Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 38: The Secret of Urgency
The central courtyard, behind the ceremonial gate is the south hall.

Chen Siyuan sat in the warm room, served tea and snacks by a servant. As he ate his snacks, he secretly wondered if he could discipline Jia Rong and Jia Qiang this time.

Although he was from the Quezi Sect, he showed a deft hand from a young age. His master, delighted by this discovery, somehow managed to find a book on the Caizi Sect's illusion techniques. Chen Siyuan practiced haphazardly, and thanks to his dexterity, he actually mastered about 70% of the techniques.

The so-called colorful words and magic tricks sound mysterious, but in fact they are nothing more than magic tricks and sleight of hand.

While he was pondering this, he suddenly saw a servant running away in a panic, yelling, "Quick, call the wizard behind us!"

Chen Siyuan's spirits lifted! He stood up and stopped the servant, scolding him, "How can you be so flustered?"

The servant stammered, "Master...Yuan...No, it's bad! The study in the East Courtyard...is haunted!"

Is this a magic trick?

Chen Siyuan was secretly delighted, his brows furrowed as he raised his hand and slapped the servant to the ground. He cursed, "You bastard! How could a virtuous family like Ningguo Mansion be haunted? Come, keep an eye on him!"

Immediately, two servants came forward and arrested the servant. The servant who reported the news was anxious: "Master Chen, I didn't lie. It was Master Rong who asked me to... Wuuwuwu——"

Before he could finish his words, he was shut up.

"Hurry and drag him away!" Chen Siyuan ordered, then turned and called the steward who had been following him. He whispered, "Go to the back and tell Brother Zhen quietly. Don't make any noise."

The manager was sincerely convinced and said, "Master Chen is indeed very thoughtful. I will do it right away!"

The steward hurried back to report the news, and Chen Siyuan called two more servants and said, "Come with me to Rong'er's study to take a look."

Seeing Chen Siyuan's composure, the two servants gained some courage and agreed loudly. They followed Chen Siyuan out of the ceremonial gate and turned left to look for Jia Rong's outer study.

After a while, he arrived outside the study courtyard and heard endless shouting from inside.

"Where's the monk? Where's the Taoist priest? Quick, go get someone!"

"Brother, I remember that rooster blood can ward off evil spirits. Mrs. Zhang bought a new one today. Should I go get it now?"

"Go, go, go!"

Chen Siyuan walked in with a sullen face, stomped his feet briefly, and ordered his attendants, "Guard the door! Don't let anyone out!"

The two servants responded loudly.

Jia Rong saw that it was Chen Siyuan who came and asked anxiously, "Why are you here? Where are the monks and Taoist priests?"

Chen Siyuan thought to himself, if not now, when will I take revenge? He went up and slapped Jia Rong in the face.

Jia Rong covered his face in astonishment: "You...you hit me?"

Chen Siyuan said in a deep voice, "Brother Rong is spreading the news everywhere. Is he trying to make this known to everyone?"

"But... there's something fishy going on..."

"A man does not speak of strange things, so where did the ghost come from?"

Jia Rong was intimidated by Chen Siyuan's aura and was speechless for a moment. But at this moment, he heard a crackling explosion!
Everyone present looked in the direction of the sound, and before anyone could ask, there was another crackling noise, and even the door of the study shook a little.

"Ghost...ghost knocking on the door!"

"Mother, run!" Jia Rong's face turned pale as he cried out, "You, your death is unjust, what has it to do with me? Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor, go find whoever harmed you! Why did you come to me... Wuuwuwu——"

In his haste, Jia Rong was so frightened that he shed tears.

Looking at Jia Qiang again, his body collapsed on the ground, muttering to himself: "Ke'er... they forced me to do this, I didn't want to..." Halfway through his words, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Chen Siyuan glanced sideways, a gleam in his eyes, and thought to himself: So it has something to do with you, maybe the 'raising brother-in-law' is referring to you!

