The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

"Brother Jue is indeed exceptionally quick-witted. You were able to deduce the whole story from just a few everyday clues. I truly admire you," Li Ren said to Jia Jue. "If it weren't for an extraordinary situation, I wouldn't have been so impulsive as to come directly to you."

"What extraordinary moment is this?"

Jia Jue then asked a question.

Li Rendao said, "It is the Emperor Emeritus and the Dowager Consort Zhen who are pressuring His Majesty to decide on the Crown Prince as soon as possible. Apart from Li Miao, who is still young, the youngest of the three princes, I am already sixteen years old. According to ancestral rules, one should be enfeoffed as a prince at the age of fifteen. My father has only recently ascended the throne, and the power struggles in the court have only just subsided. My mother also passed away early, so no Crown Prince has been appointed. However, with my grandfather's pressure, the matter of appointing an heir will probably be decided within the next year or two."

Jia Jue nodded and said, "It is indeed urgent."

Jia Jue then asked, "I wonder how many allies you have under your command now, brother?"

Li Rendao said, "To my shame, among the younger generation of officials' sons, there are only you two, Xingdi and Juedi. Furthermore, the current county magistrate in the capital region is also my foolish brother, as are some of my foolish brothers within the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The examiners for this county examination in the capital are no exception."

Jia Jue said, "The selection of the crown prince is a matter of great importance to the nation. When Emperor Taizu seized power, he believed that 'establishing the eldest son rather than the virtuous' would render the monarch incompetent and was the root of national chaos. Therefore, he decreed 'establishing the virtuous rather than the eldest son.' At that time, all the ministers opposed this, and Emperor Taizu had no choice but to change it to 'establishing the legitimate heir and the virtuous.' Both sides made concessions, and only then did things calm down. Now, in the palace, the fourth prince is not the legitimate heir, so he can be excluded. My elder brother, the eldest prince, and the second prince are competitors. I hope that my elder brother will act when the time is right. Although brotherly affection is important, the throne is no small matter. One wrong move could lead to total defeat, not to mention the loss of one's life and fortune."

Li Ren nodded and said, "Of course I know that."

Jia Jue then asked, "I wonder how much my brother knows about the power and influence of the First and Second Princes' subordinates?"

Li Ren said, "Among the cabinet, there are two Grand Secretaries who are loyal to the eldest brother, one Grand Secretary who is loyal to the second brother, and two other Grand Secretaries whose stance is unclear."

"Among the six ministries, the Minister of Personnel is the father-in-law of my second elder brother, while the positions of the other ministers are unknown."

"As for the Censorate and the Three Judicial Offices, there are also my brothers' confidants among them, but the personnel are complicated and difficult to explain."

"As for the Embroidered Uniform Guard—Father Emperor recently entrusted me with a portion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's authority, and there should be no one from my elder brother's faction within it."

Jia Jue nodded, making a mental note of it.

Now that we're on the Third Prince's bandwagon, we naturally have to do our best for him, since the struggle for the throne is no small matter.

Furthermore, there has long been considerable discontent within the palace regarding the established military families—namely, the lineage of the Four Princes and Eight Dukes. These families mostly obeyed the Retired Emperor, and before Your Majesty became Crown Prince, they also obeyed the deposed Crown Prince. Now that Your Majesty has ascended the throne, it is natural to settle scores with them.

Moreover, these families are now having more and more good-for-nothing offspring. If the entire family has no one of value, then cutting them off is not out of the question.

This will at least save a lot of money for the national treasury.

Gambling is never a good thing.

But sometimes, you have no choice but to take the gamble.

On this day, Jia Jue and Li Ren talked about many things, from the position of Crown Prince to the affairs of the world; from the sons of nobles to the wars on the frontier.

Two young men, sharing the same ambition and aspirations, discussed their ideals with each other inside the carriage.

What does it mean to cherish each other?

That's it.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

After Jia Jue left, Li Ren remained silent for a long time.

Zhao Xing smiled and said to him, "It seems that you have found a capable assistant, brother."

