The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 219 Reward
The emperor was tired, yet felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

He walked into Shou Kang Palace alone. The moment Dai Quan glanced at him, he quickly bowed and left with a group of eunuchs, showing remarkable tact.

The retired emperor was old and no longer needed much sleep.

Upon seeing the emperor's son, his cloudy eyes suddenly sharpened.

“Father, you have fallen, but matters of state still need to be handled.”

The emperor never expected that this year would be so smooth for him, with one helpful person after another appearing in his life.

And all of this happened without his knowledge.

"On this day last year, my son had almost used up the Empress's dowry."

The Emperor Emeritus: "..."

He was angry.

How many dowries could an empress have?

The daughter of a minor official of the sixth rank.

He gave him so much, but he didn't remember it; he only remembered the little bit of silver from that woman.

It's a waste that he even praised the Empress.

At this moment, the retired emperor finally understood what it meant to forget one's mother after marrying a wife.

"The Empress is very good at managing money. When she first married her son, her dowry, all in total, amounted to only about a thousand taels of silver, and that was after her clan had also contributed. Even so, the two of us were known as poor within the royal family because you didn't give your son any property, you looked down on him, and his brothers didn't look down on him either. Only the Crown Prince..."

A hint of discomfort appeared on the emperor's face. "My elder brother, the Crown Prince, gave my son many books. He said that reading makes one wise and that the more he reads, the better he will become in the future."

He read it.

He wanted to be his brother's right-hand man.

Can……

“Father, my elder brother, the Crown Prince, is so good. If he were here, he would definitely be a very qualified emperor.”

The Emperor Emeritus: "..."

It would be a lie to say I don't regret it.

If his crown prince were alive, although he would argue with him, jump around with him, and make a fuss with him, he would definitely not let him suffer any grievances in terms of care.

"He was forced to his death by you, the Prince of Jin, and his brothers."

The emperor sighed. "However, Father, do you know who was the mastermind behind yesterday's coup? In fact, he's the Crown Prince's brother-in-law."

He had to let the old man know about these things.

Dong Xiaoquan had someone deliver Liu Yuan's information, and after reading it, he was still somewhat stunned.

This person...is extremely talented.

Unfortunately, the Prince of Jin misled him and also harmed his elder brother, the Crown Prince.

Now he seeks revenge...

The emperor was pleased; it was the perfect time for his revenge.

The raid was carried out swiftly, entirely based on the clues provided by Liu Yuan.

The pen of a writer is a murderer's knife.

The emperor was still worried about how to make a move so that certain people in the court would stop gossiping behind his back.

As the evidence was presented one by one, the charges against the Wang brothers were irrefutable, without him even having to list them.

"...He is seeking revenge for the Crown Prince and your grandsons, so the situation with the Prince of Jin... is probably already dire."

The esteemed emperor could never have imagined that he would be living a life worse than death.

"And Prince Jing..."

The emperor told the retired emperor about the solution the ministers had come up with that day: "His crime of privately making imperial robes is unforgivable, but considering that he is also a descendant of the founding emperor, his whole family will be demoted to commoners, given two sets of commoner clothes, and sent to the unworthy estate left by the founding emperor to cultivate the land themselves."

The emperor admired his grandfather, who had been dead for many years.

They've even figured out how their unworthy descendants will survive.

Once they entered Buxiaozhuang, they had to rely on themselves for everything, whether it was hunting or farming.

Those with the ability will survive, those without...

That can only be fate!
“King Kang robbed the disaster relief silver that was sent to Luzhou that year. The word ‘relief’ on it was even added by the Crown Prince’s order.”

The Emperor chattered on and on to the Retired Emperor, “You don’t know, that silver is in his family’s secret vault, a full three hundred thousand taels.”

The Emperor Emeritus: "..."

It's impossible not to be angry.

His son is so successful, becoming a highway robber.

"And Prince An..."

The emperor spoke one by one.

The retired emperor didn't want to hear it, but he couldn't close his ears.

He could only watch as his sons were imprisoned one by one, and then condemned by the ministers. With the emperor remaining untouched, they either had to go to the Unfilial Manor themselves, or take several of their grandsons with them...

In the end, the retired emperor was utterly desperate.

Of all the sons he painstakingly fathered and raised, only the imperial line remained.

His grandsons and great-grandsons will also be implicated by their fathers and grandfathers, and none of them will be able to inherit the title of Prince.

"Considering their young age, all under fifteen, their lack of marriage and career, and their status as descendants of the founding emperor..."

The emperor said, "My son has been appointed as the sixth-rank Fengguo Lieutenant."

He saw his father's distorted face and felt a strange sense of pleasure in a certain part of his heart. "As for the daughters... all the unmarried ones shall be raised by the Imperial Clan Court. When they get married, the Imperial Household Department shall provide three hundred taels of silver for their dowry."

