The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

While cursing that damned bastard in his heart, he decided to go back and properly discipline his underlings, not to go too far, and to listen to what Young Master Huan said.

Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous restaurant in the capital, Liu Xianglian, one of the main characters in the incident, was having a gathering with his friends, including Feng Ziying. After a few drinks, the topic naturally came up.

"I never expected there would be such a master at the Ningrong Street branch. I almost got hurt this time!"

"What's wrong? Did Brother Liu have a conflict with Brother Huan from the Rong family?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Ziying was taken aback and asked curiously, "Should I step in and help you out? We're all brothers, let's not let the flood wash away the Dragon King's temple!"

"This is not urgent!"

Liu Xianglian shook his head and said, "I want to see the reaction from the Ningrong Street branch before making a decision!"

"What, did Brother Huan offend you quite badly?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Ziying frowned and said, "I've had contact with him before, and he doesn't seem like the kind of person who's unreasonable and domineering. Is there some misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding? How could there be a misunderstanding?"

Liu Xianglian sneered, "His underlings were causing trouble outside, almost driving someone to their death. How can he, as their boss, not bear any responsibility?"

"I want to see exactly what he'll do, and then how I'll respond!"

With that, he downed a glass of wine in one gulp, a cold smile appearing on his face. He said unhappily, "We, the chivalrous, will not associate with those who bully the weak!"

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you all for help at that time, to get that Third Master Huan to come out and have a talk with us!"

"If he's unwilling to discipline his subordinates, can I help him? But the consequences might not be what he wants!"

His tone was full of soaring pride.

"Brother Liu, don't be impulsive!"

Feng Ziying frowned slightly and asked curiously, "Could you tell me what exactly happened?"

Liu Xianglian didn't hide anything and recounted his chivalrous deeds, as well as his incident of storming the Ningrong Street gang.

Finally, he exclaimed, "That kid's iron rod is really powerful and heavy. I almost got knocked over when I wasn't careful, but even so, my hand was cracked from the impact!"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, which had just stopped bleeding, and sure enough, there were several shocking wounds on the web of his hand.

"The one you're talking about must be Jia Cong, the eldest son of the Rong family and Huan's cousin!"

Feng Ziying was genuinely surprised and said in disbelief, "This person is incredibly low-key, and seems to be only about twelve years old. It's unlikely that he could force Brother Liu to back down."

"Only around twelve years old, that's unlikely, isn't it?"

Liu Xianglian was startled and said irritably, "Judging from that boy's physique, he must be at least fifteen or sixteen years old!"

"Could it be that this kid's martial arts are somewhat special, which is why he has such amazing effects?"

Chapter 209 Petty and narrow-minded (Please subscribe)

Good things don’t go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles!

The news of Ningrong Street's gang being provoked by the chivalrous Liu Xianglian spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the entire martial arts world of the capital.

Many江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) heroes in the capital were all watching with amusement, intending to observe and enjoy the spectacle.

Deep down, they all hoped that Ningrong Street would suffer a major setback, each with their own reasons.

Some were simply envious and jealous. A gang set up by a mere child had become one of the most powerful forces in the capital's underworld. Who could they complain to?

Some people believe that competitors are enemies, but who knows when the Ningrong Street branch will change its expansion direction from outside the city to inside? No one can handle it.

Some were simply looking for a spectacle and hoping the Ningrong Street gang would react strongly, ideally fighting Liu Xianglian to the death.

Speaking of Liu Xianglian, he is a rising star in the martial arts world, and his martial arts skills are truly remarkable.

He started his career with all sorts of chivalrous deeds, taking down several bandit strongholds and striking fear into the hearts of bandits with his sword. Ironically, he was born into a noble family, making it impossible for him to conspire with the government to frame him.

Even in the martial arts world, there are rules!

A lone wolf like Liu Xianglian is the most feared.

Just like most officials in the government are not entirely clean, every famous figure in the underworld has a stain on their record.

If the underworld forces become aware of this, it's better; everyone will have reservations, and they can negotiate a solution in private.

But if Liu Xianglian finds out, he might actually be attacked and his reputation ruined. Which martial arts master wouldn't be afraid of that?

What worries the veterans even more is that other up-and-coming figures in the martial arts world might be influenced and follow suit, recklessly engaging in chivalrous acts, which would throw the martial arts world into chaos.

Thus, despite Liu Xianglian's superb martial arts skills and his warm and righteous nature, he had no close friends in the martial arts world.

On the contrary, his reputation is not very good due to various rumors and attacks.

After all, he came from a noble family and had intricate connections with the imperial court, which people in the martial arts world greatly feared. It would be easy for anyone to manipulate things and tarnish Liu Xianglian's reputation.

