The Splendor of the Red Chamber

The clapperboard clicked.

The entire Rongguo Mansion was alarmed. When Jia Lian knocked on the gate of Lady Wang's courtyard, Jia Zheng had already dressed and come out of Aunt Zhao's room.

"What happened?"

The Ningguo Mansion had not informed them of Jia Rong's impending death beforehand, and Wang Xifeng only received the news because she had arranged for spies to be present.

So Jia Zheng was still unaware of what had happened, and upon seeing Jia Lian, he asked in bewilderment, "Besides Rong-ge's wife, who else in the East Mansion is sick?"

Jia Lian also pretended to be confused and shook his head, saying, "I don't know either."

Just then, a maid came in to report that Rong-ge'er from the East Mansion had passed away.

"Rong-ge'er is gone?!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng was greatly shocked and hurriedly asked, "What happened?! Rong-ge'er was perfectly fine yesterday, how could he suddenly be gone?!"

The maid shook her head and said she didn't know.

Jia Lian feigned concern and advised, "Master, I think we should hurry over and take a look. Once we see Brother Zhen, we'll naturally know what's going on."

Jia Zheng nodded in agreement and hurriedly sent someone to invite Jia She to meet him outside the main gate.

Since Jia Rong is a junior member of the family, there is no need to alarm the women in the household for the time being; only Qin Keqing needs to be informed.

Jia Lian accompanied his uncle Jia Zheng to the gate of the mansion. Since the eldest master Jia She had not yet made preparations, the uncle and nephew could only wait on the street.

Just then, Qin Keqing's maid, Baozhu, came crying and reported to Jia Zheng, "Second Master, when Madam heard that our eldest master had passed away, she fainted on the spot. I'm afraid she won't be able to return to the manor to handle the funeral arrangements!"

Since Qin Keqing had been feigning illness for several months, Jia Zheng did not suspect anything. He simply instructed Li Wan to take good care of Qin Keqing and to call doctors or monks and Taoists if necessary.

After waiting another quarter of an hour, Jia She finally arrived late.

As the elder brother and father, even if Jia Zheng harbored resentment, he couldn't openly criticize him.

So the three of them rushed together to Ningguo Mansion.

…………

Jia She wasted a lot of time.

When the three arrived at Ningguo Mansion, they saw that the white lanterns were already hanging outside the gate, and the sound of weeping was deafening inside.

Upon hearing that Lord She and Lord Zheng of the Rongguo Mansion had arrived, several members of the Jia clan who had come ahead of time went out to greet them.

Jia Zheng grabbed Jia Huang, who was at the head of the group, and asked, "How exactly did Rong-ge'er die? I saw him yesterday and he was perfectly fine. How could he suddenly be gone?"

"this……"

Jia Huang looked troubled and stammered, "We just arrived a short while ago. Master Zheng, you should ask Brother Zhen instead."

Seeing this, Jia She and Jia Zheng knew there was more to the story, so they didn't ask any more questions and followed the group inside.

Upon entering Ningguo Mansion, one sees chaos and turmoil everywhere.

In the center of the front courtyard, more than twenty servants dressed in mourning clothes were prostrate on the ground, wailing. The crying that had been heard outside the mansion gate was the noise they were making.

Stacks of hemp rope and white silk were piled up in the front hall corridor. The old women and daughters-in-law were squatting in the corridor cutting plain white mourning cloth and rushing to make mourning clothes, headscarves and waist-binding hemp ropes for the servants and maids.

The servants ran around inside and outside, carrying materials for the cedar coffin, as well as bundles of straw, white wax, and incense from the storeroom.

Servants and women gathered around the stove and side room, counting and preparing offerings, grains, fruits, and paper money for the spirit tablet.

This is part of the grandeur of the mansion; items for weddings and funerals are stored in warehouses and can be taken out and used immediately when needed.

When they arrived near the hanging flower gate, Jia Zhen also came out to greet them, leaning on his cane. He looked as if he had aged seven or eight years overnight, his back was hunched and his waist was stooped. Before he could even speak, he started coughing violently.

He was clearly quite agitated.

Jia Rong was, after all, his only son. No matter how angry he was, he never thought of actually beating Jia Rong to death.

Jia Lian is now hoping that Jia Zhen will cough himself to death, so that no one will come after him.

Unfortunately, Jia Zhen recovered after coughing for a while, and knelt down, leaning on his cane, saying, "It is Jia Zhen's fault for disturbing you two uncles because of that little beast..."

"Get up!"

Jia Zheng quickly helped him up and comforted him, saying, "We're all family, there's no need for this."

Then he instructed Jia Qiang, who was standing nearby, "Hurry up and help your uncle inside!"

The group entered the adjacent side hall, where Jia She and Jia Zheng sat in the central seats, while Jia Zhen and Jia Lian occupied the upper seats on their left and right. As for Jia Qiang, a junior member of the family, he naturally had to stand and serve tea.

This time, Jia She spoke first: "What exactly happened? How could Rong-ge'er just suddenly be gone?"

Jia Zhen coughed twice, his eyes reddening, and mumbled, "I didn't expect him to be so easily beaten. He wasn't like this before. It's not like I haven't hit him before, and I haven't seen him..."

It was only twenty or thirty blows, how could it be... It was that wretched child who deliberately provoked me, otherwise why would I hit him, let alone hit him so hard!

