The Second Master of the Red Chamber

In the following days, Jia Lian naturally secretly prepared for the wedding.

He's done many funerals, but this is the first time he's done a wedding, especially one he's doing for himself.

Fortunately, there were many elderly people in the Jia family who had handled weddings before, such as Lin Zhixiao and his wife, and his steward Liu and his wife, who had handled more than one wedding.

So Jia Lian used these people as his assistants to prepare everything he needed in advance.

Because there was no deliberate publicity, and the household also needed to purchase New Year's goods and entertain guests, most people in both households were immersed in the joy of the upcoming New Year and were unaware that such a joyous event was to come.

It wasn't until just before New Year's Eve, when Baochai came to ask for her leave from Grandmother Jia and the others, that this matter came to the forefront.

In Xiaoxiang Pavilion, after Jia Lian coaxed her into sitting in his lap, Daiyu suddenly asked, "Do you know that Sister Bao is moving home?"

Seeing Jia Lian nod, she hesitated for a long time, then said shyly, "Then... should I..."

Daiyu was a little embarrassed to say that not long ago, when Jia Lian told her about the marriage arrangements, she was too shy to listen carefully and said that she would leave everything to Jia Lian.

"Is it something?" Jia Lian asked with a smile.

Knowing that Jia Lian was pretending not to understand, Daiyu pulled away her small hand, which Jia Lian was playing with, to show her dissatisfaction, and then whispered, "Didn't you say before that you would give gifts to my Lin family when we got married?"

Otherwise, I'll go back to the Lin family early too..."

Daiyu's face was flushed with shyness, making her exceptionally beautiful.

Jia Lian stared intently until he noticed the growing displeasure in Daiyu's beautiful peach blossom eyes. Then, rubbing Daiyu's hands together, he chuckled:
"Your sister Bao came home because Xue Pan is still in prison. She was worried that her aunt would be lonely at home alone, so she went back to keep her aunt company for the New Year."

That's just them being filial.

What about you? Why did you go back early? Is it fun to just sit in an empty house all by yourself?

Daiyu originally felt embarrassed to stay in the Jia family alone, seeing that Baochai was about to move back to await marriage.

Hearing Jia Lian's explanation, he felt somewhat relieved.

However, she was not satisfied with Jia Lian's attitude when he replied.

Moreover, Jia Lian's words left her feeling somewhat lost.

Yes, even though her brother is in prison, Baochai still has her mother to keep her company.

But what about Lin Daiyu?
All my relatives are gone.

At that time, I'm afraid there won't even be anyone to escort the bride...

Seeing that Daiyu did not respond, Jia Lian looked down and saw her melancholy expression, and knew that this little girl had entered her sentimental mode again.

He then lifted Daiyu's small face and said with a smile, "Alright, alright, it's no big deal."

In my opinion, having relatives is not necessarily good, and not having relatives is not necessarily bad.

Look at your Bao sister. Although she has an older brother, what can he do besides bring disaster to the family and make your Bao sister and her mother worry and shed tears?
You know perfectly well that if it weren't for Xue Pan's murder case that damaged your reputation, your Baochai sister would have already entered the palace as an official, and I wouldn't have had a chance.
"Tell me, if you had a brother like that, wouldn't you be sick of him?"

Actually, it's hard to say whether Baochai wasn't chosen because of Xue Pan, but this is the most easily accepted explanation from the two households of the Jia family.

After all, Baochai's looks and character speak for themselves.

Seeing that Daiyu was still not pleased, Jia Lian continued, "So it is said that having relatives is not necessarily good, and not having relatives is not necessarily bad."

At least no one will influence or restrain you. You're the one who calls the shots in the entire Lin family. You're the absolute boss in the Lin family, and your word is law.

Upon hearing this, Daiyu glanced at Jia Lian with a sidelong eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied with his statement.

Jia Lian remained oblivious to his own ignorance and continued to propagate his views: "Look at me again."

My parents died when I was young, but when have you ever seen me crying?

Actually, I felt incredibly comfortable.

"No one is restraining me, so I can do whatever I want. Even if I marry two wives at once, I don't need to ask anyone's opinion; I can make that decision myself."

Daiyu pinched Jia Lian hard and sneered, "Fine, if the world knew that the Duke of Rongguo, who has always been known for his filial piety and virtue, actually had such thoughts in his heart, let's see how you will maintain your reputation as a model for the world!"

Jia Lian shamelessly said, "Most people in the world are foolish. A reputation for virtue is for others to see, not for self-discipline."

"It's all fallacies."

Daiyu was speechless.

In her heart, Lian Ergege was originally such a great and righteous person.

But as she got to know him better, she discovered that her second brother was quite shameless.

