Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Miaoyu left Pear Fragrance Courtyard silently, her heart heavier than when she arrived.

She wasn't stupid; she naturally knew that any man in the world who saw a woman like Gu Qingyi would want to take her into his household, let alone Jia Lian.

That man was good in every way, except he had some roguish habits and was extremely good at sweet-talking people. Even she fell for his tricks, let alone those silly women.

With so much resentment building up in his heart, even the roadside weeds seemed unpleasant to him. He wanted to stomp on them a few times, but he was afraid of being seen doing something that didn't conform to the rules of conduct for monks, so he could only endure it.

I strolled leisurely back to Longcui Nunnery along the mountain path along the east side of Grand View Garden, ignoring everyone, and headed towards my room.

At Longcui Nunnery, she had two main resting places. One was the outer meditation room, which was decorated for others to see.

The other was a room deep within the Zen temple, furnished exactly like her boudoir at Panxiang Temple, which was also her main place of rest.

"Where did the young lady go? Why is she only just returning?"

When Zhi Neng'er came out of the room and saw her, her eyes lit up, and she quickly went up to ask.

Miaoyu treated her indiscriminately, and didn't want to pay attention to her either. Finally, she instructed, "Go and boil a pot of water and bring it over. Don't use the water from the water vat; use fresh water drawn from the well."

As she spoke, Miaoyu couldn't help but think back to when she was at the Xuanmu Panxiang Temple. The water she used to brew tea was at least spring water fetched by servants. Now, living under someone else's roof, she could only make do with that. That man had said he would send someone to fetch spring water from outside the city for her, but she refused for fear of arousing suspicion.

To everyone's surprise, as soon as the order was given, Zhi Neng'er, who always obeyed her every word, did not respond. Instead, she looked at her mysteriously and then leaned close to her and whispered, "Miss, you should think about boiling water and making tea later. There are people waiting for you inside. Why don't you go in and take a look..."

Miaoyu's spirits lifted, and she forced herself not to show any emotion. She glanced at Zhineng'er and walked into the house.

She glanced at the meditation room where she had been sitting, but saw no one there, so she followed the corridor toward her boudoir.

She stood outside the door for a moment, until her usually aloof face showed a hint of resentment and dissatisfaction, before finally stepping inside.

Sure enough, a familiar yet detestable man was leaning against the headboard of her bed, looking at her with an air of leisure.

She didn't say anything, glanced at him, and silently walked to her vanity to touch up her makeup.

Although he outwardly ignored it, he secretly kept glancing through the mirror to observe the movements of the person on the bed.

He did indeed turn around, staring at her back with an appreciative expression. Perhaps seeing that she hadn't moved for a while, he finally spoke and asked, "I'm sitting right here, a grown man, can't you see me?"

"Little girl, what's wrong with you that you're taking it out on me?"

"Alright. I've been busy all day and finally got back home. I didn't even go home before rushing here. Who knew that after waiting for so long, I wouldn't be welcomed? Well, I'll leave then."

Seeing Jia Lian get up to leave, Miaoyu's expression finally changed. She turned her head and said angrily, "Go away, and don't ever come back!"

Even though, when she spoke, her eyes were filled with tears.

Although Jia Lian himself felt that he shouldn't laugh.

But he couldn't help himself. He felt that this sentence sounded so familiar.

As expected, Miaoyu's personality is quite similar to Daiyu's; even their harsh words are exactly the same.

So he turned back, patted the beauty's stubbornly turned-back head, and asked with a smile, "You're angry because I didn't come to see you yesterday? That's unusual. I've gone for days without seeing you before, and you never acted like this."

"How dare you say that, and how dare you laugh?"

Miaoyu was really angry. She stood up abruptly, walked to the bedside, and sat down angrily.

Jia Lian followed and sat down, and she turned to look at the other side.

