The Second Master of the Red Chamber

When Jia Lian appeared in Rongqing Hall, the sisters in the garden were already looking forward to it.

As soon as Jia Lian finished greeting Jia's mother, Xiangyun couldn't wait to ask, "Second Brother Lian, it's already past noon, when are we leaving?"

Dressed in red, the tomboy-like Xiangyun looks cute and lively.

Jia Lian couldn't help but touch the bun on her head and said with a smile, "Any time is fine."

After saying this, Jia Lian raised his head, looked at Baoqin beside Baochai, and waved to her.

Baoqin didn't understand what was going on, but she still moved forward.

Jia Lian then handed her the marriage certificate which he had kept in his sleeve.

"This is……"

Not only Baoqin was puzzled, but people like Tanchun also came over to take a look.

Jia Lian said, "The eldest son of the Mei family has been involved in the case of the crown prince and has no hope of returning home. The Mei family cannot bear to ruin your life, so just now Mei Hanlin came to the mansion in person to return the marriage certificate, stating that the marriage is over and the two families can marry freely from now on."

Everyone was stunned by Jia Lian's words. How could this be possible?

Although breaking off an engagement is not absolutely rare, it shouldn't be done so casually, right?

Moreover, most of the time when an engagement is cancelled, it is because the two families have a quarrel and part ways on bad terms. How could the Mei family take the initiative to cancel the engagement in order not to delay the girl because their son was in jail? Are they so kind?

Even Jia's mother, who was hugging Jia Baoyu and caressing him, was startled and said to Baoqin, who was still stunned, "Qin girl, let me have a look."

Baoqin, holding the marriage certificate in her hand, didn't know how to react, walked back in a daze and handed the marriage certificate to Lady Jia.

Grandmother Jia slowly opened it and took a look at it. Soon a smile appeared on her face and she said, "Yes, it's your marriage certificate."

Most of the sisters in the room had never seen what a marriage certificate looked like. When they saw Lady Jia smile, they all came forward to take a look.

Unfortunately, Grandmother Jia handed it to Yuanyang next to her and asked her to repack it. Then she said to Baoqin, "Keep it and give it to your wife when you go back. It's up to your wife to decide whether to seal it or destroy it. In short, from now on, you will have nothing to do with the Mei family."

Grandmother Jia had always loved Baoqin. Now that Baoqin's marriage had been cancelled, the biggest obstacle to her taking Baoqin as her grandson's wife had been removed, and she looked at Baoqin with even more doting eyes.

He pulled Baoqin into his arms and hugged Baoqin and Jia Baoyu on his left and right.

Baoqin started to feel shy at this time. She took the marriage certificate from Yuanyang and quietly put it in her sleeve so that no one could see it.

Jia Baoyu, on the other hand, was staring in amazement at Baoqin, whose face was so clean and flawless that it seemed unreal and so close to him.

The others in the hall had already started discussing it. Xiangyun asked Jia Lian out of curiosity, "Why did the Mei family cancel the engagement and not go to the Xue family, but instead sent the marriage certificate to you?"

In response, Jia Lian smiled but said nothing.

Tanchun hurriedly pulled Xiangyun.

Xiangyun saw the way everyone was looking at her and seemed to realize that she had said something wrong. She smiled awkwardly and shut up.

In fact, everyone has similar questions in their minds.

They still remembered Mrs. Mei's attitude when her request was rejected when she came to visit them before.

Would such a person cancel the marriage immediately because his son got into trouble and he was afraid of delaying the girl?

Even if the Mei family is really so kind, why don't they go to the Xue family to ask for a refund, but instead go to Jia Lian?

No matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem reasonable.

Grandmother Jia said, "I asked him to do this."

"I have discussed this with your aunt before, and I think it is better to cancel Baoqin's marriage.

It's just that your aunt is worried that if she goes to cancel the engagement, Mrs. Mei will make things difficult for her, so I suggest that your second brother Lian help Qin get the marriage certificate back."

In order to stop the criticism, Grandmother Jia explained the whole story.

After hearing this, everyone felt that it made sense.

That's right, if he goes to the Mei family to ask for the marriage certificate back as Lian's second brother, the Mei family will probably give it back whether they are willing to do so or not.

Although I don't know whether Second Brother Lian forced the Mei family, but since Second Brother Lian said that the Mei family was kind and voluntarily returned the items, then they did so out of kindness.

Everyone thought it was natural that breaking off an engagement became easy and simple in Jia Lian's hands.

Even Grandmother Jia sighed inwardly. The matter that she had just entrusted to Jia Lian yesterday was settled early this morning. She really could not help but admire the ability of her adopted grandson to do things.

Then Jia's mother smiled and said to Jia Lian, "Are you going to take Yu'er and the others out of town for an outing? Why don't you ask Baoyu to come along?"

"Didn't Third Sister call him? He said he didn't want to go out."

"You are a brother, but can't you be more tolerant and understanding? He said he didn't want to go, so you really don't care about him and leave him alone at home?"

Facing Grandmother Jia's questioning, Jia Lian shook his head and smiled, looking at Jia Baoyu who was a little embarrassed to look at him, and said with a smile: "Did you hear that? I'm asking you in person now, do you want to go out of the city with us to play?"

Jia Baoyu looked at Jia Lian, then at his grandmother, and finally, facing the hopeful gazes of Tanchun and others, he nodded.

In fact, he didn't want to go out of the city to play, but he was reluctant because he had a strong desire in his heart. Thinking that today was the party organized by Jia Lian and Jia Lian didn't invite him, he went out of his way.

But this morning, when he saw the sisters in the garden packing their bags and heading out with their maids, he regretted it. Otherwise, he would not be here.

When Lady Jia asked him just now, he had actually expressed his desire to go, so Lady Jia helped him hold Jia Lian.

