The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 87: The Third Rank Imperial Edict

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

All the female relatives gathered together, including Lady Wang, Lady Xing, Aunt Feng, Li Wan from the West Mansion, Mrs. You and Qin Keqing from the former East Mansion, as well as Aunt Xue and the girls Baochai, Daiyu, Xiangyun, and the three springs. It was a very lively scene.

I don't know since when, but it has become a routine for them to come together every now and then to pay their respects to Lady Jia. Maybe they know that the old lady likes to be lively, or maybe everyone also likes to join in the fun.

It's not surprising. Being trapped in a deep and high courtyard with no particularly interesting entertainment, the only thing left is to find someone to chat with to kill the long time.

Grandmother Jia cast a warm gaze at Youshi and Qin Keqing and asked, "Are you used to living in Huifang Garden?"

"I'm used to it. Thank you for your concern, ma'am." You Qin and the other person responded at the same time.

Grandmother Jia nodded and said in a gentle voice, "I'm sorry for wronging you. The mistakes made by Zhen'er and his father have caused you suffering."

After hearing this, Qin Keqing felt sad and could only sigh that she had trusted the wrong person.

Grandmother Jia turned her eyes to Sister Feng and said in a serious tone, "Although they are temporarily living in the east, the monthly allowance given to them by the West Mansion cannot be reduced by a single cent. You must keep a close eye on this matter, Sister Feng."

The West Palace cannot vacate a yard for the women from the East Palace to live in for the time being, so it would be more face-saving to pay them some monthly allowance.

In fact, if Aunt Xue moved out of the West Mansion later, people like Youshi and Qin Keqing could move into Lixiangyuan.

"Oh, old lady, don't worry. I will personally deliver the monthly allowances to You Saozi and Keqing." Sister Feng said, her eyes flickering slightly, and continued: "In a few days, when Bao Yatou goes to the east, the two of them will have to help manage the Shen Mansion. How can Bao Yatou treat them badly by then?"

Baochai glanced at her cousin and smiled, "Sister Feng is right. I can't treat her badly. After all, I am the one who has received help. I don't know how much less trouble I will have with Sister You and the others helping me."

Sister Xue was a kind-hearted woman, so how could she not hear that Sister Feng was helping Qin Keqing to gain benefits? Shen Yuan had already decided on this matter, so she took the opportunity to say a few good words.

Wang Xifeng and Qin Keqing are close friends, so it is understandable that she would speak for each other.

"That's right. These days, they have been busy arranging the wedding in the Shen Mansion, which has saved Yuan'er a lot of worries. In this way, Yuan'er can go out of the city to suppress the bandits with peace of mind."

Hearing this, Jia's mother asked in confusion, "Brother Yuan went to suppress the bandits? When did this happen? Why didn't I hear about it?"

Indeed, no one had mentioned this matter to the old lady. Her wedding was approaching, so why was she going to suppress bandits for no reason?

Feng Jie was slightly stunned. She knew that the old lady liked to hear about happy events, not about war, so she smiled and explained, "I also heard from Second Master Lian. It's said everywhere that Brother Yuan is winning battles one after another and is about to wipe out all the thieves around the capital. He may be on his way back to the city now."

Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia looked at Aunt Xue and Baochai, as if to confirm the truth of this matter.

Aunt Xue smiled and said, "That's true. Brother Yuan was also ordered to suppress the bandits. He did receive several reports of victory. He should be able to return home in the next few days."

After Hanmozhai's publicity, people all over Shenjing City are talking about this topic. Baochai and Xiangyun will also buy tabloids to read them as soon as possible. Aunt Xue also has a basic understanding of her son-in-law's situation.

Madam Wang on the side said, "So, Brother Yuan has made a great contribution?"

It’s no wonder that she was surprised. It had only been a few days since the young man passed the martial arts examination, and he had already achieved such a great achievement?

Aunt Xue looked at her sister and smiled, "It's hard to say whether the merit is great or small. These are secondary. The most important thing is that Brother Yuan is back and safe."

This statement was somewhat Versailles. How could she not care if her son-in-law could make great contributions? But she still had to say that she cared more about his safety.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang didn't know what to feel. She fell silent and said no more.

Grandmother Jia also said, "What the aunt said is right. Safety is the most important thing. With Yuan'er's ability, it is only a matter of time before he makes great contributions. There is no need to rush." ​​As soon as the old lady finished speaking, a maid reported.

"Madam, the master has left the government office and said he would come to greet you after changing his clothes."

Grandmother Jia glanced at everyone and told the maid, "Let him come over."

There were many people here, so Jia Zheng just simply greeted them and it was not a private meeting, so the younger generations did not need to avoid them too much.

After a while, Jia Zheng entered Rongqing Hall and bowed to greet Lady Jia.

It’s no wonder that the old lady is partial to him. Apart from Jia Baoyu, Jia Zheng is indeed much more concerned about filial piety than Jia She.

After the greeting, Jia Zheng looked around and saw Aunt Xue and Baochai, and said with a smile: "Congratulations, Aunt and Bao."

When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned, and Aunt Xue and Baochai were even more confused.

When Jia's mother heard that there was a happy event, she became interested and pretended to be unhappy and said, "What good news is it? Why don't you tell us quickly? Why are you keeping us in suspense?"

Jia Zheng said: "Brother Yuan has made great contributions in suppressing the bandits. He has wiped out all the bandits within a hundred miles of the capital in one fell swoop."

This did not surprise anyone, as they were just talking about this topic.

Jia Zheng continued, "In this battle, the new army killed more than 3,000 bandits and seized more than 200,000 taels of silver.
When His Majesty learned of this, he was greatly pleased and immediately issued an imperial decree to promote Yuan Ge'er to the position of commander of the new army. The Emperor also sent Eunuch Dai Quan to bring him into the palace."

Brother Yuan got promoted?

After hearing this, all the female members of the family had this sentence in their minds. Their expressions varied, but they were all more or less surprised.

You've been promoted after just over two months in office?
Mrs. Wang only knew that military officers were not as valuable as civil officials, but Shen Yuan seemed to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. He had risen so quickly at such a young age. Could it be that Shenjing City was going to have a new upstart?
Wang Xifeng's eyes sparkled, and she asked with a smile, "How high of an official rank is a commander? I remember that Yuan Ge'er was previously conferred the rank of fourth rank."

Upon hearing this, Jia Mu and others turned their eyes to Jia Zheng, waiting for his answer.

Most of them don't know the official ranks in the imperial court.

"The new military commander is a third-rank official. Yuan-ge has directly crossed the threshold of the third-rank official and has been promoted two levels this time."

After Jia Zheng finished speaking, everyone gasped.

"I knew it! Brother Shen is better than others." Xiangyun was very happy.

As she spoke, she took Baochai's hand and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Sister Bao, you will soon be the wife of a third-rank general."

Before Baochai could respond, she heard Daiyu beside her say with a smile, "I really should congratulate Sister Bao. Who knows, on the day of her wedding, Sister Bao will be granted a third-rank imperial title."

A third-rank imperial edict?

Daiyu's words attracted everyone's attention.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was customary for an official's wife to receive an imperial decree, but it would come later than her husband's promotion.

In other words, Daiyu's words were not false. Given the emperor's favor towards Shen Yuan, he should soon be canonized as his wife.

At this time, there were quite a few imperial edicts present in Rongqing Hall. They were naturally very clear about these things and paid special attention to them.
(End of this chapter)