Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 65: The clan members are in a panic

Since settling down in Qingzhizhai and having Qingwen apply medicine on him once, Jia Cong's back injury has been completely healed.

Qu Hongxiu's medicine for wounds was very magical. After only four or five uses, not even a trace of scar was left.

This time, Wang Shanbao's family was dealt with thanks to Qu Hongxiu's help. It would have been impossible for him to do it alone.

Not knowing whether she still lived in the small courtyard in West City, he wanted to go see her, but he restrained himself and did not go.

His injury from last time was not fully healed, so he asked Guo Zhigui to drive him to Chunhua Tower, and used He Jizhen and Zhou Xizhe to cover him, and he went to meet Qu Hongxiu on the way.

Guo Zhigui has a simple personality and would not have any doubts about this. He also believes that he will not let anyone see any flaws.

But now Wang Shanbao's family affairs are not really over, so he has to be careful.

The last time Liu Bi came to see him, he said that he would go back and help him postpone the time of entering Qingshan Academy, but this time would not be too long.

Without the persecution and restraint of the couple in the East Courtyard, and now having a quiet place like Qingzhizhai, Jia Cong was finally able to concentrate on his studies.

Although he could get out of trouble temporarily by these tricks and schemes, in order to take a long-term perspective, given his current situation, the only way out for him was to study hard and become an official.

Even if he relied on his later knowledge and skills to become a wealthy man, in this world where officials are the most important, without the protection of power, he would be devoured by others sooner or later without leaving anything behind.

Jia Cong studied in the Jia family school for three years, mainly reading books on literacy for children such as Thousand Character Classic and Book of Filial Piety. After he became familiar with them, he began to read The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean.

It sounds like he has read half of the Four Books, but for children of this age, reading is limited to rote memorization and knowing thousands of commonly used characters, and that is considered passing.

Moreover, Jia Dairu, the head of the Jia clan's charity school, was himself a person of limited talent and learning. He probably had a patchy understanding of the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, let alone explaining its profound meaning to the children.

Fortunately, I had memorized some of it, and in my previous life, I worked in a cultural and historical institution like the Provincial Museum, so I had a lot of exposure and accumulation of knowledge about Chinese studies.

His own starting point was actually not low.

Now we just need to lay a solid foundation for our towering building, sort out our understanding from the beginning, and we will surely achieve success after a few years of hard work.

Among the Four Books, "The Great Learning" is the foundation of all things. It summarizes the main points and teaches people to explore the principles of reason, rectify their minds, cultivate themselves, and govern others.

After studying "The Great Learning", if you then study "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius", you will be able to appreciate the subtle and detailed academic context contained therein.

Only by finally integrating and understanding all the contents can one finally comprehend the worldly principles in the Doctrine of the Mean, and so the Doctrine of the Mean is always studied last among the Four Books.

After reading the Four Books, you can move on to the Five Classics: The Book of Songs, The Book of History, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites, and The Zuo Zhuan.

Based on the fundamental principles of the world comprehended from the Four Books, one can build a high-level understanding and analysis of all things in life.

After being proficient in the Four Books and Five Classics, one can take the Tongshi examination to become a Xiucai. After Xiucai, one becomes Juren, and then Jinshi. It is said that ten years of hard study is not an exaggeration for ordinary people.

At this time, Jia Cong began to study "The Great Learning" carefully, which he regarded as the foundation.

Fortunately, he had on hand a complete set of the Four Books published by Yu Wenxuan given by Xiao Jindong, which contained red-circled annotations by famous scholars at key points, and several volumes of the Four Books with annotations given by Jia Zheng, which were just what he needed.

……

On the third day after Wang Shanbao's wife was captured and taken to Zhen'an Prefecture, a sixth-rank official from the Zongrenfu came to his door with two followers.

Jia She was asked to go to the clan house to be questioned by the Grand Clan Director regarding the incident of witchcraft and sorcery that occurred in the Jia family.

