Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Fengjie's courtyard is located northeast of Jia Mu's courtyard, so Yuanyang escorted Jia Lian directly out of the back door of Rongqing Hall.

As dusk fell, Yuanyang, who should have been the lantern bearer and walking ahead to light the way, gradually slowed down because she was preoccupied with her own thoughts.

Jia Lian then turned around and looked at Yuanyang, who was walking slowly with her head down.

Tall and slender, with a wasp waist and narrow shoulders, an oval face, and a high nose bridge... she was a natural beauty.

Under the interplay of lamplight and twilight, even the faint freckles on her face were nowhere to be seen, making her appear even more beautiful and charming than usual.

Perhaps noticing that he had stopped, Yuanyang also looked up and saw Jia Lian looking at her. She immediately felt her face burning and her hands and feet felt awkward.

This feeling made Yuanyang extremely embarrassed. She tried hard to calm her beating heart, but she couldn't help but wonder if Jia Lian had already noticed her feelings.

Then Jia Lian asked with a smile, "What's wrong, Sister Yuanyang?"

Yuanyang took a deep breath, raised her head, and said seriously, "It's nothing, Second Master, let's go..."

As they spoke, he lit the lantern in his hand and led the way for Jia Lian from the side.

Jia Lian was pleased with this; after admiring the front, admiring the graceful curves from behind was also a good choice.

However, they hadn't gone far when a group of people came from ahead; it was Wang Xifeng who was rushing to Grandmother Jia's room.

According to the rules of the Rongguo Mansion, Lady Wang, Li Wan, and others could only go back to eat on their own after Grandmother Jia had finished her meal.

"Oh, it's Sister Yuanyang! Why are you personally escorting me here..."

Wang Xifeng stepped forward and discovered that the maid holding the lantern was actually Yuanyang, and immediately laughed.

Before Yuanyang even saw Wang Xifeng, she had already composed herself and regained her composure, saying to Fengjie, "He is the master, and we maids, who shouldn't give him gifts?"

With that, he handed the lantern to Qingwen, who had also come forward, "But now that you've arrived, I'll head back first."

After bowing to both Feng Jie and Jia Lian, Yuanyang turned and left.

"Why aren't you following? Keep an eye on those young ladies, make sure they don't fall."

Feng Jie hurriedly called a maid carrying a lantern to follow them, then turned back to look at Jia Lian and said with a smile, "You go back first. If you're not hungry, wait for me to come back for dinner. I have something to tell you..."

After Jia Lian nodded, Wang Xifeng looked at Qingwen.

That little brat, who used to be so eager to follow her, is now standing by when she sees her second master leaving. Clearly, she's not going to follow her anymore.

Given Wang Xifeng's past temper, she would have already cursed Qingwen so badly she couldn't find her mother, but she managed to hold back this time.

Since someone had to accompany him, he said to Jia Lian, "You're going to take up your post tomorrow, so don't go out to practice tonight. Get some rest so you'll be energetic tomorrow."

I've had the kitchen prepare hot water for you. Go back and have the maids help you take a bath first; I might be back by then.

After Jia Lian returned, a few days after the New Year, he resumed his daily practice of martial arts in the back of his study. He would practice for an hour each night before returning to bathe, then accompany her to check on Jia She before retiring to bed…

At first, Wang Xifeng suspected that he was using this as an excuse to go out and meet those two foreign beauties, but later she found out that he had not lied to her.

That small courtyard has now been turned into a training ground by them, with all sorts of knives, spears, swords, and halberds. Several grown men are even fighting to the death late at night.

Not only that, they also set up two targets in the narrow passageway behind the courtyard, and she even tried shooting a few arrows there that day.

She had thought she wasn't a weak woman, but she could only draw the smallest bow, and even then, she had to stand very close to the target to barely hit it. Meanwhile, the woman named Aqi could stand twice as far as her and easily hit the target, which infuriated her. She immediately lost interest, threw down her bow, and left.

Jia Lian nodded, not rejecting Feng Jie's suggestion.

Wang Xifeng then became happy, gave Qingwen a final glare, and left with the others.

"Aren't you afraid of your second grandmother?"

Only when the two of them were left did Jia Lian lower his head and look at Qingwen, who was eager to go home with him.

"I haven't done anything wrong, why should I be afraid of her?"

Qingwen didn't understand what she meant, and then she remembered that she had been glared at by Fengjie earlier. She immediately said nonchalantly, "I was originally the Second Master's... maid. Isn't it only right that I follow the Second Master? Besides, the Second Mistress didn't say anything."

Jia Lian stared at her, thinking to himself, "If Wang Xifeng hadn't changed somewhat, with Qingwen's personality, she wouldn't have lasted long under Wang Xifeng's care..."

So he bent down, picked her up, and gave her nose a hard smack, then said, "Even if you're one of my people, she's still your second mistress. What good will it do you to offend her? You deserve to be taught a lesson."

