The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

Of course, Jia Jue was not as accurate intuition as he claimed, able to sense something was wrong as soon as he entered the imperial temple in the suburbs and return in time.

It turned out that someone had informed on him.

Who is this person?

This man's surname was Jia and his given name was Jue. He was Jia Chi's biological son.

Why would a son betray his own father?

There's a story behind this.

It turns out that Jia Jue had already married several years ago, to a young lady from a collateral branch of the Shi family in Jinling.

The young lady was also exceptionally beautiful, captivating all who saw her. After their marriage, the two were deeply in love and their happiness was the envy of everyone.

At that time, Jia Chi's wife had already passed away, and he has not remarried since.

Seeing his daughter-in-law's flirtatious demeanor, he felt a lot of filthy thoughts.

So, taking advantage of his son's absence, he forced himself on his daughter-in-law.

The Shi family's daughter was no pushover either. She was betrothed to Jia Jue that very day, and by evening she had taken a short dagger and ended her own life.

From then on, Jia Jue harbored a grudge against Jia Chi.

However, due to his status as father and son, and because of the fear he felt from his father's beatings and scoldings when he was young, Jia Jue could only secretly struggle in his heart, thinking about what opportunity he could have to avenge the loss of his wife.

Jia Chi had always looked down on his son, thinking that from childhood to the present, he was nothing but a coward who would never dare to defy him. Therefore, he was completely unguarded towards Jia Jue. Today, in the scheme to force himself on Jia Jue's maid, he had consulted with Jia Jue the entire time.

Knowing that the time was right, Jia Jue took advantage of the moment when he was with Jia Jue at the imperial temple and revealed all of Jia Chi's thoughts and schemes.

That's why Jia Jue was able to return in time to stop Jia Chi.

Of course, Jia Jue couldn't reveal Jia Jue's affair in front of Jia Chi, so he simply said that his heart trembled and he needed to return to rest.

At this moment, Jia Chi saw that he had failed to get what he wanted and had also failed to get what he wanted from Jia Jue. He thought to himself, "Anyway, this is Jinling. What can he do to me?"

He then threatened Jia Jue.

Unexpectedly, Jia Jue was also a man of principle. He said, "You old scoundrel, you came to my courtyard intending to rape a maid, and you even keep saying you want her back! Aren't you disrespectful to your age? Say no more, or you'll want to test the sharpness of my sword!"

"You...you...you..."

Jia Chi stood at the door, pointing at Jia Jue and stammering for a long time without saying anything. He saw that Jia Jue was holding a long sword, and he felt a chill in his heart. He thought that Jia Jue was still young, while he was already over fifty years old. If things really got out of hand, Jia Jue might stab him without thinking, and even if he didn't die, he would be crippled. It would be better to avoid the confrontation for now and go back to discuss a plan. He could devise a scheme to make Jia Jue die unexpectedly and return to his spirit tablet. Then he could just apologize to the old lady for not investigating.

Having made up his mind, Jia Chi snorted coldly, angrily flicked his sleeve, and left.

After Jia Chi left, Musk Moon was still sobbing in Jia Jue's arms.

"It's alright, it's alright," Jia Jue gently comforted Musk Moon. "Don't worry, he'll never dare to come again, and he'll never have the chance to come again."

Musk Moon was filled with fear at this moment and did not understand the deeper meaning in Jia Jue's words. She just sobbed and trembled.

After another two incense sticks' worth of time, Musk Moon slowly came to her senses. Remembering Jia Jue's threat to Jia Chi, she broke out in a cold sweat again and said to Jia Jue, "Now you've argued with Jia Chi because of me, what are we going to do?"

Jia Jue smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have my own ideas."

Just then, Xiren, Qingwen, and Yinglian returned. Seeing Mushe nestled in Jia Jue's arms, they were quite surprised and teased, "Oh, so from now on we'll be calling you 'Auntie'?"

As he walked over, he saw Musk Moon with tears streaming down her face, her eyes red from crying, and he was surprised again.

At this point, Qingwen's fiery temper flared up, and she directly asked Jia Jue, "Did you bully her?"

Jia Jue laughed and said, "I bullied her? What do you mean by that? How long has Musk Moon been with me, and what contributions has she made? You don't even think about it properly before you come up with 'you bullied her'."

Qingwen asked, "Then why is she crying like this?"

At this moment, Musk Moon had already gotten out of Jia Jue's arms. Wiping away her tears, she said, "It's nothing. I just fell down, and you helped me up. I'm crying because I hurt myself."

How could the three of them believe such a obviously false explanation? So they all looked at Jia Jue again.

Jia Jue knew that Mushe didn't want Qingwen and the others to know about this, and Jia Jue didn't want them to know either. Xiren and Yinglian were alright, but if Qingwen found out, she would probably make a scene immediately. If it blew up, it would become a laughing stock for outsiders.

Therefore, he simply said, "Go ask Musk Moon yourselves, I don't know anything about it."

Having no other option, the three turned their attention back to Musk Moon, hoping she could offer some insight.

However, Musk Moon just kept her lips pursed and didn't say anything.

Qingwen was the first to get angry, and sneered, "It's fine if we care about you, but some people don't appreciate kindness. Let's just consider our concern for you wasted!"

He then turned to leave.

Xiren quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Since Sister Mushe is unwilling to talk about it, there must be a reason why she is unwilling to talk about it. Let's not ask any further."

Yinglian nodded over there.

This made Qingwen laugh in exasperation, and she said, "Fine, so you've all played the good guys!"

He then stormed off in a huff.

Seeing Qingwen leave, Xiren whispered to Yinglian, "Sister Yinglian, could you please go and talk to her? Although I've known her for a long time, I know she doesn't really like me. It's fine normally, but if I go now, I'll only ignite this hot coal again. Although you've only just arrived, I can tell she's close to you. Please go and persuade her to come back."

Yinglian nodded in agreement and turned to chase after him.

At this moment, Qingwen was squatting by the flowers in the courtyard, looking at something.

When Yinglian saw this, she squatted down there with her and said, "Why isn't Sister Qingwen going back? What are you doing squatting here? The sun is so strong."

Qingwen said sullenly, "Musk Moon cried like that, and I meant well, but she didn't appreciate it and just kept quiet. Xiren is the same; she wants to know too, but she just pretends to be nice!"

Yinglian said, "Sister, you're mistaken—although Sister Musk Moon cried a lot, it's still her own private matter, isn't it? Everyone has secrets they don't want others to know, so do you, Sister, not have any?"

Upon hearing this, Qingwen couldn't help but think about her own thoughts, and no one knew what she was thinking, but her face flushed.

However, she still said, "What about Xiren? She always knows how to play the peacemaker!"

Yinglian said, "Isn't Sister Xiren afraid of things getting awkward? It's already inappropriate for you to question him directly in front of the Second Master. If you keep asking, what if it causes another conflict? Wouldn't that look bad?"