The Second Master of the Red Chamber

The next morning, Yingchun, Tanchun and others came to Jia Lian's courtyard to visit him.

"Why are you here so early?"

At that time, Sister Feng was setting up the venue for a family banquet in the flower hall. When she saw her sisters-in-law coming, she hurriedly greeted them with a smile.

After the greetings, Yingchun and others asked where Jia Lian was.

"He went to his grandparents' home early in the morning. But before he left, he repeatedly told me to prepare plenty of wine and food to entertain you.

How could I not obey your order? I thought that although the main courtyard was large, it was not suitable for holding a banquet. It would be better to open all the doors on all four sides of the hall so that I could enjoy the various flowers and plants in the courtyard."

Upon hearing this, Yingchun and others couldn't help but look around.

Of course they had seen Feng Jie'er's flower hall. Although it was not as big as the one owned by Lady Jia behind Rongqing Hall, it was also well managed by Feng Jieer.

Now all the flowers and superfluous furnishings in the hall have been moved out by Sister Feng, and the space has suddenly become more spacious.

The most important thing is that this flower hall was built with steps and is located at a higher elevation. Now, with doors on all four sides wide open, the view is extremely broad.

I think if we have a banquet in this flower hall, we can look up and see the flowers outside. It is indeed more elegant than in the main courtyard.

"Second Madam, we have moved the screen you asked for. Where should we put it?"

"Put it in the corner over there, create a space, and put a low table on it."

"Qingwen, go to Tianxiang Tower and find Mrs. Gu. Tell her that I want her to come over at noon to play a few songs for us. Please be sure to honor her."

Feng Jieer made some simple arrangements and came back. Seeing Yingchun and the others looking at her, she smiled and explained, "Nowadays, the country is in mourning and the family is in mourning, so it is inconvenient to invite a troupe to perform. But it would be too boring for the whole family to just sit and drink, so we invited Gu Dajie to come over. With her playing the music in the back and us drinking in the front, it won't be boring, and it will also allow us to show off our elegance for once."

While chatting and laughing, Sister Feng showed her ability to take care of all kinds of mundane affairs to the fullest, which made Baochai, Tanchun and others nod their heads secretly.

At the same time, a doubt arose in my mind.

I've heard people say before that Lian's second sister-in-law (Sister Feng) is jealous and a typical jealous person.

Everyone has seen Gu Dajie's beauty, a rare beauty in the world. Even the girls like them would find it hard to believe that there is no other connection between her and Second Brother Lian.

But judging from the tone of the second sister-in-law, she was quite polite and respectful to him.

It seems that either others have misunderstood and misjudged Lian's sister-in-law, or Lian's brother's brilliance has been too dazzling in recent years, so dazzling that Lian's sister-in-law has put aside all her prejudices and only wants to be able to serve Lian's brother with peace of mind.

It was still early, Jia Lian was not at home, and Feng Jie was busy, so Yingchun and others decided to go to Rongqing Hall first to pay their respects to Lady Jia.

Coincidentally, Lady Jia was entertaining guests, so Yingchun and others hid in the inner hall and waited, secretly eavesdropping on the adults' conversation.

In the main hall of Rongqing Hall, there were quite a few guests coming to visit Lady Jia.

They are all well-known wives of wealthy families in Beijing.

Most of these people were relatives and friends of the Jia family, who came to inquire about the news because of the rumors about Jia Lian.

In response to these people's questions, Grandmother Jia's answer was the same as what she had said to Jia Lian last night, only it was more tactful and implicit.

In a nutshell, everything the emperor said was true and correct.

Naturally, this result caused all the wives to sigh and even secretly envy.

In fact, to nobles and officials like them, how important is it to have clean blood?
If the Jia family helped someone else raise a child, it would become a huge joke and cause people to laugh at them if it got out.

But if the child is from the royal family, or is a legitimate prince or grandson of the emperor, then it would be a different matter.

After all, just this connection with the royal family is something that other families cannot even dream of.

Not to mention, this prince of the royal family is famous all over the world and has first-class abilities. If he is granted the title of prince or duke in the future, wouldn't the Jia family become prosperous with this relationship?

