“I’m not competing with them for anything.” Feng Er suppressed her tingling feelings, lowered her brows and glanced at them, saying, “Besides, the master is so powerful.”

This is definitely the best compliment for a man.

Jia Rong smiled complacently, kissed Feng Er on the face, and said, “You are such a talkative little mouth. I’ll ask you to say more next time.”

“No way.” Feng Er suddenly remembered something and pouted, “Every time after that, my jaw feels like it’s dislocated.”

Jia Rong chuckled and said, “It’s okay. The weather is hot, so you can apply ice. Putting ice cubes in your mouth is the most effective.”

“Really?”

“Really? I’ll take you to try it tomorrow.”

Really?

Feng Er still didn’t quite believe it. The housekeeper felt that the master’s expression was not right, as if he was talking about completely different things. After thinking about it carefully, she returned to Qin Keqing and followed Feicui, Ruizhu, Baozhu and several other maids to the mistress’s courtyard to pay their respects.

Not long after, Jia’s mother led the ladies and girls from the West Mansion to come. They went to the main room of Ningyi Hall and sat there for a while. Aunt Xue and Baochai also arrived. Soon, Mrs. Wang Ziteng came, and then Mrs. Baolinghou and her niece Shi Xiangyun came to the mansion.

Among the relatives from Ningrong Back Street, one or two female relatives from the in-laws’ families also came over one after another.

Near noon, a maid came in from outside and announced, “The Princess of Beijing County has arrived.”

Lady Shi and Grandmother Jia led Mrs. Baolinghou, Mrs. Xing, Mrs. Wang Ziteng, Qin Keqing, Mrs. Wang, Wang Xifeng and others to rush out of Ning Mansion and greet the emperor outside the gate according to their rank. Aunt Xue and Li Wan, who had no rank, led a group of girls and brothers to Tianxiang Tower first.

It is said that the Princess of Beijing County was originally the second daughter of the Zhen family.

The Zhen and Jia families were old relatives who had been passed down for many generations, and their relationship was very close now. Because the Beijing Palace was very close to the Jia family, and the Princess of the County was from the Zhen family, she never regarded herself as a princess in front of the female members of the Jia family. She leaned over and helped the old lady Shi up, and called everyone to stand up, her soft eyes gently sweeping over everyone.

“Who is Rong’er’s wife?”

Qin Keqing bowed carefully and looked up. She saw that the Princess of Beijing County had a golden phoenix on her head, a dignified and noble temperament, flawless skin like jade, and a pair of eyebrows and eyes like swords. She was so beautiful. She was only eighteen or nineteen years old, but she had a dignity and delicacy that no one dared to blaspheme.

Grandmother Jia called Keqing forward and introduced her with a smile.

When Qin Keqing got closer, she truly felt that the Princess was not at all reserved and exuded a friendly aura.

The female historian of the palace entered the palace first, commanding the maids of Ning Mansion to separate a wide road with a long cloth, and to keep the male servants of Ning Mansion outside the long cloth.

After everything is in order.

The Princess first respectfully invited Lady Shi into the mansion, and then went in hand in hand with Keqing. Following them were the wife of Marquis Baoling, the wife of Wang Ziteng, Xing, Wang, Wang Xifeng, Shi Xiangyun, and a group of female officials and maids from the Prince of Beijing’s mansion.

“Didn’t Prince Beijing come?” Jia Rong felt very sorry when he got the news.

Chapter 94: Jia Yucun? Must be recognized and then buried

The Princess of Beijing County did not stay in Ningguo Mansion for long. She sat in Ningyi Hall for a while, talked with the ladies of Ning and Rong Mansions, and then went back.

Qin Keqing and others also breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if the Princess of Beijing County did not observe royal etiquette, the ladies of the two mansions could not be rude. It was indeed tiring to accompany them.

