Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The Empress Dowager's bedroom, inner hall.

Princess Zhaoyang fawned over the Empress Dowager, trying her best to please her, and finally managed to turn the Empress Dowager's anger into a smile.

The Empress Dowager reached out and tapped Princess Zhaoyang's nose, and only then did she forgive her for her wavering stance and for hindering the process halfway.

"Is Grandmother no longer angry?"

"Who said I'm angry? If I were angry with a little girl like you, I'd probably be dead from anger by now."

"Hehe, I knew Grandmother was the best."

With a flourish of flattery, Princess Zhaoyang rolled her eyes, walked up to the Empress Dowager, and suggested, "Why don't we just let Jia Lian go? Actually, I just thought about it seriously and I don't think he's anything special."

A married man is not good enough for me.

"Do you truly mean it, or are you trying to exonerate Jia Lian because you're afraid I'll be angry with him?"

The Empress Dowager asked with a smile.

"Of course that's what I truly think! Humph, he looks down on me, and I look down on him too."

Princess Zhaoyang replied quickly, a hint of resentment appearing in her eyes at the end, which the Empress Dowager keenly noticed.

The Empress Dowager secretly shook her head. She knew that her aunt and grandniece was free-spirited and proud, and the more so, the more it showed that she had different feelings for Jia Lian.

This only fueled her resentment towards Jia Lian's stubbornness and disobedience.

What an ungrateful brat!

The Empress Dowager cursed Jia Lian in her heart, then said, "You don't need to plead for him anymore. I want to see how capable he is, and how much pressure he can withstand!"

She originally wanted to accomplish this quietly, minimizing the negative impact as much as possible.

Who knew that Jia Lian would refuse to cooperate? After today, the news that she had chosen Jia Lian as her grandson-in-law will spread.

Soon, those who need to know will know.

As long as she doesn't give in, the pressure on Jia Lian will only increase day by day.

As for the impact on her, compared to that, people think Jia Lian's "lack of appreciation" is negligible.

The saying goes, "He who has no desires is invincible." She neither gets involved in politics nor seeks benefits for her children or family.

As her only beloved grandniece, Emperor Ningkang and the others would understand no matter how much she did for her.

Besides, if I don't act a little willful, how can that old woman let her guard down...?

The old eunuch came in and reported what Yuan Chun and Jia Lian had said before they left. After the Empress Dowager nodded, she immediately instructed, "Go see His Majesty and report to him that Jia Lian of the Rongguo Mansion has disregarded the law by lending money. Tell him my opinion and ask His Majesty to punish him accordingly."

Watching the old eunuch leave to carry out his orders, Zhao Yang felt a little worried: "Grandmother..."

"Don't worry, your father has the right idea."

The Empress Dowager interrupted the Duke of Zhaoyang's attempt to plead for mercy. "Hmph, little girl, you dare to say you look down on me? Why are you so concerned?"

Without explaining Emperor Ningkang's character further to Zhaoyang, the Empress Dowager turned and asked, "So, what do you think of the compromise proposed by Jia Yuanchun?"

Duke Zhaoyang naturally understood the Empress Dowager's meaning. Both sides compromised, granting Wang the status of a concubine to silence Jia Lian.

As a woman, who hasn't longed for a lifelong, monogamous relationship? But in reality, that's impossible unless she's willing to find an ordinary man, or someone she can completely control and who is willing to submit to royal authority.

However, this goes against her principles for choosing a husband.

What she needs is a husband who is upright, ambitious, and has lofty aspirations.

How could such a person be controlled by a woman?

Therefore, she never thought that her future husband would only have her as his woman. As long as he was good enough, she was naturally willing to follow the traditional three obediences and four virtues and not use her royal status to suppress him.

If she didn't have such high standards, she wouldn't still be unmarried to this day.

Therefore, if Jia Lian is truly the kind of person she believes him to be, and if so, and if Jia Lian also likes her, she can naturally tolerate a Wang who got there first.

But the truth is, Jia Lian hadn't fully shown his ambitions yet, but he had clearly expressed his dislike for her.

She's now eagerly agreeing to let Wang Shi become her concubine, but if Jia Lian disagrees at all, wouldn't that make her look very disgraceful?

Therefore, he said, "Grandmother, if we can only use power and compromise to force Jia Lian to comply, even if he agrees to marry me, it will certainly not be sincere."

If that's the case, my granddaughter would rather not marry.

Strangely enough, she both hoped that Jia Lian would adopt Jia Yuanchun's suggestion and did not want him to.

