Chapter 968: Jizijuan’s retreat, Ningguo Mansion
Jia Zhen rubbed her cheeks, feeling helpless for a moment, looking at her son Jia Rong.
Jia Rong also turned pale. When she saw her father looking over at her, she quickly lowered her head. Her body sitting on the curved chair became even more stooped, as if she wanted to avoid her father's gaze.
"How long has this been going on?" Jia She leaned against the pillows of the Kang couch in confusion, "Fifteen years or sixteen years? Your grandfather has never wanted to see us. He only gives a symbolic look every year on his birthday. Why do you want us to see him this time? Even if you married Qin, you didn’t show any sign, but this time..."
Jia Rong didn't dare to say anything. Although he didn't know what happened, everyone knew that his grandfather had been a monk in Xuanzhen Temple and had no contact with the outside world, including his family. But this time...?
“Brother Rong, what do you think we should do?”
"Father, I don't have any ideas, but my grandfather always has ideas. I'm afraid he wrote this letter with arrangements. But there are dragon guards everywhere in the capital city, just in case..." Jia Rong muttered.
Jia Zhen glanced at her son who showed no concern at all with some annoyance, and snorted angrily. Isn't this nonsense?
"It looks like we only have one trip to go." Jia Zhen sighed, not knowing whether it was a disaster or a blessing, but it was definitely not possible not to go, "Let's go."
The two of them went out separately. Jia Zhen took a carriage, while Jia Rong rode a horse to the entrance of a small alley in Xianyifang. When there was no one around, Jia Rong handed the horse to a servant boy, got on another carriage and waited. There is a carriage here, and Jia Zhen has already escaped from her shell and got on the carriage first.
The carriage made a wide circle and entered Rizhongfang. Jia Zhen and Jia She were so confused that they didn't know where they were. It wasn't until the carriage was pulled away that they realized that they had gone somewhere. In a small courtyard.
Jia Zhen and Jia Rong both looked ugly. They had never experienced being blindfolded and sent over like hostages. If they hadn't recognized their father's handwriting, Jia Zhen would have thought it was a trap.
There were strict guards in the small courtyard. An expressionless servant took the two people into the inner courtyard, bypassed the corridor of the wing, and then, with the other party's gesture, they entered a flower hall, where they saw the old man who had already changed out of his monk's robes standing with his hands behind his back. In front of the window.
“I have met my father (grandfather).” Jia Zhen and Jia Rong both knelt down and kowtowed.
"Get up." Jia Jing looked at his children and grandchildren and felt some emotions. He touched the gray hair on his temples and his old face. He couldn't help but sigh.
Jia Jing has been brewing for a long time, and he doesn't know how to speak to his son and grandson. It's hard to know whether leaving his son and grandson will be a disaster or a blessing. He also doesn't know whether it is a wise choice to leave his son and grandson in the capital city.
“Zhen’er, Brother Rong, my father has been cultivating Taoism in Xuanzhen Temple for so many years, but after we say goodbye today, I’m afraid I won’t be able to see you for a while...”
Jia Zhen and Jia Rong both looked at each other. For more than ten years, this dragon's father had been in Xuanzhen Temple and could only be seen once or twice a year. Now he said that he could not get along with him for the time being. See, what does this mean?
Seeing that the two of them were puzzled, Jia Jing did not explain much, "As my father has to travel far away, you should not ask more questions, let alone tell others, just pretend that you never know. If there is anything in the future, my father will naturally let people know." Contact you. My father here has left you a tip bag. You cannot open it for the time being. If you hear about my father’s movements in the future, it may be detrimental to you. Then you can take out the tip bag and follow what I have written in the bag. Do as it is written,…”
“Father, what happened?” Jia Zhen couldn’t bear it anymore.
It's so confusing. My father has been living in seclusion for more than ten years, and now he suddenly becomes so mysterious. He speaks incomprehensible words, and there seems to be some risk involved. This makes Jia Zhen a little uneasy. .
"I told you not to ask any more questions. If there is any news about my father in the past few days, you should treat it as if it is true..."
Jia Jing knew that the fact that he was going south could not be hidden for long, at most a year, but during this year he had to pretend to be like he was really dead.
Just don’t tell your grandson, and besides, the stand-in that the prince arranged for you looks like yourself after putting on makeup, but you can’t hide it from your grandson, especially your son. If you don’t wake him up, he will be in trouble if something goes wrong.
Jia Zhen and Jia Rong were even more confused by Monk Zhang Er. They didn’t know that their father and grandfather were talking incomprehensible words like this. But seeing each other’s eyes were deep and clear, it didn’t look like they were stunned, but more like they were explaining something. Things are normal.
"My father's body..." A strange smile appeared on Jia Jing's lips, "My father spends his days refining elixirs and practicing Taoism. Anything can happen, so even if something happens, you just have to follow the rules of the house. , and don’t be deliberate.”
Jia Jing also knew that his son and grandson must be confused now, but he couldn't make it too clear. Even this meeting was done without telling the prince and using his own hands. When everything "happens" and in the future If you make it clear, they will understand their painstaking efforts.
