The Splendor of the Red Chamber

After talking with Madam Li and her daughter for a while, Lin Daiyu asked someone to take them to the guest room to rest, leaving Minglan alone in the mourning hall.

As soon as Pinlan entered the room, she slumped onto the table without any regard for her image, complaining repeatedly, "I'm exhausted. I've never traveled this far before."

"Sit still!"

Li scolded her impatiently, "You have no manners at all, standing or sitting. How can you be considered a proper young lady?"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but sigh, "This Miss Lin only went to Youyang because of the second branch of the family. Now that she's back in Yangzhou, her attitude has become noticeably colder."

Shulan thought about what had happened back then and vaguely felt that Lin Daiyu must have guessed something, so she couldn't help but feel uneasy and flustered.

If it weren't for that handkerchief bolstering her spirits, she probably would have given up.

"What's so strange about that?"

Pinlan, however, disagreed, saying, "Our family is so eager to curry favor with them, it's normal that they look down on us—besides, their father just passed away, are we expected to greet us with smiles?"

Enraged, Li poked her forehead with a finger: "You heartless wretch, whose side are you on?"

Then he scolded, "Go away, go away. Since you're tired, go to the next room and go to sleep early. Your sister and I have something to discuss."

"Tch~"

Pinlan pouted as she got up, muttering to herself as she walked out, "You've been so secretive all the way here. I don't care if you keep it from me."

After her second daughter left, Madam Li immediately pulled her eldest daughter down to sit and whispered, "My child, now that you've set your sights on the young master, you'll either be a concubine or a mistress from now on. You can't keep acting like a young mistress anymore; you have to take the initiative to find ways to get closer to him."

On the way here, although Shulan did not mention the handkerchief, she revealed her affection for Jia Lian under her mother's questioning.

Hearing her mother tell her to learn the seductive tricks of concubines and mistresses, Shulan immediately looked embarrassed and stammered, "Mother, if I could do those things, how could Sun Zhigao say I'm bland and boring?"

As she spoke, her eyes welled up with tears again.

"You silly child!"

Li completely forgot how she had previously humbled herself before Sun Zhigao, and said anxiously, "Who is Sun Zhigao? Does he deserve to be treated so humbly by us? But the young master is different. So many people are begging and hoping to curry favor with him!"

"Once the Lin family finishes their funeral, the young master will be returning to the capital. We can't possibly rush after him all the way there, can we? If you can't swallow your pride and miss out on the young master, you'll regret it later!"

Hearing her mother say this, Shulan bit her lip again and again, touched the handkerchief in her bosom, and mustered her courage to say, "Then I'll try... I'll give it a try."

The first two words were fairly clear, but the sound gradually weakened afterward.

Li was somewhat annoyed by her daughter's lack of ambition, but she also knew that this was just her personality, and that it was already good enough that she had the courage to try.

Then he encouraged her, "That's right! Don't worry, your father and I will help you!"

…………

The Sheng family was hesitant and indecisive when it came to their daughter's divorce, but when it came to currying favor with the powerful, they were incredibly decisive.

The couple colluded, and within a couple of days they seized an opportunity to have Shulan "coincidentally" meet Jia Lian near Lin Ruhai's study.

Of course, Jia Lian had already figured it out, but he simply went along with it and didn't expose him.

Sheng Shulan had clearly dressed up carefully, but because the Lin family was in mourning, she dared not wear red or green.

She was dressed in a moon-white silk jacket with a front opening, the collar embroidered with extremely fine silver orchid patterns, which were subtle and understated, making her shoulders appear slender and her neck long.

She wore a light purple soft silk ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) underneath, with a subtle cut in the middle and no wide belt. Instead, she tied her slender waist with a thin silk ribbon of the same color. The skirt flowed down to her feet and swayed slightly when she walked, showing off her graceful figure without being ostentatious.

Her jet-black hair was loosely tied into a cloud-like bun, without any pearls or jade ornaments, only a white jade hairpin from Hetian was neatly inserted, and two strands of hair hung down by her temples, which made her eyebrows and eyes look even more gentle.

When she saw Jia Lian from afar, her eyes lit up with joy, but her face showed fear and hesitation. Her small, crescent-shaped feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, unwilling to retreat and afraid to advance.

Seeing this, Jia Lian was both amused and eager. He stepped forward, took the key, opened the door to the inner study, and greeted Shulan, "I originally wanted to find some books for Lin Daiyu to relieve her boredom, but I unexpectedly bumped into you, young lady."

"This is truly a match made in heaven. If you don't mind, young lady, please come in and sit down. Let's have a private chat."

Hearing the young master talk about "a predestined fate" and wanting to have "intimate conversations" with her, Shulan's already rosy face became even hotter.

