Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Inside Rongqing Hall, the play, which had been suspended for half a day, resumed rehearsals.

Lady Wang, Aunt Xue, and others also rushed over from various places to accompany Grandmother Jia to watch the play.

Suddenly, a servant woman from the Xue family came running in a hurry.

"Madam, something terrible has happened! Master has been beaten up!"

"what?"

Aunt Xue, who had been watching the play with a smile, changed her expression immediately upon hearing this, and turned around to look at the old woman in a panic.

On the other side, Xue Baochai and the other sisters also stopped whispering and looked up.

"I heard it happened outside the North Gate. He was beaten by that actor Liu Xianglian. When the master was carried back, he was covered in injuries and filthy. Madam, please go back and check on him..."

Without the old woman reminding her, Aunt Xue had already stood up.

Grandmother Jia, who was sitting next to Aunt Xue, hurriedly said, "Since something has happened to the young master, you should go back and check on him. Don't worry about us."

"Yes..." Aunt Xue didn't bother with formalities at this moment. She gave Grandmother Jia a perfunctory bow and hurried away.

Baochai then left her seat, silently bowed to Lady Wang and Grandmother Jia, and followed her mother.

Because of this incident, the women in the corridor lost all interest in watching the show and looked at each other, finding it all very strange.

I've always known that Master Xue is a reckless and unruly person. I've heard before that he's the one who beats people up, but I've never heard of him being beaten up, especially by an actor.

"I vaguely remember that the young female lead who sang Mulan, whom the old lady praised before, was named Liu Xianglian."

Tan Chun suddenly whispered to Ying Chun, and Ying Chun nodded in agreement, both finding it unbelievable.

How could such a delicate and gentle man hit someone, especially Baochai's brother, who is such a domineering person?

Jia Baoyu, who was beside Tan Chun, seemed to gradually understand something after his initial surprise. He looked around and, taking advantage of his mother and the others' inattention, slipped away.

Seeing everyone's curiosity, Grandmother Jia sighed and instructed Lady Wang, "Have someone go and find out what's going on."

Madam Wang then arranged for someone to go.

Meanwhile, Aunt Xue and her daughter rushed home, only to find the house in complete disarray.

Upon arriving at Xue Pan's room, Aunt Xue could hear him cursing and wailing from afar. When she saw Xue Pan's appearance, tears welled up in her eyes.

By this time, Xue Pan had already taken off his filthy clothes, leaving him only in a thin undershirt as he lay sprawled on the kang (heated brick bed). His entire body was covered in bruises and welts. Even his face was stained with tears and dirt, and two maids were wiping it off with handkerchiefs.

Xue Pan was already cursing Liu Xianglian, and when he saw Aunt Xue enter, he wailed even louder: "Mother, I've been beaten! I've been beaten so badly! If it weren't for Brother Lian's men from that mansion arriving in time to save me, I might have been beaten to death..."

Aunt Xue had heard that it was a dispute with an actor, but she didn't think it was a big deal.

After all, it's common for men to get into fights after drinking. Who would have thought that his own son would be beaten up like this? Look at his swollen face, he looks even more like a pig's head.

Aunt Xue forcefully shook off such thoughts from her mind, sat down next to Xue Pan, and comforted him while asking about the reason.

Xue Pan originally wanted to complain, but when his mother asked what was wrong, he didn't know what to say, so he lied and said, "We were talking and everything was going well. He even invited me to his house for a drink. I thought he was familiar with Baoyu and the others, so I didn't think too much about it and went with him."

Who knew that just because I said something wrong and offended him, he would turn on me so ruthlessly and beat me up like this? And he even... he even...

The thought of being forced to drink dirty water in a ditch by Liu Xianglian was too much for Xue Pan to bear. He was filled with rage and ordered the servants outside the gate to beat Liu Xianglian to death and demolish his house.

Seeing that his voice was still strong, Aunt Xue shed fewer tears. She could now see that Xue Pan's injuries looked intimidating, but were actually just superficial wounds and didn't cause any real harm.

Therefore, with red eyes, he cursed Xue Pan a few times and questioned him further. Seeing that Xue Pan refused to tell the truth, he went out to find the servant beside him.

The servants dared not conceal anything, fearing punishment, so they naturally told what they knew. However, none of them had followed Xue Pan out of the city, and they did not know the specific reason why Xue Pan was beaten. They could only tell Aunt Xue in detail what had happened: Xue Pan had harassed Liu Xianglian at the Rongguo Mansion, then left the city alone, and was eventually carried back by the people of the Rongguo Mansion.

Aunt Xue was a clever woman; after only a general understanding, she had already guessed seven or eight parts of the truth.

Despite this, the fact that a mere actor dared to hit someone, and hit someone so badly, still angered Aunt Xue. She scolded Liu Xianglian and threatened to send him to the authorities for legal action.

Baochai quickly advised, "Mother, don't be too anxious. It's not a big deal. They're just out drinking, and it's common for them to get drunk and fight. Whoever gets drunk will get hit a few more times."

