Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The second wife was a stunningly beautiful concubine whom the second master of the Xue family brought back from the distant Western Regions.

Moreover, she was still young. According to Jia Lian's guess, she should be under thirty years old, in the prime of her life, with a captivating beauty mixed with a touch of mature elegance. Ever since their parting in Jinling, Jia Lian had often thought of this beauty.

Now that I have recovered, I am naturally overjoyed.

The second wife, sitting on his lap, was extremely nervous. While pushing away Jia Lian's indecent advances, she kept an eye out for any noise outside, fearing that Aunt Xue might return at any moment and discover her affair with Jia Lian.

Seeing that Jia Lian remained unmoved by her rejections, she knew he took it as a coy refusal. Taking advantage of Jia Lian's large hand reaching inside her clothes, she raised her hand to hold down the source of the disturbance, and looked up at Jia Lian to say, "My lord, please don't be anxious. I have come to the capital because there is something important I need to tell you."

Jia Lian didn't take the beauty's words seriously. He pulled his hand away and realized that the beauty's attitude was very firm. She had no intention of violently escaping, but instead chose to harass him on the spot.

Seeing the beauty panting softly from his ministrations, her eyes sparkling with desire, he casually replied, "Oh, what important thing could you possibly have to say?"

The second wife leaned even closer to Jia Lian, as if to whisper something in his ear, but was surprised to see a little maid happily walking in through the doorway.

The young maid clearly hadn't expected such a shameful thing to happen in broad daylight in the main room. So after walking a few steps inside, she looked up and finally saw what was going on inside.

Her small mouth gaped open, and her utterly shocked gaze met the panicked Second Madam's.

Neither of them cried out in alarm. Jia Lian only raised his head after the Second Madam struggled violently and found the little maid standing blankly inside the room.

Turning my gaze, I saw that our Lord Jia was not flustered at all. Instead, he restrained the Second Madam with one hand and slowly pulled the other hand out from the Second Madam's gorgeous clothes, beckoning to the little maid.

The second madam was in a panic because she had already recognized the maid who had barged in as one of the personal maids of her patriarch, Madam Xue.

Just as she was feeling miserable and helpless, she saw that the maidservant beside the matriarch seemed to be very afraid of Jia Lian. At Jia Lian's call, she walked over without hesitation.

"Turn around."

The maid hesitated for a moment, then turned to face the tea table.

"Lie down and stick your butt out."

Under the second madam's suspicious gaze, the little maid blushed but dared not disobey Jia Lian's orders. She obediently placed her hands on the table and slightly raised her little bottom.

"Snap!"

With a crisp sound, the little maid instinctively hugged her buttocks, stood up without realizing it, and looked back at Jia Lian pleadingly.

Jia Lian asked, "What did you see?"

The young maid, who was still puzzled as to why she had been beaten, suddenly brightened up upon hearing this. A shrewd look flashed in her eyes, and she immediately straightened up, saying in a solemn voice, "Reporting to the Marquis, this servant did not see anything!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the Second Madam, who was still sitting in Jia Lian's lap, causing her to lower her head in shame.

"If your wives ask, do you know how to answer?"

"This servant knows! The Marquis didn't do anything, he just drank tea in the room, and Second Madam was keeping him company..."

Jia Lian was very pleased with the little maid's cleverness and quick wit. Without giving her any further instructions, he lightly patted her bottom again and said, "Alright, go stand outside the door. If anyone comes, cough twice."

"Yes……"

After the extremely brief instructions, the surprised Second Madam was astonished to see that Tongxi, the maidservant of her own Madam's personal maid, actually obeyed orders and went to stand guard outside the door.

Judging from the determination and loyalty on her small face, the Second Madam had no doubt about her ability to carry out Jia Lian's orders.

The second wife was truly shocked.

It's not surprising that Jia Lian was able to keep Aunt Xue's maid in check and prevent her from informing on her.

What shocked her was Jia Lian's complete complacency and the obedience of Aunt Xue's personal maid to him.

Recalling how close Jia Lian and Aunt Xue were when she entered, and how flustered Aunt Xue seemed when she came in.

In an instant, the second wife felt as if she had seen through the secrets of heaven.

Recalling the past, the second wife's resolve grew stronger.

No wonder Aunt Xue praised the second master of the Jia family in every way in her letter to her sister (the first wife), and even asked her sister to ask Jia Lian to help manage the family affairs in Nanjing.

No wonder Pan'er was in trouble this time. I heard that his life was in danger, but thanks to Jia Lian's help, he was only sentenced to one year in prison.

Only in this way can we explain why Jia Lian was not afraid of Aunt Xue at all, and dared to openly bully her, his elder, in this room.

