Chapter 14: Dream of the Red Chamber 12

The Fourth Prince, also worried that the talent he had taken a liking to might be snatched away, mobilized his palace informants to have them mention Jia Daishan and Jia Hu in front of the Old Emperor.

The Old Emperor indeed took interest in the matter of forming a marriage alliance with Jia Daishan, and subsequently began sifting through his granddaughters.

At the opportune moment, those around him brought up the Fourth Prince's legitimate daughter.

Among all the granddaughters, the Fourth Prince's legitimate daughter held the highest status and was of the most suitable age. The other granddaughters were either concubine-born or far too old.

Thus, the Old Emperor summoned Jia Daishan and settled the marriage between Jia Hu and the Fourth Prince's legitimate daughter.

Before long, the imperial decree arrived at the Rongguo Mansion.

Aside from Lady Wang, everyone in the Jia family was overjoyed. Other families, upon learning that Jia Hu had been claimed by the Emperor, could only lament their loss.

Upon learning that Jia Hu's marriage was settled, Mother Liu could not sit still; she began thinking of ways to help Liu柊 find a match.

Liu柊 was now a *juren*, so his status was already quite respectable. With the backing of the Duke of Liguo's residence, the pool of eligible women would not be small. The plan was to begin looking now, and wait until Liu柊 passed the imperial examinations as a *jinshi* before finalizing the engagement and marriage.

As soon as Mother Liu took action, many matchmakers soon came knocking at her door.

As Jia Hu's best friend, Liu柊 was also a popular candidate for a son-in-law. However, because Liu柊 belonged to a branch of the Duke of Liguo's family that had been partitioned off, those who would choose him as a son-in-law were limited to families of sixth or seventh-rank officials and the collateral branches of ducal or marquisate houses.

Mother Liu understood that given their family's status, they could not marry a daughter of excessively high rank. She focused her efforts on selecting from these candidates, determined to find a daughter-in-law who possessed all the necessary virtues and qualities.

Jia Hu approached Liu柊: "Is your mother helping you pick a wife?"

Liu柊 replied: "Now that you are engaged, my mother can't sit still either."

Jia Hu asked: "What do you think of my eldest cousin?"

Jia Yuanchun?!

Liu柊 was astonished. Was the Jia family planning to marry Jia Yuanchun to him?

Liu柊 asked: "Do your second uncle and aunt agree?"

Jia Hu chuckled: "My second aunt certainly wouldn't want this, but the Rongguo Mansion is governed by Grandfather. Moreover, my second uncle is very willing to have you as his son-in-law."

Jia Zheng prided himself on being a scholar and thus favored scholars. In this life, although Jia Daishan had not died early, he had still secured an official post for Jia Zheng based on the merit of saving the Emperor. However, it was not in the Ministry of Works, but in the Ministry of Rites. Following official regulations, Jia Zheng was not idle as he had been in the Ministry of Works. With Jia Daishan around, no one dared to make things difficult for him, and over the dozen or so years, he had risen two ranks.

Jia Zheng lamented that despite studying for over ten years, he could not participate in the imperial examinations—he lacked a proper understanding of his own academic abilities. Consequently, he placed great importance on those with official academic titles and kept several *juren* as guest scholars. The Rongguo Mansion was wealthy enough to support guest scholars, so even Jia Daishan did not interfere with him.

Now, with a young talent who was certain to pass the *jinshi* examinations set to become his son-in-law, Jia Zheng was overjoyed. As soon as Jia Daishan brought it up, Jia Zheng was the first to nod in agreement.

Lady Jia (the first wife) and Lady Wang were both unwilling. Although they were suppressed by Jia Daishan and could not send Jia Yuanchun into the palace to seek wealth and power, both harbored the desire to marry her into a high-ranking family. Lady Jia had made a private arrangement with the Princess of Dong'an, hoping to marry Jia Yuanchun as a successor wife to the Heir Apparent of the Prince of Dong'an. However, because the current Heir Apparent's wife was gravely ill but still alive, the matter had not been brought into the open.

