The next day, Jia Lian came to Zhen's house as promised.
The master of the Zhen family, Zhen Yingjia, paid enough attention to Jia Lian and personally received him in the main hall.
"I haven't seen him for three years, but I didn't expect that my good nephew would rise to the top. Now he is famous all over the world. It is no exaggeration to describe him. Heroes have been born since ancient times."
Zhen Yingjia is a somewhat frail, middle-aged man who dresses elegantly, but his temperament is somewhat similar to Jia Zheng.
In fact, three years ago, when Jia Lian went to the south of the Yangtze River to bring Daiyu to Beijing, he visited the Zhen family once when he went to Jinling to look for Xiangling.
At that time, Zhen Yingjia also received him for the sake of the friendship between the two families. However, because at that time Jia Lian was just a child of an obscure aristocratic family, and he did not study, and was only known for being quick-witted in secular affairs, he was not taken seriously by Zhen Yingjia.
So that was enough for a quick chat and a few words of greeting. As for the rest of the Zhen family, basically no important one was seen.
But today is different.
In addition to Zhen Yingjia, the fourth master of the Zhen family, Zhen Yingfu, and the eldest son of the Zhen family, Zhen Yutang, were all accompanying the guests.
This Zhen Yutang is not the son of Zhen Yingjia, but the eldest son of Zhen Yingfu, the fourth master of the Zhen family. The Zhen Baoyu whom I saw on the street yesterday was Zhen Yingjia's direct son.
From just this simple detail, it can be seen that the relationship between the Zhen family seems to be quite complicated, not as simple and clear as other families.
Because Jia Lian had the status of an official, a noble, and even an imperial envoy, the Zhen family had no intention of simply treating Jia Lian as a junior.
After a few polite greetings, Zhen Yingjia asked Jia Lian to sit at the front of the guest seat, while Zhen Yingfu sat at the guest seat opposite him. On the contrary, Zhen Yutang, the eldest son of the Zhen family, could only stand beside him and accompany him.
"I heard that my good nephew did several big things in Yangzhou, and he experienced life and death several times because of it. I don't know, everything is safe now, but is there any trouble?
If so, my dear nephew, feel free to tell me. Our Zhen family does not have a good reputation in the Jiangnan area. If there is someone who can help our nephew, we will definitely not refuse. "
After chatting for a while, the fourth master of the Zhen family suddenly said with a smile.
Jia Lian handed over his hand and said, "Thank you Uncle Shi for your kindness. Although I experienced a little trouble, thanks to His Majesty's blessing and protection, I managed to finish my errand. In a few days, my nephew will be ready to return to Beijing."
"So fast?"
Zhen Yingfu and Zhen Yingjia looked at each other, and then Zhen Yingjia laughed loudly and said: "Since my nephew has taken care of everything, naturally we can only congratulate your nephew in advance and return to Jingrong as soon as possible to receive the award."
After saying something special, Zhen Yingjia added: "Speaking of my nephew's errand, I also remembered something.
I heard that the Wang family, a salt merchant who has been in Yangzhou for more than ten years, has been confiscated and executed by his nephew because of corruption, perversion of law, disregard of human life, and the audacity to assassinate an imperial envoy? "
"It's true."
Although it was something that had been confirmed for a long time, seeing Jia Lian admit it so indifferently and calmly in the face of their inquiries, the two masters of the Zhen family couldn't help but feel a little shocked, knowing that the rumors were true. Although this Lian Ye is young, he is not a simple character.
He is decisive and ruthless, daring to fight and kill, but don't be deceived by his gorgeous appearance. No wonder even His Majesty likes to leave some difficult matters to him.
"That's right. My nephew should also know that our Zhen family has been stationed in Jiangnan since the early years of the Supreme Emperor, and has been dealing with aristocratic families from all over Jiangnan for many years.
The Wang family had some dealings with our Zhen family in the early years... However, later we realized that the Wang family was acting arrogantly, and rumors of illegality frequently reached our ears, so we gradually cut off all contact with him.
Who would have thought that he would end up like this today. Although it is his Wang family’s fault, I am afraid that the Wang family still retains some objects that were exchanged with our family back then.
Although these are normal transactions, if the imperial court knew about them, they would inevitably doubt the loyalty of the Zhen family.
Therefore, I have a heartfelt request..."
"Uncle Shi, please speak."
"Since my nephew is the imperial envoy in charge of this matter, I think all the items seized from the Wang family have passed through my nephew's hands.
My nephew also knows that our Zhen family has been in the Jiangnan weaving business for many years for the Supreme Emperor, and there are countless people in the court who are jealous. In order to avoid suspicion and cause unnecessary trouble, I would like to ask my nephew to really copy things and letters related to my Zhen family from the Wang family...
