Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 444 Illness and Intrigue Lead to Wealth and Beauty: A New Scheme
Chen Siyuan kept his word and indeed stayed in Baoqin's room that night.

Baoqin was overjoyed and originally planned to tease Chen Siyuan, but she developed a high fever at night. Chen Siyuan was busy for half the night, and Baoqin fell into a deep sleep early.

The next morning, although he hadn't had a full night's sleep, Chen Siyuan still woke up at 5:15 AM. He got up and stretched, and seeing that Baoqin was still fast asleep wrapped in the quilt, Chen Siyuan dressed himself and got out of bed.

Xiao Luo and Xiao Dian, who were outside, heard the commotion and quickly lifted the curtain to go inside and serve.

Chen Siyuan waved his hand and said in a low voice, "Baoqin is still asleep, don't disturb her. Go and have someone boil the medicine, and make sure she takes it in the morning and evening. Doctor Ding will come in the morning, and we'll ask him to examine Baoqin again then."

Xiao Luo and Xiao Dian agreed, and then they saw Chen Siyuan yawning and walking out. The two maids exchanged a glance, and Xiao Luo quickly followed, saying in the outer room, "Master, let me help you wash up."

"No need, I'm going to the main room. You just need to take good care of Baoqin."

After saying this, he pushed open the door and left, leaving the two maids looking at each other in bewilderment.

After a short while, both maids sighed, knowing that their looks were not outstanding and they were afraid that they would not catch the master's eye.

Meanwhile, Chen Siyuan walked along the covered corridor and soon entered the main room of the east courtyard. At this moment, Baochai was already awake, and Wenxing was serving her by combing her hair.

When Ying'er saw Chen Siyuan, she quickly curtsied. Chen Siyuan instructed, "Go and fetch some warm water; I also need to wash up."

Ying'er agreed and hurried outside.

Chen Siyuan entered the inner room, where Baochai sat in front of the dressing mirror. She glanced at her and said with a smile, "Is Qin'er causing trouble?"

Chen Siyuan said, "I had a high fever last night and it took half the night to bring it down. I haven't gotten up yet."

Baochai chuckled and said, "She's just deliberately trying to outdo me. Just you wait and see, she's miscalculated this time, and she'll definitely come back to bother you again later."

Chen Siyuan laughed heartily, and without mentioning Baoqin, he carefully used an eyebrow stone to brush Bao's eyebrows.

The grudges of the previous generation have continued. Baochai and Baoqin are only competing now, but once they each have children, the rivalry will likely escalate. Chen Siyuan is thinking of moving Baoqin to the central or western courtyard, but he can't bring himself to ask.

If you say it out loud, Baochai will definitely get angry—isn't this obviously saying that Baochai can't tolerate others?
After much thought, the best solution was for the second sister and Lin Daiyu to speak to Baochai privately, and then, by chance, Baoqin would move out of the East Courtyard and not see Baochai, thus avoiding further conflict between the two.

Baoqin is still young, so there's no rush. Chen Siyuan decided to keep this to himself for the time being.

After having breakfast with Baochai, Yunxiang came from ahead, saying that Doctor Ding had arrived. Chen Siyuan quickly said goodbye to Baochai and went ahead to greet him.

As soon as the man left, Ying'er whispered to Baochai, "Madam, the second branch of the family is really taking advantage of us. If we don't keep a close eye on them, they might start riding on your head in the future."

Baochai smiled dismissively, "Qin'er is still a little girl with a temper. If I argue with her, I'll lose face." She paused, then frowned and lowered her head, looking at her lower abdomen, and said, "Qin'er is nothing to worry about. I'm only worried about the baby now."

Ying'er quickly comforted her, saying, "Children are all about fate. It just so happens that Doctor Ding is here. We'll invite him over later to examine Madam as well. Who knows, there might be a pleasant surprise?"

Bao-jie agreed, but felt a little uneasy inside.

After a while, Xiangling came to invite them, and Baochai led Ying'er to the front hall.

Ding Daojian examined Yingchun first, then stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Madam is in good health, and there is nothing wrong with the child in her womb. Now that you are approaching the third month, there is no need to be too restrained. You can move around more every day to facilitate the delivery in the future."

Relieved, Yingchun quickly gave Hongyu a wink, and Hongyu found two silver ingots to pay for the consultation later.

Ding Daojian then took Daiyu's pulse. After a while, his brows relaxed, and he said, "I didn't expect that cordyceps would have such an effect on nourishing the body. Chen Hanlin, please rest assured that your wife's weakness is no longer apparent. If she continues to nourish herself with cordyceps for another two years, I believe she will be fine afterward."

