Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 383 Shelter
In late May, the Censor of the Censorate impeached the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War, Jia Hua, for being corrupt and condoning criminals. That day, Jia Yucun went home to wait for the report, and immediately submitted a memorial to protest.

Jia Yucun was originally the chamber pot of the saint, used to handle the complicated affairs of the Ministry of War. Now that the Quasi bandits have been destroyed, the Dashun troops have crossed the Great Snow Mountain and are maneuvering in the territory of Shentu, so Jia Yucun's chamber pot is naturally useless.

The emperor was furious and immediately sent an imperial censor from the Censorate to investigate the case in detail. The next day, an imperial censor went to Nanjing to investigate the details of Feng Yuan's case.

As soon as the case was exposed, the New Party believed that this was a counterattack and went crazy. They instructed the Imperial Censor to involve the river case and the arrears case of the weaving government.

The sage looked through the case files and found out that the three major weaving factories in Jiangnan owed the court a total of more than 2 million silver coins, among which Jinling weaving factory Zhen Yingjia alone owed the court more than 1.2 million.

As mentioned before, Zhen Yingjia was the confidant of the Emperor, and the Emperor had never touched him in order to appease the people of Jiangnan. Now that the old concubine had passed away and the Emperor was in seclusion and not caring about state affairs, the Emperor Zhenghe felt that the matter was settled, so how could he tolerate Zhen Yingjia, who was wavering?
At that time, the Censor of the Censorate was sent to arrest Zhen Yingjia for questioning.

The Chen Party fought back, and the old party was immediately stepped on the tail, and they also mobilized people to impeach. For a time, the court was full of major cases. Today you impeached me, tomorrow I impeached you, and it was bustling and lively.

Amidst all the turmoil, Xue Pan was transferred to the prison of the Ministry of Justice for strict custody because of his involvement in the Jia Yucun case. When this happened, Aunt Xue and Baochai naturally shed tears.

Aunt Xue even begged Baochai to go look for Li Weijian again, but Baochai said, "I thought the Grand Marshal would suppress the case because of what happened before, but who would have thought that the Imperial Censor would impeach him. Mother, this case has become public knowledge. Now let alone looking for Fourth Brother Jian, I'm afraid even looking for the Crown Prince or the Prince of Jin would be useless."

Aunt Xue knew nothing could be done when she heard this, so she could only shed tears all day long. Sometimes she would go to the Ministry of Justice's prison to visit Xue Pan alone, but she never mentioned it.

In the blink of an eye, it was July.

But Jia Lian did not bring his servant with him that day, and went to look for the place by himself. When he reached the gate of the Grand View Garden, he suddenly turned around and headed for You's courtyard.

When we arrived in front of the large painted screen wall, we saw Yindie already waiting there.

The silver butterfly came forward to greet him. Jia Lian looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he took out an oil-paper bag from his bosom and handed it over: "Tell your grandmother that this medicine is expensive, but you should not be too greedy for its efficacy. The fumigation time is only one moment, after which the efficacy of the medicine will be gone, and I am afraid it will still be poisonous."

Yin Die agreed, but noticed that Jia Lian had lost a canine tooth, so she asked, "Second Master's teeth..."

Jia Lian frowned and said, "It's none of your business. Remember to talk to your grandmother in detail."

Yindie quickly agreed, and Jia Lian turned around and went back to the study room. Unexpectedly, he ran into Yaotao and Qiutong at the gate of Grand View Garden again.

The two girls looked embarrassed when they saw Jia Lian. The foreign monk's medicine was unreliable. Qiu Tong and Yao Tao had heard that Jia Lian had taken the medicine last month. When they applied it to the affected area, the patient started to howl. After seven days, the condition improved. They thought that it was over, but it recurred again a few days later.

Jia Lian had no choice but to continue to seek medical advice. He heard from somewhere that there was a doctor in Fujian who was quite capable of treating syphilis, so Jia Lian spent a large sum of money to invite the doctor to come to his home.

I heard from the servants around Jia Lian that the doctor prescribed a fumigant that looked like steamed bread and smelled pungent, and I didn't know what it was made of. When using it, fumigate it with a charcoal stove, hold water in your mouth, and inhale it through your nose. It will take about seven days to recover.

Jia Lian treated it for seven days, and the ulcers fell off and new flesh grew. But this medicine is three-point poison, and the side effects are extremely serious. The daily headache and buzzing are fine, but now I dare not even brush my teeth. Not only do my gums bleed at the slightest, but I also lost a canine tooth when eating meat a few days ago.

Not only that, Jia Lian now has no interest in matters between men and women.

Jia Lian was not in a good mood when he saw Qiu Tong. He had heard from private that Qiu Tong cursed and swore every day when You Erjie was at home. If that were not the case, You Erjie would not be so upset. So Jia Lian just snorted coldly, and left without asking where the two girls were going.

