Chapter 91: First mention of separation
The two meals a day, no matter how unpalatable, began to be cherished.
Jia Zheng and his wife, as well as Jia Zhu, who were completely unprepared, were able to drink the strange-tasting wild vegetable porridge with a blank expression on their faces.
I really have to eat. After this meal, I have to wait until the evening for more.
At night, you can be lazy and take a nap on the futon, freeing your knees and sleeping on your stomach for a while, but during the day... it's not possible.
In other words, they had to rely on this bowl of wild vegetable porridge and wild vegetable cakes to maintain their strength and last until the evening meal.
"Jane!"
Wang finally spoke, "Zhu'er still has a lot of schoolwork to do, he..."
"Mother, my son can do it."
Jia Zhu was afraid that his mother would speak, so he interrupted her and said, "My son is wrong, and this is where I should be."
Jia Zheng: “…”
Wang: “…”
The expressions on both faces twisted for a moment.
Of course they knew they were wrong.
But they have already admitted their mistake!
They all entered the ancestral hall.
Today alone will count as three days.
What else do you want?
Do we really want to lock them up for life? "I didn't say..., you shouldn't be here."
Wang slowly exhaled the foul air in her chest, trying not to explode, "I mean, you have a lot of schoolwork to do. Otherwise, bring your books in to read!"
Although she is a mother with a loving heart, she cannot stop her son from always being disloyal.
"And the master." Since her son was useless, she could only blame her husband, "It's not good to ask for leave all the time."
"……well!"
Jia Zheng sighed at the right time.
He regretted very much that he had always been lazy and inefficient in the past, so much so that it was inconvenient for him to escape from the ancestral hall by using government affairs as an excuse.
But he really couldn't kneel anymore, his knees hurt so much.
Now when I go to the toilet, I have to exert a lot of strength to get up.
It was hateful that his elder brother was such a bad guy, but this time he did the same as them. He didn’t just clamor to go out, but even shouted when he took a long time to use the toilet.
Jia Zheng also calculated the time for him to go to the toilet, but his brother was very capable. He made some noise and slowly walked over before he called him.
"Nothing!"
Jia Zhen took a sip of hot water and said, "There have been many happy events in our family recently. The officials in the Ministry of Works will understand Uncle Zheng."
Jia Zheng: “…”
He turned around and took a deep look at his nephew, and finally couldn't help asking, "Zhen'er, how many days...will we have to stay in the ancestral hall?"
Jia Zheng wanted to say that his family had admitted their mistakes and Rongxi Hall could be vacated at any time. You are the patriarch, you should punish him as you wish. Why do you keep kneeling in the ancestral hall without saying a word? But when the words came to his lips, he could not say them.
Faintly, he felt that his elder brother and Zhen'er were using the ancestral hall to teach them a lesson.
Although the two of them also accompanied him in the ancestral hall, how good was Jia Zhen's life? Apart from kneeling during the day, he could sleep soundly at night.
As for the eldest brother..., he has experience in kneeling in the ancestral hall, so three to five days is no problem at all.
But they really can't.
"You know, the Emperor has already issued the decree for the marriage, and Yuanchun's dowry should be prepared as it should be."
With no other options, Jia Zheng could only carry his daughter out.
"When I came in, my mother said we don't need to worry about my eldest sister's dowry."
Jia Zhen seemed to sigh sadly, "There is the old lady and her two sisters-in-law. The two younger brothers and sisters-in-law also got married last year, so they have experience.
Besides, my elder sister has been in the palace for two years, so she may be unfamiliar with household affairs. If she marries into the Xinping Marquis's place, she will be the mistress of the household, and she cannot do without knowing how to manage things. So she can take this opportunity to learn how to prepare the rest of her dowry and practice her skills, so that when she marries there, she will not be so flustered. "
“…”
“…”
All the roads are blocked! Jia Zheng and Wang Shi feel desperate.
Jia Zhu knelt there without moving at all.
He sincerely repented in front of his ancestors.
But if Dad and Mom can't be sincere...
Then this family will be in turmoil in the future.
But my aunt and brother Zhen are becoming less and less patient with my parents.
Next time…
What if he beat his father, what if he locked his mother up in the Buddhist temple... What should he do? As their son, Jia Zhu didn't want his parents to fall into such a situation, so he would rather teach them a lesson once and for all, so that they would be afraid.
He didn't say a word and just suffered along with me.
"That……"
Jia Zheng gritted his teeth and asked again, "How many days will we stay in the ancestral hall?"
"What do you think, Uncle Zheng?"
Jia Zhen asked, "In front of our ancestors, how many days would my grandfather and uncle be punished for if they knew what you did?"
Jia Zheng: “…”
His heart trembled.
The father knows and won’t punish me, but he will beat me.
If his father were still alive, he would never have dared to be so bold.
My mother couldn't do such a thing.
"If my father were here, he would probably beat him half to death and throw him into the ancestral hall for half a month, and then see if he's still alive."
