The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

As Jia Huan had anticipated, things escalated rapidly, becoming uncontrollable by May. A solution had to be found, or the turmoil in the court would continue and could even trigger a more serious factional struggle!

Chapter 273 Jia Huan, the 'Ignorant and Incompetent'

Prince Zhongshun's actions this time are almost tantamount to self-destruction.

Of course, it wasn't a real suicide mission, but rather an attempt to use his income from the salt administration to blow up the huge hole that was the salt administration, and incidentally stir up trouble in the court.

Success cannot be considered complete without bringing in several high-ranking officials of the third rank or above!

Not long after, high-ranking officials of the third rank or above in the imperial court were impeached and dismissed from their posts.

This time, it's still the bigwig in the Ministry of Revenue who's in trouble!

Then, the cabinet itself fell into chaos as people vied for the vacant official positions.

The chief minister and the deputy chief minister were locked in a fierce confrontation, while the other three cabinet ministers appeared to be neutral, but in private they were using various tactics to prevent the dispute from subsiding quickly.

Things like court infighting can easily escalate if not controlled properly!

Currently, thanks to the efforts of various forces, the entire court has fallen into complete chaos.

The people of the capital soon found out, and all sorts of rumors spread, making the situation even more chaotic.

Jia Huan didn't take these things to heart.

Even though two high-ranking officials of the third rank were dismissed within a month, it did not attract much of his attention.

Until the end of May, I suddenly received an invitation from Lin Ruhai.

Jia Huan dared not delay and went directly to the Lin family that evening, where he met Lin Ruhai, who looked grim.

"Uncle, what happened?"

He didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the point: "If there's anything I can do to help, I certainly won't refuse. Uncle, please rest assured!"

"You said it yourself, kid!"

Lin Ruhai smiled slightly and said directly, "Then you should ask Brother Cunzhou to come and propose marriage!"

"So urgent?"

Jia Huan was taken aback and asked curiously, "Could something have really happened?"

As for asking Master Zheng to help with the marriage proposal, that's a trivial matter.

He was already thirteen years old at this time, fifteen in the traditional Chinese age reckoning, which was old enough for him to be married without any problem.

As for Lin Daiyu, she is already over sixteen years old and of marriageable age.

However, Lin Ruhai's frankness and eagerness seemed rather abnormal.

"Just tell me, can you do it or not!"

Lin Ruhai didn't answer but asked in return, "If that doesn't work, I'll go and talk to Brother Cunzhou myself!"

"It's not a big problem!"

Jia Huan said directly, "I can explain things clearly to the master tomorrow, but I don't know about my uncle's situation!"

"After all, inviting an official matchmaker requires waiting for an auspicious day to visit, and there are also some gifts to prepare. It's impossible to complete this in a short time. Uncle should understand this!"

"Of course I understand!"

Lin Ruhai's smile grew even more genuine as he leisurely said, "The matter is actually very simple!"

"I believe you should know that the current situation in the court is not very stable!"

"Judging from this, it's certain that I'll be affected in the end!"

"What I'm worried about is that the imperial court might suddenly transfer me out of the capital, and then it won't be so convenient for me to deal with your cousin's affairs!"

"There's one more thing, and I'm not too happy about your cousin continuing to stay at the Rong Mansion temporarily!"

As he spoke, a half-smile appeared on his face, and he stared at Jia Huan without saying a word.

Damn it, if you don't like certain people in the Rong family, just say so. Do you think I don't know?

Jia Huan found it amusing and nodded to indicate that he understood: "I see, Uncle's concerns are not unfounded!"

Jia Huan guessed that Lin Ruhai must have heard some rumors, but just didn't want to tell him.

How could someone like Lin Ruhai not have some highly secretive information channels?

It might even implicate the imperial palace, so not revealing it easily is the best course of action.

Even if Jia Huan agreed to the marriage proposal, there were certain things that could not be easily revealed until he was officially married to Lin Daiyu. This was an essential quality for a high-ranking official.

"Alright, Uncle had better explain things clearly to my cousin!"

Jia Huan said with a smile, "I'm not very good at those romantic things, I'm afraid my cousin will find them unappealing!"

This is no exaggeration. It's highly unlikely that he would try to win a girl's favor like Jia Baoyu did.

Despite all the terrible things Jia Baoyu did, he is still popular with girls. Besides the halo brought by his status and position, his personality is definitely one of the main factors.

Even without the three sisters and Lin and Xue, there are still Shi Xiangyun and Miaoyu, right?

