The Second Master of the Red Chamber

The next morning, Baochai slowly woke up from her sleep.

Finding herself nestled in a warm embrace, she lifted her eyes and looked at Jia Lian's handsome face, even in his sleep, a happy smile spreading across her face.

After a short while of tenderness, she quietly got up, wrapped herself in two simple undergarments, and went to the outer room to wake Ying'er, instructing her to prepare her washing and toiletries.

Then she returned to the bedside and gently nudged Jia Lian's arm.

"Husband, it's time to get up. Today is the day we return to our parents' home. If we don't get up now, we'll be late."

Jia Lian, still dazed, was helped to sit up by Baochai.

Seeing her gently and meticulously taking her clothes from the shelf next to him to dress him, Jia Lian couldn't help but pull her over and give her a big kiss on her fair and radiant face.

"Husband, stop it..."

"Hehe, what time is it?"

"It's almost time to get to work."

"So early? Come on, sleep with me a little longer."

Baochai scolded her a couple of times, and naturally refused.

After dressing Jia Lian in his clothes and shoes, Baochai began to dress herself.

When Jia Lian came over to help her, she quickly declined, saying, "No need, the maids will laugh at me if they see this..."

Baochai was well-versed in the rules for women and strictly adhered to the established norms.

In this world, what kind of man dresses a woman?

Although Jia Lian had done this before in Tianjin, he seemed to enjoy it.

But this time and that time.

Now that she is officially married, she should strictly adhere to the virtues of womanhood and regard her husband as her heaven.

No one lets their own God dress them.

Of course, this is just the surface reason.

Actually, she didn't want people to see it, because if it got out, it would make her seem arrogant and spoiled.

This even drew displeasure and criticism from elders.

"Pedantism."

Jia Lian forcefully snatched Baochai's soft clothes and gently wrapped them around her slender and fragrant body.

"At such a young age, he is full of outdated customs and traditions, which is not cute at all."

So what if the girls see it? I think they'll only be envious, not laugh at it.
Furthermore, it is my right and privilege to dress my own wife; how can you prevent me from exercising my right and enjoying my privilege?

Baochai felt somewhat wronged after being scolded by Jia Lian.

Hearing what he said next made me laugh.

So she stood there gracefully, letting Jia Lian dress her, only offering words or physical guidance when Jia Lian couldn't figure it out.

During this time, the maids also came in.

Seeing their mistress and mistress in such harmony, they all smiled, filled with pride and envy.

In a short while, Jia Lian finally managed to equip Baochai with all her clothes and accessories.

"All right."

He stepped back, smiling as he looked her over and said, "Not bad, not bad. After my skillful touch, my little hairpin looks even better."

Baochai glanced at herself in the mirror and noticed that her hairpins were all crooked. She glared at Jia Lian in annoyance and went to sit down in front of the dressing table to fix them.

After washing up, while Baochai was getting ready, Jia Lian said, "I'm going to find a few workers to build a small kitchen for you and Lin Daiyu in your courtyards."

This way, you can easily prepare whatever you want to eat in the future.

You should decide for yourself where to put the small kitchen.

Upon hearing this, Baochai said, "You can do it for Lin Daiyu. I live close to the back kitchen, so there's no need to trouble yourself..."

Baochai instinctively wanted to refuse Jia Lian's offer to make an exception for her.

But when he saw Jia Lian's gaze in the mirror, he immediately dared not say another word.

Jia Lian withdrew his sharp gaze.

That's one of Baochai's flaws; whenever you try to offer her something in return, she always politely declines.

This sometimes makes them seem hypocritical.

This is the complete opposite of Sister Feng.

Even Daiyu, although she never actively asks for favors, will generally not refuse if you give her something; at most, she will just remain silent.

"It's settled then. Your sister Feng has a small kitchen in her courtyard, and you must have one here too."

Otherwise, it wouldn't be convenient for me to come over at night and want to get a late-night snack.

When Jia Lian said this, Baochai had nothing to say and nodded in agreement.

He did not force Baochai to accompany him to Jiaying Hall for breakfast.

Jia Lian understood the principle that distance makes the heart grow fonder.

If the three of them, Feng, Chai, and Dai, were to be kept together all day long and forced to be close, it would inevitably have the opposite effect in the long run.

……

After having breakfast, Jia Lian had someone arrange for carriages and horses before returning to Hengwu Garden.

Just then, they saw Baoqin and Xiangyun walking into Baochai's room.

"Second brother..."

The two women greeted him, and Jia Lian nodded, preparing to go inside.

