The splendor of the Red Chamber, the power that reigns supreme.

Chapter 202 Horses and Armaments, A Storm Begins in the Jia Family Mansion

Meanwhile, things were going very smoothly for Master Ximen. With one person in the Ximen household attaining enlightenment, he helped Bao Dai'an fly to heaven, and the family was thriving!
On the other hand, the Jia family is facing a series of ominous events, with impending doom looming.

Grandmother Jia lay reclining on the couch, a soft, light red floral pillow behind her back, her eyes closed in rest. Her head maid, Yuanyang, knelt on the footstool, gently massaging her leg bones with her small, delicate fists.

The room was filled with the sweet, heavy scent of sandalwood, mixed with the ginseng that had been ingrained in the old lady for years. It made one's head spin and made one want to doze off.

Yuanyang glanced at the old lady's expression, swallowed hard, and then whispered, "Grandmother... there's something... that girl Jin Chuan'er, yesterday... was... kicked out by Madam!"

"Hmm?" Grandmother Jia opened her eyes a crack, a glint of shrewdness flashing within them. "Chased them away? For what reason?"

“It is said that…” Yuanyang’s throat tightened, and her voice became even lower, “When the Second Madam was taking a nap at noon, Jin Chuan was fanning her in front of her. I don’t know if she was delirious from the heat or what, but she actually said some… filthy things to Master Bao!”

"But the second wife, who had been woken up, heard everything clearly! She immediately slapped her and scolded her... she called her a little whore, that she was deliberately seducing men, a vile seed, and ordered her to be dragged out immediately, and her parents were sent away with the others..."

She finished speaking in one breath, her vest already damp with a thin layer of sweat, which clung to her undershirt.

Grandmother Jia closed her eyes again, and after a long while, she let out a cold laugh: "Seduction? Shameless seed? Ha! That girl Jin Chuan, I've watched her grow up, and I personally trained her to be well-behaved. She may be a bit wild, but she's clean at heart!"

"Even if she said a few inappropriate things, she's just an ignorant little girl. Making her kneel for a few hours and giving her a beating would be enough. Why kick her out? Isn't that cutting off her livelihood and driving her to her death?"

She took a breath, her chest rising and falling slightly: "It must be because I rejected her 'forced marriage' scheme she devised the other day, and she's still holding a grudge. She's just taking it all out on this girl!"

"Don't assume that just because she's not at Qingxu Temple, I can't guess that she orchestrated this whole thing!"

Upon hearing the words "Qingxu Temple," Yuanyang's heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her head even further, her chin almost touching her lapel. A few stray hairs at her temples, damp with sweat, clung to her fair neck, causing a slight itch.

She wished she could plug her ears too; her throat felt like it was blocked with a hot coal, and she couldn't utter a single word. How could she dare to respond to this deadly remark?
The silent, turbulent waves that had surged through my heart the day before also resurfaced.

That day, the incense at Qingxu Temple was so strong that it made people's eyes water and their bones feel weak.

Under the pretext of presenting ritual implements and asking Baoyu to show the spiritual jade to the fellow Daoists, Zhang Daoshi seized an opportunity, his face full of fawning smiles, and his words, as if coated with honey and wrapped with hooks, steered the conversation directly towards Baoyu's marriage.

"The other day, I saw a young lady at someone's house. She was quite beautiful. I was thinking that it's time for my son to find a wife. Considering her looks, intelligence, and family background, she's a good match for him..."

The old Taoist priest spoke with great enthusiasm, but his eyes darted around Jia Mu's face, and then casually glanced at Xue Yima and Baochai, who sat upright with somber expressions.

The words and their implications were clearly modeled after Baochai! The phrase "foundation and assets" was a heavy blow, striking the hearts of those who were paying attention.

Finally, the old fox added hypocritically, "I will only dare to tell anyone after I have received the old lady's instructions."

Back then, not to mention myself, all the grandmothers and girls in the room, though they all had their eyes downcast, had their ears perked up more sharply than rabbits.

