The Splendor of the Red Chamber

Having long been away from the gentle pleasures of women, Jia Lian, now back in his natural state, couldn't help but indulge himself.

Shulan was a submissive person, so she gritted her teeth and endured it for half a night, and it took her five or six days to recover.

Although Jia Lian became much gentler afterward.

However, after learning the inside story, Madam Li was still very worried. She was most afraid that her daughter would be conservative and not be favored by the young master, but she never expected that there would be oxen in the world that could plow up paddy fields.

So she began to think about finding a helper for her daughter, otherwise, it would be a long-term solution to keep the young master from having his fill.

However, all the pretty maids who accompanied Shulan during her dowry had long been ruined by Sun Zhigao, and Li Shi couldn't find a suitable replacement for the time being.

After much deliberation, Madam Li simply sent someone to inform the brokerage firm that she was preparing to buy several maids of suitable age. She would keep them by her side to carefully examine them and select the loyal and reliable ones for Shulan to take to the capital.

After the news spread.

A laundry maid came to the door and asked what the connection was between the Sheng family and the Sheng family that was the magistrate of Yangzhou back then.

"We are from the eldest branch of the Sheng family. The man you are talking about is the patriarch of the second branch of the Sheng family."

As the doorman of the Sheng family spoke, he pointed to the Lin residence not far away and said with pride, "You must have heard of the recently deceased Salt Commissioner, Master Lin, right? Our sixth daughter from the second branch is currently keeping Miss Lin company at the Lin residence."

Upon hearing this, the laundry maid hurriedly ran to the Lin residence, pestering the gatekeeper and saying that she was Xiao Die, the maid of Sheng Minglan's mother, and had something important to report to Minglan.

The doorman, seeing her in coarse linen clothes, refused to believe it.

It wasn't until Xiaodie produced a silver bracelet, claiming it was a keepsake from Minglan's mother, that the Sixth Miss immediately recognized its authenticity. Only then did the doorman go in to inform Zhao'er.

Since it was a matter concerning the Sheng family, Zhao'er instructed the doorman to take the person to be seen by Madam Li. If Madam Li recognized the person's identity, she would naturally take her to see Minglan.

After questioning Xiaodie, Li confirmed her identity but couldn't help wondering how she ended up stranded outside.

Xiaodie was unwilling to elaborate, only saying, "Back then, because of some mistakes, I was kicked out of the Sheng family, and since then I have been making a living as a laundry worker."

As they were talking, Minglan saw her mother's bracelet and hurriedly came over with her two personal maids, Xiaotao and Danju.

The master and servant greeted each other warmly.

Upon seeing this, Madam Li couldn't help but ask Xiao Tao, who was standing nearby, "Wasn't she kicked out for making a mistake? Why is Minglan so happy to see her?"

Xiao Tao has been with Minglan since childhood, while Xiao Die is a maidservant of Minglan's mother, Aunt Wei. In their early years, the two were like sisters.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tao immediately defended Xiao Die, saying, "Sister Xiao Die was wronged. If she had been there back then, Aunt Wei wouldn't have..."

"Xiao Tao!"

Minglan turned around and scolded her, then wiped away her tears and bowed to Madam Li, saying, "Aunt, please don't be offended. I was so happy that I forgot to greet you."

"Why bother with these empty formalities among family members?"

Madam Li laughed and said, "If you hadn't woken me up from my dream, your sister Shulan would have suffered so much more, and things wouldn't be like they are now."

"My sister's affairs were all thanks to Second Master Lian's help; I only had to say a few words."

Minglan exchanged a few polite words with Madam Li, then took Xiaodie back to the vicinity of the mourning hall.

"Sister Xiaodie."

She took out the silver bracelet and said with tears in her eyes, "My sister was driven out of the Sheng family and had no one to rely on back then. I never thought that she would still be able to keep this bracelet."

Years ago, Xiaodie was framed for stealing and was kicked out of the Sheng family penniless. Before leaving, Aunt Wei specially asked Minglan to give her bracelet to Xiaodie so that Xiaodie could pawn it to make a living.

However, Xiaodie did not do that; she has kept the bracelet with her for five years.

Xiaodie smiled and said, "I keep it with me so that one day I can return it to Sixth Miss myself."

"Sister Xiaodie!"

Minglan grabbed Xiaodie's hand and said excitedly, "I knew you were framed. Now that we have this bracelet, it proves even more that you didn't take it."

Xiaodie shook her head and said, "All of that is in the past, and I don't care anymore. But the thing is that my aunt had a difficult childbirth. I've thought about it for so many years and it still feels wrong."

At that time, I was the only one my aunt could rely on, but someone framed me and kicked me out. Then my aunt had a difficult childbirth...

After much thought, I've concluded that this matter is most likely related to Lin Qinshuang!

Hearing this, Minglan's heart tightened, and she quickly asked, "Sister, do you have any evidence?"

Xiaodie smiled bitterly: "If I had evidence, I would have reported it to the authorities long ago. Why would I have wasted so many years?"

Minglan nodded slightly. Back then, when Consort Wei had a difficult childbirth, it was her father's favorite concubine, Lin Qinshuang, who was in charge of the household, and Madam Wang also sent a maid to serve Consort Wei.

As a result, the doctor was late in arriving, and in the end, Minglan had to crawl out through a dog hole and, with the help of Gu Tingye, the second young master of the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion, she was able to invite the doctor over.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

If Xiaodie were still here, perhaps...

