"Didn't you hear the master tell you to kneel down?" Jia Zhen was also furious.
The Jia family had two Dukes: Jia She and Jia Zheng, both from the Rongguo Mansion branch, while Jia Zhen was from the Ningguo Mansion branch.
Because the Ningguo Mansion is the head of the family, the head of the Ningguo Mansion is the head of the Jia clan, regardless of seniority!
Jia Zhen also inherited the title of Ningguo Mansion.
In terms of seniority, he belongs to the same generation as Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu, but is a generation younger than Jia She and Jia Zheng.
However, as the eldest son of the Ning family and the head of the Jia family, he had more say in certain matters.
As for Jia Zheng, he had neither a noble title nor the head of the clan, so in principle he was inferior to Jia She and Jia Zhen.
However, when it comes to official positions in the court, Jia Zheng is at the top.
Furthermore, these three individuals are, in truth, not particularly capable; they merely entered the path of immortality through the blessings of their ancestors, possessing considerable strength and enjoying wealth and honor.
The true core of the Jia family is still Grandmother Jia, a first-rank imperial consort!
Furthermore, Grandmother Jia was a genuine noblewoman, far superior to the other three.
Among them, the one most favored by Grandmother Jia was Jia Zheng's lineage!
Therefore, in many situations, Jia Zheng, who was originally the lowest in status, actually took the lead.
Of course, Jia Zheng's cultivation was also slightly better than that of Jia She and Jia Zhen.
Therefore, the questioning of Jia Yun took place in Jia Zheng's study.
"Master, Master Zhen, Yun'er was unaware, what wrong have I done?" Jia Yun said neither servilely nor arrogantly.
He was the lowest in seniority; even Jia Zhen was considered an elder.
However, apart from Jia Zheng, Jia She and Jia Zhen were wicked and had never been respected by people. They were only respected because of their titles.
In comparison, Jia Zheng was somewhat pedantic and of average ability, but in terms of character, he was a hundred thousand times better than the other two.
Jia Yun, on the contrary, showed great respect to Jia Zheng, the second master.
"You don't even know what you've done wrong?" Jia She was furious and was about to take action to teach Jia Yun a lesson.
At home, Jia She was the same way; he would often beat and scold his children, Jia Lian and Jia Cong.
Only Jia Yingchun, the daughter raised by Grandmother Jia, could not do so because of Grandmother Jia.
Of course, Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen also treated their children with the same attitude.
The prevailing view is that filial piety comes from strict discipline.
Although Jia Yun was not the offspring of one of the three, he was still a junior member of the Jia family. It was perfectly normal for him to be disciplined and beaten until his scalp bled.
Even if they were killed on the spot, it would only take some cultivation resources and bribing the government to settle the matter.
There will be absolutely no accountability!
Jia Yun has lost his father and only has his mother left. His cultivation level is also ordinary, not even reaching the Immortal Realm. What right does he have to seek revenge on them?
With a mere instruction, a servant would go and cause trouble for Jia Yun's mother, hoping to find an opportunity to kill her.
"Brother, wait a minute."
Jia Zheng spoke up, stopping Jia She.
"Second brother, are you going to protect Jia Yun?" Jia She's face turned cold.
"Second Master, you should think this through carefully. Jia Yun has offended more than just one or two powerful figures!" Jia Zhen said meaningfully.
"I understand, of course." Jia Zheng nodded, neither confirming nor denying.
Upon hearing this, Jia Yun understood why the three masters had summoned him.
It turned out that it was because he followed the holy monk and punished corrupt officials...
How could there not be a protective umbrella behind those corrupt officials, big and small?
The daily tributes were extremely generous. Now that these offerings have stopped, how can the protectors not be angry?
Ji Gong's cultivation was unfathomable, so no one dared to act rashly.
But the people below... like Jia Yun, were just a collateral branch of the fallen Jia family, what kind of people were they?
The protectors only exerted a little pressure on the heads of the Ning and Rong mansions, and this is how the situation has come to this.
