The Red Mansion

Chapter 133 The Three Daughters

The Jiang family was located in the eastern suburbs of Shenjing, which was not only far away from the Rongguo Mansion located in the inner city, but also separated by the city gate.

It wasn't until the next morning, when the sky was just beginning to lighten, that the Rongguo Mansion sent servants to the Jiang family to announce the death.

Just as Jiang Nian and Yuan Chun finished washing up, they suddenly heard Feng Shi deliver a message saying that someone from the Rongguo Mansion had come to report something important. Yuan Chun's heart skipped a beat.

Yuan Chun already knew about Jia Rong and Jia Lian's affair with Jia Zhen's concubines, and she also knew the truth about Jia Rong's death.

Even Jiang Nian already knew. He asked Yuan Chun, who was initially too shy to speak and only gave vague answers. After he pressed her repeatedly, Yuan Chun finally blushed and whispered what he had said.

Now, early in the morning, someone from the Rongguo Mansion came to report something urgent. Yuan Chun immediately felt something was wrong and thought to herself, "Could it be that Brother Zhen is also..."

Whatever comes to mind.

When the visitor entered the room, he said in a trembling voice, "Grandpa Zhen... is gone last night!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chun's face turned pale, and she gripped her handkerchief tightly with her fingertips, unable to speak for a long time.

Seeing this, Jiang Nian waved for the servants to leave, personally helped Yuan Chun to sit down, and then personally brought her hot tea.

Yuan Chun did not accept the tea, but instead hugged Jiang Nian and started crying.

She was filled with mixed emotions of grief and sorrow. She was saddened by the fact that the Ningguo Mansion had fallen to such a state, its fate sealed. She was also worried that if this matter were to spread, the Rongguo Mansion would be implicated. Although she was already married, she was still a daughter of the Jia family and would inevitably be affected. What if Jiang Nian disliked her because of this?

Seeing Yuan Chun's sorrowful expression, Jiang Nian knew she was worried, so she gently advised, "Are you afraid this matter will affect the Rong family? I think it will only affect their reputation. As for you, you don't need to care about those gossips. Let's just live our lives well."

Hearing this, Yuan Chun felt somewhat relieved, thinking that Jiang Nian had not disliked her because of this.

However, the worry between his brows had not yet dissipated.

The morning light outside the window gradually brightened, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in her heart.

Jiang Nian sighed inwardly, "Because of my time travel, Jia Zhen and Jia Rong in this Dream of the Red Chamber world have died just like that! It's somewhat similar to the deaths of Qin Ye and Qin Zhong in the original novel."

The original text describes how Zhi Neng'er, a young nun from Shuiyue Nunnery, secretly ran away to the Qin family to meet with Qin Zhong. Qin Ye discovered this, drove Zhi Neng'er away, beat Qin Zhong, and then, in his anger, suffered a relapse of his old illness, dying within three to five days. Qin Zhong, still ill, was also flogged. Seeing his father die of anger, he was filled with remorse and grief, and also died of his illness.

……

……

Xue Baochai was doing needlework in the west wing.

With her eyes lowered and her slender fingers carefully holding a silver needle, she meticulously sewed a new dress for Jiang Nian. Since officially marrying into the family, she had often taken time to do needlework. Last month, she had embroidered a purse for Jiang Nian, and this dress was now in its final stages, to be completed in another two or three days.

Xue Baochai was sewing when she suddenly heard hurried footsteps. Ying'er rushed in, lifting the curtain in a panic, and whispered furtively in her ear, "It's terrible! I just heard the news that Master Zhen of the Jia family also passed away last night. They say he died of illness, but actually he died of anger!"

Xue Baochai paused in her needlework, slowly raised her eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in them, but she quickly regained her composure and said softly, "You must not learn from others and gossip!"

Ying'er said, "I'm not stupid. I only tell you about this kind of thing."

Even Xue Baochai knew about Jia Rong and Jia Lian's affair with Jia Zhen's concubines and the truth behind Jia Rong's death. It wasn't Yuan Chun who told her, nor Jiang Nian, but Ying'er, who had heard it from Yuan Chun's maidservant.

Xue Baochai put down the needle and thread on the embroidery frame beside her and remained silent in thought.

Seeing her solemn expression, Ying'er dared not say anything more and quietly retreated to the side.

Xue Baochai remained silent for a moment, then reached out and stroked the nearly finished garment, her fingertips gently caressing the delicate embroidery, as if reluctant to part with it. However, thinking of Yuan Chun's current predicament, she ultimately shook her head.

Ying'er said, "Auntie's dress will be ready in two or three days and will be given to Master."

Xue Baochai said, "Let's send it later."

Ying'er asked in confusion, "Weren't you in a hurry to give it to Master? It was almost done..."

Xue Baochai said calmly, "Grandmother has just had some trouble, so we should be more cautious these days. The clothes can be sent sooner or later, so there's no rush."

Ying'er nodded knowingly.

……

……

Qin family.

