The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 492 Sister Bao’s Tenderness
It was the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and it was a rare sunny day. Jia Huan got up early in the morning and went for a run. He ran around the garden. Just as he reached Hengwu Garden, he suddenly saw a red shadow in front of him, and a woman suddenly ran out from the gate of the courtyard. Jia Huan was unable to stop in time and bumped into her. They both screamed and fell to the ground at the same time.

--thump!
The two of them fell heavily into a ball. Fortunately, Jia Huan subconsciously hugged the woman's head and waist to protect her when he fell. In addition, there was still some snow in the flower beds beside the road, otherwise the fall would have been very serious.

Even so, the woman was almost choked by Jia Huan, and it took her a long time to recover. Jia Huan looked carefully and found that the woman he was pressing on was Shi Xiangyun, but her face was covered with tears, her eyes were swollen, and her tear-stained handkerchief fell on the remaining snow beside her.

"Girl! Girl!" At this time Cuilu came out carrying a bag on her back. Seeing such a scene, she was stunned.

Jia Huan quickly helped Shi Xiangyun up and said awkwardly, "Sister Yun, I'm sorry, are you not hurt?"

Shi Xiangyun had recovered by now. She just glanced at Jia Huan, shook her head, and said nothing. Then she stood up and walked quickly towards the garden gate, wiping her tears.

"Girl, wait for me!" Poor little Cuilu was chasing after him with two bags on her back, looking a little funny.

Jia Huan was secretly surprised: "Shi Xiangyun has always been optimistic and open-minded. Sister Bao and Sister Qin would never bully her. Why did she suddenly run out of Hengwu Garden crying?"

"Eh!" Jia Huan exclaimed. It turned out that he had discovered that Shi Xiangyun had dropped a handkerchief on the ground and had forgotten to take it. He bent down to pick it up and was about to chase after her when a gentle voice came from behind him: "Brother Huan!"

Jia Huan turned around and saw Xue Baochai standing by the courtyard gate. She was standing there gracefully, gentle and dignified, with a face like a silver moon, eyes like watery apricots, lips that were naturally red, and eyebrows that were naturally green. The warm winter sun was shining on her body, with a thin layer of bangs on her forehead, bright eyes and white teeth, and an indescribable gentleness about her.

Jia Huan was slightly distracted and said, "Sister Bao...Sister Bao."

Sister Bao became Sister Baobao. Although she knew that the other party did not mean to call her that, Xue Baochai could not help but blush. She glanced at Jia Huan holding the handkerchief and asked in a gentle voice, "Brother Huan, what are you doing here?"

Jia Huan pointed in the direction where Shi Xiangyun and her servants left and asked, "I was walking by for morning exercise and just happened to run into Sister Yun. I don't know why she was crying, but she ignored me when I asked her and just left in a hurry."

Xue Baochai sighed softly, "Brother Huan didn't know that yesterday afternoon, both of the Shi brothers were arrested by the Jinyiwei and imprisoned. Today, the Shi family sent someone to take Yun girl back home."

The "Shi Hou brothers" are Shi Xiangyun's two uncles, Shi Nai and Shi Ding. Shi Xiangyun's biological father is the eldest son of the Shi family. Unfortunately, when Shi Xiangyun was still an infant, her parents died. As to how they died, it was not mentioned in the original book. Anyway, after Shi Xiangyun's biological parents died, she was raised by her uncle Shi Nai.

When Jia Huan heard that the Shi brothers were also arrested by the Jinyiwei, he was moved and blurted out, "Is it also because of reselling salt permits?"

Xue Baochai nodded and said worriedly, "It is said that not only the Shi family, but also the Niu family of the Duke of Zhenguo and the Liu family of the Duke of Liguo have also had problems. I estimate that there will be more in the future. This matter will not be small!"

Jia Huan thought, this is definitely a big deal. Emperor Qiansheng had been patient for seven or eight years, and finally launched a general attack on his father, Emperor Kangping. He had previously used the Yangzhou smuggling salt case to eliminate Prince Yi Zhong, which was equivalent to destroying the emperor's purse. Then he overthrew the Minister of War Wang Ziteng, and the emperor's left and right arms were removed. Now Emperor Qiansheng is taking advantage of the victory and stirring up a storm of public opinion with the help of the Donglin civil servants. His purpose is to completely strike the old imperial faction and take control of the Ministry of Revenue.

Once Emperor Qiansheng successfully took over the Ministry of Revenue, then among the six ministries, only the Minister of Justice Guo Da would be from the line of the retired emperor. In addition, Emperor Qiansheng now controlled the cabinet. In other words, the retired emperor could no longer interfere in the court. He only had a greater influence on the army because most of the military positions in the army were controlled by military meritorious families.

However, Emperor Qiansheng would certainly not allow such hidden dangers to exist, and would definitely take this opportunity to divide and attack the noble group. It depends on whether the focus is on division or attack. If the focus is on attack, then Jia Zhen and Jia She will definitely end up miserably, and they may even lose their heads. If the focus is on division and winning over, they will probably just catch a few scapegoats to punish them, and then lift them up high and then let them down gently.

Now that the Jinyiwei suddenly arrested the Shi family, the Niu family, and the Liu family, Jia Huan guessed that Jia Zhen and Jia She had confessed. How could these two withstand the torture of the Jinyiwei? It was normal for them to confess at the first sight. It would depend on how the situation developed. If they continued to arrest people on a large scale, it would mean that Emperor Qiansheng wanted to use thundering means to completely eliminate the old military merit group, and Jia Zhen and Jia She would be completely finished. If they did not continue to arrest people on a large scale, it would be mainly to divide and win over.

