Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 18: Encountering Yama
Jia She, who was sitting at the table outside, heard some noise inside and quickly asked his personal servant to go and inquire.

But when he heard that Prince Jiashun's palace had sent someone to give Jia Cong a New Year's gift, he felt that he had despised that beast like a dog, but Prince Jiashun kept praising him. This was like a slap in his own face.

Jia She was furious. If there hadn't been other men at the table, he would have probably overturned the table.

This beast has people praising him, so what? Even if he goes to the end of the world, I am still his father. The father is the leader of the son. Whether he lives or dies is up to me.

Jia She was furious. He picked up the wine on the table and drank it all. He had drunk a lot today. At this time, a fragrant breeze blew around him, and it turned out that the maid came over to serve the dishes.

Jia She was inexplicably reminded of Jia Cong's pretty maid. His eyes were blurry with drunkenness, and he muttered, "How can this beast be worthy of such a person!"

Zhishao's graceful and beautiful figure seemed to flash before Jia She's eyes, stirring up restlessness in his heart, mixed with a surge of evil energy...

……

After New Year's Eve, close relatives from various families, as well as nobles such as the Four Kings and Eight Dukes who were closely related to the Jia family, either came in person or sent their close sons and nephews to pay their respects.

The Ning and Rong mansions were busy with welcoming and seeing off guests every day. Jia Lian, Baoyu and other younger generations also followed their fathers to entertain guests and were busy all the time.

Baoyu barely managed to hold on for two days, but then he felt sick of socializing with these vulgar people, so he ran to Lady Jia and acted like a spoiled child, saying that he had caught a cold and needed to rest for a few days.

Jia Huan, who used to beat dogs and chase chickens every day, suffered the consequences and had to follow Jia Zheng to entertain guests in place of Baoyu.

Because he was still young and his behavior was a bit vulgar, he made some jokes in front of the guests and was scolded by Jia Zheng several times until he burst into tears.

Compared with the noisy and lively New Year atmosphere, the granary where Jia Cong lived was as quiet and deserted as ever.

Although he had some good luck in the past few days, it didn't change anything. His status in the Jia family remained the same.

In the eyes of the sisters in the backyard, they have a new brother who is well-behaved and proficient in calligraphy.

For Jia Zheng, the Jia family had a young man who was both cultured and ambitious.

Grandmother Jia realized that the grandson she disliked the most was a troublesome person who made people feel annoyed, but he was still capable of doing something.

Compared with before, Jia Cong has only deepened the impression left by everyone in the Jia family, but he has probably not broken through his original status of being dispensable.

Those who should be ignored will still be ignored. At this critical juncture of welcoming and seeing off old relatives and colleagues at the end of the year, no one would think of pulling him out.

Jia She still disliked him to the core, but this evil creature was too tough, so he didn't dare to be too decisive for fear of hurting himself.

Jia Lian's character can be considered good, but he is lustful and absurd, just like his father. However, he can seduce women with just a little sweet talk, but his effect is not as strong as Jia She's.

He and his brother Jia Cong have always had no contact with each other, and it has been like this since childhood.

It's not just that there is a difference between the two of them, there seems to be no reason, perhaps Jia Lian does not have this brother in his mind.

Looking at the miserable Jia Huan, Jia Zheng actually thought about asking his nephew with a noble demeanor to accompany him to entertain the guests. However, Jia Cong was from the eldest wife's house after all, so he couldn't be too abrupt.

The first few days of the new year passed without much trouble.

It was not until the third day of the first lunar month that Xiao Jindong invited him to attend a spring banquet on the fourth day. Those who went with him were some people who had consigned calligraphy and paintings to his shop.

Jia Cong thought, isn't this the same routine as the group visits of clients in later generations? He was confined to the granary every day and wanted to see the outside world, so he agreed.

Early in the morning on the fourth day of the New Year, Xiao Jindong drove to Dongluyuan to pick him up.

That day, the second uncle in the store said that Jia Cong was a descendant of Rongguo Mansion. Afterwards, Xiao Jindong asked about it and found that it was true. He asked the second uncle why he guessed so accurately, but the old man was just sweeping the floor and didn't respond to his question, so he stopped asking.

