coobybook Chapter 1 The Jia Family is Doomed
Chapter 1 The Jia Family is Doomed
(This story has no romantic pairing; the protagonist is from ancient times and travels back in time, unaware of the plot of the time-traveling world.)
Beijing.
In a secluded courtyard of the Rongguo Mansion, birds chirped and chattered on the branches of the persimmon tree early in the morning, bathed in the morning sunlight.
Two old women led a group of young maids to clean the courtyard in an orderly manner. Some swept the courtyard, while others wiped the corridors. No one was idle, unlike other parts of the mansion where the maids and servants gathered together to laugh and play.
Inside the room, there was a large kang (heated brick bed) by the window, on which sat a mahogany kang table. A book was casually laid out on the table, and next to it was a cup of hot tea, its aroma wafting through the air.
Jia Huan lay listlessly on the kang (a heated brick bed), his body resting on a light blue cushion. He felt comfortable in this position, but a deep sense of unease lingered in his heart.
He used to think that the story of souls traveling to another world was just a joke, and he would just laugh it off when people told it and never take it seriously. But he never expected that such a strange thing would happen to him. It was really fate playing tricks on him.
Although he transmigrated into a noble family, extremely wealthy, he felt no happiness whatsoever.
Especially after he absorbed the memories of the body's original owner and analyzed the current state of the Rongguo Mansion, he scoffed at it even more.
As the sage said, "The blessings of a virtuous man will decline after three generations and end after five generations." The current situation of the Rongguo Mansion is just like this!
Jia She, who inherited the Rongguo Mansion's title, was arrogant, extravagant, and dissolute, lacking ambition, and kept bringing back concubines from one branch of the family. Jia Zheng, the second son, was more upright, honest, humble, and kind. He wanted to be a good official, but he was naive and, after half a lifetime in office, he was only a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works.
The body he possessed was that of Jia Huan, the illegitimate son of Jia Zheng, the second son of Jia Zheng.
He wasn't unaware of the conflicts between legitimate and illegitimate sons in powerful families before, but it wasn't until he transmigrated and became an illegitimate son that he truly understood the inside story.
Jia Zheng had one wife and two concubines, and a total of three sons and two daughters in his lifetime.
Besides Aunt Zhou, who had no children, Jia Zheng and his first wife, Lady Wang, had a son, Jia Zhu, who unfortunately died before the age of twenty, leaving behind his wife Li Wan and their young son, Jia Lan. Their second child, a daughter named Jia Yuanchun, had already entered the palace as a concubine and was only granted permission by the Emperor to return home for a visit a month prior. Their third child, a son born when Lady Wang was nearly forty, was named Jia Baoyu because he was born with a piece of colorful, sparkling jade in his mouth. He was extremely beloved by everyone in the Jia family. Grandmother Jia even took him to her own courtyard and raised him personally.
Lady Wang controlled Jia Zheng's harem for nearly twenty years. Apart from Aunt Zhou, who was with him before the marriage, there were no other women around Jia Zheng. She had also given birth to two sons and a daughter. Thinking that her position was secure and that her husband was getting old, she gradually lowered her guard. As a result, Aunt Zhao appeared out of nowhere.
Jia Zheng and Aunt Zhao had a daughter, Jia Tanchun, and a third son, Jia Huan.
So what if she's a concubine's daughter? She'll just be given a dowry and that'll be it. She can at least secure a marriage for her son, so she'll still be of some use. Besides, raising Tan Chun will also enhance my reputation for virtue, so outsiders won't say I'm jealous and intolerant.
Moreover, Grandmother Jia also liked the girls in the family, so she arranged for Jia Tanchun to live with Jia Yingchun, the illegitimate daughter of Jia She of the eldest son's family, and Jia Xichun, the younger sister of Jia Zhen of the Ningguo Mansion, all of whom were taught by their granddaughter-in-law Li Wan to study and learn needlework etiquette.
As a result, after Jia Huan was born, Lady Wang had a bad feeling.
Unlike illegitimate daughters, illegitimate sons could not inherit noble titles or family property, but they could receive one-third of Jia Zheng's assets.
