The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 142 Harmony
dying?
Minmei suppressed her little bit of expectation and went to see her father.

"The doctor said you're not well? Father, please wait a moment, at least put on your funeral clothes before you go."

Min Tae: "..."

Is she trying to drive him crazy?
"Evil girl!"

He yelled at his daughter, panting, "Are you really hoping I'll die? I'm your father, your own father!"

"Look at what you're saying."

Min Mei poured herself a cup of tea. "If you weren't my biological father, and you were abusing my mother like this, my uncle would have beaten you to death by now, wouldn't he?"

Her mother rarely mentioned her uncles to her.

I've only mentioned that the maternal uncle from the Ningguo Mansion is very capable, while the eldest maternal uncle from the Rongguo Mansion is a bit muddle-headed, and the second maternal uncle is a bit pedantic.

The mother and daughter were too far away to reach them, and the old-fashioned ones wouldn't even acknowledge them; they were actually doing quite well...

When she asked her uncle for help to beat up the people she had wanted to beat up for a long time, her uncle laughed and said she was somewhat like him.

Her mother initially disagreed with her doing this, but after her uncle said that, her mother simply gave up.

"...I didn't mistreat your mother!"

Min Tai, fearing Jia She, could only reiterate that he hadn't mistreated them, "I just locked you in the backyard..."

"Oh~"

Min Mei nodded, "Locking you in the backyard doesn't count as abuse? Okay, I'll tell my uncle that we'll keep you locked up like this from now on!"

As she spoke, she turned to leave.

Min Tai was startled. "Wait, wait, Sister Mei, what do you mean by this?"

"Hmm~" Min Mei said nonchalantly, "My eldest uncle wants you and my mother to divorce. My mother said she can't bear to part with me and Bai Ge'er. My eldest uncle also said, how could the descendants of the Duke's mansion be controlled by a small border town official's family? He even said that my mother is only bullied by you because she doesn't have any wolfishness. Otherwise, with the Duke's mansion's dowry and the people who came with her, you wouldn't have been able to lock her up in the backyard so easily."

Min Tae: "..."

He was speechless.

"My eldest uncle also said that before my mother married into the family, what did the Min family have? They only gradually rose to prominence because of her dowry."

Min Mei looked at her father and said, "In other words, the Min family never raised me and my brother. Even if the case goes to Governor Zhang, the Jia family will win."

At this point, she seemed to remember something else. "Oh, right, Father, you probably don't know this, do you? Governor Zhang probably doesn't dare to take the Min family's daughter as a concubine anymore. My aunt, who married the former third-ranked scholar Lin, was furious when my brother told her about me. She wrote a letter to his wife, telling her to control her old man. If she can't control him, then she shouldn't blame her for finding someone to help her."

"..."

Min Tae was utterly dumbfounded.

He certainly knew that his brother-in-law was popular not only with the retired emperor but also with the emperor himself.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hold the position of Salt Commissioner for so many years.

Originally, he also wanted to try to build connections, but unfortunately, he was a scholar and she was a warrior.

A letter written in classical Chinese, most of which I couldn't understand.

That's how they gradually lost contact.

did not expect……

"Is what you're saying... true?"

If his sister-in-law really makes a move, then Lord Zhang will probably hate their family to death right now.

"You don't believe me? Then wait and see. Once your niece's injuries have healed, you and your uncle can take her there together and see if they'll accept her!"

Min Tae: "..."

This daughter is a real troublemaker!

Min Tai was heartbroken and had no idea how he could have given birth to such a daughter.

He was clearly a handsome and talented man, and no matter what he did, he would always leave a way out for others. Jia Wen was also gentle and kind...

"However, I don't think you have a chance anymore."

Min Mei smiled at him, "Didn't you say that locking someone in the backyard isn't considered abuse? Perfect, I see you're reluctant to divorce my mother, so why don't you just report an illness and live in that abandoned garden with your beloved Nie Shi from now on?"

Oh, by the way, you should live the same way your mother and I did back then.

"..."

Min Tai was shocked, his face turning ashen. "You...you wicked daughter! I am your father! Where is your filial piety? Do you even want to get married?"

"When the father is kind, the son is filial; the father's kindness comes first, and the son's filial piety comes second. If the father is not kind... the son will run away to another place!"

Min Mei's voice was vicious, "This is from the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues. There's a saying in it: 'The husband is the head of the household, and if the husband is not righteous, the wife can remarry.' Since neither the Min family nor you are willing to give up the Duke's Mansion and don't want to divorce my mother, what's wrong with my mother turning around and confining you to the abandoned garden in the backyard?"

Min Tae: "..."

He didn't know how to refute it.

