The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 837 Secrets of the Princess's Residence (Part 1)

The carriage slowly drove into Princess Zhaoyang's residence.

Upon arriving at a palace, the palace maid leading the way announced to the carriage road: "Your Highness's bedroom has arrived."

Inside the carriage, Jia Lian took his hand out of the woman's bodice and, ignoring her resentful gaze, lifted the curtain and stepped out.

As soon as he jumped off the carriage, he saw Princess Zhaoyang waiting at the palace gate.

Princess Zhaoyang saw him and immediately walked over, asking, "How was it? Did Father give you any trouble?"

"There was no difficulty, but they gave me a good scolding."

As he spoke, Jia Lian recounted Emperor Ningkang's attitude in the Southern Study to Princess Zhaoyang.

This is simply a normal process of exchanging messages between them.

After hearing this, Princess Zhaoyang took Jia Lian's hand and looked up to comfort him, "Second Brother, you've suffered for my sake..."

In fact, she did not approve of Jia Lian's behavior of provoking the Third Prince.

This move would certainly serve as a warning to others, and it would also make it clear to Emperor Ningkang that they believed the Third Prince was the mastermind behind it all.

But this would undoubtedly anger the Third Prince.

Given the Third Prince's ruthless nature, which hides a knife behind a smile, provoking him would undoubtedly put Jia Lian in danger.

In her view, it would be more beneficial for their grand cause to remain hidden behind the scenes for as long as possible.

However, Jia Lian said that he could not bear the thought of his woman charging into battle while he remained safely hidden in the background.

If he does nothing after the Third Prince bullies his woman with such despicable means, how can he be considered a man?
That's why she stopped trying to stop Jia Lian.

And she was also wondering what she would think if Jia Lian chose a way that was more advantageous to them.
Of course, she wouldn't think that way. She was happy that Jia Lian was safe, and she was even more secretly pleased that Jia Lian had acted impulsively for her sake.

Jia Lian seemed to notice the sparkle in the woman's eyes beside him. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her, then looked down and chuckled:
"What does it mean to feel wronged? For Qingran, I would gladly endure it."

Princess Zhaoyang blushed slightly, broke free from Jia Lian's embrace, and gestured with her eyes to indicate that there were maids around her.

Jia Lian naturally didn't care.

He only made his move after entering the bedchamber. He believed that Princess Zhaoyang, knowing he was coming, would not leave anyone she didn't trust in the bedchamber at this time.

Sure enough, Princess Zhaoyang immediately came closer and whispered, "I've prepared a hot spring for you. Go and take a bath first."

Jia Lian was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. Looking at Princess Zhaoyang, whose body was fragrant and whose hair was slightly damp, he was somewhat surprised.

It should be noted that since the beginning of the Iron Net Mountain incident, Princess Zhaoyang had not been intimate with him, at least not engaging in sexual relations with him.

The last time they met, Jia Lian kissed her when she wasn't expecting him.

Judging from the current situation, could it be that he has come to a realization?

That's fine, it saves him a lot of trouble.

So Jia Lian nodded and left, guided by the maid beside him.

Princess Zhaoyang's residence covers a vast area, but the bathing area is located just behind the sleeping quarters, so it's only a few steps away.

Looking at the "Xiaoyuxuan" plaque hanging above the palace gate, Jia Lian certainly remembered that Princess Zhaoyang had said that this place was originally named Taoyuan Pavilion, which was built by the former Prince Yizhong as a place for intimate relations with his consorts.

Later, Princess Zhaoyang took over the Prince's residence and changed its name to this.

Imagine how carefree and smug the once young and powerful Prince Yizhong must have been, playing and frolicking with his wives.
The place still exists, but the people are long gone.

Although Princess Zhaoyang's takeover brought some new life to this place, it is unknown whether anyone who comes after her will see this place and express the same sentiments as her.
A maid pushed open the palace door, and Jia Lian strode in.

"Welcome, Master."

Upon entering, Jia Lian saw about a dozen palace maids of similar height, dressed in thin gauze, who were quite eye-catching at first glance, kneeling down in front of him.

Their movements were synchronized; each of them touched their forehead to the ground and placed their palms flat on either side, appearing exceptionally respectful and devout.

Jia Lian looked at the maid leading the way and asked, "Why do you call me master?"

He remembered this maid; she was one of the palace maids that Princess Zhaoyang had summoned to serve him on this high platform, and her name seemed to be Yuan Xi.

Upon seeing this, the maid Yuanxi immediately knelt down and replied, "This is the princess's order. The princess said that Rong Gong is the only male master of the princess's residence."

Seeing the maids kneeling down so readily, Jia Lian thought to himself that this place was indeed unlike the Rongguo Mansion.

The maids in the Rongguo Mansion came from different backgrounds and belonged to different places, so they each had their own style.

They were not as well-behaved as the maids in the princess's residence, who had all been trained by Princess Zhaoyang to be so obedient.

Nodding, Jia Lian looked at the maids in front of him again.

