Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 390 Seriously ill
But Jia Lian and Jia Qiang did not go far either. They simply settled down in Jia Qiang's courtyard and sent someone to bring a banquet. The uncle and nephew toasted each other and soon became drunk.

Although Jia Qiang appeared to be indifferent, he was actually a very meticulous person. Ever since he had a falling out with Jia Lian in the previous chapter, he couldn't help but feel resentful towards him.

This year, when Third Sister You returned, Jia Qiang saw that she was not close to Jia Lian, so he went to her house. At first, Third Sister You ignored him, but Jia Qiang knew what she was thinking, so he quietly told her the secret of Second Sister You's death, and the two of them became as familiar as before.

Jia Qiang was getting older, and although he was still hanging out in the clan school, he knew that he would not be able to become a talent, so he no longer had the heart to take the imperial examination. On weekdays, he would just hang out with Jia Huan, Xing Dajiu, Xiang Lian, Yu Ai and others at Tiekan Temple and Mantou Temple outside the city.

Furthermore, since Jia Lian inherited the throne, he had become increasingly negligent in public expenditures and had often abused his power for personal gain. Jia Qiang, Jia Huan and others were resentful of him in their spare time, and they would secretly go in and out of the Rongguo Mansion, embezzle Rongguo's belongings, and exchange them for silver to play around.

When Jia Lian came to visit him, Jia Qiang was very worried, fearing that he might collude with You Sanjie or that Jia Lian would find out about his theft. Therefore, he was very careful with his words. Whenever Jia Lian mentioned marriage, Jia Qiang would say that he was still young and would not consider it for the time being.

Master Lian had to maintain some dignity, and seeing that Jia Qiang was adamant, he simply didn't mention the matter. The uncle and nephew just drank and chatted, and it was not until nightfall that Jia Lian returned in a daze.

As a result, when he returned home, he heard that Grandmother Jia was ill again. Jia Lian was busy inviting doctors to ask for medicine, and after the busy work, he sobered up. He couldn't help thinking that seeing the old lady fall ill every other day, it was possible that her health was not good. If the old lady died, no matter how Mrs. Wang made trouble, no one would dare to interfere with his succession to the throne.

Now that I am only in my twenties, it seems that I don't need to be too anxious about having children. Maybe after a few years of recuperation, there will be a turnaround in the future?

Thinking of the boy that You Erjie had miscarried, Jia Lian felt a dull pain in his heart. He thought to himself that if his second sister had been pregnant, wouldn't all his worries be gone?

Let's put Jia Lian's side aside for the moment and say that the Xue family had obtained Li Weijian's promise. Although Xia Jingui's words were vicious, they had to give it a try. Baochan was also very willing to do so, so they came to Li Weijian to negotiate within two days.

With Li Weijian's current position, a visiting card was sent to the Ministry of Justice, and the Xue family made arrangements, this matter would naturally be accomplished.

That day, Xue Pan sat in prison in a daze. The death row of the Ministry of Justice was dark and gloomy, and the smell inside was unbearable for ordinary people. At this time, Xue Pan knew that his time was short, and in the past few days he had been shouting, "My ancestor is Ziwei Sheren" and "My uncle is Wang Ziteng."

Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, the prison boss even mocked him, "Your case has been reported to the highest level. Not to mention the nine provinces, even the prime minister can't save you."

Xue Pan knew that everything was over, and he was overwhelmed with grief. He felt sorry for his mother and sister. If he died, how would his mother and sister live? Moreover, he did not leave any children. Who knows, after his death, the Xue family would eat his mother and sister alive.

Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard the sound of chains. A jailer came up with a torch, opened the cell, covered his mouth and nose, and said in a muffled voice: "Xue Pan, someone is visiting. I'll give you two minutes, don't make it difficult for me."

After saying this, he stepped aside, and in the blink of an eye, he saw Aunt Xue leading Baochan and a strange woman into the room.

At this time, Xue Pan's limbs were entangled in chains. When he saw Aunt Xue, he immediately threw himself on her. When the mother and son met, they hugged each other and cried bitterly.

Hearing the regret in Xue Pan's words, Aunt Xue cried, "My son, if you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? It's my fault, too. I knew you were a stubborn person and didn't discipline you much when you were young, which is why you are in such trouble now."

Xue Pan cried and howled, "Mom, I don't want to die."

The mother and son cried bitterly again. Baochan couldn't bear to watch and said, "Madam, time is running out. It's more important to do business."

