Shi Zhongkui was shocked when he heard that Baochai had said that he had married Baoqin a few years ago.

But after thinking about it carefully, I didn't intend to lie or deny it.

Instead, he asked doubtfully, "Did I behave so obviously when I was at Xue's house today?"

Baochai laughed in a low voice for a moment, "Although my husband is polite and shows no sign of impatience, it has been more than two months since I married into the Shi family. How can I still not see some of my husband's thoughts?"

Shi Zhongkui shook his head with a smile. Baochai was already extremely smart, and indeed he only needed to look at Baoqin a few more times to guess that he was interested in Baoqin.

And compared to the friendship with Yingchun, Baochai is naturally more receptive to Baoqin.

Even after Bao Qin gave birth to a child, Baochai did not need to take the child into his own name and raise it. In the future, when the child grew up, her status as an aunt would be enough for the child to serve Baochai as her mother.

Treat her kindly for the rest of her life, and honestly provide for Baochai until she retires.

The next day, Shi Zhongkui got up early and finished his morning exercises. He spent the morning with Baochai, and then he mounted his horse and went to Jia's house.

As soon as I walked into Ningrong Street, I saw Jia Zheng, Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, Jia Baoyu, Jia Lan and others from a distance, braving the cold wind outside the gate of Rongguo Mansion.

As for Jia She, the old guy wanted to get closer and closer to Shi Zhongkui, but the identity of his father-in-law made him really embarrassed, so he waited for Shi Zhongkui at the gate.

And for the sake of the Jia family's face, he is not allowed to do this.

When Shi Zhongkui saw this, he was happy to avoid trouble.

Pretending not to know, they followed Jia Zheng to Rongxi Hall after being polite to Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen.

He had no intention of going to the east courtyard of Rongguo Mansion to visit Jia She.

Jia Zheng didn't know whether he really forgot or had other ideas, so he simply didn't mention it.

And I saw Shi Zhongkui personally handing over two articles and a poem that he had written in the past half month, saying that he wanted to ask Jia Zheng for advice.

Jia Zheng said he didn't dare, but his eyes started to smile.

Being able to ask Liu Yuan Gong to lower his profile and ask for advice can be said to be a great deal of face.

And defeating Jia Zheng is basically equivalent to defeating Jia Mu.

However, Shi Zhongkui worked harder and looked at Jia Baoyu.

"Brother Bao, I think that my good brother has such a good family background and is extremely intelligent. If he hides himself at home, he will inevitably have the intention of burying his talent.

Why don't you go to Taichang Temple for some errand, assist the rites department in managing the rituals and music of the outer court every day, and teach and protect the ignorant little palace maiden? It can be considered a good deed."

This was said a bit euphemistically, but Jia Baoyu understood it as soon as he heard it.

Since they were in charge of the rituals and music of the outer court, there would be no small palace maids. Except for the daughters of the hereditary Lehu family, the female relatives of the prison officials were almost the same as daughters.

Of course, the female relatives and daughters of criminal officials are also one of the sources of palace ladies, so what Shi Zhongkui said is actually correct.

It's just that this kind of person can only do the most menial and dirty work in his life after entering the palace.

Not to mention coming into contact with the emperor, princes and princesses, even the middle-level eunuchs in charge could only come into contact with a very few.

Starting from the Tang Dynasty, the rituals and music of the outer court came under the control of Taichang Temple, while the inner court came under the control of Jiaofang.

Dazhou was renamed the Jiaofang Division, which was subordinate to the Ministry of Etiquette and was responsible for celebrations and welcoming distinguished guests to perform music.

It would be a good job for Jia Baoyu to directly serve in the Ministry of Rites, but if he were to be associated with the Jiaofang Division, let alone Mrs. Wang, Jia Zheng, and Jia Mu, Yingchun would feel uneasy and dissatisfied.

But if you go to Taichang Temple, in name you are only responsible for the rituals and music of the outer court, but in fact you are qualified to deal with the Ministry of Rites.

And because he is responsible for rituals and music, it largely overlaps with some of the functions of the Jiaofang Division. Let alone contact, it is normal for him to participate in some affairs of the Jiaofang Division.

Moreover, they only provide opinions and do not participate in any actual management, so no one will gossip.

The Ministry of Rites and the Department of Jiaofang do not yet know how to cause trouble for Jia Baoyu, nor should they.

If he was smarter, the waiters and ministers of the Ministry of Rites would also deliberately let Jia Baoyu have contact with the palace ladies and the female relatives of criminal officials.

It's not that the ministers and ministers don't know about the dirty deeds below, but that in many cases even the waiters can't break the financial path of the officials below.

When the time comes, scholars and people will definitely praise the Ministry of Rites.

As for what's going on secretly, it's really not easy to hide a master like Jia Baoyu who doesn't care as long as there are a few or even a dozen beautiful ladies accompanying and flattering him.

When Jia Baoyu thought of the description in the book, those people were sold into the Jiaofang Division just because they were born poorly.

Or the beautiful and talented daughters whose father committed a crime and was sent to the Jiaofangsi would feel moved in their hearts.

It can be said that if he is asked to study and take the imperial examination, he is unwilling to do so, but if he is asked to save and treat the ladies well, it will not be impossible even if he is a little tired.

Besides, Taichang Temple itself has female officials who are good at singing, dancing, and music. They have official positions but are nameless and powerless.

These women just thought better and would not let go of Jia Baoyu, a hollow thigh with gold and jade inside.

