Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 420 Precaution
The next day, Jia Cong was worried and sent Jia Lian and Jia Rong to Rongxi Hall for questioning early in the morning.

"What are your orders from the third brother (third uncle)?" The two looked at each other and said cautiously.

Jia Cong glanced at the two of them lightly, which made them feel terrified, and then he slowly said: "I've only called you here for one thing today.

Now that the storm in Beijing has suddenly changed, our family may be facing a disaster. Instead of waiting for foreign enemies to come and kill us, it is better to tighten the fence first and be invincible first. Do you understand? "

"I understand, I understand." The two of them said hurriedly.

"Brother Rong, let's talk first. We are all members of our own family. There is no need to worry about whether there is any trouble in Dongfu that deceives the emperor and ignores the superiors. But it doesn't matter." Jia Cong looked at Jia Rong.

Jia Rong's body trembled and her legs became weak. When Jia Cong glanced at her, she felt like being suppressed by an invisible mountain. She fell to her knees with a plop: "Reply to Third Uncle, Dong... Dongfu has been cleaned up and reorganized since Third Uncle. I really haven’t heard of anything else…”

"Really not? If I find out... huh?" Jia Cong looked at Jia Rong coldly, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his cold and majestic aura almost pushed Jia Rong to the ground.

Jia Rong's teeth chattered, she was so scared that she peed her shit, and kowtowed: "There is only one ridiculous thing, and my nephew dare not hide it. My nephew...nephew, two aunts, and several aunts left by my father...some ...coming and going.

Apart from this, my nephew would never dare to break the law or do anything wrong. "

Jia Cong already knew about his affair with Second Sister You and Third Sister You.

During the period of filial piety, disobeying human relations and humiliating one's aunt is definitely a heinous and capital crime.

But it was limited to him personally and had no impact on the family. If someone found out, it would be nothing more than throwing him out to take the blame.

Because he said: "What else?"

Jia Rong hurriedly kowtowed: "That's all my nephew does. As for my father and grandpa's affairs, my nephew really doesn't know."

Jia Cong secretly calculated that Jia Zhen was dead, and there was no evidence of his death. As for Jia Jing, he had been a Taoist priest for decades, and he was just fooling around with the magicians, making some nonsense golden elixirs, eating them, and being defrauded out of money.

As for committing evil, there is no record of this in Jin Yiwei's files.

Oh, right! Even if you gossip or dishonesty, you will be honored, but it is better to start a fight!

The "provocation" that can lead to the demise of a large family is definitely not a simple matter of adultery between a man and a woman, it must be something shocking.

Qin Keqing! Jia Cong suddenly remembered something. Qin Keqing's life experience seemed a bit mysterious.

Not to mention other things, when Jia Rong was the heir to the title of Dongfu and the future patriarch of the Jia family, how could his wife, who was also the future patriarch’s wife, order a baby girl of unknown origin adopted by the Yangsheng Hall?

The children in the Yangshengtang are either the children of poor people who cannot afford to raise them after birth, or whose parents are dead and have no one to care for them; or they are the children of prostitutes who are not allowed to have children in brothels, so they are sent here.

Nothing more than these two kinds of people.

Would the Jia family, a dignified family with two fathers-in-law, let such a girl become the patriarch's wife? Isn't this ridiculous?

Although Qin Keqing took advantage of Qin Ye's official family, his background could not be concealed from anyone at all, and he was definitely not a good match for Jia Rong.

Obviously, when something goes wrong, there must be a monster.

Jia Rong saw that Jia Cong's expression was uncertain. She didn't know what he was thinking and didn't dare to take a breath.

After pondering for a long time, Jia Cong said: "Brother Rong, who arranged your marriage back then?"

Jia Rong said hurriedly: "Going back to Third Uncle is arranged by my father."

Jia Zhen? Jia Cong frowned, "That's not right!" If Jia Zhen knew Ke Qing's true identity, would she dare to pick up the ashes? Even if you give him ten thousand courages, he won't dare.

"How dare you lie to me?" Jia Cong stared at Jia Rong and said coldly.