Baochan was just a maid, and became Xue Pan's concubine because she was used by Xia Jingui. After Bilian returned home, Xia Jingui started to deal with Baochan. Baochan naturally had to consider her own situation.

She has lost her virginity now. If she has no children, it would be fine if Aunt Xue is still alive. But if Aunt Xue is gone in the future, Xia Jingui might sell her to some shameful place.

The only solution now is to get pregnant as soon as possible, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl, so that it can ensure your survival.

Aunt Xue wiped her tears and said, "My son, I was powerless to save you. Now I can only ask Jian'er to leave a descendant for our Xue family while there is still some time."

Xue Pan felt very uncomfortable hearing this - what does it mean to ask Jian Ge'er to leave a descendant for the Xue family? For no reason, a green hat was put on his head.

But after thinking it over, Xue Pan suddenly became troubled. Without the powerful medicine, he had no interest at all. What should he do?

Aunt Xue didn't care about that. She stood up and said, "I'm going to find the jailer and make some arrangements. My son, you must hurry up."

He said goodbye with tears, and when he got out of the cell he went to find the jailer and gave him some advice.

After receiving the reward, the jailer became much kinder. He turned around and found a long bench for Aunt Xue to sit on.

Xue Pan watched Aunt Xue leave, glanced at Baochan, and then glanced at the strange woman, and then asked, "Who is she?"

The woman was about thirty years old, with a thick waist and strong legs, broad ears, and a glance at Xue Pan before saying, "Don't waste time. If I had known that the death row was like this, I would not have come even if you added another two hundred silver dollars, let alone two hundred."

Baochan now moved closer to Xue Pan, took out a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve, poured out two pills and served them to Xue Pan, explaining, "This is the widow Ma from the outer city... She gave birth to four boys, so the lady spent a lot of money to invite her here."

Xue Pan was speechless for a while. The pill instantly turned into medicine after entering his stomach. Xue Pan looked at Baochan and felt dry in the mouth.

Aunt Xue sat in a corner outside, and although she dared not look in, she could hear every sound. After a long struggle, perhaps it was the widow Ma who was in charge, but after a few struggles, the widow Ma shouted, "Tsk, how can such a silver-plated spear be used? Go find your wife and have a look. This is not my fault. If you don't give birth to a son tomorrow, I won't return the money!"

Aunt Xue, who was outside, was dumbfounded when she heard this. She recalled what Xia Jingui had said earlier, and couldn't help but think of Baochai's idea. She kept repeating, "The grace of raising a child is worse than the grace of giving birth to one," and after a brief search in her mind, she chose Xue Ke.

Firstly, they are close by blood, and secondly, Xue Ke's career is going smoothly now, and his sister Baoqin is Li Weijian's favorite concubine. If they really have a child in the future, maybe he can still be taken care of by his father.

For several days, Aunt Xue sent a dozen fertile women to the death row, torturing Xue Pan until he was exhausted and begged for mercy again and again.

Aunt Xue turned around and discussed with Baochai, then sent someone to invite Xue Ke.

The first and second branches of the Xue family had fallen out, and now they were just trying to keep up appearances. Xue Ke had come here before, but he just said a few words of comfort and didn't help.

He didn't want to have any more contact with Aunt Xue and others, but thinking that Xue Pan would be executed in the autumn, he sighed in his heart and finally agreed.

The servant returned to the Xue family and said that Xue Ke would be visiting soon, and the Xue mother and daughter immediately took action.

First, Baochai found Xia Jingui and said that her brother Xue Pan was doomed to die, so she begged Xia Jingui to donate some incense oil to the temple to prevent Xue Pan from going to the Avici Hell after his death.

Although Xia Jingui was reluctant, she couldn't refuse, so she agreed with a grunt.

Meanwhile, Aunt Xue went to talk to Tongxi privately and said, "Tongxi, how do I treat you?"

Tongxi was startled and said hurriedly, "My wife is very kind to me."

Aunt Xue pulled Tongxi to her side and said, "My dear child, I am in trouble now and need your help. Are you willing?"

Tongxi hurriedly said, "Madam, you are too kind to me. If you have any instructions, just tell me."

"That's good--" Aunt Xue pulled Tongxi aside and whispered something to her, which made Tongxi dumbfounded and blushed immediately.

"Madam, this——"

Aunt Xue said, "If you do get a boy, you'll have hope for the future. If you don't want to, forget it. I'll go talk to Tonggui and Ying'er."

Tongxi was getting old, and was afraid that she would have to marry a boy in two years. She thought that instead of working like a slave, why not be a young lady? She gritted her teeth and agreed, "I, I will listen to you, Madam."

