The Splendor of the Red Chamber

The Sheng family in Jiying Lane.

Since the household management was in the hands of the favored concubine Lin Qinshuang, after having breakfast that morning, Madam Wang idly chatted with her trusted confidante, Liu Mama, about gossip.

"To bring his cousin along on this academic journey is utterly absurd and unbelievable!"

"Yeah, who would start by saying that?"

Madam Liu nodded in agreement, while reminding them, "If this Master Bao comes to our residence, the young ladies and Miss Yu should be more careful to avoid making a fool of themselves."

Madam Wang held her teacup and nodded slowly, but her eyes darted around in their sockets, clearly indicating that she had other thoughts in mind.

"Mother~"

Just then, a cheerful shout entered the hall; it was the voice of the eldest daughter, Sheng Hualan.

While lost in thought, Madam Wang's hand trembled, and she was immediately scalded by the spilled tea, making her wince.

"Be careful, madam."

Liu's mother hurriedly took the tea from her hands and then used a handkerchief to wipe her hands.

Madam Wang snatched the handkerchief from her hand, and while wiping herself, she stood up and said to her daughter, "My goodness, why are you back again?!"

As she spoke, she tossed aside the handkerchief and raised her hand to touch her earlobe to cool it down.

Sheng Hualan walked over and hugged her arm, saying coquettishly, "What's wrong? Does Mother not want me to come back?"

"Of course I'd like to!"

Madam Wang hurriedly said, "But it's not a holiday, and you've been going back to your parents' home with your son-in-law for three or four days in a row, and you're coming back earlier each day. If your mother-in-law finds out... wait, where's your son-in-law?"

She realized halfway through the conversation that Yuan Wenshao hadn't come today.

"this……"

Hua Lan hesitated for a moment. She always reported good news to her parents and never wanted them to worry about her.

But she's under too much pressure right now.

Despite the pressure from his mother-in-law, Yuan Wenshao insisted on having her return to her parents' home, clearly gambling his future on the Sheng family and on Lian Erye.

If it works out, everyone will be happy, and the couple will live in harmony from then on.

But what if we fail...

What's wrong with you?

Although Madam Wang wasn't very quick-witted, her eldest daughter was still the apple of her eye. So when she saw Hua Lan's silence, she sensed something was wrong and quickly pulled her daughter aside to ask, "Has something happened at the Earl's mansion?"

"No, the Earl's mansion is perfectly fine."

Hua Lan smiled and comforted her mother, but finally confessed, "I'm sure you know that Erlang and I have come here several times because of Master Lian."

Erlang wanted to find a job in the Five Cities Garrison, but the Earl's Mansion considered the Five Cities Garrison to be a lowly position, and not only did they not support him, they also interfered.

Now, the simplest and most direct way for Erlang to break this deadlock is to ask Second Master Lian for help—if this succeeds, my life in my husband's family will be much better.”

Sheng Hong had already seen through seven or eight parts of this matter, and Madam Wang, having heard her husband's analysis, was not surprised.

only……

"If that's the case, why didn't Wenshao come today?"

"He...he's been grounded by my mother-in-law."

Hua Lan mentioned a few times that Yuan Wenshao was not favored at home, and that she herself was also being harassed and criticized by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

He added, "Now Wenshao's room has been filled with four or five concubines, and he himself is finding it hard to control himself. If our family can help to fill the vacancy, at least I can be more assertive in front of him."

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang immediately jumped up, exclaiming excitedly, "They've really gone too far! So what if they're from the Earl's Mansion? My father is worthy of being enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and your grandmother also came from a Marquis's Mansion. What right do they have to bully our Sheng family's daughter? They've really gone too far!"

He paced back and forth agitatedly twice, then raised his arm and shouted, "Someone, hitch up the cart! I'm going to argue with them!"

"Mother!"

"Mrs!"

Hua Lan and Liu's mother quickly grabbed her from both sides.

After pressing Madam Wang back into her chair, Hua Lan squatted down in front of her, looked up at her, and said, "Mother, our Sheng family is naturally not afraid of the Earl's Mansion, but I've finally gotten a chance to turn things around. Won't your actions ruin everything?"

These words were purely meant to comfort. My maternal grandfather died young, and the Wang family had long since fallen into decline. My paternal grandmother's family had even lost their title. How could they possibly intimidate the Earl of Zhongqin's mansion?

"Then, what do you suggest we do?!"

Madam Wang stroked her daughter's head, her eyes filled with heartache: "We can't just let them bully you, can we?"