At the hour of Si (9-11 AM) that day, Qin Keqing was reading a book by the window in the west wing. A Xuande incense burner sat in the room, its wisp of aloeswood incense curling gracefully, reflecting the sunlight filtering through the gauze window, creating a scene reminiscent of a painting. Holding a volume of "Shuyu Ji" in her hand, she was reading the line, "Keeping watch by the window, how can I bear the darkness alone?" when she became lost in thought.

Knowing that Yuan Chun and Xue Baochai were both quite talented, she, being ambitious, thought that although her background was inferior to theirs, her talent should not be inferior to theirs. Therefore, she studied and practiced diligently every day.

Just as she was pondering, Ruizhu suddenly lifted the curtain and entered, rattling off a string of words: "Miss, it's terrible! Master Zhen of the Jia family also passed away last night! It's getting more and more outrageous! His son stole several of his concubines, and as soon as he returned to the capital, he beat his son to death, and then he died of anger himself..."

Alas, Grandmother Jia tried to cover up the scandals of Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, and Jia Rong, but all her efforts were in vain. Even Qin Keqing and Ruizhu had already heard the truth.

Upon hearing this, Qin Keqing fell silent and became worried. She picked up a cup of tea from her desk and stared blankly at the tea leaves floating in the cup, her heart tightening.

She felt this matter was closely related to her. If it weren't for her, Jia Zhen wouldn't have suffered this misfortune, wouldn't have been exiled to the coastal frontier, and if Jia Zhen hadn't suffered this misfortune, Jia Rong and Jia Lian wouldn't have stolen from his concubines, Jia Rong wouldn't have been beaten to death by Jia Zhen, and Jia Zhen wouldn't have died of anger...

As for Yuan Chun, the matriarch of the Jiang family, she was, after all, a daughter of the Jia family...

If she were to enter the Jiang family and become Jiang Nian's concubine, and Yuan Chun were to take revenge on her out of hatred, what would become of her?

Qin Keqing became increasingly alarmed as she thought about it, her hands holding the warm teacup, yet feeling a chill in them.

Just then, she glanced at the book "Shuyu Collection" on the table. The sentence on the page, "How can a single word 'sorrow' describe this state of affairs?" seemed like a prophecy to her at that moment.

……

……

Now let's return to Jiangning.

Lai Shangrong arrived in Jiangning, a land steeped in the splendor of six dynasties, in early June, and was like a dragon entering the sea, thoroughly enjoying himself. He spent over ten days in Jiangning, indulging in drinking, gambling, and dalliances with courtesans. He even spent a thousand taels of silver to buy a courtesan named Cailan. Although Cailan was far inferior to Jingqing, she was still quite beautiful and skilled in singing and playing musical instruments, which Lai Shangrong greatly admired.

Aunt Xue had already decided to give Xue Baochai 30,000 taels of silver. However, the Xue family was no longer an imperial merchant, and their business in the capital had declined, making it difficult for Aunt Xue to give Xue Baochai the 30,000 taels of silver.

There are only two options: send silver notes to the capital city or send gold and silver to the capital city.

If she were to send silver notes, a 30,000 tael note, Xue Baochai would only be able to exchange it for 27,000 taels after deducting various fees at the banks in the capital, resulting in a loss of 3,000 taels! Moreover, exchanging such a large amount of silver notes would be troublesome, especially since Xue Baochai was a concubine in the inner quarters.

Therefore, Aunt Xue decided to send Xie Jixing, Xue Pan's wet nurse, along with four male servants from the Xue family, to the capital to deliver two boxes of "local specialties" to Xue Baochai. For safety, the five of them traveled north on a single boat, following Lai Shangrong's ship. These two boxes of "local specialties" were actually two boxes of gold, totaling three thousand taels, or thirty thousand taels of silver! For security reasons, they were presented as two boxes of "local specialties."

Aunt Xue trusted Xie Jixing a lot. Moreover, Xue Pan had told her that Lai Shangrong was a person of good character. She also felt that Lai Shangrong probably wouldn't try to steal her two boxes of "local specialties".

……

……

Lai Shangrong will be leaving Jiangning to return to Beijing in a couple of days.

On this day, Aunt Xue ordered Xue Pan to invite Lai Shangrong to her home and set up a feast in her study to entertain him.

Aunt Xue stood outside the gauze window of the back corridor and said to Lai Shangrong through the window, "I want to have Pan'er's wet nurse take four family members to the capital and deliver two boxes of local products to Pan'er's sister. You have a hard journey and shouldn't be working, but I'm still worried about the five of them alone. So I'm thinking of having the five of them travel together on a boat to the capital, so they can look after each other on the way."

Upon hearing this, Lai Shangrong cupped his hands and smiled obsequiously, "Madam, what are you saying! Let alone two boxes of local products, even if there were twenty boxes, I would do my best to protect them."

Xue Pan interjected, "Mother, you can rest assured, this little thing is nothing!" As he spoke, he personally took the pot and poured wine for Lai Shangrong, the amber-colored wine rippling in the jade cup.

After Lai Shangrong left, Aunt Xue summoned Xue Pan to the inner room, ordered the maid to leave, and left Xue Pan alone.

"Pan'er," Aunt Xue said seriously, "tell me the truth, what is Lai Shangrong's character really like?"

