Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

Zijuan smiled and accepted it, saying:

"This is a good return gift. My cousin praying for her brother's safety is a matter of filial piety and brotherly love, and no one can say a word against it. It also shows that the young lady is concerned about the safety of the Marquis."

"Moreover, this knot was made by the young lady herself; it is a token of her affection. If Your Excellency is interested, you will surely understand."

Zijuan smiled as she carefully put away the safety buckle with the tassel attached. Just as she was about to leave, Daiyu said again:

"Go and fetch a copy of the Imperial Gazette and the Capital Gazette from Third Brother's place. Tell him I want to read them..."

Zijuan smiled and said:

"That's right! It's rare for the Marquis to be willing to talk about these political matters. If the young lady reads this, she will surely be more knowledgeable than Miss Bao."

"Do you want to take the other books? I remember Miss Bao said there were also some memorials and reports from famous officials throughout history!"

Daiyu shook her head and said:

"No need! We can have someone buy the rest from the bookstore later!"

Zijuan smiled and agreed, then turned and walked out.

As I walked to the door, I looked back one last time.

Daiyu had already slumped onto the pillow, her eyes fixed on the note, a slight upturn at the corner of her mouth, lost in thought.

But her pale face finally regained a rosy hue, and she seemed to come back to life.

…………

Lixiangyuan,

Night fell, the bright moon shone, the northwest wind howled outside the window, and the charcoal brazier burned warmly inside the house.

Xue Baochai sat at her desk, holding a pen in her hand, as if she were writing something.

Beside the desk was a thick stack of books and newspapers, the top one of which was "Memorials and Discussions of Famous Officials Throughout History".

Ying'er leaned against a small stool to the side, making a knot by the candlelight.

Aunt Xue, holding a hand warmer in her hand, pushed open the door and came in, greeting me with a smile:

"Sweetie, you haven't rested yet!"

Xue Baochai first finished writing the poem in her hand, and then gently hummed in agreement.

With Ying'er's help, Aunt Xue sat down on a stool and sighed:

"I'm back from your aunt's. She's in a bad mood today. Baoyu was beaten, Zhou Rui's wife was kicked out, and she lost her position as the housekeeper. I went to comfort her."

Xue Baochai remained staring blankly at the note in her hand, only giving a soft "hmm" in response to Aunt Xue's words.

Aunt Xue lowered her voice and continued:

"Jing-ge really broadened my horizons today! We live close to his courtyard, and all afternoon we could hear the sounds of being beaten with a cane and screaming from his side."

"I heard from your aunt that he beat Lai Da, Lai Er and several other managers to death! He also sold off hundreds of people from their household."

Aunt Xue paused, then sighed:

"I've only ever heard how formidable he is on the battlefield and how imposing he is in the military camp. Who knew he could be so... so strict at home too?"

"I thought that no matter what, he would give his mother some respect at home, but who knew that his mother seemed to have no way to deal with him today."

Baochai snapped out of her reverie, lowered her eyes, and said:

"The servants in their household are outrageous; they've done a lot of evil behind their masters' backs. It's a good thing they've been disciplined! Third Brother... he's always been intolerant of any wrongdoing!"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue seemed to have thought of something, glanced at Baochai, and suddenly said:

"I don't know how Jing-ge'er discovered these servants' corruption! My dear, do you think... we could ask him for a favor?"

Baochai's eyes narrowed, and she asked:

"What kind of help?"

"It's all the same old stuff that's going on in our business!" Aunt Xue said, frowning.

"Over the years, the managers and supervisors under them have become increasingly unreasonable, and the interest they hand over has become less and less."

"We're just a widow and her children, there's not much we can do about it."

"I was thinking of having your brother check the accounts, but after more than two months, we still couldn't find where the money had been embezzled."

"Everything in the books looks fine, as if those below are all honest people who have done nothing wrong."

"Speaking of which, your brother isn't much younger than Jing-ge, so how could he be considered superior..."

Baochai was silent for a moment, then hesitated and said:

"Mom, don't compare my brother to him. He's a remarkable figure who was granted a title at a young age; there are very few like him in the whole world."

Aunt Xue thought Baochai was making excuses for Xue Pan, and said with a smile:

"My dear girl is right. Your brother is still a bit young and not married yet. He'll be fine when he gets older!"

"I just heard from your aunt that your uncle might be in a very useful position. We'll see if we can get him to help your brother out."

"Even if we don't expect him to be ennobled like Jing-ge'er, it would be good to be a fifth or sixth-rank military officer with real power."

"When Jingge first joined the army, his grandmother recommended him for an eighth-rank official position. Now, in just over two years, he has become an important official in the court."

"You know your brother isn't good at studying, but he's physically quite good..."

As Aunt Xue spoke, she seemed to imagine Xue Pan's future glory as an official, and she couldn't stop smiling.

Baochai's pretty face froze: "..."

His own brother became a military officer?

She suddenly didn't know what to say.

Aunt Xue continued:

"Your brother alone can't manage our business; we need to find another way."

"My dear girl, what do you think about us treating Jing-ge to a meal in a few days and talking to him about this?"

"We won't let him help us for nothing. We'll send him one or two good items from our shop as a thank you gift."

Baochai, having washed her hands with Ying'er's help, came to Aunt Xue's side and said solemnly:

"Mom, this won't work, so don't even think about it!"

Aunt Xue was taken aback, and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why not?"

Baochai parted her red lips slightly and said slowly:

"Mom! We're not related to Third Brother at all. We're already troubling him by staying at his house, and now we're asking him to audit our accounts? What kind of nonsense is this!"

"Besides, my third brother is an important official in the court. He is busy with important military and national affairs every day. How could we possibly bother him with the little things in our business?"

"Look at him, he's so busy he doesn't even have time to go home. This is the first time he's come back in over two months. If we bring it up now, it'll seem very impolite..."

Baochai had originally intended to ask Jia Jing to help with the accounting, but after her encounter with Jia Jing in Daiyu's courtyard, she realized that this was not a good idea.

Just now, Xiangyun, on behalf of all the sisters, repeatedly pleaded with Jia Jing to attend one of their poetry gatherings, but in the end, Jia Jing was too busy with official duties to fulfill his wish.

You should know that attending a poetry gathering only takes an hour or two, and even Jia Jing said he might not have the time.

Not to mention auditing accounts, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and thankless.

Besides, the poem just now said, "My strength is weak, my burden is heavy, and my spirit is long exhausted; if I exert myself any more, my feeble body will surely give way."

If we trouble him again at this time, wouldn't it make us seem inconsiderate?

Baochai thought for a moment, then took the note from the desk and handed it to Aunt Xue, saying:

"Mom! Look at this!"