The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 777 Aunt Xue's Confession

Not long after Jia Lian arrived at Fengzao Palace, Zhen's mother and daughter followed.

After the polite congratulations, Zhen Yuhuan hugged Jia Lian's arm and whispered, "Brother, I will be returning to Nanjing in two days, but I haven't said goodbye to Sister Yingchun and Sister Lin yet..."

Jia Lian understood what was meant, but he was still thinking about the matter between Chai and Dai, and didn't want to cause any trouble, so he smiled and said, "You have to ask your mother's opinion on this."

Zhen Yuhuan immediately looked at her mother.

Mrs. Zhen saw her daughter holding Jia Lian's arm in an extremely intimate manner, and she understood a little bit of her daughter's feelings.

While she admired Jia Lian's charm, she did not object to her daughter being close to Jia Lian. After all, given Jia Lian's current status and position, it would be a great fortune for her daughter and the Zhen family to have a good brother-sister relationship with him.

Especially for the Zhen family at the moment!

"Before we go back, we should go and pay our respects to the old lady. But we still have some things to sort out, so let's wait until later to pay our visit."

Mrs. Zhen gave her daughter a look and taught her a lesson: "Your brother has just been promoted to the title, so he must have a lot of things to do. Don't bother him."

"Oh."

Zhen Yuhuan subconsciously loosened her grip. Seeing that Jia Lian didn't say anything but just smiled at her, she knew that her mother was right.

Although she felt a little disappointed that she couldn't go back with Jia Lian, she immediately became happy when she heard her mother say that she would visit later.

"That's fine." Jia Lian stood up, touched Zhen Yuhuan's head to comfort her, and then said goodbye to Yuanchun.

When he went to the Daming Palace to bid farewell to Emperor Ningkang, Emperor Ningkang did not see him again. He only let a eunuch come out and let him leave the palace on his own.

Just as Jia Lian was about to go back, a military officer in armor just came out of the South Study.

When he saw Jia Lian, he immediately quickened his pace and caught up with him.

"Your subordinate Zhao Quan pays respects to Duke Rong."

"Oh, Old Zhao, you are well-informed. You are worthy of being in charge of the Imperial Guards."

"You are joking, sir. The news of your title has spread throughout the palace and outside the palace. It would be difficult for me to not know about it."

Jia Lian curled his lips and said, "Tell me, what do you want from me?"

"Haha, it's nothing. The main thing is that you are so elusive. It's rare to see you here, so how can I not pay my respects to you?

Although I was unable to go to Tiewang Mountain last time, I have heard about the glorious deeds of the Lord.

If it weren't for the Duke's decisiveness in the face of danger, leading the troops to rescue the emperor and resolve the danger of Tiewang Mountain, not to mention that your majesty's great cause would be difficult to accomplish, I'm afraid that all of us who follow your majesty would have died without a burial place.

Now, among those of us around His Majesty, who among us does not feel grateful to the Duke, who among us does not bow down in admiration?

It is a pity that I was ordered to patrol the capital and was unable to see the elegance of the Lord with my own eyes. I am deeply regretful. "

Jia Lian laughed when he heard this.

He could finally hear that this guy, in addition to flattering and building relationships, also had some self-boasting in his words.

The general idea is that you, Jia Lian, have made great contributions to His Majesty and are a popular figure around His Majesty. I, Zhao Quan, have been ordered to guard the capital and am doing well around His Majesty. It's time for us two brothers to get closer.

"Lord Zhao, you are too kind. We are all just doing our duty for His Majesty. There is no difference between you and me. It is our responsibility and not worth bragging about."

"You are right, sir. I am too superficial."

"But just now, Old Zhao, you mentioned patrolling the capital. I have something that I am very dissatisfied with you for."

Zhao Quan was startled and asked hurriedly, "I wonder what you are talking about, sir?"

"After I returned to Beijing, I heard that not long ago...about the second day of the turmoil in Beijing, a group of guys who claimed to be Jinyiwei, in the name of arresting rebels, carried out large-scale extortion in the city.

If they did not offer a considerable amount of money as they wished, they would force their way into the house and search and seize the property.

How is such behavior different from that of a bandit? "

When Zhao Quan heard this, a hint of unnaturalness suddenly appeared on his face.

The Jinyiwei was an informal army, and most of its recruits were local knights and militiamen, commonly known as idle people in society.

Even if these people joined the Jinyiwei and became the emperor's personal army, it was difficult for them to change their bandit nature.

In addition, most of the cases involved confiscating property and exterminating families. How difficult would it be to expect these people to behave themselves?

Therefore, Zhao Quan knew that what Jia Lian said must be true. Not only that, as the commander of the Jinyiwei, he also got a lot of the money that those people "seized".