Li Ren laughed and said, "If it weren't for Brother Xing's discerning eye, how could he have fallen into my trap?"

"Jia Jue, Jia Jue..." he murmured the name softly, "Truly a precious gem of the Jia family. As for Jia Baoyu, who was born with jade in his mouth... does he also possess such talent?"

Jia Jue was unaware of Li Ren's thoughts. When he returned to his residence, he heard about another matter.

When Jia Jue arrived at his study, he saw Lin Daiyu and Tan Chun playing chess.

Jia Jue smiled at the two of them and said, "This study of mine has become yours now."

While playing chess, Daiyu laughed and said, "If Second Brother doesn't want to, then we won't come."

Tan Chun laughed and said, "It's just that I'm borrowing your study, brother. It's not like I've never given you anything before—what are you wearing right now, brother?"

Jia Jue laughed and said, "I dare not argue with you."

As he spoke, he sat down.

Musk Moon had already served tea to the side.

While playing Go with Daiyu, Tanchun said to Jia Jue, "This afternoon, someone from the palace suddenly came. The old lady, the madam, the master, and others all went there. They said that the Dowager Consort Zhen was seriously ill and they went to visit her."

Upon hearing this, Jia Jue said, "The Dowager Consort Zhen is quite old, and it's inevitable that she will suffer from some illnesses. I remember that when the old lady was young, she and the Dowager Consort Zhen were very close friends."

"That's strange too," Daiyu said with a smile. "When the old lady came back today, she said that the Dowager Consort's energy had returned after seeing her, as if she had recovered completely."

"Oh?" Jia Jue asked in surprise. "Could it be that affection can cure illness?"

Daiyu laughed and said, "You're supposed to be a well-read person, haven't you heard the saying, 'A single glance from a discerning eye can cure even the most stubborn ailment'?"

Jia Jue laughed and said, "I was ignorant."

Tan Chun placed a piece on the board and laughed, "It's quite a surprise that the old lady has returned. Moved by her plight, she wants to send someone to Jinling to pray for the Dowager Empress!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Jue chuckled inwardly, "They really do come up with something out of thin air."

However, since he couldn't say it outright, he could only say, "The affection between the old lady and the Dowager Princess is truly enviable."

As the three were talking, a little maid came in and said, "Sister Yuanyang is here."

"Yuanyang is here?" Jia Jue was surprised. "Why would she come?"

Suddenly, she remembered Tan Chun's words about the old lady wanting to find someone to return to Jinling, and her heart sank.

"Does this mean I have to go?"

Despite having a thousand thoughts running through his mind, he only uttered one sentence: "Please let her in."

A moment later, Yuanyang came in and, upon seeing Jia Jue, said, "Second Master Yu, the Old Madam wants to see you."

Jia Jue nodded and said to Daiyu and Tanchun, "You two stay here and play Go. I'll go first."

Daiyu said, "We are going to the old lady's room now, why don't we go together?"

As he spoke, he pulled Tan Chun up and followed Jia Jue out of the room.

The group soon arrived at Rongxi Hall.

Upon entering, they saw the old lady talking with Wang Xifeng and others. When she saw Jia Jue arrive, she quickly invited him to sit down.

Then he saw Daiyu and Tanchun behind Jia Jue, who were also all smiles, and quickly told them to sit down as well.

The old lady said, "I went to the palace today to see the Dowager Consort. We were close friends in our youth. She suddenly fell ill, but unexpectedly, she recovered after seeing me. Isn't that strange?"

Those who heard this all said, "Of course it's strange."

The old lady continued, "I have been on good terms with the Dowager Consort Zhen for decades. Now that this has happened, I am also moved. Since our two families are both originally from Nanjing, I was thinking of sending someone to the Nanjing Ancestral Temple to pray for the Dowager Consort and also to visit the Zhen family, whom I haven't seen for a long time."

After a pause, the old lady continued, "The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the Dowager Empress's birthday, and I've been thinking of praying for blessings on that day. Jue'er, you've always been sensible; how about I have you go instead?"