Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The next day, Ningrong Street was bustling with carriages and horses.

Su Keguang, the acting commander of the Imperial Guard Battalion, dismounted and quickly approached Jia Lian, kneeling on one knee to report: "Your Highness, the five thousand Imperial Guard troops are in position and ready to depart at any time."

Jia Lian, riding a tall white horse, nodded and instructed, "Strictly order the entire army to strictly abide by military discipline and not to harass the people along the way."

"Yes."

"Go down."

After dismissing Su Keguang, Jia Lian rode his horse, following the procession of carriages and horses, to the very front.

Sister Feng lifted the carriage curtain and asked, "When do we depart?"

Jia Lian turned around and saw that more than ten carriages were ready. He then raised his hand and ordered, "Let's go."

The Xishan Villa is only forty miles from the capital, so although there were many people and the carriages were slow, the group arrived at the foot of Xishan in just over half a day.

The so-called Xishan is just a general name; the actual place where the villa is located is called Longyin Mountain.

Longyin Mountain is one of the most famous royal resorts. In addition to the villa bestowed by the Empress, there are also many royal villas and tranquil Zen temples on the mountain.

Most of the people and their vehicles formed a long dragon, winding their way up the quiet and spacious mountain road.

Inside the second carriage at the front, Jia Lian lay sprawled on Baochai's plump, soft thighs, his hands clasped around his stomach, eyes closed in rest.

Beside him, Zijuan and Ying'er knelt side by side, massaging his thighs and calves respectively.

Daiyu, who was sitting to the side, couldn't stand Jia Lian's lazy and carefree manner, so she said to her maid, "Zijuan, pour me a cup of tea."

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, the gentle Zijuan stood up, went to the other side of the carriage's side table, took out a teapot, poured a cup of tea, and presented it to Daiyu.

Daiyu took it, and seeing that Zijuan seemed to have to go back to work, she tugged at her sleeve.

"Sit down and talk to me."

Zijuan glanced back and realized that her young lady was taking care of her.

She didn't sit down, but stood to the side and asked with a smile, "What does Master want to say?"

Daiyu had deliberately sent Zijuan away.

Throughout the journey, Jia Lian rode in the same carriage with them.

After all, Sister Feng not only had to take care of the child, but also had Qin Keqing ride with her, so Jia Lian naturally couldn't go up and interfere.

They were supposed to ride together, but Jia Lian insisted on sitting in the middle.

He sits in the middle, fine, but he still likes to cause trouble.

Just now, he rested his head on Baochai's jade legs and even put his legs on top of hers.

They even made her massage their legs!

She refused and dodged away in a huff.

He then ordered Zijuan and Ying'er to serve him.

Just as I was about to think of a topic, I suddenly heard a series of exclamations coming from the direction of the carriage behind me.

"So beautiful."

"So many beautiful maple leaves..."

Daiyu, with her sharp ears, immediately recognized the voices of Xiangyun, Tanchun, and others from behind.

She quietly raised a slender arm and lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.

As far as the eye can see, the mountains and fields are covered in red.

Daiyu was captivated; it was the first time she had ever seen a maple forest in such full bloom.

As more and more people made the discovery, the exclamations of amazement in the group naturally grew louder and louder.

Jia Lian heard it too.

He sat up abruptly, leaned over to look at Daiyu, and immediately ordered the carriages to stop.

Cao Zhong seemed to have anticipated that the scene before him would attract many dignitaries, and he appeared at the opportune moment beside the carriage to explain to Jia Lian and the others:

"Your Majesty, this mountain forest originally had many maple trees. One autumn, the Empress came by, praised them, and even named this winding mountain road 'Luoxia Road'."

Later, the Imperial Household Department ordered that most of the other trees on the mountainside be cut down and replaced with maple trees, which resulted in the scene we see today.

"The timing of our arrival was perfect; if it had been any later, we wouldn't have been able to see them."

Jia Lian nodded, then looked at Daiyu, whose view was now blocked by his but whose gaze she still couldn't bear to look away from, and smiled, "How about we rest here for a while?"

Daiyu had the same idea, so she naturally wouldn't object.

So Jia Lian instructed Cao Zhong to give the order to rest there for half an hour.

Upon hearing this news, the sisters, along with the other maids and beauties, naturally got out of the carriage to admire the beautiful scenery.

Daiyu also took Zijuan's hand and went downstairs.

Baochai tidied herself up and was about to get out of the carriage when Jia Lian grabbed her.

When she turned around and saw Jia Lian raising an eyebrow at her, her face flushed slightly.

Ying'er was very sensible; seeing this, she immediately lowered the carriage curtain that Zijuan had rolled up earlier...

A moment later, Jia Lian got out of the car with an air of nonchalance.

At sixteen or seventeen, Baochai was breathtakingly beautiful, inside and out.

Perhaps this is why he couldn't wait for Baochai to enter the family and opened the seal ahead of schedule.

After all, he really didn't want to miss out on Baochai, who was sixteen years old.

Of course, in such a short time, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he wouldn't actually do anything serious.

After all, he still had his pride. He didn't want the naive young girls like Sanchun to witness the rhythmic movement of the carriage.

It was just a small taste, to soothe the mind and body.

At this moment, the sisters, including Sanchun, had already brought out their easels, clearly intending to have a unique outdoor sketching session here.

Daiyu was also nearby. When she saw Jia Lian come out, she frowned slightly.

They clearly guessed something.

However, she didn't show any emotion. After all, Jia Lian would bully them in front of them, let alone like this.

"Second brother, come and take a look, how should this part be drawn?"

