The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 885 Sequel (Part 2)

In the main hall of Rongqing Hall, Jia Lian led Jia Huan in.

"Kneel down."

Under Jia Lian's stern rebuke, Jia Huan trembled like a leaf and knelt on the ground in great fear.

Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang, one sitting and one standing, both frowned as they watched this scene, wondering what Jia Lian meant.

“Tell me exactly what you said about how you spread rumors and framed Baoyu in front of the master.”

Don't even think about lying. I've already asked the master about this. If I find out you've misspoke by even a single word, you know the consequences.

Jia Lian's voice was very calm, yet it made Jia Huan's face turn pale.

He had a sudden inspiration in front of Jia Zheng, which successfully enraged Jia Zheng and caused him to give Jia Baoyu a good beating, thus venting Jia Baoyu's resentment. He was quite pleased with himself.

Accompanied by several young servants in the front yard, they continued to proclaim Jia Baoyu's "glorious deeds".

Suddenly, Jia Lian arrived with his two female guards. Without saying a word, he grabbed Jia Lian by the ear and dragged him here.

He didn't know what was going on at first, but now that he found out it was a false accusation, he belatedly felt scared.

In such a hierarchical family, he knew to some extent what crime it was to falsely accuse or frame his elder brother.

What's more, it ended up in Jia Lian's hands.

As the saying goes, "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black." Jia Huan was raised by Aunt Zhao, and many of his habits were derived from her.

The fact that Jia She's concubine, Yang, conspired with her brother to poison Jia Lian, and was killed by Jia Lian with a beating and then given death by imperial decree, and then sent away by both of them, shocked even the matriarch of the Jia family, let alone the people of the two mansions.

Especially those like Aunt Zhao, whose status was comparable to Yang's. After all, they felt a sense of shared fate.

Shocked, Aunt Zhao naturally instructed Jia Huan never to provoke his cousin Jia Lian and to show him the utmost respect whenever they met.

And he repeatedly made it clear to him how ruthless and cruel Jia Lian was...

Of course, a few words would inevitably follow: "If you become half as successful as your second brother Lian in the future, then my daughter and I will be able to hold our heads high and never have to be bullied again."

Therefore, Jia Huan was already afraid of Jia Lian, let alone the fact that he had committed a crime.

Even if he was stupid, he knew what the consequences would be if Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang found out that he had falsely accused Jia Baoyu of rape.

Not daring to tell the truth, yet also not daring to disobey Jia Lian, he hesitated for a long time before finally saying timidly, "Yes, it was all my mother who told me..."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian said, "Are you sure? Have you thought this through? You falsely accused your brother first. If you try to shift the blame onto your mother to escape punishment, you can forget about getting away with it today."

Jia Huan's heart skipped a beat. But his fear made him nod repeatedly, assuring everyone that everything he knew was told to him by Aunt Zhao.

Without wasting any words, Jia Lian directly said to the old woman standing beside him, "Go and invite Aunt Zhao here."

After the old women left to carry out their orders, Jia Lian said again, "Since this involves Aunt Zhao, it would be best if Master were present."

"Caiyun, go and invite the master over."

Jia Lian gave instructions to Caiyun, the maidservant beside Madam Wang.

Caiyun glanced at Madam Wang, and seeing that she did not express her opinion, she bowed and withdrew.

Although she was worried about Jia Huan, she also considered the current situation. If Jia Huan really did it, it would be better to have his father, the master, present.

Seeing the two groups of people leave, Grandmother Jia finally couldn't help but ask:

"Lian'er, you just said he falsely accused Baoyu. What exactly did he say?"

Jia Lian said, "Just now I heard that Master was angry and hit Baoyu, so I went to ask Master why."

The master said that he had raised an unfilial son who not only mingled with the lowest of the low but also ruined his reputation.

He even committed the heinous act of forcing his mother's maid to rape him, which is why he was so enraged and wanted to teach Baoyu a lesson.

Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang were greatly alarmed.

Even the sisters who had come to check on Jia Baoyu's injuries and were secretly eavesdropping in the inner room looked at each other in astonishment.

Madam Wang stepped forward and couldn't help but want to explain.

She dared not let Jia Baoyu bear such a crime, otherwise his life would be ruined.

At the same time, he hated Jia Huan to the core.

You little beast, you're so vicious.

Unfortunately, Jia Lian did not give Lady Wang a chance to interject. He immediately added, "After listening to what you said, sir, I feel there must be something fishy about it."

Our family has always known Baoyu's character. As for his childish nature, he does have some minor flaws, such as liking to steal the rouge off pretty maids' lips.

However, he was kind by nature, especially gentle to the maids, and would never do such a wicked thing.

So I asked the master where he got the information and if he had any evidence.

The master then said, "It was Huan'er who said that."

Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang suddenly fixed their gazes on Jia Huan on the ground, causing Jia Huan, who had just glanced up, to be terrified and unable to meet their eyes.

Following Jia Lian's words, Grandmother Jia nodded repeatedly: "You're right. Although your brother Bao is not as accomplished as you, he is still a well-mannered and sensible child."