Jia Lian didn't care whether he brought Jia Baoyu with him or not.

Anyway, Jia Baoyu is a harmless person. If it were a wretched man like Xue Pan, he would never be taken away even if he was beaten to death.

Therefore, if he was willing, Jia Lian didn't mind taking him out to play, but if he was upset with him, he was too lazy to serve him.

His patience was only infinite when he was with Daiyu.

Seeing that there were no more obstacles to travel, Xiangyun and others began to urge again.

Grandmother Jia said hurriedly: "Although I don't object to you taking them out to play, but remember to take good care of them and don't let them fall or get hurt.

Also, the accompanying guards must be properly arranged..."

Grandmother Jia was just nagging for nothing. In fact, she knew that Jia Lian was reliable and would not make mistakes. If it were someone else, she would not feel at ease to hand Jia Baoyu over to him.

Soon, Jia Lian brought Jia Baoyu and eight girls from the Grand View Garden, as well as dozens of maids, and rushed out of Rongqing Hall.

Every maid carried a package on her back, more or less, which contained her and her girls' belongings.

Everyone had a smile on their face and they were chatting all the way. The noise they made naturally made the servants in the compound stop to watch and marvel.

……

Despite Jia Lian's special instructions, the trip was not ostentatious, with only seven or eight carriages and dozens of guards and followers.

However, Jia Lian was the focus of attention of all parties, and it was a special period, so as soon as his team left Ningrong Street, the news was heard by several forces.

In the Daming Palace, Emperor Ning Kang had just summoned a few close ministers to discuss a few matters and deal with a group of people. Before he had time to rest, he heard the news that Jia Lian had left the city.

Especially when he heard that Jia Lian seemed to have gone out of town with his brothers and sisters for an outing, he suddenly felt a strong sense of jealousy.

Perhaps sensing the strange look on Emperor Ning Kang's face, Jinyiwei Deputy Commander Chu Jiang said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. As soon as Duke Rong left the city, I have arranged for elite personnel to follow him secretly. They can report to Your Majesty at any time about Duke Rong's movements after he left the city!"

Chu Jiang's words seemed to be an attempt to seek credit. After all, this was a critical period, and given Jia Lian's special identity, he was naturally the focus of his attention.

He thought that Emperor Ning Kang thought so too.

Who knew that after hearing this, Emperor Ning Kang just glanced at him and then ordered calmly: "Withdraw your people. From now on, except for necessary information gathering, there is no need to deliberately monitor Jia Lian's movements. Let him do whatever he wants."

As one of the three giants of the Jinyiwei, Chu Jiang naturally understood Emperor Ning Kang's character very well, so he knew that Emperor Ning Kang's look just now clearly showed dissatisfaction.

He was very surprised, because his job was to monitor all officials and even relatives and nobles for Emperor Ningkang. Now Emperor Ningkang had just forced the emperor to abdicate and seized power, and Jia Lian, as the grandson of the emperor who the emperor had high hopes for in the face of danger, was obviously a dangerous person. Wasn't it natural to monitor him?

Why is Emperor Ning Kang dissatisfied?

Especially the last sentence, what does it mean to let him do whatever he wants to do?

Chu Jiang didn’t quite understand, but he knew that this newly promoted Duke Rong had a very different status in Emperor Ning Kang’s heart, so he quickly agreed.

How could he know what Emperor Ning Kang was thinking?

Ever since the Tiewangshan Incident, Jia Lian had always behaved impeccably and demonstrated his absolute loyalty to him. Even when he had renounced his loyalty and taken back all his military power, Jia Lian never complained.

Jia Lian has already done so much. If he knew that he had secretly sent people to monitor him, wouldn't he laugh at him in his heart?

Although he is an emperor, he is also a human being and he cares about his reputation.

Especially in front of such a rare talent like Jia Lian, he must maintain his lofty image, otherwise how can he tame such a fine horse?

Moreover, he really didn't think that Jia Lian would secretly do anything against him.

At that time, when Jia Lian had troops and cannons in his hands, and faced with the earnest recruitment of the retired emperor, he chose to stand on his side without hesitation.

Now he has taken back all his military power, and those who firmly supported the emperor have almost all been killed. Why should Jia Lian regret it at this time?

The only thing that made him hate it was that while he was racking his brains, Jia Lian was actually at home, obsessed with romance...

After sending Chu Jiang away, Emperor Ning Kang became more and more angry, so he ordered Dai Quan: "When he returns to the city, ask him if he has forgotten what he told me at the beginning, about the powerful enemy in the west sea?

Then, pass on my order and order him to choose a date to set off to Tianjin to continue supervising the construction of warships. One year later, I want to see a thousand new warships!"

Hearing Emperor Ning Kang's obviously resentful words, Dai Quan secretly laughed in his heart, but still had to remind him: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten how much money Duke Rong spent on shipbuilding? Most of the silver in the treasury has been used.

Therefore, let alone whether Zhenyuan Hou can build a thousand warships within a year, even if he can, I am afraid that the national treasury cannot afford the consumption..."

Emperor Ning Kang was also so angry that he was confused. Only then did he recall the horror of Jia Lian's shipbuilding.

There was also the ship that Jia Lian had already built, which made him feel extremely distressed, but after seeing the final design, he was extremely satisfied. He had long wanted to see the real appearance of the Zhenyuan...

After thinking for a while, Emperor Ning Kang changed his words and said, "Then let's have three hundred ships, no matter how big or small... Also, tell him to save some money for me. If he asks for too much again, I won't give him a penny. Let him figure it out on his own!"

For some reason, Emperor Ning Kang was anxious and hoped to build a fleet that could go overseas as Jia Lian said. He wanted to see if those barbarians in the West were really as threatening as Jia Lian said... (End of this chapter)