The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Rongqing Hall was filled with laughter and joy.

Everyone was talking about the grand scene of yesterday, recalling the supreme glory of the emperor and empress's personal presence.

Li Wan and Tan Chun came to pay their respects, and Grandmother Jia asked them how the cleanup work was going.

Yesterday, Jia Zheng was in charge of all external affairs, while Jia Yun and several stewards were responsible for specific tasks.

However, Jia Zheng has always preferred to live a life of leisure.

He had not neglected his duties because of Jia Lian's instructions, but since the guests had all left last night, he had no interest in worldly affairs.

He handed over the remaining matters to Jia Yun and the steward, and then went back to Aunt Zhao's room to rest.

To prepare for this wedding, which was also his first grand banquet after the mourning period, Jia Lian spared no expense, spending tens of thousands of taels of gold.

Of course, describing it as an expense might not be accurate.

After all, many things, such as the two outfits worn by Daiyu and Baochai, are not consumables.

Including the gifts I received yesterday, I even made a profit!

That's normal, considering that there were over a thousand invited guests yesterday alone.

More than half of them were high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

It can be said that if the emperor hadn't made a mistake and interrupted the banquet, yesterday's wedding feast would have been the most spectacular event in the capital in the past decade.

Such a grand event involves complex and intricate aspects.

The cleanup work was naturally not easy either.

Putting aside everything else, the hundreds of red carpets of all sizes that were not only laid around the two mansions but also extended to the Xue and Lin family villas alone would be a major undertaking to collect and clean.

It's easy to imagine that the laundry women in both prefectures will have plenty of work to do in the next few days.

After Jia Zheng became lazy, all these internal and external affairs naturally fell to Li Wan and Tan Chun, who were in charge of managing the household.

Li Wan was always a person of good character but not good talent.

She feels overwhelmed even with routine household chores, let alone handling such important matters.

Fortunately, her little assistant, Tan Chun, has grown up after more than half a year of training.

In addition, he is small in stature but full of energy, always taking the lead and doing everything himself.

Even if there were things she didn't understand, Sister Feng and Ping'er would give her advice from behind the scenes.

Therefore, Tan Chun was the one who answered most of the questions from Grandmother Jia.

When Grandmother Jia saw that Tan Chun answered so eloquently, clearly having done her homework, she couldn't help but nod in approval.

After giving them a few reminders and telling them that they could borrow from her if they needed more manpower, Grandmother Jia stopped asking questions.

Looking at the sky outside the window, she suddenly asked Yuanyang what time it was.

Seeing this, everyone knew that Grandmother Jia was getting impatient, so Lady Wang said, "Perhaps the young people are too sleepy, why don't we send someone in to urge them on?"

Grandmother Jia hesitated for a moment, then said, "Never mind, I heard that Lian'er didn't get back until four in the morning last night. Let them get some more sleep, why rush them?"

"Yes."

Just then, the maids' voices came from outside: "The new bride has arrived."

Everyone laughed, and the sisters immediately stood up, holding hands as they walked outside.

The reason they gathered here so early in the morning was that they were too embarrassed to make a ruckus in the newlyweds' house. Knowing that the newlyweds would come to serve tea to the elders, they came over to wait.

Just so I can see the newcomers as soon as possible.

Grandmother Jia also stood up and walked towards the main hall with Madam Xing.

"Grandson greets the old lady, and the lady pays her respects."

"Granddaughter-in-law, pay your respects to the old lady and madam."

Baochai and Daiyu followed half a step behind Jia Lian on either side, and together they bowed to Grandmother Jia and Madam Xing as they came out.

Grandmother Jia looked at the three people in front of her who seemed like a divine couple, and her old face beamed with a smile like a chrysanthemum.

Madam Xing quickly came out to help Baochai and Daiyu up. Looking at their beautiful faces, she smiled and said, "Good children, get up quickly, no need for formalities."

There was a reason why Madam Xing was so polite to Baochai and Daiyu.

The fact that Jia Lian held such a grand wedding for Baochai and Daiyu shows that he doted on them.

Secondly, she had already found out the details.

Yesterday, the dowries of both Baochai and Daiyu were incredibly generous!
At that time, the dowry processions of the Xue and Lin families formed two long lines at the gate of Rongguo Mansion, which astonished the servants of both mansions.

When the newlyweds entered the mansion to pay homage to Heaven and Earth, these trunks were transported to Hengwu Garden and Xiaoxiang Pavilion respectively.

I heard that they filled all the vacant rooms in both pavilions and still couldn't fit everything, so many items had to be piled up on the eaves.

A minor incident also occurred.

It was just that the two Lin family servants who were responsible for carrying the chests were unfamiliar with the road conditions. They accidentally missed a step, causing the chests they were carrying to fall to the ground, spilling out a lot of the gleaming silver inside.