At this point, a smile appeared on his face. "Father, do you know? At the end of the court session, everyone praised my magnanimity."

The Emperor Emeritus: "..."

He's going crazy.

The royal family had few descendants, and when his father died, his biggest fear was that the throne would fall into the wrong hands. He finally...

The retired emperor wept, his old eyes filled with tears.

But the emperor had already stood up. "Father, let it be! You think they are suffering now, but I think the crown prince was the one who truly suffered back then."

He paused for a moment, then said, "You mean, when he set that fire...did he foresee that you would ultimately choose your son as emperor because of your suspicions?"

This this?

The retired emperor listened to his son's footsteps fading into the distance, his mouth agape as he struggled to breathe.

The emperor walked all the way to the entrance of the Shou Kang Palace before waving.

Dai Quan hurriedly bowed and scraped as he approached, "Your Majesty..."

"The Emperor Emeritus is very angry that Prince Jing made the imperial robe privately. You all need to keep a close eye on him and take even better care of him. If anything seems amiss, call the imperial physician immediately."

"Yes! Your servants will certainly be even more meticulous."

"...Just be careful!"

The emperor glanced at him and said, "Take good care of the retired emperor, and I will reward you for your service."

Without waiting for Dai Quan to say anything more, he strode away.

Today is a good day; he should celebrate with the Queen and have a drink.

The next morning, Liu An, by imperial decree, personally went to Ningguo Mansion to bestow honors upon Jia Zhen.

"The emperor's edict is to carry out the destiny..."

The emperor was not stingy with those who had rendered meritorious service; he confiscated so many princely mansions that he is now rolling in wealth.

He gave what his father, the Emperor, hadn't given to the Ningguo Mansion back then.

Jia Zhen was promoted several ranks and inherited the position of a first-rank general. He was also awarded two imperial estates and a considerable amount of gold, silver, and antiques.

Although it was still a nominal position, it was completely different from his original rank of Third-Rank General of Might and Valor.

This means that his descendants will be able to inherit the title for two more generations.

Jia Zhenshan shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and was moved to tears.

Shen Ning was also very happy, at least in the eyes of the emperor, their Jia family was doing well.

After presenting a thick red envelope and seeing Liu An off, almost every member of the Jia clan who had heard the news from the back street came. The Jia family had been plagued by misfortune for years, but now things were finally looking up again.

Even though Jia Qin had lost two fingers due to gambling, he still looked proud.

If it weren't for the mourning period, these people would probably be having a good time, drinking and watching opera.

However, it wasn't appropriate for the Ningguo Mansion to be too lively, but they felt it was possible to make some arrangements to celebrate at the Rongguo Mansion.

When Wang Xifeng received this news, she was speechless.

But the old lady seemed to like it very much.

For the old lady, the Jia family had risen again.

Her ancestor can be happy.

Recently, the old lady has been very unhappy because of her second son, Jia Zheng, and now she just wants to be happy.

“Mother, Brother Jing has only been gone for a short time, and Sister-in-law is still heartbroken.”

Wang Xifeng was reluctant to offer advice, but Jia Min, being her own daughter, spoke frankly: "It is certainly gratifying that Zhen'er has been promoted, but think about when this is happening? Not to mention that the Duke of Shan's mansion has been raided, just consider the other princely mansions... the royal family members are probably not happy either. If our family celebrates at this time... what if some petty person sees this and secretly holds a grudge against us? It wouldn't be worth it."

"...So we're just going to leave it at that?"

Grandmother Jia still tried to argue, saying, "Such a joyous occasion should be reported to our ancestors."

"I heard that Zhen'er and many of the clan elders went to the ancestral hall right after Eunuch Liu left?"

Jia Min said, "Our ancestors all came from officialdom, so they will definitely understand."

"All right!"

Unable to argue with her daughter, Grandmother Jia grew dejected, saying, "I was hoping to have some fun and shake off the bad luck in the house."

"Isn't everything fine at home? Where did this bad luck come from?"

Jia Min knew that her mother was still worried about her second brother, and she was not very happy to hear this. "My eldest brother wants to become a master of epigraphy and carving. Now he is carving things quite well. Lian'er is also doing a good job in the palace. Zhu'er has been praised by our in-laws Li several times. Even Baoyu is in the East Mansion and is very persistent."

She had been worried that after her second brother and sister-in-law left, Baoyu would become lazy and unmotivated.

Unexpectedly, the child went to bed early and got up early, setting a good example for Chang'an.

Jia Min felt that everything about her home was perfect.

So many people are doing well, but my second brother isn't. Who's to blame?

"If you want to hear opera and have some fun, just tell me, and I'll have someone invite the Liu family troupe over to perform for you for half a day, how about that?"

"Then forget it!"