Although the Jia family is quite prosperous now.

But those who are familiar with the Jia family know that much of the credit for the family’s current prosperity can be attributed to Jia Lian.

Otherwise, with those unfilial sons of the Jia family, it would not take many years for this wealthy family with two sons to fall into complete decline.

It just so happened that the person who saved the Jia family from decline was not their bloodline, but was picked up from the royal family. The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

Why don't they have such luck?

Of course, in addition to those who are seeking information, there are also a few who have ulterior motives.

Just then, a woman who was not as pretty as her husband in the hall suddenly said to Grandmother Jia, "I heard that the Xue family in Jinling and your family are old friends, and now a young lady from their family is living in your house?"

Not all the women in the hall had agreed to arrive together, but arrived one after another.

In view of the recent changes in the capital and Tiewang Mountain, they naturally seized the opportunity to inquire about gossip from each other.

It’s no wonder that these ladies actually revealed a lot of eye-catching secrets during their conversations.

Everyone was talking enthusiastically when Mrs. Mei suddenly talked about something irrelevant, which immediately made them stop talking.

Grandmother Jia also looked more serious.

Although she had not been involved in household affairs for a long time, she knew that the Mei family, a noble and prestigious family, did not have much in common with theirs.

There must be a reason why Mrs. Mei suddenly came to visit her and was quite respectful and flattering in her words.

"You are right. Our family and the Xue family have a long-standing friendship. There is indeed a young lady from their family living in our house now."

Mrs. Mei smiled and said, "To be honest, our master has a close relationship with the second master of the Xue family. They had agreed to marry their children to each other in their early years.

If you think about it this way, our family and yours have a very close relationship."

"Oh, I didn't know that. If that's true, there is indeed a connection."

Grandmother Jia replied indifferently.

Of course she knew about this marriage. After all, she had originally planned to marry Baoqin to her beloved one.

She also knew that the Mei family had long intended to regret the marriage, but she didn't know why they suddenly changed their attitude.

Mrs. Mei seemed not to notice Lady Jia's attitude, and still said with a smile on her face: "Although the second master of the Xue family is gone now, our master still thinks about this marriage and dare not forget it.

I learned that Miss Xue is at home, so our master asked me to visit your house and discuss the marriage."

Grandmother Jia said, "I'm afraid Madam Mei is mistaken. Although Qin'er is living in the mansion now, I just thought that the child is well-behaved, so I stayed to chat with me and relieve my boredom.

Mrs. Xue is not in my house now. They have already moved to another house near my house.

If you want to discuss the marriage, you should go to Xue's house. If you don't know where Xue's house is, I can send someone to lead you there."

Although the Mei family is very influential among the elite, it means nothing to Lady Jia.

Moreover, the Mei family's behavior of wanting to break off the engagement and marry someone else when they saw that the other party was in a weak position really displeased Lady Jia, so her attitude became even colder, and she was almost about to order them to leave.

Mrs. Mei seemed to be unaware of Grandmother Jia's attitude and continued to smile, "Don't blame me, old lady. I just said that my main purpose of coming here to visit you is to discuss marriage with the Xue family, which is secondary...

But since the old lady said that the Xue family lives nearby, why not send someone to invite Mrs. Xue to come over for a chat?"

As the saying goes, one should not hit a smiling person. Mrs. Mei was a lady of noble title after all, so Lady Jia couldn't just chase her away. After hesitating for a while, she ordered someone to invite Aunt Xue.

Before the servant could take the order and leave, a maid came outside to announce, "Madam Xue is here."

Aunt Xue often came to pay her respects to Lady Jia and chat and play cards with her, so Lady Jia was not surprised and directly ordered people to greet her.

When Aunt Xue walked into Rongqing Hall, she was startled to see that the hall was full of people.

"Greetings, old lady... I didn't know that the old lady had a distinguished guest today. I am sorry to bother you, the younger generation."

"What are you talking about, Madam? Please take a seat."

Because Aunt Xue arrived later, and to be honest, her status was the lowest among the guests, Lady Jia did not arrange other seats for her, and Aunt Xue was tactful enough to sit at the end.

