The Red Mansion

Chapter 56 Keqing, Don’t Be Afraid (Part 1)
The next day was the ninth day of March.

Jiang Nian has always valued time like gold, and today is no exception.

From morning to evening today, except for half an hour in the afternoon spent practicing martial arts and time spent on trivial matters such as eating, Jiang Nian spent the rest of the time in the study reading and preparing for the imperial examination.

In the evening, Jiang Nian finished his dinner and went back to his study. As the steam from a cup of fragrant tea lingered, his brows were calm, his fingertips lightly touching the pages of a book, as if lost in thought.

Dong Feng, the gatekeeper, came hurriedly and reported respectfully, "Sir, the patrol officer from the Left Camp, Ma Can, has arrived."

In case Jiang Nian didn't know who it was, Dong Feng added, "It's the Lord Ma who led the soldiers here the day before yesterday."

Jiang Nian's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he asked, "He came alone?"

Dong Feng replied, "Master Ma came with four of his personal guards. He said he was here to visit you, and was quite polite."

Jiang Nian understood after hearing this. Ma Peicheng had led his troops to surround the house the day before yesterday, and his presence today, under the guise of a visit, meant he wasn't coming with ill intentions.

Jiang Nian stood up and went out to greet Ma Peicheng personally.

When he reached the gate, he saw Ma Peicheng standing at the bottom of the steps. He looked respectful and was the first to bow and say, "Master Jiang."

Jiang Nian smiled slightly and bowed in response, "Master Ma, it is a great honor for me to visit my humble home. Please come in."

After saying that, he stepped aside to make way.

He ordered his servant Dong Feng to invite Ma Peicheng's four personal guards into the back room and offer them tea. He then led Ma Peicheng through the inner courtyard and into the main hall where they sat down, and ordered the maid Qi'er to serve tea to Ma Peicheng.

The two exchanged a few words and the atmosphere was harmonious.

Ma Peicheng suddenly pulled out two silver notes from his pocket and said, "What happened the other day was indeed offensive. I was only acting on orders. I hope Master Jiang will forgive me. Here are two hundred taels of silver as an apology. Please don't despise me. My family is not well-off, otherwise I would have given more to show my sincerity."

Wang Ziteng was punished and demoted to the rank of general, while Ma Peicheng, who was ordered to lead troops to the Jiang family to arrest someone, was not punished at all. Just today, Prince Zhongyi sent his trusted guard Bao Yan to find Ma Peicheng and secretly informed him that Prince Zhongyi, considering him as his disciple, would give him special protection and ordered him to take good care of Jiang Nian in the future.

Ma Peicheng had personally witnessed the closeness between Jiang Nian and Prince Zhongyi the day before, and today, with a secret order from Prince Zhongyi, how could he dare to neglect it? So, he came to visit Jiang Nian with two hundred taels of silver, both to apologize and to make friends with Jiang Nian, believing that making friends with this young man would be beneficial to him.

Jiang Nian glanced at the banknotes and said calmly, "Master Ma, you are too polite. What happened the other day is over, so there is no need to mention it again. I am honored that you have come to my house today. I cannot accept these two hundred taels of silver."

After saying that, he reached out and picked up the two silver bills and handed them to Ma Peicheng.

Ma Peicheng refused to accept the banknote. "I won't hide it from you. Today, the Thirteenth Prince sent someone to secretly order me to take good care of you. The Thirteenth Prince values ​​you so much, how dare I neglect him? If you don't accept this two hundred taels of apology, I will be uneasy."

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then pulled out two 100-liang silver notes from his pocket, stacked them together with Ma Peicheng's 200-liang note, and said, "In that case, not only can I not accept Master Ma's 200-liang, but I should give him 200-liang as a gift. I'll be sorry to bother you in the future."

He stuffed four hundred taels of silver into Ma Peicheng's hand.

Ma Peicheng quickly declined: "How can this be possible?"

