Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Below the attic, inside the ancestral hall.

Under the guidance of the two clan elders, the ancestral worship ceremony proceeded smoothly.

After Jia Lian read the "acceptance speech" written by a prominent member of the clan verbatim, he and Feng Jie placed the imperial edict and the title into a sealed tray, which was then personally taken into the inner ancestral hall by the clan elder for safekeeping.

Just at this joyous moment, an untimely voice suddenly rang out:

"Second Uncle Lian, there are rumors that you are a legitimate grandson of the emperor. Is this true or false?"

Suddenly, a voice carrying a clear questioning tone drowned out the other noises, causing everyone to look toward the source.

"It's the fourth son of the third wife!"

"How dare he...?"

The Jia family members were discussing it animatedly.

The reason was simple: after rumors about Jia Lian's background circulated, the clan elders consulted with Grandmother Jia and reached a consensus.

Then, naturally, they went back to restrain the people in their respective houses, forbidding them from talking nonsense outside, lest they suffer the calamity of having their homes ransacked and their families wiped out!

Jia Daixiu, who had been all smiles and politely discussing with Jia Dairu who would put the sealed plates away, stumbled. Without thinking twice, he handed the plates to Jia Dairu and rushed forward, shouting, "Who told you to talk nonsense here? Where's the third son's wife?"

A middle-aged man pushed his way out of the crowd and kicked Jia Qin, yelling, "You damned brat! Who gave you the audacity to interrupt the celebration? Where did you get the nerve?!"

Jia Qin, while covering his head and accepting the beating, said defiantly, "I was just asking a question that everyone cares about. Father, why did you hit me? Don't you find it strange? A member of the royal family, a noble of the imperial lineage, yet he bears the title of head of the Jia family and presides over our Jia family's ancestral worship ceremony in a grand manner..."

Seeing that Jia Qin's words were becoming increasingly explicit and would bring trouble, Jia Daixiu, the son of the Duke of Ning, was so angry that his beard stood on end.

"Jia Gui, is this how you raise your son? Throw him out of here!"

Jia Qin's father, Jia Gui, kicked Jia Qin several times, but then hesitated.

"Please forgive me, sir. Although this child is rash, what he said is not without reason."

In recent days, rumors have been flying around in the Eighth House. Don't you guys really have any curiosity or want to know the truth?

Since everyone from the Eighth Branch is here today, let's clarify this matter, expose the rumors, and then everything will be fine.

"You two gentlemen, don't you agree?"

Jia Gui's words left Jia Daixiu speechless. He saw that as Jia Gui finished speaking, many of the clansmen present nodded silently.

He immediately sensed something was wrong and couldn't help but look at Jia Lian and his wife behind him.

Sister Feng has a fiery temper; normally she would have already snapped back. With her eloquence, she could have easily silenced Jia Qin and his son.

But perhaps out of consideration for Princess Zhaoyang and the Fourth Prince, Feng Jie remained silent, only looking at Jia Lian.

Jia Lian released Feng Jie'er's hand, walked to the steps, and slowly scanned the group of Jia family members.

Everyone, including Jia Qin and his son, lowered their heads and dared not meet Jia Lian's gaze.

Several breaths passed, until the ancestral hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, before Jia Lian calmly asked, "What rumors?"

No one answered; all eyes were on Jia Gui and his son.

Despite his inner fear, Jia Gui could only brace himself and reply under everyone's gaze, "Yes, it is, it is about the Emperor Emeritus publicly acknowledging that you are his grandson..."

"That's true."

Before Jia Gui could even breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing Jia Lian's admission, Jia Lian continued, "However, after an investigation and verification by the court, it was proven that the Emperor Emeritus's grandson was someone else. Therefore, His Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of Duke of Rong to set the record straight."

Jia Lian's voice was calm and his words brief. But for some reason, they carried a resounding, unquestionable power in everyone's ears.

Even those who had previously believed the rumors were now beginning to believe Jia Lian's words.

Yes, if Jia Lian were truly a grandson of the emperor, why would the court bestow upon him the title of Duke of Rong?

It turns out there was a mistake. To prevent the world from spreading misinformation, this is the way to set the record straight!

"Any other questions?" Jia Lian asked, looking at Jia Gui and his son.

"No, that's all..."

Faced with Jia Lian's gaze, both Jia Gui and his son shrank back.

Seeing a major incident completely dissipate with just a few words from Jia Lian, some truly intelligent people who were not deceived by words couldn't help but sigh.

Does it still matter whether Uncle Lian (Brother Lian) is a member of the royal family or not?

With his power and influence, the entire Jia family could only grovel at his feet.

It is the Jia family that is honored because of Uncle Lian, not the other way around.

Originally, it was thought that the matter had been settled, but to everyone's surprise, when no one dared to speak again, Jia Lian turned to Jia Dairu and Jia Daixiu and said:

"If I remember correctly, after I returned to the capital and inquired about my father's background with the old lady, she issued an order that no member of the Jia clan should discuss my father's origins, and those who disobeyed the order would be severely punished."

Was it that the old lady's orders failed to reach the ears of the various households, or that the heads of the households failed to pass on the orders?

Jia Dairu and Jia Daixiu quickly replied that they had already relayed Grandmother Jia's orders early that morning.

The heads of the other branches also stepped forward, saying that the announcements had been made.

"So what's going on with them?"

