The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Now it was Jia Yucun's turn to take the stage.

Chapter 148 Helplessness (Please Subscribe)

Jia Yucun's mood was not very pleasant at the moment.

He was overjoyed when he received the transfer document and rushed to the capital.

As a result, the Second Master Zheng poured cold water on him.

The Second Master Zheng didn't say much, only briefly mentioning Xue Pan and the Xue family's affairs. He didn't reprimand them, but simply told them to do their job well and not to betray the trust placed in them by the Emperor.

Of course he understood what those words meant.

My mood plummeted, but fortunately, the Second Master Zheng did not pursue the matter.

But carrying a burden in his heart, he always felt inferior when working with Master Zheng and Lin Ruhai.

This feeling was quite unpleasant, but Jia Yucun was helpless about it.

Just as Jia Huan once said, there are some things he can do, but there are some things he absolutely cannot do, because doing them would mean cutting himself off from officialdom.

With this mental burden, one naturally becomes quite diligent in their work and understands that they must not be careless when putting in effort.

Now it's time for Jia Yucun to show his skills.

I don't know where Master Zheng got the news, but those few stingy noble families not only have their sons sleeping around with prostitutes, but they also spend money like water at the drop of a hat.

What else is there to say? Just impeach them!

A family riddled with flaws like this would be easy to impeach.

Unfortunately, their family members are very flamboyant outside, and it's easy to find out with a little inquiry, so it can't be considered as deliberately prying into the privacy of officials.

In short, those few ruthless individuals were impeached to the point of near death, making a huge fool of themselves in the imperial court.

In front of a group of court officials, he directly threw the impeachment memorial at the face of the head of the opposing family, followed by a barrage of verbal abuse, easily getting those men under his control.

In the end, wouldn't they still have to obediently take the money and pay off the national treasury debt in one go?

Why bother with all this trouble?

They lost face in the imperial court, were blacklisted by the authorities, and still had to pay off their debts to the national treasury in full—a truly devastating loss.

Jia Yucun also became famous overnight!

Becoming a censor is that easy; young censors are even actively courting him.

It can be said that Jia Yucun's future was quite bright, but he was not entirely happy.

Now that the Second Master Zheng has a handle on him, he may not be able to completely extricate himself from the situation.

Unless the Ning and Rong mansions are completely destroyed, the price he would have to pay to break free from the control of Master Zheng would be something Jia Yucun would find unacceptable.

Fortunately, the Second Master Zheng didn't bring up the matter often, and his personality wasn't one to cause trouble, which relieved Jia Yucun somewhat.

"That's why people say it's best if an official doesn't have any obvious flaws, otherwise life won't be easy!"

Jia Huan's opinion on this was that Jia Yucun deserved it.

Since they've decided to scheme against the Xue family, they must consider the possibility of retaliation from the Xue family's relatives.

There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world; you always have to pay a price.

Ahem, speaking of Jia Huan, once he returned to the capital, things went back to normal, and he naturally regained his rightful place.

In the inner courtyard of the Rong Mansion, he remained a relatively unknown and unimportant figure.

This situation surprised Lin Ruhai quite a bit, and he found it very unbelievable.

Although he only had a brief half-day encounter with Jia Huan in Tongzhou, Jia Huan still left a very deep impression on him. According to the old steward, Jia Huan's demeanor was quite like that of a young master from a prominent family.

Who would have thought that the real Jia Huan was actually an insignificant nobody in the Rong Mansion?

In other words, the Second Master Zheng paid a little more attention to him, allowing him to freely enter and leave the main study and participate in discussions and analyses of some matters.

Lin Ruhai was all too familiar with this model; it was exactly the same pattern as the rise of his ancestors, where the role was simply to devise strategies.

But this isn't how you cultivate a family successor, or a core reserve force.

Five days after arriving in Beijing, Lin Ruhai moved into the Lin family's old residence.

Afterwards, he personally went to the Rong Mansion to pay his respects to the old lady and also took Lin Daiyu home.

The Rong family had made preparations in advance and sent Jia Baoyu away early in the morning, fearing that he would embarrass himself in front of Lin Ruhai and cause a scene.

Even a fool would know that Lin Daiyu couldn't possibly refuse to leave with Lin Ruhai.

Unless the Lin family's old house hasn't been properly renovated yet, that's impossible.

If Lin Daiyu hadn't gone with them, her reputation would have been almost completely ruined in an instant.

Of course, the old lady still pretended to try to persuade her to stay, but Lin Daiyu naturally did not agree.

What puzzled Lin Ruhai was that Jia Huan was nowhere to be seen at the banquet held in Rongqing Hall.

