The Second Master of the Red Chamber

But it was said that Aunt Xue was waiting for Jia Lian in the carriage house, and she waited until the sky was dark.

When the sound of the neighing of the war horses came in, Aunt Xue, who had been unable to sit still for a long time, immediately got up and ran to the outer courtyard.

Different from the deserted scene when she arrived, the outer courtyard at this time was brightly lit, and well-dressed guards filed in from both sides of the gate, adding a bit of a chilling atmosphere to the whole place.

A young and handsome figure walked forward, guarded by lights and guards, fully displaying its boundless majesty and power.

Aunt Xue, who was originally stopping, showed endless joy when she saw the young man.Without any of her usual demeanor, she strode towards Jia Lian.The large skirt and robe hindered her movements, causing her to almost fall several times, but she didn't care and just called:

"Brother Lian, you are finally back. Please save your brother Pan! If you don't save him, he will be beheaded by Qiu Houwen..."

Looking at Aunt Xue stumbling over, Jia Lian slowed down.

In his impression, Aunt Xue has always been an intellectual, elegant and beautiful woman who pays great attention to her manners.Perhaps it was also due to her own qualities that she was able to raise a daughter like Xue Baochai who was as bright as snow.

He had never imagined what it would be like for Aunt Xue to lose her temper.

Raising his hand to support the shaky Aunt Xue, Jia Lian could tell at a glance that Aunt Xue must have suffered a lot in order to make the journey, because the aura of travel on her body was so obvious.But the aura of dust, the sorrow and fear on her face, and the faint traces of tears on her face made her lose three points of her former grace, beauty and inviolability, but she became seven points more pure and beautiful, which made people feel pity for her. state.

"Brother Lian?"

Facing Aunt Xue's burning gaze, Jia Lian said calmly: "I already know about Brother Pan. Don't worry, Auntie, I won't just sit idly by.

Auntie has been traveling all day and hasn’t had dinner yet?I have ordered someone to pass on the delicious dishes on the table at Yuxianglou. Perhaps my aunt doesn’t know that Yuxianglou is the best restaurant in Tianjin, and its dishes are not inferior to those at Jingzhong Yipinju. "

Seeing Jia Lian talking and walking towards the main room, gagging on her words, Aunt Xue glanced at the eyes in the courtyard, took a deep breath, raised her legs and followed Jia Lian's pace.

……

When Jia Lian changed into comfortable clothes and came to the side hall, the people below had already prepared the table, and Aunt Xue was sitting at the side.

Aunt Xue's expression was much calmer than before. When she saw him coming in, she even stood up and smiled at him, although the smile looked extremely forced.

"When you are away from home, keep everything simple. Please forgive me for the poor reception. Aunt please."

Jia Lian greeted Aunt Xue and sat down aside. Aunt Xue responded politely and looked extremely humble.

Although Jia Lian felt sad, he could only pretend that he didn't know what to do. Just like when Aunt Xue entertained him before, he carefully introduced the local dishes on the table to her.

However, Aunt Xue is not a deep-minded person after all. At this moment, even the dragon's liver and the phoenix's gall are just the same to her.

She was not stupid. Even without her daughter's reminder, she actually sensed from some of Jia Lian's reactions that Jia Lian probably would not agree to her request.

She does not blame Jia Lian, because she herself knows the difficulty of this matter, and it is difficult to say anything to force someone to do something difficult.Yousi's son is in prison and suffering a lot, and he is very likely to have to pay for his life soon, and he will be separated from her.

Thinking of this, my sadness was uncontrollable and tears fell from my eyes.She quickly took out her handkerchief to wipe it, but she couldn't stop it.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became quiet, except for Aunt Yu Xue crying.Jia Lian's movement of picking up vegetables paused in mid-air, and after a while he suddenly sighed: "Auntie, why bother with this."

Seeing that Jia Lian was finally willing to answer the question head-on, Aunt Xue quickly wiped away her tears regardless of her image, and cried: "I know that your brother Pan deserves it this time. I have indulged him all these years.

In fact, ever since that year when he went to Beijing and fought with someone over an actor, causing someone to lose his life, I have always been worried, fearing that one day he would cause a big disaster and affect his own life. I didn't expect that day to come so quickly. "

As Aunt Xue spoke, she glanced at Jia Lian through her tears. Seeing that Jia Lian was listening, she mustered up the courage to stand up and bow down in front of Jia Lian. She cried and said, "I didn't have the face to beg you. But, you After all, Brother Pan is my flesh and blood and the only heir of the Xue family, but the people from the Ministry of Punishments said that he will be sentenced to death by Queen Qiu in two days..."

