The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 104 Sisters' Separation
After Jia Mu and others returned from the palace after expressing their gratitude, they ordered a grand banquet to entertain guests from all families.

The Jia family was originally a powerful family at the level of the four kings and eight dukes, and now they have become royal relatives, so of course they can't help but celebrate the feast. The buffet was set up on the street corner, and even the dogs on the street got in on the fun.

The powerful and influential people had heard the news long ago and came to congratulate one after another, and the atmosphere was lively for several days.

Seeing that all the families had come, everyone thought that things would calm down, but the palace came up with another favor, allowing the concubines to leave the palace and go home to visit their families.

When the Empress comes to visit her parents, we can't just deal with it casually; we have to maintain the proper pomp and dignity. Otherwise, if outsiders see it, they will think that the Jia family is in decline!

When the time comes, everyone will push the wall down, and who knows how many people will want to pounce on it and eat its flesh and blood.

But although this is what is said in theory, there is a difficulty in actually doing it.

That means there is not enough money!

If this villa for the imperial visit is to be built, it would cost at least several hundred thousand taels of silver. However, although Rongguo Mansion has obtained shares in the Zhan family's wine and beverage business, after being eaten by snakes, insects and rats, there is not much left, and it is really impossible to come up with that much cash.

After Mr. Zheng and his wife discussed it, they found that the one with the most money among them was Mr. Zhan. However, as the two families were at odds now, it was not appropriate to ask him for a loan, so they had to settle for the second best and chose the Xue family, hoping that the Xue family would pay a share of the money.

After receiving instructions from her master, Mrs. Wang came to chat with her sister. When the conversation got heated, she brought up this matter.

"Now, Your Majesty has granted permission for the concubine to return home to visit her parents."

"Originally, this was just a matter of visiting my parents' home, but the palace is full of intrigues and everyone wants to compare everything."

"Right now, Lady Zhou's father has started construction at home, building a separate courtyard for her to visit her mother!"

"The family of Wu Guifei's father, Wu Tianyou, also went outside the city to look for places."

"How can our family fall behind in this matter?"

"Otherwise, if those people in the palace who are closely tied to the red and white think that your eldest niece has no one to support her in her mother's family, they will most likely take advantage of her and do something sneaky in secret, turning this good thing into a bad one."

"Good sister, I won't say those foreign words to you."

"Now that your eldest niece has become a noble concubine in the palace and is favored by His Majesty, I, as her mother, must support her family's status outside the palace."

"After some discussion at home, we plan to build a large courtyard for the imperial visit on the open space behind the two mansions."

"It's just that I'm a little short of money, so I thought I'd borrow some from you first to deal with it. When I'm back to normal, I'll return the money to you."

Aunt Xue had already received Master Zhan's instructions, and before she could finish, she slapped her thigh and said with a smile:

"Sister, what are you talking about, whether you want to borrow or not?"

"We are all sisters. Why do we have to divide a small amount of money so clearly?"

"You also said that the queen is also my eldest niece. If she becomes the virtuous concubine, shouldn't my family also benefit from it?"

"Now my family is no longer a royal merchant, and Wenlong will also work hard in the court in the future. Having a big sister in the palace to take care of him is something that cannot be bought with any amount of silver!"

"Well, I will give you 10,000 taels of silver right now. Don't ask whether it is a loan or not. Just consider it as cosmetics money for the Madam. Sister, feel free to spend it."

After hearing what Aunt Xue said, Mrs. Wang was so happy at first that she couldn't stop smiling, but soon she couldn't laugh anymore. One ten thousand taels of silver was far from enough!

"Well...sister, the construction of this imperial residence is not like building a house for our family. Everything must be of the best quality. It is not something that can be bought with just 30,000 or 50,000 taels."

"I'm thinking, it's not good to let you pay for everything. We are sisters and we should be clear about the bills. It's better for me to borrow money from you!"

"It doesn't have to be too much, two or three hundred thousand taels will be enough. I'll write you an IOU and I'll definitely not let you down in the future."

After hearing this, Aunt Xue felt even colder in her heart. She had completely experienced the greed of her own sister.

