After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 123 Ping'er and Li Wan Enter the Palace
After Jia Lian summoned the master, he placed three hundred taels of silver in front of him.

"That wretched child is asking the family for money again?! Who else does he want to redeem?"

Jia Zheng was both shocked and furious, and ordered Jia Huan, "Go and call your brother here!"

Jia Huan glanced at the piles of gleaming silver before going out to call his brother, Jia Baoyu.

Before long, the two arrived at Jia Lian's tent and saw a large pile of silver in the middle. Jia Baoyu's face lit up with joy, but Jia Zheng spat at him and shouted, "What do you want silver for? Are you going to support those dissolute actors again?! You wretched beast, do you want to ruin our whole family?!"

Jia Baoyu panicked and knelt on the ground, muttering incoherently and not daring to reply, only using his eyes to signal to Jia Lian.

Jia Lian, having received two or three hundred taels of silver from him, feared that his master would now control Baoyu and no longer call him home for money, so he smiled and said:
“Master, it is because of the deep affection between the siblings that they asked for this money. I heard from Feng’er that she asked Miss Yun and Sister Lin for some money to raise this amount.”

Before Jia Zheng could speak, Jia Baoyu looked at Jia Lian with delight: "Second Brother, Lin Daiyu has come home?! The Emperor actually let her come back, it's truly a blessing from Heaven, protecting Lin Daiyu from her suffering!"

Jia Baoyu only heard the name Lin Daiyu.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian was still somewhat appeased, but Jia Zheng was enraged and grabbed a stick from the side, striking him on the back.

Jia Baoyu quickly dodged away, and after a commotion, Jia Lian finally managed to calm Jia Zheng down.

Hearing the commotion, Jia She, Jia Qiang, Jia Yun, and others also arrived. They immediately saw the three hundred taels of silver displayed in the tent and couldn't take their eyes off it. They also knew that Baoyu could take money from home and had even spent several hundred taels to redeem an actor.

Upon seeing this, Jia Lian hurriedly said, "This silver was given to me by Lin Daiyu and Yun Daiyu at Baoyu's request. It should be his to use, but I was worried that Baoyu might not be able to handle it, so I called you here, sir."

Jia Zheng said, "The master and I will take this silver; it's useless for Baoyu to have any silver."

Jia She's face lit up with joy.

Jia Baoyu couldn't help but say, "I have a use for this money!"

"What do you need money for? To go and cause trouble with that Qi Guan again?!"

After being scolded by his father, Jia Baoyu shrank back, but then he thought of how Qi Guan was doing better for him, sleeping in different tents every night, the hardships of which need not be described in detail.

"Master!" Jia Baoyu bowed to his father. "I begged Sister Bao to give me these several hundred taels. If the family is short of money, Master can tell Brother Lian to go back and ask the old lady for it."

Jia Zheng couldn't come up with a reason for the moment, and he knew that he wouldn't get any money from the old lady.

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Baoyu, this money was given by Lin Daiyu and Yun Daiyu. Your sister Bao is very strict in managing the household and said she would only give the money after reporting to the old lady."

Jia Baoyu was stunned, realizing the unspoken meaning behind the words.

Baochai refused to give her any money...

Jia Lian said, "This money is not easy to take. Sister Yun gave some, and the rest was given by Sister Lin. She also asked me to tell you something: everything has a price. I hope you will keep this in mind and be frugal when using money."

cost?

What was the price Lin Daiyu paid for giving him the money?
For a moment, Jia Baoyu put aside the matter of Jiang Yuhan and the money, and his heart was only with Lin Daiyu. He even wanted to return the money.

Jia Lian refused and insisted on giving him the silver.

In the end, Jia Zheng and Jia She each took fifty taels to keep for Jia Baoyu, and gave him the remaining two hundred taels.

"The price... Sister Lin."

Carrying a bundle of silver back home, Jia Baoyu kept muttering to himself, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.

Then I thought of the letter Lin Daiyu sent, in which she said she had stayed in the Emperor's Linjing Hall for seven or eight days and preserved her innocence...

They managed to keep me there for a while, but what about afterwards?
"Sister Lin, Sister Lin... I will pay the price, just don't let that emperor defile your pure body..."

Jia Baoyu was in a daze, his mind filled with images of Lin Daiyu being humiliated by the emperor, and he trembled with anxiety.

It wasn't until Jiang Yuhan came to find him that Jia Baoyu came back to his senses. Looking at Qi Guan, he suddenly burst into tears: "People say that true friendship is revealed in times of trouble, and it is indeed true. Now that our family has fallen to this state, all the affection between sisters and cousins ​​has vanished. Only my sister still remembers our old friendship."

Jiang Yuhan glanced at the package in his hand before advising him, "Before we fell to this state, we had a close relationship. It is even more fate that we met in this wretched military camp. Second Master was willing to redeem me and even went to beg his family for money for me. I can never repay Second Master's kindness in ten lifetimes!"

Jia Baoyu held his hand tightly, "I've lost one sister Bao, but thankfully I still have you by my side!"

So he used the money to rent a tent.

Just as they were about to make love that night, Jiang Yuhan stopped him: "Good man, wait a moment. I'm thinking that this place is ultimately a prison pit, and we're not sure if we can get out of here. I've met a few people in the army these past few days who said they can get us out of here. Then we can buy a house outside the city. Wouldn't that be better than here?"

Jia Baoyu was overjoyed and hurriedly asked him for details.

Jiang Yuhan secretly told him that the general's surname was Chang, his given name was Neng, and he had a steward named Zhao. If he gave him the silver, the general would have his own way of deceiving everyone.

