Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

After settling things off with Baochai, Jia Lian was overjoyed.

As he told Baochai, tonight he feels a strong sense of fulfillment that his life has been complete.

What kind of feeling is this? It's like all the projects he's secretly planned and painstakingly managed over the years have finally come to fruition, leaving him with a sense of desolation, as if his life has no goals.

His state of mind was easily discerned by the two female guards beside him.

Ah Qin stepped forward with a lantern, shone it in front of Jia Lian's face, and said with a smile, "Sir, you seem to be in a good mood. Perhaps you were in Miss Xue's room just now...?"

Jia Lian didn't answer, but instead pulled her head over and gave her a passionate kiss right there on the main road.

Aqi glanced to the side, then stepped forward. Suddenly, she saw a light spot ahead and heard a girl's voice, so she coughed softly twice.

Actually, she didn't need to remind them; Jia Lian and the other man had already heard the noise.

Once released, Aqin thoughtfully lifted her sleeve to wipe Jia Lian's mouth, then discreetly stepped behind him and composed herself.

"Oh, is that Brother Lian?"

The girl who came up from the path near Qiushuangzhai was clearly Xiangyun.

Seeing her running quickly towards him, with the little maid carrying a lantern chasing after her, Jia Lian couldn't help but smile.

"Where are you going so late?"

"It really is Brother Lian! I heard from Third Sister that Sister Bao has returned to the garden, so I went to see her."

"Hmph, Second Brother Lian, you're so biased! You know perfectly well that I'm closest to Sister Bao, yet you took Second Sister and Third Sister to Sister Bao's house without taking me!"

Her sweet, childlike voice made Jia Lian's smile widen. He explained that he hadn't seen her at the time, but if he had, he would have taken her with him. Then he laughed and said, "It's perfect that your Bao-jie hasn't gone to sleep yet. Go see her quickly. Just be careful not to fall."

"Oh, okay."

Shi Xiangyun and Jia Lian bowed slightly, then she beckoned her maid Cuilu to head towards the main mountain.

Distracted by this, Jia Lian was not in a hurry to go home. Instead, he took a detour and headed towards Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

The Xiaoxiang Pavilion remains as tranquil as ever.

But with Jia Lian's arrival, the place immediately became more lively.

Daiyu was still looking beautiful, curled up alone on the warm kang, reading a book with her head on a cushion.

When he saw Jia Lian enter the room, he barely acknowledged him.

Jia Lian knew that this was just Daiyu's personality. If the relationship wasn't close, she would be very polite and follow all the proper etiquette. But if the relationship was good, she would be casual; the tea would be there, and she could drink it or not if she wanted.

But since Daiyu dared to do this, the maids like Zijuan dared not neglect her. They quickly brought over a cup of tea, which Jia Lian simply left unattended. Then he plopped down on Daiyu's fragrant kang (heated brick bed).

Daiyu, nearly bounced up by Jia Lian's heavy weight, glared at him irritably, rolled over, and, still holding her book, asked, "I heard you took Second Sister and Tan'er to Aunt's house to bring Baochai back to the garden?"

"Hmm, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

Daiyu seemed to have asked a pointless question, and then fell silent.

Seeing this, Jia Lian waved his hand behind him. Zijuan and Xueyan, knowing their place, left the room.

Just then, Daiyu caught a glimpse of this scene and immediately became annoyed, asking with some suspicion, "Why did you chase them away?"

"I'm not doing anything, I just don't want them to hear our conversation, is that not allowed?"

Daiyu shrank her slender legs, her brows furrowed, and after a long while warned, "You're not allowed to do anything reckless!"

"Well……"

Jia Lian smiled, kicked off his shoes, sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), and asked Daiyu with a smile, "That's quite a nonsensical question. When have I ever acted recklessly?"

Daiyu was too lazy to explain, and gave her a look that said, "You know what I mean."

The fairy's every smile and frown was captivating, which made Jia Lian, who originally had no particular thoughts, feel a little mischievous.

He leaned forward even further, almost pressing down on Daiyu's reclining body, and threatened, "I hate being wronged the most. Since Sister Lin questions me like this, I'll have to do something reckless to avoid being unjustly accused."

As he spoke, he reached out to tickle Daiyu's itch.

"Ugh... Pshaw, stop it, you're so annoying..."

Daiyu's protests and pleas for mercy did not elicit any pity from Jia Lian. Knowing better than anyone that Daiyu was extremely ticklish, Jia Lian leaned even closer, using both hands to ravage Daiyu's body.

Soon, the delicate and frail Daiyu could no longer resist and resignedly collapsed on the kang (a heated brick bed), her watery eyes silently staring at Jia Lian, wondering how he could bear to bully her under her gaze.

Sure enough, Jia Lian stopped shortly after she gave up resisting.

But he did not let go out of pity as Daiyu had imagined; rather, he was deeply attracted by Daiyu's appearance at that moment.

The ethereal beauty Lin Daiyu possessed unparalleled beauty. Now, she lay limp and powerless on the kang (a heated brick bed), her delicate hands and legs casually spread out, revealing glimpses of her fair skin through her sleeves and trouser legs.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were glazed, and she was panting heavily. Her beauty was tinged with an indescribable sense of fragility, which deeply moved Jia Lian, who was leaning on her.

