Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 386: The Attack
After Jia Zheng returned to the capital, he was granted a month's leave to rest at home. As he was getting old and his energy was not good, and thinking about the separation of his family in the past few years, he entrusted all the family affairs to Feng Jieer and Jia Lian. He just talked about family and court life every day, and occasionally sought out a group of guests to talk when he was free.

Also, because the third day of August was Lady Jia's 80th birthday, Feng Jie had consulted with Jia Zheng these days and decided to hold a banquet at Rong Mansion from the 28th of July to the 5th of August.

On twin days, guests were invited to banquets, and on odd days, guests were invited to banquets. It was also because of the decline of the Ning Mansion that the Jia family lost many of their relatives and friends, otherwise they would not have been able to arrange these dates. Since the middle and end of July, there has been an endless stream of people sending birthday gifts.

Emperor Zhenghe at least gave the Jia family some face and sent the Ministry of Rites to send a gift: a gold and jade ruyi, four pieces of colorful satin, four gold and jade rings, and five hundred taels of silver.

The virtuous concubine Yuanchun also sent a separate gift: a golden longevity god, a sandalwood crutch, a string of agarwood beads, a box of longevity incense, a pair of gold ingots, four pairs of silver ingots, twelve rolls of colored satin, and four jade cups.

The rest, from the princes, the imperial consorts, and the families of the civil and military officials, all of whom were polite to each other, were too numerous to mention. A large table was set up in the main hall, covered with red felt, and all the fine things were laid out for Grandmother Jia to look at. Grandmother Jia was happy to come and look at them for a day or two, but later she got annoyed and didn't look at them either, saying, "Tell Feng to take them away and come back to look at them another day when you're free."

On the 28th, Li Weijian returned to the mansion. Daiyu met Hongyu, Fu Qiufang, Baoqin, and Xing Xiuyan to discuss the matter. When she saw Li Weijian coming, she frowned and said, "Grandmother's birthday is coming soon, but I can't decide what to give her."

Fu Qiufang didn't have much contact with Jia's mother, so she said, "As far as I am concerned, since the old lady is your grandmother and is related to you, I might as well give her a generous gift."

Baoqin knew what Daiyu was thinking, so she shook her head and said, "Yesterday I met Aunt Ping, who said that the old lady was only happy for two days at first, but now she is annoyed. She didn't care to look at it herself, so she asked Sister Feng to accept it, saying that she would look at it later. I'm afraid she will forget it later. If what we sent is just an ordinary gift, I'm afraid it won't please the old lady."

Upon hearing this, Li Weijian said, "Thank you for your hard work. I have been busy with my daily affairs these days and have no time to take care of this matter." After a brief thought, he said, "I am afraid that the new and unique items in the palace will not please the old lady. Why don't you take a few trusted people to the Imperial Household Department when you are free tomorrow? Who knows, you may find something that suits your taste? Then, together with a few ordinary birthday gifts, it will be complete."

After a pause, seeing Baoqin's eyes darting around, even the usually calm Fu Qiufang was quite interested, so Li Weijian said, "If you come across jewelry that suits your taste, you might as well buy some. Don't go through the public office, the master will pay for it this time!"

The hall suddenly became cheerful. Baoqin was chattering with Xing Xiuyun, and even Hongyu was delighted.

The matter was settled. Seeing that Li Weijian seemed to have something to say to Daiyu, Hongyu and the others tactfully withdrew first. After everyone left, Li Weijian and Daiyu sat on the couch together. Li Weijian said, "Sister, you are in charge of the public treasury. Do you know how much cash the family has now?"

Daiyu had a good memory, and after a brief thought she said, "Last month I spent 20,000 yuan on a trip to Jiangnan to buy textiles, and now there are about 270,000 yuan left in the treasury... Is Fourth Brother going to spend a large sum of money?"

Li Weijian calculated, "I met the Saint today. The Saint has allowed Dashun to implement the gold standard. I expect that the silver coin will depreciate within a few months."

Daiyu asked hurriedly, "In that case, do you want to exchange all the silver coins in the house for gold?"

Li Weijian shook his head and said, "The Imperial Household has already done it. We don't need to covet such a small profit. But we can buy some antiques and calligraphy and paintings, firstly to decorate the house, and secondly to preserve their value."

Daiyu nodded when she heard this, and then complained, "Since I got married, I have realized how expensive firewood and rice are. Although my fourth brother has been accumulating wealth quickly, we are not good at extravagance. After two years, I have become more calculating."

