Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Grandmother Jia was overjoyed to see that her joke had such a good effect.

The joke she made up was undoubtedly meant to tease Wang Xifeng, but it also showed everyone that Wang Xifeng was indeed her favorite daughter-in-law...including her daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law.

Who wouldn't like a granddaughter-in-law who can make them happy every day and is also very considerate?

After laughing, they continued the game of passing the flower while beating the drum.

Because of his jealousy of Jia Lian's beautiful wife and concubines, Jia Baoyu wanted to sabotage their relationship.

He subtly gestured to the mandarin ducks beside him, then pointed at Jia Lian behind his back.

The atmosphere was already lively, and Yuanyang, happy to add to the fun for her masters, followed suit and went to Qingwen's side, wanting to leave the plum blossom in Jia Lian's hands. She mainly wanted to see Jia Lian's performance.

However, Jia Lian was sitting above Jia Baoyu and was already aware of Jia Baoyu's little tricks, but he didn't say anything.

So, when Jia Baoyu excitedly and quickly passed the plum blossom to himself, Jia Lian also made a gesture to take it, but at the last moment, he pretended that the chair was unstable and hurriedly withdrew his hand to steady the chair.

When the drumbeats stopped, Jia Baoyu looked at the plum blossom branch he held firmly in his hand, looking somewhat bewildered.

Those present who had witnessed Jia Baoyu's schemes and tricks laughed when they saw Jia Lian outmaneuver him.

As expected, the younger brother can't beat the older brother.

Xichun, oblivious to the danger, simply laughed and said, "Oh, it's Bao-gege's turn. Bao-gege, are you going to write a poem or tell a joke?"

Jia Baoyu gave Jia Lian a resentful look. He was, after all, a man who could take a loss. He put down the flower branch, took a sip of wine, and then told a simple joke.

Although Jia Baoyu was not an uninteresting person, his talents were greatly suppressed by his elders, and with the brilliant example set by his grandmother, his jokes were somewhat bland and uninteresting.

……

After seeing off several elders of the clan at Ningguo Mansion, Jia Zhen and his son returned to the inner courtyard.

Seeing that the inner courtyard was deserted, Jia Zhen asked the maids and servants, "Where are your mistresses?"

"At noon, Grandma took Xiao Rong to the West Mansion to pay her respects to the Old Madam."

"Why haven't they come back yet?"

An old woman replied, "Today is the birthday of Master Lian over there. Although it wasn't a big celebration, Madam Lian over there prepared a feast in her own courtyard and invited Master Bao and the girls to come and have fun."

Later, the old lady went too, and the eldest grandma and Xiao Rong's eldest grandma went with her.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhen became even more displeased.

Upon seeing this, the servants quickly shrank back and retreated.

After everyone had left, Jia Zhen slammed his hand on the table beside him and sneered, "They're more attentive to the affairs of the West Mansion than they are to us! They haven't even sorted out their own family matters, yet they're so dedicated to helping others!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Rong stood below the hall, not daring to respond.

He knew why Jia Zhen was dissatisfied with You Shi and his wife.

For about a year, his mother (Mrs. You) often brought his wife with her, and even when she wasn't there, she always had a lot of people around her.

Who is this being guarded against? Those who know, know.

Jia Zhen was somewhat dissatisfied with Lady You.

As for his wife, she suddenly seemed to have a change of heart and no longer gave the old man any chance to show her affection.

The old man might think his wife is "unfilial"!

Jia Rong was indifferent to this. Although he dared not resist Jia Zhen, no one would have a good impression of someone who bullied them and even cheated on them.

While Jia Rong disliked Jia Zhen, he felt a slight sense of satisfaction.

However, Jia Rong still didn't truly understand why his father was angry.

As early as when Jia She died, You Shi and Qin Shi went to help, and Jia Zhen had some suspicions.

Because the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Madam You, really put a lot of effort into the affairs of the east courtyard!

