The head of the Red Mansion

As dusk approached, lanterns were lit in the main courtyards of Ningguo Mansion. Shen Ning smiled as she watched Rong-ge'er hold Jia Yue in his arms and recite the day's lessons to her.

This is a daily routine.

No matter how tired or how late, Rong-ge'er always makes sure to have dinner here and hug his little aunt.

It's as if if he doesn't hold her for a day, his little aunt will be snatched away.

"Grandmother!" After reciting what he had to recite, Jia Rong said, "The school is closed for several days. Tomorrow I'm going out to play with Uncle Jianbai, Brother Qiang, and Brother Yun. Is that alright?"

"You two made plans?"

"Ok!"

"Bring a few more people."

what?
Jia Rong's expression was slightly bitter.

He was reluctant to bring people along.

But if he doesn't bring... his grandmother definitely won't let him go.

"All right!"

He held Jia Yue and brought her close to Shen Ning, "Grandmother, is there anything you want? Your grandson will buy it for you."

"Is this what I want?"

Shen Ning smiled, "There are quite a lot, are you sure you want to buy them for me?"

"My grandson has money now."

Jia Rong is very generous.

He owns many of the Lai family's businesses, and they are already quite profitable.

In addition to his own monthly allowance...

Jia Rong thought he was richer than his father.

"Really?" Shen Ning laughed. "You'd better stop showing off, or your dad will definitely come after you."

"They've already reached out their hands."

what?
Shen Ning asked in surprise, "How much?"

"Three liang!"

Shen Ning: "..."

She didn't know what to say.

How poor was Jia Zhen? He even robbed his son of three taels of silver.

Did they say when they would return it?

"I borrowed it last month, and I was told to pay it back this month."

Rong-ge laughed, "So this month, as soon as the monthly allowance was paid, my son dragged Uncle Jianbai along to ask his father for money to buy ink."

"Aah~"

Jia Yue slapped him across the face with her small hand.

"Auntie, are you going to like my dad?"

Rong-ge'er quickly grabbed the little hand that was about to reach out and kissed it. "That won't do. My dad loves to drink, and he smells terrible when he drinks. We have to work together to manage his money."

"Hehe~~~"

Jia Yue's hands itched from his kisses, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"...That's the right thing to do."

Upon hearing that it involved drinking, Shen Ning fully supported her grandson, saying, "From now on, it's fine to borrow, but you must return it next month."

We must never indulge Jia Zhen's bad habits.

Once he discovers this, he can borrow from anyone, and might immediately revert to the debauched and vile character from "Dream of the Red Chamber."

He kept his alcohol under control, and without the excuse of alcohol emboldening a coward, with reason in his mind, he wouldn't have been so bold.

At this time, she was unaware that Jia Zhen, after being beaten and scolded by Jia Jing, was rushing back to the capital.

Inside the ancestral hall, Jia Zheng and Wang Shi were calculating that since they couldn't go out tomorrow, they could at least go out for a day on the fifteenth of August.

They'll need to take good care of themselves then.

The daily "bitter memories and sweet tastes" meal made their eyes green with envy, and they even dreamed of eating meat.

Unfortunately, when I woke up, there was nothing there.

Although they had gotten used to life in the ancestral hall, it was precisely because of this adaptation that they missed the past even more.

Of course, life was probably so hard that Jia Zheng didn't care about saving face.

Let's worry about being looked down upon after he's filled his stomach!

"If you go out again, you better behave yourself."

Jia Zheng was afraid that Wang Shi would cause him any more trouble. "Shut your mouth, or you will implicate me again..." He looked at Wang Shi, who was quite a distance away from him, "Don't think that just because you have sons and daughters, I won't divorce you."

If you push him too far, he's capable of anything.

"Now that I've lost my official position and everything else, aren't you extremely satisfied?"

Wang: "..."

She kept her head down and didn't say a word.

In fact, she was the most heartbroken because Jia Zheng was a bad person.

The entire second branch of the family depended on Jia Zheng; if Jia Zheng fell, it would be the same as her falling.

Her son and daughter will no longer be able to get any help from her maternal uncle's family.

And her brother...

Wang was actually very worried about her eldest brother's situation.

When the Jia family could no longer be an ally, but instead became an enemy, the eldest brother's life became incredibly difficult.

It's difficult to get back to the Beijing Garrison, and it's just as difficult to get back.

Now I just hope that more people will die in the fighting on the frontier.

Especially generals like her elder brother.

With so many generals dying, her elder brother might just be reinstated.

As long as we don't go to the border regions, anywhere else is fine.

Wang prayed silently in her heart.

She didn't pray for the Jia family's ancestors to help her; she prayed for the Wang family's ancestors to help her, and for the Bodhisattva to protect her.

