Chapter 125: Surrender
Jia Zhen and Jia Zheng went to gather the elders of the clan to discuss the revision of the family tree. Youshi accompanied Shen Ning and slowly walked back to the East Palace.
"Why? Are you afraid that your uncle can't win over those elders?"
Seeing that Youshi seemed a little conflicted, Shen Ning couldn't help but ask her.
"That's not the case." Mrs. You shook her head. "Whether they are from the capital or the old hometown, they all depend on the two mansions for their livelihood. Since the master and the two uncles have decided on it, they can't object even if they want to."
She is in charge of clan affairs and is well aware of some of the clan's shortcomings.
Relying on the two mansions, most of the men in the Jia family, whether they were wealthy or not, did not work. They left the household affairs to their mothers or wives. They only needed to enjoy the convenience when their mothers or wives were fighting.
Except for her mother-in-law who had never given a concubine to her master, almost all the mothers-in-law in the clan had done this.
Just like Second Aunt Wang said, if an old farmer harvested two more buckets of grain, he would want to buy a concubine, let alone the masters and young masters.
The clan rule is that a man can take a concubine only if he is childless after the age of 30...
"Mother, you set this clan rule because you think that Master has too many concubines?"
Their master had three concubines and two maids, but his wife didn't like to see them, so they never dared to come in front of her.
“…”
Shen Ning turned around and looked at You Shi seriously, "You think it's not much?"
"no!"
You Shi hurriedly shook her head, "I wish I didn't have them." But this is how the world works. "Now that there is this clan rule, Master can no longer take concubines. I am so happy, but this clan rule may be too strict in the eyes of many people. I can't take concubines at home. What if I end up taking a concubine..."
"If Zhen'er takes a concubine, and you know about it, with such clan rules, will you choose to turn a blind eye or make a fuss?"
“…Let’s make some noise!”
In the past, You Shi felt that even if she knew about it, she would choose to turn a blind eye.
But now she will definitely make a fuss.
"That's it."
Shen Ning sighed, "With this clan rule, the initiative is in the hands of the Jia family's daughter-in-law."
That's what she wanted.
As long as the men of the Jia family are not afraid of clan rules, beatings, or humiliation, then so be it!
"Do you believe it or not, without this clan rule, it won't be long before Lian'er will have several concubines?"
Youshi: “…”
She thought about it and had nothing to say.
From the old lady to the first wife, the second wife, and even the eldest master in the West Mansion, they might give concubines to Lian's second brother.
"He and Feng'er grew up together as childhood sweethearts."
In Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng are not without feelings for each other.
They had a good relationship at the beginning.
But later on, Jia Lian wished he could kill the person he once loved.
"But people's hearts are changeable, especially their emotions, which never remain unchanged."
Shen Ning sighed in his heart, "I didn't set up this clan rule to completely curb the fickle nature of some men in the clan, but I hope to stop the practice of having concubines in the clan."
There are too many cases where the mother-in-law, in order to control her daughter-in-law, would send people into her son's room to cause trouble.
In Dream of the Red Chamber, she hated Xiren the most.
Pretending to be a virtuous person, what is the reality?
With this clan rule, even if she wants to climb into bed..., she can't expect anything good.
"Without outsiders between the newlyweds, they have at least three years to develop their relationship. The bride has this buffer time and won't be so exhausted at the beginning."
As for the future, it depends on our fate.
After all, you have to manage your marriage yourself.
That's all she can help with.
If you can stand up, you can use clan rules to suppress men. If you can't stand up... then you can only rely on the little affection between husband and wife when there were no outsiders around, to make men have some conscience towards you.
Shen Ning sighed, "Zhen'er has an impetuous personality. From now on..., besides me, you still have the clan rules to rely on. I hope you can control him."
…
Yansui, Min family.
When Jia Zhen woke up from her drowsiness, she looked at the furnishings in the room and felt as if she were in a dream.
In fact, she actually thought she was dreaming.
She seemed to hear faint crying.
Jia Zhen once suspected that she was dead.
However, the person who was cleaning in her room looked like her sister Mei.
"Mom, are you awake?"
Min Mei turned around and saw her mother's eyes were open. She was so surprised, "Great! You scared me to death."
"Don't be afraid, mom is here."
Jia Zhen asked weakly: "This room..."
"Nie fell out of favor and was banished to our former abandoned courtyard. That person..."
Min Mei also felt that her father was wrong.
He had just beaten her, so how could he be so kind as to give her such a good wound medicine from Jishitang? He even asked Doctor Fan to treat his mother. There must be something she didn't know.
"That person was asked to leave by General Tang, and when he came back he changed the yard for us."
