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Suning naturally didn't know that his behavior would frighten many people. The eight most popular alleys in the capital also became deserted. Anyway, he would arrange it however he wanted.

However, after waiting alone in Shichahai for a long time, Su Ning did not wait for the feminine Bao Erye. But the cold wind made Su Ning sober up. No matter what, he was a straight man, and no one could turn him gay.

At this time, the butler Fu An, with a strange look on his face, persuaded Su Ning to return home, "Young Master, it's getting late, shall we go back home?"

Su Ning thought for a moment and handed the letter he had just written to Fu An. "Fu An, I just wrote a letter. Please send a servant to deliver it to Master Bao."

"Yes! Young Master, but the Duke and his wife don't like you having any contact with the Jia family." Fu An, who took the letter, couldn't help but remind Su Ning depressedly.

However, Su Ning shook his head disapprovingly and explained, "That's fine! Master Bao is just a playboy who grew up surrounded by women. He's not a powerful figure in the Jia family."

"Yes! Young Master, I will send someone to do it right away."

"Well, go back home."

In fact, the identity arranged for Suning by the system this time is quite impressive. Not only does he have a powerful father who is the Duke of Feng'en, he was admitted to the official school of Xian'an Palace when he was ten years old, and he is also proficient in many languages including Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan, English, French, and Russian.

His next plan was to take the imperial examination and gain an honor, or be selected into the palace as a guard, which would definitely be better than the useless Jia Baoyu.

……

At this time, Jia Baoyu had naturally received Suning's letter. Looking at the letter written in full ink, he did not feel any joy, but his heart was filled with endless regret. He thought that he should not have broken the appointment today no matter what.

Xiren and Qingwen, who were standing by, came over with surprised faces, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Second Master, I didn't expect the young master's handwriting to be so beautiful. He is indeed worthy of being a great talent in the official school of Xian'an Palace."

"Oh! I broke my promise today. Although the young master doesn't care, I still feel very upset." However, Master Bao's face was full of regret and depression. He felt that he was so sorry for his good friend Suning.

At this time, Xiren, who was always considerate, smiled and persuaded, "I believe the young master has also heard about our Jia family's affairs. I believe he will understand you."

"That's right! The young master explained this in the letter. I must find an opportunity to sleep with him."

"Eh? Young Master, don't you want Xiren anymore?"

"Hehe, at worst we can go together."

"Bah! Second Master, you are always so unruly."

The maids in the Jia family are all accustomed to Jia Baoyu's excessive debauchery. No beautiful maid can escape his clutches, and these maids also want to be favored by Jia Baoyu.

So Jia Baoyu soon started playing and playing with Xiren and Qingwen again. He felt that this kind of day was what he liked, and he only hoped that he could stay in this gentle place for the rest of his life.

……

The situation at the Su and Jia families was completely different. There were no maids serving Su Ning in the backyard, only a few old women and a handful of male servants. It was obvious that Su's father did not want Su Ning to fall into the arms of a gentle woman too early.

However, Su Ning did not want to live a life like Jia Baoyu's, where he was surrounded by beautiful women. Instead, he was thinking about how to break free from the shackles of fate so that the Su family would not follow in the footsteps of the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family.

As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints new ministers. No one can always be the emperor's confidant. Even the women in the harem cannot please him every night. Therefore, it is only a matter of time before many noble families fall into decline.

Therefore, Suning needs to consider how to get rid of the shackles of the Red Mansion's imperial power. As long as he can leave this Eastern Empire, he will be able to fly freely in the sky and jump freely in the sea.

At this time, the Duke's wife walked into Su Ning's room and asked, "Ning'er, what are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing! It's just one person's random thoughts." Su Ning, who was awakened, quickly explained with a nonchalant smile.

"Are you thinking about your future wife?" The Duke's wife couldn't help but tease with a smile.

"Eh? Mother, no."

Then the Duke's wife suddenly looked at Su Ning in front of her and explained, "Ning'er, someone came to the mansion today to discuss marriage. Can you guess which family the girl is from?"

"I don't know." Su Ning looked at his mother in confusion and shook his head.

The Duke's wife then explained with a smile on her face, "She is Lin Rong, the youngest daughter of Lin Yi'an, the Governor of Jiangsu Province."

"Oh? Lin Yian?" At this time, Suning couldn't help but feel surprised, because this so-called Lin Yian is not the historical Ortai?

The Duke's wife didn't pay any attention to Su Ning's shocked introduction and said, "Although Lin Yi'an is already forty-three years old, he is the current emperor's absolute confidant. If our family marries into the Lin family, I'm sure the current emperor will be very happy."