The time was very short. In less than half an hour, Jia Zhen and Jia Rong were blindfolded and sent out again. The carriage continued to wander around the capital city until they got on the carriage and rode again.
However, Jia Rong did not ride again, but got into his father's car.
"Father, grandpa, what is this...?" Jia Rong felt a little guilty when she saw that her father's face was not very good-looking.
"I'm afraid something big is going to happen. I'm afraid your grandfather has to make some preparations in advance, but even my father can't understand." Although Jia Zhen is greedy and lustful, as the head of the house, she is still more or less open to outsiders. He knows something about the matter, "I heard that the Mongols are going to invade the south this autumn. There are already some rumors in the capital city. I am worried that the capital camp will not be able to defend the capital city. But what does it have to do with your grandfather?"
"Father, Prince Teng of the Wang family and Shi Nai of the Shi family have both left Beijing. One went to Huguang and the other went to Datong. My grandfather is so mysterious, but he has something to do with them?" Jia Rong has also heard some news in the past few days. .
Jia Zhen was silent.
He couldn't see it so profoundly. He just subconsciously felt that there was going to be a change in the capital city. As for what was going on, he couldn't figure it out.
"Father, I don't know if you feel it. In the past two years, my son has always felt a little uneasy, and he doesn't know what could go wrong. But look at the Wang family. It seems glamorous, but the prince Teng has been away from the capital camp for a long time. As the emperor left the capital step by step, the Xue family was reduced to an orphan and a widowed mother, and it was a bit difficult to be an imperial merchant. Shi Nai of the Shi family went to lick Gouzi, the king of Shou, for a deputy general soldier. I heard that Shi Nai also wanted to give Miss Shi to the king of Shou as a concubine. ,…”
Jia Rong was closer to Rong Guofu than Jia Zhen, and had better information. Xiang Shi Nai now went to Datong to please King Shou, and found a deputy general. He even wanted to offer Shi Xiangyun to King Shou as a concubine. I learned about it from Jia She.
"Let Miss Shi become a concubine?" Jia Zhen didn't expect this to happen. "Didn't it mean that the Zhen family intended to marry the Shi family?"
"Father, what year was that in the old almanac? It is said that Zhen Baoyu wants to marry the daughter of Prince Dongping. The two families are still talking about it..." Jia Rong curled her lips, "The emperor is not in good health now. Everyone is They are optimistic about King Shou, so the historians are busy trying to cater to King Shou..."
Jia Zhen sighed, "What you are saying is that our four families have actually started to decline a few years before the emperor ascended the throne. After the emperor ascended the throne, our Jia family became even more unbearable. In addition, you and Baoyu are both incompetent. , I also met Lai Da Lai who was trying to **** blood from our Jia family. After all, I have to thank Jia Rui. If he hadn't come forward to initiate this matter, I think the old lady would have to pretend to be deaf and dumb. The money has been transferred away, what should I do then?"
"Father, do you think Jia Rui is so capable? Isn't it because Uncle Feng is supporting you inside?" Jia Rong shook his head, "Now even Master She and Master Zheng have to rely on Uncle Feng. Dad, you said that since both aunts are supporting Feng, Now that the uncle has become a concubine, it can be regarded as a connection, so Ningguo Mansion should also take care of it..."
Jia Zhen shook her head with some dejection: "The relationship between my wife and the two aunts is not very good. Have you ever seen that these two aunts have never waited for our door?"
“If they don’t come to our house, my wife can go to Feng’s house. But the two aunts followed Uncle Feng to Yongping, so it’s hard to come to our house now.”
Jia Rong is not without regrets.
It would be a lie to say that you are not at all envious of Jia Lian and Jia Yun's good fortune. Just Jia Lian. How can even a disciple like Jia Yun become a prominent figure in the capital city? Big shopkeeper, what a glorious position this is, how can Jia Yun be so virtuous?
Now even Jia Qiang, who has been following him, is said to be getting closer to Jia Yun, which makes Jia Rong very uncomfortable.
Jia Rong's words made Jia Zhen very sad. Now, has the Jia family in Ningguo Mansion actually been reduced to relying on their maternal family to make a living?
But thinking about the expenses for this year, the situation of Ningguo Mansion is no better than that of Rongguo Mansion. Although the population is smaller, the revenue is not as good. Every time Wu Jinxiao comes back, he complains about hardships and asks for reductions and exemptions. At the end of the year There were fewer and fewer things being sent back. Jia Zhen had never felt this sense of crisis before, but now she really felt it.
"It's the fault of building this garden. If I say it, this garden shouldn't be kept." Jia Zhen complained: "Look at the people living in the garden. The masters and ladies didn't live in it, but the girls and the young masters." They go in and live there, it costs a lot of money, and I don’t know what Mr. She and Mr. Zheng are thinking.”
Jia Rong did not agree with her father's point of view, "But it has been repaired, so it cannot be left empty. If it is not popular, it will decline faster. It will cost more to repair it, not to mention what if the empress wants to come back to visit her again?" "
(End of this chapter)