The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Stepping out of Xiaoxiang Pavilion, even the air smelled wonderful.

The fresh scent of bamboo leaves.

After returning to Jiaying Hall and having breakfast, Jia Lian went to the palace as usual.

"His Majesty has decreed that no one shall be seen today except the Empress."

Outside the Daming Palace, the eunuch reported the truth.

Jia Lian frowned, not quite understanding why Emperor Ningkang had issued this decree.

Is it really that he doesn't even have the energy to meet with foreign officials?

Since he couldn't see Emperor Ningkang, Jia Lian subconsciously decided to go to Chonghua Palace.

He was curious to know what the retired emperor would think in the current situation.

However, just as he stepped out of the Daming Palace area, Jia Lian abruptly stopped in his tracks.

He who walks a hundred steps is only halfway there at ninety.

He paid attention to so many details to maintain the trust between himself and Emperor Ningkang.

Now that Emperor Ningkang is ill and bedridden, if I go to see the retired emperor, Emperor Ningkang will surely have some doubts.

I'm afraid others will also suspect him of having ulterior motives.

So he turned around and left the palace.

The main roads and streets within the imperial city were paved with deeper and thicker stone slabs than those in the outer city.

Walking within the imperial city, even the sound of horses' hooves was clearer and more somber than in other places.

In this atmosphere, the dozens of guards surrounding Jia Lian unconsciously became more vigilant and placed their hands on their waist knives.

Of course, there were no accidents or assassins.

However, as he approached the Xi'an Gate, the garrison commander Hu Jin came to greet him and whispered beside him, "Lord Rong, the Princess is waiting for you on the city wall."

Jia Lian nodded, dismounted, and followed him up the city wall stairs to the city gate tower.

Sure enough, on the front of the city gate tower, there was a small table with a simple tea set on it.

Princess Zhaoyang, clad in armor and exuding unparalleled valor, sat gracefully to his side, smiling at him.

"Your Highness, Rong Gong has arrived. This humble servant will take his leave."

Princess Zhaoyang nodded briefly to Hu Jin, then looked at Jia Lian and smiled, "Lord Rong, please."

Jia Lian glanced at Princess Zhaoyang's bright armor, then looked down at his own luxurious noble robes, feeling that the roles had been reversed, and couldn't help but find it amusing.

Nodding, he flicked his robe and sat down opposite Princess Zhaoyang in the most dignified and imposing manner befitting a duke.

Princess Zhaoyang paused as she poured tea, giving Jia Lian a sidelong glance as if she sensed something, before putting down the teapot and presenting the delicate teacup to him.

"This is tea produced on my own imperial estate. Rong Gong, please try it and see how it differs from the tea offered to the imperial court."

Jia Lian didn't stand on ceremony, picked up the glass, took a sip, and commented in a seemingly professional manner, "Not bad, even more fragrant and more delicious."

"Hehehe, is Rong Gong talking about tea?"

It is tea, but it is more than just tea.

Little did people know that the ancients had long said that good tea should be paired with a beautiful woman.

Even the most ordinary tea leaves, once brewed by the princess's jade-like hands, will become Jade Dew Immortal Tea.

Conversely, even the finest tea, if it falls into the hands of a commoner, is nothing more than a foolish thirst-quenching beverage.

Princess Zhaoyang chuckled: "Lord Rong is talking nonsense again. I don't know any sage who ever said such a thing."

"If the princess has not heard of it, it only means that the princess has not read enough books and does not know enough about the sages of the past."

"It's alright. The princess should strive to improve herself in the future and not underestimate herself."

"Is Lord Rong mocking me for not studying? As far as I know, Lord Rong has never liked studying since childhood."

"Those who are born with knowledge do not need to waste time on books."

Princess Zhaoyang was overjoyed, but when she noticed the sword attendants around her looking at her curiously, she realized that her attire today was not suitable for revealing a girlish demeanor.

It's all this person's fault. Every time I'm in his presence, I find it hard to maintain the dignity of a princess.

He then coughed lightly, glared at Jia Lian, and said, "Don't try to make me laugh, Rong Gong. I've summoned you here today because there's something important to discuss."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian composed himself and gestured for him to speak.

