The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 168 My nephew takes a concubine. Please ask Uncle Zheng to be a witness.

After a whole day of hard work, the Immortal Fate Conference finally came to an end, and no one succeeded in obtaining the Immortal Fate.

Master Zhan could only sigh at this, "Alas, it seems that the people in the mansion are not following enough, and the fate is not enough!"

Everyone who has tried and failed knows in their heart why they failed. Although they are dejected, they can only grit their teeth and accept it, convinced that they are not destined to be a god.

But this matter of immortal fate involves the secrets of heaven. Even if one wants to brag about it to outsiders, one dare not mention it for fear of being punished by heaven.

Master Zhan entered the room, took away the treasure mirror, initialized and restored the room, then patted his butt and left.

Later, when people from the Jia family entered the room again, they found it empty and there was nothing in it. The things they saw before seemed like a dream, with no trace left at all.

The group of people listlessly restored the room to its original state, then dispersed and went home to recuperate.

After all, most people can't withstand multiple consecutive launches in a short period of time.

Aunt Zhao was worried about Tanchun's situation, so after returning home, she hurriedly called Huan Saner and asked him to make preparations quickly.

Jia Huan had been busy with these things over the past few days. He had already prepared the bridal chamber and had also agreed on a date with Master Zhan. Now that he had received Aunt Zhao's order, he immediately started to act, asking Master Zhan to come to the outer courtyard tomorrow evening to perform the ceremony of taking the "dancer" as a concubine.

Aunt Zhao was not at all confident about her stupid daughter, so she decided to be there in person to provide off-field guidance. So she left the house early in the afternoon and headed for the small courtyard.

As soon as she left the house, Zhou Rui's wife got the news and hurried over to find Mrs. Wang.

It happened that at this time Mrs. Wang was talking to Jia Zheng, discussing Tanchun's affairs.

"Master, now that Tan'er is old, it's time to find her a husband."

"There is an uncle in my mother's family. He has a son. Although he has no achievements, he is about the same age as Tanchun and has good character. Why don't we get married?"

She had considered it carefully. Not only could she not let Aunt Zhao become Xiao Thirteen, she also couldn't let that girl Tan have any relationship with Master Zhan, otherwise that vixen would sooner or later climb into Master Zhan's bed.

If the mother and daughter work together, Master Zhan will definitely be partial to her, and it will be even more difficult for her to suppress Aunt Zhao in the mansion.

Therefore, the best way is to find a marriage for Tanchun, marry her off and put an end to the problem once and for all.

As long as Tanchun left the Jia Mansion and was no longer under her jurisdiction, she didn't have to worry about any impact on her status in the mansion.

If possible, it would be great to marry Tanchun to a place far away in the frontier!
But the problem is that Jia Zheng can't get over this hurdle.

If there is no other way, who wouldn't want to marry their daughter to a good family of equal status, so that they can join forces and help each other?

So even if Mrs. Wang was reluctant, she still had to find a good family for Tanchun.

Her social circle was not wide to begin with, and after much thought, she decided to start with her own relatives.

The son of the uncle she introduced to her, although he was of good age and family background, was actually a playboy who bullied men and women all day long, and was no different from Xue Pan before.

However, she also knew that character was the least important part of marriage, and her master did not care about it, so she brought it up now in an attempt to convince her master.

Sure enough, after listening to it, Jia Zheng felt a little moved.

"Tanchun is indeed old enough to get married. Since Madam says so, then please invite that nephew to come over and have a visit!"

"But there is no rush for marriage. We have to wait until the mourning period is over."

"The most urgent matter is Yuanchun's return home to visit her relatives and the old lady's funeral."

Mrs. Wang smiled and replied:

"Of course, we just need to settle the marriage first to give them peace of mind. Otherwise, they will have to wait for more than two years, which would be a waste of their time!"

"Engagement..." Jia Zheng hesitated after hearing this. "Let's meet a few times first to see how Tanchun feels."

"Master, what you said is true. Marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words. How can a girl like Tanchun have the right to express her opinion?"

