The filial son of the Red Mansion

Yes, I am going to beat up this bastard today. How come we almost became brothers?

Although this bastard is a talented person and speaks well, we can't just let him go after being beaten so many times before!

If I don't let someone beat him up today, wouldn't it be a waste of time? I won't be able to calm down.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gritted his teeth, seeing that there was no way he could make Jia Rong reveal his flaws so that he could not find fault with him, so the Crown Prince decided to just have him beaten, regardless of whether the cause was justified or not.

Jia Rong's eyebrows suddenly jumped, and he said hurriedly: "I just remembered an important matter concerning Your Highness. Can I have a word with Your Highness for a moment?"

"What is it? What do you want to say?"

Chen Jiong was suspicious, and seeing Jia Rong frowning, he couldn't help but think that something important was going on. When Jia Rong made a gesture to invite him in, Chen Jiong subconsciously raised his leg and followed Jia Rong into the main hall.

Go halfway.

The Crown Prince suddenly stopped and said frankly: "Jia Huaizhi, don't say that I won't give you a chance. If what you said is not important enough, I will still let them beat you up. Otherwise... what is this?"

When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was halfway through his words, he suddenly felt his eyes blur and saw Jia Rong taking out a few silver bills from his bosom.

Chen Jiong took a closer look and was shocked. They were all silver notes worth 100 taels each. There must be at least 2,000 to 3,000 taels here. He quickly covered his sight and asked nervously, "Guard Jia wants to bribe me?"

Jia Rong paused, holding the banknote tightly in his hand, and asked in confusion: "Your Highness, what nonsense are you talking about? I just took out the wrong thing. Eh... strange, I clearly remembered to bring it, how come it is gone?"

"What is it?" Chen Jiong asked innocently, but his eyes involuntarily glanced at the banknotes in Jia Rong's hand.

The genuine silver note, the note with black and white words on it, can be exchanged for real silver.

Don't underestimate Chen Jiong, he is the crown prince, now he is over fifteen years old and has reached adulthood, his monthly allowance has increased to five hundred taels, but he doesn't even have one hundred taels of cash. Five hundred taels a month is indeed a lot, but that is the expense of the entire Xiaodong Palace. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can't spend much on his own.

Although the palace also gave out gifts during festivals, they were mostly small toys of little value. On birthdays, many ministers gave gifts, but they were mostly jade, calligraphy and paintings.

When has His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ever seen silver, let alone banknotes?

Jia Rong chuckled, shook the banknote in his hand, and then put it away. He said in annoyance, "I accidentally found a small model of a bronze Western cannon a few days ago. I wanted to present it to Your Highness, but now I can't find it. What a pity, what a pity, I don't know who picked it up."

When Chen Jiong heard that it was a toy cannon, he immediately lost interest.

The toy cannon is far less tempting than the silver bills in Jia Rong's hand.

Jia Rong knew this a long time ago, so he invented the copper toy cannon. He said depressedly: "I lost the gift for Your Highness, which is a serious crime. If Your Highness does not mind, I will use a silver note instead, and then send it to Your Highness when I find the rare item in the future."

Chen Jiong's eyes suddenly stared at the silver note in Jia Rong's hand, and she pretended to be serious and said, "Huaizhi, don't be sad. When you find the rare item, give it to me. Now..." As she spoke, her eyes looked at the silver note.

Jia Rong was very considerate. He took out a banknote and put it in the hand of the Crown Prince. He said, "Your Highness is kind and generous. I admire you very much."

Chen Jiong was stunned, looking at the hundred-liang silver note in his hand for a long time.

Just one?

Just one hundred taels?

Isn't that all?

Jia Rong certainly didn't give more than a hundred taels. He had already calculated that a hundred taels was just the reward for a low-level treasure chest. It was indeed very easy to get money. And because Zhou Yang was repeatedly given more titles, the treasure chest should be level seven. Even if a level seven treasure chest opened silver, it would be a big profit.

He took a few more and stuffed them into the hands of His Royal Highness, whispering, "I don't have much money, and it's all here. The rest will have to continue to search for rare items for Your Highness. In the future, I only hope that Your Highness can lead me to sweep across the desert, and preferably to enter Eros. I will definitely bring you a few beautiful Rakshasa women."

When Chen Jiong heard that the other banknotes actually belonged to him, he was extremely happy and did not care even though he only got four or five hundred taels of silver.

But he was very disgusted with Jia Rong's suggestion, saying: "Rakshasa women are not as pretty as the women of our Great Wu. If Huai Zhi is interested in Rakshasa ghosts, wait until I become the general, and then I will have people capture ten red-haired Rakshasa women to warm Huai Zhi's bed."

"Your Highness is of high character and integrity, and I admire you immensely." Jia Rong immediately followed up with a flattering laugh, saying, "If it weren't for my lowly status, I would really like to worship Your Highness as my sworn brother."

What?

