Chapter 205: Sacrifice
Normally, no one would pay attention to what happens in the inner residence of the Jia family. However, it was because of the Jia family's falling out with Wang Ziteng because of the Lan family.
If Wang Ziteng was still unemployed at home, not many people would care, but now he is the General of Zhennan.
Although he had only been in the south for a short time, he fought a brilliant battle as soon as he arrived there, stabilizing the situation in the south and demonstrating the power of Dazhao.
He is countless times stronger than the Prince of Nan'an.
In the past few years, everyone in the court had a headache whenever they saw the memorials from Prince Nan'an.
It is true that this guy is not as good as his father and grandfather.
Not only is he unable to control the situation in the south, but he also appoints people based on personal connections.
The family fortune built up by two generations of Nan'an kings might be squandered by him in just a few years.
You have to know that the Prince of Nan'an is the Prince of Nan'an of Dazhao. If he loses so much..., won't he ruin the family fortune of Dazhao? Not to mention the emperor, even these court officials want to pull him back, but unfortunately there has never been a good opportunity. Now...
Wang Ziteng's character is not very good, but he is still a capable minister.
But Lan Zhi, the only remaining girl in the Lan family...
Lan Zhi should be credited with the primary contribution in recovering Dazhao’s horse-breeding area, the Hetao region.
But she is a woman and the granddaughter of the Jia family, so her contribution should not be too great.
But as soon as she returned to Beijing, she happened to rescue Mrs. Shen and Jia Zhen from Ningguo Mansion, and killed a number of Japanese pirates, which was considered an achievement in any case.
There was a lot of controversy among several officials in the Ministry of War about her reward.
Several parties were waiting to see if she was really going to avenge her deceased family members.
If she even killed her own uncle and aunt..., they would have to think twice about many things.
"emperor!"
The elusive An Yi swung down from the beam of the imperial study and said excitedly, "Master Lanzhi has avenged the Jia family."
Ah? The emperor stroked his chest and wanted to curse, but he really wanted to know how Lan Zhi got revenge, "Is Jia Zheng dead?"
Jia Zheng is a useless hypocrite. To deal with such a person, all you have to do is put him in a difficult position.
Or maybe she should learn from Madam Shen! After the emperor investigated the Jia family, he was speechless about Jia Zheng.
Lanzhi wants revenge, and she has many ways to make people's lives worse than death.
But if blood really comes...
That would be equivalent to making an enemy.
"No, no."
Although he did not see the drama firsthand, An Yi at least heard about it secondhand.
Now the emperor is listening to it again, it is third-hand.
"Mrs. Shen is feeling better today. Jia Zheng took the opportunity to apologize while Lord Lan was with her..."
He heard it secretly from Aunt Zhao, Jia Zheng's concubine in Rongguo Mansion.
Both of Aunt Zhao's children participated, and Aunt Zhou, who had a fairly good relationship with her, was also there to help out.
Oh my goodness~~That was truly an amazing show.
The emperor was stunned.
The heads of the two Jia family mansions had actually wanted Jia Zheng to leave home a long time ago, right? "...Mrs. Shen asked her daughter, who was only a few months old, to sign a seal?"
"Hehe, there's definitely no way I can sign it."
An Yi smiled and said, "It was all the help of Miss Jia Yue's brothers and sisters, including Jia Cong and Jia Huan who came later. Because they were young, their older brothers and sisters helped them sign, and they only pressed their fingerprints."
“Oh~~~~~”
The emperor blinked.
When he was dealing with Prince Jin in Shoukang Palace that day, he took extra time and asked Dai Quan and several eunuchs to hold him down for a while longer.
Mrs. Shen asked three ignorant children to sign and seal her name. Was she actually just trying to torture Jia Zheng and Wang Shi for a while longer?
"So after Jia Zheng and Wang Shi were beaten with sticks, did they really move out of the city to farm?"
In this weather, I am out of town and become an ordinary citizen...
And given that his butt is inconvenient, the Jia family may have to have another banquet in less than three days.
"No, they just got beaten up, and they are real members of the Jia family. Now, the Jia family has stepped in to help them move to the temporary house that the Jia family has set up for the impoverished members of the family."