Su Ning thought about it and didn't have too many requirements for his partner, so he simply left it to his parents to decide. "Okay! Everything will be arranged by my parents."

"That's great! Also, your father is helping you get a job as a guard in the imperial palace, which will open up a path to promotion for you in the future."

"Mother, I still want to take the imperial examination."

The Duke's wife smiled nonchalantly and explained, "Silly child, being a guard in the palace won't prevent you from taking the imperial examination. Even if you pass the examination, you still need the emperor's respect."

"Oh! Okay! But I have nothing to do now, so it would be nice to have a job." Suning thought about it and nodded again in agreement.

"That's right! Did you encounter anything interesting when you went to the Jia family to celebrate their birthday yesterday?"

"It's all okay! But I saw Xue Baochai from the Xue family at the Jia family's birthday banquet, and I thought she was pretty good-looking."

The Duke's wife immediately understood what her son meant, "Why? You want to take her as a concubine?"

"Mother, I wonder if it's appropriate?" Su Ning looked at the Duke's wife in front of him with anticipation and asked.

The Duke's wife didn't rush to respond. Instead, she explained what she had heard. "I've heard about this Xue Baochai. She was originally going to participate in the selection, but the Emperor's mind wasn't on the harem at all, so the only ones who were chosen were the daughters of powerful families. But I remember she seemed to be two years older than you, right?"

"Two years older is just right! I'll have less worries if the girl is more mature." Suning smiled indifferently.

"Alright! It's rare that you meet someone you like. Once you have arranged a marriage with Lin Yi'an's daughter, I will contact the Xue family."

"Thank you, mother."

……

In the end, Jia Zhen couldn't hold on and died from the pain, becoming a laughing stock in the streets of Beijing.

As the head of the Ningguo Mansion, Jia Zhen's funeral was naturally very grand, so the Ningguo and Rongguo Mansions of the Jia family were both in a state of commotion afterwards.

Ningguo Mansion was in such a mess, but the mistress of the house, Youshi, claimed to have stomachache and cried every day. Jia Rong, as Jia Zhen's son, was too busy to handle it alone. As a result, after Jia Baoyu recommended Wang Xifeng, she took over the mess directly.

Wang Xifeng, who had escaped the wrath of reality, was overjoyed. After all, this opportunity to take power was her home turf, and she had no idea it would be such a risky undertaking. After taking over, Wang Xifeng quickly ascertained the current state of the Ningguo Mansion, discovering five major problems: a mixed population, excessive and fraudulent payments, and the tyranny of servants.

She immediately made clear division of labor, rearranged staff, and put the affairs of the entire Ningguo Mansion in order.

Her management methods were swift and decisive. She first punished a few old slaves who were late to make an example of them, and immediately calmed the situation down.

Looking at the servants below who were frightened like quails, Wang Xifeng felt extremely proud in her heart. She just liked this wonderful feeling of being in power.

Then she did everything herself, working day and night, running between the Ning and Rong mansions every day. She was simply a "workaholic".

Not only was she outstanding in her abilities, she was also particularly good at winning people's hearts. She managed to reorganize the Ningguo Mansion, which was once a mess, into a presentable state.

It has to be said that Wang Xifeng's performance at the funeral was worthy of being called a "hero in the women's team", and she was as brave as any man.

Of course, Wang Xifeng's performance at the funeral not only demonstrated her outstanding management skills, but also exposed her cruel and greedy side.

……

The scale of this funeral was truly astonishing, unprecedented and unparalleled.

It is clearly written in the book "Dream of Red Mansions" that the funeral procession of Ningguo Mansion was so huge that "the ground was covered with mountains of silver". Even a noble prince like Prince Beijing came to pay his respects in person.

The status of the people who came was higher than each other. The descendants of the four kings and eight dukes lined up to give gifts and condolences. Even Dai Quan from the palace came to show his face in a big sedan chair, holding an umbrella, and beating gongs and drums.

This kind of pomp and circumstance was already outrageous according to the etiquette of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

According to the rules, how could Jia Zhen, who inherited the throne but was not even an eighth-rank Duke of the State, be worthy of the treatment of a prince?
It takes 49 days just to choose the right time to keep the body, and three days later the funeral will be held and the obituary will be announced.

The funeral is kept for 49 days, which is the longest period officially chosen.