Of course, we will never let our good nephew do anything that violates the law. My nephew, please check it first and make sure it is of no importance. Please, out of consideration for our family, destroy it or return it. We will be very grateful. "
Jia Lian laughed when he heard this.
He has stayed in Yangzhou for so long, not to mention that he has thoroughly investigated the background relationships of all the salt merchants in Yangzhou, at least the three companies that he robbed must be clear and clear.
He understood why the Zhen family suddenly mentioned this. Because he knew that before the Wang family got involved with the Prince's Mansion, their biggest backer was the Jiangnan Zhen family!
Maybe some people don't quite understand that the Zhen family, which has no hereditary title and no one holding important positions in the central government, can He De serve as a protective umbrella for a big salt merchant?
In fact, this can be understood from the words "Tai Shang Huang" mentioned by Zhen Yingjia just now.
Yes, this Zhen family is the same family that the Emperor sent to the south of the Yangtze River to supervise the major weaving bureaus in his early years!
All weaving bureaus in various places in the south of the Yangtze River are under the supervision of Jinling Tirenyuan.
The current master of the Zhen family, Zhen Yingjia, holds the official position of "President of Imperial Envoy Jinling Provincial Tiren Academy".
Just by hearing the name, you can tell that this official position was specially awarded by Yubi. It doesn't matter if it's big or not, after all, he only supervises the Weaving Bureau, and his rank is only about the fourth or fifth grade.
But it's not too small to be small. After all, the word "imperial envoy" is attached to it, which represents the court and the emperor. To be precise, it is the Supreme Emperor.
As for why the Emperor of the Zhen family trusted him so much and gave him a "hereditary" official position, this goes back to earlier. Perhaps, from what Jia Mu mentioned in Rongqing Hall that day, the origin of the title of "Xiu'an County Lord" given to the old lady of the Zhen family, we can understand something.
In short, the Jia family, a dual-family family, and the Zhen family, who have been on equal terms for hundreds of years, have enough wealth and heritage.
This can be seen from the fact that when others mention the Zhen family, they usually refer to the "Jiangnan Zhen family" instead of the Jinling Zhen family. The influence of the Zhen family is no longer limited to Jinling City, but radiates to most of the south of the Yangtze River.
This is also the reason why Jia Lian never underestimated the Zhen family.
However, time has changed, and the Zhen family is just like the Jia family before. What they were once proud of is gradually dissipating and disintegrating. Today's wealth looks more like a shaky castle in the air.
This is the reason why a small salt merchant dares to abandon the Zhen family and cling to the Prince's Mansion.
That's right, the relationship between the Zhen family and the Wang family is not like what Zhen Yingjia said, where they saw the Wang family going into the abyss and took the initiative to cut off the relationship, but the Wang family saw that the Zhen family was becoming more and more weak and took the initiative to find a new family to join!
In other words, the Zhen family was "betrayed" by the Wang family.
This kind of behavior should be deeply abhorred among the noble families, but the new one the Wang family clings to is the Prince's Mansion.
Therefore, the Zhen family wanted to take revenge but did not dare to act rashly. They could only hold a bad breath in their chests, which was naturally very uncomfortable.
Who would have known that before the Zhen family could find a chance to clean up the Wang family, the Wang family would be uprooted by Jia Lian because of the collective suicide attempt of the salt merchants. At this time, while the Zhen family was enjoying themselves, they were a little worried, because the relationship between the Zhen family and the Wang family in their early years was exposed, which caused the court's dissatisfaction with the Zhen family.
The imperial envoy Jia Lian who happened to be in charge of this matter was a century-old friend of the Zhen family, so it was reasonable to ask Jia Lian to destroy the evidence of the two families' contacts through their connections.
Seeing Jia Lian's smile, the two masters of the Zhen family couldn't figure out what Jia Lian meant, so they had to wait quietly for Jia Lian to speak.
"Uncle Shi, don't worry about this.
Speaking of which, when the Wang family was searched that day, my nephew did find two letters related to your house among the many letters.
But my nephew has read them all, and they are just ordinary letters. My nephew also thought at that time that it would be better to do less than to do more. For the sake of the friendship between our two families, he naturally helped your house to put it away first without telling anyone else.
If Uncle Shi is really worried, then my nephew can have the letter delivered to your residence and let Uncle Shi handle it on his own. "
Zhen Yingjia and Zhen Yingfu were overjoyed when they heard this, and immediately smiled and said: "In that case, thank you so much for your righteous nephew!"
Once this matter of mutual interest was settled, the atmosphere in the main hall became more harmonious and friendly.
