Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 604: Treat others with their own medicine.

When the current emperor is in power, all the civil and military officials in the court are hoping that the prince, who seems to be elegant, humble, wise and virtuous, will seize the throne from his father so that they can get rid of the "mean and ungrateful" emperor who is always looking for new policies and reforms.

But no one expected that the prince who was once courteous to others would become even more radical than his father after becoming regent.

The civil and military officials in the court finally realized that the emperor was often "unwell" and would throw the government affairs to the prince. It turned out that it was all a routine.

"I guess the ministers in the court should have understood by now that His Majesty is letting the Crown Prince govern the country and letting him do whatever he wants. This is not just to train the crown prince. If there is an omission in a certain measure of the new policy, His Majesty can stand up and say that the Crown Prince is young and ignorant, and please bear with him... After all, he is still a child~"

In the eyes of these old men in the court, isn't the crown prince, who is in his early twenties, just an ignorant child?

Daiyu covered her mouth and laughed. While Jia Cong was expressing his opinion, he was turning the roasted sweet potatoes in the stove to make them roast as evenly as possible.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, at the Lin family of Changzhou Marquis Mansion, Lin Ruhai was enjoying a rare leisure moment, discussing with his daughter and son-in-law what had happened at yesterday's court meeting.

Occasionally, the sound of firecrackers could be heard outside the house, and before I knew it, it was already the 16th year of Yuanyou.

The beating from my second uncle at the grand court meeting yesterday brought the contradiction between the reformists and conservatives to the surface.

The arrow that was originally intended to be shot at the reformists was dizzy after being beaten, and eventually became the fuse that the prince ignited on the first day of the new year.

"The Crown Prince's methods are indeed a little immature, but it is just right. It makes it difficult for those in the court who oppose the new law to speak out. If you provoke the younger ones, the older ones will come back. Compared to the Crown Prince, Your Majesty is merciless when it comes to killing people."

Jia Cong's hands trembled slightly as he turned the roasted sweet potatoes. He wanted to say something but finally held back.

Wow, Fourth Brother hid it so well that he even kept it from Prime Minister Lin.

In fact, although the emperor was accused of being mean, ungrateful and moody, he rarely took ruthless actions, after all, he had to consider the overall situation.

On the contrary, the seemingly gentle prince is a fool. As long as you break the law, you will be beheaded and your property will be confiscated without any mercy. He doesn't even understand the overall situation.

Thinking back, the old saint had told his grandson about this matter countless times, but he just couldn't persuade the crown prince who was full of justice.

The ministers could not see this because the emperor had always been taking the blame for the crown prince.

"You should take care of Baoyu. Lang'er is still young, and my second uncle Baoyu is the only one who has grown up. We can't let the second branch of the family have a lack of successors. His stories are well written. I think they can be made into a play script and sung everywhere..."

Lin Ruhai has now figured out the true essence of public opinion warfare, which is to go down to the grassroots level, narrow the distance with the people, and pull the people to his side.

Shilin?

The world belongs to all people in the world.

The era when the emperor and the gentry, or the emperor and the literati shared the world, is gone forever.

Jia Cong dug out the roasted sweet potatoes and began to peel them with a hissing sound. His mouth was not idle either, as he started to flatter his father-in-law.

"Good idea. Ordinary people may not be able to understand the description in words. If we change it into a play script and make it into a play to tour around the country, everyone from eighty-year-old women to three-year-old children will be our potential fans!"

……

The conflict at the grand court meeting had a great impact on Baoyu.

Master Zheng raised his fist to teach Li Chunqiu and others a lesson, which directly ignited the war between the conservatives and the Rongguo Mansion.

Compared to Mr. Zheng's calmness, Baoyu is not calm enough.

During the New Year's Day, the servant Mingyan had been squatting outside the mansion, asking around for news about Master Bao.

There are many tabloids in the capital spreading gossip about Baoyu. They use all kinds of stories, including Baoyu's "absurd past" from his early years, as if Baoyu is an unforgivable criminal, and they wish they could eat his flesh alive, drink his blood, pull out his tendons, grind his bones and scatter his ashes...

Baoyu was still a young man after all. When he learned that someone had made up all kinds of absurd stories based on him, he could no longer sit still.

"What is Brother Bao going to do with the knife?"

As soon as Jia Cong entered the room, he saw Baoyu holding a ceremonial sword and rushing out of the door with murderous intent, followed by maids carrying feather dusters, brooms, scissors, awls and other things.

"Oh, are you taking the women's army to fight?"