When Yuan Zhen outside the hall heard this voice, he was suddenly shocked.

The eunuchs and servants nearby also looked bewildered.

Everyone cursed in their hearts: This idiot is really lawless, he even wants to become sworn brothers with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He is so shameless, the Crown Prince is only fifteen years old, and he even wants to become his sworn brother.

Jia Rong leaned close to the prince's ear and whispered, "Brothers are like limbs, and women are like clothes. Since Your Highness wants to reward me with clothes, I will naturally treat Your Highness as a limb. I like making friends, and I would not trade a straightforward person like Your Highness for a thousand gold. I am a loyal person, and even though we cannot become sworn brothers, I have already regarded Your Highness as my sworn brother in my heart."

Like making friends?

Chen Jiong couldn't help but touch his nose.

Obviously, he was attracted by the word "friend". If he counted the fifth prince, he would only have one friend in the Little East Palace.

Of course, none of this matters. What matters is that Jia Huaizhi is very enthusiastic. Not only does he admire me very much, but he is also very generous. He is such a good person.

Huaizhi is such a good person, but I actually wanted to ask someone to beat him up!

Chapter 152: Meeting the Queen in Kunning Palace [Happy New Year]

"Actually... I am also a loyal person." Chen Jiong paused, looking at the banknotes in his hand, an embarrassed look flashed across his face.

"Your Highness, please keep it. Your Highness and I hit it off right away, and we are as close as brothers. Money is like dirt, so Your Highness, just spend it, don't be polite." Jia Rong said with a smile, turned his head and glanced at him, and whispered, "Your Highness needs money to order people around. If you don't have any on hand, won't others laugh at you? If Your Highness doesn't accept this banknote, Your Highness will look down on me."

Chen Jiong was stunned by what he said, and suddenly felt that Jia Rong's description became more and more majestic and incomparably closer. He laughed and said, "Then I will accept it."

"Take it, but don't let anyone else know."

Jia Rong said with a chuckle.

He really didn't expect that the Crown Prince was so naive and easy to fool. When he and Crown Prince Chen Jiong walked out of the main hall together, the eunuchs and Yuan Zhen outside were all dumbfounded.

No one knew what happened.

Everyone was puzzled. Didn't they want to teach that guard Jia who stole the limelight a lesson? Why were they now so close to each other and calling each other brothers?

Yuan Zhen felt quite helpless, knowing that the Crown Prince had been fooled by Jia Rong.

That guy is quite good at fooling people.

Master Rong walked down the steps of the main hall, and said with a bright smile, "Your Highness, please recover from your injuries. I will return to Shunzhen Gate to take up my duties." Then he whispered, "Your Highness, please do not take too long a leave. If the scholars in the upper study do not see Your Highness to study for a few days, Your Highness will probably suffer again."

Chen Jiong nodded repeatedly, thinking that Jia Rong was such a good man, and he even reminded her. He smiled and said, "When I recover from my injury tomorrow and come back from school, we will go to the Archery Pavilion to ride horses. I heard that Huai Zhi got the first place in the review, but I have not seen Huai Zhi's skills yet."

horse riding?

Jia Rong is now much more skilled at riding a horse, but his archery skills are still the same as before. It is fine to shoot while sitting on the horse, but it is difficult to keep track of the front and the rear when running.

Yuan Zhen saw Jia Rong's hesitation. He had also seen Jia Rong cheating during the review, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Jia Shichang is an extremely good archer. He is the best archer on horseback among the Dragon Guards."

Nima!

Jia Rong immediately cursed in his heart, this bastard Yuan Zhen was flattering on the surface, but actually he was doing some serious harm with his words.

As expected, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Chen Jiong's eyes lit up immediately, and he had the intention of competing. He smiled and said, "In that case, when my injury is healed, we must have a competition."

Grass!

Jia Rong left the Little East Palace, still feeling very depressed. He was thinking about burying Yuan Zhen someday!

However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was obviously very interested in the competition. He did not even set a specific time for the competition. Instead, he wanted to practice madly during this time.

Jia Rong felt that being on duty at Shunzhen Gate was much easier than being on duty at Shenwu Gate.

Shunzhen Gate is the last gate to the inner court, guarding the Imperial Garden. In the inner court further south of the Imperial Garden, the gatekeepers are no longer guards, but eunuchs from various palaces. For example, Kunning Gate, the gate connecting the Imperial Garden and Kunning Palace, must be guarded by eunuchs from Kunning Palace.

There is only one guard that can be truly considered as being in the harem, and that is the Yuehua Gate guards that connect the Qianqing Palace and the Yangxin Palace and are also officials who report to the emperor. The Yuehua Gate guards must be the emperor's guards, the people the emperor trusts the most. The Yuehua Gate guards also stay at the Yuehua Gate at night, but they are not allowed to go down the steps to the east without special circumstances, and they are monitored by eunuchs.