After briefly introducing the others, Grandmother Jia pointed at Mrs. Mei and revealed her identity.

Aunt Xue now became serious and greeted Mrs. Mei politely.

When Mrs. Mei saw Aunt Xue, she treated her like a real sister. She walked up to Aunt Xue, took her hand and said, "I've wanted to meet you for a long time, but I never had the chance. Today I finally got my wish."

Aunt Xue pursed her lips, not wanting to say anything.

She wanted to ask, how could you have the nerve to say such a thing?
Not to mention that I have been in Kyoto for two or three years and you have never visited me once. Just say that after Qin'er's mother came to Beijing, we sent letters several times to discuss the marriage, but your Mei family kept delaying and making excuses.

It's obvious that you regret your marriage, but what does it mean when you say this now?
"I came here this time because our master ordered me to discuss the children's marriages with my sister.

Qin's father has passed away, and I heard her mother is also ill. It's not that I'm cruel and don't appreciate people's kindness, but I'm just considering the future of the children. If the marriage is not settled early, if Qin's mother passes away one day, won't the child become a rootless duckweed, and there will be no one to sit in the hall?
Therefore, our master thinks that it is better to arrange this marriage as soon as possible."

After hearing this, Aunt Xue didn't know what to feel.

Yes, if it weren't for Zhuang's poor health, the Xue family wouldn't have been so anxious to send Baoqin to Beijing to discuss marriage, after all, Baoqin was still so young. When a concubine's daughter gets married, it is usually the mother who sits in the hall.

Just like Tanchun, when she gets married in the future, Mrs. Wang will also be the one sitting in the hall.

Sighing, Aunt Xue said, "In that case, let's do as Madam wishes. Qin'er's mother is not in Beijing, and asked me to help negotiate the matter.

Once the wedding date and other matters have been discussed, her mother will go to Beijing in person to see Qin'er off to marry.

Therefore, please take care of all matters, Madam, but if you need anything, I will definitely cooperate and assist you to the fullest extent possible."

Although she didn't know why the Mei family suddenly changed their attitude, no matter what, the Mei family was a noble family, which was a good match for Baoqin, so Aunt Xue was happy to see it happen.

Originally, everyone should be happy at this point, and all the ladies present were about to offer their congratulations.

"This one……"

Mrs. Mei suddenly looked troubled.

Aunt Xue frowned, "But what's the difficulty?"

Mrs. Mei sighed, "I dare not lie to you, madam. Something happened to Qi'er..."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"What's the matter?"

"That's right. It's all our fault for not disciplining him properly. I don't know how Qi'er caught the prince's eye. He followed the prince to Tiewang Mountain to participate in the royal hunting event..."

Before Mrs. Mei finished her words, everyone in the hall changed their expressions.

In recent days, there have been a lot of ups and downs in the outside world, and a lot of things have happened, even many prominent people have died.

But the most shocking and frightening of all these things is this:
Tiewang Mountain, the prince is plotting treason!
Just now they were discussing that the prince's rebellion had failed and he had died, which made everyone in the capital feel insecure, fearing that for some reason they would be labeled as a traitor by the court and be purged.

I heard that there are Jinyiwei out in the city today arresting people!
Thinking of this, everyone looked at Mrs. Mei as if she were a vicious snake.

Mrs. Mei said hurriedly, "It's not what you think. We have already found out clearly that my son did not participate in the rebellion. He just went to Tiewang Mountain by mistake. In fact, he knew nothing about the prince's rebellion, and he did not commit any rebellious acts.

After the emperor returned to the capital yesterday, the palace issued an order to execute a large number of rebels. I heard that the blood flowed like a river in front of the Meridian Gate...

But my son is not among them. Until now, my son has only been detained in the detention center, which can also prove that my son did not participate in the rebellion! "

When everyone heard this, their expressions eased a little.

The so-called detention center is where prisoners are temporarily detained when there is a major case involving many people and there is not enough space in the prison.

After all, not just anyone is worthy of being sent to the Tianlao or the Ministry of Justice prison.

