Chapter 134 The Day of Soul Transfer
He did not stay in Keqing's room for long. After accompanying Keqing to eat and be affectionate for a while, he left in her reluctant gaze.
"Grandma, grandpa is gone!" Ruizhu couldn't help but speak when she saw Keqing still staring blankly out the window.
Keqing nodded. She knew that she was becoming more and more attached to that embrace and didn't even want to leave. However, she was also a sensible person and would not let herself delay Jia Cong's business.
Opening the box again, Ruizhu exclaimed, "Is this the headdress that Grandpa gave to Grandma? It's much more luxurious than the one my wife wears! Grandpa is so good to Grandma..."
"Look, that box is for you and Baozhu!" Keqing's pretty face was filled with joy and pride. Her lover not only made her look respectable, but also took her into consideration.
If she was asked to deliver these two sets of jewelry, it would be a favor from her. If Jia Cong was asked to deliver them, it would be suspected that he was coveting the two pearls. Although she did not care, and even her personal maid would definitely become Jia Cong's concubine in the future, she still felt sweet in her heart because of this thought of considering her in every way.
"Ah? And mine and Baozhu's?"
Ruizhu happily went forward to open it, and sure enough, it was a set of headgear. It was of course very different from Keqing's, but for a maid it was an extremely rare and luxurious item.
After playing with them for a while, Ruizhu reluctantly put them all away.
"What is this box?"
"Uncle San said he left some banknotes. Take them out and put them away! Send some to Dad later..."
Although Qin Ye was also a minor official, he had always been honest and upright, and his family could barely make ends meet. If they encountered any problems, they might not be able to come up with even a few dozen taels of silver.
In order to allow Qin Zhong to study in the Jia family school, the family savings were emptied and only 24 taels of silver were scraped together, which was enough to show how poor the family was.
"ah!"
Hearing Ruizhu's exclamation, Keqing hurriedly put down the headgear in her hand and looked over, only to see Ruizhu standing in a daze, with the box rolling directly onto the bed.
"You little rascal, your hands and feet are so clumsy!" Keqing said with a smile.
"So many banknotes..." Ruizhu said subconsciously, and then she hugged Keqing happily, "Grandma, we are rich, there are so many banknotes in the box."
"A lot? Could it be one or two hundred taels?" Keqing asked with a blink of her eyes.
Ruizhu shook her head vigorously, then let go of Keqing, picked up the box and fell down!
With a loud clatter, a stack of silver bills and gold and silver ingots of various sizes fell onto the bed, and then the master and servant stared in a daze at the bed full of money.
When the two came to their senses and checked everything, they were even more stunned.
"Grandma, there are twenty silver notes of one hundred taels, totaling two thousand taels, thirty small silver notes, totaling five hundred taels, twenty silver ingots of ten taels each, and twenty gold ingots of ten taels each."
Ruizhu used her not-so-bright little head to count several times on her fingers and finally came up with a shocking number: a total of two thousand seven hundred taels of silver and two hundred taels of gold!
The financial power of the East Palace was different from that of the West Palace. Neither Mrs. You nor Mrs. Keqing managed money. Before, both the public and private treasuries were controlled by Jia Zhen. So, although Keqing had no worries about food and clothing, she had almost no money.
She had sent money home twice before, but Ruizhu had secretly taken some of her jewelry and pawned it outside to get the money.
"Grandma, have we become rich?" Ruizhu asked stupidly while holding the banknotes.
Keqing tapped Ruizhu's forehead. Of course she liked the money, but she was even happier about Jia Cong's affection for her.
"Put all of this away, don't let anyone know. Take a hundred taels of silver ingots and send them to daddy in a few days! Daddy is old and may be ill, so he can't be short of money."
Jia Cong lived a very comfortable life in the days that followed. The farmers in Liaodong and old relatives in Nanjing also received the news and came to pay their respects. Jia Cong took the opportunity to invite other governments to come and discuss business matters. It was almost a matter of free money, so naturally no one disagreed.
Although everyone vaguely felt that Jia Cong was on the side of the new emperor , they would not push away the power and money they saw. Besides, even if something really happened, Jia Cong would be the leader to take the lead and not damage their own foundation.
It’s no wonder that these dukes and marquisates would think this way. The struggle in the court is cruel in itself. When there is no way out, everyone will put their own interests and survival first.
Jia Cong naturally understood these things, but he didn't care. It was enough to rely on the interests to temporarily bind these mansions to his side. Besides, if the situation really deteriorated one day, who would care about whom?
Time passed quickly, and on March 17th, the 49-day period of keeping the body for the deceased was completed. It was the day when Jia Jingye and his men would move the body for the funeral.
Early in the morning, before the hour of Mao, the entire East Palace was filled with the sounds of wailing and chanting. Although Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian, Baoyu and others were all there, Jia Cong was destined to be adopted into the East Palace, so he was still the one in charge.
After an unknown amount of time, Jia Lian came over quickly and said, "Third brother, the time has come. Let's start the funeral!"
Jia Cong nodded, and then monks and Taoists performed rituals and chanted sutras, and strong young men came forward to raise the spirit! It took a full half an hour before they left Ningguo Mansion and reached the door.
Outside the gate, there were more than a dozen chairs, thirty to fifty small sedan chairs, and carriages of all sizes, stretching for at least two or three miles on Ningrong Street.
In addition to the mourners from various families and Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian and Baoyu, Youshi, Keqing and Xichun from the East Palace were of course there, as were Xingshi, Wangshi, Wang Xifeng and others from the West Palace.
Jia Huan and Jia Lan, one is younger and the other is a bastard, so naturally they did not show up. Li Wan had to stay and take care of the old lady, otherwise she would have come anyway.
Afterwards, except for the elders of Jia Dairu's generation, the rest of the generation of Jia She, Jia Cong, and Jia Yun had all arrived.
Following the order from the Master of Ceremonies, the various deacons, furnishings, and performers in front all moved forward with music and drums, while the people accompanying them also cried and wailed bitterly. Of course, it was estimated that few of these cries were sincere.
After leaving Ningrong Street, there were sacrificial sheds set up at all the intersections ahead. Because the emperor had issued an edict not allowing princes to offer sacrifices, several royal palaces did not appear. Therefore, the first to appear were the roadside sacrifices of a number of dukedoms headed by the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Niu Jizong personally came out of the sacrificial shed to greet Jia She and others.
At the same time, all kinds of paper money and paper figures in the sacrificial shed were burned, and a team of people carrying many paper-made offerings joined the team.
"Alas, it seems like yesterday that Brother Jing passed the imperial examination, but now he has passed away. It is really sad. Brother Zhen and Brother Rong were so kind and filial..."
