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

Inside Rongqing Hall,

Just as Daiyu was talking with Xiaojiao'er and Xichun, Grandmother Jia and Jia Zheng and others had already seen Xia Shouzhong and his party out of Grandmother Jia's courtyard.

Of course, Jia Zhen and his son Jia Rong, who were crying and wailing, were also seen off!

When Grandmother Jia returned,

Lady Wang had been helped up from the ground by Yuan Chun and Tan Chun, and Lady You's tears had been stopped by Feng Jie's comfort.

After everyone in the Jia family took their seats again,

Grandmother Jia's aged face was filled with worry and weariness. After thinking for a moment, she asked Jia Zheng in a hoarse voice:

"Zheng'er! Now that such a disaster has occurred, what do you think we should do?"

"The Eastern Mansion is closely connected to us, we can't just ignore them. If we ask Prince Bei Jing and some of my old relatives and friends to plead for them, could the palace show leniency and let Zhen-ge'er and Rong-ge'er off the hook?"

This was the first time that Grandmother Jia had encountered such a difficult situation since she married into the Jia family, and she was somewhat at a loss for what to do.

You have to be careful when asking someone to plead for you, because you can only do so so often. You have to consider who to ask for help and whether it will be effective!

Jia Zheng, sitting in a chair in the hall, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and with a worried expression, sighed deeply, saying:

"Mother! I can't say for sure about this either!"

"If it's just a crime like embezzlement, out of respect for our ancestors, His Majesty might show leniency, or at least not implicate Rong-ge'er."

"But now things have blown up. More than a dozen officials of the court have died. His Majesty has ordered the Three Departments and the Imperial City Guard to conduct a joint trial and thoroughly investigate the matter."

"The entire court is watching closely, and we don't know how far the rebellion in the capital garrison will go."

"If the situation deteriorates beyond control, I fear not only will Zhen-ge'er and Rong-ge'er face execution, but even Bao-yu's uncle will be in grave danger!"

Jia Zheng knew very well that if it was just a minor offense, the Jia family could use their connections to smooth things over and perhaps even make the matter seem less serious.

Just like Xue Pan, who was carrying a murder charge, he still managed to escape punishment by relying on the reputation of the four major families!

However, Jia Zhen's affair was revealed in front of all the civil and military officials in the court, and the censors and officials in charge of remonstrance were all watching closely.

The Emperor has already issued an edict to conduct a thorough investigation, so it will be extremely difficult for the Jia family to try to cover things up and get their people out of trouble!

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang, Aunt Xue, and the others present were immediately taken aback.

They hadn't expected things to be so serious and couldn't help but worry about their older brother, Wang Ziteng's, situation.

The smile that once graced Aunt Xue's fair and plump face was gone; she sighed:

"How...how did things suddenly escalate to this point?"

"I heard from my sister-in-law that my brother has done a great job reorganizing the Beijing Garrison, and there are rumors that the court is considering promoting him to Minister of War, right?"

Lately, Madam Zhu, the wife of Prince Teng, has been telling Aunt Xue and Madam Wang that the position of Minister of War is vacant and that Prince Teng is very likely to take over.

Although it carried a hint of boasting typical of the inner quarters, Aunt Xue and Madam Wang both believed that Prince Teng's ascension to the position was secure.

Aunt Xue even planned to have Wang Ziteng help her good-for-nothing son in the future, but unexpectedly, such terrible news came out in the blink of an eye!

Madam Wang, standing to the side, also looked sorrowful. The incident had happened so suddenly that she was caught off guard and had said the wrong thing in her haste.

However, after her two previous slips of the tongue, she dared not speak carelessly anymore!

Upon hearing Aunt Xue's words, Jia Zheng sighed again and said:

"Baoyu's uncle also... had bad luck."

"In fact, during today's court meeting, Grand Secretary Fang, Grand Secretary Xiong, and Minister Kong of the Ministry of War had already advised and recommended him for the position of Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War, and His Majesty was quite interested in it."

"Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, the Imperial City Guard reported that the Beijing Garrison had mutinied, causing an uproar throughout the court, and His Majesty was furious."

"If it weren't for the incident with the Beijing Garrison, Baoyu's uncle might already be the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War!"

Jia Zheng frowned as he spoke, because he thought of how the recommendations of Grand Secretary Fang and Grand Secretary Xiong had failed and made a fool of themselves, and he was probably also harboring resentment towards Prince Teng and Jia Zhen because of this.

From this perspective, things are undoubtedly even more difficult to handle!

Upon hearing Jia Zheng's words, Aunt Xue and Lady Wang felt even more resentment towards Jia Zhen.

If it weren't for Jia Zhen accepting bribes and forcing the officers and soldiers of the Beijing garrison to rebel, they would now have an extra brother, the Minister of War.

These two completely different situations, one in one place and the other in another, made them feel terrible just thinking about it!

However, Grandmother Jia did not seem to care much about what Prince Teng was like.

Although the four great families of Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue were closely related, the Wang family was ultimately a step below the Ningguo Mansion.

Now that they can barely take care of their own families, how can they possibly care about the Wang family?

With a somber expression, Grandmother Jia asked Jia Zheng in a hoarse voice:

"So, it seems Zhen-ge'er is in grave danger this time?"

Jia Zheng nodded and said:

"At the very least, it would mean confiscation of property, dismissal from office, and exile; in more serious cases, it could even mean... execution!"

Although there was an Eight Deliberations system for punishing crimes committed by Xun Gui, in actual judgments, the emperor's will, the nature of the crime, and the prevailing political climate were taken into account more.

The emperor's will is the source of the final judgment.

The emperor's preferences, his overall attitude towards Jia Zhen, and whether anyone pleaded for him all directly affected the severity of the sentence.

The nature of the crime is generally determined by whether it is one of the "Ten Abominations".

Although Jia Zhen's crimes did not fall under the ten heinous crimes, his actions instigated a mutiny and rebellion in the capital, threatening the imperial city and shaking the imperial authority. The nature of his crimes was extremely heinous!

The prevailing opinion in the court was the attitude of civil and military officials towards this matter.

Needless to say, more than a dozen high-ranking officials have died because of this incident, which has attracted the attention of the entire court, and no one can protect or condone it!

Therefore, Jia Zheng made such a pessimistic judgment, believing that the minimum punishment would be confiscation of property, removal from office, and exile.

Hearing Jia Zheng's words, Lady You, who had just stopped crying, trembled. Her heart was burning with anguish, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

Hearing Jia Zheng describe the situation so seriously, Grandmother Jia sighed softly, her worry deepening, and she asked with a hint of surprise:

"I hope this matter concerning Zhen-ge'er won't implicate my Rongguo Mansion?"

The Rong and Ning mansions are too close, and Jia Zhen is the head of the Jia clan. Grandmother Jia has to be careful that this matter may affect the safety of the Rong mansion!

At the same time, the underlying meaning of Grandmother Jia's words was that she intended to give up on Jia Zhen!

Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng's expression softened somewhat, and he said firmly:

"The old lady can rest assured about that!"

"With Jing-ge here, even if someone with ulterior motives tries to frame my Rongguo Mansion, they will surely fail!"

Of course, Jia Zhen's matter has nothing to do with the Rongguo Mansion, but many things cannot be absolved simply by saying that they have nothing to do with them.

At this sensitive time when Jia Zhen was convicted, it was inevitable that the Jia family's political enemies in the court and people with ulterior motives would take the opportunity to frame him and try to drag the Rongguo Mansion down with them.