The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 602: Jia Qi's Second Concubine
As a concubine, you cannot leave the harem at will. You must get the emperor's permission, and the ceremony is complicated. This can be seen from the description of Jia Yuanchun's return home to visit her parents in "Dream of Red Mansions". Moreover, if a concubine in the harem wants to contact her natal family, she must go through the chief eunuch. Therefore, the chief eunuch becomes the boss who has to serve both sides carefully.

Xia Shouzhong was the eunuch in charge of Fengzao Palace. In the past, the Jia family had always been very respectful to him. The former took advantage of this and sent young eunuchs to the Jia Mansion every now and then to extort money from them under various excuses, and sometimes even did it himself. Therefore, the money and goods that the Jia family gave to Xia Shouzhong every year amounted to about one or two thousand taels of silver.

However, since Jia Huan came to power in the Jia Mansion, he has carried out drastic reforms, cut expenses, and saved money. He has rejected Xia Shouzhong's unreasonable demands several times, and the latter has gradually calmed down. When he sees Jia Huan, he is smiling and doesn't seem to mind at all.

Jia Huan said calmly, "Thank you, Eunuch Xia."

Xia Shouzhong chuckled, turned around and led Jia Huan towards Fengzao Palace.

In fact, Xia Shouzhong still held a grudge against Jia Huan. Ever since this kid came to power in the Jia family, the annual tribute of one or two thousand taels of silver had disappeared, so he had been holding back to find an opportunity to punish Jia Huan. However, he had not expected that Jia Huan's momentum was so strong that he was promoted like a rocket, and he had Sun Chengzong and the chief minister of the cabinet, Ye Gao, as his backers. Moreover, the emperor seemed to value this kid very much. Naturally, Xia Shouzhong did not dare to act rashly.

In addition, Jia Huan had a very good relationship with Min Wang Xu Wenhou, who was a very likely future crown prince. Therefore, Xia Shouzhong had no choice but to swallow his pride and greet Jia Huan with a smile, perfectly demonstrating the character of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

Let's get back to the point. Xia Shouzhong led Jia Huan to the outside of Fengzao Palace and reported in. Soon, a palace maid came out and said, "The Queen wants to see Master Huan San in the warm room."

"Haha, please come in, Lord Jia." Xia Shouzhong laughed and led Jia Huan into Fengzao Palace and went straight to the warm room. The palace maids they met along the way looked at Jia Huan curiously.

Soon, the two entered a warm room, and immediately felt the warmth and fragrance. They saw two women sitting side by side on the seats, both wearing phoenix crowns, graceful and elegant. The one on the left was about thirty years old, smiling and looking very kind, and the one on the right was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a full forehead, picturesque eyebrows and eyes, like a fairy, vaguely similar to Mrs. Wang.

Jia Huan's heart moved. The person on the right must be his half-sister Jia Yuanchun, right?
Jia Yuanchun was selected into the palace at the age of fifteen. At that time, Jia Huan's predecessor was only three or four years old. After that, Jia Yuanchun never returned home until she was selected as a concubine. She only went home to visit her parents a few years ago. It happened that Jia Huan was still in Jinling to observe mourning at that time, so strictly speaking, this was the first time Jia Huan met Jia Yuanchun.

"Your Majesty, here comes Lord Jia!" Xia Shouzhong saluted.

Jia Huan knelt down and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, I, Jia Huan, pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine."

"My brother, please stand up quickly." Jia Yuanchun hurriedly helped him up.

Jia Huan stood up as he was told. Jia Yuanchun smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Brother Huan, come here. Let me take a look at you."

Jia Huan approached the seat in a dignified manner. Jia Yuanchun took his hand and looked him up and down. The woman next to him also examined him carefully. Her eyes sparkled as she said, "What a handsome young man! Is this the son of a beautiful girl in my family?"

Jia Yuanchun looked at the handsome young man with red lips, white teeth and gentle temperament in front of her, and was surprised and moved. She shook her head and said, "The one who was born with a jade in his mouth is Bao Ge'er, and this is Huan Ge'er. I remember that when he entered the palace, he was only this small, but now he is taller than me. Alas, ten years have passed in the blink of an eye."

As Jia Yuanchun spoke, her eyes turned slightly red. She turned away and wiped her eyes. The woman next to her smiled and comforted her, "My dear sister, you two siblings should be happy to meet each other now. Why are you so sad?"

Jia Yuanchun immediately smiled and said, "Sister is right, Huan'er, this is Concubine Qi, why don't you pay your respects to her!"

Jia Huan originally thought that this woman's eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to those of the fat boy Xu Wenhou. Hearing this, he hurriedly wanted to bow, but Concubine Qi stopped him and said with a smile: "Brother Huan, there is no need to be polite. You saved Hou'er's life, and I haven't thanked you yet."

It turned out that this woman was Xu Wenhou's biological mother, Concubine Qi. She happened to visit Fengzao Palace today and seemed to have a good relationship with Jia Yuanchun.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Jia Yuanchun asked Jia Huan to sit down, and ordered the maid to serve tea, and then asked about Jia Huan's health and chatted about family matters. Jia Huan answered every question in a generous and appropriate manner, neither too unfamiliar nor too enthusiastic.

To be honest, for Jia Huan, there is not much sibling relationship between him and Jia Yuanchun. They are almost like strangers. In addition, he has a bad relationship with Mrs. Wang, and he really does not believe that Jia Yuanchun's affection for him is so deep. Therefore, Jia Yuanchun's action of wiping tears out of emotion just now seemed a bit artificial, which made him feel insincere.