It can also be understood that people who are detained in detention centers usually have lighter crimes or are simply implicated people.

The emperor returned to Beijing yesterday and ordered the execution of a group of "prince rebels" who were arrested by the Jinyiwei earlier.

Naturally, the majority of these so-called prince's rebels are the emperor's men, and those who are related to the prince account for a very small proportion.

After all, others don’t know whether the prince is plotting treason, so how could Emperor Ning Kang not know?
Even if the prince did rebel against him in the end, it was only a spur-of-the-moment act. Almost all the people involved were killed in Tiewang Mountain.

Next, Emperor Ning Kang would certainly not seriously hunt down the prince's followers. At most, he would kill a few symbolically to deal with the people of the world.

Emperor Ning Kang would only kill those who were stubborn or posed a threat to him, as well as those members of the retired emperor's party.

Even though Mrs. Mei swore and swore, the crime involved was treason after all. Everyone in the hall quietly moved away from her, fearing that they would be implicated.

Aunt Xue's face turned pale as she looked at her angrily.

Well, you tried every means to delay it before, but now that something has happened, you remember this marriage. Do you really think that my Xue family is easy to bully?

If Aunt Xue had not been kind and well-mannered, she would have definitely cursed at Mrs. Mei.

Even so, she still asked with a gloomy face: "Since Qi'er is now in prison, why are you discussing marriage with me? Shouldn't this matter be discussed after Qi'er is released from prison?"

Mrs. Mei pretended to wipe away tears. "We understand what my sister said, but the lackeys of the Jinyiwei are so hateful. No matter how many ways our master and I have tried and how many benefits we have promised, they just refuse to let Qi'er out..."

At this time, Mrs. Wang, who was originally just standing beside Lady Jia to entertain the guests, suddenly understood what Mrs. Mei meant.

Sure enough, Mrs. Mei suddenly knelt down in front of Aunt Xue and said, "Madam, please save Qi'er's life for the sake of her engagement to Qin'er. Although Qi'er has not been punished yet, you never know when the order to punish her will come down. When that happens, the damn Northern Pacification Office will not care whether you are innocent or not. I'm afraid they will kill you all at once..."

Aunt Xue said angrily, "You all have no solution, how can I save you? I have no official position, no..."

At this point, Aunt Xue suddenly realized something and looked up at Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang.

Mrs. Mei seemed to be unable to hold back any longer. She did not wait for Aunt Xue to finish her words and immediately said, "Hasn't the Xue family and the Jia family been friends for generations? Besides, my sister is the biological sister of the second wife of the Jia family and the biological aunt of the imperial concubine in the palace.

As long as you are willing to help, there will definitely be a way to save Qi'er's life..."

What could Aunt Xue say? If she still couldn't see the Mei family's intention, she would be too stupid.

No wonder the Mei family did not go directly to the Xue family to discuss marriage, but instead found the Jia family.

So this was her idea. She wanted to use this relationship to get the Jia family to come forward and help her rescue her son!
A clever and shameless calculation, but also reasonable.

Yes, how could they take the Xue family seriously now?

Aunt Xue didn't say anything, not only because she felt insulted, but also because she knew reason and propriety.

If she really went to ask Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang for help for Mei Qi, then the good impression she had worked so hard to accumulate in front of Lady Jia over the years would probably be gone immediately.

Mrs. Mei didn't seem to take Aunt Xue's attitude seriously. Seeing that Aunt Xue didn't express her opinion, she immediately turned around and kowtowed to Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang.

"Old Madam and Madam, please be merciful. For the sake of our relationship and the fact that we are both from a family of scholars, please save my Qi'er's life. My master and I will always remember the kindness of Old Madam and Madam, and will repay you in the future!"

Mrs. Mei was very smart. She knew that families like the Jia family (who started out as military men) wanted to get rid of the label of nouveau riche and gain a reputation for passing on the tradition of farming and studying. Therefore, people like Jia Zheng tried their best to make their son study.