Many people go in and out of Shenwu Gate every day, including officials and their followers from the Imperial Household Department, Jinyifu, Linglongjinweifu, etc. However, only the princes, princesses, concubines, palace maids, and eunuchs go in and out of Shunzhen Gate. Even among the above people, only eunuchs often go in and out. The princes, princesses, concubines, palace maids, etc. go north at most to stroll in the Imperial Garden. It is not so easy to get out of Shunzhen Gate.

It was difficult for the concubines to even go from Kunning Gate to the Imperial Garden. Even if they led the maids and eunuchs out of Kunning Gate alone, they had to get a card from the empress. Otherwise, the concubines spent most of their time in their own palaces, or in the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace, the old concubine's Shoukang Palace, and the Empress' Kunning Palace, where they would stay and listen to the rules.

TV dramas often show a concubine deliberately meeting the emperor in the imperial garden, or a concubine having a secret rendezvous with a guard in the imperial garden. Although such things are not 100% impossible, they are countless times more difficult to put into practice than imagined.

Firstly, His Majesty in the Palace seldom came to the Imperial Garden, and even if he came, he would just walk around with the Queen and the concubines.

Secondly, concubines cannot leave their own bedrooms easily. If they want to leave the bedroom, they must be called by the current emperor, the empress, the empress dowager, the old concubine, etc.

Third, the eunuchs came and went in the imperial garden, and occasionally the princes played in the garden after school. Who would choose to have a tryst there? Was he deliberately looking for the excitement of "almost being discovered outdoors"? Who knew how many spies there were in the palace.

If a concubine really wanted to wait for the emperor in the imperial garden, or have a tryst with the guards, it would be impossible unless the queen had gone crazy and made such arrangements on purpose.

but……

Jia Rong was on duty at Shunzhen Gate for another two days and received the Queen's imperial edict.

"Go to Kunning Palace to see the Queen?"

Jia Rong was very confused. Why did the Queen summon him for no reason? And why did she summon him to the harem? It really made people wonder.

He glanced at the eunuch and two palace maids standing beside him, and a feeling of helplessness welled up in his heart again.

It was just meeting the Queen, what was there to be happy about? Even though she was the most powerful woman in the country, even though she was indeed young and beautiful, that was all.

It’s not like I’ve never seen it before.

Jia Rong followed the eunuch and two palace maids into the Imperial Garden, passed through Kunning Gate, and arrived at Kunning Palace. Unfortunately, the curtains were drawn in Kunning Palace, so even if they were facing each other, Jia Rong could hardly see the queen's face behind the curtains.

Kunning Palace was a huge palace. Including the eunuchs guarding the Kunning Gate, there were a total of 28 eunuchs serving the Empress, and countless female historians and palace maids.

Even if there was no curtain, Jia Rong couldn't raise his head to look around.

Jia Rong saw a familiar figure standing in front of the curtain, and that person looked at Jia Rong with a flashing look in his eyes.

"Guard Jia has made great contributions in protecting the emperor at the Shenwu Gate. What reward do you want?" The queen's clear and bright voice came from behind the curtain.

Jia Rong had many wishes in mind, such as releasing Yuanchun from the palace, but the queen would definitely not allow it. So he said respectfully, "Your Majesty has already rewarded me, I dare not be greedy."

"Is that so?" The Queen was not surprised by Jia Rong's conventional answer. She chuckled and said, "Guard Jia is young, but he is sincere and loyal. This is rare. I heard from the Crown Prince that he and you hit it off right away, and he wants to ask for a badge for you to enter the Imperial Garden and the North Residence. What does Guard Jia think?"

Chapter 153: Waiting for the opportunity, targeting Lin Daiyu

There is a trap in the queen's words!

If he answered the Crown Prince on a whim, then he would be suspected of denying His Royal Highness. If he supported His Royal Highness's idea, then Thorn was too self-respecting and too frivolous.

Jia Rong replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Your Highness must have considered what he did. I am both happy and extremely terrified that I have your trust. I only want to guard Shunzhen Gate for your Majesty and the Empress, and I don't want to think about anything else. If the Empress can show mercy, I can bring news of my relatives home and give the guards of Shunzhen Gate some confidence to conduct a strict investigation. As the head of Shunzhen Gate, I will be extremely happy."

After hearing this, the Queen's expression became even more amused.

It is said outside that Captain Jiamen is a fool, but the words he just said are totally unlike what a fool would say.

This guard Jia Shichang seemed to be asking for benefits, but in fact he was refusing the Crown Prince's right to freely enter and leave the Imperial Garden and the North Residence. He seemed to be asking for benefits, but on the one hand he stood on filial piety, and on the other hand he protected loyalty.

In fact, these words are just nonsense, and instead they are a request to the harem.

The legendary mallet is much more interesting than you might imagine.

The Queen recalled the scene of being protected that day. She wondered: Is he a real fool or a fake one?