Li's "teachings" and her own expectations finally spurred her to take the first step.

However, the instincts cultivated by feudal ethics over the years made her subconsciously reject the idea of ​​a man and a woman being alone together in a room.

These two conflicting wills made every step Sheng Shulan take stiff and difficult.

Having seen so many "generous" people while watching videos in his later years, Jia Lian found Shulan's coy and veiled demeanor quite intriguing.

However, he was worried that if he lingered too long, someone would see him, so he went up to her, grabbed Sheng Shulan's fair wrist, and pulled the shy young lady into the inner study.

Throughout the entire process, Jia Lian noticed that the delicate little hand was trembling. After entering the room and locking the door, he realized that it wasn't just her hand that was shaking; the young woman was trembling like a leaf.

Jia Lian couldn't help but chuckle: "Are you afraid I'll eat you up?"

Sheng Shulan blushed with embarrassment, and couldn't even recall the brothel tricks that Li had taught her, let alone use them.

Finally, she took a deep breath, took out the handkerchief she kept close to her body, and mustered up her courage to ask the question that had been bothering her: "Young...Young Master, even Sun Zhigao complained that I was bland and tasteless, but why...why...Young Master..."

Seeing her stammer, it seemed as if words like "passing affections with a handkerchief" or "secretly exchanging sweet nothings" would burn her tongue.

Jia Lian pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear with a smile, "All the women around me are too cunning and calculating. What I lack is someone like you who is dignified, aloof, and quiet."

If someone were shrewd, they would probably seize upon the word "each and every" at this point and press Jia Lian to reveal exactly how many women were around him.

However, when Sheng Shulan was working for the Sun family, she had helped Sun Zhigao take in more than a dozen concubines and maids, so she was already used to such things.

Besides, being held in Jia Lian's arms and smelling his masculine scent, she felt so weak that she was practically boneless. How could she possibly care about these things?

Jia Lian half-embraced her, and seeing that she was trembling and offered no resistance, his hands began to grope her freely.

Shulan's appearance and figure were not quite as good as Fengjie or Keqing, but her submissive and obedient demeanor had its own unique charm.

As Jia Lian kneaded the dough, he whispered in her ear, "You know I already have a wife. If you come with me, you'll either be a concubine or a mistress. What do you think about that at home?"

Even if he hadn't married, it's impossible for him to marry a merchant's wife as his principal wife.

For a royal merchant like the Xue family, marriage alliances were already the bottom line for the Duke's mansion. Going any lower would be considered selling one's son, which would make the nobles laugh at one's fate.

Take Gu Yankai of the Ningyuan Marquis's Mansion, for example. In order to make up for the deficit in an emergency, he married the only daughter of the Bai family, the richest family in Yangzhou, as his second wife. Although he received a dowry of one million, he was ridiculed for more than ten years.

If Lady White Snake hadn't died young, and Gu Yankai hadn't turned around and married his first wife's younger sister, this joke would probably have been circulating for many more years.

Upon hearing Jia Lian mention the future, Sheng Shulan finally came to her senses and said shyly, "I am but a withered flower, and my family dares not ask for anything. I leave everything to the young master's arrangements."

He paused, then added, "My father is willing to provide five thousand taels of gold as a dowry."

Based on the current conversion rate, 5,000 taels of gold is roughly equivalent to 70,000 taels of official silver.

The Sheng family was, after all, only the richest family in Youyang County, not comparable to the Bai family of Yangzhou Prefecture. Even for a proper marriage, this dowry was quite generous, not to mention that it was for Jia Lian to be a concubine.

Even though Jia Lian had already made his plans, upon hearing this number, his hands couldn't help but lose their rhythm.

"Hmm~"

Sheng Shulan let out a muffled groan, hurriedly grabbing his wrist, and said shyly, "Second Master, didn't you say you liked my dignified and aloof demeanor? But how... how..."

Jia Lian chuckled and said, "I like your dignified and aloof demeanor, but I like even more the feeling of crushing and breaking it myself."

Despite saying that, he still pulled his hand back.

Upon noticing a glint of light on her fingertips, she couldn't help but tease, "So you're a glutton too."

Sheng Shulan was immediately so ashamed that she wanted to disappear.

Jia Lian used his other hand to grasp her fair wrist and wiped it on his handkerchief, saying, "There's a funeral going on in this mansion, so it's not good to make too much of a scene. Tell your mother to rent a small courtyard outside, and then the Second Master will take good care of you."

He had been holding back for a long time, and he was worried that if he stayed any longer, he would lose control and break his promise to Lin Daiyu.

After saying that, he left the inner study first, leaving Sheng Shulan with a flushed face, leaning against the wall, clutching the handkerchief, and slowly slumping to the ground.