Li Weijian smiled and said, "It's my sister who is a burden, but I will be the one who takes charge from now on, and let Hongyu and others take care of the specific matters."

Daiyu smiled and said nothing. Li Weijian then said, "Since the old lady's birthday is coming soon, I will go to Rong Mansion to see if there is anything I can do to help."

Daiyu said, "I went over this afternoon and had a long chat with Sister Feng. She told me that everything was in good condition. I can't go over this time."

Li Weijian said, "Then my sister can stay at home. No matter what, I have to show up, otherwise it would be impolite."

After the two of them had finished their plan, Li Weijian changed his clothes and went to Rong Mansion. He entered the Grand View Garden from Huifang Garden, and then went around Rongqing Hall to meet Lady Jia first.

When they arrived at Rongqing Hall, they learned that Jia's mother had caught a cold because she had not covered herself with a blanket last night. She looked exhausted, but she said a few words to Li Weijian and then pushed him to Jia Zheng.

Li Weijian went to Jia Zheng's place again, and when he arrived at Mengpozhai, he saw that Jia Zheng was no longer as sad as before. After a few words with him, Jia Zheng mentioned the gift sent by the Ministry of Rites and expressed his admiration for the emperor's great grace.

Li Weijian followed Jia Zheng's lead and said a few meaningless gossips. He understood Jia Zheng's thoughts and immediately disapproved of them. The sage was following the rules and sending gifts to Jia's mother. If it was just Jia Zheng, the sage would not bother to pay attention to him.

Not to mention anything else, the autumn examination caused a lot of controversy, and now the censor has impeached Jia Zheng. He doesn't even think about how he can save face in front of the emperor.

After coming out of Mengpo Zhai, Li Weijian was about to look for Jia Lian, but he didn't walk far when he ran into Jia Lian blocking Ping'er near the hall and wouldn't let her leave.

Jia Lian kept asking for his consent. Ping'er frowned and was about to respond, but she turned her head and saw Li Weijian. Because they had already had physical contact, Ping'er was increasingly fed up with Jia Lian's behavior. After a brief thought, she gritted her teeth and agreed, saying, "Since the government cannot afford it, I will borrow two thousand taels from you first. But I will definitely tell you about this, otherwise what am I doing in front of you?"

"This..." Jia Lian was about to say something, but suddenly he heard footsteps and saw that it was Li Weijian coming, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's do it."

Ping'er then pursed her lips and bowed to Li Weijian, then left with a heavy heart.

Jia Lian succeeded and couldn't help but let out a long sigh. He then bowed to Li Weijian gracefully and said, "Brother Jian, did you just come out from your second uncle's place?"

Li Weijian observed carefully and saw that Jia Lian had shaken off his past decadence, and he could not help but feel surprised. Yingchun had pointed it out before, and there was no need for Li Weijian to probe afterwards, Ping'er had passed on the message.

Ping Er received Feng Jie'er's instructions, and secretly won over the little maid to get the used fumigation medicine from You Shi's courtyard. Later, she consulted the imperial physician and found out that it was full of lead and mercury.

Ping'er also said that although Jia Lian and Youshi's unspeakable illness had improved, they now had bad breath and headaches. Jia Lian had always been depressed, so why did he change his behavior today?

Li Weijian asked with a smile: "Second brother is full of energy, is there something good going on?"

Jia Lian yawned loudly and said with a smile, "It's my grandmother's birthday. It's a rare happy event in the family. People feel refreshed when happy events happen." After saying that, he yawned again.

Last time, Jia Lian took a puff of opium from You Sanjie, and his headache was relieved immediately, and he felt like he was floating in the air. Knowing that this substance was precious, Jia Lian simply pestered her for a while, and You Sanjie reluctantly gave Jia Lian half a box.

After that, Jia Lian would smoke opium whenever he had a headache, and knowing that Youshi had a splitting headache, he couldn't bear it, so he gave some to Youshi. But the opium stopped the headache once he smoked it, but he would have a splitting headache again within two hours if he stopped.

A few days ago, when opium was out of stock, Jia Lian was scratching his head and even Youshi was worried. With no other options, Jia Lian had to ask You Sanjie for help and spent two hundred taels of silver to finally get another box.

But Jia Lian calculated that if he saved a little, this box would barely last for a month, and with Youshi sharing, it would not last for half a month. And You Sanjie said that Yu Minzhong, the then governor of Guangzhou, hated this substance and once seized a whole ship of opium from foreign merchants and burned it in Humen. Therefore, opium must be scarce among southern goods in autumn and winter.

