Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 318: Restoring the Country

The palace city of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Chonghua Palace.

This is the most heavily guarded place in the entire palace city because it is the residence of Emperor Yong'an, the retired emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The eunuch Ouyang Bin walked into the hall with slow steps and head lowered. He was sixty years old, with gray hair, but his face was ruddy, his posture was upright, his eyes were calm, and he looked not old at all.
Although Ouyang Bin was the chief eunuch and the top eunuch in the palace, the emperor had abdicated and given the throne to Emperor Jiazhao.

Ouyang Bin followed the retired emperor to retreat to Chonghua Palace and devoted himself to serving the emperor. Although he still held the title of chief eunuch, all power over the eunuchs in the palace was handed over to the deputy chief eunuch Guo Lin.

Even the CRRC Corporation Limited, which he personally managed, was handed over to Guo Bin, and he no longer had any involvement in it.

Ouyang Bin's style of giving up power is exactly the same as Emperor Yong'an's abdication and handing over power to Emperor Jiazhao.

Everyone inside and outside the court knew that this eunuch chief, who once held great power in the inner court, was the most loyal and confidant of Emperor Yong'an.

Inside the main hall, an old man in a green nine-dragon robe was writing on a desk with ink. He had a gaunt face but was in high spirits, and every move he made was powerful.

When the old man saw Ouyang Bin coming in, he waved the hand holding the brush in the air twice, and all the palace maids and eunuchs standing in the hall silently retreated out of the hall.

Both Emperor Yong'an and Ouyang Bin were smart people. They knew that although Chonghua Palace was heavily guarded, it still had the eyes and ears of the Imperial Chariot Division.

Sometimes they need these spies to be present, and sometimes they need absolute isolation, so there are naturally many ways to do this.

In just a moment, the entire hall became empty, leaving only the old man and Ouyang Bin.

A deep and majestic voice came from behind the desk: "Go ahead!"

Ouyang Bin bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor has issued an edict to confer the title of the second-class Weiyuan Earl on Jia Cong, granting him the title of hereditary succession, and granting him the right to restructure the Ningguo Mansion. The Ministry of Works has already started the renovation of the mansion."

Emperor Yong'an put down the brush in his hand and said quietly, "This kid is already a great scholar and warrior at his age, and has inherited the style of his ancestors. This is very rare. He reminds me of many past events..."

Ouyang Bin replied: "Jia Cong is a blessed man. If he had not received the gift from His Majesty, he would not have received the honor of being granted the throne by His Majesty this time."

Emperor Yong'an smiled faintly: "Of course, I have my reasons for this, but the emperor has his own plans for showing favor to Jia Cong."

"In the family of a duke, an earl is not important enough. Only a hereditary earl can be compared with a lower-rank hereditary marquis and not be controlled by him!"

"Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents, and Teachers are hereditary and unchangeable, which occupies the great righteousness of the Emperor before the Parents. Jia Cong is a smart man, he will definitely understand the emperor's deep meaning."

"The Emperor may not be the best son, or the best...brother, but among my children, he has the most strategic and talented character to be a king!"

"It's just that I discovered it too late..."

When Emperor Yong'an finished speaking, his words revealed helplessness and deep sadness, like the sharpness of a needle or the undercurrent of ice. Ouyang Bin was startled and took a step back involuntarily.

Among the princes of the retired emperor, there were some with extraordinary talent, but the current emperor was unknown and ordinary when he was in the palace, and was not valued by the retired emperor.

No one expected that once he ascended the throne, he would display such a mind and strategy that was beyond everyone's expectations and was awe-inspiring. In the fourteen years since he ascended the throne, his rule was so prosperous that it surpassed that of previous dynasties.

Ouyang Bin had been in the palace for forty years and had served Emperor Yong'an all his life. He had naturally witnessed the bloody storm of those years and understood the retired emperor's emotions and sorrow.

At this moment, Ouyang Bin raised his head slightly and saw a brand new calligraphy scroll hanging on the sandalwood shelf behind the desk.

A few days ago, Ouyang Bin sent a eunuch to fetch a piece of calligraphy carefully written by Jia Cong from Rongguo Mansion and presented it to the retired emperor for his viewing.

A strong wind suddenly blew into the hall, slightly fluttering the hanging calligraphy, and the elegant and handsome handwriting on it looked even more compelling.

The first two lines of the calligraphy are as sharp as a sword or a halberd: The Yangtze River rolls eastward, and its waves wash away all the heroes!
……

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

When Jia Cong came in, he saw Jia's mother, Mrs. Wang, Wang Xifeng and other female relatives were all there.

The other person present surprised him a little, as it turned out to be Youshi, the wife of Jia Zhen from the East Palace.

Ever since the Ningguo Mansion was confiscated and the Ningguo title was revoked, Youshi also lost her third-rank imperial status and now has to rely on her dowry to make a living in the Rongguo Mansion.

Somehow, Jia Cong noticed that Youshi's gaze on him seemed to be evasive.

When Jia Mu saw him come in, she asked, "I heard someone from the Ministry of Works was looking for you today?"

Jia Cong knew that there were many eyes and ears in the Rongguo Mansion. He had just been conferred a title, so his every move would attract the attention of those interested, not to mention that someone from the Ministry of Works came to his door.