"Good, good, good!" Aunt Xue was overjoyed. She asked Tongxi about his daily life in detail and felt relieved after doing some calculations.

In the blink of an eye, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Xue Ke went to De Bo's house in the morning and had a reunion with Bao Qin. Then he went to Xue's house in the afternoon.

That day, Baochai watched Xia Jingui go to the Da Baoen Temple, leaving Aunt Xue alone at home. When the two met, Aunt Xue burst into tears when she thought of Xue Pan who would be executed soon. Xue Ke sighed repeatedly and could only comfort her.

At this time Tongxi brought tea and glanced at Xue Ke. Seeing that Xue Ke was handsome, his heart beat fast and his face flushed.

Xue Ke thought that the girl was in love and her mind was on Aunt Xue, so she didn't pay much attention to it. Unexpectedly, after drinking a cup of tea, Xue Ke fainted in a few moments.

Aunt Xue and Tongxi hurriedly dragged Xue Ke to the bed in the end room. Aunt Xue was sweating from exhaustion. Before leaving, she told Tongxi, "Whether or not you will have a child depends on this one. You must do your best!"

Tongxi shyly agreed, and after Aunt Xue left, looking back every few steps, she undressed and got into bed.

At night, Xue Ke finally woke up. When he opened his eyes, he found himself on a strange bed. He had a splitting headache and immediately felt that he had seen this place before. He quickly got up to check and saw that he was dressed neatly, even without taking off his boots. He felt relieved.

Then I thought again, could it be that Xia Jingui is still determined to do this again?
Suddenly, he heard the voices of Xia Jingui, Baochai and Aunt Xue talking in front of him, and Xue Ke was relieved. He thought to himself that with Aunt Xue and Baochai around, the whore would never do such a lewd thing.

He stretched his body and stood up, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a red plum blossom on the bed. Xue Ke was stunned.

At this moment, Xia Jingui came in noisily. When she saw Xue Ke, she immediately said with burning eyes, "Second Uncle is sleeping soundly. It's been an hour since I came back."

If it wasn't Xia Jingui, then who was it? Suddenly thinking of the blushing Tongxi, Xue Ke frowned again and looked at Baochai and Aunt Xue. Seeing one of them hanging her head and the other avoiding her gaze, how could he not understand that Aunt Xue was plotting against him?
So he said a few vague words in a cold voice, and without paying attention to Xia Jingui's invitation to stay for dinner, he got up and went out. When the cold wind blew outside, Xue Ke made up his mind not to have any more contact with the eldest wife of the Xue family.

As soon as Xue Ke left, Xia Jingui stopped making a fuss with Aunt Xue. She went back to her room and called the little maid. However, Aunt Xue was very careful and did not let anyone into the backyard that afternoon, so Xia Jingui did not ask anything.

Xia Jingui was a person with ulterior motives. She thought to herself, if they didn't allow people to go to the backyard, there must be something fishy going on! She thought randomly for a while, could it be that Aunt Xue had discovered that she had been trying to talk to her second uncle Xue Ke?

Xia Jingui was suspicious, but she couldn't bear to part with Shancai, and couldn't bear to part with the hundreds of thousands of shares of the Xue family. As a result, she gradually became vicious and wished that Aunt Xue and Baochai would die together.

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

In the blink of an eye, it was September.

It is said that Miaoyu was pruning flowers and trees in the yard that day when she suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. She hurriedly ordered her maid to open the door and see who it was.

The maid looked through the crack of the door for a long time but did not dare to open it. She came back and said to Miaoyu, "It's a woman, maybe the housekeeper of their family."

Miaoyu was surprised, and after thinking for a while, she said, "I never associate with these vulgar people. They must have come here to have some vulgar etiquette. I am really annoying. Send them away and tell them that I have gone to bed."

The maid responded and turned to reply, but she heard someone outside say, "The master asked me to come and tell your master."

Miaoyu overheard everything at the door, and remembering the jade ruyi, she asked the maid to open the door.

The person who came was Lin Zhixiao's family. Miaoyu invited him into the meditation room and asked, "What are you doing here today, ma'am?"

Lin Zhixiao's wife said, "I am only here to tell you that the master said that Master Bao is old enough and it is time for him to get married. He wanted me to ask Master if he would agree if I offered a betrothal gift to ask for your hand in marriage. The master is not in a hurry and Master can give his reply after a few days of consideration."