Grandmother Jia could see that Qin Keqing was very restrained and not used to this kind of etiquette. She smiled and said, “It was a little too formal when we first met, but you will get used to it after a few more interactions. After all, we are all relatives of the same family, so there is no need to be restrained, just be casual.”

The ladies in the room didn’t think so.

The old lady has a special status and is an elderly elder. Apart from the old concubines, the retired emperor and the empress dowager in the palace, there are few who can be so confident in front of her.

Let alone Qin Keqing, even Wang Xifeng, who used to be a very impetuous person, was restraining her temper in front of the Princess of Beijing County. Now that the Princess of Beijing County had left, and the news that the team invited by Xiao Qiang had arrived was also reported outside, Sister Feng started to make arrangements again, urging the old lady and several ladies to go to Tianxiang Tower.

Qin Keqing also made some arrangements and asked Feicui to assist in serving tea and fruit according to the preferences of the ladies. She also asked Fenger to go to Jiandao to ask Aunt Xue, Grandma Zhu and others for permission.

Aunt Xue naturally didn’t want to play the game of shooting powder balls with a group of girls and boys in the archery range. Li Wan was very pleased to see Jia Lan practicing archery. She asked the girls, “There will be an opera in the building, are you still playing here?”

The girls also respected the sister-in-law very much, but they were in high spirits at the moment and none of them wanted to leave. Some even thought about flying kites in the large square in front.

Tanchun said, “Sister-in-law, just go upstairs with your aunt. We sisters are playing here. There is a nanny around, so there is no need to worry.”

These girls are all still young, and they have wet nurses to serve and supervise them.

Baoyu shot several arrows but missed. He was even worse than his nephew Lang’er, and he became more and more upset. Seeing Daiyu, Tanchun and others laughing secretly, he was filled with depression. He said, “It’s so boring. I don’t want to play anymore.”

Seeing him like this, Lin Daiyu suddenly remembered Baoyu’s previous boast and said with a smile, “I don’t know who said that he would shoot balls of powder for the sisters just now, but now none of them have been shot down. It turns out that you are just a silver-plated spear head that looks good but is useless.”

Jia Baoyu felt even more ashamed when he heard this, and he said, “There are plenty of dumplings in the mansion, I won’t ask for the one on the pillar.”

After hearing this, the girls were even happier.

Baoyu saw that they were laughing happily, so he was not angry. He said for no reason: “The one in the upper floor is also a pink ball, and the one on the high place is also a pink ball. There is no difference. Why do you all have to fight for the pink ball on the high place!”

In Ningxi Pavilion, Jia Rong and Jia Qiang entertained Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian, Xue Pan and others.

Seeing that Jia Rong was becoming more and more pleased, Jia Zheng muttered, “Yesterday, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture learned of your promotion and rushed to the mansion overnight just to see Rong’er. As it was too late, I sent him away and asked him to come back today. Is Rong’er willing to see him?”

Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture?

It sounds familiar, as if I’ve heard it somewhere.

Jia Rong asked suspiciously, “Isn’t Yingtian Prefecture in Jinling? Why did the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture come to Shenjing City?”

Jia Zheng stroked his beard and said with a smile, “Yucun is in Beijing on official business this time, and it’s a coincidence that we meet. Since our two families have some connection…”

Jia Rong did not listen to the rest of the conversation, because his heart was already in turmoil. He thought to himself: So it was him, Jia Yucun, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture. No wonder I felt like I had heard of him somewhere before. This is a good candidate for recognition as a relative, and he is also someone who will be buried sooner or later.

Let’s reserve Jia Yucun’s treasure chest first.

Anyone who knows a little about Dream of the Red Chamber knows Jia Yucun, whose full name is Jia Hua, whose courtesy name is Shifei and whose pseudonym is Yucun.

Jia Yucun was originally from Huzhou, born into a family of officials, but by the time he came to power, the family had already run out of roots, the population had declined, and he was the only one left. He wanted to go to Beijing to seek fame, but unfortunately he had no money, so he had to temporarily live in the Hulu Temple in Gusu City, selling his writings for a living.

