Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 59: The Sorrow of the Wealthy Family

When Grandmother Jia heard this, her face changed drastically. The disaster of witchcraft has been regarded as a scourge in all dynasties.

Born into a wealthy and powerful family, Lady Jia had heard a lot in her lifetime. Whether in the court or among the people, everyone hated witchcraft.

There had been two witchcraft rebellions in the imperial palace of the previous dynasty. All those who caused the rebellion were killed without mercy, even the concubines and princes involved were not spared.

Such a dirty thing actually happened in the Jia family. This was unbearable. When she saw Wang Shanbao, the housekeeper, kneeling on the ground and trembling, she understood something.

Grandmother Jia angrily asked Jia Zheng, "What is going on?"

Jia Zheng said, "This morning a victim came to the Zhen'an Prefecture to file a complaint, saying that a female member of her family had been poisoned by a witch and was dying. The person who cast the curse was Ma Dao Po from the Zaoni Temple."

Mrs. Wang, who was standing by, turned pale when she heard this. This Ma Dao Po was Baoyu's nominal godmother.

It turned out to be a thief who used witchcraft. If this were to be exposed, the old lady would not even forgive herself.

"The people of Zhen'an Prefecture immediately sent people to arrest Ma Dao Po and also searched her home and found straw dolls, paper figurines, clay sculptures of evil spirits, vermilion embroidery needles and other evil objects.

They also found a notebook, which recorded the amount of silver that should be returned by a certain family after inspection, and countless amounts of oil and incense money were given.

It also records that he received fifty taels of silver from Wang Shanbao's Zhang family, and used it to burn incense and pray for the three people, Jia Zheng and his wife, and Jia Cong, the Rong State. "

At this point, Jia Zheng's face burst into anger. He was the legitimate son of the Rongguo Mansion, but he was actually subjected to witchcraft by a servant in his home. It was a complete disgrace to the family and a great shame.

When Grandmother Jia heard this, she was furious and pointed at the trembling Wang Shanbao with her halberd, saying, "How dare you, you lowly servant, do such a wicked thing?"

As he said this, his eyes rolled back and he fainted from anger. Jia Zheng was so frightened that he quickly held him up and ordered the housekeeper to fetch the imperial physician immediately.

When Jia Zheng brought people over just now, he only said that he wanted to question Wang Shanbao, a housekeeper, because the matter involved the disaster of witchcraft, and Wang Shanbao was a servant of the Jia family.

Without verifying the stolen goods in person, Jia Zheng did not dare to make the matter public, in case there were any omissions and he would lose face and end up in an awkward situation.

Just when he and Jia She were about to interrogate the man, Jia's mother happened to arrive and Jia Zheng told everything.

The man wearing official uniform was Liu Binfang, the magistrate of Zhen'an Prefecture. He just sat there and watched coldly. As it involved the disaster of witchcraft, he dared not slack off in the slightest.

Although he appeared kind and harmless on the surface, it was not easy for him to reach the position of magistrate of Zhen'an Prefecture. At this moment, his eyes were scanning the faces of everyone in the hall.

Housekeeper Wang Shanbao was pounding his head like crazy, crying out that he was innocent. He crawled to Madam Xing's side, hugged her feet, swore that he had never done anything, and begged Madam Xing to save his life.

After all, Mrs. Xing had lived in the mansion for many years, so how could she not know how serious it was? She retreated as if avoiding a ghost, trying to get rid of the entanglement of Wang Shanbao's wife.

Jia She was so frightened that his face turned pale. He felt that the Zhen'an Prefecture's prosecutor's gaze was like a venomous snake, always staring at him.

This Wang Shanbao is his wife's companion, and no one in the mansion knows it. She obeys her wife's instructions in everything.

She used witchcraft to harm her own brother, so doesn't that mean I am also a suspect!

Everyone in the noble princes of the Shenjing City knew that he, as the eldest son of the Rong Kingdom, had only inherited the title, while the huge Duke's Mansion built by imperial decree was inherited by his second brother.

This even had the tacit approval of the retired emperor in the palace. Everyone outside knew that as the eldest son of the royal family, he had lost face because of this, and he had been secretly resentful of it for many years.

Now all these have become evidence for the suspicion. If the news gets to the clan office, there will be no way to clear myself even if I jump into the Yellow River.

The practice of witchcraft has always been regarded as heresy and a terrible disaster by the court, and it must be eliminated as soon as possible.

As the heir of the Rongguo Mansion, he used witchcraft to harm his own brother. This is such a heinous crime that stripping him of his title and official position would be the lightest punishment. He might even be exiled 3,000 miles away and lose his life.