Jia Rong was startled and said hurriedly: "Third uncle, Rong Zhen. Even if my nephew is brave enough, he would not dare to deceive his third uncle.

When my nephew got married, my grandfather had already gone to practice Taoism. There were only two parents at home. If they didn't arrange it, who would arrange it? Why would my nephew lie about these ordinary things? "

Jia Cong was right in thinking that the matter had to be pushed forward, because he said: "Get out of here and go back to take care of yourself."

"Yes, nephew, please leave." Jia Rong kowtowed and left as if she had been granted amnesty.

Jia Cong looked at Jia Lian again and said, "Second brother Lian, you know best about the eldest master. After all, tell me clearly if you have any shameful things, so that I can wipe your ass."

Jia Lian didn't dare to hide anything and said with a smile: "Third brother, I really don't have anything big to do. I just drink and have fun at home..."

Seeing the cold air gathering between Jia Cong's brows, he quickly added: "It's just some business outside. This is normal for Xungui's family, so it shouldn't be considered a big deal."

"What business?" Jia Cong sneered.

Seeing that there were no outsiders, Jia Lian came closer and whispered: "Zhu Wenfeng, the military governor of Ping'an Prefecture, is an old subordinate of the Grand Master. He has always been close to our family, so the Master borrowed his power to do some business with the barbarians on the grassland."

"Smuggling?" Jia Cong frowned.

Ping'an Prefecture is located on the front line of Xuanfu Town, bordering the Tatars, and is only ten days and a half month away from Shenjing.

Jia Lian laughed and said: "It's not that serious. If a noble family doesn't do some business, wouldn't my third brother do business with the barbarians in Liaodong?"

Jia Cong said angrily: "You bastard! My trade with the barbarians is a strategy to use the barbarians to control the barbarians. I have already reported it to the Ming Dynasty Liaodong Jiedu Envoy, and everyone in the court knows it. Could it be that you are the same?"

Seeing that he was angry, Jia Lian did not dare to say anything and could only say yes.

"Tell me who you are trading with and what goods you are buying and selling." Jia Cong said sharply.

Jia Lian hurriedly said: "We are doing business with the Tatars of the Golden Horde, selling grain, cloth, tea salt, ironware, porcelain, etc., in exchange for some cattle, sheep, horses, and leather goods. Ask Zhu Jiedu to sell them nearby.

The master's business is small and cannot be compared with the third brother's. The profit is only tens of thousands of silver a year. "

Jia Cong felt a chill in his heart and said, "Salt and iron are prohibited by the imperial court from trading with the Tatars. How dare you touch them?" Jia Lian laughed and said, "Every household is doing this. I'm just following the trend. Don’t be afraid of anything.”

Jia Cong let out a heavy breath. If something like this didn't happen, he wouldn't be afraid of it. If it happened, it would be smuggling prohibited items at least, or liaising with foreign countries at worst. Who can withstand this crime?
He glanced at Jia Lian bitterly and said, "Are there any smuggled weapons or ammunition?"

Jia Lian glanced around furtively and said softly: "Occasionally... occasionally I sell some."

Jia Cong felt a chill in his heart, these damn wastes!

"Let me tell you if there is anything else."

Jia Lian shook his head like a rattle and said, "It's really gone."

"roll!"

Jia Lian ran away in a hurry.

When a country is about to perish, evildoers will appear; when a family is about to perish, scum will appear.

Whoever allowed him to travel to the Jia Mansion and end up with this group of scum couldn't do anything about it.

Jia Cong sighed, got up and went to Rongqing Hall.

Jia Mu had just had breakfast and was joking with the girls. Wang Xifeng was also waiting on her.

After a night's rest, she had already recovered her energy. She dressed up today, and was even more dazzling than before, with brilliant embroidery and colorful embroidery, like a fairy concubine.

Last night, she had ordered Ping'er to take people to the original courtyard, move her personal belongings and dowry to Rongxi Hall, and live in an upright and open place.

