Dream of the Red Chamber: A Refined and Elegant Young Man in a Turbid World

After Li Wan finished reading the pawn ticket, her face darkened. Although she was usually gentle, she could not stand the sight of servants deceiving their masters.

"This servant is incredibly audacious!" Li Wan's voice was filled with anger. "My second sister has treated her well, yet she dares to do such a disrespectful and treacherous thing, even throwing a tantrum and acting like a brat. She has absolutely no sense of propriety!"

Just then, a wailing and screaming voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard: "Madam! Madam, you must do justice for me! Third Master falsely accused me of stealing Second Miss's clothes and even beat my man! I'm innocent! I'm truly innocent!"

Before the words were finished, Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law burst in, her hair disheveled, wearing only a gray cotton jacket, her face streaked with tears. As soon as she entered, she knelt down with a thud, slapping her thigh and wailing:

"Madam, you must do me justice! Those bolts of fabric were a gift from the Second Miss, not something I stole! The Third Master beat my husband without even asking what happened, and then falsely accused me of stealing the fabric. I'm more wronged than Dou E!"

As she wailed, she stole glances at everyone in the room. Seeing Li Wan's somber expression and Jia Cong's cold eyes, she felt a pang of fear, but she still forced herself to continue wailing.

Jia Cong stepped forward with a cold smile, pointed at her nose, and shouted sharply.

"You despicable creature, you still dare to throw a tantrum here? I ask you, what's the deal with this pawn ticket? It's from Yuhe Pawnshop on West Street, pawning a piece of Yunhe Dark Floral Silk, and it's signed with your name. What else do you have to say?"

As he spoke, he took the pawn ticket from Li Wan's hand and threw it in front of Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law.

Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law looked down and saw the pawn ticket on the ground. Her face turned deathly pale, and her wailing stopped abruptly, as if someone had grabbed her by the neck.

She had kept the pawn ticket hidden close to her body, thinking it was so well hidden that no one would ever find it. But to her surprise, the other party found it!

In a panic, Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law hurriedly reached out, trying to hide the pawn ticket, but still stubbornly insisted, "This...this is not my pawn ticket! I have never been to Yuhe Pawnshop, much less pawned any Yunhe Dark Flower Silk! This must be a forgery by Third Master to frame me!"

"Forgery?" Jia Cong sneered. "Tell me, is the fingerprint on this pawn ticket yours? Do the clerks at Yuhe Pawnshop recognize you? If you dare deny it, I'll send someone to Yuhe Pawnshop right now to bring the clerks here for a confrontation. If you continue to argue, I'll skin you alive!"

Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law's face grew even uglier, her eyes darting away, unable to meet Jia Cong's gaze. She knew the fingerprint on the pawn ticket was hers, and the clerk at Yuhe Pawnshop recognized her. If someone were sent to confront her, the deception would surely be exposed. Yet, she still clung to a sliver of hope, trying to hold on.

"I...I..." Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence. Her wailing subsided, leaving only soft sobs.

Seeing her like this, Li Wan knew that she had tacitly agreed. After all, she was the widow of the eldest son and was also putting on the airs of a matriarch.

"Zhang, even now, do you still dare to argue? The pawn ticket is right here, and Wang Zhu'er has already confessed. What else do you have to say? You stole our master's tribute, threw a tantrum, and turned around to accuse our master. You deserve to die!"

"Madam, I know I was wrong! I was confused for a moment and did such a foolish thing! Please, Madam, have mercy! Please, Second Miss, have mercy on me this time!"

Seeing that she could no longer argue, Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law finally collapsed to the ground, repeatedly kowtowing to Li Wan and Yingchun, wailing and begging for mercy.

"This servant will never dare to do it again! I will never dare to steal your things again! Please, masters, forgive this servant this time!"

Seeing her crying so pitifully, Yingchun's heart softened again, and she wanted to plead for her, but she was frightened by a look from Jia Cong.

Jia Cong looked at Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law, his eyes showing no pity whatsoever.

"You admit your mistake? Where were you before? When you switched the clothes, why didn't you admit your mistake? When you threw a tantrum and blamed my second sister, why didn't you admit your mistake then? Now that the evidence is conclusive, you say you admit your mistake? Too late!"

As he spoke, he turned to Li Wan and bowed slightly. "Sister-in-law, this servant has committed treason and violated the rules of the household. According to the family law, what should his punishment be? Please decide, sister-in-law."

Li Wan pondered for a moment.

"According to the family rules, a servant who steals from his master and disobeys his master should be punished with twenty strokes of the cane and expelled from the household, never to be employed again. However, considering Second Sister's leniency and the fact that she was once Second Sister's wet nurse and served her, I will be lenient with fifteen strokes of the cane, a year's salary deducted as compensation, and immediately exiled to the estate in the south of the city, with no possibility of being transferred back for three years! Wang Zhuer knew about this but failed to report it, condoning his daughter-in-law's disrespect towards her master. He will be fined half a year's salary, placed on probation, and if he commits another offense, he will be expelled from the household!"

"Thank you, Madam! Thank you, Second Miss! Thank you, Third Master!" Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law hurriedly kowtowed to everyone to express her gratitude. Although she had been flogged, fined, and forced to do hard labor at the estate, she had at least saved her life and had not been driven out of the mansion. To her, this was already a great blessing.

Jia Cong, however, remained expressionless.

"I have one more thing to say. You have one day to return the other two stolen tribute horses. If they are even a penny short, you will be immediately expelled from the manor! If you dare to disobey even the slightest word, I will skin you alive and throw you out of the manor to feed the dogs!"

"This servant will remember!" Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law quickly kowtowed in response, not daring to utter another word of complaint.

Jia Cong nodded and instructed the servant at the door, "Bring Wang Zhu'er's wife away. As the eldest mistress ordered, give her fifteen strokes of the cane and then send her to the estate! Also, summon Wang Zhu'er to receive his punishment. Deduct half a year's wages and place him on probation!"

Two servants at the door rushed in, lifted Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law off the ground, and dragged her away. As she was being dragged away, she continued to cry and express her gratitude, her voice gradually fading into the distance.

The warm pavilion finally returned to peace. Li Wan looked at Jia Cong with a hint of approval on her face:

"Third brother, you are so young, yet you have such composure and courage. It is truly rare. Today, thanks to your carefulness, otherwise Second sister would have had no one to confide in about her grievances."

Jia Cong smiled and bowed.

"Sister-in-law, you flatter me. Punishing unruly servants and upholding the dignity of our master is what we should do. However, I am truly sorry to have troubled you to come and witness today's events in person."

"We're all family, why bother with these formalities?" Li Wan waved her hand and looked at Yingchun, her tone softening.

"Second sister, if any servants dare to bully you again, just tell your sister-in-law or the third master. Your sister-in-law will definitely stand up for you. Just don't keep indulging the servants and making yourself suffer."

Yingchun gave a soft "hmm," her eyes still lacking sparkle; clearly, today's events hadn't changed her much.

Jia Cong turned to look at Siqi, and took out a small piece of silver from his sleeve, which looked to be about two or three taels.

"Siqi, your loyalty to your mistress is truly commendable. Here, take this silver as a reward. Serve your mistress well!"

Upon hearing this, Siqi immediately curtsied deeply, her eyes red-rimmed.

"This servant thanks Third Master for the reward! Thank you so much for standing up for my young lady! From now on, this servant will serve you even more diligently and will never let you suffer the slightest grievance again!"