It would have been impossible for Jia Zhen's death to have such a long period of mourning, because everyone in the Jia family felt too ashamed about the matter and did not hide their desire to hold a high-standard funeral for Jia Zhen.

Even the emperor and the emperor emeritus felt ashamed for not catching the real murderer. As for the officials of the Yin and Yang Department, they just did a favor and fulfilled the Jia family's wish by setting the longest period of stay for Jia Zhen's body.

Wang Xifeng made an arrangement during the funeral. She assigned twenty people to take charge of the meals and tea for the relatives. They were divided into two shifts to take turns on the job.

They are not the ones who cook, but they are responsible for leading and serving the relatives who come to pay their respects.

From this, it can be seen that the Ningguo Mansion held a buffet this time where guests could eat as they pleased, because they wanted to prove their strength to the world through a high-standard funeral.

As for a buffet, there should be people coming all day long, so there needs to be someone to guide and serve the guests at all times.

For forty-nine days, there was a buffet every day, and the kitchen was kept open from morning to night to cook.

If calculated according to the normal standards of the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family, the funeral banquet would cost at least hundreds of taels of silver a day.

The funeral will last for forty-nine days, and the total cost will definitely be five or six thousand taels of silver.

As for Jia Zhen, he was not eligible for the title of Duke of Fuguo, so he could enjoy a coffin made of wood worth 1,000 taels of silver, but the Jia family chose to use a more advanced coffin made of mast wood that would last for thousands of years.

The so-called mast wood comes from the Wang Mountain in Huanghai. It is used to make coffins and will not decay for thousands of years. The sides and bottoms are eight inches thick, with patterns like betel nut and smell like sandalwood and musk. When you knock on it with your hand, it jingles like gold and jade.

This set of mast wood was purchased as a favor by Xue Pan of the Xue family in Jinling. The labor cost alone was 1,200 taels, and the Jia family was not required to pay any additional money for the wood.

It will last for thousands of years and is extremely luxurious.

Then Jia Zhen’s mourning hall was set up in Dengxian Pavilion, and funeral ceremonies were also arranged in the main hall and Tianxiang Pavilion.

During these forty-nine days, one hundred and eighteen Zen monks were invited to perform the Great Compassion Repentance in the hall.

There is another altar on the top floor of Tianxiang Tower, where ninety-nine Quanzhen Taoists sit. In front of the spirit body, there are another fifty eminent monks and fifty high-ranking Taoists, who perform seven good deeds on the altar.

There are 307 monks, Taoists, eminent monks and Taoist masters in total, who set up Buddhist altars and Taoist temples respectively.

There are three hundred and seven people, and the money for food, lodging, and salvation for forty-nine people will not be less than forty-nine days of banquets.

After the long period of mourning was finally over, the time for the funeral finally arrived.

After daybreak, at an auspicious time, a ceremonial guard of sixty-four men in blue clothes came to take the spirit out for the funeral.

The Qingyi members of the funeral guard, some of them carry the coffin, some carry various decorations, and some are dedicated to crying at the funeral.

During the funeral procession, there were no less than a hundred cars, large and small.

Colorful tents were erected on the roadside, with banquets set up and music playing, all of which were roadside sacrifices performed by various families.

For a moment, one could see the Ning Mansion's grand funeral procession coming from the north, like a mountain of silver pressing down on the earth.

First, Jia Zhen's coffin was transported to Tiekan Temple, where it was only laid to rest for three days.

During these three days, close relatives of the Jia family's Ning and Rong mansions will stay here and have to pay to stay until the end of the Taoist ceremony.

Finally, the coffin had to be transported back to Nanjing for burial.

If we arrive in Jinling and need to hold some funeral ceremonies, we will have to spend money.

The funeral expenses of Jia Zhen, the eldest master of Ningguo Mansion, alone were second only to the expenses of the Yuanfei's visit among all the major expenses of the Ning and Rong Mansions. It was a typical lavish affair.

According to estimates, there must be more than 100,000 taels of silver. Of course, this also laid the foundation for the subsequent demise of the Jia family.

……

The person who was probably the happiest about Jia Zhen's death was Jia Rong. Jia Zhen's son, Jia Rong, now had no official position and was just a school supervisor.

Because of the special relationship between Jia Zhen and Jia Rong's wife Qin Keqing, Jia Rong hated his father so much that he had no feelings for this father who was worse than a beast.

Therefore, Jia Rong had an indifferent attitude towards Jia Zhen's funeral. Everything was taken care of by Wang Xifeng, and he just acted like a puppet every day, being manipulated by others.

……

(End of this chapter)