Red Mansion: Incense and God Road, starting from the City God of Shenjing

Chapter 181 The death knell is the sound of a great funeral!

"Hou Jingyun!"

"You must return home immediately and bring people to seal the front and back doors of Rongguo Mansion."

"No entry, no exit!"

"Drive all the people in the mansion to the front yard, and ask the civil officials to come over and beat or sell those who need to be killed."

"Ma Ruyue, take your men and confiscate the Lai family's property and exterminate them."

"Order someone to go to Shuntian Prefecture and ask them to send someone to assist, saying that this marquis is punishing the family slave."

After leaving Rongqing Hall and arriving at the front yard, Jia Cong gave orders to the two commanders of his personal guards.

"My Lord, do we need to deal with the East Palace together?"

When Ma Ruyue heard the order, he immediately guessed that Jia Cong was going to clean up the servants in the mansion.

"No need, just capture and kill Lai Er."

Jia Cong waved his hand.

"promise!"

As soon as the two of them received the order and left, Jia Zheng chased them out from Rongqing Hall.

"Brother Cong."

"As for Lai Shangrong's matter, it was half a month ago that Lai Da and Lai Ma came to my house to ask for help..."

"I thought about it and found a seventh-rank county magistrate, so I used some of our family's connections to arrange it."

"did not expect……"

Jia Zheng had a guilty look on his face.

"Whose connections did Second Uncle arrange?"

"Chen Zhengkun, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, his grandfather served as a clerk in the army during the Northern Expedition with the Emperor. Your grandfather saved his life."

"It's just that the mansion has fallen into decline over the years and there aren't many people visiting."

"I understand. Second uncle, you don't have to feel guilty about this. The other party was targeting me. Lai Shangrong's incident was just a coincidence."

Jia Cong nodded and wrote down the name.

"By the way, when will Second Uncle leave to take up his post?"

"I've almost packed everything, and will leave early the day after tomorrow."

"The situation in the mansion may not be peaceful recently. How about I talk to His Majesty on behalf of my second uncle and ask him to take up the post a few months later?"

Jia Cong frowned slightly, and felt that a line was vaguely connecting in his mind.

"No need, Brother Cong, I know you are thinking about me."

"But the Jia family's wealth and prosperity were never gained by hiding at home."

"Your great-grandfather joined the army at the age of sixteen, and your grandfather followed Emperor Taizong in the Northern Expedition at the age of eighteen."

"This is a special decree from His Majesty. If we refuse, how will the powerful people in the capital view our Jia family in the future?"

"Although I, your second uncle, am not gifted, I have not been able to cultivate literary energy over the years."

"But we can't let you hold the front all the time."

Jia Zheng had a smile on his face and a determined look.

"I don't know who is dealing with Cong."

"But with me outside, I can at least distract the other party from the situation and relieve you of some stress."

Jia Cong glanced at Jia Zheng, totally unexpected that the other party could actually say such a thing.

Under the divine gaze, one could see that a faint literary aura was beginning to grow within Jia Zheng.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With his thoughts clear, he entered the country at this time.

"Uncle, please be careful when you are out there. If anything goes wrong, get out of here as soon as possible. I'm at home."

After giving a few more instructions, Jia Zheng returned to his own courtyard.

……

Until dusk.

Hou Jingyun and Ma Ruyue came back to report, with murderous aura and blood still lingering on their bodies.

"My Lord, the Lai family has 37 members in total, all of whom have been executed, and their property has been confiscated, amounting to more than 800,000 taels."

"The servants of Rongguo Mansion beat and killed sixty-three people and sold one hundred and forty-nine people!"

"Also, I have found out that in the past few months, many servants have paid to redeem themselves and leave the mansion. They must be spies planted by the various families before."

"I understand. Half of the confiscated property will be sent to Rongguo Mansion, and the rest..."

"Second sister and eldest sister-in-law should each take half of the yard."

