Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Ultimately, she was just a young maid, and her appeal to Jia Lian was limited.

After teaching her two moves, Jia Lian leisurely emerged from Ningxuan Hall.

As soon as he arrived at the courtyard, the steward came looking for him, saying that Jia Zheng and others were looking for him.

It's because of Lady You.

Lady You acted swiftly; after receiving assurances from Jia Lian, she immediately spread the news that she was pregnant.

At this critical juncture, this news even overshadowed the fact that Jia Rong had committed suicide in prison out of fear of punishment.

Jia Jing had originally planned to discuss with Jia Zheng and others which branch of the clan should be chosen to inherit the family line and uphold the prestige of the Ningguo Mansion.

Upon hearing this news, Jia Jing was overjoyed.

No one wants to be childless, not even Jia Jing, who was devoted to the pursuit of Tao.

If you have your own biological children to inherit the family business, who would want to find someone from a collateral branch?

Although it's not certain that Ms. You will be carrying a son this time, it's still a possibility, isn't it?

Even he felt terrible at the thought of handing over the family business to the offspring of a branch of the family. He felt like an unfilial descendant who had failed his father and grandfather.

Therefore, if the daughter-in-law gives birth to a son this time, then naturally it should be her own grandson who inherits the family business.

With this thought in mind, Jia Jing no longer had the idea of ​​adopting a child from the clan.

Jia Zheng also saw through Jia Jing's thoughts, and he said, "In that case, please stay at home for the time being to support the family. We will discuss this matter again after our daughter-in-law gives birth."

Upon hearing this, Jia Jing felt slightly troubled.

Lady You was only a month pregnant, and it would be more than half a year before she gave birth. However, considering that Jia Zheng's statement was reasonable and for the sake of the Ningguo Mansion, he could only nod reluctantly: "That's the only way."

Seeing that what should have been the most heated discussion suddenly ended like this, one couldn't help but start to have doubts.

"Logically speaking, my sister-in-law has been married to Brother Zhen for so many years and has never had a child. How come she suddenly got pregnant at this time?"

Once one person starts, several others immediately chime in.

They all came because of the smell.

The Ningguo family line has been broken. If they can send their own son or grandson in, it will be a chance for them to turn their fortunes around!

They had planned to fight for it for a long time, so how could they be willing to lose the opportunity like this?

Therefore, they began to make malicious speculations. If it weren't for the fact that Jia Jing was sitting above them, they probably would have said many more unpleasant things.

Everyone present was not stupid. Although they seemed to be just making simple complaints, they quickly realized that they were questioning the purity of the bloodline in Yu's womb!

Jia Jing's face immediately turned ugly.

If these people were merely making baseless speculations, he could naturally rebuke them.

However, after reflecting on it himself, he also felt that everyone's doubts were not entirely unfounded.

Given that the son and grandson have been causing trouble at home for quite some time, it's not entirely impossible for the daughter-in-law to...

"snort!"

Just as everyone was talking at once, Jia Lian walked in through the door.

With a cold face, he walked to the front, glanced around at everyone, and sneered, "There are quite a few people gossiping about our two mansions behind our backs these days, the only ones missing are our own family members!"

Don't think I don't know what some of you are up to.

When you saw Brother Zhen and Rong'er go one after another, your eyes turned red. In order to fight for a family property that did not belong to you, you even dared to slander the clan matriarch at will.

I'm putting this out there today: if any of you have any evidence to prove that the child in Sister-in-law Zhen's belly is not of my Jia family blood, or any other evidence of Sister-in-law Zhen's infidelity, you'd better produce it now.

If you can't produce it, then don't blame me for punishing you for framing the clan matriarch and attempting to exterminate the eldest son's bloodline!

Jia Zhen was the clan head, so Lady You was naturally the matriarch of the Jia family.

Originally, she should have had a very noble status, but because Jia Zhen was always willful and autocratic and did not give You Shi the respect she deserved, the whole family did not respect her enough.

In addition, the You family has indeed declined, which is why these people dare to make statements that could lead to someone's death.

But Jia Lian was different.

Now that both families are nearly extinct, the only ones who can represent the family are Jia Jing, Jia Zheng, and Jia Lian.

