The Splendor of the Red Chamber

After Jia Lian finished his fun of sleeping in the same quilt, he returned to the Rongguo Mansion in the middle of the night.

Because Wang Xifeng disliked him, he went to cultivate the flat land again.

The next morning, the palace sent someone, but it wasn't an angel sent by the emperor. Instead, it was someone sent by Dai Quan, the commander of the Imperial City Guard and the Grand Eunuch of the Daming Palace.

It was said that the process of transferring Jia Lian to the Imperial City Guard had already begun, and he was told to first go through the procedures at the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War. After the imperial edict was officially approved in a few days, the date for his new appointment at the Imperial City Guard would be discussed.

As an institution authorized by imperial power, the Imperial City Guard was not required to go through any procedures with the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of War when nobles controlled it in the early years.

Emperor Taizong and the late emperor added many restrictions through civil officials in order to suppress and exclude meritorious officials.

The civil officials have become too powerful to control and have started to disagree with the emperor on the issue of choosing an heir. The emperor is now trying to win over the nobles to keep them in check.

Unfortunately, the nobles had long since lost heart and chose to stick together and not help each other.

Only someone like Jia Lian, who knew the future fate of the Rongguo Mansion and was unwilling to sit idly by and wait for his doom, would choose to take sides.

Meanwhile, Jia Lian, with the help of Wang Xifeng and Ping'er, changed into a royal blue fifth-rank official's robe. Before leaving, he instructed Wang Xifeng, "Today is the first day of the twelfth lunar month. Remember to distribute the dividends to the sisters."

"Okay, okay."

Wang Xifeng scolded, "Even if I cheat someone, I won't shortchange my sisters' money. It would only make me a laughingstock."

After seeing Jia Lian off, Wang Xifeng's face immediately fell. She grabbed Ping'er and asked, "Did you find out anything yesterday?"

"Second Master went to the Sheng family in Jiying Lane last night."

Ping'er couldn't help but yawn as she spoke. Seeing Wang Xifeng glaring at her, she quickly continued, "Laixi found out that the Sheng family recently had some wealthy relatives. They brought over a dozen cartloads of packages, but we haven't found out who they are yet."

"The Sheng family?"

Remembering Jia Lian's mention of "Old Madam Xu of the Sheng family" in his letter, Wang Xifeng pressed further, "What does this Sheng family do?"

"I heard that their master was just transferred to the Ministry of Works as an official, and like the second master, he is a fifth-rank assistant minister."

"Um?!"

Wang Xifeng immediately raised her eyebrows: "Didn't you say she was a merchant's daughter? How did you get involved with an official's family?!"

It was acceptable for a merchant's daughter to remarry and become a mistress or concubine, but if she was a daughter of an official, then it would be against the law.

Ping'er shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either.

Wang Xifeng thought for a moment and then instructed, "Go and prepare fifty taels of silver, ten of which should be exchanged for copper coins. Have two rough-working women carry it with you to see Lin Daiyu—she came back with the Second Master, so she must know the ins and outs of this."

Ten taels of silver, when converted into copper coins, weighed about seventy or eighty catties. Covering it with a red cloth and putting it in a basket, it was just the right weight for two rough old women to carry.

Such a ostentatious display of wealth, before even reaching Lin Daiyu's room, had already spread like wildfire throughout the Rongguo Mansion that Second Master Lian and Second Mistress had made money from their coal mine and were actively supporting their younger sisters.

Lin Daiyu had just finished practicing a set of Eight Pieces of Brocade when she heard that Sister Feng had sent her a share of the profits, so she hurriedly led Zijuan and Xueyan out to greet her.

Upon seeing the basket full of copper coins, Lin Daiyu was speechless with astonishment: "Sister-in-law, what is this...?"

"Sigh~"

Wang Xifeng laughed heartily, "Your brother only told me to deliver the dividends, but he didn't know that with such a grand display, the maids and servants below would definitely be envious of the share. So I specially exchanged ten strings of copper coins for you, so that it will be convenient and respectable to reward you later."

She was clearly trying to show off, but her words were also considerate and thoughtful.

Lin Daiyu thought for a moment, but instead of asking them to carry it to her room, she said to the two old women, "Please stay here and watch over it until I call my sisters over to divide it up on the spot."

As he spoke, he asked Xueyan to invite Sanchun over.

Wang Xifeng, linking her arm with hers, teased her with a smile as they walked inside, "What, are you afraid the stench of money will taint your room?"

Lin Daiyu shook her head slightly: "Anything else is fine, but what right do I have to complain about the stench of money?"

Others didn't understand her meaning, but Wang Xifeng knew it perfectly well. She secretly regretted that the Wang family didn't have a suitable son, otherwise, if they could marry Lin Daiyu, the whole family would be very wealthy.

After they were seated in the living room, Wang Xifeng chatted with Daiyu for a few more minutes before asking about the Sheng family.

"this……"

As soon as Lin Daiyu hesitated, Wang Xifeng went up and hugged her: "Good sister, I said you were my sister-in-law, but over the years we've been like sisters. You should think carefully about who's more important between me and that mistress."

