After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 149 Marital discord, brotherly discord

After hesitating for a moment, Ping'er asked Jia Lian, "This matter is probably difficult to handle. Why don't we ask someone to look for it? It will only cost a few taels of silver."

Jia Lian sighed, "I've already sent someone, but I haven't been able to find him. Bao Yu says that only if he goes will Qi Guan show himself!"

Ping'er laughed: "Second Master Bao is still the same."

Jia Lian nodded hurriedly and said, "That's right, he's had another bout of madness. Master scolded him once, but he just kept coming out of the tent, muttering things like, 'Sister Bao and Sister Lin abandoned me, and now even Qi Guan has left me. I might as well die.'"

He looked at Ping'er carefully, trying to see if she was worried about this matter.

Ping'er frowned: "No wonder you came to see Second Madam. It turns out that Second Master Bao has started causing trouble again... But I'm afraid it will take Miss Lin's intervention to get a favor."

Jia Lian said with a forced smile, "I knew this was difficult, so I came to find Miss Ping first. I didn't dare to go to Second Mistress."

Ironically, Wang Xifeng was called Second Madam because she married him, but now he can only call her Second Madam!

Ping'er smiled and said, "Second Master, please wait here. I'll go in and inform Second Madam."

Jia Lian asked, "How confident are you about this? If she comes out and only mocks me, it's better not to see her at all."

"I'm not sure either, let's tell Second Grandma first."

Ping'er went into the mansion.

After a while, Jia Lian, who was standing outside the door, saw his former wife walk out through the hanging flower gate. She was followed by four or five maids and servants, dressed in gold and silver, and adorned with colorful embroidery.

Standing beneath the hanging flower gate, looking down at him from above, her fair face radiant yet her authority unyielding, Jia Lian felt utterly ashamed and lowered his head, not daring to face his former wife!
Wang Xifeng was speechless for a moment.

Ping'er looked at her face and saw that her grandmother's expression was indifferent, unlike the happy yet resentful look she had shown when she saw the Second Master a few times before.

"Greetings to...Grandma!"

Jia Lian bowed.

After waiting for a while, he heard Wang Xifeng say, "What brings you here?"

Jia Lian's heart sank.

Previously, when he bowed to his wife, she would laugh and scold him, teasing him as "Lian the boy." But now she only asks him about things.

What he didn't know was that Wang Xifeng was also experiencing a mix of emotions.

Standing outside the door was her husband, Jia Lian, who had formally married her into the Jia family. They had been husband and wife for seven or eight years and had a daughter named Qiao Jie.

But right now, her husband can only stand outside the door and talk to her, dressed in tattered clothes, looking utterly destitute.

She herself was also summoned by the emperor to be a shameful servant, as the emperor was about to visit the Jia family, and she would likely be summoned to serve him as well.

Jia Lian was a womanizer outside the home, bringing all sorts of filthy and disgusting women into the house, but she never considered having an affair with other men. The East Mansion was secretly as filthy as could be. People like Jia Rui and Jia Qin often spied on her, but she ignored them all. Only when pushed to the limit would she use some tricks to drive them away. Only Jia Rui was still greedy and dared to dream of eating swan meat. She had someone pour a bucket of excrement on him and kill him.

But her methods were nothing but petty tricks in front of the emperor; how could she possibly outmaneuver him?

"Grandma, it's about Baoyu."

Seeing that the couple was not saying anything, Ping'er took the initiative to tell them what had happened.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng raised her two willow-leaf eyebrows and scolded him, "You call yourself the older brother? Baoyu is young and doesn't understand, and you don't understand either?"

Jia Lian was also seething with anger, but when he looked up and saw Wang Xifeng standing under the hanging flower gate, looking down at him, he had no choice but to back down and said, "I came to the city today on business, not to plead for Baoyu. Since this matter is difficult to handle, I have no choice but to give up. Second Mistress, I'll take my leave!"

"return!"

Wang Xifeng called out, and Jia Lian stopped in his tracks, listening to her say, "Tell Baoyu that the actor is gone, so be it. Don't go looking for him, it'll only make him uncomfortable. Tell him to focus on his corvée labor in the army and wait a few months..."