Mrs. Wang wanted to strike while the iron was hot and persuade Jia Zheng to settle the matter first, so when she saw Zhou Rui's wife loitering at the door, she ignored her and continued to persuade Jia Zheng.

Zhou Ruijia walked around the door for a few times and began to feel anxious.

Although she arranged for people to keep an eye on Aunt Zhao, how long would it take for a man and a woman to have sex? If she didn't catch up early, she might have finished the matter and returned before she could get there.

The servants of the Jia family had never followed any rules and did not take their masters seriously. Zhou Rui was afraid of missing out on a good opportunity, so after hesitating for a while outside, she suddenly barged in and shouted:

"Master, Madam, Aunt Zhao has sneaked out of the house again. She is probably going to meet a man from another family. If we don't catch her now, it may be too late!"

She first put the green hat on her own master's head. After all, her master is the lady. Even if the master is unhappy, can he really do anything to her, the old lady in the family?
As expected, when Jia Zheng heard what she said, he flew into a rage and cursed:

"What a gossipy old woman! She has no manners!"

"You didn't see me discussing something with my wife, and you dared to barge in like this, and even said nonsense!"

"You don't do your job properly all day, but you are here to gossip. What crime should you be punished for?"

Before Zhou Ruijia could bow her head and admit her fault, Mrs. Wang became unhappy and said with a raised brow:
"How can you know that what she said is not true? Why do you accuse her of gossiping?"

Jia Zheng said angrily:
"She is the housekeeper in the mansion, and she is responsible for all the chores. If we count strictly, Aunt Zhao is also her master. She doesn't do her job properly, but dares to secretly follow her master's whereabouts, to sow discord in the mansion, and to rebel against Tiangang. She should be severely punished!"

"Haha..." Madam Wang sneered, "So that the master can know that she did not act on her own, but was following orders. I asked her to do this."

"You!" Jia Zheng was furious and pointed at Mrs. Wang. For a moment he didn't know how to scold her.

Mrs. Wang did not give in to her master's attitude at all. She stubbornly protected Zhou Rui's wife and took all the responsibility. She replied in a stern voice:
"I asked Mrs. Zhou Rui to secretly keep an eye on Aunt Zhao. I discovered that she has been acting strangely lately. She often sneaks out of the house and only comes back half a day later."

"If she is not having an affair with a man outside her family, then what else is she doing that requires her to be so sneaky and avoid the eyes and ears of the master and me."

Jia Zheng was also a suspicious person. Although he frowned when he heard that Aunt Zhao was always running out of the house, he still didn't want to believe that Aunt Zhao had an affair with an outsider, so he shook his head and said:

"We are not in prison. Even if she goes out to play at the Jockey Club or burn incense at the temple, what's so strange about that?"

Seeing that her master was clearly trying to protect that little bitch, Mrs. Wang was immediately furious and refused to give in. She just shouted:

"Then why did she drive away the coachman and the guards and only travel with a personal maid, and even hired a carriage from the street?"

"Ever since Miss Feng got into trouble, everyone in the mansion has been protected by a group of people when they go out. But she wanted to go out alone like this, leaving her servants aside and not allowing them to follow her?"

"If she hadn't been guilty, why would she do this?"

"This..." Jia Zheng couldn't help but be speechless.

Mrs. Wang was not willing to give in and continued to shout:

"For Yuanchun's future in the palace, I don't need to mention the matter of Yan Sheng, but if someone wants to harm me, I have to pursue it!"

"Even if this little bitch is meeting someone secretly this time, it's not for a love affair, then she must be doing something shameful!"

"It's possible that this is related to the person behind Yan Sheng, and he is planning to secretly harm me again!"

"We just finished the Immortal Fate Conference yesterday, and she sneaked out of the house again today. If we don't eliminate this hidden danger as soon as possible, will we have to wait until Yuanchun returns home for this nightmare to happen again?"

After being contradicted by Mrs. Wang, Jia Zheng's face suddenly turned ugly.