If it weren't for the fact that the Jia family had rendered great service to the State of Shen, and that Jia Yuanchun had been bestowed the title of Virtuous Consort and was enjoying the Emperor's favor, normally people would have been sent directly to the Jia residence to arrest her.
“Yun’er, tell me properly, is there any evidence that you followed that mad monk Ji Dian in the capital? Furthermore, even if there is evidence, it should be handed over to the yamen for trial, and not subjected to private torture,” Jia Zheng said.
Jia Zheng's attitude towards Jia Yun was not as malicious as that towards Jia She and Jia Zhen.
On the contrary, there is a sense of appreciation.
Jia Zheng was stubborn, but he still deeply abhorred corrupt officials and their ilk.
However, Jia Zheng had neither the duty nor the authority to arrest and imprison various corrupt officials.
"Shut up!"
Jia She showed no mercy and immediately launched into a tirade of insults:
"Our Jia family has finally shown signs of turning our fortunes around because of our eldest daughter's position in the palace. This is a perfect opportunity to befriend the nobles and officials of the capital and expand our power..."
"Who knew that this kid would be so stubborn, and that monk, whose background is unknown, would act recklessly? Did you lose your mind and follow suit?"
"Even if you're going to take someone as your apprentice, can't you at least find a good one?"
In Jia She's view, noble families were good families, while people like Ji Gong were evil people!
Jia Zhen echoed:
"The master is right."
"Jia Yun, because of you, it will take a much greater price for us to regain our good relations with so many nobles! And we might not even succeed!"
"You are a member of the Jia family, how could you do such a thing?"
Jia She said in a sinister tone:
"Now you only have one path to take."
"They cooperated with us, luring that evil monk into the ambush, and suppressed him to atone for their sins; otherwise..."
As Jia She spoke, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
Jia Zhen coldly replied, "Eliminating the bad apples for the family is an inescapable responsibility for those of us who inherit the title!"
These two are incredibly shameless; they say these things without blushing at all.
There were not only bad apples in the Jia family, but many of them, with Jia She and Jia Zhen being the most prominent among them!
"..." Not to mention Jia Yun, even Jia Zheng was speechless after hearing this.
“That Ji Dian is a holy monk. Brother, Zhen’er, remember not to talk nonsense,” Jia Zheng said.
"Second Master, have you lost your mind?" Jia Zhen retorted without any further politeness, "Disregarding the laws of the court and arbitrarily sentencing and punishing... Hah, this is slapping the court in the face!"
"What are these treacherous and rebellious monks if not demonic monks or evil monks?"
Jia She also mocked, "Second brother, you've studied the classics so thoroughly, how come you don't even understand this simple principle? Have you wasted your time reading them?!"
Having finally found an opportunity to mock Jia Zheng and Jia She, they would absolutely not let it pass.
Moreover, he genuinely believed that Jia Yun's actions were utterly despicable!
The second brother, Jia Zheng, not only didn't join Jia Zhen in coercing him, but he's even trying to exonerate himself?!
This is absolutely outrageous!
He was met with angry rebukes from Jia She and Jia Zhen, and Jia Zheng's face turned pale and then red.
Jia Yun did not put Jia Zheng in a difficult position. He held his head high and spoke firmly:
"I only wish I could kill all those corrupt officials who oppress the people!"
"Hmph, you want me to betray the Holy Monk? Don't even think about it!"
"Death is inevitable, so what is there for a true man to fear?"
At this point, Jia Yun clasped his hands in a fist salute to Jia Zheng and said, "I only hope that after my death, Second Master, you can make the decision and not implicate my elderly mother."
He trusted his second master, Jia Zheng, on this point; he was not the kind of person to break his promise and get rich quick.
"Hmph." However, Jia She and Jia Zhen both chuckled, their meaning self-evident.
Jia Zheng raised an eyebrow and immediately shouted, "Stop talking nonsense! This is a chivalrous act that benefits the people. What crime has it committed?"
"Go and find the holy monk to find a way out. I will try to buy you some time."
Before he finished speaking, a maidservant rushed in from outside the study, looking flustered and shouting.