Unfortunately, this fellow was not well-liked by officials and was truly a lonely figure.

Now, they've actually taken the initiative to provoke the increasingly powerful Ningrong Street gang. Many people and forces would love for the two sides to fight each other, so that both sides would suffer heavy losses in the end.

Feng Ziying and his friends heard the rumors circulating outside and were quite worried about Liu Xianglian's situation.

The main reason is that they had only met Jia Huan once and did not know his specific character; otherwise, they would definitely have acted as peacemakers.

"Don't worry about me, I can just go outside and lay low for a while!"

Liu Xianglian scoffed, chuckling, "Of course! After hearing your introduction, I really do want to meet that Third Young Master Huan!"

"It would be best to have Brother Baoyu handle this matter. Brother Huan should at least give him some face!"

After a moment's thought, Feng Ziying made a decision and said, "Let's do it this way!"

Contrary to what outsiders might expect, Jia Huan was actually in a rather good mood at this moment.

His attention wasn't focused on Liu Xianglian; he didn't care much about her.

Jia Huan never expected that he would be able to glean such important information from Ni Er.

Ni Er was quite depressed because his younger brother was injured in the process.

So after being scolded by Jia Huan, he couldn't help but complain, "I don't know what's going on lately, but a lot of wood and stone materials have been transported through artificial waterways!"

"Because of the heavy workload and that greedy scoundrel's embezzlement of his subordinates' wages, it led to a very bad outcome. Although he embezzled money at other times, the workload wasn't too heavy, so we could barely manage!"

Jia Huan naturally heard this and his heart stirred with curiosity. He asked, "Recently, a lot of wood and stone materials have been transported into the city from this artificial waterway?"

"Yes, this is quite strange!"

Ni Er nodded and said, "I haven't heard of any large-scale construction projects planned by the imperial court or government. Why prepare these materials in advance? It's a waste of space and manpower!"

What else could they be doing? This is to begin construction of the family-residence villa.

"Do you know the origin of the people transporting these timbers and stones?"

Jia Huan asked casually, "Could it be that something has happened in the imperial court?"

"Who knows, the price of wood and stone might just go up!"

"According to the boatman, it seems to be goods from the Imperial Household Department, and they're being transported in a hurry!"

"How long has it been since the Imperial Household Department began transporting the timber and stones?"

"It will take about a month, and I hear there's still a lot of wood and stone that needs to be transported!"

Ni Er didn't suspect anything, assuming that Jia Huan was just asking casually, and he was just answering casually as well.

It's confirmed: this is a scheme to make a fortune for the Provincial Family Villa by stockpiling supplies in advance.

To be honest, their current performance can only be described as petty and stingy!

Even if the imperial treasury is empty, one cannot use such methods to amass wealth.

Once the news of the imperial concubines' visit to their families was exposed, the Imperial Household Department immediately supplied a large quantity of wood and stone materials. Even a fool would know the dishonorable role they were playing in this situation.

Judging by the time, it was indeed time for the grand drama of the imperial concubines' visit to their families to begin.

Using Lin Ruhai as a time coordinate, the time nodes can be clearly sorted out.

In the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, Lin Daiyu hurriedly returned to Yangzhou to handle her father's funeral arrangements, and then rushed back to the capital that same year. Soon after, news came that the imperial concubine was visiting her family.

The timing is quite right, but this 'good news' has not yet been announced to the public.

A slight smile appeared on Jia Huan's lips. Let's see where the Rong family will get so much money this time.

If they want to earn money for the materials of the Imperial Concubine's Residence, then forget about the other concubines. They can forget about the Grand View Garden, which was built to welcome Yuan Chun's visit home.

Some of the timber and stone materials could be stored in the farms outside the city, while the rest were transported from the south.

If time were not so urgent, the cost of building a separate residence for a concubine to visit her family would not be too outrageous.

Unfortunately, the families of those imperial concubines who signed up for the visit to their families spent money like water in their quest for first place, as if money meant nothing to them.

The most extravagant of them all was undoubtedly the Rong family mansion.

Damn it, the Lin family's fortune was emptied out by building a villa for visiting relatives. Everyone who got involved made a fortune, and the Lai family even built a garden that was no less grand than the villa. It's clear how incredibly shrewd the Rong family was at being taken advantage of.

Perhaps they don't feel the pinch when spending other people's money.

Jia Huan pondered for a long time, but in the end, he still felt it was a bit of a pity.

For a single-unit spring visit to relatives, it's clearly not enough to ensure one can leave the residence smoothly.

Putting aside other things, without sufficient reasons, or if the old lady and the second wife insist, it would not be an easy thing for Jia Huan to leave the mansion early and become a member of a collateral branch.