Daiyu was overjoyed and solemnly thanked Ding Daojian. She then hurriedly sought out Qingwen to prepare the consultation fee. Chen Siyuan was even more delighted, but because his second sister and sister Bao were both present, he did not flirt with Daiyu.

When it comes to impartiality, regardless of one's true feelings, one must always maintain a fair and impartial demeanor on the surface.

When it was Baochai's turn, she said, "I'm not in a hurry. Qin'er is currently ill. Doctor Ding, why don't you examine Baoqin first?"

Ding Daojian looked at Chen Siyuan, who then nodded to Xiangling. Xiangling nodded in agreement and turned to go to the East Courtyard to fetch the sickly Baoqin.

After examining the patient carefully, Ding Daojian diagnosed it as a "common cold" and left a prescription for inducing sweating.

When it was Baochai's turn to be examined, Ding Daojian examined her pulse for a long time before finally frowning and asking, "Does Madam suffer from internal heat?"

Baochai replied, "That's right. I've had it since I was a child, and my family searched for famous doctors everywhere, but none of them could cure it. Later, we met a bald-headed monk who prescribed a folk remedy called Cold Fragrance Pill. When the internal heat flares up, swallowing one pill can relieve the symptoms."

Ding Daojian pressed for the prescription, and Baochai even revealed the medicinal ingredients.

Ding Daojian frowned upon hearing this and said, "This kind of prescription that depletes qi and blood must never be used again. In my opinion, Madam's internal heat is caused by an imbalance of yin and yang. Now that Madam is married, she does not need to take special care of herself. Perhaps she will recover on her own in a year or two without any medicine."

Imbalance of Yin and Yang? If we need to reconcile them, wouldn't that mean...? Sister Bao blushed deeply with embarrassment.

Daiyu and Yingchun, their faces tense, observed the scene together, secretly wondering why Baochai hadn't sought a maidservant to help her these past few days—it must be due to this internal heat.
Though deeply ashamed, Baochai suppressed her emotions and couldn't help but ask, "May I ask, doctor, is this illness harmful to my child?"

Ding Daojian smiled and said, "Since it healed itself without medicine, there is nothing wrong with the child."

Baochai breathed a long sigh of relief and hurriedly sent Ying'er to fetch silver ingots as a reward.

Not wanting to bother two people, Chen Siyuan then asked Ding Daojian to examine each of his concubines, including Qingwen and Wu'er, one by one, which made Ding Daojian roll his eyes inwardly. He thought to himself, "This Chen Hanlin is truly a romantic and amorous man!"
After examining Liu Wu'er, Ding Daojian said she was fine. Only after turning away did he tell Chen Siyuan in private that Liu Wu'er had a heart ailment since birth, which was incurable by medicine and could only be cured by careful recuperation.

Ever since Wu'er followed Chen Siyuan, she had been taking Poria cocos powder and Cordyceps without fail, yet her condition had not improved. Upon hearing this, Chen Siyuan felt great pity for her and begged Ding Daojian to prescribe a nourishing formula before politely seeing her off.

When it was past mid-morning, Chen Siyuan was worried about Sister You and the newcomer Xiren, so he made an excuse to visit a friend and went to Shajing Hutong.

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Flowers bloom in their own fragrant home.

Xiren's sister-in-law was still waiting anxiously in the courtyard when suddenly the courtyard gate opened, and Hua Zifang came in with her eyebrows furrowed and head bowed.

His wife felt a pang of anxiety and stepped forward, saying, "Have you not found him yet?"

Hua Zifang frowned and shook his head, then gestured for his wife to be quiet. After the two entered the room, Hua Zifang picked up a cup of cold tea and gulped it down before saying, "We've searched everywhere, and all we found was that we saw my sister wrapped in a coat and getting on a donkey cart, and then we haven't heard from her since."

His wife sighed and said, "We've asked around among our relatives, and they all say they haven't seen her... Where could she have gone?" She paused, then asked, "Has the Rongguo Mansion inquired about her?"

Hua Zifang pouted and said, "A perfectly healthy person has gone missing. How could I dare to ask the Rongguo Mansion? But I asked a familiar servant to inquire, and he said that my sister hasn't been seen returning."

The couple looked at each other and both sighed deeply.

Hua Zifang sighed for a while, then turned her head and complained, "It's all your fault! If you hadn't gossiped so recklessly, how could my sister have run away?"

His wife said awkwardly, "I was just saying it casually to the neighbor's aunt, who knew she would hear it? Besides, she's on her period, and it's uncertain whether she'll be able to have children in the future. It's clear she can't go back to the Rongguo Mansion. Is it really so unfair for her to become a rich man's concubine?"

