Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 400: Spring brings nothing to the eye

Her body is like a royal guard in the wind, and her appearance is like a flower after the rain.

The pointed spring bamboo shoots crumpled Li Weijian's clothes into a ball, and stretched them out again after a long while. Feng Jieer was exhausted and limp. Li Weijian gritted his teeth and rubbed his chest. He lifted his clothes and took a look. His chest was almost scratched.

It was almost the end of the year, and Wang Xifeng had stayed in the Bo's mansion for ten days before finally moving out. Li Weijian had originally wanted to leave the old house idle, so it would be a good idea for Fengjie to move in. But Fengjie refused, saying "I don't need money", so she looked around and chose a house with three entrances and a small garden near the West Four Archways.

The maidservant that Feng Jieer had married with was now in the Jia family. Li Weijian was afraid that the outsiders would not be able to provide the right staff, so he sent two maids, two old women and several guards. After Feng Jieer moved here, he hired more than 20 servants from various places, and only then could he barely support the business.

The wind died down and the rain stopped. Thinking of Sister Feng's madness just now, Li Weijian couldn't help asking, "It's not like I didn't come to look for you. Why did you kill me like this?"

Feng Jieer had just recovered from her breath and snuggled in Li Weijian's arms and said, "I had a nightmare a few days ago..." She then told Li Weijian the general situation of the dream, which made Li Weijian stare in amazement.

I couldn't help but think to myself, if it wasn't my fault, wouldn't Feng Jieer have ended up like this?

Feng Jie sighed a few times and said with regret: "Relying on others' power is just a castle in the air. With just a divorce letter, I will end up with nothing. Women in this world cannot pass the imperial examinations or become officials, so they can only rely on money to win people's hearts."

These words came out of emotion. After the divorce, not only the Jia family members, but also the relatives and friends stopped communicating. Wang Ziteng was involved in a lawsuit and had not yet been detained and returned to Beijing. The Wang family was in chaos. A few days ago, Wang's aunt even asked Jia Lian, who was embarrassed, to visit her and ask Li Weijian to say a few good words for Wang Ziteng.

Li Weijian was a non-stick pan. He knew that the saint wanted to avenge the grudge from more than ten years ago, so how could he dare to get involved at this time? He only said some comforting words and sent Aunt Wang and Wang back.

You must know that at that time Sister Feng was still living in the backyard of the Bo's house, and Aunt Wang never even visited her or asked about her affairs.

Li Weijian felt sorry for Feng Jieer and hugged her shoulders tightly, saying, "In this world, you can choose like-minded friends, but you can't choose relatives. There are many kinds of people, and people's hearts are different. If you ask me, I think the relationship between relatives is the most difficult to get along with."

Feng Jieer nodded, and couldn't help but move closer, saying pitifully: "I have nothing now, you can't hate me too!"

Li Weijian looked down and saw that her clothes were disheveled, her white silk was covered with scarlet lotus petals, her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her face was like lotus, her lips were red, and her face was like broken jade. It was really touching. Wang Xifeng was in her prime, the most beautiful time in a girl's life. He leaned over and kissed her forehead and said, "I told you a long time ago that if you leave the Jia family, it will be a nest of trouble. Although I can't give you a name now, you have everything else."

Feng Jieer thought that Li Weijian was going to throw money at her again, so she snorted and said, "Leave your livelihood to Lin Daiyu and the others. I don't lack money to spend."

Li Weijian blinked and smiled, "I almost forgot that the woman in my arms is a rich woman. If that's the case, won't Feng'er have to support me in the future?"

Feng Jieer was in a better mood now, and she also teased, "Yes, you must be more diligent in the future, otherwise I will get tired of the old and fall in love with the new."

After a while of being together, Feng Jieer asked worriedly, "I am only worried about two things now. One is my father and my elder brother; the other is Qiao Jieer and my second sister."

Li Weijian said, "Lord Wang left the court long ago, and the Saint will not go too far this time. Lord Wang has paid the money, and this hurdle has been passed. But your second uncle's hurdle is not easy to pass."

Feng Jieer said, "Father had told Second Uncle a long time ago, but Second Uncle was greedy for power and now he has finally lost himself. It doesn't matter if Second Uncle's branch, among the several branches of the Wang family, declines."

Li Weijian nodded and said, "Don't worry about Qiaojie and Erjie. Ping'er is a considerate person and will take good care of them. If you are worried, come to the Bo's Mansion every now and then and let Hongyu secretly inform them. At least you can see them once in a while."