The gods must have informed Grandmother Jia long ago. "It was Lord Qin from the Ministry of Works. Because the emperor wants to remodel the original Ningguo Mansion and grant Cong to live in it, the original duke's regulations will be downgraded, and the Ministry of Works came for this matter."

Grandmother Jia recalled that Ningguo Mansion was originally the residence of the eldest branch of the Jia family, and its luxury was even greater than that of Rongguo Mansion. Now it was going to be downgraded and restructured, and she could not help feeling distressed and uncomfortable.

I quickly asked, "But do you want major demolition and reconstruction?"

Jia Cong replied, "Except for those places that need to be lowered, Cong has asked the Ministry of Works to demolish all the overly luxurious places in the mansion and change them into a simple style to get rid of the extravagant atmosphere."

After hearing this, Grandmother Jia frowned a little. She was born into a wealthy and noble family, and had been a super-ranking official for half her life. She was most accustomed to a life of luxury and pleasure.

She was not used to Baochai's room, which was too simple and had no decorations, so she specially gave her some expensive decorations. It can be seen that Grandmother Jia admired luxury.

She heard from Jia Cong that he wanted to demolish and renovate the Ningguo Mansion extensively, destroying all the beautiful places in the mansion that she liked. It would become a snow cave, and she was naturally unhappy about it.

Grandmother Jia couldn't help but say, "It's a good East Mansion. Just change the place where the demotion took place. Why bother with a big fight? That's all the family property left by our ancestors."

Jia Cong was somewhat disdainful of what his mother said about the family business left by ancestors. The Ningguo lineage had been confiscated long ago, so what was the ancestral business?

"Old Madam, Cong has been blessed by the Emperor, who has granted him the title of hereditary second-class earl and granted him a separate residence. Now is the time for everyone to see him.

Of course, we must be cautious in our actions and avoid extravagance and rebellion. Cong needs an earl's mansion that no one can find fault with, so that we can stop the gossips and live up to the grace of His Majesty."

Seeing that his words were full of the emperor's grace and favor, Jia's mother found it difficult to refute him, so she just said in disgust: "You are a good official."

But she also knew that her grandson was no longer the same as before, so it would be bad to be too blunt in her words.

At this time, Youshi suddenly said, "Madam, my granddaughter-in-law feels a little unwell and wants to go downstairs to rest."

After hearing this, Jia's mother was stunned for a moment, then she said, "I see that you don't look well either, go down and have a rest."

After Youshi left, Jia's mother thought for a moment before saying, "I asked you to come here today because I have something to discuss. The East Mansion was originally the ancestral home of the Ningguo lineage.

Now that you have taken over the East Palace, you will naturally have to take care of the affairs of Ningguo. I want my daughter-in-law Zhen to return to the East Palace to settle down. When Rong Ge'er returns from Qiongzhou in the future, you will also have to accept and support him."

Jia Cong felt sick after hearing this. No wonder he noticed that Youshi looked unnatural as soon as he entered Rongqing Hall, and she had just left with an excuse.

So this is what happened. When Lady Jia saw that the Emperor had bestowed the Ningguo Mansion upon her, he asked her to accept the ladies and young masters of the former East Mansion.

She is using Youshi and Jia Rong to test his bottom line. If she succeeds this time, he will accept Youshi and Jia Rong.

After that, the Rongguo Mansion will become more and more aggressive, and Jia's grandmother will naturally extend her hands to her own Earl's Mansion. Jia's grandmother has been the leader of the harem for half her life, and this is a typical trick of the women in the harem.

I think she probably used a similar method back then to place Lai Er in the Ningguo Mansion as a housekeeper. Even a dandy guy like Jia Zhen couldn't resist because of filial piety.

The Ningguo Mansion's stripping of its title was closely related to the evil deeds of wicked servants like Lai Da. Ultimately, Grandmother Jia was also largely responsible.

Jia Cong suddenly understood why Emperor Jia Zhao gave him the title of earl and granted him the hereditary right.

When Emperor Jia Zhao asked the clan court to propose that he be made the crown prince of Rongguo Mansion, he had already begun to divide the relationship between himself and the Jia family of Rongguo.

If he was only granted the title of an ordinary earl this time, under the rules of filial piety and etiquette, Lady Jia, as a super-ranking noble and his grandmother, would still be able to control him well.

Only an earl whose title is hereditary can compete with the hereditary marquis whose title is lower than that of the Rongguo Mansion and not lose out.

The hereditary succession has put the king before his relatives!

As someone who has spent half her life enjoying the imperial decree of a high rank, Lady Jia must be very clear about the reason behind this.

Seeing that she had been granted the title of earl with hereditary succession, she became wary of him, but she did not want to give up the idea of ​​controlling her grandson.

That's why this kind of thing happened. Could it be that such a big Rongguo Mansion couldn't support a woman like Youshi?

As for Jia Rong's return and needing to be supported in the East Palace, that is even more ridiculous. That was thirty years later, and most of the people in the hall were probably dead, so how could it be possible?

At this juncture, if I were like an ordinary person, young and ignorant, and really agreed to such a bullshit, it would become a joke if the emperor granted me the hereditary title.

This is a question of position and stance. Besides, having come to this point, it is impossible for me to be controlled by the Rongguo Mansion anymore!
"This is inappropriate. I'm sorry Cong cannot agree to it."

(End of this chapter)