Miaoyu's face flushed red, and she could not help but say angrily: "Madam, please don't be rude. If you continue to nag me, I will be angry!"

Lin Zhixiao's wife didn't care either. She just smiled and said, "It's not me who said that. If you want to be angry with the master, go and be angry with the master. In three days, the master can send a maid to inform the front. I won't bother you anymore. I'm leaving now."

After saying that, he stood up and left. Miaoyu sat there for a long while without saying a word. When the maid came to serve tea, she said to Miaoyu, "Everyone has left, why are you still standing there?"

Miaoyu then came to her senses, got up and went to the inner room, lowered her head and thought, then gradually retreated back to the bed, turned over and lay inside in silence.

In Rongqing Hall.

That day, Li Wan brought Jia Lan to pay her respects to Lady Jia. When Lady Jia saw them coming, she smiled and said, "Tomorrow is Double Ninth Festival. Brother Lan, why don't you take a day off? We can also have fun together. Your uncle and aunt said they will come tomorrow, too."

Jia Lan agreed with a smile and asked about Lady Jia's situation.

Ever since she fell ill in mid-August, Lady Jia's health has been in and out of shape, and this condition has continued to this day.

Grandmother Jia replied, "It's no problem," but she started coughing as soon as she finished speaking.

Seeing her haggard appearance and sickly complexion, Jia Lan felt a little sorry for her and could not help crying secretly as he followed Li Wan out of Rongqing Hall.

He said to Li Wan, "The old man doesn't look well."

Li Wan sighed, "After all, I am old, and the doctors in the palace can't do anything. Your uncle said that he has invited Doctor Wang from the Imperial Hospital today, and he may be here soon."

At this moment, she ran into Sister Feng, who was leading Doctor Wang inside. Li Wan sent Jia Lan to review his studies, and she returned to Rongqing Hall with Sister Feng.

At this time, Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang were both there. Mrs. Wang helped Lady Jia lie down, and Sister Feng hurriedly asked Doctor Wang to examine her.

After taking the patient's pulse, Doctor Wang said nothing to his face. Sister Feng and Li Wan pretended to see him off and then led Doctor Wang to the ear room to talk.

Doctor Wang frowned and said, "The pulse is straight and long, the Qi is not in good condition, the six pulses are slow and stringy, there is depression, a little wind and cold, the medicine is Chaihu to relieve it, the Cun and Guan are weak, the heart Qi is weak, the pulse Qi is stopped, and there is a fixed number of stops."

Feng Jieer was not well-read, so she only understood vaguely what was said. She turned around and saw Li Wan's face suddenly change, and she immediately understood most of it. When the two of them sent Doctor Wang away, Feng Jieer said when they returned, "This time, the old lady--"

Li Wan sighed and said, "You can't fight against heaven with your life. While the old lady is still alive, we young people should show our filial piety to her."

Sister Feng also sighed. Since she married into the Rongguo Mansion, her parents-in-law were greedy and mean, and her aunt was sinister and vicious. Sister Feng felt very uncomfortable in the middle. If she hadn't been favored by Grandmother Jia, she wouldn't be where she is today.

Thinking of the past, Feng Jieer's eyes turned red. The two sisters-in-law stayed outside for a long time, and only after they controlled their tears did they go in with a smile.

Sister Feng smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, old lady. The old man just said that it was a temporary cold, but taking some wind-dispelling medicine will make it better."

Li Wan also echoed the sentiment.

Grandmother Jia sighed and said, "Don't comfort me. I think I won't make it through this year. We have to enjoy the Double Ninth Festival tomorrow. I don't know if I can make it through the next one."

Feng Jieer and Li Wan were so sad that they almost cried. Feng Jieer hurriedly comforted them, saying, "The old lady will surely live a long and happy life."

Grandmother Jia smiled but said nothing.

Feng Jieer thought about it and quickly told a naughty joke, which made everyone laugh. Then she changed her topic and said, "Tomorrow is the Double Ninth Festival. Would the old ancestor like to invite a troupe to liven up the atmosphere? I was busy running around during the old lady's birthday celebration last month, but I didn't even see a single complete play."

Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "Forget it, it's too noisy. I just want to talk to you more now."

Feng Jieer smiled and refused to give in. After a while of joking, she came out with Li Wan. The two sisters-in-law gathered together, and Li Wan said, "The old lady is not in good condition. Let's go to the next door and tell them."

Sister Feng said, "The old lady loves Sister Lin the most. Sister Lin should spend more time with her during these days of hard work."

(End of this chapter)