It had been a few days since Jia Zheng returned to the capital, but the Ministry of Works did not make any arrangements. They only asked him to go to the Ministry of Works every day to help deal with documents. Jia Zheng had the heart to serve the country, so he secretly pulled Lord Wang to ask, but Lord Wang only said," It's not a small matter to serve the country. The documents are always related to heaven. If we don't do our best to deal with these piles of documents, do we need the Emperor to come personally? We serve the king, how dare we complain about the trivial and cumbersome work? Lord Jia, don't you think so?”
Jia Zheng dealt with some trivial official documents every day. Although he felt that this promotion seemed to be secretly demoted, after being said by Lord Wang, he felt that this was indeed the truth, so he felt a little more at ease.
It was the day after the court session. Jia Zheng was taking turns to rest at home and was treating a few people to a banquet to discuss the eight-legged rule of the country when suddenly an "angel" came to report.
When the angel arrived, Jia Zheng did not dare to be negligent. He hurriedly changed into his official robes and rushed out to welcome him. He also despised the messenger on the door for walking slowly and rushed straight to the main door. However, he didn't expect to see anyone at the main entrance. When he asked the gatekeeper, the gatekeeper said,"Master, we haven't left the door since dawn, and our eyes haven't moved. If an angel came, how could we not know that we didn't see an angel?”
Jia Zheng wanted to scold him, but he was panting and unable to speak. At this moment, the gatekeeper who had reported finally caught up and shouted from afar,"Back door! Master, at the back door!"
Jia Zheng couldn't be bothered to reprimand the gatekeeper who had spoken halfway and didn't know anything, and hurriedly went straight to the back door.
When they reached the back door, three or four gatekeepers saw that the old master had arrived and hurriedly came to welcome him. Seeing that the old master was covered in sweat, they raised their sleeves to wipe Jia Zheng's sweat. Jia Zheng did not dare to lose his manners in front of the angel. He pushed away the few gatekeepers who were trying to curry favor and hurriedly asked,"Where are the angels? Quickly welcome them!"
The gatekeeper hurriedly said,"Yes, yes. Please don't come in. Tea has been served in the gatekeeper's ear room."”
When Jia Zheng heard this, he went to the gatekeeper's room. When he reached the gatekeeper's room, he at least saw this "angel".
Jia Zheng bowed and said,"No, I didn't know that an angel had descended. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for not welcoming you."”Panting heavily, he was about to kneel when Eunuch Xia pulled him back.
Eunuch Xia smiled and said,"I don't dare." He helped Jia Zheng up and said,"Lord Jia, congratulations!”
"I wouldn't dare," Jia Zheng said. The gatehouse was simple and crude, and the angel even invited the manor to have tea first.”
"No, no," Eunuch Xia said. Lord Jia, do you know why I came to the residence today?”
Jia Zheng said," The arrival of an angel is naturally to convey the imperial decree. This gatehouse is crude and I'm afraid it will be rude to the holy will. It's better to ask the angel to move the shelf first."”
Eunuch Xia waved his hand and said with a smile," Aiyo, my Lord Jia. Today is not for the imperial edict. Please take a rest first and catch your breath."”He then said," I've also heard from the palace that Lord Jia is working for the Emperor outside and is very sincere. The Imperial Court has also submitted a commendation memorial. This time, it just so happens that Lord Lin has done a great thing for the Emperor. Hehehe, the Emperor, he happily praised it several times.”
"Yes, yes, yes."
"This Lord Lin is Lord Jia's brother-in-law. This brother-in-law is a capable person who works for the emperor!”Eunuch Xia gave him a thumbs up." Sir Jia, aren't you waiting for your appointment? With this spring breeze, what do you think, Sir Jia?”
If he had any ideas, he would naturally ask if there was a place he wanted to go.
People with power were naturally cheaper than others. For example, they could go to the officials they liked to talk about such as evaluation and transfer. Most of them could be settled. There was also this kind of private visit by an angel dressed in civilian clothes.
Jia Zheng's chest and lungs hurt from running at first, but now he was only filled with gratitude. His eyes were red as he bowed in the direction of the palace gate and choked,"" An angel has personally come to inquire. This has always been a favor that only members of the imperial clan have. How can I, Jia Zheng…" Jia Zheng turned to face the north and thanked him with tears in his eyes. Eunuch Xia was so flustered that he hurriedly pulled him back.
Eunuch Xia did not dare to beat around the bush. He pulled Jia Zheng and said,""Aiya, my Lord Jia, you just let me finish.”Therefore, she pulled Jia Zheng back and did not let him bow again, telling him the meaning of the Empress's instructions.
Finally, he said,"Lord Jia, everyone in the palace knows that you are loyal to the king. That is why I came today." There is a war at the border and the Emperor is worried every day. Everyone in the court knows about it. We have received the Emperor's grace for generations. How can we watch the Emperor fall sick from worry over the military pay?”
Jia Zheng's tears streamed down his face as he sobbed," This subordinate is incompetent. Your father is worried about his illness and wishes that he could not replace him. It's all this subordinate's incompetence.”