Wow wow wow wow ~
With a creak, Xiangyun stood at the door of the room holding the child, and helplessly explained to Jia Cong: "Someone used Brother Ai's identity to compile a picture book, and the content is disgusting. Brother Ai is so angry that he wants to find someone to argue with him. I can't stop him, so I hurried to find you."

Compared with Baoyu's love-obsessed character, the seemingly carefree Xiangyun is actually an extremely calm and rational person.

Jia Cong suppressed his laughter, snatched the ceremonial sword from Baoyu's hand, and waved to the group of female soldiers: "Go away quickly, it's New Year's Day, why are you making such a fool of yourself!"

"Brother Cong, you won't help me either?"

Baoyu almost cried like his son, aggrieved like a child: "They...they...they made up those things. If they were just scolding me, it would be fine. But they are talking about my sisters at home. How can I bear it?"

Jia Cong stepped forward, put his arm around Baoyu's shoulders, and dragged him into the house.

"If they can make up stories, why can't we? If you try to 'reason' with them with a knife, you'll only give them something to hold against you. Why do you think they would risk being beaten up by us to make up these stories? They want to irritate us, and hopefully irritate you and me so that we can bring people to our door. In this way, we will no longer be in the right."

These words were not meant to appease Baoyu. At least this was Jia Cong's first reaction after hearing this.

In the war of public opinion, the thing we fear least is the use of force.

In this bloodless war, whoever strikes first has already lost half the battle.

Jia Cong showed a slight disdain on his face. When it comes to making up stories, with Jia Cong's brainstorming and Master Yihong's pen, even if those people join forces, they will not be a match for the two brothers.

"Brother Bao, I have an idea. How about you listen to it first..."

"Hmm? Script? What script?"

"Yeah, that's right, that's it... it would be better if it could be written more tragically..."

"Brother Cong, it's a little unreasonable to write like this. Look, a gambling-addicted father, a sick mother, an incompetent brother, uh... a broken girl... This is too... too exaggerated."

"Don't worry about this. The more you watch it, the more people will watch it. You have to believe in the charm of this drama that combines family ethics, love, officialdom, domineering... princes, and heroines... Yes, yes, I have to add some sad and beautiful words to describe it here..."

"I'll write, I'll write! Brother Cong, can you please not be so excited? I'm scared!"

"Don't worry, we two brothers will work overtime today and finish writing it before dark. I'll have people rehearse the play, and it would be best if it can be performed at the Grand Baoen Temple Fair in three days!"

"Ah? It's a play?"

Baoyu was so startled that he almost dropped his pen. He didn't even notice Xiangyun, who was completely immersed in the story and kept wiping away tears.

Jia Cong pointed to the side, and Baoyu saw his wife whose handkerchief was completely soaked with tears.

Jia Cong smiled slightly, "See? The stories we made up are much better than those people's crude tricks. After we make them into a play and perform them a few times, who among the common people will watch their crap... Come on, keep writing. Where do you think we can add some scenes of the heroine resisting the shackles of ethics? Do you want to write a scene where the heroine escapes from her marriage?"

……

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the Da Baoen Temple became a place of entertainment for many people in the capital.

The new policies of the imperial court in recent years have given the people more spare money, and the sky is clear, the sunshine has dispelled the severe cold, and there are countless carriages and horses gathered on the official road to the Da Baoen Temple.

Baoyu had a pair of dark circles under his eyes and was leaning against the carriage, drowsy.

"Brother Cong, you are too cruel. You have to force your beloved brother to stay up late during the New Year."

Xiangyun was full of resentment about this matter. She had originally thought of rewarding her beloved brother during the New Year, but she didn't expect that Jia Cong would drag Baoyu to his study every day, muttering to himself to make up stories and write scripts, and he had to endure it from the third day to the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.

"Look at the dark circles under his eyes..."

Jia Cong yawned and pointed at his eyes speechlessly: "Oh my precious second wife, do you want to look at your brother? I have it too!"

puff~
Daiyu, who was in the same carriage, couldn't help laughing out loud. She stuffed the hand warmer into Jia Cong's hand, pulled his head and let him lean on her shoulder.

"My dear second wife, please don't be angry with Cong. We are in a hurry. Today's performance is too important. The grand court meeting after the Lantern Festival is the first battle. Whether we can catch the opponent off guard depends on today."

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

"My family has a grandma who favors boys over girls, a father who is addicted to gambling, a sick mother, and an incompetent brother..."

