Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Long before Princess Zhaoyang and Jia Lian moved into Kunyu Pavilion, the county magistrate and others had ordered the entire third floor of Kunyu Pavilion to be emptied out, leaving no one unattended.

Jia Lian didn't find anything wrong with this.

If it weren't for the incident at the city gate, the three of them would have quietly entered the city without him making any special arrangements.

Now that our identities have been exposed, we naturally have more to consider, and we should try to avoid as much trouble as possible.

Led by the boy, the three members of the Xue family, father and sons, arrived at Jia Lian's room.

The second master of the Xue family was very polite, bowing to Jia Lian upon meeting him.

Unfortunately, he was too weak and needed his children's support. He almost fell over after bowing.

Jia Lian quickly stepped forward to help him up, then sincerely said, "Uncle, there's no need for such formalities. Given the nearly century-long friendship between our two families, you can certainly call me by my name."

As she spoke, she took the Second Master of the Xue family from the Xue siblings and helped him sit down on the chair next to her before turning around and sitting down herself.

The second master of the Xue family looked ashamed, but he couldn't go against Jia Lian's words again.

"In that case, please forgive my presumption in addressing you as my nephew."

Jia Lian smiled, then looked at the Xue siblings standing behind the second master of the Xue family, who seemed somewhat reserved.

"These two must be Brother Xue Ke and Sister Baoqin, right? When we were in the capital, I often heard my aunt mention that Brother Xue Ke was handsome and well-mannered. Sister Baoqin was exceptionally beautiful, far surpassing ordinary people. Seeing them today, I can see that what my aunt said was indeed true."

Jia Lian's words made the young boy and girl, who were only ten years old, even more flustered, and their faces showed shyness.

Knowing that his sister-in-law could not maintain the family business on her own after his brother's death, the second master of the Xue family moved the whole family to the capital. They are still living in his elder sister's house, which is the Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Lian was the young master of the Rongguo Mansion who inherited the title.

Therefore, Jia Lian's words did not seem surprising or abrupt.

"Tadpole, Qin'er, why don't you come forward and pay your respects to your Second Brother Lian?"

Upon hearing their father's words, Xue Ke and Xue Baoqin both straightened their expressions, as if they had rehearsed this in their minds beforehand, and obediently stepped forward to pay their respects.

"Greetings, Brother Lian Er..."

In principle, when people of the same generation pay respects to each other, regardless of the age difference, they should return the greeting.

But given Jia Lian's status, he wasn't overly humble, simply raising a hand with a smile.

"Brother Tadpole, Sister Qin, please rise quickly, there's no need for such formalities."

Xue Ke and Xue Baoqin looked up. Although they could sense Jia Lian's friendliness towards them, they dared not act presumptuously in front of their father.

As I quietly retreated to my father's side, I saw him shaking his head and speaking.

"They can't possibly accept their aunt's words. I only just found out that the two of them had actually run into my nephew at a teahouse outside the city..."

It's all in vain that my nephew stood up for us before, but those two ignorant fools actually tried to steal my nephew's beloved possession.

I have already given them a good talking-to for this, so please don't take it to heart, my dear nephew.

Without pausing, the second master of the Xue family frowned and looked at Xue Baoqin, "Qin'er, hurry up and take out the jade pendant and return it to your second brother Lian, and apologize to him."

Upon hearing this, Xue Baoqin's small, flawless face immediately furrowed, as if she were somewhat aggrieved.

Not daring to disobey her father, she could only take out the jade pendant from her bosom, walk up to Jia Lian, and after hesitating for a long time, say, "Second Brother Lian, I'm sorry, here you go."

As she finished speaking, tears welled up in her large eyes, making them appear even more watery.

She felt wronged.

If it weren't for her parents' constant admonitions against wasting money when traveling, she would naturally have been willing to spend more money.

If so, she would naturally have known that Jia Lian was a distant cousin.

However, their father showed no sympathy whatsoever. After learning about the incident, he scolded them and is now demanding an apology from them…

Seeing Xue Baoqin holding the jade pendant in both hands, standing in front of him with a tearful expression, Jia Lian was momentarily stunned.

For no other reason than that he felt he was about to be melted by the cuteness of the girl in front of him!

