Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 372: The Third Sister Buries Her Mother

Zheng Guliang finally accepted the banknote, and Li Weijian lingered for a moment before getting up to say goodbye. Zheng Guliang personally escorted Li Weijian out of the mansion, and when Li Weijian returned home, it was already late in the afternoon.

The concubines welcomed him into the main room on the east side, talked for a while, and then left. Zijuan helped Li Weijian wash off the dust, and Daiyu asked, "Is everything done?"

Li Weijian smiled without saying anything, took out the contract from his sleeve and threw it on the table.

Daiyu let out a sigh of relief and said, "Then Miss Xing doesn't have to worry about this anymore."

Li Weijian said, "We are just getting started. If we don't send her unreliable parents away, there will be more trouble in the future."

Daiyu said, "After all, our family has a lot of property. Fourth brother can find an easy job and send him far away."

Li Weijian was about to speak but stopped. Daiyu looked at him and said, "Fourth brother, are you thinking about when to marry Sister Xing?"

"Yes, I was just about to discuss this with my sister."

Daiyu said, "Sister Xing is unusual. Fourth brother can go to the Imperial Observatory to pick a good day."

Li Weijian felt comforted immediately, and came over to Daiyu to flirt with her until she became angry. Then Hongyu came over, and they separated.

As soon as Hongyu entered the room, she said, "Master Four, Madam, the servant just sent a message saying that they saw Old Lady You and Third Sister You going into Rongguo Mansion together."

Daiyu turned her head suddenly to look at Li Weijian, and saw that Li Weijian frowned slightly. He thought to himself that You Erjie's death was unclear, and it was Feng Jieer who secretly tripped her up, and it was Qiu Tong who hired someone to do it. With You Sanjie's temper, I'm afraid this matter will not be let go!
He then said, "Just wait and see, there will be trouble later."

Daiyu frowned and said, "I am not afraid of anything else, but I am afraid that the Yu family will cause trouble to my grandmother... After all, my grandmother is old and can't stand such troubles."

Li Weijian knew that Daiyu and Grandmother Jia had a special relationship, and since Grandmother Jia was the only one Daiyu was close to, shouldn't she be worried? So he said, "Sister, if you have time these days, go visit the old lady more often. There's a wall on either side, and you can get there in no time."

Daiyu nodded in agreement, and seeing that it was time for dinner, she asked Zijuan to prepare the meal. After taking a bite without tasting the food, she quickly stood up and said, "I'll go and take a look right now."

Li Weijian asked, "Sister, do you want me to accompany you?"

Daiyu shook her head and smiled, "Fourth brother, you have worked hard all day, you should rest at home. I will go to see grandma, it's nothing dangerous."

Li Weijian was worried, so he said, "I think it's better to let Xiuying accompany you. If something does happen, Xiuying can help to cover it up."

Daiyu glanced at Li Weijian with a sneer, blaming him for being nosy but also feeling very relieved. She had no choice but to follow his advice and go to Rongguo Mansion with Xiuying.

When one entered the Grand View Garden from Huifang Garden, one could see from afar the fourth girl, Xichun, standing beside a bush of flowers with a frown on her face, whipping them randomly with a willow branch in her hand.

Daiyu stepped forward and asked, "Fourth sister, are you unhappy?"

Xichun said, "Someone has come to Sister Zhen's house and said something very unpleasant. Oh, I was willing to be a concubine, and I almost ruined the Jia family. Now I came back and entered the house. I swallowed the gold because I was so depressed, but now I blame others."

Although Li Weijian had never told Daiyu the inside story, Daiyu was very smart and had guessed something. So she did not respond, but said, "Your fourth brother has found some Western paintings, and it seems there is also a letter from a Western painter. He has asked someone to translate it. When it is translated, it will be in time for your fourth sister's birthday."

Xichun blinked, and was immediately overjoyed, and thanked her repeatedly: "Thank you, Sister Lin."

Daiyu smiled and said, "What does your fourth brother's search have to do with me?"

Xichun knew that she was nothing in front of Li Weijian, and was not as valued by the fourth brother as her second and third sisters were. Every time she had a baby, the gifts that the fourth brother sent were either ordinary or inexplicable, and were never as satisfying as those given by the second and third sisters.

