The Splendor of the Red Chamber

Jia Lian had no idea that his unintentional glance would cause a rift between another couple.

When he returned home, he ran into Ping'er seeing Siqi off.

Seeing that Siqi was carrying quite a few things in large and small bundles, Jia Lian casually asked, "Where are you going?"

Siqi's expression was somewhat strange; she pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

Ping'er, standing nearby, laughed and said, "Grandma said that she has been running back and forth recently and has done a lot of hard work, so she specially rewarded her with some things and told her to go home. It's not too late for her to come back tomorrow evening."

"oh."

Hearing that it was such a trivial matter, Jia Lian didn't care much and brushed past the two women before entering the main hall.

Upon entering, one sees Wang Xifeng hunched over the dining table, using the new method he had taught her to keep accounts.

Jia Lian had never studied double-entry bookkeeping, but he had seen some accounting books and forms. So, when he was in Yangzhou, he combined his memories from two lifetimes and came up with a strange and unorthodox accounting method.

It's hard to say about other things, but at least Wang Xifeng really liked Arabic numerals because they were easy to write and recognize.

Jia Lian sat down next to Feng Jie, but before he could even speak, Feng Jie turned her head and gave him the back of her head—no need to ask, she was definitely angry that he hadn't come back to stay overnight.

We can't use the rod to intimidate people every time.

So today, Jia Lian tried a different way to coax her. Regardless of whether she listened or not, he directly started talking about his second visit to the Prince of Nan'an's mansion, recounting the Empress Dowager's strange behavior and his own speculations with added embellishments.

At first, Wang Xifeng just pricked up her ears, but later she couldn't resist her gossipy nature and asked a few questions with her face turned away, then turned her head in shock...

After they finished talking, the young couple snuggled together, their faces close together.

Wang Xifeng, still not satisfied with the gossip, said, "Do you think it's possible that Princess Yi'an gave birth to a posthumous child, but Consort Li found out and silenced her?"

"Possibly."

Jia Lian also guessed in this direction, for a simple reason: the Prince of Nan'an had been dead for more than two years, so the traditional law of catching thieves red-handed and catching adulterers in the act was definitely not applicable.

If there is any other direct evidence, the most likely one is an adulterous child or a posthumous child.

The two gossiped for a while longer before Wang Xifeng, satisfied, changed the subject, saying, "Yesterday I went to ask you for Xiangling, but Baochai suddenly brought up Xue Pan's case from back then, wanting you to help settle it. I felt it was a bit too much to handle, so I came back quickly."

"Xue Pan's case from back then?"

Jia Lian asked doubtfully, "Is it the case where someone was killed in a fight over Xiangling? Wasn't it said to be closed, or did Jia Yucun cover it up?"

"Sigh~"

Sister Feng sighed, "That Jia Yucun is also slippery. He was probably afraid that directly judging the case would leave him with a handle, so he had someone report that Xue Pan had died suddenly, and then hastily closed the case. So now Xue Pan is nominally a dead man."

As they were talking, they heard hurried footsteps outside the door, and the two of them quickly stopped talking and looked outside.

"Second Master, Grandma."

Ping'er lifted the curtain from the outside without lowering it, and said with a smile to the inside, "The ladies have arrived."

Even without her saying so, Jia Lian had already seen Lin Daiyu, who was at the front, and Xue Baochai, who was the tallest.

The couple hurriedly got up to greet them, and Sister Feng said happily, "Oh my, what's going on today? You two actually arranged to come together!"

Lin Daiyu smiled sweetly, pointed at Jia Lian and said, "We have something to discuss with you today, brother, not to see Sister Feng."

"Okay~"

Fengjie feigned anger and poked her forehead with a finger, saying, "I've wasted my time spoiling you."

"Giggle~"

Lin Daiyu smiled and hugged her arm: "Good sister-in-law, we've come to ask my brother to participate in a program. If you'd like to perform, we'd be more than happy to!"

Sister Feng asked curiously, "What program?"

"Oh~"

Jia Lian explained, "I forgot to tell you, they were planning to use the ten taels of silver in the public account to host a thank-you banquet for the old lady, and I also promised to put on a show."

"This is good!"

Wang Xifeng clapped her hands approvingly and asked, "Whose idea was this?"

"It's Sister Bao."

Lin Daiyu's smile immediately faded.

Xue Baochai humbly replied, "I just spoke too quickly; my sisters will figure it out sooner or later."

Tan Chun urged impatiently, "Let's get down to business first!"

As she spoke, she moved closer to Jia Lian and said, "Second Brother Lian, we didn't want to cause you any more trouble, but Brother Bao was beaten so badly that he's lying on the bed unable to move, so we had no choice but to come to you."

It turned out that after everyone decided on the thank-you banquet, they worked together to prepare for it.

Including Baochai, who volunteered, everyone took on some tasks, while those tasks that were inconvenient for young ladies to do, or that their families simply didn't have, were all entrusted to Baoyu.

As a result, Baoyu was suddenly beaten and became bedridden. The sisters discussed the matter and felt that the one who tied the knot must untie it, so they had no choice but to seek help from Jia Lian again.

These trivial matters were nothing more than a piece of cake for Jia Lian, so he naturally wouldn't let his sisters make a wasted trip. He immediately assigned them tasks, ensuring that the items would be gathered within a day.