The doctor said it was a combination of internal and external toxins... but I only kicked him once, who would have thought it would damage his lungs and internal organs...

It was gone in less than two hours... That little beast has such a cruel heart, just leaving me like that...

His words were incoherent and unclear, causing Jia She and Jia Zheng to frown as they listened, trying their best to extract useful information from them.

Jia Lian, who already knew the inside story, immediately brightened up after hearing it.

He hurriedly asked Jia Zhen for confirmation, "Brother Zhen, are you saying that you first kicked Rong-ge'er, injuring his lungs and internal organs, and then ordered someone to beat him, which caused both internal and external poisoning to take effect, and he died in less than two hours?"

Jia Zhen nodded silently upon hearing this, but his eyes did not look at Jia Lian.

Jia Zhen was genuinely angry with Jia Lian, feeling that if Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng hadn't interfered and taken away his precious daughter-in-law, he wouldn't have accidentally killed Jia Rong.

Little did he know that with this nod, a huge weight was lifted from Jia Lian's heart.

What Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng were most worried about was Jia Zhen investigating the origin of the internal injury. Unexpectedly, Jia Zhen also kicked Jia Rong, thinking that he had injured Jia Rong's lungs.

What a coincidence!

Could it be that we are truly blessed by our ancestors?!

But then I thought again, no matter how much my ancestors protected me, they probably wouldn't condone my uncle beating my nephew to death.

"What exactly is the reason?"

After listening to Jia Lian's explanation, Jia Zheng immediately pressed him in a deep voice, "No matter what, Rong'er is still your only son. What exactly did he do to disobey you, that made you resort to such cruelty?!"

Jia Zhen stammered and couldn't answer, so he pretended to be overcome with grief and covered his face with a handkerchief, letting out a few dry sobs.

After stalling for time and rehearsing his points, he began to list Jia Rong's faults one by one: that he did nothing of importance and indulged in all sorts of vices, such as eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring; that he was unfilial to his mother at home and disrespectful to his elders in the clan; and that he was careless and irresponsible in his work.

There were quite a few flaws pointed out, but they were not convincing at all.

After all, Jia Zhen also had these flaws, and even surpassed them.

As Jia Zheng listened, his brows furrowed more and more. He was about to reprimand his brother when his elder brother, Jia She, spoke first.

Then Jia She said sarcastically, "Yes, he can't even take care of his own wife, what good is he?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the side hall fell silent, and even Jia Zhen's wail seemed to be paused.

At first, Jia Zheng was a little unhappy, feeling that his brother was talking incoherently—when lives are at stake, why are you mentioning Rong's daughter-in-law?

It wasn't until Jia Zhen stopped crying and showed a look of shock and embarrassment on his face that Jia Zheng suddenly realized something.

It's not that Jia Zheng is dumber than Jia She; the main problem is that Jia She and Jia Zhen are in cahoots when it comes to these sordid dealings. By judging others by their own standards, it's naturally easier for Jia She to figure out the truth.

The side hall became even quieter.

"Ahem~"

At this moment, Jia Lian coughed lightly to break the awkward silence, and then said seriously, "Brother Zhen, I think it's best not to mention the matter of you kicking Rong'er and causing internal injuries again. There is a difference between killing your own son and having a servant accidentally cause it."

Jia Zhen was at a loss for how to respond to the master's words, but when Jia Lian took the initiative to change the subject, he disregarded any potential anger and nodded hurriedly like a pecking at rice.

He said repeatedly, "Brother, what you say makes sense. I didn't think it through before. Qiang-ge, go and tell the managers to keep their mouths shut and not let a single word slip out!"

Seeing Jia Qiang hurriedly accept the order and leave, Jia Lian felt even more at ease.

The fewer people who know about this, the lower the likelihood of suspicion—and with this gag order that only serves to cover it up, if anyone is to suspect someone, it's Jia Zhen first.

Of course, on the other hand, Jia Lian was also afraid that if Wang Xifeng knew the situation wasn't so critical, it would ruin his chance to steal a kiss.

After Jia Lian's interruption, Jia She, Jia Zheng, and Jia Zhen tacitly dismissed the cause of death and began to discuss how to arrange Jia Rong's funeral.

This is a precedent; we just need to follow the old example of Jia Zhu.

However, after calculating the time, Jia Zheng frowned: "If the coffin is kept in state for forty-nine days, wouldn't that mean it will be at the end of the first month of next year?"

As soon as the end of January was mentioned, Jia Lian's early warning radar went off.

He sat up straight immediately and said urgently, "No, no, the Crown Prince's wedding is on the twenty-second day of the first month next year. This is a grand national celebration, and everyone in the court and the country should observe a period of mourning. We cannot break this taboo!"

The current emperor has difficulty conceiving, and of his four princes, only this third prince has survived to adulthood, so he is naturally the most favored.

If Jia Rong's mourning period were to be placed on the eve of the Crown Prince's wedding, it would be like an old man eating poison, as if he thought his life was too long.

So the group discussed it and decided to change 7 x 7 = 49 to 6 x 7 = 42, and set the funeral for the 14th day of the first month of the following year.

Looking back on Jia Rong's life, it was truly short-lived, short-lived in terms of fortune and affection; even the time his body was laid to rest was shorter than that of a human.