Although she was in the Jia family ancestral hall, Wang had already imagined herself kneeling in the Wang family ancestral hall.

"If I divorce you, neither Zhu'er, Yuan Chun, nor Bao Yu should blame me."

Jia Zheng had had enough of life in the ancestral hall. "If it weren't for your repeated encouragement, how could I have written such a letter? And if I hadn't written the letter, how could I be here?"

He looked at the memorial tablets on the stage, his eyes reddening. "Father, why did you let me marry such a stupid woman?"

Wang: "..."

She turned to look at Jia Zheng.

Wang never thought she was stupid.

Was she wrong to help her brother?

She did help her brother a little.

If it weren't for the case of the startled horse, her brother would still be the highest-ranking official in the Beijing Garrison—the Military Governor of the Beijing Garrison.

Even the emperor would address her brother as "my dear minister".

Thinking of this, Wang turned her head away and closed her eyes.

Anyway, Jia Zheng wouldn't stop barking like a dog every day.

It's getting late, I should get some sleep.

Wang shifted her position slightly.

Because her skirt was wide and large, it could conceal her position, so to outsiders it might appear that she was kneeling, but in fact, she was sitting most of the time.

In this respect, she is better than Jia Zheng.

"Waaah, Father, she killed me, and she killed Baoyu too."

His Baoyu is so handsome, and also very talented in his studies, but later...

Jia Zheng was truly heartbroken.

From childhood to adulthood, his older brother has always been overshadowed by him.

No matter what you do, your older brother is never as good as him.

But now?

Everything is reversed.

His entire life was ruined by that foolish woman, Wang.

Jia Zheng was weeping here when he suddenly heard a soft snoring sound. He immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "Wang Shi..."

Startled, Wang quickly straightened her back.

Jia Zheng: "..."

He struggled to his feet and moved closer to her. "You just fell asleep again?"

"You also fall asleep sometimes."

Wang secretly shifted her legs under her skirt and said in a flat tone, "I just didn't call you."

"Ho~"

Jia Zheng was amused by her words, "So I should thank you for saying that?"

"..."

Wang remained silent.

She knew that whatever she said at this moment would be wrong in Jia Zheng's eyes.

After all, she had admitted many mistakes and said many conciliatory things these past few days, but it was all in vain.

Jia Zheng always felt that the reason he suffered in the ancestral hall was entirely because of her.

But if she's not there, are there no other people? He's done plenty of insurance work for others outside too!
The Lai family only sided with her because of him.

"You're pretending to be dead again."

Jia Zheng wished he could strangle her. "You've gone out on the fifteenth of August. You'd better keep this up, or I'll take your life."

He angrily went to relieve himself.

Now that you're standing up, you should walk around more, otherwise your legs will really be ruined.

Moreover, this time when he was going out, Jia Zheng was determined to get a specific time limit from Jia Zhen.

He, the dignified second master of the Rongguo Mansion, can't just live his life in this ancestral hall.

If all else fails, he will return to his hometown of Nanjing.

He never went to Beijing again in his life.

Jia Zheng was already considering resigning, but little did he know that Jia Zhen had taken his father's letter and was now rushing off to find Grandmother Jia, not even bothering to return to Ningguo Mansion.

"this……?"

After reading the letter, the old lady's expression changed drastically.

She thought that her son kneeling in the ancestral hall was already quite harsh, but she didn't expect her nephew to beat him as well.

She didn't think the punishment given to Wang was serious at all.

"If he's injured, won't we still have to treat him?"

Grandmother Jia wanted to plead for mercy!

"This is Father's wish, and I dare not disobey."

Jia Zhen really didn't dare!

"...Can't we even celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

The old lady tried one last desperate attempt, "And did you say that Yuan Chun is getting married on August 24th?"

"said!"

Jia Zhen lowered his head, "But Father said, without rules, there can be no order!"

Even he deserves twenty strokes of the cane.

Jia Zhen actually wanted to cry even more, "The forty lashes that Uncle Zheng gave him were for his disregard for human ethics, his disloyalty, filial impiety, and lack of compassion..."

Each one is a mountain.

Especially disloyal and unfilial...

It's simply unbearable to live in.

"Not giving him eighty strokes of the cane and sparing his life is already out of respect for our ancestors, the old lady, and for the sake of Zhu'er, Baoyu, and Yuanchun."

Jia Mu: "..."

Her hands were shaking!

Forty strokes of the cane!
She swallowed hard. "Fine, do whatever you want!"

After saying this, she slumped into her chair. "I'm old. Go tell your mother!"

Even Zhen'er had to take twenty lashes.

If the Shen family could object...

Or the punishment could be lighter.