At this moment, Xueyan came over, bowed to Sheng Minglan and said, "Miss Minglan, our young lady asked me to come and keep you company. Please feel free to ask if you need anything."

Upon hearing this, Minglan's eyes lit up as if she had thought of something, and she quickly said to Xiaodie, "Sister Xiaodie, why don't you go to my room with Xiaotao and rest for a while? I'll come back to find you after I've finished my business!"

After saying that, he hurriedly took Xueyan and Danju back to the mourning hall.

At this moment, Lin Daiyu was resting in a corner of the mourning hall, in a makeshift green gauze cabinet.

Minglan crawled inside, took off her shoes, got onto the bed, and knelt a few steps to approach, whispering, "Daiyu, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What's this about asking for anything? Just say it." Lin Daiyu quickly helped her up and asked her to sit down beside her to talk.

Sheng Minglan recounted the unusual circumstances surrounding her mother's death, as well as Xiaodie's suspicions, leaving Lin Daiyu speechless with astonishment.

She had heard Jia Lian talk about the shady dealings of the wealthy family before, and always felt that such things were far removed from her own life. Who would have thought that someone right next to her had her mother murdered!

Lin Daiyu grasped Minglan's hand, gritting her teeth, and said, "This matter must be investigated thoroughly! Even if I can't help, my brother certainly can!"

"That's exactly what we need to ask for Second Master Lian's help."

Minglan gritted her teeth and said, "I want to find the doctor who took my mother's pulse back then, to see if I can find any clues!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu immediately called out, "Zijuan, go and invite my brother over. Tell him I have something urgent I need him to do!"

Zijuan returned with Jia Lian less than a quarter of an hour after she left.

Seeing the two young girls inside the gauze-curtained wardrobe, he asked through the curtain, "Little sister, why did you call me here so urgently? Did something happen?"

These words were spoken to Lin Daiyu, but her gaze was fixed on Sheng Minglan—although Zhao'er had pushed Xiaodie to Li Shi, she had also informed Jia Lian of the matter, so Jia Lian had guessed from the beginning that Minglan was in trouble.

Lin Daiyu immediately lifted the curtain and urged, "This is of great importance, brother, please come in and talk."

Seeing Lin Daiyu like this, Jia Lian no longer maintained formalities and went into the gauze-covered cabinet to sit directly on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed).

Upon seeing this, Minglan quickly pulled her feet back under her skirt and changed from sitting cross-legged to kneeling.

"That's how it is..."

Lin Daiyu started the conversation, and Minglan filled in the details later.

After hearing the whole story, Jia Lian wasn't surprised. Not to mention other families, the number of concubines and maids who had mysteriously disappeared from the Rongning Mansion in recent years was probably too many to count on two hands.

Not to mention that Jia Lian himself had half of Jia Rong's life on his hands.

"That's easy."

He immediately agreed, "As long as the doctor you mentioned hasn't left Yangzhou Prefecture, I will definitely find him for you within three days!"

"Thank you very much, Second Master Lian!"

Minglan gratefully kowtowed and then asked, "Could we try to find it privately, without alerting anyone else?"

"Why is that?"

"Logically, a son should not speak ill of his father."

Sheng Minglan smiled bitterly: "But my father has always favored Concubine Lin, and even my wife has suffered losses time and time again. When my mother died, he was unwilling to investigate and just let it go."

If my father had heard the news beforehand, he would most likely have covered for Aunt Lin and shifted the blame onto someone else.

"What kind of father is this?!"

Lin Daiyu was so angry that she pounded her little fists on the bed, but Jia Lian remained calm.

If we're talking about being an unkind father, Jia She and Jia Zhen of the Rong and Ning mansions are probably even worse than Minglan's father, Sheng Hong.

So he nodded again and said, "Don't worry, I'll have someone go looking for him under a different pretext and secretly bring that doctor here for questioning."

Seeing that the two had nothing more to say, Jia Lian got up and left the gauze-covered room.

After Jia Lian left, Minglan thanked Daiyu profusely until Lin Daiyu scolded her, saying that if she continued to be polite, she would no longer recognize her as a sister. Only then did Minglan stop.

After chatting for a while, Minglan remembered that Xiaodie was still waiting for her.

So he got up to bid farewell to Lin Daiyu and returned to the quiet guest room that had been prepared for him.

Upon entering, they found Li Shi asking Xiao Die a barrage of questions, which even Xiao Tao and Xiao Die combined struggled to answer.

"Xiao Tao".

Seeing this, Minglan quickly stepped forward and said, "Auntie has come to my room, why didn't you let me know so I could come back and entertain her?"

"Don't blame Xiaotao, it was me who told her not to go."

As Li spoke, she stood up and said to Minglan, "Although these two girls are trying to hide it, I understand that Xiaodie was wronged back then."

Moreover, she has always cared about you and Aunt Wei all these years; she is truly a rare and loyal servant. I wonder what you plan to do with her in the future?

"this……"

Minglan was in a dilemma. If she took Xiaodie to Dengzhou, she would definitely alert the enemy.

How about this?

Li Shi had clearly planned ahead, and said with a smile, "Your sister is in need of a loyal maidservant. She is quite good-looking and has a good figure. I heard that she has never been betrothed to anyone."

If you don't object, then you might as well let her go with your sister Shulan.

Minglan thought it was a good idea. With Shulan's gentle and kind nature, she would definitely not mistreat Xiaodie.

But why did Auntie specifically emphasize Xiaodie's figure and appearance, and that she had never been married or betrothed?

The butterfly is shown in the picture: