Chapter 143 Roast Chicken One Tael of Silver Each "I am an benefactor of your Jia family..."

After the meal, Lin Daiyu pushed Mu Chuan to rest.

"You haven't slept all night. If you don't take care of yourself now, you'll be sickly when you're old." Lin Daiyu gently pushed him twice and pulled the blanket up again. "It will break my heart."

Mu Chuan's face clearly showed his eagerness, and Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Don't deliberately make me feel sorry for you."

Mu Chuan walked over and took her hand again: "Will you lie down with me for a while?"

"How old are you?" Lin Daiyu teased him, "yet you're telling me to teach you how to play shuttlecock."

"Is the shuttlecock more important than me?" Mu Chuan asked her, feigning sadness.

"You can't compare them like that." Lin Daiyu's tone was quite tactful, but her hands didn't stop. She skillfully urged Mu Chuan to take off his armor and robe, and then removed his headdress before pushing him onto the bed.

"It's something I've never done before, and I want to give it a try. You sleep soundly. If I come back and you're still awake, you'll have to sleep alone tonight."

Mu Chuan sighed: "If I sleep now, I won't be able to sleep at night. Have you thought it through?"

Lin Daiyu hesitated for a moment, then pulled the blanket up and gently patted his chest: "Rest well."

In the Northern Garrison, the men of the Jia family were also locked in a cell. Whether it was the Eastern Depot or the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they were not afraid of collusion. Or perhaps the cell was specially made with a mezzanine and equipped with primitive amplification facilities, hoping that the men would say something.

However, the men of the Jia family were different from the women. The women of the Jia family spent the whole night shifting blame and undermining each other, each thinking the other was the culprit, but the men of the Jia family hardly said a word all night.

The younger ones, like Jia Lan and Jia Huan, were completely at a loss and only felt fear.

Jia She knew he hadn't done anything wrong, and since he had already submitted a memorial, he simply closed his eyes and refused to have any interaction with these traitors, fearing he would be implicated.

Jia Zheng also felt that he hadn't done anything, and besides, Jia She was the only one of his generation in the room. Since Jia She didn't speak up, Jia Zheng would just be like him.

Jia Lian's mind was quite racing. He was in charge of the Jia family's general affairs and had done a lot of things outside in the name of the Rongguo Mansion. Now he was recalling them one by one, wondering which of them could have led him to such a state.

After thinking about it all night, he finally concluded that it wasn't that bad, so: it's all that wicked woman's fault! He should have divorced her long ago!

The most unique one is probably Jia Baoyu.

Of all the men, women, and children in the Jia family, he was the most pampered. Just a few days ago, he complained about the smog from the charcoal fire, but now, let alone charcoal, he's not even properly dressed.

And none of the people in the cell came to comfort him.

Jia Baoyu huddled alone in a corner, hugging his knees, silently shedding tears, and calling out softly to the old lady, the madam, and his sisters.

As dawn approached, there was movement in the prison cell again; Jia Zhen and Jia Rong had also been arrested.

Jia She stared at them in disbelief. The neighbors next door had always lived a dissolute life, and even he, a man who spent his days drinking and playing with his concubines, dared not associate with them. Jia Zheng blurted out, "What have you done to implicate us!"

"Me? Hahahaha—" Jia Zhen was initially somewhat frightened, but seeing the people imprisoned in the cell and that the Rongguo Mansion had entered before him, he was no longer so panicked.

"I'm just an ordinary citizen, what can I do? You were arrested first, so it's your fault for dragging us down with you!"

Jia Zhen stopped in his tracks, and the Imperial Guards escorting the two men behind him kicked him. Jia Zhen stumbled and fell forward two steps. He turned his head and stared intently at Jia Zheng: "The four princes and eight dukes have all been arrested. Tell me why!"

But this time, he didn't dare stop, and his momentum weakened considerably: "The Jia family has fallen to this state because of your muddle-headed old lady and your wife who never does anything right. They pushed away a perfectly good helper, and completely offended the Marquis of Zhongyong who came to their door. They deserve it! Bah!"

Jia Zhen spat out, but a pillar blocked it, preventing it from hitting Jia Zheng. He sneered, turned his head away, and strode forward, no longer looking at the Rongguo Mansion members.

Jia Zheng was so angry that he trembled. Jia Zhen was a generation younger than him, and besides, he, Jia Zheng, was the clan leader now. What right did Jia Zhen have?

"How dare you! I'll expel you from the clan!" Jia Zheng grabbed the doorpost and stood up, shouting at the door.

Jia Zhen didn't turn around. The jailer banged his stick twice on the doorpost: "Stop making trouble!"

They were locked in a dark, sunless cell and couldn't see, but it was already dawn outside. These people from the Jia family were all masters, and even Jia Huan had never gone hungry. However... no one dared to speak up.

There was prison food in the cells, and soon a jailer would come carrying wooden buckets and bowls, and you could smell the rice from a distance.

It doesn't smell good; it just tastes like rice.

Jia Zheng frowned; he would rather go hungry than eat such a thing.

The jailer put the things down with a smile, first stuffing the wooden bowl through the crack. Although the cell was only lit by torches, the bowl was cleaner than the chamber pot from the Jia family.

"Gentlemen, is this your first time here? This is our usual rice porridge." The jailer took a wooden spoon, stirred it, and scooped out a spoonful to show them.

"If you gentlemen have some connection with us, this is the kind of rice porridge we'll serve." The jailer waited for the rice porridge to settle slightly, then scooped out a spoonful of the thicker porridge from the bottom to show them.