Jia Yuanchun obviously realized that she had gone too far, so she put aside the topic of family matters and instead asked about things on the Ningyuan front line. She urged Jia Huan to be loyal to his country and not to let the emperor down.

As everyone was talking, they suddenly heard the cry of a child outside the warm room. A young girl hurried in with a little boy in her arms. The little boy was about one year old and was crying loudly.

"Be good, don't cry." The girl hurriedly wiped the little boy's tears and coaxed him gently, but unfortunately it was of no use.

Jia Yuanchun quickly stepped forward to take the little boy and said with a smile, "Good boy, mother will hug you." The little boy stopped crying immediately and just wiggled in Jia Yuanchun's arms. The girl breathed a sigh of relief and said, "He was playing well outside just now, but suddenly he started crying and I couldn't comfort him no matter what I did."

Concubine Qi smiled and said, "I'm afraid Zhu'er is hungry."

Jia Yuanchun couldn't help but feel a little hot on her face. Zhu'er was the twelfth prince she gave birth to. Her situation was rather special. Other concubines were fed by wet nurses, but she had always fed them herself. So she excused herself and went to the back to feed her son with her arms in her arms.

At this moment, the girl discovered Jia Huan's presence, and was startled for a moment, then her face turned red, and she turned away in a hurry. Jia Huan also lowered his head in embarrassment, because judging from the girl's dress, she should not be a palace maid, let alone a concubine, so there was only one answer left - a princess.

As expected, Concubine Qi introduced with a smile: "Brother Huan, this is the Sixth Princess Yongning."

Jia Huan quickly stood up and saluted: "Jia Huan greets Her Royal Highness Princess Yongning."

"Ah, you are Jia Huan who won six prizes in a row?" Princess Yongning blurted out before she realized she had lost control. She blushed even more and said with a stammer, "Oh... Lord Jia, please don't be polite!"

Princess Yongning was about fourteen or fifteen years old, with bright eyes, white teeth, and a slender figure. She was a beauty, and her temperament was gentle and amiable. She was somewhat similar to Jia Yingchun, but her face was too tender. She didn't even dare to look at Jia Huan when she spoke. At this time, even her neck was covered with a layer of pink.

Concubine Qi found it interesting and said with a smile: "Yongning, come and sit here with mother."

"No... no, my daughter is feeling a little unwell. I'll go back to Jingren Palace first." Princess Yongning bowed, turned around and left as if escaping, with the hairpins on her bun swinging around.

Concubine Qi shook her head with a bit of amusement and said, "This child is so timid. I'm sorry to make Huan Ge laugh. Alas, this child has a miserable life. He lost his mother when he was young, so he is timid to begin with."

Jia Huan was slightly surprised. Just now, Princess Yongning called Concubine Qi "mother", and he thought the child was Concubine Qi's. It turned out not to be the case.

Concubine Qi obviously saw Jia Huan's confusion and explained, "Yongning's biological mother was Concubine Zhang. She died of complications during childbirth and has been raised by me ever since. The child was born weak, thin and yellow at that time. Everyone thought she would never grow up, but she grew up safely. Now she is a beautiful girl with good character and appearance." After saying that, she smiled and glanced at Jia Huan.

Jia Huan dared not respond casually, and remained silent. Concubine Qi smiled and changed the subject, "Has Brother Huan met the King of Min since returning to the capital?"

"Not yet!"

Concubine Qi sighed and said, "Hou'er is a child who can't control his mouth and has gained a lot of weight recently. If Huan'er sees him, please give him some advice."

"Uh...I'll do my best."

Jia Huan chatted with Concubine Qi for a while, and Jia Yuanchun finally came back. The little boy, who was well fed and drunk, leaned obediently in his wet nurse's arms. He was plump and white, with black and bright eyes, and looked very smart. At this time, he was looking at Jia Huan, his cheap uncle, curiously.

Concubine Qi chatted for a few more words and then stood up to take her leave. Jia Huan teased his little nephew for a while and chatted with Jia Yuanchun about family matters for a while, then took his leave and left Fengzao Palace.

After Jia Huan left, Jia Yuanchun sighed and said softly, "We are still unfamiliar with each other after all."

The maid Baoqin next to her was originally a maid of the Jia family. She had accompanied Jia Yuanchun into the palace. She whispered, "Not to mention that they are not born of the same mother, even if they are siblings, they will become strangers after not seeing each other for more than ten years. But once you meet, you will become familiar with each other. If you spend more time on it in the future, you will naturally become closer."

Jia Yuanchun nodded. With the potential that Jia Huan had shown now, even if not for herself, she had to establish a good relationship with Huan'er for the sake of Zhi'er.

At this time, Baoqin sneered twice and said, "Empress Qi brought the Sixth Princess here today. It can be said that she took great pains to do so!"

Jia Yuanchun frowned slightly and said nothing. She used to have a good relationship with Concubine Qi, but now the crown prince's position is vacant and the queen has been deposed. As the saying goes, a mother's status is determined by her son. Now, in the harem, the only concubines who have the chance to compete for the title of mother of the country are herself and Concubine Qi. Although Zhu'er is still young, the emperor is in his prime, so there is no guarantee that Zhu'er will not have a chance in the future. Huan Ge'er is undoubtedly a great help, but Huan Ge'er also has a very close relationship with Prince Min...

(End of this chapter)