Having failed to find a daughter-in-law, Jia Zhen couldn't help but start to ponder the reasons.

Finally, after staring at himself in the mirror for a long time, he reluctantly admitted that he was no longer charming enough.

He was over forty years old, and after decades of navigating the world of sex, he hadn't taken good care of himself, so he had become somewhat overweight and even a little hunched over...

This wouldn't have mattered in itself, given his status and position; he was still considered a "male god" by women.

However, this is a single argument.

You can't compare yourself to some people, especially Jia Lian!

He hadn't thought much of Jia Lian before; he was just a distant cousin who followed him around like a shadow. As long as Jia Lian had something to eat and a little soup to drink, he would be obedient to him.

Even if he's handsome, it's only because he's young. When he goes out to play with women, he can only play with what's left over.

Time flew by, and suddenly he realized that the kid seemed to be out of his control.

Not only were they out of his control, but they also completely overshadowed him!

At that moment, the other person's young and handsome appearance made him feel a great threat!

He suspected that his daughter-in-law, Qin, had suddenly changed her attitude towards him because she saw Jia Lian's rising fame and felt he wasn't as charming as Jia Lian!

Perhaps even his wife is lusting after Jia Lian's body!

He was able to clearly recognize this because he could extrapolate from it to the other side. He knew that he himself also coveted Jia Lian's wife, but that woman was too shrewish, so he dared not.

That woman can be incredibly ruthless when she throws a tantrum...

Although it was quite certain that, given Lady You's courage, even if she coveted Jia Lian, she wouldn't dare to betray him.

But he was very unhappy.

This displeasure stemmed less from Lady You and more from Jia Lian himself!

That heartless little brat used to fawn over me in every way to get benefits from me.

Now that they've gained power, they've become somewhat ungrateful.

Last time, during a meeting at the Rongguo Mansion, they set a trap for him in front of the old lady and other elders, causing him to hand over Huifang Garden for nothing.

What's most infuriating is that Jia Lian is now making a fortune, big and small, but he doesn't remember any of their past kindness.

For example, he watched helplessly as more than 10,000 taels of "dirty silver" were deposited into his account before noon, but he didn't even offer to share any of it with him.

You know, he spent the whole morning preparing for his coming-of-age ceremony...

As a result, after the coming-of-age ceremony, Jia Lian was invited to come over for drinks and to watch a play. The host even hinted that he could go out and play with the top courtesans to celebrate his birthday, but the boy refused, citing that he was in mourning!

That's incredibly disrespectful to him.

This is the series of reasons why Jia Zhen felt increasingly unhappy with Jia Lian. The fact that You Shi and Qin Shi had previously offered birthday wishes to Jia Lian was merely the trigger.

When he and Jia Lian were good friends, everything was easy to talk about. But now that Jia Lian has abandoned him, he naturally finds fault with everything Jia Lian does.

He wanted to find a way to intimidate Jia Lian and let him know who was the real boss of the Jia family. However, when he thought about how Jia Lian seemed to have some trust from the emperor and also had some respect in front of the crown prince, he lacked confidence.

But we can't just let him shit on our heads, can we?

Moreover, the Ningguo Mansion cannot have its glory overshadowed by the Rongguo Mansion forever...

Jia Zhen frowned and began to weigh his options.

He looked up and saw Jia Rong standing below like a wooden stake, his mind wandering, a lewd grin spreading across his face like a chrysanthemum. He got angry.

A teacup was smashed on Jia Rong, and Jia Zhen angrily cursed, "You damned beast, you never think about anything serious, what kind of filthy things are you thinking about?"

"Qingming Festival is almost here, why aren't you out there checking what's missing for ancestor worship and making up for it? If you dare grin like an idiot in front of me again, you'd better watch out!"

Jia Rong had no idea what he had done to offend the old man again, so he hurriedly replied "Yes" and ran away in a flash.