The Splendor of the Red Chamber

In a dark corner of the backyard of Fanlou.

vomit~

Jia Lian leaned against the wall and kept dry heaving, but nothing came out.

Having grown accustomed to strong liquor in his later years, and relying on his transformed physique, he was confident that he could easily handle these low-alcohol rice wines.

That's why I didn't refuse anyone at the banquet.

However, he overlooked the fact that although this yellow wine has a low alcohol content and a smooth, sweet taste, it contains many impurities and is much more likely to cause a hangover than the white wine of later generations.

Now Jia Lian felt his brain throbbing wildly, and he kept feeling nauseous, but he couldn't vomit anything.

At this moment, his personal servant Zhao'er brought over some hangover soup. After drinking it, Jia Lian felt a little better, but his head still ached terribly.

So he waved his hand and said, "No, I need to wait a bit longer—you and Long'er go upstairs and keep an eye on things. If Qiang-ge'er can't handle it, let me know immediately."

Zhao'er and Long'er accepted the order and left, leaving only Xing'er, the most caring person, to serve them.

Jia Lian rubbed his temples and strolled casually around the courtyard, deliberately avoiding the dozen or so gloomy lanterns because he didn't want anyone to see his disheveled state.

As I was walking, I suddenly heard arguing coming from the outer corridor above me.

"Father asked me to bring you here to build connections, but what did you do? You went and fawned over that Chen Yejun, truly disgracing our Zhongqin Earl's Mansion!"

It turned out to be the Yuan brothers from the Earl Zhongqin's mansion.

As for Chen Yejun, his ancestors were the second sons of a noble family. Later, they separated and established their own household. His father is now a fifth-rank garrison commander in the Five Cities Garrison.

The Chen family was practically at the bottom of the guest list, yet someone still went to flatter them.

Then Yuan Wenshao, the second son of the Yuan family, retorted indignantly: "With my elder brother around, how could I possibly associate with powerful and influential people? Besides, weren't you full of flattery in front of Young Master Qi and Second Master Lian?"

"How can these be lumped together?!"

Yuan's eldest son was furious: "That Chen family is nothing but a poor, untitled family. How can they be compared to the royal relatives of the Duke's mansion? I think ever since you married that daughter of a minor official from Dengzhou, your ego has only grown stronger!"

"My in-laws had a long-standing relationship with the Duke of Qi in Dengzhou, and when they served as the Vice Prefect of Yangzhou, they were also close friends with the Salt Commissioner, Lord Lin..."

"That's just something I can say to fool you!"

Yuan Dalang sneered, "Qiu Jing, the Assistant Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, passed the imperial examination in the same year as him. Now, one is a fourth-rank official in the capital, while the other is a fifth-rank minor official in Dengzhou. If your father-in-law really has such powerful connections, how could there be such a stark difference between them?"

Yuan Wenshao was speechless.

In fact, he was only half-convinced by what his wife said.

After a long while, he couldn't help but mutter again, "Right now, our family's food, clothing, and daily necessities all depend on Hualan's dowry..."

"shut up!"

The conversation abruptly stopped, presumably because Yuan Dalang was afraid that people would overhear about him using his brother's wife's dowry, so he covered his brother's mouth.

Jia Lian rubbed his temples and chuckled to himself. The Zhongqin Earl's Mansion had fallen so low that it had to rely on its daughter-in-law's dowry to survive. How dare they call the Chen family a fallen household?

What he didn't expect was that he had overheard some gossip and ended up being connected to his uncle-in-law, Lin.

Just then, Zhao'er came downstairs, craning her neck to look around.

Jia Lian then emerged from the shadows and asked, "What is it?"

"It was Uncle Xue. He had a few too many drinks and couldn't control himself..."

"Let's go up and take a look."

…………

Meanwhile, inside the Rongguo Mansion.

Xue Baochai, the three sisters, and their sisters-in-law Li Wan and Wang Xifeng were also seeing Lin Daiyu off.

The sisters had lived together in the old lady's courtyard for five or six years without ever being separated. Now that Lin Daiyu was going south to visit relatives, everyone was naturally reluctant to part with her.

However, the one who could not control his emotions the most was Jia Baoyu.

He drank a few cups of wine, his heart heavy with sorrow, and then couldn't help but whisper in Lin Daiyu's ear, "If you don't come back, I'll go to Yangzhou to find you! I'll beg or plead, I'll make you come back!"

As they talked, he got carried away and actually stood up and bowed repeatedly to Lin Daiyu, which made everyone laugh.

Wang Xifeng, waving her handkerchief, urged, "Lin girl, why don't you get up and return the greeting, bowing to our Brother Bao!"

Daiyu blushed immediately, turned her head away, and remained silent.

Seeing this, Li Wan smiled at Xue Baochai beside her and said, "Our second aunt is truly witty."

"What humor? It's nothing but a glib tongue that's annoying," Lin Daiyu said, spitting out her words.

Everyone laughed, and Baoyu was so happy that he scratched his ears and cheeks.

A little while later, he pestered Daiyu again, saying, "After you leave, I'll also invite some monks and Taoist priests to chant sutras so that you can return from the south sooner."

