The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

The person chosen to replace Jia Jue is named Li Ren.

That's the third prince.

Now, however, a prefix has been added before his name—King of Wu.

This trip to pray for blessings is actually just a prelude to taking up a fiefdom.

This essentially means that the ambitious third prince has been disqualified from the battle for the throne.

At the same time, Jia Jue received another piece of news—Zhao Xing was exiled to the frontier, and Huang Huan was beheaded. Although the reputation of "Master Xuanwu" remained, the Zhao family had fallen into ruin.

Fortunately, others associated with the Third Prince, such as Sima He, and even the chief examiner of the county examination that day, were not implicated.

Jia Jue couldn't fathom His Majesty's thoughts, but he had no other good options at the moment, so he could only wait and see what happened and act when the opportunity arose.

However, Japanese pirates still lurk along the road from Jinling to the capital, making the journey unsafe. Therefore, Jia Jue has not yet left Jinling, and the King of Wu has not yet left the capital.

On this day, Jia Jue was reading and brewing tea at his residence when he suddenly heard a commotion.

He was puzzled—his place was remote and far from the street, and it was usually very quiet, so why was it so chaotic today?

With doubts in his heart, he beckoned a little girl over and told her to go out and tell Qingfeng and Mingyue so that they could inquire about what had happened and why it was so lively.

The young maid took the order and left. Not long after, she returned and reported, "Master, Qingfeng and Mingyue went to inquire and said that General Weiwu entered the city today, and the Prefect himself was at the city gate to welcome him. Those noisy noises were caused by the musicians they hired."

Before he could finish speaking, another maid came over and said to Jia Jue, "Master, our master requests your presence."

Jia Jue recognized the maid; she was the one who usually served Jia Jue.

Seeing her arrive, Jia Jue nodded and said, "Alright, please wait a moment."

With that, he got up and went into the inner room.

He had been reading since he got up today, and he was still wearing a loose robe with wide sleeves, not the kind of clothes he would wear to receive guests. He went in to change his clothes.

A short while later, Jia Jue emerged, his appearance completely transformed:

He was unusually dressed in a crimson and gold-embroidered arrow-sleeved robe, with a nine-dragon and pearl-embroidered headband, a gold-embroidered crown, and lotus-silk shoes. His bright and rich attire was unlike what he usually wore; it was more like the clothes his twin brother liked to wear.

Jia Jue said to the maid, "Let's go."

After saying that, he went out first.

Before long, the two arrived at Rongxi Hall.

At this moment, Jia Jue was also sitting inside. As soon as he saw Jia Jue arrive, he quickly stepped forward and said, "Brother Jue is here."

After exchanging pleasantries, Jia Jue said, "The General Wei Wu, whom His Majesty has personally appointed to exterminate the Japanese pirates, is entering the city today. The Prefect of Jinling Prefecture, Jia Yucun, just sent someone with an invitation, saying that we should go to the government office for a banquet to welcome the General."

Jia Jue nodded and said, "Then what Brother Jue means is..."

Jia Jue then said, "What I mean is that the two of us go together, representing the Rongguo Mansion, okay? As for the other mansion, we won't concern ourselves with that."

Jia Jue nodded and said, "Of course I can. I happen to be free these days."

Jia Jue then said, "Since that's the case, let's go. I've already prepared the carriages, horses, and gifts."

Jia Jue laughed and said, "You've thought of everything."

After saying this, the two left the Rongguo Mansion through the small gate, got into a magnificent carriage, and headed towards the government office.

That day, Jia Jue, Liu Xianglian, and others also went to the government office, but at that time they did not go to the main hall. Today, however, they are going to the main hall.

When Jia Jue arrived, he saw that the government office hall was extremely spacious, with a small table placed in front of each person's seat.

Jia Jue counted them; there were a total of sixty-eight tables.

The seat at the very top was clearly occupied by the mighty general; next was Jia Yucun, and then came the seats of the four great families, the Zhen family, and other powerful clans.

Among them, Jia Jue, being a direct descendant of the Rongguo Mansion in the capital, Zhen Yu, being a direct descendant of the Zhen family, and Xue Pan, being a direct descendant of the Xue family, were ranked higher.

Although Jia Jue, Jia Dun, and others were the heads of the powerful families in Jinling, their direct descendants lived in the capital, so their seating order was naturally one level lower.

After everyone had greeted each other, they sat down.

Not long after, a commotion was heard outside.

Everyone looked up and saw Jia Yucun following behind a middle-aged man of medium build and gentle demeanor.

At a glance, Jia Jue recognized him—this was General Weiwu.

Jia Jue recognized this imposing general; he had known him before, back in the capital.

Because he had a son who was a friend of Jia Baoyu, and his family and the Jia family were old friends, Jia Jue recognized him.

His name is Feng Tang.

His son's name is Feng Ziying.

However, in the original work, General Feng Tang's title was "Divine Martial General", but now it is called "Majestic Martial General". Perhaps it is because of this that his general title has changed?

But no matter how they change it, they're still just a bunch of ragtag generals.

Jia Jue couldn't figure it out.

Although Feng Tang was a military general, he did not have the rugged temperament of a warrior at all. Instead, he was more like a scholar. He did not wear armor, but a wide robe. He did not hold a sword, but a rosary. Even his face was often adorned with a gentle smile.

So as soon as he entered, he bowed to the people around him with a humble attitude and proper manners. In Jinling City, where military generals made their fortunes but were still quite prejudiced against them, he won a lot of praise.

Some people were thinking to themselves, "If all the military generals in the court were as humble and polite as him, that would be fine."

After Feng Tang finished bowing, he immediately saw Jia Jue.

He exclaimed with delight, "Nephew, it's been so long! How have you been?"

Jia Jue bowed and said, "Thank you for your concern, Uncle. I have been doing well and in good health in Jinling. But you, Uncle, while you are away fighting, you must also take good care of yourself!"

Feng Tang laughed and said, "What you say makes a lot of sense, nephew. However, on the battlefield, how can one be so concerned about oneself? The orders of the court should come first."

Upon hearing this, everyone praised Feng Tang, saying, "General, you are truly righteous!"

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, everyone took their seats.

As soon as he sat down, Feng Tang raised his cup and said, "I have been ordered to come to Jiangnan to eliminate the Japanese pirates. I must thank you all for your donations of grain and money. I will certainly live up to your mission and restore peace and tranquility to Jiangnan!"

Having said that, he raised his wine cup and drank.

He downed a cup of sake in one gulp.

The others naturally followed suit, picking up their wine cups and drinking. However, due to their different personalities, they drank in different ways—some drank heartily, some slowly, some quickly, and some sipped slowly...

The various attitudes cannot be described in a single word.