Jia She looked at his father's spirit tablet and kowtowed, "I am an unfilial son. I did not protect the things you gave me. I was only ignorantly filial to my mother and only forgave and tolerated my second brother. I completely forgot to advise him, and even more forgot to teach him.
Father……"
His voice choked up, "Your son misses you. Grandfather, grandmother, your grandson misses you."
Here are his wife and son...
Jia She straightened up, and when he saw the two tablets at the edge, he couldn't help but wipe away tears.
He was willing to stay in this ancestral hall with his second brother's family to accompany his ancestors and his wife and children.
"...Brother, I was wrong."
Jia Zheng said in a slightly lower voice, "I will vacate Rong Xi Tang when I get back."
“…”
Jia She looked at the tablets of his wife and children without saying a word.
"Zhen'er, I want to go back early and vacate Rong Xi Tang."
Jia Zheng had no choice but to turn to Jia Zhen and say, "Look..."
"Wait a little longer!"
Jia Zhen sighed, "Rong Xi Tang is right there, we can't run away. It's our fault... We should admit it in front of our ancestors. Otherwise, with my grandfather's hot temper, he might come to talk to me in the middle of the night."
Although I missed my grandfather's stick a little when I was with the emperor, I was still afraid of it most of the time.
"Uncle Zheng, have you ever dreamed of your uncle?"
Jia Zheng: “…”
He didn't.
Not even once.
My parents have always liked him.
So when he sent his last manuscript to the emperor, the retired emperor even rewarded him with an official position.
He always felt that he should be his father's pride.
But now…
Jia Zheng's shoulders drooped.
Is he really wrong?
My eldest brother is a mess and my mother said the family doesn't rely on him.
His mother asked him to live in Rong Xi Tang. He knew it was wrong, but for his mother's sake, he did not object. He and Wang did not live in the main house, but only in the three side rooms to the east of the main house.
Once upon a time, he thought he was doing well.
He took care of both his mother and his brother.
Unexpectedly...
The ancestral hall became quiet again.
But although the ancestral hall was quiet, Shen Ning's yard could not be quiet.
Grandmother Jia came straight to her.
The old lady knew very well that although Jia Zhen was the head of the clan, he was very filial to his mother. As long as Shen gave the order, at the ancestral hall..., it was just that she, the old woman, was slightly partial to her two sons.
But the eldest brother has already inherited the title.
Isn't it human nature for her to be partial to the second child? Shen didn't understand it before, but now that she has Jia Yue, she should know something, right?
"Auntie, why are you here so early in the morning?"
After hearing the maid's report, Shen Ning went straight to the outside of the courtyard and said, "If there is anything, let the maid tell me. It will be the same if I go there."
Grandmother Jia: “…”
She wanted to admit her mistakes and ask the master to answer questions about her crime.
But Shen's respect is so great...
For a moment, Grandmother Jia didn't know what to say.
"Ahem~"
She coughed lightly, "Yueyue cried a lot after the imperial decree was announced yesterday. How is she now?"
"As a child, crying is her business."
Shen Ning's smile became more sincere. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I can still eat and sleep, and I can even howl occasionally."
"That's good. That's good."
When Shen Ning came over, Grandmother Jia patted her hands and said, "Yueyue is still young and has a thin voice. It's okay for her to cry occasionally, but you can't let her cry all the time."
"How can that be possible?"
Shen Ning helped her walk inside and said, "I'm not a stepmother. Wasn't it because she cried so hard yesterday that I couldn't go to the West Mansion to accompany her to receive the imperial edict?"
“…”
Grandmother Jia sighed, "Luckily you didn't go." The second daughter-in-law was stupid, and the gossip from that day would always come back. She sighed again and said, "After Eunuch Dai announced the order of the Supreme Emperor, the mansion received the reward and gave the palace maids a red envelope. Some palace maids gossiped that it was a pity. Aunt Lingyu from Concubine Zhen's side said that Concubine Zhen was going to tell the emperor to give the eldest daughter of the mansion a family background."
She looked at Shen Ning, "You know, at that time, wasn't he trying to sow discord by saying this?"
Although the old lady said this, her eyes were fixed on Shen Ning, wanting to see her attitude after hearing this, wanting to know whether she was surprised or angry.
In the midst of surprise and anger, is there any regret, annoyance... or even guilt?
"So, Auntie, do you know why I have been so favored until now?"
Shen Ning seemed unaware of Lady Jia's probing, and simply said sincerely, "How many concubines were there around the Grand Emperor? Which one of them was not smart? But what was the result? Without some tricks, Concubine Zhen and Prince Jin would not have come this far."
These idiots from the Jia family still want to get good things from others?
Shen Ning sighed, "She quietly sowed discord among people, causing them to kill each other. This is not the first time she has done this, and it won't be the last time she has done this."
“…”
Grandmother Jia's heart trembled.
She recalled an old incident that happened in the Emperor's Palace.