"Does Erlang know that His Majesty issued an edict this morning, appointing Prince Zhongshun, Prince Beijing, and Grand Secretary Zhao Dongsheng to manage state affairs?"

All military and political affairs shall be decided by the three members through consultation; requests for instructions shall not be made unless absolutely necessary.

Jia Lian nodded: "I just found out too."

Jia Lian received several secret reports early in the morning, which is why he immediately decided to go to the palace to check the situation.

However, the emperor's decree was not too surprising.

Emperor Ningkang was very diligent in his duties, but now he is seriously ill and bedridden, and is obviously unable to handle state affairs every day.

Finding a few people to temporarily share the burden is therefore inevitable.

It was reasonable that the three—King Chungshun, King Pyongyang, and Zhao Dongsheng—represented the royal family, nobles, and officials respectively, and wielded power over the court.

Princess Zhaoyang looked worried: "Logically, with Father Emperor seriously ill, the Crown Prince should oversee the country."

But now the Emperor has not appointed a crown prince.

Although the three men, including King Chungshun, were of high status, their thinking and ways of doing things were completely different.

There may be no immediate problems, but in the long run, chaos is inevitable.

Princess Zhaoyang couldn't help but worry.

His father had seized power through a coup, and only a year later, the remnants of the retired emperor's faction had not been completely eradicated.

If nothing unexpected happens to Emperor Ningkang, he can certainly suppress him.

But now he has fallen ill, and with such internal and external troubles, things are bound to change.

What she couldn't understand was why her father, under such circumstances, would rather delegate power to three ministers than issue an edict to designate the crown prince.

Unfortunately, she had clearly supported her younger brother from the beginning, so even if she wanted to advise Emperor Ningkang to establish a crown prince, she would not have a solid basis for doing so.

That's why she rushed to discuss it with Jia Lian.

Because Jia Lian had repeatedly told her that her father, the Emperor, definitely favored the Fourth Prince.

However, the current situation is not optimistic for them.

Once Emperor Ningkang falls seriously ill, as long as he does not appoint a crown prince, it will be meaningless who he favors.

Everything depends on one's ability.

Princess Zhaoyang's worries were actually Jia Lian's doubts.

Emperor Ningkang was a very shrewd and calculating person; this needs no further proof.

Logically speaking, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the impact of his serious illness on the court and even the fate of the nation.

In this situation, shouldn't he have acted swiftly and decisively, appointing a crown prince and ordering all officials to assist him?

It even eliminated threats to the crown prince and paved the way for his ascension to the throne.

However, Emperor Ningkang did nothing.

Was he delirious from illness, or was he clinging to power, afraid of following in the footsteps of the retired emperor, and thus hesitant to act?
Jia Lian had even considered that if he was wrong, Emperor Ningkang's final choice would still be the Third Prince.

Then he and Princess Zhaoyang became a "threat".

Princess Zhaoyang need not worry; the question will be what he should do then.

Judging from his conversation with Emperor Ningkang on the Zhenyuan that day, Emperor Ningkang probably wouldn't want to kill him.

However, a complete takeover and sidelining are inevitable.

For him, saying these things is meaningless.

Once Emperor Ningkang establishes a third prince, he will only have two options: rebel or flee.

Therefore, he also needs to get accurate information as soon as possible so that he can make plans accordingly.

If this drags on, and all parties remain uncertain, it will only allow forces, both overt and covert, to speculate wildly, and the eventual outcome will be unpredictable.

Suppressing his worries, Jia Lian took Princess Zhaoyang's hand and comforted her:

"Alright, we should trust His Majesty and believe that he values ​​the court and the country more than any of us."

He will definitely make the right choice.

"His Majesty has only just fallen ill; perhaps he will recover in a few days?"

Upon hearing this, Princess Zhaoyang's worry lessened somewhat.

Rationally speaking, she still approves of her father, the emperor.

After all, his father was able to endure seven years on the throne and finally, with the weak against the strong, successfully imprisoned the retired emperor in the Chonghua Palace.

She should have faith in her father.

