The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 843 Collusion between Officials and Businessmen
"Second Master is back~~"

When Jia Lian returned to the courtyard, the sound of maids announcing his return filled the air.

Sister Feng carried her daughter out of the room. Before she could speak, her daughter, Jia Qiao, broke free and ran towards Jia Lian in her boots.

"Daddy, daddy~"

The childish voice of a three-year-old child drew Jia Lian's attention away from Feng Jie and the others.

Looking down, he saw the little girl standing in front of him with her arms outstretched, clearly wanting a hug, so he bent down and picked her up.

"Qiao'er, do you miss your father?"

"Yes, I miss my dad every day."

As the little girl spoke, seemingly to prove that she really missed Jia Lian, she hugged Jia Lian's face and kissed him.

Then she frowned, seemingly disgusted by the smell of sweat on Jia Lian's face.

Jia Lian, however, was oblivious. Seeing his daughter express affection, he immediately took the initiative and showered her rosy cheeks with kisses.

The little maidservant made a sound of resistance, forcefully pushing Jia Lian away with her small, delicate hands, and pointed towards the bathhouse, ordering, "Stinky Daddy, go take a nice bath!"

After saying that, she struggled to get out of Jia Lian's arms.

Jia Lian didn't care that his daughter disliked him, and walked up to Feng Jie.

Sister Feng placed her hands on her lower abdomen, bowed, and smiled, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

Jia Lian returned the greeting, saying, "Greetings, Grandma Feng."

Sister Feng smiled and stepped aside, inviting Jia Lian in as she asked, "When I heard you were coming back this morning, I didn't believe it. I thought you'd only been gone a few days, how come you're back already?"

As Jia Lian entered the room, he had just sat down on the cool kang (heated brick bed) in the west side room when maids nimbly brought in several ice chests, along with some fruit and snacks.

After making a few simple arrangements, Sister Feng sat down next to Jia Lian and asked, "How long will you be staying this time?"

"About two days."

"Why...why the rush?"

"I'm only back in the capital to take care of some business, so it's inconvenient for me to stay here for long."

As Jia Lian spoke, he saw a bunch of large, glistening black grapes that Ping'er had laid out, so he got up to pick one and try it.

When Sister Feng saw this, she quickly reached out, picked one, peeled it, and fed it to Jia Lian.

"Is this about the Second Master?"

Sister Feng frowned and asked, only to find that Jia Lian hadn't finished eating the grapes and was now licking her fingers. She immediately glared at Jia Lian with disgust and withdrew her hand to wipe it.

She used to like wearing finger cots. Later, Jia Lian said he didn't like them because they hurt his hands, so she stopped wearing them and only wore them occasionally when receiving noble ladies from other households.

Seeing that their mistress was flirting while discussing serious matters, Ping'er and the other maids tactfully withdrew.

Jia Lian ate some grapes, leaned back on the mat, and pointed to his shoulder.

When Sister Feng obediently sat closer to him and massaged his shoulders, he closed his eyes and replied, "You don't need to worry about the Second Master's matter. I understand everything. There's nothing too serious. At most, the Emperor will dismiss him and send him back to the capital. He won't do anything to him."

Jia Zheng was indeed destined for wealth and honor, but he lacked practical skills.

In a specialized department like the Ministry of Works, things are alright; as long as you don't get greedy, you won't make any big mistakes.

Once he is sent to a local area to govern a region, problems are likely to arise.

In his previous life, he was a grain transport official who was deceived by his superiors and subordinates. In this life, he became an education commissioner. He thought the environment would be less complicated, but it turned out to be the same.

Perhaps it's true that a gentleman can't outmaneuver a petty person.

That's fine, let him return to the capital, even if it's just to see Jia Baoyu.

Without Jia Zheng in the capital, Jia Baoyu spent his days wandering around aimlessly, which he found somewhat distasteful…

Although Sister Feng also felt that, given Jia Zheng's temperament, he shouldn't be capable of doing anything seriously illegal or disorderly.

However, upon suddenly hearing that she had been impeached by the censors, Sister Feng couldn't help but feel worried, just like Madam Wang.

