Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 399: 'Crying to Jinling is even more sad'

Feng Jieer agreed, and now it was Ping Er's turn to look strange. She glanced at Daiyu secretly, thinking to herself, now that the Second Mistress has been divorced, there will be no more constraints in the future. Will she really have to live in the Bo's mansion in the future? I just don't know what Miss Lin will think when the time comes.

The luggage was not much, Ping'er and the others could carry it. The trouble was the dowry, which had been in and out for many years, and Fengjie bought some more during this period. The total value of the dowry was 20,000 taels. Seeing Qiaojie crying her heart out, Fengjie said, "Then leave the dowry to Qiaojie. Don't worry, when you get married in the future, your mother will give you some extra."

Qiaojie cried loudly and pulled Fengjie to stop her from leaving. Hongyu, who came with Daiyu, persuaded her, "Sister, why are you crying like this? The Second Madam is just staying at the Bo's house temporarily. She may be back in a few days."

Qiaojie had some thoughts in her mind, so she stopped crying. Then everyone picked up their bags and went to Bo's house together. Daiyu sent Hongyu to find Mrs. Xing to give instructions.

When Hongyu arrived at the meeting room, she saw Aunt Zhao kneeling on the ground with her head bowed, and Jia Zheng was furious and scolding her. Mrs. Xing, who was standing by, was smug and sipping her tea leisurely.

Hongyu came in to greet him. Jia Zheng snorted coldly and turned his head away without paying any attention to Aunt Zhao. Mrs. Xing smiled and asked, "Why is Hongyu here?"

Hongyu said, "Our mistress has taken the second mistress to stay at the Bo's residence temporarily, and she sent me here to talk to the first mistress."

Mrs. Xing was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Jia Zheng, who was standing by, said quickly, "That's fine. They are having a quarrel right now, so they need a few days to make peace. Please thank Yu'er on my behalf, and ask her to take good care of Fengjie, so that she won't be upset."

Hongyu agreed and left. As soon as she left, Aunt Zhao, who was kneeling on the ground, curled her lips and said, "The divorce letter has been written, how can you come back?"

Mrs. Xing secretly praised him, but Jia Zheng said angrily, "Shut up, you stupid woman! If you dare to make noise again, I will send someone to sell you out tomorrow!"

Aunt Zhao was so frightened that she dared not say anything more.

Daiyu led Sister Feng, Ping'er and others all the way to Huifang Garden. From the corner gate to the back of the east courtyard, Daiyu walked to the gate of a small courtyard and said with a smile, "Aunt just left two days ago, and I have just tidied up the house carefully. It is just right for Sister Feng to move in now."

Feng Jieer had been to this courtyard before, and she had come to do the makeup for Li Qi and Li Wen before they got married. Everyone went inside, Daiyu chatted with Feng Jieer, Tanchun and Xichun also consoled them, Ping'er and others hurriedly put the things away.

Hongyu was a woman of good sense. Noticing that there was a shortage of candles, lamp oil and other things inside, she came out and told the maid to go to the storehouse to get them. By chance, Qingwen, Xiangling, Xing Xiuyun and others had come in together.

Qingwen pulled Hongyu aside and asked, "Second Madam is here? Could it be that Second Master Lian really wrote a letter of divorce?"

Hongyu quickly lowered her voice and said, "Maybe she was just angry for a moment. Second Madam looks very embarrassed, and Madam is talking to her right now. I think we should not disturb her and come to visit her tomorrow."

Xing Xiuyan agreed with this and said, "That's exactly the truth, Qingwen, let's go back first."

Qingwen sighed, "I never thought that such a powerful Second Madam would fall into trouble."

Xiangling said, "It's not just the Second Madam. The Jia family has been in decline in recent years. The old lady and the mistress are gone, and now the Second Madam has been driven out. Who knows how chaotic the family will be in the future."

Xing Xiuyan heard about the divorce of Wang Xifeng, and that Mrs. Xing was heavily involved in it, so she felt very uncomfortable. She was not happy with Mrs. Xing's meddling in other people's family affairs, but she was also afraid of being implicated.

Qingwen thought about it and said, "If it weren't for Second Madam's efforts to maintain the Rongguo Mansion over the years, the Rongguo Mansion might have been disbanded a long time ago. I don't know why they are kicking Second Madam out now. Fourth Master will be back soon. I'll go and ask him what the reason is."

Xiangling was immediately angry and amused. She pulled Qingwen aside and said, "When will you change your nature of standing up for the weak? After all, this is someone else's family affair. No matter what the Fourth Master does, it's not right for him to bring it up, right?"

Qingwen curled her lips and said, "They won't even let me ask you. It's obvious that there must be someone treacherous inside!"

