The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 237 Urgent Report
At the Qin family residence, as palace servants carried down boxes filled with various sets of jade and gold ornaments, Qin Ye finally realized, somewhat belatedly, that his daughter Ke Qing's identity might have already been exposed.

The Jia family...

Qin Ye sighed softly.

Since their engagement, their family's food and clothing have been almost entirely provided for by their new partner, as if they were afraid their daughter would suffer any mistreatment in their home.

Did this family actually know about their daughter's identity?

"father!"

Qin Keqing felt like she was in a dream today. She went to the palace with trepidation, never expecting the Empress to be so kind. "The Empress is so..."

"It must be because of Madam Shen from the Jia family."

Qin Ye hurriedly said, "Didn't you say that Her Majesty mentioned Madam Shen to you several times today? The nanny who brought you back also mentioned Madam Shen."

He dared not let his daughter have any doubts about the matter.

"To be honest, our family is not worthy of the Ningguo Mansion."

Rong-ge'er is the eldest grandson of the eldest son's family.

Previously, when Jia Zhen inherited the title of Third-Class General of Mighty Valor, his family was not worthy of it.

Last year, Jia Zhen made meritorious contributions and was promoted to first-class general, making his family even less worthy of him.

If the daughter can't mention her status, what about the son-in-law...?

"Don't overthink it."

Qin Ye could only comfort his daughter, "If Her Majesty the Empress is willing to give the Jia family and our family face, we will accept it. After you marry into the family, be filial to Madam Shen and your parents-in-law, and treat Rong-ge'er well. That will make everything worthwhile."

"...Yes, I know."

"The day after tomorrow is the sixteenth day of the first lunar month."

Qin Ye was very reluctant to part with him.

His daughter was a dutiful child and insisted on staying home with him until the Lantern Festival. She said, "Once you're at the Jia family's house, you don't need to worry about your father anymore. Just take good care of yourself and your brother."

"My daughter knows."

Having associated with the Jia family for so long, Qin Keqing wasn't afraid to move in. "Father, look at these things here. Take whatever you like..."

"Dad has everything."

Why would Qin Ye want his daughter's things?

"As for Rong-ge'er and the others, they'll be escorting the coffin back to their hometown the day after tomorrow. Take a look and see what easy-to-bring, lightweight items you can send over."

"Her Majesty the Empress gave my daughter a box of top-quality bird's nest."

Qin Keqing already had a plan in mind: "Grandmother's health has not been good since that illness, and I plan to give this Blood Swallow to her."

"Very good!"

Qin Ye was pleased.

My daughter is good at grasping the important points.

The person who truly held power in the Ningguo Mansion was Madam Shen.

"And your mother-in-law, Madam You."

Lady You became pregnant again.

Qin Ye was both worried and relieved.

The worry is that since she is a second wife, she will definitely favor her own children. If she gives birth to a son, Rong-ge'er and his daughter's future may be uncertain.

As for being thankful...

She was thinking that if she gave birth to a boy, her daughter could marry into the family and wouldn't have to worry about childbirth too early.

If the Ningguo family continues to have only one son in the family line, the only one who will have to worry in the end will be Keqing.

While the father and daughter were discussing the gift-giving arrangement, back at the Ningguo Mansion, Shen Ning looked at her sleeping youngest daughter and finally hardened her heart, deciding not to bring her along.

The journey is too long; in this day and age, even a common cold can be fatal.

With so many people taking care of her at home, my daughter will definitely be safe and sound.

Even if we can't find her, she might cry for a few days at first, but if we take her with us, does that mean she won't look for her sister-in-law or older sister on the way?
"grandmother!"

Rong-ge'er couldn't bear to part with his little aunt.

This little girl, whom he holds every day, was born safely only after he prayed to the gods and made countless wishes.

Although the journey was long, the carriage had been prepared in advance, and if the weather was clear, he could even carry her on horseback.

Rong-ge felt that these were all things his little aunt liked.

Moreover, they also had a physician from the imperial physician with them.

"Did the teacher assign you all the homework?"

"Ok!"

Rong-ge nodded.

This time I've been away from home for too long, and my husband has assigned me quite a lot of homework.

"Then go back and take good care of it."

"That little aunt..."

"There are imperial physicians in the capital."

Shen Ning sighed inwardly.

She really wanted to bring her daughter with her, but she didn't dare to take the risk!

"That time when Grandmother was ill, if your father hadn't gone to fetch the imperial physician... what do you think would have happened to Grandmother?"

What will happen?
Rong-ge'er's face turned pale.

"My hometown is too far away."

Shen Ning gently touched her daughter's little hand, "She will definitely be safe and sound in the capital. If anything happens to her, we won't even have time to cry."

"...I'll listen to Grandma."

