event, we still need more people to discuss it.

Although Jia Lian is a man of poor moral character and brings all kinds of dirty and smelly women into the house, he still has some sense of propriety when doing things. In the original version of the Dream of Red Mansions, important matters such as Daiyu's funeral and Yuanchun's visit to her parents were all coordinated and arranged by this Master Lian.

The few people who had just arrived at Rongqing Hall first greeted Lady Jia as usual, and then turned their eyes to Jia Lian.

Jia Lian repeated the news he had obtained in detail to several people.

When Wang Xifeng heard this, her heart skipped a beat and she shuddered. The fact that she lent money at high interest should not be known to outsiders, right?

Soon, she put aside her thoughts and said to comfort him, "Master should have more information in the court. Maybe they are already working on it. When Master is off duty, I will ask him again. There may be a turnaround in this matter."

Jia Zheng served as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Works. Although it was a sinecure, he represented the Jia family and had considerable power in the court.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wang raised her eyes and glanced at Jia She and Mrs. Xing beside her, and a thought came to her mind, "The important affairs of the Jia family still have to be shouldered by the master. Unlike the eldest master, who has the title of a first-class general but neither leads troops nor sits in the government office, he is of little use to the mansion." Just as they were discussing, they saw Jia Zheng returning home and entering Rongqing Hall.

Seeing Jia Zheng approaching quickly, Jia's mother asked hurriedly, "Do you know about the East Palace?"

Jia Zheng said solemnly, "My son has just learned about this. I'm afraid this matter is serious."

When everyone heard this, their hearts skipped a beat and they had a bad feeling. Looking at Jia Zheng's furrowed brows, they felt that the hope they had before was probably gone.

"Your Majesty was so angry that he made a decision without any discussion and directly sentenced Ning Zhiqi and the three prefectures to serious crimes!"

When Jia Zheng heard that Zhiguo Mansion and Qiguo Mansion were both punished, he had some vague guesses in his mind whether this was an opportunity for His Majesty to suppress the nobles. Of course, these guesses would never have answers, and he would not express these thoughts out loud.

After a long silence, Jia's mother said to Jia Zheng, "The Grand Emperor is nostalgic and still remembers Guo Xun's kindness. This time, three Duke's mansions have fallen at once. The Grand Emperor will not sit idly by. You should go to the palace and ask for mercy."

"When my son learned about this, he went to the palace immediately."

"how?"

Jia Zheng shook his head again and said solemnly, "The Emperor has not allowed us to see him!"

Everyone was silent, thought about it, and agreed that the retired emperor had stopped interfering in outside affairs many years ago and was living happily in the Ningshou Palace. Why would he come out at this time to confront the current emperor?

At this moment, Jia's mother was completely panicked, and she was at a loss, murmuring, "What should I do?"

If the Ningguo Mansion completely collapsed, how would she, as the greatest surviving elder in the Jia family, have the face to meet the two Lords Ning and Rong after her death!
After a long silence, Grandmother Jia spoke in a deep voice: "Yuanyang, change my clothes for me. I'm going to meet those old sisters!"

The old sisters that Jia Mu mentioned are the old ladies in the mansions of the four kings and eight dukes.

Strangely enough, in families with military honors, women generally live longer than men.

For example, the Dowager Consort of Prince Nan'an, the Dowager Consort of Prince Beijing, and several other old ladies in the Duke's Mansions were the ones who were in charge of the inner houses of their respective mansions.

"Mother!" Jia Zheng called out, interrupting Grandmother Jia's movement to get up.

"Your Majesty is so forceful in punishing the three prefectures. I'm afraid there are deeper reasons."

After hearing this, Grandmother Jia calmed down her anxious mood, sat back on the couch, and stared at Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng thought about it and decided to tell his previous guess.

"Your Majesty's move is not without the intention of taking the opportunity to suppress the four kings and eight dukes."

He was not the only one who thought so. Many officials with military honors in the court today had such speculation.

Jia Zheng organized his thoughts and continued, "My son knows that mother is planning to contact the old dowagers such as Nan'an Concubine and go to the palace to ask for mercy from the old dowager, but doing so will probably anger Your Majesty even more, which may be even more detrimental to the Ning Mansion. After all, the power of the emperor is unpredictable!"

The old empress dowager that Jia Zheng mentioned is the oldest person in the current royal family. She is the concubine of Emperor Taizong and the adoptive mother of the current emperor. She can be said to be the grandmother of Emperor Yuanzhen.

The old empress dowager is now nearly ninety years old, which makes her a generation older than Lady Jia. She is a witness to the founding of the dynasty and other national heroes such as the Four Kings and Eight Dukes.

The old concubine was of noble status and high position, and was equivalent to the Grand Empress Dowager in the harem. As a witness of history, she often interceded for the four princes and eight dukes in front of Emperor Yuanzhen, considering the close relationship between them and the royal family.

Rather than saying that the backer behind the four kings and eight dukes was the emperor, it would be more accurate to say that it was this old concubine dowager.

Therefore, when Lady Jia really didn't know what to do, she finally thought of the old empress dowager.

Grandmother Jia knew very well that if she dragged the Nan'an Concubine and a few others to ask for help, it would be somewhat embarrassing for the old Concubine.

If the old concubine agreed to go find Emperor Yuanzhen, it would only consume the affection between the grandfather and grandson, and Emperor Yuanzhen would only become more resentful towards the nobles.

When Grandmother Jia calmed down, she felt more helpless and couldn't help but sigh.

"Ah! Even so, what can we do?"

After a moment of silence, Jia's mother spoke slowly in a slightly sad tone, "Yuanyang, change your clothes. I will go to the palace alone. If I lose my reputation, I can only ask the old concubine for help."

After saying this, Grandmother Jia dragged her tired body towards the warm room in the inner room of Rongqing Hall.

(End of this chapter)