Chapter 96 Two thousand taels of silver were found in Xiren's room. "Third brother, I..."
When Jia Zheng flew into a rage, no one in the courtyard dared to speak. The only sounds were the cracking of the wooden board, Lady Wang's weeping, and Jia Baoyu's sobs.
Although Aunt Zhao was still kneeling, she stopped crying; after all, it was already quite remarkable that she didn't laugh.
Madam Wang counted the blows in her mind. After twenty blows, she cried and said, "Baoyu may be bad in a thousand ways, but he is still your father's own son. Even tigers don't eat their cubs. If you forgive him this time, he will remember it."
"Did he remember?" Madam Wang's words only emboldened Jia Zheng to beat him even more severely. Jia Baoyu thrashed about in pain, his legs kicking wildly. Jia Zheng roared, "If he remembered, he wouldn't deserve a second beating!"
"Sir, please think of the old lady too—"
After Lady Wang's reminder, Wu Xing's wife, who was serving her, wanted to invite Grandmother Jia.
Everyone in the courtyard was standing still, but as soon as she lifted her foot, Jia Zheng immediately noticed it.
"Who dares to go!"
This blow was quite severe, and Jia Baoyu cried out again.
"It's already dark. You're going to find the old lady? What if she's in a hurry and trips and falls because she can't see where she's going?"
No one dared to speak in the courtyard, and Madam Wang's crying grew louder and louder.
Hearing her cries, Jia Zheng grew even angrier. Why had he lost his official position?
Zhou Rui seized other people's land.
Did the Rongguo Mansion lack food or clothing for them? They lived more comfortably than minor officials, yet they still caused trouble for no reason.
"If it weren't for—" you observing mourning, I would really want to divorce you!
Madam Wang heard it too. "If not what?" she thought. "What does Master want to say?" She glared at Aunt Zhao. If Aunt Zhao hadn't complained, why would Master have thought of beating Baoyu?
Jia Zheng struck him twenty or thirty more times. When hitting someone, the force should start from the feet. As the blows continued, he felt his ankles getting more and more painful, and they seemed to be swelling up inside his shoes.
Jia Zheng knew he couldn't continue beating him, but he hadn't had enough and was still unwilling to give up. He forcefully raised the board and struck him hard.
"Ah—" Jia Baoyu let out a muffled groan, his voice even lowering by three points.
Lady Wang was so frightened that she threw herself on Jia Baoyu, crying, "Master, Master! You can't hit him anymore!"
Her lunge caused Jia Zheng to stumble, and as he lost his balance, his ankle twisted, leaving him with all his weight on one foot. The impact caused him to fall as well.
Aunt Zhao, who had long since developed an instinct for doing so, quickly stepped forward to help.
Jia Zheng didn't fall. He frowned and found Aunt Zhao, whose face was covered in tears, particularly adorable. He said softly, "Go and get some medicinal wine. She twisted her ankle."
"Hurry up and help the master up!" Aunt Zhao shouted, and then ordered, "Carry the master to the outer study and fetch a doctor to treat sprains and bruises."
Jia Zheng then fell silent.
Madam Wang was not a quick-witted person to begin with, and besides, she was just focused on not hurting her son, so her reaction was a beat slower than Aunt Zhao's.
Jia Zheng had already stood up when Madam Wang finally asked, "How is my husband?"
Jia Zheng sneered twice, ignored her, and helped Aunt Zhao into the sedan chair.
Aunt Zhao dared to say "the young master is useless" in front of the old lady, let alone with Jia Zheng present, what was she afraid of?
“Madam, please stop crying. Look, Master Bao is still able to move and cry. How could he be hurt? Master knows what’s going on. Madam, please stop crying and quickly have someone help Master Bao inside. Don’t let him catch a cold.”
These words were laced with sarcasm and contained hidden barbs. Lady Wang's expression changed, but she dared not say anything in front of Jia Zheng, and only instructed, "You should serve the master well."
Aunt Zhao accompanied Jia Zheng to the front yard, where they waited for the doctor to come and treat him.
Lady Wang sent someone to help Baoyu into her room to lie down, applied some medicine to him, and then ordered someone to find a doctor.
