Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The news that Lady Jia had been granted the title of Imperial Concubine spread like wildfire throughout the capital.

Many prominent families were secretly discussing whether the Jia family's century-old Duke's Mansion was truly about to regain its former glory.

Otherwise, how could the emperor's favor be so great? In a short time, all the mansions that were on good terms with the Jia family sent people to offer their congratulations.

If other families are so concerned about this matter, how much more so the Jia family itself?

The entire Jia family was in an uproar the day they received the news.

Grandmother Jia, Lady Wang, and others were overjoyed and hurriedly dressed up according to their ranks, preparing to go to the palace to express their gratitude.

As a second-rank imperial consort, Wang Xifeng was naturally entitled to ride in a grand sedan chair and accompany Grandmother Jia and others to the palace to express their gratitude.

Moreover, this was the first time she had enjoyed the rights that came with this identity, so she was naturally very enthusiastic. Upon receiving Grandmother Jia's order, she immediately went home and took out the phoenix coronet and wedding gown that she had just finished making at great expense to put on.

Just then, Jia Lian returned from his official duties, and she called out to him, "Our lady has really been promoted to Imperial Concubine! You've heard the news, haven't you?"

Jia Lian, dressed in official robes, sat casually on the edge of the bed, watching Wang Xifeng repeatedly try on clothes.

Wang Xifeng was slender, but possessed considerable assets, and her height was among the tallest of all women. At this moment, she had removed her outer garments, wearing only a thin, form-fitting undergarment, adorned with scattered golden robes of an imperial nobility. She would occasionally remove and re-dress them if she felt they were inappropriate. Through these alternating and subtle changes, she revealed the exquisite beauty of a young woman approaching the prime of her life.

This was his own wife, so Jia Lian naturally saw her openly and honestly.

Wang Xifeng naturally noticed Jia Lian's peeping. Seeing his admiring gaze and smiling eyes, clearly pleased with her looks, she felt both ashamed and proud. She subtly rolled her eyes at Jia Lian, pretending not to notice his scrutiny, and turned back to look in the mirror, laughing as she said:

"From now on, I'm convinced of your superiority."

Just now, the master said that you had considered this situation when you were building the garden, so you insisted on building our garden to the best standards.

The master praised you highly, saying you had foresight and vision. He said that without you, our family would have made a huge mistake.

However, the master and the others were also puzzled, wondering where you got the information from and how you were able to predict it so far in advance. It was really strange.

The old lady also asked me, "How would I know? I can only say that you've been acting all mysterious lately, not telling me many things, so I don't know either..."

Wang Xifeng muttered to herself, and with the help of her maids Ping'er, Feng'er, and Xiao Hong, it took her quite a while to finally manage to put on her official robes.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of arms around her waist, and at the same time, a familiar scent wafted over her shoulders and neck. Wang Xifeng grabbed Jia Lian's mischievous hands and said coquettishly, "Stop messing around, you're wrinkling my clothes."

"What, is your man less important than a piece of clothing?"

Noticing that Jia Lian was leaning his entire weight on her, making her feel heavy, Wang Xifeng couldn't help but roll her eyes at her reflection in the mirror and scolded, "What nonsense are you talking about? Aren't we going to the palace later? If you get dirty, the noble lady will blame me for being impolite, and that would be a big problem."

"Since you're worried about this, you might as well not go. Anyway, it's fine as long as the old lady and the others go to the palace."

It's not like we're going to receive a reward. We're just being led around the palace by a bunch of maids and eunuchs, standing around in various important places for half a day. What's the point? In my opinion, it's better not to suffer that ordeal.

"What do you know...?"

Wang Xifeng blushed, embarrassed to tell the truth.

Women care about things that are naturally different from what men care about.

Even if it was just being punished by standing, being able to stand in front of the Empress or the Empress Dowager was a great honor.

If we could exchange a few words with the Empress or the Empress Dowager, it would be a source of great pride.

Besides, at the very least, one can still have a cup of tea in the new Imperial Concubine's palace, right?

Who would have thought that the Jia family sister she met back then would have such good fortune today? She must go and congratulate her in person, and also let her see her new imperial robes...

So, don't underestimate the importance of a trip to the palace. There are many details that women care about, which a rough man like Jia Lian could never understand!

Jia Lian genuinely didn't understand the point of kneeling before a bunch of unrelated women, but he could tell that Wang Xifeng was determined to go.

So he leaned close to her ear and whispered something, which immediately made Wang Xifeng's face turn bright red. She turned back and glanced at Jia Lian with teary eyes, not daring to say a word.

Ping'er and the others were standing nearby, but even with their ears pointed, they could only vaguely hear bits and pieces of conversation.

Phrases like "come back tonight" and "this outfit," though not very clear, are enough to explain why the second mistress reacted so strongly.

