Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 42 Horrible
  Before dawn the next day, Jia Cong finished dressing up, took his wealth and four accompanying family members, and drove his horse out of Ningrong Street, along Zhuque Street, out of Zhengyang Gate, and then all the way south to Yongding Gate in the outer city. , arrived at the scheduled gathering place for honorable officials, clan relatives and others.

Jia Cong felt very comfortable riding on the Jade Flower Cong along the way. This horse was produced in the Western Regions. It was tall and strong, with slender limbs and white body. It was an extraordinary horse. It should have galloped freely on the battlefield, across the desert grassland, but unfortunately it fell into the hands of Jia Baoyu. Here, they are reduced to mere beasts of burden.

Jia Cong stroked the horse's head, sighed slightly, and squeezed his legs slightly. Yu Hua Cong felt his master's intention to gallop, and gradually let go of his hooves, galloping along the wide street.

There were very few people on the street at this time, and Jia Cong was so excited that he did not expect that he would also be able to wear bright clothes and be angry with horses.

"Drive, drive!" As Jia Cong urged, the white horse reached its top speed, its hooves flying like a white light, speeding down the long street.

"Master Cong, wait a minute..." Wangcai and several of his followers whipped their horses with all their might, but they were already far behind.

Jia Cong paid no attention to them and rushed straight to Yongding Gate. The city gate guards saw that he was dressed in fine clothes and a famous horse, and he was also dressed as a hunter. They knew that he must be a noble clan member who was accompanying him for the siege today. Not only did they not dare to stop him for questioning, but they also Help him drive away the people lining up to enter the city and make way for him.

Jia Cong shook his head and laughed. This was the privileged class. After all, he came from later generations and still had basic qualities. He tightened his hands slightly, reined in the horse, slowly crossed the city gate and corridor, and bowed his hands to the people who were avoiding the surroundings.

Seeing that the young master was so polite, the common people returned the favor one after another.

"Get away!" At this time, several other glorious knights rushed out from behind Jia Cong. They flew past Jia Cong like a strong wind. They were so frightened that the old, weak, women and children around him couldn't get out of the way. They rolled into a ball and overturned countless carts carrying loads. , and suddenly food, fruits, vegetables, chicken, duck, and fish were scattered all over the ground, and the scene was a mess.

Jia Cong frowned. These children of who knows who they are, are so arrogant and are not afraid of killing people.

After slowly exiting the city gate, Jia Cong took a quick look and saw flags and flags waving on both sides of the official road. There was a huge crowd and it was so dark that he didn't know how many people had gathered.

Looking at them one by one, we can see that the clan is on the left side of the road and the nobles are on the right side.

At the head of the row of clans is a blue-black banner with the words "Zhongshun" written on it, followed by the banners of "Zhongxin", "Zhongli", "Zhongbao", "Zhongkang" and other clan princes, and below that are many of the benefactors. The banners of fringe clans such as Zhenguo Gong, Feng'en Fu Guogong, Zhenguo General, and Fuguo General.

The number of people under each banner varies, ranging from more than a hundred to as few as ten or twenty. Obviously, there are differences in the rich, poor, strong and weak among the clan.

The rank of nobles is in the order of the four kings, eight princes, thirty-two princes, uncle, son, male and so on.

But the embarrassing thing is that there are hundreds of personal guards under the Four Princes' Mansion, and the Eight Kingdoms Mansion is much shabby, except for Bo Niu Jizong, the first-class son of the Zhenguo Mansion, Liu Fang, the first-class son of the Liguo Mansion, and Hou Xiaokang, the first-class son of the Xiuguo Mansion.

Because these three families are still under the lord, they have more or less dozens of well-dressed personal guards under their banners. The other five families, Ning, Rong, Qi, Zhi, and Zhi, only have ten or twenty young men in green clothes and small hats accompanying them, which is extremely shabby. .

Looking further back, Jia Cong could only sigh and feel ashamed to look at the queue of thirty-two princes.

Under the banner of each prince's mansion, there are two to three hundred soldiers lined up solemnly, and nearly ten thousand people are ready to go. Their faces are solemn and silent. They are obviously elite troops with long-term battle formation and strict military discipline.

What happened next to the nobles below the earl was beyond Jia Cong's ability to see.

