Chapter Fourteen

  Jia Bu's generosity is not false, white jade makes a hall and gold makes a horse; the Epang Palace, three hundred miles cannot accommodate one historian from Jinling; the East Sea lacks a white jade bed, the Dragon King invites the king of Jinling to come; in a year of abundance, there is heavy snow, pearls are like soil and gold is like iron.

  These four lines of poetry are used to describe the four major families of today - Jia Shi Wang Xue!

  These four big families not only have a thousand threads of connection in the officialdom, but also have more complex kinship relations under private; it can be said that they share honor and loss together.

  The Rongguo Mansion was originally bestowed by the Emperor, and the elderly lady of the house had been a member of the Shi family before her marriage. She was from the Afanggong Palace, 300 miles away, and was the eldest daughter of the Shi family in Jinling.

  Secondly, it was the second daughter-in-law of Old Lady Jia, Wang Shi, who before her marriage was as pure and chaste as the white jade bed that was lacking in Donghai; she was invited by the Dragon King to come to the mansion of King Zhongwang.

  And finally, in a year of great snow, the Xue family was as rich as pearls and gold were like iron; The lady of the house, Aunt Xue, before she got married, was the White Jade Bed that Donghai lacked, invited by the Dragon King to come to Jinling Wang Zhongwang's second daughter; She is the biological younger sister of Lady Wang of the Jia family.

  The Rongguo Mansion had been in decline since the death of Rongguo Duke Jia Yuan and his son Jia Daisan; although in the eyes of ordinary common people, the Jia family was still a prominent aristocratic clan.

  Actually, only the Jia family themselves are aware that their family has already declined; although they have not yet reached the point of eating into next month's grain, if things continue to be so neglected, this day will eventually come.

  But it is obvious that in the eyes of the Jia family, there was no such thought. Not only were the masters of the Jia family arrogant and unaware of restraint, but even the ordinary servants were also extremely arrogant, which doomed the Jia family to step by step into the abyss.

  Jia Min is the eldest daughter of Rongguo House, and she is the apple of Old Lady Jia's eye. In her eyes, their own daughters are naturally the best, not to mention ordinary aristocratic families; even becoming a palace concubine would be qualified.

  It was not until Jia Min's seventeenth birthday that no engagement had been settled; and after the death of Jia Daisan, following the expiration of the three years' mourning, Jia Min became a twenty-year-old spinster.

  Generally, girls, especially the young ladies of aristocratic families, would get married once they reached the age of adulthood. Someone like Jia Min who was already over twenty years old and still unmarried was quite rare; not just in a noble family like the Jias, but also among ordinary people's families.

  It is commonly known as "shang tou" or "shang tou li", ancient girls generally at the age of 15 will be shang tou; this indicates that the girl has become an adult and can discuss marriage.

  As Jia Min's age grew day by day, the old lady of the Jia family finally began to get anxious; Jia Min's lifelong major event was also formally put on the agenda of the Jia family, becoming the first and foremost thing in the Rongguo Mansion.

  It so happened that the imperial examination was being held for the first time in three years, and since they had been unable to find a suitable match within the capital, Old Lady Jia turned her attention to the numerous scholars who had come to take part in the examination.

  If they can't marry into a noble family, then the new jinshi, zhuangyuan, bangyan and tanhua of this year would be the best choice for Rongguo House.

  It would have been okay if the top three winners of this year's imperial examination were all middle-aged people, but coincidentally, they are all young people, not only in appearance but also from good families.

  And here, the most eye-catching one is Lin Hai, the champion of Jinke's Flower Boy!

  "Lin Hai is a 23-year-old man from Suzhou; his parents are still alive at home. He has no other siblings except for one younger sister, and comes from a respectable and noble family with thousands of acres of good land and millions of taels in wealth."

  Jia Zhen stood in the flower hall, telling Jia Lao Tai Tai and Jia Min about the facts he had recently investigated.

  In their youth, Jia Yuanchun and Jia Min's relationship was not bad, although it was not as close as the relationship between Jia Zheng and Jia Min. This was because Jia Yuanchun's wife, Zhang Shi, had a close relationship with Jia Min, while Jia Zheng's wife, Wang Shi, had always been at odds with Jia Min. As a result, the relationships between the two sides were evenly matched.

  Mrs. Jia ordered her eldest son, Jia Zhen, to go and find out about the news of this year's top three scholars in the imperial examination, and Jia Zhen did his best without being perfunctory.

  Jia Min sat beside Old Lady Jia, who immediately pulled her into a warm embrace: "Hehe... my child, I think Lin Ruhai, the Prodigy of this year's Imperial Examination, is quite suitable for you; not only is his family background clean and without any other brothers, but he also has only one younger sister at home. In the future, it would be a matter of spending a bit more on your dowry, what do you think?"

  Jia Min is the old lady Jia's late-born daughter, cough... at least that's what it means in ancient times. Old Lady Jia has always doted on Jia Min like her own eyeball; otherwise, Jia Min's marriage wouldn't have been delayed until now. Jia Min's marriage is indeed the top priority in Old Lady Jia's heart.

  Actually, Mrs. Jia was only in her early forties and not yet fifty years old, but after Mr. Jia passed away, the eldest son Jia Yu took over the title, so naturally, Mrs. Shi became an elderly lady.

  Jia Min's appearance is really good, no need to say more, just look at Lin Daiyu's appearance and you can tell; if the mother's appearance is ugly, how can she give birth to a beautiful daughter like a flower?

  Her face was as white as a melon seed, with black willow-leaf eyebrows; her bright and beautiful eyes sparkled like water, and her small mouth was as red and delicate as a flower petal. She was truly a beauty, with skin as fair as snow and a face that rivaled the flowers. No wonder the old lady of the Jia family had always treated her as a precious treasure; it was only natural that she would be cherished like this.

  Jia Min slightly furrowed her brow and said: "Mother's vision is naturally very good, but I don't know if this Top Scholar looks decent or not?"

  Lin Ruhai's family background and worth are quite impressive, but every young girl has some romantic notions in her heart; hoping that her future husband would be a handsome young man, Jia Min is no exception.

  Jia Min's words made Old Mrs. Jia laugh: "Hehe... my son, you're still the one who thinks things through; well... I'll let your elder brother go and make another trip to investigate, and we'll talk about it later."

  Jia Min stood up and slightly bowed to Jia Xun: "Sister's matters still need to trouble brother to take more care, sister thanks brother first."

  Jia Zhen's eyes rolled around quickly, and soon he had an idea. He smiled and said: "Sister, I have a plan here; take a look and see if it's feasible or not?"

  "Big brother, we are biological siblings, what's on your mind, just say it." Jia Min was still quite curious about the so-called idea in her big brother's mouth.

  "Sister, the new champion of this subject, the second and third place winners aren't going to parade on horseback through the streets?" Jia She smiled strangely at Jia Min and said: "At that time, you can first find a good location for a wine shop, then book a private room and wait until the champion, second and third place winners are parading through the streets..."

  Jia Zhen's words were not finished, but Jia Min had already understood her elder brother's meaning.

  Jia Min slightly furrowed her brow and hesitated: "Big brother, doesn't this seem a bit inappropriate?"

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