Despite some criticism, it must be said that this version of the second brother is indeed more authentic and easier to get along with.

However, after Jia Lian's outburst, her longing for her family had faded considerably.

So she said, "Aren't you going to see Bao-jie off when she goes home today?"

"Not in a hurry."

Daiyu's words were originally a test. The phrase "no rush" indicates that Jia Lian had already planned to visit her, but was just taking the time to do so.

Feeling inexplicably annoyed, she broke free from Jia Lian's grasp: "You'd better hurry up. If you're late, Sister Bao might think you've held me back and complain about me."

Hearing those familiar, sour words, Jia Lian surprisingly found himself somewhat satisfied.

Sure enough, while he was disciplining Daiyu, he was also tamed by her.

Dissatisfied with his own changes, Jia Lian reached out and flicked Daiyu's delicate nose, saying fiercely, "What a jealous little girl you are! Wait until you enter the household, and see how I deal with you."

"you……"

Daiyu raised her hand to hit him, but Jia Lian dodged to his feet and slipped away with a chuckle.

Daiyu stood there, raising her little fists.

Watching the curtain sway as Jia Lian disappeared, she suddenly burst out laughing.

……

When Jia Lian arrived at Hengwu Garden, Baochai and her servants had already finished preparing.

Actually, there wasn't much to pack; I just picked up some personal belongings and took them with me.

After all, she'll be back soon.

I might even have to come back again tomorrow night.

In previous years, Grandmother Jia would invite Aunt Xue to a banquet on New Year's Eve, and this year would probably be no exception.

When Baochai saw Jia Lian coming over, she quickly said, "Didn't I tell you that if you were busy, you didn't need to come? My mother sent someone to pick me up."

Jia Lian laughed and said, "Even if I'm busy, I won't be busy for a while."

For prominent families like the Jia family, New Year's Eve was the most important festival of the year.

Whether it was entering the palace to receive a banquet, offering sacrifices to ancestors, or having a family dinner that night, it was always a very grand and important occasion.

Therefore, all preparations must be completed the day before.

Baochai thought that Jia Lian might not be able to get away on New Year's Eve, so she decided to move back today.

"Sister Bao, are you really going to move back? Why don't you stay here and celebrate the New Year with us?"

Xiangyun looked at Baochai and her servants, who were all dressed up and ready to leave, and felt very reluctant to part with them.

Fortunately, Grandmother Jia kept Baoqin here, otherwise she would have had to consider spending the New Year somewhere else.

Seeing Xiangyun's lingering look, Jia Lian said irritably, "Alright, your Bao-jie is just going home to keep her mother company. It's not like she's not coming back."

Don't worry, I'll bring her back for you after the New Year.

Upon hearing this, Xiangyun snorted and said, "Don't think I don't know. After the New Year, Sister Bao will marry you."

Then she'll be our sister-in-law, and she won't play with us anymore.

Xiangyun's words made Baochai's fair skin blush, and she quickly said, "Alright, someone came up from the back door and said the carriage has arrived, let's go."

Jia Lian nodded, forcibly took Baochai's somewhat evasive hand, and led her out of Hengwu Garden.

This scene naturally caused Xiangyun and her maids, who were seeing them off, to chuckle incessantly.

The blush on Baochai's face only faded a little after she got into the carriage.

She looked at the unfamiliar carriage with some curiosity.

Although Aunt Xue also sent a carriage, it was clearly abandoned, and instead, Jia Lian arranged for her to ride in the carriage.

Baochai had noticed the carriage was quite spacious from the outside, but now that she was inside, she found it to be even more spacious than she had imagined.

And the style of the decoration...

Although the overall design appears somewhat simple, it cannot conceal the understated luxury brought by the superior materials.

Jia Lian asked with a smile, "How is it? Do you like it?"

Baochai nodded and asked quite naturally, "I've never seen this carriage before. Is it newly made?"

Jia Lian smiled and explained, "It's not exactly a new one, because it's been around for a while now. It's just been stored in Tianjin until the other day when someone sent it back."

This carriage, though not as good as the one your sister Feng and I rode in before, isn't bad either.

If you like it, it can become your personal car for going out.

Because of the large-scale construction in Tianjin, Jia Lian took the opportunity to have two carriages built, intended as special vehicles for Baochai and Daiyu in the future.

The excessively luxurious carriage from before naturally belonged to Sister Feng.

As for him personally, he doesn't need a special car, and even if he did, he wouldn't provide one.

Aren't all of his wives' things his?

Baochai was about to decline, but when she heard that she and Daiyu each had a car, she said no more.

We're about to officially enter.

She wasn't like Daiyu, who was oblivious to worldly affairs and only cared about being beautiful.