Hongyu was afraid that Qingwen would bother Li Weijian, so she quickly told him the letter she had heard from Rongguo Mansion. Qingwen blinked and said angrily, "Is that why? Wasn't it because Second Master Lian secretly married? How come in the end, all the faults are put on Second Madam?"

Xiangling also said, "At that time, the rumors about the new and old second mistresses were all over the place, and even our uncle's mansion heard about it. Although the second mistress had a bad temper, she was always right. It was really unreasonable to drive someone out without any basis."

Xing Xiuyan was open-minded and said, "The truth lies with Second Brother Lian, so naturally what he says is what it is."

Qingwen pouted and said, "This world is so unfair. Only men can divorce their wives, but I've never heard of a woman divorcing her husband."

At this moment, Li Weijian's voice came: "What's the matter? Do you want to divorce me again?"

Qingwen was startled. She turned around and saw that it was Li Weijian. She came over to him with a smile and said coquettishly, "Why do I want to divorce the Fourth Master? I'm afraid that the Fourth Master will not want me when I'm old and ugly."

Li Weijian reached out and pinched Qingwen's nose, saying, "I just got home and heard Haiping say that Second Brother Lian divorced Second Sister-in-law. Tsk...what's the point of that? You guys go back and settle down first, I'll go and ask about the situation."

Qingwen, Xing Xiuyun and others agreed and walked outside, where they ran into Fu Qiufang and Baoqin who came over after hearing the news. The three women stopped the two of them and went to Huifang Garden together, without mentioning anything else.

But Li Weijian entered the courtyard, still feeling puzzled. He thought that because of his existence, many things had changed, and maybe this incident would not have happened, but he did not expect that after all the twists and turns, Feng Jieer was finally divorced.

Then he thought, at least he was not involved in the lawsuit this time, so he would not have to "cry to Nanjing and feel even more sad".

When they entered the inner room, Qiaojie had stopped making a fuss, and Fengjie was complaining to Daiyu about her grievances. Seeing Li Weijian coming in, Fengjie stood up to greet him, calling him "Brother Jian", with a look of resentment in her eyes.

Li Weijian frowned and asked, "How did it get to this point?"

Sister Feng sneered, "What else can I do? He went to Yangzhou to protect Sister Lin, and when he came back, his mind was no longer on me. And seeing that I had made some money, he tried to get money from me. It was okay once or twice, but I won't give it to him again and again. He inherited the title, and he felt that he was superior to me, so he was naturally unhappy."

After a pause, he continued, "Later, he secretly married You Erjie and contracted a heart disease. Perhaps because he was worried about not having children, he began to miss the boy who slipped away that day even more!"

Li Weijian sighed, looked at the people inside, and then whispered a few words to Daiyu. Daiyu frowned in confusion, met Li Weijian's gaze for a few more times, and then nodded and said, "Third sister, fourth sister, Sister Feng must be tired now, why not let Sister Feng take a rest, let's go to the front and talk first."

Tanchun and Xichun agreed, but they were extremely puzzled. They wondered what Fourth Brother Jian had to say that he didn't want others to hear, why did he have to say it in private with Sister Feng?

The two of them got up and went to the front with Daiyu. Even Qiaojie was persuaded to go.

Only Feng Jieer, Ping Er and Li Weijian were left. Feng Jieer snorted coldly and said, "Now I finally get what you want!"

Li Weijian said, "I've said Jia Lian is not a good man, but you insisted on staying at the Jia family just for the imperial edict, and now you've been kicked out."

How could Sister Feng be a person who would swallow her anger? She retorted, "If Second Sister was a boy, nothing would have happened today."

Li Weijian said, "Isn't there enough cases of killing the mother and keeping the son? You are just deceiving yourself." He paused and said, "I wonder if Jia Lian got wind of it."

"What's the news?"

Li Weijian pondered and said, "At the court meeting today, an imperial censor impeached Wang Ziteng for corruption and selling official positions. He also impeached your father, Lord Wang, for tax evasion of more than one million silver coins."

"Ah?" Sister Feng was so shocked that she didn't know what to say.

Li Weijian said: "Censor Jin is a member of Prime Minister Chen's faction. It is possible that the Saint is behind this... The Saint is furious today and has sent an imperial envoy to Nanjing to investigate."

The Wang family is going to be in trouble! The news of this happening at this time clearly shows that the sage is planning to get rid of the donkey after it has done its job. Come to think of it, the government is now in a good situation, the big threat of Junggar is gone, Yue Zhongqi has expanded his territory in Shendu, and the court's taxes are reaching new highs every year. The sage is becoming more and more indifferent to government affairs, so shouldn't he think about settling the grievances from more than a decade ago?
Sister Feng asked hurriedly: "Then my father——"

Li Weijian said: "If we pay the money, it will be fine. But I'm afraid your two uncles will be in trouble..."