The thin veils they wore were merely decorative and served no purpose of concealing their modesty. Jia Lian could take in the entirety of the ten women's jade-like backs, fragrant shoulders, and even their slender white necks with a single glance.

With his restless thoughts starting to wander, Jia Lian said, "Raise your head."

Upon hearing this, the ten men slowly raised their heads and glanced at Jia Lian.

Jia Lian narrowed his eyes.

Sure enough, all of these palace maids were quite beautiful.

Not only did they all score 70 or 80 points or higher, but they were all under 20 years old.

A group of such beauties, dressed in uniform, revealing clothing, possess a captivating charm to men that surpasses even the most stunning beauties with a score of over 90.

Not to mention, they were all of similar height and build, and their shoulders and backs were all white and flawless!
It is certain that these beauties were all selected by Princess Zhaoyang.

Jia Lian simply couldn't understand Princess Zhaoyang's intentions.

Seeing that Jia Lian neither spoke nor moved, the maid Yuanxi, kneeling at his feet, asked, "Please allow us to help you undress, Master."

The clear, melodious sound of bells awakened Jia Lian. Only then did Jia Lian see that behind the thin gauze screen in front of him was a hot spring covered with flower petals.

With a soft "hmm," Jia Lian stepped over the maids and headed towards the hot spring.

Jia Lian had bathed in this hot spring pool. Although it was smaller than the one he built for Yuan Chun in the main building of the Grand View Garden.

However, because it did not utilize scientific design features such as waterwheels, each use required significantly more manpower.

Fortunately, Princess Zhaoyang's residence had no shortage of manpower.

Just as Jia Lian reached the edge of the pond, the maid who had been kneeling behind him stood up.

They exchanged a glance, suppressing the embarrassment on their faces, and all raised their hands to remove the thin veils from their bodies.

Then, eleven beauties wearing only undergarments suddenly appeared in the hall and surrounded Jia Lian from the fan-shaped area to the center.

When he felt a small hand land on him, Jia Lian naturally opened his arms and let the maids remove his clothes.

But he soon discovered that the maids surrounding him were all dressed excessively in revealing clothing, which caused his body to react.

Of course, Jia Lian, who had long since mastered the skills, was not embarrassed by this.

He even enjoyed watching the shy expressions of the maids who wanted to look but were too embarrassed to, while wondering to himself if such a scandalous affair was some kind of trap.
So after removing his clothes and being ushered into the water by the maids, he finally couldn't help but grab two of them and question them, "Aren't you afraid that I, the Duke, will become a beast and devour you all while you are trying so hard to seduce me?"

The two beauties were somewhat flustered, but still replied in soft voices, "Master, please, do as you please. We are all willing..."

Seeing that Jia Lian seemed somewhat skeptical, Yuanxi, who had shared a night of intimacy with him, nestled into his arms and whispered an explanation:

“Master need not worry. The princess said that whoever among us can deflower you will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold. If you can conceive a child with you, you will be rewarded with ten thousand pieces of gold, and... well, there are many other benefits.”

"A thousand taels of gold" and "a thousand taels of silver" are not the same thing. Here, "gold" refers to silver. "A thousand taels of gold" means a thousand taels of silver.

Upon hearing this explanation, Jia Lian wondered what Princess Zhaoyang was up to, and he unconsciously loosened his grip on the beauty's arm.

Seeing this, the beauty thought she had said something wrong, so she quickly made amends: "Master is not only famous and wise, but also... so handsome and extraordinary. We sisters all admire Master very much."

Therefore, even without the benefits promised by the princess, we are still willing to serve our master…

Sensing the unease of the beauties, Jia Lian pulled the two back into his arms, gestured for the others to continue, and then remained silent.

The last time Princess Zhaoyang summoned the two maids guarding the gate to entertain him, it could be said that it was an expedient measure taken by Princess Zhaoyang herself because she was inconvenient.

This action truly surprised him.

Jia Lian had some guesses in his mind, but he wasn't sure.

Even setting aside those thoughts, it's really unreasonable to come all this way and then, before even exchanging a few words with the person in charge, start messing around with their maid.

So Jia Lian embraced his primordial essence and remained steadfast for less than a quarter of an hour before signaling to the maids to help him get up and change his clothes.

Although the maids were surprised and regretful, they still obediently helped Jia Lian ashore, wiped the water off him, and then brought him a brand new brocade robe to put on him.

Jia Lian frowned. If he remembered correctly, the maids had forgotten to put an undergarment on him.

Fortunately, the maids noticed his confusion and explained, "This is the princess's instruction. She said that because of the hot weather, we should only give our master a robe."

Okay, Jia Lian felt he understood what was going on: since he would have to take it off anyway, he might as well not wear it at all, which would be cooler.

So Jia Lian allowed the maids to drape an outer robe over his shoulders, which they then tied in a knot at his waist.

Jia Lian looked down and saw a deep V-neck dress that revealed her cleavage; she was actually quite sexy.

(End of this chapter)