Nowadays, a box costs only two hundred taels, but I am afraid that by autumn and winter, it will be difficult to buy even for five hundred taels.

Jia Lian made some calculations and immediately used the public funds to buy a lot of things. Then it was Jia's mother's birthday and he was short of money, so he asked Ping'er for help.

Yawning in front of others was obviously impolite, so Jia Lian smiled and explained, "I didn't get enough rest yesterday, so I feel sleepy now."

Li Weijian said: "In this case, second brother, go and have a rest."

"That's all right." Jia Lian said, "The old lady's birthday is coming up soon, so we have to put everything in order. After this period of time, we can have a good rest."

As he spoke, he took out the pipe from his waist and lit a cigarette.

Li Weijian asked with a smile: "When did Second Brother start smoking?"

Jia Lian took several puffs of it, puffing out a lot of smoke, and then he said, "I have been lacking energy lately, and I heard that this thing is very refreshing. After trying it for a while, it is indeed true. Haha, brother Jian might as well try it too."

Li Weijian was about to speak when he suddenly smelled something very strange. He didn't notice anything at first, but after a careful taste, he actually had a strange fragrance. He also saw that the pipe didn't seem to be filled with tobacco, so he took a step back, alert.

He asked, "Second brother, I'm afraid that what you are smoking is not tobacco?" Jia Lian didn't care and smiled, "Yes, this is opium, which is extremely valuable. Just a small box costs two hundred taels of silver. It's too expensive!"

Afurong, isn't that just——

Li Weijian asked seriously, "Where did you get this thing, second brother?"

Jia Lian then mentioned Third Sister You in a low voice. Li Weijian roughly estimated that this harmful thing had not been widely circulated, and was probably circulated among the powerful and wealthy, just like the Five Stones Powder in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Only then did he feel a little relieved.

Li Weijian wanted to persuade Jia Lian, but Jia Lian was not one to listen. So Li Weijian tried to persuade him for a few words, but seeing that Jia Lian didn't care, he didn't say anything more.

One day, he went to Yihong Courtyard to sit for a while, asked Fengjie'er what she needed, and mentioned the upcoming devaluation of silver coins. Fengjie'er hadn't been close to him for a long time, and her eyes were full of resentment. They privately agreed to go out of the city after the old lady's birthday, and then she let Li Weijian go with satisfaction.

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The next day, Daiyu led her sisters to the Imperial Household Department early in the morning. Li Weijian specially sent Wu Zhong and the Ding brothers to accompany them to look after them, and he went to the government office as usual.

As luck would have it, there weren't many things to do that day, so they were all done before noon. Also, because the loyal and brave king had caught a cold and had been away from the government office for the past few days, Li Weijian had other thoughts.

Last time he was on holiday, he had something going on at home and didn't go to Siqi's place. Afterwards, Siqi sent her maid to complain to him. Li Weijian thought, why not take advantage of this afternoon to go to Siqi's place.

So they simply didn't eat in the government office, and went straight to Shitiao Hutong. When Siqi heard that Li Weijian had arrived, she was overjoyed. She first asked someone to order a table, and then used all means to serve Li Weijian very well.

When the storm subsided, Li Weijian naturally rested on the bed, and the two maids cleaned up and left with the basin. Siqi's body became more and more sturdy, and even now she was still an inch taller than Li Weijian.

Stealing a glance at Li Weijian, Siqi fastened her clothes and said with a smile, "Master, you came to my place and indulged yourself today. I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to your family tonight."

Li Weijian snorted twice and said, "Master, how old am I now? Why can't I handle it at night?"

Siqi came over and smiled flatteringly: "I'm worried that you might hurt your body... You shouldn't do this too often." After a pause, she continued: "Master, I'm old now, and I don't know when I can have a child."

Li Weijian narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you anxious?"

Siqi nodded and said, "My grandmother and mother urged me last time, saying that even if I don't marry you, I should at least have a child to protect myself. They said that they would prevent my father from getting tired of the old and falling in love with the new, and forgetting about me in the future."

Li Weijian said with a smile, "You are the one who is suspicious. I am very proud of your plump figure, how could I bear to leave you? I will tell you secretly, Xiuju, who is beside my second sister, seems to have some concerns. My second sister told me about it in private, but I ignored her."

Siqi was immediately very proud, half of her body nestled in Li Weijian's arms and said, "Xiuju is really bold, she is not even as good as me in terms of color, do you think that I am as picky as Second Master Lian?"

