Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 72 Breaking into Rongguo Mansion at Night

Not long after, as the carriage was driving on the street, shouts suddenly came from the side of the street.

"Tanghulu, crispy, sweet and delicious, 15 cents a string, delicious and not expensive."

There is no doubt that candied haws are that expensive.

Modern white sugar is cheap, only a few dollars per pound, but in ancient times, white sugar was an absolute luxury that only wealthy people could afford.

The main raw materials of candied haws are hawthorn and white sugar.

Hawthorn is not expensive, but the sugar is expensive.

When she heard the cries of people selling candied haws, Lin Daiyu winked at her maid Xueyan beside her. Xueyan understood and immediately pulled open the curtain of the carriage and said.

"Wait, stop."

The follower who followed immediately asked when he saw this.

"Miss Xueyan, what's wrong?"

Xueyan said with a slight smile.

"Our young lady wants to eat some snacks. I'll go buy some."

After hearing this, the followers did not suspect anything.

"Well then, Miss Xueyan, please go quickly and come back soon. We will wait here."

The attendant winked at the person beside him while speaking.

Xueyan got off the carriage and went straight to the shop selling candied haws. One of her followers came to the stall next to the shop and pretended to buy something, but was actually staring at Xueyan.

Lin Daiyu in the carriage quietly lifted a gap in the curtain and looked at the snow goose that was being followed, feeling worried.

At this time, Lin Daiyu was even more certain that the Rongguo Mansion must have ill intentions towards her.

Otherwise, I was just going out, why would they watch me so closely?

At this time, Lin Daiyu could only hope that Xueyan would be able to seize the opportunity.

Back to Xueyan, after she arrived at the shop selling candied haws, a young man greeted her enthusiastically.

"Hey girl, these are fresh candied haws, made with the finest hawthorn and cane sugar. They are sweet and delicious. How many strings would you like?"

After Xueyan randomly picked two strings of candied haws, she took the opportunity to pay and handed a note to the waiter in a very subtle way.

Then Xueyan lowered her voice and spoke.

"Send this note to the Marquis of Guanjun's mansion. After that, you will receive ten taels of silver."

The young man looked a little surprised after hearing this, but he quickly took the note, then warmly greeted Xueyan and left.

After Xueyan returned to the carriage, the leader of the entourage hurriedly looked at the follower who was following her and asked.

"How is it, nothing unusual, right?"

The stalking follower nodded slightly and said.

"Don't worry, Boss, I just bought two strings of candied haws."

The leader of the entourage breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

"That's good. Be careful along the way. Let's go."

The carriage then continued to head towards Yuqing Temple outside the city.

In the afternoon, in a quiet courtyard outside Beijing, Jia Jue was resting with his eyes closed.

Not long after, a personal soldier came to the study, bowed, and said.

"My Lord, Master Lou is here."

After hearing this, Jia Jue slowly opened his eyes, and a gleam of light flashed across his eyes.

"Let him in."

"I obey."

Shortly after the personal guards left, an elegant scholar walked into the study. He bowed deeply and spoke respectfully.

"I am the humble student who has just entered Lou Ben and would like to greet the Marquis."

The person who came was none other than Master Lou's nephew, Lou Ben, the eldest son of the second branch of the Lou family.

After seeing Lou Ben, Jia Jue smiled calmly and said.

"Mr. Lou, please take a seat."

"Since you're here today, I guess you've already thought about it."

Lou Ben nodded slightly and said.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for not abandoning me and taking me seriously. I am willing to serve you."

There was a look of satisfaction in Jia Jue's eyes when he looked at Lou Ben.

"That's excellent. I, too, studied at the White Deer Mountain Academy. Back then, Master Lou and Yuan Shanjian were both outstanding students there."

"Now, with the passage of time, Yuan Shanjian has already achieved a smooth career, while Mr. Lou, whose talent and learning are no less than his, can only travel around. It is truly a pity."

"Taifu Lou is jealous of talented people. His sons are all good-for-nothings. In order to maintain his position as the first wife, he has repeatedly chosen to suppress your second wife."

"With such a narrow mind, how can you be worthy of the position of Grand Tutor?"

"Mr. Lou has turned from evil to good this time, but I wonder if he has any useful clues."

Lou Ben said with some concern.

"My Lord, I do have some clues, but before that, I have a request. I wonder if you can grant it."

Jia Jue nodded slightly and said.

"But it doesn't matter."

Lou Ben then said.

"Although my uncle has often suppressed our second branch, we are still from the same family after all."

"I hope you can keep my assistance to the Marquis a secret. Otherwise, I will be ashamed to leave and will have to live in seclusion."