Knowing that Jia Cong was not only an expert in calligraphy but also had an extraordinary family background, Xiao Jindong paid more and more attention to him.

The people who consigned calligraphy and paintings in Xiao Jindong's store were all well-educated people. They interacted with each other more and more often and often gathered together to drink and chat. They had never thought of inviting Jia Cong, a child, to join them.

However, when these people saw the calligraphy works of Jia Cong in his shop, they all regarded them as masterpieces of genius and encouraged Xiao Jindong to make an appointment to meet him.

Xiao Jindong booked a table at the famous Chunhua Tower in the west of the city. When the carriage passed Dongsheng Street, four or five large carts came towards them, with more than a dozen strong men accompanying them.

The leading carriage had the insignia of the Texas Army hanging on it, and it looked like a government convoy.

Xiao Jindong in the carriage was a little disgusted: "I heard that Zhou Yanluo was going back to Beijing to take up his post, but I didn't expect to run into him. It's bad luck during the Chinese New Year."

When Jia Cong heard this nickname, he knew there was a story behind it and asked, "Zhou Yanluo? Who is that person?"

Xiao Jingdong looked through the car window at the convoy coming from the opposite direction and said, "Brother Cong grew up in a wealthy family, so he probably doesn't know this person.

Zhou Yanluo's real name was Zhou Junxing. He was originally a military officer in Dezhou. This time, he was ordered by His Majesty to come to the capital and was demoted to the position of Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department, in charge of the Court of Inquisition.

I heard that this man was originally a ruffian in Yongzhou City. He was thrown into prison for committing a crime, and escaped by informing on the criminals in the same cell.

Later, he became a minor official in the Yongzhou government office. This man was well-educated, shrewd and ruthless, good at investigating cases and interrogating people, and also good at scheming.

Because of his success in solving cases and catching criminals, he was promoted step by step during his several years in Yongzhou.

Because he was cruel by nature, he often used any means necessary to solve cases and arrested criminals, and countless people died, so he was nicknamed Zhou Yanluo.

In the year when the current emperor ascended the throne, he followed his superior, who was promoted to the position of Chief Censor, to the capital and became an ordinary censor in the Censorate.

Just over a year after he arrived in Beijing, he reported the Chief Censor who had brought him to the capital, causing the latter to be executed for corruption and malfeasance. He also seized the former's property and concubine, and behaved in a despicable manner.

When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, the political situation was turbulent and there were frequent hidden dangers. Your Majesty spent a lot of effort to stabilize the situation. It is said that Zhou Junxing made a great contribution.

Therefore, even though this person had a bad reputation for personal morality, His Majesty still tolerated him. However, Zhou Yanluo offended too many people and was impeached several times.

Finally, Your Majesty could not save him and sent him to Dezhou to serve as a military officer. Now, Your Majesty intends to reuse the Court of Judges established during the reign of the previous emperor.

I heard that Zhou Junxing was not idle in Dezhou. He arrested bandits and thieves, and also wiped out the branch of the Hidden Sect's remnants in Dezhou, killing three or four hundred people, which shocked the four states and eight counties in Jianghuai.

This reminded Your Majesty of this old minister who, although cruel, was very smart and capable. He had been in Dezhou for five years and was finally re-employed. "

Xiao Jindong sighed in panic, "This Shenjing City is about to face a time of trouble. I don't know how many people will fall into Zhou Yanluo's hands."

Jia Cong looked at the four or five large carts passing by. The leading cart was surrounded by more than a dozen strong men, all of whom had long swords on their waists and looked alert.

The person sitting in the car should be Zhou Yanluo that Xiao Jindong mentioned. However, it would be quite a big deal for a state to join the army.

He reports others and gets away with it, frames his benefactor to rise to power, seizes people's property, and takes possession of other people's beautiful wives. This is a cruel official with a very low moral bottom line. In short, he is not a good person.

The current emperor would employ such a person, who seems to be a pragmatic person and not an easy person to deal with. However, these are too far away from him, so he just watches for fun.

(End of this chapter)