Jia Lian's words in the main hall had deeply moved her, raising her admiration for him to the extreme, which is why she was willing to plead for him.

谷蛰

But if Jia Lian were to turn around and succumb to authority, forcing Wang Shi to become his concubine, wouldn't his previous words seem hypocritical for no reason? This would diminish Jia Lian's personal charm.

Putting everything else aside, she did hope that Jia Lian was a man of his word, someone who would rather break than bend.

Seeing the conflicted look in Zhaoyang's eyes, the Empress Dowager patted her arm and sighed softly, "You are still young and don't know how rare it is for a woman to meet a man who makes her heart flutter in her lifetime."

Never make a decision that you'll regret for the rest of your life because of momentary feelings or loyalty.

Happiness is something you have to strive for.

The Empress Dowager spoke quietly, not expecting Zhaoyang to understand. The girl, whom she had spoiled since childhood, was proud and arrogant; she might not even understand the meaning of love, so how could she be taught to cherish and feel regret?

So, she has to help her.

……

At Rongguo Mansion, because Jia Lian had not returned for a long time, Grandmother Jia and others were extremely anxious.

They were terrified that bad news would come from the palace at any moment.

Until Eunuch Xia arrived with a message from Yuan Chun.

Having received Yuan Chun's earnest request, Xia Shouzhong did his utmost to convey all of Yuan Chun's instructions to Grandmother Jia and the others.

Before ending, she added, "This matter has spread throughout the palace now. You two, Old Madam and Elder Zheng, must persuade Master Lian carefully, lest he ruin such a joyous occasion."

"Yes, yes, we understand. We'll definitely try our best to persuade him..."

"Please, Father-in-law..."

After seeing off Eunuch Xia, the Jia family members became even more restless.

In the main hall of Rongqing Hall, Jia Zhen suddenly stood up and said urgently, "Grandma, this matter is of great importance. We must not let Brother Lian continue to act recklessly."

That was the Empress Dowager's decree; who would dare disobey it?

If we let the Lian brothers continue to cause trouble, our family may face a great disaster...

Jia Lian said, almost jumping up and down.

The matter was of great importance, and as the clan head, he couldn't sit still. After escorting Grandmother Jia and the others back to the mansion, he waited here for news.

Even Lady You heard the noise and came over.

Grandmother Jia and the others all felt that Jia Zhen's words made sense. Among them, Lady Wang was most worried that Jia Lian's willfulness would ruin Yuan Chun's favor. So after careful consideration, she said, "I'm afraid Lian'er is not one to listen to advice."

She dares to contradict even the Empress Dowager; I'm afraid she might not listen to us either.

Seeing that Jia Zheng and the others were of one mind with him, Jia Zhen felt emboldened. His eyes turned cold, and he slapped the armrest of his chair, saying in a serious voice, "In other matters, considering his young age, we can all give in to him."

But this is absolutely not going to happen today!

If he remains obstinate and refuses to see the truth…

Jia Zhen paused, and Jia Zheng and the others looked at him, their eyes filled with shock and anticipation.

Seeing the situation, Jia Zhen spoke up frankly.

"When Brother Lian returns later, we will certainly try to persuade him. If he is truly as Madam says and remains obstinate, then I think we will have no choice but to invoke the patriarchal code of conduct to punish him!"

Upon hearing this, Lady You and the others were startled.

The so-called clan law, or ancestral family law, is essentially a form of corporal punishment.

This is the last and most forceful measure taken against those unruly children who cannot be educated by language; it is to forcibly teach them how to be good people.

If a father still has any sense of right and wrong towards his son, he might just give him a beating.

However, Jia Lian has neither a father nor a grandfather, so if family law is to be applied to him, it can only be the law of the clan!

However, the children who are dealt with according to clan law are usually those who are "extremely guilty" and whose direct elders are unable to control them. Such people are very likely to be expelled from the family after being summoned by clan law.

The Jia family has not consulted a clan expert for many years.

Jia Zhen's heart burned with the flames of jealousy.

If it's just that they don't listen to him and steal his thunder, that's fine; as the clan leader, he wouldn't be unable to tolerate it.

But Jia Lian shouldn't have, absolutely shouldn't have, seduced his Ke Qing!

No one knows how much pain he felt when Jia Lian's words appeared on the desk of his daughter-in-law, Ke Qing, whom he had schemed against for two years without success.

This is the perfect opportunity for revenge.

He hoped that Jia Lian would stand firm to the end and not listen to advice.