The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 119 Romance of the Three Kingdoms

When Jia Zhu arrived at Pear Fragrance Courtyard, the courtyard was quiet. He asked Jin Chuan, who said that the mistress was drunk and had drunk a hangover soup, and that no one was around.

"Where is the eldest daughter?"

Because of him, her younger sister was probably also angry with their mother, and Jia Zhu wanted to comfort her.

"The eldest daughter has gone back to the old lady's house."

Jin Chuan'er honestly replied, "Master needs this servant..."

"No need!"

Jia Zhu hurriedly waved his hand.

He suddenly remembered that his younger sister had been held by the old lady when she was young and was very close to her aunt. "Take good care of your wife, and report to me and the eldest madam immediately if anything happens."

"Yes!"

Jin Chuan'er agreed.

Jia Zhu waved his hand and led Li Wan back to his own courtyard, saying, "I knew Mother must have drunk a bit too much today."

Li Wan: "..."

She didn't want to talk.

To her husband, his parents were both exceptionally good.

"I haven't been back for a long time, tonight..."

"Sir, go sleep in the outer study!"

What?
Jia Zhu was stunned.

"uncle……"

Li Wan's voice trembled slightly, "Master and Madam are particularly concerned about your studies."

Jia Zhu: "..."

He understood what his wife meant.

It is precisely because I understand that I am even more heartbroken.

They are a married couple, but they have been separated for more than half a year since their marriage.

He wanted to shamelessly go to his wife's place, but he was afraid that his mother would hold her accountable later.

That's something a mother could absolutely do.

“…I know.” Jia Zhu’s voice was muffled. “I’ll take you back to your room first, and then I’ll go to see the master later.”

The young couple walked back in silence, completely unaware of the woman who came out of Pear Fragrance Courtyard just one after them.

The woman was accompanied by a young maid. They followed her at a leisurely pace for quite some time before turning around and strolling along as if admiring the scenery. After making a roundabout way, they headed back to Pear Fragrance Courtyard.

Jia Zheng already knew that his son had brought his daughter home and that she would be home that evening, so he wasn't surprised to see him come over.

"Have you already spoken to your eldest uncle?"

"Yes!"

Jia Zhu was also helpless about his father's long-term stay at Aunt Zhao's place, but as a son, he could not casually interfere in his parents' affairs. "Today, my second brother Lian was also at my eldest uncle's place. When I went there, my eldest uncle was teaching my second brother Lian how to be an official."

Jia Zheng: "..."

He paused in his tea-drinking, worried that his nephew might find out about his words.

Although Lian'er practically grew up in their second branch of the family and has always been close to him and Wang Shi, her elder brother has returned to Rongxi Hall, and her sister-in-law from the East Mansion and her brother-in-law Lin have helped her get a lucrative position in the Military Treasury. She'll probably have to repay those favors in return.

Jia Zheng even suspected that Jia Lian's official position was a scheme orchestrated by the two mansions and his brother-in-law, Lin.

They all avoided him.

"So, Lian'er now understands what your father said?"

"no!"

Jia Zhu shook her head. "I only said that my father regretted it when he got home and hoped that my uncle could forget what you said in a moment of impulse. My uncle said that we are all family and it's just a family matter, and he didn't care at all."

Jia Zheng: "..."

I felt somewhat relieved, but also a little uneasy.

"Zhu'er, what do you think of Lian'er's official position?"

"very good!"

Jia Zhu was very happy for his brother. "The Armory has its own rules. As long as he follows the rules, he won't make a mistake."

"..."

Jia Zheng felt a little depressed. If he had entered the Armory, things would never be like this now. "Your father is asking what impact his position in the Armory has on the Jia family." He stared at his son. "Don't tell your father that you haven't thought of this."

"...My son has thought about it."

Jia Zhu's smile faded slightly. "Ever since Uncle Jing entered the Taoist temple, the Jia family has been suppressed by all sides. This year, it reached its peak. First, a merchant from the Li family dared to make a move against our family, and then Brother Zhen was stabbed..."

As he said this, he still felt a little depressed. "The Emperor Emeritus and the Emperor must have known this. Considering that our family voluntarily returned the treasury silver and that my eldest aunt from the East Mansion made donations to Kaifeng, they also restored her to the title of First-Rank Imperial Lady."

This is compensation.

The Jia family is not at fault.

The imperial family's suppression of the Jia family is merely a result of their own fear of the Jia family.

Persimmons are always picked when they're soft.

The Prince of Nan'an and Prince of Beijing's families still hold military power. Has the royal family suppressed them?

The royal family is appeasing them.

However, his grandfather and great-uncle led the Jia family to voluntarily back down.

