Chapter 15: Displaced Anger

If he could, Jia Zhen really wanted to find an excuse to leave with Uncle Zheng.

His mother hadn't given Uncle Zheng any face at all today, clearly showing that yesterday's matter was far from over.

He had let Lai Sheng’s wife off lightly...

Jia Zhen’s legs felt a bit shaky.

It wasn't that his mother didn't resort to violence; when she truly lost her temper, even his father had to yield.

What to do?

"Mother!"

Jia Zhen didn't dare run, fearing that doing so would only make her angrier.

Thinking of the danger yesterday, he rubbed his face, walked in with a grin, and personally served Shen Ning a cup of tea. "You are the best."

Jia Zhen gave a thumbs-up. "Uncle Zheng was truly frightened by you today."

"...Don't give me that cheeky smile." Shen Ning waved at Qingzhu and the others, signaling for them to leave. "I ask you, why does your Uncle Zheng refuse to let Jiao Da enter the school?"

Huh?

Wasn't that obvious?

The Jia family abandoning the military for the literary path was a route set for them by their ancestors long ago.

Jia Zhen stared with somewhat dull eyes, but in the end, he didn't dare say it out loud.

When he was younger, his mother would test his studies, but later she stopped caring much. That was because his maternal grandfather had said that since his father had successfully transitioned to the literary path and served beside the Crown Prince, it was enough for him to simply be a conventional heir to the Ningguo Mansion.

Anything more would be greed, and greed was a path to destruction.

Now...

Jia Zhen felt his mother was testing him again. "Because... because of our agreement with the Wang family?"

To put the one above at ease, the Jia family could not openly remain in the military.

But in secret, they had already propped up Wang Ziteng; in a few years, Wang Ziteng would surely reach the position his grandfather once held.

He tentatively asked, "Did Second Aunt come over because of this too?!"

"You aren't completely hopeless."

Hearing his mother-in-law’s sigh, Lady You deeply regretted not leaving with the others just now.

In matters of such great family importance, the less one knew, the safer one was.

Shen Ning ignored her and said softly, "Zhen'er, ask yourself: if you were Wang Ziteng, having tasted the power your grandfather once held, would you still be willing to return it to your superiors?"

Jia Zhen: "..."

He fell silent.

He wanted to say that their family still had the Second Aunt from the West Mansion.

Moreover, Wang Ziteng had no sons.

His brother, Wang Zisheng, did have a son, Wang Ren, but he was spoiled rotten. Even if Wang Ziteng wanted to support him, it would be impossible to make anything of him.

And compared to that Wang Ren, weren't his own sister's sons, Jia Zhu and Baoyu, more worthy of investment?

As his thoughts raced, Jia Zhen sighed. "Mother, aren't you and Second Aunt being too sensitive?"

Women always overthought things.

"Our mansion guards can still be sent into the military, can't they?"

"Mansion guards?"

Shen Ning was almost amused to the point of laughter. "Can mansion guards be compared to the sons of the Jia family?"

At most, mansion guards could rely on the Jia family to reach the seventh rank; the rest depended on their own luck. But as long as the Jia family's own sons had the martial skills of the guards, relying on the connections left behind in the military, they would at least start as sixth-rank officials with real power.

"Don't tell me you don't understand the ins and outs of this."

Jia Zhen: "..."

He knew, but the problem was that the Jia family wouldn't send their own sons into the military!

Sigh!

That Second Aunt was really something—didn't she know his mother had been in a foul mood these past few days?

Why did she have to come and provoke her?

"Things in this world... accidents are everywhere."

Shen Ning sighed. "Just like back then, who could have known that Prince Yizhong would fall from grace?"

This?

Jia Zhen’s brows furrowed.

Seeing his expression, Shen Ning knew he couldn't be persuaded for the moment and couldn't help but rub her temples. "Forget it, I won't concern myself with outside matters. I only ask you: why did you handle Lai Sheng’s wife so leniently? In your heart, are your mother and your younger siblings not even worth as much as a Lai Sheng?"

"Mother!"

Jia Zhen was shocked.

How could they be compared?

"You are truly wronging your son."

He said urgently, "He is just a servant; if he needs a beating, he gets one. A hundred or a thousand of them aren't worth comparing to our own family. Your son just thought that the Lai family has been loyal for generations. Even though Lai Sheng’s wife was in the wrong, out of respect for his ancestors, I thought banishing her was enough."

Catching the look on Shen Ning’s face, Jia Zhen hurriedly added, "If you feel your son didn't do well, I will have her tied up right now."

What was the big deal?

If it really came to it, he could secretly give the Lai family some compensation later.

Jia Zhen had plenty of private funds and didn't really care, so he shouted outside on the spot: "Come..."

"Shut up!"

Shen Ning cut him off. "Come for what?"

"Hehe!"

Feeling that his mother wasn't going to hit him, Jia Zhen smiled ingratiatingly. "Mother, I knew you wouldn't really beat her. Don't worry, I will definitely have a good talk with Lai Sheng and tell him to keep his wife in line."

"...You are certainly loyal and righteous."

"Your son was taught by you."

Jia Zhen fawned over his mother. "Lai Sheng has followed me since he was a child and took many beatings from my father. Back then, you told me to treat Lai Sheng well. Now that his wife has made a mistake, I can't just disregard all past feelings and strike them down completely."

Speaking of this, he sighed. "The Lai family's main branch, like our own, has never been blessed with many children. It’s rare that this woman has given birth to three sons for Lai Sheng. If not for the monk, one must respect the Buddha; that is why your son spared her the beating."

"It seems you think you did nothing wrong?"

Shen Ning’s voice was cold, and her gaze was icy.

This?

Looking at his mother’s unyielding face, Jia Zhen sought help from Lady You with a glance, but she was looking down as if studying the patterns on her mother-in-law’s clothes. He had no choice but to bite the bullet. "Mother, your son still says the same thing: if you feel your son is wrong, I will have her tied up right now."

A beating could be given.

But to have Lai Sheng implicated like other offending family members and have the whole family driven off to the farms...

Jia Zhen really couldn't bring himself to say it.

After all, he was a meritorious steward with ancestral ties; how could he be compared to an ordinary servant?

"There is no need to tie her up."

Shen Ning sighed inwardly. "Do you think the Lai family is truly loyal?"

Weren't they?

Jia Zhen frowned slightly. "Mother, do you think the Lai family is no longer loyal?"

"The Lai family was likely very loyal in the past."

Shen Ning leaned back in her chair. "But now, that is not necessarily the case."

She looked at her grown son. "The stewardship of the Lai family has been passed down. Your great-grandfather had Lai family members by his side, your grandfather had them by his side, and your father and you are the same—the Lai family members have followed you since childhood, and could be called your right-hand men. But, does Rong-ge'er have any Lai family members by his side?"

Jia Zhen: "..."

He couldn't find a rebuttal for a moment.

But when the Lai family asked for a favor back then, he had told his mother about it.

"In the past, the Lai family didn't have many children, so they stayed by their masters' sides. Now they have three grown sons, yet they are unwilling to let even one follow Rong-ge'er. Is Rong-ge'er not worthy?"

This was taking out her anger on others!

Jia Zhen sighed in his heart, seriously suspecting that his mother wanted to hit him but couldn't bear to, so she was taking it out on the people around him.

"Mother!" He could only coax her. "Which family doesn't want the best for their children? How many generations has the Lai family been with the Jia family? Now that he wants to ask for a favor, just give it to him. It’s not like Rong-ge'er has no one around him."