The Second Master of the Red Chamber

"Fourth brother, is that you? Have you come to see me?"

A guardhouse in the front yard.

Seeing the Fourth Prince walk in, Wei Yan struggled to get up from the bed, but forgot that he no longer had his right arm to support him. He lost his balance and fell back onto the bed, looking quite disheveled.

Seeing his pale face and pained expression, the fourth prince instinctively felt a pang of pity.

Then came immense anger.

How similar this scene is to the first time I went to the Imperial Clan Court to see him!

Even at this point, he still wants to fool me and gain my sympathy?
Silently sitting down on the chair next to him, the Fourth Prince wanted to see what tricks his Third Brother could still pull in his current predicament.

"Fourth brother, why do you look so pale? What happened?"
Could it be because of my brother?
If that's the case, fourth brother, you don't need to blame yourself too much. I don't blame you.

Jia Lian is powerful, and he has used tricks to bewitch his father and mother, so it's no wonder he acts recklessly. It's normal that you can't control him.

As your brother, I deserve what I have done today. You must not be foolish and offend him because of me.

Otherwise, if you suffer a loss at his hands, how can I, as your elder brother, live with myself?"

Upon hearing Wei Yan's seemingly considerate words, the Fourth Prince laughed in extreme anger.

"Third brother is right. I really can't offend my brother because of you."

My third brother is so shrewd; in his presence, I'd probably seem like a fool.

What right do I have to help my third brother?

Wei Yan was taken aback. Although his right shoulder had been treated with medicine and bandaged, he still felt occasional throbbing pain, which made him lie back down dejectedly. He said forlornly, "Why do you say that, Fourth Brother?"

"You're still trying to lie to me now?"
You probably don't know, but the person you planted next to me has already been exposed.

Seeing that you had been beheaded, he was afraid of being found out and had already fled to escape punishment.

"Does Third Brother have anything else to say?"

Silence fell on the bed.

The fourth prince jumped up from his chair, grabbed Wei Yan by the collar, lifted him up, and said angrily, "Third brother, do you have nothing to say?"

I was so blind to believe that someone like you could reflect on your actions and repent!
Because of you, you damned person, you almost harmed my imperial sister.

"Are you a fucking animal? She's your own sister, and you actually sent someone to assassinate her! How could you do that?!"

The pain from the aggravated wound contorted Wei Yan's face.

But when he saw the angry fourth prince, he quickly laughed.

His face was already pale, and his smile was particularly eerie.

"Can't bring yourself to do it? Do you believe that if given the chance, either your elder sister or Jia Lian would eliminate me without hesitation?"

Only you, only you who are ignorant, incompetent, and somewhat naive good-for-nothing, would care about family ties and blood relations.

On the road to power, nothing is indispensable.

Any obstacle that dares to stand in my way should be crushed by me.

However, I must thank you as your brother.

If it weren't for you, how could I have escaped from that desperate situation and come to avenge that despicable couple?

I just regret that that bitch was so lucky; even that didn't kill her.

I only regret that those Japanese devils were so useless, unable to drag Jia Lian to his death on the battlefield.

Heaven is not on my side.

Otherwise, the outcome today would be uncertain.

I would never have ended up in this state!

Her distorted face and vicious words caused the Fourth Prince to instinctively loosen his grip.

He got the answer he wanted. At that moment, he felt that all his anger was unnecessary.

It turns out that my brother and sister were right. This is a cold-blooded serpent, and cannot be judged by human standards.

He composed himself, remained silent, and turned to leave.

"You stop!"

Perhaps it was the Fourth Prince's attitude that angered him, and Wei Yan's expression became increasingly frantic.

"Don't think that just because you've become the crown prince, you've really won."

You've seen the situation today.

Jia Lian, the elder brother you mentioned, would he even consider you, the Crown Prince, a worthy opponent?

Today, he could, by his own will, cut off my arm right in front of you.

Tomorrow, when he feels the time is right, he can easily remove you from your position and take it for himself.

Otherwise, why do you think he would have schemed so hard to recognize our Empress Dowager as his own?

Just you wait. When he lays his hands on you one day, I don't believe your fate will be any better than mine.

The fourth prince's steps were indeed stopped.

He slowly turned around and looked at Wei Yan with pity.

"First of all, it was the Emperor's will to have my brother adopted into the Empress's family, not some scheming scheme as you might think."

Second.

You won't live to see that day.

Because I didn't care about it in the first place, and I didn't want to sit in this position.

Your words have reminded me.

