Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 148 Beating
Rongguo Mansion, Mengpozhai,
When he had nothing to do, Jia Zheng and a few other guests would go to his room to pretend to be cultured and appreciate antiques.

The whole city was observing the national mourning ceremony, and Rongguo Mansion, as the residence of a duke, had stricter requirements.

The tea party that was originally scheduled had to be cancelled, so Jia Zheng kept a few men in the room to chat and relieve boredom.

Just when everyone was in a good mood, news came from outside the palace that Fu Shi, the Tongpan of the capital, was coming to visit.

Fu Shi is Jia Zheng's disciple. The fact that he can now get the position of Tongpan is inseparable from the operations of Rongguo Mansion.

Moreover, because he had a younger sister at home who was pretty, Fu Shi had always wanted to use this as a capital to find a relative in the mansion, so he would visit Rongguo Mansion more frequently.

After entering the door, there was a round of greetings and greetings.

Then, Fu Shi stepped forward and said, "I found this good thing in the market not long ago, so I wanted to show it to you, my Lord."

Jia Zheng was cheered up. "Okay, we are tired of looking at these old things in the room. Since you have good things, why not let everyone see them and judge their authenticity?"

Fu Shi took out a porcelain bottle from his arms and placed it carefully on Jia Zheng's desk.

When Fu Shi took out the treasure, he attracted the attention of everyone in the room.

Shan Pinren, a guest under Jia Zheng, left his seat and came to Jia Zheng. He looked at it and exclaimed, "This porcelain vase is pure white, with a warm glaze and a delicate landscape painting on it. It can be dated back to the Tang Dynasty and is a fine product of the Yue Kiln. In the old days, I'm afraid only princes and nobles could afford it."

"President Fu has put a lot of effort into it."

Fu Shi nodded repeatedly and said, "You have a good eye. You are worthy of being an aide to Prime Minister En."

He bowed to Jia Zheng again and said, "My Lord, this is what I brought to you."

Jia Zheng couldn't let it go after seeing it. He held it in his hands and carefully examined the glaze. He couldn't suppress his joy, but he shook his head and said, "Alas, a gentleman doesn't take away what others love. Since you found it, it must be destined for you. How can I take it away?"

Fu Shi hurriedly shook his head and said, "Sir, please don't embarrass me. I know my status is humble, how can I keep this windfall? If I put it at home, it will definitely bring disaster, so it is better to give it to you. In ancient times, the things used by kings and nobles are in line with your status, aren't they?"

Jia Zheng smiled and said, "Okay, you are thoughtful. I won't take your things for nothing."

"Come here, give him two hundred taels of silver, and I'll take it as my purchase."

Fu Shi took the money reluctantly, still with a smile on his face.

Shan Pinren, who was standing by, waved his folding fan and said, "I guess the judge is just trying to get some ideas out. He first offered the porcelain bottle, but hasn't taken out the pearl yet."

Hearing this, Jia Zheng became more interested. "Oh? You've had quite a lot of gains recently. You've found two treasures in the market."

Fu Shi also looked at Shan Pinren with a puzzled look on his face and said, "Why don't I remember that they are two treasures?"

Shan Pinren smiled and said, "How could the magistrate forget the pearl in your family? Everyone knows that the magistrate's sister is a beautiful lady with both talent and beauty. She has been waiting to get married for a long time. Now that the country is mourning, I am afraid she will have to wait another year."

Fu Shi smiled awkwardly, glanced at Jia Zheng and said, "Only a prominent family like En Xiang needs to observe the national mourning. We are a small family. We can just change to a blue-topped sedan chair, use less music and fireworks, and let a few relatives and friends come, and the marriage will be done."

Shan Pinren asked, "Has the magistrate changed his mind? Is he not planning to marry the young man?"

Fu Shi shook his head. "How can my sister be worthy of the mansion's brother..."

The two men sang the same tune, and Jia Zheng also knew Fu Shi's intentions. He sighed and said, "It's not that I don't want to be your matchmaker, but the old lady in the mansion is not interested in it. Besides, the brothers in the mansion are still young and it's not time for them to get married. Let's put this matter on hold for now."

At that moment, a servant outside the door rushed into the room in a hurry, tripped over the threshold, and stumbled into the room.

Jia Zheng's brows were filled with displeasure.

Who is he? His servants actually embarrassed him in front of outsiders.

Jia Zheng said coldly: "Why are you so flustered? Go outside and get twenty beatings first before you talk!"

The guests were busy trying to persuade him.

"Master, don't be angry. Maybe there is something urgent going on at home. Let's listen to him first."

