Later in the evening, Jia She and Jia Zheng also learned this news. Jia She was fine with it – he felt this was also a happy occasion and cheerfully had people prepare gifts.

Jia Zheng forced a smile, then fixed his eyes on Jia Baoyu.

Jade uncarved cannot become a vessel.

Baoyu needed to seize the time and not waste these precious years.

Under Jia Zheng’s gaze, Jia Baoyu seemed to transform into a quail. Grandmother Jia’s mood was already bad, and seeing this made her mood even worse.

“Why do you always frighten Baoyu for no reason? Aren’t you afraid of scaring him badly?”

Jia Zheng: “How is this frightening? I only want to check on his studies.”

Hearing this, Jia Baoyu was about to cry. Grandmother Jia pulled him into her embrace and raised her eyebrows: “I have nothing to say about you disciplining your son as a father, but you can’t be too strict with Baoyu either. He’s still young. The road must be walked step by step, food must be eaten bite by bite. If you make Baoyu learn too much all at once, he won’t be able to absorb it. Not to mention bringing out the beating rod at every turn – do you think this isn’t made of flesh?”

If not for being right under the master’s gaze, Jia Baoyu would have nodded like a chicken pecking rice.

Exactly! The master was forcing growth like pulling up seedlings. Sigh, he thought of the ethereally handsome Brother Lin. Originally his impression of him wasn’t bad, but now with the master looking to him as a standard and demanding the same of himself… Baoyu’s face was full of bitterness.

Jia Zheng was utterly helpless. What’s more, aside from himself, his own wife didn’t stand on his side either, thinking he was too severe.

He looked at Baoyu nestled in his mother’s embrace and left in disappointment. Like this, when he reached his teens, could he pass the xiucai examination like his elder brother?

Beyond disappointment, Jia Zheng saw Jia Huan swaying his head while reciting texts.

Concubine Zhao knew what words would please Jia Zheng: “Huan’er loves reading, unlike his second brother. He most hopes to achieve high honors like his eldest brother in the future.”

Jia Zheng was indeed very satisfied with his eldest son’s scholarly abilities and held Baoyu to the same standard. He wasn’t as invested in this concubine-born son, but still hoped he could study well. Hearing this, he nodded with satisfaction, then tested him with a few questions. Finding that Jia Huan could answer, he even had people send him the four treasures of the study.

His answers weren’t particularly good, but this attitude was worthy of recognition.

When Second Lady Wang learned of this, her face immediately twisted.

That lowly slave Concubine Zhao!

Actually stepping on Baoyu to elevate Jia Huan!

How could he compare to Baoyu?

She vented thoroughly in her own courtyard, then found an opportunity to punish Concubine Zhao to stand at the doorway holding up the door curtain, while Jia Huan knelt in the small Buddhist hall copying scriptures to pray for her blessings.

When Tan Chun learned of this, she nearly cried.

She had already said not to compare with Baoyu, that her younger brother should just quietly receive his education. But the concubine just wouldn’t listen!

Tan Chun, away from others, had a good cry.

——

Even if the Jia family was unhappy, they still had to go.

The Jia family didn’t want to break ties with the Lin family yet.

Not only did they have to go, they had to prepare gifts.

Grandmother Jia originally didn’t want to go, but Old Lady Lin sent invitation after invitation, and she had no choice but to agree.

Honestly speaking, Old Lady Lin had some suspicions about the Jia family, but not many.

This was because in the dream world she had seen too much of the Jia family and understood them too well.

If the Jia family had this capability, they wouldn’t have ended up in such a desolate state.

To say that those untouchable families were moving against the Lin family – they had this capability, but no sufficient reason.

When had the Lin family offended them?

Moreover, making moves against a child – these methods were too despicable.

When the day came, the masters of Rongguo Mansion could be said to have come out in full force.

From Grandmother Jia and Jia She at the top, down to the Three Springs, Baoyu, Jia Huan and others.

Those who didn’t go: one was Jia Zheng.

