The Splendor of the Red Chamber

Wang Xifeng was still somewhat reserved, and that night she struggled to hold on by herself, without taking Ping'er down with her, which greatly disappointed Jia Lian.

But let's leave that aside.

The next day, Jia Lian deliberately got up at dawn and went to his uncle Jia Zheng's courtyard.

As expected, Jia Zheng spent the night at Aunt Zhao's place again.

Upon seeing Jia Lian arrive, he moved to the main hall and, forcing himself to remain alert, asked, "How did the investigation go yesterday?"

He learned about this from Aunt Zhao.

Jia Lian first recounted the heated debate he had witnessed the previous day, and then brought up Bao Yu's rude and unruly behavior at the Sheng family's residence.

Jia Zheng, who was originally listless due to a hangover, was immediately invigorated upon hearing these two matters. The former was a 'final outcome,' so it didn't surprise him that much.

As for the latter...

"That damned little beast!"

Jia Zheng jumped up in a rage, shouting outside, "Guards! Guards! Quickly tie up that wretched boy Baoyu and bring him here!"

After the servants responded outside, he sat back down at the head of the table and continued to curse through gritted teeth.

Hearing the commotion, Madam Wang hurriedly put on her clothes and came out to inquire what was going on. Upon hearing that her son was going to take Lin Daiyu to study at the Sheng family, she immediately cursed inwardly, "Vixen."

Then she secretly sent Jin Chuan'er to ask the old lady for help.

Upon seeing this, Jia Zheng sneered, "He has disgraced my colleague's family this time. Even if it were the old lady trying to stop him, I would not let him off easily!"

Madam Wang said aggrievedly, "If we don't let him go to the Sheng family..."

"Shut up!"

Jia Zheng rebuked him sternly: "Do you want him to be a good-for-nothing for the rest of his life, forever stuck in a world of women?!"

Lady Wang dared not say anything more, but in her heart she blamed Daiyu, thinking to herself that Baoyu had originally been used to studying in the outer study, but it was only after this girl Lin came back that he reverted to his old ways.

Meanwhile, Jia Zheng waited grumbling and cursing for a quarter of an hour, but Baoyu still hadn't come. He got up angrily and said, "Send someone to urge him to come. If he doesn't come soon, those who agreed to do the errands will each be given twenty strokes of the cane!"

Only after this order was given did Baoyu finally get bound and brought over.

He clearly knew why his father was angry, and as soon as he entered the door, he knelt down and begged for forgiveness: "Father, please forgive me this time. I... I was just worried that my sisters would be bored at home, and I was also thinking about Grand Tutor Yu's eldest granddaughter..."

"Shut up!"

Seeing that he still dared to argue, Jia Zheng stood up angrily and said, "You little beast, how dare you talk nonsense? Let me ask you, do you think you can make such a decision?!"

"If you really wanted what was best for your sister, you should have informed me or the old lady, or at the very least, asked your second brother Lian to intervene. How dare you, a mere child, make decisions on your own?!"

Then he shouted, "Quickly bring the family discipline materials! I'm going to personally deal with this wretched child today!"

Baoyu was so frightened that he shrank into a ball like an insect, repeatedly saying, "Master, spare my life."

Lady Wang was about to intervene when Jia Lian said, "Uncle, please hold your hand. Baoyu will be studying at the Sheng family soon. If you hurt him, it will disrupt his studies."

Hearing this, Madam Wang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Jia Baoyu looked at his second brother Lian with gratitude, but Jia Lian then said, "Let's change the whip. That one hurts enough, but it doesn't hinder movement, and the wounds heal quickly."

Baoyu's gratitude froze on his face.

Lady Wang secretly cursed Jia Lian for his wickedness.

Jia Zheng readily agreed and ordered someone to bring a horsewhip, which he then used to whip Baoyu's back.

Despite being dressed in thick winter clothes, the dozen or so lashes did not injure his inner body; however, the pain in his skin still caused Jia Baoyu to scream in agony.

Lady Wang was heartbroken at the sight. She rushed forward and embraced Baoyu, saying sorrowfully, "Although Baoyu deserves to be beaten, you, sir, must also have some self-respect. It's a small matter if you beat Baoyu to death, but what if the old lady becomes upset? That would be a much bigger problem!"

Just then, a maid came to report that Grandmother Jia was already on her way.

Seeing that the commotion had died down, Jia Lian went over and helped Bao Yu up, saying, "It's not that I'm heartless, brother, but our family is currently in a precarious position. If you don't learn your lesson soon, you might cause a terrible disaster."

Baoyu's little face twitched with pain, and he nodded obediently with tears streaming down his face.

Jia Lian then left, satisfied.

He wanted to take this opportunity to teach Baoyu a lesson so that Baoyu would behave better in public.

After returning to Wutong Garden and having breakfast, Jia Lian saw that Wang Xifeng still looked listless, so he hugged her and kissed her twice, chuckling, "I won't disturb you tonight, you can get a good night's sleep."

"Pah!"

Wang Xifeng, sensing his intention, immediately guessed that he was going to meet his mistress in secret. She raised her hand to hit Jia Lian, but Jia Lian had already run out the door in a flash.

Wang Xifeng instinctively wanted to chase after her, but her legs felt like they were made of cotton and had nowhere to support her weight, so she could only angrily curse a few words through the door.

When Jia Lian arrived outside, he found that not only his servant was waiting, but Sheng Changwu had also come.