After a pause, Wang Xifeng said, "Since Lin Daiyu and Yun Daiyu are favored in the palace, let's change the place where they perform corvée labor."

This is tantamount to telling Jia Baoyu that he should stop thinking about Lin Daiyu!

After he finishes his corvée labor, his family will find him a wife.

Jia Lian nodded, left the Jia family residence, mounted his donkey, and rode towards the outskirts of the city, returning all the way to the military camp.

"Second Brother Lian, have you seen Sister Lin?!"

Upon hearing the news, a disheveled man with a full beard limped over; it was none other than Jia Baoyu, the second young master of the Jia family.

Jia Lian immediately noticed why he walked so awkwardly, but didn't ask any further questions; there were plenty of dirty things to do in the military camp.

She then told him what had happened, omitting the fact that Lin Daiyu and Yun Daiyu were favored, because Jia Lian knew that if he told Baoyu this, who knows what trouble he would cause.

After hearing this, Jia Baoyu remained silent.

"Brother Lian, what good things did you bring back from the city?" Jia Huan rushed into the tent, but ignored his brother Jia Baoyu. He hurriedly searched through the things Jia Lian had brought back. When he saw that this package contained pork offal soup, he was overjoyed and his eyes lit up.

Back in the Jia family mansion, he had never even tasted these offal dishes, let alone knew they were edible.

For nearly two months since arriving at the military camp, Jia Huan, Jia Qiang, Jia Yun, and the others have been scrambling to eat anything with a little bit of oil or fat.

Before Jia Lian could speak, Jia Huan tore open the packet of pork offal rice and began to wolf it down!

Jia Baoyu couldn't stand it anymore and scolded him: "What kind of talk is this!"

Jia Huan ignored him completely.

At this moment, Jia Zheng, Jia She, Jia Qiang and others also came in. Seeing that Jia Lian had bought a lot of oily food, they didn't care about anything else and ate first.

Attracted by the aroma, Jia Baoyu went over to eat, but there were no chopsticks, spoons, or even a bowl, so he had to use his dirty hands to grab the food.

A group of people crowded around the roast ducks Jia Lian had bought, vying for them. Jia Baoyu squeezed through and grabbed a duck leg, just as he was feeling pleased, when suddenly a hand reached out and snatched it away. "Second Brother, give it to me, you just had a few hundred taels of silver to spend not long ago!"

It was Jia Huan. After snatching the duck leg, he took three bites and filled his mouth with all the meat, his mouth dripping with oil.

Jia Baoyu couldn't help but get angry. These days, Jia Huan had been speaking ill of him to his father. He hadn't been given a single penny of the silver that Jia Huan had begged for, and now he was being robbed of his duck leg!

Fueled by both old and new grudges, and the pent-up frustration of the past few days, he reached out and pushed Jia Huan.

Jia Huan, who had been hanging around the military camp lately, had also learned the rogue and scoundrel style of the former Shun Dynasty soldiers. He immediately took the opportunity to fall down, clutching his chest and shouting loudly.

"Baoyu!!" Jia Zheng roared in fury, "You unfilial wretch who bullies your brother! You'd actually do this to your younger brother for a duck leg!"

Jia She, Jia Jing, and others, who were eating meat, also chimed in, criticizing him.

"I don't……!"

Jia Baoyu was speechless and saw that they were all pointing at him, so he became even more resentful. He didn't want to eat the meat anymore, so he threw down the curtain and walked out.

In the past, anyone who dared to be so disrespectful to his father, Jia Zheng, would have been beaten to death long ago.

But now everyone was struggling to survive in the military camp, and they had long since abandoned their former sense of propriety and shame. As soon as he left, they buried their heads in their duck meat again.

……

Nighttime, the Wang family residence in Ningguo Prefecture.

"Remember, there are many rules in the palace. Once inside, make sure to stay with your sister Bao."

Wang Ziteng's wife kept giving her two daughters instructions.

Wang Xuanzhu immediately retorted: "But Mother, I heard Sister Yun say that apart from a few places we can't go, there are fewer rules in the palace than at home. We don't have to pay our respects every day, we don't have to do needlework, and we can even stick our chopsticks upright in our rice when we eat."

