The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 133 Choice
In the study of Pear Fragrance Courtyard, Jia Zheng was utterly astonished.

After his father passed away, if there was anyone he was still afraid of, it would be his sister-in-law from the East Mansion.

When he saw that two of the burly women were holding large sticks, he couldn't stop his legs from trembling. "Sister-in-law, what nonsense are you talking about? I... how could I sell Zhen'er?"

"Hehe, Sister-in-law Shen, have you misunderstood something?"

This was the first time Wang Zisheng had witnessed the Shen family's guards being mobilized. In the blink of an eye, eight burly women entered the study. The first two carried large sticks, while the remaining six held feather dusters, as if they were about to start a fight at the slightest provocation.

He forced a smile and said, "This, this Master Lu is not an outsider. He is now my in-law, and also my Ren'er's father-in-law. I was just saying that when the children get married, I would also invite my sister-in-law to come to the mansion for a drink."

No wonder his sister gets a headache whenever she sees this Shen family member.

Damn it, who goes to their brother-in-law's house like this?
"Yes, yes, I am Lu Kun, greetings to Madam Shen."

Lu Kun was flustered, but he could only bite the bullet and say, "Yesterday I went to the mansion to deliver a gift to the madam..."

"Gift?"

Shen Ning looked at her son with a puzzled expression.

"no!"

Jia Zhen shook his head, "It's not a gift, it's an apology." He looked at Lu Kun seriously and said, "Master Lu, there are some things you can say, but there are some things... you can't say carelessly, otherwise I'll file a lawsuit and send you to Shuntian Prefecture, which wouldn't be good."

"Ah? Right, right, it's an apology, an apology!"

Everyone says that the men in charge of the Ning and Rong mansions are incompetent fools.

Is Jia Zhen a good-for-nothing?
Lu Kun now regretted that he had believed the rumors, which had prevented him from even delivering the gift properly.

What he hated even more was that, taking advantage of the Prince of Jin's influence, the gambling den staff had extorted gambling money from the Jia family members at the daughter's full-moon celebration.

During that night, Lu Kun inquired about many things and learned that the Jia family's rule against gambling was established by Madam Shen in anger that day.

He must have offended this mother and son a long time ago, right?
Lu Kun's head was drenched in cold sweat. "Please forgive me, Madam Shen. I am willing..."

"stop!"

Shen Ning sat down on the chair Qingzhu had brought, blocking the study doorway. "Master Wang, are you sure he's your in-law?"

"Ah? Yes, yes, yes."

Wang Zisheng chuckled, "Please, sister-in-law, consider the relationship between our two families..."

"...Did your older brother, Wang Ziteng, know you were coming?"

Shen Ning didn't let him finish speaking, but instead asked Wang Ziteng.

Just as outsiders looked down on Jia She and Jia Zhen, she also looked down on Wang Zisheng.

The only person in the Wang family who truly holds power is Wang Ziteng.

"Yes, I know!"

Wang Zisheng gritted his teeth. He hated the different treatment he received from outsiders. “As my sister-in-law knows, Ren’er is the only male in our Wang family. He will be the heir to our main branch of the family in the future.”

So his son is very important.

No matter how powerful his elder brother is, he's useless without a son.

As the saying goes, of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is having no offspring.

Wang Zisheng straightened his back a little. "Now that Lian'er has become the Director of the Military Treasury, it won't be long before my elder brother recovers from his injuries and returns to the capital garrison. As for Ren'er's wife, as long as she can give birth to a son or daughter in my Wang family..."

"This is the Jia family's residence."

Shen Ning interrupted him, "Jia Zheng, are you sure you want your brother-in-law to bring a so-called in-law to bully your nephew in the Jia family?"

Jia Zheng: "..."

He looked at this one, then at that one, and stammered, "Sister-in-law, one should be forgiving when possible. Our two families are now relatives."

Jia Zheng didn't think it was a big deal.

Xie Zhenghu is dead, so the revenge for that day has been taken.

Lu Kun also suffered an undeserved misfortune.

"Even if you don't care about me and Wang Shi, you should at least consider Lian'er and Feng'er."

Anyway, he didn't accept any money from the Lu family.

Jia Zheng bolstered his confidence, saying, "If our relatives are in trouble, we should help them if we can. How could we possibly do more..."

What did he give you?

Shen Ning's gaze sharpened. "That roll of silver notes?"

what?
Jia Zheng was stunned. "This, this is not for me, this is for Zhen'er."

