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

Chapter 17: Jia Family Night Talk
The gates of Shunchao's capital were opened again, and the delegation that had come to negotiate peace with King Qian returned to the city.

Many princes and ministers in the city had been eagerly waiting and sent a team of dozens of people to welcome the delegation into the city. There were also eunuchs sent by Emperor Yongning in the palace who wanted to stop them.

Several groups of people were arguing endlessly, and Jia Lian took the opportunity to leave with the housekeeper Lai. After asking, he found out that it was the master who sent him.

Jia Lian hurried back to the Jia family and learned that the master was not in the study, but in the old lady's room.

He went straight to Lady Jia's courtyard and saw that all the people from the East and West Mansions were there.

The old lady, the mistress, the eldest master, the master, his wife, Jia Zhen and Jia Rong from the East Palace were all waiting for him in the house.

There were also Lin Daiyu, Bao Miss, Qin Miss and others, who were waiting behind the glass screen to listen to the news he had learned from his visit to Prince Qian's military camp.

"Greetings to the old lady, madam, and gentlemen!"

Jia Lian stepped forward first, knelt down and kowtowed to pay his respects. Grandmother Jia hurriedly asked him to stand up and asked, "Brother Lian, have you seen the Prince Qian?"

"I saw it!" Jia Lian nodded.

"Do you have three heads and six arms?"

Shi Xiangyun, who was sitting next to Lady Jia, laughed and said, "Just now we were talking about how we were worried that Second Brother Lian would be eaten by the thief king. That thief king has three heads and six arms and can eat more than a dozen people in one meal!"

Xiangyun, the daughter of the Shi family, was young, spoke in a simple and cute manner, and had a lively expression on her face, which made everyone in the room laugh, and the previously tense atmosphere eased a lot.

She had often come to the Jia family since she was a child, so she had no taboos about meeting the men of the Jia family and did not hide behind the screen.

Grandmother Jia also smiled and asked, "What does Prince Qian look like? What did he say?"

Everyone laughed, except Jia Lian.

He had just walked out of Prince Qian's military camp. The camp was filled with a murderous atmosphere. Two hundred thousand soldiers were on the alert, and dozens of cannons were lined up outside the camp, with their muzzles pointed at the capital.

In the inner house of the Jia family, the girls and sisters were still chatting and laughing, treating it as a joke.

Of course, they cannot be blamed for this. Before going to the military camp, Jia Lian also felt that the court could stop the bandits, and at most it would cost some money to avoid disaster.

"Brother Lian, did I say something wrong?"

Shi Xiangyun was outspoken, but she was not stupid. When she saw Jia Lian's expression, she knew that her joke was inappropriate.

"It's none of Sister Yun's business."

Jia Lian recalled, "I entered the tent and saw Prince Qian sitting alone in the main seat. He was over eight feet tall, like a crouching tiger or a coiled dragon, with an imposing presence."

The house was quiet for a moment.

Behind the screen, Lin Daiyu, Li Wan, Baochai, Baoqin and the others exchanged glances. Tanchun said, "From what my second brother said, he's saying that Prince Qian has the appearance of a great ruler."

Lin Daiyu was confused and couldn't help but look at Jia Baoyu through the screen.

Prince Qian has the appearance of a king, which means he will take control of the capital and have the power of life and death over the Jia family. What will happen to her and Baoyu in the future if they don't discuss it?

Xue Baochai remained silent, wondering in her heart, what would this Prince Qian look like?

He was over eight feet tall, taller than any man she had ever seen. Prince Qian was also a veteran of the battlefield. Could he be like the Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong pictured on the door, a broad-shouldered, sturdy, bearded, and terrifyingly powerful general?
Li Wan didn't say anything either. She lowered her head slightly, thinking of many things in her mind, but none of them were helpful to the current situation. Her mind was just a mess of random thoughts.

However, Xue Baoqin muttered a few words, saying "What kind of monarch is this? He's just a thief king", as if she had a lot of complaints about King Qian.

Outside the screen, Jia Lian discussed the results of the negotiations with Jia Mu and others.

"Nothing was agreed upon?"

Jia Zheng stroked his beard and said, "I think the Prince of Beijing and the others will go to the palace to report to His Majesty. It will be up to His Majesty to decide. We don't need to speculate too much."