He pretended to be stunned, and after a long while he raised his hand to call the two gatekeepers over.

"Master?"

Chen Siyuan ordered, "I'm afraid we can't stay here any longer. You two should take Rong'er and Qiang'er out through the corner gate and take them to the rear."

The two servants were also frightened half to death, and immediately felt as if they had been pardoned. They hurriedly ran away, one carrying and the other dragging the man, along with the servants and maids in the outer study.

Chen Siyuan stood in front of the courtyard gate and thought to himself that he had only used the two methods of "toilet flower" and "making ghosts knock on the door" with the original intention of scaring Jia Rong, but unexpectedly, he scared Jia Qiang so much that he told the whole story!

Ke'er...perhaps this is Qin Keqing's nickname? Jia Rong's words were likely true, so Qin Keqing's death was likely unrelated to him. However, Jia Qiang's words suggested someone was trying to kill Qin Keqing. Who were these "they"?

When Qin Keqing died, Jia Zhen treated her like his own mother had died, and held a grand funeral. This suggests that Jia Zhen was probably not responsible. Perhaps Jia Zhen knew about the death but was powerless to stop it.

But Qin Keqing was a concubine, who would insist on her death?
After careful consideration, I'm afraid the root of the problem lies with the Qin family, specifically Qin Keqing's adoptive father, Qin Ye. Is it possible that Qin Ye was greedy for money? It seems a bit unreasonable, and the details are unknown for the time being.

There was a chaotic sound of footsteps behind him. Chen Siyuan turned around and saw Jia Zhen leading a group of servants coming in with weapons, followed by Wang Xifeng and Ping'er.

In the blink of an eye, the group approached. Jia Zhen asked tremblingly, "Brother Yuan, what's going on inside?"

Chen Siyuan was a good talker, and he immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, Brother Zhen... Perhaps this outer study has been in disrepair for a long time, so it's normal to hear some unusual noises when the temperature changes from hot to cold. I just asked someone to take Rong'er and Qiang'er to the back to rest."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was another crackling sound.

Jia Zhen's body also trembled violently.

Chen Siyuan said calmly, "Perhaps the mouse gnawed on the beam."

Jia Zhen gave a stiff smile and said, "Yes, Brother Yuan is quite insightful. It is indeed a rat infestation. Come, let's seal this place off temporarily. We can lift the ban later when the rats are gone."

Several servants came forward, shouting, and locked the gate to the courtyard. Jia Zhen stared deep inside, sighing inwardly without self-examination, and then said to Chen Siyuan, "Thanks to my brother Yuan for his help. As your brother, I won't say anything else. Let's see what happens next."

"No problem, we are all relatives, no need to be polite, Brother Zhen."

Jia Zhen nodded, turned around and spoke a few more words to Sister Feng before leading the group back. His figure became increasingly desolate, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Feng Jieer and Chen Siyuan exchanged a glance. Her eyes were full of inquiry, but she knew this was not the place to talk. She said, "Brother Yuan, let's go back first."

Chen Siyuan agreed and followed Fengjieer to the stables. Chen Siyuan wanted to walk back, but Fengjieer got on the carriage and said, "It's dark and cold, brother Yuan, why don't you ride together?"

Chen Siyuan readily agreed. After the carriage left Ningguo Mansion, Sister Feng asked anxiously, "Brother Yuan, what happened just now? Did Qin really come back?"

　(Toilet Flower) Explanation: If a woman sits on the toilet and gets hot, the water in the toilet will bubble up. The method is to take some waterside sand (also known as Dalang Sand), dry it, and secretly throw a handful into the toilet.

　　(Making ghosts knock on the door) Explanation: When a person falls asleep and no one is outside, there will be a constant knocking sound. Method: Grind up the top of Arisaema consanguineum, mix it with vinegar and apply it on the door. Then, at night, there will be a knocking sound.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)