Only in this way can we explain why Tongxi, Xue Yima's personal maid, a family maid whom even Xue Yima had to treat with respect, was so docile and obedient in front of Jia Lian.

It's likely that she was the lookout for Jia Lian and Aunt Xue's illicit affair. Perhaps she herself was already Jia Lian's woman.

This explains why she not only obeyed Jia Lian's every word, but also shamelessly stuck out her bottom so that Jia Lian could spank her.

With these thoughts in mind, the Second Madam looked at Jia Lian with a strange expression and couldn't help but ask, "My Lord, you and our Madam...?"

Jia Lian was taken aback. Meeting the Second Madam's seemingly speaking gaze, Jia Lian also understood her meaning slightly.

With a disgruntled slap on the second wife's buttocks, Jia Lian said, "Stop thinking nonsense! There's nothing between me and your wife!"

Jia Lian's reaction only strengthened the Second Madam's suspicions.

She chuckled, all her previous tension and panic vanished, replaced by a playful and curious expression on her beautiful face.

Only when she worried that Jia Lian would become angry did she whisper in his ear, laughing, "Your Excellency is indeed bold, even our mistress..."

Hehe, that makes sense. Lord Marquis is naturally bold. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sneaked into my room in the middle of the night back in Nanjing.

"Hmph, the Marquis is so shameless! We're family friends, yet he shows no mercy, taking advantage of the passing of our eldest and second masters to defile all the women of the Xue family!"

Jia Lian choked on his saliva and was speechless for a moment.

To be honest, it does seem to make sense.

Who could blame them when all the women in the Xue family were outstanding? Even the eldest wife of the second branch of the Xue family, who was taken by chance due to the machinations of the second wife, was a model of a virtuous wife and loving mother, and a beautiful woman.

That makes sense, though. If it weren't for this, the next generation of the Xue family wouldn't all be so exceptionally talented.

Baochai goes without saying; she is as beautiful as a peony, rivaling even Lin Daiyu in her splendor.

Baoqin was no exception.

The moment this girl entered the Grand View Garden, she aroused the secret jealousy of all the beauties there. Grandmother Jia, who was obsessed with good looks, even personally intervened, shamelessly keeping the young Baoqin by her side and ordering her to serve her every night.

Many people say that Baoqin, the younger sister, is more beautiful than her older sister Baochai.

As for Xue Ke, although he is a boy, the fact that Jia Baoyu, who is bisexual, chases after him and tells everyone that Xue Pan and Xue Ke must have been switched at birth in the hospital, and that Xue Ke is Baochai's biological brother...

This clearly shows that Xue Ke was a man of exceptional elegance and charm.

If the children are like this, then we can see a lot about Aunt Xue, the First Madam, and the Second Madam.

Thinking about it this way, Jia Lian actually felt a little embarrassed, realizing that he had indeed gone a bit too far.

But then I thought, if someone else said these words, what face does the second wife, who is the culprit, have to ridicule him?

Therefore, he lifted the second wife's delicate chin with dissatisfaction and said, "How dare you say that I am bold?"

If I remember correctly, it was you who seduced me first, and then hinted and suggested leaving the door open.

They even tricked the First Madam into coming, intending to shift the blame and share the risks!

I could not bear to refuse your kindness, so I reluctantly accepted the invitation under the moonlight.

Now, my lady is blaming all the blame on me, which is far too heartless and ungrateful.

The second wife blushed, clearly embarrassed to continue the conversation. After a moment's thought, she said softly, "I have indeed come to the capital this time to report an extremely important matter to the Marquis..."

When the second wife mentioned this for the second time, Jia Lian finally took it to heart. He turned the second wife's body slightly closer and looked down at her.

But then the second wife suddenly became nervous and tentatively asked, "Does the Marquis still remember that night in Jinling City...?"

Jia Lian raised an eyebrow. He and the Second Madam had only met twice, including this time, so the night she mentioned, aside from the moonlit night when she seduced him, probably didn't refer to anything else.

Just as he was about to tease the beauty about whether she had tasted the sweetness and was trying to seduce him again, the second wife continued to whisper, "That night, not only did the Marquis take me and my sister, but also... he even bestowed nectar upon my sister... I wonder if the Marquis still remembers..."

Jia Lian was taken aback. If he hadn't known that even the second branch of the Xue family was well-off, Jia Lian would have thought that the second wife had come to collect a debt of gratitude and demand compensation.

Otherwise, why would she need to remind herself of the details?

In a daze, Jia Lian suddenly realized something, his eyes widened abruptly, and he looked at the Second Madam in disbelief.

The second wife had been watching Jia Lian's expression closely. Seeing this, she finally smiled with relief and whispered in his ear, "The Marquis's guess was correct... In mid-December last year, my sister gave birth to a daughter for the Marquis safely."

Now, she's almost three months old...

