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

The room was stuffy with so many people, so Jia Cong had to stand up and go to the window for some fresh air. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and collarbone.

Just as I was about to reach out to wipe it, I caught a whiff of a strange fragrance – the deep, pungent scent of the Cold Fragrance Pill mixed with the scent of the Ice Musk Sachet.

It turned out that Baochai had left her seat and walked gracefully to the window. Without calling out to anyone, she stood quietly beside Jia Cong, gazing at the lush greenery outside the window with him.

Jia Cong, having practiced martial arts for a long time, was already a head taller than Baochai. A fleeting glance revealed her fair complexion, but Baochai neither flinched nor avoided it. Instead, she slightly raised her chin, parted her cherry lips, and spoke in a very low voice.

"Brother Cong, look at how sweaty you are. The other day you took on such a responsibility for Baoyu and were busy arranging the fan everywhere. You didn't even have a cup of tea to drink. It's hard for me to bear seeing you like this."

After saying this, she raised her slender fingers slightly, not to hand over a fan, but to gently brush away the beads of sweat on Jia Cong's forehead with a handkerchief. She touched it briefly and then withdrew, leaving a lingering cool fragrance on the tip of his nose.

Jia Cong was taken aback. Before he could speak, Baochai had already turned halfway around, her round fan slightly obscuring her delicate face, revealing only a pair of affectionate almond-shaped eyes. With a hint of reproach, she handed Jia Cong a jade pendant with ice-patterned patterns from her sleeve, then leaned closer to his ear, her breath as fragrant as orchids.

"This pendant is newly carved, cooler and smoother than ordinary pendants. Wear it around your waist, and it will keep you cool in the summer. Just don't let Baoyu see it, or that silly boy will pester me for half a day."

Clutching the ice-patterned jade pendant, Jia Cong felt the scent of the Cold Fragrance Pill entwine his heart, even more alluring than the cool breeze from a fan. He stopped in his tracks, temporarily abandoning his original plan to go to the workshop.

Seeing that he had put away the jade pendant, Baochai said nothing more. She simply waved her round fan and gracefully moved her lotus steps back to sit among Baoyu and the others, still with a faint smile on her face. None of the people in the room, who were playing Go and laughing, noticed anything unusual.

Jia Cong naturally kept quiet and accepted the jade pendant without a word. In his heart, he secretly praised this Lady Hengwu for being truly extraordinary. She was already able to help Aunt Xue manage household affairs at the young age of fifteen. However, the Xue family inevitably expected her to harbor the idea of ​​marrying a rich man, which was ultimately criticized by later generations.

After a brief commotion, Jia Cong finally went to the perfume workshop. With so many people around, it wasn't appropriate to be too intimate. He only used the excuse of inspecting the raw materials to have Qin Keqing accompany him on a tour. Only at the end did he agree that she would personally deliver some perfume to Qingyan Hall two days later.

Qin Keqing, now living a life of luxury in the Rong Mansion and spared from Jia Zhen's harassment, has become somewhat plump since her arrival, with a rosier complexion, and even has more energy during intimate moments.

The summer heat was unbearable, but Jia Huan was quite resilient. Every three to five days, he would come to Jia Cong and pester him to practice martial arts. Even when his legs were trembling and he was drenched in sweat, he never complained. This made Jia Cong look at him in a different light.

Most of the Rong family's sons were at the age of growth. Over the course of a year, Jia Cong grew about four inches taller, while Bao Yu did not grow much and was now half an inch shorter than Jia Cong.

"Huan Ge'er's Taizu Changquan is quite well-structured, but his lower body is still weak. When he punches, his waist and hips don't follow up properly, so he loses 30% of his power."

Jia Cong stopped his movements, wiping the sweat from his neck with a handkerchief, and continued to give instructions.

"Try to sit in the horse stance for half a cup of tea, and sink your breath to your dantian, instead of just letting it float in your chest."

Jia Huan squatted down steadily as instructed, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead onto the blue bricks, but he still gritted his teeth and agreed.

