Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 563 How Could I Bear to Scold You

Upon arriving at the Imperial Horse Ranch, they loaded the weak and helpless You Sanjie into the carriage and proceeded together to the shooting range.

After the gun modification proved successful, Jia Lian ordered twenty guns to equip his personal guard.

Of course, the main purpose was to let them get used to using firearms, and incidentally test the practicality of the modified muskets.

"Bang"

"Bang bang"

"Bang bang bang"

Scattered, loud noises came from the firing range.

"Second Master!"

"How's it going? Have the brothers down there learned how to use it?"

"We all know how to use them. Foreman Wu from the musket battalion came to teach us personally, and everyone learned very quickly, but..."

Zhang Yong looked troubled and stammered.

"Just what?"

"But... Second Master, you should see for yourself."

Following Zhang Yong's directions, Jia Lian looked over and saw that almost all of his fifty-odd personal guards were there.

They were constantly experimenting and exchanging ideas, but upon closer inspection, it was easy to see that most of them were complaining, and some were even chatting and laughing together while holding guns, clearly slacking off.

Seeing that Jia Lian seemed to understand everyone's "public opinion," Zhang Yong quickly said, "Your Excellency is right. Although everyone knows how to use this thing, its accuracy is really terrible, and it's too slow. After firing once, it takes at least ten breaths before it can be ready to fire again."

Everyone says this thing is useless, not as good as a bow and arrow, and nobody really wants to practice it...

Hearing Zhang Yong's words, Jia Lian was neither surprised nor angry.

He mounted his horse and had someone hand him a musket and ammunition. After a series of practiced maneuvers, he sat on his horse, aimed at a wooden target in the distance, and fired a shot.

The loud gunshot startled the white horse beneath him, causing it to become restless, but Jia Lian easily brought it under control. Jia Lian even showed a look of joy, because based on his judgment, he was certain that he had hit the target.

With a glance, a target reporter quickly shouted, "Hit! Hit! The Marquis's shot hit right within the third ring!"

Then, gasps of surprise, mixed with the sounds of horses, rose up one after another.

Even Liu Xianglian praised, "Lord Marquis is indeed mighty and extraordinary. We have been testing for a long time, and we might not be able to hit the three rings even once out of ten shots. In fact, most of them missed the target. I never expected that Lord Marquis would hit the three rings directly with one shot. We subordinates are ashamed of our inferiority."

Jia Lian smiled slightly, thinking to himself that if this shot missed, he wouldn't be able to start his speech properly, so this would be much simpler.

After asking Liu Xianglian and the others about their specific test results, Jia Lian cleared his throat and was about to speak when he suddenly saw the guards from the Imperial Horse Ranch running over.

"My lord, there are several women on horseback outside who claim to be your old friends and want to barge in. We dare not act on our own, so we have come to inform you."

"woman?"

Jia Lian was slightly taken aback. Although he wasn't exactly faithful, he didn't consider himself to be promiscuous. How could women have followed him here, and several at once?

"Those women are all very beautiful, they don't seem like they're here to cause trouble..." The guard seemed to notice Jia Lian's doubts and explained in this way.

But his explanation made everyone suddenly realize something.

Feng Fei even laughed and said, "Since she's a beauty, why don't you go out and take a look, my lord? What if she's one of our future general's wives? We can't afford to neglect her."

He smiled, simply because Jia Lian was usually tolerant of him, and he had a life-or-death bond with Jia Lian on the battlefield, which gave him the courage to make this joke.

However, under Jia Lian's single glance, he shrank back, chuckled, and looked away.

Jia Lian was also about to go out and take a look, since his train of thought had been interrupted anyway, so he said, "You all continue practicing, do not slack off. When I return, I will teach you the true way to use a musket!"

After saying that, he turned his horse around and prepared to leave.

"Where are you going? I want to go too!" Sister You popped her head out of the carriage and asked hurriedly, as if she was afraid that Jia Lian would run away.

In fact, she had overheard the servant's reply and wanted to see just how beautiful those women were.

"Stay quiet."

Jia Lian didn't even turn his head; he simply rode away.

This greatly annoyed Sister You, who stomped her foot angrily inside the carriage. Suddenly, she was surprised to find that it didn't hurt anymore.

He reached out and touched the wound through the fabric, then tentatively stood up inside the carriage, bending over.

It seems that it's not as much of a hindrance as I had imagined.

Sister You San became happy again, feeling that her senior had not lied to her, and that the pain would really only last for a short while.

So he walked around the carriage a couple of times, feeling stuffy, and then, with a sudden thought, he lifted the curtain and jumped off the carriage.

hiss……

It was quite absurd that she jumped off the car, because no one offered her a footstool.

Even so, she showed no sign of it on her face, because the area in front of her was full of Jia Lian's soldiers, some of whom must have guessed the relationship between her and their lord, so she naturally couldn't let them see anything unusual.

"Oh, Third Aunt, why did you come here by yourself? What are your orders? Just tell us to come and wait. How could we trouble you?"

Zhao'er was watching everyone test their guns and found it very interesting. Suddenly, he turned around and saw Sister You San walking over. He ran up to her like a lackey to greet her.

He knew that this master might have just been promoted to one of his masters, otherwise why would the Second Master have given up the carriage?

If he doesn't take good care of her at this time, and something goes wrong, he can't afford to take the blame.

The composed You Sanjie rolled her eyes at Zhao'er. Although she knew that after she followed Jia Lian, these people would treat her differently, she still felt uncomfortable with Zhao'er's overly "filial" attitude.

Why is she calling me "old lady" all the time? Is she the youngest?

At first glance, she was the youngest person there.

However, she was still very happy inside, because she knew Zhao'er's status by Jia Lian's side, which could be known from the frequency with which Zhao'er appeared by Jia Lian's side.