An Yi laughed again, "They said they would keep them for three days, so they should prepare the thatched houses and land they need during these three days. I heard the old men in the Jia family talking about water tanks, pots, hoes, etc. They should also prepare them."
In order to hear this, he went over there specially.
Fortunately, the old men were also gossipy and kept repeating that they were all from the same Jia family. In this weather, ordinary farmers had enough firewood to burn for a month.
"But Your Majesty, you don't know that the most powerful one is our Xinping Marquis."
Cheng Luo?
How come Cheng Luo...
Thinking of Yuanchun, whom his nephew married, the emperor asked hurriedly, "What happened to him?"
"The Marquis, in line with his duty as a son-in-law, and Jia Zhen and his brothers carried Jia Zheng and his wife to the temporary house. He said that farming did not make much money, and they could not help, so they asked Jia Zheng to borrow a few hundred yuan from the Jia family to buy some red paper and write couplets for people. He said that the New Year was coming soon, so they wrote more auspicious words such as blessing and good harvest, so as to earn some money to buy food and salt."
emperor:"……"
Is his nephew too good at living?
How come you know everything?
He felt a little sorry for his nephew, so he asked, "Does Jia Zheng agree?"
"I agree!"
An Yi said, "It is said that the money for hiring a doctor today was borrowed by Jia Zheng from the Jia family. It can be borrowed without interest for half a year, but after half a year, interest will still be paid."
emperor:"……"
He could tell that Jia Zhen was quite good at living.
"If Jia Zheng could really let go of everything and live a good life, that would be fine."
When the emperor said this, Shen Ning was looking at the list of items prepared by the clan for Jia Zheng and Wang.
The old men were quite funny, they even wanted to give a cow.
Haha~ a cow costs at least fifteen taels of silver.
“That won’t work!”
Lanzhi picked up the pen and started drawing without hesitation.
Shen Ning didn't object.
In Dream of the Red Chamber, the Daoxiang Village where Li Wan lives is very much loved by Jia Zheng.
The layout and decoration there imitate the pastoral scenery, creating a sense of paradise.
Although Jia Zheng disliked the human fabrication, he still tried to entice him to return to farming.
Now, he really is going to be a farmer.
Huh~~~ Shen Ning thought back to Daoxiang Village and seemed to remember there was a well there.
If you don't want a cow, at least give me a well.
After all, he is the second master of the Jia family, and his butt is injured. It is unrealistic to ask him and Wang to fetch water.
Shen Ning took the pen from Lan Zhi's hand and wrote a well.
"Return it to the well?"
Lan Zhi was not very willing.
In the female army, when they got money, they often said they wanted to buy something for their family. This well... is not cheap either.
Shen Ning patted her soothingly, "You can't just not give her any thoughts at all."
Her throat still hurt, so she spoke slowly and quietly, "Lanzhi, you have to show your sincerity in giving them a chance to live. Only in this way will no one say anything bad about you in the future."
"……oh!"
Lan Zhi doesn't really care what others think of her. She has relied on herself to get to where she is today.
But she couldn't ignore her aunt's opinion.
My aunt tried several times but didn't kill those two people...
Lan Zhi thought that if her aunt had not stripped those two people's faces cleanly long ago, it would be impossible for her to come and take revenge.
The door of the Jia family might not even be opened for her.
Even if she reported it to the emperor, it would be useless without evidence. The Jia family might even use their connections in the military to target her.
"Then I will give them 10 kilograms of rice, 10 kilograms of flour, and 50 kilograms of coarse grains, so that they can at least have a good New Year!"
"good!"
Shen Ning twitched her lips, "Actually, it's okay to give them the cows. As long as you can clearly indicate that they are not allowed to sell them, they have to raise them themselves."
Raising cattle is not that easy.
The old cow has to be taken out to eat grass every day.
Other people have so much shit in one go, how can Jia Zheng and Wang Shi get cow dung? Thinking of that scene, Shen Ning felt happy.
"It's just like raising cattle. You know, it's not that easy."
Lan Zhi: “…”
She began to understand what her aunt meant.
Old cows eat a lot, poop a lot, and pee a lot.
But it is particularly precious to farmers.
If an ordinary farmer got it, he would definitely treat it well, rely on it to do great work, and harvest two more buckets of grain. But Jia Zheng and Wang Shi...
"Okay, if the old lady sees this list and starts crying to me, I'll add the cow to the list."