Rong-ge decided to write a letter as soon as he got home.

Although he is no longer at home, Qin will stay at her grandmother's place.

It would be fine to ask her to help take care of her aunt more often.

"Grandmother, it's getting late, you should go back and rest too!"

"..."

Shen Ning waved her hand dismissively.

She never wanted to leave.

It's been almost a year since she transmigrated, and Xiao Yue'er has always been by her side.

"Qingzhu and Qingping, you two stay home and help me take care of Yue'er."

One of them was meticulous, and the other was bold.

With them around, this courtyard is a bit more peaceful.

"Tell Xiaodong and the other three to pack their things and come with me later."

Those four children practiced martial arts, and their physical abilities were better than Qingzhu's and the others.

Shen Ning made up her mind, "Qin Shi lives in the west wing. This courtyard... will remain the same as before. Qingzhu, you should take good care of her as well."

"Yes!"

Qingzhu and her maids exchanged glances and nodded hurriedly.

"Keep an eye on things at the eldest mistress's place. If she needs anything that you don't have at home, go to the west mansion and ask the fourth aunt and the second mistress."

"Yes!"

The maids nodded hurriedly.

Shen Ning bent down and kissed her youngest daughter before getting up and returning to her room.

She brought quite a lot of things this time.

There were very few gold and silver items and utensils buried with the deceased, but many books.

In Shen Ning's view, books are the true treasure of Chinese civilization.

In official history, the Manchu Qing dynasty launched one book banning frenzy after another.

During the Kangxi era, public discussions of astronomy and calendar were prohibited. In the imperial examinations, any questions involving astronomy, music theory, or calculation methods were subject to literary inquisitions nationwide, and all available original archives were destroyed.

At the same time, Western missionaries were slowly entering the court.

Missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell altered the Chongzhen Calendar to become the Western New Calendar, thus fraudulently obtaining the important position of Director of the Imperial Observatory.

He later rose to the rank of third grade official and held great power.

Many officials in charge of historical texts were replaced by missionaries they brought with them, such as Ferdinand Verbiest, thus facilitating the translation, printing, and transmission of Chinese civilization to the West. While the Qing dynasty suppressed and altered Chinese culture, Western missionaries were bringing the achievements of Chinese civilization to their own countries and making them their own.

To be precise, the Qing Dynasty and Western countries were doing the same thing: suppressing Chinese civilization.

Shen Ning vaguely remembered her grandfather saying that the "General Compendium of Banned Books in the Qing Dynasty" included more than 3,000 books that were banned and destroyed by the Qing government.

According to statistics, more than 13,000 volumes of books were destroyed during the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries).

The number of banned books reached 150,000.

The Qing government also systematically destroyed Ming Dynasty archives.

It is estimated that no fewer than ten million Ming Dynasty archives were lost, with less than three ten-thousandths remaining.

Even the small portion that has been passed down has been edited.

Those that managed to escape were either buried in underground tombs or left behind in the countryside and in some remote areas.

Now that she could, Shen Ning couldn't resist putting more books into the tomb.

Anyway, Jia Jing is a scholar, and so is she. Putting the books away... is the most normal thing to do.

Shen Ning lay down and fell asleep without any dreams all night.

On the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, early in the morning, Jia Zhen and his wife, along with Jia Rong and Xiao Yue'er, went to the ancestral hall to offer incense to Jia Jing's memorial tablet, led by her.

Unlike the hustle and bustle of other places, this year, not only Ningguo Mansion, but even Rongguo Mansion is much quieter than in previous years.

Xue Pan, who had a rare day off, couldn't sit still at home and was determined to go out and have fun.

"Mom, I'll go and get some lanterns for you and my sister."

How long has he been detained?
After being crammed by his younger sister Baochai for a period of time during the New Year, he finally caught up with the progress of elementary education, and Xue Pan felt that he could do it again.

"...I don't want to!"

Baochai knew her brother doted on her, but his affection was never quite what she wanted. "Brother, do you know that Rong-ge'er's wife from the East Mansion received such a great reward from the Empress?"

She had never met Qin Keqing, but she had heard her sisters talk about her many times.

They also exchanged gifts with each other.

"Tomorrow, she will move into Mrs. Shen's courtyard and go to school with us."

"Going to school is fine!"

Xue Pan didn't understand his sister's meaning. "Are you afraid of being outshone by her?"

He has great confidence in his sister's academic performance.

"I'm not afraid, but brother, I want to participate in the election."

Baochai had no choice but to confront her stubborn brother, saying, "We live in the Jia family, and the Jia family is in mourning. Yet we're having fun in a family in mourning. What do you think others will think of us?"

One word from someone could disqualify her from the election.

Baochai had a special kind of expectation for the imperial palace.

