The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 27 Shen Yuan Enters Rongguo Mansion
As soon as Shen Yuan walked out, Baochai, Qiu'er and others came to greet him.

Baochai felt relieved when she saw Xiangyun on Shen Yuan's back, and asked with concern, "Is Sister Yun okay?"

Shen Yuan said: "My leg was scratched by a branch, so it's difficult for me to walk, but I'm fine otherwise."

"Where is the injury? Is it serious?" Qiu'er, who was standing by, heard this and was also concerned about Xiangyun, so she hurried forward to take a look and check.

Xiangyun felt a little embarrassed by being stared at, and her originally pale and haggard apple-like face suddenly turned faintly red.

Shen Yuan coughed lightly and said in a clear voice: "Let's go out first."

After a while, the guards who were looking for Xiangyun returned, and the group headed towards the exit of the valley.

Xiangyun was still carried by Shen Yuan, and no one else thought much about it. They had just experienced a life-and-death crisis and would not care too much about this little detail at this moment.

Moreover, most of the women present were weak and now exhausted. How could they carry Xiangyun? So Shen Yuan had to carry her.

After walking for more than two quarters of an hour, we arrived at the exit of the col.

At this time, a team of soldiers was patrolling at the exit. The leader was Xu Yong, the garrison commander of Dongchang Prefecture. He was asking several guards, "Did you really kill all these bandits?"

The guard nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

Hearing this, Xu Yong's expression became more cautious. He then looked at the corpses of the bandits on the ground. Half of them had their heads and bodies separated, which was quite creepy.

At this moment, they happened to see Shen Yuan, Jiang Fan and others coming over. The guards were delighted and greeted them respectfully: "Shen Jieyuan, Mr. Jiang."

"Shen Jieyuan?" Xu Yong was curious after hearing what the guard said. He looked at Jiang Fan who was coming over and asked, "I am Xu Yong, the garrison commander of Dongchang Prefecture. Who are you?"

"Lord Xu" Jiang Fan did not hide anything and informed the garrison commander Xu of their identities.

After hearing this, Xu Yong was quite surprised. The identities of these people in front of him were really not simple.

Unexpectedly, among this group of people there was the son of the Jinling governor, the nephew of the Jinling commander-in-chief, the Marquis Zhongjing, and the newly crowned military champion of Jinling Province.
When he learned that half of the bandits here were beheaded by this Wu Jieyuan, he was so shocked that he remained speechless for a long time.

With the badge as proof, Xu Yong did not doubt the identities of Shen Yuan and others. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he let them leave.

Shen Yuan and his crew returned to the riverside boat. One of the boats had been sunk by the bandits, so there were only two left.

Fortunately, the two ships were intact and not damaged, but they had obviously been searched inside, and the tables, chairs and other items were in a mess. It took more than half an hour to clean them up.

Jiang Fan led most of the guards onto the Jiang family's ship.

Shen Yuan brought a few people into the Xue family's boat and stayed on the first floor with Xue Pan and others.

Xiangyun and Qiu'er still stayed on the second floor with Baochai. They had just escaped from a dangerous situation, and they felt more at ease talking to each other as girls.

The girls had been hiding in the valley for half the night, and their bodies were somewhat dirty, so they naturally needed to wash up.

Behind a screen, Xiangyun was undressing beside the couch, preparing to wash herself.

Looking at the torn clothes on his body, there are several places where his white skin is exposed.
The girl felt embarrassed and wondered if Brother Shen had seen it.
etc.
A silk scarf wrapped around the leg.
It doesn't seem to be hers.
Xiangyun felt like being struck by lightning.

Did the boy bandage her?

The wound on her leg was located at the innermost part of her thigh, which meant that the young man had also seen the most private part of the girl.
and also
Xiangyun then realized that there was a faint odor in her underwear, which was clearly caused by her.
The series of realizations made the girl's mind confused, as if she was in a dream.

The maid Cuilu saw Xiangyun was in a trance, as if she was still, so she stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Xiangyun's eyes, calling out, "Miss, are you okay?"

Xiangyun was awakened from her thoughts by Cuilu, and suddenly her pretty face was flushed.

On the first floor of the Xue family's boat, Shen Yuan and Xue Pan were squeezed into a room with two couches, one for each person.

As if he noticed that Shen Yuan was still awake, Xue Pan tilted his head and said with a wry smile, "Brother Shen is very brave. I really admire him."

Shen Yuan was resting with his eyes closed. Hearing this, he did not open his eyes but asked in a clear voice, "Brother Xue, why do you say that?"