Jia Jue said with a chuckle.

"Don't worry about that. I will naturally keep it a secret for you."

"Is there anything else?"

Lou Ben continued.

"Secondly, if my uncle falls, our second branch will probably be implicated as well. I hope the Marquis will take action to protect our second branch."

"Other than that, I have no other wish."

Jia Jue said with a hint of surprise.

"Don't you want to get a job with this?"

Lou Ben waved his hand and said confidently.

"I believe I have some talent, but I was previously suppressed by my uncle and was unable to take the imperial examination."

"Now that this is accomplished, I will have no more obstacles. I will naturally take part in the next imperial examination and enter the official career with dignity."

"If I were to be given an official position due to my merits, wouldn't that make me inherently inferior to others and make me look down upon? Why would I bother?"

"Please grant me your blessing, my Lord."

After hearing this, Jia Jue nodded slightly and said.

"Good, you have a broad mind and ambition."

"In that case, I can grant both of your requests."

After the two reached an agreement, Lou Ben told Jia Jue everything he knew.

"My Lord, this is all the information I have. I hope I can be of assistance to you."

Jia Jue said with a chuckle.

"Very good. I will not forget your contribution today."

"As long as I verify that what you said is true, I believe that it won't be long before the mountain that is hindering you disappears."

Lou Ben said after bowing.

"Please, my Lord. In this case, I will take my leave."

After Jia Jue waved his hand casually, Lou Ben left the study.

After Lou Ben left, a man in black walked out from behind the screen. It was Zhang Han.

Jia Jue said calmly, "Zhang Han, you need to verify what Lou Ben just said as soon as possible and make sure there is solid evidence."

Zhang Han said after bowing.

"Don't worry, my lord. Zhang Han understands."

After arranging things, Jia Jue walked to the window and quietly looked at the spring scenery outside, feeling refreshed.

In the evening, in Rongguo Mansion, Mrs. Wang was interrogating a little maid named Biyun.

The little maid said with tears in her eyes.

"Madam, please forgive me. I really haven't done anything to let the family down."

Zhou Ruijia, who was standing by, said after giving Biyun a hard slap.

"Shut up, you still dare to talk nonsense here."

"You only receive one tael of silver a month, and you've only been in the mansion for a year and a half, yet you actually sent fifty taels of silver home in one go? Where did all that money come from?"

"And there's also over a hundred taels of silver that were found in your residence. What's going on? Why don't you tell the truth?"

Seeing the little maid Biyun crying with her head down but not saying a word, Mrs. Wang immediately became angry.

After learning the news, Mrs. Wang immediately inquired with each family and found that no large sum of money was lost.

Mrs. Wang was panicked at this.

If Biyun had stolen the money from the mansion, Mrs. Wang would not have been very angry.

After all, there are hundreds of servants and maids in Rongguo Mansion, so it is inevitable that some of them are not honest, which is normal.

All we have to do is recover the stolen goods and kick Biyun out.

But it just so happens that this money was not lost from the mansion, so the problem is serious.

Because of the spy incident in the mansion, Mrs. Wang had been on edge.

Needless to say, Biyun's money must have been given by an outsider.

What else can outsiders do by bribing the maids of Rongguo Mansion? They can spy on information and keep track of the movements of Rongguo Mansion. This is far more terrifying than a thief in the house.

Seeing that Biyun still didn't speak, Mrs. Wang became anxious.

"You slut, you're not telling the truth, are you?"

"Mrs. Zhou Rui, take this slave girl away and beat her severely. If she doesn't tell the truth, beat her to death."

"The slaves obey."

After Zhou Ruijia finished speaking, she called for someone to pull Biyun down.

Seeing that Mrs. Wang was serious about it, Biyun was really scared.

Biyun has been in Rongguo Mansion for more than a year. She also knows that although Mrs. Wang appears to be a vegetarian and chants Buddhist scriptures, she looks kind-hearted.

However, the actual situation is not like that at all. Mrs. Wang is truly a vicious person. She lends money at high interest rates, takes on lawsuits, and dares to make any kind of dirty money.

None of the old people who have lived in Rongguo Mansion for many years are not afraid of Mrs. Wang.

At this time, Biyun really couldn't bear it anymore, and immediately begged for mercy.

"Madam, please spare me, Madam, please spare me, I will tell you, I will tell you."

Seeing this, Mrs. Wang's expression eased a little and said.

"That's more like it. Tell me, what's going on?"

Then Biyun told the story.

It turned out that Biyun's silver was not given by someone else, but by Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu learned from Biyun the truth that Jia Baoyu was no longer able to have sex.

