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

Most of Jia Zhen's concubines scoffed when they heard that Jia Can actually wanted to take them into his household, thinking that Jia Can was just indulging in wishful thinking.

Only a few people were worried about this, since Jia Zhen was now dead, and their status as Jia Zhen's concubines in the mansion had become somewhat awkward.

Without a powerful backer and without any children, how will I live in the future? The thought makes my heart tighten.

Two of them, named Peifeng and Xieyuan, were relatively young concubines with decent looks, and were considered Jia Zhen's favorites among his many concubines.

The two women, relying on Jia Zhen's favor, held a position in the mansion second only to You Shi. Their food, clothing, and daily necessities were all top-notch. Even Jia Rong had to treat them with utmost respect and dared not show them the slightest disrespect.

But now that Jia Zhen has suddenly died, the two are shocked, but more than anything, they are worried about their future.

If they were to leave the mansion and remarry, given their background as Jia Zhen's concubines, which respectable family in the capital would be willing to marry such women?

If they were to marry into an ordinary merchant or a poor family, they would be accustomed to the riches and honors, fine clothes and delicacies, and being surrounded by servants in the Ningguo Mansion with Jia Zhen. They would never want to leave this golden nest and live a life of coarse food and simple meals.

Therefore, they were left with only one path: to win the favor of the new head of the Ningguo Mansion and continue living in the Ningguo Mansion as concubines.

They also knew that with Jia Zhen's death, Jia Rong, as the eldest son, would inevitably inherit the title and become the new head of the Ningguo Mansion. Therefore, the two of them unanimously harbored the intention to curry favor with Jia Rong, waiting only for the right opportunity to get close to him.

More importantly, the two of them had actually been having an affair with Jia Rong for a long time, but they were keeping it a secret from Jia Zhen and were secretly seeing each other.

Now that Jia Zhen is dead, it's only natural that he can side with Jia Rong, and there's no need to hide anymore.

The two had discussed it privately several times. Once Jia Rong took over the affairs of the mansion, they would find a pretext to have Jia Rong take them as his concubines, so that they could continue to live a life of luxury.

But then news suddenly spread in the mansion that Jia Can wanted to take Jia Zhen's concubines into his room, which made Pei Feng and Xie Yuan somewhat worried.

The two were especially uneasy after learning that Lady You had improved Jia Can's treatment and instructed the servants in the mansion not to neglect him.

Jia Can is, after all, a proper master. If he were to actually ask Madam You to take them into his household, given Madam You's current attitude towards Jia Can, she might not be willing to offend him for the sake of these concubines.

At that time, they would only have two paths to take: either refuse and be kicked out of Ningguo Mansion to marry someone else, or submit to Jia Can and be taken into his household.

But they were unwilling to take either of these paths. They both knew that Jia Can was just a powerless illegitimate son of the Ningguo Mansion, with no foundation or future. Sooner or later he would separate from the family and leave the mansion. It would be better for them to leave the mansion and try their luck by marrying someone else.

Therefore, the two thought that they had to act immediately. As long as they got Jia Rong's promise and made it a fait accompli, they wouldn't have to worry about Jia Can taking them into his room.

So the two of them dressed up carefully, changed into simple yet decent clothes, and went to find Jia Rong together.

To everyone's surprise, upon asking, they learned that Jia Rong was currently talking with Jia She, Jia Zheng, and several other masters, discussing various arrangements, and was not free for a moment.

The two could only suppress their anxiety and think they would talk to Jia Rong when he had some free time.

Each of them left behind a trusted maid to keep an eye on Jia Rong's every move, and as soon as Jia Rong managed to slip away from the masters, they would immediately come to report.

After taking a comfortable bath, Jia Can changed into a clean set of black clothes, tied a white hemp rope around his waist, put on a mourning cap, and adopted a solemn and sorrowful expression before stepping out of the guest room.

As I passed by a courtyard, I overheard servants whispering among themselves in the corridor, talking in hushed tones. I could vaguely hear them talking about things like "Second Master Can," "Master and Concubines," and "Toad."

He paused slightly, listened intently for a moment, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He then returned to normal, slowly walking away as if he had never heard anything.

This was exactly the effect he wanted; the bait had been cast, and all that was left was for the fish to bite.

Upon arriving at the front yard, the mourning hall had already been set up, with white banners fluttering and elegiac couplets hanging. In the center stood Jia Zhen's coffin, which had not yet been sealed. An incense table was set up in front of it, with an ever-burning lamp.

The monks and Taoist priests had also entered the venue. The monks were striking wooden fish and chanting scriptures, while the Taoist priests were shaking bells and performing rituals. All sorts of sounds were intertwined, creating a noisy cacophony.

The courtyard was filled with smoke, making people's eyes sting.

Jia Can arrived at the altar, took three incense sticks from the altar, lit them with the candlelight, bowed, and then inserted them into the burner. His face showed no sign of anything amiss.

Although he despised Jia Zhen, and Jia Zhen was someone he had personally killed, he still had to maintain appearances and not let anyone find fault with his manners.

After offering incense, Jia Can joined the vigil team, found a seat, and sat down to keep vigil with everyone.

Most of the people around him were descendants of collateral branches of the Jia family, some of whom were of the "Yu" generation and others of the "Cao" generation, and they were all around his age or younger.

These people were not particularly prominent in the clan and did not usually have much contact with Jia Can, but now that they were keeping vigil together, they seemed quite close and familiar with each other.

Although no one in the Ningguo Mansion paid any attention to Jia Can, these collateral relatives all addressed him politely as Second Master Can or Second Uncle Can, and dared not be negligent.

Jia Can didn't put on airs and responded politely, chatting casually with them, asking about their daily lives and making small talk. Before long, he became one of them and the conversation was quite lively.

His smile was gentle, and his words were humble, revealing an easygoing nature.

However, all of this was just a facade. Jia Can knew very well that there were almost no capable people in the Jia family. Most of them were just pampered sons who only knew how to eat, drink, have fun, cockfight, and horse racing, which did nothing to help the family's prosperity.

She just didn't want to appear arrogant and arouse suspicion. She could also get some inside information from these people, such as Jia Zhen's funeral arrangements and Jia Rong's whereabouts.

As they were chatting, a young maidservant walked through the crowd, came to Jia Can's side, curtsied, and whispered:

"Second Master Can, Fourth Miss is here. Would you like to go and see her?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Can paused for a moment, then nodded, stood up, straightened his clothes, bid farewell to everyone, and followed the little maid inside.

Jia Xichun was, after all, Jia Zhen's younger sister. Although she was still young, she should come to mourn and keep vigil for Jia Zhen.

As Jia Can walked, he guessed what the maid meant. On the surface, she was asking him, but in reality, she was informing him that Jia Xichun had arrived. Perhaps Jia Xichun had arrived alone and was feeling a little lonely, wanting someone to talk to or keep her company.

The other masters in the East Mansion didn't have much contact with Jia Xichun, so it wasn't appropriate to disturb them at the moment. After thinking it over, Jia Can, her half-brother, was the most suitable person to talk to.