Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Watching the Fourth Prince return to the capital with a satisfied smile, Jia Lian suddenly realized that he had a talent for becoming a sycophantic minister...

Unfortunately, Emperor Ningkang was clearly the kind of emperor who wasn't easily fooled, so he could only honestly and diligently work to win his boss's favor.

Turning around, she saw Jia Zheng walking slowly towards her with his hands behind his back. "Lian'er, I heard your uncle's family has come. Who is it? Why don't you stay and keep them company?"

"It's my second uncle's eldest son, my cousin Su. He asked me for help with something."

Jia Zheng knew that the Zhang family was a prosperous family, so he had tried to salvage the marriage on behalf of Jia She, but to no avail, which is why he was particularly concerned about it.

"Your second uncle is a good person, and his son is outstanding. You are about the same age, so it's good for you to communicate and interact more. It will also help to mend the relationship between our two families."

Jia Zheng gave this instruction, then asked suspiciously, "Who was the other person who was with you just now?"

Upon hearing Jia Zheng's words, Jia Lian knew that Jia Zheng must have witnessed something. Asking Zhang Su was merely a prelude to elicit further information.

Thinking back, Jia Zheng had been an official in the court for more than ten years, and he might have even met the Fourth Prince.

He had no intention of hiding it, so he leaned closer and whispered to Jia Zheng, "I'm telling you, sir, it's best if you don't spread this around."

The person Zhang Su accompanied earlier was none other than the Fourth Prince, His Highness Prince Xiao. He had a small matter that he needed to trouble his nephew with, but he didn't want to make a fuss, which is why Zhang Su didn't linger.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng was secretly startled.

He said that he had just seen Jia Lian and Zhang Su escorting a familiar-looking young man out of the corridor, and he never expected that it was actually the Fourth Prince.

Since the matter involved the whereabouts of members of the imperial family, Jia Zheng dared not be careless and quickly nodded, saying, "I understand. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else."

As he spoke, Jia Zheng couldn't help but look at Jia Lian with a complicated expression.

At Jia She's funeral, countless princes and nobles came to pay their respects; even several princes were present…

But those people only associated with them because of the Rongguo Mansion and because they were old friends of the family.

It is quite obvious that the fourth prince, who is only a teenager, did not come here because of the Rongguo Mansion; he had already been in contact with Lian'er!

Has Lian'er's personal circle of friends really expanded to this extent?

Since his daughter rose to prominence and became a phoenix, Jia Zheng didn't show it on his face, but he was actually floating on air and secretly overjoyed.

He felt much more at ease sitting in Rongxi Hall. After all, he was practically the emperor's father-in-law, so his status at home was naturally quite different.

Now it seems that Lian'er is indeed not to be underestimated. The old lady is truly wise; she advised us uncle and nephew not to quarrel, but to manage the family business in harmony and mutual support, which is the most appropriate approach.

"Alas, perhaps it's acceptable for you young people to be a bit casual in your interactions, but I still must remind you that His Highness Prince Xiao's status is different. When you interact with him in the future, you must remember that you can never be too careful. You must never be careless about what you shouldn't say or do."

Jia Zheng originally wanted to give some advice not to get involved in the royal power struggles, but then he thought that the fourth prince was an optimist among the princes and probably had nothing to do with such things, so he didn't say much more.

"Second Uncle, the carriages and horses are all ready. The necessary documents and official documents have also been loaded onto the carriages. The stewards are asking when we will depart," Jia Rong asked, bowing slightly.

"I'll go in and get ready in about 15 minutes."

After Jia Lian finished speaking with Jia Rong, he turned around and cupped his hands to Jia Zheng, saying, "I understand what you said, Master. If there are no other instructions, I will go in. Rong'er and I will go to the Iron Threshold Temple to set up the mourning hall for my father and clean up the accommodations for the guests on the night of the funeral. We probably won't be able to return until tomorrow to stay with him."

"Yes, this is important. Go and get ready. Don't worry about things at home; I'll take care of things outside."

……

Jia Lian told Aqin to take the five hundred taels of silver away and put it away. When he returned to the study, he found that the maids Baozhu and Ruizhu were standing at the door.

Jia Lian nodded casually in response to the two maids' greetings as he entered the room. Sure enough, besides his obedient maid Xiangling, his nephew's wife Keqing was also there.

