Dream of the Red Chamber: My Daiyu Has Been Reborn

As Jia Lian rode back to his residence, his mind kept replaying the words Gu Jinhong had spoken to him, and the more he thought about it, the more frustrated he felt.

At the gate of the Rongguo Mansion, the gatekeeper, who usually chatted idly with Jia Lian, saw that the Second Master Lian's expression was not good today and dared not be clever again. He carefully took the reins, afraid of offending the master.

Seeing the servants' cautious demeanor, Jia Lian immediately understood that he had brought his emotions back with him. He quickly composed himself, put on a smile, and went to his courtyard as usual. But as soon as he returned, he sensed a suffocating atmosphere. The maids and servants were walking on tiptoe, barely daring to breathe.

He was all too familiar with this feeling; it must be that Wang Xifeng had encountered some troubles.

Just then, Ping'er came out of Wang Xifeng's room carrying an empty tray. Jia Lian quickly waved to her and asked in a low voice, "Good Ping'er, who has made your mistress angry again?"

"Grandma is doing the accounts." Ping'er gestured with her chin toward the house. "This servant shouldn't say too much, Second Master, you should go and see for yourself."

Knowing her temperament, Jia Lian didn't ask any more questions, quickly took two steps, lifted the curtain, and went into the room.

Wang Xifeng was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) looking at an account book over and over. When she saw him come back, she only glanced up at him before lowering her head again, her brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

Jia Lian took two steps closer, glanced at the account book, and sat down on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed): "What's wrong? Who has upset our Second Mistress Lian again?"

"Who else could it be?" Wang Xifeng sneered, slamming the account book onto the kang (heated brick bed). "It's none other than that precious darling of the manor!"

"Baoyu?" Jia Lian frowned. "What's wrong with him? Wasn't he lying peacefully in bed? What could he possibly have caused?"

"He's lying down, but there are plenty of people taking care of him. It's just a minor injury; he can be nursed back to health with good ginseng and medicine. After all, it was the old lady who gave the order, and there are plenty of people in the mansion who can help him."

At this point, Wang Xifeng could no longer suppress her anger. "But guess what? This morning, the Second Madam sent Zhou Rui's wife to the Great Xiangguo Temple, saying that Baoyu's recent series of misfortunes were due to bad luck, and that she spent a lot of money to get him a peace charm."

Jia Lian was somewhat dismissive: "I thought it was something incredibly important, something to worry about like this. It's just a peace charm, how much could it be worth?"

"How much?"

Wang Xifeng's voice suddenly rose, then she quickly lowered it as if afraid of being heard outside: "If it weren't worth anything, would I have done this? Guess how much silver it cost? A full eight hundred taels!"

"What?!"

Jia Lian jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed), thinking he had misheard: "Are you sure it's eight hundred taels, not eight taels?"

Jia Lian's shout startled Ping'er, who was about to bring in tea.

Wang Xifeng glared at Jia Lian, then gestured towards the window with her lip: "You'd better keep your voice down. If this gets to the Second Madam's ears, it'll cause a huge uproar. I can't speak for other things, but would I be wrong about money? They said they invited the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple to personally perform the blessing ceremony, and that's the price they wanted."

When Jia Lian heard her say that, he could only suppress his anger and sit down again. Ping'er came in and before she could put down the freshly brewed tea, he snatched it and gulped it down, scalding him so much that he gasped for breath.

"Eight hundred taels! That's eight hundred taels!" Jia Lian slammed his teacup on the table, his voice filled with rage. "Eight hundred taels of silver just to buy some worthless talisman? How much income does our household earn in a year these days? The harvest on the estate is getting worse every year, the shops on the street aren't doing well, and the rent is always delayed, but the second branch of the family doesn't seem to care about spending money at all!"

Wang Xifeng scoffed, "Feeling the pinch? They're spending public funds, not their own money. What's there to feel the pinch for?"

Jia Lian's face immediately turned ashen.

"Why should the public funds be used to purchase amulets for her son? Was Baoyu born to her or to the public?"

"What's the use of yelling at me here? The old lady nodded and said that Baoyu has been having a lot of trouble lately, and we can't skimp on the money that needs to be spent. What can I say? Would I go up to the old lady and say that this money shouldn't be spent? How much face do I have?"

Jia Lian paced around the room, growing angrier with each step. While at the Marquis of Duanping's residence, after hearing Gu Jinhong's words, he had only felt stifled. He had finally managed to calm himself after returning home, only to hear about the eight hundred taels of peace charms.

"What a disgrace to the second branch of the family!" Jia Lian slammed his hand on the table. "The title in this mansion belongs to my father, and the family property should rightfully belong to our eldest branch. Today, I went to the Marquis of Duanping's residence to return those fifty taels of silver, and Feng'er was still grumbling about my extravagance. But look what happened—the second branch of the family casually handed over eight hundred taels without batting an eye. Who's really in charge here?"

"Ha, who's in charge?" Wang Xifeng sneered. "Didn't you already know? The old lady's favoritism is absolute. The second branch has that auspicious sign of being 'born with jade in their mouth,' what do we have to compare with them?"

"What kind of auspicious omen is this! Doesn't she know how she got that auspicious omen? And why is her belly so precious, supposedly capable of giving birth to a piece of jade?"

"Are you crazy!" Wang Xifeng was startled by his words and reached out to cover his mouth. "How can you say such a thing?!"

As soon as Jia Lian spoke, he realized his mistake and quickly stopped himself. But words are like water spilled; they cannot be taken back.

Wang Xifeng lowered her voice and said angrily, "How much wine have you drunk today? How dare you say such nonsense? If even half a word of this gets out, not only you and me, but our entire household will be in deep trouble!"

After being scolded by her, Jia Lian's anger not only did not subside, but burned even more fiercely.

But he knew Wang Xifeng was telling the truth, so he could only suppress his anger and plop back down on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed): "How could I not know what's important? But look at the state of things now, if this continues, what will be left of our eldest branch?"

"What can you do even if you're not convinced? If the master doesn't establish himself in the household, what can we, the younger generation, do?"

Upon hearing Wang Xifeng's words, Jia Lian thought of Jia She and immediately deflated. Indeed, Jia She had no say in the household; what could they, the younger generation, do even if they had ideas?

Seeing that Jia Lian was still sulking, Wang Xifeng suddenly seemed to be deep in thought.

In the past, Jia Lian never cared about these things, but today he was acting strangely in every way, even more temperamental than his own steward.

Wang Xifeng stared into Jia Lian's eyes: "You're acting strangely today. Tell me the truth, when you went to the Marquis of Duanping's residence to return the money today, what did that man surnamed Gu say to you?"

Jia Lian felt uncomfortable being stared at so intently, so he turned his face away and said, "What could he possibly say to me? It was just some ordinary polite talk."

"Don't try to fool me. Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are, Jia Lian? Even if you suffer a loss outside, you'll only scold me a couple of times when you get home. But today you're acting like you've been hit by a firecracker. If someone hadn't been fanning the flames, would you be in this state?"

"You'd better tell me the truth, or you might have been sold out and are still counting the money for the other person."