At this time, Lady Jia was pinched hard on the Ren Zhong point by her personal maid, and finally woke up slowly, but her face was pale. After all, she was old and could not stand the depression.

Jia She stumbled to Jia's mother, knelt down, and cried, "Mother, please take care of yourself. If anything happens to me, I will die without a burial place."

Grandmother Jia asked with a trembling breath: "Your disciples did such a thing, could it be that they wanted your brothers to die without a burial place?" "Tell me, are you confused and thinking about being struck by lightning?"

"Don't think I know nothing. Your brother took Congge'er to the West Mansion to raise him, and you felt it was disgraceful. What did your wife say behind your back? You think I don't know anything!"

Jia She was horrified when he heard this. When Jia Cong was taken to the West Mansion, Mrs. Xing did curse her brother and sister-in-law behind their backs.

It was nothing more than the second wife secretly controlling the first wife, only trying to curry favor with the old lady, and being short-lived and mean.

It is not good for a woman to curse behind her back. However, Jia She was also feeling unfair. He probably felt relieved when he heard Mrs. Xing's dirty words. He didn't expect that these words would be spread out.

Little did he know that the East Courtyard had long been turned into a sieve, and even Wu'er could hear Mrs. Xing scolding the Second Housekeeper from the kitchen.

Not to mention a person like Lady Jia who has been in the mansion for half her life, how could these things escape her ears.

Now, Mrs. Xing's curses against the second wife have become evidence that the first wife was plotting to murder the second wife!
Although Jia She was a lustful and dissolute man, he was not a fool. After hearing what his mother said, he could understand the reason and meaning behind it.

If even my own mother had this thought, then outsiders would certainly have the same suspicion.

He no longer cared about his face, and knelt down in front of Grandmother Jia and kowtowed repeatedly: "Mother, my second brother and I are brothers, and even if I am a bad son, I will never do such a shameful thing as to harm my own brother.

If you tell me even a lie, I will let my son's intestines rot and die a miserable death. After he dies, he will turn into ashes for pigs and dogs to step on."

When Lady Jia heard him swear such a poisonous oath, her expression eased a little. After all, he was her own son, and she believed it about 70% of the time.

"That cunning slave must have gone insane to do such a vicious thing!"

As he said this, Jia She jumped up from the ground and rushed over.

At this time, Wang Shanbao was still pulling Madam Xing to cry for help, but Jia She rushed over and slapped Madam Xing in the face.

"You stupid woman, you have such a good slave!"

The slap stunned Mrs. Xing and half of her face became swollen.

It is not clear whether Jia She said this out of genuine anger or if he was trying to get Madam Xing to take the blame.

He raised his foot again and kicked Wang Shanbao in the face, causing his skin to break and bleed.

"You damned lowly slave, you actually did such an evil thing, you don't want to live anymore!"

Wang Shanbao shouted, "Master, I have never done such a vicious thing. I have been with my wife in the Jia family for more than ten years and have served you wholeheartedly.

I would never dare to have the slightest rebellious intention. I only asked Ma Dao Po to exorcise the evil spirit for me and did nothing else. There must be someone with a black conscience who framed me!"

"How dare you, a lowly servant, quibble? If you didn't do it, how could that thief woman have recorded it so clearly in her account book?"

Wang Shanbao knew clearly that he had not done anything, but he could not defend himself and just kept shouting his innocence. When the prosecutor Liu Binfang saw this, he was almost certain.

Wang Shanbao's wife racked her brains to understand why Ma Dao Po wrote that in the account book. Even if she wanted to extort money from her, what was the point of writing it in that shameful account book?

At this time, there were a lot of footsteps outside. It turned out that Yuanyang brought Jia Cong, and there were actually a lot of people following behind them.

When Yuanyang went to Qingzhizhai, Jia Cong was with Daiyu, Tanchun and other sisters. They all saw that Yuanyang looked unhappy and said that the old lady had gone to the main hall of the east courtyard, and asked Master Cong to go over and question her immediately.

Jia Cong asked a few more questions, and Yuanyang said that the prosecutor from Zhen'an Prefecture came to see the second master and said something to him. The second master was furious when he heard it, so he took the servants from the mansion and went to the East Courtyard with the official.

The old lady also rushed there after hearing the news. As for why she asked Jia Cong to go as well, Yuanyang did not say it clearly, but looking at her expression, Daiyu and Tanchun, who were smart, naturally knew that it was not a good thing.

Jia Cong narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't expect that people from Zhen'an Prefecture would come to his door so quickly. It seemed that something had happened!
(End of this chapter)