"He could never do such a thing." With that, Grandmother Jia slammed her hand on the table and roared at Jia Huan, "You defiled wretch! What has your brother Baoyu done to offend you that you would frame him like this in front of your master?"

Jia Huan simply shrank back and remained silent.

Jia Lian had no desire to see the drama of Grandmother Jia and others protecting Jia Baoyu; he was already tired of it after all these years.

He continued at his own pace.

“I could have handled this privately. At worst, I could have interrogated the person thoroughly and then handed it over to the master for judgment.”

But as soon as I returned to the manor in the afternoon, I heard a great deal of discussion throughout the manor, all about Baoyu being beaten and the maid jumping into the well. There were all sorts of rumors circulating.

I think it's better to guide than to suppress. Since these people have already started spreading rumors, we might as well investigate this matter thoroughly and let the truth come to light.

That's why he was brought to the old lady.

The old lady and her wife said, "Please rest assured, once it is confirmed that someone deliberately framed Brother Bao, which led to Brother Bao suffering this great calamity..."

Even if the master intends to protect him, I will still uphold justice for Brother Bao.

Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia and the others still felt that Jia Lian's actions were somewhat inappropriate.

But since things had come to this, they couldn't say anything. Otherwise, it would really make them seem guilty.

In any case, it seems that Jia Lian has no ill intentions towards Jia Baoyu.

After all, according to Jia Lian, Baoyu was just a child at heart and liked to eat the rouge on the maids' lips.

Although this matter is something that shouldn't be discussed outside, there's no way around it; the news has already spread far and wide, and everyone, from top to bottom, knows about it.

Compared to forcing a mother to rape her maid, what crime is it to harass a young maid?
Aunt Zhao came over in a panic.

As if he had seen a savior, Jia Huan frantically gave Zhao Yiniang secret signals.

Grandmother Jia, considering that Aunt Zhao was, after all, Jia Zheng's concubine, and it wouldn't be appropriate for Jia Lian to interrogate her, preemptively ordered:
"Zhao, is this the story you told me about Baoyu's failed attempt to rape Jin Chuan, which led her to jump into the well?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhao, who was kneeling on the ground, immediately began to wail and cry, "I'm innocent, old lady! How could I dare to say such unjust and heartless things? I don't know which heartless bastard is slandering me behind my back, I..."

Aunt Zhao was born into a family of servants, and was shallow in her knowledge and lacked great cunning.

Although she suspected something bad was going to happen, she couldn't judge the situation just by looking at it, so as soon as she heard that she was being framed, she immediately had to prove herself.

Until she saw her little brat shaking his head at her repeatedly, and looking at her with pleading eyes for help.

Her cries of injustice gradually subsided.

Then she saw Grandmother Jia ignore her and angrily rebuke Jia Huan, "What else do you have to say?"

Aunt Zhao was stunned?

Is that heartless bastard my own little devil?
Her fairly pretty face instantly lit up with a kaleidoscope of emotions. Almost after a brief moment of thought, she immediately changed her tune:
"Grandma, actually I said that. No, no, that's not what I originally said."

I heard from people outside that Baoyu went to Madam's room at noon, and then Jinchuan was kicked out by Madam.

I guessed... no, it was the gossiping outside that said Baoyu had flirted with Jinchuan, and that his wife had found out and kicked Jinchuan out.

Perhaps this wicked creature with a maggot-like heart misheard, which is why it made such a ridiculous mistake.

How could a good boy like Baoyu possibly commit such a thing as forced rape? It's utterly impossible.

As the most gossipy woman in the Rongguo Mansion, Aunt Zhao certainly didn't miss out on such a juicy piece of gossip today.

Just as Jin Chuan and others knew about Jia Huan and Cai Yun's affair, Aunt Zhao also knew about the affair between Jia Baoyu and Jin Chuan.

So, upon hearing only a few simple pieces of news, she immediately concluded that it must be because the mistress had found out about Jin Chuan's seduction of Bao Yu, which was why she was kicked out.

Jia Huan got his inspiration from Aunt Zhao and then created his own version, which is why he made Jia Zheng so angry he was furious.

When Aunt Zhao tried to argue, she gave Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang a fawning smile.

This caused both Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang considerable distress.

This woman, while she may be considered intelligent, says things that are utterly foolish and childish.

How could you possibly misunderstand such drastically different words?
You could call her stupid, but she still knows how to define things as a "joke".

Because of her status, Madam Wang couldn't say anything at this time.

Grandmother Jia didn't know what to say.

First of all, it was Zhao Yiniang who was chosen by her to be placed in Jia Zheng's room. It would be impossible for her not to have some intention of keeping Wang Furen in check.

Secondly, Aunt Zhao has made contributions to the Rongguo Mansion.

She gave birth to a son and a daughter for the Rongguo Mansion.

If this crime were to fall on her now, given her lowly status, she would certainly not be able to protect herself.

So she looked at Jia Lian, wanting to see what his attitude was towards this.

Just then, Jia Zheng walked in.

Seeing the situation in the hall, he sighed, walked to Jia Lian's side, and said nothing more.

(End of this chapter)