"I won't be able to take up my post until after the New Year."

Sheng Changwu laughed and said, "I might as well accompany my brother-in-law on some errands these days, and also get familiar with the situation in the capital."

This brother-in-law is quite thoughtful.

Jia Lian nodded and said, "We really need to learn how to handle the formalities of welcoming and seeing off officials."

Seeing that Jia Lian did not object, Sheng Changwu was overjoyed. Yesterday, when he was by Jia Lian's side, even the officials of the sixth or seventh rank were very polite to him. He also took the opportunity to get to know a patrol officer from the Five Cities Garrison.

This method of building connections is probably better than a year of training in the Five Cities Garrison.

Speaking of the patrol captain, Sheng Changwu thought of another brother-in-law, so he said cautiously, "Yesterday, my eldest cousin and brother-in-law went back to their parents' home again. My eldest cousin kept whispering to my sister, and brother-in-law Yuan pulled me aside and told me some inside stories about the Five Cities Garrison. He was incredibly enthusiastic."

This was well-intentioned, but the flattery was too obvious.

Jia Lian asked, "You didn't agree to anything with him, did you?"

"Of course not, he didn't mention it!"

Sheng Changwu hurriedly said, "I reckon they still want my sister to take care of things. If Second Master thinks it's inappropriate, I'll talk to my sister about it later, and she definitely won't dare to bother you with this matter."

Unsure of Jia Lian's thoughts, he switched his address to "Second Master".

"No need."

Jia Lian waved his hand and said, "I'll go to your sister's place tonight. I'll tell her everything myself."

Upon hearing this, Sheng Changwu breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly said, "Then I'll send someone back to inform my sister..."

"Need not."

Jia Lian said, "Let nature take its course. If he runs into Yuan Wenshao again, then he'll be lucky. But let's not talk about that. Come on, let's go see how others investigate cases."

…………

The Earl of Loyalty and Diligence's Residence.

After getting ready in the morning, Sheng Hualan prepared to establish proper etiquette in front of her parents-in-law.

In the grand mansion, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law usually don't eat together, but the daughter-in-law is required to pay her respects morning and evening according to custom. This is what is known as the morning and evening greetings.

If the mother-in-law is kind or dislikes the daughter-in-law, she will usually take the initiative to exempt her from these traditional customs. Generally, the mother-in-law will not let her daughter-in-law serve her meals, but will ask her to go back to her own home for dinner after paying her respects.

But the Yuan family was different.

Not only did Madam Yuan expect Hua Lan to serve her personally, but she also frequently made sarcastic and mean remarks, as if it were the Sheng family's good fortune and the Earl's Mansion's favor that she was eating and using the Sheng family's food.

"Hualan~"

Yuan Wenshao had previously ignored this, but these past few days he had been very warm and considerate, coming up to Hua Lan and taking her hand, saying, "You've suffered these past few years, but don't worry, everything will be alright once I get an official position."

Hua Lan naturally understood why he had changed his mind, and immediately sighed, "It was such a pity yesterday. If we had gone earlier, we wouldn't have missed Master Lian again."

Yuan Wenshao was also filled with regret.

Moreover, it wasn't just about Jia Lian. Last night, when Sheng Changwu told him that Baoyu was going to study at the Sheng family, he realized that Qi Heng had actually studied at the Sheng family for three years and was about to rekindle their romance.

If only I had known...

Of course, Lian Erye still has more connections now.

Although the Duke of Qi's mansion appears prestigious, it has little influence in the army. Furthermore, the young master of Qi is extremely law-abiding, making it far less convenient for him to gain access to connections than Jia Lian's side.

Yuan Wenshao suppressed his anxiety and took his wife's hand tenderly, saying, "We can go again today—Second Master Lian had something to do and left halfway through yesterday, so he might go to the Sheng family again today."

Before she could finish speaking, Madam Yuan suddenly sent a maid over and instructed Yuan Wenshao and Sheng Hualan to go and pay their respects.

The couple immediately sensed something was wrong.

As expected, Madam Yuan immediately questioned the couple about why they were always running back to her parents' home. She said that if they felt comfortable staying at her parents' home, they should simply not come back to the Earl's mansion!

Yuan Wenshao instinctively wanted to argue, but remembering that his brother had gone to the Chen family specifically to frame him, he quickly shut his mouth and dared not reveal a word.

However, he took the initiative to take responsibility, saying that it wasn't Hualan who wanted to go back, but rather that he saw that his wife's family had been transferred to the capital and wanted to get closer to them, so he took his wife to his wife's family.

Madam Yuan was even angrier, scolding him for being a muddle-headed fool who couldn't tell what was important. As the son of an earl's family, instead of discussing his future with his parents and brothers, he was actually hoping to be promoted by his wife's family, who were only fifth-rank officials.

Then Yuan Wenshao was punished by being confined to his room to study and forbidden from going out before the end of the year.

After leaving Madam Yuan's courtyard, Hua Lan saw her husband's ashen face and quietly asked, "What should we do? Should we wait until after the New Year...?"

"No!"

Yuan Wenshao gritted his teeth and said, "Even if I can't go, you have to go. You have to use whatever means necessary to get your cousin to keep whispering in your ear!"

As he spoke, he took his wife's hand and solemnly promised, "If I achieve success in the future, I will naturally repay my family and treat you and our daughter well."