Furthermore, because Jia Lian possesses a family-inherited title and is currently the highest-ranking official in the family, many people believe he represents the family even better than Jia Jing and Jia Zheng.

After all, Jia Jing clearly had no interest in managing affairs, and Jia Zheng wasn't much different.

Jia Lian, however, is in his prime, and it is clear to everyone that he will be in charge of most affairs in the future of the two Jia families.

To put it simply, only the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family are truly noble; the other branches are merely living off the glory of these two mansions.

At this point, who would dare offend Jia Lian?

Therefore, when Jia Lian stood up and righteously criticized those with ulterior motives, no one dared to utter a sound.

Jia Lian didn't press them further. Once he had subdued them, he turned to Jia Jing, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Uncle Jing, you are wise. Although Brother Zhen has indeed made some mistakes in the past, no one is perfect."

If anyone thinks that they can use this to arbitrarily slander the eldest branch of the Jia family and the Ningguo Mansion in order to achieve their own ulterior motives, then they have miscalculated.

Jia Jing, who was initially in a bad mood due to everyone's doubts, immediately looked at Jia Lian with gratitude.

It's rare that this nephew would speak up for the eldest branch of the family at this critical juncture.

Just as he was about to say something, he heard Jia Lian continue, "Over the years, so many people in our two households have seen what Sister-in-law Zhen is like."

Even the old lady used to praise her, saying that Sister-in-law Zhen was a virtuous and sensible person.

Now that the eldest branch of the family is in trouble, so many of us have gathered together to help them through this difficult time, not to kick them when they're down.

Besides, the bloodline of children is determined by Heaven.

Throughout history, how many people have had children late in life?

Besides, Brother Zhen is only just over forty years old. How can you use that as evidence to say that Brother Zhen can no longer have children?

Furthermore, Uncle Jing's family was already small, and now Brother Zhen and Rong'er have passed away one after the other within just two days.

Perhaps it was out of divine mercy that Heaven took pity on Uncle Jing, a highly respected and accomplished man, and sent him a grandson at this time.

How dare you recklessly question Heaven's bounty? Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?

As he said these words, Jia Lian still felt somewhat uneasy.

But there's nothing we can do; people of that time just buy into that kind of thinking. If reasoning doesn't work, they'll talk about the cycle of karma and cause and effect—that's always true in this era. Besides, no one can argue with them as well.

Therefore, faced with Jia Lian's righteous indignation and reasonable words, no one in the hall dared to speak, and they didn't even dare to show a strange expression to Jia Lian, for fear that Jia Lian would drag them out as heretics to be criticized.

Jia Jing was deeply moved by Jia Lian's words of devotion to the Ningguo Mansion and the greater good of the family.

He stood up, leaning on his cane, and looked at Jia Lian, saying, "Good, good, good. It is a blessing for our entire Jia family to have someone as righteous and reasonable as Brother Lian."

With you here, even if I return to Xuanzhen Temple in the future, I won't have to worry too much about family matters!

Jia Jing gave Jia Lian several approving glances, then leaned on his cane, looked at the rest of the family, and snorted, "Did you all hear what Lian-ge'er said just now? Although I, Jia Jing, have failed in educating my son and grandson, that is no reason for you to think that my Ningguo Mansion has no one to rely on."

If I hear you slander my Ningguo Mansion again, don't blame me for being ruthless.

Jia Jing was, after all, the eldest son of the third generation of the family, and he had even passed the imperial examination with top honors. He also needed to maintain his dignity and self-respect.

He had already apologized before for the disgrace caused to the family by Jia Zhen and Jia Rong.

So when Jia Lian pointed it out, he immediately realized that the other households were indeed going too far, trying to scheme against his Ningguo Mansion's foundation, and he naturally had to take the opportunity to fight back.

However, now that things have come to this point, it's clear that other matters can't be discussed any further for the time being.

Therefore, Jia Jing only nodded slightly to two or three elders in the hall and Jia Lian, then leaned on his cane and went into the back hall.

He wanted to make his stance clear. Later, Jia Zheng and the others would send someone to speak kindly to him and express their apologies.

He'll make some adjustments, and then everyone can continue to sit together, still a loving family.