"Yeah!" Shen Ning nodded, "Don't add food or anything now, go to the old lady and do it."
no sooner said than done.
When Lady Jia saw the list, she actually cried.
Lanzhi seemed unable to bear it, so she added the cow and all the food for the New Year.
The old lady couldn't help crying again when she saw her writing one thing after another.
My granddaughter is a soft-hearted person.
If Er'er wasn't so stupid, and Wang Shi wasn't so evil, their family... would be so much better! "Good boy, that's enough."
The old lady waved at Yuanyang and said, "Go and get the knife that the Duke used from the storeroom."
Lan Zhi’s knife doesn’t look bad either.
But it certainly can't be compared with the one used by the Duke back then.
"You are the only one in this family who practices martial arts."
She looked at Lan Zhi again with a particularly loving gaze, "Originally, the sword was to have gone with your grandfather, but he was reluctant to part with it, saying that if his descendants practiced martial arts in the future, he would pass it down."
If you can't pass it on, just go with her.
Anyway, when she dies, she and the Duke will be buried together.
"…Thank you, Grandma!"
As soon as I got the knife in my hand, I felt different.
Lan Zhi was amazed when he saw the "Zheng" sound coming out.
Although muskets now occupy half of the battlefield, they cannot be used in close combat.
Lan Zhi had already broken several swords on the battlefield.
Although the new one given by General Jiang is better, there is no guarantee that it can be used forever.
Now……
"Is this knife made of meteorite iron?"
"Yes, yes, yes. That meteorite iron was a special reward from Taizu back then."
Because of Jia Daishan, Grandmother Jia loved the knife so much that she talked about it endlessly when she talked about the past.
Lanzhi had never seen her grandfather. Although she had heard a lot about him from her mother, her mother had never told her about her grandfather's service on the battlefield.
Grandmother Jia knew all this! One of them was talking enthusiastically, while the other was listening with great interest. When it was dark and time to rest, they were still not satisfied, so they simply rested together.
In the back street, Jia Zheng, who was already in debt of one or two taels of silver, and Wang, the woman he hated so much, were lying on the kang together.
The twenty strokes of the cane seemed to have triggered the old injury on his buttocks again, and he cried out "ouch, ouch".
It seemed that every time I screamed, the pain would be reduced a little.
Wang was also in pain.
But she was too lazy to call out.
It takes strength to shout.
Having given birth to three children, she knows that screaming when it hurts is useless.
She fell asleep to Jia Zheng's "ah yo, ah yo".
The next morning, Jia Zhen came in person and explained clearly what the clan wanted to give them, including houses, land, cattle, and food.
Wang pricked up her ears and listened.
When she heard that there was even a sewing box, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang never dared to rely entirely on Jia Zheng.
She had been locked up in the small Buddhist temple for so long and was now released. Although her butt hurt a lot, her heart... was at ease, at least for the time being.
Jia Zheng could earn pennies by writing couplets and letters for others, so she also had to find a way to make money.
But she was ordinary at needlework when she was a child.
Cooking... Although I have learned it, I can only give orders.
The only thing she could do was probably herd cattle.
When the farming season is busy, rent the cows to others.
There is food at home, and when spring comes, the cows will be busy and we can collect rent.
Yes, that’s right.
The couple ate the rice porridge and pickled cabbage provided by the tribe in silence, applied medicine to each other in silence, and did not speak in silence.
In the back street, many members of the Jia family were very curious about whether the second master and the second mistress could eat things that the servants in the Duke's Mansion rarely ate.
They passed by the window and the door intentionally or unintentionally.
Occasionally, there would be some people who were particularly thick-skinned and would insist on lifting the door curtain, sitting on the kang where they were lying, and chatting.
There is no need to mention how Jia Zheng and Wang Shi felt about this.
"Oh, why is it this dregs of porridge?"
The old woman who was speaking couldn't help but curl up her lips when she saw the porridge they were drinking. "You all have injuries on your bodies. At least kill a chicken and make some soup!"
Jia Zheng: “…”
Wang: “…”
Both ignored her.
When they were the master and his wife, many of the clan members came to them for help, but they ignored them.
If there was no way to shirk the responsibility, it would be handed over to Jia Lian and Jia Zhen.
