Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Jia Lian had experienced countless funerals, and had even personally organized several of them.

Therefore, Jia Lian, with Daiyu's help, easily handled Lin Ruhai's funeral.

The only noteworthy point is that although Daiyu disliked tedious and mundane affairs, she took her father's funeral very seriously. With Jia Lian around, arranging everything meticulously for her, she actually learned some Confucian classics and ways of dealing with people. In addition, she was almost always by Jia Lian's side during the funeral, so she became even closer to him.

She was more accepting of Jia Lian's occasional displays of affection. But she couldn't refuse, because after her father's coffin was buried, she couldn't hold back her grief and cried in Jia Lian's arms for a long time, soaking his clothes.

With Lin Ruhai's funeral arrangements completed, the remaining task was to dispose of the Lin family's assets.

It was only after carefully taking stock of the Lin family's assets that Jia Lian understood what Lin Ruhai meant when he said before his death that he regretted not being honest and upright during his half-life as an official.

If all of the Lin family's assets are taken into account, including what Lin Ruhai brought to the capital when he took office two years ago, the total assets of the Lin family are roughly estimated to be several hundred thousand taels of silver, close to one million!

While some of this success was undoubtedly due to the accumulated wealth of the Lin family's ancestors, who had held high positions for four generations, Jia Lian believed that the majority of it stemmed from Lin Ruhai's twenty-odd years as an official. Moreover, it was likely concentrated primarily during the years Lin Ruhai served as the Salt Commissioner.

Having just confiscated a large number of officials and merchants related to the salt administration in Yangzhou, Jia Lian knew that anyone involved with salt was bound to be incredibly wealthy.

Therefore, Jia Lian was not too surprised that the Lin family had such a large amount of assets.

Moreover, Jia Lian suddenly felt that he had changed. He was now very calm when looking at this vast fortune, and even found it difficult to muster much interest.

You know, just two or three years ago, he would be genuinely happy for a long time even if the emperor gave him a thousand or so taels of silver.

It can only be said that the wealth of the salt merchants was truly dazzling, which made him lose his concept of money and forget that he and Wang Xifeng had only accumulated a few hundred thousand taels of silver after years of careful budgeting!

But things are different now.

Putting everything else aside, Daiyu's dowry alone would be enough for him and his wives, concubines, and maids to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Thinking of this, Jia Lian couldn't help but smile. He had really made a profit in his scheme to marry Daiyu.

Just as Jia Lian was busy inventorying and converting the Lin family's assets and returning to the capital, he received a letter that had been sent from Jinling to Yangzhou and then to Suzhou.

The letter was sent by Jia Yucun. He initially thought Jia Lian was in Yangzhou, but when the messenger arrived in Yangzhou, he learned that Jia Lian had come to Suzhou, so he sent the letter as well.

The letter was simple. Besides praising Jia Lian for his decisive actions in subduing the cunning salt merchants, it mainly consisted of an apology to Jia Lian.

It is said that after their parting that day, he mentioned the Zhen family to his wife. Upon hearing this, his wife recalled the kindness that the former matriarch of the Zhen family, Madam Feng, had shown her. Overwhelmed with emotion, she endured it for some time but could not suppress her feelings and personally made a trip to Daru Prefecture.

A few days ago, I wrote back saying that I had met Madam Feng. Upon hearing that her daughter was in sight, Madam Feng was so excited that she immediately decided to go back to Jinling with her. The two of them are now on their way back to Jinling.

Jia Yucun was afraid that Jia Lian would go to the address he provided and find nothing there, so he specially wrote a letter to inform him and apologize.

Although Jia Yucun repeatedly stated in his letter that his wife missed her former master so much that she ignored his advice and went to Daru Prefecture, Jia Lian still felt that it might not be that simple.

Jia Lian also heard that Jia Yucun was going to the capital to await his new post. He was afraid that Jia Yucun would still try to get in through the connections of the four great families, so he was seizing the opportunity to make friends with him.

Jia Lian couldn't really say anything about this, since the other party had at least found someone for him, and even wrote a letter to inform him in case he came up empty-handed, which was quite considerate.

Actually, the reason why Jia Lian only asked for the address and refused Jia Yucun's help in finding the person at first was simply because he wanted to take some time to go to Daruzhou with Daiyu and Xiangling after he finished his current business.

While helping Xiangling find her mother, he also took Daiyu out for a walk to clear her mind.

But now it seems he really can't spare much time. The matter in Yangzhou hasn't been fully resolved yet. Once it is, he can't stay in Jiangnan for long; he should return to the capital to report as soon as possible.

Therefore, the fact that Jia Yucun and his wife helped him find the person didn't exactly ruin his plans; it just shows that plans can't keep up with changes.

Therefore, after replying to Jia Yucun's letter, Jia Lian went to Daiyu's room in the inner courtyard.

Since recovering from her father's death, Daiyu has spent most of her time organizing the books he left behind.

Lin Ruhai was a bibliophile. Although he had brought some books to the capital two years ago, the old house still contained a vast collection, too numerous to count, truly a veritable mountain of books. In this era when books were extremely expensive, these books alone were worth at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.

It just so happened that Daiyu also loved books, so Jia Lian entrusted her with the task of organizing them. He instructed her to pack them up and take them all to the capital in the future.