Jia Lian was truly stunned this time, and after a long while, he said, "Really?"

"How could I dare to deceive the Marquis about such a thing? Not long after the Marquis left Nanjing, my sister noticed something was wrong with her body."

At first, she didn't pay attention. But her older sister, having given birth before, quickly noticed something was wrong from her body's reactions.

Not daring to tell anyone, she secretly went outside to see a doctor. After confirming that she was pregnant, her sister was very worried and scared, and that's when she told me.

I also advised her to use medication to remove it to avoid any complications. But my sister was always reluctant to do so.

Later, as her belly grew larger, it became increasingly difficult to hide the truth. Left with no other choice, she feigned illness and moved to a village outside the city. Under the pretext of recuperating, she secretly gave birth to the child and temporarily entrusted it to an outsider for adoption.

Last month, they arranged to meet at Cihang Nunnery outside the city and adopted her as their daughter.

"My lord, please forgive me. Knowing that this child could never return to your side, I, your elder sister, boldly allowed her to take my surname and be given the pet name Ling'er."

Once the second wife started the conversation, she recounted in detail a matter that Jia Lian knew nothing about, yet which was enough to shock him.

However, Jia Lian couldn't listen to her say a word. After hearing just the first few sentences and confirming that the Second Madam wasn't joking, Jia Lian didn't know what to do.

Although he controlled production to some extent, he did not have many children despite working hard for many years.

Besides Lady You's pair of dragon and phoenix babies, there was also the one Princess Zhaoyang was carrying that she couldn't keep.

On the surface, Qiao Jie'er is their only daughter.

Who would have thought that with such a low success rate, he unintentionally planted a seed in Madam Xue's body, and it miraculously blossomed and bore fruit?

Perhaps knowing that there were reliable people keeping watch outside, the second madam was noticeably more relaxed.

After telling Jia Lian about her main mission in coming to the capital, she noticed his blank expression and couldn't help but worry: "Sister, you've given birth to the Marquis's child. Isn't the Marquis happy?"

Hearing the sound, Jia Lian came to his senses. He tightened his embrace around the Second Madam's soft waist and shook his head.

Second Madam Hai breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Jia Lian's expression, and hesitated before saying, "My sister said that she did not ask for the Marquis's permission before giving birth to this child. Please forgive her, Marquis."

My sister also said that giving birth to this child was her own decision, and given the Xue family's circumstances, raising her to adulthood would not be a problem at all, so please don't worry, Lord Marquis.

The reason I was sent to the capital to inform the Marquis is simply to let him know that you have a blood-related daughter in Nanjing, a thousand miles away…”

Jia Lian smiled slightly, knowing what they were worried about.

One reason is that she's afraid of upsetting them by having children on their own initiative, causing her trouble; the other is that she's afraid she won't believe the children are hers.

The first point simply doesn't apply to Jia Lian. His current unwillingness to have more children doesn't mean he's afraid to have them.

As for the second point...

If it were the second wife, Jia Lian, she might have some doubts and investigate privately to verify the information.

But the First Madam was clearly an honest person. She even fell into the Second Madam's trap by accidentally submitting to him, so she probably had no intention of plotting against him.

Besides, even if he were to design something, he would create a son, not a daughter.

Therefore, as long as the timing matches up, there's nothing to doubt.

"Zhuang Ling, right? That's a lovely name. When were you born? Are you healthy?"

Seeing Jia Lian's gentle and happy expression, the Second Madam was also delighted and said with a smile that the baby, born in the first month of the twelfth lunar month, weighed seven and a half pounds and was very healthy.

"So, that's why Qin said her aunt was seriously ill?"

"Yes, yes. Actually, my sister wasn't seriously ill, but she had to pretend to be very sick because it took a lot of effort and energy to successfully give birth to the child, and she had to pretend to be seriously ill in order to avoid suspicion."

Jia Lian nodded, then asked them how they had managed to conceal their actions and secretly adopt the child. Realizing everything was arranged smoothly, Jia Lian was completely relieved and praised them with a smile.

The second wife was overjoyed and said with a hint of pride, "Originally, I was worried that the Marquis wouldn't be able to accept this child and didn't plan to tell you. But I think the Marquis is a gentle and affectionate man, so he definitely won't. On the contrary, he might even be very happy."

In addition, my sister's health wasn't very good to begin with. If something were to happen to her in the future, the Marquis would know, so that the child wouldn't be left destitute and helpless.

Only then did my sister agree, allowing me to go to the capital to inform the Marquis of the news.

Jia Lian patted her buttocks, indicating that he accepted her praise.

The second wife then leaned close to Jia Lian's ear and teased, "Speaking of which, the Marquis is really something. My sister has been with our master for so many years, and she only has one tadpole."