This caused the Jia family's servants who were leading the way to gasp in astonishment.

To everyone's surprise, after the Lin family steward reprimanded the two burly men, he told the astonished Jia family that this box was just the least valuable one among all the boxes...

Whether others believed it or not, Madam Xing believed it.

There were already rumors in the mansion that the Lin family was wealthy.

After all, the Lin family had been marquises for four generations, and before returning to Lantai Temple, the Lin family's son-in-law had served as the Salt Commissioner for many years.

It's quite normal for a family to be wealthy.

However, everyone could understand why Daiyu's dowry was so generous, since only Miss Lin was left in the direct line of the Lin family, and Second Master Lian was rightfully "living off the child of the childless."

However, it is truly puzzling that the Xue family's dowry procession could rival that of the Lin family.

After all, the Xue family was only marrying off their daughter, so why was the dowry so large?

Therefore, knowing that both of them were wealthy, Madam Xing's attitude naturally improved.

There was another calculation she had: she knew that Sister Feng didn't think much of her as her stepmother-in-law, but she didn't dare to turn against her.

Now that Sister Feng has two formidable enemies, she naturally wants to win them over.

Whether it's causing trouble for Sister Feng later, or playing both sides to gain advantages, there's always something to say about it.

Upon arriving at the main hall, Grandmother Jia and Madam Xing sat down. After Baochai and Daiyu served tea, Grandmother Jia said to Jia Lian, "Yesterday, the Emperor and Empress came in person and bestowed honors upon them. Don't you plan to take them to the palace to express your gratitude?"

There are actually specific customs and etiquette surrounding when a subject receives an imperial reward and enters the palace to express his gratitude.

For example, if the emperor personally issues an imperial edict, such an award is usually quite significant and formal.

In such circumstances, unless there are special circumstances, the subject is required to enter the palace to express gratitude.

However, when it comes to imperial edicts or when the emperor receives something nice and casually sends it to a favorite minister, such rewards are less restrictive and don't have as many requirements.

After all, even the emperor finds it troublesome.

This applies to subjects.

For female relatives, the requirements are naturally even fewer.

Don't assume that the emperor doesn't need to avoid suspicion.

Historically, there have been instances where emperors summoned the wives and daughters of their ministers to the palace, and when trouble arose, the entire country was destroyed. Yesterday, the emperor's bestowal of honors upon the two women was done through the empress, without any special imperial edict, which can be considered rather arbitrary.

However, considering that two titles were bestowed at once, which is a rather generous reward, it is only proper for a subject to express gratitude and go to thank the emperor.

Therefore, Jia Lian said, "I will go to the palace to express my gratitude by myself; there is no need for them to go."

If the emperor hadn't fallen ill last night, it would have been appropriate for Jia Lian to take Daiyu and Baochai to express their gratitude.

After all, the emperor made a special trip to give them a seat in the main hall and to receive their tea, which could be considered as confirming their status as elders.

Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia seemed to have also considered the fact that the Emperor was unwell.

So he changed his tune and said, "Even if the Emperor is too busy with state affairs to meet with me, he should at least meet with the Empress."

Last night, not only did the Emperor bestow favors upon them, but the Empress also bestowed gifts upon them. They should pay their respects; it is the proper etiquette for subjects and juniors.

"This……"

It must be said that what Grandmother Jia said made sense.

Leaving aside the fact that the Empress will play a very important role in the upcoming struggle between the Fourth Prince and the Third Prince.

Just last night, the Empress was indeed kind and gentle to Baochai and Daiyu, but at that time, the Empress didn't even see the true faces of Baochai and Daiyu.

So, it's only right and proper to take him to meet the Empress.

Jia Lian felt sorry for the two women.

He's a man, and in the past, when he led troops in the field, he would often go without sleep for two or three days straight.

So it's okay to just tough it out.

However, Baochai and Daiyu are both young ladies from respectable families. They were exhausted after a long day yesterday, and Jia Lian kept them up until dawn before they could get some sleep. Jia Lian really didn't want them to suffer.

So his gaze unconsciously drifted towards the two women.

Daiyu frowned slightly, clearly not wanting to cause any trouble.

Baochai appeared calm. When she saw him looking over, as if asking a question, she hesitated for a moment before speaking:
"Although I didn't get a clear look at Her Majesty's face last night, I could tell from her voice that she was a kind and gentle elder."

Besides, Lin Daiyu and I have received gifts from the Empress, so regardless of whether the Empress is available to receive us, Lin Daiyu and I should personally go and pay our respects.”

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian nodded, turned around and looked at Tan Chun, saying, "I'll trouble our deputy steward to inform the outside to prepare carriages and horses for us."

Tan Chun was stunned for a moment before she realized that the deputy chief steward was referring to her.

Looking at the people around her who suddenly burst into laughter, Tan Chun felt a little shy.

