The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 130: Loyalty is Unspeakable
Jia Rong quickly took Shi Xiangyun and Lin Daiyu home.

The rest of the maids and young ladies had been sent back earlier, and those who were still there also took the boat back.

It was quite cool on the boat, and it took Jia Rong half a month to return to the capital.

He gave each of his assassins a beautiful wife, and gave money to those who already had a wife but did not want a woman.

Most people want money but not women. After all, these people spend a lot and are not short of women. They already have sons and daughters at home and don’t want to bring a woman who can’t work back home to cause trouble.

Jia Rong soon brought a large group of women into the mansion.

"It's so hot! It's still so hot! Bring me my shorts and shirt!"

As soon as Jia Rong entered the mansion, he started to feel hot. Yuanchun and Wang Xifeng hurriedly helped Jia Rong take off his clothes.

Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyun went back into the house, and when they arrived in the yard, Xue Baochai and others came out to greet them.

"Sisters, you are finally back. How was your journey?"

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Everything is fine, I'm just tired."

Shi Xiangyun felt weak all over. "I want to go back and take a shower and have a good sleep. It's too tiring to go out. I'm either on the boat or in the car. There are people crying everywhere. It's not fun at all."

Xue Baochai asked curiously, "Why are you crying?"

Lin Daiyu sighed, "When we were in Hangzhou, we met a singing girl who was confiscated and became a prostitute. She said she used to be the daughter of a noble family, but later her family was confiscated and she was sold to a brothel. At that time, an old man forced her to drink. When she saw us, she cried for help. Fortunately, Brother Rong saved her and let her follow a decent man who was doing business under his command."

“We went to the prison to visit the Zhen family. Even if the master tried his best, he could only save more than a hundred people. The rest of them cried loudly.”

"There were too many such incidents along the way. I heard that we encountered many female corpses, but Brother Rong didn't let us see them."

"I heard that there are people in some places who are rebelling and eating their own children. I..."

Xue Baochai said quickly, "Stop talking, or I'll be unable to sleep. Are you going to Jiangnan or the border? If Jiangnan is so chaotic, then where else can there be a safe place except the capital?"

Lin Daiyu sighed, "I saw a few prosperous and bustling places along the way, but most of the places were not easy to live in."

"If it weren't for Brother Rong protecting us, I'm afraid we would have encountered pirates and bullies again."

Xue Baochai was surprised and said, "I didn't encounter any of this when I went to the capital, and I didn't hear it was so chaotic."

Several people chatted as they entered the house.

"It was the same when I came to Beijing. Brother Rong said that the chaos happened in recent years. The Rong Mansion was doing well in the past few years, but in recent years, many people from the Zhen family, the Jia family, and the royal and noble families have died. There are several wars every year, and there are rebellions every year."

"We have been staying in the mansion the whole time and don't know much about the outside world, so we don't know how chaotic it is right now."

In fact, it is not that chaotic. A lot of it is just Jia Rong’s nonsense, or even acting.

Shi Xiangyun and Lin Daiyu quickly went to take a bath together, and while taking a bath she suddenly remembered something.

"Aren't Zijuan and Xueyan back yet?"

Shi Xiangyun asked curiously, "Didn't you let them come back a long time ago?"

The maid who served Lin Daiyu said, "No, she must be having a great time at home and doesn't want to come back."

Lin Daiyu frowned. This was obviously impossible.

Even if Xueyan, Nanny Wang and others wanted to stay, Zijuan was given to her by the old lady, and her home was not in Gusu.

However, with Jia Rong around, Lin Daiyu was not too worried. After taking a shower and changing into clean clothes, Lin Daiyu asked about the things in the front yard.

"Is Brother Rong free now? Go ask Zijuan and the others about their affairs."

The second-class maid who replaced Zijuan had no choice but to agree and went to the front yard.

Jia Rong was talking to his family when he saw a maid come in and ask about Zijuan.