Unexpectedly, after only one encounter with the Marquis, she gave birth to a daughter, thus becoming a father of two, a son and a daughter, truly enviable.

While the beauty's words pleased Jia Lian, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, where's Ke'er... no, Brother Xue Ke? Why haven't I seen him?"

Jia Lian, who had almost automatically added a generation to himself, blushed.

"Thanks to my wife's love, as soon as I arrived in the capital, she entrusted me with an important task: to help manage the family business."

This morning, I took a few men and went out to help Madam check the accounts; I'm afraid we won't be back until the afternoon.

Jia Lian nodded.

He had long realized that Xue Ke was ten times better than Xue Pan in terms of appearance, character, and business acumen.

Now that Xue Pan is in prison, it is certainly inappropriate for the Xue family, with so many businesses in the capital, to have no man to take care of them.

It's not surprising that Aunt Xue assigned Xue Ke some important tasks since he happened to be in the capital.

Leaving that aside, Jia Lian suddenly smiled at the Second Madam and said, "You just said you envied the First Madam for having both a son and a daughter. Otherwise, you could ask me, and maybe I'll be in a good mood and grant you a son too."

Jia Lian's words were meant as a flirtatious remark, but to everyone's surprise, the Second Madam immediately asked with delight, "Does Your Excellency truly mean this?"

Jia Lian was speechless.

The second wife persisted, saying, "The Marquis is of noble status and his word is law. Besides, it was the Marquis who showed favoritism in the first place. It was clearly someone else who invited the Marquis here, but he favored my sister."

Otherwise, it would have been someone else who bore the Marquis's heir this time.

The second wife, like a young girl, wrapped her arms around Jia Lian's neck and began to act coquettishly.

Her appearance was charming and alluring; if you didn't know the truth, you would never guess that this woman was already a mother!

Faced with the unreasonable demands of his second wife, Jia Lian replied with a smile, "Oh? Where have I shown favoritism? If I remember correctly, that night I clearly treated everyone equally, but..."

As he spoke, Jia Lian looked at the beauty and chuckled.

After a slight pause, the second wife couldn't help but blush.

She was able to understand Jia Lian's meaning back then. Her slightly parted lips moved her tongue slightly, as if she could recall the taste from that time.

She was by no means a woman without desires. Having been defiled by Jia Lian for a long time, and now having her heart stirred by Jia Lian's few words, she was already restless and unable to contain herself.

Thinking to herself that her purpose in coming to the capital was to find an opportunity to rekindle her relationship with Jia Lian, she was now finally able to see him, and with a loyal maidservant guarding the door, she could hardly contain her feelings.

He hooked his arm around Jia Lian's neck, licked Jia Lian's earlobe, and then whispered in his ear, "I don't care, but the Marquis has to keep his word and can't lie to people..."

Jia Lian was aroused by the exotic beauty, and his desire was almost uncontrollable.

He glanced out the window one last time, then forced himself to suppress his emotions.

This is, after all, Aunt Xue's main room. Even if Tongxi is on guard outside, it wouldn't be right to give up halfway if Aunt Xue were to come along.

Since this beauty has already been offered to me, why would I be afraid of missing my chance?

Seeing that the beauty's invitation was very sincere, Jia Lian couldn't help but laugh and say, "It won't be difficult to get this lord to agree; it all depends on the lady's performance."

"What?"

The second wife tilted her head slightly, somewhat puzzled.

Jia Lian then suggested, "Granting your wives offspring is a major event, and it cannot be done hastily. However, since our parting in Jinling, I have greatly missed your two wives' skills. If you two ladies would be so kind as to teach me again today, perhaps I would be pleased and choose an auspicious time and place to discuss this important matter of human relations with you two ladies."

Faced with Jia Lian's shameless winking at her, the Second Madam, who had already spent a night with Jia Lian, could not easily understand his intentions.

For a moment, I felt both ashamed and hesitant.

Although she intended to seduce Jia Lian, she knew that this place was not the place to succeed.

What she wanted was nothing more than to stir up Jia Lian's thoughts so that he could seek her out in the future.

But at this moment, it seems Jia Lian is clearly someone who knows how to humiliate people, actually demanding that she stay here...

Perhaps it was precisely because the place was wrong that, although I felt ashamed, I couldn't help but feel a sense of adventure and excitement.

"My lord, you really know how to humiliate people. If my wife sees this, I'll lose all face."

"There are lookouts outside, what are you afraid of?"

The second wife rolled her eyes at Jia Lian, but she couldn't suppress her own desire to win him over.

After much deliberation, she finally got up from Jia Lian's lap, shyly squatted down in front of him, and, following Jia Lian's original teachings, wholeheartedly served him.

Jia Lian then picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip of the now-cold tea.

Ah, the Xue family's tea is truly delicious.