In his heart, he actually didn't believe that the person who had the nightmare was Aunt Zhao, but the fact that Aunt Zhao had secretly left the house made him suspicious.

This man's self-confidence is often proportional to the time that kind of thing takes.

Jia Zheng is now over forty years old and lacks exercise. He has long been weak and often feels weak in bed. Of course, his confidence has also been reduced a lot.

Aunt Zhao is only in her thirties now, and is at the age when her needs are strong. No matter how much she tries to please him, she knows the actual situation in her heart.

At this point, he couldn't help but start to doubt in his heart. Could it be that Aunt Zhao really was having an affair?
Once this suspicion arose, it was difficult to dispel it, and his face immediately turned ugly.

Mrs. Wang had been married to him for many years. She knew what he was thinking at the first sight of his expression. She was immediately pleased and sneered:
"Master, if you want to know what Aunt Zhao did behind your back, why not follow us and catch her in adultery? Who knows, you might even see something interesting!"

Jia Zheng's face turned even more gloomy. He snorted coldly and walked out with big strides.

Zhou Ruijia, who had been pretending to be dead, was suddenly overjoyed. He hurriedly caught up with them, led the way, and took the two of them out of the yard and walked out of the mansion.

The man who was in charge of tracking had already had a car prepared. He asked several people to get in the car, quickly left the house, and led the way to catch the adulterer.

In order to finish everything in case the other side moved too fast, the driver whipped his horse as fast as he could and finally arrived outside the courtyard.

"Master and Madam, this is the courtyard. I saw Aunt Zhao sneaking into this courtyard with my own eyes."

Jia Zheng got out of the car and looked at the yard with a grim face. He actually felt a little timid in his heart and did not dare to go forward and knock on the door.

Mrs. Wang didn't care about this. She casually gave the servant who led the way a piece of silver and signaled him to go up and knock on the door.

The servant went forward and banged on the door. After a moment, someone came and opened the door. The servant immediately squeezed in, opened the door wide, and invited Jia Zheng and others to come in.

Now there was no room for retreat, so Jia Zheng walked in with a gloomy face and a depressed look.

The little maidservant at the door was hired separately and was not from the Jia family. She did not recognize them and hurried forward to stop them.

"Hey, hey...what are you doing and how can you get in here?"

Zhou Ruijia stepped forward and slapped the little maid on the face, spat on her face, and cursed her viciously:

"Little bitch, you are blind, and no one dares to stop you. I will teach you a lesson today!"

The yard was not big, and Jia Zheng and his companions entered the backyard in just three or five steps, and ran into Jia Huan and Qin Zhong who came out after hearing the noise.

"Ah... Master... why are you here?"

He originally thought that it was Master Zhan who came, but it turned out to be his biological father. Jia Huan was so frightened that he couldn't speak clearly.

Jia Zheng saw that his son was also stunned, so he asked hesitantly:

"Uh...what is this yard?"

Qin Zhong did not have such a big psychological shadow on Jia Zheng. He participated in the whole process and knew the cause and effect of the matter. He smiled and interrupted to ease the situation:
"This yard belongs to me and Brother Huan San!"

"Because we both passed the imperial examination and needed a place to gather with our classmates, I asked my sister and Aunt Zhao for some money and bought this small courtyard."

"Ah, right, right, right..." Huan San'er also reacted at this time, "We can usually recite poems and write couplets here, and discuss articles. It's not so convenient in the mansion."

"Oh!" Jia Zheng believed it immediately. No wonder Aunt Zhao ran here. This was her son's secret base. She would definitely be willing to come and help.

As for why he had to hide it from the family, he would have to ask his wife about her attitude towards Huan Saner's hard work in studying!
Jia Zheng glanced coldly at Mrs. Wang, whose face was livid, and stroked his beard, then said to Huan San'er and the other two with a smile:
"You two are great. You are determined to study and encourage each other to move forward. You should be commended."

"Originally, since you passed the examination, the master should have given you some reward, but there have been many accidents in the mansion recently, so these things have been delayed."