As soon as she sat down, she remembered Xiren again. Madam Wang narrowed her eyes and said in a cold voice, "Go and bring Xiren to me."
Wu Xing's wife hurriedly led people to find Xi Ren.
Xiren was locked in the front yard. Wu Xing's wife said that the madam wanted to see her, and the guards did not dare to say anything more.
As soon as the door opened, Wu Xing's wife saw her disheveled appearance and messy hair, and she knew what had happened.
She sneered twice: "If your wife wants to see you, come with me."
Xiren had been sold into the Jia family for more than ten years and always maintained a respectable appearance. She shrank back slightly and said, "Mother, please allow me to wash up a little. It would be disrespectful to see Madam looking like this."
Wu Xing's family would never agree to that.
There has to be a culprit in this whole affair. We can't let the mistress and the master be at odds. Besides, with the master back, Aunt Zhao can no longer be manipulated by anyone. Moreover, it was this conceited maid who seduced the second master.
"You want your wife to wait for you?" Wu Xingjia asked rhetorically.
Xi Ren's eyes reddened with anxiety, and she broke out in a cold sweat. She dared not do anything.
If she goes to see her wife looking like this, she's doomed; if she asks her wife to wait for her to wash up, she's still doomed.
In an instant, Xiren was filled with despair. Like a walking corpse, she dragged herself along behind Wu Xingjia.
Upon arriving at Madam Wang's room, Xiren knelt down with a thud. As soon as she knelt, she saw Jia Baoyu lying on the daybed behind Madam Wang.
Lady Wang had already given birth to three children. Just by looking at Xiren's appearance, she knew that Xiren had been having an affair with Baoyu. Lady Wang was so angry that she closed her eyes, felt dizzy, and then suddenly stood up. Still feeling dizzy, she took two steps to Xiren and slapped her across the face.
"Shameless little hussy, I told you to keep an eye on Baoyu, and this is how you look at him!"
Xiren was knocked over by the slap and lay on the ground sobbing.
Wu Xing's wife stepped forward and kicked her: "Kneel down properly!"
Xiren struggled to kneel up again, not daring to say a word in her defense, only glancing at Jia Baoyu out of the corner of her eye.
Madam Wang slapped him again: "I thought you were a good person, I never imagined you were the one who wanted to kill me! You have a black heart! I only hate myself for being deceived by you back then."
Xi Ren's face was swollen on both sides, but she knew that it was no use saying anything now. She just hoped that Master Bao would say a word for her.
Then she saw her beloved Bao Er Ye looking reluctant, his head slightly turned to the side, his face buried in the pillow.
Master Bao was indeed kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see this. Xiren felt a chill run down her spine: "If Madam wants to beat or kill me, I'll accept it."
Madam Wang sneered twice: "You've fooled me, and you've even ruined my son. Should I beat you or kill you? Our Rongguo Mansion is a family that values generosity."
She glanced at Wu Xing's wife, who hurriedly said, "The messenger said that the master wants her whole family to be sold off first thing tomorrow morning."
Madam Wang chuckled a few more times: "Master doesn't manage the household, so he didn't know that this maid had sold herself into servitude. But since it was Master's order, you will personally handle it tomorrow. She is not allowed to take anything with her except the clothes she is wearing!"
Xiren was already weak-willed, her mind filled with only the image of her beloved Bao Er Ye turning his head away. Wu Xing's wife called two old women to pull her away. Seeing her like this, Madam Wang finally felt a little relieved.
She turned to look at Baoyu again, her expression softening considerably: "The people your grandmother picks for you are getting worse and worse. Qingwen, the first one, wasn't interested in serving others at all; she only wanted to climb the social ladder. And this Xiren is up to no good. I'll pick two better ones for you later."
Jia Baoyu didn't dare to say much, only giving a soft "hmm." Just then, the doctor arrived, and Lady Wang didn't say anything more.
After a night of commotion, starting with the phoenix egg, by the next morning, regardless of how well-informed they were, the entire Rongguo Mansion knew about it.
Grandmother Jia paused, and the ginseng soup in the cup suddenly lost its aroma.
“Master Bao is fine,” Yuanyang said. “The Second Master didn’t hurt him too badly, not as badly as last time. He’ll be fine in a month or two. The Second Master twisted his ankle, but it’s not serious either. The doctor said it will be better in a month, not a hundred days.”