Aunt Xue burst into tears and did not follow Jia Lian's support. Instead, she looked up at Jia Lian and begged: "I have begged everyone, but no one can save him. After thinking about it, you are the only one. Good Lian brother Son, my aunt knows that you are the most capable person, so for my sake and for the sake of your sister Baochai, please save her brother's life."

It was difficult for Aunt Xue to speak until she completely abandoned her identity.When she really knelt in front of Jia Lian, she found that she was not too burdened and could say all the words.

She knew that Jia Lian was not a hard-hearted person and would definitely agree to her, he would definitely do it, and she had no other choice.

Aunt Xue's two maids who were originally standing by the side also knelt down quickly when they saw Aunt Xue like this.Later, Lai Wang's wife looked around and stepped back with a very discerning eye.

However, Jia Lian remained silent.

Just as the Xue family's mother and daughter guessed, Xue Pan was an insignificant person in Jia Lian's heart.He was vulgar, stupid, arrogant, and somewhat self-righteous. Even if he was Xue Baochai's brother, it would be difficult for Jia Lian to have much affection for such a person.

In fact, he knew that Aunt Xue was visiting in the afternoon, but Jia Lian knew the reason for her visit, so he waited until the evening to show up, just to make Aunt Xue retreat.

But he still didn't expect that Aunt Xue loved her son so much that she could do it to such an extent.

Seeing that Aunt Xue could not hold on, Jia Lian did not force her. He sat down again and said, "Auntie, do you know that human life is at stake, let alone at the feet of the emperor? Do you know that the person who was beaten to death by the Pan brothers was Emperor Su Wei?" The son of the city’s fourth-grade military attaché? Does Auntie also know that this case may have been known to the saint, and anyone who dares to interfere in the lawsuit at will may get burned? "

"I know, I know everything, it's just..."

"Even so, does Auntie still think I can save Brother Pan?" Jia Lian interrupted Aunt Xue.

Aunt Xue was stunned, then nodded suddenly: "Yes, as long as you are willing to return to Beijing, you can definitely..."

Seeing that Aunt Xue had so much confidence in him, Jia Lian was helpless.Although she didn't know where Aunt Xue had such confidence in him, if she really thought so, if Xue Pan really died tragically at the hands of the executioner, there was no guarantee that Aunt Xue wouldn't shed the rest of her life's sorrow on him.

So Jia Lian stopped talking nonsense, thought for a while and said: "After all, I have the emperor's orders, so it is inconvenient to return to Beijing. Let me write a personal letter, aunt, take it back to Beijing and deliver it to Princess Zhaoyang's house. Maybe we can save Brother Pan’s life.”

"really?"

"Don't worry, I won't lie to my aunt."

Aunt Xue's face lit up.She had also heard of Princess Zhaoyang's name. After all, when the princess persuaded the Queen Mother to seize her son-in-law, and what happened later, such as Jia Lian's thousands-mile guardianship, had long been sung and became a story, and no one who did evil things would not know about it.

The only thing that made her hesitate was that a noble person like the eldest princess, even if she had a relationship with Jia Lian, would be willing to listen to Jia Lian and go to the trouble of saving someone she didn't know?
But looking at Jia Lian's expression again, Aunt Xue felt more at ease.In a daze, she felt that with Jia Lian's appearance and ability, it was not unusual for a woman to fall in love and work for her willingly, even if this woman was of high status!
"In that case, thank you very much, Brother Lian."

Jia Lian smiled slightly.He did not lie to Aunt Xue, but what he did not say was that with Princess Zhaoyang taking action, there would be no problem in preserving at least one of Xue Pan's whole bodies.

No one knows Emperor Ningkang better than him.Let alone that he didn't know or didn't care about this case. If he really paid attention to it, few people in the world would dare to say that he could save people.

Seeing that Aunt Xue was finally no longer stubborn, Jia Lian reached out to help her.But as soon as Aunt Xue stood up, she felt dizzy.

She was too tired.In the three days since Xue Pan's accident, not only had she had less food and water, she had not even had a good night's sleep, all relying on her thoughts to support her.

Now my spirit will be relaxed and I will suddenly feel weak.

Jia Lian saw this and quickly supported him.As expected, I realized that her figure was plump and soft, which was not comparable to that of an ordinary young woman. I could guess that Aunt Xue must have put a lot of effort into it, so she did not have any obscene thoughts at this time, but just asked how she was doing.

"Nothing." Aunt Xue calmed down, regained her balance, rejected Jia Lian's proposal to hire a doctor for her, and looked at Jia Lian with bright eyes.

