The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Seeing that the Second Master was clearly interested, he pressed on while the iron was hot, saying, "It would be too conspicuous for you to personally step forward at this time. Why don't you ask the Old Madam for help to invite some familiar matriarchs of the families to a banquet and a show, and incidentally reveal the matter so that the core of the families behind them will be aware of it!"

"Of course, we also need manpower to handle the specific operations, and I think Brother Zhen is a good fit!"

“He is the patriarch of our Jia clan. He has connections in the palace, among noble families, and in the imperial court. It is most appropriate for him to step forward!”

With just a few words, he arranged things in a clear and orderly manner.

Anyone familiar with the Ning and Rong mansions would have to secretly praise Jia Huan's idea as quite prudent.

Including the Second Master Zheng, and a group of scholars and gentlemen, they gained a new understanding of Jia Huan's abilities.

As expected of someone who is well-versed in historical materials, his mind works really fast!

"Brilliant! Young Master Huan's idea is quite appropriate!"

The guests quickly realized what was going on and immediately began to flatter them, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.

In an instant, the once somewhat oppressive atmosphere in the study returned to a lively and cheerful atmosphere, filled with laughter and conversation.

As it turns out, while the Second Master Zheng might be too proud to admit his shortcomings in public, he was quite willing to humble himself before his mother and easily ask her for help.

The old lady was very supportive of the second master's ambition. She not only readily agreed to help him spread the word among the familiar noble families, but also contributed three thousand taels of silver as a sponsorship.

It has to be said, experience truly matters!

She was far better than Madam Wang, who just watched with a smile and made no comment.

Do you really think you can get a lucrative position just because of the Rong family's reputation?

Indeed, the position that the Second Master Zheng was striving for was in the granary office under the Ministry of Revenue. He wanted to become the head of the grain storage office, which was an extremely lucrative post.

If it weren't for the drought, which prompted the imperial court to urgently inspect the capital's granaries and discover a huge deficit that led to the arrest of many officials, it wouldn't have been easy for Lord Zheng to get in.

There's a reason why we chose this location.

Like the granary administration office and the canal transport administration office, it was filled with a large number of officials who had connections to the government.

When the Second Master Zheng was promoted, it wouldn't seem too abrupt, nor would he be targeted.

If one doesn't want to leave the capital, there are actually provincial grain commissioners' offices one can enter, and the current opportunity is quite good.

Regardless of the circumstances, given the current state of the Second Master Zheng, he would naturally need to bribe his way to promotion.

The old lady's actions were probably meant to be a prelude, hoping to make Mrs. Wang more self-aware.

Unfortunately, Madam Wang either didn't understand the old lady's meaning or didn't want to spend the money, because she didn't react at all.

In the end, Jia Huan quietly approached Wang Xifeng and persuaded the steward of the Rong Mansion to squeeze out two thousand taels of silver from the public funds to sponsor Master Zheng.

Jia Huan did not hide this from Master Zheng, but instead instructed Jia Lian to deliver the silver notes openly to the study, making sure the favor was properly settled.

Moreover, it was Jia Lian who took Jia Huan to handle the negotiations with Jia Zhen of the Ning Mansion.

He laid out the five thousand taels of silver notes and then explained the matter.

How could Jia Zhen dare to be negligent?

If anything goes wrong because of him, the old lady will be the first to not forgive him.

Although he was very confident, he still didn't dare to make a guarantee, but only said that he would do his best.

With his assurance, Jia Lian and Jia Huan basically understood the situation.

Barring any unforeseen setbacks, the matter of the Second Master Zheng is basically settled.

After discussing business, Jia Zhen turned his attention to Jia Huan and said with a smile, "Huan-ge'er is really remarkable. He can go out and handle things at such a young age!"

"I've read a few more history books!"

Jia Huan replied with a smile, "Don't be fooled by what's recorded in history books; it's all stuff that has already happened!"

"But in fact, many things that are happening now can be traced back to historical records, especially those concerning the imperial court and officialdom!"

"It's also because my father is open-minded and doesn't ignore my opinions just because I'm young that I had the opportunity to come and broaden my horizons with my second brother Lian!"

Even so, that's still quite impressive!

Jia Zhen chuckled and said, "If Uncle Zheng has any orders in the future, just come and tell me!"

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Jia Zhen did not invite Jia Lian and Jia Huan to stay for a meal; the two simply took their leave.

"Brother Zhen, you're acting like we're strangers!"

After leaving the Ning Mansion, Jia Lian couldn't help but sigh repeatedly, "It wasn't like this before!"

"With the Ning family's head steward, Lai Er, constantly nagging in your ear, even the best relationship will develop rifts over time. It's perfectly normal!"