Seeing this, Jia Lian could only sigh with relief. Fortunately, these maids he had to coax were all exceptionally beautiful, and even their angry expressions had a certain charm. Otherwise, Jia Lian felt he should avoid provoking them in the future, as coaxing them would be quite a challenge.

Are you really angry?

"How dare I? I'm just a helpless, dependent woman living under someone else's roof. How could I possibly hold a grudge against the Marquis? Now that the Marquis is rising in rank, his standards have only grown higher. He no longer cares about a lowly commoner like me!"

Looking at the huffy young girl in front of him, Jia Lian found it hard to connect her with the "Miaoyu" he had originally imagined. Even the girl he had met in Suzhou was completely different.

No wonder they say love makes women stupid. Even when Miaoyu was lonely, she always had a cocky demeanor and would never say such undignified things.

"Is it really because I didn't come to see you yesterday? I was busy until very late yesterday, and I wanted to come see you, but I was afraid you'd be asleep, so I didn't. Now, I've come as soon as I had a free moment. Let me tell you, I, Jia Lian, don't even care about you as much as I care about my own wife, so don't you dare..."

Jia Lian chuckled, confident that he had figured out the reason for Miaoyu's anger and was absolutely certain of success. He was also secretly relieved that he had come today; otherwise, if he had let this little girl escalate further, who knew what kind of scene would have unfolded next time she came.

"Busy? The Marquis is indeed very busy, so busy that it's almost midnight before he has time to come into the garden to see this cousin and this adopted sister..."

Miaoyu turned away so that Jia Lian wouldn't see her fair face, and became even more furious.

It turned out that she was happy for Jia Lian after hearing about his promotion yesterday. Putting everything else aside, the more assertive Jia Lian was, the more reliable their relationship would be.

Therefore, she was indeed pleased with Jia Lian's smooth career progress. This was also why, even when Jia Lian hadn't had time to visit her for a long time, she could understand as long as she knew he was doing something worthwhile.

However, not only had she waited in vain for half a day yesterday, but she was also bored in the evening and decided to go see Daiyu. She had heard from the maids that a young lady from a relative's family had come to the Jia family. Not to mention how respectable and noble she was, coincidentally, she looked very much like Daiyu!

Everyone has curiosity, and she was no exception. Not to mention, since moving into the Grand View Garden, among the young ladies of the Jia family, she only found Baochai and Daiyu pleasing to the eye and wanted to befriend them.

She had known Daiyu since her early years in Suzhou, and because of this relationship, she naturally spent more time with Daiyu and their relationship became closer.

She couldn't go down the mountain when there were many people, so she deliberately waited until late at night to go down the mountain, and who knew that she would run into Jia Lian.

She was initially pleased, thinking that after Jia Lian saw Daiyu, he would probably think of visiting her at the Green Bamboo Nunnery. Therefore, she didn't even go into the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, but instead hid outside to observe Jia Lian's movements.

Perhaps the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Jia Lian didn't go to the Green Bamboo Nunnery in the end, which naturally kept her up all night! Given her temper, it's no wonder she wouldn't give Jia Lian a good look today.

Miaoyu's words startled Jia Lian. Looking at her expression, he asked with surprise and suspicion, "Last night, you were following me?"

Jia Lian's words were a test, to find out whether Miaoyu learned the information from the maid or saw it with her own eyes.

"Pah! Who's following you! I just came to see Daiyu, and happened to run into someone who'd finished his work and was coming to see his dear sisters!"

"Ahem, since you've seen it all, you should know that I was originally planning to go to Longcui Mountain. However, I saw that all the lights on the mountain were off, and I figured you must be asleep, so I decided to come and see you again today."

If you're still angry about this, then I have nothing more to say...

As Jia Lian spoke, he kept glancing at Miaoyu's expression. If Miaoyu had indeed been "following" him last night, then the matter between him and Li Wan was...