"Master, something terrible has happened!"
"What's with this flustered behavior? Speak quickly, what's the matter?" Jia Zheng said.
"It's an old lady, and a few young ladies..."
Before the maid could finish her sentence, a deafening explosion echoed throughout Ningrong Street.
Immediately, bursts of light rose up from within the Grand View Garden, in all sorts of colors—as black as ink, as alluring as azure… In short, demonic energy and malevolent intent intertwined, sending shivers down one's spine.
"This is bad!" Jia Zheng's expression changed.
"Huh?!" Jia She and Jia Zhen, who had been smiling coldly, thinking they had Jia Yun under control and that Jia Zheng's words were just to comfort Jia Yun so that he could lure the evil monk Ji Dian to come and kill him, behead him and display his head to the public, thus gaining the goodwill of the nobles, were shocked by this sudden turn of events.
"Demons!" Jia Yun exclaimed solemnly, wanting to immediately go find the holy monk Ji Gong, but then he thought that with the holy monk's abilities, he probably knew everything about the study, let alone the Grand View Garden.
Furthermore, he did not believe that Jia Zheng's words were merely evasive or deceptive.
Based on his understanding of the Second Master Jia Zheng, this was undoubtedly from the bottom of his heart.
Perhaps Jia Zheng greatly appreciated this, but he was powerless to offer protection and could only send him to the holy monk for assistance.
As for Jia She and Jia Zhen... Jia Yun had anticipated their attitudes.
At worst, he can just die and go to the underworld. Given his situation, he has done nothing wrong and will surely be reborn as a human again to start cultivating again!
Of course, being alive would be the best outcome.
Jia Yun also has many people and things he can't let go of.
A wisp of true spirit drifts down to the Netherworld; it is always a last resort.
Jia Yun dared not even dream of deceiving the heavens and the sea, escaping the cycle of reincarnation, becoming a wandering ghost, or even falling into the demonic path, wreaking havoc on the world, and poisoning the common people... He had no such ability.
"Second Master, hurry and pay your respects to the Old Madam, activate the divine array left by our ancestors, and then use the spiritual treasures to suppress the demons and monsters!" Seeing Jia Zheng panic, Jia Yun quickly reminded him.
Jia Yun didn't bother with the other two either.
"Why has this calamity occurred?" Jia She was terrified; the mere sight of the floating demonic light filled him with dread.
"It's all that little beast's fault!" Jia Zhen was furious, but instead of thinking about saving the Grand View Garden, he used his magic to strike Jia Yun with a palm.
"Alright!" Jia Zheng raised his hand, stopping Jia Zhen, and gestured for Jia Yun to leave first.
"At this time, what good will it do to take your anger out on others? The right thing to do is to drive away the demons first."
Jia Zheng suddenly noticed that his elder brother Jia She and his nephew Jia Zhen both shook their heads, looking somewhat dazed.
"Haha, after being trapped in the mortal world for thousands of years, only today do I realize the cause and effect!" Jia She laughed loudly.
"The order from above... Heh heh, these demons and monsters, they still want to fish in troubled waters? They're really audacious!" Jia Zhen said sarcastically.
After speaking, the two men glanced at Jia Zheng, but ignored him and left the study.
"What's going on? Why are Big Brother and Zhen'er acting like completely different people?"
Jia Zheng was both confused and incredulous. Why did Jia She and Jia Zhen suddenly become so unfathomable?
It felt to him as if he were facing Grandmother Jia directly.
"Buzz buzz buzz..." Inside and outside the two mansions, besides the eerie demonic light, there were also many seemingly familiar yet strange auras rising into the air, which Jia Zheng found both familiar and unfamiliar.
Madam Xing, Madam Wang, Zhou Rui's wife, Wang Shanbao's wife, Granny Lai...
Jia Rong, Zhou Rui, Wang Shanbao, Lai Da, Lai Er...
This familiar character, however, felt completely foreign to Jia Zheng at this moment.
Do they all have past lives?
Because this is the primordial world, where reincarnation and rebirth manifest in the world, there are many such examples that Jia Zheng has heard of and seen. He quickly realized this as well.