He couldn’t get past that barrier in his heart.

The other was Wang Xifeng.

Her pregnancy was still in early months and not suitable for going out.

Old Lady Lin had people put their hearts into the menu, serving fine wine and excellent dishes. They hosted the banquet in the garden, using flower walls to separate men and women.

On this day heaven also cooperated with beautiful weather.

If you didn’t know the situation, at first glance it looked harmonious and joyful.

On the men’s side, Master Lin kept company, mainly talking with Jia She about antiques.

On the women’s side, naturally Old Lady Lin was the host, going one-on-one with Grandmother Jia in verbal sparring.

Facing Old Lady Lin’s boastful words, Grandmother Jia smiled until the corners of her mouth grew stiff.

Yet she still had to patiently listen to her continue.

Jia Lian and Chen Yu sat together. Chen Yu naturally wouldn’t be so tactless as to discuss poetry and literature, but rather talked about various experiences.

Jia Lian hadn’t been to as many places as Chen Yu, but when it came to understanding novel items in the capital, Jia Lian definitely knew more clearly.

Yun Shuyao also went to test Jia Baoyu. The spirit mirror was still the same as before, with no reaction.

And Jia Baoyu was just like before, always wanting to leave the men’s table to approach Daiyu at the women’s side.

With so many elders present, there really didn’t need to be such strict separation between men and women. If he really came over to talk with Lin Daiyu for a while, it wouldn’t be disallowed, but the old lady just didn’t want to let him have his way.

Before the banquet began, she gave countless instructions for her grandson to strictly confine him to the men’s table.

Jia Lian didn’t notice at first, but later, unless he was blind, he could see that Baoyu wanted to go over and be with his sisters and Daiyu. But every time he wanted to leave, his cousin would pull him into conversation. Baoyu couldn’t be so rude as to just walk away directly, and besides, what his cousin talked about was indeed interesting. Back and forth, originally Baoyu had been strongly thinking about finding the women’s side, but later gradually became absorbed, his bottom sitting quite firmly.

Jia Lian found it amusing – indeed still a child, his attention so easily diverted.

When the banquet ended and he discovered he was about to leave but had only seen Sister Lin’s figure from afar, Jia Baoyu was dumbfounded: “…”

What had he done today?

He still had so much he wanted to say to Sister Lin!

When leaving, aside from the Three Springs and Jia She, the others weren’t feeling so good.

Grandmother Jia and Second Lady Wang listening to those boastful words – it would be strange if they were happy.

Lady Xing didn’t think there was anything wrong with Old Lady Lin’s words, but before leaving she had been called over and scolded not to speak carelessly. Naturally she wasn’t pleased upon arriving at the Lin household either.

Jia Lian looked at his young cousin with mixed feelings. Baoyu regretted not seeing Sister Lin.

Through today’s conversation, Brother Lin was indeed a person of elegant bearing, but it was a pity he was single-mindedly focused on scholarly honors, falling into vulgarity.

——

After the Jia family left, the old lady frowned. The results of her probing were in – Grandmother Jia knew nothing about what her grandson encountered on the road. Given the Jia household’s situation, others might not know, but Grandmother Jia would definitely know.

It seemed it wasn’t the Jia household.

Having ruled out one suspect, the old lady wasn’t at all happy. Facing an unknown enemy wasn’t as good as getting a direct answer so she could prepare countermeasures early.

Yun Shuyao also gained nothing and sighed with regret.

Several days later, the old lady secured an appointment with the abbot of Huguo Temple and took Chen Yu and Daiyu there.

The abbot of Huguo Temple wasn’t someone ordinary people could meet. The old lady had paid a certain price to obtain this opportunity.

Yun Shuyao didn’t want to go.

If the other party had no real ability, her going would be useless.

If the other party did have real ability and saw she wasn’t the original owner, wouldn’t that add unnecessary troubles?

Moreover, if there was any problem with Chen Yu, given the old lady’s devotion to him, she couldn’t possibly stand by and do nothing.