She told Fengjie the whole story again, and Fengjie was immediately disheartened. She said, "This is great. I can't even go back to Jinling." Ping'er couldn't help but said, "Grandma, I will accompany you from now on."

Feng Jieer shook her head and said, "If you follow me, who will take care of Qiao Jie and Er Jie?" After a pause, she continued, "Since we can't go back to Jinling, I will buy another house and take care of the business. That way, if the Jia family falls into decline in the future, I will have money to rescue Qiao Jie and Er Jie."

Ping Er agreed with tears in her eyes. Feng Jie sighed and said to Li Weijian, "I can't care about other things. If the emperor wants to settle accounts, I'm afraid the Jia family will not be able to escape. If there really comes a day, for the sake of my second sister, you can't just ignore it."

Li Weijian said confidently, "Don't worry, I won't ignore my own child."

After talking for a while, Li Weijian and Ping'er finally left. A maid sent by Daiyu was waiting outside, and Li Weijian gave her detailed instructions before going forward.

At this time, Tanchun and Xichun had already taken Qiaojie back. When they entered the main room of the east courtyard, Li Weijian pulled Daiyu to tell her about the investigation of the Wang family. Daiyu was terrified and asked with concern, "Will it implicate Fourth Brother?"

Li Weijian shook his head and said, "This is the personal grudge of the saint. No matter what, it cannot be blamed on me. Just rest assured, sister."

Daiyu couldn't help but sigh, "When they were little, Sister Feng and Brother Lian looked like a perfect match made in heaven, but who would have thought this would happen?"

Speaking of Sister Feng's future settlement, Li Weijian said, "Sister Feng has her own plans. She will just stay at our house for a while and move out after the New Year."

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Feng Jieer was served by two maids, and she felt very sleepy after a day of hard work. Hongyu came to call Feng Jieer to eat. Feng Jieer didn't want to move, so she asked the maid to bring her food. After eating a little, she went to bed and fell asleep.

Feng Jieer slept very uneasily that night, as scenes of the past twenty years or so flashed through her mind.

Suddenly, the scene changed back to daytime, with Aunt Zhao and several maids blocking the door and cursing. Feng Jieer was so angry that she started a fight with them. After much difficulty, they were separated. Aunt Zhao cursed, "Do you still think you are the second wife of the mansion? If you want to be the master, go back to your Wang family!"

Seeing the servants who usually bowed and scraped to her face surrounding her and laughing at her, Feng Jieer was extremely ashamed and angry, but she had to pack her bag with tears in her eyes and stay temporarily at her second uncle Wang Ziteng's house. Afterwards, she went south and returned to her home in Jinling.

Who would have thought that within a few months, Wang Ziteng and Wang Zisheng got into trouble, and even his cousin Wang was thrown into prison. Feng Jieer was worried all day long, not knowing how to relieve herself.

A few days later, the yamen runners suddenly came to arrest the Wang family. Everyone in the Wang family asked, "Why are they here to arrest people? Who in your family is in trouble?"

The leading bailiff replied, "We are here on orders from the official to arrest Wang, the wife of Jia Lian from Rongguo Mansion. Please do not interfere with the official business."

After hearing this, Fengjie cursed: "Bullshit! I am innocent, why are you arresting me?"

The bailiff then told the truth. It was Sister Feng who instigated Ni Er to lend money and extort money to cause a death. She took three thousand taels of silver and forced Zhang Jinge to commit suicide!

After hearing this, Fengjie felt dizzy and almost fainted. The yamen runners came up to arrest her, but Fengjie kicked and beat them, crying, "I won't go. I am innocent. I won't go even if I die!"

The guards put the chain on Fengjie's head without saying anything, and pushed her out of the door. Fengjie couldn't resist them, so she had to get on the prison car.

As they were about to leave Jinling, Fengjie leaned out of the prison car and looked back. Thinking that she might never be able to return to her hometown in this lifetime, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

Because it was a long way from Beijing, the guards parked the prison cart at the inn that night. Fengjie was shackled and locked in the guest room. She sat alone by candlelight, feeling sad. Late at night, a waiter came in with tea and food. Fengjie asked with tears in her eyes, "How many miles is it from here to Jinling?"

The waiter said, "It's at least a hundred miles away."

Fengjie was crying at her desk. The waiter asked her a few questions and then walked out.