He only listens to the principles of the ruler guiding the subject, the father guiding the son, and the husband guiding the wife. As for the others... well, there are some, but normally everyone just ignores them, right?
"Sister Mei, didn't Father release you all?"

With his brother-in-law backing her up, his daughter was someone he couldn't afford to offend.

Min Tai could only back down, "Your aunt and uncle were out of their minds when they hit you, it wasn't my idea! Didn't you see that Dad almost kicked her today to avenge your mother? You can't treat me like this!"

And you're going to get married anyway. If you ruin your reputation like this, what good family will want to marry you in the future?

"...So you were worried I wouldn't be able to get married?"

Min Mei laughed, "If what you mean by marrying into a good family is marrying into a family like the Min family, then I'd rather not marry at all."

She is not afraid of a bad reputation.

She was afraid that if she had too good a reputation, she might meet a man like her father in the future.

"I want to let those people know that they can marry me, but they can't take advantage of me."

Min Tae: "..."

His daughter is completely unreasonable; what should he do?
"For the sake of our father-daughter relationship, you now have two choices."

Min Mei gave her father, whose face was ashen, an unusually bright smile. "One option is to divorce my mother and let me and Bai Ge'er go with her. The other option is what I just mentioned: we'll go to the abandoned garden. From now on, we'll have to buy everything with silver, from grass and paper to water. If we don't have silver... we'll have two bowls of thin porridge a day, just enough to keep us from starving. What do you think?"

"You...you can't do this to me."

Min Tae is going crazy.

He would be more accepting if his brother-in-law spoke to him like that.

"I raised you all..."

“Even this house was bought by my mother with her dowry.”

Min Mei interrupted him, "Your salary is forty-five taels of silver a year, and although you also receive forty-five bushels of rice, is that enough to support your steward, accountant, gatekeeper, and servants? Let me do the math."

She held up her fingers and counted the numbers for her father, "There are two stewards, one head steward and one second steward, plus one accountant, one gatekeeper, and one sweeper, that's five. There are also four servants, that makes nine people, not to mention you also have to keep two horses."

Raising horses can be more expensive than raising people.

When she was a child, her mother never hid anything from her when she was in charge of the household.

Min Mei knew that horses were more valuable than people.

“This is only for the outer courtyard, not even counting the inner courtyard.” Min Mei looked at her father. “Father, how can you say that you raised us? If we really want to settle accounts, it was my mother who raised you and those traitors.”

At this point, she was already angry. "Fine, I know you won't choose divorce. I'll just tell my eldest uncle directly that I'll send you to the abandoned garden to live with your second aunt!"

Without stopping, she walked out.

Seeing his daughter cross the threshold and about to run away, Min Tai panicked, "Sister Mei, I choose, I choose."

In this sweltering heat, there's no way there could be ice in the abandoned garden. With his injuries so severe, it won't be long before the rotten flesh on his buttocks rots and becomes infested with maggots.

Min Tae had seen people who died with maggots.

The bug was crawling...

He shuddered. "Call your mother here. I'll talk to her myself."

A night of marriage brings a hundred days of kindness; a hundred days of marriage is as deep as the sea!

He didn't kill Wen Niang back then, because of Wen Niang's temperament... there might still be room for maneuver.

"Wait!"

Minmei went to find her mother.

Before long, Jia Wen arrived at the room where Min Tai was recuperating.

"Wen Niang~"

Min Tae's voice calling for his wife sounded like it had a hook attached to it.

That's how he used to call his wife. Back then, they were newlyweds.

Every day is filled with joy.

His wife was overjoyed, and so was he.

He looked forward to finishing his shift and going home every day.

When did it start to change?

Min Tae's eyes were filled with tears. "Please don't leave me. I really know I was wrong."

man!
Everyone makes mistakes.

"Give me another chance, and I will make it up to you properly."

As long as Wenniang can forgive him, nothing else matters.

"From now on, if you tell me to go east, I will never go west."

If he had known his brother-in-law would treat Wen Niang this way, he would never have done it to her!

Min Tai inwardly resented Jia She, thinking, "We should live our lives peacefully. Mei-jie is getting older, and her reputation is important!"

Jia Wen: "..."

"Wen Niang~~"

"Since you're unwilling to divorce, then go to the abandoned garden!"

If I forgive him, how can I face myself after spending my days in the abandoned garden?
How can she face her daughter who suffered alongside her?

I feel even more sorry for my son who risked everything to travel thousands of miles to Beijing to seek help.

Her two children are both so good; she has to live up to their expectations.

The eldest brother beat up the entire Min family. How could those people in the Min family not hold a grudge?
If there's no chance, fine; but if there is, I'll definitely get my revenge.

Jia Wen dared not gamble, nor did she want to gamble.

She has to go back to Beijing.