He suddenly turned back, looked down at the two of them a few more times, and asked suspiciously, "Didn't you two sleep well last night? Why do you both look so listless?"

Xiangyun and Baoqin were already embarrassed by Jia Lian's gaze, and upon hearing this, their hearts skipped a beat.

The two exchanged a glance, neither daring to look Jia Lian in the eye.

"No...we all slept quite well."

"I was chatting with my little sister Baoqin last night, and we talked too late, so I went to bed a little late..."

"Is it?"

Jia Lian glanced at them with a hint of suspicion, but didn't press them further. He simply said, "Today is the day your Sister Bao and Sister Lin return to their parents' home, which is why we got up so early. We probably woke you up."

If you haven't had enough sleep, go back and catch up on your rest.

The girls in the Grand View Garden were quite fortunate.

As women, they inherently lacked formal education and schoolwork.

Grandmother Jia, who doted on her granddaughters, exempted them from the daily morning and evening greetings.

Therefore, as long as they have time to organize themselves and visit the Rongguo Mansion to greet the elders, they can arrange their time freely most of the time.

The two, who were still a little sleep-deprived, immediately perked up when they heard Jia Lian's words and insisted that Jia Lian take them with him.

Even Baoqin pleaded, saying that she hadn't been home for a long time and wanted to go back to pay her respects to her aunt and brother.

What he said made perfect sense and sounded pitiful, and Jia Lian almost agreed.

"Young lady, do you even know what a homecoming is? You have to go with her."

"If you want to return to your parents' home, wait until you're grown up and married."

After saying this, Jia Lian ignored the two blushing maids and took Baochai away, whom he had already prepared.

It's not that he couldn't take Xiangyun and the other person along.

He just has too many good sisters, so if he takes one along, he'll leave another behind.

He decided not to bring any of them, so he wouldn't have to worry about them disturbing his private time with Daiyu and Baochai.

As for whether they would be angry, Jia Lian wasn't worried. He was already good enough to them, to the point of being cloying and numb to it.

Letting them occasionally get a little upset or harbor a bit of resentment might actually make them feel closer to you.

……

After sending Baochai and Daiyu to the Lin family's villa, Jia Lian himself went to the palace again.

When he returned, he didn't see anyone in the main room.

I asked the maid and found out that both of them were in the back kitchen.

Jia Lian wondered if Daiyu had taken his words to heart yesterday morning and was really going to show off her skills to Baochai.
So they followed the corridor to the side courtyard and sure enough, they saw Baochai, Daiyu, and several maids busily working in the open kitchen.

"What delicious food are you making? It looks so lively."

Jia Lian walked into the kitchen and asked with a smile.

Zijuan smiled and said, "Second Master, you don't know, but our young lady has learned a new dish and is preparing to cook it for you to try."

"Oh, what new dish is it?"

Seeing Jia Lian looking at the kitchen counter, Daiyu felt a little embarrassed and used her body to cover the food being prepared, shooing Jia Lian away:
"What are you doing here? This is a place for women. Get out."

Baochai also said, "Husband, you should go back first. We can't do anything if you stay here."

Jia Lian curled his lips, wanting to tell them that with their meager cooking skills, they weren't even worthy of carrying his shoes, and they were still hiding their abilities.

Have you forgotten that last year, my bowl of longevity noodles made my third daughter so happy that she cried tears of joy?

However, Jia Lian had become accustomed to a life of being waited on hand and foot over the years and had completely lost interest in cooking.

Since they didn't welcome him, Jia Lian didn't force the issue, only giving them some instructions:
"Then you guys be careful, don't fry anything, be careful not to get oil splattered on yourselves, or you'll regret it."

"Don't worry, my husband, we understand."

"Let's go, stop nagging."

Jia Lian gave a soft snort and turned to leave.

Although the Lin family's villa is only a three-and-a-half-courtyard siheyuan, its scale cannot compare with that of the Ning and Rong mansions.

However, the main courtyard is large enough, with smaller courtyards nested within it, making it a very standard residence for high-ranking officials.

The main house, which is now the former residence of Lin Ruhai, contains a large amount of valuables and is usually locked up.

Of course, only a small portion was kept in the house; the majority was sealed in the cellar.

The cellar mentioned here does not refer to the tunnel that leads to the Grand View Garden; the tunnel leading to the Grand View Garden is inside Daiyu's boudoir.

As for why the tunnel connects to the Lin family's villa instead of leading outside the city...

Firstly, the Rongguo Mansion was far from the city, and digging a tunnel to the outside of the city without anyone noticing would be a difficult project.

