The Splendor of the Red Chamber

It's night, Lixiangyuan.

Aunt Xue and her daughter Xue Baochai sat on the daybed chatting casually, and their conversation naturally revolved around Jia Lian's actions after returning to the mansion.

Aunt Xue sighed, "The Duke's mansion is truly blessed. First, we lost Jia Zhu, who was good at literature, and now we have Jia Lian, who is good at martial arts—but it just feels a bit inappropriate for a son to scare his father like this."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but tighten her fox fur coat. It was already late November, and the weather was freezing cold. The Rongguo Mansion had long since lit up the kang (heated brick bed) everywhere.

However, Xue Baochai was most sensitive to heat, and since Aunt Xue doted on her, she only heated the kang (a heated brick bed) in the bedroom, while the living room outside remained cold.

Hearing that her mother disagreed with Jia Lian's actions, Xue Baochai first poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to her mother.

Then he said, "Since Brother Lian wants to make progress, the unscrupulous Master is his biggest weakness. Rather than waiting to deal with it passively in the future, it is better to draw a clear line in advance."

Aunt Xue questioned, "But isn't he afraid of angering his father and being sued for disobedience and unfilial piety?"

Xue Baochai laughed and said, "Mother also said that with the passing of the learned Zhu-ge, does the old lady really want to see Lian-er follow in Zhu-ge's footsteps?"

Just then, a man burst in, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Mother, sister, is it true or false that Second Brother Lian lifted Wang Zhu'er to the sky and tattooed words on his back?!"

It turned out that Xue Pan, who had been wandering around, had returned.

Before Aunt Xue could speak, Baochai had already stood up and said reproachfully, "Didn't my brother say yesterday that he was going to greet Second Brother Lian? Why is he nowhere to be seen this morning?!"

"Uh~"

Xue Pan scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Didn't Brother Zhen send me an invitation early this morning, saying... hehe, anyway, I just forgot."

Upon hearing this, Xue Baochai knew that her brother had most likely gone out to indulge in debauchery again, and sighed helplessly as she sat back down.

Aunt Xue felt sorry for her son, so she quickly poured him some tea and told him to hold it. She then said, "The matter of tattooing is indeed true. It has already spread throughout the Rong and Ning mansions."

"real?!"

Xue Pan, who was about to sit down, jumped up again upon hearing this, excitedly saying, "I'm going to ask Brother Lian how he did it!"

Xue Pan had loved swordsmanship since childhood, but he couldn't endure hardship and lacked patience, so he was mediocre in everything he practiced, except for archery, which he could barely pass.

But this did not stop him from admiring heroes with superb martial arts skills.

"return!"

Seeing him about to rush out, Aunt Xue quickly stopped him, saying, "What are you going to do so late at night? Why don't you wait until tomorrow..."

"How can we wait like this?!"

Xue Pan paced around the room like a donkey pulling a millstone: "If Mother doesn't call me, I'm afraid I won't sleep well all night!"

"elder brother."

Seeing this, Xue Baochai reminded him, "Second Brother Lian has already sent someone to the army to issue a challenge. Why don't you wait until tomorrow and ask him to take you to the army to broaden your horizons?"

After Xue Pan learned the truth, he became even more excited, scratching his head and cheeks.

Zheng Xiao and Liang Xuan are both outstanding young talents in the army. Now Jia Lian is going to fight them one by one. No matter who wins or loses, it will be a major event that will make people famous in the capital.

Xue Pan was so excited just thinking about it that he begged his mother to send someone over in advance to secure the 'tickets' first.

Helpless, Aunt Xue had no choice but to send a servant to deliver the message.

Pear Fragrance Courtyard was near the back gate of Rong Mansion. The old woman walked around the back garden for a long time before finally reaching the inner courtyard.

As she was carrying a lantern toward Wutong Garden, she unexpectedly bumped into a tall and burly maid.

"Oh my, isn't this Miss Siqi?"

The old woman recognized Siqi, who had recently gained favor with Wang Xifeng, and quickly greeted her with a smile, "Why are you being assigned tasks by the Second Mistress so late?"

Siqi didn't recognize who the other person was, mumbled something indistinctly, and brushed past the old woman.

The old woman, having been snubbed, felt humiliated and muttered under her breath, "So arrogant after just climbing the social ladder? You'll get what's coming to you sooner or later!"

Siqi naturally didn't hear these words.

She found her way to the old lady's courtyard, and then easily arrived at the west wing of the third courtyard, which was the residence of the three sisters and Daiyu.

Siqi went to Lin Daiyu's place first and took out two documents to hand to Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu unfolded the document under the lamp and saw that it contained a gift list and a contract for profit sharing from the coal mine.

Siqi explained, "Second Master said he brought back too many things and too much variety, so he asked you to help me decide how to distribute them among the younger sisters."