Tan Chun grabbed Jia Lian's arm and pulled him toward the easel.

Since the purpose of this trip was to have fun, everyone prepared everything they needed.

All kinds of dyes and paintbrushes are available.

In a short time, these young girls worked together and actually produced a semi-finished product.

Jia Lian pretended to observe for a while, then nodded and said, "Not bad, keep drawing. If you draw well, I'll give you a reward."

Hearing that there would be a reward, the girls became even more interested and motivated.

Taking advantage of the empty space, Jia Lian walked back to a carriage.

"Father."

Just then, Jia Qiao popped out from behind the carriage curtain and bumped into Jia Lian. She leaped into his arms.

Jia Lian picked her up, gently pinched her little nose, and asked with a smile, "How did you get out here? Where's your mother?"

"Mommy is putting my little brother to sleep."

Jia Lian carried Qiao'er into the carriage, and sure enough, Feng Jie was holding her precious son, rocking him to sleep while chatting with Qin Keqing.

Seeing Jia Lian enter, Feng Jie laughed and said, "Why aren't you with your sisters? What are you doing here?"

Jia Lian glanced at the little bean sprout in her arms, whose eyes were wide open, and sighed, "My lady, you've worked hard."

He immediately plopped down next to Qin Keqing, freeing one hand to wrap around her slender waist.

He was completely unwilling to take care of the children.

She cries all the time; she's not cute at all.

So even with Qin Keqing present, he wouldn't want to ride in this carriage.

He placed his daughter on his lap, turned his head, and kissed Qin Keqing's bright red lips.

"Father is biased; my sister-in-law is closer to me than to me."

Jia Qiao was very unhappy and forcibly pried the two people in front of her apart.

Sister Feng also scolded, "You're doing this in front of your daughter, don't you know how to be more discreet?"

Jia Lian chuckled, released Qin Keqing, hugged the little girl's head, and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek.

His movements were too rough and clearly hurt the little girl.

Qiao'er frowned, pushing Jia Lian's face while wiping her own face with her sleeve.

In front of Qiao'er, Qin Keqing was naturally too embarrassed to get close to Jia Lian.

However, she was naturally charming, and seeing that Jia Qiao looked cute, she leaned over again and, mimicking Qiao'er's tone, teased, "Qiao'er is biased; her own father doesn't love me as much."

Jia Qiao hesitated for a moment, thinking that this sister-in-law was usually good to her and often played with her, so she leaned over and gave her a light peck on the cheek.

"Wow, Qiao'er's kiss smells so good and feels so sweet, I'm so happy."

Qin Keqing covered her face, looking shy and blissful, which made Qiao'er giggle and couldn't help but give her another kiss.

Seeing Qin Keqing interacting intimately with her daughter, Jia Lian smiled broadly.

He truly liked this woman.

Lady You once suggested to him that Qin Keqing "die of illness" on some pretext so that he could take her into his care.

Even if he hadn't felt his status was high enough at that time, and even if Qin Keqing had changed her appearance and come to his side, she might not have lived a better or happier life than she had as the eldest young mistress of the Ningguo Mansion.

Moreover, as far as he knew, Qin Keqing was very likely the orphan of the former Prince Yizhong, and could not be disposed of casually, lest there be future troubles.

Therefore, it was not adopted.

Later, he was granted the titles of Duke and King, and then it was revealed that he had royal blood.

Jia Lian dared not make any rash moves.

But things are better now.

His power was already established, and his status was already set.

Once he ascends to a high position in the future, he can grant the other party a formal title.

It can be considered that I haven't let her down after all these years of silently watching over me.

"Hmph."

Seeing Jia Lian and the other two acting like a happy family, Feng Jie felt a little jealous.

She gave a soft hum and realized that her son was not sleepy at all.

So he gave up trying to coax her, handed her over to Ping'er, and sat down on the other side of Jia Lian, saying, "By the way, our son has been born for so long, and you still haven't named him."

Even if there's no rush to give him a formal name, we should at least give him a nickname.

"We can't keep calling him 'Little Treasure' all the time, can we?"

Jia Lian is taking a kiss with his daughter.

A three-year-old girl is at her most clingy at this age.

Hearing this, she raised her head and pondered for a moment before saying, "You can decide on your own nickname, anything is fine. As for your formal name, I've already thought about it. It will be a single character, 'Ze,' which means 'blessings that last and benefit the whole world.'"

Upon hearing this, Sister Feng pressed for details, asking which "Ze" it was.

Jia Lian took her hand and wrote in her palm.

"Ze, Wei Ze, good, my son has a name."

Sister Feng, with her limited education, couldn't distinguish between good and bad, but hearing Jia Lian say that, it was clearly a good omen.

Ignoring Jia Lian, he squatted down beside his son, smiling and teasing his innocent child: "Ze'er, listen to this, this is the name your father gave you. Do you think it sounds nice?"

Her eyes were full of doting and happiness as she patiently teased her son.

Qiao'er, who was in Jia Lian's arms, turned around and glanced back, her eyes showing some disappointment.

Her mother used to love her the most, but ever since her younger brother was born, her mother's eyes have been almost entirely on her brother, and she no longer wants to spend time playing with her.

"Little girl, what are you looking at? Come on, Daddy will take you outside to watch your aunts paint."

"Yay, great! Daddy's the best!"

"Hehe, so is Father better or Mother better?"

"Greetings, Father!"

"Hahaha...that's right, let's go, let's ignore Mother."

Seeing the father and daughter laughingly lift the curtain and leave, Feng Jie turned back to Qin Keqing and said, "You two heartless bastards."

"Hehehe."

...(End of this chapter)