It's just that the people below are all smart people who know which families can be touched and which ones can't be touched. He himself has repeatedly told them to be more restrained.

Unexpectedly, the news even reached Jia Lian's ears. The key point is, Jia Lian still cares about such a small matter and even scolds him for it?

For a moment, Zhao Quan couldn't help but become suspicious.

"Well, I didn't know about this... Could it be a misunderstanding? After all, the capital was in chaos during those days, with rebels and traitors everywhere. It's possible that some scoundrels took advantage of the situation and ruined the reputation of our Jinyiwei."

"Perhaps. But Lord Zhao may not know that my wife's family has an aunt who married into the Xue family in Jinling.

The mistress of the Xue family now lives in the capital, just behind the Jia Mansion.

On the day of the incident, the Xue family was also among those being blackmailed.

The day I returned to Beijing, my wife told me about this incident, and I was very angry at the time.

No matter what, the Jinyiwei are the emperor's personal army and they work for His Majesty. How could they do such banditry and robbery? Wouldn't it ruin His Majesty's reputation?

Now that I hear what Lord Zhao said, I realize that I may have misunderstood. Please forgive me, Lord Zhao."

Zhao Quan is not stupid, so how could he not know what is going on after hearing this?

He had also heard of the Xue family, a century-old imperial merchant family with a reputation for being wealthy. It was probably because those people below had set their sights on the Xue family in the first place, and now Jia Lian was standing up for the Xue family.

Seeing that Jia Lian still bowed to him and acted as if he had misunderstood, Zhao Quan felt even more fearful.

This is also a smiling tiger. It seems that his success today is not entirely due to his good family background and his ability to flatter His Majesty...

"I have remembered what you said, Your Excellency. Please rest assured, no matter if someone is impersonating the Jinyiwei or there are really people in the Jinyiwei who are ignoring the law and amassing wealth, I will get to the bottom of it and give you an explanation." Zhao Quan said solemnly.

Jia Lian smiled and bowed, saying, "Lord Zhao, you are too kind. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave first."

"Go slowly, my Lord."

Watching Jia Lian's back gradually disappearing under the white jade steps, Zhao Quan slowly stood up with his eyes slightly narrowed.

As the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the nominal boss, holding great power, he was not afraid of Jia Lian.

However, Jia Lian had many identities, and in this situation, not only was Jia Lian not dealt with, but he was instead given a higher title by Emperor Ning Kang. This surprised him and also gave him a strong sense of fear.

It is natural that you should not offend such a powerful character who is at the center of the storm but is not defeated by it. It would be even better if you can make friends with him.

After all, they are all close ministers of Emperor Ningkang, and it is for the sake of the overall situation to build a good relationship with them. Therefore, he will definitely give Jia Lian's instructions. Because he is in the wrong in this matter, if Jia Lian reports it to Emperor Ningkang, although Emperor Ningkang may not do anything to him for such a small matter, it is still not a good thing.

……

When the sound of horse hooves trampled through the long street and rang out in front of the Xue family's door, Aunt Xue straightened her spirits and went out to greet them.

Seeing Jia Lian walking towards her alone through the ceremonial gate with the gait of a dragon and a tiger, Aunt Xue actually felt that Jia Lian was more handsome and natural today than before, and there seemed to be a noble and sacred aura surrounding him that made people dare not look at him.

An almost flattering smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

"I didn't know that you were coming, my lord. I'm sorry I didn't come to greet you. I hope you won't blame me."

Facing Aunt Xue's pretentious courtesy, Jia Lian, who had already walked to her side, simply stretched out a hand to support her casually, and then asked, "Where are Bao and Lin?"

"Miss Lin heard that you were conferred the title of Duke, and she knew that you would not have time to accompany them out of the city to play, so she went back early.

Baoyatou is taking a bath."

Taking a shower again? Didn’t you just take a shower last night?

As if she could see what Jia Lian was thinking, Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Bao has always been afraid of heat since she was young. She takes a bath almost every day in the summer. However, she is not usually so diligent. I don't know what happened today."

Aunt Xue said this and looked at Jia Lian meaningfully.

How could Jia Lian not understand? It was probably the same idea as women dressing up to please themselves.

In fact, Jia Lian didn't know that although Baochai had taken a bath last night, his actions had made the young girl feel uncomfortable all over.

But when he returned to Hengwu Garden, it was already late at night. He didn't want Ying'er and the others to notice anything, so he had to force himself to go to bed.

Then I tossed and turned the whole night.

Having just seen Daiyu go back, Baochai thought that Jia Lian would probably come to Xue's house again, so she wanted to take the opportunity to rest and recuperate, so as to face Jia Lian in the best condition.