"All they do is cause trouble all day long!" Grandmother Jia slammed her cup down, spilling the ginseng soup. "How old is Baoyu already, and he's still so troublesome. And your second master, how old is he? If he doesn't take care of his health, what if—"
Seeing that Grandmother Jia was feeling sad, Yuanyang added, "The Second Master ordered that Xiren be sold off, and the Second Madam personally handled the matter. I heard from them that, not counting the fine clothes bestowed upon Xiren by her masters, the gold and silver jewelry alone amounted to no less than two thousand taels."
Grandmother Jia narrowed her eyes: "She's just a maid... and she doesn't even do any work. She's only received two taels of silver a month in the last two years, relying solely on bonuses... There are more than just this one maid in Baoyu's room whose names I can name."
Although the old lady had started calculating again, at least she wasn't sad anymore. Yuanyang said, "It's time to keep a close eye on things. What kind of maid can save up so much money?"
"More than two thousand taels?" Madam Wang asked in disbelief. Wu Xing's wife nodded. "I just counted it once, but it's not much off."
Madam Wang slammed her hand on the table in anger, and Wu Xing's wife quickly advised, "That maid Xiren does indeed have an honest face; even the old lady didn't notice."
Madam Wang narrowed her eyes. There were nearly twenty maids in Baoyu's room. The others certainly didn't have as much wealth as Xiren, but no matter how you looked at it, they all had tens of thousands of taels of silver in total.
This was a perfect excuse; why not take this opportunity to thoroughly search the Grand View Garden? But the maids only had a small amount of money; it wouldn't be good if they alerted the managers. Madam Wang was caught in a dilemma.
"I really didn't realize that," Ping'er sighed as she fed Wang Xifeng her medicine. "She manages the money in Master Bao's room, and she's managed to accumulate so much stuff without making a sound."
“No one is easy to deal with,” Wang Xifeng sighed. “If I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have bothered to spend money lending out and end up with a bad reputation.”
“You really can’t tell on ordinary days.” Ping’er was extremely upset. “In the past, when my monthly allowance was paid late, Xiren would come to urge me. She always told me that she had nowhere to spend the money, and that it was reserved for Master Bao’s use.”
Wang Xifeng chuckled twice, glancing sideways at Ping'er: "You always criticize me, but you haven't seen through it either? You've been fooled just the same way. Our little phoenix egg in the family never even leaves the house, acting like a young lady. Where would she spend her money?"
Ping'er rolled her eyes and was about to speak when the old woman outside said, "Second Sister and Qiutong have come to pay their respects to Grandma."
Wang Xifeng sat up straight instantly. Although her hair was unkempt, she only had two bracelets on her body, and her clothes were ordinary and not very new, she straightened her back and still had a sharp look in her eyes.
"Call him in." Ping'er went to lift the curtain.
You Erjie and Qiutong entered, curtsied to Wang Xifeng, and said, "Greetings, Grandmother."
"Hmm." Wang Xifeng responded lightly, but after looking her over, she frowned. "Isn't Second Sister's clothing a bit ill-fitting?"
Sister You had lost weight, but her clothes were not only not too big, but actually too small. Her figure was already quite shapely after giving birth, and with these tight clothes, not only Wang Xifeng, but even Ping'er thought she was trying to seduce Master Lian.
Wang Xifeng glanced at Qiu Tong and suddenly smiled: "After you've paid your respects, go back and rest. Take good care of the Second Master."
Ping'er sighed silently.
Lin Daiyu also heard the news that Jia Baoyu had been beaten again. However, she still had to go to Grandmother Jia's place every morning and evening to pay her respects, which made things difficult for her.
However, when Lin Daiyu arrived at the destination, she realized that not only was she in a difficult situation, but the three sisters were in the same predicament. Even the eldest daughter of the Xue family deliberately avoided making eye contact with people.
That's true. He was only around thirteen when he was beaten, so we could just say he was a kid who didn't know any better. Now he's almost eighteen.
It's not a pretty sight to be struck on the buttocks, and it's hard to persuade someone to stop, especially since there's a woman named Xiren who's been sold off inside.
