Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Because Jia Lian had not given prior instructions, Zhang Yong and the others did not wait outside the study.

Since it was a festive day, Jia Lian didn't send anyone to call them, so he could only have Aqi and Aqin act as his sparring partners.

The effect of having a beautiful woman as company was already mediocre, but later, when Qingwen brought over the reheated dishes, and seeing that there were no servants around, she lingered and wouldn't leave, wiping her sweat one moment and massaging her legs the next...

Left with no other choice, Jia Lian had to stop physical training for the time being and instead practice archery in the corridor, having Qingwen go back and forth to pick up arrows to expend her excess energy.

Unexpectedly, Qingwen found archery interesting and wanted to try it too, so Jia Lian hugged her and taught her how to shoot arrows.

Knowing that he would not achieve anything today, Jia Lian bid farewell to the sisters Aqi and Aqin after only an hour and took Qingwen home.

Once inside, Qingwen circled around Jia Lian, touched his body, and then smiled, "Second Master, you haven't sweated at all today. Do you still want to take a bath? Or should we just fill a tub with hot water and wipe you down?"

The bathtubs that Jia Lian and Feng Jie used for bathing were too big, wasting both water and labor.

Because Jia Lian needed to practice martial arts, he had to take a bath almost every day. Soaking in a large bathtub every day was both a waste of time and unnecessary, so most of the time, he would just take a simple shower.

Seeing Jia Lian nod, Qingwen happily prepared to go, and on the way, she scolded the maids and old women who were slacking off during the festival.

Once everything was ready, she continued to serve Jia Lian in the bathhouse while he bathed.

……

Inside Rongqing Hall, although Madam Xing and Madam Lou both left one after another because one had to go back to take care of Jia She and the other could not stay long, the atmosphere was still lively.

Even after midnight, Grandmother Jia's spirits remained high.

This was thanks to the thoughtful arrangements of Madam Wang and Wang Xifeng. Another, more important reason was that Aunt Xue was adept at handling things and willingly played a supporting role.

Given her status as the Xue family's wife, simply offering appropriate flattery and compliments to Grandmother Jia would greatly please her, thus making Grandmother Jia happy to display the Jia family's wealth and her hospitality and friendliness in front of her.

It was already late at night when Wang Xifeng arranged for people to bring glutinous rice balls with various fillings such as sesame and peanuts for everyone to enjoy, which once again stirred up a wave of family reunion.

It was unusual for Grandmother Jia to eat two more than usual. After everyone had finished eating, Grandmother Jia smiled at Madam You and her daughter-in-law:

"It's rare for you all to stay here with me. It's already this late, don't you want to go home and spend time with your men? You were reluctant to leave before because you hadn't received your reward, but now that you've enjoyed the Lantern Festival, what more could you want?"

Everyone knew that Grandmother Jia was joking, and Madam You also laughed and replied, "Look at what Grandmother is saying, what's the point of us getting together? Their way of having fun is different from ours. If we go back now, we don't even know if they'll be home."

As long as our ancestors don't mind and are willing to take us in, we might as well stay here and joke around with them until dawn.

Previously, Grandmother Jia had joked that she would sit with Aunt Xue until dawn, which is why Lady You said that.

Qin smiled and echoed her mother-in-law You's words. Her melodious voice was refreshing even to a woman.

As expected, Grandmother Jia was even happier to hear this, feeling that her granddaughters-in-law and great-granddaughters-in-law were much better at handling things than her two daughters-in-law.

One of her daughters-in-law was short-sighted and ignorant, while the other was taciturn; neither pleased her.

Knowing that what Madam You and the others said was true, and that the men's ways of having fun were quite different from theirs, they did not urge the two of them to go back.

Just because she hadn't heard Wang Xifeng's voice for a while, Grandmother Jia noticed. Looking around and not seeing her, she asked, "Where did Feng'er go? I just saw her here!"

As expected, everyone hurriedly looked for Sister Feng. It was Lady Wang who said that Wang Xifeng had informed her that she was going back to change her clothes.

Just then, the old woman beside Grandmother Jia said with a smile, "In our opinion, she didn't go back to change her clothes. Just now we saw that Second Mistress specially asked Ping'er to scoop out a bowl of red bean paste dumplings, presumably to take to Second Master Lian..."

Everyone understood, and Grandmother Jia smiled, then asked with a hint of doubt, "Why is Lian Er still at home? Didn't he go out to have fun with Zhen Ge'er over there?"

Only the adults in the family could understand this, because they all knew that Jia Lian was the most extravagant person in the Jia family when it came to drinking, watching plays, and seeking pleasure outside.

The housekeeper's wife, Lin Zhixiao's wife, laughed and said, "All the men outside went out with Master Zhen before, only Second Master Lian didn't go. Later, I heard from the boys that Second Master Lian went to the courtyard behind the study as usual and practiced his martial arts there."

"He's still training on a day like this?"

Grandmother Jia was naturally aware that Jia Lian was practicing martial arts at home, as it had become a serious matter in the household.

Although Grandmother Jia didn't think she could really make a name for herself in a small courtyard, she didn't say much. Because... the site of the old flower hall that the mansion had built for her was originally the old Duke's private martial arts training ground.