Hua Zifang said angrily, "Stop talking! Now that we've neither found him alive nor dead, we need to find a way to cover it up."

With Xiren nowhere to be found, it was impossible to sell her to a wealthy man again. Not only that, Xiren's indenture was still with the Rongguo Mansion, and the couple still had to give the Rongguo Mansion an explanation.

After some whispering and deliberation, his wife came up with several bad ideas, all of which were rejected by Hua Zifang. Disheartened, his wife simply gave up and said, "Forget it, she ran away on her own. If someone from the Rongguo Mansion comes to ask, we'll just tell the truth."

Hua Zifang frowned and said, "What do you know?" Her eyes darted around, and then she said, "Give me some money, and I'll go buy a simple coffin."

"what?"

"Just say that my sister hanged herself and that it's not convenient to keep her body at home. So we'll send her directly to the mortuary outside the city. After three days, we can just bury her anywhere. We might even make some money from the funeral expenses."

His wife said, "Aren't you afraid that the Rongguo Mansion will investigate?"

"How do we investigate?" Hua Zifang scoffed. "This afternoon I'll just find a random corpse at the mass grave, and tomorrow when the coffin is taken to the mortuary, we'll secretly switch them. Surely the Rongguo Mansion can't just open the coffin and examine the body, can they?"

His wife thought it over and felt that everything was going perfectly. She first breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned and said, "We have to put money in first, and after all that work, we won't have more than ten taels left."

After the two finished their discussion, Hua Zifang took the money and bought a thin coffin. He then secretly stuffed bricks and stones inside and went to the Rongguo Mansion to report the death.

On this day, Lady Wang again sought out Baochan to argue, and because of Amber's death, both of them looked rather unwell.

Although Baoyu drank the medicinal wine that day, he ultimately refrained from touching Amber because of his disdain for it. He forced himself to get up and spent some time with Musk Moon before the effects of the medicine wore off.

When Baochan saw that one plan had failed, she immediately came up with another – seeing that Amber carried the key to the private treasury, she simply stole it and made a copy. Then, following their previous agreement, she invited Madam Wang to come and comfort Amber.

Seeing that her innocence had not been compromised, Amber hurriedly ran back to Rongqing Hall in shame, only saying that there were things to do at home, but she did not tell Grandmother Jia the truth.

The following night, Lady Wang used the key with the rubbing to open Grandmother Jia's private vault and took away countless silver coins and valuables. The next morning, Amber was instructed by Grandmother Jia to search for cat's-eye stones. Upon entering the vault and seeing that nearly half of the valuables were missing, she was immediately heartbroken. How could she not know that she had fallen into Lady Wang's trap?

Amber, stubborn by nature, felt she had failed her employer and, in a moment of despair, threw herself into a well. Her death brought peace to the family, and even the dim-witted Grandmother Jia sensed something was amiss. However, with Amber dead, there was truly no way to verify the truth, and Lady Wang completely denied everything. Grandmother Jia was so distraught that she fell ill that very day and remains bedridden to this day.

Lady Wang was anxious for two days, but seeing that Grandmother Jia had no intention of pursuing the matter, she finally felt relieved. That day, she found Baochan and gave her a kingfisher feather hairpin as a reward, and then kept her for a long chat.

Just as they were talking enthusiastically, Zhou Rui's wife suddenly came in, her face pale. She trembled as she entered and said, "Madam, Xiren is gone."

Madam Wang was taken aback, her expression changed, and she hurriedly asked, "How come it's gone?"

Zhou Rui's wife said, "Her brother came and said that the bleeding wouldn't stop and the doctor said there was no hope of recovery. The couple didn't pay attention for a moment, and Xiren hung up her handkerchief and hanged herself."

Madam Wang's heart pounded wildly, and she quickly closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, saying, "Amitabha."

She mumbled some scriptures, and after a while, Madam Wang opened her eyes and sighed, "Poor thing, she's also unlucky. I'm very proud of her personality, and she's served Baoyu for many years. As for the money for the funeral, after deducting a sum from the public funds, I'll round it up again. You can give it to his brother later."

Zhou Rui's wife quickly agreed.

Before he could get up, Madam Wang said again, "Baoyu and Xiren are very close, so let's keep this a secret for now, otherwise that little devil might cause some trouble."

Baochan and Zhou Rui's wife both agreed.

As the saying goes, like master, like maid. Xia Jingui was arrogant and vicious by nature, and treated human life as worthless. Baochan, who was by her side, learned this manner perfectly.

