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

Chapter 5 Rongguo Mansion (Part 1)
Let’s get back to the Jia family.

Back then, the brothers Jia Yan and Jia Yuan followed Emperor Shun in his uprising and made great military achievements. They were both granted the title of Duke. Jia Yan, as the elder brother, was Duke of Ning, and Jia Yuan, as the younger brother, was Duke of Rong.

To this day, the Jia family has been passed down for five generations.

A few years ago, Jia Yuanchun, the daughter of Jia Zheng, the master of Rongguo Mansion, was favored by the emperor and was named Consort Xian De. Later, an imperial decree was issued allowing her to return to her parents' home to visit her relatives.

In order to welcome the virtuous concubine Jia Yuanchun, the Ning and Rong mansions jointly built a Grand View Garden.

After visiting her parents, Concubine Xian De thought of the rare flowers and plants in the garden, and also remembered her sisters at home who were good at writing poems and composing essays. In order to prevent the beauties from being destitute and the flowers and willows from losing face, she asked Xia Shouzhong to go to Rongguo Mansion to issue an edict, ordering Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, Xue Baoqin, Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, Jia Xichun, Xing Xiuyun and others to move in and live there.

Knowing that her younger brother Jia Baoyu had grown up surrounded by sisters, Concubine Xian De was worried that he would feel lonely if all the sisters went into the garden, so she asked him to live in the garden as well.

Worried about their young age, Concubine Xian De called her widowed sister-in-law Li Wan into the garden so that she could teach them a few things in her spare time.

On this day, Jia Baoyu finished fulfilling his vow at the temple outside the city. When he was riding back to the city, he saw people on the road hurrying and looking worried.

When he arrived at the city gate, he saw that it was packed with people and in chaos. Fortunately, he brought a few servants with him, including Mingyan, Chuyao, etc., who helped him clear a way out.

Return to Rongguo Mansion.

"The Second Master is back from outside the city!"

The gatekeepers who had gathered at the corner gate and were whispering to each other immediately dispersed when they saw the second master coming back on a tall horse. They came forward with smiles on their faces to greet him and asked if he had seen anything outside the city.

"There's nothing else going on outside the city, just that there are more people today."

Jia Baoyu didn't know what news they were asking about, so he answered casually that he was worried about Sister Lin, and then he walked quickly into the house through the corner door.

He first returned to the Yihong Courtyard. Before he entered, he heard Qingwen, Xiren, Musk Moon and others quarreling inside. As soon as he entered, they all shut up.

But their expressions were not very good.

Jia Baoyu laughed and said, "What's the matter? As soon as I came back, you all looked as if you were afraid of me. No one was joking anymore, and you all became distant towards me."

"You're still joking, but the disaster is imminent! Second Master still has the mood to make fun of us!" Qingwen spoke harshly, but her pretty little face was filled with worry, and she had no intention of arguing with Second Master Bao.

"Have I ever made fun of you? I always treat you as my sisters, respect you and love you."

Jia Baoyu hurried to explain.

Xiren hurriedly tried to dissuade him, "Why are you arguing when everything is fine? Don't let the thief king enter the city before the family starts a commotion. That would be a laughing stock."

Jia Baoyu was puzzled when he heard this: "How did this thief king come into the city? Where did you hear this from in a play?"

When he said this, all the maids in Yihong Courtyard looked at him in surprise.

Jia Baoyu was still puzzled, so Qingwen sneered, "Second Master, you just came back from the temple outside the city, and you don't even know what happened?"

Musk Moon smiled and said, "Second Master must have been in a hurry to come back to pay his respects to the old lady and the mistress, and to see Miss Lin on the way, so he didn't ask about the latest news in the city."

Several maids laughed.

They had long known how close the Second Master was to Miss Lin, and in the past, if they hadn't seen him for a while, they would be as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Jia Baoyu did not answer. After sitting down, he smiled and said, "My dear sisters, please stop talking. I just came back and I am thirsty. Go and pour me a cup of tea. After I finish eating, I will go and pay my respects to the old lady and the lady."

Xiren and the others only then realized that the Second Master had been back for so long, but they had forgotten to serve him and were just standing there talking.

Xiren hurried to pour tea, and Bihen brought a small plate of yam cake with date paste and asked the second master if he wanted to eat it.

Jia Baoyu took a bite and stopped eating. He said, "I'll eat later when I go to the old lady's. Is Sister Lin home?"

As he was speaking, a maid suddenly called out from outside the door: "Miss Lin and Miss Xue Er are here!"