He didn't know how to describe it, but Xue Baoqin was definitely the kind of girl that you couldn't help but like at first glance.

The young girl, still in the bloom of youth, exudes a childlike and innocent charm.

That's all. Any pretty girl in the world at this age has her own charm.

However, Xue Baoqin was not just like that.

She not only possesses the innocence and cuteness of a young girl, but also a beauty and charm that is far beyond what one should be showing at her age!

On her small, oval face, not only were her features exquisitely delicate, but her skin was also incredibly smooth and supple.

Fair-skinned with a rosy glow, delicate and flawless—such descriptions seem to fit her perfectly without being an exaggeration.

Against the backdrop of flowing black hair, her delicate neck is equally striking.

Add to that her slender figure encased in a pink hairpin skirt, and the ten delicate fingers peeking out from her sleeves, and she looks just like a heroine straight out of a two-dimensional world, so delicate that one hesitates to touch her, fearing that one might accidentally break her.

Judging solely from natural beauty, she might not even be as beautiful as the young Daiyu she saw when she first went to Jiangnan.

Because Daiyu had been in poor health since childhood and had been taking medicine for many years, although her complexion was fair and beautiful, she lacked the vitality and rosy glow of Xue Baoqin.

This girl, so pure and innocent, stood before Jia Lian, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice, making Jia Lian feel utterly overwhelmed.

"Sister Qin, there's no need for that."

Without taking the jade pendant from Xue Baoqin's hand, Jia Lian gave the girl a reassuring look, then looked at the second master of the Xue family and explained, "Uncle must have misunderstood."

When I first arrived here, I was penniless, so I took out a jade pendant that I had with me to pawn.

Sister Qin didn't want to see others bullying me, so she stepped in to help. She not only helped me out of the predicament but also helped me successfully pawn my money. She did me two favors at once.

Actually, I should be the one thanking Sister Qin.

As he spoke, Jia Lian made a gesture of standing up and gave Xue Baoqin a slight bow.

Xue Baoqin immediately took a step back, looking up at Jia Lian. At that moment, her most immediate thought was, "Brother Lian, you are so tall and imposing..."

Upon seeing this, the second master of the Xue family was impressed by Jia Lian's composure and sighed deeply, "Even so, since this item is something that my nephew always carries with him, he must cherish it. It is absolutely not something my daughter should steal for herself."

"It's alright. Don't say it's a transaction where money is exchanged for goods, and it's a mutually agreeable deal."

"That's not the case. Today, upon first meeting Sister Qin, as her cousin, it would be only right for me to present her with this gift."

As he spoke, seeing Xue Baoqin struggling to hold up her hands, he gently lifted her small hands with one hand and slowly covered her outstretched fingers with the other, smiling warmly, "It's alright, Sister Qin, you can hold them."

Baoqin blushed slightly and quietly withdrew her hands.

"Uncle, there's no need to say more about this. It's just a small matter, nothing worth mentioning."

Seeing that Jia Lian was sincere, the second master of the Xue family could not say anything more. After instructing Xue Baoqin to thank Jia Lian, he paused for a while and gave his son Xue Ke a look.

Seeing this, Xue Ke calmly took out the item his father had given him earlier from his pocket and respectfully presented it to Jia Lian.

Seeing Jia Lian's confusion, the second master of the Xue family explained.

"My dear nephew may also know that my Xue family caravan arrived outside the city three days ago."

They were unable to enter the city because the纨绔 (sons of wealthy and powerful families) of the military governor's mansion were abusing their power.

"If it weren't for my nephew's timely intervention, my Xue family business would not only have suffered severe losses, but Qin'er's reputation would likely have been ruined by that shameless villain."

The second master of the Xue family glanced at his daughter, whose face was slightly pale, and clasped his hands in a fist and said, "To express my gratitude to my nephew, I hope you will accept these three thousand taels of silver."

Jia Lian had already clearly seen what Xue Ke was holding: several well-made silver notes. The first one was a silver note issued by Datong Bank, the largest money exchange in the capital, with a single note amounting to a thousand taels!

Such denomination banknotes were rarely issued even by large money shops, and were usually only issued to people or families with power and good credit.