She is no longer the innocent little white rabbit she used to be. How could she not know that the silver was purely borrowed by Liu Bei for Jingzhou, which he would never return?

What's the use of an IOU these days?

When the time comes, the Jia family will say they have no money. Can she go to the government office to file a complaint?
When Master Zhan told her this before, she didn't quite believe it. After all, she was her biological sister, and was different from her husband's family like the Xue family. How could they be so black-hearted?

Because she was holding on to this fluke mentality, she specifically offered to give her sister 10,000 taels for free. But now when she heard her sister's words, she knew that her sister thought it was too little and looked down on it!
She felt sad and secretly crossed out the relationship with her sister. The guilt she felt for betraying the Jia family was swept away and turned into relief and pride.

Fortunately, they and their mother met Master Zhan and took refuge with him first, otherwise their entire family would have been eaten up by these so-called in-laws in the future.

Humph, when your Jia family is destroyed in the future, will you still be so greedy and cruel?

Aunt Xue was secretly angry in her heart, and at the same time she followed Mr. Zhan's instructions and evaded the question:
"If you had said this a few days earlier, my family could have sold some of the extra store property and taken some money from the store, and maybe we could have come up with this much cash."

"But sister also knows that a few days ago, after the court awarded Wenlong an official position, this job as an official merchant will be handed over."

"Now all the accounts have been sorted out and we are ready to contact people, but it is not easy to withdraw additional money or sell the store's property."

"Otherwise, if the imperial court finds out, I'm afraid it will lead to the confiscation of the family and extermination of the clan. I really don't dare to do such a thing."

When Mrs. Wang heard this, she was stunned.

The couple made all kinds of calculations, but they only cared about the Xue family's wealth, but they forgot that the Xue family is no longer a royal merchant.

But Mrs. Wang was very unwilling, so she asked:

"Sister's family has been a royal merchant for so many years, can't they even come up with 300,000 taels of silver?"

Aunt Xue said with a smile:
"Let alone three hundred thousand taels, my family has millions of taels of wealth, but these are not cash!"

"Although my family is a royal merchant, if we have money, we must buy land. What are we going to do with all that cash?"

"Sister, you've been in the capital for a long time, so you don't know how valuable the land in Jinling is. My family has exchanged all of our silver for land, and now we have only accumulated a hundred hectares of fertile land."

"As for daily expenses, they used to be imperial merchants, so they used the cash in the shops and never used their own money."

"Now that I am no longer a royal merchant, I have only kept 10,000 or 20,000 taels with me for daily expenses."

"Now, sister, you want to borrow three hundred thousand taels from me. Where can I find so much cash for you?"

Aunt Xue's excuse was very good and sounded reasonable no matter how you listened to it. Mrs. Wang couldn't figure out what was wrong for a moment and could only blame herself for being unlucky for not having made a good fortune when the Xue family was the royal merchant.

Mrs. Wang was extremely disappointed that her goal was not achieved. She had no interest in continuing the conversation, so she just said a few words and left.

After sending Mrs. Wang away, Aunt Xue couldn't help but feel secretly happy when she thought of her sister's previous depressed expression. She immediately called Hongye in and asked her to tell Master Zhan that there was a demon in the house again and asked him to come and exorcise the demon when he was free.

Mr. Zhan was indeed eager to help others. Hearing that there was a demon causing trouble here, he rushed over at night, sat on the bed, pointed at the demon from the "Veil Society" and shouted:

"Monster, last time I was kind enough to let you go, but you dared to come again without knowing how to live or die. Don't you know that I will show no mercy under my stick?"

The monster fell at his feet and said with a charming smile:
"Master, calm down!"

"Since I was subdued by the master last time, I have made up my mind to turn over a new leaf."

"It's just that there are other sisters in my cave who have never seen the master's tyranny and are unwilling to accept it, so I came here to give it a try."

"Master, you don't need to pity them. Just beat them up with a stick and they will be obedient."

"But Master, please don't underestimate them. My sisters have all practiced in the mountains, and each of them has their own unique magic weapon. If they attack us all at once, it will be difficult to deal with them."