Not to mention that if I could become a concubine, no one could predict that the Jia family would be destroyed and Yuanchun would be granted the title of concubine again, so I wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of my life.

Jia Zheng thought about it but still couldn't make up his mind. In the ancient times when etiquette was highly valued, the official position of etiquette and music official was indeed considered a noble one, and it was not a troublesome official position.

Shi Zhongkui was indeed thoughtful in planning for Jia Baoyu.

But no one knew that his goal was just to break Jia Baoyu's image in Lin Daiyu's heart.

If he had an affair with a girl from Leji or a prisoner's daughter, it would be a huge loss of face.

It will not only affect Jia Baoyu's future marriage, but also the marriages of Jia's nephews and even future generations.

However, before Jia Baoyu had the chance to become an official, Jia Zheng was always thinking about how to plan his future.

But when the opportunity finally presented itself, he began to worry about whether Jia Baoyu was really suitable to be an official.

This psychology is actually easy to understand. Anyone who has been a parent will have this kind of worry.

In addition, Jia Zheng himself spent more than ten years in the Ministry of Industry, and he more or less understood that being an official was not that easy.

In other words, an honest person like himself was really not suitable for officialdom, so much so that Jia Zheng had the idea of ​​resigning more than once, and even said similar things in public several times.

It's a pity that as the leader of Rongguo Mansion, he can resign wherever he wants.

"If my nephew is serious, why not make some plans for Lian'er first?" Jia Zheng finally continued without agreeing, "Baoyu is only 13 years old, which is too early.

And Lian'er has been handling foreign affairs for the Ning and Rong governments many years ago, and his hard work and merit cannot be overstated, and I, as his uncle, have indeed delayed him."

When Jia Lian said this, he knelt down in front of Jia Zheng, burst into tears, and said "should and dare not" with a grateful face.

But Shi Zhongkui thought in his heart that if Jia Lian went to Taichang Temple, with his lecherous and evil character, he would not be able to resist stealing food.

Once you make a mistake, you will basically be disqualified from inheriting the Rongguo Mansion.

Although Jia Zheng was indeed worried that Jia Baoyu's character was not suitable for being an official, deep down in his heart he could not help but still worry about it, hoping that Jia Baoyu would wake up and join the cabinet to worship the prime minister and revive the Jia family.

Shi Zhongkui chuckled. It was not that he was maliciously speculating on human nature. In fact, no matter how upright a gentleman he was, he would inevitably have selfish motives in his heart when facing his own son's future.

Not to mention that Jia Zheng is not a true gentleman, at most he is an old master who has been tamed by Neo-Confucianism.

However, if Jia Lian went to Taichang Temple, it would not hinder his plan.

It can even be said that this is better.

With Jia Baoyu's character, if he heard that there are dozens or dozens of beautiful girls in Taichang Temple who are as beautiful as flowers and are good at music and poetry, he would not be able to resist going and take a look.

As long as he discovers that the outside is actually more exciting than his own home, his mind will definitely be attracted away, and then he will stage a drama of a talented man and a beautiful woman.

Although he won't run away with a woman, the attention paid to Lin Daiyu will definitely plummet in the future.

And with Daiyu's sensitive and suspicious character, it was impossible to detect Jia Baoyu's abnormality after a long time.

Waiting for Jia Zheng and Jia Lian to perform a drama about the deep love between uncle and nephew, Jia Zhen as the admiration, Jia Baoyu, and Jia Lan, each with a troubled and moved expression, the farce was completed.

Shi Zhongkui's mind suddenly moved, and he played another trick and said with a smile, "Second uncle is very open-minded and understands righteousness. He is worthy of being a gentleman praised by the government and the public. My nephew will write to your majesty tomorrow. This matter will definitely be a good talk for a while, and it will enlighten the ethos of the scholar community."

achievement."

Jia Zheng was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly and kept saying "I don't dare, I don't dare".

But after I recovered, I felt secretly happy again.

As long as everything has something to do with education, it will definitely be of great benefit to your reputation.

For a wealthy family like the Jia family, the most important thing is face and reputation. At the same time, it can protect the capital of the Jia family. In addition to the merits of the ancestors, in fact, they only have a good reputation.

Shi Zhongkui knew that his report to the emperor would definitely make Jia Zheng and the Jia family burst into tears. If Jia Lian did anything scandalous in the future, it would be his fault.

Instead of blaming yourself, you have to go to the door to plead guilty and beg yourself to forgive Jia Lian for letting down his good intentions and good intentions.

-----

When news of this incident reached the back house, Jia Mu was happy but also a little regretful.

Moreover, the person who was promoted became Jia Lian, so Jia's mother would not think about whether Jia Baoyu would be in any trouble if he went to Taichang Temple.

Mrs. Wang almost twisted her handkerchief into pieces at first. It can be said that she was worried about Jia Baoyu's future.

Even Wang Xifeng, my niece, was not spared.

Fortunately, considering that since Shi Zhongkui planned for Baoyu from the beginning, he kept his word, and it would not be difficult to believe him if he asks for help in the future.

With this thought in mind, Mrs. Wang's attitude towards Shi Zhongkui immediately made a 180-degree turn.

By the way, it’s so pleasing to the eyes to see the Spring Festival.

As for Wang Xifeng, she almost couldn't breathe smoothly, her heartbeat accelerated, and her face turned red with excitement.
To be continued...