The head of the Red Mansion

A bright future is right in front of you. Should you let it slip away, or hold on tight to it?
Sun Shaozu naturally chose the latter.

The more the Jia family values ​​their daughter, the more benefits he will receive after marrying her.

So, when you look in the mirror...

He just listened and then ignored it.

Sun Shaozu himself was quite good-looking. When he was young, many people joked that he looked good enough to marry a princess.

He dared not dream of being a princess, but he could dream of being a county princess.

The more sons the retired emperor had, the more princesses and county princesses he had.

Therefore, his family never considered arranging a marriage for him at an early age.

The Sun family's change of allegiance was entirely due to him.

I never expected that he would observe mourning for his parents one after another.

What was even more unexpected was that once the Emperor Emeritus fell, so many princesses and county princesses were suddenly reduced to ordinary imperial family women.

What's the point of marrying a woman like that?

Given how arrogant those princes were back then, if someone were to marry their daughter, the emperor might even take his anger out on him.

After Sun Shaozu gave up on the idea of ​​marrying a princess or a county princess, he could only set his sights on the noble ladies of various families.

Unfortunately, the people he liked didn't like him back, and the people who liked him, he didn't like.

Finally...

Since Sun Shaozu couldn't go to Jia She's place right away, he simply took the opportunity to bring a lot of gifts to Marquis Baoling, Shi Nai.

Jia She was reluctant to part with his daughter, but a daughter grows up and cannot stay at home forever; she would eventually have to get married.

He will let him know that he is the best son-in-law candidate.

First, he needed the Jia family's help to get a good position; second, they were family friends; and third, as long as he was in the army, just because his brother-in-law was the Director of the Military Treasury, he wouldn't dare not treat Yingchun well.

If Yingchun marries him, she will immediately be in charge of the household.

As long as the Jia family is willing to help, he doesn't need to leave the capital.

At that time, wouldn't the Jia family be able to see their daughter whenever they wanted?
With so many favorable conditions presented to Yingchun, Sun Shaozu couldn't believe that Jia She wouldn't be tempted at all.

So what if I'm old?

As people get older, they become more caring.

Sure enough, a few days later, Shi Nai's wife came to visit Grandmother Jia and mentioned Sun Shaozu to the old lady.

"...Second daughter's marriage!"

Grandmother Jia had already argued with her son a few times about Yingchun's marriage last time. "Don't you know your eldest cousin's temperament? No matter how good other people's opinions are, he has to approve of them first."

He had to wait until Yingchun was older and fewer people were asking about her before he could get anxious.

If he's not in a hurry, Yingchun's marriage will never happen.

"This Lord Sun's conditions are truly excellent!"

The Shi and Jia families need to get closer to each other.

Shi Nai's wife was helpless, as the Jia family had no suitable sons.

Leaving aside the East Mansion, the only suitable one, Rong-ge'er, was already engaged long ago.

On the West Mansion side, Baoyu from the second branch could barely be considered, but the second branch had long been separated from the family. Although Baoyu was not bad, Wang Shi had made a fool of herself by getting such a broken piece of jade. If things went wrong, he would have no future in officialdom.

Moreover, Jia Zhu seems to have also cut off the path to becoming an examiner, as he did not participate in the imperial examination after the mourning period ended.

It is clear that the second wife is destined to become a collateral branch.

Although it's possible to pair Xiangyun with Baoyu, Shi Nai and his wife were still afraid that others would say they were mistreating their deceased brother and sister-in-law's only son.

The two hesitated for a long time, and day by day all they had left was regret.

"Although she is a bit older, that was because of the mourning period. And since we are old friends, she certainly can't mistreat our children. Besides, Yingchun can take charge of the household as soon as she marries into the family. If she's lucky, she'll stay in the capital. If my older cousin misses his daughter, he can send a message, and the young couple can come home right away."

Shi Nai's wife smiled and presented Jia Mu with the benefits.

We really have no choice but to set it up.

Sun Shaozu gave their family several hundred taels of silver as a gift for this marriage.

Historians are becoming increasingly impoverished.

