Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 470 A New Lease on Life
The cooked duck flew away right before his eyes, and Jia Zhen was furious. He repeatedly called for Jia Rong to stop it.

But Jia Rong stood frozen in the hall, motionless, even slightly lost in thought.

Upon hearing Jia Zhen's furious roar again, Jia Rong snapped out of his daze and hurriedly helped Jia Zhen to his seat.

"You unfilial son, why haven't you brought her back yet?"

Jia Rong shook his head repeatedly, pleading, "Father, you mustn't, you absolutely mustn't!"

"What's wrong? She used to be the one in charge of things for the old lady, so it was understandable that you showed her some respect. Now that she's destitute and a government slave, it would be perfectly normal for us to buy her a contract of indenture. Why are you afraid of her now?"

Jia Rong knew he couldn't resist his father's authority, but he dared not offend another person.

Kneeling and hugging Jia Zhen's legs, Jia Rong choked out, "Father, think about it. She was a government slave of lowly status. If our family bought her, other families could have bought her too."

"Nonsense, who would want to get involved in this mess, a scoundrel from the Jia family..."

As soon as the words were spoken, Jia Zhen seemed to wake from a dream, realizing that there really was such a person in the capital.

Seeing that her father had come to his senses, Jia Rong quickly added, "Father must have thought of that too. All the maids from the Jia family who went to prison with her have been taken away by people from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, not to mention Yuanyang, who still has some beauty."

Jia Zhen pondered for a while before asking doubtfully, "But Yuanyang is already quite old. Would she be worthy of the Duke of Dingguo's attention?"

Jia Rong nodded repeatedly, "Better safe than sorry. Father, rest assured, I will keep a close watch on her. If there is no disturbance over there, I will redeem her immediately and bring her to you as a filial son."

Seeing Jia Rong's filial piety, Jia Zhen smiled slightly and said, "Alright, I'll leave this matter to you."

……

The Xia family was quite wealthy, and their residence was not hard to find; it was located within the inner city.

As merchants, the Xia family chose a location near the bustling city center for their residence, where people would gather in front of the gate.

"I am Yuanyang, a servant of the Rongguo Mansion. Is the second young master of the Rongguo Mansion, Baoyu, here? Please pass on a message for me, just say that Yuanyang requests an audience."

Everyone knew how well Baoyu was treated in the Rongguo Mansion.

Everyone could see how close Grandmother Jia was to Baoyu, which made the other younger generations secretly jealous.

As Jia Mu's head maid, Yuanyang naturally grew closer to Baoyu and took care of him quite a bit, acting like an older sister.

Given this past connection, meeting up shouldn't be difficult.

Especially after Baoyu learned about Grandmother Jia's funeral, it was only natural that he wanted some money for a proper burial for her.

Yuanyang thought so, but she never expected that this duty would be so difficult.

First of all, when Xia Jiamenzi saw that Yuanyang was dressed in rags, with her hair disheveled and her face dirty, looking like a madwoman, he naturally wouldn't believe what she said.

Thinking she was just there to freeload, they tried to send her away.

But Yuanyang was already at her wit's end. After leaving the Xia family, she had nowhere to find money. Was she going to sell herself to the brothel for money?

Yuanyang struggled desperately against the man, but fortunately, a member of the Xia family saw what was happening and informed the others, allowing her to enter the house.

"Sister Yuanyang, what happened to you and you look like this?"

When Baoyu first saw Yuanyang, he didn't recognize her at all. It wasn't until Yuanyang brushed aside her messy hair and wiped her face with water that he could vaguely make out her features.

"Sister, how are the other sisters doing now?"

When Yuanyang looked up at Baoyu, she could see the haggardness on his face, and especially his eyes, which looked much more lost than when he was in the Rongguo Mansion.

"Besides Yingchun, Tanchun, and Xichun, who were taken away by the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, their maids also went with them. The rest of the maids went their separate ways, and I don't know where they all went."

Baoyu was filled with emotion and was about to help Yuanyang to her feet when he heard the shrew in the hall cough lightly. He then withdrew his hand as if startled.

Yuanyang looked up and sighed deeply.

The once beloved daughter of the Rongguo Mansion is now living here as a live-in son-in-law, having to watch his wife's expression even when speaking to her.

Since that's the case, Baoyu has even less say in matters concerning money.

Yuanyang had no choice but to plead with Xia Jingui.

She crawled on her knees to Xia Jingui, displaying an extremely humble demeanor that even Baoyu couldn't bear to look at and turned his head away.

With a hoarse and mournful voice, Yuanyang pleaded, "Miss Xia, you must have heard that our ancestor has been executed. His body is still on the execution ground, waiting for someone to claim it and bury it."