Suddenly hearing urgent footsteps outside, Jia Lian turned his head and saw that it was Jia Baoyu whom he had seen yesterday who rushed to the door of the room for the second time. His eyes quickly swept over his body, and then looked around, with an obvious look of disappointment. Pass.
"evil creature!"
Zhen Yingjia was feeling that Jia Lian's future was limitless and wanted to do his best to maintain the relationship between them. When he saw his son being so rude to Jia Lian, he immediately shouted loudly. After Zhen Baoyu trembled in fright, he shouted angrily: "It's been a long time since. I sent someone to tell you that a distinguished guest is coming and asked you to come over earlier to accompany the guest, why did you arrive just now!?"
Zhen Baoyu groaned for a long time, then bent down and cupped her hands and said: "The old lady cooked gorgon fruit, candied dates and walnut soup in the house, and she insisted on eating it. My son didn't dare to shirk it, so he came too late."
Seeing the anger on Zhen Yingjia's face, which seemed difficult to vent, Jia Lian almost died laughing.
This scene is so damn familiar.
"Why don't you come over quickly and meet your brother Lian!"
Zhen Yingjia couldn't stand up to the old lady, so she could only stare at Zhen Baoyu with a murderous look on her face and give instructions.
Zhen Baoyu obediently stepped forward to greet Jia Lian. When Jia Lian stood up to return the gift, he couldn't help asking: "Brother Lian, why didn't the Lin family cousin I met yesterday come?"
"Brother Baoyu, forgive me. She is weak. She spent a whole day shopping in Jinling City yesterday and she didn't feel well when she came back. It was really inconvenient to go out, so she rested at home."
"What, she is sick? How is it? Is it important or not? Can you please ask a skilled doctor to take a look at her?"
Zhen Baoyu looked nervous. Unexpectedly, she thought he and Daiyu were very similar.
Jia Lian finally figured it out. Not only did this guy look like Jia Baoyu, but his temper was even worse!
"Nie Zhan, what kind of ghost are you making? Why don't you get out!"
Zhen Yingjia was really angry when she saw Zhen Baoyu asking about the female relatives in his family as soon as they met, and showing that "Brother Pig" look. If he wasn't worried about Jia Lian being around, he almost wanted to jump up and give Zhen Baoyu a kick.
After Zhen Yutang pinched her nose and laughed enough, she explained to Zhen Yingjia in a decent manner, saying that Jia Lian's cousin looked very similar to her cousin at home, so Zhen Baoyu was "especially concerned". Zhen Yingjia can hold on to her face a little better.
Coming excitedly, but not seeing the person she wanted to see, and being scolded repeatedly by her father, Zhen Baoyu was in a very low mood, and consciously stood next to Zhen Yutang, no longer raising her head to speak.
In this way, the atmosphere gradually returned to its previous state. The two masters of the Zhen family kept chatting with Jia Lian, such as greeting Jia Mu and Jia Zheng, and occasionally discussing some current political issues. It seemed that the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves.
Not long after, a young maid came with two servants to convey a message: "The old lady was very happy to hear that a brother from the Rongguo Mansion in the middle of the capital came to visit her. She asked Mr. Bao to invite the distinguished guest to the Shouxuan Hall."
Zhen Yingjia and Zhen Yingfu both stood up to listen, and then said to Jia Lian: "Jia Ci is old, and it is easy not to see guests. I think he has heard about the heroic deeds of his nephew, so he wants to meet him and hopes to see him. Don’t blame me, nephew.”
"I don't dare to refuse when summoned by my elders. It's just that I am a foreigner after all, so I'm afraid of disturbing the family members of your family."
"My dear nephew, you are overly worried. The relationship between our two families cannot be described as good as a family, so why should we say it so abruptly?
Baoyu, why don't you invite Brother Lian in and let the old lady see you? "
"yes."
…
After leaving Zhen Yingjia, Zhen Baoyu's spirit and demeanor were completely different.
She followed the maid who had just come to deliver the message in a hurry, and the elder sister and the elder sister gave short and flattering greetings.
Just from the maid's clothes and the attitude of Jia Baoyu and the two servants, she knew that she had a high status in the Zhen family. She must be the most capable maid beside the old lady of the Zhen family.
She should be used to Zhen Baoyu's fawning, but at this moment, she was concerned that Jia Lian was nearby, so she glanced at Jia Lian secretly, gouged out Jia Baoyu, and walked away quickly pretending to be angry.
Zhen Baoyu felt bored and thought of Daiyu again, so she came forward to ask Jia Lian about Daiyu's situation.
Jia Lian also made perfunctory remarks.
The Zhen family's house is really not small. It only takes a long time to walk from the hall to the so-called Shouxuan Hall.