Lin Daiyu was relieved and smiled, revealing two small dimples. She said to Grandmother Jia, "I have to go out again today."
Since the incident only happened last night, Grandmother Jia's mind was not on Lin Daiyu for the time being. She smiled and said, "It's good that you're going out. Be careful on the road and come back early."
Seeing that no one wanted to speak, Madam Xing smiled and said, "Our master has found a good marriage for Yingchun, and he just wanted to tell the old lady."
Grandmother Jia frowned. Although she was not happy, and her mind had never been on Yingchun, she asked politely, then habitually questioned, "Isn't she too old? She doesn't seem to come from a very good family."
"Ahem." Madam Xing chuckled again, "This is the kind of family my husband and I can find."
Seeing that she was about to start making veiled accusations again, Grandmother Jia stopped herself in time and simply said, "Let's go eat."
Madam Xing then instructed Yingchun, "Go back and pack your things. You have to move back. You can't marry into the second branch of the family, can you?"
Grandmother Jia frowned again. What second branch? This is the Rongguo Mansion. But it's better to avoid trouble. She was also afraid that Madam Xing would act recklessly, so she pretended not to hear.
However, Madam Xing had something else to say. She had heard that two thousand taels of silver had been found in Xiren's room that morning, and she had an idea.
Everyone knows that Yingchun is weak and incompetent. She can't keep any valuable things, such as her monthly allowance and jewelry. Therefore, the old women and maids in her room must have plenty of money.
Welcoming Yingchun is secondary; we mustn't let Madam Wang take these things away.
"I'll call Wang Shanbao's wife over in a bit to help with the tidying up."
Lady Wang didn't pay much attention; she was just thinking about how to deal with Aunt Zhao. Grandmother Jia, however, was quite unhappy and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Is there a tiger chasing you?"
"Our son-in-law is getting on in years and is eager to get married."
After breakfast, Lin Daiyu went back to change into her outdoor clothes and got into the carriage with Xueyan.
The people of Rongguo Mansion dared not interfere with her. Apart from occasional invitations, she would sometimes ride in a carriage to go out for a stroll. Even if she didn't go anywhere, just driving around the city was quite nice.
Moreover, ever since the engagement, Third Brother has become increasingly reckless, with carriages, servants, and guards all waiting at the gate of Rongguo Mansion.
She wasn't doing it for any other reason than that it would be too unbearable for these people to wait if she didn't come out.
The carriage headed north after leaving Ningrong Street. After passing two intersections, Lin Daiyu lifted the curtain slightly. The road to the east led to the Zhongyong Earl's Mansion.
Third brother?
Although the curtain was only slightly lifted, with such a large horse and such a large person, who could mistake them?
"Third Brother." Lin Daiyu boldly lifted the curtain and called out, only to see a man and a horse turn around and come galloping over.
"What a coincidence." Mu Chuan looked pleasantly surprised. "I just got back. It seems that while I was secretly thinking about you, you were also secretly thinking about me."
Lin Daiyu didn't even bother to suppress her smile; her eyes were bright. "I think Third Brother doesn't need to think about me secretly. Why does Third Brother only dare to think about me secretly?"
We can't defend ourselves, we simply can't defend ourselves.
Mu Chuan originally wanted to use practicing calligraphy as an excuse, but after thinking about it again, he waved his hand and said, "Return to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence."
Mu Chuan seriously reflected on his actions and found it rather sweet to be teased by a girl, so he decided to continue pretending: "The hostage from Bei Li has arrived and is waiting thirty miles outside the capital. We're going to bring him into the city tomorrow. Do you want to go and see what's going on?"
Lin Daiyu, whose inspiration was at its peak, deliberately sighed, sounding both annoyed and regretful: "Last time when Third Brother returned to the capital in triumph, I didn't have a chance to see him. Third Brother, will you wear armor again tomorrow? Will it be the same as last time when you went to the capital? The hostage is irrelevant. Third Brother, I want to see you in heavy armor."
This time, Mu Chuan couldn't hold back his smile: "Wear it! I'll definitely wear it!"
Wait a minute, it seems that armor was presented to the emperor? No problem, we can just get it back.
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Author's note: Xiren has officially left the stage.
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