Li Weijian laughed loudly, then stretched his body, looking quite lazy.

Siqi said, "Since you are tired, why not rest here for a while."

Li Weijian shook his head and said, "It's the old lady's birthday at Rong Mansion. There will be a banquet tomorrow. I can't stay any longer today."

Siqi thought for a moment, then said, "Then wait a moment, sir. I have something refreshing."

As he was speaking, he stood up and walked out of the bedroom. After a while, he came back with a pipe and a wooden box.

Li Weijian would have been fine if he hadn't looked at it, but when he did, he was immediately shocked. Seeing Siqi bringing it over, Li Weijian opened the wooden box and saw that it was indeed a pitch-black paste. He immediately asked solemnly, "Where did you get this thing?"

Siqi said, "I have a cousin who asked me to borrow money for his livelihood last year. He lost money this year and had to pay off the debt with this thing. Master, I have heard about it. Now such a small box costs two hundred taels. It is not a loss if you calculate it."

Li Weijian asked sternly, "Have you ever used it?"

Seeing that his expression was not right, Siqi hurriedly shook her head and said, "I was born a maid, how dare I use such a precious item? Even if I get it, I want to save it for my master to enjoy."

Li Weijian's expression eased a little, and he slowly closed the box, saying, "This thing is extremely poisonous. Once you get addicted to it, you can't get rid of it. After a few years of using it, even if you have a fortune, you can't stand the consequences. What's more, your body will also be ruined. It can be said to be the most poisonous!"

Siqi was trembling when she heard what he said, "Is it really like that? I'll go talk to my cousin right away!"

Li Weijian hurriedly pulled it out and said, "Forget it. Ordinary people may not know how poisonous this substance is. Your cousin may not know it either. Just remember in the future that you must not touch this opium... If anyone around you touches it, get rid of it immediately!"

Siqi nodded obediently. Seeing that she was obedient, Li Weijian's expression finally softened. After a brief pause, he simply took his pipe and opium and went back home.

By this time Daiyu and the others had already returned, and now they gathered in the East Courtyard, where they divided the jewellery they had bought, admired each other, and then told funny jokes.

Seeing Li Weijian come in with a pipe in his hand, everyone from Daiyu to the others were surprised.

Daiyu asked, "Would you like to smoke?"

Li Weijian said sternly, "Everyone is here, and you have seen this thing first. This thing is opium, which is extremely poisonous. Once you smoke it a few times, you will be unable to get rid of it. It will ruin the family property, but the most fatal thing is that it will take people's lives. Sister, please take care of it from now on, and no one in the family is allowed to touch this thing. If anyone does touch it, send them out immediately!"

Seeing Li Weijian's seriousness, Daiyu quickly stood up and agreed. Li Weijian sighed and said, "The Western barbarians are vicious. I will draft a petition and go to the palace tomorrow to ask the saint to ban this thing!"

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Let’s talk about Qixianzhai in Rongguo Mansion.

After Baoyu returned to Rongfu, he soon became familiar with Miaoyu. However, Miaoyu had a strange personality. When Baoyu mentioned that he had visited Chang's house with Jia Zheng when he was in Jiangnan, Miaoyu suddenly changed her expression, served tea to thank the visitor, and drove Baoyu out.

Baoyu returned home embarrassedly, and when he arrived at Qixianzhai, he heard a lot of noise inside. He was puzzled, thinking that the wet nurse was looking for trouble again, so he hid aside and eavesdropped.

After hearing a few words, she knew something was wrong. It turned out that the little actors assigned to Qixianzhai were surrounding Xiren and pushing her, cursing at her.

Baoyu quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Why are you looking for faults with Xiren when everything is fine?"

When Kui Guan saw Baoyu coming, he was immediately annoyed and said, "Second Master Bao, don't you know? Xiren passed on a message to Second Madam, saying that she would send us out of the house after the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Ai Guan pointed at Xiren and said angrily, "What a cunning lapdog! It's no wonder that Granny Li said you acted like a fox to deceive people. You are indeed a cunning fox.

In order to get an extra two taels of monthly salary, you secretly informed your master on the matter, tried to please him, and acted double-dealingly and gossiped about him. You can hide it from Master Bao but not from us!

Anyway, we have been released, so we are not afraid of the grandmas and wives chasing us away again. Today we will go and tell the grandmas and wives, so that the masters will know who is the real foxy girl! "

(End of this chapter)