She didn't care when Amber died, so why would she care when Xiren died?
Seeing that Madam Wang had lost interest in the conversation, Baochan quickly excused herself and left. After leaving Madam Wang's courtyard, Zhou Rui's wife was still uneasy, while Baochan wore a smug look on her face.

Leaving aside Baochan's situation, let's talk about Zhou Rui's wife, who went to great lengths and gave Hua Zifang one hundred taels of silver. Hua Zifang was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Madam is truly a kind person. It's just a pity that my sister is not blessed. I only hope that she will be reborn as a myna bird in her next life, so that I can at least say a few words of gratitude to Madam."

Feeling guilty, Zhou Rui's wife made up a few words to cover up her mistake and sent Hua Zifang away.

Hua Zifang returned home excitedly, unwilling to wait even one more night. That very day, she hired a donkey cart to take the coffin to the mortuary outside the city. She then found two thugs who haphazardly searched for corpses in a mass grave and stuffed them inside. Three days later, they found a suitable place to bury the coffin and give it a proper rest.

After turning around and doing some calculations, Hua Zifang and his wife found that they actually had ninety-three taels left, and they were overjoyed! But that's a story for later, so let's leave it at that.

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With a soft moan, Xi Ren's body went completely limp, her starry eyes languidly opened, and her body stiffened slightly for a moment before softening like dough.

Miaoyu, standing to the side, was already beyond help, her mind completely absorbed in sweet thoughts, her soul adrift and her spirit trembling.

Chen Siyuan lingered for a moment before sounding the retreat, as he still needed to deal with the You sisters and Siqi who had not yet returned.

After a long while, the blush on Xiren's face faded, and she managed to sit up and help Chen Siyuan get dressed. Seeing that Miaoyu was still unconscious, the two left the side garden and went to the main room to talk.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Xiren explained the whole story in detail, and then guessed, "Madam probably doesn't need me anymore, so she wants to harm me and make room for someone else."

At this point, Xiren was on the verge of tears, her heart filled with an even deeper sorrow than despair. She had painstakingly schemed and plotted, finally securing her position as Baoyu's concubine, only to find that in the eyes of the Madam, she was still just a maidservant who could be discarded at will.

On the contrary, it was Grandpa Yuan, with whom he had a few casual affairs, who offered a helping hand when he was in trouble.

Chen Siyuan nodded and said, "Then your brother and sister-in-law—"

Xi Ren frowned in annoyance and said, "Master... also knows that my brother and sister-in-law are greedy. Now that I have been carried back, my sister-in-law is scheming to sell me for a good price."

Chen Siyuan knew that Xiren was no pushover; he had only slept with her a few times out of lust and never intended to bring her into his home. But since things had come to this, he would treat her as a plaything and keep her there for a few taels of silver each month.

He then said, "Alright, then you can stay here from now on. I'll speak with Third Sister later, and your monthly allowance here will be the same as in the Rongguo Mansion."

Xi Ren secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly curtsied to thank him.

Chen Siyuan took a sip of fragrant tea before asking, "Third Sister went to Tongzhou. Did she say whether she'll be back today?"

Xiren said, "Auntie didn't say she was dead, she just said that if things go quickly, she can be back today."

Where is Second Sister?

Xi Ren said, "She went to the wedding shop as usual. With winter approaching, the wedding shop is doing very well. I see that Second Aunt is very happy every day." She paused, and before Chen Siyuan could ask any further questions, Xi Ren continued, "As for Siqi, her grandmother happened to be sick these past two days, so she went home to take care of her."

Is Wang Shanbao's family member sick?
As Chen Siyuan was pondering, Xiren whispered, "It seems that the eldest mistress is about to relinquish her position as housekeeper, and Wang Mama fell ill as soon as she heard the news."

Seeing that Chen Siyuan was puzzled, Xiren explained the whole story in detail. Previously, when the Second Miss was in charge of the household, Wang Shanbao's wife got the job of inspecting. Everyone in the garden sneered at her, but to her face, who didn't respectfully call her Granny Wang? Not only that, this person sent her a bowl of meat, that person sent her a palace flower, she really had both substance and face.

Once Yingchun got married, Li Wan was forced into the role of housekeeper. The eldest mistress followed the established rules set by the second young lady. Now, the situation had changed. While no one dared offend Wang Shanbao's wife openly, they couldn't predict when she would fall out of favor, so the gifts were no longer given. Thus, Wang Shanbao's wife had only appearances for several months, but no real power.

