The Splendor of the Red Chamber

Jia Zheng called Baoyu over not for any other reason than to arrange for him to study at the Sheng family's residence.

Meanwhile, Jia Lian spent the whole morning running around, completing the procedures for the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel. Of course, given his status, he didn't need to go personally; he only needed to sit in the side hall of the second hall and wait, while someone else would handle the formalities.

When they came out, they saw that it was almost noon, so they simply went to the Ministry of Works nearby to invite Jia Zheng out. The uncle and nephew had lunch at a nearby restaurant.

During the meal, Jia Lian first reported on the procedures, and then talked to Jia Zheng about the Sheng family private school.

Jia Zheng is currently troubled by this matter. Most of the famous schools in the capital are boarding schools, but how could the old lady allow Baoyu to board outside?

Now that I heard there was such a place as the Sheng family, I was immediately tempted.

He stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "I met Mr. Zhuang a few times back then. He truly has the demeanor of a great Confucian scholar, and he was able to teach a student as knowledgeable and reasonable as Qi Heng. It is evident that he also has unique insights into teaching the sons of noble families."

Among the younger generation of noble sons, Jia Zheng favored Qi Heng from the Duke of Qi's mansion the most, and often used him as a benchmark to criticize Bao Yu.

It's not that Qi Heng is truly unparalleled.

Ultimately, it was because Xiao Qi's rigid and upright nature suited Jia Zheng's taste and temperament.

However, upon hearing that the Sheng family had female disciples, Jia Zheng became indecisive again.

It wasn't that he was afraid Baoyu would go astray in the Sheng family; the main concern was that the shameless brat would make a fool of himself—if Baoyu went to a colleague's house to beg for the daughter's rouge, Jia Zheng would probably lose face in the Ministry of Works.

Hearing Jia Zheng's concerns, Jia Lian smiled and said, "Second Uncle can't lock him up for life. He's still young, so it's not a big deal if he makes a fool of himself. The most important thing is to learn from his mistakes and not cause trouble in the future."

Jia Zheng agreed wholeheartedly and made up his mind to send Baoyu to the Sheng family to study—he would be grateful if Baoyu could learn even a fraction of Qi Heng's composure.

So he skipped his afternoon shift and took Jia Lian home, intending to give Baoyu a few words of advice, telling him to try not to cause trouble in the Sheng family.

As a result of the summons, Baoyu was so frightened that he had to sneak in by hugging the door frame.

Seeing his son cowering and timid, Jia Zheng was furious. He slammed his hand on the tea table and scolded, "You good-for-nothing beast! Look at your pathetic state! Tell me, why haven't you been studying in the outer study lately?!"

This was, of course, because Lin Daiyu disliked Qin Zhong. Jia Baoyu was afraid of upsetting her, so he temporarily put aside his feelings and thought he should first appease Lin Daiyu.

Of course, we still need to address both internal and external factors in the future, otherwise how can we have all the essential organs in our body?

However, Jia Baoyu dared not utter a single word of these reasons in front of his father, so he could only make up an excuse: "It's because the old lady saw that Lin Daiyu was sullen when she came back, so she asked me to keep her company more, so..."

"Hmph~"

Upon hearing him mention Lin Daiyu, Jia Zheng felt inexplicably guilty, so he didn't pursue the matter further. Instead, he coldly changed his tune, saying, "I called you here this time because your second brother Lian recommended a place for you to study."

Jia Lian recounted the general situation of the Sheng family and then said to Baoyu, "That Mr. Zhuang is a great Confucian scholar of our time, and even Qi Heng of the Duke of Qi's mansion speaks highly of him."

Before he could finish speaking, Jia Zheng immediately chimed in, "When you go to the Sheng family, besides learning from Mr. Zhuang, you should also learn from Qi Heng's manner of speaking and change your sleazy face!"

When Jia Baoyu heard that he was going to study outside, he felt as if he had swallowed a bitter pill.

Although he was terrified of Jia Zheng, he still struggled to say, "Of course I want to study hard and make progress, but I'm worried that I won't be able to fulfill my filial duties to my grandmother and parents..."

"Don't even mention 'filial piety'!" Jia Zheng sneered, his face dark. "If you stop causing trouble at home, I might live a few more years!"

Baoyu was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

Jia Zheng didn't tell him to get up, but warned him again: "The three daughters of the Sheng family and the eldest granddaughter of Grand Tutor Yu are also listening to the lectures at the private school. You must not offend them. Remember, do not look at what is improper, do not listen to what is improper, do not speak what is improper, and do not do what is improper!"

When Jia Baoyu heard that there were four more female classmates, he immediately perked up.

He knelt on the ground, shaking his head and swaying his body; it was clear he was very curious about the Sheng family's daughter.

"Hmph~"

Seeing his demeanor, Jia Zheng felt the sixteen-character mantra wasn't reliable enough, and emphasized his warning: "Lord Sheng, we are colleagues in the same yamen, and we see each other every day. If you do anything that disgraces our family, I will not be able to hide it from you. If that happens, I will skin you alive!"

