Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 37 More Bad News

When Jia Cong woke up, he found his hands and feet were tied again. Light was coming in from outside the cave, and the female thief was nowhere to be found.

Just as he was thinking about how to untie the rope so as to escape, suddenly a figure flashed at the entrance of the cave, and the female thief walked in with a washed and skinned mountain rabbit in her hand.

She skillfully roasted the rabbit over the fire until it turned golden brown. The aroma of meat filled the cave, and Jia Cong's stomach growled.

He hasn't eaten for a day.

The female thief tore off a rabbit leg, turned her back, untied her face veil, and ate it slowly. After eating, she covered her face veil again and turned around to untie the ropes on Jia Cong.

The remaining rabbit meat was thrown in front of him. Jia Cong didn't care about this somewhat contemptuous gesture as he had been hungry for a day and a night.

He picked up the rabbit meat on the ground, shook off the dust, and began to eat it with relish. In a short while, he had eaten up most of the mountain rabbit.

The female thief threw the water bag in front of him and said, "Wipe your hands clean first, then wash them with water. If there is any dirt left, I will chop off your hands!"

Jia Cong heard her voice and it was not much louder than his own. She was so fierce and vicious. He wished that no one would want her in her life.

He had nothing with him to wash his hands, and the moon-white brocade robe he was wearing was scratched all over by tree branches as he walked through the forests and mountains.

The female thief would kick him from time to time, tie his hands and feet and throw him on the ground at random. The new robe was already tattered. Jia Cong felt sad and felt it was a pity for Zhishao's craftsmanship.

He felt somewhat helpless as he wiped the grease off his hands on the new robe that cost him ten taels of silver.

Thinking of Zhishao, I wonder how she is doing now. Is she still staying in the small courtyard I rented? If I don’t go back for a few days, she must be worried sick.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong suddenly felt uneasy. He had to find a way to get rid of this female thief and go back as soon as possible.

When Jia Cong cleaned his hands, the woman had turned around and undressed. Jia Cong saw that the swelling on the knife wound on her back had completely subsided, and the ointment she had applied yesterday had actually been absorbed by the wound.

The cut flesh was tightly glued together, leaving a thin red line. The skin around the wound was also bright red, which was the trace of blood and flesh healing.

Jia Cong glanced at the black iron bottle in his hand. It turned out that there was such a magical medicine for wounds in this world. He had never heard of the famous Yunnan Baiyao in later generations having such miraculous effects. He really couldn't underestimate the ancients.

This time applying the medicine was easier because the skin and flesh of the wound had healed and it was not as troublesome as the first time.

Jia Cong is still very young, and his body functions have not yet developed much sexual feeling, but when his hands touched the smooth and tender back skin of the female thief, he still felt a wonderful feeling in his heart.

After applying the medicine on the wound, the female thief put on her clothes. Jia Cong had a bad feeling and all the muscles in his body tensed up.

"You wanted to touch me just now!" The female thief's voice was cold, but with a hint of shame.

"I didn't." Jia Cong denied it flatly, "How can I apply medicine to you if I don't touch you? Don't be ungrateful."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a shadow passing by in front of him. He cried out in his heart that something was wrong and turned his right shoulder violently, trying to dodge, but he didn't expect to be hit hard on the left shoulder socket.

Jia Cong was filled with grief and anger, and fainted again as expected.

He was obviously full of ideas and had thought of at least a dozen ways to escape, but faced with the simple and rough behavior of this female thief, he had no room to use them.

……

In Rongqing Hall, Lai Da was kneeling there holding a red cloak. Sitting at the top was Jia Mu, and standing beside her was the head maid Yuanyang.

Sitting on the left were Jia She and Madam Xing, and on the right were Jia Zheng and Madam Wang. The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat depressing and solemn.

Although Lai Da was the steward of Rongguo Mansion, he was usually not allowed to enter the inner courtyard. If there was anything, he would only stay outside the second gate and let the maid go in to pass on the message.

