The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 884 Sequel (Part 1)

When Jia Lian returned to the mansion, he found the west side in a mess.

He asked it casually.

The steward replied with a sorrowful expression, "The Second Master suddenly flew into a rage for some reason and locked the courtyard gate. He's beating the Second Master inside."

"Oh, why did you hit him?"

Jia Lian asked as he walked.

The butler hesitated for a moment: "I heard it seems to be related to Jin Chuan, the maid in Madam's room."

The steward didn't want to discuss his master's sensitive matters too much, so he only mentioned it vaguely.

Since the news has already spread, it would be very easy for Jia Lian to find out the truth if he really wanted to.

"Jin Chuan?"

As expected, Jia Lian seemed somewhat surprised.

He didn't ask any further questions, but instead went straight through the ceremonial gate.

The small courtyard behind Jia Lian's study was where the Aqin sisters lived.

When Jia Lian walked in, Aqin was just about to leave. When she saw him, she immediately came up to him and her first words were, "How did you know that Jin Chuan in Madam's room would have an accident?"

Seeing the puzzled look on Aqi's face, Jia Lian gave Aqin a look, then went up the corridor and into their bedroom.

As soon as he sat down, Ah Qin snuggled up to him and asked, "Did you see the princess when you went out of the city today, Master?"

Jia Lian nodded.

Ah Qin then showed a disappointed expression.

Seeing this, Jia Lian tapped her on the head and asked with a smile, "Why are you so unhappy?"

Ah Qin laughed and said, "Today, I saved a life for Second Master. The girl is a beautiful young lady. I was thinking of rewarding her."

pity……"

Ah Qin shook her head, seemingly quite regretful.

Even her older sister next to her couldn't bear to look at her like that.

He walked straight to the side, made tea for Jia Lian, and pricked up his ears to listen to the gossip.

Jia Lian didn't bother arguing with Aqin, who was deliberately provoking him. After all, if he did, it could easily turn into a fight between two people.

So he asked directly, "How is Jin Chuan? Did she really jump into the well?"

When the conversation turned to business, Ah Qin toned down her flirtatious manner, put her arms around Jia Lian's neck, and nodded, saying, "That's right, Master is truly amazing."

Yesterday, the master instructed me to keep an eye on Madam's courtyard, saying that if anything happened to Jin Chuan, I should keep an eye on her every move.

People certainly wouldn't dare to neglect something that the master personally instructed them to do.

Fearing I might miss it, they even spent two hundred coins to ask two maids in the lady's room to keep an eye out for me.

I didn't expect the results to come out so soon.

This afternoon... not long after Second Master left, the two maids I had instructed came to me one after the other to inform me that Jin Chuan had made a mistake and had been kicked out by Madam.

However, they didn't say what specific mistake they made, and I didn't ask for details.

Then, following Second Master's orders, I secretly kept an eye on Jin Chuan. And guess what happened?

Jia Lian didn't want to guess, nor did he need to.

He knew what was going on as soon as he heard it.

He was somewhat surprised that he happened to run into Jin Chuan yesterday, and when he remembered this tragic incident, he casually gave A Qin some advice, which actually came true.

However, upon closer examination, it can hardly be considered a coincidence.

In the sweltering summer, Jia Zheng returns home, and Jin Chuan and Jia Baoyu have both reached the age of understanding adulthood...

These conditions, taken together, gave him a premonition, which is why he made some arrangements. The only thing he didn't expect was that it would happen so quickly.

Even Jia Lian felt somewhat fortunate.
If he had intervened in this matter a day later, wouldn't the "golden hairpin" have already fallen into the well?

Thinking of this, Jia Lian was in high spirits and laughed, "So, you rescued the person?"

Ah Qin shook her head.

"They followed the Second Master's instructions and kept watch over Jin Chuan in the heavy rain."

Sure enough, she went out alone in the rain not long after she got home.

I followed her secretly and found that she went straight into the other mansion. Judging from the direction she went, I originally thought she was going to ask the madam for permission to return to the mansion, but I didn't expect that she would only stand outside the madam's courtyard for a while before suddenly turning around and entering the courtyard next door.

By the time people caught up with her, she had already fallen headfirst into the well!

As Aqin spoke, she deliberately looked at Jia Lian's expression.

Upon realizing that Jia Lian had indeed been deceived by her, she immediately feigned grievance: "Does Master blame me for not stopping her? You can't blame me for that. Master only told me to keep an eye on her movements, not that she would jump into the well."

She moved so quickly, how could anyone have predicted it?

"If you feel sorry for the beauty suffering, you should blame yourself for not making things clear. Don't blame her."

Jia Lian finally showed some displeasure and asked directly, "Stop talking nonsense and explain yourself clearly." "Hehehe, don't worry, sir. With someone watching over us, do you really think we'd let that little beauty drown?"

Although they couldn't stop her from jumping into the well, it shouldn't have been a problem to pull her out before she drowned.