Everyone looked outside and saw two young girls walking in together. One was beautiful and graceful, a fusion of the spirits of heaven and earth, drawing everyone's attention and astonishment. The other girl was very thin, as if a gust of wind could blow her away. Her small face, the size of a palm, was etched with sorrow, her eyebrows half-knitted. Only when she saw Jia Baoyu did her brows relax slightly and she smiled at him, saying, "You're finally back! If you hadn't come back, we would have suspected you were captured by the King of Thieves!"

When Jia Baoyu saw the thin Lin Daiyu, he was first surprised, then puzzled, and laughed, "You always say 'the king of thieves' or not, but what kind of king of thieves is that?"

Xue Baoqin looked at him in surprise. "Brother Bao, don't you know? The bandit king Chu Yan has led an army of 200,000 men and is already outside the city. Sister Lin and I were worried, so we came to you knowing you'd returned. We wanted to ask you if you had seen the bandit king's army."

"what?!"

Jia Baoyu almost jumped up and stood there like a wooden chicken.

Lin Daiyu had always known that he cared little for matters of state and family, and that he loathed officialdom and the economy, so she wasn't surprised. However, she remained worried, sighing, "The news has spread throughout the mansion. Everyone is in chaos. They say the bandit king has entered the city and is going to confiscate our property and exterminate our entire family. My father was tragically killed in Yangzhou because of the bandit siege..."

When she talked about sad things, she couldn't help but shed tears.

Lin Daiyu was born with a beautiful face, and when she cried at this moment, she was really like a pear blossom in the rain, and everyone felt sorry for her.

Xue Baoqin hurriedly comforted her, "Sister Lin, don't be sad anymore. That thief king has killed countless people in Jiangnan. Sooner or later, God will take him away!"

Baoqin originally lived in Jinling. Due to the unrest in the south of the Yangtze River two years ago, she had to come to the capital with her brother and mother to live with relatives. Now she also lives in the Grand View Garden of the Jia family, eating and living with Daiyu, Baochai and other sisters.

"The family is exterminated..."

Jia Baoyu muttered to himself, and suddenly became anxious. He paced back and forth in the room, and after a while he suddenly walked out: "Sister Lin, come with me to find the old lady and ask her and the ladies what they have to say! I wonder if the master has come back yet?"

Lin Daiyu followed him.

Xue Baoqin, however, stayed where she was. She thought to herself, "The entire court, both civil and military, is powerless against the bandit king's army. Even though the old lady loves her dearly, she can't come up with a good plan to deal with an army of two hundred thousand."

After sitting for a while, she left and went back to discuss with her sister Baochai.

Qingwen, the first-class maid in Yihong Courtyard, sat in the room. She had no mood to do anything and felt irritated.

The rebel king's army came like heavenly soldiers, leaving her in the inner house of Rongguo Mansion with nothing but waiting, waiting for the imperial court to issue an edict to quell the rebellion.

Or wait for the thief king to enter the city.

"Ugh!"

Qingwen sighed heavily. Seeing that it was still early, she got up, took out a few incense sticks from the cabinet, and walked towards Longcui Temple alone.

Prepare to burn incense to the Bodhisattva and ask the Bodhisattva to bless the court to repel the bandit king.

When they arrived at the Rongcui Temple, Qingwen saw two women standing in front of the mountain gate from afar. One of them was a relative of the eldest lady's family, named Xing Yanyan. She was dignified and beautiful, and quite outstanding.

But compared with Miaoyu next to her, she pales in comparison.

"I remember you."

When Qingwen approached, Miaoyu asked her, "Are you here to burn incense in the nunnery? What's going on in the city now?"

Qingwen knew that Miaoyu had some quirks. Although she had been to the Rongcui Temple several times, she had never met her.

Seeing her ask, Qingwen replied, "How would I know what's going on outside? We girls in the inner chambers can't go out either, so we can only stay home and wait. Don't worry, even if the thief breaks in, he won't do anything to a nun."

Miaoyu was a nun who practiced Buddhism with her hair uncut. After hearing this, she turned around and left.

Xing Xiuyun, who stayed behind, chatted with Qingwen for a while before following Miaoyu into the nunnery. It was unknown what they talked about.

Qingwen didn't care and went into the Buddhist temple in the nunnery. She earnestly lit three incense sticks to the Bodhisattva: "Buddha, bless us. May the capital and I be safe. Keep the Second Master safe. Don't let the thief king come in."

Only after respectfully kowtowed three times to the Bodhisattva did Qingwen leave the Rongcui Temple.

(End of this chapter)