She gave the Jia family the title of "scholarly family" right from the start, which was a compliment to the Jia family. After all, there were not many families more worthy of the title of "scholarly family" than the Mei family, which had produced several Hanlin scholars, and there were not many people who were more authoritative in their evaluation of this than the Mei family.

She also promised to repay generously with the reputation of their Mei family.

Given the Mei family's status in the literati circle, she believed that the Jia family would definitely attach importance to and be willing to help with this small favor.

She felt that she had already humbled herself. After all, the Mei family had mostly made friends with the most honest people in the court, and few of them could have a say around the emperor. Moreover, when those people heard that the case involved the prince, they all avoided her and refused to help.

There was no other choice, so they turned their attention to the Jia family.

The Jia family is not only a royal family, but also has the help of the imperial concubine in the palace. And the Jia family also has a Jia Lian!
Seeing that Lady Jia and Lady Wang were silent, and obviously unwilling to help like everyone else, Mrs. Mei knelt down again and said to Aunt Xue, "Please help me say a few words, Madam.

Madam, rest assured, as long as you can help say a word, I swear on behalf of our master that after Qi'er comes out, he will marry Qin'er immediately. If you break this oath, my Mei family will be cut off from the world of scholars in the future!"

Hearing this, Aunt Xue hesitated again.

It is an indisputable fact that the Xue family has declined, which is actually the reason why the second master of the Xue family tried hard to establish a relationship with the Mei family.

Given the Mei family's reputation in the literati circle, if Baoqin marries into the family, it will be of additional help in case any of the Xue family's younger generations become successful and enter the officialdom in the future.

If it is true as Mrs. Mei said that he is just implicated and can be easily rescued, then it is not impossible...

Isn't it because of mutual assistance that the aristocratic families can establish a solid relationship?
Aunt Xue looked at Mrs. Wang, wanting to hear what she thought.

How could Mrs. Wang not understand what her sister meant, but no one knew her daughter's situation in front of the emperor better than her.

Although her daughter did not say it, she could guess from her observation that the old emperor was probably not very fond of her daughter.

It's already difficult for my daughter to support herself in the palace. How can she waste the limited royal favor on this useless Mei family?

Therefore, without giving her sister a chance to speak, Madam Wang said coldly, "According to Taizu's will, the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs. Moreover, the matter involves the prince's rebellion, which is not something that the concubines in the harem can control.

If you, the Mei family, want to save your son, you might as well contact some of the ministers in the court and write to the emperor to explain the charges. This might be of some use."

Mrs. Mei hurriedly said, "Since the Imperial Concubine is not in a position to help, how about asking the Marquis of Zhenyuan to come forward?

With the reputation of Zhenyuan Hou, I am afraid that there is no need to ask the emperor for mercy, and the Northern Pacification Office is willing to release him directly..."

Since the Mei family came up with this plan, they must have done their homework.

They found out that the eldest son of the Xue family had committed a murder before, and the victim was the son of a captain. In other families, this would have been a death sentence, but because of Jia Lian's help, he was sentenced to only one year under the might of heaven!
This is the biggest reason why they acted like this today.

Since Jia Lian was willing to help the Xue family so much, it showed that the Xue family and Jia Lian had a very good relationship. As long as the Mei family used marriage as a bargaining chip, the Xue family could persuade Jia Lian to help.

Jia Lian was able to get away with such a serious crime, so saving her son shouldn't be easy for him, right?
Mrs. Mei's words made most people in the hall nod their heads secretly.

Even Mrs. Wang, who had once been against Jia Lian, felt that with Jia Lian's ability, saving a person imprisoned in the detention center was a piece of cake.

Who can blame this kid for his great fortune? Not only was he able to fool two generations of emperors in the past, but now he has directly transformed himself into a legitimate grandson of the emperor!
Just as Lady Jia and Madam Wang were thinking about whether to use Jia Lian to do the Mei family a favor, another announcement came from outside: "Madam, the wives of the Duke of Zhenguo and the Marquis of Xiangyang are jointly requesting an audience!"

Grandmother Jia and Mrs. Wang were both stunned.

What day is today? Why are all these old friends and relatives coming to visit one after another?
...(End of chapter)