This wasn't the first time Qingwen had been hugged by Jia Lian, so she cooperated by wrapping one arm around Jia Lian's neck and using the other to steady the lantern.

Hearing this, he laughed and replied, "How could I have offended her? I'm usually very respectful to her. Otherwise, why would Second Madam take me everywhere she goes?"

"It's not like I should disregard Second Master just to please her; that would only upset you."

Qingwen pouted, offering a strong defense of her actions.

"That makes a lot of sense!" Jia Lian laughed.

"How about this: when I'm home, you'll be in charge of pleasing me, and when I'm not home, you'll do everything you can to please her, okay?"

Qingwen pouted even more, looking at Jia Lian with a bitter and resentful expression. Listening to Jia Lian's words, she felt that her status was so low that she could only survive by pleasing others!

However, he quickly understood, nodded, and buried his face in Jia Lian's neck.

Being able to be carried by the Second Master was a unique honor for her!

Once inside the courtyard, Qingwen jumped off Jia Lian's arms and began to call for Xiangling.

"Second Master wants to take a bath. Go inside and find him some clothes to change into. I'll go tell them to prepare hot water for him. Hurry up..."

After Xiangling responded, she went up to the corridor, called out the few maids who were the only servants in the courtyard, and led them to carry buckets of hot water into the bathhouse.

Soon the large bathtub was half full. Qingwen tested the water temperature and, finding it suitable, sent all the other maids out, leaving only herself and Xiangling to help Jia Lian undress and then help him into the bathtub.

Serving Jia Lian during his bath had become the exclusive responsibility of her and Xiangling, something that Wang Xifeng had tacitly approved of, so the two of them worked together very skillfully.

Xiangling took a handkerchief and helped Jia Lian wash his body, while she stood outside the bathtub, carefully massaging Jia Lian's shoulders.

Noticing that Jia Lian was enjoying being pinched, she smiled and said in a consultative tone, "Second Master, there's something I'd like to ask of you..."

"Tell me about it..."

"I have an older cousin who is currently living away from home and has no means of making a living. So I would like to ask you, Second Master, to buy him into our family. No matter what he does, at least he will have a place to live."

Jia Lian turned around, glanced at Qingwen, and asked, "Your cousin?"

"Yes, I lived with my aunt, uncle, brother and sister-in-law when I was a child. Later, they sold me to the Lai family, which is how I ended up in this mansion."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian frowned.

She knew that Qingwen was bought by the Lai family from outside, but she had never asked about her background in detail. Now that she heard her talking about it, she couldn't help but ask.

Qingwen shook her head, saying that she couldn't remember anything about her childhood and her parents. She only remembered living with her older brother and sister-in-law. Later, when she grew up a bit, her brother and sister-in-law sold her to the Lai family for a few taels of silver.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian asked, "They've all betrayed you, why are you still helping them?"

"They were starving and couldn't make a living, so they sold me. I stopped arguing with them a long time ago."

Qingwen said very generously.

In fact, she was sold by her older brother and sister-in-law when she was not even ten years old, and she was very angry at the time.

But who knew that her luck would turn around and she would become successful because of it, and her resentment towards her brother and sister-in-law would naturally dissipate.

Not long ago, her brother asked someone to ask her for a way to make a living. He said many nice things, and she was completely dispelled of her anger. She also wanted to show her brother and sister-in-law, who were snobbish back then, her current status, so she agreed to help them get into the Jia family.

The Jia family is so nice! Even if you're just a servant, you'll never have to worry about food or clothing, and you'll receive a monthly salary. If you do a good job, you'll get bonuses during festivals. It's practically the best job in the world.

Jia Lian also had some recollection of Qingwen's brother and sister-in-law...

Leaving aside her brother, the key is her sister-in-law, who is none other than "Duo Guniang," known as the number one beauty in the Dream of the Red Chamber.

However, he didn't care about these things; he only saw another good quality in Qingwen from this.

Although he is usually sharp-tongued and speaks harshly to others, he is ultimately a person who cherishes old friendships.

Moreover, hearing her talk about her background, how she had also been a wanderer and homeless child, I realized that her prickly exterior was probably just something she had developed to protect herself, and I felt a pang of pity for her.

What can your brother do?

Upon hearing that Jia Lian seemed to agree, Qingwen immediately said, "He's a butcher; that's what he's always done!"

Overjoyed, she stopped massaging with her hands and subconsciously started hugging Jia Baoyu's neck instead.

Little did she know that by standing outside the large bathtub, Jia Lian's head was resting on her chest.

However, for the sake of convenience, she had taken off her outer clothes in the bath room. Without any extra clothing to obstruct her view, her tightly bound, round, and soft breasts were quite alluring to Jia Lian. So he smiled and agreed, "In that case, I'll talk to your second mistress later and have your brother sign a contract so he can help out in the main kitchen from now on."

"Hehe, thank you, sir! You're so kind!"

Qingwen immediately became happy, and her ten slender and nimble fingers quickly began to massage Jia Lian's shoulders.