"How about this, the master will consider this yard as bought for you, and you can go back to the mansion to settle the bill later." The two were overjoyed and bowed quickly to express their gratitude.

Jia Zheng said with a smile:

"Master, I have always attached great importance to academics. I cannot be inferior to two girls in this matter."

"If you have such a problem again, just come to me directly. As long as it is related to the examination, I will definitely support you."

"Oh, by the way, let your aunt come out too!"

"I'll send a few maids over later for things here. I can't always trouble your aunt for everything."

"Uh..." Jia Huan broke out in a sweat again, and then he realized that the master and the mistress were chasing after his aunt.

He did not dare to lie about this matter which had already been exposed, so he could only bow and say:
"My aunt is busy in the back. Please go to the front hall and sit for a while. I will go and ask my aunt to come over."

Jia Zheng returned to the front hall with a smile on his face. Qin Zhong followed him hurriedly to serve them. He asked the two of them to sit down, served them tea, and chatted with them in a random manner.

The backyard is about to explode!

"What? The master is here?"

When Aunt Zhao heard that Jia Zheng was chasing after her, she was almost frightened to death.

Such things must not be known to my master, otherwise, with his pedantic nature, he would be furious.

She subconsciously tried to run away, but Jia Huan rushed over to hug her, repeatedly reminding her:

"My lady, please don't run away. The master and his wife are chasing you. If you run away, you won't be able to explain yourself."

"Don't worry, the master and his wife don't seem to know anything. They don't even know what we are doing here today!"

"Qin Zhong and I have already coaxed them into staying here. We told them that this is a gathering place for the two of us and our classmates. You are just here to help."

After hearing Jia Huan's account of what had just happened, Aunt Zhao was overjoyed. She stepped forward, hugged her son, and praised him:

"My good son, you are so smart!"

"You're right, this is the place where your classmates gather, and I'm here to help!"

Jia Huan took her hand and walked out, whispering:

"Mom, please tell me this in a moment. Hurry up and coax the master and the others away. Otherwise, when Brother Zhan comes, it will be hard to explain."

"Yes, yes." Aunt Zhao nodded repeatedly, then suddenly stopped and turned to the secretary and others to warn:

"Don't let Tanchun know about the master and mistress's affairs, otherwise I'm afraid she will be exposed. You all hide in the back and are not allowed to go forward."

"It looks like I won't be able to give on-site instruction tonight. The master will definitely have to take me back later."

"Your plan should proceed as usual, and you should not slack off."

The secretary and the others nodded hurriedly and agreed.

Only then did Aunt Zhao pull herself together and follow Jia Huan to the front to deal with the master and his mistress.

She was best at acting. She came out of the backyard with a smile on her face. She first greeted the master and his wife, then wandered around Mrs. Wang in a provocative manner, saying in a sarcastic tone:

"Oh, my brother Huan finally passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. This means he has more honor than me, his aunt!"

"Just buying a house and renovating the yard actually alerted the master and mistress to come over, tut tut tut tut..."

Mrs. Wang was so angry at her mockery that her face turned as gloomy as the bottom of a pot.

Seeing that his wives and concubines had started fighting again, Jia Zheng suddenly felt a headache and glared at them and shouted:
"Nonsense!"

"Huan'er is interested in studying, this is a great thing, you should just tell the master openly, why are you being so sneaky, it makes people suspicious!"

"Madam, you have good intentions. You are afraid that you will be kidnapped by thieves if you are walking alone outside like Lian's second daughter-in-law."

"You should thank the madam instead of talking nonsense!"

Sensing the warning in her master's eyes, Aunt Zhao curled her lips, pretending to be reluctant, and bowed to Madam Wang, thanking her:
"Thank you for your concern, ma'am. I am very grateful. I will definitely bring more people with me when I go out next time."

After talking nonsense for a few more sentences, Aunt Zhao turned the conversation back home. Jia Zheng had now found out the "truth" and felt relieved. There was no need for him to stay here any longer.