Now that Li Wan is about to relinquish her stewardship, it's clear to everyone that no matter who takes over the stewardship, Wang Shanbao's inspection duties are coming to an end.

Wang Shanbao's old man is short-sighted, greedy for money and power. Losing this job was like a death sentence to him, and he immediately fell ill.

Upon receiving the news, Siqi hurriedly went to Rongguo Mansion to take care of Wang Shanbao's wife.

Chen Siyuan was too lazy to pay attention to that old hag from Wang Shanbao's family; he only had Li Wan on his mind. He immediately asked, "Sister-in-law, if you don't want to manage the household, has Madam chosen someone else to do so?"

Xiren laughed and said, "The second young lady is getting married, and the third young lady is in charge of managing the household, which was personally taken over by Madam. Where can we find anyone else to use? I heard earlier that Madam intends to manage the household herself."

Chen Siyuan pursed his lips, unsure of what to say. If Madam Wang truly had the ability to manage a household, she wouldn't have forced Li Wan to take over.

As for Li Wan, I don't know what excuse she used to hand over the stewardship. I'll have to send someone to inquire at the Rongguo Mansion later.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Chen Siyuan comforted Xiren with kind words and then sent her away to rest.

Around 11:30 p.m. that day, a commotion suddenly broke out in the front yard, and then a maidservant rushed in, excitedly announcing, "Third Aunt is back!"

Chen Siyuan stood up and greeted her with a smile. Just as he turned around the screen, he saw Sister You San hurriedly enter, wearing a cloak.

"When did my brother arrive?"

After her initial joy, Sister You San said with a hint of resentment, "It's been quite a while since you last came to see me."

Chen Siyuan gave an awkward smile, not mentioning that Baochai had just married into the family, but instead pulled You Sanjie aside and said, "You've been gone for two days, what goods do you need to personally procure, sister?"

Sister You smiled and said, "Brother, why don't you guess?"

"Could it be white sand from the South China Sea?" This stuff has few impurities and is excellent for making glass.

Sister You smiled and shook her head, then leaned closer and whispered something in her ear.

Seeing the look of surprise on Chen Siyuan's face, the third sister smiled smugly and said, "Two months ago, that person came to the capital. I don't know how, but he found out about Baicaotang. I haggled with him a few times and managed to lower the price a little, but it wasn't as hard as my brother's bargaining."

Chen Siyuan said, "It's not easy to get a good deal even once. Which businessperson is a fool?"

Sister You said, "This time we purchased more than 13,000 taels of goods, including cordyceps, Buddha's hand ginseng, alpine four o'clocks, yak eggs, deer penis, cistanche, Sindhu sea dragon, and Xilaizhi. It's enough to keep Baicaotang busy for two or three years."

Chen Siyuan was even more pleased with Third Sister You, and couldn't help but reach out and hug her, praising, "My sister is truly a virtuous and capable wife."

Sister You said smugly, "That's what I think too." She paused, then muttered in a low voice, "Brother, don't forget that Baicaotang has distributed quite a few shares outside. If it were up to me, they would have made a fortune with interest over the past few years, and I don't think they're satisfied... Do you think we should start from scratch?"

After some thought, Chen Siyuan realized that Sister You's words made sense.

Lady Wang bought two thousand taels of shares in Baicaotang, and Jia Lian also bought some. Then they sold them to Jia She at the original price. Jia She later sold them to Jia Zhen. In total, Jia Zhen held a share of seven thousand taels.

Aunt Xue bought five thousand taels, and Chen Siyuan gave Madam Xing another thousand taels, practically as a gift. Leaving aside these two, Jia Zhen is useless to him, Jia She has suffered a stroke, and Madam Wang is his sworn enemy. Why would he give money to these three for nothing? Good heavens!

Chen Siyuan's eyes darted around, and he clasped his hands together and said in a low voice, "Sister, just do this and that later, and I will handle things with the Xue family and my aunt."

Sister You nodded repeatedly and said with a charming smile, "This is what they call 'switching the beams and pillars' (a clever trick)."

The two hadn't seen each other for a long time, and after catching up on their separation, You Sanjie, her heart stirred with longing, couldn't help but ask, "Brother, are you staying today?"

"This..." Chen Siyuan hesitated.

Sister You rolled her eyes at him and said, "I won't make things difficult for you, brother. Since you can't stay, then—"

After saying that, she stood up, creating a fragrant breeze, and then sat back in Chen Siyuan's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, saying with a seductive air, "—What are you waiting for, brother?"

Chen Siyuan laughed heartily, picked up You Sanjie in his arms, and carried her inside.

(End of this chapter)