But he was still surprised.
Why are there so many reincarnated individuals among the masters and servants of the two mansions? It's abnormally high!
But Jia Zheng doesn't have the energy to think about these issues right now.
"Mother!" Jia Zheng activated the magic technique of the first Duke of Rongguo to call out to his mother.
The two dukes' mansions, the most skilled person in the world, is none other than Grandmother Jia!
As long as Grandmother Jia is alive, the Jia family will not perish.
"Who dares to act so recklessly on Ningrong Street?"
When Jia Zheng heard Grandmother Jia's angry voice echoing through the two mansions, he finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
However, the next second, his heart skipped a beat.
"How dare you be so arrogant, you mere Great Luo Immortal?" A sinister male voice responded to Grandmother Jia, tinged with disdain.
Immediately afterwards, the demonic mist surged forth, sweeping across Ningrong Street and continuing to spread, threatening to engulf the heavens!
There was a muffled groan from Grandmother Jia, and her life force immediately weakened.
"Mother?" Jia Zheng was shocked. His mother had lost in just one clash?
******
"old lady!"
In Grandmother Jia's courtyard, Madam Xing, Madam Wang, Li Wan, Wang Xifeng, and maids such as Yuanyang were all present.
Everyone revolved around Grandmother Jia, their main goal being to please her.
But the incident happened suddenly. Madam Xing and Madam Wang, who had always been at odds with each other, exchanged a glance and left without saying a word.
Only Li Wan, Wang Xifeng, Yuanyang, Ping'er, and others remained, all of them astonished.
"First Madam, Second Madam, they want..."
Grandmother Jia waved her hand, her expression somber, and said, "Let them be. There's no need to interfere or ask any questions."
It seems she was mentally prepared for the changes in Madam Xing and Madam Wang, and was not surprised to see them now.
Then, Grandmother Jia's gaze swept over Li Wan, who looked uneasy, and Wang Xifeng, whose expression was a mixture of joy and confusion, before finally looking at Yuanyang and Ping'er, who were concerned...
Suddenly, Grandmother Jia let out a long sigh.
"Grandma?" Yuanyang stepped forward, awaiting instructions.
"You all stay put, those demonic thieves, what they're after..."
Grandmother Jia shook her head, stood up abruptly, her silver hair shimmering with luster, and her withered body releasing boundless life force, stunning all the nannies and maids in the courtyard.
However, Jia Mu's subsequent actions were forcefully interrupted by an unknown demon!
"A quasi-saint?" Blood trickled from the corner of Grandmother Jia's mouth, and the wrinkles on her face seemed to have deepened.
"It seems that my predictions... underestimated you."
To be honest, for the past ten thousand years, Grandmother Jia has been the head of the Jia family.
His cultivation level was also quite high, reaching the Great Luo realm. He also wielded a Quasi-Saint God Array and possessed special spiritual treasures, making his divine power extraordinary.
How could Grandmother Jia be completely unaware of the peculiarities of people like Wang Xifeng, Ping'er, Yuanyang, and Li Wan?
However, no matter what, Grandmother Jia was not a quasi-saint, much less a powerful being of the weak saint level, and her understanding of the situation in the Three Realms was not deep enough.
While I have some understanding of the mysteries surrounding works like *Dream of the Red Chamber* and *Water Margin* because they are involved, my understanding is still like the blind men and the elephant—it's not comprehensive.
She initially thought that an ancient Taoist priest had been reincarnated into the Jia family, and that there was a certain probability that he was involved in a battle of magic between ancient powerful figures, and that the matter was very complicated.
Apart from Jia Baoyu, who was born with a jade in his mouth and could not be concealed, everyone else, including Grandmother Jia, took action to cover up the extremely mysterious and difficult-to-trace cause-and-effect relationship.
Grandmother Jia pondered that since she herself could do this, these people's previous lives must have been at most at the level of the Great Luo.
Unexpectedly, she was unable to get up today, and only then did Grandmother Jia realize that she had underestimated him!
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