He was the kind of person who immediately sensed something was wrong!

When the two masters were talking in the study, they finally saw Jia Huan sitting in the corner.

At this time, Jia Huan was not as high-spirited as he was in Tongzhou. He simply bowed and greeted them from afar, without any intention of getting closer.

Lin Ruhai had been curious all along, and it wasn't until he returned to the old house that he asked his daughter, Lin Daiyu, about it.

Lin Daiyu's answer surprised him even more, and he found it somewhat unbelievable.

“Huan-ge’er is not valued in the Rong family. He is not even allowed to come to Rongqing Hall to pay his respects without his maternal grandmother’s permission!”

"No way! I think Huan-ge'er is quite good!"

Lin Ruhai found it incredible; Jia Huan had left a very good impression on him.

He is measured in his actions and remains calm in the face of adversity, displaying the composure of a well-bred young master, which is quite remarkable.

In all his years in Yangzhou, none of the so-called noble young men or descendants of salt merchants he had met could match Jia Huan in terms of demeanor; this was his honest opinion.

Lin Daiyu was puzzled and didn't understand why her father said that.

"My daughter has been in the Rong family for almost two years, and she can count the number of times she has seen Huan-ge'er on one hand. She didn't find him to be any different!"

Lin Ruhai chuckled and asked, "Then, does the Rong family have any promising young men they value?"

"Of course!"

Lin Daiyu laughed and said, "Isn't it just Brother Bao? My maternal grandmother and second aunt treat him like the apple of their eye, they value him to the extreme!"

"Oh, you're talking about Baoyu!"

Lin Ruhai nodded and asked curiously, "I heard he was born with jade, which means he has great fortune?"

"Whether he will have great fortune is unclear, but Brother Bao does indeed possess a rather peculiar piece of jade!"

When she was in the Rong Mansion, she habitually called Baoyu by his given name, and no one thought it was inappropriate.

However, in front of her own father, Lin Daiyu would naturally not do such an ill-mannered thing, and she could easily call him "Brother Bao Er".

If Jia Baoyu heard this, he would probably throw a tantrum, feeling that Lin Daiyu had become distant from him.

Lin Ruhai secretly shook his head, quite dissatisfied with the behavior of Madam Wang, the second wife of the Yue family.

Has he lost his mind? How can someone just concoct auspicious omens to win favor? If things go wrong, the entire Rong family will be doomed!

Fortunately, he is not too interested in these things nowadays, otherwise he and his family would be seriously affected, and he would still want to be an official in the court.

"That Baoyu must be very good at studying, right? How good is he?"

Although he was displeased, he didn't show it on his face. Lin Ruhai asked curiously, "With such importance attached to him, the Rong family must be grooming Baoyu as the core of the next generation. He can't afford to not perform well!"

To reiterate, Jia Huan left a deep impression on him.

If Jia Baoyu's performance wasn't exceptionally talented, how could the elders in the mansion have simply ignored Jia Huan, treating him like a nobody?

A strange, subtle expression appeared on Lin Daiyu's small face, and she couldn't help but chuckle softly: "To be honest, Brother Bao is indeed very intelligent, but it's a pity that his mind is not on serious imperial examination essays at all!"

As if recalling something amusing, she chuckled and said, "Second Uncle often forces Brother Bao to study, but Brother Bao just doesn't want to. He throws all sorts of tantrums to avoid going to the clan school, causing quite a few laughs!"

After all, she was just a young girl, and her mind was focused on the fun she remembered, so she didn't notice Lin Ruhai's suddenly changing gaze.

I dislike serious articles about the imperial examination system!

If it were spoken by a young girl like Lin Daiyu, it might just be a joke.

But to Lin Ruhai's ears, it sounded like the clanging of metal on metal.

My first reaction was that the Rong family hadn't cultivated Jia Baoyu as a core reserve talent; my second reaction was, what kind of person is this? How could someone like him completely overshadow Huan-ge'er?

Clearly, the situation inside the Rong family mansion is more complicated than I imagined.

No matter the era, it's a recipe for ruin if the family's outstanding members are not valued and instead those without ambition are favored.

Next, Lin Ruhai inquired about the situation of some of the Rong family's descendants, but the result made him feel increasingly gloomy, as he felt that the situation of the Yue family's descendants was probably quite bad.

Although Lin Daiyu only briefly mentioned some things, who was Lin Ruhai?

It's almost immediately obvious that Jia Baoyu is nothing more than a spoiled, dissolute young master.

His chances of getting along are not bad, but that's about it; he's not capable of shouldering the heavy responsibilities of the family.