She knew very well that once she entered the Duke's mansion, whether she liked it or not, there were certain things she would have to fight for and protect herself.

Otherwise, one can only be a puppet on a string, or suffer endless grievances.

Judging from some details about Jia Lian, he clearly knew some of the intricacies of the inner quarters.

He was also doing his best to make thorough preparations for her and Daiyu.

Whether it was preparing a special carriage for her or giving her gold and jade bracelets to use beforehand, these measures were undoubtedly aimed at laying the foundation for her in advance.

She admired and was grateful for Jia Lian's actions. So, when Jia Lian gave the order to set off and reached out his hand again, she nestled obediently in his arms.

Although Jia Lian didn't know why Baochai suddenly became so tender and affectionate after he gave her a carriage.

After all, he did all this because he felt that to maintain peace in the inner quarters, he needed to separate the interests of his women a bit and prevent them from getting angry over trivial matters in life.

His decision to have Baochai and Daiyu stay in their respective residences after entering the family was based on this consideration.

But who cares? It's definitely a good thing that the beauty has fallen for him.

If the journey to the Xue family hadn't been so short, he might have taken this opportunity to have Baochai fulfill her promise ahead of schedule.

Aunt Xue knew, of course, that Jia Lian was sending his daughter back to her parents' home today to prepare for her marriage.

Anyway, the Xue family was staying in the capital, so they didn't have the same heavy rituals to prepare as the Jia family.

Even the welcoming and sending-off ceremonies were all handled by her nephew, Xue Ke.

Therefore, she specially prepared a sumptuous dinner to reward Jia Lian.

She knew that Jia Lian also enjoyed her cooking.

There's no need for further pleasantries upon meeting.

After having Xue Ke take away the gifts Jia Lian brought, she led Jia Lian and Baochai into her main room to talk.

During the conversation, Aunt Xue took the initiative to inquire about the marriage arrangements.

Jia Lian smiled and said, "I was originally planning to find a special day to visit and discuss this matter with my aunt."

Since my aunt asked, I'll briefly explain my plans.

Although my mourning period ended in the first month of the lunar calendar, I still have national mourning to complete.

Therefore, I think it would be best to set the wedding date in February, which would give us ample time to prepare.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue immediately smiled and said, "You've made a very good point. This matter really can't be rushed."

I don't know the exact date; could you have someone choose one?

Jia Lian glanced at Baochai, who was standing beside him with her head down, her face flushed and too embarrassed to speak, and said with a smile:
"I've also had someone look at it."

The 11th and 12th days in mid-February are both auspicious dates, but considering that the 12th is Lin Daiyu's birthday...

To avoid offending Baochai, the date is tentatively set for the day before Lin Daiyu's birthday, which is February 11th.

Upon hearing Jia Lian's words, not only Aunt Xue, but even Baochai, who was standing nearby, gave Jia Lian a grateful look.

Although she didn't care whether the wedding day was Daiyu's birthday or not, she was still touched by Jia Lian's consideration for her, and felt that Jia Lian had indeed not lied to her and placed her on the same level as Daiyu.

Aunt Xue nodded with a smile, saying that the date was very good and suitable, and then asked about other arrangements.

As for other arrangements, Jia Lian only had a rough outline.

His only principle is to have a grand event with many guests, and he doesn't care about the cost at all.

Anyway, he really doesn't lack money.

Putting aside the wealth bestowed upon him by the emperor over the years, the wealth he received, both openly and secretly, was worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

However, apart from the 100,000 taels of silver notes that Emperor Ningkang privately rewarded him upon his return from Jiangnan, most of the money was entrusted to Sister Feng for safekeeping.

He didn't intend to have the money go through Sister Feng this time.

Even the most virtuous woman would feel uncomfortable if she had to pay for her husband to take in a second or third wife, and not just a small amount.

Not to mention, Sister Feng wasn't exactly a virtuous woman by nature.

In addition, there's the income from his business dealings and his years as an official.

Needless to say, the business has not only invested a lot of money in the early stages, but has also gotten on the right track in the past two years and has already achieved good profitability.

Moreover, although the business was registered under the Jia family name, it operated completely independently from the family.

Therefore, he is solely responsible for all profits and losses.

The third is the income of officials.

This is not something I can discuss in detail.

One point is that when he was ordered to go south of the Yangtze River to investigate the salt industry that year, the amount of money involved was too huge, and the salt merchants were too wealthy and "generous", so he only had to spend a little money to make a fortune.

Of that huge sum of embezzled money, apart from the ten chests of gold belonging to Sister Feng, some remains are still in the Lin family's villa, mixed in with the Lin family's inheritance.

Aside from the wealth he personally created, there is also the Lin family estate that Daiyu inherited in full.

