The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Jia Lian didn't linger at Xiangshan Stone's place for too long. When he returned to Jiaying Hall, Feng Jie was playing cards with Qingwen, Xiangling, and Ping'er.

The room was warm and cozy, and the four beautiful wives and concubines sat around a table playing dominoes, a very pleasing sight to behold.

"Second Master is back!"

Qingwen and the others quickly got up to greet her. Fengjie, supported by Ping'er, also stood up and asked with a smile, "Why are you back so late?"

"I was delayed in the palace for a while."

Upon hearing this, Sister Feng's eyes lit up, and she leaned closer, saying, "I heard you accompanied the emperor to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, is that right...?"

Sister Feng blinked, looking very concerned.

Jia Lian glanced at her and said, "We'll talk about this later. You two continue. I need to change my clothes and go to the old lady's place."

Feng Jie then realized that this was indeed not a good question to ask in front of the maids, so she decisively gave up and asked again, "Have you had dinner yet?"

"Ah."

Sister Feng immediately beamed with joy.

Jia Lian said he was delayed in the palace and had a meal, so it must have been the emperor who bestowed upon him a royal meal.

She naturally felt proud that her husband had such a respectable position.

"You lot, quickly help the Second Master into the room to change his clothes."

With a word from Sister Feng, Jia Lian entered the bedroom, surrounded by maids such as Qingwen.

The bedroom nowadays is much larger than the bedroom in the small courtyard before. Even if more than a dozen maids come in to serve at the same time, it will not feel too crowded.

However, according to custom, those who could serve Jia Lian closely were naturally limited to a few, such as Qingwen.

Other maids could only take their turn if they were not present.

At this moment, with the help of Xiangling and others, Qingwen was efficiently changing Jia Lian's casual clothes while chattering away with questions.

Seeing her mouth never stopping, Jia Lian couldn't help but laugh and ask, "Who won the card game with your second mistress?"

"Of course I won... but Second Madam won too..."

It's all Ping'er and Xiangling's fault. They agreed to win the Second Mistress's money together, but they kept playing the wrong cards.

Xiangling is out of the question; she's never been a good player.

Ping'er did it on purpose; she's just too timid and doesn't dare to win money from Second Madam.

"Why don't you play a couple of rounds, Second Master, and replace Ping'er? Let's win Second Madam's money together!"

Jia Lian glanced at Xiangling, who looked a little embarrassed, and laughed, "You really enjoy winning your second mistress's money that much?"

"Of course."

Who told Second Grandma to be so rich?

Besides, she doesn't usually play with us.

Tonight is finally New Year's Eve, and she asked us to hang out with her, so of course we had to seize the opportunity!

Jia Lian smiled, patted Qingwen's head, and said with a laugh, "Not now. The old lady hasn't set off the fireworks yet."

"If I get back early, I can play with you guys for a bit."

"Oh, I see. Then let's forget about it. How about Second Master takes us to watch the fireworks later?"

Qingwen finally understood that with Ping'er and Xiangling as her two "pig teammates," and with Fengjie being a shrewd card player, it was impossible for her to win much money from Fengjie.

I'd rather go see fireworks.

I heard the manor bought a lot of fireworks this year; I must take a good look at what they look like.

Thinking about it, she squatted down and changed Jia Lian's shoes, socks, and trousers.

Suddenly realizing something was amiss, she sniffed Jia Lian and then gave him a knowing look.

She didn't say anything immediately, but waited until the two extra maids took away the clothes she had changed out of before whispering to Jia Lian, "Second Master lied to Second Mistress again, saying that he was delayed in the palace, but he clearly went to steal food."

"It's one thing to steal food, but to not even clean it up properly is another. Luckily it was me; if Second Madam had found out, Second Master would have been mortified during the New Year."

Like Daiyu, Qingwen has an oval face and peach blossom eyes, giving her a strong anime/lolita vibe.

That pouty, jealous look is just so adorable.

Jia Lian couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheek, asking, "Would you tell on me?"

Qingwen brushed aside Jia Lian's groping hand, raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Then we'll have to see how Second Master performs."

A naturally beautiful woman, every smile and frown is captivating.

Qingwen clearly possessed these qualities.