Princess Zhaoyang pulled her delicate hand away from Jia Lian's large hand, stood up, and faced the outside of the imperial city.

What comes into view is the vast and expansive western part of Beijing, with streets and markets crisscrossed by ditches and lanes, and the green tiles and blue bricks of thousands of households, all shrouded in mist and rain.

Standing here, one feels a sense of vastness, as if the entire landscape is laid out before one's eyes.

She glanced at Jia Lian, who had also risen and was standing beside her, and said softly, "Standing here, Erlang, do you have any feelings?"

Jia Lian said, "The landscape is like a painting, breathtakingly beautiful."

With a smile, Princess Zhaoyang asked again, "Does Erlang really think that Ling'er can protect this beautiful land?" Jia Lian turned his head and looked at Princess Zhaoyang's beautiful profile.

He could sense that Princess Zhaoyang seemed to have something she wasn't saying.

He didn't ask any questions, but simply reached out and put his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace along with her specially made armor.

"I believe him, just as you believe me."

When Jia Lian pulled her into his arms, Princess Zhaoyang instinctively tried to break free.

She suddenly remembered that Emperor Ningkang had told her yesterday that he would no longer interfere in her private affairs.

So he hummed in agreement, reluctant to leave.

……

The situation in the palace was not only of concern to Jia Lian and Princess Zhaoyang.

All those closely connected to core power are watching closely.

Everyone is waiting.

They waited to see whether the emperor's condition worsened or improved.

Let's wait and see whether the emperor will ultimately choose the third or fourth prince as the crown prince.

There were even a small number of people hiding in the shadows, hoping that the one in Chonghua Palace could take this opportunity to once again rule the world.

Therefore, although Emperor Ningkang had only been seriously ill for two days, a storm was already brewing behind the scenes.

These overt and covert currents naturally had no impact on the people in the Grand View Garden.

Compared to the emperor's serious illness, they were more concerned about Daiyu's health.

After Brother Lian (Second Master Lian) spent the night at Xiaoxiang Pavilion last night, Miss Lin, who should now perhaps be called Second Madam Lin or Lady Lin, became "sick".

I heard the illness is quite serious.

According to sources, Lin Xiangjun did not leave the house for almost the entire day, and even ate his meals in bed.

This terrified the women in the garden, as well as the elders like Grandmother Jia.

People came to visit in droves.

So when Jia Lian returned home in the evening, he was summoned by Grandmother Jia and criticized.

"Your Lin sister has always been frail, don't you know how to take care of her a little..."

Even though Grandmother Jia was an experienced woman, and she was trying to avenge her granddaughter, she still seemed somewhat restrained when disciplining Jia Lian.

It took Jia Lian a while to realize what Grandmother Jia meant, and he quickly asked, "What's wrong with Sister Lin?"

"How dare you ask? What promises did you make to me and your Uncle Lin that you would take good care of Lin girl?"

She's only just married into the family, and you're already bullying her like this.

In short, you are not allowed to stay overnight in Lin's room for the next three days.

Grandmother Jia was quite annoyed and issued a ban on him staying overnight.

This made Jia Lian suspicious. Could it be that Daiyu was really injured?

But that doesn't make sense. He clearly checked it when he left this morning.

So he disregarded etiquette, hastily apologized to Grandmother Jia, and rushed to Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

Inside the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Daiyu had just driven away her sisters who had come to check on her when she heard Jia Lian arrive, and she felt both embarrassed and annoyed.

"Don't let him in."

Unfortunately, the maids certainly couldn't carry out this order.

As Jia Lianming swaggered into the room, Daiyu immediately buried herself under the covers, unwilling to come out.

"I heard from the old lady that Lin Daiyu was injured?"

"Second Master, you're overthinking it. Our Grandma is fine."

Hearing Jia Lian and Zijuan's exchange, Daiyu, who was covering her head, became even more annoyed.

She sat up abruptly, glaring at Jia Lian and saying, "How dare you ask? It's all your fault!"

Before she could finish speaking, her face turned red.

Being cared for by her sisters in turn was enough to make her shy.

Unexpectedly, even Grandmother Jia knew about it and it seemed she had spoken to Jia Lian about it. This left the shy Daiyu at a loss for what to do.

