The Second Master of the Red Chamber

"What did you say?"

Mrs. Zhen looked at the man in front of her, making sure she had heard correctly, and immediately frowned: "Brother, what do you mean by that?"

Facing the scrutiny of Mrs. Zhen, Jia Lian felt somewhat uncomfortable, but in order to successfully achieve his goal, he could only remain calm.

He rolled up one of his sleeves and said seriously, "As you have heard, Huan'er is now my woman. I have already promised Huan'er that I will marry her in a few years.

I did not discuss such an important matter with my aunt first. It is my fault. I would like to apologize to my aunt first.

But I hope that my aunt, considering Huan'er's devotion to me and my love for her, can help me a little."

As Jia Lian spoke, he stood up and bowed to Mrs. Zhen.

The expression on Mrs. Zhen's face was very exciting.

She knew that her daughter liked Jia Lian. After all, as long as she was not blind, she could see that her daughter relied on and trusted her brother.

At first she didn't think much of it. It was normal for a young girl, just beginning to fall in love, to admire a young man who was so outstanding and otherworldly.

She just didn't expect that, just a moment of carelessness, things seemed to be developing in a direction she had not expected.

Jia Lian said in his previous sentence that Huan'er was already his, and now he made it clear that she was already his woman!

The other person has explained it so clearly, what else is there for her to not understand?
The good cabbages that she had worked so hard to grow were eaten by someone else without her knowing!

No wonder Jia Lian got off his daughter's carriage just now. No wonder his daughter looked at Jia Lian with eyes full of affection. When she heard that Jia Lian wanted to stay for dinner, she was so excited that she almost jumped up.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something.

But what to say?

Scold the other person?
Not to mention whether she dared to commit rebellion given Jia Lian's status, even given the current situation of the Zhen family, she did not dare to offend Jia Lian, who could speak in front of the saint at any time.

Besides, just looking at the way my daughter seems to be more dependent on Jia Lian than before, I know that this matter is probably not Jia Lian's fault. Maybe my daughter is more proactive.

But no matter what, this matter involves my daughter's innocence and life, and it cannot be easily covered up.

After thinking for a while, Mrs. Zhen said with a stern face, "Brother, do you know what you are talking about? I handed Huan'er over to you because of the close relationship between our two families and my trust in you.

Now you say this to me, don't you think it's a mean act?"

Jia Lian's expression became more humble and sincere after hearing this: "Auntie, I was not thoughtful enough in this matter. Please forgive me. But now that things have come to this, I don't intend to evade my responsibility. If you have any instructions, I will do it as long as I can do it."

The grandson of the emperor, the first duke, bowed and saluted to her, a fourth-rank imperial edict, with such courtesy that Mrs. Zhen was a little overwhelmed.

The words she wanted to say were no longer logical. She coughed lightly and said, "You should get up first..."

"Thank you, aunt."

After Jia Lian straightened up, he still stood there. His tall figure standing next to her put a lot of pressure on her.

But the other party seemed to be ready to be punished and allowed to be beaten or scolded, and she really didn't know how to respond.

After a moment of silence, she said, "Please sit down..."

His tone had unconsciously returned to its previous softness.

"Yes."

Jia Lian did not act pretentiously. He sat back down upon hearing this, as if all his previous humble behavior was an illusion.

Seeing this, Mrs. Zhen knew that she had fallen into Jia Lian's delaying tactic, but the atmosphere was already like this, and it seemed too deliberate for her to act angry.

So she vaguely understood why families like the Lin family and the Xue family were willing to marry their legitimate daughters to Jia Lian.

He has a high enough status, is talented, and behaves with courtesy and propriety. Is there anything that such a person cannot achieve as long as he wants?
Thinking of the girls from the Lin and Xue families, Mrs. Zhen sighed for her daughter again.

To be honest, if there hadn't been a "strong man" occupying Jia Lian's inner chamber, she really wouldn't mind making this a good thing after her daughter's plan to become the prince's concubine became a dream.

"When did it happen between you and Huan'er?"

"It's today."

"today?"

Mrs. Zhen was speechless. She was going to leave for the south tomorrow morning, but she was delayed for a day and something like this happened. How could she explain this to her father and the old lady when she returned?

"How do you plan to arrange Huan'er?"

"With all the things that happened in the capital, I'm sure my aunt is worried about leaving Huan'er in the capital.

It just so happens that I still have some things to deal with right now, so why not let my aunt and Huan'er go back to Nanjing first. After I finish the things on my hands, I will go to Nanjing in person to bring Huan'er home.

What does Aunt think?

When Mrs. Zhen heard this, she knew that Jia Lian had not yet figured out how to deal with his daughter.

