Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 321: Hit the Snake at its Weak Point

In the north of Shenjing City, in Chunhua Tower, the second floor elegant room.

The chubby boy pushed the door open, picked up the teapot on the table, and drank it all in one gulp.

I just drank a lot of wine, racked my brains, and said a lot of seductive words. I am really thirsty.

At the window of the elegant room, with his back to him, stood a tall and handsome young man, gazing at the scenery outside the window.

Her jet-black hair was tied into a bun with a mutton-fat jade hairpin. She was wearing a moon-white soft robe with dark silver bamboo patterns, a nine-treasure jade belt around her waist, and a black bamboo folding fan in her hand. She looked indescribably elegant and carefree.

However, as the chubby boy looked at his graceful back, he felt more and more that his best friend and classmate did not seem like a good person.

I have never seen anyone go to such great lengths to ruin his eldest sister's marriage.

The young man turned around and it was Jia Cong.

"Well, have you told her all the things I taught you?"

"This little thing can't stump me, Cai Xiaoyu. But what's wrong with your brain? You actually came up with such a method. How did you know that these words could control him?"

Jia Cong sneered and said, "I have spent a lot of time these days and have found out clearly that Sun Shaozu is currently in the Ministry of War. He wants to marry into my Jia family just to covet the power of the Jia family.

It is always necessary to strike the snake at its weakest point. As long as he knows that marrying into the family will bring no benefits but many disadvantages, and will also ruin his future and life, he will naturally give up.

If he relapses, I will certainly have ways to deal with him!"

Cai Xiaoyu looked at Jia Cong in surprise: "After I said those words, this guy surnamed Sun was scared to death. I am sure that even if he had a few more courage, he would not dare to marry your sister!"

When Jia Cong heard this, a smug smile appeared on his face, which made Cai Xiaoyu feel even more that he was not a good person.

"Brother Cong, I'm doing you this favor because I trust you. It's normal for these people to covet power, but you're spending so much time and effort on this marriage and are in a hurry to end it. Is there another reason?"

Jia Cong looked a little serious and said, "This man is vicious and cunning, a shameless person. If my sister marries him, not only will she be unlucky, but she will also lose her life!"

Cai Xiaoyu was also shocked when he heard what he said, but he always believed in Jia Cong's ability and knew that what he said must not be without reason, but he did not intend to ask in detail.

Cai Xiaoyu smiled bitterly and said, "I go to the 16th floor every day to help you. I just talked nonsense with that guy surnamed Sun. If my father knew about this, he would beat me half to death."

Jia Cong frowned and said, "Don't think I don't know. If you don't help me, you will have been to the sixteenth floor many times..."

Cai Xiaoyu laughed awkwardly.

"I have sent people to follow him for four or five days and found that he was fooling around on the 16th floor every day. You, Mr. Cai San, are of noble status. It would be difficult for him to believe what others said except you.

I won’t say much to thank you, I will give you something.”

Jia Cong took out a scroll and handed it to Cai Xiaoyu, saying, "This is a volume of the Book of Songs that I copied myself. Please don't despise it."

Cai Xiaoyu took it with a look of surprise, carefully unfolded it to appreciate it, and said in amazement: "Brother Cong, I have never heard that you have copied the Book of Songs. This is probably the only one out there.

Since you were conferred the title of Weiyuan Earl, your calligraphy has become more valuable. I think this calligraphy alone will be enough for me to enjoy a feast at Chunhua Pavilion for several years."

Cai Xiaoyu spoke nonsense in a serious manner, completely ignoring Jia Cong's contemptuous look: "Don't worry, I won't trade it for a table. I'm going to give it to my third sister. She likes your poetry and calligraphy the most.

You don’t know that my third sister is a very good friend of the daughter of Huang Hongcang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Although Miss Huang is not as beautiful as Miss Qin back then, she is also a rare beauty.

I gave this calligraphy to my third sister and asked her to help me find a date, haha."

Jia Cong looked at Cai Xiaoyu with a shameless look and said, "I didn't give you this calligraphy to use like this."

Cai Xiaoyu asked: "Then how do you want me to use it?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "If your father finds out that you go to the 16th floor every day and wants to beat you half to death, you can present this calligraphy and say that I sent the old man to correct me. This will probably save you from physical pain."

Cai Xiaoyu: “…….”

……

Rongqing Hall is where Lady Jia lives and is also the most visited place in the Jia family.

The Jia family has been a prosperous family for generations, with a large population and many eyes and mouths, so what happened in Rongqing Hall could never be kept secret.

In just one day, the news that Jia's grandmother wanted Jia Cong to support Youshi, Jia Rong and others, and that Jia Cong refused in public, quickly spread throughout the Jia family.

After hearing this, Youshi was filled with shame and anger, but there was nothing she could do. After all, she was now alone and helpless, and could only be bullied by Jia Mu and others.

However, Youshi may not be disappointed. After all, everyone can see that Jia Cong will be the most powerful person in the Jia family sooner or later as he inherits the title of Earl. As a downtrodden person who has been stripped of his imperial title, how could she not want to rely on him for protection?

