The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Let's not even mention Master She of the Rong family; we have no idea what he's thinking.

Some fan fiction works have whitewashed him, saying that to avoid the same inexplicable death as his own brother, Lord She dared not interfere in Jia Lian's upbringing.

When they encountered him, they would either beat or scold him with a terrible attitude, which eventually forced his own son to work as a errand boy for the second wife's family.

Jia Huan, in any case, does not agree with this interpretation.

Regardless of whether Master She was truly such a coward, at least Grandmother Jia would not have agreed to it.

The succession of titles in the Great Qian Dynasty was governed by very strict rules; it was not something that could be decided arbitrarily by the Rong family.

If the eldest son of the main branch does not have a legitimate son to inherit the title, the clan will definitely force Master She to adopt one.

Moreover, the adopted son will absolutely not be a child of the second wife.

Isn't this just making a wedding dress for a collateral branch of the family? Even if Grandmother Jia is senile, she wouldn't do something so foolish.

If Lady Wang had dared to kill Jia Lian, she definitely wouldn't be alive now.

Even Wang Ziteng shouldn't dream of having a chance to rise in the military!

Not to mention, Jia Huan had heard Aunt Zhao mention that Master She was definitely the richest man in the mansion.

The vast majority of the astonishing private property of the first Duke Rong and his wife was taken by Master She, so they were not short of money at all!

Chapter 40 The Lai Family is Nothing (Please Read Further)

Master She was not short of money, but he was extremely stingy with his son Jia Lian.

Putting aside everything else, in the first eighty chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, there is never any mention of where Jia Lian's birth mother's dowry is.

Jia Lian's birth mother married into the Rong family when the family was at its most glorious and prosperous, so her family background was not bad.

It definitely has to be a grand wedding procession, otherwise the Rong family would lose face.

According to the marriage customs of the feudal era, the dowry of the birth mother was inherited by her own sons, and the husband's family was not allowed to interfere; that would be considered extremely shameful.

However, in the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia Lian was already in his twenties, and his birth mother's dowry was never mentioned.

They're practically raising Jia Lian, their legitimate son, like he's a fool!

If Jia Lian had his birth mother's dowry as a foundation, his living conditions would have been greatly improved.

On Jia Zhen's side, he also firmly controlled the power of the outer household, not giving his eldest son Jia Rong any chance to interfere.

Over time, problems are bound to arise.

If they are born into the Ning family, they are all loyal and upright people, so there is nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately, the servants born into the Ning family were no better than those in the Rong family, and might even be more chaotic.

How could a powerful steward like Lai Er possibly respect Jia Rong and Jia Qiang?

Who knows, back at the Ning residence, when the two brothers see Lai Er, they'll probably have to respectfully call him "Grandpa Lai," it's not an exaggeration at all.

Since Jia Qiang is a smart person and is about to come of age, he naturally has to think about his own future.

Having the opportunity to receive several hundred taels of silver every year would naturally be excellent.

Having received a satisfactory answer, he was too lazy to stay at Jia Lian's residence any longer. He glanced at the sky outside, bid farewell, and left.

Things are definitely not that simple!

The Lai family is a very special family on Ningrong Street!

Granny Lai was Jia Mu's trusted servant, and she had done countless things for Jia Mu. Her level of trust was exceptionally high, to the point that she even allowed the Lai family to undermine the Ning and Rong mansions as if she didn't know.

Perhaps in Grandmother Jia's view, the Lai family's poaching was done with restraint, and the Ning and Rong mansions, being large and powerful, were not worried about this at all.

To maintain the Lai family's dignity, even Lai Shangrong, the grandson of Granny Lai, was stripped of his slave status from birth and given the opportunity to participate in the imperial examinations and become an official.

It can be said that Grandmother Jia's behavior has broken with convention.

This is not enough!

Lai Da, the eldest son of Granny Lai, was promoted to become the head steward of the Rong family!

His second son, Lai Er, was recommended to become the head steward of the Ning family!

