The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

Jia Jue whispered a few words to Jia Zhen.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhen was overjoyed and said to Jia Jue, "Thank you very much, Jue-ge'er. After this is done, I will definitely give you some nice things."

Jia Jue smiled and didn't say much. After a few more casual words, Jia Jue took his leave.

On the way back to the mansion, Jia Jue secretly sneered to himself—this scheme would at least protect Qingwen, and if it could really bring Xiren to his courtyard, that would be a good thing, since Xiren was essentially a high-end version of Mushe; if not, it wouldn't matter either, at least it would make his brother feel disgusted for a while.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but let out a "ha".

When they returned to the courtyard, they suddenly saw the maidservant who was serving Shi Xiangyun standing at the door.

Jia Jue, puzzled, smiled and asked, "What brings you here, sister?"

The maid greeted Jia Jue with a smile, "Second Master, you've arrived. Our young lady is going home today, and she was thinking of having everyone play together before she leaves."

Jia Jue said, "I understand. Sister, please come in and sit down. I'll go tell the people inside."

That girl is perfectly fine with it.

A short while later, Jia Jue came out and followed the maid to Xiangyun's place.

Although Shi Xiangyun was not a proper young lady in the Jia family, she was, after all, the grand-niece of the old lady and the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Baoling. Her status was actually similar to that of the three sisters.

Naturally, she also had her own courtyard within the Jia family mansion.

Even though she didn't stay there for very long.

Jia Jue pushed open the door and went in. He saw a large table with various kinds of tea and fruit on it.

When Jia Jue looked, he saw that Xiangyun, Daiyu, Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, and Baoyu had already sat down.

Seeing him arrive, Xiangyun greeted him with a smile, "Brother Ai, come and sit down!"

The expressions of the people who saw Jia Jue varied. Although most of them were friendly, Jia Baoyu was not happy at all about his brother's arrival.

Fortunately, there were many girls sitting there, and the only one with a bad beard and unkempt appearance was Jia Jue, so Baoyu's mood could not be said to be very bad.

As for himself?

Except when he was feeling sentimental, he almost never considered himself a disheveled, uncouth man.

Jia Jue sat down as instructed.

The old lady always doted on Baoyu and felt that he was still too young, so she never liked to let him drink alcohol.

However, his other siblings did not have this concern.

Today's banquet is a rare treat, as there are no old ladies or wives around to talk about him. I'm thinking of having a few more drinks.

However, after only two cups, Baoyu's wet nurse, Granny Li, came in and said, "My little darling, you should drink less, otherwise the old lady and the madam will find out and criticize me again."

Baoyu had originally intended to have a few more drinks, but now that this old fellow had come along and told him not to drink, he was naturally unhappy.

Fueled by alcohol, he recalled how this old hag had always acted arrogantly in his courtyard, taking advantage of the fact that he had drunk her breast milk for a few days, and how she had forced Xiren to secretly shed tears several times at night. He couldn't help but argue with Granny Li.

If he hadn't spoken, things would have been fine, but once he started talking, things got really complicated.

This Granny Li was known for her gambling and drinking. Now that Baoyu was having a banquet at Xiangyun's place, she was happy to have some free time, so she naturally went to gamble and drink with the old women again.

However, she was not a popular person. People disliked her for being arrogant and looking down on others, but she had plenty of spare money.

Therefore, the old women often set traps to swindle her money, causing her to lose more than she wins.

He had naturally lost the bet today, and having drunk wine, he was in a drunken stupor when he heard Baoyu's words, which naturally made him angry.

He immediately shouted, "Baoyu, you've drunk my milk and now you don't recognize me anymore!"

Upon hearing this, everyone realized things were going badly and quickly stood up to smooth things over.

This reaction from everyone only fueled the old woman's arrogance.

She grabbed Yingchun's hand and began to cry.

Yingchun, being a young girl, was naturally upset by what she had done.

However, she was always quiet and not good at talking, so she just stood there awkwardly without saying a word.

Baoyu also found this old woman annoying.

But I never expected that she would start making a scene with me in public like this.

Feeling embarrassed, and with a sudden thought, he was about to smash the jade again.

Jia Jue, who was watching from the side, thought to himself, "This situation is already difficult to control. If he were to smash the jade, someone would surely report it to the old lady and the madam. When that happens, the situation will become even worse."

After thinking it over, he first stopped Baoyu from touching the five-colored jade pendant hanging around his neck, saying, "Baoyu, if you fall again, I will get angry."

Upon hearing this, Baoyu was startled.

His older brother had always been able to control him since childhood, so naturally he dared not say anything more now.

Seeing that Baoyu obediently lowered his hand, Jia Jue said to a maid beside him, "Go quickly and call Second Mistress Lian here. Tell her what I said."

After speaking, Jia Jue walked up to Granny Li, subtly removed her hand from Yingchun's arm, and became the one to confide in.

Sure enough, Wang Xifeng arrived shortly afterward.

As soon as he entered, he laughed and said, "Oh dear! Who has upset you this time? Why are you so angry!"

When Granny Li saw Wang Xifeng, she remembered Wang Xifeng's reputation since she married into the family and started helping with household management, and she felt a little afraid, which made her drunkenness dissipate by half.

However, she was caught in a dilemma, so she let go of Jia Jue's hand and turned to Feng Jie to cry.

In the end, she cried and said, "If that's the case, I won't live anymore!"

Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "Oh, what did I think! You're being too suspicious, Granny. How could Baoyu forget you? You're an elder in this household. Look at this, is it appropriate to do this in front of so many young maids? Instead of setting a good example for them, you're breaking the rules yourself."

After saying that, he grabbed Li Mama's hand and walked out.

"Come on, let's go to my place. I have some good things for Granny there!"

As they spoke, they dragged and pulled Li Mama away.

As they walked, Granny Li continued to weep and lament.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they could no longer hear Granny Li's voice.

"That old codger is finally gone."

Daiyu quietly walked up to Jia Jue and whispered.

Jia Jue also whispered to Daiyu, "Why didn't you say it louder, sister?"

Daiyu simply rolled her eyes at him, snorted, and remained silent.

Everyone sat down again.

Although it was still the same group of people, the atmosphere couldn't be warmed up after this incident.

Xiangyun originally wanted to have some fun before going home, but now it seems that's not going to happen.

Baoyu, who was standing to the side, became angrier the more he thought about it. Suddenly, he got up and left without saying a word.

Everyone was used to it and didn't say much.

Seeing the silence of everyone at the table, Jia Jue knew what kind of situation Shi Xiangyun was in at home. He knew that she could not be as happy as the three sisters and Daiyu in the Shi family. So he thought of making her happy and said, "It's not very interesting for us to just drink here. Why don't we play a game?"