The Jia family was where she could elevate her status, and her schoolmates might one day become her allies.

“Your sister is right.”

Concerning her daughter and the family's future, Aunt Xue unusually sided with her daughter, saying, "Pan'er, after studying for so many days, you should stay home and keep us company! If you think it's not lively enough, then we'll go to Pear Fragrance Courtyard and have some fun with Zhu'er and Baoyu."

With her sister away, it's only natural for her to take care of her nephew as his aunt.

"...I heard at school that the Jia family will no longer send any daughters to the palace."

Xue Pan glanced at his sister and said, "As for the selection, how about we just skip it and spend some money?"

"no!"

"no……"

Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai spoke almost at the same time.

Although they had only been living in the Jia family's house for a month, the attitudes of the shopkeepers had already changed.

Xue Pan, who was in school, couldn't feel this, but the housekeepers understood it deeply.

Especially the fact that Qin Keqing received a reward yesterday.

Qin Ye was just a minor official of the fifth rank. What qualifications did he have to propose marriage to the Ningguo Mansion for his daughter?

It was just good luck that I happened to be there when Madam Shen was being stabbed, and I was able to help her a little bit.

Aunt Xue had already heard the maids gossiping that Qin Keqing had used the Empress's reward to give gifts to many people.

Why should a mere maidservant like her receive the Empress's reward?

It was all because of Madam Shen.

Aunt Xue was very sorry that they arrived in Beijing too late.

"His Majesty is young and has few children."

Their family members were selected to enter the palace through the imperial examinations, but they could also use money and connections to get Baochai a position like Yuanchun did before, starting as a female official. "In short, you can't hold your sister back."

"Okay, okay!"

Xue Pan had no choice but to compromise with his mother and sister, saying, "I'm at home. Please bring me the pot of imperial wine that the Jia family sent."

During the New Year, the Jia family also gave them a pot of imperial wine.

That was a gift from the emperor; the emperor bestowed three large jars upon the Rongguo Mansion.

The Xue family were imperial merchants, and of course they had purchased imperial wines for the royal family. However, by the time the business was passed down to them, other imperial merchants had already taken over the imperial wine business.

Xue Pan couldn't help but become interested in the imperial wine.

"I knew you liked this kind of thing."

Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Many members of the Jia family have received imperial wine as a reward from the royal family. The other day, I spent money to buy you a jar."

"That's great, Mom, bring it here quickly."

Xue Pan beamed with joy.

At this moment, everyone was in a lively atmosphere. Just as the gatekeeper at the North Gate thought it would be another ordinary day, a fast horse was rapidly approaching from afar.

"Urgent report from Shenyang Zhongwei! Urgent report from Shenyang Zhongwei!"

Once it was confirmed that he was a courier, the city gate officials and others quickly stood on both sides, watching him approach, rush over, and then disappear without a trace.

"Goodness, what happened now? Didn't we just win?"

Yes, we just won.

However, the ones in Shenyang are Jin people.

Last time, we attacked all the other places except for those Jurchens.

But they didn't take action, not because they didn't want to, but because the Rakshasa Kingdom was sending troops to attack them.

hiss~
The last truce was only possible because the Russian Kingdom sent troops to attack the Tatars.

"head!"

The soldier tugged at the city gate officer, "Tell me, is it the Russians attacking the Jurchens this time, or the Jurchens attacking us?"

"Say it? Say it my foot."

The city gate official looked grave. "We'll find out who attacked whom tomorrow."

The Rakshasa were no good, and the Jurchens weren't much better.

I just hope that this incident has little to do with their Great Zhao!
While the city gate official was praying in his heart, the courier, carrying an urgent report, rushed straight to the inner palace.

Officials from various departments, who had finally gotten another day off, had to quickly put on their official robes and rush towards the palace because of the urgent report shouted by the courier.

When the emperor received the message, Dong Xiaoquan had already ridden his horse to the palace gate.

"Let's all take a look!"

The emperor was in a very bad mood.

He handed the urgent report to Liu An, who then forwarded it to Dong Xiaoquan and others.

"The Russians have reached the Black River and are continuously reinforcing their troops. The Jurchens have appealed to our Great Zhao for aid, my beloved ministers..."

He looked at everyone and said, "Tell me, should we offer aid or not?"

The emperor was more inclined not to provide aid.

Let them both suffer heavy losses.

Once they had fought enough, the Great Zhao sent troops to recover the lost territory of the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop.

The lands occupied by the Jurchens were brought back into the territory of the Great Zhao.

This was the place that Emperor Taizu regretted the most, and it was also the place that countless founding generals of the Great Zhao Dynasty regretted the most.

They had no choice but to withdraw their troops that year.

now……

"If we don't send reinforcements... how can we defend against an attack by the Russians?"