Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 99: Suing the First Jia Case

The head of the Ministry of Rites reported the matter to the doctor sitting in the court.

The doctor from the Ministry of Rites was also greatly surprised. Now the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan and the Left and Right Vice Ministers were all in court. When encountering such a thing, he, as the doctor in charge of the hall, had no choice but to take action.

Now those students are still gathered at the gate of the yamen, and I am afraid that something might happen if this goes on for a long time.

So the doctor in charge hurried to the gate of the yamen, negotiated with the leading student, and asked the person in charge to record the names of all the students who participated in the petition.

It also stated that the Ministry of Rites would accept the complaint and deal with it appropriately after verification.

In the eyes of these hot-blooded students, other government offices are just fine.

For example, if you go to the Dali Temple to make trouble, you might be dragged in and charged with disturbing the court. You won't be punished, but will be made to spend a few days in jail, and they won't be able to find any fault with you.

But in the Ministry of Rites, whose mission is to promote rites, ethics and laws, there is no need to worry about encountering violence.

These students who filed the complaint originally wanted to stir up some noise and put pressure on the Ministry of Rites in the hope of getting their way.

Unexpectedly, the doctor from the Ministry of Rites who was staying in the hall was also an experienced person. He first took the complaint and made up his mind, and then listed the names of all the students who participated in the complaint.

Since their names were recorded by the Ministry of Rites, these students became more cautious.

Guo Youchang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is the academic director of the Yongzhou Academy Examination. If any of his students misbehave, he has the power of life and death to strip them of their honors.

Therefore, although these students gathered at the gate of the Ministry of Rites, they did not dare to do anything extreme.

The leading scholar, Liu Wenxuan from Deqing Prefecture, saw that the Ministry of Rites had received the complaint and that the doctor who responded was shrewd and had a twinkle in his eye. He did not dare to cause any more trouble and left in twos and threes with the students.

Although the remaining doctor from the Ministry of Rites handled the situation properly, the news that the students taking the imperial examinations had gathered at the Ministry of Rites to file a complaint had already spread widely, and I was afraid that it would spread throughout the capital in no time.

When Guo Youchang returned to the yamen after court, he looked grim after hearing what had happened.

Before Jia Cong took the exam, no one had ever questioned his background. But now that he was chosen as the top scorer, such things have been exposed.

He has experienced many ups and downs in his career and has seen many storms. He knows that there must be a reason behind this matter.

So he asked someone to fetch Jia Cong's documents from the Qinian Mansion. After reading and thinking about it carefully, he wrote a letter and asked his trusted family members to send it to Luo Cangshan urgently.

……

On this day, Jia Zheng exchanged his leave with his colleagues in the yamen and received relatives who came to congratulate him at home. However, Jia's mother, Mrs. Wang and other female relatives still stayed at home.

Jia Cong was naturally also entertaining the guests in his house. Until the lights were turned on in the evening, no one in the Jia family knew that such a disaster had occurred outside.

It was not until the next morning that a maid outside the second gate came to Qingzhizhai to deliver a message, saying that a classmate of Master Youcong had come to visit and was now waiting in Songxuan Hall.

Jia Cong was wondering why someone came to visit him so early in the morning.
When he arrived at Songxuan Hall, he found that it was Cai Xiaoyu.

Jia Cong saw that his eyes were dark, his face was tired, and there was anxiety between his brows.

In fact, on the day the results were announced, he, Cui Anzhi and Liu Xiaoping were all present and heard with their own ears that Jia Cong was named the top candidate. Afterwards, the three of them rushed to the Jia Mansion to congratulate each other.

All four of them were admitted in this college entrance examination. Cai Xiaoyu ranked 27th, Cui Anzhong ranked 79th, and Liu Xiaoping ranked 103rd.

Apart from the honor of being the top scorer in the college examination, the ranking of the names of other students was not important. The four of them were very happy to be admitted in the same year, and they even agreed to find time to go to Chunhua Tower for a big meal.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Xiaoyu, why are you here so early? I've been busy with many things these days, so I don't have time to go to Chunhua Tower with you for dinner."

Cai Xiaoyu asked, "You still don't know what happened in the South Courtyard of the Ministry of Rites yesterday?"