Madam Qin sat down, drinking tea while scrutinizing the young maid Xiangling who stood by the table.

Just like myself a few years ago, sitting in front of the vanity...

Qin's beautiful eyes, as bright as stars and the moon, made Xiangling very uneasy. She couldn't leave, and she felt quite tormented.

Seeing Jia Lian enter, Xiangling breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward, bowing respectfully to Jia Lian and calling out, "Second Master..."

Jia Lian casually touched a strand of hair by her ear, then looked at Qin Shi and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Madam Qin stood up with a smile, first curtsied, and then a soft, sweet voice rang out:

"Wife greets Uncle~"

After bowing, she replied, "My second aunt had a few words she wanted to say to my uncle, so I came along. But since my uncle hasn't returned for a long time, my second aunt asked me to convey her message to him."

Every time Jia Lian went out, Feng Jie would have endless things to say, but they were all just trivial and repetitive matters.

The only thing that hadn't been mentioned before was that Sister Feng complained that the Iron Threshold Temple was too crowded and inconvenient because it was both a place to keep the coffin at the funeral and to receive her family and friends. She instructed someone to be sent to the Water Moon Nunnery to prepare a few rooms for them to live in separately.

Sister Feng was fond of luxury and accustomed to pleasure, so it's not surprising that she had this idea. Jia Lian initially felt it was inappropriate; although he didn't have much respect for Jia She, he and his wife should still keep vigil together the night before the burial.

However, upon further reflection, Shuiyue Nunnery wasn't far from Tiekan Temple, and it wouldn't be a sin to prepare a comfortable place for his wife, who had been exhausted lately, to rest properly. So he agreed.

"Also, my aunt and mother-in-law said that since my uncle is a man, they might not be careful enough, so they asked me to go with him to help with things inside..."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian subconsciously asked, "Why are you being asked to come again? Didn't we say we'd trouble Sister-in-law You?"

"Originally, it was my mother-in-law who went, but the noblewoman of the Duke of Shan's mansion passed away, and my mother-in-law has to prepare for the funeral at home. She also has to go to pay her respects tomorrow, so she couldn't get away. That's why she arranged for her daughter-in-law to go with my uncle..."

Jia Lian then remembered this matter. There were many noble families in the capital, and every now and then one or two of them would die, so social interactions were very frequent.

Since Lady You couldn't go, it made sense to send Lady Qin instead. Jia Rong was going to go with her anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to have his wife come along to help.

But judging from Qin's accent, she didn't seem to be traveling with her husband; it sounded more like she was going out with him for the night...

After Qin Shi finished speaking, Jia Lian asked Xiang Ling if her clothes and luggage were ready. Xiang Ling replied that everything was almost ready, but Qing Wen had discovered that the maids had messed up his outfit. She had scolded the maids earlier and was now taking them back to redo it.

Qin's own things had already been prepared and loaded onto the carriage, so she had nothing to do at this time and was just waiting to go out with Jia Lian.

Seeing Jia Lian sitting in the armchair in front of his desk, waiting for Qingwen to come out, she swayed her hips and stepped forward, asking in a sweet voice, "Uncle, are you disappointed?"

"?" Jia Lian glanced at Madam Qin.

"Why do people feel that your uncle is unhappy because he heard that your mother-in-law isn't going with you?"

Jia Lian frowned almost imperceptibly, but remained silent.

Xiangling, who was standing next to her, subconsciously took two steps back. She felt that the atmosphere was not right and there was danger!

Seeing Jia Lian's reaction, Qin Shi became even more certain that he was guilty. She simply rested her arm on Jia Lian's desk, turned sideways, and looked at him with a smile, observing the subtle expressions on his face. Then she continued in a pitiful tone:

"She may not be as capable as her mother-in-law, but she has been doing her best to help her uncle and aunt with things during this time. It's really heartbreaking that her uncle is so disdainful of her."

Her graceful figure and the aura of a young woman wafted towards him. Jia Lian looked up and met Qin Shi's condescending eyes, finding eight parts alluring beauty and two parts mockery within them.

Jia Lian knew that this woman was probably taking advantage of the fact that no one was in the room at the moment to cause trouble.

I don't know if this alluring attitude is genuine or feigned...