Eunuch Xia patted Jia Zheng's shoulder and said,""If we can't go into battle to kill the enemies and help Jun Father relieve his worries, we are all useless. Fortunately, we can still do something in other places, don't you think? In the palace, the Emperor had already issued an edict. In order to not spend too much, this year, they were also choosing talents outside. The Empress had also issued an edict to reduce spending. The silver saved would be used as military pay. Even the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine were prepared to reject Qianqiu.”
"How can I do this, how can I do this…! The Mother of the Nation is precious. How can you, how can you?"
Eunuch Xia said," That's what I said too. But the masters said that there's a war going on at the border. The people are in dire straits. There's nothing wrong with being frugal.”Eunuch Xia wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes and sighed.""For these big matters, a cripple like me can't do much. The only thing I can do is to leave the palace to run errands for the nobles and do my best. We need someone to take the lead in this matter. Among the aristocratic families, I feel that only Lord Jia can be entrusted with this task.”
Jia Zheng cried until his hair was wet. He nodded and said,"Yes, yes, yes. Zheng will definitely do his best to not harm Jun Father.”
Jia Zheng and Eunuch Xia talked until noon. When the servant girl came to treat them to a meal, Jia Zheng asked Eunuch Xia to stay. Eunuch Xia only said that he did not dare to delay and left. At the banquet, Jia Zheng and four or five of the guests sat down. Jia Zheng looked at the dishes on the table and suddenly felt sad. He refused to eat. If Jia Zheng didn't eat, the guests couldn't eat either. Therefore, the few of them actually sighed at the table full of delicacies.
In the afternoon, Jia Zheng asked to see Grandmother Jia. Baoyu was at Grandmother Jia's place. When he heard that his father had come, he was frightened and hurriedly left through the back door with Grandmother Jia.
Because Jia Zheng had frightened Baoyu, Grandmother Jia's expression was not good. When she saw Jia Zheng, she scolded him," I've been working for decades in vain. I'm getting more and more unruly. I didn't even inform you in advance when I came. How can I be worthy of His Majesty's heavy trust?"
After Jia Zheng pleaded guilty, Grandmother Jia told him not to kneel and to sit down.
Jia Zheng sat down and told him what Eunuch Xia had said.
Grandmother Jia was furious when she heard that.""One hundred thousand taels of silver! You, you, you sure have big words!”She suppressed her anger slightly, and her eyes turned red as she cried,"Ever since your grandfather, our family has always been conscientious and conscientious, serving the court with self-restraint. How many times have we risked our lives to get to where we are today? Two sons. Your brother can't be worthy of them, and neither can you and I. For this family business, I sent the eldest girl to the palace, and your sister married far away. For this family business, I've worried my heart out…At least I have Baoyu, so there's hope. Baoyu is still young, but you want to ruin the family business first.”
Jia Zheng hurriedly knelt down and begged his mother not to be sad. He also cried and said,"I know I'm useless, unlike my ancestors who couldn't go to the battlefield to fight for fame, and couldn't serve mother sooner or later. Everything in the family is what it is today because of mother's efforts. However, we borrowed the money from the national treasury, so we should return it sooner or later. Moreover, since the palace sent an angel, it was already Jun Father's love for our face, so he didn't dare to refuse.”For a moment, she cried so hard that she could not control herself.
Grandmother Jia wiped her tears and sat up straight."Alright, it's good that you know how hard it is for me. In the capital, which aristocratic family doesn't borrow money from the national treasury? Isn't it not just our family? Why is the palace asking us first? Tell me what Eunuch Xia said.”
Jia Zheng acknowledged and tried his best to recall Eunuch Xia's words as he repeated them. Grandmother Jia listened carefully and called him over again before asking Jia Zheng to go back first. He didn't even know if he would return the 100,000 silver.
Jia Zheng left, and Grandmother Jia immediately asked Yuanyang to prepare a pen and ink, write a letter, and ask Yuanyang to give it to Xifeng, and quickly send it to the old lady of the Wang family and the wife of the historian.
He also called Aunt Xue over and asked if her family was doing business in the palace and if there were any reliable maids and nannies. He invited one or two to come out and talk. Aunt Xue smiled and said," I'm just a woman. I don't care about this. Although Pan 'er is a little reckless, he's in charge of the family business. If you have anything to ask, I'll call Pan' er."”
He sent someone to look for him, but in the afternoon, the person he found came back and said that the Xue family's eldest son had left the city in the morning and was missing. The Wang and Shi families did not reply either.
Grandmother Jia didn't have lunch, nor did she sleep. She didn't ask the girls to come and talk to her. Even Baoyu only said that he was tired when he came to pay his respects and asked him to play with his sisters.
They ate dinner as usual. Grandmother Jia did not ask the girls to speak today, but she asked Madam Wang to stay. After a long conversation, Madam Wang came out of Grandmother Jia's place. She did not look well, and even her eyes were red.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]