Now that Mom is treating this as a major event and rushing to tell everyone, isn't that deliberately letting others know that Mom is biased and dotes on my brother, allowing him to cause trouble outside and then backing him up afterwards? Firstly, it makes us a laughingstock, and secondly, it makes us look like we're using our family connections to bully ordinary people.

Aunt Xue thought it made some sense.

Baochai added, "Besides, everyone knows that my brother is unruly and lawless outside. Now, he has only suffered a loss by chance, and Mother is making such a fuss, which only makes others more gossipy."

Besides, didn't my brother say that the person had already been captured by the men sent by Lian Er Gege from their mansion?

Putting aside today's matter, my brother owes Lian Er a favor, so we'll have to see what he thinks. Even if Lian Er really wants to send the person to the authorities, we'd better try to dissuade him. Mom, think about it too. Getting involved in a fight with an actor and getting beaten up—is that a good reputation?

If Mom is really too angry, that's easy. She can wait a few days until my brother's injuries have healed a bit, then call that man over and have him apologize and apologize to my brother.

Aunt Xue was just angry; in reality, she wasn't one to meddle. After hearing Baochai's words, she nodded repeatedly.

"My son, you've thought things through much better; I was so foolish. Your brother really needs to be taught a lesson so he'll remember it!"

Baochai breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her mother was listening to her advice, and said, "What you say is true, Mother. My brother is not afraid of you and does not listen to anyone's advice. He is becoming more and more unruly outside. Now that he has suffered a loss at the hands of that person, it may even be beneficial to him."

"That makes sense..."

……

Many people in the Jia family had heard about Xue Pan being beaten, but most of them just treated it as a joke and didn't take it seriously.

However, after learning the details of the matter, Wang Xifeng couldn't help but ask Jia Lian, "How did you know that Master Xue was beaten outside the North Gate, and even his own servant wasn't with him? And how did you manage to arrest him on the spot?"

Inside the Grand View Garden, in a beautiful pavilion surrounded by water on all sides.

Because some areas of the Grand View Garden were still under renovation, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng did not make a big fuss when they came to visit, only bringing Ping'er, Xiangling, and a few other maids.

I was tired, so I rested here.

Seeing the beautiful spring scenery and the shimmering lake, Jia Lian had his maid fetch a fishing rod and was now fishing through the window. Hearing Feng Jie'er's question beside him, he simply smiled and casually replied, "How do you think I knew?" "Could it be that you've been having someone keep an eye on Liu Xianglian, and that's how you stumbled upon him?"

Wang Xifeng was quite clever; she felt that her explanation made sense.

After all, it would have been understandable if Xue Pan had been beaten inside the city and encountered by the soldiers patrolling the military command. But Xue Pan had already run outside the city and was still rescued by Jia Lian. Moreover, the murderer did not escape and was caught on the spot.

There's no other reason besides Jia Lian having been monitoring Liu Xianglian beforehand. As for why Jia Lian would monitor Liu Xianglian, what else could it be but that he was attracted to the other's appearance?

Jia Lian also understood the implication in Wang Xifeng's tone, but he made no attempt to explain. Given the state of the world, it was no wonder Wang Xifeng suspected him.

"You're only half right. I did have people keeping an eye on them beforehand, but not on Liu Xianglian, but on Xue Pan."

"Why are you staring at him for no reason?"

"Would you believe me if I said I knew he might get beaten up today, so I had someone watching him?"

"Fine, don't tell me then. I know you're incredibly powerful and have many eyes and ears, but there's no need to make fun of me like this."

"Hehe..." Jia Lian chuckled, "See? You're going to ask again. You won't believe me if I tell you the truth, so why bother asking?"

Wang Xifeng stared at Jia Lian for a few moments, then suddenly smiled.

To be honest, she was quite disrespectful of ghosts and gods. In the past, when she heard people talk about ancestral protection or the incarnation of the God of Literature and the God of War, she would secretly scoff at them.

But after personally witnessing Jia Lian's transformation, she actually began to believe in these things.

Take the matter of Yuan-chun being promoted to Imperial Concubine last year, for example. Jia Lian had hinted at it to her two years in advance. Then he even correctly guessed that Yuan-chun would be promoted to Imperial Noble Consort... Although Grandmother Jia and others thought that Jia Lian was an official in the court and had received some advance notice.

However, with so many coincidences, even Wang Xifeng felt that the coincidences had gone too far.

I still remember her jokingly saying that if Jia Lian could even predict Yuan Chun's promotion to Imperial Concubine, she would obey Jia Lian's every command from then on...

In that case, it's quite normal for me to suffer losses at his hands. After all, I haven't received any ancestral protection, nor am I some kind of incarnation of a celestial being!

Having mentally prepared herself once again, Wang Xifeng looked at Jia Lian with even more tenderness.

Seeing Jia Lian quietly fishing with his rod, she pursed her lips, really not understanding what was so interesting about sitting there like that, it was just a waste of time.

So he stood up and said with a smile, "I don't think there's much to see in this garden. You can stay here and play. Let these two maids keep you company. I'll go out and serve the old lady."

Wang Xifeng was also trying to maintain her prestige. She didn't want the servants to think that she was fond of having fun, especially with Jia Lian, as that would damage her reputation as the Second Mistress of Lian.