So Yun Shuyao peacefully stayed home waiting for the results.

The abbot said there was nothing improper on Chen Yu, nor any tampering by evil cultivators. In the end, the old lady only obtained protective amulets for him and Daiyu.

After receiving them, she hung them around their necks and told them not to remove them at any time except when bathing. Chen Yu and Daiyu both obediently agreed.

Yun Shuyao looked carefully. This protective amulet… indeed had energy she didn’t understand attached to it.

Though faint, it truly existed.

This lifted Yun Shuyao’s spirits.

What this represented was too much.

Of course she had also studied Buddhist and Taoist scriptures before, attempting to see if she could gain some cultivation methods. Unfortunately, she had gained nothing.

Now she could study it carefully.

——

Before long, the old lady saw information sent up by her subordinates. Her eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch.

She had people conduct an investigation of household members as well. Others were fine, but the Mei family – were they tired of living to actually become entangled with the Ninth Prince’s people?

The old lady continued reading, her eyebrows relaxing slightly.

Fortunately, currently the Mei family had only become entangled with the Ninth Prince’s followers.

Speaking of it, the Mei family’s foundation in the capital was ultimately shallow. They didn’t yet have the qualifications to be noticed by the Ninth Prince himself.

So up to now, only the Mei family’s granddaughter had been sent to a follower of the Ninth Prince’s household as a concubine, with no further developments.

But the Mei family had once inquired about the situation in the palace. The old lady suddenly thought of her eldest granddaughter in the palace. Could the Mei family be so audacious as to plot against her eldest granddaughter?

She carefully thought through her arrangements and confirmed she hadn’t told her granddaughters about all the arrangements, much less the concubine.

Even if the Mei family had some scheme, they had no shortcuts to take.

As for the imperial palace compound, even she couldn’t insert her hand there, much less mere merchants.

But keeping them around – ruining things was ultimately easier than accomplishing things.

Too greedy.

The old lady looked coldly into the distance. Latching onto the Lin family wasn’t enough – they wanted to ascend to heaven in one step?

Without considering whether their footing was solid. Did Concubine Mei know about this matter?

After a while, Concubine Mei hurried to the old lady’s courtyard. When she came out, she was stumbling with a pale face, supported by maids.

Before long, news came that the Mei family’s business had problems. The Mei family head hastily took people back to Xingtai Prefecture, their hometown base, to handle the sudden crisis.

Because the silver shortfall they faced was too large, if handled poorly, the reputation they had worked hard to build over the years and the trade routes they had expanded would regress more than ten years.

So the foundation they had originally planned to establish to gain a foothold in the capital was also transferred out. Fortunately, properties in the capital were not hard to sell if suitable. It was just inevitable that because of the urgency, prices were suppressed considerably. But ultimately they could still return home with silver, which wasn’t bad.

When Yun Shuyao learned of this, her hand that was pruning excess branches paused.

The old lady’s actions were still so decisive.

The Mei family’s hands had indeed reached where they shouldn’t have.

To do business, do it honestly. As long as they didn’t cross the line, with Lin Ruhai’s position, sheltering them was sufficient.

But the princes’ affairs – was this something merchants could presume to involve themselves in?

One misstep and they would be shattered to pieces.

The old lady was deeply secretive about the princes’ succession struggle, not planning to support any prince. Once she knew the Mei family was involved with princes, she wouldn’t sit by and do nothing.

So now the Mei family had problems.

But this also reflected from the side just how high the status of scholars was among the four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

Lin Ruhai hadn’t even acted – the old lady only sent out one letter, and the Mei family’s business suffered heavy damage. If the old lady wished to bankrupt the Mei family and have them devoured, it wouldn’t be difficult.

So to live well and as freely as possible in this era, status was a threshold that needed to be raised as high as possible.

At this time, the two sisters in the imperial palace didn’t know everything that had happened to their younger brother, nor did they know what had occurred with the Mei family.

Once entering the palace, it was very difficult to transmit messages from outside, and correspondingly, their messages were also hard to get out.

