Chapter 151 The Jade Shattered
"The jade is shattered."
Grandmother Jia said coldly,
"If I hear even half a word more about Baoyu being born with a jade in his mouth, you may ask to be divorced."
"Grandmother, when Baoyu was born, he did indeed have a jade in his mouth..." Madam Wang continued to argue, but her voice stopped abruptly when she met her stepmother's cold gaze.
"Your Wang family is truly blessed! Your children are either born with jade in their mouths, or when they fall ill, monks and Taoist priests bring them medicine and even gold locks. Your blessings are so great that even the imperial family can't compare, are they?" Seeing that Lady Wang was stubborn, Grandmother Jia threw a cup at her. The cup landed in front of Lady Wang without breaking, but rolled a long way on the ground with a clatter.
Lady Wang's face turned pale. She had never received such treatment from Grandmother Jia in all these years.
She had originally planned to ask the old lady to let Baoyu relax for a few days during the New Year, but little did she know that this would give the old lady an easy opportunity to teach her a lesson.
Fortunately, Madam Wang already felt somewhat embarrassed to ask the old lady for help, so she did so when no one was around. Otherwise, she would probably be mortified by her current predicament.
Madam Wang was somewhat stunned. The matter was so well-kept, how could the old lady have known?
"My Jia family doesn't have that much power; I'm afraid we can't protect this phoenix egg. If your Wang family is capable, then take it with you!"
Grandmother Jia felt truly exhausted; it's only natural for an elderly person to love their young grandson.
Baoyu was her grandson. He had a blessed appearance, spoke eloquently, and was very well-behaved. She usually doted on him.
It's understandable that she, a woman with one foot in the grave, would dote on her grandson. However, if her favoritism emboldens Wang Shi and causes their family to decline even faster, Grandmother Jia would not allow it and would not tolerate such a situation continuing.
Wang wanted to elevate Baoyu's status, so she came up with the idea of him being "born with a jade in his mouth." Did she really think she couldn't see through Wang's intentions?
There's only one title in the family. If the eldest son's descendants are all unsuccessful, then it might fall into the hands of the second son's family.
The second wife's daughter, Zhu'er, died young. If Baoyu has extraordinary encounters, then who else could inherit the title if not Baoyu?
Because her eldest son inherited the title, Grandmother Jia had already compensated Jia Zheng's family a great deal, even giving them the main house to live in. This house was also managed by Wang Shi. In recent years, although Feng Jie was given the responsibility of managing the household after marrying into the family, Feng Jie was still a member of the Wang family!
There's a saying among the people: even if the meat rots, it's still in the pot.
In Grandmother Jia's view, there was no difference between the two women, aunt and niece, who were in charge of the Rongguo Mansion; they were both the second branch of the family.
Although Sister Feng is Jia Lian's wife, Lian is still completely controlled by Sister Feng.
In the past year, Sister Feng has become less arrogant, and the eldest daughter's family has finally been able to catch their breath.
Even so, was Wang still not satisfied?
"Grandmother, how could things have come to this..." Madam Wang stammered, "These are all facts..."
Grandmother Jia glanced at her sideways and sneered, "That bald-headed monk and lame Taoist priest seem to be regulars at your Wang family's place. How come your children always seem to have some kind of adventure with them? There are plenty of people in the capital more distinguished than your Wang family, so why don't others have any? I heard that after your brother became the governor of nine provinces, he's been searching for these two everywhere. Shall we go and confront them?"
This news was brought back by Jia Lian.
After learning about this, when Grandmother Jia saw Baoyu wearing the Jade of Spiritual Enlightenment and heard Xue Baochai mention the Cold Fragrance Pill, she felt a chill run down her spine.
What a grand scheme the Wang family has devised! Are they determined to wipe out the Rongguo Mansion?
Madam Wang was greatly alarmed. She had only asked her brother to give her unborn child an extraordinary origin, but she never expected her brother to make such a big deal out of it.
Later, she found herself in a difficult situation, so she simply pretended it was true and made it known to everyone.
It's probably difficult to take back what you said now.
“Grandmother, now everyone knows that Baoyu has a distinguished background. If we say we’ve made a mistake, wouldn’t that be like slapping ourselves in the face? There’s no way we can cover it up... We’ll just leave it at that. After a while, people probably won’t even remember.”
Grandmother Jia looked at Lady Wang. The matter had already been discussed to this point, yet she still wanted to bluff her way out of it.
"It's fine if you don't go out and socialize, but go ask Lian's wife. Everyone knows this joke, but you're still so smug, treating him like your lifeline."
Grandmother Jia really wanted to smash the cup on her head to see if she could bring some light to her muddled mind and let her see the world around her.
"Take advantage of the frequent visits between families during the New Year, go and visit other places as well. Tell them that the jade protected Baoyu for ten years, and now that its merits have been fulfilled, it suddenly broke," said Grandmother Jia.
"Since ancient times, there has been a saying that broken jade can protect its master from disaster. Now that the jade is broken, it might really protect our family from some calamities..." Grandmother Jia said in a low voice.
Madam Wang's heart skipped a beat. She knew there was no turning back now, so she could only agree and start thinking about how to explain things to her relatives in the coming days so that she could make things sound plausible.
Inside the outer study, Mingyan was diligently grinding ink. Since the Second Master had started studying obediently in the outer study, Mingyan could no longer roam around with him, and she was quite unaccustomed to it. However, thinking that all the older sisters who used to serve the Second Master had been sent away, and now only she and a few old women remained by his side, Mingyan felt secretly proud. It was only because she had served the Second Master so diligently that the Master had allowed her to stay by his side; otherwise, why would he have kept her after everyone else had left?
"Second Master, are you tired?" Seeing Baoyu put down his writing brush and shake his arm, Mingyan quickly went forward to massage his arm.
"Second Master, would you like to take a walk in the courtyard?"
Baoyu ignored him, but stepped out, and Mingyan hurriedly followed.
There were servants guarding the entrance to the outer study. The second master had instructed that Second Master Bao was not to leave the courtyard of the outer study recently, and that he should study hard.
Baoyu looked up at the sky above the courtyard. In the gray-blue sky, a few birds suddenly flew by.
He felt a pang of sadness; he was not even as good as a bird, which could fly freely, while he was trapped in this courtyard, which was incredibly boring.
Footsteps sounded at the door, and then Yuanyang, the old lady's sister, walked in.
Could it be that the old lady has come to pick me up for a trip?
Baoyu was overjoyed.
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