However, when Jia Cong's words and deeds were spread, Youshi, who had seen the world, knew that Jia Cong was a man of strong will and integrity, and could not tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. He was not someone someone like her could get involved with.

She remembered that it was Rong'er's wife Qin Keqing who caught the eye of the young earl. However, since the last time she heard that Keqing was missing, there had been no news from her, and no one knew whether she was alive or dead...

As for the Ningguo lineage's descendants such as Jia Xiao and Jia Qiang, when they heard that Jia Cong was granted the hereditary title of Weiyuan Earl, the emperor also awarded them the original Ningguo Mansion.

So he thought of using the fact that Jia Cong had taken over the Ningguo Mansion as an excuse, and relying on his relationship with his relatives and the children of Ningguo, he could curry favor with Jia Cong and even extort some of the benefits.

But until Jia Cong ruthlessly turned away even the former mistress and young master of the Ningguo Mansion, not to mention those with whom he had a more distant relationship.

Most of them probably knew that this young man's relative who was granted the title was shrewd and ruthless, and that he was not someone to be trifled with, so they did not dare to have any covetous thoughts about him.

As for some other concubines of the Jia family who had no intention of working and only wanted to live off the wealth left by others, most of them also gave up some inappropriate thoughts.

Many of the servants in Rong State were from wealthy and snobbish families who had lived there for generations, and had developed snobbish eyes and a greedy heart.

What Lady Jia can think of, most of the servants in the family can probably think of as well.

In their eyes, although Jia Cong was granted the title of earl, he was still the old lady's grandson. No matter how high Jia Cong's title of earl was, he could not beat his father's title of marquis.

The future Weiyuan Marquis' Mansion will be just a branch of the Rongguo Mansion.

However, many knowledgeable servants knew how noble it was to have a hereditary title.

They also knew that when the East Palace was reopened in the future, according to the old lady's usual way of managing the household, she would definitely assign some capable servants to manage the former East Palace, now the Earl's Mansion.

The third master was very good at studying and fighting, but he was a man after all, so how could he manage the household? What's more, he was still young and unmarried, and there was no wife to manage the household.

For most servants, this was simply the best place to go. Many servants and maids in Rongguo Mansion hoped to be assigned by the old lady to work in the Earl's Mansion.

For them, this is a win-win situation with many benefits.

However, the news from Rongqing Hall was that Third Master Cong was not willing to use the old servants in the mansion at all, and instead bought dozens of new servants to serve him.

Among all the servants in Rongguo Mansion, Third Master Cong only asked the old lady for Sister Liu from the kitchen because Sister Liu was the mother of Third Master's trusted maid Wu'er.

So in the past few days, Sister Liu became the focus of envy and jealousy of all the servants in the mansion. Countless servants from all walks of life spoke well of Sister Liu and invited her to dinner.

However, Mrs. Liu had already received Wu'er's instructions and knew that the Third Master wanted her to go to the Earl's Mansion just because of his daughter's feelings.

In recent years, with the ups and downs of Jia Cong's reputation, the servants in the mansion have been flattering the powerful and bullying the weak.

As Wu'er's biological mother, Sister Liu has seen many of the faces of the people around her, so naturally she would not be easily deceived by these people. She became even more cautious in her words and actions at this juncture.

Moreover, Wu'er specifically instructed that the Third Master should only allow Sister Liu to come, and all the helpers who were to do odd jobs should be newly hired.

Jia Cong's series of actions quickly made the servants in the mansion stop having any inappropriate thoughts.

This young Third Master is definitely not incapable of managing the household.

The gates in her heart are a hundred times more tight and shrewd than those of the second wife in the mansion. Before she even opens the mansion, she has already run the Earl's mansion like an iron barrel, and not even a needle can be inserted.

Therefore, what Jia Cong did in Rongqing Hall that day actually established a residence for him, saving him a lot of trouble, and also invisibly drew a line between him and the Rong State.

All the undercurrents caused by Jia Cong's ennoblement in the Rongguo Mansion subsided, and the brand new Earl's Mansion was gradually nearing completion amidst the intense restructuring and renovation...

……

Grandmother Jia's methods had always worked in the past and had been a powerful force in the rear quarters for decades. But now that she had encountered this grandson who was always troublesome, she suffered a setback and naturally felt very bad.

However, she has recently begun to worry about another family matter, which is the marriage of her second granddaughter Yingchun.

I had already exchanged engagement letters with the Sun family in May and paid the betrothal gifts. It was originally agreed that we would go to the family home and set the wedding date the day before yesterday.

However, Mrs. Xing from the East Courtyard brought news that Sun Shaozu was delayed and did not come to the house the day before, nor did he send a message to explain the reason.

Grandmother Jia was a worldly-wise person and was most sensitive to matters of marriage, so she guessed that something must have gone wrong.

The news of Yingchun's engagement has already spread. If something goes wrong, it will damage his granddaughter's reputation.

(End of this chapter)