Then he smiled and said to Zhao'er, "I heard your second master call you Zhao'er?"

"It is indeed your servant..."

"Here's a reward for you."

You Sanjie pulled a silver hairpin from her hair and threw it to Zhao'er.

You Sanjie was not a person without a plan. Although she gave herself to Jia Lian in a muddled manner, she had actually considered many things beforehand.

Being an equal couple has its advantages, and being the wife of a marquis has its advantages as well.

Since we have chosen the latter, we must naturally follow its rules.

She had read palace dramas; concubines who wanted to win the emperor's favor had to win over the eunuchs around him.

The situation would likely be similar in any noble or high-ranking household. Moreover, she had just become the other party's new master, and the other party treated her with such respect, so it was perfectly justified.

She had only intended to give a casual reward, but she was in a hurry to leave and hadn't expected to need money, so she gave her a silver hairpin instead.

This hairpin wasn't particularly valuable to begin with. It was a large quantity of gifts sent by Madam You to decorate the house for the sisters. She didn't really like it, but it was suitable as a reward.

Most importantly, even if You Sanjie didn't want to admit it, she knew that after becoming Jia Lian's woman, she would definitely not lack these things, and there would be better things in the future, so she would no longer care about the old things.

"How can this be? I cannot accept something for nothing. Third Aunt is too kind to me. How could I possibly accept anything from you..."

Zhao'er was no ordinary child. Over the past few years, Sister Feng had both openly and secretly taught and rewarded him, using a combination of kindness and severity. After experiencing this a lot, he naturally understood.

After all, compared to Sister Feng, Sister You was still quite naive in terms of methods, so he could see through her intentions at a glance.

However, he immediately pretended to be flattered, kneeling down and offering the gifts with both hands as if to return them.

Sister You was even more satisfied and waved her hand generously, "Since I've given it to you, you should keep it. I might need your help in the future, so don't refuse then."

"Uh, yes, yes, how dare this servant disobey Third Aunt's words? In the future, I hope Third Aunt will give this servant more guidance."

Zhao'er smiled and put the hairpin away. In his heart, however, he was calculating. Although You Sanjie was young and naive, he knew that keeping such a personal item that the mistress had worn would be a recipe for disaster. He could only have someone melt it down into silver ingots when he got back, or give it to his own husband.

"Does Third Aunt have any further instructions?"

Having received the benefit, Zhao'er naturally showed even more respect and asked with a fawning smile.

"I'd like to try that too, a musket? It looks like so much fun..." Sister You San pointed to the shooting range ahead and explained her purpose.

"This... is too dangerous. If Third Miss gets hurt, we servants cannot afford to be negligent. Perhaps Third Miss should ride a horse, or we can wait until Second Master returns..."

Upon hearing this, You Sanjie immediately frowned in displeasure. She had intended to become Jia Lian's personal guard and was eager to show off her skills and courage in front of these people, so she said with dissatisfaction, "What, do you also look down on women? Do you think I'm just a woman and not worthy of playing with the things that men play with?"

You probably don't know, but this lady of mine has practiced martial arts since childhood. Your second master has already agreed to take me on as his third female bodyguard, and you still dare to look down on me?"

"Well, in that case, allow me to go and tell them to prepare..."

Zhao'er smiled wryly. Regardless of whether what Sister You said was true or false, she just knew she couldn't afford to offend this kind of "newly rich."

So they quickly discussed with Zhang Yong and others about clearing out a space for Sister You to play around with.

Leaving aside how Sister You arrived at the shooting range with her head held high, enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention, let's talk about how Jia Lian rode his horse outside and immediately saw several women in light civilian clothes outside the wooden gate.

He immediately rode forward at full speed, stopping in front of the other horse, and asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

"What, you're not happy to have me here?"

Princess Zhaoyang smiled as always, her face as warm as a spring breeze, and turned her head to brush aside the hair bun at her temple.

Jia Lian shook his head, then glanced at a woman behind Princess Zhaoyang.

The woman looked somewhat intimidated.

"Don't blame her. She didn't mean to reveal your whereabouts. I was just bored today, so I called her over to ask. If you're angry, take it out on me. I'm prepared to be scolded by you."

Princess Zhaoyang was incredibly perceptive; she immediately discerned the meaning in Jia Lian's gaze and thus smiled.

Her maid, Hu Yuanyao, was a link she had deliberately placed by Jia Lian's side, but she never expected that a small incident today would cause Jia Lian to consider removing her.

Jia Lian had no intention of blaming her, because when Princess Zhaoyang gave him this beauty, she had made it clear that this was her intended purpose.

If Jia Lian didn't trust Princess Zhaoyang, he wouldn't have placed her in the important study.

Besides, even if someone is truly unhappy, Princess Zhaoyang's words should dispel that displeasure.

She's a princess, following him without any explanation, and she's even lowering herself like this. He should be grateful.

So he smiled and replied, "Qingran, you flatter me. It is my good fortune to have Qingran care about my whereabouts. How could I be angry?"

Besides, how could I bear to scold you...?

Upon hearing Jia Lian's words, the three maids dressed as men behind Princess Zhaoyang couldn't help but chuckle.

Fortunately, Princess Zhaoyang was magnanimous by nature. She merely glanced at Jia Lian, muttered "You're such a chatterbox," and then said, "I've heard you built a horse ranch here, but I haven't come to visit yet. What, I'm already here today, and you won't even invite me in for a look?"

How could Jia Lian not hear the resentment in Princess Zhaoyang's voice?

One of her royal estates is not far from here, and she had invited me to visit it before. I suppose she used that as an excuse to go there and changed clothes to come here.

So he spurred his horse to make way and respectfully said "please".