Because the robbery of Jia Cong was a big deal, Jia's mother ordered him to be questioned in Rongqing Hall, and Li Wan took all the younger female relatives in the hall to avoid the screen. Lai Da's mother was Jia's maidservant, and he himself was a child of the Jia family. He was appointed as the chief steward of Rongguo Mansion because of Jia's mother's favor.

This man is in his thirties, looks capable and smart. In the past few days, he has been instructed by Jia Zheng to arrange people to search for Jia Cong's whereabouts.

"Madam, the strong servants who had time in the mansion these past two days have all gone out to look for Third Master Cong. We didn't see any movement the day before, but this morning we found Third Master's carriage thirty miles outside the west gate.

There was no one in the car, but I found this cloak. I asked Guo Zhigui to take a look. It was the one that Third Master Ri Cong wore when he went out that day. And…"

Grandmother Jia frowned and said, "What else do you have to say? Why are you hesitating? Just say it quickly."

Lai Da hesitated before speaking, and said, "In addition to this cloak, there is also a large pool of blood on the shaft of the carriage. I think the Third Master is in danger this time."

Everyone in the hall's face changed drastically when they heard this.

After hearing this, Jia's mother was stunned for a long time, and seemed to find it hard to accept. She said, "It's really a sin. How old is he, and he wants to catch up with me."

There was a rare hint of sadness in her tone. This grandson had made her angry for many years. Now she heard that he was not doing well, she felt very uncomfortable. After all, he was her grandson.

Jia Zheng's face was pale and he was in despair. He slapped the back of his chair heavily and said, "How could it come to this? Cong-ge was so capable. The Jia family hasn't had a son like him for many years, but he ended up like this."

He thought of the envy and flattery of his colleagues in the yamen, and the way the usually solemn Minister Li talked to him in a friendly manner. He wondered when he had ever been so respectable in the Ministry of Works.

Now everything is over. The fortune of the Jia family has declined to such an extent that they can't even bear the aura of being the top scholar. We are really ashamed of our ancestors.

Although Jia She hated his son to the core and usually beat or scolded him, Lai Da said that there was a large pool of blood on the carriage, so the son must have been killed by thieves.

After all, he is his own son. He felt depressed and sat there unable to say a word. He couldn't be said to be very sad, but he couldn't be said to be very sad.

And when he heard his illiterate brother describe the illegitimate child as an outstanding son that the Jia family had not produced for many years, and added that he had great potential, he felt ashamed and his anger rose up uncontrollably.

Mrs. Xing's voice rang out in the hall: "Old lady, this doesn't sound good. This child is unlucky and can't stand the nobleness of the Jia family. I will go back and take care of him first, so that we can have a good fight."

Grandmother Jia's face was sullen: "I didn't say he was dead. It's not the time to say such things. You're really going to lose your life."

He then said to Lai Da: "Send the servants to look for him again these few days. No matter if he is dead or alive, we must find him. The government offices should also keep an eye on him. If there is any problem, report back immediately."

Behind the screen, Tanchun saw the cloak in Lai Da's hand, which was the one she gave to Jia Cong to keep warm that day. She couldn't help but burst into tears.

Yingchun was a soft-hearted person. When she heard Lai Da say that blood had been seen, she thought that her brother had lost his life and couldn't help crying out loud.

Daiyu was frightened when she heard what was said in front of the hall. Seeing Tanchun and Yingchun so sad, and thinking of the unique Xizhou poem in Tanchun's room, she could not help shedding tears.

Baoyu and Jia Cong did not have much friendship, but he felt depressed and anxious as to how could the person he had just seen a few days ago disappear like that? However, he could not say he felt sad. He just advised Daiyu to stop crying.

When little Xichun saw her sisters were sad, she wanted to cry too.

When Grandmother Jia heard the noise behind the screen, she was a little puzzled. How could her grandson, who was never allowed to enter the backyard, become so close to his sisters?

After hearing what Lai Da said just now, the old lady felt very unhappy, so she asked everyone to disperse and go about their own business.

This news spread very quickly in Rongguo Mansion. On the cobblestone path leading to the kitchen in the east courtyard, a timid, beautiful and graceful maid was running hurriedly towards the storeroom.

　I have received a lot of valuable comments. Thank you for your support. There will be another update tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)