Sister Feng said sadly, "Now that things have come to this, there is no other way."

After a while of lingering, Li Weijian got up. Feng Jieer helped him put on his clothes, and Li Weijian hurried back home.

After seeing Li Weijian off, Sister Feng returned to her room and felt extremely lonely. Without the noise of the sisters-in-law and the understanding Ping'er, even Brother Jian was someone else's husband. Was she going to have to endure this for the next few decades?

While I was thinking, a little maid came in with a medicine bowl and said, "Grandma, it's time to take the medicine. Before leaving, Master Bo told me that you must take it."

Sister Feng took the medicine bowl and muttered, "It's just that I'm a little angry, but you're forcing me to use this damn bitter medicine."

Having said that, Feng Jieer finally frowned and drank the medicine. The medicine might have the effect of helping one sleep, and after dinner that day, Feng Jieer felt sleepy and fell asleep soon.

The days are short in winter. At the second watch of this day, there was a sudden noise outside. Sister Feng woke up. The maid had already lit the lamp. Sister Feng asked hurriedly, "What's the noise outside?"

A maid rushed to listen, and returned a moment later, her face pale and frightened, saying: "This is terrible, a thief broke into the house, fortunately Guard Geng was very skilled and caught the thief."

Sister Feng frowned and said, "Perhaps she moved here because she saw me, so she had evil intentions."

After a while, another maid came in in a panic, her face pale as she said, "Grandma, Guard Geng used some tricks, and the thief refused to confess at first, but now he finally confessed. It turns out that he is not after money this time, but to take your life!"

Feng Jieer was startled and said, "I just moved here and haven't caused any trouble. Who wants to kill me?"

Feng Jieer put on her clothes and led the people to the front. Not long after, several guards brought a sturdy man up. Feng Jieer took a quick look and felt that the man looked familiar.

After a closer look, she gritted her teeth and said, "Xing Dequan? I have no grudge against you, why do you want to kill me?" Feng Jieer suddenly realized and slammed the table and said, "Yes, it must be the eldest lady who sent you here!"

Xing Dequan must be regretting it so much now!

Some time ago, Feng Jieer was divorced and abandoned. Xing Dequan heard that Mrs. Xing had made great efforts. He immediately went to find You Sanjie to show his merit. You Sanjie was very happy and let Xing Dequan take advantage of her.

After a few days, Third Sister You said, "She was driven out of the Jia family because of her evil deeds. She could have lived a good life in the Wang family. It's a pity that my sister died in vain."

Xing Dequan was so frightened that he immediately said, "How difficult is this? Now that she is hiding in the Bo's Mansion, it is naturally difficult to do anything to her, but she will leave sooner or later. Once she makes a move, I will call a few good brothers to avenge the Third Sister!"

Third Sister You frowned and asked, "How could I let you get into a murder case because of me?"

Seeing how pitiful Third Sister You was, Xing Dequan suddenly became heroic and patted his chest and said, "Don't worry about this matter, I'll take care of it!"

A few days later, Xing Dequan finally got what he wanted.

One day, he suddenly heard crying in the middle of the night. He saw Third Sister You mourning Second Sister You. He also heard that Sister Feng had moved out of her uncle's house and now lived in Dongsi Pailou. Xing Dequan gritted his teeth and wanted to kill Sister Feng.

This fellow first went to Tiekan Temple, avoided Jia Qiang, Jia Huan and others, and whispered to those young monks. But those young monks only wanted benefits and would never agree to such a murder case.

Xing Dequan had no choice but to do it himself, but he was caught by the guards left by Li Weijian as soon as he climbed over the wall.

Feng Jieer hated Madam Xing so much that she gritted her teeth and said, "I'll report to the authorities tomorrow. I want to see what the eldest lady has to say this time!"

When Xing Dequan heard that he was going to implicate Madam Xing, he immediately became anxious. He thought that although he claimed to be a hero, he could not stand the tricks. He would have to confess everything to Sanmu in the court. In this case, why should he implicate his sister Madam Xing? Not only Madam Xing, but also the third sister was not easy to implicate.

He stiffened his neck and said, "Feng girl, why do you want to involve innocent people? I was just angry for a moment, so I wanted to kill you. A hero should take responsibility for his actions, so just kill me!"

Feng Jieer wanted to report to the police immediately, but then she changed her mind and thought that since the matter involved Mrs. Xing, it would inevitably involve the old affairs of the mansion. No matter what, the matter of You Erjie was always shameful.