Jia Zheng suppressed his dissatisfaction and said, "The family has been peaceful recently, and the return of the old master is a great joy. What else can go wrong? Please tell me what happened first. If it is not true, I have been itching to hit you with the stick myself and enforce the family rules!"

The servant was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, trembling, bowing with his hands clasped, and seemed to want to say something but stopped himself several times.

"I made you laugh."

Turning to the servant at the desk, Jia Zheng said angrily, "How can a servant in this mansion be so unbecoming! Tell me the story right away!"

The servant bowed his head and said, "Master, something big happened in the inner chamber. Master Bao has been pestering Miss Lin, angering Grand Commander Yue who is visiting the two old dukes. Now the old master wants to beat Master Bao with a stick, so let the master beat him with his own hands. If the blood stops flowing, he will beat the master."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room looked unhappy.

The servant's words were like a string of cannonballs hitting Jia Zheng's head, making him dizzy and causing him to fall off his chair and onto the ground.

"Ah! A bottle from Yue Kiln!"

With a bang, the bottle with the landscape painting fell to the ground, and the broken pieces were scattered all over the floor.

When the judge who presented it to him, Fu Shi, heard that his son had offended the powerful Governor Yue, he was too upset to even feel sorry for him. He put the silver in his pocket and bowed to Jia Zheng, saying, "Sir, the country is still in mourning. I will go to Xuande Gate to fast. Goodbye!"

The situation was not good, and the servants in the room also stood up and said, "Master, we will leave today. We can have tea tomorrow!"

"Farewell!"

Jia Zheng sat on the ground, his mind in a daze.

"This evil creature! He is the scourge of the Jia family!"

……

At the same time, in the inner garden of Jia's family,
Baoyu still stood in front of Lin Daiyu, refusing to give way and continuing to talk incessantly.

"Sister Lin is a fairy from heaven, pure and innocent, but Yue Ling's hands are stained with the blood of countless people, he is as filthy as a pig and a dog. If you stay with him for too long, you will definitely be infected with bad luck, and I'm afraid it will hurt your body."

"I don't mean anything else. I'm just worried about my sister."

"Sister Lin always understands the principle of not alienating the distant ones. Sister Lin and I are brother and sister. Who is Yue Ling? How can he be truly kind to my sister?"

"Don't worry, sister. If you come to my house, I will definitely not treat you badly. I will ask the old ancestor to find a famous doctor for you to cure your disease! From now on, I will only treat you well and put you first in everything. How do you think?"

When Xueyan saw Jia Baoyu behaving like this, she frowned and that frown never relaxed.

Pushing Jia Baoyu away with her hand, Xueyan said, "Don't bother here. If General Yue knew, he would definitely punish you!" Seeing that Lin Daiyu hadn't said anything yet, a little maid started to get ruthless. Jia Baoyu didn't back down either. "So what? This is Rongguo Mansion. How can I not be allowed to speak? What can he do to me?"

Jia Baoyu really made Xueyan very angry, his chest heaving, "You, you, you, you are going to cause a huge disaster!"

Jia Baoyu felt very good about himself and continued, "If Sister Lin goes back with Yue Ling again, it will be a disaster of the greatest magnitude!"

Lin Daiyu had never seen such an unreasonable person before. She also didn't know where the upbringing of the Jia family's mansion had gone. It was far inferior to that of the Lin family.

Lin Daiyu stamped her feet in anger, then raised her head and saw two figures suddenly appear from behind Baoyu, holding Baoyu up on both sides.

"Master Bao, please stop messing around here. The old master is looking for you."

Jia Baoyu struggled and said, "Put me down. Sister Lin hasn't agreed yet. I can't leave!"

The healthy woman frowned and said, "Second Master Bao, it's the old master who's looking for you, not the old ancestor. This is not something you can resolve by throwing a tantrum."

The strong woman said to Lin Daiyu, "Miss Lin, please come with us. Commander Yue is waiting for you in the courtyard."

Lin Daiyu nodded slightly and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, thank you for your help."

……

Lixiangyuan,
Jia Daishan and Jia Daihua had been helped to sit up and lean on the bench.

A space was cleared in the yard, with a long bench placed in the middle and several wooden boards erected. Once a board was broken, it would be replaced with another one.

Yue Ling stared out of the courtyard gate with frowns on his face, veins clenched on his hands. Not beating Jia Baoyu up was the last face he could give to the two heads of the Jia family.

"My dear old man, it's not that I don't care about our friendship. If Daiyu has suffered the slightest injustice, I will go to the East Palace to report to the Jia family regardless of the occasion."