But Yindie hid the oil-paper package in her sleeve and returned to the courtyard. She winked at Youshi, who then said she was tired and drove out all the maids and old women.

Regardless of the heat, Yindie closed the door and waited until Hui came back before taking out the oil paper bag.

Youshi could not wait to unfold the oil paper package and saw three dusty steamed buns inside. Youshi said, "Amitabha, finally there is medicine again."

Yindie stammered, and then said, "Grandma, Second Master said that medicine is three-quarters poisonous, and that you should just inhale it over the charcoal fire for a moment, or the medicine will be poisonous after that."

"I saved it."

Yindie then brought the fumigation cage, lit the charcoal fire, and roasted the steamed bread on it. She then brought the teacup, and Youshi took a sip of the tea before moving closer to inhale the strange-smelling fumigant.

After a while, Yindie, who was standing by, also felt dizzy from the smoke. Seeing Youshi stop, she hurriedly checked the doors and windows to dissipate the smell, and then carefully put the fumigant into an oil paper bag.

After she had finished cleaning up, Youshi felt that the itching down her head was gone. She thought to herself, after the remaining two fumigations were used up, this internal disease would probably be cured, right?
Then she took Yindie to look for Madam Wang's courtyard. Unexpectedly, when she arrived at Madam Wang's courtyard, a maid stopped her and said, "Madam, please don't go to the upper room. A few people from the Zhen family just came with some things. I don't know what confidential matters they are dealing with. It may be inconvenient for you to go."

Yu Shi heard this and said, "I read in the court report yesterday that the Zhen family had committed a crime, and now their property has been confiscated and they are being brought to the capital to be punished. Why are there more people here?"

The old woman said, "That's right. A few women just came. They looked unwell and flustered. I'm sure they are hiding something."

After hearing this, Youshi felt it was not appropriate to go forward, so she turned to the Grand View Garden and went to look for Li Wan.

It turned out that Li Wan was greedy for coolness and ate a few more mouthfuls of the smoothie sent by the Bo's Mansion. Unexpectedly, she suffered from vomiting and diarrhea at night, which lasted until today before she felt a little better.

Li Wan just felt a little refreshed. She sat on the bed, hugging the quilt and leaning against the pillow. Just as she was about to find someone or two to chat with, she saw Youshi coming towards her.

The two of them started chatting, and Youshi told them about the visit from the girl from the Zhen family.

Li Wan thought, "After all, he is an old relative. I am afraid the old lady and the mistress will not refuse him. But I am afraid it is not appropriate to bring a few boxes with you."

You Shi said nonchalantly, "What can be wrong with that? The eldest daughter is now the virtuous concubine, and my second uncle will be returning to the capital in a few days. He may even be promoted. Let's not look at the monk's face, but the Buddha's. A saint will not punish the Jia family for such a trivial matter."

Li Wan shook her head and disagreed, "It's always better to be cautious. The court is in chaos right now. It's possible that the censors will catch sight of what we're doing. If they do impeach us, I'm afraid it will be hard for the master and Consort Xian De."

However, such matters outside were handled by Sister Feng, the old lady, and even Mrs. Wang, and it was not appropriate for her, a widow, to interfere.

As they were talking about the disputes in the court, Youshi followed the newspaper and gossiped for a while, and unconsciously mentioned the Xue family. She couldn't help but sighed, "I'm afraid Wenlong can't be saved this time."

Li Wan also said, "How can such a high-profile case be tolerated by people below us? The other day, my aunt was desperate and tried all kinds of methods. Seeing that Jian'er refused to agree, she came to me again. What else can I do? I can't let Jian'er be implicated just for Xue Pan, right?"

Yu-shih said, "Madam did come up with an idea with the concubine, saying that we should adopt a son from one of the other houses, as it would be bad to see the eldest house die without an heir."

Li Wan had seen the world over the years, so she said, "Just wait and see, there will be more trouble in the future."

As they talked, they got closer. Li Wan didn't know if it was an illusion, but she suddenly smelled a faint foul odor from Youshi's mouth. She thought she had hurried over without washing, so she smiled and said, "Yesterday, Jian's daughter-in-law sent a lot of noodle tea. The taste is different from the usual ones. I asked someone to make some for you. Would you like some too?"

Yindie, who was accompanying her, also smelled the bad breath, but Youshi was unaware of it, so she said, "Madam, you haven't washed your face this afternoon. Can you clean it now?"

Youshi nodded, and Li Wan hurriedly ordered Suyun to fetch her dressing box.

Su Yun took it and brought out her own rouge powder, saying with a smile, "Our grandmother is short of this. Grandma, if you don't mind it being dirty, this is mine, you can use it."

