In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

Chapter 357 Dream of Red Mansions - Jia Yingchun 28

During the New Year this year, the atmosphere in Rongguo Mansion in Beijing was completely different from usual. It was not for anything else, but because Lang Sanye, who was "exiled" to Jinling in the early years, had returned, and all the people of Rongguo Mansion were together. Not only that, Lang Sanye had already become a scholar at a young age, and it was said that he would go to the Imperial Academy to study after the New Year after returning to Beijing.

"Humph, what's so great about that? Didn't my Zhu'er also study in the Imperial College in her early years?"

The Second Wife was very dissatisfied when she heard the servants flattering Jia Lang in their words. In her opinion, Jia Lang's current achievements were just the starting point of Jia Zhu's in the past, and were nothing great at all.

The second wife did not read books and did not understand that the scholars who entered the Imperial College on their own and the students who entered the Imperial College by virtue of their family background were completely different in level. Not only were they positioned differently in the eyes of their classmates, but their future development paths were also very different.

Jia Zheng was naturally aware of this. The reason why he forced Jia Zhu to pass the exam was just to allow Jia Zhu to get rid of the influence of "relatives" with his own strength and truly integrate into the group of scholars. Although he himself was a scholar in name, he essentially had no achievements. It was all thanks to Jia Daishan's help that he asked the emperor for a position for him before his death. It was also because of this that he sat in the same position for decades without being promoted.

There was no way. He himself was not capable enough, and he was too aloof to give up the style of the second son of the Rongguo Mansion. He did his job mediocrely, and had bad relationships with his colleagues and superiors. Naturally, he had no chance of promotion. The fact that he was able to keep his official position and not be demoted was already a favor to the emperor.

"Wang, shut up!"

"What do you, a woman, know?"

The Second Wife's words made Jia Zheng blush even more. Seeing that the younger generation like Jia Lang were about to come over, Jia Zheng hurriedly stopped the Second Wife from talking nonsense.

"master......"

The Second Madam was embarrassed by Jia Zheng's words. Just as she was about to say something, she heard a servant outside announce, "Second Master, Second Madam, Third Master Lang is here to pay his respects to you!"

Jia Lang has to do this every time he comes back from being away for many years. Even if he doesn't want to, he still has to do it for the so-called fame.

He just arrived in the capital yesterday afternoon. After getting off the car, he only greeted Lady Jia, but Lady Jia persuaded him to go back and rest on the grounds that he was tired from the journey.

After getting up early this morning, Jia Lang went to chat with Lady Jia for a few words. When he saw that Jia Baoyu and the others were about to come to Rong Xi Tang, he left and went to pay his respects to the eldest master Jia She first. Listening to Jia She's proud praise, Jia Lang humbly cooperated and echoed a few words before turning to pay his respects to the second master.

The Second Wife didn't want to give face, but the Second Master had to save face. The two of them didn't dare to make an excuse for not meeting like they did to Lin Daiyu, so they could only wait for Jia Lang to come.

The second master even fantasized about giving some advice to Jia Lang, the top scholar in Jinling, in the name of his eldership and showing off his power as a scholar.

When Jia Lang came in, the Second Master had a rare smile on his face, while the Second Wife looked much more genuine, with a long face, as if Jia Lang owed something.

"I heard that you were lucky enough to pass the Jinling College Examination this year and became the top Jinling case of this year. Second uncle is very pleased."

"However, studying is like sailing against the current. You must not be proud and complacent. You must persist in hard work. After the college entrance examination, there is the provincial examination, after the provincial examination, there is the metropolitan examination, and after the metropolitan examination, there is the palace examination!"

"You are still young and don't know much. The imperial examination is not just about reading, there are also the so-called four arts of a gentleman..."

In his ears, he heard Jia Zheng's seemingly sincere but actually empty and boring admonitions; opposite him, he heard the Second Wife's seemingly compassionate but actually disgusted hatred in her eyes; behind him, he heard Jia Tanchun's seemingly waiting but actually eavesdropping gaze.

Jia Lang felt that because of his sudden rise, the entire Second House became much more agitated than in the plot. In the early part of his previous life, before Lady Jia made up her mind to abandon the First House and support the Second House, the Second House behaved relatively calmly. It was not until the decree of Jia Yuanchun's canonization came down that they truly tore off the disguise and began to openly plot for the title.

After all, Jia's mother did not favor the second wife from the beginning, as can be seen from her support for Wang Xifeng to be the head of the family. Later, she gradually favored the second wife because of Jia Yuanchun's title of concubine, Jia Lian's absurdity, Jia Baoyu's likability, and Wang Xifeng's failure to give birth to a son.

In Jia Lang's opinion, although Jia's mother doted on her grandson Jia Baoyu in her previous life, her expectation for Jia Baoyu had always been for him to pass the imperial examination rather than inherit the title, so she did not favor the second wife from the beginning. It was only later that Wang Xifeng failed to give birth to a son and Jia Lian became more and more absurd that eventually made Jia's mother choose to give up the first wife and turn completely to the second wife.

Although it is a bit funny, it is true overall. Jia Lian is getting older and older, but he still has no son. As Jia Baoyu grows older, the age gap between him and Jia Lian is gradually narrowing. Jia Baoyu is even reaching the age of marriage and may have a son soon, but Jia Lian has not yet given birth to a son. It is completely normal for Jia's mother to choose to favor the second wife.

From Grandmother Jia's perspective, no matter which branch they belong to, they are all her grandchildren. Jia Lian is the only legitimate son of the first branch. If Jia Lian has no son, then the title can naturally be passed on to Jia Baoyu's son.

Moreover, unlike Jia Lian's absurd behavior, when Jia Baoyu took a concubine during the national mourning period, he not only had a sister Jia Yuanchun who became an imperial concubine to support him, but also had two girls with generous dowries waiting for him.

To say something even more outrageous, even Jia Tanchun, who married far away for the country, was a girl from the second house and the sister of Jia Baoyu from the same father. And what other help did the first house have except the useless second maid Jia Yingchun who died early?

While he was daydreaming, Jia Zheng's "admonition" finally came to an end. Jia Lang nodded and thanked him at the right time. After giving Jia Zheng enough emotional value, it could finally end.

When he walked out, Jia Lang smiled politely at Jia Tanchun who was waiting at the door and left. Jia Tanchun was left alone, and after being struck by Jia Lang's beauty, she entered the room in a trance.

As Jia Tanchun's voice, smiling and pretending to be obedient and trying to please the Second Master and Second Mistress, became increasingly distant, Jia Lang finally completed the procedures he had to follow after returning home.

After the New Year, it was February in a blink of an eye. In the first month, Grandmother Jia specially sent someone to invite Shi Xiangyun over, saying that she wanted to introduce her cousin Jia Lang to her. Shi Xiangyun came very soon, but after seeing Jia Lang, I don't know if it was because of her beloved "beloved brother" or because she heard the complaints of some servants, but on the surface she seemed to praise Jia Lang again and again, but those words always made Jia Lang feel harsh.

What is this? 'Brother Lang is obviously older than Brother Ai, why is Brother Ai the second brother and Brother Lang the third brother?'

It seemed as if she really didn't know that the first and second wives in the Jia family were ranked separately. Why didn't she ask when she called Jia Lian? She also said that she had never seen Jia Lang before, and that she had only seen the two second brothers in the mansion, implying that the illegitimate children of the Jia family were not worthy of being considered her relatives.