It can be said that the Lai family has become the pinnacle of the servant world!

If the Ning and Rong mansions decline too much, the Lai family might even be able to usurp their place!

Jia Huan found it unbelievable when he thought about it.

Aren't the novel and anecdotes from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" very popular?

Didn't Grandmother Jia realize that the Lai family's situation was very similar to that of the Yuan family during the late Han Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms period?

Perhaps, in Grandmother Jia's mind, she could easily control the Lai family and was not worried at all that the Lai family would cause trouble.

But how can such a thing be predetermined?

Don't they realize how old Grandmother Jia is?

In case of any unforeseen circumstances, can we rely on Master Zheng and Madam Wang to suppress the Lai family?

Go dream!

Sure enough, Jia Lian snapped out of his excitement and his expression quickly became extremely serious.

Taking his share of the gambling den's profits was easy for him, but he had to face the fierce backlash from Lai Er, the head steward of the Ning family, and even the entire Lai family. That was no joke.

As the saying goes, "Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents," this is a serious grudge!

Jia Lian wasn't some great man with unwavering character; he was just a spoiled young master from a prominent family who had been deliberately pampered.

At this moment, I felt immense pressure, and even had thoughts of giving up.

"Huan-ge'er, my days ahead won't be easy!"

"Is Brother Lian worried that Lai Er will retaliate?"

Jia Huan didn't mince words and directly pointed out the crux of the matter.

"Yes, the Lai family isn't so easy to deal with!"

"Second Brother Lian, do you mean inside the manor or outside?"

"Is there any difference?"

"Of course there's a difference. With the old lady's help at home, the Lai family can be said to have an astonishing reputation, but outside, the Lai family is just a family servant with some influence in our Jia family!"

"Brother Huan, that's a really novel thing to say!"

Jia Lian was amused and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Isn't that right?"

If it weren't for the Jia family's reputation, who would know who the Lai family was?

Jia Huan didn't take it seriously and scoffed, "Could it be that those young masters who are on good terms with Brother Lian would look down on the Lai family?"

"They really don't take the Lai family seriously!"

"That settles it then. If the young masters outside don't want them, do you think the officials in the government office will?"

Jia Huan sneered, "As long as the two masters and Brother Lian's name cards aren't used by the Lai family to bully others, what are they to us outside?"

"Believe it or not, as long as Brother Lian makes it clear outside that he is dissatisfied with the Lai family!"

“Then local bullies in the capital will seize the opportunity to target the Lai family’s considerable businesses both inside and outside the city—those are all lucrative targets!”

"For the local tyrants in the capital, businesses like the Lai family's are the easiest to manipulate!"

Jia Huan chuckled and said, "Could it be that the Lai family, having suffered a loss, would ask the old lady for help?"

Of course, if things really develop to that point, Jia Lian and the Lai family will be irreconcilable enemies, with virtually no room for reconciliation.

Jia Lian should seriously consider whether he might suddenly fall seriously ill in the mansion and die quietly. There is a high probability that such a thing will happen!

"Hearing you say that, I feel even more uneasy."

Jia Lian spoke irritably, his opinion of Jia Huan changing repeatedly.

Damn, he can even come up with such a vicious plan. This kid is going to be something else when he grows up.

However, my worries have inexplicably decreased a lot, and I don't know why.

"Second Brother Lian, the Lai family also has a Lai Shangrong!"

Jia Huan lowered his voice and chuckled, "This is the Lai family's biggest weakness. As long as we handle it properly, everything else is nothing!"

Jia Lian immediately understood and nodded repeatedly to show that he understood.

Seeing that he had realized what was happening, Jia Huan didn't say anything more and simply got up to say goodbye and leave.

Damn, is it easy for him?

In order to help Jia Lian make a huge change, he had to show a maturity and mental capacity beyond his years.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to get Jia Lian to make any significant changes.

If Jia Lian doesn't take the initiative to change, how can he reap the benefits of good fortune?

There are some things that Jia Huan also feels quite helpless about.