Jia Cong was stunned: "I was accompanying the Second Master to entertain guests yesterday and didn't leave the house the whole day. What happened?"

Cai Xiaoyu's father was the Cabinet Grand Secretary Cai Xiang, who was well-informed. After leaving the court, he heard about the incident at the Ministry of Rites. Cai Xiang was a cabinet minister, so he was no ordinary person. He knew there must be some twists and turns. He had heard from his son that the first place in the examination was his classmate at Qingshan Academy.

It was already late when Cai Xiaoyu learned the news. It was inconvenient for him to go to the Jia Mansion to report the news at night, so he could only stay up all night. He did not sleep well, and got up at dawn to go to the Jia Mansion to find Jia Cong.

He knew that if this plan succeeded, Jia Cong would be stripped of his title of first place in the case, and his lifelong journey in the imperial examinations would be over. For Jia Cong, who was devoted to his studies, this would be tantamount to eternal damnation.

So he gathered all the students in the Ministry of Rites, reported that he was the son of an oiran, and asked the Ministry of Rites to remove him from his position as the top candidate in the imperial examination.

Jia Cong's expression changed drastically when he heard this.

He had studied hard in the past few years, hoping to gain a promising future through the imperial examination, so that he wouldn't have to suffer oppression and humiliation in the Jia Mansion as before.

After all the hard work, he finally got what he wanted and got the top spot in the college examination. He was very confident, but he didn't expect such a disaster to happen in the blink of an eye.

I couldn't help but feel confused in my heart, but I forced myself to suppress it, thinking about the cause of the matter, hoping to find a solution.

“My father mentioned this matter. Although you were selected as the first in the case, you are just a scholar, which is insignificant in the eyes of some people.

Now someone has gone to such great lengths to deal with you, there must be something fishy going on, and he asked me if I had offended anyone, or if it was a frame-up by an enemy."

Jia Cong was shocked. After all, Cai Xiang was an old hand in the officialdom. He had a sharp and clear vision and could see the key points directly.

Who has he offended recently? Who hates him?

Wang Shanbao's wife had been beheaded long ago, and his family had been sent to live in the Jia family's Heiliao Manor. They definitely had no ability to do such a thing.

Jia She and Lady Xing would never do such a thing. Even if they disliked him, they were still father and son. If they crippled him, they would save their faces.

Recently, I have offended that person and made an enemy of that person, and they are none other than Wang Ziteng's wife and son.

One was beaten up by me in Rongqing Hall, and the other was frightened into incontinence by a blow from me.

But how could they have such great power to mobilize dozens of students to gather at the Ministry of Rites to file a complaint?

This mother and son may not have this ability.

But the man behind them, Wang Ziteng, a first-rank official and the governor of the Beijing Camp, has such power.

Or did they take other paths?

But Wang Ziteng currently needs the Jia family to help him get the position of governor of nine provinces. Would he destroy his own career like this?
Jia Cong thought for a while, but couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it, patted the little fat boy's shoulder gratefully, and said, "Xiaoyu, thank you for telling me this in time.

Although my biological mother is not famous, I was born and raised in the Jia family and have been a descendant of the Rong family for more than ten years. This is indisputable. Now that the Ministry of Rites has received the complaint, it will certainly conduct a careful investigation before making a final decision.

It’s not the end of the world yet.”

He sneered again, "My case was chosen by the Yongzhou Xuezheng. If I am dismissed, the Yongzhou Xuezheng and the people related to the Ministry of Rites will be implicated.

At least on this point, the Yongzhou Academy and the Ministry of Rites will not stand against me. The person who designed this may just want to harm me. It seems that he did not think of this layer, otherwise he would not dare to cause such a big commotion. "

Cai Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. Brother Cong's words hit the nail on the head. Why didn't he think of this?

He was always confident in his knowledge. Although he was not as hardworking as Jia Cong in his studies, he was able to maintain an upper-middle level. He often thought that his talent was on par with Jia Cong.

As for Jia Cong's being ranked first in the case, I think it was somewhat due to luck.

Now, after hearing what he said, I am finally convinced. This classmate, who is one year younger than me, is smart, perceptive, and has a unique vision. He is truly extraordinary.

(End of this chapter)