Moreover, the house buildings and courtyard scenery along the way are either magnificent, with carved beams and painted buildings, or dense with greenery, and elegant in style. Overall, it looks no weaker than Rongguo Mansion. Even in terms of details, it is even more exquisite than Rongguo Mansion!
From this we can also see the difference between the Zhen family and the Jia family. Perhaps in terms of "nobleness", the Zhen family is already weaker than the Jia family at this time, but in terms of "wealth", the Zhen family has surpassed the Jia family in several ways. street.
The residence of the old lady of the Zhen family is as popular as Jia Mu's Rongqing Hall, and all the decorations are very luxurious. However, the courtyard has the style of a Jiangnan water town and looks more elegant.
Under the gaze of countless maids and daughters-in-law, Jia Lian followed Zhen Baoyu and others to a main house with the name "Shou Xuan Hall" hanging high.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw an old lady with kind eyebrows and silver hair sitting on the main seat in the middle. She held a white jade crutch with one hand and looked up at him.
Jia Lian knew that this old lady was the head of Xiu'an County who was famous in the old capital in Jia's mother's mouth. Except for women from the royal family, there are few people in the world who can be more noble than her status.
Strictly speaking, even his status as a marquis is still below that of the county lord.
"Junior Jia Lian, I would like to pay my respects to the old lady and the Lord of Xiu'an County." Jia Lian took two steps forward, bent down and bowed his hands.
The old lady was stunned when she heard this, then shook her head and said with a smile: "It has been many years, no one has called me this title, I'm sorry you still know it."
"The younger generation's grandmother often mentioned the old lady when she was at home, saying that the magnificence of Xiu'an County Lord was famous in the old capital, and he was the most envied object in the hearts of many young women, so the younger generation is lucky to know about it."
"Hahaha, the eldest lady of the Shihou family is not a forgiving person. How can she say good things about me behind my back? I don't believe it."
Even so, the old lady still looked very happy. She said with a smile and asked: "How is your old lady's health these days? Is she still strong? There are not many old sisters left who grew up together. I am I am always thinking about her."
"Thanks to the care of the old lady, my ancestors are still strong and healthy. He eats well every day and sleeps soundly. When he seems fine, he talks and laughs with his granddaughters at home. He is very comfortable."
Hearing what Jia Lian said, Mrs. Zhen's eyes showed a hint of reminiscence, and then sighed: "She is a lucky person."
At this point, he suddenly stopped.
However, Jia Lian guessed from the attitudes of the two old ladies when they mentioned each other that the relationship between these two former noble ladies was probably not as harmonious as it was when the two families interacted.
On the contrary, the interactions between families and the friendship between family members cannot be completely equated.
I think that as long as they are not completely hostile to each other, it will not affect the family's interactions. As for competing with each other, even a little dissatisfaction will not have much impact.
When Mrs. Zhen didn't speak, Jia Lian just stood quietly with his hands down, making no move or looking around. Because there is nothing interesting to him, and he is not Grandma Liu, so he is very curious about such an extremely wealthy family.
But when his demeanor fell in the eyes of Mrs. Zhen, she couldn't help but nod secretly. After looking at Jia Lian again, she nodded and praised: "Although I have no longer been interested in world affairs, I have heard people talk about your reputation several times.
When I met him today, I confirmed that the rumors were true. He was indeed personable and showed his talent.
Your Jia family is blessed with great blessings. "
"The old lady has received too much praise, and the younger generation cannot deserve it."
Old Mrs. Zhen shook her head, and seemed to be belatedly introducing the two women who had been standing around her for a long time to Jia Lian.
But they were just the wives of Zhen Yingjia and Zhen Yingfu, and Jia Lian had seen them all one by one.
Then Mrs. Zhen said: "I'm old and can't stand the wind. It's chilly outside. It's rare for you to come to Jinling. It just so happens that I also have many things to ask you about you, Mrs. Why don't we go into the inner hall? say."
As Mrs. Zhen spoke, she stood up, took her maid's arm, and prepared to walk in.
At this time, not to mention Jia Lian, even the two ladies beside the old lady were surprised.
The old lady was curious about what her relative's eldest grandson looked like, so she called him in to have a look. Isn't it strange?
But it's fine to just take a look in the main hall. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to call into the inner hall?
After all, although Jia Lian is a grandson, he is completely considered an adult man, and he is tall and powerful. Entering the inner hall...
Doesn't the old lady know that at this moment, almost all the women and girls from the Zhen family have gathered in the inner hall, all wanting to come and have a look.
Once inside, they should not be frightened into fleeing.
However, Mrs. Zhen did not explain to them, and they did not dare to disobey the old lady's wishes. They could only take one more look at Jia Lian, thinking that maybe Jia Lian's demeanor and appearance were beyond the old lady's discernment, and she I think it's no big deal.
(End of chapter)