Xue Pan was delighted to see Shen Yuan respond, and said respectfully, "I have heard of Brother Shen's name many times when I was in Jinling.

The brothers beheaded the bandit leader and killed hundreds of bandits. They then rode and shot hundreds of steps and easily won the first place in the martial arts competition. Later, another poem amazed the Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival.

Tonight, he killed so many bandits by himself and saved us."

Listening to Xue Pan recounting his past events in detail, Shen Yuan felt a little strange.

In his impression, Xue Pan was an uneducated dandy. But now, listening to him speak, he could hear a bit of literary tone. He even suspected that some of his words were said by Baochai to Xue Pan.

"Where did Brother Xue hear this from?"

"I heard it from my sister."

Shen Yuan: “.”

Sure enough, Xue Pan never went out of the house and probably didn't read any tabloids on weekdays. He probably just listened to Baochai's talk at home.

As for why Baochai said all this, it was probably to pave the way for Shen Yuan's marriage proposal. With the support of her brother, the marriage would go much more smoothly.

Shen Yuan couldn't say that he had any good feelings towards Xue Pan, but he also couldn't say that he disliked him much.

First of all, this person's character is definitely flawed. The so-called dull bully, the dull one thinks little and the bully acts on impulse.

To put it bluntly, this guy is an extremely impulsive young man.

Perhaps because of the contrast with the filthy dandy people in the Jia family, Shen Yuan felt that Xue Pan was still acceptable.

For example, after Qin Keqing died, Jia Zhen thought the coffin prepared by his family was too simple. When Xue Pan found out, he immediately took out a top-quality coffin and gave it to Jia Zhen.

Another thing is that when he failed to tease Liu Xianglian, he was forced to drink feces instead. When he went out of Beijing to do business, he was robbed by a gangster. After being rescued by Liu Xianglian, Xue Pan felt grateful to him and became sworn brothers with him.

After Liu Xianglian and You Sanjie got engaged, Xue Pan was busy buying him a house and household items, preparing for the wedding, and choosing an auspicious day for the wedding. However, Liu Xianglian broke off the engagement, You Sanjie committed suicide, and Liu Xianglian became a monk and traveled far away. Among all the famous characters in the Dream of the Red Chamber, only the stupid Xue Pan cried his heart out, but still refused to give up and took people to look for him everywhere.

When I read A Dream of Red Mansions before, I actually didn’t think Xue Pan was a good character.

But when I read it again later, I found out how this guy became a highlight character in The Dream of the Red Chamber?

At least, he is a loyal man.

Of course, his later abuse of Xiangling also made Shen Yuan feel uncomfortable.

"How is Xiangling now?"

Xue Pan was still talking about Shen Yuan's heroic deeds when he suddenly heard the young man asking about Xiangling. He was stunned at first, then surprised.

"Brother Shen, how do you know that girl?" Shen Yuan didn't beat around the bush and said, "Not only do I know Xiangling, I also know Feng Yuan."

Xue Pan was shocked when he heard this. Did Shen Yuan know that he had beaten Feng Yuan to death?

"Brother Shen, you..."

"I don't mean anything else, and I have no intention of exposing you. It's just that Xiangling is the daughter of an old friend of mine." Shen Yuan made up a lie and found an excuse to show concern for Xiangling's situation. This girl was really pitiful.

Xue Pan was silent for a moment, and without thinking too much, he said, "So that's how it is. I bought that girl from a kidnapper. Her original name was Yinglian. My sister felt sorry for her and refused to let me touch her. She changed her name to Xiangling. Now she serves my mother."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan felt relieved. Xiangling's fate might have been rewritten.

Perhaps because of what happened in Aomen Village before, Baochai developed empathy for Xiangling, so she strongly protected Xiangling.

"That girl has a pitiful life story and shouldn't be bullied anymore."

Shen Yuan said one more sentence and then stopped talking about this topic.

With Baochai's protection, Xue Pan gave up the idea of ​​monopolizing Xiangling and was unwilling to talk about it.

The room was silent for a while, and Xue Pan smiled again and asked, "Brother Shen, now that you have entered the capital, do you have a place to stay?"

"We should stay at an inn."

Xue Pan felt that Shen Yuan's tone had become more relaxed, and said with a smile: "My family also has several houses in Beijing. Brother Shen, why don't you stay there first? It's more spacious than an inn."

Shen Yuan's eyes flickered when he heard this, and he asked, "Brother Xue, where do you plan to stay when you come to Beijing?"

