Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 470 Snooping
When Jia Rui returned to the Yangxin Hall, the newborn prince had already been carried to Xue Baochai's side.

When Jia Rui entered Xue Baochai's room in the back hall, she was holding the little prince there, coaxing him not to cry!
Looking at the scene in front of him, Jia Rui remembered that when Jia Xuan was born, Xue Baochai was holding the child and walking back and forth on the ground like this. Xue Baochai at that time was as shining with motherhood as she is now.

Xue Baochai noticed that Jia Rui had come in, raised her head and gave him a smile, and then said: "The little prince is so cute. When our child is born, the two of us will be companions."

Xue Baochai's belly is getting bigger now, and she should give birth in a month.

At this time, Xue Baochai no longer had any energy, and the brilliance of motherhood enveloped her entire body.

Jia Rui walked over, hugged Xue Baochai's shoulders, and leaned his face on Xue Baochai's head, "Okay, I will listen to you."

Xue Baochai also leaned happily in Jia Rui's arms, and for a while the whole room fell into a warm silence.

Not only did Jia Rui enjoy a moment of peace here, but also the news of Jia Yuanchun's death was sent to Rongguo Mansion by Jia Rui.

It was getting late at this time, and the eunuch sent by Jia Rui came to the gate of Rongguo Mansion and patted the door knocker desperately.

The concierge on duty inside heard the crazy knocking on the door and did not dare to neglect. He immediately got up and opened the door.

When I opened the door, I saw that several eunuchs were knocking on the door anxiously.

"My father-in-law, have you come to our Rongguo Mansion for business?"

The leading eunuch pushed open the concierge and said as he walked in, "Wake up Mr. Jia Zheng quickly. Something happened in the palace. The Queen passed away after giving birth to a child."

The concierge trembled in fright when he heard this, and then ran in frantically, regardless of the door that was still open.

After a while, lights were lit one after another in Rongguo Mansion, which was already plunged into darkness.

Not long after this, Jia Zheng and Jia She hurried to Rongxi Hall.

The leading eunuch did not dare to neglect Jia Zheng, the current Minister of Etiquette. He went up and paid a thousand dollars, and then said: "Master Jia, I have been ordered by the Prime Minister to send you a message. The Queen is giving birth to a child." The prince soon collapsed and died."

Although Jia Zheng had given up on his daughter, when he heard that his daughter had unfortunately passed away, he felt dizzy and a little unable to stand. Fortunately, Jia She next to him gave him a hand, otherwise the Minister of Rites would have made a fool of himself on the spot by writing a letter.

After a pause, Jia Zheng asked: "Is the little prince healthy? Which empress is taking care of him now?"

The eunuch glanced at him, then lowered his head and said, "This is a major matter in the palace. How can I, a young eunuch, dare to ask."

Jia She was nearby and glared at Jia Zheng, then took out two banknotes from his arms, secretly stuffed them into the hands of the leading eunuch, and then pulled him aside.

"This little father-in-law is just doing it for convenience."

The little eunuch gently touched the banknotes. Judging from the thickness and size, each one should be three hundred taels.

The little eunuch put the banknote into his arms with satisfaction, and then said softly: "The little prince is very healthy and has been taken care of by the wife of the Prime Minister of Yangxin Palace."

After hearing this, Jia She nodded with satisfaction, then returned to Jia Zheng and whispered a few words in his ear.

Jia Zheng also breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

Everyone is not a fool. From the place where Jia Rui arranged the little prince, we can see that Jia Rui does not want the little prince's life yet.

If Jia Rui didn't want the little prince alive, he would have given it to a queen in the harem to take care of temporarily, without Xue Baochai having to work hard at all.

After delivering the message, the little eunuch got some money, and happily left Rongguo Mansion and returned to the palace.

But not long after he came back, someone told Qin Shun.

This young eunuch belongs to Lao Li. According to normal circumstances, Qin Shun cannot overstep his authority. But today, who knows why he went crazy, Qin Shun ignored the tacit understanding between the two parties and directly arrested the young eunuch.

The little eunuch didn't know what mistake he had made at first, but as a piece of paper was thrown in front of him, the little eunuch was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.

It turned out that what he and Jia She said just now had been recorded on this small note.

Jia Rui now has very tight control over the palace. Anyone who dares to betray the news in the palace will face death.

No wonder Qin Shun dared to take action this time. It turned out that the young eunuch had violated a taboo, and even Lao Li did not dare to intercede with him.

Qin Shun then tied the little eunuch directly to the square in front of Qianqing Palace without covering up.

In this square, the little eunuch was beaten to death with a stick.

This shocked everyone in the palace. They didn't expect that they would lose their lives just by spreading a piece of unnecessary news.

You know, it is not a secret that Xue Baochai is temporarily raising the little prince. It may even be spread intentionally by Jia Rui, but this news must not be spread privately by people below.

