Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 632 Transferring Power
The funeral prepared by Rongguo Mansion for Lady Jia was over very quickly.

Grandmother Jia was buried in the royal mausoleum outside the capital.

This was also the separate mausoleum that Jia Rui opened for the Jia royal family after he ascended the throne.

From then on, as long as the Jia family in Beijing reached a certain level of status, they could be buried in the royal gardens, without having to be sent all the way back to the ancestral tombs in Nanjing.

Although Lady Jia is the Princess of Rong, the Rong Mansion still has to live its life. They can't just continue like this because of Lady Jia's affairs.

Therefore, after Lady Jia was buried, Rongguo Mansion quickly returned to its former prosperity.

However, amidst this prosperity, there are undercurrents.

First of all, Wang Xifeng did not even discuss with the first wife, but directly sent out several housekeepers she trusted to serve as the second-in-command of each warehouse.

This made the head of the family, Li Zhi, feel that a storm was about to come.

She was sitting in her yard at this time, looking at a pile of account books in front of her with a frown on her face.

She originally took charge of Rongguo Mansion because Lady Jia no longer trusted Wang Xifeng, so she forced her to be the chief housekeeper of Rongguo Mansion.

But now that Lady Jia has passed away, it is somewhat awkward for the Second House to live in Rongguo Mansion, and it also controls the expenses of the entire Rongguo Mansion. If the Censor finds out about this, it will be a crime.

Although Li Zhi seems to be a wooden lump who is indifferent to worldly affairs, in fact, Li Zhi is meticulous, clever and insightful.

After careful consideration, Li Zhi believed that the day when the second branch would leave Rongguo Mansion was not far away. If he continued to be in charge of Rongguo Mansion, he would be left with a handle, so it would be better to just give it up.

So Li Zhi came to Jia Zheng's inner study with the account book and a bunch of keys.

At this time, Jia Zheng had returned to normal.

On weekdays he either went to the yamen or came back to chat and laugh with his guests, and his life was as comfortable as before.

On this day, he was in the inner study, drinking tea and reading a book, looking relaxed and contented.

Suddenly, a maid came in, bowed, and then reported:
"Master, the eldest grandmother wants to see you."

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "Go and ask Aunt Zhao to come over."

The maid immediately went out to call Aunt Zhao.

After a while, Aunt Zhao walked into the study room with a twist of her waist.

"Master, do you have any instructions for me?"

As she spoke, Aunt Zhao leaned close to Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng blushed at her annoyance, and quickly pushed Aunt Zhao's hand away, then said, "Li Zhi wants to see me, it's not convenient for me to see her alone, you stay by my side."

When Aunt Zhao heard about this, she didn't care and sat next to Jia Zheng.

Originally this position belonged to Lady Wang, but now Aunt Zhao is becoming arrogant because of her favor, and thinks she has replaced Lady Wang's position, so she is on an equal footing with Jia Zheng.

After this, Jia Zheng ordered Li Zhi to be brought in.

Li Zhi came in and glanced up quietly, only to see Jia Zheng and Aunt Zhao sitting upstairs. He then bowed respectfully to Jia Zheng and stood aside to prepare to speak.

But at this time Aunt Zhao was unwilling.

She thought that she was Jia Zheng's favorite person and was also Li Zhi's elder, so when he saw her, she had to at least bow to him.

"Grandma, can't you see I'm sitting here?"

Li Zhi is a gentle person with a strong heart. Her strong side is reflected in her persistence in helping her son pass the imperial examination.

Li Zhi just looked at Aunt Zhao and nodded slightly, "Aunt, I'm fine." This was considered a greeting to Aunt Zhao.

Aunt Zhao was shaking with anger and stood up to curse.

But at this moment Jia Zheng coughed.

Aunt Zhao liked Jia Zheng from the bottom of her heart, but when she heard his gesture, she could only sit down again angrily.

"Why are you here instead of studying in your boudoir?"

"My Lord, when the old lady was alive, she let me take charge of the money and finances temporarily. But now that she has passed away, I think if I continue to take charge of these, people will gossip about me. So I am sending it back to you. Please choose someone else who is wise and capable."

After hearing this, Jia Zheng fell silent.

When the old lady passed away, Jia Zheng already had a premonition that he might not stay in Rongguo Mansion for long.

However, he was born in Rongguo Mansion and stayed there for decades. Now he is over fifty years old, but he has to move out and live somewhere else. This makes Jia Zheng very uncomfortable.

Li Zhi saw Jia Zheng's hesitation and knew that he was reluctant to leave Rongguo Mansion, so he began to persuade him:
"Master, the old lady has passed away. It is no longer appropriate for our family to continue living in Rongguo Mansion. Instead of quarreling with the eldest wife, we should just move out by ourselves. We can also maintain our friendship with the eldest wife and help each other in the future. It will not be a loss for us."

After hearing this, although Jia Zheng still felt a little upset, he thought what Li Zhi said was right.

"That makes sense."

Li Zhi saw that Jia Zheng agreed, and then smiled and said: "Grandpa, don't worry about your future life. When the old lady was alive, she bought us a house with five courtyards near Rongguo Mansion, and moved all her private money to Baoyu. In addition, we have saved money over the years, so we will live well even if we leave."

Jia Rui stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly, the depression he had just felt gone.

Although he did not personally manage the Rongguo Mansion, he was still clear about the income and expenditure of the Rongguo Mansion.

In fact, the Rongguo Mansion is almost collapsed now. The reason why they can still live such a luxurious life is, on the one hand, because of the salary given by the court, on the other hand, because of the tributes from outside, and on the other hand, because of their status as a royal family, they can barely maintain themselves by doing some business.

But most of all this depends on the official position he holds.

Therefore, even if his family moved out of Rongguo Mansion, their quality of life would not decline. In fact, they could even live better because they were no longer bothered by the eldest wife.

"That's it! I'll call the eldest brother's family this afternoon and explain everything to them. You go to the house prepared by the old lady and clean it up in the next two days. When you're done, we'll move in."

When Li Zhi heard that Jia Zheng accepted the advice, he immediately bowed happily and finally left.

After Li Zhi left, Aunt Zhao twisted her waist, walked to Jia Zheng's side, and brought the tea to him.

"Master, have some tea."

Jia Zheng looked at her and said, "What trouble are you going to make again?"

Aunt Zhao hesitated for a long time before she said, "Our Huan'er is already old, it's time for her to find a husband."

After hearing this, Jia Zheng nodded, saying that Jia Huan had now followed Yuanyang's orders and taken Caixia as his concubine.

But after all, he has no hostess, so it is time to arrange a marriage for him.

Seeing Jia Zheng nod, Aunt Zhao immediately said happily: "I have a niece in my mother's family, and I think she is a perfect match for our Jia Huan."

Originally Jia Zheng thought Aunt Zhao was going to come up with some good ideas, but when he heard that she wanted to marry the girl from her own family to Jia Huan, Jia Zheng immediately became so angry that he trembled.

"Asshole, what is the status of your family? How can you be qualified to be Jia Huan's legitimate wife? Don't worry about this matter. I have my own plan."

Jia Zheng also realized that Aunt Zhao had resorted to all means to help her family, so in order not to delay Jia Huan, he took the matter upon himself.

(End of this chapter)