The old lady laughed, "It's too noisy, that's not good, but we can invite a female storyteller to come and tell stories."

She can listen to an audiobook.

"Feng'er, hurry up and go get me a female tutor."

Jia Min hurriedly called for Wang Xifeng.

"Oh dear, we're going to benefit from the old lady's generosity again."

Wang Xifeng smiled and stood up, "Auntie, please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Luckily, her aunt was here, otherwise she would have been in big trouble.

Wang Xifeng wasn't concerned about the small amount of money spent on hiring an opera troupe; she was genuinely worried that if she celebrated now, her eldest aunt from the East Mansion would come over in a fit of anger and smash up her house.

When the time comes, the old lady and the elders of the clan will be old and senior, so the eldest aunt can't do anything to them, but what will she be?
While things were quietly getting lively at Grandmother Jia's place, Shen Ning took her daughter to Ningcui Pavilion to listen to Teacher Zhan Xue play the zither.

Of course, this was mainly directed at Zhan Xue. If it were Min Mei or a few others... their hearts would tremble.

Shen Ning couldn't stand it, but Jia Yue loved the ear-piercing noise.

"Just take this with you."

Zhan Xue handed over two cotton balls, saying, "Among the girls, Miss Lin has the greatest talent in music."

Jia Min was a talented woman, so she should have taught them some things beforehand, but she had also taught Yingchun and Tanchun before.

Both of them are only average in this respect.

"is it?"

Amidst the noise, Shen Ning heard the praise for Lin Daiyu and was quite pleased. "Perfect timing! The Emperor has bestowed upon you a guqin. Qingzhu, go to the storeroom and fetch that guqin."

Lin Daiyu in *Dream of the Red Chamber* is so pitiful. It would have been better if she hadn't met him, but then...

Even though she now has her parents and younger brother and lacks nothing, Shen Ning still unconsciously wants to spoil her a little more.

"Let's not use the guqin for now!"

Zhan Xue never expected that Madam Shen would give the guqin to a young girl who had just started learning the instrument. Wasn't that a waste of a precious gift?

“Look at her zither, it was specially made by the Lin family because she was young.”

"Hmm~"

Shen Ning hadn't noticed it before, but then she remembered that Lin Daiyu seemed to have such a zither.

"Then do you think Yingchun and the others should also have their zithers made smaller?"

"...that's okay too."

The manor had just received a reward from the emperor, and Madam Shen was overjoyed and wanted to spend money, so let her spend it!

Zhan Xue felt that Mrs. Shen could try anything that would improve her mood.

Jia Jing died, and died so tragically. Anyone else would have cried their eyes out, but it is said that Madam Shen only cried a few times in her delirium when she was ill, and hasn't shed a single tear since.

Hey~
Deep affection is short-lived!

God is always more harsh on good people.

Zhan Xue believes that holding back for too long is bad for one's health. "Younger children will learn much more effectively with a small violin!"

"Alright, I'll have someone make a few more later."

The zither won't break, and I'll definitely need it someday.

"Sir, is there anything else you need? Just make a list."

"You're too late."

Zhan Xue nodded and smiled, "Didn't the children learn how to manage a household this morning? They've already discussed it. What do they need? They don't need a list. Miss Min and the Third Miss said they can just give the order."

"It really is."

Shen Ning smiled.

Tan Chun is the best at managing a household; she doesn't worry about her future. But Ying Chun is not!
"Sir, the second young lady, Yingchun, is a bit gentle. Please give her some guidance."

"The second young lady is doing well now."

Zhan Xue smiled and said, "I think she likes chess quite a bit. People who are good at chess know what they're doing."

Perhaps I received too little care in the past, so I didn't dare to voice my opinions. I just did whatever others said and never showed any temper.

But now it's different.

With Master She's concern for her, she felt more confident. In addition, with Madam Xing and the steward's sister-in-law by her side, Zhan Xue felt that Yingchun was already quite different.

She had considered guiding her before, but there was indeed no one in the manor who could take care of the second young lady.

Having no temper and agreeing with whatever others say is also a way of surviving.

In this large inner courtyard, when a woman gets married, she is supposed to live with her husband, but in reality, she interacts most with her mother-in-law.

The relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law has always been difficult. If the second daughter finds a good husband, it might not be a bad thing.

However, these were all Zhan Xue's thoughts in the past; now...

"I heard that the Second Mistress from the West Mansion is asking her for advice."

is it?

Shen Ning was pleasantly surprised, "Did she tell you what questions she wanted to ask?"

"The Great Zhao Law!"

Zhan Xue was pleased that the Jia family had noticed this.

Those from noble and aristocratic families should actually be more familiar with the law.

Only in this way can one avoid knowingly breaking the law and ultimately being stripped of all their power by the royal family when they find an opportunity.

(End of this chapter)