Because Sister Feng gritted her teeth and ordered: "First lock him up in the woodshed, and tomorrow I will find Uncle to discuss how to deal with him."

The next day, Li Weijian had just finished his breakfast when Feng Jieer sent someone to say that he had encountered an assassin. Li Weijian was startled and sent someone to ask for leave from the government office, and then he hurried to Feng Jieer's house.

After arriving at the place and hearing the details, Li Weijian frowned and said, "Since the incident with the embroidered sachet, Xing Dequan has fled and has never had any contact with the first lady. Besides, the first lady only wants to run the family. Now that you have left the Jia family, why would she want to harm you? I'm afraid there is another hidden reason."

Sister Feng thought for a while, nodded and said: "You are right, but it is not good to send this person to the government office."

Li Weijian smiled and said, "That's not difficult. Just use some tricks and make this guy confess." He immediately called Ding Rufeng. Ding Rufeng found a bucket of water and brown paper, and went into the woodshed. In just a moment he got the exact information.

When she came back to report, Sister Feng was so angry that her face turned blue. She said, "Is the You family all evil? If it weren't for Sister You, how could I have fallen to this point? Now Sister You still refuses to give up. This is really too much!"

After a pause, he continued, "It is always the case that a thief can be thieved for a thousand days, but you cannot be on guard against thieves for a thousand days. I will throw the money down now, and see who can kill who!"

Li Weijian hurriedly stopped him: "Are you crazy? In the capital, the best place, if there is a murder case, even I can't protect you. Don't forget Xue Pan!"

Sister Feng was immediately annoyed and asked, "Then what do you say we should do?"

Li Weijian said, "Just send someone to keep an eye on her. She's a dissolute woman, how many people as stupid as Xing Dequan dare to kill her?"

Feng Jieer said anxiously, "What if she finds out she can't do anything to me and turns around to attack Qiao Jieer and Er Jieer?"

Li Weijian said with a smile: "You think too highly of Third Sister You. If she really had such ability, she wouldn't have used her sex appeal to entertain people."

Feng Jieer was dissatisfied, but she also knew that this matter could only be considered in the long run, so she turned around and asked, "Then how should Xing Dequan be dealt with?"

Li Weijian said: "He will break into the house at night with a sharp knife and be sent to Shuntian Prefecture. Now that the Western Regions have been initially settled, the imperial court intends to move Han people to the border. He will just stay in the Western Regions for the rest of his life."

After some consolation, Feng Jieer reluctantly agreed. Li Weijian immediately sent people to Shuntian Prefecture, and within a few days, the case was proven to be ironclad. Xing Dequan was exiled to the Western Regions, and he was exiled with more than a hundred other prisoners before even a year had passed.

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

The Spring Festival has passed and it is almost March.

That day, Jia Lian sent one of Jia Zheng's retainers out of the study, and then threw a letter of engagement on the table.

Ping Er came in with ginseng tea, glanced at the engagement letter, and knew what was going on. After all, he was a descendant of the four princes and eight dukes. Although the Jia family was not as powerful as before, they still had the support of Yuanchun, the eldest daughter of the imperial family. Privately, everyone called Jia Lian the emperor's uncle.

After Feng Jieer was divorced, someone came to the door to test the waters. Although it was difficult to handle it now due to the mourning of Jia Mu and Wang Furen, Jia Lian only needed to wear mourning clothes for one year, and he would be able to leave in half a year. Moreover, the family status of the successor wife was lower, so this small family naturally invited lobbyists to find out a few things.

Ping Er could not help but ask, "Why did the Second Master give up? This family seems to be an official family, so they are a good match."

"Let's talk about it later." Jia Lian agreed and glanced at Ping'er.

After Feng Jieer was driven out, the household affairs were first handed over to Mrs. Xing. However, Mrs. Xing was greedy and soon aroused public resentment. Mrs. Xing collected several thousand taels of silver from everywhere. Although she wanted to continue to manage the household, Jia Zheng and Jia Lian would not allow her to do so. She had no choice but to let Ping Er take care of the household affairs.

Since Ping Er became the housekeeper, everyone praised her for her ability to distinguish between public and private matters, her diligence and kindness, her sincerity in treating others, and her popularity among the people, even higher than Sister Feng. The servants even privately called her the Second Madam. But Ping Er would change her face and scold her whenever she heard this.

Jia Lian thought of Ping'er's many good qualities and couldn't help but smile, "I think it would be better to make you the principal wife, since everyone in the family is praising you so much right now."