Master Zhan sneered:

"As long as I have the Immortal Binding Rope in my hand, no monster can be my opponent."

After hearing this, the veiled monster clapped his hands, and the door of the room opened. Hongye and the others, each holding a tray with various props on it, came in one after another and lined up in front of the bed.

The veiled monster jumped naked under the bed, waved his hand, and encouraged the morale:
"Sisters, this is Master Zhan, the invincible master of the magic gun."

"Legend has it that if you eat Master Zhan's immortal spirit, you will be able to stay young and live a long life. Whether you sisters can eat it and how much you can eat depends entirely on your own means."

"Whatever you have the ability to do, just show it all!"

Hongye and the others responded in unison, then transformed themselves, threw away the troublesome clothes, revealed their true forms as monsters, raised the magic weapon, and rushed onto the bed.

Master Zhan snorted coldly, jumped up, and also showed a three-legged and two-armed Dharma form. He swung the rope in his hand, tied up these monsters one by one, and pushed them down one by one and punished them there.

The monsters then realized how powerful Master Zhan was, but it was too late to surrender. Not only could they not escape, they couldn't even chant or use spells. They had no choice but to bite the gag and wriggle like worms, trying to awaken the magic weapon embedded in their bodies and reverse the outcome.

After tens of thousands of words of bloody fighting, these goblins were finally defeated and had to accept their fate.

Master Zhan gave the monsters a sweet date after each beating. Not only did he not take their lives, he also used his life essence to heal their injuries. He used oral and external applications, injections and medication. He did it all. Not only did the monsters not die, but their powers greatly improved.

The demons were grateful for Master Zhan's kindness and surrendered, saying:
"Master, you are so kind, we are willing to follow you, serve you like dogs and horses, and ride on you as you please."

Mr. Zhan hesitated for a moment, and the veiled monster came up to persuade him:
"Master, don't you see that gods and Buddhas all have monster mounts? If I don't have one, wouldn't people look down on me when I go out and travel around the world?"

Master Zhan then reluctantly agreed and bestowed upon each demon a number of magical weapons such as collars and bells, requiring them to carry them day and night and practice rituals with them from time to time to protect themselves, uphold the way, and verify their identities.

After subduing all these demons, Master Zhan lay among the demons and preached, leading them to travel to the sky.

Let’s not talk about the monsters, let’s just talk about Master Zhan. After he came out of his trance, he went towards Sister Lin again.

We must strike while the iron is hot and not let down our guard!

After entering Lin Daiyu's dream, Mr. Zhan discovered that Lin Daiyu's dream tonight was not as self-pitying as last night, but it was very confusing, sometimes it was Brother Bao, sometimes it was Mrs. Wang's.

Master Zhan ignored all this and with a wave of his hand, he took control of the dream.

Lin Daiyu was in a daze, but her consciousness was focused again. She found herself in a small room. The decoration inside seemed to be just like the VIP box where she had watched polo in the Jockey Club before.

There was a noise outside the window, and she subconsciously walked to the window and looked out. She saw that this was indeed the box, and below was the square audience seats. A group of spectators, numbering thousands, were gathered in a circle to watch the game.

However, the area in front and below was not a polo match, but a huge and spacious martial arts arena. A woman was riding a horse and galloping past from the left side. When she crossed the center of the field, she raised her hand, raised her bow, shot ten arrows in a row, and then swept past like the wind.

Looking ahead, every arrow hits the target a hundred steps away.

"it is good!"

The people in the audience couldn't help but shout out and applaud, except for Lin Daiyu in the box upstairs, who was still a little confused.

Under the bright sunlight, she could see clearly that the person riding the horse and whipping the horse was clearly her sister Xichun.

But at this moment, Sister Xichun was not the timid girl she had imagined. Instead, she was in high spirits, full of energy and confidence. Her hair was simply tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head, and she wore a tight suit. She looked heroic, even more heroic than Sister Tanchun.

Sister Lin grew up in the Rongguo Mansion since she was a child. She had never seen such a beautiful woman in men's clothing. When she saw Xichun's appearance, she couldn't help but feel a little moved.

