Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 64: Feeling Grievance (Please Read)

When Mrs. Xing saw Chen Siyuan's thoughtful look, she couldn't help but feel more proud and drank the remaining wine in one gulp.

Chen Siyuan was very perceptive and quickly stood up to refill her glass. He whispered, "Aunt, about Qin's death—I was passing by a private alley earlier and overheard the women there say that Qin had recovered, but she died the next day."

Mrs. Xing rolled her eyes at him. Perhaps because of the wine, her face had become even more charming. Hearing this, she said angrily, "How should I know? I just mentioned it before, and your uncle scolded me. But I think it's just because of money."

He glared at Chen Siyuan again and scolded him, "Brother, you can just spy on us privately, but don't try to come up with any tricks."

Chen Siyuan laughed and said, "Aunt, what you said is so unreasonable. Even if an outsider like me wanted to, how can I get involved? I'm just curious. Come on, Aunt, please have some wine and food."

Mrs. Xing took a few bites of the food and finally remembered the main point of the play. She said with a smile, "Brother Yuan, I heard that your uncle's affair... was successful?"

"Yes."

Madam Xing said happily, "Your uncle praised you today, saying he would send you to the Imperial College next year. Hahaha... Well, Brother Yuan, your uncle is planning to give you five thousand taels. I was thinking, since he didn't say how much silver it was before, an extra one or two thousand would be fine, right?"

Chen Siyuan smiled and said, "Aunt, do you want to invest another two thousand taels?"

Madam Xing smiled and said, "Brother Yuan knows what I'm thinking." After a pause, she couldn't help but complain, "Brother Yuan also knows that when your grandfather was alive, our family still had some good days. Since your grandfather was dismissed as the patrol commander, our family has become increasingly stretched.

I entered the Rongguo Mansion, and although my life wasn't smooth, it was at least respectable. Your second aunt married a poor scholar, and she often asks me for help. And then there's your third aunt and uncle... If your aunt wasn't really in a difficult situation, she wouldn't have asked me for this."

Chen Siyuan frowned and said, "Aunt, that's being a bit too formal. It's only two thousand taels. If I can mix it into my uncle's five thousand taels, even Master Sun won't say anything."

"This...Brother Yuan, I mean it's better to calculate it separately."

Chen Siyuan pretended to understand and said, "Yes, then I will go find Master Sun and discuss it."

Mrs. Xing was immediately pleased. She reached out and patted Chen Siyuan's hand, praising him, "Brother Yuan is so thoughtful!"

The hand was plump and slightly warm, and it left immediately after touching it. Chen Siyuan was still thinking about the huge profits behind the Qin family, but he had not given birth to any evil intentions. He pretended to be a filial young man and comforted her, "If you say it's thoughtful, aunt, you have to have a child of your own for the future."

These words seemed to strike a chord with Mrs. Xing. She frowned and sighed, "Brother Yuan is right. I want the same thing." After a pause, she lowered her voice and said, "Ever since Yingchun's mother passed away, your uncle has said he doesn't want any more children. But in fact, that old man doesn't want any more children. It's obvious that he can't have any more."

After a pause, he continued, "Look at the seductresses in the East Wing. Who doesn't know how to use contraceptive soup? Maids, wives, concubines, more than a dozen in total. Have you seen any of them get pregnant in all these years?"

"Is uncle... ill?"

Madam Xing sneered, "Who knows what was wrong with him before I came in? He was hiding it from me before, but now he's not even trying to avoid me. He took that poisonous drug right in front of me, and now he's going to hang out with those vixen."

For some reason, even though Mrs. Xing was clearly referring to the eldest master, Jia She, Chen Siyuan suddenly thought of his adopted father-in-law, Lin Ruhai. He vaguely remembered that Lin Ruhai had vowed not to remarry after Jia Min's death... The problem was that Daiyu had a half-brother who died young, and even then, Lin Ruhai refused to remarry.

You must know that there are three kinds of unfilial behavior, and having no descendants is the worst. Now that I think about it, it's not easy for a man to openly say he's not good enough. I'm afraid Lin Ruhai has also learned from Master Jia She and made up a random excuse to cover up the fact that he is not in good health?

This makes sense! Otherwise, if Jia She loved Yingchun's mother so much and mourned her death, Yingchun would have been born long ago, and it wasn't a difficult birth, so he wouldn't have taken his anger out on Yingchun. But he ignored Yingchun and even sold her off to the Sun family a few years later like a commodity.

At this moment, Madam Xing sighed, "Let him toss about. I want to see how many more years this body of his can toss about. When he's gone, I'll be freer than I am now."

Seeing Mrs. Xing's dejected look, Chen Siyuan felt a little bit sorry for her.

He followed his master through the streets, and although he'd never been to a brothel out of fear for his life, he'd heard his master talk about it. Guess what the dirtiest curse words are these days in brothels? You're staying with your husband tonight!

What is a husband? This doesn't refer to a husband, but rather a palace eunuch. The eunuch, not having the ability to do so, wandered through a brothel and found a girl to hang out with. He wanted to vent his feelings, but couldn't, so he resorted to biting and tormenting her. After a night of this, the girl was left with no visible signs of harm, feeling a life worse than death.

Even Jia She couldn't do that. Even if he relied on powerful medicine... what could he do? No wonder Mrs. Xing always gave in to Jia She and let him do whatever he wanted in the East Wing Courtyard. It seems she was hoping that Jia She would harm the other maids.

Thinking about it, Chen Siyuan said, "It's not easy for Auntie either, but Auntie also knows that the more you use favors, the thinner they become. I'm afraid there won't be another one like this in the future."

No next time? Madam Xing pursed her lips and said greedily, "Brother, don't you have a close friendship with Master Sun? Can't you be more flexible?"

Chen Siyuan's expression suddenly turned serious. "No matter how close they are, with these thousands or tens of thousands of silver dollars tied to Yan Futai, how could Master Sun dare to act so recklessly?"

Mrs. Xing thought about it and realized that if she took the two hundred she earned earlier, she could earn another two hundred. That was four hundred taels. It would have taken her two years to save up from her monthly allowance! Now it was just a matter of reselling. There was no other place in the world where she could get such a great bargain!

Yin Shi said, "Okay, okay, that's all for this time. Come, let me pour you some wine. If you have any good things in the future, you must remember me."

As Mrs. Xing was speaking, she stood up and picked up the wine jug. Unexpectedly, her skirt was a little long today, and her foot suddenly stepped on the hem of her skirt. She staggered and fell forward with a cry of "Ouch".

"Auntie, be careful!"

Chen Siyuan hurriedly stood up to support her, but in his panic he didn't catch Mrs. Xing's hands, and his arms passed over her hands and went straight in front of him.

For a moment, Chen Siyuan didn't feel anything, so he retracted his hands and grabbed Madam Xing's hands, and then used his body to exert force to stabilize Madam Xing's body.

The two bodies pressed against each other, and the fragrance of osmanthus filled their mouths and noses. Chen Siyuan looked at the pink neck and couldn't help but feel his heart flutter.

She said, "I'm afraid my aunt drank too much." But her left hand pinched the plump hand, then withdrew it without a trace, and stood there with clear eyes.

Mrs. Xing was just beginning to notice something was wrong, but seeing that he looked normal, she mumbled, "Yes, I haven't had a drink in quite some time, so I feel a little dizzy now."

(End of this chapter)