Xue Pan was fanning himself with a gold-flecked folding fan when he heard this, and snapped the fan shut: "Mother has asked this question for the third time, and this is the third time I've answered you. Brother Lai's character is naturally good."

Ah, actually, his relationship with Lai Shangrong was just drinking, gambling, and womanizing together, but Lai Shangrong was good at flattering and ingratiating himself with him.

Aunt Xue stared at her son's oily face and suddenly sighed, "Do you know what those two boxes of 'local products' I'm going to send to your sister are?"

"They're just some toys for women."

Xue Pan didn't take it seriously, casually picked up a fresh lychee from the fruit plate, peeled it, and ate it.

"It's three thousand taels of gold!"

Aunt Xue's hushed voice was like a branding iron, so hot that Xue Pan spat out the lychee pit with a "plop".

Xue Pan's eyes widened in disbelief: "Three thousand taels... of gold? Why is Mother giving so much gold to my sister?"

"What do you know!"

Aunt Xue spat and then explained the whole story in detail.

Upon hearing this, Xue Pan jumped up as if stung by a wasp: "Father actually left my sister a dowry of 100,000 taels of silver? What about me? How much did Father leave me?"

Aunt Xue couldn't help but slap Xue Pan on the head: "Isn't our family fortune all left to you? You've squandered more than 100,000 taels of silver in the past few years!"

Aunt Xue returned to the main topic: "Three thousand taels of gold is no small amount. If no one takes care of us, and we encounter bandits again like we did when we went to the capital last year, it would be terrible. That's why I asked Lai Shangrong again and again about his character."

Xue Pan laughed and said, "Mom, don't worry, I can rely on Brother Lai no matter what."

Aunt Xue was still worried and said, "My son, you must remember that the two boxes of 'local products' are gold. You must never let Lai Shangrong know about them. As the saying goes, 'money can move people'. Even if you say he is a good person, he might still have evil intentions if he finds out that there is so much gold."

Xue Pan patted his chest and said, "What kind of person do you take your son for, Mother? Although I like to play around, how could I not know what's important? I would never utter a word to Brother Lai." As he spoke, he leaned closer with a grin, "You can rest assured, your son is not a foolish person who doesn't know how to calculate."

Aunt Xue was slightly relieved to hear him say that, and then led Xue Pan and Xie Jixing to the treasury.

But the silver vault door was secured with a seven-jeweled copper lock, and reliable servants stood guard on both sides.

Xie Jixing took out the brass key he kept close to his body, first unlocking the three locks on the outer door, then turning through the three carved lattice doors, and finally saw a large ebony cabinet covered in copper at the very back, with silver dragon-patterned ornaments inlaid on the four corners, gleaming coldly in the dim light.

Aunt Xue took out a brocade pouch and poured out a delicate little key. When the little key was inserted into the lock of the copper-clad ebony cabinet, it clicked open with a crisp sound.

As soon as the cabinet door opened, a dazzling golden light shone through – inside were neatly stacked gold ingots.

Although this wasn't the first time Xue Pan had seen such a sight, he still felt a tightness in his throat. The gold made his eyes glaze over, and he didn't even hear his mother calling him. It wasn't until Xie Jixing secretly tugged at his sleeve that he hurriedly swallowed and came back to his senses.

"What's wrong with Pan'er?" Aunt Xue frowned and said, "Quickly, get three thousand taels from your wet nurse." She then counted the gold ingots herself and ordered them to put them into two wooden boxes.

Aunt Xue planned that after the three thousand taels of gold were packed into a box, it would be carried to her room first, and then soil would be placed on the surface of the box to disguise it before it was sealed.

The gold ingot felt heavy in his hand, turning Xue Pan's palms red, but this heaviness only made his heart feel hot.

Xue Pan couldn't help but think: "Miss Qing from Qimeng Courtyard is still unsold. For only eight thousand taels of silver, she'll be mine! And here's a full three thousand taels of gleaming gold. I can secretly embezzle it without my mother's knowledge..."

"Pan'er! Why are you lost in thought again?" Aunt Xue frowned and asked.

Xue Pan was startled and nearly dropped the gold ingot he was holding. He quickly composed himself and sped up his work with Xie Jixing.

After all three thousand taels of gold had been packed away, a reliable servant was summoned to carry the two boxes of gold directly to Aunt Xue's room.

On his way back to his room, Xue Pan's steps were unsteady. Passing by his sister Xue Baochai's former residence, he suddenly saw the swing under the eaves swaying gently in the breeze, as if Xue Baochai had sat on it years ago, softly advising him, "Brother, please temper your temper..." He also recalled how, when he was ill, his sister had personally prepared medicine for him, her sleeves singed by the stove fire...

Thinking of this, Xue Pan suddenly felt his face burning.

"Snapped!"

A crisp slapping sound suddenly rang out in the quiet courtyard.

It turned out that Xue Pan had slapped himself in the face and said angrily, "Xue Wenlong, Xue Wenlong, even though you are a fool, do you even have to scheme over your sister's dowry?"

This palm strike shattered his greed.

(End of this chapter)