Although the second branch of the family was called a Marquis's mansion, it was just an empty title, and they were not as free as the third son, Shi Ding.

Shi Nai's wife did indeed think this marriage was quite good. "...Useless."

Knowing she couldn't reason with her son, Grandmother Jia sighed and refused again, "Your eldest cousin is very stubborn these days, especially when it comes to Er Ya's marriage. He'll argue with anyone who says anything."

"But Er Yatou is getting older too."

Shi Nai's wife was speechless. "She'll have to get married eventually."

"Hold on!"

Grandmother Jia could only say, "It's best to wait until your eldest cousin figures it out himself."

In fact, the old lady felt that her eldest son disliked the affection that everyone said he was close to his granddaughter, Yuan Chun, mainly because of the comparison.

The eldest granddaughter, Yuan Chun, married the Marquis of Xinping, and the couple are now living happily together.

His second daughter is his daughter, and in principle, she should be of a higher status than his eldest granddaughter. If she marries someone less well than his eldest granddaughter, he will feel uneasy.

"Then we'll really miss out."

Shi Nai's wife was surprised that even after she had brought it up so far, her aunt still wouldn't take the bait.

Back then, if my aunt wanted to do something, would my older cousin dare to utter a single fart?
When Shi Nai's wife left, she was quite indignant. Grandmother Jia was also upset and couldn't help but lash out at Xing Shi.

Ms. Xing was quite angry.

He immediately sought an opportunity to come to Shen Ning and pour out his troubles to her.

“…Sun Shaozu!”

Hearing that Jia She had already kicked him out, yet he still dared to invite the Shi family to arrange a marriage, Shen Ning couldn't help but frown.

The son of a Zhongshan wolf will become arrogant when he succeeds!
hiss~
Thinking of the description of him in the book, Shen Ning couldn't help but feel a little murderous.

"Since he's waiting for a vacancy in the Ministry of War, why don't you call Lian'er over, sister-in-law..."

At this point, Shen Ning paused again, "Never mind, I'll have someone investigate him first."

She left almost everything at the girls' school to Zhan Xue and Jia Wen.

"The old lady has always been the same."

Shen Ning felt quite sympathetic towards Xing Shi. "Sister-in-law, talk to She Di more often. His mother did something wrong, so she should apologize to you."

Judging by the time, Xing Xiuyan and Xue Baoqin should be heading to the capital by now.

While reading Dream of the Red Chamber, she had a pretty good impression of Xing Xiuyan.

"Eh~" Although Xing Shi wasn't very bright, she had been pointed out by Shen Ning, so how could she not understand?

Between husband and wife, she tolerated her mother-in-law's unreasonable demands, and a man of propriety should bear the burden.

"I listen to my sister-in-law."

When she returned home happily, Shen Ning had already quickly instructed Xing'er to investigate Sun Shaozu.

In the novel *Dream of the Red Chamber*, this man not only gambled and drank heavily, but also sexually assaulted almost all of the wives and maids in his household.

Is this so-called mourning period really observed?
If such a scoundrel were to become an official, who knows how many people he would harm.

"When the old man comes back, tell him to come over right away."

Waiting for a vacancy?

Waiting my ass!
When Jia Zhen left the yamen, Shen Ning said to him directly, "A toad dares to covet your sister, you, as her brother..."

"My son will order someone to cause him trouble."

Jia Zhen said, "Mother, rest assured, your son will never let anyone bully my second sister."

An old bastard with no official rank, dreaming of marrying his mother's beloved sisters? He's dreaming.

"Actually, my second sister's marriage..."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Liu Xiong, who fought against the Rakshasa with his cousin Lan and then fought against Japan with Uncle Jin and the others, and was granted the title of Earl of Ji'an, seems to be doing quite well."

"Check out everything you think is feasible, and bring me the information."

Shen Ning was also worried.

Baochai did not get married because she was in the palace, but even so, she was afraid of Aunt Xue urging her to get married, so she kept avoiding her.

Yingchun...in the end, she still has to get married.

Now she just hopes to find someone she likes, and someone who likes her back. (End of Chapter)