Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 328 Jia Family
"Thank you, Your Highness, for forgiving our sins!" After Li Qiang sat down in the main seat in the hall, Jia She took the lead in kneeling down to express his gratitude.

The others also knelt down and expressed their gratitude in the same way.

They all knew that it was Crown Prince Li Qiang who gave the nod for their return to Beijing.

In addition, they had received some care before this, so they did not die accidentally. All of this was due to Li Qiang's help.

"Get up. I have a deep connection with the Jia family. This time we have settled the cause and effect!" Li Qiang said with a smile.

What he said made Jia She and Jia Zheng's hearts jump. The two of them were still thinking of taking advantage of the convenience of their daughters becoming the prince's concubine. Not to mention restoring the glory of the Jia family, but at least to gain some capital so that they could enjoy a prosperous life for the rest of their lives.

But according to Crown Prince Li Qiang, simply pardoning their crimes would end the relationship between the two parties, which was not what they wanted to see.

Jia She and his companions stood up and carefully sat down at the bottom.

Jia She winked at Mrs. Xing and glanced in Yingchun's direction.

"Yingchun, now that you have married into the Eastern Palace, you must come home often!" Mrs. Xing understood what Jia She meant and said to Yingchun with a smile.

What she said was very well said. Yingchun was already the prince's concubine. It was heard that the prince would officially ascend the throne next year, and then she would be the imperial consort.

Even though Yingchun's status as an imperial concubine is not as high as Yuanchun's in the past, she is still an imperial concubine after all. Jia She is the father-in-law of the emperor, and with this status, it is impossible for him to live in this second courtyard.

Especially the sentence about Yingchun often going home to visit. When Yuanchun wanted to visit her parents, the Jia family spent more than one million taels of silver to build the Grand View Garden.

Even if it was to give Yingchun a residence suitable for her status when she returned home, Crown Prince Li Qiang should have granted her a larger house.

"Mrs. Xing, if I remember correctly, I was sold back then. I had no relationship with you anymore after I was sold!" Yingchun said lightly.

She no longer had any feelings for Jia She and Mrs. Xing.

If she hadn't been invited by Li Qiang this time, she wouldn't have come back to take a look.

At that time, Jia She wanted to sell Yingchun to Sun Shaozu for five thousand taels of silver.

Afterwards, Yingchun inquired about Sun Shaozu. Sun Shaozu, nicknamed "Zhongshan Wolf", was a sadist who was arrogant, licentious, and abused women. He raped almost everyone in his family, and many women died at his hands.

Of course, Sun Shaozu's fate was determined after Li Qiang intervened. Sun Shaozu had died in battle at the border.

"You girl, we are your parents after all!" Mrs. Xing had not received much education, and she couldn't help but scold Yingchun when she heard that.

Mrs. Xing still remembered that Yingchun had always been a timid and cowardly person, and she had forgotten that the person in front of her was the prince's concubine.

"How dare you!" Jin Dong, who was standing behind Li Qiang, shouted angrily. He continued, "How dare you commit treason and disrespect Madam Yingchun!"

Mrs. Xing was frightened, her face turned pale, and she slid off the chair and knelt on the ground.

Only then did she remember that the Yingchun in front of her was not the Yingchun of the past, but the prince's concubine.

More importantly, Crown Prince Li Qiang was watching right beside her, so how could she be so dizzy as to say such words?

"You ignorant and stupid woman, why don't you apologize to Madam Yingchun!" Jia She was almost scared to death. He stood up and kicked Madam Xing angrily.

Li Qiang looked at them coldly without saying anything. If it weren't for Yingchun, he would have been too lazy to pay attention to the couple.

Jia She is not a good person, and Mrs. Xing has no opinion of her own. If Jia She wants to harm someone, Mrs. Xing will help him.

Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang hated Mrs. Xing to death at this moment. With just a few words, they offended Crown Prince Li Qiang.

"Your Highness, please calm down!" Jia Zheng bowed and said.

"I have nothing to be angry about!" Li Qiang said calmly.

He looked at the three couples. It seemed that Jia She and Jia Zheng did not understand their own position and were still thinking about becoming the father-in-law of the emperor.

"When I left the Jia Mansion, the Jia family gave me a two-courtyard house, two thousand taels of silver, and a shop. Now that you are back, I will give you the two-courtyard house, and another four thousand taels of silver and two shops. Live a good life in the future!" Li Qiang thought for a while and continued.

"Tanchun!" Jia Zheng looked at Tanchun and shouted.

He was not willing to get only this little bit. He did not even look down upon this little bit of wealth back then. If he really only had this little bit of wealth, he would have to live a hard life in the future.