She was all too aware of Jia Lian's influence.

It's easy to imagine that before long, the title of deputy chief steward will be attached to her.

She gave Jia Lian a slight glare, but still nodded and bowed, obeying his orders.

Jia Lian didn't linger either. After bidding farewell to Grandmother Jia and the others, he led Daiyu and Baochai outside.

Seeing this, Baochai asked, "Aren't we going back to the garden?"

"What are you going back to the garden for? Is there anything else you need to prepare?"

Jia Lian looked at the two women and smiled, "You are both dressed very formally and beautifully, so you don't need to change."

In this day and age, even married couples don't readily praise each other's beauty in front of outsiders.

Fortunately, the two women were somewhat used to Jia Lian's unconventional way of speaking and behaving, so they suppressed their embarrassment and replied, "Shouldn't we go and pay our respects to Sister Feng?"

As soon as Baochai said this, Daiyu looked over at her seriously.

They all knew that Jia Lian doted on them, but they didn't want to take advantage of his favor and cause Feng Jie to misunderstand them or feel that they didn't respect her.

However, Jia Lian did not mean that. She just felt that it was quite a distance from Rongqing Hall back to Jiaying Hall in the garden, and there was no need to go through all that trouble.

Unexpectedly, the two misunderstood, so they laughed and said, "The Empress is an elder, how can you pay your respects to her before paying respects to an elder?"

She is a reasonable person. If she knew you were doing this, she wouldn't dare accept tea even if you offered it to her.

So you don't need to worry, you can see her after you return from the palace."

Baochai and the other woman thought it made sense, so they kept quiet.

As Jia Lian arrived at the gate of the Rongguo Duke's mansion, the guards were already in full formation.

The attendants and servants also prepared the carriage.

There are two carriages of the same style and size, but with different decorative styles.

It was the special carriage that Jia Lian had commissioned for Baochai and Daiyu in Tianjin.

Because these two carriages and Sister Feng's carriage took up too much space, Jia Lian specially designated a space next to Ma Peng and built a shed to park these three VIP carriages.

Baochai had already ridden in it before, and Daiyu had also ridden in her own carriage when she moved back to the Lin family's villa before the New Year, so neither of them found it strange.

Just as they were about to board their respective carriages, Jia Lian took Baochai's hand, walked to Daiyu's carriage, and said with a smile to the two of them:
"It's too ostentatious to enter the palace in two carriages. Let's just take one. That way, we can chat together on the way."

Seeing Baochai's embarrassment, Daiyu hesitated for a moment and said, "What about Zijuan and Ying'er?"

Ying'er was surprised that Daiyu was so considerate of her subordinates. She thought that the journey to the palace must be long, and it would be too tiring to walk there.

So he stared longingly at Jia Lian.

It wasn't that she was advising Jia Lian to retract his order; she knew Jia Lian wanted to get close to the two girls. She just thought that Jia Lian would be kind and arrange an ordinary carriage for her and Zijuan to ride in.

Jia Lian laughed and said, "This carriage is so big, and the two of them don't take up much space. They can just find a corner to squat in."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu snorted and pulled Baochai's hand, saying, "Sister Bao, let's get in the carriage and ignore him."

Daiyu knew perfectly well that Jia Lian was worried that he would not know who to accompany him, since he and Baochai would each have their own carriage.

Now that he's taken the initiative to bring Baochai over, isn't it because he thinks Baochai is easier to talk to than her, since she's petty?
Otherwise, why didn't he lead himself to ride in Baochai's carriage?

If it had been before yesterday, Daiyu would definitely have given Jia Lian a good scolding.

However, after last night, her relationship with Baochai entered a mysterious, but absolutely unprecedentedly intimate state.

Not wanting to embarrass Baochai, she only gave Jia Lian an idea of ​​how to interpret it before taking the initiative to pull Baochai into the carriage.

Jia Lian naturally didn't care about Daiyu's attitude.

Without a magnanimous spirit, how can one be worthy of enjoying the blessings of having multiple wives?

Despite Daiyu's haughty demeanor, she and Baochai became like sisters under his arrangement.

Therefore, he is still the more shrewd one.

Glancing at the two little maids who were trying not to laugh, Jia Lian didn't even need to step on the stool; he simply leaped up and climbed into the carriage.

When the two maids came up and were about to find a corner to squat down, they found that Jia Lian was already sitting casually in the front of the carriage, with one of their young ladies on each side.

"Stop pulling, or I'll spank you!"

Seeing Ying'er looking over with some surprise, Zijuan felt a little embarrassed.

Clearly, Baochai either didn't, or Ying'er had never seen her pinch Jia Lian, which is why the young girl was so surprised.

For some reason, Zijuan suddenly felt a faint sense of pride.

So he stood calmly and upright, flanking Ying'er at either corner of the carriage. (End of Chapter)