Secondly, for a top-level and important city like the capital, digging tunnels outside the city is absolutely forbidden.

Once discovered, they would likely be treated as traitors.

Therefore, even if he wanted to leave himself a way out in this way, Jia Lian would never allow the tunnel to be openly connected to his mansion.

Back in Daiyu's boudoir, Jia Lian saw the bed already made up and was about to lie down and rest for a while.

Then Zijuan walked in shyly.

"Why are you back?"

"Miss, the young lady told me to come back and serve the second master tea..."

Uh, when did Daiyu become so sensible?

Looking at Zijuan, who stood gracefully with delicate features and full breasts that were just as beautiful as anyone else's, Jia Lian suddenly perked up.

As she brought the tea, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his lap.

Startled, Zijuan spilled a lot of tea on herself despite her best efforts to control herself.

"Second Master..."

Zijuan looked at Jia Lian with a hint of resentment.

Jia Lian lowered his head and smiled, "What's wrong? Did you get burned?"

"Quick, let me see, I don't want my little Zijuan to get burned!"

As he spoke, Jia Lian, without waiting for Zijuan's response, reached out and lifted her collar to see if she was burned.

This is obviously just a pretense.

Jia Lian watched with his own eyes as she took the teapot from the tea caddy and poured the tea. It wasn't freshly brewed, so it couldn't possibly be too hot.

"It's alright, Second Master, the tea isn't too hot..."

Zijuan quickly tried to explain, but soon realized something was wrong.

The tea only dampened a small part of his clothes, but Jia Lian, with a "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free" attitude, kept tearing it open.

Her snow-white skin was already visible, and Jia Lian was still reaching out to examine it.

Zijuan let out a soft moan, her eyes misting over, and she gritted her teeth to suppress her shame.

Seeing her rosy and charming appearance, Jia Lian couldn't help but lower his head, capture her small mouth, and kiss her.

Zijuan was a young girl who had just given herself to Jia Lian, and she was naturally looking forward to being intimate with him. So she pretended to refuse a little, but then tried her best to cooperate.

After a long while, Jia Lian released her, withdrew his hand, and then smiled:

"Not bad, not bad. You have much more resources than your girls. You're on par with Miss Bao."

"I never would have guessed! Little Zijuan, you have a bright future ahead of you."

Zijuan had never heard such nonsense before. Even if she didn't understand it, she could tell what Jia Lian was talking about just by looking at his actions and tone of voice.

She subconsciously imitated Daiyu, lightly punching Jia Lian twice before burying her head in his arms, too shy to speak.

But she remembered Jia Lian's words.

So Miss Bao's place is really big! She had vaguely felt that the other person was like her before, and she didn't expect it to be true!
Jia Lian hadn't expected this either.

I had only vaguely felt that Zijuan was plump, but I never thought she could really compare to Baochai.

Looking at all the maids in the Grand View Garden, I'm afraid no one could surpass her.

Thinking that Zijuan was definitely more obedient than Baochai, Jia Lian immediately wanted to try a different kind of game.

Think about it and forget it.

Firstly, Daiyu and Baochai might return at any time.

Secondly, it's a rare occasion to have both Daiyu and Baochai together today. Instead of trying to win over these two stunningly beautiful mistresses, it's really not worth wasting our limited energy on maids who can be taken advantage of at any time.

So after a few more quick massages, Jia Lian released Zijuan, rolled over and lay face down on Daiyu's bed, and said to Zijuan:
"I just went for a run and I'm a little tired. Take off your shoes and come up here for a good massage."

"Yes……"

Zijuan stood by the bed, looking at Jia Lian, who was lying on the bed, with a hint of resentment in her eyes.

She originally thought that since Jia Lian had treated her like this, the next step would definitely be to take her to bed and pamper her.

She was already thinking about how to refuse when Jia Lian turned around and asked her to give him a massage.

The girl is right, Second Master Lian is indeed not a good person, he's a bad guy.

Even so, she still took off her outer garment, then her shoes, climbed onto the bed, straddled Jia Lian's buttocks, and began to give him a full-body massage, starting from his shoulders.

Why is she so skilled?
On the ship returning to the capital from Jiangnan, Jia Lian often visited Daiyu's room to play with her.

They even dragged Daiyu into exercising, including strange exercises like "sit-ups" and "push-ups," which was something they were exposed to around that time.

When you get tired from exercising, you naturally massage each other.

At that time, Daiyu was even younger and weaker, so the task of serving Jia Lian naturally fell to her and Xueyan.

Therefore, although Zijuan had never served a male master, she still knew how to serve a man. (End of Chapter)