Mrs. Wang was humiliated here and ridiculed by Aunt Zhao. She was too embarrassed to stay any longer and immediately stood up to leave.

Aunt Zhao finally felt relieved and followed behind him toward the door, looking back every few steps. She was still a little worried about how Tanchun would perform that evening.

But soon, she stopped worrying about that.

Just as he reached the door, he heard a loud laugh outside. Master Zhan stepped in, bowed to Jia Zheng, and said with a smile:
"Haha... my nephew is just holding a concubine ceremony, why did Uncle Zheng come to watch the ceremony in person?"

"Huh?" Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment, and turned to look at Jia Huan and Aunt Zhao, "Isn't this yard yours and Qin Zhong's?"

"Uh..." Jia Huan and the others' faces turned green. They were speechless and didn't know how to answer.

But Mr. Zhan was very kind-hearted, and immediately smiled and said:
"This courtyard is indeed owned by Huan and Zhong, but in order to thank me for my previous help, they bought a dancer and gave it to me as a concubine."

"Haha... Uncle Zheng also knows that this is the only hobby my nephew has. Wouldn't it be disrespectful to refuse it..."

"Oh." Jia Zheng still had some doubts in his heart, but he was also a decent man and understood the principle of not exposing others when things are tough. He would not ask about his doubts in person, but just kept the matter in his heart, thinking that he would ask Jia Huan and the others later, and he believed that they would not dare to lie to him.

Mr. Zhan came over with a smile and invited Jia Zheng to come back into the mansion.

"This concubine ceremony would not be solemn enough without guests. Since you are here, you can be a witness to the ceremony. I will toast you a few glasses later."

Just as Jia Zheng was about to nod his head in agreement, Aunt Zhao rushed up behind him and whispered in his ear:

"Master, for this concubine ceremony, it would be better to let young people like Huan Ge'er witness it. Wouldn't it disturb other people's interest if you, a master of your generation, were here?"

"Mr. Zhan is probably just being polite. If you agree to it, it would be a bit tactless."

"Besides, the master is in mourning, and it would be inconvenient for him to drink during this period."

But she didn't dare let Jia Zheng stay. If he happened to see through Tanchun's identity, it would be terrible.

Putting aside other things, Tanchun's parents and aunt are all here at the moment. If they witness her concubine-taking ceremony, then when the truth comes out, all this fake stuff will become true!
Jia Zheng was a soft-hearted person to begin with. After hearing this, he also felt that it made sense, so he politely declined:
"It is a happy event for my nephew to take a concubine, but the old lady has passed away and now is the mourning period, so it is inconvenient for me to drink with my nephew here."

"I'll have someone pay the gift money later. As for the banquet, we can talk about it after the mourning period is over!"

He had already thought about retreating, but the tree wanted to be still but the wind did not stop.

Now he wants to leave, but Mrs. Wang doesn't want to leave anymore!
Originally, Mrs. Wang thought that this surprise attack should be to catch this little bitch having an affair with someone, or at least to get solid evidence that she was secretly colluding with Yan Sheng's people, so she would have to be skinned alive.

But who knew that this room actually belonged to Jia Huan, and was used for studying. All his plans were completely dashed, and he was even ridiculed by that little bitch. Now he has been depressed for a long time, and was sulking at Zhou Rui's wife who was incompetent, when he saw something unexpected happen suddenly.

She knew Aunt Zhao well. Although she was stupid and domineering, she was very good at using coquettish tactics and had a strong purpose in her actions. She was very good at pretending to be very knowledgeable in front of her master and always pretended to be very well-behaved.

But today, Aunt Zhao suddenly spoke out of turn regardless of the occasion, which was very unusual and not her usual style.

Mrs. Wang didn't know why Aunt Zhao suddenly acted like this, but based on the attitude that this little bitch would do the opposite of what she wanted to do, she was determined to stay.

"Master, although it is indeed inappropriate for me to stay and attend the banquet, since I am already here, it is not appropriate to just leave like this."

