"Worse than pigs and dogs!"
Old Master Hou roared in public, then pointed at Jia Zheng and demanded, each word sharp and deliberate:
"Cunzhou, say something. What sort of man is my grandson-in-law?"
Jia Zheng's face burned, and he was too ashamed to raise his head.
Though he was older than Gu Sihui, they held the same official rank, and their influence among scholars was as far apart as heaven and earth. Gu Sihui was renowned throughout the Capital as a Confucian scholar and a master calligrapher of his generation, with considerable sway in the Pure Stream Faction. Jia Zheng could not even squeeze across its threshold.
Jia Zhen interjected at just the right moment, brimming with righteous indignation:
"Vice Director Gu once said something that could wake the deaf and shake the soul: the unfortunate people of this world cannot even fill their bellies, yet he has pickled vegetables, porridge, and rice for three meals a day, and already feels ashamed before the people who sustain him. Scour the history books, and you will find precious few loyal servants of the State and Altars so honest and frugal!"
"After what happened today, the Jia Family truly has nowhere to hide its shame! But that boy has no regard for his elders and acts with wild arrogance. His actions alone have nothing whatsoever to do with either mansion!"
It was that little beast who had caused the trouble. Every grievance had its source, every debt its debtor; coming after Ningrong Mansions would do no good.
Meanwhile, Madam Wang walked to the front of the hall and said bluntly:
"As his legal mother, I have enjoyed not a scrap of good fortune from him, only humiliation and filthy business. His reckless misconduct has left everyone in the mansion on edge."
She,