Jia Cong casually divided up the Lai family's property.

It has long been common for the powerful and wealthy in Shenjing City to plant spies for each other. The people had already withdrawn, and there was no intention to pursue the matter.

"promise!"

Wait until Hou Jingyun and Ma Ruyue left.

Jia Cong closed his eyes and began to think.

There was something fishy about Lai Shangrong's affair, inside and out, and Jia Cong felt that a storm was about to come.

The means are cruel and the servants serve as officials!
Add them together and it's the four words: arrogant and domineering!
It's clearly for the reputation.

That's why Jia Cong specifically asked Ma Ruyue to bring people from Shuntian Prefecture when he raided and killed the Lai family.

This is different from the previous time when Jia Cong had the emperor's order to investigate the White Lotus Sect for the sake of justice.

There are no innocent people in the Lai family, but there are definitely legally free civilians.

Bring Shuntianfu along, it’s legal and compliant!

No matter what the other party's plan is, there must be some tricks behind it.

It’s never wrong to do the opposite!
It's just that these things come together...

Jia Cong had a hunch that the other party would never plan just this far.

"Boom!"

Just as he was thinking about it, a series of bells suddenly rang out in the sky above Shenjing City.

The sound was ethereal but extremely distant, and could be heard clearly throughout the Gyeonggi region.

"Cong'er, this is the palace's death knell."

"I have heard people say that whenever a noble person in the palace dies, this bell is rung."

Baochai beside her began to explain.

Jia Cong nodded slightly.

In fact, after reading a lot of books, he knew a little more than Baochai.

Death knell!
This is itself an eight-refined magic weapon of top quality. It has been hanging in the palace for who knows how many years and has gone through several dynasties.

The effectiveness of this magic weapon cannot be discovered just by the sound of the bell.

……

After a long time, the bell sound slowly dissipated.

Jia Cong opened his eyes after counting the bells.

"Twenty-seven shots, the sound of a great funeral!"

This death knell cannot be sounded casually.

The sound of the bell varies depending on the identity of the deceased noble.

The highest number is twenty-seven.

There were only four and a half people in the palace who were qualified to fire twenty-seven rounds.

The Emperor Retired, the Empress Dowager, Emperor Shunde, Empress Zhou...

And there is the old Concubine Zhen!
Although she was only a concubine dowager, she raised Emperor Kaiyuan single-handedly.

Her status in the palace is equivalent to that of the Empress Dowager.

"It's the old concubine of the Zhen family."

"It's a good idea for him to die at this time."

Jia Cong chuckled, and the many fragments in his mind gradually became complete.

After the death of Concubine Zhen, Emperor Kaiyuan was undoubtedly the most nostalgic.

Unfortunately, the entire Zhen family in Jinling had already been exterminated by Jia Cong.

"Fortunately, I noticed it in advance, otherwise it would be really troublesome."

"Let Judge Wen directly remove the problematic servants in Rongguo Mansion. Do it quickly and simply, without making a fuss."

"Sister Bao, the funeral bell has rung. Second sister and the others will come to the palace to mourn."

"It's not convenient for me to go in and out of the palace right now. You can go with me."

"You don't have to show up. Just hide outside the palace and watch over it."

"To prevent someone from taking desperate measures."

"it is good!"

……

Sure enough, not long after, the palace sent people overnight to the civil and military officials in the capital to convey the imperial edict.

All officials above the fifth rank in Beijing and those who were granted imperial decrees entered the palace to mourn.

The rest of the lower-ranking officials fasted and stayed in the government office for 27 days.

The emperor suspended court for three days and wore mourning clothes for twenty-seven days.

All civil and military officials are not allowed to drink, have fun, or get married or hold funerals during the day.

All funeral regulations were based on the passing of the Empress Dowager.

A friend came to visit my house during the day, so I was delayed.

There are two more chapters (including one extra chapter for monthly tickets), and they will be updated during the day tomorrow!
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(End of this chapter)