So she thought to herself that if Sister Lin hadn't thought about it, Fourth Brother Jian would probably just make do with an ordinary gift when the time came.

Daiyu shook her head repeatedly: "You are thanking the wrong person. Your fourth brother heard that you have been obsessed with Western paintings recently, so he has put a lot of thought into preparing a gift for the birth of your child."

Xichun smiled and said, "Anyway, I'd like to thank Sister Lin first, and I'll thank Fourth Brother Jian when I meet him later."

The two sisters exchanged a few words and then Daiyu went to Rongqing Hall, while Xichun felt stuffy inside and wandered around the garden by herself.

Daiyu led Zijuan, Xueyan and Xiuying out of the Grand View Garden. When they reached the large painted screen wall, they saw Youshi and a young man supporting Old Lady You coming towards them from a distance. After a closer look, she saw that it was Third Sister You, wearing men's clothes, with an iron flute on her waist, and no hat on her head, only tied with a net scarf, looking particularly dashing.

The two groups bumped into each other head-on. Mrs. You exchanged a few pleasantries with Daiyu, and then helped the grief-stricken Old Lady You to the small courtyard. As they passed each other, Daiyu glanced at the frosty Third Sister You, who also glanced back, and then they passed each other.

When they got to the back of Rongqing Hall, Zijuan said, "Madam, that third sister looks like a chivalrous woman from the south of the Yangtze River."

Daiyu whispered, "That's just a superficial act. When it comes to real chivalry, Fourth Brother did say that Third Sister Tanchun has some of the same heroic spirit as a man."

Xueyan then praised: "It's a pity that the third young lady is a girl, otherwise she might be able to pass the imperial examination and become an official in the future."

Daiyu squinted at him and said, "Don't say this anymore. If it gets out, will Third Sister get married?"

Xueyan said jokingly, "I only gossip about it in front of my wife. How dare I say it outside?"

As they were talking, they turned to Rongqing Hall. The head maid Amber was in the porch and hurriedly welcomed Daiyu in. When Daiyu entered, she saw from a distance that Grandmother Jia was lying on a soft couch, talking to Lady Xing and Tanchun.

Amber reported it, and Grandmother Jia glanced over. Her frown immediately relaxed and she said with a smile, "Is Yu'er here? Yuanyang said this morning that if Yu'er doesn't come today, she will definitely come tomorrow."

Daiyu smiled and responded, while Mrs. Xing looked embarrassed. She had been the matchmaker and promised that Xing Xiuyan's marriage would never end up in the mansion of Marquis Baoning, but then Xing Zhong turned against his siblings. Seeing Daiyu, she felt a little embarrassed. She said a few words, then said she was tired and left.

At this time, Jia's mother saw Xiuying coming and asked with a smile, "Why are you here too?"

The naive girl Xiuying didn't think much and spoke the truth: "The old lady is fine. Our master is worried about this side and is afraid that there will be a fight. He thought that there are women in the backyard of Rongguo Mansion and he was afraid that it would be useless if they really started fighting, so he sent me to escort the lady to take a look."

Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "Then I will accept your kindness, Yuanyang. Give this girl my rose dew."

Xiuying licked the corner of her mouth and thanked her generously: "If I had known that the old lady had delicious food here, I would have followed you here earlier."

"Hahaha..." Grandmother Jia laughed a lot. This old man prefers such innocent girls. Now that Wang Xifeng has gone to hide in the manor outside the city, there are fewer laughter and joy every day.

At that moment, Xiuying took the rose dew to the side to satisfy her craving, while the two grandparents chatted with each other.

When Daiyu asked what had happened, Grandmother Jia said, "If I had known this would happen, I should not have accepted the second sister into the family. Not only did she swallow the gold, but she also brought trouble to the family."

Third Sister You volunteered to sell canned food in Jiangnan, and she made a lot of money by taking risks. Later, a canning factory was built in Jiangnan, and Third Sister You made many friends and talented people in Jiangnan. They had a small gathering every three days and a big banquet every five days. If they needed money, they would get it from the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan. She lived a very happy life and gradually forgot about the job for Xue's family.

Seeing that her third sister had a bad reputation and was making such a fuss, Old Lady You wanted to return to the capital, saying that she would find a suitable marriage for her third sister.

