The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 74 Family Traditions are tainted
After the death of the retired emperor, everyone in the Jia family became busy.

All officials in the capital had to cry for that person, and all entertainment activities were prohibited during the national mourning period. Moreover, princes and nobles were not allowed to have children during the national mourning period.

You are not allowed to have sex with your partner, and if you get pregnant, you have to abort the baby, so you can’t have children.

Punishments do not apply to officials, and etiquette does not apply to common people. Ordinary people can continue to have children, but princes and nobles cannot.

While Jia Rong was busy attending the funeral, some people did not take it seriously.

It is said that Xue Pan has gotten used to living in the Jia Mansion over the past few years and has made friends with many noblemen.

Before the ban on the funeral of the retired emperor came down, Xue Pan and others were busy holding a banquet.

Not only Jia Baoyu was there, but also several young masters, actors and prostitutes.

Everyone wanted to have fun while drinking, so they soon started playing drinking games in the format of a daughter's sorrow.

The people in front are all normal and cultured.

When it came to hosting barmaids, hostess Yun'er also showed her talent.

"My daughter is sad. Who will she rely on for the rest of her life?"

As soon as Yun'er finished speaking, Xue Pan sighed, "My son, with your uncle Xue here, what are you afraid of?"

Everyone said, "Ignore him! Keep going!"

Yun'er added: My daughter is worried, when will mother stop beating and scolding her?

Xue Pan said, "I met your mother the other day and told her not to beat you."

Everyone said, "If anyone talks too much, he will be fined ten gallons of wine."

Xue Pan slapped himself in the face and said, "You are so rude. I won't say anything more."

Yun'er added: My daughter is happy, but my lover is reluctant to go back home.

The daughter was happy, and she stopped playing the sheng and strings.

After saying this, he sang:

The cardamom flowers were in bloom on March 3rd. A bug tried to get in, but couldn't get in after half a day. It climbed up and swung on the flower. My dear, how can you get in if I don't bloom?

After he finished singing, he took the door cup, picked up a peach and said, "The peach tree is blooming tenderly." When the order was over, it was Xue Pan's turn.

Xue Pan said: "I have to say it. My daughter is sad..."

After talking for a long time, they stopped talking.

Feng Ziying said, "What are you sad about? Tell me now!"

Xue Pan's eyes immediately rang like bells, and he stared for a long time before saying, "My daughter is sad." He coughed twice and said:

My daughter is sad because she married a big turtle.

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Xue Pan said: "What are you laughing at! Isn't that what I said? How can you not be sad if a daughter marries a man and becomes a cuckold?"

Everyone bent over with laughter and said, "You are right, tell me the following."

Xue Pan glared and said, "My daughter is worried..." After saying this, he stopped talking. Everyone asked, "Why is she worried?"

Xue Pan said: A giant monkey appeared in the embroidery room.

Everyone laughed and said, "You deserve to be punished! You deserve to be punished! This sentence doesn't make any sense. Just drink some wine and accept the punishment!"

Everyone wanted to drink a penalty drink, so they poured a large cup.

Baoyu smiled and said, "It's good as long as it rhymes."

Xue Pan said, "The commander has approved it, why are you making a fuss?"

The hostess said: "The next two sentences are hard to follow, let me do it for you."

Xue Pan said: "Nonsense! Do you really think I can't do it? Watch me!"

"My daughter is happy, and she wakes up lazily in the bridal chamber on the morning of the wedding candle."

When everyone heard this, they were all surprised: "This sentence is too rhyming, it doesn't seem like you did it."

Xue Pan said again: "My daughter is happy, stick one or two of them in."

Everyone said, "Damn it! Damn it! Sing it now."

Seeing that everyone felt that it was not good, Xue Pan sang a song like Yun'er.

"A mosquito hum hum ..."

Everyone was stunned and asked, "What kind of song is this?" Xue Pan sang again, "Two flies buzzing." Everyone said, "Stop, stop, stop!"

A group of people were drinking and having fun, especially with the company of a ruffian like Xue Pan, it was quite lively. No wonder, except Jia Rong, everyone else liked to take Xue Pan out to play.

Even the poems written by Xue Pan were more recognizable than those written by Jia Rong and Jia Baoyu, and soon they became popular. This was not a good thing, as the emperor was fulfilling his filial duty when the emperor passed away. Soon someone told the emperor about this.

Jia Baoyu, Xue Pan and others were directly taken to jail to await their fate!
Jia Rong, Jia Zheng and others learned about this after they returned from the court where they attended the mourning ceremony.

The four people, namely, Jia's mother, Lady Wang, Lady Xing and Wang Xifeng, who were supposed to accompany the old empress dowager in the palace, were also sent back.

A group of people were milling around in a hurry.

In Rongguo Mansion, Jia Lian, Jia Rong and Jia Zheng were sitting in the hall discussing things.

Jia Rong cursed, "That useless bastard, after what he did, how can we serve as officials in front of the emperor in the future?"

The female relatives who were listening behind the curtain in the inner hall heard this, and Mrs. Wang quickly said, "Now is not the time to be angry. The most important thing is to get the person out first."