Looking at her coquettish and gentle appearance, it was as if Jia Lian had just severely punished the Aqin sisters, making them lose their armor in a very short time and no longer follow him, only to turn back and change their inner clothes in a storm of anger.

Otherwise, he would probably want to pamper this charming little vixen right now.

When Jia Lian finished tidying up and returned to Rongqing Hall, it was already close to midnight.

The flower hall was no longer as lively as before.

The reason they didn't disperse was simply because they adhered to the tradition of staying up all night on New Year's Eve, meaning they would stay up until after midnight.

Jia Lian's arrival reignited the already somewhat subdued atmosphere.

After Jia Lian paid his respects to Grandmother Jia, she offered him a seat. Jia Lian glanced at the seats and went directly to the two tables where his sisters were seated.

Seeing this, the maid quickly placed a stool there.

The maids, including Xiangyun and Tanchun, also moved to the side to make room for Jia Lian.

Jia Lian asked with a smile, "What were you all talking about just now? You all look so happy."

Tan Chun immediately offered an explanation: "Sitting idly is boring, so let's play riddles."

"Oh, what kind of riddles are you all guessing? Tell me about them."

Just as Tan Chun was about to speak, Xiang Yun grabbed her and said to Jia Lian, "Why don't you try to guess what it means if I tell you?"

"Okay."

Seeing that Jia Lian agreed, Xiangyun immediately rubbed her hands together and said with a smile, "You've just arrived, so why don't you start by telling me something simple and let me guess?"

This is a riddle from Sister Xing, it's quite interesting, just listen..."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian couldn't help but glance at Xiuyan at the table next to him.

When Xiuyan was suddenly met with his gaze, she lowered her head shyly, like a delicate white lotus flower.

Jia Lian sighed inwardly.

Before I knew it, all my younger sisters had grown up.

"Guess quickly, guess quickly..."

Xiangyun waved her hand in front of Jia Lian, urging him on.

Jia Lian remained completely calm and smiled, saying, "What did you say just now? I didn't hear you clearly. Say it again."

"Of course you didn't hear me! Your eyes are glued to Sister Bao and Sister Lin!"

The sisters sat at two tables, four people at each table.

Three Springs and Xiangyun sat at one table, while Baochai, Daiyu, Baoqin, and Xiuyan sat at another.

Jia Lian's gaze swept over them, leading Xiangyun and the others to subconsciously assume that he was looking at Baochai and Daiyu.

Jia Lian remained silent, only smiling.

Xiangyun didn't press the matter further, and indeed continued:
"Listen carefully, the riddle is: 'Liu Bang laughs loudly, Liu Bei cries loudly, guess a Chinese character.'"

If you still can't hear me, you'll be punished.

Jia Lian put aside his distracting thoughts, lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Is it the character '翠' (cui)?"

"Wow……"

"That's it! Second brother is indeed amazing."

Seeing that Jia Lian guessed the correct answer in just a few breaths, Tan Chun and the other little fans knew how to give emotional value.

Xiangyun, however, was somewhat dissatisfied and immediately added, "This is simple, it's not surprising that you guessed it right."

I'll tell you one more; if you can still guess it, I'll be impressed.

Looking at Xiangyun, who was fiercely competitive, Jia Lian laughed and said, "What does it matter if you admire me? Since you want to gamble, let's gamble on something interesting."

"What do you want?"

Seeing the two women locked in a fierce battle, the other women unconsciously moved closer together.

Even Jia Baoyu couldn't help but come over and stand beside Jia Lian.

You asked him why he didn't come over before?

The reason is simple: ever since those past events, not only can he no longer step into Xiaoxiang Pavilion, but even at public gatherings like this, if he gets too close to Daiyu, others will look at him with suspicion.

Daiyu would also actively avoid it.

Over time, he himself lost interest.

Whenever Daiyu was present, he would subconsciously distance himself from his sisters. Now that Jia Lian was there, he figured no one would dare to speculate about him maliciously.

As he expected, no one really cares about him now.

Jia Lian said to Xiangyun, "On this auspicious day, I won't make things difficult for you."

If I guess correctly, your punishment is to tell us all a joke that makes everyone laugh; otherwise, you'll have to drink three cups of wine as a penalty.

Xiangyun listened and thought about it for a moment, then decided there wasn't a big problem and said, "What if you didn't guess it?"