With the help of Zhen Shiyin from Suzhou, Jia Yucun was able to go to Beijing, where he passed the imperial examination and was promoted to prefect. Soon after, he was dismissed for corruption and favoritism, and was hired by Lin Ruhai to be Lin Daiyu’s first teacher.

Unexpectedly, Daiyu’s mother passed away, and Grandmother Jia was worried about her granddaughter. Lin Ruhai asked Jia Yucun to take Daiyu to the capital, and at the same time wrote a letter to introduce him to Jia Zheng. Jia Zheng was a good scholar, and in two months he easily found an official position for Jia Yucun as the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

Unexpectedly, not long after Jia Yucun took office, he encountered the case of Xue Pan robbing Xiangling and killing someone. Therefore, in order to please the Jia and Xue families, he lied that Xue Pan had been killed by a ghost and asked the Xue family to pay some silver to settle the matter.

The worst of all were Feng Yuan who was beaten to death, and Zhen Shiyin who had helped Jia Yucun. It turned out that Xiangling, whom Xue Pan had robbed, was the only daughter of Zhen Shiyin. In the past, Jia Yucun took Jiao Xing, a maid in Zhen’s mansion, as his concubine and promised to find the daughter for the Zhen family. However, after Jia Yucun got the beauty, he learned that Xiangling had been bought by the Xue family, and he never mentioned the search again.

Jia Rong also knew that in the original novel, Jia Yucun later did many ridiculous things that cost human lives in order to gain connections with the Ning and Rong families. As a result, the two families were defeated, and Jia Yucun not only stayed away after being promoted to the Minister of War, but also added insult to injury to the two families.

Such a heartless and ungrateful person is the one who is easy to be buried.

The body must be recognized and then buried.

Jia Rong’s eyes sparkled, and he said anxiously, “Second Master, please invite this man into the palace. I wish I could become his sworn brother, or rather, his brother.”

The beard on Jia Zheng’s lips twitched three times. He had just heard that Jia Rong and Captain Qiu had become sworn brothers, and now he wanted to become brothers with Yucun?

Will it mess up the generations?

Jia Zheng was confused.

Xue Pan was quite insightful and had no reaction at all when he heard Jia Yucun’s name.

Jia Lian hesitated, thinking that Jia Yucun was not a person he could make friends with, and he was also dissatisfied with Rong’er’s recent closeness with Wang Xifeng and Ping’er. After all, Master Lian was a soft-hearted person. After pondering for a while, he sighed secretly, pulled Jia Rong and whispered: “I saw him once. He is very good at business and his mind is hard to predict. Rong’er needs to be careful.”

Uncle Lian is actually a good person!

Ugh……

Jia Rong looked back deeply and nodded, now just waiting for Jia Yucun to come over.

After a while, a servant really came in with a man. He had a modest smile on his face, looking like a scholar, but his eyes were secretly shrewd.

Is he Jia Yucun?

Jia Rong looked Jia Yucun up and down with curiosity.

As soon as Yucun arrived, he bowed to Jia Zheng and greeted him warmly, calling him “old sir”. When he saw Jia She, he called him “old general”. When he saw Jia Lian, Xue Pan and others, he also bowed and called them “master” one by one.

Jia Zheng was the most enthusiastic, while Jia She, Jia Lian and Xue Pan were each more indifferent than the other.

When he arrived in front of him, Jia Rong also bowed like Yucun. Seeing the [Level 4 Treasure Box] above his head, he couldn’t help but laugh and said, “My little brother greets the prefect.”

Chapter 95: Rong Ge’er, come and help me

The weather in the capital was unusually hot and muggy during the Dragon Boat Festival. Jia Yucun originally lived in Xianliang Temple in the suburbs of Beijing, which was close to the capital and very convenient for going to the palace or the two Jia family residences. However, the heat on the stone road made him feel uncomfortable.