"Before he died, our ancestor promised to marry Miss Xia to Master Bao. I hope Miss Xia can give me some money to bury our ancestor properly so that he can not become a lonely ghost."

Tears streamed down the mandarin duck's swollen eyes again, making her look utterly miserable.

Upon hearing this, Baoyu's eyes glazed over, and he immediately began to sway. Unable to maintain his balance, he stammered, "Wh-what? Grandfather has carried out the execution?"

Yuanyang wiped her tears with the back of her hand and sobbed, "Yes, it was just now. The body is now being exposed to the sun at the execution ground. Master Bao, you know perfectly well how our ancestor treated you in the past. How can you bear to see our ancestor unable to be buried?"

Baoyu tilted his head back, closed his eyes tightly to stop the tears from falling, and his breathing gradually became rapid.

He clenched his fists, then opened them, and went to Yuanyang's side, pleading with Xia Jingui as well.

"Jin Gui, give her some silver to collect the remains of our ancestor. You can even use my belongings as compensation."

Xia Jingui frowned slightly and turned her head away indifferently.

Seeing Xia Jingui's indifference, Baoyu was furious and immediately shouted, "Xia Jingui, you!"

Xia Jingui turned around, her eyes wide like a bull's, and retorted angrily, "Me? What did I do wrong? Everything on you, from head to toe, was bought for you by your mother. What do you own? All you have left is this jade in your mouth. Are you going to pawn it at the street pawnshop?"

"Worthless thing!"

Baoyu immediately shrank back, his anger, which had just gathered, was completely dissipated by a few short words.

But he still had a sense of right and wrong, and he knew that he should do the job of collecting Grandmother Jia's remains.

Then, he knelt down with Yuanyang and said, "Jingui, I beg you this once, please give her fifty taels of silver. From tomorrow on, I will study hard and pass the imperial examination as soon as possible to fulfill your wish."

Yuanyang looked at Baoyu with a bewildered expression.

Xia Jingui was furious. "Do you think this academic achievement is for your mother to take? And how can someone as unambitious as you pass the exam? I provide you with food and clothing, and I even found you a tutor, and you just use being sick as an excuse to stop studying every few days. Who are you trying to fool?"

"Let me make this clear: if you fail to pass the imperial examinations within three years, I will naturally throw you out. You won't even have a chance to marry into my family!"

Baoyu, like a defeated quail, dared not speak loudly again.

Seeing this, Yuanyang knew that Baoyu could not be relied upon, so she had no choice but to ask Xia Jingui for help again.

But before she could even speak, Xia Jingui cut her off.

“Yuanyang, is it? I understand your situation, but you also know that the Rongguo Mansion already owes me a lot of money and has nowhere to repay it. How can I lend you any more money? Besides…” Xia Jingui’s face suddenly turned sinister, making Yuanyang feel the hairs on her body stand on end.

"That old hag made me lose face in front of Consort Xiande, and even planned to make me a concubine. He deserves to die. Why should I collect his remains?"

"Besides, if you ask about the price of a coffin on the market these days, you won't find one that costs fifty taels."

"If you still care about our past relationship, you can find a master for a lowly maid, use the money you earned from selling yourself to buy some firewood and order a coffin for her burial."

Seeing Xia Jingui's ruthlessness, Yuanyang had no choice but to look at Baoyu's expression again.

But he was utterly despondent and had become somewhat numb.

I don't know what he's been through these past few days, but he's gone from a pampered young master to a miserable son-in-law.

A tear silently rolled down the corner of Yuanyang's eye.

“Sister Yuanyang, I really want to help, but I am truly powerless to do so now. I will go to the ancestral hall to apologize in the future.”

Yuanyang gave a sad smile and shook her head.

As a son-in-law who married into the family, what face does he have to enter the ancestral hall?
With no hope left, Yuanyang stood up, her legs already numb from kneeling here and there all the way.

Even as she staggered, she refused to have any further involvement with Baoyu. Avoiding his hand that was about to help her up, Yuanyang lowered her head and walked away.

Xia Jingui was relentless. She chased after Baoyu, grabbed his ear, and pulled him back to reality from his reverie.

"Look, what are you still looking at? Don't tell me you miss your sisters? Let me warn you, you're no longer the young master of the Rongguo Mansion, you're just a good-for-nothing live-in son-in-law!"

"Stop your flirtatious ways! Not only will you never see your sisters again, but you won't even be allowed to look at Baochan!"

Baochan, the maidservant who was serving nearby, was confused but also hurriedly retreated.

But standing under the eaves, one could still hear Xia Jingui's hoarse voice shouting, "If I can't be an official's wife, I'll throw you out the door sooner or later, and you'll have to live or die on your own!"