"Naturally, it's the same."

"it is good."

Xiangyun glanced at her sisters, quickly made up her mind, and said, "Listen carefully, the riddle is a poem called 'Dian Jiang Chun':"
Separated by streams and valleys, playing games in the mortal world, what true joy is there? Fame and fortune are fleeting, and what remains afterward is ultimately hard to continue.

Hit something vulgar. "

After Xiangyun finished reading, before Jia Lian could express his opinion, everyone was surprised.

"No one has mentioned this before, has they?"

"That's right, it must have been made up by Yun girl on the spot."

Seeing this, Jia Lian laughed and said, "What a cunning little girl! Didn't you say you wanted me to guess what you had said before? You're cheating."

Xiangyun felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this.

She had indeed intended to use a riddle that Baochai had presented to interrogate Jia Lian, but who knew that Jia Lian would actually make a bet with her.

Since that's the case, she has no choice but to put some pressure on Jia Lian.

So she argued defiantly, "I only told you a difficult one to guess, I didn't say it had to be one we had said before."

Besides, everyone knows about your relationship with Sister Bao and Sister Lin.

What if they contact you, as we've mentioned before?
You guess now.

This was something I came up with with great difficulty; I originally planned to use it as a riddle on the Lantern Festival.

Let me make this clear: if you can't guess it, I won't tell you the answer today.

"I will only reveal the answer if none of you have figured it out by the fifteenth of the month."

"Look how smug she is, I'll make sure she guesses it."

Hearing Xiangyun's words, everyone knew how confident she was in her riddle, and they all wanted to try and guess it.

Especially Daiyu.

Xiangyun always made sure to bring her and Baochai up in her conversations, which made her quite unhappy.

However, after carefully pondering Xiangyun's riddle, even someone as intelligent as Daiyu couldn't help but frown.

It has to be said, it's a bit hard to guess.

When Xiangyun saw that everyone was indeed stumped, she couldn't stop smiling.

"That's not it."

"Not this either."

Without hesitation, Xiangyun rejected Tan Chun and the others' tentative guesses, and looked at Jia Lian with a smile: "Second Brother Lian, guess quickly."

Don't even think about cheating or taking shortcuts.

"If they guess it first, I still win."

Because Xiangyun is so young, her eagerness to win is quite endearing, making all the elders and sisters-in-law in the inner hall, including Jia Lian, smile with delight.

Jia Baoyu was also pondering Xiangyun's riddle when he suddenly remembered the monkey show he had seen together on the street the other day when he had secretly slipped out of the mansion to meet Qin Zhong. A sudden inspiration struck him, and he laughed:
"Since none of them are what they are talking about, then I guessed it must be a monkey playing tricks."

Xiangyun was taken aback and looked at Jia Baoyu with a very surprised and slightly shocked gaze.

Even those who couldn't understand it yet could tell that Jia Baoyu had guessed correctly.

Sure enough, Xiangyun only paused for a moment before laughing and saying, "That's it, Brother Bao, how did you guess?"

Faced with Xiangyun's admiring gaze, Jia Baoyu finally regained some of the sense of pride he felt in front of his sisters.

Even those who knew the answer were still somewhat puzzled. Daiyu asked, "What is the meaning of the last sentence?"

She asked about the phrase "future affairs are ultimately difficult to continue" in the riddle.

Xiangyun laughed and said, "Which monkey trainer doesn't cut off the monkey's tail?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback, then seemed to recall the scene of those short-tailed monkeys hopping and leaping around, and all laughed and said, "The riddles she came up with were more tricky than others, and quite vivid and interesting."

Ignoring everyone's reactions, Xiangyun said to Jia Lian in a sweet voice, "You answered too late. Brother Bao guessed it first, so you lost."

Jia Lian laughed and said, "Actually, I guessed it too, but I didn't have time to say it. How can you say I lost?"

It was clearly Baoyu who stole my thunder.

"I don't care, go and reason with Brother Bao. It's your fault for being a step too slow, so you've already lost."

Everyone laughed.

In reality, everyone envies Xiangyun.

Even today, Xiangyun is the only one who can still act so naturally and coquettishly in front of Jia Lian.