He didn't mean any harm, but everyone knew that Lin Ruhai was nearing the end of his life, and Lin Daiyu would most likely not be able to recover until after her father's funeral.

Saying that they would find monks and Taoist priests to chant sutras and urge Lin Daiyu to come back sooner is tantamount to cursing Lin Ruhai to die early.

Therefore, upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu immediately turned cold, and this time she was truly angry.

Baoyu, oblivious to the taboo he had broken, continued to chatter on and on.

Seeing this, Xue Baochai took the initiative to interrupt, saying, "Brother Bao, Second Brother Lian has now received blessings from our ancestors and is determined to restore our family's honor. At that time, he will need the help of his own family."

As the saying goes, "Even tiger-hunters are brothers," and you too were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Now that you're getting older, you should read more serious articles. In the future...

Baoyu was the most unconventional person, and now that he had drunk a few more cups, how could he listen to such advice?

His round face immediately fell, and he sneered, "If you ask me, while Buddhist and Taoist scriptures are mostly a means of swindling money, at least they offer some peace of mind; but those things used to gain fame, official positions, and flattery only turn people into traitors, parasites, and filthy vulgarities!"

As he spoke, he flicked his sleeve and said, "Why are we having such a pleasant time drinking? It's such a spoilsport, a real spoilsport!"

These words left Xue Baochai speechless and embarrassed. Even with Li Wan acting as a peacemaker, the banquet ended on a sour note.

Xue Baochai returned to Pear Fragrance Courtyard with her personal maid Ying'er, only to find Xue Pan also being brought back by Xing'er.

Baochai saw that it was still early, so she asked Ying'er to ask Xing'er whether the banquet had ended or if there was some other explanation.

Before long, Ying'er returned and reported: "Brother Xing'er said that Master drank a few too many cups and became somewhat out of control during the meal. Second Master Lian was afraid that he would get into trouble, so he had someone send our Master back first."

Xue Baochai was even more annoyed.

In the past, when she was surrounded by the same spoiled young men, none of whom were much better than the others, Baochai wouldn't have thought much of it.

But now, Brother Lian has been blessed by his ancestors and has been transformed. He is determined to serve in the army and restore the family's honor. When Sister Feng mentions his recent changes, she is so happy that she can't stop laughing.

The contrast between the two reveals the inadequacy of Baoyu and Xue Pan.

After the master and servant entered the room.

Xue Pan was reclining on the couch, gesturing wildly as he described the grand spectacle of the evening.

I heard that my brother and Feng Ziying were treated like children by Lian Erge, who made them walk around the hall.

Xue Baochai finally lost her temper and blurted out, "Brother Lian, aren't you just making a fool of yourself in front of everyone?!"

"How could that be?"

Xue Pan disagreed: "But Feng Ziying was also tied up with us. Besides, my second brother later explained that we two had gone too far in our commotion, so he gave us a small punishment to teach us a lesson."

Then, he showered Jia Lian with praise.

Xue Baochai knew that her brother was rebellious and unruly, but she didn't expect that after being reprimanded by her second brother Lian today, she would speak up for him instead.

A thought struck her, and she suggested to her mother, Aunt Xue, "Mother, since my brother admires Lian so much, why don't we let him stay by Lian's side and be influenced by him?"

"That's inappropriate, that's inappropriate!"

Aunt Xue immediately shook her head vigorously: "In the dead of winter, the wind on the river is biting cold, how can your brother stand it? Besides, the New Year is just around the corner..."

Baochai was actually referring to the future, but Aunt Xue and Xue Pan clearly misunderstood.

"I can handle it!"

Xue Pan interrupted his mother, excitedly saying, "As long as Mother agrees to let Xiangling accompany me, I'll go south with Second Brother Lian!"

Xiangling was a maidservant of Aunt Xue, and her looks and figure were in no way inferior to those of her mistress.

Back then, Xue Pan accidentally killed someone in Jinling in his attempt to buy her. His widowed mother, Aunt Xue, worried that she couldn't control him, so she moved her family to the capital.

Xiangling was also temporarily raised by Aunt Xue, in preparation for becoming Xue Pan's concubine after his marriage.

Seeing that Xiangling was becoming more and more outstanding under Aunt Xue's care, Xue Pan became impatient and recently he has been trying to persuade her to take him in.

"What nonsense are you talking about, brother!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Baochai retorted, "I heard from Sister Feng that this time when Brother Lian went south, he didn't bring any maids or servants with him, only servants and young men. If he sees Xiangling..."

"If my second brother takes a liking to it, I'll let him use it."

Baochai said "saw," but the drunken Xue Pan heard it as "taken a fancy to," and said dismissively, "I'm not that stingy. Would I ruin brotherhood for a maid?"

Although he loved Xiangling's beauty and even killed someone in his fight for her, he did not value her highly.

In the original novel, after Jia Lian escorted Lin Daiyu south, he begged and pleaded to take Xiangling into his house, but "after less than half a month, she was as timid as a gust of wind in a stable."

Since the rise of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, the practice of using concubines to entertain guests has long been regarded as a bad custom.

Hearing him speak of such sordid matters so casually, Aunt Xue was quite angry and abandoned the idea of ​​giving Xiangling to him ahead of time.