The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

"Let him in, look what he's done!"

The old lady's tone was somewhat displeased; she had the right and the confidence to be dissatisfied.

The matter of the Second Master's promotion was handled by Jia Zhen, who was also the one who brought the good news before, but he was tricked by someone.

If Jia Zhen cannot give a satisfactory answer, the relationship between the two households will likely cool down in the future.

Jia Zhen was covered in sweat and hurried as he entered the room, clearly very anxious.

He first greeted the elders, while Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, along with Jia Huan, rose to greet Jia Zhen, who was not only of the same generation but also the clan leader.

"Second Uncle, I already know what happened, and I've also figured out who's behind this!"

This fellow clearly knew this was not the time for pleasantries, so he went straight to the Second Master Zheng and explained, "That fellow is none other than Ma Yuan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who also serves as the Superintendent of the Granaries!"

"Why is it him?"

The Second Master's expression changed slightly, and he asked in confusion, "There has never been any conflict between me and Minister Ma before?"

"Sir, I suspect they want to place their own people in the granary administration office!"

Jia Huan spoke up at the opportune moment, sneering, "Besides, there's probably more to this than meets the eye, isn't there?"

“Huan-ge’er guessed correctly, that’s exactly right!”

Jia Zhen gave a thumbs up, looking at Jia Huan with considerable admiration, and chuckled, "That fellow Ma Yuan has always been at odds with our noble lineage, and he's a capable henchman of Grand Secretary Li!"

"Grand Secretary Li controls the Censorate, and his group of censors are all rabid dogs that bite!"

"The first memorial impeaching my second uncle was submitted by Censor Wang You, who has a very close relationship with that scoundrel Ma Yuan!"

"He also said some lewd things at the restaurant, many of which were directed at my second uncle!"

"What did that guy surnamed Ma say? Don't hold back, Zhen-ge'er, just tell us!"

Seeing Jia Zhen hesitate and look troubled, the old lady, being shrewd and experienced, surely knew what was going on. She guessed that the man surnamed Ma was going to say something particularly offensive.

But she just wanted to find out how deep the hostility between the guy surnamed Ma and the Imperial Censor Wang who impeached the second son was towards the Rong Mansion or the Jia family.

Chapter 73 Endless Trouble (Please Add to Favorites)

“That scoundrel Ma Yuan said in front of his friends that Jia Cunzhou, a lowly official in the Ministry of Works, is only spared because of his good family background!”

"Now he actually wants to take advantage of the chaos to extend his reach into the Ministry of Revenue's granary department? That's just wishful thinking. He'd be better off working at the Court of Imperial Stud raising horses!"

"From now on, address him as 'Minister of Horse Management' whenever you meet him. If he can't handle the pressure, it's best to just get out of here!"

"Hmph, if he performs poorly in the future, and makes any mistakes while in office, he can expect to be impeached!"

"Enough, stop talking!"

The old lady waved her hand to interrupt Jia Zhen's retelling. She was already certain that Ma Yuan was full of malice towards the Rong Mansion, or rather, the Jia family.

Then there's nothing more to say. If we don't take down the Rong family, we'll never have peace again.

Looking at Master Zheng again, his face was extremely ugly, his expression a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion.

The atmosphere in the hall was very heavy, and the faces of everyone present were not good.

Even Master She, who had always been at odds with Master Zheng, did not utter a word of mockery or ridicule at this moment.

After hearing Jia Zhen's retelling, even a fool would know that Ma Yuan was not only targeting Master Zheng, but also harbored deep malice towards the Jia family; he was an enemy of the household.

When facing an enemy, one should naturally unite against a common foe, rather than the two brothers fighting amongst themselves first, which would only make them a laughing stock in front of outsiders.

"What's going on? We don't seem to have any conflicts with Ma Yuan, do we?"

After regaining his composure, the Second Master Zheng asked, full of confusion, "Aren't you afraid of making a fatal enemy of me by targeting me like this?"

That's a very good question. Whether in officialdom or the imperial court, the saying goes, "Leave a way out for yourself, so you can meet again in the future."

Only in a relationship that is irreconcilable will there be no room for ruthless destruction!

Otherwise, the situation of "trying to kill a snake but failing and getting hurt instead" has happened far too often, both in the past and present; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many insightful and concise summaries.

"Master, some things are not as simple as they seem!"

At this moment, Jia Huan spoke up to explain: "In fact, there are quite a few similar stories in the history books!"

"The master believes that he and Ma Yuan have no conflict of interest, or even any contradictions, but the other party does not think so!"