Lady Wang strongly supported Lady Jia's decision, single-mindedly wishing for her daughter to become the Heir Apparent's wife and eventually a Princess. She harbored resentment toward Jia Daishan, believing that with Jia Yuanchun's destiny, if she entered the palace, she would undoubtedly become an Imperial Consort, and perhaps even an Empress Dowager in the future. After all, she was born on New Year's Day. That was a phoenix destiny. But she failed to consider that many girls were born on New Year's Day—did they all possess phoenix destinies?

Regardless of how unwilling Lady Jia and Lady Wang were, Jia Daishan held the authority in the Rongguo Mansion, and Jia Zheng, her biological father, also agreed. Thus, the marriage between Liu柊 and Jia Yuanchun was settled.

When Mother Liu heard the Jia family's intentions from Liu柊, she was beyond delighted. She had never imagined she could marry a legitimate daughter of a Ducal house as a daughter-in-law. Although she was only the legitimate daughter of the second branch, she was still the biological granddaughter of the Duke! This status was far higher than any of the girls she had been scouting. Furthermore, with a cousin like Jia Hu, Jia Yuanchun's background must be excellent as well.

Mother Liu immediately found a matchmaker to propose to the Duke's residence. Since it was originally Jia Daishan's intention, the Rongguo Mansion did not make things difficult for the matchmaker, and the two families quickly exchanged calling cards. Following this were the formal steps of engagement: the proposal, the inquiry of names, and the formal betrothal...

The wedding date was set for after Liu柊 passed the *jinshi* examinations.

Afterward, Liu柊 and Jia Hu declined many social banquets, using the excuse that they needed to focus on their studies for the metropolitan examinations. The two of them were waiting for the examinations two years later, but they never expected the world to change so rapidly; in just a few months, the Emperor had changed.

The reason was that the Old Emperor had fainted during a court session. Although he was revived, his body was extremely weak and he could no longer handle state affairs. The Old Emperor thus made the decision to abdicate to the Fourth Prince and become the Retired Emperor to recuperate.

With the new Emperor ascending the throne, it was only natural to hold an imperial examination. Consequently, the two did not have to wait two years; they participated in the metropolitan examinations the very next year. Although the timing was tight, both had solid knowledge, so participating early presented no problem. Moreover, Jia Hu had the covert protection of both the Retired Emperor and the new Emperor.

The Retired Emperor could no longer witness the auspicious sign of the "Sixfold Success" (winning all top honors), but the new Emperor could. The new Emperor wanted the sign of the "Sixfold Success" even more than the Old Emperor did, to prove that his reign was favored by Heaven.

Jia Hu learned of the intentions of both emperors from Jia Daishan, knowing that the top honors of *huiyuan* (metropolitan leader) and *zhuangyuan* (top scholar) were practically guaranteed. Although he felt somewhat uneasy, believing that with his own strength he could have won the top spot on his own, he quickly adjusted his mindset. There was nothing wrong with being favored by the Emperor; at the very least, it would make things much easier.

Jia Daishan was very satisfied with his eldest grandson's performance. With someone like Jia Hu as an heir in the Rongguo Mansion, he could rest easy when he went to meet his ancestors. As for his two incompetent sons—who were they, anyway?

Jia Hu entered the examination hall with a relaxed mindset and answered the questions easily, performing even better than usual. The chief examiner, having received hints from the Emperor, intended to select Jia Hu as the *huiyuan*. He had thought that if Jia Hu's paper was inferior to others, he would have to risk his reputation to make Jia Hu first. But upon seeing Jia Hu's paper, the chief examiner was delighted. With such magnificent literary talent, even if the Emperor hadn't hinted at it, he would have chosen Jia Hu as the *huiyuan* regardless.

Liu柊's examination was equally easy. This was mainly because he had participated in many examinations of various sizes in his previous life, so his mental state had long been tempered. With a good mindset, his answers naturally followed suit. His paper also satisfied the examiners, placing him among the top ten.

When the results of the metropolitan examination were posted, it naturally caused quite a stir. Next came the palace examination. Everyone knew that Jia Hu had already achieved fivefold success, and the position of *zhuangyuan* belonged to him. Others could only fight for the positions of *bangyan* (second), *tanhua* (third), and *chuanlu* (fourth).

However, the position of *tanhua* fell to Liu柊.