Jia Lian nodded, gave Aqin a light slap on the bottom, and scolded, "When we're talking about serious matters in the future, be serious and don't tease me."

"Giggle..."

Ah Qin chuckled. She thought her husband was hilarious; he told her to be serious, but then he started referring to himself as "this great man."

She had only ever heard this self-proclaimed title from Jia Lian before, when he was bullying her and her sisters in bed.

Therefore, this is not a warning, but clearly condoning.

Where is that girl now?

"She has already been taken back by her family."

Jia Lian asked some more questions, and Aqin answered them one by one.

She even took the opportunity to curry favor, for example, she went so far as to tie a water-drawing rope to herself and go down into the well to retrieve the woman in order to help him save her life...

Although she did indeed arouse Jia Lian, he clearly had other plans and did not linger in her room for long.

……

The construction of the Rongguo Mansion by imperial decree was completely chaotic.

Who would have thought that Jia Zheng would get so angry that he seemed determined to beat Bao Erye to death?

If it weren't for a traitor secretly informing Lady Wang and Grandmother Jia, Jia Baoyu would probably already be dead by now.

Even so, he was already in a state of partial paralysis.

His buttocks were already badly beaten.

Blood and flesh were completely mixed together with the pants; the horrific sight was enough to break the heart of anyone who heard of it and bring tears to their eyes!
As a result, Grandmother Jia was not at ease sending the person back to Yihong Courtyard, but instead had him carried to her Rongqing Hall, which was nearby, to await the doctor's treatment.

As a result, faced with the extremely angry Grandmother Jia, Jia Zheng could only kneel outside Rongqing Hall for half a day, feeling both remorseful and regretful.

In the end, it was because Grandmother Jia was afraid of the negative impact that she ordered him to get out.

After a flurry of activity and weeping, the doctor finally arrived. After an agonizing wait, the doctor said, "Young master's injuries are severe, with large areas of flesh ulcerated. Fortunately, no bones or tendons have been damaged. He only needs to apply medicine regularly and rest in bed for two months, and he should recover completely."

When Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang heard the doctor's diagnosis, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After thanking the doctor profusely, Grandmother Jia went to check on Jia Baoyu and, to confirm that there was nothing seriously wrong, silently summoned Lady Wang to the inner room for questioning:
"Tell me, what exactly happened today? Why was Baoyu's father so angry, as if he wanted to beat Baoyu to death?"

Madam Wang was also completely bewildered, but fortunately, she had someone with good connections by her side who whispered a few words to her.

Madam Wang's eyes immediately flashed with a fierce light as she turned to look at the old woman intently.

Seeing the old woman nod confidently, Madam Wang fell silent again.

She was so angry about Jin Chuan that she didn't handle the situation properly and it has turned out like this.

If this were to be made public, even she would be in the wrong.

Faced with Grandmother Jia's scrutiny, she could only say tactfully, "I heard that this matter is related to Huan'er. Someone saw him say something to Master that made him so angry."

Grandmother Jia said angrily, "These servants have given birth to such lowly scoundrels. It's one thing for them to be useless, but they spend all their time causing trouble!"

Grandmother Jia is usually rational, but when it comes to Jia Baoyu, she seems to become a completely different person.

After scolding Jia Huan and his ilk, he then scolded Lady Wang: "You are also a spineless person. People are harming your son right under your nose, and you can't do anything about it. You just let them do whatever they want?"

Lady Wang lowered her head and remained silent.

Seeing this, Grandmother Jia couldn't take her anger out on her any longer, so she asked instead, "What's going on with Jin Chuan in your room? I heard she was threatening to jump into a well?"

Madam Wang said, "It wasn't anything important. At noon, she accidentally broke one of my things, and I got angry, so I hit her and chased her out."

Who knew she would be so temperamental, and in a fit of pique, she jumped into the well...

Thankfully, I was rescued; otherwise, it would have been my fault.

Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia knew that Lady Wang was not telling the truth.

But she didn't intend to ask any more questions.

There are all sorts of things happening in a large, secluded mansion. Trying to figure out everything would only make everyone lose face.

Right now, what she cares about most is her precious jade.

If what Lady Wang said is true, and it was that little bastard Jia Huan who caused her Baoyu to become like this, she has no choice but to do something to help her precious child get revenge.

Before they could come up with a proper solution, a maid announced from outside: "Second Master Lian and Third Master Huan are here."

Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia frowned immediately: "What are they doing here?"

If it's understandable that Jia Lian came to see Jia Baoyu, then if Jia Huan really was the murderer who framed Jia Baoyu, would he dare to come over on his own?
Do they really think they and their wives are made of clay, that there's nothing they can do about them?

Just then, the old woman came in and whispered, "Third Master Huan was brought here by Second Master Lian..."

Oh? Now both Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang were surprised.

After thinking for a moment, Grandmother Jia said, "Let them in."

(End of this chapter)