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

Jia Rong looked at the fallen door panel, then at his feet, and was truly surprised that the door was broken. He muttered somewhat guiltily:

"This door...this door is so fragile, it's broken already? I only touched it lightly."

Seeing this, Jia Can's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery, but his face remained expressionless as he questioned:

"Rong-ge'er has such a temper! He kicked my door as soon as he walked in, and now that the door is gone in the middle of the night, how am I supposed to sleep?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Rong subconsciously felt ashamed, a sheepish smile appearing on his face, and the angry aura he had displayed when he arrived vanished almost entirely.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to save face, but for a moment he didn't know how to start, after all, that was the truth.

But then I thought about it again. No one in the mansion paid any attention to Jia Can. He was just a dispensable illegitimate son. Why should I lower myself in front of him?

Then he put on airs again, his face stern, and said:

"Second Uncle Can, you still have to say that! If someone hadn't said they saw you at Tianxiang Restaurant, and the Master hadn't been furious, do you think I would have wanted to come here?"

"What am I doing in your dilapidated yard in the middle of the night instead of resting in my own room?"

As he spoke, he walked to a chair and sat down, crossed his legs, and looked around at the simple furnishings and mottled walls. A look of disdain and impatience appeared on his face, as if staying in the room for even a moment longer would be torture.

Upon hearing this, Jia Can was startled. Had someone actually seen him leaving Tianxiang Tower last night?

When he went upstairs, he made sure to look around and make sure no one was there before he dared to go up.

Ruizhu only saw him when he was leaving.

Could it be that Ruizhu told Jia Zhen the truth?

But then I thought about it again and realized it was unlikely. Ruizhu was Qin Keqing's personal maid, and the mistress and servant had a deep bond, so it couldn't be her.

Perhaps one of the servants in the mansion saw it from the shadows.

Though inwardly surprised, he remained outwardly composed, offering only a slightly indignant rebuttal:

"Really? That's utter nonsense! Although I may be useless, I still know right from wrong. How could I dare to break into my nephew's wife's room at night?"

"That's something only a beast would do, but your master would dare to do it."

Jia Rong was surprised by Jia Can's response, which contained a hint of sarcasm towards Jia Zhen.

He stared at Jia Can for a moment and noticed that his usually timid second uncle seemed a little different at this moment.

He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but he felt that Jia Can's usual timidity seemed to have faded considerably.

He frowned, not thinking deeply, and replied:

"Second Uncle Can, don't talk nonsense. If this gets to the master's ears, you'll be in big trouble. Just because he heard someone talking nonsense, he was so angry that he was disheveled and rushed to Tianxiang Tower to inquire. After learning that it was just a misunderstanding, he left without pursuing the matter."

"However, Uncle Can, you'd better go to the master first thing tomorrow morning to explain and apologize, make things clear, and clear up any misunderstandings."

"Otherwise, you know the consequences when the master gets angry."

Upon hearing this, Jia Can immediately realized that this was definitely not Jia Rong's original intention.

Given Jia Rong's personality, he wouldn't care about his own life or death, much less come to warn him.

Someone must have reminded Jia Rong, which is why he rushed here to deliver the message.

After a moment's thought, Jia Can immediately thought of Qin Keqing. In this mansion, Qin Keqing was probably the only one who cared about him so much.

It seems that Qin Keqing was worried that he would suffer retaliation from Jia Zhen, but she didn't want to send someone directly to him for fear of arousing suspicion, so she sent Jia Rong to "warn" him and relay the message through Jia Rong.

Thinking of this, Jia Can felt a warmth in his heart, his eyes flickered slightly, and instead of refuting Jia Rong, he obediently agreed:

"I understand. Thank you for letting me know, Rong-ge. I will go to Brother Zhen tomorrow morning to explain and apologize, and clear up his misunderstanding of me. Don't worry, I won't implicate you."

Jia Rong was not surprised to hear him say this, as it matched his stereotype of his cowardly second uncle.

If Jia Can didn't agree or back down, that would be strange to him. In his eyes, Jia Can was supposed to be submissive and easily manipulated.

He stood up, brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes, and calmly took his leave.

"Alright, I've delivered my message. I'm leaving. Take care of yourself."

With that, he turned and walked out.

Jia Can stopped him, saying, "Rong-ge'er, you kicked down my door! How am I supposed to sleep tonight? You have to give me an explanation."

Jia Rong paused, turned around, and waved his hand dismissively:

"So what if the door is broken? It's not a big deal. Just bear with it. It's not like you can't sleep without a door."

"I'll call a craftsman to fix it in a couple of days, what's the rush?"

After saying that, he waved his hand, turned around and strode away, as if he had done something wrong and simply walked away, not caring at all about Jia Can's life or death.

The footsteps faded into the distance and disappeared outside the courtyard gate, without even closing the gate behind them.

Jia Can naturally knew that Jia Rong was just saying it casually and probably had no intention of arranging for someone to repair the door for him.

But Jia Can did not stop or pester him any further, nor did he say anything more.

Standing at the door, watching Jia Rong's figure disappear into the night, I felt a sense of relief.

Since Jia Rong disregards him so much and doesn't care about his life or death, he won't have any psychological burden when he's ordered to kill Jia Rong in the future.

In truth, Jia Rong wasn't much better than Jia Zhen.

Extravagance, debauchery, greed, lust, bullying, and tyranny—Jia Rong committed every one of these vices. It was only because Jia Zhen, an even more despicable villain, stood in front of him that Jia Rong's various misdeeds were overshadowed, making them less conspicuous than Jia Zhen's.

Not long after Jia Rong left, another series of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate. It was the three maids and servants that Jia Zhen had arranged to keep a close watch on Jia Can.

The three arrived at the door of the main room and saw the door panel leaning crookedly against the door frame, with a pile of sawdust on the ground. They looked at each other in bewilderment but dared not ask any questions.

They stepped over the threshold and approached Jia Can, bowing respectfully. The head maid spoke first:

"Second Master Can, the three of us have come to serve you on the orders of the Master. The Master said that the maid Banmei who served you before has been beaten to death by him, so he specially sent the three of us to serve you again."

"If you need anything in the future, just let us know, please don't hesitate to ask."

Jia Can stood in the room, his gaze sweeping over the three faces, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Jia Zhen reacted quickly, arranging for three more people to monitor him. Clearly, he had heard that Jia Zhen had visited Qin Keqing and was wary of him, wanting to keep a close eye on his every move.

Normally, Jia Can wouldn't care. He could let as many people monitor him as he wanted; he would just do what he was supposed to do. It was just a matter of having a few more pairs of eyes watching him.

But he has to meet with the Emperor Emeritus tomorrow; this is a matter of utmost importance and cannot be delayed.

If these three keep a close eye on him, he won't even be able to leave the mansion, let alone keep his appointment.

I need to find a way to prevent them from stopping me from leaving the manor, at least not tomorrow, and they can't follow me.