Yes, she was in Rongguo Mansion last night, but she knew that Jia Lian had just asked for the daughter of the Xue family from the Xue family. If Huan'er was left behind at this time, no matter what tricks he used, it would be difficult to mediate.

But Jia Lian's first sentence was right. Under the current circumstances, she really didn't feel comfortable leaving her daughter with Jia Lian.

So he snorted and said, "Are you so confident that I will hand Huan'er over to you? Even if I am willing, do you think you can get past her father and the old lady at home? You have also been to our house, you should know how much the old lady loves her!
unless……"

Mrs. Zhen stared at Jia Lian, "Unless you cancel the marriage between the Lin family and the Xue family."

Mrs. Zhen did not ask Jia Lian to divorce Feng Jieer, because she knew that was impossible. After all, the Queen Mother herself had failed to persuade Jia Lian to divorce Feng Jieer.

There was nothing she could do.

At the moment, there is a high probability that my daughter has been completely taken advantage of by Jia Lian.

It would be unwise to fall out with Jia Lian at this time, but she could never accept letting her daughter be someone else's mistress.

Faced with the conditions proposed by Mrs. Zhen, Jia Lian did not choose to respond directly.

She looked back at the other person and suddenly smiled, "I also know that it is a bit difficult for my aunt and others to accept this matter at the moment.

How about this, let’s make a pact.”

"What agreement?" Mrs. Zhen asked suspiciously.

"The political situation is turbulent right now. Both my family and the Zhen family are in trouble. This is not a good time for our two families to discuss marriage.

It would be better to take a three-year period.

During these three years, the Zhen family does not have to respond to my request and can carefully weigh the pros and cons.

If after three years, the Zhen family is still unwilling to marry Huan'er to me, and still feels that promising Huan'er to me is a disadvantage, I will never mention this matter again. At that time, no matter how you deal with Huan'er's life, I will no longer interfere.

In exchange, you cannot interfere with Huan'er's freedom during these three years, and you are not allowed to find another marriage for her."

How domineering Jia Lian was. Not to mention that Zhen Yuhuan was deeply in love with him, just the fact that she looked exactly like Daiyu was a reason why Jia Lian would not abandon her.

Three years is nothing more than giving each other some dignity and space.

In fact, even if he wanted to force Zhen Yuhuan to marry him now, the Zhen family would not have much resistance, let alone three years later? With the Zhen family on the decline, Jia Lian was confident that the later it got, the less the Zhen family would have the capital to negotiate with him.

He didn't have to confess this matter to Mrs. Zhen. As he said to Zhen Yuhuan, he would marry her when he had time.

But this would undoubtedly make Zhen Yuhuan suffer. Not only would she have to endure the pain of missing someone, but she would also have to face the pressure of her family to get married. He was really afraid that she, a little girl, could not bear it alone.

This is why Jia Lian stayed here tonight and explained it to Mrs. Zhen.

As long as he can convince the other party, with the support of her biological mother, Zhen Yuhuan's life at home will definitely be much better.

As for his promise not to interfere if the Zhen family does not agree three years later, that is of course not going to count.

If he still behaved properly three years later, the Zhen family would have no chance to resist. If he made a mistake, he would not harm others.

Of course, he was confident that such a possibility would not exist.

Mrs. Zhen had no idea what Jia Lian was thinking about. She was thinking seriously about his proposal.

In fact, from her own perspective, she has no objection to this matter.

During these days in the capital, she had come to realize that the rumors among the people were not groundless. Jia Lian was truly the kind of person who could stir up the situation. Even at the center of power, he still held an important position.

In addition, no one knows a daughter better than her mother, and she knows what her daughter's heart desires.

But after all, the daughter is the face of the Zhen family. If she becomes someone's mistress, especially one outside of several families, it will really damage the reputation of the Zhen family.

If she doesn't handle it well, she will suffer a lot.

Jia Lian's proposal gave her room to maneuver!
As long as Jia Lian is not in a hurry to get the person, she can even keep it a secret from her family.

Anyway, my daughter is still young, and she has just experienced the incident with the crown prince, so I think her family will not be in a hurry to arrange another marriage for her.

Mrs. Zhen's mind became fully active.

As the matriarch of a large family, she certainly doesn't think like an ordinary mother, she will also consider the family.

If the Zhen family is destined to suffer a disaster, the relationship between their daughter and Jia Lian is naturally an extra layer of insurance.

If Jia Lian can lend a helping hand to the Zhen family, there will naturally be no problem in marrying their daughter to him in the future.