Speaking of Miaoyu, she is still much like the character in the original novel, temporarily residing in the small Buddhist hall of the Rong Mansion's family-returning courtyard.

Of course, compared to the Grand View Garden, her current living environment is much cramped. There's also no plum grove for her to enjoy and show off.

Similar to the original story, I've heard that this character is quite arrogant and aloof.

The only one who could catch her eye was still Jia Baoyu.

As for the three sisters and Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai who occasionally visited, they were not taken seriously at all.

That's right. Although Jia Baoyu and his family weren't allowed to stay at the Imperial Residence, it wasn't a problem for them to visit from time to time. As Yuan Chun put it, it was to maintain the atmosphere.

Inside, there were also palace maids and eunuchs maintaining the detached residence for visiting relatives, and it was not difficult to understand why there was an additional small Buddhist hall and nuns practicing on behalf of others.

Anyway, Jia Huan didn't care much about Miaoyu!

Of course, Jia Huan never visited the provincial residence, let alone saw Miaoyu in person!

"You little rascal, do you think Daiyu is completely ignorant of worldly affairs?"

Lin Ruhai said irritably, "Since I returned to the capital, she has been handling most of the household affairs, so she naturally knows what's good and bad!"

Some things don't need to be said. Even if Lin Daiyu had feelings for Jia Baoyu, he wouldn't be happy about it.

Based on the messes Jia Baoyu has made, he is clearly not a good marriage prospect!

After reaching an agreement, Jia Huan did not stay at the Lin family's place any longer and took his leave.

Lin Ruhai smiled gently. If Lin Daiyu's marriage could be settled quickly, he could finally rest assured.

As I said before, the Lin family is small, so Lin Daiyu's marriage is the most important thing right now.

Since Lin Daiyu came of age, his classmates and fellow townsmen had expressed interest in marrying her, but he politely declined them all.

Neither Lin Daiyu's personality nor the Lin family's own stance made it suitable for her to marry into a family of civil officials.

The range of choices was actually not very large, but Jia Huan's performance and other factors were all quite good, so Lin Ruhai decided to focus on this kid.

As for Lin Daiyu, after more than a year of correspondence, she at least did not reject Jia Huan and could often discuss things of interest in their letters.

Lin Ruhai saw all of this and was pleased. It would be best to make a final decision now.

He wasn't lying to Jia Huan; he had indeed heard some unsettling rumors. Regardless of the possibility of being transferred out of the capital, he needed to be fully prepared.

What he said to Jia Huan was all from the heart. He especially didn't want Lin Daiyu to return to the Rong Mansion and live as a dependent because of his departure.

There's nothing I can do. It would be one thing if I didn't know, but how could I not know the situation of the Rong family when we're so close?

In his opinion, the current situation of the Rong family was really hard to understand.

The once grand Duke's mansion had somehow become rather chaotic and disorderly.

The servants of the Rong family were not only unruly within the mansion, but also extremely arrogant and domineering outside.

Those who don't know better would think they're some kind of amazing people, arrogant and conceited.

Having stayed in the capital for so long, he had gradually learned about Lin Daiyu's life in the Rong Mansion, and his anger was quite intense.

If he hadn't been so well-mannered, he probably would have already caused a scene at the Rong Mansion.

His feelings toward the old lady were quite complicated!

To say that the old lady didn't care about Lin Daiyu is not true; she treated Lin Daiyu with great affection.

However, some things, whether unintentionally overlooked or deliberately done, caused considerable impact and harm to Lin Daiyu.

What Lin Ruhai found most unacceptable was that the old lady actually dragged Lin Daiyu into her struggle with the second wife, Madam Wang, causing Lin Daiyu to suffer a lot of grievances for no reason.

In particular, when he learned that the Rong family was actually praising Xue Baochai, the daughter of a royal merchant, and comparing her to Lin Daiyu, and even intentionally targeting Lin Daiyu, his mood was naturally not good.

It's not that he looks down on people, but if the person being belittled is his own daughter, then there's nothing more to say. So what if he looks down on her?

Lin Ruhai felt that Madam Wang had something wrong with her head!

The old lady wasn't exactly clever either. Xue Baochai, the daughter of a royal merchant, actually managed to suppress the three young ladies in the mansion. What an absurd thing to do.

Fortunately, the Rong family's servants didn't have a good reputation and their relationships with servants from other mansions were just so-so. Otherwise, the news would have easily spread, and all the girls of the Jia family in the capital would have been in trouble.

This is no joke!