Feng Jie cried to the sky in the room, "Grandfather, I am so sorry for you. I wanted to save some money for the family to make up for the deficit, but I never thought that I would get into trouble and face the law. My family is big and powerful. If there were more young men to manage the household, I wouldn't have to worry so much. But those dissolute and extravagant young men don't worry about anything. You have to ask a woman like me to manage it. People outside say that there are mountains of gold and silver in the mansion, but who knows that it has been empty long ago. People say that I secretly hid the money of the Jia family and sent it back to the Wang family. There is money in the cracks of the walls and floors of our Wang family, but who knows that not only the Wang family has no money, but even the Jia family is empty. The money I got for the Jia family is not enough for a little gift money, and I secretly asked the ancestor to borrow it. Now my efforts have been in vain. I got a little money, and I am also in the government office. I am really heartbroken."

A month later, Sister Feng was taken to the Censorate. With the ruffian Zhang Hua as a witness, the superior officer determined that Sister Feng was guilty of a heinous crime and sentenced her to death by hanging.

Ping'er and Xiaohong came to the prison crying to visit Fengjie, but were stopped by the jailer. They took out small change from their sleeves to bribe the jailer and were able to visit Fengjie.

Fengjie had been imprisoned for many days, with wounds all over her body, a sallow face, and dishevelled hair. She was sitting on a broken mat with her head bowed and remained silent. When she saw Ping'er and Xiaohong, she hurriedly stood up and held onto the prison gate, crying, "You finally came to see me. What sentence did they give me? Why didn't my family come to redeem me?"

Ping Er cried, "Madam, you don't know yet, but the government has sentenced you to a serious crime. I'm afraid you will never be able to leave prison for the rest of your life."

Sister Feng cried and begged, "I want to seek justice from the officials. How could my crime be so serious? The officials cannot distinguish right from wrong!"

Ping'er then told him that his family had already offered money to plead for mercy, but it was of no use.

Fengjie regretted that she had ruined her life for the sake of the three thousand pieces of silver. She burst into tears and said, "I have nothing to worry about. I am just worried about Qiaojie's marriage. She will not be able to see her mother in the future. Who will care about her and give her food and drink?"

Ping Er cried, "Don't worry, grandma. Qiao Jie is in my care. I will take good care of her."

Xiaohong then asked Fengjie what she ate in prison.

Sister Feng said, "There is not enough tea or food here. I am almost starving to death. Did you bring any food?"

When Xiaohong came, she brought a few steamed buns and handed them to her. Fengjie grabbed them and stuffed them into her mouth, choking and hiccuping. Ping'er and Xiaohong burst into tears when they saw this. Fengjie went to the wall to get a broken bowl, raised her neck, and drank the cold water dry.

Ping Erh saw that his clothes were torn and asked who tore them. Feng Jieh said, "It was torn by the prisoners in the jail when they were fighting. I am not afraid of them. I have fought with them several times."

As he was speaking, three female prisoners came running over to grab the steamed bun from his hand. Fengjie cursed and fought for the bun, but was pinned down and beaten by the three.

Ping'er and Xiaohong hurriedly shouted to stop, but the three men refused to listen and continued beating. Ping'er and Xiaohong had no choice but to call the jailer over.

The jailer said, "The visiting time is up, it's time to go." Turning back and seeing the people in the jail fighting and tumbling, he said, "This is all commonplace, don't worry about it. You can control it for a while, not for a lifetime." He also urged Ping'er and Xiaohong to leave quickly, fearing that the superiors would see them.

Ping'er and Xiaohong cried to the prisoner, "Take care, grandma. I'll come to visit you next time!" Before she could finish her words, she was pushed out by the jailer.

Sister Feng was beaten so hard that her face was swollen and her nose was bruised. She hid in the corner and begged for mercy. The three female prisoners were very hungry and went to the wall to share the steamed buns.

When Fengjie saw Ping'er and Xiaohong leave, she shook the prison bars with tears in her eyes and shouted, "Why are they all gone? I haven't finished talking yet!" No one paid attention to her for a while. Fengjie felt miserable and fell to the ground crying. "I only talked about Qiaojie, not Erjie!"

Second sister? Yes, that's not right! When my brother Rijian stopped me, I didn't accept the three thousand taels of silver!
Feng Jieer cried out for help, but the cell and the prisoner disappeared in smoke. Feng Jieer suddenly woke up from her dream and looked up to see that it was pitch black. She called for help.

Hearing the noise outside, two maids hurried in with whale oil lamps to check. One of them said, "Did grandma have a nightmare? She looks like she's sweating all over!"

Another said, "Hurry up and cover grandma with a blanket to prevent her from catching a cold."

The lights were bright, and Feng Jieer gradually came to her senses. Compared with the desolation in her dream, now she was just divorced... Besides, there was still her brother Jian.

Thinking of Li Weijian, Feng Jieer felt mixed emotions, thinking that if it wasn't for Brother Jian who stopped her, then the situation in her dream might have come true?
(End of this chapter)