The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 474 New Year’s Eve
The next day was New Year's Eve, and the Jia family held a grand ceremony to worship the ancestral temple as usual, which was even more grand than in previous years. After all, the family had a concubine and a prince, so the status of the Jia family naturally rose. If the ceremony was not grand, how could they be worthy of the dignity of the royal family?
Therefore, even though the finances of the two governments were already in deficit, they still went on a lavish scale to save face. Fortunately, the taxes and rents from the farms of the two governments had just been collected, otherwise it would have been difficult to cope with such a large expenditure.

It is said that early in the morning, the central gates of the Ning and Rong mansions were wide open, and one went straight into the three ceremonial gates from the main gate. On both sides were a row of candlesticks, and the candles were lit like two fire dragons. All the male members of the Jia family from each branch were present, and they lined up outside the ancestral hall. It was bustling and prosperous.

Jia She, Jia Zheng and Jia Jing were standing on the red rhinoceros horn outside the ancestral hall, and below them were Jia Baoyu, Jia Huan, Jia Cong, Jia Rong, Jia Qiang, Jia Lan, Jia Jun, Jia Yun, Jia Qin and others.

The sacrificial ceremony began, with offerings coming up from the back of the team one plate after another, and finally reaching Jia She's hands. Jia She held the offerings and handed them to Jia Lian outside the threshold, and Jia Lian passed them to Wang Xifeng inside the threshold, and Wang Xifeng passed them to Li Wan, who passed them to Madam Xing, who passed them to Madam Wang, and finally to Jia's mother, who placed them on the altar. The atmosphere was grand and solemn, showing the style of a family with plenty of money and food.

The entire sacrificial ceremony lasted for more than an hour before it ended. After everyone had a rest, relatives and friends came to pay New Year's greetings. In the past, Jia Huan would definitely not have a chance, but now that he has the honor of being a juren, how could Jia Zheng let him go? Naturally, he was brought out to show off, and he was given the beautiful name of "learning the way to deal with people and socialize."

Therefore, Jia Huan had to accompany guests in Rongxi Hall for almost the whole day, dealing with relatives and friends who came to pay New Year's greetings, as well as Jia Zheng's colleagues. Da Lianbao was there at the beginning, but he stayed for less than half an hour before Jia Mu sent reinforcements to find him, so he happily slipped away. Looking at his smug look, it was probably that he was playing a trick in secret.

It is worth mentioning here that among the bureaucrats who came to pay New Year's greetings this time, there was this traitor Jia Yucun. It turned out that this fellow had been promoted and transferred from the prefecture governor of Yingtian to serve in the capital. Now he is the envoy of the Ministry of Public Security. Although he is also a third-rank official, the officials in the capital are noble and elegant. How can they be compared with local officials?

It is obvious that Jia Zheng and Jia Yucun have a very good relationship. Jia Zheng calls Jia Yucun "Brother Yucun" all the time. Jia Huan is even speechless watching from the side. If Jia Yucun is a treacherous hero, then old man Zheng is a fool. He is afraid that he will be sold out by Jia Yucun and have to count money for him.

In the original novel, Jia Yucun seemed to have risen to the top by betraying the Jia family. Thinking of this, Jia Huan couldn't help but recall an incident. When he was looking for Jinyiwei commander Yi Hong to return the 80,000 taels of silver to the Xue family, he happened to meet Jia Yucun who came to visit.

You have to know that Yi Hong was in Jinling at that time, using the smuggling salt case to purge officials from the emperor's faction. Jia Yucun obviously relied on Wang Ziteng's reinstatement to get to his position. In other words, Jia Yucun was from the emperor's faction. As a result, not only was Jia Yucun fine, he was even promoted.

In addition, not long after he left Yangzhou and returned to Beijing, the official gazette revealed that the Wang family had renovated their ancestral tomb in violation of regulations, and Wang Ziteng was impeached by the Inspector Jiao Fang and dismissed from office.

Therefore, Jia Huan had reason to suspect that when Jia Yucun visited Yi Hong that day, he might have reached some kind of deal with Yi Hong. It was even possible that this guy was the one who informed the Wang family that they had violated the rules in renovating their ancestral tomb. After all, Jia Yucun had a close relationship with the Wang family, so it was not surprising that he knew about the Wang family's renovation of their ancestral tomb. Moreover, this traitor had a criminal record of informing on his benefactor, so it was normal for him to do such a thing.

