Chapter 276 Jia Cong's Reward
Everyone almost fell down with laughter. Xiangyun did have this problem. She couldn't pronounce the word "two" clearly and would pronounce it as "love". She was often teased by her sisters.
"You good girl Lin, I'm going to fight you!" Xiangyun stood up in shame and anger, and was finally stopped by Xing Xiuyun and Tanchun who were holding her back.
"Sister Bao, even a scholar has times when he lacks talent. Look, Sister Lin has already spoken for Second Sister-in-law, so please also speak for me one!" Jia Cong said with a smile towards Baochai.
Feeling the big hand below constantly playing tricks on her, Baochai felt very shy, but after hearing Jia Cong's words, she thought for a moment and said, "The latest of the plums is the yellow plum!"
Jia Cong chuckled, turned to Wang Xifeng and said, "Second sister-in-law, today we are all blessed by Sister Lin and Sister Bao. You see, both of us have missed this round."
Everyone was drinking, talking and playing like this. At first, Youshi and Yuanyang only lasted two rounds before they were defeated. They were coaxed into drinking by everyone, and then, naturally, it became more and more difficult.
After all, Xiao Xichun was young, so she only lasted three rounds. By the fifth and sixth rounds, almost everyone had drunk, even Li Wan, Baochai, and Daiyu. However, Jia Cong discovered that, even if the others didn't say anything, at least these few must have been afraid of embarrassing their sisters, so they hid their ignorance.
As for Jia Cong, he naturally drank it too!
In fact, ever since Jia Cong got Yuanyang, his strength and talent have greatly increased. Even eight or ten rounds would be easy for him. But it's not a competition, so why take it seriously?
On the contrary, Wang Xifeng, who was just there to join in the fun, didn't even drink a single glass thanks to Jia Cong's help.
After Xiangyun drank another cup, she looked at Wang Xifeng who was watching the fun and said to everyone, "There's a rebel here. We must not let her off no matter what!"
"Two sisters-in-law, sisters, are we just going to watch like this?"
Under Xiangyun's instigation , everyone ignored the order and surrounded Wang Xifeng! They immediately poured wine for her.
How could Wang Xifeng show weakness? She immediately rolled up her sleeves and started fighting with everyone. No one was spared, and the banquet was not over until everyone was drunk.
Jia Cong, the only one who was awake, asked people to send everyone back to their rooms, and then quietly came to Keqing's courtyard.
Keqing had been "holding a grudge" against Wang Xifeng at the banquet just now, so she teamed up with Jia Cong and bullied Wang Xifeng thoroughly.
Wang Xifeng refused to give up and directly asked her helper Ping'er to resist. Unfortunately, where there is resistance, there is oppression. Not only were the master and servant dealt with, but even Keqing, who was seeking revenge, was implicated...
Time passed slowly, and after entering the twelfth lunar month, each day passed faster than the last. Lin Ruhai received a letter, and the news in the letter made Jia Cong happy but also a little helpless.
Lin Ruhai had already set out to return to Shenjing, but the canal from Shandong to the north had frozen over, so he could only return by land in a horse-drawn carriage. This would naturally be much slower, and he would not be able to arrive in Shenjing in time for the New Year. Even if the journey went smoothly, he would not be able to return until around the 15th.
As for Jia Cong's original plan to ask the emperor to grant him a marriage before the New Year, he had to give up on it and wait until Lin Ruhai arrived in Beijing to make plans.
The reward for Jia Cong's efforts in suppressing the White Lotus Rebellion in Jiangnan was also handed down. As expected, the rewards for various things were extremely generous, including a set of ritual vessels for the New Year's priests. However, Jia Cong was not awarded an official position or a title. If these were not eye-catching, then another reward was enough to make many people unhappy.
The reward was a dragon robe with nine four-clawed dragons. According to regulations, only a prince could wear this kind of clothing.
Of course, if it was just this, it would not cause too much confusion among the civil and military officials in the court. After all, it was not surprising for the emperor to reward meritorious officials with dragon robes. Back then, although the two Dukes Ning and Rong were dukes, they both wore dragon robes. However, Jia Cong's dragon robe was golden, which caused an uproar among the civil and military officials in the court.
In the Daqian Dynasty, the emperor naturally wore a dragon robe, and only the princes could wear golden dragon robes, and below that were the dragon robes of princes and dukes, but they were not golden. Now, the emperor actually awarded the golden dragon robe that only Prince Jia Cong could wear, what does this mean?
The memorials submitted by the imperial censors in the court flew to the emperor's desk like pieces of paper. Some even knelt directly in front of the Dragon Head Palace to beg for orders. Unfortunately, the emperor ignored them at all.
Seeing the emperor was so stubborn, the ministers immediately lost their temper! They directly sent a group of people to the Daming Palace to meet the emperor, asking the emperor to order the emperor to withdraw his order. However, what made the ministers upset was that the father and son seemed to have discussed it beforehand. The emperor directly asked Dai Quan to drive the people out, and then summoned Meng Zong, the Duke of Qing, to the palace to meet the emperor.
After Meng Zong came out of the Daming Palace, no one knew what the retired emperor said, but the Yuanping clan immediately changed sides and no longer opposed the emperor's reward.
Among the civil servants, the faction headed by Fang Yao did not oppose this strongly. Seeing this, they took the opportunity to retreat, leaving only a few old stubborn people, but they could not cause any trouble.
It was another New Year's Eve. Jia Cong got up early in the morning and followed Jia Zheng to the palace to express his gratitude. The old lady also brought the imperial edict into the palace. Compared with the previous one, there was one more mandarin duck. After all, even if she was a concubine, she was still a formal imperial edict, so entering the palace to express gratitude was a proper etiquette.
When Jia Cong returned, everyone in the mansion was already waiting outside the Ningguo Mansion.
It was still the same people, even a few main characters were missing, but the overall momentum was far better than before! Apart from other things, the golden python robe on Jia Cong was enough to make anyone feel awe.
"Greetings, my Lord!"
Whether elders or juniors, everyone bowed respectfully.
"No need to be so polite, uncles, aunts and relatives!" Jia Cong greeted everyone with a smile, and then went forward to chat with Jia Dairu, Jia Daixiu and other elders for a while.
This year, the annual gifts distributed by the government to each family were several , and some poor families even received double the amount, which made the side branches highly recognize Jia Cong as the patriarch. Moreover, in addition to the original Jia Yun and others, Jia Cong also selected a few more children from the clan to do some work. Although they did not have official status like Jia Yun and others, they were still much more respectable.
"Our families are becoming more and more prosperous!" Jia Dairu said with emotion. The previous Jia family was only a shell. Even the two main branches in the mansion were declining, not to mention the side branches. This year is a good year for everyone!
