Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 72 The Emperor's Conjecture

After Jia Lian left, Emperor Ningkang turned to Dai Quan beside him and asked, "What do you think of this young man?"

As Emperor Ningkang's most trusted eunuch, Dai Quan naturally had a deep understanding of the emperor's temperament.

He saw it clearly: when he summoned Prince Duan earlier, it was ostensibly to appease him, but in reality, it was to give him a warning. However, when he met with Jia Lian, he downplayed the matter of Jia Lian beating Prince Duan's heir, an incident that could have stirred up conflict between the imperial clan and the nobility.

Therefore, Dai Quan chuckled and said, "This old servant can't see anything different about Jia Tongzhi, but His Majesty seems to value him quite a bit. To be able to catch His Majesty's eye, he must be a rare talent."

Emperor Ningkang sneered: "I value him? Hmph, not bad, but what I value more is his status."

Don't you think his identity is very useful to me?

Dai Quan smiled, already understanding what Emperor Ningkang meant.

As the chief steward of the Daming Palace, Emperor Ningkang would almost never keep anything from him except for confidential matters. In fact, many of the information Emperor Ningkang received came from him.

Therefore, he knew that the name Jia Lian had indeed appeared before Emperor Ningkang many times recently.

First, Lin Ruhai recommended Jia Lian to Emperor Ningkang. Out of curiosity, Emperor Ningkang sent someone to investigate Jia Lian, but the result disappointed him.

The second incident was a very minor matter. A secret report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard indicated that the Jia family of the Rongguo Mansion seemed to have recently resumed contact with the Zhang family of the Earl of Linzi.

These two families were not particularly remarkable, at least not to the emperor.

However, both families happen to share one characteristic.

The Jia family, with two members holding the title of Duke, held a very high position among the many meritorious families that emerged during the founding of the dynasty.

The Linzi Earl's Mansion, however, was one of the representative families of the new aristocracy!

These two families made headlines back then because of their marriage alliance; few prominent families in the capital were unaware of it.

Now, after many years, the news of these two families reconciling has naturally attracted attention.

For others, it might just be a topic of conversation over tea, but for the emperor, it had a different meaning.

Now that Emperor Ningkang's throne is secure, it is the perfect time for him to focus on governing the country. At this time, he needs the support of as many forces as possible.

Coincidentally, both the old nobles led by the Four Kings and Eight Dukes and the newly emerging nobles after the founding of the country were influential forces in the Great Wei court.

Emperor Ningkang was already being won over by various parties.

Emperor Ningkang has probably noticed that Jia Lian holds two identities: he is the grandson of the Duke of Rongguo and the maternal grandson of the Earl of Linzi. If he were to recruit Jia Lian, he could likely achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Although he had guessed what Emperor Ningkang was thinking, Dai Quan only said, "This old servant doesn't quite understand what use Jia Tongzhi's status is to Your Majesty, but I think that no matter what his status is, if he can be of use to Your Majesty, that is already a great fortune for him."

Emperor Ningkang didn't mind Dai Quan's evasive manner; at this point, Dai Quan was simply a mouthpiece for him.

"Unfortunately, although he comes from a good family, it is still unknown whether he is capable of being of great use."

Emperor Ningkang sighed again.

Given Jia Lian's status, if used properly, he could maximize the influence of the entire court of nobles with minimal cost. Otherwise, even if the events at the Fourth Prince's residence today might cause conflict between the imperial family and the nobles, he wouldn't personally intervene.

Sending a chief eunuch would suffice.

The reason he personally summoned Jia Lian was to see if Jia Lian was of any use.

If he were truly a spoiled brat, no matter how special his identity, he wouldn't give him a second glance.

After considering Jia Lian's previous responses, Emperor Ningkang turned to Dai Quan and asked, "I seem to recall you saying that the Rongguo Mansion is currently run by Jia Zheng, the Assistant Minister of Works, rather than by Jia She, the eldest son who inherited the title? What's going on?"

The emperor originally didn't pay much attention to the declining Xun family like the Jia family, but now that he had thought of this, he decided to inquire about it.

Dai Quan smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right, his family's situation is indeed somewhat special."

After the Duke of Rongguo, his eldest son Jia She inherited the title, but because he was not favored by the Dowager Lady of Rongguo, he did not live in the main hall. Instead, Jia Zheng, the Assistant Minister of Works, lived in the main hall and took care of his mother day and night.

What's remarkable is that the family remained harmonious, without any turmoil arising from disputes over inheritance or titles—a truly extraordinary occurrence within the Xun family.

Dai Quan actually knew more inside information, but he only told Emperor Ningkang the facts that were publicly known.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Ningkang snorted coldly: "It has always been true that parents are biased. But I don't believe your claim that the family is harmonious."

As the saying goes, "How can a family tolerate two masters?" If the Rongguo Mansion truly operates in this way, a family upheaval is only a matter of time.

Emperor Ningkang originally wanted to say the saying, "There can be no two suns in the sky, nor two rulers in a country," but he immediately thought of the retired emperor and knew that it would be inappropriate to say such a thing, so he swallowed it.

As for the Jia family's affairs, he had no intention of meddling. He knew Jia Zheng and Jia She. In his eyes, Jia Zheng was only of average appearance, but he was far better than the eldest son of the Duke of Rongguo, who had a terrible reputation. Naturally, he had no intention of supporting Jia She.

This suddenly reminded him of the different opinions people had of Jia Lian.

Given the complexity of the Rongguo Mansion situation, it might explain why Lin Ruhai held Jia Lian in such high regard, while people in the capital held largely the opposite opinion.

He originally thought that Lin Ruhai either had ulterior motives or was temporarily misled when he recommended Jia Lian to him.

Based on his own examination, many of the rumors circulating in the capital are inaccurate, and Lin Ruhai's assessment is more accurate.

This makes him wonder if Jia Lian deliberately acted somewhat unruly while in the capital.

As one of the many princes of the retired emperor, Emperor Ningkang was all too familiar with this taste!

When family affairs are in turmoil, the children suffer greatly. It's unclear whether Jia Lian is deliberately hiding his talents, merely seeking self-preservation, or enduring humiliation and plotting to reclaim the family business for his father...

He actually hoped it was the latter.

In this way, everything that seemed illogical about Jia Lian could be explained.

Having figured this out, Emperor Ningkang stopped trying to analyze Jia Lian's thoughts. He only needed to confirm that Jia Lian wasn't a good-for-nothing; everything else was unimportant. If Jia Lian could handle his duties well in the future, the problems of the Rongguo Mansion would be easily solved for him with just a few words.

As for what Jia Lian said about Lin Ruhai...

Emperor Ningkang was in a dilemma. He was very satisfied with Lin Ruhai's years as Salt Commissioner and really did not want to replace him.

But if Jia Lian wasn't lying, he could let it go; but if Lin Ruhai really got into trouble, that wasn't something he wanted to see either.

After thinking for a while, he instructed Dai Quan: "Go back and arrange for a capable imperial physician to go to Yangzhou to conduct a thorough examination of Lin Ruhai's health, and report back to the capital as soon as possible."

After making arrangements for Lin Ruhai, Emperor Ningkang composed himself and said to the eunuchs standing at the door, "Tell that good-for-nothing to get in here!"

……