"Alright, alright, you do it tomorrow! Ask that Steward Zhao to take me out, I'm going back to find Sister Lin!"

Jia Baoyu was overjoyed.

Jiang Yuhan whispered again, "Keep your voice down. This matter must not be known to a third party. After I leave tomorrow, wait for me for a few days, and then someone will take you away!"

Jia Baoyu readily agreed.

So, early the next morning, Jiang Yuhan took the package containing two hundred taels of silver and quietly went while the people in the camp were doing their corvée labor.

In the evening, Jia Lian returned to the camp, and Jia Huan immediately came to tell him, "Second Brother, Bao Yu's bag of silver is all gone!"

"What?!" Jia Lian rushed to Bao Yu's tent, and sure enough, he only found the person but not the package.

"Where's the silver?" Jia Lian pressed.

Jia Baoyu did not answer, but said only, "I will use it for something, Second Brother, you don't need to ask."

At first, Jia Lian couldn't guess where he had spent the money. After wandering around and not finding Jiang Yuhan, he realized that something bad had happened.

"Ugh!!"

Jia Lian, exasperated, said to Jia Baoyu, "How could you believe an actor's words and give him the silver! That two hundred taels of silver is enough for him to earn in the army for ten years!"

Jia Baoyu smiled and said, "He will come back."

Jia Huan searched the tent for a while, but when he couldn't find any silver, he went back to tell his father, feeling dejected.

Before long, Jia Zheng and Jia She arrived. They had been working all day and were quite exhausted. They were furious to hear that the two hundred taels of silver they had left last night had disappeared today. Jia Zheng was about to pick up a stick to hit them, but Jia Baoyu dodged it and still firmly believed that Jiang Yuhan would come back!

Jia Zheng threw down the stick, his face flushed red: "If you dare to ask someone to go home and ask for money again, I'll beat you to death right here, you wretched child, so that you won't implicate the family and harm the girls who are going to the palace tomorrow!"

Having said that, he ignored what the other person said and went straight back to his tent to rest, only calling Jia Huan away.

Everyone dispersed, but Jia Baoyu remained rooted to the spot, his heart filled with doubt.

Jiang Yuhan took all his money.

The next day, the soldiers came to take away his tent and sent him back to live with the dozen or so men.

At night, Jia Baoyu lay awake, unable to sleep. He could smell the stench of the men in the tent, and he could only hope that someone would come to take him away the next day so that he could go back to the city to find Lin Daiyu.

……

Inside Wang Xifeng's room at the Jia family residence.

"Sister Feng, look at this account..."

The two housekeepers, Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin, brought the account books to Wang Xifeng. No matter how resourceful and eloquent the Second Mistress of Lian was in the past, she could not refuse at this moment.

Wang Xifeng sighed, "I admit defeat. I've been swindled by those two heartless bastards, and I won't be able to get my money back anytime soon."

Baochai smiled and said, "Feng'er, there's no need to worry too much. This matter is neither a big deal nor a small one."

Wang Xifeng hurriedly asked, "Are you going to tell the old lady?"

Grandmother Jia could no longer make the decision, so in the end she had to ask Lin Daiyu for help.

Baochai said, "I will show the accounts to His Majesty tomorrow. The money was lent out before, so it doesn't count as violating the imperial decree. Let's go to see His Majesty together, and I will plead for you and say a few good words. We will find a way to make up for the deficit later."

"Me too, go to the palace?" Wang Xifeng was extremely unwilling, and looked at Ping'er standing to the side.

Baochai understood her meaning and said, "Sister Ping'er can come to the palace with us too."

"Ping'er!"

Wang Xifeng immediately called out to her.

Ping'er could only give the Second Mistress a resentful look, and hesitantly replied to Baochai, "Me, a mere maid, entering the palace..."

Baoqin laughed and said, "Now we are all servants, so there is no distinction between high and low, noble and lowly."

Seeing this, Ping'er had no choice but to agree.

The two bid farewell and left. Baoqin went to chat with Xiangyun, while Baochai returned to Hengwu Garden.

After crossing the Qinfang Sluice Bridge, she saw a tall, slender woman's figure under the pavilion by the pond in the distance. Recognizing her as Li Wan, she went up to her and asked with a smile, "What are you doing here, sister-in-law?"

Li Wan composed herself, and with a smile on her elegant face, she said, "I was just taking a stroll when I happened to run into you. I heard that you're going to the palace tomorrow?"

Baochai said, "I have finished inspecting all the property in the mansion by order of His Majesty and checked the accounts. I am about to go to the palace to report to His Majesty. I will also take Sister Qin with me. She is also the steward's daughter and has never met His Majesty before."

"Just the two of you?"

"It was just the two of us. Yun asked me to present the East Mansion's account books to His Majesty."

Understanding her meaning, Baochai smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, would you like to come to the palace together to visit Lan-ge'er?"

Li Wan hesitated for a moment, "I just entered the palace last time, and I'm going to enter it again this time..."

"Why should you worry about this, sister-in-law? It's just a trip to the palace to visit your son; it's only natural."

Seeing that she also thought it was a good idea, Li Wan finally made up her mind to go to the palace with them again the next day.

Back at Hengwu Garden, Ying'er smiled and said, "Grandma Zhu must have been waiting for us to come back."

Baochai smiled and said, "That's precisely why I persuaded her to come to the palace with us."

What they didn't know was that on the night before entering the palace, Li Wan tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. The person she thought of wasn't her son Jia Lan, but the man who had forcibly embraced her in the palace last time...

(End of this chapter)