The third sister was harassed so much that she had to leave for the capital in February. She arrived in the capital yesterday and entered the Jia Mansion this morning. I came to see my eldest and second sisters, but as soon as I saw them, I was hit by a heavy blow - my second sister was dead!

How could the third sister let it go when her own sister died in an unclear manner? She ignored Youshi's attempts to stop her and dragged the distraught You old lady to find Jiamu to ask her mother the reason.

Just now in Rongqing Hall, Third Sister You acted in a weird and eccentric manner, which naturally made Grandmother Jia very unhappy.

Daiyu knew she had no say in the matter, so she said a few words to comfort him and then turned to talk about something else. Let's not talk about Rongqing Hall for now, but about You's courtyard.

As soon as she entered the room, Third Sister You said in a cold voice: "Eldest sister, please tell me clearly, how did Second Sister die?" You Shi hurriedly sent the maids and old women out, leaving only the mother and daughter of the You family. Then she whispered: "Second Sister came in, and of course she made that tigress unhappy. She has been torturing Second Sister privately. At that time, Second Sister was sick, and she went to see the imperial physician for treatment. As a result, Second Sister complained of stomachache that night after taking a dose of medicine. When another imperial physician came, the baby in her belly had already fallen out."

He sighed and continued, "I went to take a look, but we didn't say much. Who knew he was gone in the night..."

The third sister said angrily, "Second sister just slipped, wasn't there anyone watching her?"

Youshi said, "How could Second Sister be a match for that tigress? After only a month, she found excuses to dismiss all the maids around her, and only assigned Shanjie to look after her. Shanjie was sneaky and cunning, and she went out to play at night, and when she came back in the morning, she found Second Sister was gone."

The third sister said angrily: "This hatred must be blamed on Wang Xifeng! Where is she? I will go find her now!"

Youshi said, "Something happened at home, and she is now living in the farm outside."

Seeing that Youshi was in a dilemma, the third sister said angrily, "Second sister is gone just like this, why doesn't the eldest sister think about revenge for the second sister?"

You Shi was speechless. She was originally the grandmother of Ning Mansion, but now she was living in Rong Mansion. Naturally, she had to look at other people's opinions in everything. She had planned everything well before. Second Sister only had to endure it and sooner or later there would be a turning point. Who would have thought that Sister Feng would be so cruel!

At this moment, Old Lady You seemed to have just come to her senses and cried out, "My second sister!"

Old Lady You was thinking of marrying her daughters to rich families, which was better than living in ordinary families. But she would end up hurting her second daughter!

For a moment, Old Lady You was overwhelmed with grief and cried bitterly. Third Sister You didn't care about arguing with Mrs. You and hurried over to comfort Old Lady You. However, she lost her patience after a few words of persuasion and said angrily: "Cry, cry, cry, what's the point of crying? If mother really wants to avenge Second Sister, we will go to the government office to file a petition tomorrow!"

Old Lady You cried, "The Jia family is so extravagant, how can we women and children afford to offend them?"

The third sister was furious and gritted her teeth, "What are you afraid of? As the old saying goes, if you are willing to sacrifice your life, you will dare to dethrone the emperor! Since mother doesn't have the guts to do that, I will avenge the second sister. Even if I die, I will splatter the blood of the Jia family!"

Youshi opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't know how to start. She and Jia Lian were very close in private, and they had just been together two days ago, but Jia Lian got sick the next day. After all, they were half sisters, and Youshi thought about this matter, so how could she care about the death of her second sister?

After a long while, Old Lady You was tired of crying and was just in a daze. Third Sister You looked at You and asked, "Big sister, what do you think about avenging Second Sister?"

"I--"

After waiting for a long while, Third Sister You sneered and said, "I know. My eldest sister is reluctant to leave the wealth of Rongguo Mansion. In this case, let's sever our ties from now on! Mom, let's go. I don't believe there is no place for reason in this world!"

At that moment, Third Sister You helped Old Lady You to leave. After seeing her off, Mrs. You returned to her room and felt an unbearable itch down there, but she didn't dare to show it. She scratched it randomly a few times, and Mrs. You was worried, not knowing what to do.

Then he called a little maid and said, "Go and see if the Second Master is still in the study room?"

The maid said, "He must be here. Ever since the Second Master got... um, he has been locked in the study. Maybe he is bored. He has become more and more irritable in the past few days. Xing'er and Long'er have both been slapped in the face."