The air was thick with the scent of perfume, sweat, and a hint of scheming.

But Grandmother Jia sat upright, her kind smile undiminished, as she slowly fiddled with the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist.

After the old Taoist priest finished chanting, reciting, and performing martial arts, the old lady lifted her eyelids slightly, her voice silencing the clamor in the hall:
“A monk once said that this child is not destined to marry early, and should wait until he is a little older before getting engaged. You can inquire around now, and regardless of his family’s wealth or status, as long as he is good-looking, that’s fine. Tell me. Even if the family is poor, we can just give them a few taels of silver. It’s just that it’s hard to find someone with good looks and a good personality.”

These words, spoken lightly, seemed to deflect a great weight with minimal effort. The simple statement, "It's not my destiny to marry so early," completely dismantled the carefully constructed "perfect match" between Zhang the Taoist and Madam Wang.

The later statements, such as "regardless of family background or wealth" and "as long as they have good looks and character," completely disregard the concept of "family background and wealth." The final dismissive remark, "Even if they're poor, give them a few taels of silver," is clearly a dig at the Xue family's status as merchants!
The old Taoist priest's face froze for a moment, his fawning smile stuck in his folds, unsure whether to advance or retreat, looking just like a clay statue of a judge in a temple who had been splashed with dirty water.

Aunt Xue's smile vanished, her lips twitched, and she twisted the handkerchief in her hand tightly.

Recalling these events, Yuanyang felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet, making her fingertips icy cold.

The old lady's words, "It's all on this girl," still seem to be ringing in my ears.

Jin Chuan'er had served the mistress for over ten years and had never made a single mistake. Yet now, because of her mistress's petty and unsavory thoughts, she was kicked out of the Rongguo Mansion.

As for servants like myself, everyone knows that once we leave the Jia family, where will we find a place to breathe?
It would be better to hang myself cleanly, at least leaving behind a clean corpse and avoiding further torment!
The mandarin ducks held their breath, even stopping their leg-pounding movements, and lowered their heads very low.

And this moment.

In Aunt Xue's room, the rosewood dressing table reflected Xue Baochai's icy face.

The filth of that day felt like a dull dwarf grinding against her heart, until blood seeped out.

Not only was it embarrassing, but the lingering fear was like a venomous snake coiling around him. If Grandmother Jia had agreed, how would he have had time to wait for that damned nemesis to come and pick him up?
Fortunately, the old lady not only refused, but also firmly stated: Baoyu is too young and cannot be married soon!

Xue Baochai sat upright on the embroidered stool, her usually gentle and kind eyes now filled with frost.

"Why did you and your aunt plan that scene with Taoist Zhang at Qingxu Temple beforehand, but kept it from me?"

Aunt Xue was removing a gold and kingfisher feather hairpin in front of the mirror when she heard this, her hand trembled, and the hairpin fell to the dressing table with a "clink".

She turned around, a smile spreading across her face: "My son, what brings you to this? Why would I hide it from you? It's all for your own good! Your aunt has good intentions! She's thinking of using Zhang the Immortal's golden words to solidify our 'perfect match' in front of the old lady! To avoid any unforeseen complications..."

"For my own good?" Baochai interrupted her mother abruptly, emphasizing the word "good" with a slight tremor.

She stood up, her usual composure now tinged with a suppressed sharpness. "If it were for my own good, you should have told me beforehand! You made me stand there like a wooden puppet, listening to everyone laugh, watching the old lady effortlessly throw that gold locket and my face onto the ground and stomp on it!"

"Everyone in this room is shrewd. Who knows what they're thinking, laughing at the Xue family for trying so hard to curry favor, laughing at our shamelessness, laughing at Xue Baochai... for being shameless!"

She practically forced out the last few words through clenched teeth, her eyes instantly turning red, tears welling up in her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back.

If that enemy were by my side, I would never allow myself to suffer such injustice.
Aunt Xue was stunned by her daughter's unprecedentedly fierce rebuttal. The forced smile on her face completely collapsed. She was already feeling uncomfortable these past two days because of Grandmother Jia's rejection, and now she was even more furious.