So, at this moment, Daiyu, along with Zijuan, Xueyan, and Xiangling, were busily working in the room. When Jia Lian walked in, he saw the fine sweat on their busy faces and couldn't help but smile.

He didn't help, but walked to the couch at the head of the table, leaned against two cushions, and quietly watched the maids do their work.

Daiyu looked up at him several times, and finally finished counting. She then had the maids carry the two boxes of books inside and put them away, and then told them to go and rest.

"Have you finished organizing Uncle's books?"

"It's still a long way off. Only a small part is done. There are still so many dusty books in the study. I don't know when I'll be able to organize them all..."

Daiyu walked to Jia Lian's side and replied in a soft, breathless voice.

Seeing Jia Lian smiling as she spoke, she felt a little embarrassed. "Are you looking down on us? Saying we can't even handle a few books, unlike you who's so capable and can quickly resolve so many important matters outside?"

"Hehehe."

Jia Lian found her appearance truly adorable, and while laughing, he took her small hand and wiped the fine sweat from her forehead with his sleeve. Then, as she blushed slightly, he gently pulled her into his arms and said with a smile, "Nothing's wrong, we're different. You only have Zijuan and a few others under your command, while I have hundreds, even thousands, of people at my beck and call. More people naturally make things easier. You don't need to rush at all, just take your time. Anyway, I still have many things to take care of outside, so there's plenty of time."

After leaving Suzhou this time, we may not have time to come down again for the next few years, unless we go to sweep the graves of my aunt and uncle again.

Therefore, everything that needs to be done must be done first before we talk about anything else.

Daiyu was secretly moved upon hearing this. She knew that Jia Lian had taken time out of his official duties to come back, and his words warmed her heart. Therefore, she did not resist Jia Lian's gesture of picking her up and sitting her on his lap again.

After a few times, she got used to it.

It just so happens that she also felt good being held in Jia Lian's arms. Moreover, her status with Jia Lian was already established, so this situation wasn't too outrageous. She felt that it should be like this.

"By the way, Second Brother, is there something you need that brings you here so late?"

Daiyu finally remembered to ask this question.

"There is indeed something. I told you the other day that once we finished what we were doing, we would take some time to go to Daruzhou to help Xiangling find her mother. But now it seems that there is no need to go to Daruzhou."

"What's wrong?"

Jia Lian told Daiyu about receiving a letter from Jia Yucun, Daiyu's tutor.

Daiyu found it somewhat strange. She never imagined that such a coincidence could exist in the world. Her mentor's second wife had actually been a maidservant to Xiangling's mother? Moreover, judging from Jia Lian's tone, her mentor's wife was one of the maidservants responsible for taking care of and supervising Xiangling back then!

She didn't dwell on it too much. Seeing the regret in Jia Lian's tone when he mentioned it, Daiyu understood his feelings after a moment's thought.

Helping Xiangling find her mother might just be a pretext. After all, Second Brother Lian is so busy; why would he personally travel hundreds of miles to find the mother of a mere maid? Wouldn't it have been easier to just send a group of people to bring her back?

The second brother must have felt that his father was in a bad mood after his passing, so he wanted to take her somewhere else to relax, just like when his mother passed away and he took her to Xuanmu Panxiang Temple!

"I understand what my second brother said. Xiangling's mother has really been found, and that's the best outcome."

As for going to Daruzhou, I originally thought it was too far and I didn't really want to go; it would be too tiring! Wouldn't this be perfect, the best of both worlds?

So, now that we've settled things here, let's take Xiangling to Jinling. I wonder what Xiangling will be like when she meets her mother.

Although Daiyu was somewhat looking forward to being taken by Jia Lian on a trip, she also knew that Jia Lian was carrying out an imperial mission.

She was already very happy that Jia Lian had this intention, but she didn't necessarily want Jia Lian to take her out. In fact, what she said wasn't entirely against her will; by nature, she longed for tranquility when she was restless, and longed for activity when she was still.

If she were to travel a long distance, she would definitely feel tired. If it weren't for being with her beloved, she would absolutely not want to go on a long trip.

Jia Lian turned slightly to face Daiyu, holding her close.

With just a glance at her expression, Jia Lian knew what she was thinking. He affectionately patted her head, and seeing her slightly displeased frown, he sat her down on the couch, stood up, and said with a smile, "Since that's the case, then it's settled. After we've settled things here, we'll go to Jinling. It's a good opportunity for you, my good student, to see your teacher for quite a few years. You should go and pay your respects."

Daiyu raised her eyebrows, sat down on the couch, and gave Jia Lian an ambiguous look.

Because she was so beautiful and charming, every expression she made was irresistibly cute. Jia Lian, who was about to leave, couldn't help but bend down and make a gesture as if to kiss her.

Daiyu's expression suddenly tensed up. Since she had her legs rolled up, it was difficult for her to dodge. In a panic, she hurriedly closed her eyes.

After waiting for a while, the kiss from her second brother that she had imagined did not come. She only felt a slight coolness on her forehead, and as she shrank her neck, she opened her eyes and saw Jia Lian chuckle and turn to leave.

Only then did Daiyu belatedly realize that her heart was pounding. Suddenly, her face turned bright red. Overwhelmed with embarrassment, she leaned against the two cushions where Jia Lian had just leaned. She smelled the lingering scent of Jia Lian in her nose, and her heart beat even faster.

……