"Do you understand?"

"Understood……"

……

Stepping out of the Xia family's gate, Yuanyang was practically a walking corpse.

The repeated rejections had already disheartened her.

But the corpses couldn't wait.

With no one to care for the body at the execution ground, leaving it exposed to the sun would only hasten its decay, or stray cats, dogs, or even crows would peck at it, leaving it mutilated beyond recognition. The mandarin ducks were heartbroken.

Although Grandmother Jia had many faults and had already been executed, Yuanyang's conscience could not bear to see her treated so badly even after death.

Especially when the Jia family was raided, she ultimately betrayed Grandmother Jia, but her true intention was not to target Grandmother Jia, but to remain loyal to the entire Rongguo Mansion.

Or perhaps, Grandmother Jia had already betrayed her, scheming and manipulating her to keep the evidence used to frame Lady Wang, only to turn around and accuse Lady Wang in the end.

But Yuanyang had her own principles and her own sense of right and wrong. As a servant for many years, she wanted to see Grandmother Jia off on her final journey.

Sitting on the stone steps in front of the Xia family's house, Yuanyang felt dizzy and her vision blurred.

Since her release from the Dali Temple prison, she has not drunk a drop of water or eaten a single grain of rice.

She chased the prison cart to the execution ground, then from the execution ground to the Ningguo Mansion, and when she was refused entry to the Xia family, she ran around everywhere, completely exhausting all her strength.

The result was still not what she wanted; she remained penniless.

What can she do now, as a servant?
"Sister Yuanyang?"

Suddenly, a voice called out in my ear. It was a woman's voice, and it sounded very familiar.

He stood up again, wanting to see who it was.

But as soon as he exerted force with his legs, he felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground.

"Sister Yuanyang? Is that really you? What happened to you?"

The person who came quickly dropped the items he was holding on the ground and helped Yuanyang sit up.

Then he took off his water pouch and fed it to the mandarin ducks several times.

After Yuanyang's breathing gradually calmed down, she opened her eyes again. In the sunlight, she could finally recognize the person. "Qingwen, what are you doing here? What are you doing on this street?"

Qingwen picked up a stack of books beside her, gave an embarrassed smile, as if someone had caught her doing something shameful, and changed the subject, saying, "Let's not talk about my business. I'm just here to buy some things. What are you doing here, sister?"

Looking at Qingwen dressed in fine silks and satins, her face was as radiant as a peach blossom, her eyes sparkling, she was extremely beautiful and well-nourished.

Even without looking in the mirror, Yuanyang knew that she was now worlds apart from her.

Suddenly, Yuanyang felt inexplicably envious of Qingwen, envying her leisurely life and the extra money she had to freely buy things she liked.

Swallowing the bitterness in her heart, Yuanyang sighed and said, "This is a long story."

"No rush, there's still plenty of time. Tell me slowly, sister. Have you encountered any difficulties?" Qingwen blinked and asked understandingly.

Indeed, back in the Rongguo Mansion, Qingwen was a brave and fierce person, and she was often taken care of by Yuanyang.

The sisters, who had grown up together since childhood, naturally spoke their minds. They recounted their entire journey, from how they escaped from prison and witnessed the execution, to how they sought refuge in the two mansions and their wanderings.

Qingwen was filled with righteous indignation. After cursing the Ningguo Mansion and Xia Jingui, she didn't forget to drag Jia Baoyu into it as well.

“Sister Yuanyang, you are a woman of intelligence and wisdom. Can’t you see that Jia Baoyu is a good-for-nothing? In the old days, how dare he say a word against his master and mistress in front of the mansion? Moreover, he is already under the control of others now. Sister, aren’t you just asking for trouble by coming to this mansion?”

Yuanyang didn't blame Qingwen for her harsh words; that was just her nature. Besides, Yuanyang had seen through everything, but she was at a loss for what to do. She choked up again and said, "What can I do?"

Qingwen's eyes darted around, and she said, "Sister, you don't know this, but coffins are hard to find in the city these days. However, they are readily available in one place. Sister, come back to the manor with me. I'll talk to Miss Lin and Miss Sanchun. Why make things difficult for you here?"

Yuanyang asked in surprise, "Will this work? In the old days, our ancestors would kick all the girls out of the house."

Qingwen nodded, "So what? Most of the girls are kind-hearted. Besides, death is the greatest tragedy, why bother with such things?"

The mandarin ducks smiled bitterly, unable to express their feelings.

The person the ancestor disapproved of most rose to prominence, while the girl the ancestor ostracized most ended up being the one who collected her body.

How ironic!

(End of this chapter)