The retired emperor simply used them to demonstrate the imperial majesty.

That's because he knew the Jia family couldn't cause any major trouble.

So when something happened to the Jia family, and it became quite a big commotion, and it reached his ears, he was willing to show some pity.

This shows that he has not forgotten his old ministers.

The retired emperor was still using his old ministers to challenge the emperor.

When Jia Zhu had these doubts, he was also very sad. "As for Lian's official position, besides benefiting from the ancestors' glory, it was mainly because he worked hard. He did a lot of things for Uncle Lin in Jiangnan, and he happened to go to the Li family, which prevented the Li family from escaping."

The retired emperor and the emperor were very satisfied with the Li family's nearly ten million in wealth.

He had to explain in more detail, otherwise his father might have thought that he could have done the same.

“Father, none of us could have done better than my second brother Lian if we were in Jiangnan.”

What's more, they were chased all the way back.

"...Wait a minute, what did Lian'er do for your Uncle Lin in Jiangnan?"

Jia Zheng frowned. "I remember he personally made three hundred catties of salt there and brought it back."

They got tanned and thin, not for doing anything else, but for boiling and drying salt.

"It's salt."

Jia Zhu said, "When we went to pick up my sister, my second brother Lian told me that they had experimented with several new salt-making methods. Just the salt-boiling process alone saved a lot of firewood and labor compared to before."

That's it!

Jia Zheng sighed inwardly.

Was this a favor that the brother-in-law specially prepared for the Jia family?
He has always been on good terms with him...

"You've recently written an article. Have you shown it to your uncle and asked him for his guidance?"

"...Sent."

It's just that I didn't send as many as I did at the beginning.

He got married.

His father-in-law was the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

It's not that my uncle is incapable, but he has his own responsibilities.

But Jia Zhu didn't want to say much in front of her father.

"This time, you should go to Jiangnan."

Jia Zheng looked at his son and sighed, "Forget it, things have come to this, there's no point in saying anything more."

He plans to see his sister more often and talk to her more.

Since my brother-in-law has given Lian'er such great benefits, he can't possibly have nothing in return, can he?
"It's getting late, you should go back and get some rest too."

"Yes!"

Jia Zhu glanced at Aunt Zhao, who was carrying some kind of soup, nodded in acknowledgment, and then bowed to his father in farewell, saying, "Son takes his leave!"

He was out, but the house was too big, and he didn't know where to go.

Jia Zhu sighed and was about to head to the outer study when Cai Shan, the maid who had always taken care of him, chased after him. "Master! Where are you going?"

"Hmm~"

Jia Zhu glanced in the direction she came from, "I'm going to the outer study!"

As he spoke, he indeed went to the outer study.

"uncle……"

Cai Shan hesitated for a moment, "Madam said that if you go to the outer study, I will serve you."

She was originally the maidservant chosen by the old lady and the mistress to be their concubine.

"...Wasn't Mother drunk?"

"After drinking the hangover soup, I'm almost fully recovered now."

Otherwise, we wouldn't have asked her to serve us.

Cai Shan was willing to serve the master, but she refused to drink the contraceptive soup the next day.

I heard that if you drink too much of that stuff, you really won't be able to have children in the future.

As Jia Zhu's attendant, Cai Shan knew that because of the eldest mistress's background, they, the concubines, had no chance before she gave birth. "Well... alright then!"

Jia Zhu's eyes swept over her youthful and graceful figure for a moment before she walked ahead.

The colorful fans quickly followed.

In Li Wan's courtyard, a lamp in the master bedroom was always on.

She was holding a book, reclining on the tatami, seemingly engrossed in something.

"Grandma!"

When Biyue rushed in, Li Wan's expression brightened, and she was about to smile, but when she saw the indignation on Biyue's face, she quickly withdrew her smile. "Madam sent Caishan to serve the master."

"...Hmm~, isn't this what I expected?"

Li Wan let out a long, soft sigh. "Alright, it's getting late. Go to sleep. We still have to serve Madam and Grandmother tomorrow."

It would be a lie to say I'm not sad.

But what can you do if you're sad?

She pushed the old man out herself.

Never mind, let it be!
If she doesn't push... her life will be even harder.

Li Wan threw down her book and lay down immediately.

……

Ningguo Mansion, Shen Ning Courtyard.

The candlelight outside the tent was dim, and Qingzhu's soft breathing could be heard not far away.

Shen Ning seemed very uneasy in her sleep, tossing and turning, but unable to wake up.

A gust of wind came, and the candlelight flickered a few times before finally going out.

Shen Ning was still struggling in her sleep, but she remained the same and couldn't wake up no matter how much she tried to wake up.