Jia Huan dismissed it, saying, "We'll just find a suitable opportunity to deal with Lai Er later!"

"It's not that simple!"

Jia Lian smiled wryly and shook his head, saying, "The Lai family's affairs are quite complicated and cannot be resolved in a short time. You'd better not get involved recklessly!"

This guy's words were full of dejection; I really don't know what to say.

Dealing with the Lai family is very simple; all we need to do is unite with the two masters in the mansion, and the matter will be easily resolved.

It's likely that Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng either didn't think of it, or they were unwilling to give up their interests.

The Lai family's assets are conservatively estimated to be over 500,000 taels of silver, which is an unimaginable amount of wealth even for the Ning and Rong mansions.

How could Master She and Master Zheng not be interested?

Jia Huan was too lazy to talk about this matter; as long as he wasn't dragged into it, that was fine.

He's too young to get involved in the rest; he's already attracted enough attention.

The wait was agonizing. At least Jia Huan could tell that although Master Zheng remained calm and collected, the subtle changes in his expression did not escape his keen eyes.

Chapter 68 I've almost completely lost face (Please add to your favorites and follow along)

No one expected that instead of the official promotion document from the Ministry of Personnel, they would receive an impeachment from the censors.

The impeachment was simple: it ridiculed the Second Minister of Works as a holdout in the Ministry of Works, an official with little ability and accomplishment, yet still harboring delusions about promotion.

That's utterly shameless. If it were an official with any sense of shame, they would have resigned and gone home to farm.

Moreover, the impeachment included some questions about the character of the Second Master Zheng and some contempt for his steward's abilities.

Fortunately, although the Second Master Zheng was not very capable, he was not the type to cause trouble.

The censors wanted to find other grounds for impeachment, but they couldn't find any loopholes for the time being.

Of course, no censor dared to easily criticize the core issues of the Rong family, such as the succession of the title and the fact that the head of the family was not the eldest son of the legitimate wife, as that would be a fatal enmity.

Even so, upon hearing that an imperial censor had impeached him, the Second Master Zheng was so shocked that he turned pale and lost his composure.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

It's likely that the Second Master Zheng's mind was completely blank at this moment, otherwise he wouldn't have kept repeating this sentence, which sounded incredibly guilty.

The group of scholars and gentlemen exchanged bewildered glances, most of them also showing expressions of apprehension.

Some of the muddle-headed ones actually blurted out, "Master Dong, you shouldn't have listened to Young Master Huan in the first place. You never expected that this would lead to an impeachment by the censor!"

Damn, this is blatant blame-shifting; they have absolutely no sense of responsibility.

"I think so too. After all, Huan is still young, so it's normal for him to be a little impulsive!"

"I disagreed with Young Master Huan's idea from the beginning, but I regret that I didn't speak up against it!"

"..."

Only a few of the scholars were eager to shirk responsibility and distance themselves from the matter; the rest of the scholars remained silent, their eyes fixed on Jia Huan.

Even Master Zheng Er subconsciously focused his gaze on Jia Huan, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

There was resentment, regret, and confusion; in short, one could clearly see his depressed mood at that moment.

Jia Huan really wanted to roll his eyes. He and the Second Master Zheng bluntly said, "The quality of your retainers is not good."

You panicked over such a small thing and even tried to shift the blame onto yourself. Have you lost your mind?

Don't they realize that even if Master Zheng Er were to encounter trouble, would he really pin the blame on Jia Huan? At most, he would simply relegate him to the guest seat in the main study.

On the contrary, the Qingke gentleman who was eager to shirk responsibility will definitely be expelled by Master Zheng afterward.

What a joke! Doesn't he even know what kind of relationship Jia Huan has with Master Zheng, or how old he is? Why is he so eager to shift the blame and pin the blame? Is he out of his mind?

"Ahem, it's just an impeachment memorial, nothing to worry about!"

Clearing his throat, Jia Huan said dismissively, "Throughout history, anyone who wanted to get involved in the power struggles of the court, even famous ministers and prime ministers, could not escape impeachment!"

"The master has only been impeached, what's the big deal?"

Jia Huan looked around and said leisurely, "With the Rong family's prestige and strength, surely a mere impeachment can bring down the Rong family and the master completely?"

"That's not how you make a joke!"

At this point, he couldn't help but sneer, "Leaving aside the content of the impeachment, it's practically harmless!"

"On the contrary, the fact that the master has received such a ridiculous impeachment at this time just shows that the matter of promotion should be in sight!"

"The reason for the impeachment is probably that some people's interests have been harmed, and they want to make things difficult for the master and the manor. We must not panic!"

His words were reasonable and well-founded, and most importantly, they were something that Master Zheng liked to hear.