In fact, everyone who has worked in the mansion for a little longer knows about this matter. After all, the fire set by Jia Jue in Rongguo Mansion caused quite a stir. When Jia Baoyu was rescued, his lower body was covered in blood. It was in full view of everyone at the time, and almost everyone in Rongguo Mansion knew about it.

However, because Mrs. Wang issued a gag order and beat to death more than a dozen servants who gossiped about it, the other servants did not dare to discuss or disclose the matter.

After hearing Biyun's words, Mrs. Wang's heart was instantly in turmoil and her blood was boiling.

After Mrs. Wang gave a wink, Zhou Rui's wife nearby had Biyun taken away. Not long after, a female corpse appeared in the well in the backyard of Rongguo Mansion.

After dealing with Biyun, Mrs. Wang didn't care about being angry and hurried to Mrs. Jia's room.

After reporting the matter to Old Lady Jia, she frowned and said.

"I still can't hide it after all."

Mrs. Wang lowered her head and said.

"It's all because of my daughter-in-law's incompetence. Please punish me, mother."

Old Mrs. Jia waved her hand and said.

"Never mind. This is bound to happen sooner or later. There is no such thing as an impenetrable wall in this world."

"Now that Daiyu already knows, all the previous plans will be in vain."

"It seems that there is no time to lose. We must quickly take care of Daiyu and Baoyu's affairs. As you said, once the rice is cooked, the Lin family will have to recognize it even if they don't want to."

Mrs. Wang nodded and said.

"Okay, mother, I'll make arrangements right away and get it done tomorrow."

Mrs. Jia added.

"You should control Daiyu first. She might have other thoughts. If something happens, it will be troublesome."

"My daughter-in-law understands."

Just as Mrs. Jia and Mrs. Wang were negotiating, Yuanyang came into the room hurriedly and said.

"Old lady, Madam, something terrible has happened. The Marquis of Guanjun has just led his men into our residence and headed straight for Miss Lin's residence."

When Mrs. Jia and Mrs. Wang heard this, their faces changed drastically. They quickly got up and went to Lin Daiyu's residence.

When they rushed over, they saw that the servants of Rongguo Mansion had been knocked down, and they were lying on the ground screaming and howling.

After the two arrived at Lin Daiyu's residence, the courtyard was already closely guarded by Jia Jue's personal soldiers. At the gate of the courtyard, Jia Jue sat leisurely on a chair, crossing his legs cynically.

Old Mrs. Jia was furious when she saw Jia Jue.

"Marquis Guanjun, you, you are too much. You actually dared to trespass into my Rongguo Mansion."

Jia Jue said calmly.

"You old woman, what can you do to me if I break in? If not, go and file a complaint with the emperor. I will fight you to the end."

"you,"

When Mrs. Jia heard the complaint to the emperor, she felt her blood pressure was about to explode.

The last time she filed a complaint with the emperor, Mrs. Jia felt like she was once bitten by a snake and would be afraid of ropes for ten years.

It was obvious that their side was in the right, but in the end Jia Jue was able to get away with it.

Seeing Jia Jue's fearless look at this time, Mrs. Jia suddenly became unsure.

Mrs. Wang scolded him harshly when she saw this.

"Marquis Guanjun, you are also a dignified marquis and a high-ranking official in the imperial court. How dare you bring people to break into the inner quarters of my Rongguo Mansion? Don't you have any sense of propriety, righteousness, or shame?"

Jia Jue said disdainfully.

"How dare you talk to me about propriety and integrity? When you were encroaching on the property of your fellow clansmen, why didn't you think about propriety and integrity?"

"When you framed me, why didn't you think about propriety, righteousness, and integrity?"

"When you were trying to trick Miss Lin into giving herself to your useless son, why didn't you think about propriety, righteousness, and integrity?"

"You are such a shameless person, yet you dare to speak so shamelessly to me, and even talk about the word shame."

"I'm afraid you are the most shameless people in the world."

"you you,"

Just when Mrs. Wang's face turned red with anger but she didn't know what to say, Zhang Guifen and Sheng Minglan had already arrived at the gate of the courtyard with Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu's nanny and maid have helped her pack her luggage.

Lin Daiyu looked at the stalemate situation and said after thinking for a while.

"Grandmother, aunt, you don't have to do this. I invited the Marquis to come and pick me up."

"My father told me when I arrived in Beijing that I should stay in the palace for a while and then move to the Marquis of Guanjun's mansion."

"If my grandmother and aunt find anything wrong, there's no need to blame the Marquis. This is all my fault."

(End of this chapter)