Of course, there is another possibility, which is to go to Wang's house.

Although the Wang family has declined, Wang Ziteng still holds a honorary position of the first rank.

But if he wanted to go over there, he would have to live in the Wang family, and the looks from the Wang family alone were unimaginable to him.

"I still have some money in my pocket, so I'll take it all out to repay my parents' kindness!" Tanchun was even more shrewd. She took a small package from the maid next to her and handed it over.

When she came, she had guessed that this situation would happen. As for helping Jia Zheng get back everything that originally belonged to the Jia family, she had never considered it.

It was already a special care from Li Qiang that she brought Jia Zheng and his wife back from the border to live with them in their old age.

Jia Zheng took the small package stiffly. He really wanted to say that this was not what he needed, but he did not dare to say anything more in front of Li Qiang.

"Jia Lian, I have found a position for you as the Dragon Guard Commander. You must do your job well!" Li Qiang finally looked at Jia Lian and said.

Jia Lian was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly pulled Wang Xifeng to kneel down and kowtow to express his gratitude.

"I will definitely live up to your trust!" Jia Lian promised loudly.

The Dragon Guard Commander is of the fifth rank, which is the same position that Li Qiang gave to Xue Pan.

There are two choices for becoming the Dragon Guard Commander. One is to just muddle through, as the Dragon Guard Commander is just an idle position that does not involve much responsibility. The other is to work hard, as the Dragon Guard Commander is also a stepping stone for greater achievements in the future.

Of course Jia Lian was happy. He suddenly became an official and had hope for his future.

"There is one more thing. You must keep a good eye on your wife in the future and don't let her do anything wrong again. Otherwise, it will be against the law!" Li Qiang warned again.

Jia Lian was imprisoned because of Wang Xifeng.

Jia Lian was unaware of many of the things Wang Xifeng did, but after all, they were husband and wife, and Wang Xifeng was using Jia Lian's token of trust when doing things.

"I won't dare to do it again!" Wang Xifeng also knelt down and promised repeatedly.

When Jia She saw that his son had become an official, although he was extremely selfish, he could not help but be happy for his son after all.

On the other hand, Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang both looked extremely unhappy.

Jia Baoyu disappeared, and seeing that Jia Lian had become rich, Jia Zheng and Wang Fu-ren felt extremely jealous.

Li Qiang saw this and found that the Jia family was ridiculous. They had fallen into such a situation and yet they still did not know how to unite.

"Go back to the palace!" Li Qiang didn't want to stay any longer, so he ordered in a deep voice.

Jia She and a few others hurriedly stood up to see them off and walked them all the way out of the courtyard.

Li Qiang, Lin Daiyu, and several concubines got on the carriage, and only Jin Dong stayed behind. "Here are four thousand taels of silver notes, the contracts for two shops, and the deeds for the second courtyard. You can keep them!" Jin Dong said as he placed a box in front of them.

After leaving the things behind, Jin Dong quickly chased after the convoy.

Jia She took the box back to the hall, and Jia Zheng followed him closely, fearing that Jia She would keep it for himself.

Jia She really wanted to take the box back to his room, but he knew Jia Zheng would not agree.

If the two of them really started fighting, Jia Zheng is younger and he might not be able to win with his physique.

He opened the box and saw four thousand taels of silver and several contracts.

"Let's divide this thing equally. You and I will each get two thousand taels of silver and a shop!" Jia Zheng looked at the things in the box with jealous eyes and expressed his opinion.

He was not at ease letting Jia She hold all the wealth. What kind of person was Jia She? He was a prodigal son who could not keep his money.

No matter how much silver falls into Jia She's hands, he will soon squander it.

The wealth in the box is the guarantee of their future life, and nothing can go wrong again.

"How can you say that? This was given to the Jia family by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I am the eldest son of the Jia family, so of course I am the one who should keep all of it!" Jia She disagreed.

"You can't keep it. Don't I know who you are?" Jia Zheng said loudly.

"Even if it is a distribution, what you said is wrong. Aren't Lian'er and his wife members of the Jia family? They should also have a share!" Jia She also knew that it was impossible for him to keep it all, so he continued to argue.

"You are a family, why should you divide it into two parts?" Jia Zheng would of course not agree.

The two of them were arguing in the hall, neither of them wanted to give in.

Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng stood aside, neither of them saying a word.

Jia Lian was still in a daze at this moment. He had never imagined that he would suddenly become a fifth-rank official.

As for the property that Jia She and Jia Zheng were fighting for, it no longer attracted him much.

With this official position, as long as he does his job well, I believe Crown Prince Li Qiang will not forget him.