This is... so cool!

Even more handsome than Brother Bao!
No, no, this is Sister Xichun, not Brother Bao... Sister Lin hurriedly gathered her thoughts, but in a trance, she saw Sister Xichun suddenly appear in the box, holding her hand, smiling and saying:
"Okay, Sister Lin, I've won the championship and received the medal and prize money. It's time for us to go home."

Sister Lin was startled, then she laughed and scolded:

"Good sister Xichun, you always called me sister in the past, but after winning that championship today, you forgot our ages and acted like an elder in front of me."

Before she finished her words, Xichun was startled and shouted:

"We are both concubines of the Zhan family. Of course we follow the rules set by the master. The one who enters the house first is the senior. You should call me sister, and I should call you sister!" Hearing Xichun say this, Lin Daiyu's heart skipped a beat. When she looked down, she saw that her clothes had turned into those of a woman again. She touched the bun on her head and it was indeed a woman's style.

Why is this happening again?

Lin Daiyu was extremely frightened, and her heart started beating very fast.

The dream affected reality, and the violent heartbeat immediately woke Lin Daiyu up from the nightmare.

She suddenly sat up from the bed, gasping for breath, and gently pressed her chest with her right hand, feeling her rapid heartbeat, her mind becoming increasingly confused.

Are the things I saw in the dream real?

"Miss, what's wrong with you?"

There was a flash of fire, and Zijuan was awakened by her. She hurried over with a lamp in hand to inquire.

"No, I...I had a nightmare again." Lin Daiyu responded subconsciously.

"Oh."

Zijuan responded, reached out her hand and touched her forehead. Finding that she didn't have a fever, she felt relieved and wiped the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief. Then she helped her lie down gently, tucked the quilt back in for her, and said casually:
"Everything in the dream is fake, Miss, don't take it to heart..."

Zijuan was halfway through her words when she suddenly remembered the rumors about her young lady that had been circulating in the mansion before, so she changed the subject and asked:

"Uh, could this be another precognitive dream?"

Sister Lin hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head and said:

"Probably not."

"This dream is too absurd. I actually saw Sister Xichun riding a horse and shooting arrows. She fired ten arrows in a row, and every arrow hit the target."

After hearing this, Zijuan also burst out laughing and echoed:
"Although the Jia family was founded through military merit and was awarded a title because of their merit, who still practices horse riding and archery nowadays?"

"Don't even mention the Fourth Miss. Even among Master Lian and Master Bao, which one of them looks like he can ride a horse and shoot a bow?"

The two of them simultaneously imagined Jia Lian and Baoyu riding on horses and shooting arrows, and they found it inappropriate. They couldn't help laughing at the same time, and their laughter drove away all their sleepiness.

Sister Lin then told her about Xichun's horse riding and archery in her dream, but she subconsciously skipped over the things like the concubine in the Zhan Mansion and who entered the family first or later.

After hearing this, Zijuan also felt that this "precognitive dream" was quite ridiculous, so she joked again, which made Lin Daiyu very angry.

Although she was laughed at by her own maid, after having this dream, Lin Daiyu felt relieved. She thought that her elder sister's promotion to princess was just a coincidence, or she simply remembered it wrong. The so-called "precognitive dream" could not be used as a reference at all, and should not be believed.

After her worries were gone, Lin Daiyu felt at ease and slept soundly until dawn.

However, Zijuan never told her that in addition to the fact that she could have "precognitive dreams", there was another explanation, which was that she deliberately made up the story in order to curry favor with her future in-laws.

She said that she dreamed about the Empress being crowned as a concubine last night, but more people believed that she actually made up the dream story after she knew that the Empress was crowned as a concubine.

Anyway, these predictive dreams were all said by her herself. No one knows whether they are true or false, and there is no way to verify them.

Rather than believing that the mean-spirited Lin Daiyu was a rare person who could predict dreams, the maids and servants in the mansion believed this theory more, after all, it was more in line with their cognition.

However, Zijuan knew that her young lady was narrow-minded, so she did not dare to tell her the rumor.