Even with Jia Lian's thick skin, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

After hearing Jia Lian's explanation, Miaoyu thought to herself, "I originally thought he hadn't thought of me at all and had just left the garden. Now that I think about it, the route from Xiaoxiang Pavilion to Longcui Nunnery is the same as the route from the garden. Maybe he wasn't lying; he really did intend to come and see me."

Thinking this way, most of the resentment in her heart subsided, but she was still dissatisfied with Jia Lian's final attitude, and snorted: "Where you go and who you go to see is your business, you don't need to have nothing to say to me, and you didn't need to talk to me in the first place."

Jia Lian knew Miaoyu's temperament well enough to know that this was her last act of stubbornness, just by looking into her eyes. So he pulled her close and whispered affectionately in her ear, "Alright, alright, it's all my fault. If I had known last night that you were still awake and had even gone down the mountain, I would never have gone back to the manor. Instead, I would have gone for a candlelit stroll with you, chatting about love and romance, making the most of this beautiful scene."

Miaoyu was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, especially when it came to Jia Lian's physical advances, she was utterly powerless to resist. With just a few moves from Jia Lian, she was practically limp in his arms, having no strength left to say or think of anything else.

Feeling guilty, Jia Lian breathed a sigh of relief when she said nothing more.

It turns out that last night, Miaoyu was hiding in the shadows and did see Jia Lian encounter someone on the way. She even guessed that the person was Li Wan. However, because she was afraid of being discovered by Jia Lian and the others, she hid far away. In addition, Aqi specially created a "safe zone", so she could only see Aqi standing on the road with a lantern, but could not see Jia Lian and Li Wan in the darkness behind her.

Therefore, all she knew was that Jia Lian and Li Wan had probably talked for a while on the road, but she had no idea how close they were or what they had done. She didn't even consider that possibility; otherwise, she would definitely have had a whole string of "nice words" waiting for Jia Lian.

With the misunderstanding cleared up and the beauty beaming, it was naturally time for Jia Lian to collect his interest and benefits.

Jia Lian laid the delicate and soft Miaoyu horizontally on the couch, disregarding the fact that she was still wearing half-monk, half-Taoist robes, and reached out to untie her handkerchief, but Miaoyu pressed her hand down.

"What are you doing..." the beautiful woman asked in a coquettish voice.

Jia Lian smiled without saying a word and removed her small hand. Miao Yu's face immediately showed an expression of unbearable shame. She was ashamed at this moment, but when she recalled the night she had given herself completely to Jia Lian, she was too embarrassed to refuse him.

In a state of distress, I could only pull the blanket next to me and bury my head and face in it.

Seeing this, Jia Lian chuckled and nonchalantly untied Miaoyu's sky-blue handkerchief. Handkerchiefs were common clothing at the time; some were used to wrap the head, others to wrap the chest, but most importantly, and most privately, they were used to fasten trousers. Clearly, the one Jia Lian held in his hand was that last, most private type.

He casually tossed his handkerchief behind him and stared intently at the woman's loose, unrestrained undergarments beneath her dress. If he remembered correctly, what lay hidden there, besides a pair of flawless, long, white legs, was the most alluring and captivating view of a secluded mountain spring.

No one knows how Jia Lian bullied the innocent young girl, but after a long time, Miaoyu suddenly mustered her strength, turned over and pushed Jia Lian away from the foot of the bed, then hid herself, dripping wet, under the covers.

Hearing Jia Lian's laughter, she turned around and saw Jia Lian playfully curl his tongue. Her already rosy complexion flushed even more.

"Pah, you liar..."

Feeling utterly ashamed, Miaoyu spat out a mouthful of saliva, still not satisfied, and kicked Jia Lian with her slender leg. Seeing that Jia Lian intended to grab her jade-like foot, she quickly withdrew it.

Jia Lian chuckled, slipped into the quilt, and pulled Miao Miaoyu's smooth body back into his arms, teasingly saying, "What, am I a liar now? You're enjoying yourself while I'm still putting up with it. One must act with conscience; you can't just take advantage of me and then deny it."