"Why don't we just watch the ceremony and witness Nian Si taking a concubine, and then it won't be too late to leave!"

Jia Zheng was too familiar with the open and covert struggles between his wives and concubines. As soon as he heard her words, he knew what she meant. He smiled bitterly in his heart and had to continue to deal with it as he did in the past by trying to smooth things over.

"Madam, what you said makes sense. Since you are here, why don't you stay and be a witness?"

Immediately, everyone returned to the front hall and sat down again to serve tea.

The faces of Aunt Zhao and the others suddenly became uglier. On the contrary, Qin Zhong, although he participated in the whole process, it was not related to his own interests, so he was happy to watch the fun from the sidelines.

Aunt Zhao tried several times to find an excuse to change her plan later, but she was watched closely by Madam Wang, who asked Mrs. Zhou Rui to keep a close eye on her whenever something happened.

Mrs. Zhou Rui had messed up the job and was worried that she would be punished by the mistress. Now that she had the opportunity to redeem herself with meritorious service, she immediately became very alert and was like a follower, biting Aunt Zhao to death. No matter how she mocked her or lost her temper and cursed, she was determined not to give in.

The incident happened suddenly, and Jia Huan and the others were not prepared at all. It was too late to change people now. Moreover, the costumes, makeup, and sedan chairs had been prepared long ago, so it was not easy to change them now.

After chatting for a while, dusk finally approached and the ceremony of taking a concubine was about to begin.

Mr. Zhan invited Jia Zheng and his wife to the main hall to watch the ceremony. Mr. Zhan sat in the main seat, while Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang sat side by side to watch the ceremony.

Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan stood behind Jia Zheng, and they kept exchanging glances with each other, their eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets.

On the contrary, Qin Zhong, who had no direct relationship with Jia Zheng, was able to sit opposite the two of them, but he could do nothing about it.

Mr. Zhan sat happily in his seat, taking in everyone's facial expressions, just waiting to watch the fun.

After going through the familiar process again, Tanchun got off the sedan chair in front of the door and was helped down by two unfamiliar maids and walked into the hall.

She had a veil on her head and could only see her toes. She knew nothing about what was happening in the outside world!

With a nervous mood, she walked lightly, her high heels clicking, and came to the center of the hall. She bowed to Master Zhan and whispered in a pinched voice:
"I, Qincao, greet the master."

Mr. Zhan accompanied her through the process with a smile, while Jia Zheng on the other side frowned.

Since Master Zhan is taking a concubine, of course he has to use the Zhan Mansion set.

Tanchun's identity is a dancer, so she is wearing the dancer's suit specially provided by Mr. Zhan. It is of Arabic style, with golden tassels all over her body. When she stands still, her body is tightly covered, but when she moves, her delicate arms and legs are faintly visible, which is extremely attractive.

Jia Zheng, a pedantic man, felt somewhat displeased when he saw this attire, but he was also a moral gentleman and knew the principle of not looking at anything inappropriate, so after taking a glance, he lowered his eyelids and refused to look again.

However, Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan were standing behind him and could not see his expression. They were just standing there in fear, afraid that he would recognize them.

Fortunately, Jia Zheng did not lose his temper until the end of the process. Seeing the two little maids coming forward to help Tanchun return to the backyard to the bridal chamber, Aunt Zhao and the other woman finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little relieved.

Who knew that just as they relaxed, they saw Zhou Rui's wife next to them suddenly jump out, raise her hand, and lift Tanchun's veil. After taking a closer look, she immediately clapped her hands and laughed.

"Haha... I thought this figure looked like the Third Miss, and it turned out to be you!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng looked up and immediately saw his daughter Tanchun, whose face was filled with panic. Then he looked at her immoral clothing and thought of the strange behavior of Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan today. He suddenly became furious and stood up, turned around and slapped Aunt Zhao.

But he stood up too quickly. As soon as he stood up, he felt dizzy, his brain was deprived of oxygen, he lost control of his limbs, and his body fell backwards.

(End of this chapter)