After going to jail, Jia Lian can be said to have matured a lot.

"Then give this box to Lian'er and his wife for safekeeping!" Jia She finally suggested.

This time, Jia Zheng did not refute immediately. He looked at Mrs. Wang and wanted to hear her opinion.

Mrs. Wang thought that Wang Xifeng was her niece and that Wang Xifeng was the housekeeper in the past.

Although Wang Xifeng did some wrong things, she did not make any mistakes as a housekeeper.

Besides, with these banknotes in hand, how can we let them buy things on their own?

"Okay, let Lian'er and his wife keep it!" Jia Zheng got Mrs. Wang's approval and nodded in agreement.

Jia Lian was stunned. He didn't expect that the box would eventually fall into his hands.

He took the box, thought about it and gave it to Wang Xifeng.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also said that you should be more careful in the future!" He did not forget to remind Wang Xifeng as he handed the box to her.

"Don't worry, my husband!" Wang Xifeng took the box and said solemnly.

At this moment, she had the same feeling as when she first took over the position of housekeeper of Rongguo Mansion. Although there was not much treasure in the box in her hand, it was all the wealth of the Jia family now.

"We will use this money to buy two maids to serve my father-in-law's family and my second uncle's family. My husband and I are still young, so we don't need maids for the time being. We will also use the rest of the money to make friends with some old relatives. We can't completely cut off those relationships. In addition, we have to provide some financial support from the eldest grandmother. I heard that Lan'er is a good student and may be the hope of the Jia family in the future!" Wang Xifeng immediately put forward her ideas after getting the power to manage things.

Neither Jia She nor Jia Zheng are good at domestic affairs, and Lady Xing and Lady Wang don't care much about things. The most important thing is that they have suffered a lot and their bodies are not able to handle the affairs.

After hearing Wang Xifeng's analysis, several people couldn't help but feel more hopeful about the future.

"I have no problem with this. I'll do as you say!" Jia She nodded in agreement.

"Try not to borrow the title of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Jia Zheng reminded, and also agreed with Wang Xifeng's opinion.

After seeing the attitude of Crown Prince Li Qiang, Jia Zheng realized that he must not offend Li Qiang.

If they didn't offend Li Qiang, perhaps there would still be some friendship between them in the future. After all, their daughters had become Li Qiang's concubines.

After gaining power, Wang Xifeng seemed to have regained all her vitality.

She began to get busy. The second courtyard now belonged to the Jia family, but there were no servants in the courtyard. The most urgent task was to find a servant.

But the New Year is coming soon, and even if I have money, I can’t buy a servant now.

She still had some ideas, so she went to the Jia family and asked two women from distant relatives to come and help.

Then she bought items needed for the New Year. Of course, as she had limited money, she did not dare to be too extravagant and only bought ordinary things.

She asked Jia Lian to get the official robe of the fifth-rank Dragon Guard, and took the opportunity of paying New Year's greetings before the New Year to visit some old relatives with small gifts.

If Jia Lian did not hold the rank of the fifth-rank Dragon Guard Lieutenant, it would not be easy for the Jia family to revisit their old relatives' home given their current status.

When some dignitaries in the capital heard that Jia Lian had been appointed as the Dragon Guard Commander, some dignitaries who were related to the Jia family also came to visit them.

Although the Jia family is still poor today, Jia She and Jia Zheng are both fathers-in-law of the emperor, and Jia Lian is highly regarded by Crown Prince Li Qiang, so making friends with them can be considered an investment.

In a short period of time, Jia She and Jia Zheng both felt that the glory of the Jia family was being restored, but they were cautious and did not dare to overstep the mark.

Li Qiang's attitude that day made them dare not act in the name of the prince, and this was also what Li Qiang intended.

Of course, the most important relationship of the Jia family is with Lin Ruhai, as they are blood relatives of Jia Min.

So their whole family went to the Lin Mansion with a generous gift of five hundred taels of silver.

For the Jia family today, five hundred taels is definitely a generous gift. It took Jia She and Jia Zheng gritted their teeth to decide on such a gift. Even Wang Xifeng did not dare to make the decision to spend so much silver.

Giving a gift of five hundred taels of silver is also a necessary courtesy.

Who can blame Lin Ruhai for now being the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the head of the civil servants in Daqian?

Since the Crown Prince Li Qiang could not be used, Lin Ruhai became the only support for the Jia family.

In order to look respectable, they also used the limited money they had left to buy a set of relatively decent clothes for the whole family.

Seeing the banknotes in the box decreasing little by little, the whole family learned to save money. No one would enjoy anything more. At least until the family's income and expenditure were balanced, they could only live a frugal life.

(End of this chapter)