The sixth-rank official spoke coldly, with a hint of aggression. The gatekeeper went to report to Jia She trembling with fear, and almost frightened Jia She to the point of collapsing on the ground. Disaster had come!
It was probably that damned dog slave who talked nonsense in Zhen'an Prefecture, causing the clan office to come and arrest him.

Jia She was absolutely unwilling to go to that damn clan government. The clan government of the Great Zhou was responsible for the ranking of titles and salaries, education, and reward and punishment of the children of clan members and nobles.

It would not be a good thing for the son of a noble family to be summoned by the Ministry of Clan Affairs, but he had no choice but to go.

The sixth-rank official had a cold expression on his face, and Jia She did not dare to delay. Before leaving, he asked the servant to quickly inform Lady Jia.

When Lady Jia heard the news, she panicked and asked Lai Da to pick some smart servants to follow him and report back any news in time.

This went on for several hours, until it was getting dark, but Jia She still hadn't returned, and the servant who had followed him came back to report.

The clan affairs office inquired about the matter of witchcraft and sorcery in the eldest master's family. As the matter is not clear, the eldest master needs to stay in the clan affairs office today and cannot come back for the time being.

The whole family panicked after hearing this, and Grandmother Jia was even more anxious. It was not only because she loved Jia She deeply, but the most important thing was that Jia She still inherited the title passed down by the old Duke.

If Jia She was really implicated in the witchcraft conspiracy to murder his brother, he would most likely be stripped of his title. Then what would happen to the title left by his ancestors?

The best outcome would be that His Majesty allows the title to be passed down to his sons, in which case Jia Lian would inherit the title.

But the Jia family does not have a hereditary title, and when it comes to Jia Lian, the first-class general will be demoted to a second-class general.

Although the rank of his title was downgraded, it was still there after all, so he was lucky.

If the emperor were to take away the Jia family's title because he was disgusted with Jia She's inhumane behavior, then the Jia family would be finished.

What kind of nobleman is he who has lost his title? He is just a paper tiger with a false title, ridiculed by all the people in Beijing.

If it came to this, Grandmother Jia would really want to die. After she passed away, how would she have the face to meet the old Duke and the ancestors of the Jia family?

Grandmother Jia was so anxious that she stayed up all night. At daybreak, she asked Yuanyang to help her put on the imperial edict and make-up. She then took a carriage to the palace gate early and handed in a letter requesting an audience with the empress dowager.

Because Qingzhizhai was located in a remote area, Jia Cong received the news only the next morning, when Jia's mother had already dressed up and gone to the palace.

He heard that an official from the Ministry of Clan Affairs had brought two followers yesterday, invited the master to the Ministry of Clan Affairs for questioning, and had not returned all night, so he roughly understood what was going on.

Wang Shanbao would certainly not survive the punishment in Zhen'an Prefecture, and he would really involve Jia She and his wife in order to escape.

He had met Zhang Shouan, the prefect of Zhen'an Prefecture, in Shuyun Villa. This man was a smooth-talking person and asked questions that he shouldn't have asked. He must have thrown this hot potato to the clan affairs office.

However, because the case involved a nobleman like a first-class general, the one-sided statement of a slave woman from the Jia family was not sufficient to serve as evidence.

Therefore, the official from the Clan Court only brought two followers and asked Jia She to go to the Clan Court for questioning, instead of directly bringing soldiers to arrest him.

Maybe in the end the Jia family will just lose face, but most likely they won't suffer any serious consequences.

Jia Cong had anticipated this outcome. After all, he was a founding noble of two countries and would not fall because of such a trumped-up accusation of witchcraft.

As for Grandmother Jia, she was old and not a wise and insightful woman. Although she was a figure in the rear house, she could not understand much about the mysteries and entanglements of the outside world.

The visit from Zhen'an Prefecture a few days ago had already made her feel uneasy, and now her son was summoned by the Ministry of Clan Affairs, which made her even more worried and confused.

Unlike Jia Cong, the instigator who could watch calmly.

(End of this chapter)