Xue Pan said angrily, "I was thinking of living in my own house, but my mother said that if we go to visit my uncle's house, my aunt will definitely keep us here. If I go there alone, won't it be weird? I'm worried now. If I live in my uncle's house, there will be more people to manage me, and I can't spend money as I want."

It seems that the Xue family will still live in the Jia Mansion after entering Beijing.

It might be even harder to see Baochai in this wealthy family than in Nanjing. Shen Yuan was thinking of a solution.

The robbery at Guanjia Ferry in Liaocheng shocked the whole of Shandong and put local officials under great pressure.

Over the following period of time, government troops stepped up patrols and protection efforts along the canal.

Shen Yuan and his group did not encounter any emergencies again.

On October 15th of the 16th year of Yuanzhen, the tower ship sailed out of Shandong.

On October 22, we arrived safely in Shenjing.

After entering the city, the Jiang siblings, with their guards, looked for an inn to stay.

Shen Yuan sent Xiangyun and Baochai's family to the Jia Mansion.

In the Shenjing City, on Ningrong Street, the Rongguo Mansion was built by imperial decree.

The pavilions, towers, red eaves and green roofs, flying cornices and brackets are majestic and steep, worthy of being a century-old mansion.

Aunt Xue, Baochai and Xiangyun were welcomed into Rongqing Hall by Mrs. Wang.

Shen Yuan and Xue Pan were led by a servant to Jia Zheng's study.

This was the first time that Shen Yuan entered the Rongguo Mansion. This red building that carried the fate of the girls with golden hairpins finally slowly unveiled its veil in front of him.

Shen Yuan and the other person entered the study, saw Jia Zheng, and greeted him.

"Pan'er has met his uncle."

"Shen Yuan meets uncle."

Jia Zheng looked up at the two young men in front of him, sized them up briefly, and identified their identities based on the addresses they had just made.

Ten days ago, the Jia family received letters from the Xue family and the Shi family, and learned the news that Shen Yuan escorted the Xue family and Xiangyun to Beijing.

"Please sit down." Jia Zheng said, and told the servants to serve tea.

He glanced at Xue Pan and saw his nephew sitting on the chair, with a thorn under his buttocks, twisting his body from time to time, without any manners. He sighed in his heart and said, "My aunt is old, and you are young and don't know the way of the world. Living outside may cause trouble. There is a yard in the northeast corner of the mansion with more than ten rooms. It is vacant. Have someone clean it up and let you live there."

Xue Pan heard this with an expression as if he had expected it, but his heart still sank. He could not refuse, so he nodded and said, "Just follow my uncle's arrangements."

Jia Zheng nodded, no longer looking at his dandy nephew, and turned to look at Shen Yuan. He saw that the young man was handsome, with a calm expression and extraordinary appearance.

He pondered and said, "I read the letter from Marquis Zhongjing. He was very complimentary about you."

"You are overpraising me, Lord Shi."

Jia Zheng asked, "Did you compose that poem Linjiangxian on the spot?"

In his letter, Shi Ding repeatedly praised Shen Yuan as a military genius.

However, Jia Zheng did not care about this. Instead, he was quite interested in the poem Linjiangxian.

This is easy to understand. As the saying goes, you will pay attention to what you lack.

As for the Jia family, they did not lack connections in the military, but were extremely eager for literary talents.

Shen Yuan was silent for a moment, but still nodded.

Jia Zheng drank a sip of tea, stroked his beard and said, "You can write such a poem, so you must be quite knowledgeable about literature and reason. Why did you give up literature and pursue martial arts? I heard that you are a scholar who has passed the imperial examination."

Shen Yuan heard the exhortation in Jia Zheng's words and said calmly: "Everyone has his own suitable path. Yuan's path is to be a warrior, not a scholar."

Among all the male members of the Jia family, Jia Zheng was considered to be the most upright in words and deeds, but his ability was mediocre, and he only got the position of a fifth-rank deputy minister of the Ministry of Works by virtue of his influence.

In the current Great Zhou Dynasty, civil officials are respected and military officials are despised. Even though Jia Zheng came from a family with top military honors, he still hoped that someone in his mansion could enter the officialdom through the imperial examination. It must have been for this reason that he helped Jia Yucun unreservedly in the beginning.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng felt a little sorry, but he said no more. After all, this young man had nothing to do with his Jia family.

"Did you have a smooth journey?"

Before Shen Yuan could open his mouth, he heard Xue Pan beside him become excited and recount in detail what he had seen and heard along the way, especially the dangerous incident in Liaocheng. His words showed his respect for Brother Shen.

When Jia Zheng heard this, he was also shocked.

(End of this chapter)