Li Wan said, "Even if I don't have it, you should have taken it from the girls. Why did you openly take out yours? Fortunately it was her. If it was someone else, wouldn't she be angry?"

Youshi smiled and said, "What's the harm? Whenever I came here, I used everyone's things. Why do you suddenly find them dirty today?"

As she spoke, she sat cross-legged on the edge of the kang. Yindie came up and hurriedly took off her bracelets and rings, and then covered her lower body with a large towel to protect her clothes. The little maid Chaodouer brought a large basin of warm water and walked to Youshi, bending over to hold it.

Li Wan asked, "Why are you so rude?"

Yin Die laughed and said, "You are just stupid. If you say a gourd, it's just a ladle. Grandma is just kind to us. She doesn't care what happens at home. You are so proud of it! No matter at home or outside, just follow her in front of relatives."

Youshi smiled and said, "Just let her go. It's done after washing anyway."

Chao Dou'er hurriedly knelt down.

After Youshi washed up, Yindie hurriedly gave her some clove tablets to take orally, and then she explained to Li Wan, "Our grandmother has been a little irritated these days." As she was talking, the maid outside replied, "Miss Hongyu is here."

As soon as the voice fell, Youshi and Li Wan saw Hongyu leading two little maids in with a smile. After greeting each other, Hongyu sent two little maids to put the food boxes on the table, and then said: "Madam Xing has tried it these days, and today she made the milk cake recipe I mentioned last time, and our mistress sent me to deliver it to the garden. Oh, the mistress also instructed that the eldest aunt has just gotten better, so she can't be greedy this time, so she should share it with the lower class."

Li Wan was immediately embarrassed and said angrily, "I think you are learning to be as harsh as Qingwen." Then she smiled bitterly and said to Youshi, "Don't eat too much this time. Last time I was so upset that I vomited and had diarrhea, and I almost lost my life."

Suyun went forward and opened the food box again, and saw a snow-white cream inside, which was emitting a slight cool breeze. It felt extremely refreshing when she smelled it.

Li Wan was envious, but could not eat any more, so she said to Youshi, "It just so happens that I came across you, so you might as well have some."

Youshi agreed, Suyun found bowls and plates to share, and Li Wan asked Hongyu about the situation at home. Hongyu said, "The master just came back from Le Ting, and he is lazy now."

Li Wan said, "You should take a break. Go back and tell your wife that I will go to talk to her the day after tomorrow."

Hongyu agreed, but because she had to go to the third and fourth girls' places, she took her leave.

Mrs. You got a bowl of milk cake, and after taking a bite, she felt relaxed all over, and immediately praised it highly. She said, "The eldest lady's niece is also very smart and beautiful. Who would have thought that milk could be made into such delicious milk cake?"

Before Li Wan could tell the truth, another maid came in hurriedly and said, "Grandma, the master and Master Bao are back."

"Ah?" Li Wan was about to come down, but Suyun stopped her and asked the maid carefully, only to find out that it turned out that only a servant had been sent to deliver the message, and Jia Zheng and Baoyu might not be able to get home for a long time.

Li Wan hurriedly got up to clean up the things. After eating a few bites of the milk cake, Youshi also hurried back home to clean up the things, and did not mention anything else.

In Rongqing Hall, Jia's mother was lying on a soft couch, with Feng Jieer and Wang Furen accompanying her. Wang Furen was talking about why the Zhen family was convicted, and now their property had been confiscated and they were going back to Beijing to be punished. When Jia's mother heard this, she suddenly felt uncomfortable, perhaps with a feeling of grief.

Mrs. Wang said, and then continued, "Just now the two girls from the Zhen family begged us to take in those boxes. If the Zhen family is cleared of the crime in the future, they will be able to make a comeback."

Grandmother Jia just nodded without saying anything, so Sister Feng asked, "May I ask, Madam, how much are the items in this box worth?"

Mrs. Wang estimated and said, "Most of them are antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and some stock certificates. It's hard to say how much they are worth. Thirty thousand is right, fifty thousand is also right."

Feng Jieer said, "I think it's better to refuse." She turned to look at Jia's mother and said, "Madam, the Censorate searched the Zhen family and found more than 300,000 silver coins inside and outside the house, but the Zhen family owes the court more than 1 million silver coins."

Mrs. Wang argued, "Most of this money was spent by His Majesty during his southern tour. If we count the money, the Zhen family doesn't actually owe that much."

Sister Feng had just learned the inside story from Li Weijian a few days ago. Upon hearing this, she sneered and said, "The Madam may have been fooled by the Zhen family girl. Brother Jian said a few days ago that after the Kuaijisi checked, the Madam owed only more than 500,000 silver coins to the Jinling Weaving Factory due to her repeated expenses. The remaining more than 700,000 silver coins were owed by the Zhen family themselves due to their extravagance."