Jia Baoyu was startled and hurriedly and solemnly replied, "Yes."

Jia Zheng then instructed him to organize his academic progress so that he could go to the Sheng family in a few days to coordinate with Mr. Zhuang. He then waved his hand dismissively, signaling Baoyu to leave.

Seeing Baoyu burst out of the door as if he had been granted a pardon, Jia Zheng shook his head and smiled bitterly at Jia Lian: "This wretched child, I don't know who he took after—let's not talk about him. As for the matter of repairing the courtyard, I have already asked Mr. Shan Ziye of the Ministry of Works to come to our mansion to survey the site soon. I will need you to meet him and give him a visit."

Jia Zheng is usually slow to act, but I never expected that the preparations for the garden renovation would be so quick this time.

They probably wanted to show their strength against Consort Rong's family.

"That's easy to say."

Jia Lian readily agreed, but then added, "However, I will be taking up a post in the Imperial City Guard no later than the New Year, at which time I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of my family."

"this……"

Jia Zheng was the most impatient with these mundane affairs, and originally he was most looking to Jia Lian, but who would have thought that Jia Lian would be the first to openly and honestly abandon his responsibilities.

He frowned and pondered, "I also have to work shifts every day, but your father is being kept under house arrest by the old lady..."

Jia Lian interrupted him directly, saying in a deep voice, "Let Father rest at home. If I go to the Imperial City Guard, I'll likely offend people. If Father recklessly tries to stop me, disobeying him would be disobedience, and obeying him would be treason!"

The weighty charge of deceiving the emperor was immediately slapped on Jia Zheng, leaving him in awe.

He hesitated and said, "Then we can only rely on your brother Zhen..."

Jia Lian interrupted again, saying, "Brother Zhen can coordinate from the center, but there's no need to tie the specific tasks down so tightly. In my opinion, it would be better to have some subcontracting and bidding within the manor and clan."

When the time comes, whoever wants to take on a project, let them compete by submitting bids, and we'll select the one with the most reasonable timeframe and cost.

"It just so happens that my second uncle works at the Ministry of Works and I work at the Imperial City Guard. We have all the officials under our command—those who audit accounts, inspect construction work, and arrest people—so if anyone dares to cross the line, we can take this opportunity to clean them up!"

Hearing this rapid-fire delivery greatly reassured Jia Zheng.

Looking at Jia Lian again, he felt even more gratified and stroked his beard, praising, "You've truly made something of yourself! Your words and actions are much better than before. Even if your brothers are incompetent in the future, our Rongguo Mansion can still hold on!"

"It's best if the younger brothers become successful; only when the whole family works together can we restore our family's honor."

"Yes, yes, we must work together!"

The uncle and nephew chatted for a while longer before Jia Zheng personally saw Jia Lian out the door.

Once outside, Jia Lian planned to go to the side hall to warn Wang Xifeng again, telling her that she could use her power, but she absolutely could not embezzle money from the funds allocated for the garden's renovation.

It's unrealistic to completely exclude Wang Xifeng from involvement. Not only would Wang Xifeng be unwilling to relinquish this power of life and death, but Lady Wang and Jia Zheng would also not allow her to stand idly by.

Therefore, we can only choose the lesser of two evils.

"Second Brother Lian!"

Just as they stepped out of Jia Zheng's courtyard, Jia Baoyu suddenly appeared from the side, grabbed Jia Lian, and asked, "What does that Sheng family's daughter look like? How does her talent compare to our sisters'?"

Jia Lian couldn't help but roll his eyes. It turned out that of Jia Zheng's sixteen-character mantra, he had only remembered the word "indecent".

Lian Erye flicked Baoyu's forehead and said irritably, "Are you going to study or to find a match for the Sheng family's daughter? I'm warning you, the sixth daughter of the Sheng family and Lin Daiyu are good friends. If you do anything in the Sheng family, be careful Lin Daiyu finds out!"

Baoyu was initially dejected, but then suddenly remembered something and excitedly said, "Since Lin Daiyu and Miss Sheng are friends, why not let Lin Daiyu go to study at the Sheng family's house too!"

After thinking for a moment, he added a companion: "Let the third sister go too, so that the younger sister Lin won't have trouble adjusting on her own."

He was worried that Lin Daiyu would suffer if she went alone, so he temporarily added a "bodyguard" for her.

Of course, it would be best if Qin Zhong could go as well, but unfortunately, it's impossible to have both Daiyu and Qin Zhong.

"Do you think this private school is our family's property?"

Jia Lian was furious and grabbed him, saying, "Come on, come on, repeat what you said to your second uncle again, and see what your second uncle's plan is."

How could Baoyu dare to offend Jia Zheng?

She hurriedly begged Jia Lian for mercy, but she did not give up the idea in her heart—no matter how big or strict the rules of Rongguo Mansion were, could they be stricter than those of Grand Tutor Yu, who had once served as Grand Secretary?

If Grand Tutor Yu's eldest granddaughter can study at the Sheng family, why can't the girls of the Rongguo Mansion?