If the Zhen family had not been implicated, they would have been able to rise to greater heights in the future. Or if the bomb about Jia Lian's status as the grandson of the emperor had been revealed one day and not been as prosperous as it is now, there would naturally be no need for the Zhen family to do business at a loss.

On the whole, since their daughter has obviously lost her virginity to Jia Lian, it would be beneficial for the Zhen family to leave a few years of buffer time.

What's more, how could Mrs. Zhen not see Jia Lian's confidence?

Considering Jia Lian's identity as the emperor's grandson, she couldn't help but have more fantasies.

As the person involved, Jia Lian must know more than outsiders like them.

Whether Jia Lian and Emperor Ning Kang completely eliminate the rift between uncle and nephew and are reused in the future, or the emperor comes out of seclusion one day to regain power, it means that Jia Lian's status will become invaluable.

If that's the case, having a princess from the royal family, even if she's not legitimate, is definitely not a loss...

After thinking about a thousand ideas in her mind, Mrs. Zhen finally said, "Okay, I can agree to this agreement. But you also have to promise that during this period, you must not reveal your relationship with Huan'er to anyone, which will affect Huan'er's innocence."

Jia Lian smiled slightly: "That's natural."

The agreement was reached, and the two tacitly agreed not to discuss the issue any further.

After a moment of silence, Mrs. Zhen said, "My brother, it seems that there is something missing in what you said before..."

Jia Lian raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Mrs. Zhen no longer hid her feelings when she saw this, and asked directly, "If the emperor really brings up the past, how should we respond?"

If the Crown Prince incident had not happened, she would not be too worried. Because this kind of old account accumulated over generations already had a set of mature solutions and reasonable explanations.

However, the Ningkang Emperor is obviously not as easy to talk to as the previous emperors. He is a ruthless man who dares to launch a coup and force the emperor to abdicate.

If the other party really wants to bring up old grievances at this time, they might really take advantage of the prince's case to deal with their Zhen family. By then, they will have no place to reason.

At the same time, she couldn't help feeling a little scared.

At this point she also understood why Jia Lian had stopped talking halfway before.

She didn't know whether Jia Lian's mention of "digging up old scores" was something she had heard of or was simply a handle he was looking for to gain control over her Zhen family.

None of this matters.

It can be imagined that if she had fallen out with Jia Lian because of her daughter's matter just now, regardless of whether the court really wanted to bring up old issues, Jia Lian had the ability to make this happen.

Isn’t it just a matter of a memorial?

So I actually felt a bit of admiration and gratitude towards Jia Lian.

In any case, Jia Lian did not bring the threat to the surface, giving her the last bit of dignity and respect as a mother.

Now that she has agreed to Jia Lian's promise, it is equivalent to fulfilling Jia Lian's wish. Naturally, she wants to ask for a solution to this matter, because she feels that this matter may very likely come true in the future.

Jia Lian smiled inwardly when he noticed Mrs. Zhen's expression. Many things are known to each other, which is much more efficient than speaking directly.

He no longer kept the secret, and said seriously: "If my aunt trusts me, after returning to Nanjing, I will persuade my uncle to do everything he can to make up for the deficit in the government. At least, make up for the deficit in the national treasury, and then submit a memorial to explain in detail to Your Majesty the origins of the other deficits, so as not to give the palace a chance to make trouble.

This matter must be handled quickly, because once the news spreads that the palace is going to dig up old scores, His Majesty may not appreciate it if the Zhen family does this again."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhen looked worried.

Even if it's just the ones in the palace, it's not a small number.

Seeing this, Jia Lian sighed and said, "At this moment, which is more important, wealth or the safety of the family? I hope my aunt and uncle can make the clear choice."

Jia Lian didn't think that the Zhen family would be without money.

As the manager of the three major weaving bureaus in Jinling Province, the Zhen family's wealth was famous throughout the world.

To be honest, Jia Lian couldn't understand why a family like this had to borrow money from the national treasury and the palace every year.

Maybe there are too many people in his family who are just living a life of idleness and waiting to die, or maybe he feels uncomfortable when he sees everyone else taking advantage of this.

In short, the Zhen family, who had enjoyed the emperor's favor for generations, owed the government money. Perhaps they themselves could not remember how much they had owed, or perhaps they had never thought about paying it back.

The imperial court certainly has no intention of bringing up old scores right now, but with Jia Lian's foresight, he feels that it is only a matter of time before Emperor Ning Kang collects funds from this direction.

Because of his close ties with the Zhen family, Jia Lian does not want the Zhen family to fall, at least not because of external things like money.

But all he could do was give a reminder in advance.

If the Zhen family really values ​​money over life, they are doomed to perish.

...(End of chapter)