Seeing that Jia Lian had not only figured out the matter before he even got home, but had also defined what they considered a huge disaster in just a few words, they couldn't help but show a hint of admiration as they looked at Jia Lian's closed-eye profile.

This was her man, a young duke who exuded an aura of power.

She unconsciously leaned down a little, nudged Jia Lian, and whispered affectionately in his ear, "Are you tired? I've already had someone prepare water for you. Take a bath before you sleep; that will make you more comfortable."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Jia Lian, with a smile on his face, reached out with both arms and locked her up, not only pulling her onto the kang (heated brick bed), but also turning over and pressing down on her.

Sister Feng was a little embarrassed: "What are you doing? You're all sweaty..."

Jia Lian leaned down and took a deep breath on Feng Jie's increasingly prominent breasts, then laughed and said, "You're not sweaty at all, my Feng'er smells wonderful."

Sister Feng rolled her eyes and tried to throw Jia Lian off.

"Go take a shower first, then we'll talk..."

Jia Lian was not about to let the lamb that had fallen into the tiger's den escape, and said smugly, "If we wash it now, it will get dirty again later. It's better to wash it together later."

Sister Feng was too lazy to waste any more words and just kept struggling.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain; Jia Lian, like a lecherous thief, held her firmly in his grasp.

It seems that her struggles even brought her a kind of perverse pleasure.

"Hehehe, don't move. I've been riding horses all day, and I'm really exhausted."

Now that I'm home, it's time to try out my little wild horse.

Jia Lian gave a deliberately lewd laugh. Seeing that his beloved wife had resigned herself to her fate and stopped struggling, he did not hesitate to start riding the spirited horse.

……

After a quick fuss, Jia Lian carried the equally sweaty Feng Jie into the bathhouse.

After washing away his finery, Jia Lian was about to make love to his beautiful wife, who was as radiant as a lotus emerging from the water, and the concubines who were bathing beside her, when Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang sent someone to invite him.

Jia Lian originally intended to make excuses and wait until he had had his fill before talking about it, but Feng Jie was extremely unwilling, so he got up, dressed, and went to Rongqing Hall.

As expected, it was about Jia Zheng. After dealing with the matter briefly, Jia Lian left Rongqing Hall, wondering whether to go back and continue to discipline Feng Jie or go into the garden to see Baochai and Daiyu.

Before he even reached his doorstep, a servant woman, who was in charge of delivering messages, came to report that someone had come to deliver a gift.

"Who is this, and what did they send?"

The old woman said, "Zhao'er didn't say who sent it or what it was. He only said that Chairman Zhou from the south sent some good stuff and told Second Master to go out and take a look."

Could the Chairman Zhou in the south be Zhou Yanru?
Jia Lian, without suspicion, turned and went out, and sure enough, he saw Zhao'er waiting at the second gate. Zhao'er was now an adult servant and could no longer enter the inner quarters at will.

However, some important information cannot be relayed through others, so whenever Zhao'er sends someone to deliver a message without specifying its meaning, it usually indicates that it is quite important.

When Zhao'er saw Jia Lian, she immediately ran up to him like a dog on a leash.

Jia Lian asked him, "Zhou Yanru from the Yangzhou salt merchants?"

"Yes, Second Master, it is indeed him."

"What did he come to see me for?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhao'er stopped answering and instead gave Jia Lian a sly smile, keeping him in suspense: "Second Master, you'll know once you go and take a look..."

Jia Lian glanced at him and saw that he was still smiling and acting like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water, so he knew that there must be something fishy going on.

So, without bothering with any more talk, I headed straight for the East Courtyard.

As soon as they arrived at the front yard, Zhao'er tried her best to gesture towards the study.

Jia Lian frowned, thinking that if he couldn't satisfy him today, he would definitely make the boy's backside bleed, so that he would know that he should never take advantage of his father's favor.

So he stepped into the study.

"Master is here."

As Hu Yuanyao’s familiar, melodious voice rang out, Jia Lian was about to nod to her when he suddenly noticed two pretty figures standing in the corner to his left.

Jia Lian immediately looked over. At first, he didn't think much of it; they were just two pretty girls around ten years old.

But he soon discovered that the two girls were not only the same age, figure, and dress, but even their appearances were exactly the same!
twin?
Jia Lian looked at Hu Yuanyao.