This little eunuch was also dazzled by the money. He didn't consider the power of it, so he was caught.

Regarding this matter, after Lao Li found out, he just rolled his eyes a few times and didn't care anymore. But after that, Lao Li also sent people to keep an eye on Qin Shun, and the conflict between the two officially entered a fever pitch.

Jia Rui found out about it the next morning, but he was not prepared to intervene.

If there is a conflict between two people under his command, he, as the leader, can mediate the situation. Otherwise, if the people under his command are all of the same mind, he, the leader, will not know if he has been deceived.

Not to mention the deceit in the palace, Rongguo Mansion immediately began to tidy up after learning about the death of Queen Jia Yuanchun, sending people to collect white cloth everywhere. By the next day, the entire Rongguo Mansion had turned into a white sail.

Ning Guo Mansion and Wu Guo Mansion on both sides of Rong Guo Mansion also knew the news.

Jia Zhen, the head of Ningguo Mansion, did not dare to take any unnecessary action now. She just ordered her daughter-in-law You to go to Wu Guo Mansion to inquire about the news with You Erniang and You Sanniang to see what Wu Guofu was planning to do. .

He was planning to follow Jia Rui. He would do whatever Jia Rui did. If Jia Rui didn't make any move, he wouldn't be ready to take the lead.

You took the mission and came to Wu Guofu in a sedan chair.

Since Xue Baochai is not here now, the task of being the head of the house temporarily falls to Mrs. Wang.

However, Mrs. Wang was old and couldn't deal with such trivial matters at home, so she asked the more aggressive Sister You San among Jia Rui's concubines to temporarily help her with the housework.

Therefore, Youshi did not wait long and met her nominal sister in the flower hall of Wu Guofu.

After meeting Third Sister You, Mrs. You rushed to pray for blessings.

This was unimaginable before. After all, You was also the head of the Ningguo Mansion.

And what is the identity of Sanjie You? It's just one of Jia Rui's many concubines.

But now as Jia Rui's status has risen, and in the foreseeable future, Sister You's status will rise a lot, so when You meets Third Sister You, she has to put down her pride to please her.

Third Sister You was still the same spirited person. When she saw the nominal eldest sister performing a blessing for her, she smiled and then ordered her maid to help You up. After that, she did not return the favor and sat on the main seat.

Youshi stood beside him awkwardly.

At this embarrassing moment, a little maid came in from outside, came to Sister You, and whispered a few words in her ear.

Third Sister You put down her tea bowl and smiled as if she had just seen You. "Sister, please sit down quickly. We are all members of our family, why should we be so polite."

After saying that, he asked the maid to help Youshi to the side of her head.

After You sat down, the maid brought fragrant tea.

The reason why Third Sister You is so unreasonable is because Third Sister You hates Mr. You.

She still remembered that when her family was desperate, she was invited by the You family to seek refuge in the Ningguo Mansion. If she hadn't met Jia Rui at that time, the two sisters would have become Jia Zhen's playthings.

It had been many years since this incident, and no one cared about it anymore, but no one expected that Sanjie You would always remember it in their hearts and never let it go.

Although Youshi was a little annoyed in her heart, she didn't dare to show it on her face, because now her family still had to beg Wu Guofu.

My family's prosperity and wealth are all dependent on others, Wu Guofu. If this offends others, it will not do any good to my family.

"Sister, the Queen passed away last night. Do you know about this?"

Third Sister You nodded, and then said: "The uncle has sent someone home to spread the news."

"Then what are you, Wu Guofu, going to do?"

Third Sister You smiled softly, and then said: "What's the hurry? When it gets up tomorrow, officials from the Ministry of Etiquette will naturally come to help us clean up."

When Youshi heard it, he immediately understood what it meant.

The Ministry of Rites coming to help officials and the family actively organizing the funeral are two different things.

For someone as active as Rongguo Mansion, they started to decorate the entire mansion in the middle of the night and turned the entire home into a sea of ​​white. This shows that their family is very close to the dead queen, and Jia Rui is just an ordinary official. treat.

Now Youshi also understands what to do. Now they can no longer follow Rongguo Mansion and mess around. Now Ningguo Mansion can't stand the trouble, so they have to follow Jia Rui in everything. They can do whatever Jia Rui does.

So, Mrs. You said a few nice words to Sister You next to her, and then she said goodbye and left.

You returned to Ningguo Mansion and told Jia Zhen the news she had learned. The bastard master seemed to know what was going on, so he quietly waited at home for officials from the Ministry of Rites to come.

The next day, when it was dark and all the yamen went to work, the officials of the Ministry of Rites began to take action, notifying each yamen in the capital and all the dignitaries.

After that, the entire Beijing authorities began to take action. According to the requirements of the Ministry of Rites and past examples, they began to strictly implement the fasting system in their yamen or at home.

(End of this chapter)