At this moment, he found that he did not have the same desire to possess the beauty beneath him that he had when facing other top beauties.

More than anything, it's a feeling of wanting to protect.

Whether she sensed Jia Lian's thoughts or not, Daiyu's eyes began to change.

Jia Lian, who knew Daiyu very well, knew that the girl was probably about to scold him for letting go in the next second.

Not wanting the other party to speak and ruin the feeling in front of him, Jia Lian raised his hands, grabbed Daiyu's small hands and pressed them above her head, then lowered his head and pressed his lips to Daiyu's small mouth, silencing her scolding words and turning them into "ooh" sounds.

It's light and sweet, tender and delicious, yet with a slight hint of resistance.

The struggle ceased in an instant, the whimpering stopped, and the room fell into extreme silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Jia Lian raised his head and looked at the beautiful fairy beneath him with some confusion. He saw that the fairy's eyes were closed and her eyebrows were furrowed, as if she were nervous or talking in her sleep.

His thin, slightly parted lips still held traces of moisture from his earlier kiss, making them appear vividly dewy.

At this moment, Daiyu was both pure and alluring. Jia Lian was even quite certain that if he pressed his advantage and used a combination of coaxing and deception, he could easily win over this young girl.

But he didn't act. Instead, he gave a teasing "tsk" and flicked Daiyu's delicate nose, asking with a smile, "Why are you keeping your eyes closed and not saying anything?"

Daiyu's eyelids twitched slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes. Her dark pupils had just focused their attention when she stared at Jia Lian's face, and then a sharp glint appeared in her eyes!

Daiyu kicked out, not caring whether it was a low kick or not, and struck Jia Lian. Then she took the opportunity to pull her hand back, flipped over and sat up, hugging a cushion and hiding at the end of the kang (heated brick bed), glaring at Jia Lian with a mixture of shame and anger.

"What are you doing, acting like Lin Daiyu, trying to murder your husband?"

Jia Lian questioned him, then covered his lower body with both hands and curled up on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Seeing this, Daiyu panicked a little and peeked out from behind the high pillow: "Really, you kicked it?"

What do you think?

Jia Lian rolled over casually on the kang and ended up next to Daiyu, resting his head on her lap and staring at her with a resentful expression.

Daiyu almost believed him, but then she remembered how Jia Lian had deceived her many times before. She also thought that with her strength, even if she really hurt him, it wouldn't be serious!

So she tightened her face and coldly retorted, "Pah, serves you right! Who told you to bully people!"

After she finished scolding, her face turned bright red at a visible speed, as if she had thought of something.

That wretched second brother! He must have been so humiliated just now...

Daiyu felt deeply ashamed and remorseful for her poor performance under Jia Lian's bullying.

Jia Lian lay on his back, his head resting between Daiyu's legs, gazing at her with a smile. The only pity was that from this angle, he could see all of Daiyu's beauty without any obstruction to his view.

"I don't care, you think you're in the right to hurt people?"

"So what do you want?"

"How about you rub it for me?"

"..." Daiyu subconsciously turned around and looked at the spot that Jia Lian had just covered, staring blankly.

It wasn't until she caught a glimpse of Jia Lian's expectant yet teasing gaze out of the corner of her eye that she realized what was happening and immediately said, "Don't even think about it!"

After saying that, he pushed Jia Lian's head away with both hands and turned his head away.

Perhaps still not satisfied, she turned back after a while, glanced at Jia Lian, and muttered under her breath, "You scoundrel!"

Heaven knows what Jia Lian felt when he heard that light, seemingly reproachful yet playful scolding.

In that instant, Jia Lian felt his nerves lighten, and a cool sensation rushed straight to the top of his head. It was a feeling that struck him from the outside in, from his heart to his soul!

Perhaps this is the unique charm of Lin Daiyu, the ethereal beauty from another world.

Jia Lian sat up, glanced at Daiyu a few times, then pulled her back into his arms and sighed, "Sister Lin, oh Sister Lin, do you know how much you have bewitched my heart?"

Daiyu was on guard against Jia Lian bullying her again. Hearing Jia Lian say this suddenly, her eyes flickered, and she immediately said, "Is that so? I think it's not just me who has captivated your heart."

"Which courtesan or little actress isn't captivated by you!"

Jia Lian was somewhat surprised; why did Daiyu sound so dissatisfied?

Then he laughed and said, "Where did you hear those rumors about me, Lin sister? You know perfectly well the backgrounds of your sister Pan'er and the others."

Honestly, all this time, I haven't done anything to them.

"Don't you believe me, Lin Daiyu? After all, I could resist the temptation of a fairy-like beauty like you and remain virtuous like Liu Xiahui. Based on that alone, you shouldn't doubt my willpower, right?"

"Pah! Pah! What utter nonsense!"

Although she verbally retorted, Daiyu was actually quite convinced by Jia Lian's explanation. She said, "Leaving aside the others, what about that Jiang Yun? Everyone in the manor is saying that she's ostensibly a servant's wife, but actually... actually she's your person!"

