The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 56 A loving mother and a filial son
With the grand drama coming to an end, the Ning and Rong mansions seemed to have returned to their former state.

"Mother!"

After dinner, Jia Zhen accompanied Shen Ning for a walk. "Today, Xifu Zhu and I went to see our father."

"Oh?" Shen Ning's tone rose slightly. "How is your father?"

She had heard Jia Zheng mention it while watching the play.

It's as if only the father and son are concerned about Jia Jing.

“Father is in good health.” Jia Zhen hesitated for a moment, “but I feel that Zhu’er asked Father for advice on the matter of the Beijing garrison on behalf of Prince Teng.”

Shen Ning: "..."

She stopped. "What do you mean by 'feeling'? Did you leave in the middle?"

"It wasn't my son who wanted to leave."

Jia Zhen was also very upset. "It was Father who realized that he wanted to talk to him alone, so he found an excuse to have me water the vegetable garden for him."

"..."

What else is there to say?
Jia Jing and Jia Zhu were both exceptionally intelligent individuals in the Jia family.

They need to discuss business...

Shen Ning's eyes flickered. "How many buckets of water did you carry?"

She was somewhat curious about the work Jia Jing did every day.

"...Five loads!"

Jia Zhen felt wronged.

If he didn't have some basic skills, he wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Even so, it wasn't something I picked out.

Those carrying poles and buckets were too difficult to control. The first two loads of water I carried were mostly spilled before I even reached the vegetable garden.

In the end, he had no choice but to carry them by hand.

"Tired?"

Shen Ning looked at her son, who was quite grown up.

"tired!"

In front of his mother, Jia Zhen did not hide anything, "But Father is probably not this tired usually." He said, "He just wants me to be busy outside a little longer."

hum~
His father was dishonest, and he didn't need to cover for him.

"Hmm~" Shen Ning remained noncommittal. "And when you went back, how did their expressions seem?"

"They look...very harmonious."

Jia Zhen hesitated for a moment, then said, "At least on the surface, things are harmonious."

"..."

Shen Ning nodded. "Your father is quite clever and won't suffer losses easily. Don't meddle in his affairs. We just need to take care of ourselves."

Jia Zhen: "..."

I feel like my mother is saying he's stupid.

However, there is no evidence.

"Hmm~"

He answered sullenly.

"Go back and read another page of the Zizhi Tongjian."

Jia Zhen: "..."

It's confirmed; his mother just thought he was stupid.

“I’ll also have Qingzhu read an extra page.”

That day, he wrote a letter scolding Jia Jing for being blind to talent, and a few days later, Wang Ziteng was in trouble.

Shen Ning didn't know how he did it.

Compared to him, she felt quite stupid.

"Then I'll listen to Qingzhu read with you!"

Jia Zhen, who had been feeling utterly disheartened, felt a rare sense of relief upon hearing his mother's words. "By the way, what operas did you watch today? Why did Uncle Zheng seem so strange at dinner?"

"Well, the most exciting performance today was 'Li Kui Carrying Thorns'."

Shen Ning smiled, "I just ordered this play, and your Second Aunt Wang came to apologize to me with a bundle of thorns on her back."

Jia Zhen: "..."

Sure enough, his father and mother were a couple! He laughed along, "Just a simple apology? That second aunt is quite stingy; she didn't even send anything to express her apology!"

"Believe it or not, they actually sent it."

Shen Ning smiled and said, "I'll have Xing'er help me pawn it at the Xue family's pawnshop and get the money back."

She dared not use the things that Wang gave her.

Rather than keeping it at home in fear, it's better to send it outside and exchange it for money.

The mother and son were enjoying a harmonious time together, but in Rongxi Hall, Wang Shi's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Jia Zhu.

"...She just bullied me like that!"

Wang doesn't know how she managed to get through it all; "not a single person said a word for me."

Seeing her mother's tears fall drop by drop, Jia Zhu's heart ached.

But that person was my aunt.

The mother really shouldn't have let Zhou Rui spread family matters like that.

“Mother, I delivered a gift to Uncle Jing on behalf of my eldest uncle today.”

Jia Zhu couldn't directly point out his mother's mistake, so he could only say, "Although Uncle Jing accepted it, he was very dissatisfied with you spreading rumors about how his wife had stripped him of his Taoist robe."

Wang: "..."

She even forgot to cry.

“My uncle and aunt are both people who care about their reputation. Do you know how many people, inside and outside the capital, are laughing at them because of this?”

Jia Zhu said helplessly, "Those who wanted to see this joke were all lined up at the city gate that day. Do you think Uncle Jing and Brother Zhen would be happy to hear about it?"

Without the help of Uncle Jing and Brother Zhen, even my eldest uncle had no idea how difficult things were for the Beijing garrison.

“Mother, my aunt isn’t an unreasonable person.”

Today, Jia Zhu was asked by Jia Jing whether he was a member of the Wang family or the Jia family.

He was then asked how he felt after being busy at the Wang family's house for the past few days.

Jia Zhu is so tired.

He investigated the people around his aunts, and both aunts disliked him.

He checked the people around his second uncle and cousin Wang Ren. His second uncle was unconscious and unresponsive, but his cousin Wang Ren was also very unhappy.

Even his eldest uncle... because of that maid's death, no longer trusted him.

Using him to deliver gifts to Uncle Jing was actually a way of testing the waters.

He was suspicious of the Jia family.

Uncle Jing did accept the money, but he was very unhappy about it.

Jia Zhu felt that he had worked himself to the bone for several days, but ended up pleasing neither side.

Unfortunately, he had nowhere to reason with.

“Remember this incident, and don’t make the same mistake again.” Jia Zhu looked at his mother earnestly, and had to get to the point again. “Otherwise, who will speak up for you? If your aunt gets really angry, she’ll make us brothers kneel in the ancestral hall for you. Would we dare disobey her?”

Wang: "..."

She was simply stunned.

Her older brother asked Zhu'er to deliver a gift?

The Shen family can still...

"Mother, we shouldn't air our dirty laundry in public!"

Seeing her mother's pitiful appearance, Jia Zhu wanted to sigh, "That day, it was a case of one willing to hit and the other willing to be hit. You and Grandmother shouldn't have interfered in the first place."

Poor grandmother got involved too.

Fortunately, the old lady was old and meant well but did something wrong; otherwise, given her usual temper, her aunt would probably have overturned the table on the spot.

Ironically, his mother did something even more outrageous.

"You say no one speaks up for you, but look at the mess you've made!"

It's no pity for Zhou Rui and his wife.

But Jia Zhu also knew that even though he and his wife had made a thousand mistakes, they were still his mother's right-hand women in the household. "Your eldest aunt is the matriarch of the family and also your sister-in-law. She deserves respect and dignity. You can't withhold it just because your eldest uncle is not here."

He said it himself, but with that brain of his, ten of them wouldn't be a match for his aunt.

"Nobody's a fool. Think about it, if you were her, wouldn't you be angry after how you treated her?"

Jia Zhu said earnestly, "Fortunately, we have already apologized today, so this matter is over. You don't need to think about it anymore. With us brothers here, and with Cousin Feng managing the household, no one will say anything."

At this point, he simply knelt down and said, "If you're still feeling uncomfortable, just hit your son a few times. His skin is thick and tough, you can't hurt him."

Jia Zhu held his mother's hand and said, "I'm going back to the Imperial Academy to study tomorrow. I'll pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi next year. No one will remember what happened today. Even your aunt will sincerely congratulate you when I pass the examination."