I turned around and asked Brother Wang; if he was willing to take this position, I would immediately offer it to him.

Wei Yan's expression froze, then he laughed sarcastically, "I don't believe you'd be that stupid."

"Summer insects cannot speak of ice."

With an air of arrogance, he uttered the idiom he had only recently learned, then with a flick of his sleeve, the Fourth Prince quietly left, leaving Wei Yan alone on the bed, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

Although reason tells him that there can't be such a fool in the world.

That was the supreme ruler, the sovereign of the world, whose word could decide the life and death of millions.

No one would willingly give up something that is readily available.

This is completely contrary to human nature.

But he also knew that his fourth brother could not be treated with the same logic.

His final, hurtful words were merely intended to sow discord between the Fourth Prince and Jia Lian.

If the Fourth Prince and Jia Lian reach the same level as him and the First Prince did back then, they will have no right to stand on the moral high ground and condemn all his actions.

So even if he is imprisoned, he can still laugh at their successes and failures.

He never intended to help Jia Lian force the Fourth Prince to abdicate.

If the Fourth Prince truly sees through everything, he will hand over the position he has been so scheming to obtain to someone else.

Then what about his past actions?
……

The next morning, Jia Lian got up before dawn.

As Feng Jie dressed him, she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Look at you, you used to always say I was destined to be a hard worker."

I think you're the one destined for a life of toil.

The retired emperor had so many sons and grandsons, any one of them could preside over the funeral, why did it have to be you?
"You've just returned from leading troops into battle, and I didn't even let you rest properly." Faced with Feng Jie's seemingly complaining but actually concerned words, Jia Lian smiled and said:

"This isn't like you at all. You used to believe in 'getting a cut of the pie' when you handled something."

The death of the retired emperor is a momentous event.

"I can host this, isn't that a good thing? Why aren't you happy about it?"

"go."

Sister Feng rolled her eyes at Jia Lian, clearly annoyed.

She knew that Jia Lian was referring to the fact that she used to like taking on responsibilities and then seeking extra benefits from them.

But then was before and now is now.

When she first married Jia Lian, he was penniless. Their only possessions were the dowry she brought from her family home!
Of course, she wanted to find a way to get more money for her family.

Things are different now. Money is no object for her family, and she has become a high-ranking princess, so naturally she no longer bothers with those underhanded methods to make money.

Moreover, she wasn't the only one who used her position as housekeeper to make extra money in the past.

Jia Lian himself went even further than her, yet he has the nerve to criticize her?
As she tied Jia Lian's belt and straightened his clothes, she hesitated and said, "Do you think I should also go with you to kowtow before the Emperor Emeritus's coffin?"

When the Emperor Emeritus passed away, she had just finished her postpartum confinement and her health had not yet recovered.

In addition, although several years have passed, she still has a shadow in her heart about the Empress Dowager and still suffers from a phobia of entering the palace, especially at the funeral of the retired emperor where she might encounter the Empress Dowager at any time.

Therefore, she feigned illness and asked the palace for leave, and Baochai represented the Prince of Pingliao's Mansion, going to the palace to kneel before the coffin every day with Grandmother Jia and others.

She hadn't thought much of it before, especially after the poisoning incident in the mansion. She adopted a "better safe than sorry" attitude, focusing on taking good care of her precious son and not getting involved in other matters.

But it is different now.

Jia Lian is back. She has found her pillar of support and seems to have nothing to fear or worry about.

So she felt that it wasn't right to always let Baochai represent the Prince's Mansion in exercising diplomatic rights.

After all, this is her authority as a princess, and it should be taken back.

After being married for many years, Jia Lian could tell what Feng Jie was thinking just by the slightest movement of her toes.

Jia Lian felt that their previous arrangements were absolutely correct.

He hadn't expected that the Fourth Prince was so innocent and kind that he could be so easily deceived by the Third Prince and even dare to contradict Princess Zhaoyang.

The Third Prince was ruthless and heartless, and one can imagine the hatred he harbored for the fact that she and Princess Zhaoyang had worked together to bring him down.

His poisoning of the Grand View Garden and his assassination attempt on Princess Zhaoyang demonstrate just how utterly depraved he had become.

If Sister Feng and her ilk were to be too active, he might just find an opportunity to retaliate.

Baochai is meticulous, and I have talked to her a lot about the political situation, so she must be on guard, which makes it less likely that she will make a mistake.

Although he felt that Baochai was more suited to diplomacy than Fengjie, he knew even better that to maintain peace in the harem, it was necessary to balance the interests involved.