Jia Lian knew what he meant and immediately said with a smile: "I know my aunt is worried about Brother Pan. But my aunt must have been worried about Brother Pan these past few days. She must have left Beijing overnight yesterday. If she rushes back this time, she will say Maybe I was exhausted before my aunt returned to Beijing.

Let's do this. Auntie, rest at my place for one night. I'll send someone to take you back to Beijing tomorrow morning.As for the letter, how about I send my bodyguard to send it back to the capital overnight and deliver it into the hands of the eldest princess, promising not to delay the rescue of Brother Pan? "Aunt Xue was eager to save her son and couldn't wait any longer. But after listening to Jia Lian's words, she suddenly thought of something, nodded and thanked: "I just follow Brother Lian's wishes..."

……

After sending Aunt Xue back, Jia Lian went to his study, wrote a letter to Princess Zhaoyang and asked the soldiers to escort her back to Beijing. After that, he sat in his study and studied and sorted out the design drawings of the harbor and various warships.

Thanks to the support of Emperor Ning Kang, although he had only been in Tianjin Wei for less than two months, he had achieved good results in both the construction of the harbor and the construction of warships.

Especially warships.Tianjin Wei originally had a military shipyard. After being requisitioned by Jia Lian, with the original team and the talents he brought, he quickly designed the first batch of warships capable of installing Zhenyuan guns and put them into production. .

In this way, according to Jia Lian's estimation, the Tianjin Navy will be able to possess a group of new fleets with strong combat effectiveness in less than a year.When the time comes, he will transfer the current naval commander and replace him with his own people, and he will have another powerful force in his hands.

While he was thinking about it, there was a knock on the door, and two girls walked in, but it was Tongxi and Tonggui, the personal maids in front of Aunt Xue.

"How is your wife's health? Why did I call you here?"

Jia Lian asked curiously as he looked at the two maids holding the corners of their clothes and approaching shyly.

"Our wife is fine, she is taking a bath..."

Jia Lian raised his eyebrows and asked, "Take a bath?"And even sent a maid to tell him?

Tong Xi glared at Tong Gui, fearing that she would talk nonsense again when she was nervous, so she stepped away and said, "Our wife said that she saw that the Marquis didn't seem to have anyone around to serve him, so she asked us to come over to serve the Marquis..."

Jia Lian raised his eyebrows when he heard this and looked at the two women in front of him with interest.

As the most trusted personal maid around Aunt Xue, it is good to share the same happiness and wealth.Young girls aged seventeen or eighteen are generally not ugly.

And speaking of it, the ladies of this big family choose personal maids, unless there are some special reasons, such as fear that their husbands will miss them, or they are ugly and mentally ill.Otherwise, under normal circumstances, a maid would naturally choose someone who is good-looking and smart, so it would be pleasing to her own eyes, right?
Aunt Xue is a widowed young woman, so she doesn't have to worry about her husband missing her, and she has the capital to not be jealous. Naturally, Tongxi and Tonggui are standard, slim and beautiful maids.Especially Tongxi, when Jia Lian was drunk at Xue's house, he took advantage of him.

"serve?"

Jia Lian looked at the two maids with interest.Aunt Xue was right. There were indeed few waiters in his field. When he first arrived at Tianjin Wei, except for Zhao'er and Xing'er, there were no other waiters (Aqi). sisters count battle sequence).

Even if it was Laiwang and his wife, it was Sister Feng who forced him over after he settled down.I don't know if they are really worried that he has no one to take care of him, or if they are sent to monitor him.

Facing Jia Lian's scrutinizing gaze, the two girls' faces turned red.They are not ignorant little girls, so they naturally understand the inner meaning of Aunt Xue asking them to come and serve.

After secretly glancing at Jia Lian behind the case, everyone including his colleagues nodded secretly, expressing their willingness to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the master.

Faced with the hint in the girl's eyes, Jia Lian smiled and said: "Thank you, madam, for your kindness. But I have a waiter here. You may have seen it when you came in just now, the two hugging people outside the door. woman with sword.

They are not kind people, and they are most jealous. If they see you displeased and become murderous, I can't keep looking after you.Therefore, you should go back and serve your wife without taking risks around me. "

Hearing what Jia Lian said, the two maids Tongxi were all frightened. Apparently they knew how powerful the pair of martial maids beside Jia Lian were.Although they were all willing to sacrifice themselves, it wasn't worth risking their poor little lives.