"I know, I tried acupuncture by myself a few times the other night, but I still feel weak in my legs."

Jia Cong smiled and drank the bowl of tea that Li Rong handed him.

"This is how it is for beginners. With time, your muscles and bones will become stronger. After another month of practice, ordinary servants will not be able to get close to you."

Jia Huan's eyes lit up. "It's all thanks to Cong-ge'er's guidance. I definitely won't slack off."

However, Jia Huan didn't have any special abilities or powerful backers, and even after practicing for so long, it was impossible for him to break through to the first level of the martial realm. Jia Cong even kept something secret and was unwilling to teach him the Flowing Cloud Bone-Breaking Capturing Hand technique that Sun Tai had taught him.

He himself could not make any further progress before the martial arts examination began. According to Sun Tai, the third level of martial arts was the limit for young people, and even if he practiced for another year or two, he might not be able to break through. He was somewhat discouraged.

The "Mirror of Love and Lust" given to him by the lame Taoist priest was also taken out by Jia Cong every few days to wipe and look at, but he never had any more opportunities to do so.

Now, since entering the garden, Baoyu has been content and has no other desires. He spends his days with his sisters and maids, reading, writing, playing the zither, playing chess, painting, composing poems, and even embroidering phoenixes, playing games with grass and flowers, singing softly, and playing word games. He is quite happy.

Because he wrote several poems, some snobbish people at the time, seeing that they were written by the young master of the Rongguo Mansion, copied them out and praised them everywhere. There were also some frivolous young men who fell in love with the flirtatious and seductive lines, and wrote them on the fan and wall, reciting and admiring them from time to time.

As a result, people came seeking poems and calligraphy, and commissioned paintings and inscriptions. Baoyu became even more pleased with himself and spent his days doing these external affairs.

These normally ordinary tasks now seemed somewhat frivolous to the sisters, including Daiyu and Baochai, and Shi Xiangyun occasionally offered a few words of advice.

"Now that you're older, even if you don't want to study and take the imperial examinations, you should at least meet with these officials and talk about the ways of the world, so you can better navigate life and have some friends in the future. I haven't seen you doing anything but hanging around in our group all your life!"

Baoyu immediately turned hostile.

"Please ask one of the other sisters to sit in another room. I'm afraid my knowledge of economics will be wasted here."

Xiren then added:

"Miss Yun, please don't say that. Last time, Miss Bao said something, but he didn't care whether it was polite or not. He coughed and walked away. Miss Bao hadn't finished speaking when she saw him leave. She was so embarrassed that she blushed. She didn't know whether to say it or not."

Jia Cong could only think to himself that Baoyu was naturally well-off and had no worries about food, clothing, or daily necessities. He was indulging in romance and pleasure all day long and had no idea about the hardships of others. Fortunately, Wang Xifeng sent another bonus, probably because Grandmother Jia had spoken up. It was much more than in the spring, amounting to more than four hundred taels.

Jia Cong's personal savings are almost a thousand taels of silver. Ni Er and others deliver vegetables to the Ning Mansion every day, and the profits they make are not small. They have even managed to keep a mistress for this scoundrel, and they are living a very prosperous life.

At the end of July, the military examination was held to select officials. Jia Cong took Li Rong and other servants to the martial arts training ground in the north of the city early in the morning. Before he left, even Jia She and Madam Xing had to remind him to be careful and not to tarnish the reputation of the Duke's Mansion.

The martial arts training ground in the north of the city was originally the fixed venue for the provincial martial arts examinations in the capital. It was surrounded by a ten-foot-high blue brick wall and was divided into three areas: the drill ground, the archery range, and the weapons training ground. At this time, it was already bustling with activity.

Candidates of all kinds moved about, including scions of noble families with distinguished bearing dressed in silk-sleeved robes, and poor martial arts students with dark complexions wearing short silk jackets. There were also many servants carrying bows, swords, and stones, serving them on the side.

The tea stalls by the venue were bustling with people discussing today's examiners and top candidates.