Jiang Nian smiled slightly, his tone firm: "If you don't accept this silver, I will be ashamed to trouble you in the future. If you accept it, we will become closer. I dare to call you Lieutenant General Ma from now on, and you can call me Brother Nian, how about it?"

Seeing Jiang Nian's sincere words and resolute attitude, Ma Peicheng accepted the banknote and sighed inwardly, "He is indeed worthy of being the Thirteenth Prince's very close brother. Judging from his words and behavior, he doesn't look like a boy of only fifteen."

Ma Peicheng said, "If Brother Nian needs any help in the future, I will not refuse if I can help."

Jiang Nian nodded with a smile.

The atmosphere in the main hall became more harmonious.

At this time, the servant Dong Feng hurried in to report: "Master, the housekeeper Peng from the Qin family next door said he wants to see you urgently." Ma Peicheng said: "Since Brother Nian is busy, I will take my leave and not disturb you any further."

Jiang Nian raised his hand and said, "General Ma, please wait a moment. I have something else to tell you."

Ma Peicheng nodded in response.

Jiang Nian speculated that Peng Jizhong's sudden request for an urgent matter might be related to something happening to Qin Keqing. If so, perhaps Ma Peicheng could be of some help.

He stood up and walked out of the main hall, and when he reached the inner courtyard's hanging flower gate, he saw Peng Jizhong's anxious expression and asked, "What happened?"

Peng Jizhong hurriedly said, "Uncle Jiang, the master's distant relatives are making trouble for my daughter, trying to... trying to seize the master's property."

Jiang Nian frowned and said in a deep voice, "Tell me in detail."

Peng Jizhong hurriedly explained the whole story.

After hearing this, Jiang Nian had a plan in mind. He returned to the main hall and explained the matter to Ma Peicheng. He said, "I'll trouble you, Lieutenant General Ma, for your help in this matter."

Ma Peicheng thought to himself, "What a coincidence! I just told this guy that if he ever needs help, I won't refuse if I can help. And now, in the blink of an eye, he has a mission."

……

……

Qin Ye has no direct descendants, only a few distant relatives.

In the past two days, these distant relatives have come to the Qin family one after another.

The mourning sounds that Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai heard yesterday were actually the fake wailing of distant relatives.

When these distant relatives learned that Qin Keqing had received three thousand taels of silver as compensation, they all became jealous and eager to borrow money from her. Some asked for two hundred taels, some for three hundred taels, and some even for five hundred taels.

Qin Keqing was not stupid. She knew that these distant relatives were just trying to defraud her of money, and that these people were not closely related to Qin Ye and rarely had any contact with him.

No matter how these distant relatives flattered or threatened her, Qin Keqing refused to lend them the money.

These distant relatives got together to discuss and came up with a solution.

Qin Zhong is Qin Ye's legitimate son. He is still young, weak and cowardly, but he is very vain and has no respect for Qin Keqing, his adopted sister from Yangshengtang.

So they instigated Qin Zhong, saying that the Qin family's property should belong to Qin Zhong, and supported Qin Zhong in taking back the property that Qin Keqing was in charge of, especially the 3,000 taels of silver as compensation. The condition was that Qin Zhong would lend them the silver after the matter was completed.

Qin Zhong was bewitched by them and nodded in agreement.

Although these distant relatives were greedy, they were also wary of He Yun, the fifth-rank Dragon Guard.

This evening, while He Yun was away, they took Qin Zhong and broke into the west wing where Qin Keqing lived, forcing Qin Keqing to hand over her property to Qin Zhong.

When the housekeeper Peng Jizhong saw this group of distant relatives bringing Qin Zhong to make a big fuss with Qin Keqing in the west wing, using harsh words, and Qin Keqing bursting into tears, and Qin Ye's funeral was also disrupted, he remembered Jiang Nian's instructions yesterday and hurriedly reported the matter to Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian is about to take action...

(End of this chapter)