The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 78: Tianxiang Tower Banquet for Qin Keqing

A few more days passed, and the matter of Ning Mansion was settled.

Jia Zhen and his son were exiled to Yazhou. The mountains were high and the roads were long. It was common for them to have accidents on the way or die of illness due to acclimatization.
On the day the emperor issued the imperial edict to pardon the female members of the family, the Jinyiwei withdrew from Ningguo Mansion.

The plaque "Imperially Built Ningguo Mansion" that had been hanging for nearly a hundred years was also replaced by the Shen Mansion.

As the new owner of this mansion, Shen Yuan naturally moved in as well.

According to the discussion between Lady Jia and Shen Yuan, several new doors were opened in the private alley between the Ning and Rong mansions.

People from the Jia family can enter the Jia ancestral hall through this door to worship, which is equivalent to temporarily lending the ancestral hall to the Rongguo Mansion.

"Go and invite Sister You and Miss Qin, and tell them that I am inviting them to dinner at Tianxiang Tower at noon." Shen Yuan instructed the maid in the mansion.

The maid responded and left the study, heading east.

The elder sister You and Miss Qin that Shen Yuan mentioned are Youshi and Qin Keqing.

Compared with the Rong Mansion, Shen Yuan's relationship with the women of the Ning Mansion was even more distant. They were no longer considered relatives, so he did not call Zhen sister-in-law and Rong brother daughter-in-law. According to their ages, he called them elder sister and young lady respectively.

At this time, they still lived in the original courtyard of the East Palace.

Given their current situation, it is no longer appropriate for them to continue living in the master's courtyard.

Shen Yuan planned to let them choose a courtyard they liked to live in on the hillside pavilion of Huifang Garden.

Now that he is the master of this mansion, he should communicate these things face to face and ask You Qin and the others what they think.

Noon, Tianxiang Tower.

The maids and nannies had prepared wine and food in advance, and Shen Yuan was waiting in the room on the second floor.

After a while, Qin Keqing and Youshi came one after another.

"Uncle Yuanyuan."

Youshi and Qin Keqing had originally planned to call Shen Yuan, Yuan Ge'er or Shen Brother, just like the people in the West Mansion. But then they remembered that they were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and they had to distinguish the generations. It would not be appropriate to let Qin Keqing call him uncle, so they called him Uncle Yuan.

Shen Yuan didn't care much about this and said in a clear voice: "Sister You and Miss Qin, please sit down and talk."

After the three of them greeted each other, they all sat down.

This was not the first time they met Shen Yuan. They had met before in Rongqing Hall, but they had never spoken.

Youshi was wearing a simple and elegant skirt today. Her figure was curvy and she looked quite charming and mature. She looked kind and reserved, which reminded Shen Yuan of Wang Xifeng's evaluation of Youshi in the original novel, who called her a "saw-mouthed gourd" with a cowardly temperament.

Qin Keqing was also dressed in plain clothes at this time. She had a pretty face, dignified features, a slim figure, fair skin, and was graceful and delicate, with a natural charm.

The original novel describes this girl as having the beauty of both Daiyu and Baochai: she is graceful and elegant, like Daiyu, and bright and charming, like Baochai.

Shen Yuan had never seen Daiyu and didn't know how graceful she was, but when it came to charm, he felt that Qin Keqing was quite different from Baochai.

Baochai has only shown her charm to Shen Yuan so far, and she is usually gentle and graceful.

However, Qin Keqing was naturally charming. Of course, this was only her appearance. As for her personality, Shen Yuan had no idea.

In the original version of the Dream of the Red Chamber, the secret of "stealing an adulterer" was not described in detail.

After taking a quick look, Shen Yuan said, "Sister You and Miss Qin are already aware of the affairs of the Ning Mansion. I wonder what plans you two have for the future?" Upon hearing this, Youshi and Qin Keqing's already haggard faces looked even gloomier.

There was no possibility that Jia Zhen and his son would come back, and it was uncertain how long they could live. They were no different from widows now, and of course, they could not be said to have much affection for the father and son.

Now that their mansion is gone, the two of them have become rootless and floating like duckweed. It is inevitable that people will look at them with strange eyes, and their future lives will be bleak.

After a long silence, You bit her red lips and said in a depressed mood: "Now that things have come to this, if the Jia family is unwilling to accept me, then I will cut my hair and go to the mountains to become a nun."

Although the words are simple, every word is filled with sadness.

As for cutting one's hair and becoming a monk, that is even more nonsense. In this era, even if one becomes a monk, one may not necessarily live in peace.

In the original version of A Dream of Red Mansions, Xichun finally became a nun, but she still had to wear black clothes and beg for food. Isn't that sad?
Qin Keqing also had the same idea as Youshi, and was about to speak when she was interrupted by Shen Yuan.

"Why is this so!"

Shen Yuan paused for a moment, looked at the two girls, and continued, "Although the world is more harsh on women, they can still remarry. Besides, Sister You is in her prime, and Miss Qin is even younger. Why can't they find another good man?"

In this era, although the probability of finding a good family after remarrying is very low, it is not impossible.

"This..." When Youshi heard this, she didn't know what to say for a moment. She had never thought of remarrying before.

Qin Keqing felt ashamed when a man told her about remarrying. She said softly, "How can a woman remarry in a hurry after her husband is exiled? Besides, it is hard to find a good man in the world. Rather than being despised again, I would rather be alone for the rest of my life."

This is indeed the concept of the original world. In later times, it would be easy for such a beautiful woman without children to marry into a good family.

Shen Yuan mentioned remarriage because he wanted to give the two girls a chance to choose. Since they had no such idea for the time being, he would not say more.

If you think about it carefully, even if the two of them have this idea, it may not be feasible. It still depends on the attitude of the Jia family.

The Jia family would probably not agree due to the consideration of their reputation.

"In that case, Sister You and Miss Qin can continue to live in a courtyard they like in Huifang Garden."

When the two girls heard Shen Yuan's words, they were a little surprised. They didn't expect that Shen Yuan would let them continue to live in his mansion.

Youshi was somewhat tempted. After all, she had lived here for so many years and had long been accustomed to it. Compared to going to the West Palace and being looked down upon, it would be much less stressful to live in the East Palace.

Qin Keqing was a little hesitant. She raised her eyes slightly and looked at the calm young man opposite her. Her eyebrows trembled and she said softly, "I wonder what the old lady of the West Mansion will say?"

Yu Shi, who was standing by, also listened attentively.

Shen Yuan said: "This matter has been discussed with the West Mansion a few days ago, and the old lady also agreed."

Upon hearing this, Youshi and Qin Keqing's expressions relaxed and they looked at each other, but were still a little hesitant.

Shen Yuan could see the concerns of the two. After all, they had lost their husbands, and if they continued to live in the mansion without a suitable excuse, they would inevitably be criticized.

"Sister You and Miss Qin also know that I will be married to Sister Xue in less than a month. At that time, the burden of the Shen Mansion's housekeeper will fall on her alone. But she is not familiar with all the affairs of the East Mansion. I hope that Sister You and Miss Qin will stay in the mansion to help her manage it."

After a pause, he added: "I will give you two a monthly salary as compensation, ten taels of silver each month, what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Youshi couldn't help but show joy on her face. This statement was convincing enough.

Qin Keqing listened and chewed on what Shen Yuan said.

Ten taels of silver, placed in Rong Mansion, is equivalent to half of Jia Mu's monthly allowance. Even Wang Xifeng, the housekeeper of the West Mansion, only received five taels of silver per month.
(End of this chapter)