Jia Lian was initially quite worried, thinking that he had indeed acted rashly and hurt Daiyu.

But seeing how quickly she moved and how strong her curses were, he felt relieved.

He walked to the bedside, tidied her messy hair, then sat down and said with a smile, "Tell me, what happened?"

"What's there to say? It's all your fault anyway."

Looking at the person in front of her who had made her lose face, Daiyu felt a surge of malice and raised her foot to kick him off the bed.

I didn't want to use too much force, but now I really felt the pain in my groin.

But she was proud and remained silent, her brows furrowed.

Of course, they definitely wouldn't dare to make a second kick.

Although Jia Lian wasn't kicked off, he felt a kick in his buttocks, which put him completely at ease.

So he turned to Zijuan and said, "You tell me."

Zijuan was naturally a little embarrassed in front of Jia Lian.

But she still explained very responsibly: "It's like this, this morning Miss Yun and Miss Qin came to visit our Miss... Grandma."

However, our grandmother was physically weak and had difficulty even getting out of bed, which frightened Yun and the others, and the commotion became known to everyone.

Then...the old lady and the others came over..."

The matter was indeed very simple: Daiyu was still recovering from childbirth and was feeling unwell.

Xiangyun and the others were ignorant, and Daiyu herself couldn't say it outright.

So Xiangyun thought Daiyu was sick again and insisted on calling a doctor for her, which alarmed the elders such as Grandmother Jia.

Grandmother Jia and the others eventually realized that Daiyu was fine, so they naturally didn't call a doctor for her.

However, after such a commotion, which became known to everyone, Daiyu felt it was too "shameful" and naturally didn't give Jia Lian a good look.

"I see."

Jia Lian smiled and turned to say, "You too, Yun'er has always been a bit silly, why are you arguing with her?"

"Pah, when did I ever hold a grudge against her? I'm arguing with you... humph."

Daiyu didn't know who to argue with, but she felt so ashamed that she had to find someone to vent her anger on.

And this person is none other than Jia Lian, the instigator.

She clearly felt much better after a good night's rest last night, but Jia Lian suddenly became lustful this morning and started harassing her again, and he was even more rude than last night.

That's what made her look bad.

So, it's all Jia Lian's fault.

Seeing that Jia Lian showed no remorse for his mistake, Zijuan, feeling sorry for her young mistress, stepped forward and said:

"Although Grandma is fine, Second Master should be gentler with her in the future."

This morning I was helping my grandma take a bath, and I found that my grandma…

"Oh dear, Zijuan is going to die! Shut up!"

Overwhelmed with shame, Daiyu flung her embroidered handkerchief away in her panic.

Although Zijuan didn't finish her sentence, how could Jia Lian not understand?

He chuckled deliberately, "What's wrong with your grandma?"

Faced with Daiyu's murderous gaze, Zijuan ultimately dared not say the exact words, only saying, "In short, please, Second Master, have pity on our mistress."

Our grandmother has always been delicate and frail; if she were to get injured, Second Uncle would be heartbroken.

Jia Lian nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly, and replied, "You're right. But you don't need to worry too much; the old lady has already given clear instructions."

I am not allowed to stay overnight in your grandmother's room for the next three days.

So, you don't need to worry for now.

Upon hearing that Grandmother Jia had actually given such an order, Daiyu felt even more ashamed and thought she would never be able to face anyone again.

Before she could recover, she heard Jia Lian continue to say to Zijuan, "However, I am curious why you are so worried about your grandmother."

Last night was your first time too, so it probably wasn't much better.

"Come here quickly, let me check if you're hurt."

"Yeah~"

Zijuan instinctively cried out in surprise, and saw that Daiyu was also stunned.

She hurriedly spat at Jia Lian: "You bad second master, I'm not talking to you anymore."

After saying that, he ran out.

Jia Lian looked at her steady steps, nodded, and thought to himself that this girl's endurance was indeed good.

Suddenly sensing a murderous aura beside him, he turned around and was met with Daiyu's small, oval face, which was now coldly smiling. (End of Chapter)