Jia Rong looked at the room next door and yelled, "It's all you, woman, who has ruined us all. Normally, I want to take care of him but you're afraid I'll beat him up so you won't let me. Have you taken care of him yourself? I've long told you that you can't always spoil that bastard, but you just won't listen and turn a deaf ear to my words!"

"Qin Zhong didn't learn good things because he followed Jia Baoyu! I almost broke one of his legs to stop him from following a bunch of bastards. Now you can see for yourself whether I harmed him or saved him!"

Jia Zheng listened to his wife and son being scolded by his son-in-law, and sat in a chair with a sad face and sighed endlessly.

Mrs. Wang cried across the wall, "If anything happens to Baoyu, I won't live anymore!"

Jia Rong cursed: "That's also your fault!"

Mrs. Wang was annoyed by Jia Rong and scolded him, "We are all surnamed Jia. No matter how unworthy Baoyu is, he is still your brother-in-law! How can you not help him?"

Lin Daiyu said quickly: "Aunt, Brother Rong, please stop arguing. Now is not the time to quarrel."

Seeing Lin Daiyu say this, Jia Rong said directly: "Come out and talk, what are you afraid of as a family? Can you get pregnant just by looking at her?"

Grandmother Jia sighed and said, "Let's go out and discuss what to do."

Everyone sat down separately, the three men sat on chairs in the main hall, and the rest of the women stood or sat in the distance.

Mrs. Wang wiped her tears with a handkerchief and now she knew she was crying.

Jia Lian looked at Jia Rong, "What should we do now?"

Jia Rong thought for a long time but could not come up with a good solution. "Eat and drink. Madam, don't be sad. Yuanchun is fine. There will be someone to take care of you in the future."

Jia Yuanchun was still in the palace as a female member of the family accompanying the old empress dowager. The emperor only blamed the Rongguo Mansion and had no intention of blaming Jia Rong.

After hearing Jia Rong's words of comfort, Mrs. Wang cried even more miserably than when she was scolded just now.

Aunt Xue was very anxious. "I have sent someone with money to help. It doesn't matter how much money it costs, as long as my son can be rescued."

Jia Rong said nothing and didn't want to pay any attention to her at all.

Aunt Xue was anxious but there was nothing she could do. Xue Baochai also knew that she had offended the emperor, and it was basically impossible to solve the problem by spending money.

But even so, the Xue family still borrowed a lot of money from everywhere to build connections.

Jia Rong and Jia Zheng continued to attend the mourning ceremony the next day.

The two men were not of the same rank, nor were they in the same department. When Jia Rong came home from get off work in the evening, he was invited over by the people from Rong Mansion.

When they arrived at the place, they found that Mrs. Wang and Wang Xifeng were there, as well as Lady Jia, Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai and others.

Xichun has been living in Ning Mansion for the past two years. She was originally a member of Ning Mansion and is now the eldest daughter of Ning Mansion. She rarely comes to Rong Mansion.

After seeing Jia Rong come in, Jia Lian stood up and told him what happened today.

"The Emperor ordered people to beat Baoyu and the others with 50 sticks, and also sentenced them to not be allowed to serve as officials this time. They will be released after serving their sentences tomorrow. He also said that Master Zheng did not teach his son well, so the Emperor ordered Master Zheng to reflect on his mistakes at home and dismissed him from his official position."

Seeing that everything was alright, Jia Rong nodded, "That's good."

Jia Zheng sighed and said nothing. Jia Baoyu was a useless man after he was born. He could not be an official, nor could he participate in various important occasions and activities. It would be impossible for him to find a wife from a similar family in the future.

Wang Xifeng said, "We have already spent money to ask the people in the Ministry of Justice to be lenient. How can the Second Master withstand fifty strokes of the cane? What will we do if something bad happens?"

Jia Rong was relieved to see that everything was fine. "It's good to have a life. I should be more stable in the future."

Wang Xifeng continued, "The palace has announced that the old lady and I will accompany you tomorrow. I understand why you don't want to call me Madam, but why not let the eldest Madam go?"

Mrs. Xing was very embarrassed at this time. Although she didn't want to go, it would be strange if she was not allowed to go.

Jia Rong said, "I have a friend in the Imperial Academy. He seemed to have said before that Master She had done some indecent things. Perhaps he was disliked by the Emperor, so he settled the score with him because of Baoyu's matter this time."

Jia Rong sighed after he finished speaking, "Now the circles in the capital are saying that the Rong Mansion has a bad family tradition. Only the two lions in front of the door are clean. If you want to discuss things in the future, you should go to my Ning Mansion to talk."

Grandmother Jia was anxious, angry and ashamed, "Nonsense! It's all nonsense!"

Jia Rong, who was the first to say this, said helplessly, "It wasn't me who said that."

The Ning family is a scholarly family. The grandfather was a Jinshi and the grandson was a Tanhua. They are also well-behaved and have a wide circle of friends.

The Rong Mansion is a place where the top is not straight and the bottom is crooked. Jia She is obsessed with women, Jia Lian is also flirting with women outside all day long, and Jia Baoyu is hanging out with a bunch of questionable people all day long. This time, he was arrested together with actors and prostitutes.

Not to mention people like Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan who are always looking for trouble. The whole place is filled with chaos.

(End of this chapter)