Anyway, Cong'er said that he would support his sister-in-law for the rest of his life. Could it be that fairies like Chu Chan could live there, but his real sister-in-law couldn't?

Therefore, Sister Feng and Ping'er settled down with peace of mind, thinking about how to take care of the housework for Jia Cong in the name of sister-in-law.

After all, in this era, a sister-in-law is like a mother, and the status of a sister-in-law is much higher than that of an aunt.

"Hey, the sun is out in the west today, so the busy people in our family have time to come in and talk to the old lady? No, maybe he is with Girl Lin." Sister Feng said with a smile.

Everyone laughed.

Daiyu blushed and spat: "Girl Feng, you just lack a handle on your mouth. You are so grown up, but you are still ignorant of what you say. I am too lazy to care about you."

Jia Cong raised his eyes and glanced, but did not see Baochai, so he hurriedly asked: "Sister Bao isn't here?"

Aunt Xue said: "She went to the Princess Mansion on duty early in the morning, and I don't know if she will come back to live there in the future."

Jia Cong smiled bitterly, with the Queen's care, life and work were divided... it was miserable.

"What are you doing here this morning and at night?" Jia Mu asked when she saw Jia Cong coming in.

Jia Cong suppressed his children's love affairs and said with a smile: "Cong has some old matters that he would like to ask for advice. I wonder if the old lady is free?"

When Jia's mother saw that he came here to ask questions, she knew it was a big deal and said with a smile: "I am getting older and I can't remember many things in the past. I am afraid that I will forget them, so I wrote them all down in the note. Follow me in."

Jia Cong hurriedly helped her into the inner room.

After sitting down and sending the servants away, Jia Mu said, "What do you want to ask?"

Jia Cong said: "Who decided the marriage for Brother Rong? Does the old lady know Keqing's true identity?"

After that, he mentioned all his conjectures and conjectures, except for the part about deposing the prince. He also heard about this situation in his previous life, so he didn't know whether it was true or not.

Jia Mu looked solemn and said, "Why are you asking about this?"

Jia Cong sighed: "The new emperor's order from Cong is to attack the old party. The old lady should know that this matter is dangerous. If we don't deal with the hidden damage first, our family may not be safe."

Jia Mu was startled and said hurriedly: "Is it important or not?"

Jia Cong smiled bitterly and said, "Cong will do your best. The old lady should talk about your business first."

Mother Jia nodded, with a thoughtful look in her eyes, and after a long time she said slowly: "Brother Rong's marriage was arranged by Grand Master Dongfu before his death more than 20 years ago, and they were a baby.

I also asked Mr. Dongfu why he wanted a girl to be adopted by the Yangshengtang. The Qin family is not a prominent family. He didn't say anything and then passed away suddenly. "

"Did it be decided by Duke Daihua?" Jia Cong was stunned.

Mother Jia nodded and said, "Brother Zhen is gone now. It only depends on whether Brother Jing knows or not."

Jia Cong frowned slightly. Jia Daihua didn't even tell Jia's mother, so he might not tell Jia Jing. As for Qin Ye, he was probably just a chess piece. Would he let him know about such a big thing? If he was informed, would he dare to participate? I'm afraid I was scared to death.

After bidding farewell to Jia Mu, Jia Cong returned to Rongxi Hall. After hesitating for a moment, he ordered Wen Youfang to summon Lei Tai and Wen Zhen to see him.

Originally, it involved family privacy, and Jia Cong didn't want Jin Yiwei to know too much, but he had no choice. Now he didn't have the detective power of his own.

Not long after, the two rushed to Rong Mansion and saw that the hall was empty except for Jia Cong.

"I'm sorry to see you, sir. Please give me your instructions." The two of them bowed.

"No need." Jia Cong raised his hand slightly and said, "Go and investigate secretly. Don't stick to what I said. As long as it is a personnel matter that is unfavorable to the two governments, immediately find out and report it." . Don’t let the news leak out.”

"Yes, I obey your orders, sir. Don't worry." The two men hurriedly accepted the orders and left.

(End of this chapter)