"As long as the Rong family and the Jia family remain among the top elites in the capital, there will be some people and forces who will not stand up to them!"

"They just think that we take too much, so they get too little to eat, and that makes them unhappy!"

These words left the core members of the Ning and Rong mansions present looking at each other in bewilderment, but upon closer reflection, they realized that such a statement made perfect sense.

Sometimes, the officialdom is just that unreasonable. Everyone is pursuing power and interests, and even if there is no direct conflict of interest, they will secretly take hostile actions.

Meanwhile, everyone turned to look at Jia Huan's sharp reaction.

No wonder the Second Master treated him as an advisor; having read historical materials, he certainly knew more.

Before Jia Huan could finish speaking, his next words were rather harsh: "The key issue is that neither our household nor the Jia family has any capable people in the imperial court!"

"The other noble families won't easily send their men into the fray, giving outsiders the impression that they're easy to bully!"

"If we resort to bureaucratic tactics, there really isn't much we can do against them!"

These words were not well received by the core members of the Jia family present.

From the old lady to Wang Xifeng, everyone looked grim, clearly in a very unsettled mood.

Naturally, things couldn't stay peaceful; they were all being bullied by outsiders.

"How brave!"

Jia Zhen was the first to speak out, sneering, "Since Ma Yuan is so disrespectful and doesn't even respect our Jia family, then let him know how powerful we are. We absolutely cannot let him off easily!"

“Zhen-ge’er is right!”

Lord She eagerly chimed in, "Find an opportunity to deal with him!"

"It would be best if we could bring Ma Yuan down, so that others would know that the Jia family is not to be trifled with, and that they should think twice before they try to cause trouble!"

The old lady finally made the decision: "It's settled then. Let's mobilize our resources as soon as possible and teach Ma Yuan and his close associates a profound lesson!"

"Otherwise, people will really underestimate our Jia family!"

The matter of the Second Master Zheng being framed has come to a temporary end.

There was no way around it; having encountered a powerful figure in the court, a vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and without any deliberate precautions, the chances of avoiding being caught off guard were slim, unless the Second Minister of Works continued to remain in his post.

How can it be?

Since Lord Zheng has taken the initiative and acted on it, it means he has actively participated in the power struggle within the officialdom. No matter what happens, it shouldn't be too surprising.

Jia Huan actually had something he didn't say!

The imperial court's resources are limited; if the Jia family takes up too much, the other officials and powerful figures will naturally take up less.

However, the Jia family is showing signs of rapid decline and doesn't even have a trustworthy representative of the third rank or above, so they have become a veritable soft target.

Now that Master Zheng has taken the initiative to get involved, he naturally has to experience the ups and downs of officialdom!

In the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, the Second Master Zheng waited until Yuan Chun was made a concubine before he jumped out of the Ministry of Works.

At that time, granting an official position was considered a royal reward. Even if other officials were unhappy, they wouldn't say much, much less do anything, because the emperor's face wasn't so easily offended.

"Second brother, what about the position of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud?"

The old lady changed the subject, directly expressing her concern: "You're not good at practical matters, and if you're not careful, someone can easily find a way to use you against you!"

This is quite a problem, but the Second Master Zheng is unwilling to let go!

The expressions on the faces of the core members of the Jia family present were quite different.

Some gloated, some were indifferent, and naturally, there were also those who were equally worried.

Even the Second Master Zheng himself was not without unease, but he was still quite self-aware.

For some reason, he subconsciously glanced at Jia Huan sitting behind him out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't see any worry on Jia Huan's face, which made him pause in surprise.

"Huan-ge'er, you seem to have other ideas. Why don't you tell me?"

Upon hearing this, all the core members of the Jia family present turned their gazes toward him, their expressions quite complex.

However, based on Jia Huan's previous performance, they did not think that Jia Huan, a mere child, was a complete idiot who knew nothing.

However, they didn't think that they couldn't come up with any ideas, and that this kid could easily come up with a way to solve the problem facing Master Zheng, which was no small matter.

"This matter is very simple!"

Jia Huan was somewhat puzzled, but said with a smile, "It doesn't matter if you're not good at worldly affairs, sir. Could you find a few experts in horse breeding to assist you? Our Rong Mansion doesn't seem to lack such talent, does it?"

He spoke with confidence and naturalness, which was very persuasive.

Chapter 74 Profound Foundation (Please add to your favorites)

Simple? Simple my ass!

Sure enough, children are just children; you really can't take them too seriously.

The horse administration under the Taipusi Temple is a crucial military and livelihood strategy involving the entire Daqian Dynasty. How could it be so simple?