Outside the reception hall.
The officials waited quietly.
The eunuch bearing the edict glanced at Jia Zheng and said with a smile:
"Congratulations."
Jia Zheng had been listless and had not attended his office for half a month. He showed no reaction to those words.
Madam Wang, radiant with renewed vigor, abruptly changed expression upon hearing them.
No eunuch could be foolish enough to congratulate someone on losing a son!
Was he congratulating my husband on receiving a hereditary title through his son's favor?
How could that be allowed!
The title must belong to Baoyu. No one else could take it!
Jia Baoyu hurried back to the reception hall and said dejectedly:
"She insists on defying the edict and tells you to leave!"
Something seemed to occur to the eunuch. He had already dropped a hint when delivering the previous rewards, but the matter involved a supreme secret that he could not openly reveal. It appeared that Thousand-Household Commander Jia's birth mother was still immersed in grief over her son's death.
He said solemnly:
"Vice Director Jia, your son had no choice but to feign death and disobey orders in the execution of his duties."
Almost instantly, Jia Baoyu felt the world spin around him. He collapsed straight onto the ground, his broad face clouded with unprecedented anguish.
Jia Zheng stared fiercely at the eunuch, then looked toward the officials from the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Rites.
Every one of them smiled and nodded.
He was so overwhelmed with excitement that he nearly stumbled and fell, then strode toward Huan'er's residence.
Madam Wang clenched her silk handkerchief in a death grip, her eyes bulging almost to the point of splitting. Violent emotions surged into her chest as she staggered behind the Ceremonial Gate in a daze.
It was