The next day, after waking up, Lin Daiyu washed up, had breakfast, and was about to go out to look for Brother Bao when she heard that there were guests coming upstairs.

She asked someone carefully and found out that it was the second master of the Xue family who came to Beijing with his son Xue Ke and daughter Xue Baoqin to discuss the transfer of the imperial merchant with Aunt Xue.

Now, Mr. Xue Er was already sitting in the living room, drinking tea and chatting with Mr. Zheng. Baoyu was accompanying them and talking to Xue Ke.

The new sister, named Baoqin, had already entered the backyard to pay her respects to the old lady.

Over the years in the Jia Mansion, Sister Lin has been looked down upon many times. Even the three sisters often get angry. Only Sister Bao is generous and strict in managing the household. She never lets Sister Lin get angry, and is even more rude to Brother Bao. Therefore, Sister Lin has a very good impression of Sister Bao.

Now, hearing that Bao-sister's sister had come, he became curious and got up and went to the backyard.

Many sisters had the same idea and came to the old lady one after another. All the sisters gathered here at once.

Baoqin had already greeted the old lady and Aunt Xue, and was very respectful and polite to Baochai. Everyone praised her at once:

"She is indeed Sister Bao's sister. Look at how she speaks and acts. She is just like Sister Bao, as if they were cast in the same mold."

Now the mansion was worried about the construction of a separate residence for the imperial visit. When Mrs. Wang heard that the second master Xue had come to the house for the imperial merchant business, she wanted to make a fortune from the Xue family. So she said to the Xue family with a smile:

"This must be attributed to the good upbringing of the Xue family. Both of their daughters are so outstanding, whether in appearance or in the way they treat others. They are indeed the demeanor of a noble family."

Baoqin smiled and thanked him:
"If we really talk about family education, it is definitely the best among noble families like yours."

"How can we, daughters of merchants, compare to these sisters in the mansion?"

"Just look at all the sisters present here. They all have their own unique characteristics, but they all outshine me!"

After hearing this, Jia's mother hugged Baoqin and laughed:
"It's all good, it's all good!"

Then he smiled and said to Madam Wang:
"It's a pity that Baoyu the monkey is not here, otherwise if he saw such outstanding sisters, I don't know how he would dance!"

Mrs. Wang also laughed and said jokingly:
"He is the most impatient with these human courtesy. Now he is detained in the front to accompany his father. I am afraid that nails have grown on his buttocks and he can't sit still and wants to run over here!"

All the girls present knew Baoyu's temper, and when they heard what Mrs. Wang said so aptly, they all burst into laughter.

Baoqin didn't know Baoyu and didn't know what they were laughing at. Seeing that everyone was laughing, she had no choice but to laugh along, looking quite embarrassed.

When Lady Jia saw this, she picked out a few of Baoyu's deeds and told them to Baoqin, which made Baoqin laugh so hard that she was shaking with joy.

Mrs. Wang saw how much Grandmother Jia loved Baoqin, and suddenly her heart moved. She quickly glanced at Daiyu and Baoqin, and some evil thoughts came to her mind.

She thought about it quickly and then smiled and suggested to Lady Jia:

"Since the old lady likes it, why not let Second Master Xue and his family stay in the mansion temporarily? After all, they are all old relatives from Jinling and are not far away from each other."

As expected, Grandmother Jia happily agreed.

Baoqin knew the purpose of her visit. Seeing that Lady Jia and Lady Wang said this, she did not refuse and just said:

"I am a girl, how can I make the decision? I have to listen to my father and brother's arrangements."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang took charge and said:
"Then you can rest assured. My master will talk to your father and brother."

After saying this, Mrs. Wang went out and called Zhou Rui's wife over. She gave her some careful instructions and asked her to go to the front and tell Master Zheng to make sure that Master Xue II could stay in the mansion.

When she turned back, she saw Jia's mother holding Baoqin in her left hand and Daiyu in her right hand, chatting and laughing happily. She frowned slightly, feeling a little unhappy, so she deliberately started a conversation:

"Baoqin just came to the mansion, but she didn't know that Daiyu next to you is a strange person."