Ping Er frowned and said, "Second Master, you are joking. I am just a maid who came with the dowry. How can I be a successor?"

Jia Lian smiled and said, "That's easy. I can release my indenture and find a family to become my adoptive parents. Who would dare to say anything behind closed doors?"

He just said it casually, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it made sense. He thought to himself: Ping'er is virtuous, polite, and considerate. Everyone in the family likes her. She doesn't take care of herself, so she's a good candidate for a successor.

So he stepped forward and put his hand on Ping'er's shoulder, but Ping'er dodged as if frightened. Jia Lian was startled, and then he thought of his own illness and lost interest. He just asked, "How are Qiaojie and Erjie these days?"

"all good."

Jia Lian was not interested anymore and waved his hand: "Take good care of it. If there is anything missing, just tell me."

Ping'er quickly bowed and left. After leaving the study, Ping'er thought to herself, this is also strange, and she doesn't know since when, the slightest touch from the Second Master makes her feel disgusted.

While she was thinking, she ran into Jia Zheng head-on, and Ping'er moved aside.

Jia Zheng paused and asked, "Is Lian'er in the study?"

Ping'er came back, Jia Zheng nodded, and walked towards the study. After entering, Jia Lian hurriedly greeted him, and after he sat down, Jia Zheng said, "Lian'er, please sit down. I have something to tell you."

"Uncle, if you have something to say, just tell me."

Jia Zheng said, "Now that Feng'er is gone, the family is left to run by the eldest wife and you. The other day the Madam sent a little eunuch to deliver a letter, saying that she was busy with work at the palace and was afraid she would not be able to go home to visit her parents this year. She was also worried about Baoyu, who was growing up, so she would definitely have to take the next exam."

Jia Lian smiled bitterly and said, "It is because the queen cares about the family. If she really came back to visit her parents, I am afraid we would really have to pawn our belongings to make ends meet."

Jia Zheng sighed and was about to say something else when he saw a servant come in and report, "Second Master, Madam Zhen wants to see you. She said she has something urgent to tell you."

Jia Zheng frowned, but Jia Lian knew the truth. He didn't know why, but opium had become increasingly scarce recently. He had looked for Third Sister You several times, but had spent a lot of money to get it. Unfortunately, only a few of the ones he had planted at home survived, and no matter how frugal they were, they had all been used up by now.

He did get a box a few days ago, but now Jia Lian doesn't even have enough for himself, so how could he be willing to share it with Youshi?

Jia Lian said, "Didn't you see that Second Uncle told me something? Go and tell him that I will be back soon."

The servant agreed, and the two of them talked about household affairs. As they were talking, the servant came back unexpectedly and said in a embarrassed tone, "Second Master, it's not that I'm being nosy, it's really that Grandmother Zhen came by herself this time."

Jia Lian was so surprised that he was about to stand up to stop her when he saw Youshi stumbling in like a madman, shouting, "Good Second Master, please give me a bite! I can't stand it any longer!"

Jia Zheng was stunned. He stood up and stamped his feet, saying, "This, this, this... How can this be so disgraceful!"

Jia Lian's face flushed with shame, and he rebuked Youshi a few words, but Youshi became addicted and tore her clothes without caring about anything, shouting, "You have even deceived me and made me sick. Who else should I look for if not you?"

Jia Zheng could no longer bear to listen, so he turned around and walked to the door, then turned back and scolded, "Although family disgrace should not be made public, this is really outrageous. You...you better deal with it!"

Jia Zheng left in anger, and Jia Lian knew that he could no longer keep Youshi at home. He immediately found opium to relieve Youshi's addiction, and then arranged to drive Youshi out.

But it is said that when Li Weijian returned home that day, he heard Hongyu talk about the trouble in the Jia family.

When they entered the main room of the east courtyard, they saw Daiyu was very angry. The young couple talked about private matters, and Daiyu frowned and said, "Who knew that Second Brother Lian would be like this? Even Sister Zhen--"

Li Weijian knew about this long ago, so he said, "There have been rumors outside that except for the two stone lions at the gate, there was no clean person in Ningguo Mansion. Well, let's just pretend we don't know about this."

Daiyu added, "Sister-in-law Zhen just left the house crying. I heard that she was sent to her sister's home."

Li Weijian suddenly said playfully: "That's just right... just right to give Third Sister You a ride."

Daiyu was surprised and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

(End of this chapter)