Chapter 536 New Year's Eve Raid
The officers and soldiers in the city were already drunk, and all the soldiers were leaderless!
Although it was a feint attack on the south side of the city, there were only a few hundred soldiers on the city walls. Therefore, the defending lieutenant hurriedly asked other troops to come for support!
Not long after, the sound of noisy crowds of people and horses was heard outside the West City. Judging from the formation and the noise, there were actually thousands of people?
The soldiers in the city ran everywhere, some heading south and some heading west, and some of the remaining defenders in the other two directions were also transferred there.
And in this panic, Jiang An quietly erected a ladder on the side of a corner tower and climbed up quietly!
It was not until he climbed to the top of the city wall that a guard who was looking over unconsciously discovered that a human head suddenly appeared at the corner of the parapet.
He didn't rush forward at first, but subconsciously took a few steps back. After all, in the pitch-black night, a head suddenly appeared on the wall, which was really terrifying!
Jiang An took advantage of the situation and jumped directly onto the city wall. It was not until this moment that someone finally reacted.
"Enemy attack!"
Without a word, Jiang An pulled out his sword and charged forward. Soon, the other brothers also climbed up one by one. Of course, as the defenders came to their senses, many ladders were overturned or the brothers who rushed up were hacked to death. For a while, the shouts and screams were endless.
Jiang An and several of his brothers held a gap tightly, waiting for the brothers behind to fill it.
Not long after, there was a loud bang at the city gate!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Although it was a simple battering ram made in a hurry, it was enough to deal with the city gate!
Bai Rongxuan led hundreds of his men, desperately using battering rams to ram the city gate. However, the gate had little defense, and after only three or five hits, a breach was blasted open. The gate's opening demoralized the defenders on the city wall.
When Jiang Ze and the rest of the troops saw the city gates wide open, they immediately rushed in...
…
Starting from the New Year, the ancestral hall was opened in the East Palace. Jia Zhong personally led people to clean it inside and outside, and cleaned up the Ningzheng Hall. The real portraits of the two lords Ning and Rong were also brought out for worship.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, all items in the two mansions were ready. The door gods, couplets, and hanging signs were replaced, and the peach charms were newly oiled. The two mansions looked brand new inside and out.
Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, the two mansions, led by Lady Jia, and all the officials of high rank dressed in court robes and makeup, accompanied by ceremonial guards, marched to the palace to pay their respects to the Emperor and the Empress. This year, the only male who went to court was Jia Zheng, who was alone.
In previous years, the imperial edicts from the Jia family came to the palace to pay their respects, basically together with the imperial edicts from other mansions, but this year was obviously different.
The ceremonial guards of the Jia Mansion were originally waiting outside the palace gate with those of other mansions. Before the time for the court ceremony arrived, a eunuch came from the palace to announce the imperial decree, asking Lady Jia to bring the imperial edicts of the two mansions to the Fengzao Palace to meet the emperor.
When they arrived at Fengzao Palace, they saw the queen waiting for them.
After everyone in the Jia family paid their respects, a female official came forward and read out a long list of rewards!
Everyone bowed again, and after a few words of encouragement from the Queen, they all left the palace. The Queen was very busy today , and being able to have the Jia family come to pay their respects alone was a rare favor. If they had been able to chat for a while like in the past, there wasn't time for that.
After waiting outside the palace gate for Jia Zheng to leave the palace, they met up and returned home.
Outside the Ningguo Mansion, Jia Daixiu was already waiting with a group of descendants from side branches, and Baoyu and Jia Lan from the main branch also stood there bowing!
Ever since Baoyu's jade was broken last time, he has not gone to the clan school to study. He has basically been detained in Mengpo Zhai by Jia Zheng. However, the old lady loves her grandson, so she often lets Baoyu have fun in her own yard.
The broken jade was repaired and taken to Qingxu Temple for forty-nine days of prayer by the old immortal. It must be said that the master craftsman of the Ministry of Works was truly extraordinary. After the repair, the jade was indistinguishable from the original. However, everyone in the palace knew that if it was different, it was different. Even Baoyu probably understood this.
What was shattered was not only the jade, but also the divine light and status of Baoyu. Although he was still favored by the old lady, many people understood that this favor was not as good as before...
Jia Zheng took a group of men to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors. Compared with the solemnity in the ancestral hall, the atmosphere among the women in the warm room was much more lively and cheerful.
The old lady sat on a high couch, with Keqing sitting beside her. To her left sat Lady Xing from the West Mansion, accompanied by Li Wan and Wang Xifeng, with Yingchun and Tanchun sitting next to her. To her right sat Lady You, accompanied by Yuanyang, Mu Ning, and Xiuyan. Little Xichun joyfully held Xing Xiuyan's hand.
"Old lady, this year we have a truly good harvest. For example, the goods sent by the farms in Liaodong have more than doubled compared to previous years, and the silver has increased several times. Otherwise, we have to blame your good grandson. We couldn't go , and I don't know how much he lost to those black-hearted ghosts."
Ever since Wu Jinxiao was captured by Jia Cong, he was thoroughly investigated by Lu Feng and others. All the village heads related to him were captured and replaced with a group of personal guards and their families. The people in charge of the village in the West Palace were also replaced, and with the village in the East Palace as a comparison, there was no need to worry about those people continuing to play tricks.
In this way, the harvest of each farm will naturally be much greater.
In reality, even without engaging in corruption, village heads lived a comfortable life. Each village had hundreds of able-bodied men and households, sometimes even thousands, surpassing even the most ordinary small villages. Their produce was also extremely abundant. As village heads, they controlled the income and life and death of these people, holding immense power. Unless they were as insatiable as Wu Jinxiao, their food and clothing were beyond the reach of even the most wealthy families.
Of course, as time goes by, some inappropriate thoughts will naturally arise. Therefore, Jia Cong also made a rule that the head of the manor would be rotated every three years to curb these people to the greatest extent possible.
Don't consider human nature in terms of money and power. In many cases, human nature simply cannot stand the test.
"Our shops in the city and our farms outside the city have all made considerable profits this year. Furthermore, we've also benefited from the East Mansion's influence. The share of the business that the Second Master has taken has added over a hundred thousand to our income this year."
The old lady also felt emotional. When Jia Cong said to give this group of people, she didn't care. Who would have thought that it would become the main source of income for the West Mansion? Thinking of her grandson, the old lady couldn't help but calm down. This grandson was a good person. He was also thinking of the relationship between her and his second uncle. With this connection, the two mansions would surely be rich and powerful in the future.
After chatting for a while, when Jia Zheng and others arrived, everyone followed the old lady to Ningzheng Hall to pay their respects.