As he spoke, Jia Lian leaned close to Miaoyu's ear and took the opportunity to make his request.

Miaoyu trembled, and even through their bodies, Jia Lian could hear her heart pounding.

Perhaps sensing Jia Lian's silent mockery, Miaoyu spat again and cursed, "You call yourself a marquis? How could you do such a shameless thing..."

Despite her scolding, Miaoyu had somehow already picked up an embroidered handkerchief and shyly held it to Jia Lian's lips, but dared not meet his gaze.

Jia Lian then took her delicate hand and casually wiped it on himself. He then lifted her head, admiring her shy and beautiful face while explaining in a serious tone, "Who told you to be so beautiful? Every part of you is beautiful. It's no wonder that I couldn't resist you."

Otherwise, do you really think anyone is qualified to make me, the Marquis, condescend to lower myself?

Jia Lian wasn't lying. He had many beauties around him, but Miaoyu was the first non-virgin beauty he couldn't resist tasting with his mouth.

It turns out that after he stripped Miaoyu into a lamb-like form, he initially only intended to admire her exquisite body. However, he had been too hasty the first time that night, and the lighting was too dim, so he hadn't done that step properly.

So he lied to Miaoyu, saying he was just looking. But perhaps this girl was truly too naturally beautiful, too pure and fragrant, and he ultimately couldn't resist. Who knew Miaoyu was so easily swayed, quickly losing control and even becoming enraged!

Seeing that Miaoyu had no reply, Jia Lian continued to coax her in her ear, "Alright, it's your turn now, don't try to cheat."

"Who cheated? I didn't answer or agree..."

Miaoyu ultimately couldn't bring herself to openly discuss matters of love and romance with Jia Lian. Seeing that Jia Lian wouldn't let go, she cleverly changed the subject: "I heard you're going to Tianjin?"

When this important matter was brought up, Miaoyu temporarily suppressed her shame and looked at Jia Lian seriously. This man was just like that; when he wasn't around, she missed him, but when he came, he always found ways to torment her!

But compared to not seeing him, she still hoped to be bullied by Jia Lian.

Jia Lian knew Miaoyu, and in fact, not only Miaoyu, but also Feng Jie and Daiyu, none of them wanted him to leave the capital.

However, a man should prioritize his career; indulging in romantic love will only lead him to be like Jia Baoyu, unable to even hold onto fleeting happiness. But he did not want to deceive Miaoyu, so he explained his plans to leave the capital to her.

Miaoyu was initially resentful about Jia Lian's departure from the capital. However, seeing Jia Lian patiently explaining to her, and hearing his tone revealing how much he cared about and was determined to go to Tianjin, she suddenly understood what she should do.

She nestled gently against Jia Lian's chest and said softly, "Since you've made your decision, I have nothing more to say. I only hope that after you leave the capital, you will remember that there are many people in the capital waiting for your safe return..."

Just as Jia Lian was about to laugh and say that there was no danger in going to Tianjin, he heard the beauty continue, "Also, I hope that before you leave the capital, you can come again so that I can personally see you off. If, if you can do that, then, what I just said, might not be so difficult..."

"Maybe what??"

Although Miaoyu's voice grew softer and softer, the sharp-eared Jia Lian immediately caught the key point. In his excitement, he forgot the principle that composure is essential for success, and couldn't help but hold the beauty's shoulders, staring at her with wide eyes as he pressed for answers.

Clearly, his overreaction heightened the woman's sense of shame and shattered her courage.

No matter how much Jia Lian pressed her for an answer, Miaoyu only gave a perfunctory reply of "nothing." But Jia Lian didn't care at all. In order to prevent the young woman from going back on her word, Jia Lian immediately decided to brand her heavily several times, so that she would remember him more deeply and be able to fulfill her promise later.