Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Jia Lian had been pondering this since he first heard that Jia Rui was ill.

If he's not mistaken, it's probably because he tried to cuckold him that Feng'er got to deal with him!

Thinking about this, Jia Lian didn't know whether to be angry or amused.

In fact, because Wang Xifeng had to manage the household, she couldn't avoid her younger brother-in-law and nephew every day, making her the young mistress in the entire Jia family with the most opportunity to have an affair.

However, Jia Lian had no doubts about her at all, because he was very certain that Wang Xifeng was more virtuous than anyone else in this respect.

Jia Lian knew that Wang Xifeng was outwardly flirtatious but inwardly conservative.

At first, he went to great lengths to get Wang Xifeng to try a couple of different things to please him, and in the end, he only managed to do it by brute force.

Women like Wang Xifeng are not inherently licentious.

In the original novel, even Ping'er said that Wang Xifeng herself was upright, which is why she had high expectations for Jia Lian.

Jia Lian had also met Jia Rui. Although he wasn't exactly handsome, he was a decent-looking young man of seventeen or eighteen. Just because he dared to have disrespectful thoughts towards Wang Xifeng, he was dealt with severely by her.

It can be said that if Wang Xifeng had even the slightest ulterior motive, even if she disliked Jia Rui, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths.

After all, if she were to indulge them even a little bit, Jia Rong and Jia Qiang might see an opportunity and take advantage of it... What a great chance to guide Jia Rong and Jia Qiang!

Unfortunately, Wang Xifeng chose to condemn them outright, so Jia Rong and Jia Qiang naturally dared not harbor any other thoughts. Jia Rong himself said, "With Aunt Lian being so strong-willed, how could Uncle Rui dare to try anything with her?"

It is clear that some people's speculations about an improper relationship between Wang Xifeng and Jia Rong are erroneous. If Jia Rong really had an affair with Wang Xifeng, he wouldn't have described her as strong-willed when flirting with a maid.

Having figured this out, Jia Lian didn't feel that Wang Xifeng was wrong or heartless in dealing with Jia Rui; he was even somewhat gratified.

This woman, at least, has a cute side.

Seeing Wang Xifeng looking at him for help, Jia Lian raised an eyebrow at her.

That silly woman, at least she thought of herself.

So, at the moment when the situation was most unfavorable for Wang Xifeng, Jia Lian stood up and smiled at Grandmother Jia and Jia Dairu, saying:

"This year's weather is unusually colder than usual, so I imagine everyone's demand for good ginseng is higher. They want it here and there, and our household doesn't have enough to go around."

However, since Brother Rui is seriously ill and needs to be saved, we shouldn't ignore him.

Since there isn't any in the manor, how about this: I just brought back quite a bit of ginseng from the border, mostly captured on the battlefield, and some was specially given to me by my uncle when he heard that my father was seriously ill. I'll send someone to fetch some for my grandfather right away.

Jia Dairu initially thought Jia Lian didn't want to give it to him after hearing his earlier words, and then he was overjoyed.

Ginseng is generally not produced in the Central Plains. The best ginseng comes from deep mountains and forests, and the harsh, cold regions of Northeast China.

Moreover, ginseng is also graded, and the thing that Jia Lian brought back from the border thousands of miles away to save his father could not possibly be inferior.

Therefore, he quickly bowed and thanked them, then said, "However, this is something your master needs. Would it be inappropriate for me to take it...?"

This is a common problem among pedantic literati; they can't wait to snatch something away, yet they still have to act all affected.

"It's alright, I brought quite a lot of those things."

As Jia Lian spoke, his gaze swept across the hall and he spotted Qingwen peeking out. He immediately said, "Go to the back of my study and find a sister named Aqin. Tell her my instructions: have her bring some top-quality ginseng."

Qingwen asked suspiciously, "Is she the Tatar woman who came back with Master today?"

Qingwen had been secretly observing Jia Lian for a long time since he returned to the mansion. She was the first to discover Aqi and Aqin and ran to inform Wang Xifeng.

Seeing Jia Lian nod, he happily went off.

Inside the hall, although Grandmother Jia had some ginseng stored away, she was willing to listen to Jia Lian's suggestion and pretend she didn't have any, so as to save face for everyone.

Seeing that Grandmother Jia's expression had softened, Wang Xifeng finally felt relieved, but then her heart ached again...

Top-quality ginseng would cost at least ten taels of silver per tael outside. If it were of good quality and large size, it would be extremely expensive. It's really heartbreaking to give it away like this.

Then I thought, that heartless guy has really improved; he even knows to bring good things home now. But I'm afraid he's just bragging. Such good things are rare and hard to come by. How much could he possibly have? It's just for show.

Everyone had their own thoughts on Jia Lian's words, but Jia Baoyu's focus was quite different, and his reaction was exceptionally quick.

He walked up to Jia Lian and said, "Second Brother Lian, you said you brought back a Tatar daughter?"

Don't misunderstand, Jia Baoyu didn't actually mean anything special.

He's just curious.