She stood up abruptly, pointed at Baochai, and her voice suddenly rose, carrying the shrillness of a common woman throwing a tantrum:

"You! What are you saying! What do you mean by shameless? A marriage arranged by parents and matchmakers is a matter of course! Your aunt and I went to great lengths to pave the way for you, and now it's our fault? You... how come you've become just like your good-for-nothing brother, completely ignorant and ungrateful for your mother's good intentions!"

"Ignorant?" Xue Baochai felt as if she had been stabbed hard by these two words, and the string that had been tightly stretched snapped with a "bang"!
Those tears that were being held back burst forth like a floodgate opening!

What dignity! What decorum! It was all shattered in that instant!
All that remained was the pent-up resentment, unwillingness, and a bottomless despair!
She took a sudden step forward, her voice trembling with tears, almost screaming, "If I hadn't been so foolish, I would have—"

The words were on the tip of my tongue, but it was as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping them.

She trembled violently, swallowing back the words she was about to say, only a tidal wave crashing within her, shaking her very core.

If I were foolish, I would have gone with that scoundrel long ago! Whether wife or concubine, at least I have my own little plot of land. Why must I suffer this subservient existence in the Jia family, having to be subservient to others and endure this filth! I endure this torment day and night, just to cling to this illusory 'golden and jade marriage,' and to protect your individual schemes!

This unspoken thought, like a poisoned dagger, churned repeatedly in her heart.

She could no longer face her mother's face, which was full of calculation and incomprehension. She stomped her foot and turned to rush out.

Stepping across the cold floor tiles stirred up a gust of wind, causing the beaded curtain to clatter and crackle. The person had already disappeared into the thick snow outside the door.

"Stop right there!" Aunt Xue chased after her to the door, only to see a corner of her daughter's moon-white coat disappear behind the pillar.

She leaned against the doorframe, her chest heaving with anger, muttering bitterly, "They've rebelled! They've gone too far! They're all troublemakers! They're all here to take my life!"

Xue Pan, who had been lounging on the daybed in the inner room picking his teeth and observing coldly, slowly sat up.

He had a toothpick dangling from his mouth, his face twitching, looking at the direction his sister had run off in tears, then at his furious mother.

"Hmph!" He spat heavily, threw the toothpick on the ground, and cursed inwardly:

"What are you crying about! It's all because of that hypocrite Jia Baoyu! He acts like a saint all day long, looking down on us merchants' sons! And behind our backs? He's flirting with that scoundrel Qin Zhong, doing all sorts of dirty things in his pants. Does he think I'm blind? What a piece of trash!"

He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and slammed his thick palm heavily on the kang table.

His eyes darted around a few times, and a cold, malicious smile slowly crept onto the corners of his mouth.

"You bastard Jia Baoyu, you've humiliated my sister so much she's crying her eyes out... Fine! You've got guts! Since you're into this kind of thing..." He grinned maliciously and beckoned his short, thick finger to the servant standing outside the door, "Dog! Come here!"

The servant quickly bowed and moved closer.

Xue Pan lowered his voice, his tone filled with ruthlessness and eager excitement: "Go, get my invitation card. Immediately invite Master Qi, Jiang Yuhan, to my banquet. Tell him there's a very important 'romantic' matter at hand, and beg him to do me the honor of attending."

Xue Pan watched as the servant Gou'er left to carry out his orders, the sinister smile on his fat face deepening, carrying the excitement of a prank about to succeed. He rubbed his short, stubby fingers together, pacing around the room, his eyes darting about as if he were calculating some intricate task.

Suddenly, he walked to the display cabinet against the wall, stood on tiptoe, and carefully took out a small porcelain bottle from an inconspicuous rosewood box on the top shelf.

The porcelain bottle was no bigger than a thumb, pure white, and its mouth was sealed tightly with beeswax.

Xue Pan held it in his palm, his face twitching involuntarily, and a strong sense of lingering fear flashed in his eyes.