That's almost a million taels!
And what belongs to Daiyu is naturally his as well.

If you calculate it that way, there are probably very few people in the world who are richer than him.

Although Jia Lian did not give any specific details about the arrangements, Aunt Xue could imagine from his wealthy and arrogant tone how grand the wedding day would be and how much of a sensation it would cause.

She couldn't help but feel excited.

She had actually been planning this for a long time. She knew that with Jia Lian's current power and status, he could put on any kind of grand show if he wanted to.

She was already quite eager to go and see the scene on the wedding day.

He felt pleased with himself for his wise decision back then.

Is it better to marry a great hero of the time, a dignified duke, than to be a stingy so-called principal wife in a humble family?
Overwhelmed with excitement, Aunt Xue couldn't help but think about improving her daughter's social standing.

She smiled and said, "Although I don't object to Bao'er and Lin'er getting married on the same day, after all, they are sisters who grew up in the same garden and know each other very well."

However, everything must have an order.

I wonder how Bao-ya-tou and Lin-ya-tou should address each other after they enter the house, and how others should address them.

There has to be some order of importance or priority, right?

Upon hearing Aunt Xue's words, Jia Lian's expression turned visibly cold.

Seeing this, Baochai knew things were going badly, so she quickly gave Aunt Xue a meaningful look, telling her not to say anything more.

She didn't even dare to ask about this sensitive issue.

She figured that Jia Lian must have his own plans.

At this point, one should refrain from contention, and thus none in the world can contend with him.

Only by winning Jia Lian's genuine affection can one obtain what one desires.

Now, Aunt Xue's words have not only disrupted her plans, but may even provoke Jia Lian's resentment, backfiring on her.

Unfortunately, Aunt Xue seemed oblivious to her subtle hint and continued to smile at Jia Lian, awaiting his reply.

Jia Lian said, "Oh, then I don't know what Aunt means."

Aunt Xue said, "I heard that Lin Yatou is a very sensible child. She still calls Bao Yatou 'sister' to this day."

In that case, I figured Bao'er was at least two or three years older than Lin'er.

According to the order of seniority, Bao'er should naturally be ranked first.

"Mom, please stop talking."

Baochai couldn't sit still any longer and stood up to try to stop Aunt Xue.

She was genuinely worried that Aunt Xue would do something foolish again and ruin her perfectly good situation.

After all, others might not know, but doesn't she?

In terms of background, Daiyu was the daughter of a high-ranking official of the second rank.

In terms of status, Daiyu held the title of a fourth-rank village lady.

Even in terms of order, Daiyu's engagement came first.

With these conditions in place, if we don't go into details, that's fine. Based on Jia Lian's affection for her, she felt that Jia Lian would definitely not wrong her.

But if we openly discuss it, or if we anger Jia Lian, we might really have to follow the rules of etiquette.

Won't she suffer a loss then?

She couldn't understand why her mother, who seemed perfectly fine most of the time, would make such a foolish mistake at crucial moments.

Jia Lian waved his hand, signaling Baochai to calm down.

Then he looked at Aunt Xue, his tone no longer gentle, but rather somewhat cold: "Does Aunt really think so?"

Aunt Xue was actually a little intimidated by Jia Lian's gaze, but she still forced a fearless smile and said:
"As Baochai's mother, I naturally have the best interests of my daughter."

Of course, the final decision is up to you, Lian'er.

My aunt was just offering a suggestion.

"A suggestion..."

Jia Lian muttered something to himself and then stopped talking. He just sat there, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Baochai was about to speak up to smooth things over when Aunt Xue preemptively said, "Bao'er, I've already had the maids prepare bathwater for you. Go take a bath first, and then have dinner with your second brother Lian later before letting him go back."

Baochai was taken aback, and when she met Aunt Xue's meaningful gaze, her cheeks flushed red.

She could understand being sent away at this point, since she could tell that Jia Lian clearly had something to say, but perhaps he didn't say it to save her face.

If she leaves now, allowing her mother and Jia Lian to discuss things alone, perhaps many things can be discussed openly.

But why choose this particular reason?

She was allowed to take a bath, and it was even said that he would have dinner with Jia Lian later before going back...

Could you be any clearer?

Although she guessed that Jia Lian must have such plans.

After all, now that she's back, she's unlikely to see Jia Lian again before the wedding.

After much deliberation, she could only nod and say "Yes," then bow to Aunt Xue and Jia Lian before leaving the room.

Now that the topic has come to this point, it might be the right thing for her to avoid it.

I hope Mother won't do anything foolish and offend Jia Lian, and I also hope that Second Brother Lian can consider the affection between the two of them and calmly discuss the matter with Mother.

I hope these two people closest to me can reach a good solution. (End of Chapter)