Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Under the shade of the trees, Jia Lian took out his key and opened an iron gate that was pressed against the mountain wall. Immediately, a heavy, dark blue stone gate appeared before him.

Xue Baochai was somewhat surprised.

She knew this was the location of the ice cellar in the garden, but she didn't understand why Jia Lian had brought her here.

Jia Lian didn't explain to her. He placed both palms on the stone door and pushed it to the right. With a loud bang, the seemingly heavy stone door was pushed open by Jia Lian, revealing the dark passage inside. A chilling aura immediately rushed out.

Seemingly noticing the strange look in Baochai's eyes, Jia Lian explained, "There are grooves at the bottom of this stone door, and many pulleys are installed in the grooves, so it doesn't take much effort to open and close this stone door."

Baochai nodded knowingly. Seeing that Jia Lian had already taken the lead and walked down the passage, she did not hesitate and followed him in.

As the stone door closed again, the passage went dark.

Suddenly losing her sight, Baochai instinctively moved closer to Jia Lian.

Suddenly I felt a strong arm encircle my waist, and then I heard a reassuring voice in my ear:

"Don't be afraid, I'm here."

"Hmm~" Baochai's tension increased.

Fortunately, Jia Lian didn't seem to have any intention of bullying her here. He calmed her down and then took out a tinderbox that he had prepared beforehand and lit it in the dark.

Upon seeing this, Baochai remembered the candle and lantern in her hand and quickly handed them to Jia Lian so that he could light them.

As the dim candlelight illuminated the passageway, dispelling the darkness, Baochai finally felt completely at ease.

So she couldn't help but ask again, "Why did you bring me here? If you need ice, just call the servants. It's terribly cold in here."

You'll find out soon enough.

Seeing that Jia Lian still did not explain, Baochai did not press him for an answer, and let Jia Lian lead her by the hand as they walked down the stone steps.

After a short while, according to Baochai's estimation, they had gone down about a hundred steps, walked in a "Z" shape on the ground, and arrived at a stone gate.

Jia Lian followed the same method and opened the stone door.

The interior suddenly opened up, and at the same time, an even colder aura than before surged towards them.

After passing through the stone gate, there is a rather large stone chamber, inside which you can see neatly stacked large blue stone-like ice bricks.

There were still ice shards left on the ground after the ice was broken, which must have been left by Sister Feng when she sent people in to get ice.

Some of the ice had already melted, but strangely enough, there was no sign of the melted water or decay on the ground.

Upon closer inspection, Baochai realized that there were several interconnected grooves in the floor of the stone chamber. The melted ice water must have flowed out along these grooves, which explained why the entire stone chamber remained so dry.

"This girl Feng, we told her to take whatever she wanted, but after all these days, she hasn't even used half of the first stone chamber."

Suddenly hearing Jia Lian's reproachful words, Baochai's mind stirred.

The first stone chamber? Could there be other stone chambers?

Baochai thought this was the ice cellar, because the ice cellar in her family in Nanjing was about the same size as this one.

However, storing ice in Nanjing was not as convenient as in the capital. The ice cellar had not been used for many years after his grandfather passed away.

Sure enough, Jia Lian didn't hesitate. He took her hand again and pushed her hard against the right side of the stone wall as they entered the stone chamber.

Thus, what appeared to be a complete stone wall evolved into a rotating stone gate.

Because of the two heavy stone doors that preceded it, this simple and easy-to-understand lightweight stone door was not enough to surprise Baochai.

Following Jia Lian, they found another stone chamber of roughly the same size.

The ice in this stone chamber was clearly untouched; all the ice blocks were neatly arranged into a cube.

Baochai raised the lantern in her hand and approached. The candlelight shone on these crystal-clear giant ice blocks, making them shine like crystals.

As Baochai was marveling at how well the ice was stored, Jia Lian walked to the stone wall and, to her surprise, pushed open a revolving stone door.

Baochai was taken aback. She then realized that the straight line formed by the two revolving stone doors was actually a corridor.

No wonder there were no ice blocks piled up there.

She paused for a moment, then asked, "How many ice cellars are there in total?"

"This place is like an ice cellar, but there are quite a few stone chambers like this, about seven or eight."

As Jia Lian spoke, seemingly to verify his words, he pulled Baochai and pushed open one stone door after another.

Finally, after pushing open the seventh revolving stone door, Jia Lian stopped in his tracks.

Baochai was meticulous in everything she did. She counted that there were a total of eight stone chambers, and each one was filled to the brim with ice.

The eight stone chambers combined make up a considerable number.

No wonder Sister Feng was so generous in distributing ice throughout the garden. The amount of ice stored here is probably comparable to that of the Imperial Palace.

But why did Brother Lian bring me in here...?

Jia Lian glanced back at Baochai's expression and saw that she was just lost in thought. He thought to himself that this girl was indeed quite shrewd.

If any other little girls in the garden had come in and seen so many ice blocks, they probably would have already started shouting and yelling.

However, it's better if you're shrewd; otherwise, I wouldn't dare bring you in.

Jia Lian walked to the end of the corridor again, and under Baochai's sudden gaze, opened the last revolving stone door.

Jia Lian turned around, gave Baochai a bright smile, and then went inside.

Baochai quickly picked up her lantern and followed.

Before your eyes, a basement many times larger than the stone chamber in front suddenly appears.

Small icebergs, made up of large blocks of ice, are scattered everywhere.

Most surprisingly, there were many glass mirrors embedded in the stone walls around and above.

These glass mirrors, arranged according to certain rules, were able to repeatedly reflect the faint candlelight she was holding. The light reflected through countless translucent ice blocks instantly transformed the entire space into a world of crystal, a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

Even Baochai was stunned for a moment, and finally couldn't help but ask, "How much ice is there here?"