"My sister-in-law is just making things difficult for me!"

Lin Daiyu snuggled closer to her, probing, "How did you find out about the Sheng family, sister-in-law?"

"Your brother didn't hide it from me."

Wang Xifeng gritted her teeth and said, "He first found a weakness in me before revealing this matter to force me to admit it."

She reversed the order of events and coaxed Daiyu, saying, "I'm not afraid of anything else now, but I'm worried that woman comes from an official family. What if someone reports her? Wouldn't that ruin your brother's future?"

"The eldest branch of the Sheng family is indeed a merchant family."

Lin Daiyu then explained, "The Master Sheng that you found out about, sister, should be the master of the second branch of the Sheng family. The two families separated forty or fifty years ago. Although they maintain a good relationship, it shouldn't be against the law."

"That's good, that's good!"

Wang Xifeng outwardly breathed a sigh of relief, but inwardly she felt a pang of regret. If the Sheng family girl had truly been a daughter of an official, she could have turned the tables and seized leverage over Jia Lian.

Now I can only console myself that at least Jia Lian told the truth.

The two chatted for only a few minutes before Sanchun arrived.

Tan Chun pulled Wang Xifeng and said happily, "Good sister-in-law, everything else is fine, but we don't have a proper plan for how to spend the extra ten taels of silver. Why don't you distribute it?"

"That won't do."

Wang Xifeng stood up with a smile, waving her hands repeatedly and saying, "Your brother just wants you to learn how to manage money and run the household. If I overstep my bounds, he won't forgive me later."

It's getting late, and I have a ton of things to do at home. You all take care of your tasks, I'm going to get on with mine.

With that, he took Ping'er and left.

Lin Daiyu and the three sisters escorted her to the courtyard gate, where they bumped into Jia Baoyu, who was also running towards them in a panic.

Tan Chun couldn't help but tease, "Sure enough, whenever there's the slightest disturbance at Sister Lin's place, Brother Bao is always the most concerned."

"Hmph~"

Lin Daiyu gave a soft snort and said, "He has no share of this money. I think it's more like the eunuch is more worried than the emperor."

Upon hearing this, all the women burst into laughter.

Tan Chun laughed as she whispered in Lin Daiyu's ear, "If Brother Bao really is... haha, I wonder who will be the most worried!"

"screw you!"

Lin Daiyu chased after Tan Chun, clutching her handkerchief. Tan Chun dodged around Ying Chun and Xi Chun several times, but was eventually grabbed by Lin Daiyu and symbolically slapped twice.

Tan Chun exclaimed in surprise, "Sister Lin's health has really improved a lot. She definitely couldn't keep up with me before."

"It's all thanks to Second Brother Lian."

Jia Baoyu excitedly chimed in, "I heard that Second Brother Lian is going to hire a female jockey to teach us how to play polo."

Yingchun knew that this was prepared for her by her brother, and she felt both touched and uneasy.

Tan Chun, on the other hand, was so excited when she heard that she could learn polo that she was almost absent-minded.

The siblings laughed and joked for a while before remembering to divide the money.

The forty taels specified are easy to agree upon; they can simply be split equally.

However, the remaining ten taels of "public account silver" posed a problem for the sisters. If it were only these ten taels, it would be fine, but the problem was that there would be monthly payments from now on, so they had to set some rules to avoid chaos.

Lin Daiyu and Tan Chun came up with a few ideas, but after discussing them, they felt they weren't quite right.

In addition, Jia Baoyu deliberately acted silly and caused trouble, and they still couldn't come up with a solution by lunchtime.

In the end, Lin Daiyu and Tan Chun took the initiative to distribute the copper coins as a reward, and also helped Ying Chun reprimand her wet nurse.

Yingchun's wet nurse, relying on being sent by Jia She, and taking advantage of the second aunt's timidity and dullness, often deducted her monthly allowance and even stole her jewelry to sell.

"What you did before is none of my business."

Lin Daiyu pointed to the basket of copper coins in front of everyone and said, "Now that my brother cares about us and has become a military officer in the Imperial City Guard, anyone who dares to deceive their superiors or act recklessly will be met with the Imperial City Guard's confiscation of their property!"

The servants and maids were all trembling with fear.

Second Madam was ruthless enough in the past, and now Second Master even dares to offend his own father. Anyone who dares to push their luck is truly out of the question.

In the afternoon, Xue Baochai also arrived.

Knowing that she was in charge of managing the household affairs at home, Tan Chun asked her if she had any good ideas on how to deal with the ten taels of silver.

"Well..."

Just as Xue Baochai was about to decline, a maidservant came to deliver a message, saying that the master had dismissed the court early and was going home, and wanted to talk to Second Master Bao.

When Baoyu heard that his father had left the office early to come find him, he was so frightened that he almost lost his mind. He tried hard to recall what he had done wrong, but after thinking about it for a long time, he still couldn't remember.

Seeing this, Lin Daiyu gently pushed him and urged, "Stop dawdling, you'll get scolded if you're late."

Only then did Baoyu leave, timidly like a shy young wife.