chapter 21: Taking the lead in the case
Mrs. Wang frowned when she heard this. No matter how good Jia Cong was, he was still the eldest son of the eldest wife. She didn't know what her master was thinking. This was obviously not good for her second wife. How could she be happy? However, she knew Jia Zheng's character to some extent and didn't dare to say more.
Just as he was thinking, he heard footsteps outside the door. A moment later, Baoyu pushed the door open and walked in!
Seeing Jia Zheng looking at him angrily, Baoyu couldn't help but tremble. He was not afraid of heaven or earth, but Jia Zheng!
"Meet the Master, Meet the Madam!"
"Baoyu is here!" Mrs. Wang looked happy and quickly pulled Baoyu to her side.
As Jia Zheng smelled the various scents coming from Baoyu's body, his rage grew even greater!
"Let me ask you, what have you been doing these days?" Jia Zheng shouted angrily!
Jia Baoyu didn't dare to look up, and replied carefully in a low voice, "Master, I have been reading these days!"
Mrs. Wang on the side hurriedly spoke up, "Master, Baoyu has made great progress these days. He studies hard in his room all day long. Even the old lady says that Baoyu spends less time with her..."
"You and your son are treating me like an ignorant fool?" Jia Zheng sneered, "Let me ask you, the Way is not far from people, but people who practice the Way but are far from people cannot be considered the Way. Why?"
Baoyu was speechless and couldn't answer!
Jia Zheng asked several more times, but Baoyu was completely puzzled. Jia Zheng was furious, "Studying? I think you were studying under the rouge? Come on, tie up this idiot and bring me a big stick!"
Jia Zheng kicked Baoyu to the ground and shouted angrily towards the door!
Mrs. Wang immediately threw herself on Baoyu to protect him, crying loudly, "Master, Baoyu is still young, can't you teach him diligently some other day? He is weak to begin with, what if he gets hurt!"
"Still young? Cong is the same age as him, and he has already been selected, and will soon take the provincial examination! He still hangs out in the backyard all day, how can he become a useful person in the future?"
Mrs. Wang cried, "Master, Baoyu is your legitimate son, why do you treat him so harshly! Besides, I only have Baoyu now. If he gets hurt, who can I rely on? It's a pity for my Zhu'er, who died young because of studying hard. If Zhu'er were still alive, you could teach Baoyu no matter how you wanted, and I would never stop you..."
Seeing Baoyu trembling and not daring to speak, and Mrs. Wang crying and wailing, Jia Zheng felt angry and depressed. When he heard Mrs. Wang mention Jia Zhu again, he could not help but sigh angrily, and then turned and left.
After Jia Zheng left, Mrs. Wang stopped crying, checked to see if Baoyu was okay, and then hurriedly had Baoyu sent back.
"A mere bastard's son actually wants to suppress my Baoyu. What wishful thinking!" Looking at her son's back as he left in a panic, Mrs. Wang spoke with hatred.
Because of Jia Cong, Baoyu was not only excluded by his sisters, but also beaten twice by Jia Zheng. Now, it happened again, and Mrs. Wang hated Jia Cong more and more.
Three days later, the results will be announced !
Although he already knew the result, Jia Cong still got up early and headed towards the examination room. This was the first step in the imperial examination, and also his first step, so it would be nice for him to witness it in person.
When he arrived outside the examination room, he saw soldiers posting the list! After a moment, Jia Cong suddenly discovered that he was the first one in line.
First place in the case? This is a pleasant surprise!
Jia Cong hurried back happily, but the servant sent by Jia Zheng and the yamen runner who came to announce the good news had already passed the news back.
"The first place in the case?" Jia Zheng looked at the servant who reported the news with surprise.
"Master, I can see clearly that Master Cong is number one on the list! The official who brought the good news is right behind us and will be here soon!"
Sure enough, as they were talking, the sound of lively gongs came from the street outside!
Jia Zheng rewarded the boy with two taels of silver and walked quickly towards Jia's mother's courtyard .
Today, all the ladies are gathered at Jia's grandmother's house, including Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Xing, Wang Xifeng, Li Wan, the three sisters, Baochai, Daiyu and Baoyu.
Suddenly, there was a noisy sound outside.
Grandmother Jia frowned slightly, "Yuanyang, go see what happened outside?"
Yuanyang responded and walked out, but before she could go out, she bumped into Jia Zheng who came in hurriedly!
"Mother, great news! Our son Cong has won the first place in the exam. The good news has already arrived!" Jia Zheng said happily.
Everyone in the room had different looks when they heard this. Grandmother Jia was stunned for a moment before she said, "Is it Cong-ge'er?"
"Exactly!"
Grandmother Jia was also delighted, "Great, great! During the New Year's Day, I heard that he was going to be selected. I thought this monkey was deceiving an old woman like me. I never thought that he would not only pass the exam, but also win the first place!"
"Quick, quick, send someone out to give ten taels of silver to the person who brought the good news, so that people won't say that we in the Jia family don't know etiquette!"
After giving the order, Jia's mother asked, "Where is Cong?"
"He said he was going to check the rankings. I guess he'll be back soon!"
As he was speaking, he heard a maid outside shouting, "Master Cong is here!"
After a while, Jia Cong stepped in, knelt on the ground and said, "Grandfather, my grandson was lucky enough to get the first place in the case!"
"Come here!" Grandmother Jia waved her hand, and Jia Cong stood up and approached. Grandmother Jia took his hand and looked him up and down. She was surprised. She had never paid attention to Jia Cong before, but now she saw that he was such a handsome young man! Although his color was not as good as her Baoyu, he had a different temperament.
"You monkey, how can you talk nonsense! Did you get the first place in the case by luck?" Jia's mother scolded with a smile.
"My grandson was originally dull, but fortunately, the Second Master gave me guidance many times and allowed me to study in Mengpozhai. Fortunately, I did not disappoint the Second Master and succeeded!"
Seeing Jia Cong being so humble, Grandmother Jia felt relieved. This grandson should be a good person.
"Old lady, what did I say before? Now you have a grandson who is the first in the case. What a blessing this is! You have to let us children share in this blessing. Otherwise, I won't agree!"
Wang Xifeng's words made Jia's mother smile. "You are a poor woman, but you only know how to coax me. But you are also right. I am already this old, what else do I want? It's just that the young men in the mansion have a promising future. Now Cong-ge is a capable person, isn't it a blessing for an old woman like me?"
Wang Xifeng was about to respond when she saw her aunt beside her giving her a fierce look.
She was immediately shocked. She only cared about pleasing the old lady, but offended her aunt. However, although Mrs. Wang was angry, she did not dare to speak at this time.
"Go and meet your mother, the second wife, sister-in-law and all your sisters!" said Grandmother Jia, patting Jia Cong's hand.
Jia Cong nodded, and then bowed to everyone, "Meet mother, meet the second wife!"
Mrs. Xing smiled and nodded, while Mrs. Wang lowered her head and said nothing!
"Meet Sister-in-law Zhu, meet Sister-in-law Lian!"
Li Wan was a dull person, so she just nodded without saying anything. Although Wang Xifeng was a delicate person, she just nodded after being shocked by Mrs. Wang.
"I wanted to go to Xunbao Sister and Second Sister to thank them before, but I was too busy! I will visit them another day! "