After all, the greatest advantage of banknotes is that they are easy to carry, so people don't have to carry heavy, huge amounts of silver from east to west or from south to north.

The drawbacks are also obvious. The most significant one is that most banknotes can only be exchanged at specific banks in specific cities. This is because only in this way can the banks verify the banknotes internally and prevent counterfeiting and fraudulent claims.

To be honest, he had expected the Xue family to reward him. He just hadn't expected the second master of the Xue family to be so generous, giving away three thousand taels of silver in one go.

He remembered that Jia Lian had once donated money to become a prefectural magistrate, and it only cost him a thousand taels of silver!

After a moment of silence, meeting the gazes of the three members of the Xue family, Jia Lian shook his head and said, "I cannot accept this silver."

"This... cough cough, my dear nephew, I know you are a person of high moral character, but if it weren't for you today, my Xue family caravan would not know how much cargo we would have lost."

This is the only way I can express my gratitude to my dear nephew, so please be sure to accept it!

The second master of the Xue family was in a hurry and even stood up to ask Jia Lian to accept the gift.

His bow was exceptionally sincere. Given the considerable investment he had made on this trip, even if he hadn't encountered Jia Lian, and even if Utopia City had only seized 30% of his goods, he would have still lost at least 10,000 to 20,000 taels of silver worth of goods.

Not to mention, that纨绔 (playboy) even wanted to get involved with Qin'er!

Jia Lian stopped the second master of the Xue family from being too polite, but his words remained unchanged.

"I really cannot accept this silver, nor will I accept it."

Jia Lian sat upright at the head of the table, speaking in a calm manner.

"Leaving aside the Xue and Jia families, their friendship has lasted for nearly a century since the founding of the dynasty. Even now, I still hear people say that the Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue families, the four great families, are of the same blood, sharing both prosperity and adversity!"

Speaking of our time, my second wife from the Jia family and the matriarch of the Xue family are also very close sisters.

And my wife, Madam Wang, is the direct niece of the Xue family matriarch!

Now, Aunt Xue, seeing this, does not look down on my Jia family's lowly status. She brought her two children and traveled thousands of miles to the capital to live next door to us. She often visits our home to chat and laugh with my old lady.

What a level of trust and close friendship this is!

Now, I have only happened to help Uncle Shi once by chance within my ability, and to ask him for a reward would not only be degrading to my character, but also to the long-standing friendship between the Xue and Jia families, and to betray Aunt Xue's trust in our Jia family.

If I were to actually accept this money today, I fear that when I return to the capital, my grandmother would scold me for being greedy for money and prioritizing petty gains over righteousness.

This matter is truly beyond our control.

Jia Lian finished speaking with a serious expression and frown, then instructed Xue Ke to put the silver notes away again.

Xue Ke was immediately at a loss.

On one side were his father's instructions, and on the other side were Jia Lian's resounding words, leaving him no choice but to turn around and look innocently at his father.

"But……"

Second Master Xue wanted to say something more, but Jia Lian interrupted him: "Uncle, there's no need to say anything more. My mind is made up. Oh, right, I forgot to ask you, Uncle, what was the doctor's diagnosis?"

I was so busy just now that I forgot to visit my uncle, and it was only because he came to see me despite his illness that I felt so ashamed.

"Nephew, what are you saying? You bear such a heavy responsibility as protecting the princess, so naturally you don't need to be bothered by such trivial matters..."

The second master of the Xue family frowned and hesitated, clearly still unwilling to give up like this.

But Jia Lian had already changed the subject, making it impossible for him to bring up the old topic again. The feeling of having a large sum of money but being unable to give it away made him look somewhat embarrassed.

Seeing that his father was also at a loss, Xue Ke, who had been holding his hand up for a long time, could only silently retreat to his father's side.

Xue Baoqin, on the other side, kept Jia Lian's actions in mind from beginning to end, her eyes darting around.

This second brother Lian is truly extraordinary... no, extremely extraordinary!

Thinking this, her slender fingers couldn't help but secretly caress the jade pendant she had been holding in her hand. Then, taking advantage of her father and the others not paying attention, she put it back into her bosom.

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