Seeing Jia Huan standing there in deep thought, with a little sweat on his forehead and thin clothes, Xue Baochai hurriedly reminded him, "Brother Huan, don't just stand there in the wind when your body is just warm. Run quickly, or you will catch a cold, which is not easy to deal with."

Jia Huan came back to his senses at this point. He did not hear clearly for a moment, so he asked, "What did Sister Bao say just now?"

Jia Baochai said with a hint of resentment: "I told you to run faster. Don't stop and catch a cold."

Jia Huan felt warm in his heart and said with a smile, "Then I will run home first, change my clothes, and then come sit with Sister Bao."

"Go quickly!" Xue Baochai nodded and urged, but suddenly she saw a red liquid on the back of Jia Huan's left hand and hurriedly said, "Brother Huan, wait a moment."

Jia Huan was about to run away, but when he heard this, he stopped and looked at Xue Baochai, who was approaching quickly, in confusion, and asked, "Sister Bao, what's wrong?"

"Don't move!" Xue Baochai grabbed Jia Huan's left hand and saw that it was indeed covered with blood. She felt nervous and blurted out, "It's bleeding!"

Jia Huan then discovered that there was a skin break on the back of his left hand, probably from the fall. Because it was too cold, he didn't even notice it. Fortunately, the wound was not serious. He smiled and said, "It's okay, just a little skin scrape." However, Xue Baochai was very nervous and blamed him, "You're bleeding, and you still say it's okay. Don't you know it hurts?"

"It doesn't hurt!" Jia Huan shook his head. It really didn't hurt much.

Xue Baochai glared at Jia Huan and said unhappily, "If it really doesn't hurt, then I am meddling in your business. Go ahead and run."

Jia Huan's heart was moved. The dignified and gentle Sister Bao looked really beautiful when she was pouting. He said hurriedly, "It really hurts a little now."

Xue Baochai could hardly hold back her laughter, and without further ado, she dragged Jia Huan into the house. When Ying'er saw him, she was surprised and asked, "There's blood. Where did Third Master get hurt?"

"Don't ask too many questions. Just get some warm water and a clean handkerchief." Xue Baochai gave the instructions while asking Jia Huan to sit down beside the stove. She added more silver charcoal and made the fire burn brighter.

Then he took out a quilt and draped it over Jia Huan, saying softly, "This is what I usually use, and it's clean. Brother Huan, just put it on to avoid catching a cold."

"Thank you, Sister Bao is very thoughtful." Jia Huan said as he smelled the quilt and found that there was indeed a cool and faint fragrance.

Seeing this, Xue Baochai's face became slightly hot. She turned around and took the warm water brought by Ying'er. The latter smiled and said, "Miss, let me do it!"

"Wipe the sweat off Third Master's face and bring the medicine box over," Xue Baochai ordered.

Ying'er wiped the sweat off Jia Huan's forehead and said with a smile, "Could it be that Third Master fell down during his morning exercise and broke his hand? The snow has been melting these past two days, and the ground is slippery. Are you still running around?"

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"You little bitch is so talkative. Why don't you go and get the medicine box?" Xue Baochai said angrily.

Ying'er stuck out her tongue playfully and turned to get the medicine box.

"Brother Huan, stretch out your hand, wash it with warm water, apply medicine and bandage it. It's freezing cold, so you can't be careless. You still have to take the imperial examination next month." Xue Baochai said with a frown.

"It's okay, my left hand is injured, I can write with my right hand!" Jia Huan said with a smile, stretching out his left hand, only to find that he was still holding the handkerchief left by Shi Xiangyun.

Xue Baochai's eyes fixed on her and she asked, "Is this something Yun'er gave you?"

Jia Huan's face flushed, and he quickly explained, "It was Sister Yun who dropped it on the ground just now. I picked it up and was about to return it to her when Sister Bao called me."

Seeing Jia Huan eager to explain, Xue Baochai felt an inexplicable sense of joy in her heart and said with a smile, "Then I'll keep it for Yun'er first and return it to her next time she comes."

"That's great!" Jia Huan handed the handkerchief to Xue Baochai, and then he noticed that there was a word "cloud" embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief. No wonder Baochai recognized it at the first sight.

Xue Baochai put away Shi Xiangyun's handkerchief, then used a clean handkerchief to clean Jia Huan's wound, applied golden medicine, bandaged it with gauze, and warned him: "Don't touch water during this period."

Jia Huan nodded and said, "Thank you, Sister Bao, it's just a little broken skin, it should be healed in a few days."

Ying'er interrupted, "That's not necessarily true. The weather is cold. Last time, I hurt my knee and it took me half a month to heal. Third Master, please don't take it lightly and ignore our lady's words. If you don't do well in the exam next month, don't blame it on your injury."

Xue Baochai scolded him, "It's unlucky to say such things in the first month of the year. You really deserve a beating."

Ying Er hurriedly made two "Puh" sounds, clasped her hands together in regret, and said, "Gods and Buddhas, I am talking nonsense. What I said just now does not count. Please bless the Third Master to pass the examination next month and become the top scorer. Otherwise, I will be a sinner!"

Jia Huan couldn't help laughing, and at the same time, he felt warm in his heart. He said with a smile: "Don't worry, Sister Ying'er. I have always been a man of no taboos. I dare not say whether I will be the top scholar, but I am sure that I will be on the list of successful candidates."

Xue Baochai looked at Jia Huan's calm and confident face, which was full of sunshine and smiles, and naturally liked him very much. She smiled and said, "That's good. There is nothing that Brother Huan can't do or achieve."

(End of this chapter)