I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 141: Invitation to the Prime Minister’s Residence
The two younger ones, Mei Shiming and Jia Cong, hurried forward to greet their elders.

Mei Shouli pulled Jia Cong up and laughed, "Brother Cong, good, very good! You are indeed worthy of being my nephew, Mei. Well done!"

"Now, my nephew has become a hero of our Great Xia! Even I, as his uncle, can benefit from it whenever I go out!"

"You don't know, the people around here know that I am Cong's uncle, and now that they have seen me, they all admire me!"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Uncle, you are too kind. Every citizen has his share of responsibility for the fate of a country. I just did what I should do!"

Jia Cong's words made Mei Shouli even more satisfied. He laughed and said, "Be modest and polite, and be open-minded. Good, good!"

While praising Jia Cong, Mei Shouli looked at Mei Shiming with disdain: "Unlike this evil creature, who is stubborn and incorrigible, like rotten mud that cannot be plastered on a wall, and rotten wood that cannot be carved!"

Mei Shiming rolled his eyes and said, "Dad, if you want to praise my cousin, just praise him. Why are you belittling me?"

Aunt Mei smiled and said, "Shiming is also very good. Let's go inside and talk."

The group entered the main hall. Mei Shiming took Jia Cong's hand and said with bright eyes:

"Cousin, I originally thought you were just a weak scholar, and I looked down on you."

"I never expected that my cousin would be so fierce and powerful that he even defeated the Qing Dynasty's best archer!"

"I wonder if my cousin knows martial arts? We can have a sparring match!"

His cousin is a martial arts fanatic.

Jia Cong couldn't help but say, "Cousin, I only know a little bit of boxing and kicking, not proficient in it. I'm afraid I'm far from being your opponent!"

Mei Shiming couldn't help but laugh and said, "My cousin, you are too modest. Since you are a master archer, how could you not be proficient in martial arts?"

"Cousin, let's go outside and have some sparring!"

Seeing Mei Shiming acting so recklessly, Mei Shouli glared at him and scolded him, "It's fine if you make trouble at home, but now you're making trouble outside too. Wait and see how I'll deal with you when I get home!"

Aunt Mei said hurriedly: "Brother, what are you talking about? How come we have become outsiders?"

"They are close brothers. Isn't that a good thing? Just don't let it hurt their relationship."

Jia Cong couldn't help but say, "Uncle, mother, I saved it!"

After that, Jia Cong took Mei Shiming to the martial arts arena and had a sparring match with him.

The result of the competition was naturally that Jia Cong won.

After all, Jia Cong has a talent, and his Bajiquan has already reached a state close to perfection.

The Fengyun sword technique has also reached perfection.

Only the Blood-Drinking Spear Technique was a little weak, only at the minor success level.

It is not just talk that you can practice the gun for a month, the sword for a year, and the spear for a lifetime. The improvement of the level of gun skills is the slowest.

However, even the Blood-Drinking Spear Technique at the minor success level is able to defeat Mei Shiming.

However, his cousin is quite skilled in martial arts.

The foundation is very solid, and the person must have put in a lot of effort and practiced diligently in his daily life.

He was also well-versed in the art of war and was eager to go into battle to kill the enemy, drive out the barbarians, and recover the lost territory.

Jia Cong also has respect for such pure people.

Mei Shiming was overjoyed after witnessing Jia Cong's superb martial arts.

He hoped to come to him often to exchange ideas in the future, and Jia Cong readily agreed.

After Mei Shouli and his family stayed for dinner, they talked for a while before getting up to leave.

Before leaving, Aunt Mei arranged a carriage for them and loaded twenty rolls of tribute satin on the carriage.

Mei Shouli tried to refuse in every way, but had no choice but to accept it and returned home with a full load.

……

It’s getting late today, so I can’t go visit Master Zhao anymore. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

Next, Jia Cong went to the study to read. Next door, in the Xue Mansion, a mother, son, brother and sister were talking together.

Speaking of which, Xue Pan has changed a lot since the last lawsuit.

Although he still couldn't change his bad habit of drinking and having fun, he no longer associated with those bad friends.

Especially the children of the Jia family, Xue Pan kept his distance from them.

The last time he was imprisoned, only the Cong brothers, Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian were outside trying to rescue him.

As for the rest of these cronies, not only did they not run around for him, not even one of them visited him in prison.

I even wanted to stay away from him and quickly cut off all ties with him.

Adversity sees the truth.

After this incident, Xue Pan naturally cut off all contact with them.

Even the number of times he went out to drink and visit brothels had decreased a lot.

However, the time I spend at home has increased.

Seeing the change in Xue Pan, it was a blessing in disguise. Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai were naturally very happy.

At this time, Xue Pan couldn't help but say, "Mom, last time I said that I would marry my sister to Cong, but you despised him because of his low social status. What about now?"

"Didn't Cong earn a title with his own ability? Next year, he might pass the imperial examination or even become a Jinshi!"

"When the time comes, even if you want to marry your sister to them, they may not be willing to do so because they may despise us because we are a family of merchants!"

"I think your vision is not as good as mine!"

Xue Pan's words made Aunt Xue so angry that she picked up the feather duster and wanted to beat him again.

Xue Pan hid in the room while shouting, "Mom, we have to be reasonable, okay? How can we resort to violence when we can't win the argument with reason?"

Aunt Xue said angrily, "You evil son, do you really want to piss me off to death?"

"Brother Cong has obtained a title, but it is only the lowest-ranking title. What is its value?"

"Don't forget, he is still hated by Prince Yi Zhong! This is of course because he rescued you, but Mom also wants the best for him."

"But after all, he is still remembered by Prince Yizhong. Even if he passes the imperial examination next year or the year after, or even becomes a Jinshi, what does it matter?"

"How can he get up with Prince Yizhong suppressing him?"

After chasing for a few rounds, Aunt Xue was so tired and out of breath that she stopped angrily.

Xue Pan said unconvincedly: "Mom, Cong has just passed the imperial examination and can get a title."

"You may be granted the title of Earl or even Marquis in the future. Humph, by then it will be too late for you to regret!"

At this time, Xue Baochai stood up and said coldly: "Mom, brother, please don't talk about this anymore, okay?"

After saying this, Xue Baochai stood up and walked out.

Aunt Xue got up and chased after him. Before leaving, she glared at Xue Pan fiercely and said, "You evil creature, you have made your sister angry again. It's all your fault."

Xue Pan grumbled unconvincedly, "If you had agreed to this marriage earlier, why would my sister be angry? It's all because of you, but now you blame me."

……

Jia Cong was reading in the study when the housekeeper Xue Da came in with an invitation.

"Master, this is an invitation from the Prime Minister's Mansion."

"Their people are still waiting outside. Please let me know whether we should accept the invitation or not."

An invitation from the Prime Minister’s Mansion?
Please your own?

Jia Cong couldn't help but take the invitation from Xue Da.

I discovered that the invitation was actually sent by the Kou family.

(End of this chapter)