The Splendor of the Red Chamber

Early the next day

Sheng Shulan, who had tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep well, still couldn't resist coming to "send off" Lin Daiyu ahead of schedule.

Little did Lin Daiyu know that a trick of switching things up had taken place right under her nose last night.

Seeing that Sheng Shulan came alone and looked absent-minded, they assumed that she was worried that her second brother Lian would break his promise and get fat.

He offered several words of comfort, then said, "Why don't you wait here for a while, and I'll go ask my brother up front."

Jia Lian was currently checking their belongings on either side of the hanging flower gate. She called people into the backyard through the gate to talk, so she didn't have to worry about being disturbed by the men.

Upon hearing this, Sheng Shulan subconsciously stood up, her face flushed, and stammered, "I...I...I want to thank the young master in person."

In this rural area, everyone calls him "Young Master," and Lin Daiyu was too lazy to correct him.

However, seeing Sheng Shulan's flushed face, Lin Daiyu couldn't help but become suspicious, and her attitude turned cold.

"Yesterday was in a moment of panic."

She said calmly, "You are, after all, a married woman. It's best not to meet with other men in private."

With that, he left the ashamed and flustered Shulan behind and went straight to the hanging flower gate, telling Zijuan to invite Jia Lian in to talk.

Jia Lian entered the inner courtyard and saw Lin Daiyu with a tense expression. He couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Who has upset my sister again?"

Lin Daiyu said with a straight face, "The eldest daughter of the Sheng family was worried that my brother would break his promise, so she went to my place early this morning. She was just about to come with me."

"Yeah?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian knew that good things were near, and subconsciously looked behind Lin Daiyu, asking, "Where is she?"

"Hmph~"

Lin Daiyu gave a soft snort and lowered her voice, saying, "I thought she was just having inappropriate thoughts, but I never expected... Brother, she's a married woman!"

"It won't be like that for long."

Jia Lian said something, then immediately changed the subject, saying, "I've already taken care of what I promised her. Wait a moment."

As Jia Lian spoke, he went out and retrieved a few pages of paper, which he then handed to Lin Daiyu for her to look at.

Lin Daiyu took the document and examined it carefully. It turned out to be two signed confessions and a copy of the Yellow Register of Lowly Status.

"This is?"

"These are the testimonies of the brothel madam and the pimp. That courtesan hasn't been stripped of her lowly status, and Sun Zhigao is guilty of 'marrying between people of different social classes, illegally releasing government slaves, and defiling official conduct.' If this is reported to the education commissioner, he'll be stripped of his academic honors and his future will be ruined!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu exclaimed in surprise, "There are such rules? Does Sun Zhigao not know them? If he did know, why would he knowingly break them?"

"There are many such things in the countryside. As long as it's not weighed, it won't weigh two ounces. Only people like us would stick to these rules so strictly."

In fact, the reason why the sons of noble families were willing to abide by these rules was mainly because it was not difficult for them to remove the official status of courtesans.

As Jia Lian spoke, taking advantage of Lin Daiyu's attention being focused on the confession, he quietly moved to Zijuan's side and whispered, "When you see the eldest daughter of the Sheng family later, tell her that if she is interested, she might as well take a trip to Yangzhou."

Upon hearing this, Zijuan covered her mouth in surprise and subconsciously looked in Lin Daiyu's direction.

Seeing this, Jia Lian laughed and said, "After you've finished relaying my message, you can tell Lin Daiyu then."

Since Lin Daiyu had already guessed it, there was no need to hide it anymore—besides, Jia Lian had already figured out how to deal with that fiery Feng.

"What is my brother doing?"

At this moment, Lin Daiyu finished reading the confession and saw Jia Lian whispering to Zijuan, so she quickly came over and returned the confession to Jia Lian.

Jia Lian asked in surprise, "Aren't you going to show it to the eldest daughter of the Sheng family?"

"No."

Lin Daiyu shook her head and said, "Why should a young lady like me get involved in such sordid matters? Besides, it would be most grateful if my brother handed it over to the Sheng family in person."

"Haha, you've learned to scheme too."

Jia Lian reached out and rubbed her little head, saying, "It wasn't for nothing that I taught you for so many days."

"Hmph~"

Lin Daiyu shook her head irritably to avoid it, then turned and led Zijuan and Xueyan back to the backyard.

At this moment, Minglan and Pinlan also arrived, standing on either side of Shulan to persuade her.

Yesterday, Lin Daiyu was still united with them in their hatred of the enemy.

But ever since she discovered that Sheng Shulan and Jia Lian seemed to be having an affair, she could no longer empathize with Shulan.

They even began to doubt how much of the grievances the other party had suffered were genuine, and whether there was any scandalous affair involved...

When they saw Lin Daiyu return from outside, Sanlan and her companions quickly got up to greet her.