Youshi nodded, turned around and wrote a piece of paper, and sent the little maid to deliver it to Jia Lian's study. After a while, the little maid brought the paper to Jia Lian, who unfolded it in front of him and read it, and just said, "I know."

He is an irresponsible man to begin with, and has always treated women as playthings. He can't even take care of himself at the moment, so how can he care about Youshi?

............................................................

Outer city, Guazi Hutong.

Xing Xiuyan was sorting out her things in the side room. The window was open, and the sound of talking outside drifted in.

"Grandma Hu, this house is not what we said before. The head of the family has checked it out. It's fine now, but it will definitely leak during the rainy season. Who will pay for the repairs? Even if we pay, shouldn't the rent be reduced? Besides, you don't even have running water here, and you have to go to the alley to get water. If I had known this, I wouldn't have rented it."

A strange hoarse female voice said, "Oh, grandma, if you want to live in a good house, you have to pay for it. How much does my small courtyard cost every month? Every household in the inner city now has running water, which is great. Why don't you rent a house in the inner city?"

"you--"

The chattering was annoying. Zhuan'er folded the clothes neatly and said to Xing Xiuyan with a pout, "Sister, when are we going to move back?"

Xing Xiuyan came back to her senses and said with a smile, "Where should we move back to? Rongguo Mansion is not our home to begin with."

Zhuan Er said angrily, "If that's the case, why does the master have to quarrel with the first wife? It's much better to stay in Rongguo Mansion, eat well, and get a monthly allowance."

She was considered a second-class maid in Rongguo Mansion, earning one hundred yuan a month. Now that the price of copper has been rising, her salary has been changed to one silver dollar a month.

After a pause, Zhuan'er complained in his heart: "Now all we eat are vegetables and tofu. Grandma told me this morning that the monthly salary from now on will be only 300 coins... It's like sending a beggar away!"

Xing Xiuyan glared at him and said, "I'll give you your monthly allowance. Stop talking nonsense in the future."

Zhuan'er wanted to ask when he would enter the Bo's Mansion, but seeing Xing Xiuyan's cold face, he immediately went back in depression.

After a while, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"Is anyone at home?"

"Someone is coming!" Zhuan'er hurried to greet him. When he opened the door, he saw a middle-aged man who looked like a butler.

The visitor said his surname was Zheng and he was here to look for Xing Zhong.

Zhuan Er said, "The master is not here, but the mistress is here."

He shouted and called Xing Zhong's wife over. Zhuan'er did not leave even after being told to do so, but hid aside and listened in with his ears pricked up.

Then the man bowed and said, "Madam, my wife sent me down to tell you that my eldest son has fallen ill and it is not convenient for him to marry Miss Xing."

Xing Zhong's wife was stunned for a moment, and quickly said, "No... Why don't you marry him? My family didn't think the young master of the Zheng family was sick, so why did your family regret the marriage first?"

The steward said with a cold face: "I am just passing on a message. If this lady has any objections, she may come to the Baoning Marquis's Mansion to talk to my wife."

How could a woman like Xing Zhong's wife enter the threshold of a wealthy family casually? Because she was embarrassed and unwilling, she turned around and said, "The loan note..."

The steward said, "Mr. Li came to our house yesterday and redeemed the loan note. From now on, your family will have nothing to do with our Baoning Marquis Mansion. Goodbye."

"Eh? Eh? Don't go away, explain yourself clearly—"

Xing Zhong's wife was still confused, and kept asking the manager questions. Zhuan'er, who was eavesdropping on the side, could not wait any longer, and ran happily to the side room.

As soon as he entered, he said, "Sister, sister! Uncle Li really took action!"

Xing Xiuyan had just heard a few words and was feeling uneasy. After Zhuan'er told her the story, she felt relieved immediately - he really would not watch her fall into the tiger's mouth. But the issue of her father... she was not afraid that he would not agree, but she was afraid that there would be too many troubles in the future.

After a while, Xing Zhong's wife came over happily and shouted from a distance in the yard, "My son, Uncle Li has redeemed the loan note. He really likes you. Maybe he will take you in soon."

Although Xing Xiuyan was happy in her heart, she said with a stern face: "Mom, don't shout. It's not good for the neighbors to hear it."

(End of this chapter)