Especially after Jia Zhu's death, Lady Wang's vigilance towards Jia Huan reached its peak.
If something were to happen to Jia Baoyu, wouldn't all of this family property fall into Jia Huan's hands?
How could Madam Wang allow this to happen!
Therefore, Lady Wang began to suppress Jia Huan in every way without making a sound, making him unruly and detestable, so much so that even the servants in the mansion refused to look at him properly.
The highest-ranking member of the Jia family, Grandmother Jia, ignored him. His father, Jia Zheng, thought he was "despicable and uncouth." His elder sister suspected him of being dishonest, and his sister-in-law, Wang Xifeng, also said that he was not fit for high positions.
His mother, Aunt Zhao, was selfish and narrow-minded. She ignored the grievances he suffered and would scold him without considering the consequences, calling him a "good-for-nothing" and a "shameless wretch" without ever showing him any warmth.
In this environment, the original owner of the body completely became the control group for Jia Baoyu, and became the bad kid with a belly full of evil in the eyes of everyone in the mansion.
However, after carefully reviewing the original owner's memories, he didn't do anything particularly bad. At most, he complained to Jia Zheng about Jia Baoyu. After all, it takes ability to be a bad person. Right now, he was just a ten-year-old child and didn't have the ability to do evil yet. He was still in the process of falling into depravity.
The original owner of this body died because of the imperial concubine's visit to her family.
Jia Yuanchun had been in the palace for ten years, but suddenly she rose to prominence and was selected for the Phoenix Palace, where she was given the title of Virtuous Consort.
By special decree of the Emperor, out of imperial grace, the Imperial Concubine is permitted to visit her family, a truly glorious act that brings honor to her ancestors.
This is a very honorable thing for the Jia family!
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the day of the Imperial Concubine's visit home, the Jia family was all laughing and joking together. Even the stewards and servants in the mansion had the opportunity to pay their respects in the hall. However, Jia Huan, who had been "ill" since the beginning of the year and had gone elsewhere to recuperate, was completely excluded from the grand banquet. In the end, the Imperial Concubine only bestowed upon him "a token of appreciation and a pair of gold ingots" according to custom.
The original owner of this body was already narrow-minded, and after suffering such unfair treatment, he was filled with resentment. With Aunt Zhao stirring up trouble and spreading rumors, his feigned illness turned into a real one. A few days later, on the twenty-second day of the first lunar month, the Imperial Concubine suddenly issued a riddle for everyone in the mansion to guess. Because he had missed visiting his family, the original owner did not want to miss this one as well, so he forced himself to go. However, the Imperial Concubine said that his guess was wrong. Later, everyone made riddles and sent them to the palace, but his riddle was returned directly. The Imperial Concubine was too lazy to even guess it and said it was unreasonable. It is clear that the Imperial Concubine's dislike for him was self-evident.
After this incident, the original owner's fragile heart could no longer withstand it, and the people around her did not pay much attention. That night, her condition worsened and she died.
Then Jia Huan time-traveled.
Jia Huan read the original owner's memories and felt that the original owner was quite pitiful.
She's only ten years old! She's still a child, she hasn't seen the beauty of the world, she hasn't seen the magnificent landscape.
After feeling sorry for the original owner of the body for a while, Jia Huan felt even more sorry for himself, having transmigrated here for no reason, and still in the same situation.
He became even more upset after he deduced that the Jia family was doomed.
The original owner of this body was still young and rarely went outside, so naturally no one would tell him about what was happening outside. However, the Imperial Concubine's visit home was a grand affair, and even though a month had passed, the people in the mansion still talked about it with great interest, using it as a source of pride before and after meals.
Although Jia Huan did not witness the scene firsthand, he heard many details.
Especially after learning about Yuan Chun's words and actions at the time, they knew it was bad.
Normally, it would be an immense honor for a concubine to be granted permission to return home to visit her family.
Although building a villa for visiting relatives is quite expensive, if managed well, the political resources that can be gained far outweigh the cost.