In the same period as Concubine Zhen, there was a pair of sisters who were deeply loved by the Emperor.
But in the end, the two sisters went from supporting each other to fighting each other to death. One of them was disfigured and the other was sent to the cold palace. Within a few months, both were gone.
"Alas~"
The old lady was anxious, "Wang is stupid. After hearing that, as soon as Eunuch Dai and his men left the house, she slapped Yuanchun hard and asked her about her filial piety, saying that she didn't listen to her and she was her mother and would not harm her."
Shen Ning: “…”
"She not only blames Yuanchun, but also you!"
"I know."
Shen Ning slowly exhaled, "She has been blaming me for a long time. She wants to be a knife in someone else's hand, and I can't do anything about it. I can't just lock her up in the ancestral hall forever."
Grandmother Jia: “…”
Her heart moved, but she quickly calmed down again.
Wang Ziteng is not a vegetarian.
The children born to Wang are all good.
And Yuanchun is about to marry Xinping Hou.
Zhu Er also wants to be an examiner, for their sake...
"I'm so angry!"
The old lady patted her chest and said, "Fortunately, these children were raised by an old grandmother like me."
Otherwise, I'm afraid you will be taught the wrong way.
"This is the good fortune of the children and the Jia family!"
Fortunately, the Wang family's daughter's lack of talent did not apply to the Jia family.
Even Yingchun can write a few poems.
Shen Ning helped the old lady into the house, "Aunt, you have to take good care of yourself. With you around, the children will be better off, and my second brother and sister-in-law won't be able to cause any trouble."
"Zheng'er is the wrong daughter-in-law."
The old lady regretted in front of Shen Ning, "It was she who brought Baoyu to cry in front of me. I thought the children were all growing up by my side, and it would be inconvenient for her to look after the children if we were far away, so... I was confused for a moment."
Anyway, this factor exists.
The old lady simply recognized this point, "Speaking of which, Baoyu's jade is very strange. How could such a large piece of jade be in the mouth of such a young child? It is obvious that she had bribed the midwife and the people around her a long time ago."
Shen Ning: “…”
She said nothing, but took the tea brought by the maid and served it herself, letting the old lady continue her story.
"She is too scheming. No, I have to send someone to look for the midwife from that year."
The old lady had actually already looked for her, and it was just a coincidence that the midwife drank too much last year and fell to death.
"Yes, we have to find it."
Shen Ning echoed.
"She was unwilling to not have a share of the family title from the second wife, so she tried her best to curry favor with the old woman. Over the years, she has been in charge of the family, and I have been raising the children for her. The mansion... has been almost emptied out by her!"
Where did Zhou Rui's farm, shop, and money come from? Wasn't it all taken from the public treasury by Wang Shi?
In the past, Grandmother Jia turned a blind eye, thinking that the meat was rotting in her own pot.
I didn’t expect that!
"Why did I marry Zheng'er to such a troublemaker?"
“It’s never too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost.”
Shen Ning said: "Now Lian'er has also married, otherwise, you can divide it between the two houses in secret."
What? Grandmother Jia came back to her senses immediately.
As long as parents are alive, the family should not be divided. This is an old saying.
She never thought of dividing the family property between her two sons.
"Brother She has suffered a lot. He is magnanimous and will give in to his younger brother. Even if the family is divided, he will not let Brother Zheng and his family leave the house."
Shen Ning probed, "You, first let them divide the money for the children's marriages, and the other farms, shops, etc., each family will keep their own. Of course, you also have a share, and you can give it to whoever you want in the future."
This? The second wife has many children, so if the money for marriage and marriage is divided first, the second wife will get the advantage.
The Shen family is pretty good and does not favor the first wife.
Grandmother Jia didn't care whether she divided it up or not. She had enough of her own private money and could give it to whoever she wanted.
Just a separation...
"How many brothers have fought to the death and stopped communicating with each other because of the division of the family."
Shen Ning reminded, "Now the brotherhood between brother She and brother Zheng is still there, and with you, we can secretly divide the family. In the outside world, Yuanchun is still the legitimate daughter of Rongguo Mansion, and Zhuer is still the legitimate eldest son of Rongguo Mansion.
Just give them a share of the property so that Wang Shi can't make any decision. Otherwise, she is Feng's aunt after all, and she raised Lian'er, so no matter what she wants to do, the young couple can only agree to it out of affection.
It was as if she dared Lian'er to hide it from everyone and embezzle the silver from the national treasury that her uncle had specially sealed.
If she dared to move that thing, what else do you think she would not dare to do?"
Grandmother Jia: “…”
She was a little frightened by what she said.
"The Wang family wasn't extremely wealthy back then, but they weren't far behind."
Shen Ning then reminded, "But what about now? A family should avoid internal friction. If you don't control it from the source now, the West Mansion may really be emptied by her. What will Lian'er do then? How can Zhu'er, Baoyu and the others face it?"
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