Jia Rong said, "Strange, I had someone notify the local authorities to escort them back. Don't worry, I'll have someone go to Suzhou to ask again."

Lin Daiyu was a little worried about those people, but this was all she could do now.

Jia Rong was not worried. He did not contact those people at all. He deliberately made them suffer more so that they would be better able to express their emotions after returning.

After the situation cooled down a little, Jia Rong went to the palace to report.

I don’t know if it was because the transfer of assets was too much, or because the Zhen family men thought that the emperor was so kind that they dared to talk back to the emperor in person and say how wronged they were. Several Zhen family men were beheaded that day.

This happened more than ten days ago, and the emperor had long since calmed down. This emperor had killed many people, so he had no sense of guilt.

Seeing Jia Rong coming back, the emperor was delighted and asked, "How come you came back in just one month?"

Jia Rong said righteously, "The weather will start to get cold after August, and colds and influenza will be prevalent. I was afraid that the quack doctors in the capital would delay things and be too busy to handle them, so I hurried back."

When the emperor heard this, his fragile heart was comforted and a warm feeling rose in his heart.

But we cannot reward him now. Jia Rong’s official position and title are already high enough. We must take it slow. If necessary, we must punish him, demote him, and then reward him. Only in this way can the relationship last.

The emperor is well aware of the importance of abiding by the rules and doing things step by step. He will find an excuse to punish and then reward next year. This is the way of a monarch.

"Thank you for your hard work, my dear minister. I have allowed the concubines in the palace to return home to visit their families. Many families in the city have built large gardens. You can also send someone to clean up the Rongguo Mansion and live there yourself."

The emperor smiled and advised Jia Rong to spend money to build a garden. Building a garden would definitely cost money, and spending money would lead to corruption and bribery, which would result in punishment.

Someone has reported Jia Rong's corruption to the Emperor recently, but they only had the courage to report it when Jia Rong was not in the capital.

The emperor thought Jia Rong was an honest official, but he didn't expect that he also accepted bribes.

But this makes me feel more at ease. No matter whether he is an honest official or a corrupt official, as long as he is a loyal minister, it's enough.

It is safe to use for corrupt officials, because they have all the evidence in their hands and can only rely on imperial power!

Jia Rong did not pretend to be poor this time. He said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace! I will go to the Imperial Hospital and the Imperial Pharmacy to work today!"

The emperor smiled and said, "Don't worry, you can rest for three or four days before going. It won't be too late to go after the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Jia Rong thanked him.

After everything was settled, Jia Rong went out.

Jia Rong was thinking about things as he walked home.

The emperor might have some bad intentions.

Maybe he wanted to set a trap to frame loyal people.

But it doesn't matter.

Jia Rong felt that the emperor was too confident and thought that he was still young at forty...

The 24-year-old Jia Rong touched his smooth chin and did not take the man sitting on the supreme throne seriously at all.

"When was the last time you took action..."

Jia Rong thought about it and quickly remembered it.

He took action once when the old concubine was buried, and in fifteen seconds he threw eight punches and three kicks using the steps of a dragon and a tiger.

It’s less than half a year yet.

Jia Rong suddenly remembered that the emperor had lost his egg, and in order to hide this, he always used the excuse of being busy with government affairs to avoid visiting his concubines in the harem.

This time, letting the concubine go home to visit her parents seems to have bad intentions.

But this has nothing to do with me.

Jia Rong thought about it and suddenly wanted to care about the emperor.

Jia Rong decided to make some flower perfume and give it to the emperor to cover up the smell of urine.

"Oh, by the way, think of a better excuse to ask everyone to stop growing beards later."

The emperor was already a eunuch, and he didn't grow a beard himself, so naturally he hoped that others would not grow a beard either.

This excuse is hard to find...

Jia Rong didn't want to stand up for himself, so he found a second-rank official who gave him money and gifts to help him stand up for himself.

(End of this chapter)