Her hands clenched tighter and tighter, and the sweat on her forehead slowly soaked the pillow.

It wasn't until dawn, when Jia Yue's cry brought the courtyard back to life.

"Madam, Madam, what's wrong?"

Qingzhu got up and looked at Shen Ning. She saw that Shen Ning had already kicked off her thin blanket and was covered in sweat, as if she was trapped in some kind of nightmare.

"Madam, wake up, madam, madam..."

"Ah~"

Shen Ning was finally woken up, but the first thing she did upon waking was to adopt a wary posture.

Only when he saw the green bamboo did he slowly come back to his senses.

"Madam, are you having another nightmare?"

Qingzhu was very worried.

Their wife hasn't had nightmares in a long time.

"...Have someone prepare water!"

Shen Ning was weak and listless.

She dreams of fighting and fleeing, living a life she doesn't understand. "I need to take a bath."

"Yes!"

Qingzhu hurriedly instructed her maid to prepare, "Madam, should we ask Manager Chen to come and take another pulse?"

Sweating so much in a nightmare doesn't feel right.

"No need, I'll rest first."

Shen Ning knew where her problem lay. "Where's the girl?" Her head was a little sore.

I dreamt that I hit my head many times.

"The girl cried just now, she should be able to have milk soon."

Once a baby has received milk, they will normally stop crying.

Shen Ning got up and then realized that her pillow was soaked with sweat. "Bring me a glass of water first, with some salt in it."

This body is quite old after all.

She's feeling weak and shaky right now; if she doesn't drink some lightly salted water, she might faint in the bathtub.

"Ah? Yes!"

Qingping, who had also come in to serve, was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, but immediately went to do it herself.

Their wife had drunk lightly salted water several times.

At first, they didn't know how to do it, but now everyone knows how.

Soon a glass of lightly salted water was brought over. Shen Ning rinsed her mouth, brushed her teeth, drank it down in a few gulps, and then went to the side room to take a bath.

If guns can't be sent up, what else can be used to let those in power know without making them suspicious of the Jia family?

Shen Ningwei closed her eyes, letting Qingzhu gently wash her hair, and suddenly asked, "Qingzhu, do you like watching plays?"

"Like it!"

Qingzhu and Qingping helped out together, "Does Madam want to watch a play?"

"I think we have a bookstore in our house?"

Shen Ning didn't answer, but instead asked another question.

"Yes!"

Qingping said, "That bookstore is now under the name of the eldest grandmother."

"...I've come up with two plays. I'll tell you about them in a bit, and you can write them down, okay?"

what?
Both maids were somewhat stunned.

Did they mishear, or...?

"By the way, have you guys read Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

"……without!"

The two maids honestly shook their heads.

"Then I will read Romance of the Three Kingdoms to you today."

wrong.

Shen Ning patted her head, "I misspoke, it was you guys who read Romance of the Three Kingdoms to me."

She needs to make her eldest son and Rong-ge read together.

"...Madam, do we have such a book at home?"

"It's okay if you don't have one, just go buy one."

Shen Ning said, "I'll have someone tell your grandpa to bring in a few sets of Romance of the Three Kingdoms later."

"……Yes!"

Qingping hesitated for a moment, "Madam, what book is Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

"Well, you'll know when you take it and look at it."

When Shen Ning came out of the bath feeling refreshed, Jia Zhen and Madam You were also coming over to pay their respects.

"Mother, did you not sleep well last night?"

Ms. You noticed the fatigue on her face and couldn't help but feel concerned.

"Not good, I had nightmares all night."

Shen Ning looked at Jia Zhen and said, "You've come at the right time. Go and buy me a few copies of Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

"Three Kingdoms?"

Jia Zhen asked in confusion, "We have some at home! My son will find some for you in a bit."

Do you have any at home?

Shen Ning sat down at the set dining table. "Have you seen it?"

"Seen."

Jia Zhen said, "My grandfather made me read it. He said that if someone from a military family like ours hadn't even read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it would be incredibly embarrassing for us."

"...Then tell me, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who is your most admired character?"

"Is there even a question? It's Zhuge Liang!"

"...Who did your grandfather admire most?"

Shen Ning couldn't help but be curious.

"Guan Yu, Guan Yunchang".

Jia Zhen smiled, "Grandfather liked him the most. Next was Liu Bei and Zhang Fei."

What do you think of Liu Shan?

Liu Chan?

Jia Zhen was stunned.

That's a hopeless case!
"No. My son doesn't like him."

Of all those who read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, ten out of ten will not like it.

Out of a thousand, there might be one who makes you sigh when you see him.