Not to mention the extent to which Yue Ling enjoyed favor in front of the King of Qin, the fact that he himself had favors with the two heads of the Jia family made Jia Daishan even more angry.

"Don't worry, Grand Commander. I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation today!"

After a while, Baoyu was carried into the house by two strong women. He was still not calm and kept struggling.

Jia Daishan's eyes widened and he shouted angrily, "Tie this evil creature to the bench! Take off his clothes and wait for his father to come and give him a good beating!"

"Look at what this beast is wearing!"

Baoyu didn't think he had made any big mistakes, and from his perspective, that was indeed the case. Although Lin Daiyu was unhappy, Baoyu always took her into consideration.

But when he entered the courtyard and saw the old master, he wanted to punish him without waiting for him to say a word.

When he saw the board standing beside him, he was scared to death.

"Grandpa, why did you hit me?"

Jia Daishan covered his chest with one hand and pointed at Jia Baoyu, who was tied up and unable to move on the bench, and cursed: "You ignorant and unlearned evildoer, don't you know where you went wrong? You have brought shame to the Jia family!"

"If Zheng'er doesn't come today, I will beat you myself!"

Just then, Jia Zheng rushed into the courtyard. He stumbled into the courtyard, bowed to Yue Ling, and then knelt down in front of the old master, kowtowed and said, "Father, I have failed to educate my son properly and disturbed your cultivation. I deserve to die!"

Jia Daishan held back his anger and said angrily, "You are the one who disciplines your son. Today, five boards have been laid out. If none of them breaks after eighty strokes, I will use all the boards to hit you until they break!"

Jia Zheng trembled and almost collapsed to the ground again.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, Jia Zheng quickly stood up and said, "My son obeys my command. My son obeys my command."

Jia Zheng walked quickly to Jia Baoyu.

"You evil creature, I told you long ago to stay in your room, but you had to come out to cause trouble! Today, if I don't beat you to pieces, I'm not your father!"

Jia Baoyu was fearless, but when he saw that his father was so scared that he was about to wet his pants, he trembled and said, "Dad, I'm right. I just want Sister Lin to stay in the mansion."

Jia Zheng had a look of disappointment on his face. He picked up the board beside him, spat on his hand twice, and said, "Where Daiyu goes, is it your place to tell her what to do? Who are you? If it weren't for your own selfish desires, would you care about this? And you're still speaking rudely here, just wait and see if I'm going to beat you up or not!"

The father and son were still playing against each other, and Jia Daishan said angrily: "Why don't you fight quickly? What are you mumbling about?"

The board was raised high and with a slap, it hit Jia Baoyu's buttocks.

This time, he took off his clothes and hit his body hard, leaving a bloody mark in an instant.

Perhaps it was because Yue Ling had spanked him before that he could actually endure it. Holding back the tears in his eyes, Jia Baoyu quickly changed his words and said, "Daddy, I know I was wrong. Daddy, please forgive me. I won't dare to do it again!"

"Don't dare? It's too late!"

With a snap, another red mark appeared on Jia Baoyu's butt.

Jia Daishan felt that it was not enough, and said, "Use more force, don't forget what I said just now, if a piece of the board is not broken, then all of it will be broken on you!"

Jia Zheng took a few deep breaths, put all his anger into the board, and increased the force.

The wailing sound spread throughout the yard.

Yue Ling leaned over, held Lin Daiyu's arm, and asked with concern: "Did he do anything disrespectful to you?"

The howling was really deafening. The kind-hearted Lin Daiyu could not bear to watch the tragic scene. She just said to Yue Ling: "Xueyan protected me, so he didn't do anything frivolous. But he was rude to Brother Yue, which was really annoying."

Hearing this, Jia Daishan on the side became even more furious.

Today is such a great opportunity. To improve the relationship with Yue Ling would give the Jia family an extra support in the future.

Everything went smoothly except for this evil creature. It would be better not to invite Yue Ling.

How could this not make Jia Daishan angry?

"How dare you criticize the Grand Commander! Don't you realize how immature you are? Beat him, beat him hard!"

Seeing Lin Daiyu looking at a loss in the courtyard, Yue Ling said, "Sister Lin, please wait outside for a while. After we have dealt with this matter, we will go home."

There will be a highlight later. Lin Daiyu is a kind-hearted person and will definitely not bear it.

Yue Ling rubbed her head to comfort her again, then asked Zijuan and Xueyan to accompany her and send her out first.

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(End of this chapter)