Tonggui hurriedly pulled Tongxi, with a look of retreat.Although Tongxi was a little sad, she felt that Jia Lian had forgotten her as an old person and did not dare to pester her. She said "yes" and left with her best friend.

Returning to the house arranged by Laiwang's wife for Aunt Xue, the compartment was still bright.

Aunt Xue was really tired these days and almost fell asleep while soaking in the tub.Hearing the movement, he looked up and saw Tongxi and Tonggui.

Both women felt ashamed: "The second master said that we don't need to serve him, so he asked us to come back and serve his wife."

Aunt Xue was silent for a moment and said calmly: "I understand. Okay, bring me the clothes."

They were both happy and honored, so they hurriedly divided the work. One person stepped forward to help Aunt Xue get up, while the other turned back to get some clothes.

Being in such a hurry this time, Aunt Xue didn't expect to bring a change of clothes, but Tongxi grabbed a set on a whim and used it without thinking.

In fact, in the afternoon, Na Lai Wang's daughter-in-law asked Aunt Xue if she needed a bath, but at that time Aunt Xue was so preoccupied with waiting for Jia Lian to come home that she had no intention of taking a bath.

It wasn't until she returned to the house that Aunt Xue was shocked to realize that she hadn't bathed or groomed herself for many days, so she asked Laiwang's wife to help arrange hot water.

As Aunt Xue stood up from the tub, water splashed and her jade body was dehydrated.

Tongxi Tonggui wiped off the water drops for his master, and couldn't help but secretly praise his wife's youthfulness again, and the snow was greasy and fragrant.I thought that if I had the appearance and capital of my wife, I'm afraid Erye Lian wouldn't have driven them away just now.

Aunt Xue looked at her two sneaky eyes calmly, but she didn't mean to blame them. As both women, she probably knew what the two little girls were thinking after they hit the wall.

"Tell me, can the eldest princess save your unlucky uncle?"

Hearing Aunt Xue's question, everyone was stunned. They didn't understand why the master would ask them such an important question.But when the master asked, they didn't dare not answer: "It should be possible. As the eldest princess, it should be easy to save the uncle..."

The girl's disappointing answer was expected.Aunt Xue regretted not bringing her daughter over at this time.

At this time, only her daughter can give her useful advice and help her figure out many things.

But she instinctively felt that she might have been happy too early.She vaguely remembered that on the way to Tianjin Wei, she made up her mind to invite Jia Lian back at all costs.Because she felt that only if Jia Lian returned to Beijing in person could she be sure to save her son's life.

Perhaps her daughter Baochai thought so too, because she knew that it was inappropriate for her to come to Jia Lian overnight, but she did not stop him.

Tongxi and Gui saw that Aunt Xue said nothing after asking them a question, her face was still a little gloomy, and she felt a little worried. She didn't know whether Aunt Xue was dissatisfied with their answers or dissatisfied with the failure of their previous mission.

I carefully put on the inner and outer clothes for Aunt Xue and smoothed out the wrinkles on the clothes. Suddenly I heard Aunt Xue say: "Where will Mr. Hou be when you come back?"

"In the study."

Aunt Xue nodded and did not continue talking. Just when the two maids thought that their wife was going to rest, Aunt Xue said to them: "I still have something important to discuss with Mr. Hou. You guys wait in the room. If you are tired, Just take turns to rest, no need to follow."

After saying that, the two girls left the room alone with doubtful faces.

The courtyard of Xingyuan is large and empty, and a bright moon in the sky emits silver-white moonlight, seeming to capture all the joys and sorrows in the world, like this for thousands of years.

Aunt Xue walked slowly along the corridor of the carriage house. When she reached the end, she saw the heroic and upright maid.She just stood on the corridor with her sword in her arms, just like her impression of the other party, like an immovable Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Aunt Xue couldn't help but think to herself, she didn't know where Jia Lian got such a woman who looked so unlike a woman.

Seeing the other party turn her head to look at her, Aunt Xue nodded towards her, but the other party seemed to be rude and just looked at her quietly.Although her eyes were calm, at this moment Aunt Xue seemed to be being looked at with her clothes removed, which made people want to retreat.

But she can't retreat.She didn't know if Princess Zhaoyang was Jia Lian's excuse to deal with her, which was why she decided to stay in the dining room before.

If Princess Zhaoyang didn't show favor to Jia Lian, or couldn't save her son, and she returned to Beijing in such a daze, wouldn't she have lost her last chance to save her son?
Therefore, she must invite Jia Lian back no matter what.It is safest only for Jia Lian to return.

So Aunt Xue took a deep breath, stood in the moonlight, and gently knocked on Jia Lian's study door.