When she came into the room, she saw Jia Lian sitting down without saying a word. Aunt Xue asked the maid who was pouring tea to leave, then walked to Jia Lian and asked anxiously, "Lian'er, are you still angry with me for what happened yesterday?"

Jia Lian put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Aunt Xue, smiling and saying, "Aunt, when you wanted to break the promise before, did you ever think about the situation today?"

It's not that Jia Lian is a villain who has succeeded, but it's because Aunt Xue is a good person in many ways, except that she is a little short-sighted.

This is the attitude we should have towards this kind of people.

Aunt Xue's eyes showed a hint of embarrassment, but in fact she was already regretting it deeply in her heart.

Originally, her relationship with Jia Lian was going well, but it almost backfired because of her misjudgment.

She glanced at the door, then came straight to Jia Lian, pushed up her skirt, and knelt down.

"Lian'er, it's your aunt's fault. I was blind and almost made a big mistake.

But this is all my fault, and has nothing to do with Bao Yatou. She has always believed that you will not lose, and that you will not let her down, so she never thought of breaking the contract.

If you are angry, you can vent it on me, but don't make things difficult for Bao girl, okay?"

Aunt Xue supported her knees with her hands and raised her head, looking like a child admitting her mistake. Where was the dignity of an elder?

Even Jia Lian did not expect Aunt Xue to be such a bachelor.

Even though she was asked to kneel last night, she was still angry and naturally had a strong attitude when she thought about how she had given her heart and soul to the Xue family and had put in so much effort, but the other party wanted to destroy the bridge after crossing it.

Now that his anger has subsided, he feels a little uncomfortable seeing Aunt Xue like this.

After all, Aunt Xue is not only Sister Feng's aunt, but also Baochai's biological mother. According to his feelings for Baochai, she is his mother-in-law.

So he was too embarrassed to hold back any longer and just said, "Since you know you are wrong, don't do such chilling things again.

Otherwise, no matter how much I like Bao Yatou, I may not have the same patience towards the Xue family.

All right, get up now. It would be bad if Bao Yatou saw you."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue thought to herself, "Now you know that it would be bad if Bao saw you. You were so fierce last night. Why didn't you say this when you asked people to kneel down?"

Anyway, her dignity had been torn away by Jia Lian long ago, and there was no one else in the room. As long as she could eliminate the barriers in Jia Lian's heart and restore Jia Lian's attitude towards the Xue family, her and Baochai, she would do anything.

Not only did she not stand up as she was told, but she pretended to kneel down and took two steps forward, holding Jia Lian's legs with both hands, and said flatteringly: "Okay, auntie will follow your instructions and arrangements from now on, and will never do anything to let you down again...

Um... you only took Bao and Lin out of town today. Are you planning to reveal Bao's identity to Feng and the others?"

Looking at Aunt Xue who had squeezed between his legs, Jia Lian narrowed his eyes slightly.

Based on his understanding of women and Aunt Xue, he did not think that the other party did this unintentionally.

Is it because he can't stand the loneliness or because he has tasted the sweetness of it, or is there something else in his mind?

Jia Lian was too lazy to guess, he only knew that Baochai might come looking for him at any time.

Therefore, after subconsciously reaching out and touching Aunt Xue's still smooth face, he stood up and said, "You guessed right, from now on you can also announce your relationship with me to the public.

I will find someone to draw up a marriage certificate and invite a respected person to act as a matchmaker. If your aunt has any ideas, you can also bring them up and I will try my best to satisfy them.

Okay, the ground is cold, you better get up, I'll go outside and wait for Baoyatou."

After Jia Lian finished speaking, he left the room, leaving Aunt Xue alone, looking dazed and resentful.

Suddenly, Aunt Xue smiled gently, stroked her forehead and stood up.

She also thought that he was really lawless and had eaten everything in his possession, and that he had eaten her and her daughter to death.

It turns out that he also gets scared sometimes.

Although her actions just now were mainly to express her repentance, she was also trying to seek revenge.

Wasn't he so capable last night? I really thought he was not afraid of being caught by Baoyatou!

She was the one who was worried before, but after what happened last night, she knew exactly where Baochai stood in Jia Lian's heart.

So she stopped worrying.

He even wanted to take the initiative and tease Jia Lian.

Jia Lian's reaction made her feel a little regretful, but more of it was admiration and relief.

I admire Jia Lian for being a man who can accomplish great things and cannot be swayed by momentary impulse.

The relief was that she had chosen the right person from the beginning and let Baoyatou follow him, which was a good decision.

Thinking of what Jia Lian said about making her relationship with him public from today, Aunt Xue smiled even more happily.

After this, who dares to look down on the Xue family, who dares to covet the Xue family's wealth...