Pinlan was the most anxious. She rushed forward, grabbed Lin Daiyu's hand, and asked, "Miss Lin, how is my sister's situation?"

Although Minglan did not ask a question, she looked at Lin Daiyu with hopeful eyes.

"Don't worry, my brother has already taken care of it."

Lin Daiyu spoke casually, refusing to reveal any further details.

Pinlan was eager to ask more questions, but Minglan stopped her and advised, "Since Daiyu has said so, the matter must be settled. Why are you in such a hurry, sister?"

Pinlan then gave up.

Instead, he ordered his maid to bring over a bunch of rabbit-shaped palace lanterns, glass marbles, and other trinkets, to give to Lin Daiyu as parting gifts.

While they were chattering away, Zijuan was filled with inner turmoil and dilemma.

She wasn't stupid; she could naturally guess what Jia Lian's intentions were.

Logically, Zijuan shouldn't have been passing on the message privately.

But Master Lian is the future master of Rongguo Mansion. Now he has been blessed by his ancestors and is determined to make progress. Given his close relationship with my young lady, he will surely be her great support in the future. How could I dare to offend him so easily?

Besides, Master Lian didn't say he wanted to keep it from Miss.

Thinking of this, Zijuan finally followed Jia Lian's instructions and quietly whispered in Sheng Shulan's ear, "Miss Sheng, our Second Master said that if you are interested, you might as well take a trip to Yangzhou."

Sheng Shulan was at her wits' end, wondering what to do. Upon hearing this, she was initially delighted, but then became somewhat confused.

As a woman confined to her home, about to divorce her husband, and likely to be confined to her home in the future, how could she possibly go to Yangzhou so easily?

But Zijuan only conveyed this one sentence before quietly retreating. Even though Shulan had a hundred doubts in her heart, she didn't dare to chase after her and ask her more questions.

…………

the other side.

Sheng Wei was also discussing with Madam Li: "If the young master helps Shulan get a divorce, then we will owe the young master a favor. It's not the favor we're worried about, but the problem is that we won't be able to reciprocate."

Just from what the young master was implying, it seemed that the salt inspector, Lord Lin, was probably not long for this world. It was said that apart from the young master, he didn't have any proper relatives to help him.

"We'll send someone to Yangzhou to keep an eye on things. Once Master Lin passes away, Changwu and I will immediately lead men to Yangzhou to serve him faithfully. That will be our small token of respect."

Li agreed immediately. The two families were worlds apart in social standing, so it was not shameful for the father and son to go and mourn, let alone help with the funeral arrangements.

Others would love to curry favor with you like this, but they wouldn't even get a chance!

As dawn broke, Sheng Wei and Li Shi split up. One took all the women in the family to Lin Daiyu's place, while the other took their son to accompany Jia Lian.

After a simple breakfast, the women of the Sheng family escorted Lin Daiyu out of the inner courtyard and boarded a carriage outside the hanging flower gate.

Only then did Lin Daiyu have time to "interrogate" Zijuan.

"What did you say to the eldest daughter of the Sheng family? Did your brother ask you to relay a message?"

Seeing that her mistress had guessed everything, Zijuan naturally had no intention of hiding anything and immediately told her the whole story.

"Hmph~"

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu couldn't help but feel annoyed: "With such lovely ladies as Sister Feng and Ping'er by his side, how could he still be eyeing a married woman?!"

"Aren't we about to get a divorce?"

Zijuan cautiously defended Jia Lian, saying, "Besides, Second Master has been away from the capital for more than half a year and has had no one to serve him. It is a blessing for the Sheng family that he has taken a liking to this eldest daughter of the Sheng family."

"What good fortune? It's clearly filthy!"

Lin Daiyu pouted so much she could tie a donkey to her lips. She thought to herself that if Baoyu dared to covet any married woman, she would never speak to him again in her life!

Outside the carriage.

Sheng Weizheng expressed his deepest apologies for the inadequate hospitality.

Jia Lian waved his hand and said, "I had intended to stay a couple more days, but my uncle has been bedridden lately. How can a junior stay away from home for long?"

As he spoke, he made a gesture to Zhao'er.

Zhao'er immediately took the confession and the yellow book, and led the madam and pimp forward.

When Jia Lian explained the origin of these items, Sheng Wei and Li Shi were overjoyed and thanked Jia Lian repeatedly.

The couple thought about it carefully and might be able to come up with a similar idea, but it wouldn't be so easy for them to get a copy of the Yellow Register from Magistrate Chen.

At this moment, Sheng Changwu suddenly asked, puzzled, "We have witnesses, physical evidence, and testimonies, so what's the purpose of this piece of cloth?"

It turned out that besides the yellow book and the confession, there was also a piece of grayish-brown cloth in the tray.

"Well..."

Jia Lian smiled slightly and revealed the inside story.