After what happened with Qingwen and Xiangling, Jia Baoyu had come to trust Jia Lian's taste.

He thought to himself, "A woman that Jia Lian could bring back must not be an ordinary woman, especially since she is a slut."

I've only ever seen this on the stage!

After Jia Baoyu said that, everyone in the hall turned their attention to him.

Jia Lian said, "As the ancients said, the people suffer when the country rises or falls. When war breaks out, it is the people on the border who suffer, not only the people of our Great Wei, but also the Tatars."

She was a woman from a small tribe whose family had been destroyed. I found her on the battlefield and rescued her.

Jia Lian's words caused a stir among the crowd.

The cruelty of war, even without witnessing it firsthand, is enough to send chills down the spines of these pampered women in the room.

This is also why they are unwilling to let the men in their families go to the battlefield.

Even Baochai, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but raise her head and glance at Jia Lian.

Baochai, who was well-versed in poetry and literature, was surprised that Jia Lian, who was rumored to be uneducated, could have such insights and feelings.

Therefore, it seems that he must have actually been on the battlefield, otherwise he wouldn't have said such a thing.

……

Meanwhile, Qingwen quickly found the right person.

Just then, Ping'er was arranging for people to decorate the room for Aqi and Aqin.

Ping'er originally intended to prepare two rooms for them, but the other party said that only one room was needed, and the two sisters could live together.

So Ping'er cleaned up the most spacious room and ordered someone to move a cabinet in the corner in preparation for putting in another bed.

Ping'er is indeed very capable in handling matters.

Seeing Qingwen approaching, Ping'er asked what was wrong.

Qingwen was initially worried about not being able to communicate with women from other ethnic groups, but when she saw Ping'er there, she was immediately delighted and told her why she had come.

Ping'er then brought Qingwen over to explain to Aqin.

The woman named Aqin didn't suspect anything, since apart from Jia Lian and the others, no one else knew that there was ginseng in her package.

He then asked Jia Lian how much he wanted.

Qingwen was stumped. She saw that the Second Master was so happy that she didn't hear clearly how much he wanted.

It seems to have said "a few", but how many is "a few"?

So he shamelessly said, "Second Master said to take everything over, and if we don't need it, we can just take it back."

Aqin glanced at her in surprise and thought that this girl was so beautiful that she must have a high status in the mansion and would not dare to embezzle. Therefore, she opened the heavy package, took out one of the packages wrapped in silk cloth, and placed it on the table.

Qingwen frowned upon seeing this: "Everyone knows ginseng is extremely expensive. Any ginseng of good quality is carefully preserved. Larger ones are even meticulously sealed in sandalwood boxes… Who would believe this is just a big bundle wrapped in burlap?"

To avoid being scammed, you should check online to see if it's real.

The Aqin sisters didn't stop her, but Qingwen originally thought the package would be very thick. Who knew it was only one layer? As soon as she opened it, round creatures with many tentacles spilled out, almost covering the entire table.

This caused not only Qingwen to widen her eyes, but even Ping'er's eyes widened instantly.

The old women who were busy tidying up the house immediately gathered around, exclaiming in surprise, "My goodness, could all of this be ginseng?"

Some of the bolder ones even picked one up and examined it closely to see if it was a yellow radish that was actually a fake...

"My goodness! These are truly fresh ginseng, and they're all so big! There must weigh several pounds! If we sold these outside, how much silver would we get?!"

The price of ginseng varies greatly depending on its grade.

The better the quality, the more outrageously expensive it becomes.

In previous years, the imperial court also distributed various kinds of ginseng to the families of officials and nobles. The quality and grade of these ginseng were excellent, and they were paid for as an annual bonus at a rate of fifty or sixty taels of silver per tael. Thus, one jin (500 grams) would cost about a thousand taels of silver.

I've heard that the most premium ones are extremely rare and hard to come by.

The old women weren't familiar with these things on the table and couldn't tell their exact value, but they certainly couldn't afford them.

Aqin didn't feel the same way they did; on the grasslands, ginseng wasn't that precious.

Jia Lian destroyed a medium-sized tribe of Yachaha and seized a lot of things. He didn't take much of the others, but he kept the ginseng and entrusted it to her for safekeeping.

Having arrived at the Jia residence today, they had received some disdainful looks. Seeing their shocked expressions, Aqin decided to show off a bit, rummaging through her bundle as she said, "These are all yellow ginseng. I also have white ginseng and a very small amount of red ginseng. Do you want to take these with you?"

Upon hearing that there was more, Ping'er and the others were at a loss for words.

The Second Master Yuandao went to suffer, but it turns out he actually made a fortune!

Qingwen also came to her senses at this moment, and snatched back the ginseng that the old women were reluctant to let go of, put it into the bundle and put it away. While packing, she said, "No need, you can keep those. Second Master only asked for yellow ginseng."

When Ping'er saw Qingwen running off with her things in her arms, as if afraid someone would snatch them from her, she quickly ordered the two old women to follow her.

It wasn't that I was afraid Qingwen would embezzle, but if she lost or spilled these things along the way, they would be very distressing.