"How you treat me is how I will treat you. What reputation? I do have a good reputation, but I not only died a pathetic death, but I also almost caused Sister Mei to become a concubine, and Brother Bai experienced the coldness of the world at a young age."

Jia Wen's voice was extremely cold, "Min Tai, the reason I'm not killing you right away is because I'm considering the reputation of my two children. I don't want them to have a murderer as their mother."

The elder brother is right. Her father risked his life to earn the title of Duke so that his descendants could live a good life.

But she...

She's unfilial!
"This is the last time I'll ask you: do you want a divorce, or do you want to go to the abandoned garden?"

"...and...divorce!"

Min Tae cried.

But if he doesn't get a divorce, death awaits him.

His brother-in-law has the ability to fabricate a death from illness for him, and might even shift the blame for his death onto the Nie family or his elder brother.

At that point, the whole family will be finished.

Even if someone says in the future that his death was suspicious and related to the Jia family, it won't matter to him.

"I want a divorce!"

"it is good!"

Jia Wen was satisfied. "I'll have someone bring my brother-in-law and the others over right away, and then invite the officials from the government office."

Then she remembered something else, "Oh right, besides the two children, there's also my dowry. Over the years, you brothers have spent a lot of it trying to get promoted, and you all have to pay it back to me."

That was given to her by her father.

"If you can't pay it back, take your house, land, or shop as collateral."

Min Tae: "..."

He watched as his wife, who had never argued with him in the past, left so resolutely, and his face twisted involuntarily.

……

Capital, Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Zheng stayed in the ancestral hall for several days, but eventually couldn't hold on and fell ill.

Whenever he closes his eyes, it's as if he sees his father, who is coldly staring at him.

Sometimes, I can also see my younger sister, Jia Lan. They are only two months apart in age. When they were little, my father used to hold one of them in each arm and play with them together.

Before she died, my sister wrote him a letter, asking him to take care of her nephew and niece, but...

Jia Zheng couldn't remember what his brother-in-law looked like, but sometimes when he closed his eyes, he could see his sister with a headless person, holding hands, coming to find him.

There are also two nephews...

In his dazed state, Jia Zheng heard his mother and Physician Wang talking, and then heard them leave. He felt an uncontrollable panic in his heart.

He dared not close his eyes alone.

At the ancestral hall, Wang was guilty just like him.

Moreover, he no longer trusts her.

Now that he had left the ancestral hall, Jia Zheng wished he had someone by his side.

"Help! Help!"

His mouth was slightly open, and he murmured something.
"Second brother, I'm here."

Jia Zheng's heart skipped a beat, thinking that Jia Lan had come again. He quickly rolled into the bed, pleading, "No, no, don't come any closer, please, don't come any closer."

As he spoke, he gestured with his hand, as if trying to shoo the person away.

Jia Min watched quietly, her eyes glistening with tears.

Even if they weren't born to the same mother, they still have the same father!
How could someone be so heartless?
When Jia Min first found out, she was extremely sad.

She wanted to prepare some things for her niece Lanzhi and visit her in person, but Lanzhi had to leave the capital due to an urgent military situation as soon as she left the residence.

Having lost her parents and brother, what thoughts led Lan Zhi, a young girl, to burn down her own home and join the army?
Replace her with Daiyu...

Jia Min simply couldn't believe it!

"Min~Min'er?"

Panicked and frightened, Jia Zheng dared not sleep. After struggling to stay awake, he saw his younger sister, Jia Min. He felt as if all his bones had been removed, and collapsed onto the bed. "What's wrong with me? Am I sick?"

There are no curtains in the ancestral hall.

Even though we burned mugwort incense, there were still mosquitoes.

His forehead, ears, chin, and the back of his hands were all stung.

You can't scratch it, because the more you scratch, the itchier it gets.

"Hmm~"

Jia Min nodded gently, "Did Dad and my eldest sister look for you?"

Jia Zheng: "..."

His eyes showed horror, as if he couldn't understand how such words could come from his own sister's mouth.

"I...I don't know."

"...Yes! You know nothing."

That's what makes it so hateful!

Jia Min's eyes were filled with deep anger. "You are so innocent. You are a gentleman. You were deceived by your second sister-in-law and the Wang family, which is why you wrote that irreversible letter."

That's exactly how it is!

Jia Zheng looked at his sister and felt like crying.

He really doesn't know anything, so why does everyone blame him?

"Second brother, in your heart, there is only yourself. We people are nothing."

Jia Min stood up, turned around and left.

She put herself in her older sister's shoes, feeling that she was dying and had entrusted her child to her care, but her second brother wouldn't take care of him.

He will leave everything to his second sister-in-law, and then her child will probably suffer even more than bitter herbs.