Others, including Yingchun, were more or less restrained by Jia Lian's status and position, and dared not be too presumptuous.

Seeing Jia Lian and Xiang Yun struggling, Tan Chun also stepped in to help, telling Jia Lian to accept his loss.

Jia Lian chuckled.

He wasn't actually cheating; he genuinely guessed the riddle. In fact, he "guessed" it as soon as Xiangyun finished telling him the riddle.

After all, no matter how quick-witted and intelligent Xiangyun was, she could only laugh at him when he had his third eye.

However, seeing Xiangyun's adorable, confident demeanor, Jia Lian couldn't bear to discourage her too much, so he didn't give her the answer for the time being.

As for Jia Baoyu getting there first, he didn't care. It was just a little verbal game, and probably no one would think that Jia Baoyu was better than him just because he guessed the riddle first.

On the contrary, over the years he has squeezed Jia Baoyu's living space a lot. Although he did not do it intentionally, it still gives people the feeling that Jia Baoyu was being bullied by him.

Now, letting Jia Baoyu steal the spotlight will just be the perfect way to counteract everyone's negative feelings.

And one can feel the magnanimity of Master Lian and his noble sentiments, which are far superior to those of Jia Baoyu.

After all, if it were him, he certainly wouldn't deliberately steal the spotlight from others before the person in question has even spoken.

So he laughed and said, "Okay, I admit defeat. Tell me a joke."

Xiangyun, who was holding Jia Lian and shaking him, stopped in her tracks and asked in astonishment, "You lost, so why are you asking me to tell a joke?"

"Yeah, I lost. You're the one telling jokes. Didn't we just agree on this?"

Xiangyun was stunned, suddenly feeling like her brain wasn't working properly, and looked blankly at the sisters around her.

Most of the others were also surprised, but Daiyu reacted quickly. Thinking of something amusing, she immediately turned her head and whispered to Baoqin.

Baoqin suddenly realized what was going on and looked at Xiangyun with sympathy.

Xiangyun was already furious at this point, glaring at Jia Lian and saying, "Second Brother Lian, are you trying to renege on your promise?"

"How am I cheating? Didn't we agree that if you lost, you had to tell everyone a joke that made them all laugh?"

They even asked me what I would do if I lost, and I said it would be the same if I lost.

You promised me you'd tell jokes even if you lost, but now you're going back on your word. Are you trying to cheat?

Jia Lian frowned at Xiangyun, as if to say, "You're such a grown woman, how can you go back on your word after making such a promise?"
Xiangyun was immediately enraged, realizing that Jia Lian was playing word games with her.

"You...you shameless second brother, how dare you bully people like this!"

Xiangyun looked around and was filled with grief and indignation to find that no one stood up for her. Her sisters looked at her with pity, and she felt extremely wronged.

Just then, seeing Grandmother Jia's smile, Xiangyun immediately threw herself into Grandmother Jia's arms like a swallow, and said coquettishly, "Grandmother, please stand up for me! Second Brother Lian bullied me!"

Grandmother Jia hugged Xiangyun with a smile and asked her what was wrong.

Xiangyun recounted the whole story in great detail, feeling extremely aggrieved.

So Grandmother Jia, Madam Xing and Madam Wang, Aunt Xue and others couldn't help but laugh.

Grandmother Jia patted Xiangyun on the back to comfort her, then pretended to scold Jia Lian: "Lian'er, your sister Yun is still so young, how can you bully her? Hurry up and coax her."

Jia Lian said dismissively, "There are no siblings in a gambling den; everyone is equal."

Since she agreed to these conditions, she should keep her promise.

How could our ancestor show favoritism towards her simply because she is your youngest granddaughter?

Seeing Jia Lian's businesslike and uncompromising attitude, Grandmother Jia chuckled.

She was somewhat surprised that Jia Lian, having come to this point, was still willing to lower himself and play with his little sister.

Could it be that he also has feelings for Yun?

Looking at her niece, who was as chubby as a candy but was already quite graceful, Grandmother Jia thought it was indeed possible.

But then she glanced at Baochai and Daiyu sitting together, shining like the sun and moon, and thought to herself that this grandson's appetite was far too great.

For a moment, Grandmother Jia was unsure whether to support or oppose Jia Lian if he truly harbored such intentions. (End of Chapter)