Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Wang Xifeng loved tidying up and organizing valuables, so Jia Lian left the rest of the work entirely to her.

Since the courtyard where Li Wan and the others were staying was not far away, Jia Lian went over to take a look.

"Second Master."

Upon arriving at a clean room, they found two old women sleeping on the floor in a gap. When they saw Jia Lian approaching, they quickly stood up and bowed.

Seeing that the room inside was brightly lit by candlelight, Jia Lian asked, "Who lives in there?"

"Reporting to Second Master, it's Third Miss and Miss Lin..."

Because there are many of us, and not enough clean rooms, the eldest madam arranged for the second and fourth young ladies to stay in the room next door with her, while the third young lady and Miss Lin stayed in this room together.

The servants and others then slept on the ground, which was both economical and convenient for taking care of the young ladies.

In addition, Master Bao lives in the left-hand side room, and Grandma has arranged for two old women to watch over him, so he won't be allowed to run around anymore..."

Li Wan was cautious by nature and dared not be careless when she was out. Therefore, she kept the three sisters and Daiyu by her side so that they could be easily managed, not entirely because there was not enough space in Shuiyue Nunnery.

However, since Jia Baoyu insisted on sleeping with Qin Zhong, and Qin Zhong was, after all, a man from another ethnic group, Li Wan couldn't very well arrange for them to be close together.

Who knew that just moving it a little further away would cause such a problem?

So after bringing Jia Baoyu back, they removed the previous room and moved him to a side room next to hers, and arranged for old women to guard his room...

Inside, Shishu heard the old women talking outside, peeked out, and saw that it was Jia Lian. She hurried back to inform Tanchun and Daiyu.

Jia Lian stood outside for a while, giving his sisters inside some time to react, before going into the room alone.

Sure enough, Tan Chun was sitting by the couch putting on her clothes, clearly she had just gotten into bed to rest. On the other side, Dai Yu hurriedly stood up from her dressing table and rushed forward to greet him when he came in.

As she approached, Jia Lian noticed tear tracks on her face and couldn't help but ask with a smile, "What's wrong? Who made our Lin sister angry again? Look at her dirty little face..."

Crying is a common occurrence for Daiyu, and if you anxiously try to comfort her at such times, she'll feel awkward. A simple, lighthearted remark like this might be more effective in stopping her tears.

Upon hearing this, Daiyu knew that her earlier attempt to conceal the truth had been ineffective, and Jia Lian had seen through her immediately. Seeing that Jia Lian not only showed no concern for her but also mocked her, she subconsciously stomped her foot slightly and turned her head to the side to express her displeasure.

"It's alright if you don't tell me, let me guess... As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain. You and Tan'er are both strong-willed, and you rarely live together. You must have cried because you lost the battle over the kang (heated brick bed)." Jia Lian said seriously as he sat at the tea table.

"Look at what my second brother is saying, that's not true at all."

Tan Chun was wearing two undergarments and a simple outer jacket. She walked over with a smile, took the tea poured by Zijuan, and presented it to Jia Lian. After thinking for a moment, she whispered in Jia Lian's ear:

"It's because she argued with Bao Er in Grandmother's room just now, and Bao Er almost smashed the jade in his anger, so she cried..."

The maidservant whispered sweet nothings in his ear, and Jia Lian couldn't help but turn his head to glance at her.

Her simple and refreshing attire, combined with her naturally tall and slender figure, gave her a unique and heroic air. Jia Lian guessed that when Tan Chun grew up, her figure would definitely be comparable to that of Aqin, a woman from the grasslands, and her appearance would probably be even better.

Tan Chun was unaware of Jia Lian's scrutiny because Dai Yu discovered her just as she was about to tattle.

Daiyu had already hurried over to stop her, but seeing that she had already said what she needed to say, she angrily tried to pinch her. Tanchun, of course, would not stand idly by and immediately fought back.

For Jia Lian, the playful banter between young girls like Daiyu and Tanchun was quite pleasing to the eye.

Unfortunately, this also made him realize how frail Daiyu was.

Although she was a year older than Tan Chun, she was not only shorter than Tan Chun, but also looked thinner. It was clear that if Tan Chun hadn't deliberately let her have her way, Daiyu would not have been able to gain the upper hand against Tan Chun, and would not have been able to suppress Tan Chun to the point of begging for mercy.

Tan Chun is a girl with good emotional intelligence.

Compared to Daiyu being brought to tears by Erbao, Jia Lian was more curious about Erbao's comical appearance when he smashed the jade.

It is said that Daiyu fell once when she first entered the Jia family, but unfortunately he did not see it that time. Unexpectedly, he still did not see it this time.

Indeed, Jia Baoyu only smashed the jade pendant when the purpose was right; not just anyone was worthy of his wrath. At least, in the two instances Jia Lian knew of, both were for Daiyu!

Unfortunately, the more this is the case, the less we can let you harm Lin Daiyu.

It is certain that Jia Baoyu knew how important the jade he possessed was to Grandmother Jia and Jia Zheng, meaning that the jade held a high position in the Jia family.

From childhood to adulthood, whenever Jia Baoyu's desires were not fulfilled, he would threaten to smash his jade to get rid of his mother and others.