"Why didn't you ask Second Sister to divide it?"

Lin Daiyu frowned slightly. Yingchun was the oldest in age and the closest in terms of kinship. This matter should not bypass Yingchun.

Moreover, the messenger was Siqi.

"Sigh~"

Siqi gave a wry smile and said helplessly, "When Second Master came back and heard that our young lady only knows how to make excuses when she encounters problems, he was a little annoyed, so..."

Lin Daiyu nodded slightly and then asked about the contract.

Siqi quickly took out another letter and handed it to Daiyu with both hands, saying, "Miss, you'll understand once you read this letter."

Lin Daiyu asked Xueyan to bring her a paper cutter, and then opened the letter and read it from the beginning.

This letter was clearly written casually by Jia Lian, using only vernacular Chinese, without any careful consideration of word choice or sentence structure.

The gist of it is that the honeycomb briquettes he and Wang Xifeng were selling were doing very well recently, and the news would eventually reach the mansion. Rather than being envied and coveted later, it would be better to share some of the profits with his sisters first.

No matter who asks, they can say that the couple earns some pocket money and also helps out their sisters, and no one can find fault with that.

This contract stipulates a monthly dividend of fifty taels, of which forty taels are distributed monthly, and the remaining ten taels are left for the sisters to discuss how to spend.

Upon seeing this, Lin Daiyu couldn't help but be surprised. Although Sister Feng wasn't stingy, asking her to take out six hundred taels of silver every year to subsidize her sister-in-law was no different from cutting off her own flesh.

I really don't know how my brother managed to persuade Sister Feng.

Continuing to read the letter, Jia Lian changed the subject again, addressing Daiyu and stating that he had not confronted the Lin family about their affairs so that Daiyu would be upset every day.

If Lin Daiyu had remembered her father's dying wish, she should have taken extra care of her health instead of giving up on herself.

Otherwise, it will only cause pain to loved ones and joy to enemies.

Finally, she reminded Daiyu that all her food and drink could be handled by Mama He, who was from a branch of the He family and was well-versed in medicine. With her watching over her, it would prevent external evils from entering her body.

After reading it, Lin Daiyu's gaze lingered for a long time on the words "the loved ones grieve, the enemies rejoice" and "external evil enters the body".

In the past, she would have thought these hints were absurd and ridiculous.

but now……

Lin Daiyu still refused to believe that people's hearts were so treacherous, yet she couldn't help but harbor doubts.

She carefully put away the letter and said to Siqi, "Thank you for your trouble, Sister Siqi. Please go back and tell my brother and Sister Feng that I will definitely do as they say."

Siqi respectfully agreed, and seeing that Lin Daiyu had no further instructions, she took her leave and went to the room of the second young lady, Jia Yingchun.

As Yingchun's personal maid, she didn't hold back when she spoke. She immediately said, "Miss, the Second Master is probably angry. He told you to have lunch at Wutong Garden tomorrow morning because he has some questions for you in person."

Jia Yingchun trembled, her face showing bitterness, and she stammered, "I... I just want to live a peaceful life, why do my brother and sister-in-law have to force me?"

"How can this be called forcing a girl?"

Siqi was furious at her lack of ambition and said, "The young lady is all grown up now, and she will be getting married sooner or later. Letting her learn to manage a household is paving the way for her future!"

If it weren't for the Second Master's repeated instructions before he left, how could the Second Madam possibly be willing to share power with others, given her temperament?

But the girl kept making excuses, treating this great opportunity like a monstrous threat. Now she's even complaining about the Second Master. Let alone the Second Master, even I feel heartbroken to hear this!

Jia Yingchun panicked immediately and hurriedly grabbed Siqi, saying, "You can't tell my brother and sister-in-law, otherwise, otherwise..."

After stammering "otherwise" for a while, she still couldn't figure out what to say next.

Siqi sighed and then recounted the distribution of gifts and contracts, saying helplessly, "This should have been a matter for you to decide, but now... sigh, you'd better take care of yourself. If the Second Master wants to promote you, you'll have to prove yourself first."

Siqi bid farewell to Jia Yingchun and intended to return to Wutong Garden to report back.

As soon as they got outside, they were stopped by the third daughter, Jia Tanchun.

After finding out that Siqi wanted to return to Wutong Garden, Tanchun took out a piece of calligraphy and handed it to Siqi, saying with a smile, "Second Brother Lian wants to restore the glory of our ancestors. As his younger sister, I can't help much, so I wrote a short poem to express my feelings."

This cousin knows to take the initiative to get close to her, but her biological sister...

Siqi subconsciously turned to look inside the room, only to hear intermittent chanting coming from next door. Without asking, she knew it must be the Fourth Miss, Jia Xichun, doing her evening prayers.