"Yes!" Jia Zhen nodded obediently when his mother looked over. "But I don't plan to have it."

"Oh~" Shen Ning nodded, looking at the simple-minded Jia Zheng, "What did he give you?"

"..."

Jia Zheng wanted to straighten his back and say that the gift was a bloodstone seal.

He was a scholar; money was such a vulgar thing, how could it be worthy of him?

But what did my sister-in-law mean by that pitying, contemptuous, and knowing look in her eyes?
Jia Zheng was both ashamed and indignant. "A bloodstone seal... if my sister-in-law thinks it's inappropriate for me to accept a gift..."

"How could that be? Aren't you relatives?"

Shen Ning smiled enigmatically, “However, Jia Zheng, do you know that Lu Kun has a nickname, the Western God of Wealth? As far as I know, he never gives gifts that are single items.”

Jia Zheng: "..."

Lu Kun: "..."

Wang Zisheng: "..."

"I don't think Master Lu intended to be so rude, did he?"

Shen Ning continued, "However, Master Wang said that giving Jia Zheng a chicken-blood stone seal would be enough. Since you needed his help, you reluctantly gave him only a chicken-blood stone seal."

Chicken blood stone seals are indeed quite rare, but this person gave her family two of them on their gift list.

"Hehe, sister-in-law, what do you mean by that?"

Wang Zisheng smiled, but his eyes were already filled with malice. "Are you trying to sow discord between our families? My brother-in-law is a scholar, refined and elegant. You, a woman, don't know anything, so don't talk nonsense."

slap~
Bang bang~~
Shen Ning clapped for him, "Master Wang Er has quite the sharp tongue. He looks down on you, and then he adds a compliment about your refined taste." She looked at Jia Zheng, whose beard was trembling, "Second Brother Zheng, he also said that I'm just a woman who doesn't understand anything. Do you think I understand anything?"

Jia Zheng: "..."

If there's a crack in the ground, he'll definitely crawl into it.

If it really comes down to literary skill... he probably can't win an argument with this sister-in-law.

But at this point, it seems that agreeing with either of them would be wrong or impossible.

"Zhen'er, did you see that!" Shen Ning lost her last bit of patience with Jia Zheng, who remained silent for so long. "My life, your sister's life, and your life combined are not as important as your second uncle's in-laws."

Jia Zhen: "..."

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"No, no, it's not..."

Lu Kun tried to explain, but Shen Ning interrupted him coldly, "Is it any of your business, as an outsider, to interfere in our family affairs?"

“Sister-in-law Shen, this is not fair.” Wang Zisheng was also very annoyed and took two steps forward, saying, “About my nephew’s matter, the Lu family knew nothing about it; it was his steward who…”

"Whether he's the butler or a scapegoat, you know in your heart, and I know perfectly well."

Shen Ning interrupted coldly, saying to Xing'er who was standing to the side, "Go and invite Master Wang over. I don't talk to unreasonable and meddlesome people."

"Yes!"

Xing'er ran out in a hurry.

“Jia Zheng, you now have two choices. One is to pack your things, go to the ancestral hall, and figure out where you went wrong. The other is to take a knife, cut your robe, and sever all ties with the Ningguo Mansion.”

what?
Jia Zheng was stunned. "Eldest sister-in-law!"

"Second Uncle Zheng, what about the lives of my family of three?"

Without his mother needing to say anything, Jia Zhen looked at Jia Zheng and said coldly, "Someone, go and invite the old lady, and then hurry to the Imperial Academy to invite Master Zhu home."

"……Yes!"

Another servant stepped forward, and seeing that he was about to run away, Wang Shi, who was in the inner room, finally couldn't sit still any longer. "Wait!" she hurriedly came out. "Sister-in-law!"

She wanted to plead for him, but Shen Ning gave her a cold look and said, "If you think that Jia Zheng's severing ties with the Ningguo Mansion is less important than your son's studies, then say so, I'm listening."

Wang: "..."

She dared not say it.

But how did things get to this point?

It would have been enough to just go over and say a few words.

My nephew Wang Ren will inherit the family line in the future, and having a wealthy in-law family is beneficial to the entire Wang family.

The Wang and Jia families are old relatives; shouldn't they be hoping for a better relationship?
Why do we have to fall out over such a small thing?