"Poor Huan'er, I have to go out to earn money to support my family since I was seven years old..."

Before the carriage reached the foot of the mountain, the sounds of gongs and drums and the singing of operas could already be heard.

Although it is a simple sound amplification equipment, the effect is still very good.

Jia Cong and his three companions only watched a short section from across the crowd, but they could already tell that the performance was extremely good.

There were many young men in the audience who were compassionate to women and full of a strong sense of justice. When the patriarchal grandmother beat and scolded the heroine, he almost threw the pancake rolled with scallions in his hand at the actor's face.

Baoyu, who was originally drowsy, covered his face and fled back to the carriage, urging the driver to flee quickly...

Because when the protagonist was tortured for the eighteenth time, some people had turned from scolding the villain to scolding the screenwriter, and they wanted to go to Rongguo Mansion to capture the Master Yihong, whip him and force him to change the script.

When the four of them "escaped" into the monastery of the Great Baoen Temple, Baoyu was terrified and said, "Oh my God, what kind of story did I write?"

Jia Cong laughed out loud and winked at Baoyu: "Second Brother Bao, do you understand the charm of abusive stories now? This is what I told you, when all picture books are telling happy and perfect stories, the more abusive the story is, the more attractive it is. Besides, we write these plays to expose the oppression and confinement of the people under the current strict ethics. Compared with men, the more miserable the women in Second Brother Bao's works are, the more they can move people's hearts..."

The stories of bloody battlefields and talented men and beautiful women have become very popular. The new play "Ghost Marriage" written by Baoyu became famous at the Da Baoen Temple Fair and completely opened the eyes of the people in the capital.

This new play combines multiple elements such as tragic love, family ethics, ghost suspense, etc. It was performed for two full days at the Da Baoen Temple Fair. Tickets were not required and it was a public charity performance.

Written by Yihong Gongzi, the most famous writer in the capital, and performed by the Zhongshun Palace Opera Troupe led by Qi Guan, the most famous actor in the capital, how attractive is it?
After Jia Cong and his three companions burned incense at the Da Baoen Temple and climbed up to enjoy the leisurely time, the capital was already brewing a major war after the beginning of the year.

……

On the night of the Lantern Festival, the palace held a banquet as usual for all the ministers and the wives of officials and noble ladies.

As the old lady had been unwell these days and Daiyu had to stay to look after Qilin, Jia Cong asked for leave from the palace and stayed in the mansion.

Mr. Zheng, his nephew Jia Lian and his son Baoyu went to the palace to attend a banquet on behalf of the Rongguo Mansion. As luck would have it, they met several great Neo-Confucian scholars on the way.

For example, Gu Shuning, the leader of the Southern School of Zhu Xi and the president of Quanzhou Academy who had just arrived in Beijing from Fujian, stopped in front of the carriage when he saw the Rongguo Mansion logo on it.

Master Zheng is a person who respects the elderly and loves the young. What's more, the other party is a well-known Confucian scholar and a master-level figure. He does not want to have any conflict with him before the palace banquet.

So he got off the carriage and greeted him with the courtesy of a junior.

"Mr. Gu, I wonder why you stopped my carriage?"

"Jia Zheng, Jia Cunzhou, do you still remember your identity as a Confucian disciple?"

Gu Shuning's tone was very aggressive, and Jia Lian's hands were on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

Master Zheng didn't care, but bowed again, showing his gentleness and elegance.

"Of course I remember! Since I was a child, I have always strictly followed the etiquette of the saints and learned the way of the saints, and I have never slacked off for a single day."

snort!
After listening to Jia Zheng's answer, Gu Shuning snorted coldly, nodded, and suddenly raised his hand to point at Baoyu on the right hand side of Master Zheng: "Since you are my Confucian disciple, why does your son repeatedly destroy the foundation of my holy way, constantly slander my Neo-Confucian disciples, and ruin the future of my Neo-Confucianism?"

Not to mention, the great Confucian master, the leader of a school, even though he looked very old, still had a very strong pressure, which made Baoyu feel like he was seeing the big stick in his father's hand...

Just as Master Zheng frowned and was about to refute, he heard the creaking sound of a carriage behind him.

"Old man Gu is so arrogant. Your philosophy is just a splendid exterior, but it is actually rotten inside. You know better than me how many swindlers there are. Wei Wenzheng is gone, do you think you, Gu Shuning, are good again? You dare to come to the capital to act wild and show off your power. Do you really think I don't exist?"

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　I’ll stop here tonight and continue tomorrow. Good night!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)