So he simply said, "It's only right to kowtow, after all, you're also my granddaughter-in-law. It's not good to keep pretending to be sick and not go."

Not only should you go, but Lin Daiyu, Yingya, and Cong'er should also go.

I'm back now, so let's go to the palace together to pay our respects.

Oh, and let's bring Qiao'er along too.

Although Yingchun and Jia Cong have not yet been recognized by the imperial court, their blood relationship is common knowledge.

They should go and kowtow together.

Just consider it as the older brother who has become "rich and powerful" helping his younger siblings out.

Feng Jie originally thought that Jia Lian's decision to let Daiyu enter the palace together was a deliberate act of flattery.

When he heard that he would also be taking Yingchun and Jia Cong, and especially Qiao'er, his previous thoughts immediately faded, and he became very happy.

After all, she gave birth to a daughter and a son for Jia Lian, which can be considered as continuing the royal family line.

If her son weren't so young, she would have sent him to the palace to kowtow to her great-grandfather.

"In that case, Your Highness, please wash up first. I will send someone to inform Sister Lin and Ying'er."

And Qiao'er, I wonder if that girl is even out of bed yet.

Seeing that Qingwen and the other maids had already prepared the washing and toiletries, Fengjie said a few words and then got up to make the arrangements.

This was, after all, her first public appearance in front of those royal wives since becoming a princess.

We need to prepare well, so as not to be underestimated.

After Sister Feng left, Jia Lian went to the washroom area.

Qingwen had already wrung out a hot towel, and now she stood on tiptoe to wash Jia Lian's face.

After putting down the handkerchief, she took a new toothbrush from a wooden box held by a maid and asked Jia Lian, "Would you like to brush your own toothbrush, or do you want someone to help you?"

Jia Lian felt happy just looking at the girl's charming smile.

Knowing that Daiyu liked to sleep in, I had to give her some time to prepare before suddenly waking her up early.

So he asked Qingwen to do it for him.

Qingwen chuckled, clearly very happy to serve Jia Lian.

She first opened a box of Jia Lian's special salt tooth powder, then dipped a small amount into the toothbrush head and gently and meticulously cleaned Jia Lian's teeth by inserting the toothbrush into his mouth.

She was skillful and adept, and unless she did it on purpose, she would not make Jia Lian feel uncomfortable at all.

After cleaning up in no time, she helped Jia Lian rinse his mouth. Then she went up to him and sniffed it, saying with a smile, "It's done. There's no smell at all, and it even smells nice. It seems that you've been brushing your teeth diligently during the past six months that you've been away."

Jia Lian chuckled and hugged her tightly: "Oh, can anything smell as good as my little Qingwen?"
"Come on, let me give you a kiss."

"I don't want it~"

Despite saying that, Qingwen's body language betrayed her, allowing Jia Lian to embrace her fragrant shoulders and slender waist, and to lower his head to make unwanted advances.

Every time she served Jia Lian, he would take the opportunity to grope and take advantage of her; this was all to be expected.

It's even something they look forward to.

Just now, when she was cleaning Jia Lian's teeth, Jia Lian's hands were constantly moving, and Xiangling almost lost her balance.

"Hey, it's only been a short while, and you're already eating?"

As always, Sister Feng's sarcastic voice came from the doorway.

Qingwen quickly pulled away from Jia Lian's embrace and stood shyly to the side.

"The breakfast has already been delivered from the kitchen. Your Highness, please eat first. I'll change my clothes and come over."

Sister Feng made a casual joke, then gave Jia Lian a brief instruction before taking Ping'er and Xiao Hong and lightly drifting into the inner room to change.

After Fengjie left, Qingwen caught up with Jia Lian and asked in a coquettish tone, "Second Master, are you going to take Second Mistress and the others to the palace to kowtow to the Emperor Emeritus's coffin later? Can you take me with you too? I also want to go to the palace to see the grand occasion."

“I can take you with me. But I can’t guarantee I’ll keep you with me forever. I might have other things to attend to after I enter the palace.”

You must stay close to the princess and the others, otherwise I won't be responsible if they get lost.

"No way. Hehe, Second Master, don't worry, I will definitely stay close to the Princess and the others."

"Xiangling, come along too."

Although Xiangling didn't really want to go to the palace to see the world, she was still very happy that Jia Lian thought of her.

On the contrary, Qingwen glanced at Xiangling with some displeasure.

That brat never utters a word when she gives, yet she always gets the benefits without a word, taking advantage of me so much. (End of Chapter)