After a pause, he continued, "This is not counting the fact that the Jinling Weaving House has falsified accounts and owed money to the craftsmen. If the truth is counted, Zhen Yingjia will probably die this time."

Grandmother Jia hurriedly asked, "Is it so powerful?"

Feng Jieer said, "Madam, the emperor also cares about his good reputation. He doesn't want to expose this matter and disturb the emperor. Otherwise, it will not only be Zhen Yingjia who will be convicted." Then she said, "The saint hates the Zhen family. If our family protects the Zhen family for a few taels of silver, what will the saint think of us when he finds out?"

Grandmother Jia hesitated for a moment, unsure, "They are just some calligraphy and antiques, they can't be this serious, right?"

In the past, Feng Jieer, who was obsessed with money, would have been eager to use the money to pay for the public expenses, and then she could easily get rid of the Zhen family with a few small things. But now Feng Jieer and Li Weijian have jointly set up a business, not to mention other things, the Shendu bonds in her hands alone are worth 50,000 taels.

The public tavern's expenses were not enough, and she didn't need to supplement them. Besides, Mrs. Wang had been getting more and more restless recently, and Feng Jieer even hoped that the public tavern would not be open.

Yin said, "We can't say what the saints think. But there is a saying that one should be prepared for the worst. What do you think, old lady?"

"this--"

Just as Grandmother Jia was about to tell Lady Wang to politely refuse the Zhen family girl, a maid suddenly came in happily and said, "Madam, the carriage of the master and Master Bao has entered the outer city. It is expected that they will be home in half an hour."

"Oh?" Grandmother Jia was immediately delighted, so she said, "We'll talk about this later. Amitabha, he's finally back. It's three days later than what was said in the letter."

He then ordered Yuanyang to help him change his clothes. Seeing this, Feng Jieer and Mrs. Wang took their leave.

The aunt and niece had become strangers to each other for a long time. After leaving Rongqing Hall, they went back to their homes.

Just as Jia's grandmother had finished tidying up, the third young lady, Tanchun, and the fourth young lady, Xichun, came over. A little later, even the second young lady, Yingchun, who seldom appeared in public, joined the Rongqing Hall.

Everyone was chatting and laughing while waiting for a reply from outside.

Tanchun said, "The old ancestor was worried about the master and Bao Erge on the way a few days ago, and was afraid that the master and Bao Erge would be delayed on the road. Now he is finally relieved."

Xichun smiled and said, "I wonder what gift Second Brother Bao can bring back this time."

Tanchun frowned and said, "Who would rush to ask for a gift?"

Xichun smiled and said, "Even when Fourth Brother Lian Jian goes out, he always gives us sisters some small gifts. We are so close to Second Brother Bao, he won't come back empty-handed, right?"

Tanchun said, "It's hard to say, but Brother Bao will never forget our ancestors no matter who he forgets."

Grandmother Jia forced a smile and said nothing. Ever since she broke the spiritual jade, Grandmother Jia disliked Baoyu even more. Now Jia Lan was the old lady's favorite.

Now the old lady is more concerned about her second son Jia Zheng.

After two minutes, there was a commotion outside. Yuanyang, who had received the message, came in with a smile and said, "The master and Master Bao have come to the mansion. They sent someone to say that they were very dusty on the way and didn't want to disturb the old lady. They had to wash up before coming to pay their respects."

Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "It's what you deserve, it's what you deserve."

There was a lot of commotion in the Rong Mansion, and the Bo Mansion next door naturally got the news.

After hearing the maid's reply, Daiyu thought that it was her uncle and cousin who had returned, and since the two residences were only separated by a wall, it would be inappropriate to pretend that she didn't know. So she looked for Li Weijian's whereabouts and immediately went to Zhijue Zhai to look for him.

When they arrived at Zhijue Zhai, they saw through the window that Master Li Weijian was also lying on the bed, with his bare feet resting on Xing Xiuyan's legs. Xing Xiuyan was concentrating on trimming her nails carefully with a clipper, while Li Weijian was holding a porcelain bowl and eating the milk cake bite by bite.

Daiyu entered, glanced at Li Weijian and said, "Fourth brother really knows how to enjoy himself."

Li Weijian immediately laughed and said, "I can take a break from my busy life...hiss——"

Suddenly, she took a breath of cold air and said shyly, "Master, your nails are growing into the flesh. If you don't trim them, I'm afraid it will hurt in the future."

Daiyu stepped forward and said, "Uncle and Brother Bao are back. Let's pack up and go over to take a look."

Li Weijian agreed, and after trimming his nails, he let Xing Xiuyan help him put on his shoes and socks before he went out.

On the way, Daiyu said, "I wonder what job my uncle will do this time."

"On duty?" Li Weijian said with a smile, "It's good that your uncle is not held accountable this time."

"what?"

(End of this chapter)