Why do they have to link a martial arts assassin with the Lu family?
In business, isn't the key to being tactful and avoiding offending anyone?

The Wang family is related to the Xue family, who are imperial merchants, and they know very well that these merchants value harmony and making money.

My sister-in-law is like this...

They just don't want the Wang family to prosper.

But at this moment, judging from the expressions of Madam Shen and Jia Zhen, Madam Wang really didn't dare to say anything out of line.

Their second wife's position in the Jia family has become increasingly unfavorable.

The old lady will be here soon, and her older brother will be here too.

Wang didn't trust the old lady, but she trusted her eldest brother.

"Hehe, Sister-in-law Shen is indeed impressive!"

Wang remained silent, but Wang Zisheng could not stand idly by. Especially since the other party had called him a scoundrel.

He was so angry he was about to jump up. "I, as your elder brother, am right here, and you won't even let my sister speak. Who knows what kind of person you are usually? Jia Zheng, you spineless coward, are you just going to watch your sister-in-law from the next room come to your house and bully you, and then bully your wife?"

Jia Zheng: "..."

He's going crazy.

His mind was racing.

"Sister-in-law," he cried out, "if it were my elder brother pleading for his brother-in-law today, would you still do this?"

"relatives by marriage?"

Shen Ning didn't know whether she should be thankful that this guy had been sidelined in the Ministry of Works and hadn't caused trouble for the family. "Jia Zheng, do you still think you're right, that it's just because my son and I are targeting you?"

"Is not it?"

Jia Zheng was about to cry.

It's clearly not a big deal, but they have to make a big deal out of it and make things difficult for him.

"It's just a matter of going to Shuntian Prefecture to make a statement, how difficult is that? My sister-in-law insists on making a fuss, forcing me to choose between Zhen'er and my brother-in-law, isn't that targeting me?"

Jia Zheng was also furious and resentful. "You keep saying that I don't care about my own nephew, but Zhen'er, can't you take a step back for the sake of your second uncle? You used to play with Wang Ren all the time, can't you think about him for once?"

Why should he always have to give in to them?

If he doesn't stand up for himself this time, then... he'll really be as his second brother-in-law said, powerless and spineless.

Jia Zheng did not want to back down for the sake of his dignity.

"Ho~"

Jia Zhen smiled enigmatically, "It seems that Uncle Zheng still feels wronged?"

When people are utterly speechless, they can actually laugh in exasperation.

"First of all, Uncle She would never make things difficult for his own nephew for the sake of outsiders. When I caused trouble at the Chen family, he was afraid that I would suffer, so he immediately brought his men to help me. When I was assassinated and my mother had a difficult childbirth, it was Uncle She who again sent a large number of people out to chase after the murderer, while he stayed at the Ningguo Mansion to wait for my family to be safe."

He had no idea how Jia Zheng could have the audacity to compare himself to Uncle She.

"May I ask, Uncle Zheng, what were you doing at that time?"

Jia Zheng: "..."

His face was deathly pale, and he was speechless.

He even wanted to speak up for the Chen family at the time.

Master Chen and he both worked in the Ministry of Works, and the other party had always been very polite to him. His elder brother and Zhen'er were troublemakers, and when he heard that the two families had started fighting, he immediately assumed that his own side was in the wrong.

As for Zhen'er's assassination attempt and her sister-in-law's childbirth...

"Let's not talk about those things."

In Dream of the Red Chamber, from masters to servants, everyone in the Jia family would take on lawsuits regardless of right or wrong for a little money.

Shen Ning hated this the most. "But Jia Zheng, you keep saying we're relatives and asking us to let the Lu family off the hook because of our kinship. Let me ask you, do the Wang family and the Lu family have a marriage certificate? If you're so capable, make him produce the marriage certificate on the spot. Today, it's my son and I who made a mistake, but if there's no marriage certificate... then use your blockhead to think carefully about why the Lu family suddenly wants to marry into the Wang family."

"There is no marriage certificate, but Brother Lu and I have already exchanged tokens of our affection."

Wang Zisheng knew that this matter could not be investigated and simply referred to as a token of trust. "Nephew, you should know that when we men speak, our word is as good as gold."

Mrs. Shen called him a scoundrel and didn't want to talk to him. Humph, he even looked down on her for being a woman.

"So this token was exchanged yesterday?"

Jia Zhen sneered, "Mother, if someone wants to pretend to be deaf and dumb, we can't reason with them."