Speaking of this, Min Mei couldn't help but suspect that it was related to her maternal grandparents' family.
But after her grandfather passed away, the two uncles had no contact with her mother at all.
The old lady and two aunts in Rongguo Mansion never replied to the letters my mother sent to Beijing at the beginning.
There was a letter from my aunt in Ningguo Mansion, but since my mother was confined to the rear house, all the letters have stopped coming.
"Mother, I also heard that my aunt in Ningguo Mansion was awarded the first-rank imperial edict by the emperor because of some things." Min Mei's eyes sparkled slightly. "Do you think that father changed his attitude towards us because of the rise of my grandparents' family?"
This? Very likely.
Jia Zhen's drowsy mind became much clearer, "Who in the family went to look for Bo Ge'er? How long did they go? Did you find out?"
She once had some hope for Min Tai, but now there is none at all.
I just feel sorry for her two children.
"I asked."
Min Mei said, "On the day you vomited blood, Bo Ge'er begged that man to get you a doctor, but that man ignored him, so Bo Ge'er secretly packed up his things and went to the capital overnight. The servant was afraid of taking responsibility, so he didn't report it to Nie until the next night. Nie told that man that they all thought he was hiding somewhere and threatening the family, so they just sent people to look for him randomly. After searching for three days without finding him, they took it seriously."
But it was too late to pay attention to it by then.
"They found out on the fifth day that Bo Ge'er was heading to the capital. Mother, don't worry. It is said that Bo Ge'er followed the Weiyuan Escort Agency. They have escorts and are going to Cangzhou as fast as possible. Bo Ge'er will not be in danger if he follows them. Cangzhou is not far from the capital. He must have entered the Rongguo Mansion by now."
That's good.
Jia Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, "The Jia family has a passage to the military."
I hope the two brothers can remember their old friendship.
But Jia Jin didn't dare to hold out any hope.
The eldest brother has a bad temper and has no feelings for his younger brothers and sisters, let alone her, his illegitimate sister.
Second brother... always listens to our stepmother.
The stepmother only has face for them.
Bo Ge'er had seen her write to the eldest sister-in-law in the East Mansion, and hoped that he was going to the East Mansion! But the eldest nephew in the East Mansion, Jia Zhen...
Jia Jin closed her eyes. When she was at home, she and her eldest nephew probably spoke less than three hundred words.
After all, we can only get together once during the New Year.
When he was a child, she made a kite for him. Later, every year on his birthday, she made him handkerchiefs, sachets and other things.
As a concubine's daughter, she did not have much freedom. Unless the eldest sister-in-law from the East Mansion invited her, her stepmother would not let her sisters go out to see people.
But the eldest sister-in-law is in the inner house. If Bo Ge'er goes to knock on the door, will the door let him in?
A seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister.
Both Ning and Rong Mansions were Duke's Mansions. It was better when my father was alive. After my father and uncle passed away, the two Mansions gradually declined. In order not to be looked down upon, the gatekeepers would keep their eyes on the top of their heads.
Her son...
"If Brother Bo enters the Duke's Mansion, there will be a letter in seven days at most."
If there is no letter in seven days...
Jia Jin didn't dare to think about what would happen to her son.
"Go, ask your father to come over. I have something to say to him."
For the sake of her son, she could only ask her sister-in-law in the East Mansion to help look for him.
Of course it would be best if my son is at home, but if he is not... we must find him as soon as possible.
The capital city is so big, and if we only rely on the people here to look for it, we don’t know how long it will take to find it.
So, not long after, Min Tai came.
Seeing that Jia Zhen's spirit was gradually recovering, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad you woke up."
He sat down beside the bed, with a sincere look on his face, "I was so sad to find out that you were so seriously ill..."
Min Tai looked so uncomfortable that he couldn't continue speaking, and tears even gradually filled his eyes.
"Master, please write a letter to the eldest sister-in-law of Ningguo Mansion! If Bo Ge'er comes to Beijing, she can help us find him as soon as possible if anything happens."
This? Bo Ge'er is a little boy. Although Cangzhou is close to the capital, he has little money. If he goes to the mansion there, whether they will see him or not is another matter.
I did write a letter, and they will definitely ask about Bo Ge'er's family situation...
"Wait a little longer!"
Although I am also worried about my son's safety, his safety is more important.
Even though Min Tai felt that the Jia family would not care about Jia Jin, he was still a little afraid because he had done something wrong.
After all, no matter how bad the Jia family is, they can still deal with him.
What’s more, the Jia family has risen again.
"I heard that my sister-in-law in the East Mansion gave birth to another child."
What? Jia Zhen was a little stunned.