"Look, this is Brother Cong from Rongguo Mansion." Seeing Jia Cong coming over, many people in the row at the Duke's Mansion breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little more balanced. Fortunately, there is something worse. Although my family is miserable, at least it still has a banner, while Rongguo Mansion doesn't even have a banner.

At this time, Wangcai and others have arrived and consciously belong to the banner of "Ning". Jia Cong has discovered this problem a long time ago. Damn, it’s okay if you don’t understand it. Is there not a single knowledgeable person in the house?
  What are Jia Mu, Jia She, and Jia Zheng doing? He talks every day and doesn't want to embarrass his ancestors. Damn it, he didn't even bring the banner of his ancestors to him. Hey, the Eighth Duke of the founding of the country has become the Seventh Duke this time.

This is no wonder Jia Mu and others, they are happy all day long and have never participated in such a thing. In the past, Jia Zhen did all the work for them, and they never thought that there is such a thing as a flag.

Jia Cong cursed in his heart, Yang Siniang and other bandits knew that they came to Beijing to raise a banner, but the people of Rongguo were as stupid as pigs and forced themselves to embarrass themselves.

"Brother Cong, come here." Niu Jizong saw Jia Cong coming and greeted him loudly.

When Jia Cong heard the sound, he walked over confidently and smiled bitterly, holding his hands in his hands and saying, "Greetings to Shibo."

Niu Jizong had already guessed what he was thinking. He raised his whip and swept it, and said with a smile: "Looking at the current situation, you know what Shibo said is true, right?"

Jia Cong nodded, not only was it true, but who would have dared to believe that the prince's line had declined to this point if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes?

In vain, Jia Mu also claims that Rongfu is a middle-class family. Look at the battle today. Based on the lineup of Ningrong and Rongfu, the two mansions combined only have one flag, two gentlemen and more than a dozen servants. Waiting for others to praise you.

At this moment, Jia Cong has deeply understood that the Jia family today is entirely supported by the shadow of the ancestors, and it is already an empty shell inside. As long as anyone stretches out his finger and pokes lightly, it will collapse immediately.

Niu Jizong comforted him: "Brother Cong, don't be discouraged. The tides are turning. If you come to my house this year, who can say for sure what will happen in the future. We just need to do the things in front of us."

"Thank you Shibo for your teachings."

"Come, let me introduce you to some of your uncles and uncles." Niu Jizong took Jia Cong's hand, walked to the surrounding people, and introduced the other heads of the Duke's mansion to Jia Cong.

Liu Fang, the first-class son of the Liguo Mansion, Chen Ruiwen, the third-rank powerful general of the Qiguo Mansion, Ma Shang, the third-rank Weiyuan general of the Zhiguo Mansion, Hou Xiaokang, the first-class son of the Xiuguo Mansion, Shi Guangzhu, the third-class general of the Xiuguo Mansion, and others have long admired Jia Cong's "poetry talent" , met him today, and all of them greeted him warmly and praised him for his handsome young man and his literary talent.

Jia Cong reluctantly pulled the corners of his mouth and showed a stylized smile. He had greeted them politely, but now he really couldn't smile. The Eight Dukes' Mansion was already rubbish, and the Rongguo Mansion was at the bottom among the Eight Lords. How could it be so embarrassing.

"Brother Cong, why are you here?" Jia Zhen couldn't help but stepped forward and asked.

Jia Cong smiled and said: "Originally, Cong had planned to study and practice martial arts at home. Unexpectedly, Niu Shibo of the Zhenguo Mansion, thinking of my friendship with his brother, specially invited me to come with him to see the world, so the old lady ordered me to come. Also. I have been told to accompany Brother Zhen and not act rashly, lest I lose the reputation of our family."

"That's very good, very good. Just follow me and don't get separated. It would be unsightly if you bump into the noble one." Jia Zhen's mouth twitched slightly. Does our family still have the reputation to let you down? They were almost beaten by several masters.

"Cong will follow Brother Zhen's arrangements in everything."

After waiting for a full two hours, Jia Congxian was extremely bored. He followed Jia Zhen around and talked nonsense, euphemistically called it to connect with each other. He actually became familiar with people from other princes' mansions, and found that there was a faint connection between the princes and the princes. There was an invisible gap, and the four kings and the eighth princes were talking closely, but no one got into the ranks of the thirty-two marquises, and the marches of the marquises did not cross the border.

(End of this chapter)