Seeing that he was still undecided, Jia Lian hurriedly said, "Master, it's time to make a decision! Prince Qian will attack the city the day after tomorrow. We only have one day to consider, and I'm afraid we haven't done it yet. Tonight is the only night. Tomorrow morning, Master should decide whether to go to court or stay home!"

Jia Zheng was stunned.

Staying at home means surrendering to King Qian, and going to court means sharing weal and woe with the court and His Majesty!
It was as if a knife was placed on his neck. Jia Zheng looked at everyone in the room.

The old lady had a worried look on her face, his wife was silent, his elder brother just drank his tea, the girls in the house were at a loss, and the maids and servants beside them all lowered their heads.

"It won't come to that." Jia Zhen finally spoke. "If we can get him to withdraw his troops, spending some money would be a good thing. If a real fight breaks out, we won't be able to influence the situation."

Grandmother Jia sighed, "Forget it, let's leave it at that. You men are taking care of things outside, and I can't help you at all. No one in the court can do anything about it... Later, you and I will go to the temple to burn incense." The last sentence was said to Mrs. Wang.

"Yuanyang, go and change the old lady's clothes!" Mrs. Wang said hurriedly.

Just as everyone was about to leave, Jia Lian suddenly thought of something, "Madam, does anyone in our family know someone named Leng Zixing?!"

Mrs. Wang didn't know this man, so she asked, "Why are you asking about him?"

Jia Lian gritted his teeth and said, "This damned thief was talking nonsense about the names of the young ladies in the mansion outside, and it even reached Prince Qian's ears!"

"what!"

The girls and grandmothers in the room all cried out in surprise. Even Li Wan couldn't sit still anymore and kept saying, "Who is spreading this nonsense?!"

Regardless of whether she's married or still unmarried, a woman's name shouldn't be casually spoken. And now, not only has someone spoken about it, but it's even reached the ears of the thief king Chu Yan outside the city?!

Doesn’t this mean that Prince Qian is thinking about the girls in the palace?
Grandmother Jia angrily shouted at Lady Wang, "Go and find out who this man belongs to. He has completely thrown away all the rules of the past!"

At this time, a maid came out and said, "Madam, this Leng Zixing seems to be Zhou Rui's son-in-law, an antique dealer."

After these words were spoken, Mrs. Wang and her companion Zhou Rui, who were standing outside the door, dared not hide it any longer and knelt down and kowtowed after entering.

Everyone in the room had different expressions. Mrs. Wang had already stood up and lowered her head, not daring to say a word.

Grandmother Jia's face was unhappy, but she couldn't get angry in front of everyone, so she just said to Mrs. Wang, "Go and find out the truth about this matter before you come back. You don't have to go with me to burn incense."

So he took Lady Xing, Li Wan, Wang Xifeng, Shi Xiangyun, Lin Daiyu, Tanchun and others, changed their clothes, and walked towards the Rongcui Temple in the Grand View Garden together.

Jia Lian was called to the study by Jia Zheng alone and asked for details.

Jia Lian was afraid of Prince Qian's power and did not dare to reveal everything. He only said, "Master, Prince Qian heard from Leng Zixing that the girls in the mansion were beautiful, so he specially summoned me."

That’s all I have to say.

Jia Zheng was startled. He looked at Jia Lian for a long moment before he slowly said, "If we send the girls to Prince Qian's camp..."

"Master, of course we should wait until Prince Qian takes over the palace before sending it to the palace!"

"Who did King Qian mention?"

"Sister Lin, Miss Bao... and Rong'er's wife."

Prince Qian asked many questions. In Jia Lian's opinion, he valued these three people the most, and the rest were just supporting roles.

"Why did he mention these three... What about your sisters? And your eldest sister in the palace, he didn't mention it either?" Jia Zheng asked again.

Although these three people are both talented and beautiful, and are first-class girls, Jia Zheng always feels that he owes his niece Lin Daiyu and does not want to force her. Xue Baochai is an outsider, and it is not his place to decide on this matter.

Rong Ge's daughter-in-law Qin Keqing was already married, so sending her into the palace was against etiquette.

Jia Lian laughed and said, "Master, why didn't you think of this? If Prince Qian were to invade the capital, wouldn't he be the one to decide whether the imperial concubines stayed or left?"

Jia Zheng suddenly realized, frowned again and said: "If Your Majesty surrenders, the Imperial Concubine will follow Your Majesty out of the palace... Well, I know about this matter, let's discuss it later."

Jia Lian had no choice but to leave.

But in his opinion, the master was a little indecisive.

(End of this chapter)