Being ridiculed nowadays... is normal.
Having eaten many meals in the ancestral hall to commemorate the bitter past, they felt that drinking this corn residue porridge was not bad.
But when it comes to chickens, both of them are thinking about buying a few chicks.
After it grows up, you can eat its eggs, and kill it and make soup during festivals.
Wang hadn't eaten meat for a long time, and now her eyes turned green when she mentioned chicken.
Jia Zheng could tell at a glance because his eyes had once turned green.
…
At the Wang family, Wang Zisheng lowered his eyes, feeling nothing when he heard the servants say that Jia Zheng and Wang would be leaving the city tomorrow to live a hard life.
What he was worried about was Lanzhi.
This guy has real kung fu skills.
To be able to force my uncle and aunt into this state in the Jia family...
Wang Zisheng wanted to grind his teeth.
He knew that the other party mainly had the support of Shen, and even Jia She was probably still resentful of the past and had a hand in it.
Humph~ "Ren'er is back, ask him to come over right away."
Lan Zhi couldn't find her elder brother, what if he was planning to take advantage of Ren'er...
Wang Zisheng became more and more uneasy. "No, go find him now and bring him back to me immediately."
His son is the only male in the Wang family.
His eldest brother is counting on his son.
The servant who heard the news saw that he was only concerned about the master's safety, so he opened his mouth but finally closed it again.
Their aunt and uncle are going to be kicked out of the Jia family. The second master is in this state... I'm afraid he will be treated as a joke.
Alas~ He sighed and followed everyone to find Wang Ren, but he didn't know that Wang Ren was sweating profusely while gambling in the casino in South City at this time.
…
At Ningguo Mansion, where the body of Jia Jing had been kept for seven days, he finally headed from the north city to Tiekan Temple, the ancestral temple of the Jia family, early in the morning.
Because it was a violent death and it was snowing heavily, according to the rules, his coffin had to be kept in Tiekan Temple for at least seven months before he could be returned to his hometown for burial.
Although Shen Ning was still ill, she was Jia Jing's closest widow, so it was natural for her to accompany him.
On the long street, in addition to the four kings and eight dukes who often came and went, there were also several princes of the royal family who asked the chief secretary of the palace to set up mourning tents and offer sacrifices on the road.
Jia Zhen, Rong Ge'er, Jia She and other families expressed their gratitude one by one. The team that set out at 3:15 am had not yet left the capital until 2:15 pm.
Shen Ning looked out of the car several times, and couldn't help frowning again and again.
When Qin Keqing died in the Dream of the Red Chamber, her funeral was a grand affair.
It was the only time that the Jia family showed off their connections.
But since then, the Jia family has taken a sharp turn for the worse, and now...
She sighed softly in her heart.
Without Jia Jing, is the Jia family safe or in decline? Looking at today's situation...
Shen Ning hoped it was safe.
It's okay to decline.
A peaceful decline is better than anything else.
At this time, no one could have imagined that among the people watching the excitement, the real person Jia Jing was witnessing his own funeral.
"Have you heard? Even the Emperor asked his chief steward, Eunuch Liu, to come and offer sacrifices."
"Of course I heard about it. Alas, Jia Jing died too early."
Many native people in the capital have heard of him.
"I heard from my father that when he was young, he was one of the talented men in the capital."
Many officials would praise Jia Jing when scolding their sons.
"What's a talent?" Someone whispered, "The capital city produces a top scholar every three years, but they all have to start as minor officials. But Jia Jing is different. He passed the imperial examination but didn't become an official. But he is in charge of the Beijing Army. Both the retired emperor and the crown prince trust him immensely."
"Alas~"
The key point is that the prince is gone.
The emperor has turned hostile.
"If nothing had happened back then, the Jia family would have been even more prosperous than it is now."
How many of the roadside sacrifices offered by the princes and leaders of various tribes are sincere?
I don’t know how many people are laughing behind my back.
"Alas, let's not talk about this. I heard that Madam Shen is seriously ill and may have to die soon."
"Oh, you must have heard it wrong. Madam Shen is already well."
"Yes, yes, that's her, the one sitting in the car in front."
Jia Jing couldn't help but look over there a little more.
Ah, I tried hard, but I haven't finished the extra chapter yet. I'll continue tomorrow.
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