Seeing that they had achieved their goal, the girls laughed and joked around Jia Lian and Feng Jie for a while, and then, seeing that it was getting late, prepared to leave.

"Hey~ why are you still leaving!"

Fengjie grabbed one of them by the arm and scolded, "Do you think I can't even afford to feed you a meal? Ping'er, go tell the kitchen to cook a few more dishes and warm up two pots of good wine. Second Master and I will keep the sisters company and have a good time!"

The women all laughed upon hearing this, and Tan Chun said, "Then we'll all offer our respects to our brother and sister-in-law later, as if we're offering flowers to Buddha."

As they were talking, Jia Lian moved closer to Wang Xifeng, secretly gave her a wink, and then glanced at Baochai out of the corner of his eye.

Among the women, Xue Baochai was not the oldest, but she was the most mature in appearance and figure. Her graceful curves under her moon-white silk cotton jacket with dark patterns contrasted sharply with the other girls.

Of course, that's not what Jia Lian was looking at.

He was still somewhat concerned about Xue Pan's case, so he wanted to find Baochai to learn more about the details.

Wang Xifeng, however, assumed he was still thinking about Xiangling, so she glared at the Second Master, but then took the initiative to pull Baochai aside and said, "It just so happens that your brother-in-law and I have some things to ask you. Come on, let's go inside and talk."

Then, she said to the three sisters and Daiyu, "Sisters, please sit down and have a cup of tea. If you need anything, just tell Ping'er."

Then he pulled Xue Baochai into the bedroom, with Jia Lian following closely behind.

While the three sisters didn't feel anything was wrong, Lin Daiyu felt somewhat uneasy.

Wang Xifeng always favored her, and Jia Lian even more so, treating her like a younger sister or daughter when they were in Yangzhou.

Why do I have to talk to Sister Bao alone today?

Why is it Baochai again?

Not to mention how sensitive Lin Daiyu felt.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Jia Lian gestured for Xue Baochai to sit down and talk, then cut to the chase and asked, "What exactly happened with your brother's case? Tell me from the beginning."

Xue Baochai guessed that it was because of this matter, and quickly explained the whole story.

It turns out that Xiangling was sold to two families back then. One family was Xue Pan, and the other was Feng Yuan, the only son of the local gentry Feng family.

Feng Yuan originally had a penchant for men, almost to the point of ending the Feng family line. But after meeting Xiang Ling, he realized the nature of men and women and vowed to never do that kind of thing again after taking Xiang Ling as his wife.

Therefore, even though the Feng family knew they couldn't defeat the Xue family, they still insisted on vying for Xiangling.

Xue Pan, however, was unwilling to give in.

He then ordered his men to beat Young Master Feng to a pulp, and he was carried home where he died three days later.

The Feng family filed a lawsuit for a year without any results. Just then, Jia Yucun was recommended by Jia Zheng and Wang Ziteng to become the prefect of Jinling. He then ordered someone to falsely claim that Xue Pan had died suddenly, thus hastily closing the case.

At the time, the Xue family didn't think anything was wrong. It wasn't until recently, when Xue Pan reached the age of marriage and starting a family, and Xue Baochai was planning for her brother's future, that they realized something was amiss.

After listening, Jia Lian pondered for a moment and shook his head, saying, "Since the Feng family is just an ordinary local gentry, they shouldn't be able to see the household registers in the government office; moreover, Jia Yucun wants us to owe him a favor, not to make enemies of us, so it's impossible for him to touch this crucial matter."

So as long as no one exposes it, your brother's household registration status shouldn't be a problem. The real concern is that he might get into legal trouble again, which would bring up his criminal record and cause problems.

Although things were better than expected, Xue Baochai couldn't relax at all because of her brother's temper.

After a moment's thought, she smiled and said, "I'm finally relieved to hear what you've said, Brother Lian. Since everything is alright for now, I'll ask Mother to send Xiangling over once we've settled in a few days."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng, who had remained silent until now, immediately became wary and said, "There's no need for that. Your brother-in-law didn't help much either."

"Good sister."

Xue Baochai took her hand and said earnestly, "I was worried that Xiangling would cause trouble for Brother Lian, so I didn't agree immediately yesterday. If it weren't for this trouble, what would a maid be worth to us, given our relationship? There's no question of whether I'll help or not."

Seeing that Sister Feng was backing down, Xue Baochai was afraid of losing her bargaining chip, so she chose to do the opposite.

Seeing Baochai's generous attitude, Wang Xifeng really couldn't say anything more, otherwise Jia Lian would suspect her of "going back on her word".

Jia Lian, of course, knew Baochai's intention. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded and said, "In that case, I will ask Jia Yucun to come out another day and give Wenlong a good warning." [Xue Pan, courtesy name Wenlong]

Go back and find him a few more companions, the kind who can hold him back in crucial moments, so that he can never act impulsively again.

As for Wenlong's future—Jia Yucun handled this matter poorly, and now Wenlong's future should rest on his shoulders.

Besides thanking the Xue family for the fragrant ling, he also hoped to avoid a potential problem—although Xue Pan's case might not implicate the Rongguo Mansion, it's always better to avoid trouble.

Xue Baochai was extremely grateful for these words, thinking that if things were settled, there was no need to mention the "golden and jade marriage" anymore.