After the old Duke died, the place fell into disrepair, so she used it as a garden. Coincidentally, the Rongguo Mansion's garden was allocated to the good-for-nothing eldest son, Jia She.

Two years ago, in order to please her, Madam Wang and others spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to decorate and renovate this place, turning it into her grand flower hall.

The others, like Grandmother Jia, found it strange. Why was this Second Master Lian acting like he was possessed? He already had a proper official position, so why was he still working so hard? What was he after?

If the old Duke were still alive, it could be said that he was trying to show off, but now he is the highest-ranking official in the family, so why would he need to show off like this?

For a time, some mocked it, some didn't understand it, and some admired it.

Daiyu knew long ago that those who spoke ill of Jia Lian were slanderers. She knew very well that her second brother Lian was a person who was strict with himself and lenient with others, and was worthy of respect.

Otherwise, how could someone as strong-willed as Sister-in-law Lian be so respectful and obedient to Brother Lian? Even so late at night, she's still thinking about bringing him food…

Baochai, Yingchun, and the others either entered the mansion late or were too young to hear about Jia Lian's outrageous acts, or even if they did, they didn't fully understand. Therefore, the group of sisters didn't find it particularly surprising.

Baochai even thought to herself: If it weren't for such perseverance, even with their family connections, it would be difficult to reach such a high position at such a young age.

So, after much gossip and reflection from Grandmother Jia and the others, the sisters listened casually. In their minds, Jia Lian's character had been completely distinguished from that of Jia Zhen and others, almost elevated to the same level as the upright and strict Jia Zheng.

Undoubtedly, among all the men in the Jia family, Jia Zheng was the most respected in terms of virtue!

After a long while, Feng Jie still hadn't returned. At this time, Jia Zheng had already ordered people to set up fireworks and firecrackers in the courtyard outside, just waiting for Grandmother Jia's order to send these things, worth thousands of taels of silver, into the sky to bloom and watch.

Grandmother Jia then sent someone to bring Wang Xifeng over, saying that in such a lively scene, without someone to talk, the excitement would be halved.

……

Meanwhile, Sister Feng, seeing that no one was paying attention, took a break and hurried home.

Once home, he asked everyone to be quiet and tiptoed to the main room, listening to the sounds coming from under the window.

This was her most frequently used tactic, a way to finish off Jia Lian.

Although she no longer needed him, she was still curious and wanted to see what Jia Lian liked to do when he was away from her. If she could find even a trace of hypocrisy in Jia Lian, she would have something to say!

Therefore, she thought that if Jia Lian really favored one of the maids or stole money, she would not be angry as before, but might even be happy.

In this way, she wouldn't feel so insecure when facing Jia Lian.

Wang Xifeng was domineering, but not unreasonable. If she hadn't acted uprightly, she wouldn't have been able to keep Jia Lian in check, since, after all, Second Master Lian was never one to back down.

Unfortunately, although some laughter and cheerful voices could be heard from inside, there was nothing particularly objectionable about it; it seemed that the heartless man was playing cards with those two young girls.

So they invited Ping'er and the others to enter the house. Sure enough, they saw Jia Lian, Qingwen, and Xiangling sitting around a low table in the west side room, wearing thin clothes, playing cards.

On the low table, besides the leaf-shaped wine plaques, there were peanuts, melon seeds, and several small wine cups. A silver wine pot was casually placed on the footstool below.

On the ground, two basins of steaming charcoal fire were burning, making the room very hot.

The two girls' faces were flushed, whether from the heat of the kang (heated brick bed) or from drinking too much alcohol, they couldn't tell, which made their movements awkward when they saw her come in.

"Oh, while I'm working myself to the bone over there serving your elders, Second Master Lian is comfortably hiding in his room, drinking with his concubine. How carefree he is."

Her signature greeting made Jia Lian merely glance at her sideways before stretching out his leg to stop Xiangling from falling into the pit, saying, "The fight isn't over yet, let's finish it first."

After playing his cards, he turned to Feng Jie and asked, "Has the old lady's party ended yet?"

"It's still early. The old lady is in a good mood today, so I took the opportunity to come back and change my clothes. I need to go and serve her in a little while."

Jia Lian then pulled her down to sit and said, "Thank you for your trouble. I'll go with you in a bit."

"Tsk tsk, to hear a word of thanks from the current Master Lian, I would be willing to die of exhaustion."

No sooner had the teasing words been spoken than Qingwen, who was hiding beside Jia Lian, laughed. Feng Jie immediately glared at her: You little hussy, you've gone too far, daring to laugh at your old lady?

Startled, Qingwen immediately shrank back and could only pretend to be playing cards seriously, avoiding direct eye contact with Fengjie.

At this moment, Ping'er opened the food box and brought over some glutinous rice balls. Feng Jie took one, scooped it up, blew on it, and then held it to Jia Lian's lips, saying with a smile, "These are this year's Lantern Festival dumplings. I specially chose the fillings you like. Would you like to try some?"

Jia Lian ate the food, having just lost a round. He then put down his cards, took the bowl from Feng Jie's hand, and said, "I'll do it myself. You've had a long day, so please sit down."

So Sister Feng smiled, told her not to get the bed dirty, and then led Ping'er inside to change her clothes.