Even if it's done in two parts, it's better than doing it all at once.

Forty strokes of the cane could be fatal to her second son.

Although Grandmother Jia knew that the guards wouldn't use such severe punishment because of Yuan Chun and Zhu'er, it was still her son who was being beaten, and she was always uneasy, always wanting to find another way out for her son.

"Yes!"

Jia Zhen agreed, but didn't leave immediately. "There's still your second aunt's place, you..."

"I have no opinion."

In the side room of Pear Fragrance Courtyard, we set up a Buddhist shrine for her, and she became a vegetarian from then on. That's really a good deal for her.

Grandmother Jia didn't seem to care much about the matter of the porridge and vegetables that followed.

She eats all kinds of delicious food from all over the world every day, but little does she know what it's like to eat vegetarian food every day.

Even when they occasionally eat vegetarian food, they still use vegetable oil to cook vegetables and tofu in various ways.

What they didn't know was that in many impoverished areas, even when cooking, there wasn't a drop of oil in the dishes.

But Jia Jing is currently suffering from all of these.

He knew how hard those days were.

Fortunately, with the help of the Jia family, Taixuan Temple was not short of money. Even though he had not yet been formally employed, he could occasionally go down the mountain or exchange silver with farmers for a chicken to eat.

In this world, many times, living is harder than dying.

Since Wang dares to harm people in the Jia family, then she shall suffer in the Jia family!

Anyway, don't even think about continuing to live a good life by relying on Jia Zhu, Yuan Chun, and Bao Yu.

She doesn't deserve it!
Jia Jing was fairly satisfied with how Jia She and Jia Lian distanced themselves from the Wang family in court; otherwise, they wouldn't have fared so well.

He's already beaten his own son, why would he care about beating his younger brother or nephew?
But the Wang family... don't even think about letting this go.

However, there were some things he looked down on, and he didn't want to entrust them to his timid son.

Of course, he also had to be careful not to give anyone any leverage over him.

It would be bad if some people thought he was using his son to remotely control the Jia family's power.

After a while, Shen Ning received the letter from her cheap husband and remained silent for a long time.

Although she had wanted to beat up her eldest son ever since she transmigrated, he had been doing well until now.

These twenty strokes of the cane...

"Did the old lady agree?"

"Yes!"

Jia Zhen's eyes were a little red. "The old lady has always been very respectful to my father."

Therefore, he can't escape this beating.

"never mind……"

Shen Ning sighed, "Let's fight then!"

The boy is still young.

It has good recovery ability.

"We'll invite Manager Chen then!"

She wouldn't feel at ease if we didn't invite them.

"Just bear with it and it will pass."

"……Um!"

What can you do if you can't bear it?

Jia Zhen was heartbroken.

If he had known he was going to get beaten up, he wouldn't have gone to the Taoist temple.

"You should take a good rest today!"

Seeing him like this, Shen Ning was also reluctant to let him go. "Let Xing'er come over. I have something to ask him."

"Yes! I'll take my leave!"

Jia Zhen went to You Shi and his son to complain.

Especially the son.

Father said that Rong-ge'er should learn from his lesson.

"Mrs!"

Xing'er watched their grandfather leave pitifully, then hurriedly came in to pay his respects.

"How is your master's health? How much work does he do every day? How is his diet?"

As a wife, it wouldn't be right for her not to ask any questions.

"The master is in good health."

When they kicked their old man, he was as quick as ever, "Every day he either carried two buckets of water or two buckets of manure!"

After the old man was beaten, Xing'er went to inquire about his master's affairs.

"They say the master's work isn't tiring at all!"

Carrying water and carrying manure are things that others can see.

"As for eating..."

Xing'er hesitated for a moment and said, "The food at Tai Xuan Temple isn't bad these days." Several Taoists seemed to have gotten fatter than before. "But every few days, the master still trades chickens or rabbits with farmers or hunters."

He doesn't think he's wrong on this point!
Xing'er, who came up from the small village below, was primarily interested in food.

He really couldn't go on without meat...

It's rare that their pampered masters could tolerate it for so long.

He clearly had money in his hand.

"His money..."

Shen Ning seized on the key point, "Did you give it to them?"

"No no no!"

Xing'er dared not acknowledge it.

Besides, what kind of nonsense is it for a servant to give money to the master?

"They are the masters and young masters of the West Mansion."

Xing'er quickly sold the people out, "The two young ladies also sent people to deliver quite a few things to the master. Especially Young Lady Min, I heard from the Taoist priest inside that she was given a lot of silver."

Oh oh~
Jia Min!
Human nature!

Shen Ning didn't really want Jia Jing to live the life of an ascetic monk in the Taoist temple. "Do you think there's... anyone wrong over there?" (End of Chapter)