The Splendor of the Red Chamber

The next morning.

Jia Lian went to visit Bao Yu, and coincidentally Lin Daiyu was there as well, teasing Bao Yu about drinking his medicine with Xi Ren.

Baoyu's beating this time could be considered a blessing in disguise. Lin Daiyu knew that he did it for her sake, and while she felt sorry for him, she finally stopped being angry with him.

Baoyu was so happy that his face glowed, and you couldn't tell at all that he was injured.

Seeing this, Jia Lian chuckled and patted his head, saying, "How was it? Did you find the whip easier to bear?"

Baoyu chuckled sheepishly.

He didn't dare to complain about Lian Erge informing on him, but he wouldn't be so grateful to Lian Erge just because the stick was replaced with a whip.

After Jia Lian learned that his injuries were not serious and that he would be able to go to the Sheng family to study in two or three days, he did not stay in Jiangyun Pavilion for long and prepared to continue investigating the case at Wangling.

In fact, he had discovered some clues while investigating with Chen Xingzhi these past two days, but he hadn't had time to report them to his superiors yet, and they weren't exactly major leads.

"Brother~"

Just as Jia Lian reached the courtyard gate, Lin Daiyu chased after him, looking somewhat embarrassed but stubbornly pressing him for an answer: "What did you and your sister-in-law say to Sister Bao last night?"

After saying that, she added, "I didn't mean anything by it, I was just a little curious."

Seeing her awkward little face, Jia Lian couldn't help but chuckle. Through their time together in Yangzhou, he probably understood Lin Daiyu's temperament even better than Baoyu did.

This girl is very generous in other matters, but she is too serious and stubborn when it comes to "love"—this "love" includes not only romantic love, but also familial love.

Perhaps because she lacked a sense of security after being separated from her parents at a young age, she was unusually attached to those close to her, both to Baoyu and Jia Lian.

Furthermore, Baochai was her number one enemy, which is why she reacted so strongly.

Second Master told her the truth about what happened yesterday, and then whispered, "Your dowry is no less than hers, and you are superior to her in terms of background and closeness. Don't be so suspicious and overthink things all day long."

Lin Daiyu blushed slightly and hesitated, wanting to explain further, but her usual quick wit seemed to have run dry.

Seeing this, Jia Lian laughed heartily. Seeing that only Zijuan was following behind, he reached out and patted Lin Daiyu's head before turning and walking away.

Lin Daiyu watched his figure disappear into the distance before preparing to go back and continue watching Baoyu take his medicine.

To her surprise, Zijuan stopped her, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Daiyu asked, puzzled, "Why are you hesitating? Is there something between us that you can't say?"

Zijuan then cautiously advised, "Miss, you're all grown up now. This isn't Yangzhou. It's best to keep a certain distance from the Second Master to avoid gossip."

"Who would gossip?"

Lin Daiyu frowned, her eyebrows furrowed in displeasure, and retorted, "You saw for yourself how my brother treated me when we were in Yangzhou, and he continued to take good care of me after we returned to the capital. Now you're advising me to distance myself from him?"

"That's not what I meant!"

In her haste, Zijuan didn't bother to hide anything: "I... I was just afraid that Baoyu would misunderstand."

"What's the misunderstanding?"

Lin Daiyu remained unmoved: "He has so many beautiful women around him, and I haven't even found fault with him yet—besides, my brother and I are completely innocent. If he asks me to distance myself from my brother, what kind of person would he be?"

If I were to distance myself from my brother because of Baoyu's likes or dislikes, what kind of person would I be?!

These words left Zijuan speechless, and she could only obediently lower her head and admit her mistake.

…………

the other side.

After Jia Lian left Bao Yu's place, he was informed as soon as he reached the second gate that Master Zhen of the East Mansion had something to discuss with him and was waiting in the side hall.

What a coincidence!

Jia Lian was just thinking of finding an opportunity to give Jia Zhen a warning.

So he immediately turned and went to the side hall.

Besides Jia Zhen, Jia Qiang was also waiting in the side hall. When the uncle and nephew saw Jia Lian enter, they quickly stood up with smiles to greet him.

"The two Lian brothers."

"Uncle Lian."

"Brother Zhen."

Jia Lian also cupped his hands in greeting to Jia Zhen and asked with a smile, "Brother Zhen, why aren't you enjoying your retirement at home this early in the morning? Why are you bringing Qiang'er to see me? Is there something important?"

"It's not exactly a big deal."

Because of Qin Keqing's affair, Jia Zhen once took his anger out on Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, but after Jia Lian was appointed by the emperor, Jia Zhen's attitude towards Jia Lian returned to what it was before.

He pointed at Jia Qiang and laughed, "Now that Qiang-ge'er is all grown up, I thought it was time for him to go out and gain some experience, so I decided to entrust him with the task of going south to buy young actors."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian raised an eyebrow: "Brother Zhen means he should skip the bidding process and directly take on this job?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Jia Qiang and asked critically, "Can you do it?"

Jia Qiang was embarrassed and couldn't answer, so he quietly tugged at Jia Zhen's sleeve.

"Sigh~"

Jia Zhen quickly added with a smile, "He's different from others; he's a direct descendant of the Jia family. With such a good opportunity, we should let him run errands and broaden his horizons."

"Brother Zhen is right."

Jia Lian was just waiting for him to speak, and immediately chimed in, "It is indeed necessary to distinguish between close and distant relatives. You can't have your own children and grandchildren, but insist on having your nephew inherit the family business."

Now Jia Zhen finally realized that Jia Lian's pickiness wasn't directed at Jia Qiang, but at him.

He stared at Jia Lian for a moment, his smile gradually fading, and then suddenly waved to Jia Qiang: "Qiang-ge'er, you go and keep watch outside first."

Jia Qiang sensed something was wrong and hurriedly fled the hall.

Once only the two cousins ​​were left in the room, Jia Zhen suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth, saying, "Second brother, that's not very fair of you. I've never interfered in your family affairs."

"What?"

Jia Lian raised an eyebrow: "Brother Zhen, are you also going to differentiate between us based on our relationship?"

He paused, then continued, "We all know how Rong-ge died. He came to us for help and ended up losing his life. How can I bear to see his son stripped of his title?!"

If Brother Zhen insists on going his own way, even if it means tearing things apart and bringing the matter to Uncle Jing's door, I'm willing to do it!

When talking about Rong-ge'er's death, Jia Lian's face was full of indignation, as if there was a real bond between uncle and nephew.

It's fortunate that he's lived two lives and developed a thick enough skin; otherwise, he couldn't have convincingly told such a heartless lie.

Faced with Jia Lian's confrontation, Jia Zhen's expression changed several times, but he eventually gave in and said with a forced smile, "We're all brothers, why go to such lengths? Besides, I only wanted to bring Tang Ge'er back to the manor, so your sister-in-law just casually threatened him. How could I really take away his inheritance rights?"

Ultimately, Jia Zhen was afraid of making things worse.

The main problem is that Jia Lian is not the same as before. The Imperial City Guard has the power to supervise all officials in the capital. If he really turns against them and abuses his power for personal gain, how can Jia Zhen's messy account withstand the investigation?

Of course, Jia Zhen was unwilling to give up so easily, but he dared not threaten him with the matter of stripping him of his title.

"That's right."

Seeing that he had backed down, Jia Lian decided to stop while he was ahead and said, "Brother Zhen, you can make the decision on this small matter of purchasing actors. As long as Second Master doesn't refuse Brother Zhen's request, I will naturally have no objections."

After the two brothers exchanged some more feigned pleasantries, Jia Zhen finally took Jia Qiang back to the Ningguo Mansion.