He shook his head violently, as if trying to drive the horrific image of Jia Rong dying with blood flowing from all seven orifices out of his mind, and a few drops of cold sweat even seeped from his forehead.

"Damn it..." he muttered under his breath.

He composed himself, carefully used his fingernails to remove the beeswax, and pulled out the cork.

An extremely rich, cloyingly sweet fragrance instantly filled the air, hitting the nasal cavity and making people dizzy.

At the bottom of the bottle lay a few scarlet pills, each the size of a longan seed, their red color eerily bright and glaring, like congealed blood beads.

Xue Pan frowned, extended two thick fingers, and very carefully picked out a single grain.

He stared at it, his expression complex.

"Give those two...half a grain each...that should...should be enough, right?" He seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps seeking some kind of assurance.

He gritted his teeth, extended the thumbnail of his other hand, and, with extreme care and slowness, pinched down on the scarlet pill.

The hard pill made a faint cracking sound under his fingernails.

He held his breath, his eyes fixed on the piece, until he pinched off a piece about a quarter of the size of a bean, his heart still pounding with lingering fear.

"No... there's still too much..." He stared at the crumbs, muttering to himself, his face contorted with worry.

Thinking of Jia Rong, he suddenly shuddered again.

He used his fingernail again to pinch off half of the remaining fragment!
Now, only a tiny, almost negligible amount of scarlet powder, the size of a grain of rice, remained in his palm, mixed with some wax residue.

Looking at the tiny bit of "medicine," Xue Pan let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted: "This treasure I got from my good brother, I wouldn't even dare to take a sip myself, and today... you two damned bastards are getting it for free..."

After saying this, a smug look appeared on his face, as if he could already see the situation between Jia Baoyu and Jiang Yuhan.

In the side room of Jia Courtyard.

Lin Ruhai sat in a rosewood armchair, still wearing his official robes. The gold thread on the rank badge, symbolizing his status as a salt inspector, reflected the light slightly, making his face appear even paler and his eyes sunken. The weariness of the past few days was etched between his brows.

Daiyu held a cup of warm ginseng tea and gently placed it on the small table beside her father. Her fingers were slender as scallions and trembled slightly.

She sat down on the embroidered stool, her dewy eyes fixed on her father's face, her voice so soft as if afraid of disturbing something: "Father, did the audience with the Emperor go smoothly?"

Lin Ruhai picked up the teacup, his fingertips touching the warm porcelain, as if drawing in a bit of warmth.

He took a sip, the warm ginseng soup sliding down his throat, but it failed to dispel the chill in his heart.

He looked up at his daughter, forcing a smile that seemed strained and weak: "It went smoothly. His Majesty inquired about salt affairs, and I answered all his questions without error. You... need not worry."

These words were spoken calmly, but Daiyu clearly saw a fleeting shadow in her father's eyes.

Her heart tightened, and her slender hands unconsciously clenched the handkerchief, making the embroidered bamboo on it seem to lose its color: "Father's complexion... looks even paler than it did a few days ago. But... but the Emperor's will..."

"Don't overthink it!" Lin Ruhai interrupted his daughter, his voice rising slightly before softening again, revealing deep exhaustion. "It's just that the days of travel and dealing with the Emperor have taken their toll. A few days of rest will do you good."

He put down his teacup, his gaze falling on his daughter's frail body, his eyes filled with pity and an unspeakable worry. "I will be setting off to return to my post in the south soon. You... stay at the Rongguo Mansion. The old lady loves you, and your sisters are harmonious. It's better than following me to my post."

These were old clichés, but now they carried a heavy weight. Daiyu felt a lump in her throat, and she forced back her tears, only managing a soft reply: "I know, daughter."

Looking at her drooping neck, so fragile as a flower stem that it could easily break, Lin Ruhai felt a surge of sorrow and helplessness in his heart.

