The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

Jia Jue has finished the county examination and is now waiting for the results to be released.

For him, the period between now and the release of the results is a rare time to relax.

The Jia family mansion is now filled with greenery. In the courtyard of Bingxinzhai, Jia Jue has also had many things planted.

Of course, Jia Jue did not stay in the inner courtyard during this period; he often went out as well.

His frequent companion was Zhao Xing, a son of an official whom he had recently met.

Zhao Xing's father, Zhao Kai, became Minister of Personnel at the age of thirty-six. His grandfather, Zhao De, was a renowned scholar. When Zhao De passed away, the retired emperor personally wrote the words "Sage" as a gift to him.

Zhao Xing's father also did not live a long life. Although he was promising at a young age, he passed away at the age of thirty-eight, leaving behind Zhao Xing and his mother.

Fortunately, the Zhao family was not a small clan, and Zhao Xing had many uncles and elders to take care of him and his mother.

On that day, Jia Jue, Bao Yu, and Jia Rong were invited to a literary gathering organized by Li Wen, the son of the current Grand Secretary Li Changhua. It was at this gathering that he met Zhao Xing.

When Jia Jue arrived that day, he saw Mu He, grandson of the Prince of Dongping, Qian Feng, grandson of the Prince of Nan'an, Zhu Shang, grandson of the Prince of Xining, and Shui Rong, the Prince of Beijing, all seated there; in addition, the younger descendants of the Dukes of Zhenguo, Liguo, Qiguo, Zhiguo, Xiuguo, and Shanguo were also present.

The sons of the six ministers, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Censorate, the Office of Transmission, and other civil officials were also seated.

Upon seeing this, Jia Jue was secretly surprised; this literary gathering seemed to be no ordinary event.

However, he did not show it on his face. He first went to pay his respects to the Prince of Beijing, and then met with the sons and brothers of the four princes and eight dukes. After that, he sat down and said no more.

As for Baoyu and Jia Rong, they can go off and mingle with them; Jia Jue can't interfere.

Jia Jue looked around coldly and saw that many small groups were faintly visible within the picturesque garden.

These groups are implicitly divided into two factions—two factions that are widely known—one being the sons of civil officials and the other being the sons of military nobles.

This is also the general situation in the imperial court today: civil and military officials are vying for power, and there is no peace.

When the founding emperor of this dynasty conquered the country, he deeply felt that "emphasizing civil affairs and suppressing military affairs is a way to bring disaster to the country and the people." Therefore, he greatly promoted military achievements and raised the status of military generals to be on par with civil officials.

At the beginning of this dynasty, due to the majesty of the founding emperor and his many measures, civil and military officials were relatively peaceful.

However, by the time the throne had been passed down to the present day, many of the decrees had become mere empty words. In the court, civil officials often complained about the rudeness of military generals, while military officials complained about the weakness of civil officials, and the two often argued endlessly.

However, a nation's strength cannot be achieved without a balance between civil and military affairs. Therefore, although this dynasty also had a martial spirit, its army often suffered defeats.

Jia Jue observed that most of the disciples gathered in groups, and there were almost none like him who stood alone.

Zhao Xing was one of them.

It was for this reason that Jia Jue noticed Zhao Xing, and Zhao Xing also noticed Jia Jue.

After that literary gathering, Jia Jue and Zhao Xing became friends.

It was after that literary gathering that the Jia family seemed to gradually fall out of favor.

In the past, among the four kings and eight dukes, excluding Prince Bei Jing, the Jia family was the most prominent, with the other families frequently visiting. However, since that literary gathering, fewer and fewer people have come.

However, the few heads of the Jia family—Jia Zheng, who was pedantic; Jia She, who was incompetent; Jia Zhen, who was dissolute; and Jia Zhen's father, Jia Jing, who was practicing Taoism outside the city—were all indifferent to this matter and naturally did not pay attention to it.

That is, Jia Jue, ever since he made up his mind to save himself, had been paying attention to these things, which is how he discovered them.

This trend is happening slowly, but it won't take more than a year or two before the other families of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes stop coming except for holidays.

Jia Jue thought that perhaps the other families had secretly reached some kind of agreement at that literary gathering.

Perhaps it was a secret contact between the heads of several other families.

However, the Jia family is problematic in several ways. Firstly, the young men in the household are not very promising, and Jia Jue is still young. Secondly, Jia Zheng is currently the only official in the court, and he is quite pedantic. Naturally, his relationship with the heads of the other families is not good.

Perhaps the other families took this opportunity to test the mettle of the Jia family's descendants.

After all, having been the big brother for so many years, it's natural that some of the younger brothers would be dissatisfied.

Therefore, it seems that neither Jia Baoyu nor Jia Rong passed this test.

Thinking of this, Jia Jue regretted that he had only observed secretly that day and had not interacted with those noble sons.

He is certainly better than Jia Baoyu and Jia Rong.

However, one cannot have regrets. Jia Jue had already missed the opportunity to bring the Jia family back into the game, so he had to create another opportunity.

Zhao Xing was the opportunity he wanted to create.

Zhao Xing was a strange person—he was clearly the son of a civil official, yet he never talked with others in order to integrate into their society and pave the way for his future career—after all, his father and grandfather had passed away, and his remaining uncles were all scholars who had never served as officials.

Instead, he sat quietly in the corner, observing. Moreover, Prince Bei Jing, Shui Rong, showed him considerable respect. This made Jia Jue realize that Zhao Xing was no ordinary person.

It just so happens that Zhao Xing noticed him, so he might as well go with the flow and befriend him to see if he could get a change of heart.

That day, Zhao Xing sent someone to the Jia residence to invite Jia Jue to go for a spring outing.

Jia Jue then changed his clothes, mounted a horse, and went out, followed by someone carrying a sword and a book.

Upon arriving at their agreed meeting place, the two walked side by side and unknowingly left the city gate and arrived at the outskirts of the city.

As they walked, they talked. Zhao Xing said, "I am an ignorant person, but I have heard of the illustrious reputation of the Dukes of Ning and Rong. Back when the founding emperor was conquering the world, it was our ancestors who fought bravely and fought the enemy, which brought us to this bright and peaceful world."

Jia Jue laughed and said, "I am ashamed, I am ashamed. The virtue of our ancestors has protected us, their descendants, to this day. I am just ashamed of the brave and valiant name of our forefathers."

Zhao Xingdao said, "Brother Jia, what are you saying? I think you are destined to surpass your teacher."

Jia Jue quickly replied, "Brother, you think too highly of me!"

Zhao Xing laughed heartily twice, "I wonder if Brother Jia knows anything about military affairs?"

Jia Jue, however, asked, "Why do you ask me about military affairs, brother?"

Zhao Xingdao said, "Your family's ancestors were masters of warfare, which I greatly admire, hence this question."

Jia Jue pondered for a long time before replying, "If you ask about the array of troops on the battlefield, where they rest during marches, how much food they use, and their ability to deploy troops, I do not know. But if you ask whether I have read any military books and know that war is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly, I do know that."

Zhao Xing laughed and said, "Brother Jia is too modest! Indeed, as the saying goes, 'A tiger father will not have a dog son,' and a tiger ancestor will not have a dog grandson!"

Jia Jue said, "Brother, why say such things? Your family's ancestors were unparalleled in scholarship, and your father held a high-ranking position in the Six Ministries before he even reached forty. You are only sixteen years old now, yet you already have achieved academic success, and your speech and demeanor are ethereal and outstanding. Aren't you destined to surpass your elders in talent and ability?"

Zhao Xing smiled upon hearing this.