"I don't know, it's probably several hundred yuan."

"Second Brother Lian, why are you storing so much ice?"

"It was originally intended for my family. But the ice cellar was already built, and many rivers outside the north city were covered with thick ice in the twelfth lunar month. Since it only cost some labor and transportation fees, I ordered people to collect more."

Baochai clicked her tongue in amazement, glanced around, and realized that this was the main part of the entire ice cellar.

Looking at the large blocks of ice piled up everywhere, Baochai was now quite certain that no ice cellar in the palace had as much ice as this.

She suddenly couldn't help but say, "There's so much ice; the people in the Shan family definitely can't use it all. If some of it were to be sold..."

Baochai learned business from her parents from a young age. When she saw such a huge amount of ice, her first thought was that in such hot weather, this amount of ice was equivalent to silver.

However, she quickly realized that Jia Lian probably didn't lack money at all.

She knew that when the Rongguo Mansion was short of money, Jia Lian and his wife would add 30,000 to 50,000 taels of silver to the government without even flinching.

As expected, Jia Lian didn't seem very interested in her suggestion and didn't respond to her.

He gave her a look she couldn't quite understand, then walked through the passageway between the ice piles and went deeper into the area.

Baochai quickly lit the lamp for her.

Soon she saw Jia Lian stop at a stone wall carved with various exotic animals, turn around and look at her, saying quite seriously, "Look carefully."

After speaking, Jia Lian turned around, placed his hand on the head of a Qilin beast, rotated it counterclockwise half a circle, and then pressed it down hard.

With a loud rumble, a seemingly flat wall next to them suddenly caved in.

Baochai's expression changed.

She was already puzzled as to why Jia Lian had suddenly brought her to this deep and cold cellar, initially assuming it was to show her the vast amount of ice stored inside.

Now that this scene had suddenly appeared, and considering Jia Lian's expression, she realized something.

Sure enough, Jia Lian stepped forward and pushed open the stone door, revealing a pitch-black passage the same size as when he entered.

"This is?"

Baochai unconsciously tightened her grip on the lantern.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a secret passage. Come on, I'll take you there to see it."

Jia Lian took Baochai's hand again, and Baochai was still startled.

What do you mean by "just one secret passage"?

Unlike later generations who were bombarded with television dramas, people at this time were no longer surprised by things like tunnels and secret passages.

In Baochai's mind, secret passages were something that should only exist in stories; she never thought she would see them in reality.

Thinking of those stories involving secret passages, which were mostly filled with intrigue and bloodshed, and considering Jia Lian's identity, she couldn't help but feel alarmed.

Then, in a trembling voice, he said, "Look, what are you looking at? Where does this lead?"

You'll find out soon enough.

Jia Lian had been casually keeping her in suspense, but noticing Baochai's nervousness, he turned back and explained, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

Perhaps it was her long-standing admiration for Jia Lian that calmed Baochai's mind.

Following Jia Lian into the secret passage, after taking only a few steps, a steel gate blocked their way.

Jia Lian wasn't surprised. He took out his keychain from his waist and untied the chain.

Instead of taking the keys back, he stuffed the keychain into Baochai's hand.

Baochai was taken aback.

There were only two keys on the keychain. If she remembered correctly, the key to the iron gate outside the cellar was also on this keychain…

"Take it. You can see there's a lot of ice stored in this cellar, so don't worry about saving it for me. With these keys, you can come in and get ice anytime."

However, this secret passage is rather unusual; it's best if you don't come in alone.

Before Jia Lian could have spoken, Baochai took two steps back and shook her head, saying, "No, no. This key is so important, Second Brother Lian, you should keep it yourself."

Baochai was no naive or ignorant girl.

She knew from the location of the secret passage that it wouldn't be simple.

Not only was it hidden inside the cellar, but it was also concealed by mechanisms, and an iron door was added behind the mechanisms, obviously as a safety measure in case someone accidentally triggered them.

"Take it if I give it to you."

Seeing Jia Lian's reaction, Baochai said, "Why don't you just give me the key outside, Second Brother Lian? You should keep this one yourself."

Baochai thought that Jia Lian was really doing this for her convenience in getting ice, so she compromised.

Seeing this, Jia Lian couldn't help but smile inwardly.

As expected, Miss Bao was quite knowledgeable. Although he hadn't explained it to her yet, it seemed that the girl had already realized the gravity of the matter and dared not get involved lightly.

"Don't worry, there are no secrets hidden in this passage. I built it simply to provide myself with a backup plan, and I never intended to use it for anything."

However, preparation is key to success, while lack of preparation leads to failure.

Now that it has been built, it cannot be left to remain as an inanimate object.

Even your sister Feng doesn't know about this place yet.

If one day in the future my family really needs to use it to avoid disaster and I am not at home, I hope you can help me take on this responsibility.

Although your sister Feng is shrewd, she is not as knowledgeable as you.

I feel more at ease handing this key to you.

Baochai was deeply shaken. Jia Lian's words made her feel both a sense of crisis and a sense of trust from him.

No, it's not just about trust.

It was a very strange feeling, like the impulse in a play for a friend who understands you to die.

She gripped the keys firmly in her hand and said earnestly to Jia Lian, "Second Brother Lian, don't worry, I will keep these keys safe and will absolutely not let a third person know the secret of this place!"

"Hehe, I trust you completely with your work."

Jia Lian reached out and touched Baochai's head, causing her to instinctively try to dodge.

However, thinking that there were no outsiders here, she suppressed her shyness and let Jia Lian pat her head affectionately, just like he usually patted Xi Chun.