Chapter 611: Sun Shaozong's victory at the East Gate, Jia Baoyu's failure to pass the exam
The capital city, Rongguo Mansion.
Before daybreak, a tense atmosphere enveloped the entire mansion. After breakfast, even Jia Zhen, Jia Rong, Youshi and Hushi from the East Mansion rushed over eagerly.
As they arrived at Lady Jia's courtyard, Wang Xifeng came out from afar to greet them, smiling and jokingly saying, "We don't rely on this fame to make a living, but you all are making such a fuss."
As she spoke, she glanced around and asked curiously, "Why don't I see your second brother?"
The second brother she was referring to was actually the son born to Youshi last summer. His full name was Jia Shao. Unlike his father and brother who were weak and frail, this little guy was born with a strong head, a broad waist and a big body, and was very lovable.
When she mentioned her son, Youshi's smile deepened, but she pretended to be disgusted and said, "If that little monkey came with us, there would be a scene of havoc in heaven in this courtyard. It's not far away, so I just left him to the wet nurse to take care of him."
Hearing her showing off her son in a way that openly criticized him but secretly praised him, Wang Xifeng couldn't help feeling sad.
Originally, she had been holding back and wanted to give birth to a son, but now Jia Lian...
But she has always been a strong-willed person, and even if she is unhappy in her heart, she will never show it on her face.
Laughing, he led Youshi and the others to the inner room, and greeted Jia's mother eagerly. Jia's mother also complained repeatedly: "It's just the announcement of the autumn examination results, why did it alarm you?"
As she spoke, the Buddhist beads in her hand never stopped spinning, more than twice as fast as usual. Anyone who saw her would know that her words did not match her heart.
It turns out that today is the day when the results of the autumn examination are announced, which is held once every three years.
Since Baoyu passed the provincial examination last year, he took part in this year's autumn examination with all his might, intending to take the opportunity to win the title of juren.
The results were about to be announced, and the masters in the mansion were getting restless the whole day. Even if the servants didn't really care, they had to pretend to be nervous.
So everyone in the mansion was like facing a powerful enemy.
"What do you mean?!"
"How could it be such a coincidence!"
While people were still chatting in the room, there was suddenly a commotion outside. Lady Jia frowned when she heard it, and Wang Xifeng prepared to go out to find out what was going on.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she arrived at the door, she ran into Xiren. Seeing that she was in a hurry, Wang Xifeng thought that it was news from the Imperial Examination Hall, so she hurriedly pulled her aside to ask what was going on.
Unexpectedly, Xiren shook her head and said, "It's not that. It's that several relatives suddenly came to our house!"
It turns out that Wang Ren, Xue Ke, Xing Zhong and others arrived in the capital. Wang Ren went back home first, while Xue Ke and Xing Zhong rushed to Rongguo Mansion.
Among them were Li Wan's widowed aunt and two younger sisters, whom she met on the way north. Since they also wanted to visit relatives in the capital, they got together.
After reporting this to Grandmother Jia, the old lady naturally said "please" several times and sent people to invite Lady Xing, Li Wan, and Xue Baochai.
Because the young ones had all gathered together, waiting for news from Jia Baoyu, when they heard that relatives had arrived, they brought Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, Tanchun and Xichun, and they all rushed over.
At one point, there were as many as five or six people in the living room, competing with each other for beauty.
Among them, Xue Baoqin, who was graceful, charming, and lively, won applause as soon as she appeared. In comparison, Xing Xiuyun was much more inconspicuous.
Especially since Madam Xing has never been very popular in the mansion, Xing Xiuyan was inevitably implicated by her and lost a few points in her impression.
“Huh?!”
The relatives were just chatting about their daily lives, recounting their memories of their separation, when Wang Xifeng suddenly asked in surprise, " Why are there things sent by Sun's son Erlang on this gift list?"
When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but shift their attention. Even Lady Jia didn't even bother to praise Baoqin , and hurriedly asked where the gifts came from.
It's no wonder that people are making a fuss. Now Sun Shaozong has become famous in a battle in Huguang, and Sun Shaozu has a large army in the Shenjiying. Although they are not as wealthy as the Wang family, they have already surpassed the historians who are only in name only.
Since the status is different, the attention received is naturally very different.
To be honest, even if all the relatives present were put together, they would probably not be as good as Sun Shaozong.
"Ancestor."
Xue Ke hurried forward to explain: "When we were preparing to leave for Jinling, we happened to run into Brother Sun who was ordered to return to the capital, so we got together - he originally wanted to send these gifts to your mansion when he arrived in the capital."
"Who knew that when he passed by Jinmen Prefecture yesterday, he suddenly received an imperial decree ordering him to present his victory report from the East Gate. I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would personally welcome him!"
"With such an honor, we must prepare everything before we can officially enter the capital."
"Brother Sun had to stay in Jinmen Mansion temporarily, so he had to ask Brother Wang to help send the luggage to Beijing first. The other luggage had already been sent to Sun's house by Brother Wang. Only these boxes of gifts were to be sent to the mansion, so he asked me to bring them along."
When everyone heard that Sun Shaozong had the honor of being welcomed by the Crown Prince in person, they were all amazed.
Among them, the happiest person was none other than Mrs. Xing. She ignored her uncle Xing and his daughter, but she was extremely satisfied with the marriage into the Sun family.
In a moment of pride, she couldn't help but half boasting and half mockingly saying: "I thought that Sun's Erlang had achieved such great achievements, but he was still humble and polite. But my family has been aristocratic for generations, but now he has made the whole family restless just for the title of a juren."
After hearing these words, most of the people in the room changed their expressions.
Especially Mrs. Wang, whose old face, which had originally had a smile on it, immediately fell.
At this time, someone suddenly said in a sweet voice: "Brother Bao is only sixteen years old this year. He can pass the imperial examination first and then the imperial examination. When he is in his twenties, he may not be much inferior to Brother Sun!"
At this time, the only person who dared to speak up for Jia Baoyu in public was naturally Shi Xiangyun.
With her taking the lead, everyone started praising Baoyu regardless of whether they were sincere or not, and never mentioned Sun Shaozong again.
Just as everyone was praising Baoyu to the skies, as if the first place in the imperial examination was just a matter of time, someone outside suddenly called out, "Second Master Lian is back, Second Master Lian is back!"
After hearing this, everyone stopped flattering and looked out the door with bated breath.
Not long after, Jia Lian pulled the curtain and entered the inner room. When he saw so many strangers in the room, he was stunned.
"Where's Baoyu?!"
Grandmother Jia propped up the table, stood up from the bed, and asked repeatedly, "Didn't you take him to see the list? Where is he? Did he pass?!"
Seeing the old lady so excited, Jia Lian lowered his head and replied awkwardly: "Brother Bao has already returned to Yihong Courtyard."
Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia was stunned for a moment, then sat back dejectedly.
If he really passed the exam, how could Jia Baoyu, who loves fun, run to the Yihong Courtyard silently?