Then he added, "It's all your father's fault for being blind. He spoke so highly of the Yuan family back then, but it turns out they're really like this!"

"Mother, please don't argue with Father because of me, or I'll feel even more guilty."

Hua Lan leaned on her mother's lap and coaxed, "If you feel sorry for me, please persuade Shu Lan for me. Now that Erlang has seen through his mother's favoritism, he can naturally protect us at home once he has an official position."

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang immediately jumped up again: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go, let's go, I'll go with you to find Shulan and clear things up!"

She hurriedly dragged her daughter straight to the other courtyard.

Sheng Shulan was weaving tassels for Jia Lian's knife when she heard that her aunt and cousin had arrived. She quickly got up to greet them, curtsying and saying, "Aunt, if you need anything, you could just send someone to tell us. Why did you come in person?"

"Shulan."

Madam Wang forced a stiff smile and, without any preamble, went straight to the point: "You have to help your sister with the matter of the second son of the Yuan family, otherwise she won't be able to survive in the Yuan family!"

"Mother."

Hua Lan tugged at her mother's sleeve somewhat awkwardly. She wanted her mother to help persuade the girl, but she never intended to ask her mother to cry pitifully on her behalf.

But since the words had already been spoken, and faced with Shulan's questioning gaze, Hualan had no choice but to repeat what she had just said to her mother to Shulan.

Shulan was also very surprised when she heard this.

Back in my hometown of Youyang, everyone was incredibly envious of my cousin who had married into an earl's family, thinking how prestigious Hua Lan was in the capital.

Who knew that this life would be so similar to what he had experienced at the Sun family's house.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship with Hua Lan, but she dared not disobey her mother-in-law and husband in the Sun family, and now that she had married into Jia Lian's family, she dared not disobey in the slightest.

So no matter how much the mother and daughter tried to persuade her, Shulan remained firm in her resolve and refused to give in.

"You silly child!"

Madam Wang was also getting annoyed: "All I'm asking is for you to say a few good words for me. Do you expect your uncle to come begging you before you'll agree?!"

"Auntie!"

Shulan couldn't bear the words any longer and could only reveal, "Actually, last year when Second Master hosted a dinner at Fanlou, he overheard the Yuan brothers arguing..."

She relayed what Jia Lian had heard to Madam Wang.

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang jumped up again, her mouth stretching into an exaggerated, flat line: "The Yuan family, a dignified earl's mansion, actually has the nerve to use their daughter-in-law's dowry?!"

Shulan seized the opportunity to say, "I told Second Master last time that he didn't agree to this because he looked down on the Yuan family's ways."

Madam Wang and Hualan were both angry and ashamed, and they were too embarrassed to argue with Shulan any longer, so they could only awkwardly return to the main courtyard.

Madam Wang couldn't help but scold the Yuan family and her husband Sheng Hong again, until Liu Mama reminded her that she noticed her daughter's unpleasant expression.

So he quickly said, "It's alright. Your father had drinks with Master Zheng yesterday, and they seemed to get along quite well. Why don't you have your father help out..."

"Mother."

Hua Lan interrupted her, saying, "That Master Zheng is the father of the Imperial Concubine. If he wasn't going to send his son to our family to study, why would he take the initiative to humble himself and befriend us?"

If we ask my father to beg him at this time, what difference is there between that and taking advantage of someone's kindness? Wouldn't that just make my father lose face in front of others?

Moreover, as the saying goes, a local official is more powerful than a distant one. The Imperial City Guard happens to be in charge of the Five City Garrison. Even if Lord Zheng agrees to help, he will most likely hand it over to Second Master Lian to handle.

If Second Master Lian is unwilling and angers us and the Yuan family because of it, wouldn't we have backfired and made things worse?

After this analysis, Madam Wang was at a loss.

Slapping her thigh in distress, she said, "If your husband saw Master Lian, he could plead and explain to him, but he's been confined to his quarters by your mother-in-law. What are we going to do? Maybe we should let your younger brother..."

"Absolutely not!"

Hua Lan quickly tried to dissuade him, saying, "Changbai is an upright man and most likely wouldn't want to get involved in this kind of thing. Besides, if he finds out what Wenshao has done, the two brothers-in-law will inevitably clash in the future."

Madam Wang couldn't help but slap her thigh again, exclaiming anxiously, "Left won't work, right won't work, so come up with something!"

Hua Lan seemed to have thought of something, hesitated for a long time before finally gritting her teeth and saying, "At this point, there's no time to worry about anything else. I'll just go and explain things to Second Master Lian myself!"