Dream of the Red Chamber: I can see the hidden labels of the beauties.

Ningguo Prefecture.

In the main room where Jia Zhen lived, he was reclining on the kang (a heated brick bed), with two large pillows behind him, and a cup of tea in his hand, which he was drinking lazily.

Banmei stood in front of the kang (a heated brick bed), reporting back to him the information she had gathered:

"Master, the servants have found out that Second Master Can did not go to the clan school this morning, but instead went for a stroll in the street."

"He went into a bookstore, a pen and ink shop, an antique shop, and sat in a tavern for a long time, drank some wine, and even bought some antiques from the antique shop."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhen scoffed, his face full of disdain. He set his teacup aside and said:

"I told you long ago, with his character, would he even go to school? He's just pretending, using studying as a pretext to mess around outside."

"Go and fetch that antique he bought. The master wants to see what kind of junk he bought back. It's laughable!"

Banmei smiled and agreed, her eyebrows and eyes radiating pride, as if she had received some great assignment.

"Yes, sir."

After saying that, he left with his head held high and chest puffed out, as if he had received a royal decree, arrogant and overbearing.

Before long, Banmei returned to the courtyard where Jia Can lived. When she arrived at the door of the main room, she saw that the door was half open. Without knocking, she pushed the door open and went in.

Jia Can was sitting by the window, holding a book in his hand, reading it intently in the daylight.

Seeing this, Banmei slightly pursed her lips, thinking that Jia Can was just putting on an act. In her opinion, Jia Can was not cut out for studying.

He walked up to Jia Can without bowing, put his hands on his hips, and said in a sarcastic tone:

"Second Master is really diligent! He's been studying at the school all day, and he's still studying when he gets back. It seems he's really planning to become the top scholar! I wonder what kind of heavenly books he's reading? Could you perhaps broaden my horizons?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Can frowned slightly, looked up from his book, raised his head, looked at her, and asked in a calm tone:

"Banmei, what do you mean by that?"

Banmei, with one hand on her hip, looked down at Jia Can with a slightly condescending attitude, a mocking smile on her lips, and continued:

"What do you mean? Second Master knows perfectly well what he did, so stop pretending."

"Who do you think you can fool? Don't think nobody knows. You didn't go to school today at all. Instead, you wandered around outside all day and even bought an antique, didn't you?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Can remained calm and composed, his expression unchanged. He had long anticipated that Banmei would inform Jia Zhen, and he also guessed that Jia Zhen would definitely send someone to investigate his whereabouts.

Jia Zhen was very suspicious. If anyone in the mansion did anything unusual, he would investigate them thoroughly. So what if his usually timid half-brother suddenly said he wanted to go out to study?

Jia Can remained calm because he was quite confident in his actions.

Everything I did today, from the places I visited to the things I accomplished, was done flawlessly. To outsiders, it was just a leisurely stroll.

He believed that with Jia Zhen's insight and knowledge, he certainly couldn't guess what he had done today.

As it turns out, the outcome was exactly as he expected. Jia Zhen indeed just assumed that he had gone out for a stroll for a day and made no other guesses.

He replied casually, "So what?"

Banmei was taken aback when she saw that he looked perfectly normal, without the slightest surprise or remorse, and didn't even lift his eyelids.

She had thought that Jia Can would panic and beg her to cover for him after being exposed, but she never expected him to react this way.

After a long while, she came to her senses, narrowed her eyes, and a fierce look appeared on her face:

"Hmph, Second Master has quite the nerve. He swore this morning he was going to school, but he just wandered around all day. Doesn't he feel ashamed? I'm embarrassed for him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jia Can gently closed the book in his hand, placed it on the table, slowly raised his head, stared coldly at her, and slowly spoke:

"Shame? You dare to use the word 'shame' in front of me? Don't insult the word 'shame'."

"Don't think I don't know. Do you want me to recount all the sordid and filthy things you and the master have done?"

Now that he had already decided to break off all pretense of civility, and with the added confidence gained from meeting Yu Hui today, Jia Can naturally had nothing nice to say about the spy that Jia Zhen had planted by his side.

Over the years, Banmei, relying on being Jia Zhen's person, has acted arrogantly and bossy in front of her predecessor. It's time for her to pay for her karma.

Banmei was completely stunned, her eyes wide as she stared at Jia Can, her gaze filled with astonishment, as if she had seen a ghost.

In the past, Jia Can always spoke softly, and he was always timid and hesitant around people, like a mouse seeing a cat. He would bow and scrape his head, and he was always very humble towards her, his maid. He never dared to speak loudly. When did he dare to speak like this?

Is the person in front of her still the same Second Master Can she knows?

After regaining her senses, Banmei felt a mixture of shame and indignation, her face burning with embarrassment.

Firstly, she believed that as Jia Zhen's person, she was much more respectable than ordinary maids in the mansion. Even the old women and managers treated her with utmost courtesy. How dare Jia Can, a lowly illegitimate son, speak to her like that? He really didn't take her seriously.

Secondly, Jia Can directly exposed her private affair, which was hard for her to accept. It was as if Jia Can had slapped her twice, and she was so ashamed that she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

His face flushed red, his cheeks burning hot, his chest heaving violently, and he was so angry that he couldn't utter a complete sentence.

After a long while, Banmei finally caught her breath and angrily shouted:

"Hmph, Second Master, you've really got some nerve today! How dare you speak to me like that? Who do you think you are? You're just a concubine's son with no mother's love or father's care, not even as respectable as a servant in this mansion. How dare you act like a master in front of me?"

At this moment, Banmei, who was in a fit of anger, didn't care about anything else and completely ignored Jia Can's change, and spoke her mind.

"I'm telling you, the master already knows about your outings and has sent me to bring the antiques you bought today to show him."

"You'd better behave yourself and hand over the antique obediently. Don't wait for the master to send someone else, or even come to find you in person. At that point, it won't be as simple as just taking away an item!"

As she spoke, Banmei displayed the arrogant attitude of someone who bullies others to the fullest extent, raising her chin high, looking contemptuous, and standing ramrod straight.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that she was the mistress of the house, and Jia Can was just a servant she could do whatever she wanted with.

Jia Can saw this and felt that she was both laughable and pathetic.

A maidservant, relying on her somewhat ambiguous relationship with her master, is so arrogant, completely unaware that she is nothing more than a pawn in someone else's game, to be discarded at any time.

His eyes flickered slightly, but he didn't say much. He stood up, walked to the cabinet, and took out the antique that the manager of Baoguzhai had given him.

Turning around, he handed the object to Banmei and said calmly:

"This is it, you can give it to him."