Entering the palace for selection didn’t mean knowing the results immediately. First they had to learn etiquette from the palace matrons, then there would be a preliminary selection. Those who didn’t pass the preliminary selection would leave the palace. Those who passed entered the second round. Those who passed the second round would wait for results.

There were several types of results.

The first was being directly selected into the imperial palace to become the Emperor’s woman, or entering a prince’s mansion or other royal residences. Depending on family background, status, and appearance, some would become principal wives, some would become secondary consorts.

Generally speaking, the Emperor would arrange marriages mostly for the Aisin Gioro family, as well as marriage-allied families, or trusted ministers. The Emperor didn’t have the leisure to arrange marriages for ordinary families.

The second type was having one’s name removed to return home for self-arranged marriage. This was also the old lady’s goal.

The third type was possibly because of young age or other reasons, one’s name would be retained. Some unlucky ones would be forgotten by the next selection, which was terrible.

With one’s name retained, without instructions one couldn’t make self-arrangements.

If luck was bad and one was never remembered, being dragged into advanced age and missing one’s prime – this wasn’t unheard of either.

As long as one was a Banner person, one had to participate in the selection.

There were daughters of high officials and nobility, as well as daughters of ordinary common people.

In this preliminary selection, most of those screened out were daughters of commoner families. They hadn’t learned etiquette before and might not even be literate. Although palace matrons would teach them etiquette after entering the palace, those who could quickly adapt and perform excellently were not many.

For daughters of titled families and high officials, these palace maids and matrons wouldn’t make things too difficult unless there was a conflict of interest. Otherwise they wouldn’t eliminate them at the first stage, as that would be equivalent to saying that family’s daughter was poorly raised, which was very offensive.

When the two sisters entered the palace, their appearance wasn’t much different from before entering – both were carefully designed.

This naturally couldn’t be called deception. They just subdued their features a bit, then worked from hairstyle, hair ornaments, and clothing to make them stand out, yet not too much.

Especially among the crowd of carefully dressed selection candidates, with their Han Banner position, they weren’t in the front row, nor at the very back.

The reason the old lady wanted their names removed was because if they were assigned marriages, it would be very difficult for them to be designated as principal wives.

If things went badly, they would enter the palace. Not to mention whether the granddaughters had the wits to survive well in that place, the imperial palace compound – to speak disrespectfully, the Emperor was naturally noble, but this couldn’t conceal the fact that His Majesty was no longer young.

The granddaughters were Han Banners and concubine-born. If they were designated as principal wives, basically it would only be to some idle clan members with low titles.

Most of them had no real ability, living off ancestral wealth and stipend silver.

Not to say there were no good ones, but the probability of lucking into a good family this way was too low. Moreover, they mostly also tended to marry women from Manchu Banners as principal wives.

As for negotiating beforehand with certain clan members who might be assigned marriages… without sufficiently solid connections, that was contempt for imperial authority, contempt for ancestral laws. The Emperor hadn’t selected anyone yet, and you dare privately arrange marriages?

So the old lady wanted to have her granddaughters’ names removed for self-arranged marriages.

She had discussed these thoughts openly with Ying Yu and Luo Yu.

Otherwise, if she arranged things painstakingly on this end while her two granddaughters had “great ambitions,” what could be done?

Fortunately, both sisters had no objections. After entering the palace, they obediently played wooden figures.

Moreover, they were sisters and when lodgings were assigned, they were placed in the same room. The two sisters could look after each other.

At first everything went smoothly.

They had silver to grease palms, no one made difficulties, learning etiquette posed no problems, they even received some special care and smoothly passed the preliminary selection.

But after entering the second round, before that stage was passed, one after another selection candidates were summoned by high-ranking palace ladies for conversation.

Those who could be summoned were either the lady’s clanswomen or had extraordinary family backgrounds.

Ying Yu and Luo Yu were neither, yet they too were summoned.

The one who summoned them was one of the Four Consorts – Noble Consort De.