"If it weren't for that, you wouldn't have allowed your men to beat both of your wet nurses, and even your wet nurse's attempts to seek justice were useless..."

Jia Lian was initially quite confused, but after hearing Daiyu's next words, he immediately understood.

Well, these people in the manor have nothing better to do than gossip about him all day long?

That's not surprising. From an outsider's perspective, the fact that the Zhao brothers were crippled clearly showed that he favored Zhao'er and the others, which was a case of "helping the right side rather than the family."

Those who are interested in such matters may speculate about the deeper reasons behind this, and such speculation is not unreasonable.

Jia Lian never expected that these gossips from his subordinates would reach Daiyu's ears.

It seems he underestimated Daiyu's gossipy nature and her ability to absorb gossip!

He didn't pay much attention, and just asked with a smile, "You actually believe the nonsense your servants make up when they have nothing better to do, Lin Daiyu?"

Seeing Jia Lian so composed, Daiyu's doubts subsided considerably.

She pursed her lips and continued, "Let's leave that matter aside for now. What about the young actress from Pear Fragrance Courtyard? Someone saw you flirting with her at the garden gate that night, and they said, they said..."

"What did you say?"

"You know what you're saying!"

Seeing Daiyu turn her head away, looking both annoyed and ashamed, Jia Lian thought to himself, "Sure enough, fame brings trouble!"

He realized that Daiyu was referring to the night he had flirted with Lingguan.

It's hard to imagine how such a trivial matter reached Daiyu's ears.

At the same time, Jia Lian couldn't help but find it amusing. He didn't know when it had started, but Daiyu had transformed from a little girl who liked him three parts and admired him seven parts, into someone increasingly like a girl in love.

Isn't this just like a girlfriend in later generations checking her boyfriend's phone and questioning him after finding inappropriate information?

Jia Lian was pleased to see this change, because it meant that Daiyu had completely placed him in the position of her lover in her heart.

So she smiled and said, "The one Lin Daiyu is talking about is Lingguan, isn't she?"

Daiyu snorted lightly, with an expression that said, "I knew I hadn't wronged you."

It turned out that today, Daiyu had returned from paying her respects to Grandmother Jia. After entering the garden, she happened to hear the maids guarding the garden gate chatting idly.

She didn't care much at first, but then those people started gossiping about who Jia Lian's favorite woman was.

Some say it's Sister Feng, some say it's Lin Daiyu, and some say it's the young lady Gu Qingyi who moved to the Tianxiang Tower in Ningguo Mansion...

Some people said, "In my opinion, our Master Lian's favorite person is still Miss Lin. Not only does he like her, but it has reached the point of 'love me, love my dog'!"

Like Qingwen in that courtyard, so charming and clever, with an arrogant and domineering personality, like a cocky little chicken. If it weren't for the fact that her features resembled Miss Lin's, would Second Master Lian have doted on her so much? I heard that even Second Madam Lian in that courtyard didn't dare to do anything to her!

There's something else I need to tell you, but please don't spread it around.

The night before last, when Second Master Lian went out of the garden…”

The old woman vividly recounted how Jia Lian had encountered the young actresses from Pear Fragrance Courtyard that evening when he left the Grand View Garden, focusing on Jia Lian's praise of Lingguan's resemblance to Daiyu.

According to that old woman, Lingguan must have caught the eye of Second Master Lian, and she might become one of his concubines in the future. She advised everyone to be discerning and not to offend her in the future...

Jia Lian didn't know exactly how much Daiyu knew, but he smiled and said, "It's not exactly flirting. I've just often heard people say that she looks somewhat like Lin Daiyu, and I happened to run into her and started to notice her."

Hearing Jia Lian say this, Daiyu didn't angrily rebuke him for comparing her to an actress. After all, this was a topic that had been discussed for quite some time.

Ever since Daiyu met Zhen Yuhuan, her sister who looked almost exactly like her, she no longer felt anything when someone said that someone else looked like her.

Not wanting Jia Lian to get away with it so easily, she still grumbled, "I think you're not just paying attention; you might have other ideas too!"

Seeing Daiyu's intense jealousy, Jia Lian laughed, "Even if you are, you can't blame me, can you?"

Ok?

Daiyu frowned and glared at Jia Lian, scolding, "I knew it! You're a greedy and lustful person!"

Previously, Daiyu would never have uttered such words, but now, having been bullied beyond recognition by Jia Lian, she is able to utter such angry rebukes.

Jia Lian, however, felt no shame whatsoever. Instead, he smiled and embraced Daiyu, explaining, "It's really not my fault. Who told my Lin sister to be so beautiful? In this world, even a woman of the third rank is already an unparalleled beauty."

Daiyu, who had been struggling slightly, suddenly quieted down.

After a long while, she gently rested her head on Jia Lian's chest and slowly said, "Second Brother, you must always coax Yu'er like this, okay? No matter what Yu'er says or does that displeases you, you must never be harsh with Yu'er, okay? Otherwise, Yu'er will break..."