His throat bobbed, and he lowered his voice even further, with an almost whispered caution: "Remember what your father said... If you are feeling really troubled in that mansion, then... then go to Qinghe County to find your Mrs. Lin to relax. Although she is... although she is a relative of our Lin family, she is quiet and peaceful, a place where you can relieve your boredom."

He paused, as if considering his words, and then added, "I have prepared a set of your daily expenses and entrusted it to Master Ximen. He is a... man of influence, generous and magnanimous. I have already settled things with him, so you can just go and take what you need. Don't worry about running out of money or owing favors."

Daiyu raised her eyes, tears welling up but stubbornly refusing to fall. Looking at her father's pale, struggling face, her heart ached as if being torn apart.
"I understand, Father. When do you plan to set off? I would like to see you off to Qinghe Ferry. On the way, I would also like to visit Mrs. Lin's residence for a few days to familiarize myself with the place."

Upon hearing this, a warm sense of relief finally appeared on Lin Ruhai's pale face.

He nodded: "Good boy, it's kind of you to think of me. We'll set off... in the next three to five days. Once the official documents from the Ministry of Personnel arrive, we'll leave immediately."

He gazed at the sparse bamboo shadows outside the window, his eyes somewhat unfocused: "Qinghe... that's fine too. Go and stay for a few days, clear your mind, and don't... be too sad."

The father and daughter were speechless for a moment.

The courtyard was quiet, with only the rustling of the cold wind blowing through the bamboo leaves, adding to the sorrow of parting.

The brand-new official robe wrapped around Lin Ruhai's thin body, and in the room as dusk fell, it exuded a sense of heaviness and desolation.

Daiyu's small hands gripped the handkerchief tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Looking at her father's profile, which was strained but couldn't hide his exhaustion and dejection, she felt a chilling coldness, like a soaked quilt, enveloping her heavily and suffocating her.

She knew that once her father left, the political world would be turbulent, the mountains and rivers would be vast, and when they would meet again would be a long and arduous journey.

Ultimately, he himself would have to face the unknown storms alone in the seemingly splendid but actually turbulent Jia family mansion.

The small space in Mrs. Lin's mansion where she could temporarily take refuge was nothing more than a few fragile pieces of driftwood that her father could grasp for her in this vast and turbid world.

Qinghe County.

The high-ranking official walked out of prison.

The heavy wooden door of the cell, reeking of mold and urine, slammed shut behind me.

The heavy snow outside had long since stopped, and the half-dead sun, like a spoiled duck egg yolk, shone brightly and unobstructedly on Ximen Da Guanren's face, making him squint.

Dai'an walked behind, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily before he whispered, "A total of nearly six thousand taels were confiscated! As you instructed, Uncle, more than two thousand taels of pure silver were neatly stacked in the box and handed over."

As Dai'an spoke, his hand discreetly reached into his sleeve and pulled out a thick paper package sealed with fine mulberry paper. With lightning speed, he slipped it into the official's wide sleeve, his voice even lower:

“Father! The rest is all here, nearly three thousand taels. They are all silver notes from major merchants, redeemable on demand, clean and efficient, without any loose ends.”

The official subtly squeezed the thick paper package with his fingers hidden in his sleeve; it was quite heavy.

He nodded and hummed an "Mmm" through his nose, indicating that he understood.

"Uncle, do you think we should go back to the manor? Or..." Dai'an asked cautiously.

"To the militia headquarters." The official's voice was not loud. "Prepare the sedan chair, and hurry!"

The three thousand taels hidden in his sleeve were barely enough to plug the hole-like deficit in the Ximen family's finances.

How much silver would it take to assemble a force of fifty elite cavalrymen capable of intimidating and drawing blood?

Even the official himself had no clear idea of ​​what was going on.

The only way to get to the bottom of this is to go to Shi Wengong!
And then there are those deadly horses, armor, swords and spears... Where can we get these deadly, hard goods quickly and reliably?

I think we should ask him too!
[Seeking monthly votes! Bonus chapter for consistently ranking in the top five! Bonus chapter for the Alliance Leader (or patron) tomorrow!]

(End of this chapter)