It was almost noon, and standing outside the side door of Ningguo Mansion felt like being in a hot bath.

Although there was no news for almost half a day, Yucun was not anxious at all. If he could catch up with Ningguo Mansion, then everything he did today would be worth it.

Now he felt that he had made sense of his life. If he relied on the two Jia families, even if he relied on the four kings and eight dukes, wouldn’t he be able to rise to prominence in the future?

What does it matter what the morality of being an official is? He has none!

Yucun had done a lot of preparation. He had heard that Master Xiaorong from the East Mansion was a fool who did things without considering the consequences. Yesterday, he even became sworn brothers with Captain Qiu, who he had been at odds with in the past.

Is this a way of doing business among the wealthy families? Or is it just a whim of Bangchui?

he does not know.

But he believed in his ability and would surely make that idiot happy. He was not afraid of being accused of having connections with officials in the capital, because Jia Rong had not yet taken up his post, and he was also a descendant of Jia Fu of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Yucun seemed to have seen the hope of being transferred to the capital. Local officials were always less attractive than those in the capital.

After a while, a servant finally came and led him into Huifang Garden from the northwest corner gate. It was a very luxurious garden with beautiful mountains and rivers. There were many pavilions everywhere. Not far away, there were green leaves on the trees, and the sparse forest was like a painting. The south wind was a little stronger, and the orioles stopped singing. The warm sun was warm, and the crickets chirped. Looking southeast, there were several pavilions built on the mountain. Looking northwest, there were several pavilions facing the water. The sound of sheng and huang filled his ears, and there was a special feeling. The silk and silk passed through the forest, adding to the charm.

What a magnificent place.

Jia Yucun was thinking, when will he be able to have such a good place? Entering from the corner gate, not far away is Ningxi Pavilion by the water. At this time, it is very lively inside, and you can hear the laughter of Mr. Zhenggong.

When he entered the room, he immediately saw a group of richly dressed gentlemen sitting at the table. Many of them were people he had seen before. He was excited because the people sitting here were the core figures of the two Jia families.

Yucun bowed his head and looked up and down at the young man in white. He should be Xiao Rong, who was still in mourning and was now the head of the East Palace.

“I greet the prefect!”

When Jia Yucun heard this, he was unable to react for a brief moment. When he saw the different expressions of the people around him, he quickly bowed and said, “Yucun greets Master Xiaorong.” Master Xiaorong had just been appointed as a guard at the north gate of the Forbidden Palace, and he also had the title of Cavalry Commander. He had a promising future. In the past, he had always addressed Jia Zheng as a junior, but now Master Xiaorong was addressing him as a brother. How could he not be happy?

The beard on Yucun’s mouth was trembling with excitement. At this moment, he could no longer feel the sultry heat outside, but only felt extremely comfortable.

Master Xiao Rong raised his wine glass and said, “I felt very close to you the moment I met you. You won’t blame me for calling you by your random name, will you?”

Yucun was indeed a very smart man. He understood the meaning of Jia Rong’s words immediately and became even more excited. He bowed again and said, “Since you are so kind, I will take the liberty to accept your invitation. Please don’t blame me, Master, or any other masters.”

He was modest. Although this statement lowered his generation, it brought him closer to Uncle Xiaorong.

Jia Rong’s eyes lit up with joy, and he was very happy, and he hurriedly invited Jia Yucun to sit at the same table. Seeing Yucun’s attentive look, he was extremely excited, and it was too easy to recognize or swear brotherhood like this.

Master Rong smiled and said, “I am especially happy that you are here today. I will not even toast to the two masters today. I just want to drink with you first.”

Jia Yucun was flattered and apologized repeatedly, but Jia Zheng did not care. Instead, he was more pleased that Yucun and Rong Ge’er could have a personal relationship.