"A roast chicken costs one tael, and a pot of wine costs one tael. If you order food from outside, we charge one tael of silver per table. When your family sends things over, we have to check them, which also costs one tael of silver. We're just earning a little extra for our hard work, so please understand how hard we work."

Jia Zheng glanced at the guards out of the corner of his eye, but no one spoke.

Jia She wasn't hungry, but he usually drank three meals a day, so he couldn't drink in this situation; he was just thirsty.

"Is there any water?" Jia She asked with a stern face, putting on airs while revealing his guilty conscience.

The jailer smiled and ladled a spoonful of rice porridge for him from above: "There's rice oil on top, it's nourishing."

Without waiting for instructions, the jailer ladled a spoonful of clear rice porridge for each of them, saying, "Enjoy your meal." Then the two of them shouldered the wooden buckets and continued on their way.

"A show of force!" Jia Lian slammed his fist on the wall, his voice low and resentful. "You're looking down on people!"

Even though Jia She was very thirsty, he couldn't drink it. He simply closed his eyes again, wondering if His Majesty had already read the memorial.

Some prison cells have good conditions, but the ones they lived in were clearly not. The ground was covered with dry grass and various stains and bloodstains left by previous inmates. Although the light was dim and they couldn't see clearly, the smell was even more pungent.

After a long day, even Jia Zheng couldn't resist taking care of his personal needs in a corner.

By evening, the group was thirsty, hungry, and cold.

Jia Huan started looking him over from the afternoon.

He and Jia Lan wore few ornaments. When they were woken up from their sleep, they had no belts and their hair was disheveled. The two masters were the same. However, Lian Erge had two rings on his hand.

There's also Bao Erge.

His good second brother's clothes were always glittering gold. Even though his own sister had just died, his clothes were still made of silver, and his shoes were adorned with jewels. Unlike him and Jia Lan, who were truly plain, without a single silver thread on their clothes.

Then there's the gold necklace around his neck. Perhaps because he'd always worn that jade pendant since childhood, even when his beloved second brother was imprisoned, he didn't forget about it.

Jia Huan cleared his throat, not forgetting to complain even at this moment.

"Lan'er and I are both in mourning, and we don't have much on us. Brother Bao... could you take your silver buttons and exchange them for some food? It's fine for us young people, but Master can't go hungry. Also, please get a new set of bedding so that Master doesn't get cold."

Jia Baoyu exclaimed "Ah!" as if he had just realized what was happening. Jia Zheng looked him up and down and said in a deep voice, "Silver button."

That evening, the Jia family finally managed to have a meal that wasn't very clean, and even less tasty, but it was enough to fill their stomachs.

However, the prices in the prison were high; a roast chicken cost one tael of silver, and since all six of them were men, it would cost several taels of silver per meal to be truly full.

In just half a month, all Jia Baoyu had left was that piece of jade.

Jia She's eyelids drooped, Jia Lian no longer had his dashing demeanor, and Jia Baoyu had reached the point where he wouldn't speak unless someone called him.

The women of the Jia family were slightly better off, but the smell in the house was still not very pleasant.

Grandmother Jia was almost unable to move and relied entirely on others for care. Madam Wang and Madam Xing pretended not to hear. Wang Xifeng said she would take care of Qiao Jie'er, but in the end, Aunt Zhou, Yu Chuan'er, and You Erjie took turns caring for her.

After half a month, even though it was winter, it didn't help. Everyone had an unpleasant smell on their heads and their bodies ached.

That night, Sister You couldn't hold back her tears and started crying.

"A bunch of liars! They said I'd become their second mistress as soon as I came in, but they made me clean up their excrement and urine. Even when my You family was at its poorest, I never suffered like this!"

Her crying made it impossible for anyone to sleep, even though they weren't sleeping very well to begin with.

Aunt Zhou whispered to comfort her, "Just bear with it a little longer. It's been half a month already, and you'll probably be able to leave soon."

Even an adult like You Erjie couldn't control her emotions, let alone a child like Qiao Jie'er. She also started to sob softly. Wang Xifeng was annoyed and said sternly, "Didn't you insist on coming in? You asked for it!"

"You're the one who brought me in! You forced me to do this, I didn't want to!"

Wang Xifeng sneered: "What about the beginning? What about the second time you came in? Did Master Lian force you too? I had no idea you had become a chaste and virtuous woman!"

Sister You screamed, her hair disheveled, "I am the benefactor of your Jia family, you should be serving me and taking care of me! If that child hadn't framed Zhang Hua, your whole family would have died! Did you hear that? That child is Master Lian's, he's in mourning for the country and his family, he's married and has children, he deserves to die, you all deserve to die! Die, die, die, die!"

In the dead of night, Sister You's voice was sharp and shrill. Not only the maids in the next room, but also the Xue family mother and daughter next door, including Xiangling, could hear it. Even the guards in the courtyard could hear it.

"These powerful and wealthy people are really inhuman."

"Who can argue with that?"

They listened to all sorts of secrets for half a month.

This includes, but is not limited to, how they routinely dislike and suppress their cousin, how the girls scheme against each other, how the maids and servants bully their masters, how they steal valuables from the young lady's room, and how the wives of the upper class pretend not to know, and so on.

"wrong……"

The two guards exchanged a glance and almost simultaneously said, "Filial piety towards the country and family, getting married and having children?"

The two of them ran out at the same time again, and after waiting for half a month, they finally had some success!