"Before the Empress was named Consort Xiande, the imperial edict hadn't arrived yet, but she had already dreamed about it."

"Now it has spread all over the mansion. Everyone says Daiyu can communicate with spirits in dreams and have predictive dreams."

Baoqin looked over curiously. When Daiyu saw this, she waved her hand hastily and said:
"Second Madam, please don't listen to the gossips of the servants."

"I did have a dream before, in which I learned that the queen was made a concubine, but there were many absurd things in it. It was definitely not a precognitive dream, most likely just a coincidence."

Baoqin asked curiously:

"What kind of absurd things are these?"

"Sister Lin, why don't you tell me about it? Who knows if there are any metaphors or something that needs to be interpreted?"

Daiyu hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to start. Seeing this, Jia's mother smiled and said:

"It's all a dream anyway, not real. No matter how absurd it is, it's still normal. Why are you afraid of being laughed at?"

When Daiyu saw that Lady Jia had spoken, she knew she had to speak, but she also knew that things like the concubine of the Zhan family could not be told, so she had to tell her mother about her dream last night.

"I had another dream last night. In the dream, I actually saw Sister Xichun riding a horse and shooting arrows at the Jockey Club. She shot ten arrows in a row, and every arrow hit the target. Thousands of people in the audience cheered for her. In the end, she seemed to have won the championship."

After hearing this, everyone burst into laughter and said:

"Then it seems that this is not a prophetic dream!"

"How could Xichun be able to ride a horse and shoot arrows? And it's even more impossible for her to show up at the Jockey Club."

Baoqin said:

“Perhaps this dream can be interpreted in another way.”

"I have read some books on dream interpretation. In the dream interpretation, horseback archery represents immediate success and accurate shooting of arrows."

"If a scholar dreams of riding a horse or shooting arrows, it is often a sign of success."

"If an official dreams of riding a horse and shooting arrows, it is often a sign of promotion."

"But this woman dreamed of riding a horse and shooting arrows... I don't know how to interpret it."

After hearing Baoqin's words, everyone turned to look at Xichun, but saw that Xichun's eyes were wide open and her cherry-like mouth could not close. She looked at Daiyu as if she had seen a ghost.

Daiyu was frightened by Xichun's appearance, and she shrank subconsciously, and asked hurriedly:

"Sister Xichun, what's wrong with you?"

Xichun was stunned for a moment before she came to her senses and said with a strange look on her face:
"To be honest with you, Sister Lin, I've recently felt that women are weak and incompetent, and their fate is not entirely up to them, so I decided to give up literature and practice martial arts. I plan to try to be a female general like Hua Mulan in the future and control my own destiny."

"If my guess is correct, the appearance you saw in your dream is what I will look like in the future."

When everyone in the field heard this, they were all shocked and screamed:
"what?"

"real or fake?"

"Xi girl, can you really ride a horse and shoot arrows?"

"Could it be possible that Daiyu could really have a precognitive dream?"

Seeing that everyone looked unbelievable, Xichun said:
"I have only just started to learn archery. I can't shoot ten arrows in a row yet, and I can't ride a horse yet. But if I just draw the bow and shoot arrows, it's not a problem."

"Now the East Palace has leveled a piece of land in Huifang Garden in the backyard and built a small martial arts arena. However, because it is relatively low-key, no one in the West Palace knows about it."

"If you don't believe it, just go and take a look and you will know whether it is true or not."

Grandmother Jia herself did not quite believe such things. Whether it was a little girl like Xichun suddenly starting to practice martial arts, or her granddaughter Daiyu suddenly being able to predict the future, it was completely beyond the thinking capacity of this old woman.

But the two people in front of her spoke so confidently that it didn't seem like a lie, so Grandmother Jia simply gave an order and asked everyone to go to the East Palace martial arts arena to see for themselves to see whether the matter was true or not.

Thanks to the disciple "Zhi, Alise" for the reward of 449 coins!
Thanks to the book friend "EOS Returns" for the reward of 100 coins!
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(End of this chapter)