For example, it's like a child throwing a tantrum in the street to buy a lollipop...

It was one thing when they were young, but now that they're this age, using this as an excuse to cover up their mistakes is truly a sign of incompetence and immaturity.

One can imagine that when Jia Baoyu clutched the jade pendant to his chest, making a gesture as if about to unleash a powerful attack, it must have terrified Li Wan and the others. Therefore, they naturally dared not reprimand him further. Perhaps, Li Wan would even have to coax him instead…

While Daiyu and Jia Lian were playing around, Jia Lian took another look at the small meditation room.

All the utensils and curtains were nearly new and very clean, and the room didn't look as desolate as a typical meditation room. It's clear that Jingxu was actually quite capable; it's a pity.

On the ground, a loose and clean bedding was laid out, with two pillows on it, obviously for the two maids, Zijuan and Shishu, to sleep on at night.

Just then, Li Wan, Yingchun, and Xichun also came over from the side. Jia Lian quickly stood up, clasped his hands in a bow, and said, "I was just thinking of coming over to see Yingchun and the others, but I didn't expect to disturb you, sister-in-law. It's my fault."

Li Wan returned the greeting briefly, then, without further ado, asked him directly, "It was quite noisy inside just now. I heard that you and Feng'er locked Jingxu up. What happened?"

Jia Lian noticed that Yingchun and the others were looking at him curiously, and he knew that they were still awake so late, probably because of this matter.

"It's nothing serious, but Jingxu has done a few things that have damaged the reputation of the Jia family, so I had her detained temporarily. We'll deal with her after we report back to the master and madam."

Jia Lian certainly wouldn't explain the reasons to Daiyu and the others in detail, and he believed they wouldn't really care either; they just needed to know that it wasn't a big deal.

As expected, the sisters relaxed after hearing Jia Lian's words. Although Li Wan felt that tonight's events were not simple, seeing that Jia Lian had no intention of going into details, and not wanting to press him in front of Daiyu and the others, she had no choice but to let it go.

They then asked Jia Lian where he would be staying that night, but upon hearing that Jia Lian was going back to the Iron Threshold Temple, they had nothing more to ask.

This is why Li Wan took the initiative to come over; she knew that Jia Lian was coming to visit his sisters, and she couldn't possibly ignore her, his sister-in-law.

If Jia Lian were to enter her room to see her, it would inevitably raise suspicions of impropriety in the nunnery late at night. That's why she took the initiative to bring Yingchun and the other two to Daiyu's room so that Jia Lian could see them together.

Li Wan had nothing to ask, but Jia Lian wouldn't let the conversation fall flat, so he feigned concern and asked, "Where's Brother Bao?"

Upon hearing Jia Lian mention Jia Baoyu, Li Wan immediately showed a headache.

She hadn't figured out how to explain tonight's events to Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang yet.

Yingchun and the others recalled the time when Li Wan scolded Jia Baoyu. When Jia Baoyu tried to explain and argue, Daiyu teased him, and in his shame and anger, he almost tore off his jade pendant and smashed it. Afterwards, Li Wan could only coax and persuade him to calm him down. Thinking about this, they couldn't help but feel deep sympathy for Li Wan, their sister-in-law.

Being the eldest sister-in-law is tough.

Daiyu pouted and looked to the side with disdain.

Jia Lian noticed Daiyu's subtle movements and knew that his previous scheme had worked, so he naturally didn't hesitate to use some more sophisticated eye drops.

"Sigh, none of my younger brothers and sisters are easy to take care of. My sister-in-law has had a hard time all these years."

However, Bao is still young, and if he is instigated by others, he may easily go astray and go astray.

Please forgive him, sister-in-law, and don't take it to heart.

He is, after all, the only son of the master and mistress, and he is the most precious person in our family. Therefore, as long as he doesn't do anything like murder, arson, patricide, or regicide, we can forgive him if we can.

When Li Wan and the others heard Jia Lian's words, their most immediate feeling was that Jia Lian was too lenient and indulgent towards Jia Baoyu. It seemed that even his elder brother, who held an official position, couldn't afford to offend Jia Baoyu.

Then, from Jia Lian's words, he realized that Jia Baoyu had indeed been involved in tonight's events!

Moreover, we must consider the worst-case scenario; otherwise, Jia Lian would never have used terms like murder, arson, patricide, and regicide to describe it.

Clearly, the reason why Jia Lian and his wife only punished Qin Zhong and Zhi Neng'er, but not Jia Baoyu, was not because Jia Baoyu was innocent, but because of his status, they couldn't do anything to him, so they forcibly kept him out of it.

Daiyu tilted her head, feigning reluctance to listen, but inwardly she couldn't help but scoff:

Sure enough, I almost believed him. He had the nerve to get angry and upset after I did something wrong!

It wasn't that Daiyu and the others weren't clever enough; none of them were at the crime scene tonight. But based on the old women's gossip and their own judgment, Jia Baoyu couldn't escape involvement. Otherwise, why would he have ended up there?

Moreover, Jia Lian's words were entirely protective of his younger brother Jia Baoyu, without any hint of blame. Isn't this cover-up obvious?