Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

When Jia Jing asked, Qingwen curtsied and said:

"Reporting to the Marquis, this servant mainly does needlework, and sometimes also massages the old lady's legs, serves tea, and runs errands."

The voice was clear and crisp, with a slight southern accent.

Jia Jing nodded and said:

"Since it's the old lady's kindness, I'll accept you! I don't have many maids in my courtyard these days, so you can keep Xiangling company!"

"Although you were sent here by the Lai family, you don't need to worry that their family's affairs will affect you."

"Whether you are guilty or not, I know perfectly well. Once you enter my Jia family, you are a member of the Jia family, and have nothing to do with the Lai family."

As if he knew what Qingwen was worried about, Jia Jing relieved some of her anxiety with just one sentence.

Jia Jing said again:

"Yuanyang said you have an upright character, which is good, as it means your heart is pure."

"But you can't take advantage of your integrity to speak recklessly, disregarding others' feelings, and using integrity as a pretext to hurt people. That's wrong! You can't take your temper out on your own people, understand?"

Qingwen was taken aback. She hadn't expected that a marquis like Jia Jing would patiently explain such principles to a mere maid like her. Her expression hardened, and she curtsied, saying:

"Yes, Your Highness! This servant understands!"

Jia Jing glanced at her, waved his hand, and said to Xiangling beside him:

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"Xiangling, take her to settle in. From now on, let her stay with you. Teach her the rules of the courtyard, and when you have nothing to do, you can also teach her to recognize some characters."

Xiangling obediently responded, walked to Qingwen's side, and whispered:

"Sister Qingwen, come with me!"

Then, Xiangling led Qingwen, one after the other, towards the small suite in the side room.

After Yuanyang also took her leave, Jia Jing said to Xiaohong in the room:

"Xiao Hong, you should visit the Third Miss more often when you have nothing to do. You are a clever person, so keep the things in the courtyard and the mansion in mind and report to me when I am at home."

After spending time with Xiaohong, Jia Jing realized that she was talented and gave her more responsibilities, making the best use of her abilities.

…………

Time quickly came to the second day of the second lunar month.

For more than a month, Jia Jing spent most of his time at the Ba Shang camp.

He didn't stay at the Jia family mansion for long during the New Year and Lantern Festival, only occasionally being summoned to the palace by Emperor Jingsheng for secret military discussions.

Also, on the first day of the lunar new year, I went to the palace to attend the grand court ceremony and banquet, and then hurriedly returned.

During this period, nothing major happened in the Jia family or the imperial court, and even fewer things were related to Jia Jing.

The three events worth mentioning are Jia Zhen being beaten, Nian Shilan visiting the Jia family, and Wang Ziteng being ordered to reorganize the Beijing garrison.

The incident of Jia Zhen being beaten occurred the day before the Lunar New Year, when his father, Jia Jing, returned home from Xuanzhen Temple.

Without saying a word, he ordered his men to drag Jia Zhen away and severely beat him.

If it weren't for Lady You and Jia Rong's desperate pleas, Jia Zhen would have been beaten to death by Jia Jing.

However, even though he didn't die, he was seriously injured, which meant that Jia Zhen spent the entire New Year holiday in bed.

As for Nian Shilan's visit to the Jia family mansion, it was at the behest of her brother Nian Gengyao, who specifically came to see Grandmother Jia and Jia Jing.

The general meaning is self-evident: Nian Gengyao wanted to arrange a marriage between him and Jia Jing.

Unfortunately, Jia Jing was busy with official duties and did not return to the mansion. However, Grandmother Jia and the sisters met Nian Shilan and said that she was a good person, with good looks, good character, and was well-educated and reasonable, making her a good match.

Of course, neither Lin Daiyu nor Xue Baochai said it.

Grandmother Jia even specially invited Jia Baoyu to meet her. It is said that Jia Baoyu was amazed by her beauty and lost his composure on the spot, which almost made Jia Zheng beat this unfilial son to death.

The third thing was that after much effort, Wang Ziteng finally got his wish and obtained the job of organizing the Beijing Garrison.

He promised Emperor Jingsheng that the military reorganization would be effective within three months, making the Beijing garrison no weaker than the Balang garrison.

Apart from the three matters mentioned above, which Jia Jing paid some attention to, his mind was entirely focused on the upcoming war in the Northwest.

As he expected, starting in mid-January, urgent reports began to arrive from the northwestern border.

Hunxie and Beiyuan mobilized their troops, amassing hundreds of thousands of soldiers, their intention to invade the Han Dynasty from the south was very clear.

Subsequently, countless urgent reports from Ningxia, Yulin, Gansu, Guyuan, Shanxi and other places flooded into the capital like a tidal wave.

The imperial court also canceled its holidays due to this incident, and departments such as the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions quickly sprang into action.

Today, Jia Jing and other important court officials were summoned by Emperor Jingsheng to attend an emergency court meeting.

The entrance to the Qianqing Palace.

There were only nine people present at this court meeting.

They were five Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, Niu Jizong and Jia Jing, the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies, Chen Qiao, the Minister of War, and Wang Ziteng, the Vice Minister of War.

The reason why so few people came is because the main topic of discussion was military affairs on the northwestern border, which were of great importance.

According to the custom of the Han Dynasty, such important matters would not be discussed in a grand court assembly.

Firstly, a grand court assembly would bring together many officials, leading to a lot of conflicting information and making it easy for military secrets to be leaked.

Secondly, the grand court assembly ceremony is cumbersome, causing delays and making things difficult.

Generally, the discussion is held in a small group first to determine the basic strategy, and then a decision is made on whether to expand it depending on the situation.

Therefore, the meeting convened by Emperor Jingsheng was a secret meeting between the emperor and important court officials, which was classified as a state secret.

This is similar to the principle of holding small meetings for important matters and large meetings for minor matters in later generations.

The crowd did not chat idly in front of the palace gates, but waited quietly for Emperor Jingsheng to arrive.

Jia Jing glanced at Niu Jizong and Chen Qiao, the Minister of War whom he had never met before, and then looked away.

Minister of War Chen Qiao was over sixty years old and about to retire, so he rarely attended court banquets or meetings.

He had been ill for some time, so he hadn't even met Jia Jing, the nominal Vice Minister of War.

After a short while, Emperor Jingsheng arrived, and everyone entered the hall in an orderly manner under the guidance of the censor.

When the officials entered the hall, Emperor Jingsheng was already seated behind the imperial desk under the protection of Xia Shouzhong.

He glanced at the assembled officials below, and after receiving their congratulations, he didn't mince words and spoke directly:

"Rise, my lords! I have summoned you here today for matters concerning the northwest border."

"Recently, urgent reports have come from important towns in the Northwest one after another. The puppet Qing has joined forces with the Hunye and the Northern Yuan, and the three forces have gathered heavy troops in the Northwest. Their intention to invade our Han Dynasty is obvious."

"Among them, the Northern Yuan sent 80,000 troops out of the Hetao region, not far from the towns of Yulin and Ningxia."

"The puppet Qing and the Hunxie have joined forces with 150,000 troops and marched out of Jiayuguan. Judging from their marching route, they are heading towards Ganzhou and Suzhou. They have even sent small vanguard scouts to roam around the border towns of our Han Dynasty."

"Regarding this matter, I have privately discussed it with the Grand Secretaries, the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, and the heads of the Five Military Commissions in the past few days, but we do not agree on the matter and there are many differences of opinion."

"The military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed. Therefore, I have summoned you all here today to finalize this matter."

"We need to decide today what strategy to take."