Her mother raised her hand and pinched her rosy little face.

Wang Junyi covered her mouth and smiled, scolding her playfully, "Little sister, it's not elegant to stick your chopsticks into your rice."

Wang Xuanzhu giggled, clinging to her sister's slender arm and acting coquettishly, "I was just kidding~ Mother actually took it seriously~"

Lady Wang Ziteng sighed and said, "I didn't want you to go to the palace. I only have two daughters, but now I've sent you both to the palace... But apart from you, none of your sisters are good enough. Only you two are good-looking and talented. Zhu'er is a bit naughty... If one of you can be made a concubine, and the sisters can help each other in the palace, I will be at ease. Your father and mother are sorry."

Wang Junyi hurriedly said, "Mother, why say such things? A change of dynasty is an earth-shattering event. It is already a blessing that we have the opportunity to enter the palace. Even if we are not favored and can only be palace maids, it is our fate and we cannot blame others."

Wang Xuanzhu was still young, and although she was worried, she was naturally playful. After glancing at her mother, she suddenly smiled and said sweetly:
"Mother, why don't you come to the palace with us? With your figure and looks, you'll definitely be more favored than us!"

His words, once spoken, were earth-shattering.

Both of them were dumbfounded.

Wang Xuanzhu blushed, quickly covered her mouth and shook her head, indicating that she would not say anything more.

Lady Wang Ziteng said with distress, "I really regret spoiling you. You still talk nonsense after entering the palace. Who can protect you?"

Wang Xuanzhu quickly said in a coquettish tone, "I guarantee I'll be well-behaved and sensible once I enter the palace, and I won't say a word!"

With things having come to this, Madam Wang Ziteng had no other choice. After chatting with her daughters for a while with reluctance, she told them to go back and go to bed early.

Wang Junyi wanted to go to bed early, but her younger sister was so excited about going to the palace that she kept her up for half the night.

The next day, Wang Junyi reluctantly got up to wash and dress, but her younger sister Xuanzhu was still in bed. Helpless, she could only call out, "The Emperor is here!"

"This servant greets Your Majesty the Emperor!"

Wang Xuanzhu scrambled to her feet, knelt on the bed, and kowtowed with her hair disheveled, which made the maids laugh.

The second young lady even dreamed about how to bow to the emperor.

After they finished washing up, just as dawn was breaking, a servant from the Rongguo Mansion came to deliver Baochai's message, telling them to go directly to the second gate.

Baochai urged them on, so Wang Junyi and Wang Xuanzhu had to hurriedly bid farewell to their mother and sisters and rush from Ningguo Mansion to the second gate of Rongguo Mansion.

"Two pairs of sisters have entered the palace today," Wang Xuanzhu suddenly said. Everyone thought she was joking and laughed and agreed.

Baochai and Baoqin are cousins, and Wang Junyi is her biological sister.

Baochai smiled and said, "Let's go. The Emperor said he wants to tour the Daming Palace with us for a day."

Wang Xuanzhu perked up and hurriedly got into the sedan chair.

Baoqin seemed a little distracted, and she didn't seem to smile much.

The four of them rode out in a sedan chair when suddenly a sound came from outside. Wang Junyi lifted the curtain and looked out, and saw a group of eunuchs on horseback slowly walking towards them, followed by two long lines of eunuchs and palace maids.

The eunuchs escorting them all said, "They're from the palace, it's alright, we'll go and tell them to make way!"

Sure enough, upon hearing that there were four young women in the sedan chair, the eunuch on horseback hurriedly dismounted and ordered his men to clear the way.

Wang Junyi and her entourage continued their journey in their sedan chairs. She encountered all sorts of eunuchs and palace maids, who lined up on both sides of the road, and she respectfully asked them to go first.

As the sedan chair passed by, she saw as many as four or five hundred eunuchs and palace maids, all of whom were going to the Jia Mansion to prepare for welcoming the emperor's carriage.

The emperor's visit was far more grand than she had imagined. She wondered what amazing scene would unfold when she toured the garden with the emperor later.

Wang Junyi lowered the curtain, her mind gradually calming down as she began to think about what would happen after entering the palace.

If one could obtain the title of imperial concubine...

(End of this chapter)