Seeing that Jia Lian had turned his attention back to them, Jia Gui and his son immediately sensed something was wrong.

There are many reasons why the father and son dared to put on such a clumsy performance.

Firstly, it was indeed the rumors circulating among the eight families that made them take notice.

Secondly, Jia Qin secretly harbored resentment towards Jia Lian.

It turns out that after the Mid-Autumn Festival visit to their relatives last year, the Jia family planned to move all the Taoist priests, monks, and nuns who had filled the Taoist temples, nunneries, and Buddhist monasteries in the Grand View Garden out.

The twelve young monks from the Jade Emperor Temple and the Bodhidharma Temple, along with the twelve young Taoist priests, were assigned to the family temple, the Iron Threshold Temple. When Jia Qin's mother, Zhou, heard that there was a shortage of a head steward, she asked Feng Jie for help.

The matter was originally settled, but when the list passed through Jia Lian's hands, Jia Lian directly erased Jia Qin's name and replaced it with someone else.

This incident left Jia Qin with a deep-seated resentment, though he dared not show it in his daily life.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

However, it was common for them to privately criticize Jia Lian and say a few bad things about him, which naturally influenced their family members in a subtle way.

Third, Jia Qin's father, Jia Gui, usually acted very obediently in front of Jia Zheng, but after learning about the rumors surrounding Jia Lian, he began to think every day about how to profit from it.

Now that Jia Zheng is far away in the south, he naturally cannot get any ideas from Jia Zheng.

However, he felt that if he could take a risk and learn from Zhao Kuangyin's generals, and directly put Jia Zheng in the imperial robe, his future would be limitless!

Indeed, after the news of today's ancestral worship ceremony spread, he saw that many members of the Eighth Branch were secretly indignant, so he wanted to take this opportunity to squeeze Jia Lian out of the Jia family.

Thus, without Jia Lian, Jia Zheng naturally became the head of the Jia family.

In that case, when Jia Zheng returns and learns of his achievements, won't he rise to prominence?

Therefore, together with his son, who had always disliked Jia Lian, they put on this elaborate act.

His plan was simple: in the Jia family's ancestral hall, he would point out Jia Lian's outsider status, causing Jia Lian to feel ashamed and voluntarily withdraw from the Jia family.

He wasn't naive enough to think he could do anything to Jia Lian; he simply knew that someone like Jia Lian would be very concerned about his reputation. With his identity exposed, how could he possibly still have the nerve to stay at the Jia family's residence?

I never imagined that many things that seem easy to imagine are actually very difficult to do.

He never imagined that, under Jia Lian's imposing presence, he and his son would be unable to utter a single word.

Not only did their plan fail, but it seems Jia Lian has no intention of letting them go, and they are belatedly feeling afraid.

Faced with the mocking and pitying gazes of the clansmen, Jia Gui quickly knelt down and said, "Brother Lian, spare our lives! My father and I were blinded by greed and rumors, and that's why we forgot the old lady's orders. Please, Brother Lian, for the sake of our clan, forgive us this time..."

Jia Gui kowtowed repeatedly.

He seemed to be recalling the fate of the Yang siblings.

Jia Lian gave him a cold look, then turned to the two elders and asked, "What do you two think?"

Seeing that Jia Gui's scalp was bruised from kowtowing, Jia Dairu said with some pity, "They were just misled by rumors, so why don't we let them off this time..."

Jia Lian frowned and looked at Jia Daixiu.

Jia Daixiu sighed inwardly and stepped forward, saying, "Jia Gui and Jia Qin, father and son, disregarded clan laws, disrupted the ancestral worship ceremony, and slandered the acting clan head. Their actions are egregious and have a great impact. If they are not severely punished, there will be no way to uphold the clan's rules and regulations."

After saying this, Jia Daixiu bowed to Jia Lian and said, "I ask that the clan head punish him according to the clan rules."

Jia Lian nodded and said, "Drag them away and give each of them one hundred strokes of the cane."

When Jia Gui and Jia Qin heard that they would be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane, they immediately collapsed. Their wives, children, and elderly relatives wailed and begged for mercy.

Then Jia Lian ignored them and waited until the servants dragged the third branch of the family away and the courtyard was quiet before he coldly said, "My Jia family has existed for a hundred years since our ancestors founded it. Under you two alone, there are already more than a hundred descendants."

Without the constraints of clan rules and laws, sooner or later unworthy descendants will bring shame upon the family due to their own words and deeds.

Therefore, I hope that after you return, you will all keep the clan rules and laws firmly in mind, so as to avoid committing any more offenses against me in the future.

Regarding my father's background, the imperial court has already reached a conclusion, and the old lady and the clan elders have also discussed it with each other, with no doubts.

If any of you still have doubts, you may raise them now in front of the eight members of the family, and I will forgive you.

Jia Lian looked at the two hundred Jia family members and their wives, and not one of them expressed any objection.

What a joke! The last two people who raised objections were already given a hundred lashes, and they don't even know if they'll survive. Only a fool would object.

"Very well, since you have no more questions, from this day forward, I do not wish to hear anyone discussing my father's background in public anymore."

"If anyone dares to disobey the old lady's strict orders, violate clan laws, and bring disaster upon the Jia family, they will be removed from the clan genealogy and expelled from the family."

Everyone was startled upon hearing this, knowing that Jia Lian was truly enraged, and they all nodded in agreement.