Just imagine, even a politically sophisticated master like Wang Ziteng could not escape the trap of Jia Yucun. Wouldn't foolish old man Zheng be fooled by such a person?

Of course, Jia Huan would not tell Jia Zheng all this, but just watch from the sidelines. After all, even if he told Jia Zheng, Jia Zheng would most likely not believe it, and might even scold Jia Huan for talking nonsense.

After sending Jia Yucun away, Jia Zheng was obviously dissatisfied with Jia Huan's performance and scolded him, "Jia Yucun is originally from our family and is a good friend of your uncle. Now he is the Minister of Public Administration. If you become an official in the future, you will have a lot to rely on him for. Why are you so negligent and rude? Do you think that you can look down on others just because you got lucky enough to win the title of Liyuan?"

Jia Huan said innocently, "Master, why do you say that? I have always treated Master Jia with courtesy and have never been disrespectful or rude."

Jia Zheng slammed the table and shouted, "How dare you quibble? Don't think that I can't beat you just because you're a juren. If you're still so lazy and silent when guests come, you'll have to watch out for yourself!"

Damn, I have to say something. You are so awesome, but if you are tricked by Jia Yucun, that traitor, in the future, you will cry!

Seeing that Jia Huan lowered his head and said nothing, but showed no fear, Jia Zheng was both angry and helpless. However, he couldn't beat up this rebellious son on such a big day, and there were many guests waiting for him to meet outside. Wouldn't it be a joke to beat him up in public? He had to suppress his anger and continue to receive the visiting relatives and friends.

As a result, Jia Zheng soon discovered that Jia Huan was chatting and laughing with the visiting guests again, and his responses were very generous and appropriate. He was satisfied but couldn't help but wonder why this evil creature was so indifferent to Brother Yucun when he was obviously very good at dealing with people. Was there any reason behind this?
Nearing evening, Jia Zheng finally let Jia Huan go. The latter felt relieved and hurried back to the garden to rest. Ping'er, the pretty maid, had been waiting for the little ancestor to come back all day. She couldn't help but pour tea and water and ask about his health. "I'm so tired today!" Jia Huan fell on the bed, lying on his back without changing his clothes.

Qiao Ping'er felt both distressed and delighted. In the past, the Third Master would not have had such an opportunity to show off. Now the Master really treated the Third Master as his legitimate son. She nudged Jia Huan and said, "My dear, the hot water is ready. You've been busy outside all day and your clothes are covered with firecracker dust. Change your clothes before going to bed!"

"Good sister, let me rest for a while. My legs are so tired after standing for a whole day." Jia Huan said with a bitter face.

Ping'er had no choice but to let him do what he wanted while gently massaging his thighs.

"Where is Mandarin?" Jia Huan asked.

Ping Erh said, "I don't know where she has gone mad again. She is not at home all day and wanders around the garden."

Jia Huan said with a smile: "This is her first Spring Festival in Dajin. It's probably the first time she's seen such a lively scene. Just let her have fun."

Ping Er said with a bit of jealousy: "Third Master, just pamper her."

Jia Huan sat up, hugged Ping'er in his arms, kissed her pretty face, and asked with a smile: "Don't tell me I don't love you?"

Ping'er felt sweet in her heart and said shyly, "My dear ancestor, just lie down obediently. You just said you were tired. Today is New Year's Eve and we just offered sacrifices to the gods. Don't..."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "What else?"

Ping'er rolled her eyes at someone who was asking a question even though she knew the answer, and her sweet face turned red.

Jia Huan didn't have that idea at first, but seeing the pretty maid's shy appearance, he suddenly felt a little eager. He coughed lightly and said, "Let's go take a shower and change clothes first. The old lady will serve dinner soon."

After saying that, he stood up, picked up Ping'er, and walked towards the bathtub behind the screen. The latter couldn't break free, so she had to take a bath with someone reluctantly. The scene was too beautiful to describe in detail.

Just as Jia Huan finished his bath and changed into new clothes, the foreign maid Mandarin finally came back. Seeing that Jia Huan had just finished his bath and Ping'er's hair was also wet, she couldn't help pouting and complaining that Jia Huan didn't wait for her before taking a bath. But soon she excitedly told about what she saw and heard while visiting the garden today, chattering more than a macaw.

After dark, Jia Huan had just rested when his grandmother called for dinner, so he set out to attend the New Year's Eve banquet, also known as the family reunion dinner.

(End of this chapter)