Hu Yuanyao pouted and explained, "Zhao'er brought it over, saying that someone gave it to Second Master."

Jia Lian nodded and went out.

Zhao'er immediately scurried over and asked in a low voice, "Second Master, how is it?"

Jia Lian ignored him and asked, "Where is he?"

"Isn't the person inside? Didn't you see him, Second Master? Oh, Second Master, don't kick me! I know I was wrong. Chairman Zhou is waiting in the side hall. I'll go and bring the person to you right away."

Zhao'er dodged Jia Lian's kick and ran away in a flash.

Jia Lian re-entered the study and soon saw Zhou Yanru, who was over fifty years old and slightly plump, walk in with a stoop.

"This humble servant greets Lord Rong."

"No need to be so polite. We've known each other for a long time. Let's sit down and talk."

Jia Lian pointed to the seat next to him.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yanru quickly thanked him and then sat down somewhat awkwardly on a round-backed chair.

"What brings you to the capital?"

"Reporting to Lord Rong, the main reason I came to the capital this time is to pay my respects to you."

More than a year has passed since we parted in Yangzhou. Yet, the heroic spirit of Rong Gong still lingers in the hearts of petty people.

Having heard that Duke Rong has been granted a high position, I have come to offer my congratulations and express my admiration.

Furthermore, lychees are now ripe in the south, and I knew that such fruits were rare in the capital, so I had some shipped from Fujian to the capital to present to Duke Rong.

In fact, as soon as Jia Lian heard that Zhou Yanru had come to the capital and even "sent gifts" to him, he roughly guessed Zhou Yanru's intentions.

Seeing him fawn over her the moment they met only confirmed it.

Back in Yangzhou, he had guessed that Zhou Yanru was no ordinary man, and that he probably had powerful backers.

Considering the previous incident at Tiewang Mountain, he must have been so worried after receiving the news that he had no choice but to go to the capital in person to gather intelligence.

Jia Lian did not mock him for this.

After the Iron Net Mountain incident, Emperor Ningkang launched a massive purge of the court and the country, which gradually spread to some local officials. It was quite normal for this to cause fear and trembling among some powerful regional officials, landlords, and wealthy merchants.

Especially someone like Zhou Yanru who has a guilty conscience.

Upon hearing Zhou Yanru mention lychees, something Zhao'er hadn't mentioned before, Jia Lian couldn't help but look at Zhao'er.

Zhao'er laughed and said, "Second Master doesn't know, Chairman Zhou is really amazing."

He somehow managed to move those lychee trees to the capital.

He led a huge caravan of horse-drawn carriages and mules over just now, and because each carriage was covered with a black cloth, it startled the people outside.

Later I found out that the truck was carrying lychees.

The lychee trees have been temporarily moved to Ma Peng's place by the servants, and we're waiting for the Second Master's instructions on where to send them.

Although Zhao'er didn't say the exact number, it sounds like it must be quite a lot.

So Jia Lian said to Zhou Yanru, "President Zhou is very thoughtful."

Although lychees were a rare treat for most people in the capital, this did not include Jia Lian.

Merchants will do everything in their power to achieve anything that is profitable enough.

Clearly, although lychees are not easy to preserve, it is not too difficult for some powerful merchants to dig up an entire tree and send it to the capital.

In other words, it is still possible to buy fresh lychees in Beijing.

Although it's expensive, this thing was originally a luxury item exclusively for the nobility in the capital, so its high price isn't a drawback.

Every year, the Rongguo Mansion would also provide a small amount of fresh lychees for the ladies and young women to enjoy.

However, even though it's possible to buy it elsewhere, Zhou Yanru went to such great lengths to deliver the entire tree to him, rather than just picking a few pieces as a token gesture, which shows his sincerity.

He should understand this.

After all, starting from Yangzhou, including Gu Qingyi, he had indeed received a lot of benefits from the Zhou family.

Now that the other party is in "trouble," he naturally wants to return the favor.

So he had Zhao'er take the two girls in the corner away and bring the lychees to his own courtyard.

Once only he and Zhou Yanru were left in the study, he revealed to Zhou Yanru some things that Zhou Yanru wanted to know.

(End of this chapter)