"We didn't even have a gift because of the news. Now we're suddenly asking someone to find a child for us... It's a bit awkward."
Min Tai said, "How about this? I'll send someone to give some gifts to the two governments to restore the exchanges. If the front team fails to find Bo Ge'er, we'll ask the two governments for help."
Find your son and bring him back first.
But the relationship between the Min family and the Jia family cannot be severed.
"…Do you know whether my sister-in-law gave birth to a boy or a girl?"
"girl!"
"Then my cousin..."
"He is still in the Taoist temple."
Min Tai said: "It is said that my sister-in-law took the initiative to repay the silver owed to the national treasury when she returned home to wait for the birth of her baby, and donated a lot of silver. The emperor may have given her a first-rank imperial decree out of consideration for their old friendship."
Who could have thought that the emperor would do this?
At first, everyone thought that Ningguo Mansion was doomed.
Not only did Jia Jing fail to inherit the title, he couldn't even live at home and had to stay in a Taoist temple outside the city.
Although Jia Zhen inherited the title, his rank was demoted three ranks.
But Jia Zhen ignored the Rongguo Mansion and actually wrote a letter to that unlucky couple.
He was afraid of being implicated and was provoked by his brothers, so he banned her.
The sister-in-law later wrote a few more letters to him, but he didn't even read them and just burned them.
Min Tai regretted it deeply, "You don't have to worry about my sister-in-law, but Rongguo Mansion..."
He hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "I heard that my eldest brother-in-law's son Jia Lian was promoted to the position of doctor of the Wukusi Department. My family should also send him a gift. What do you think he likes?"
Doctor of the Armory? Jia Zhen finally knew why she moved back to the main courtyard.
"We haven't seen each other for so many years. It's time for him to get married."
Jia Zhen felt sad and happy at the same time.
The sad thing is that this person really doesn't do anything without benefits.
The good news is that her family has recovered, and her children...
"Yes! He is married."
Min Tai said: "I heard that he married a girl from the Wang family, the same family as Lord Wang Ziteng who is in charge of the Beijing camp."
Blame him!
Although the father-in-law is gone, there are still many relatives and old friends in the Jia family.
Lord Wang is the governor of the Beijing camp, and that title originally belonged to my uncle in Ningguo Mansion.
If he had not been trying to avoid suspicion and had stepped forward to help them in their difficult times, perhaps he could have used some of the Jia family's connections in the army.
Min Tai regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. "Also, my second uncle's eldest son, Jia Zhu, also got married. He married the daughter of Lord Li, the chief priest of the Imperial College."
Although the two uncles are not very good, the wives of the two nephews are very good.
This one is civil and martial...
If he hadn't been here with Jia Zhen, he would have regretted it so much that he would have slapped his thigh.
"They all got married last year, so we need to prepare some gifts."
The second sister-in-law, who is the head of the family, is a very particular person. When my father-in-law was around, she would always give 10% or 20% more gifts when they interacted with each other.
Two years after his father-in-law passed away, he wanted to get promoted and thought about going this way. He also visited those places and although he failed to get the position, the gifts they gave him in return were always 10% to 20% more.
Hiss~ Thinking of this, Min Tai regretted it even more.
No matter how many gifts he gets, he won't lose out!
Why did my brothers instigate me to stop communicating with them? Yes, yes, yes, I remember now. There are many people in their house, including the old lady’s birthday, the birthdays of my uncles and sisters-in-law, and many nephews and nieces…
Except for the gifts given during the New Year and the return gifts, he loses money on everything else.
Can……
Min Tai still regrets!
If we had known that Jia Lian had such good fortune, he would have given gifts to Yue's family and the army would have given him subsidies.
Now that it has been a few years since it was discontinued, I don’t know if people will still accept it.
The doctor of the Armory is not satisfied with just any gift.
Many people came to other people with their treasures, but couldn't find a way in.
Alas, he had connections, but now...
"My dear, please take your medicine carefully and get better soon. I will accompany you back to Beijing to visit your relatives!"
After all, Jia Jin is Jia Lian's aunt.
When he was with her, he could always talk to Jia Lian.
As long as you can talk, everything else will be easy.
"Mei Jie'er is still young..." Jia Zhen took the opportunity to make a request, "I don't agree with her becoming someone's concubine."
"...Okay then. I'll talk to my brother about it and ask Fu Jie Er to go instead."
Anyway, they are all daughters of the Min family, so it doesn’t matter if you change one.
At this time, Min Tai did not dare to confront Jia Zhen. "I was wrong." He admitted his mistake. "When we get to Beijing, we will find a husband for Mei Jie'er there. With her two uncles and cousins, it will definitely be better than here."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