Wang Xifeng wouldn't allow the maids to speculate about her. She glanced at them with her dark phoenix eyes, and only moved on when they obediently lowered their heads. She then changed the subject, asking Jia Lian, "Are you going to escort us to the palace later?"

Gu Qiao

She asked this question because she noticed that Jia Lian had refused to let the maids change their clothes.

When Grandmother Jia travels, the younger generation of both households accompany and protect her; this is the most basic rule.

To everyone's surprise, Jia Lian laughed and said, "My wife is dressed so beautifully, I wouldn't feel at ease if I didn't keep an eye on her."

"You're such a smooth talker," Wang Xifeng laughed.

……

Outside the mansion gate, steward Lai Da and others had already prepared five sedan chairs carried by eight men each, and Jia Zhen had also arranged for dozens of servants in blue robes to accompany and protect the family, who lined up on both sides of Ningrong Street.

The overall scene looked exceptionally wealthy and prosperous.

Seeing Jia Lian ride out on horseback, Jia Zhen and his son greeted him with smiles.

"When we discussed building the garden last time, I didn't believe Brother Lian's words at first, but who knew that Brother Lian was right."

Now that things have come to this, Brother Lian should tell us the whole story, shouldn't he? How exactly did he see through our family's good fortune?

For members of prominent families, maintaining face-saving relationships is a basic quality.

Therefore, Jia Zhen would not turn against Jia Lian until he figured out a way to deal with him. In fact, he would even force himself to smile more than before every time they met.

Jia Lian was in the same boat, the only difference being that he knew of Jia Zhen's malice towards him through You Shi and her mother-in-law, as well as through his own spies planted in the Ningguo Mansion. Jia Zhen, on the other hand, was probably unaware of Jia Lian's schemes; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to smile when he saw Jia Lian.

"Brother Zhen, you flatter me. I was just guessing casually and never expected things to turn out this way. You are too kind to me."

"Brother Lian is being modest, isn't he? There are no outsiders here, we're all brothers and nephews from the same family. Is there anything we can't say to each other? Or does Brother Lian think that since none of us serve in the imperial court, there's no point in telling me, so he's unwilling to speak..."

Jia Zhen pretended to be joking, but his words were quite suggestive.

This was because there were also some members of the Jia clan who had come to see the spectacle after hearing the news, such as Jia Huang, Jia Qiong, Jia Chang, and Jia Yun.

A slight smile appeared on Jia Lian's face. Could it be that Jia Zhen actually wanted to use his position as clan leader to try to exclude him from the other members of the Jia clan?

Indeed, most of the Jia family scions, who usually just laze around and live much better than ordinary people simply because of their family's legacy, are ambitious but lacking in talent.

These kinds of people, naturally, are prone to boasting and bragging after drinking, thinking they are the best in the world, believing themselves to be exceptionally talented, and that their inability to become officials is simply due to bad luck or a poor background. Therefore, like Jia Baoyu, they also have aversion to officialdom.

If Jia Zhen, the clan leader who also lived a life of idleness, had joined them in resisting Jia Lian, who looked down on them after becoming an official, they might have actually united as one. However, whether that unity would be strong or not is another matter.

Although Jia Lian genuinely despised these scoundrels in the Jia family, he was too lazy to engage in a battle of wits with them, so he smiled and said, "Since Brother Zhen insists on asking, I dare not not tell the truth."

To be honest, I was just guessing based on the current situation.

To give a simple example, Baoyu's maternal uncle, our family's maternal uncle, led troops to patrol the border and made great achievements.

And since the maternal uncle has already reached the rank of first-grade official, how could His Majesty possibly mistreat our lady?

"Brother Zhen, isn't that right?"

After Jia Lian finished speaking, he ignored whether the people understood him or not, and rode away with a smile.

Jia Rong and the others exchanged bewildered glances. Although they didn't quite understand the necessary connection between the two things Jia Lian mentioned, they inexplicably felt that Brother Lian (Second Uncle Lian) was incredibly capable and unfathomable!

Jia Zhen, being the head of the Ningguo Mansion and having dealt with people both inside and outside the palace, possessed a keen political sense and quickly grasped what Jia Lian meant.

Since there was no more title to bestow upon Prince Teng, it was only natural for the emperor to extend his favor to his own niece!

He felt particularly uncomfortable for a moment.

He was unwilling to admit that he had actually fallen behind Jia Lian!

But faced with the facts, he couldn't convince himself that Jia Lian's judgment was wrong, which made him feel particularly distressed.

How did he know that Jia Lian was born with knowledge?

Now that things have already happened, finding a seemingly reasonable excuse is much easier than they imagined.

Perhaps Jia Lian didn't expect that he would guess half of the truth so quickly.