The reception hall was utterly silent.
Madam Wang respectfully gave thanks for the imperial favor and accepted the decree and gifts.
She cradled them in her arms like priceless treasures, the delight in her eyes almost overflowing.
For a woman, nothing was more gratifying than rising in status through her son. When she flaunted this before the nobility who dined from bronze vessels, she would make those grand ladies green with envy!
This was only the beginning. Once her Kirin Child Baoyu shone in all his glory, the blessings to come would be inexhaustible.
Seeing the long-absent smile on her daughter-in-law's face, Jia Mu felt both comforted and pained. The court's reassurance had come at the expense of her concubine-born grandson.
Jia Baoyu stepped forward, raised his face, and bowed.
"Though I have studied books and the classics, I have been mischievous and unruly. Thanks to Mother's earnest teachings and constant care, when I serve the country loyally one day, I shall surely win further glory for you!"
Madam Wang smiled with restrained pleasure and said modestly:
"The venerable matriarch deserves credit too."
Jia Baoyu bowed again to Old Madam.
"Without Grandmother, I could never have reached this day; without me, Grandmother would have no one to see her through her remaining years."
He had borrowed from Li Mi's "Memorial Expressing My Feelings" of the Western Jin. His words were earnest, his feelings sincere.
"Good, good, good!" Jia Mu felt deeply consoled.
The eunuch delivering the decrees was taken aback.
Following procedure, he took out another decree.
Madam Wang put away her smile and listened with bated breath. She was certain this was a decree imposing punishment.
Two blessings at the door!
Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, father and son, watched with aching anticipation. Heaven did not fail those who