There was one more thing he didn't say.

That's like trying to reason with a damned ghost.

Now that we've gotten involved with the Lu family, we can expect to be targeted by the Emperor!

Even if the emperor is unable to act now, in the future... his descendants and family may not be able to escape disaster.

"The old lady will be here soon."

The weather is getting warmer, and there's no ice basin here. It won't be good for his mother to get so hot.

Jia Zhen lowered his head and discussed with his mother, "This place is cramped, Mother, let's wait in the flower hall instead."

If Wang Ziteng can control Wang Zisheng, he will give him some pointers out of consideration for their kinship. Otherwise, let them do whatever they want and cause trouble!
Shen Ning nodded and was about to get up when a maid rushed in, "Madam, Master, someone from the palace has come! The eldest mistress wants you to go back right away!"

Someone from the palace?

Shen Ning and Jia Zhen exchanged a glance, both understanding the situation.

"Mother, let me help you into the sedan chair, there's no rush."

It was only natural that the Emperor would reward him for handing over 220,000 taels of silver at once.

Jia Zhen didn't care about the Emperor's reward money; what he cared about was the dignity he received.

Even with his father away, he still managed to hold up the Ningguo Mansion.

"Let's go then. We'll talk about this later."

The mother and son hurriedly returned, but the masters of each branch of the Rongguo Mansion sent people to inquire, fearing there might be some bad news.

Once they learned that the reward came from the Emperor Emeritus and the Emperor himself, everyone in the household felt relieved.

Only Rika-in remained silent.

Everyone has their own worries, but Lu Kun has the most.

He had a terrifying suspicion.

He quietly gave a hand gesture to his trusted servant by the gatepost.

Upon seeing this, the servant nodded solemnly and withdrew.

Just then, a servant came running in frantically, shouting, "Master and Madam, Uncle Wang has arrived!"

Before he could finish speaking, Prince Teng, who had not asked anyone to greet him, was carried in by his trusted guards.

"Big brother!"

"Brother~"

Jia Zheng, Wang Shi, and Wang Zisheng all greeted him.

Wang Ziteng waved his hand, dismissing their formalities, but glanced at Lu Kun with icy eyes. "So Master Lu is here too. That's great. Whatever my second brother promised you, it doesn't count. All matters concerning the Wang family are decided by me, Wang Ziteng."

"Brother~"

Prince Sheng, who had just run out, objected, saying, "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. I've already exchanged tokens with my in-law, the Lu family."

"You're confused."

Wang Ziteng scolded his brother, "I told you long ago that I would make the decision about Ren'er's affairs."

The political situation in the court was constantly changing, but his foolish second brother's eyes were still fixed on that little bit of silver.

He forcefully ordered his servants, "Show the guest out!"

Wang Jin hurriedly stepped forward, "Master Lu, please!"

Lu Kun: "..."

He picked up the roll of silver notes that he hadn't given away and said to Prince Sheng, "I will remember your kindness, Second Master."

He bowed to Prince Sheng and then strode away.

Since things are beyond saving, we can only think of a way out.

The Lu family cannot be wiped out like the Li family in Jiangnan; we must protect at least a few members.

"Hey, Mr. Lu..."

"Shut up!"

"Big brother!"

Prince Sheng was really anxious. "What are you trying to do?" He was just asking his son to take a concubine, why couldn't he make the decision?

"Brother, what happened?"

Seeing her elder brother's appearance, Wang couldn't help but feel terrified.

"We cannot touch the Lu family's place."

"Just because of Jia Zhen?"

Wang Zisheng still wanted to stomp his feet at his brother.

"It's related to Jia Zhen, but..."

Knowing his brother's tendency to cause trouble, Wang Ziteng cupped his hands in a gesture of respect and said, "The main reason now is due to the higher-ups."

He still has some connections in the military.

Otherwise, we're doomed.

"If you don't want to die, you'd better behave yourself."

Wang Ziteng instructed his brother, "Whatever the Lu family gave you, return it to me immediately."

what?
Prince Sheng was stunned.

He's already promised the money!

"Brother, Master Lu just gave me a piece of chicken-blood stone."

Jia Zheng, being timid, quickly stepped forward and asked Wang Ziteng for advice, "Can I have someone return it right away?"

Wang Ziteng: "..."

What else do you need for a piece of bloodstone?
Moreover, Lu Kun's offering was just a piece of chicken blood stone?

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