Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 8 An Unexpected Joy

Having taken on the task of picking up Daiyu, Jia Lian changed his lazy attitude from the previous few days and went to the front yard to select people to accompany him after leaving Mengpo Studio.

The world was different from later times; the probability of encountering bandits and other dangers on long journeys was relatively high.

Jia Lian wasn't foolish enough to travel a thousand miles alone. What if he got his head chopped off on the way? Who would he complain to?

Therefore, even if you need to travel quickly, you should choose a few capable attendants.

After finishing this task, he prepared to go to the accounting office to collect the necessary travel expenses, but upon hearing Grandmother Jia's summons, he turned back and headed to Rongqing Hall.

"Greetings, Ancestor."

Upon discovering that besides Grandmother Jia and a group of maids and servants, only Wang Xifeng was present in Rongqing Hall, Jia Lian knew that Grandmother Jia would most likely act as a peacemaker between him and Wang Xifeng.

I shook my head inwardly; sure enough, the cat that meows gets the treats.

He had only just begun to show his abilities when Grandmother Jia became concerned about him. In the previous few days, Rongqing Hall had not shown any interest in him whatsoever.

"Lian'er, I heard you had a fight with your wife and moved to the outer study in a huff?"

Grandmother Jia is a competent head of the household. When she reprimanded Jia Zheng before, she displayed her authority perfectly. Now, as a kind elder, there is not a trace of disharmony between her and the family.

"I am guilty, for such a trivial matter has caused my great-grandmother to have to concern herself with it."

Grandmother Jia waved her hand: "What's there to worry about? Your wife has already told me everything. She's just a little maid. How did it come to the point where you two become like strangers?"

Here's the deal: considering how your wife serves me all year round, I'll take the blame for her.

"You're missing one person from your room, so I'll give you another one as compensation, and then this matter will be over. Is that alright?"

Since Grandmother Jia said it that way, Jia Lian had no room to refuse.

However, upon hearing that Grandmother Jia wanted to compensate him with someone, and seeing Wang Xifeng's dark and gloomy face beside him, Jia Lian couldn't help but laugh again.

If that's the case, then he actually won the first round against Wang Xifeng, and Wang Xifeng has shot herself in the foot.

Therefore, he nodded in agreement with Grandmother Jia's wishes.

Seeing this, Grandmother Jia did not hesitate. She smiled and waved to the side, and then three maids were seen being pushed and shoved out by their companions from the group of maids.

They were all senior maids from Grandmother Jia's household, each earning a monthly salary of one or two taels of silver, and all of them were beautiful and lively.

Seeing this, one has to admit that Grandmother Jia was a seasoned beauty enthusiast; she especially liked good-looking people.

She never hesitated to shower her grandchildren with affection and rewards, as long as they were good-looking.

Among the three sisters of the Jia family, Yingchun and Tanchun are, of course, granddaughters of this household. But the youngest, Xichun, is a legitimate young lady from the Ningguo Mansion. Because she lost her mother at a young age and was very cute, she was taken in and raised by Grandmother Jia from a young age…

She treated her grandchildren this way, and she treated her maids the same way.

She was extremely picky about the maids, and since she had nothing to do after retiring, she had the leisure to train the maids in the mansion. She kept the good ones and sent the bad ones away, so most of the best maids in the entire Rongguo Mansion were in Rongqing Hall.

Those chosen to serve you are all exceptionally talented.

However, due to her high status, although many of the young and old men of the two mansions coveted these beautiful maids, none of them dared to make a move, nor did they know how.

Unexpectedly, he was fortunate enough to receive a reward from Grandmother Jia today, and was even given the option to choose whatever he wanted.

It seems that Grandmother Jia's intention was not merely to mediate the conflict between him and Wang Xifeng, but also to reward him for his performance today.

A quick glance at the three head maids revealed them to be capable servants who regularly attended to Grandmother Jia, earning a full tael of silver per month—the highest rank of maids in the Jia household. There were only about a dozen such maids in the entire Rongguo Mansion, and Grandmother Jia alone had eight of them.

Perhaps Grandmother Jia was worried that Wang Xifeng might resort to underhanded tactics again, so she made this arrangement. Even the maids who grew up by her side were not to be easily manipulated by Wang Xifeng!

Unfortunately, she still couldn't bear to let him choose the one she loved most...

As Jia Lian was thinking to himself, he subconsciously glanced at Yuanyang behind Grandmother Jia, who was giving Grandmother Jia a light shoulder massage.

Ping, Xi, and Yuan are representative figures among the maids in the Rongguo Mansion; the others are generally inferior.

Ping'er is in Wang Xifeng's care, and Xiren, who was also Jia Mu's maid, has now been placed by Jia Baoyu's side. Only Yuanyang remains unsettled, held tightly by Jia Mu herself. This shows how precious she is, cherished even by Jia Mu.

"Heh heh, the ancestors gave you three such beautiful girls to choose from, and you're still not satisfied? You've got your eye on Yuanyang now, haven't you?"

Wang Xifeng kept staring resentfully at Jia Lian. Although Jia Lian only glanced at Yuanyang, she still keenly caught it and immediately laughed out loud.

Everyone knows that Yuanyang is currently the most capable maidservant by Grandmother Jia's side. If Grandmother Jia finds out that Jia Lian covets Yuanyang and gets angry and takes back the reward, it would be a good thing for her.

Wang Xifeng's words caused the people around to burst into laughter. Yuanyang, the person involved, even blushed slightly, but quickly wiped it away and then glared at Wang Xifeng.

Others may fear this Second Madam Lian, but she is not. If anyone dares to make fun of her again, she will definitely spit on them.

Grandmother Jia also smiled, but her smile was not so kind.

Jia Lian showed no sign of panic. He cupped his hands and smiled, "Miss Yuanyang is undoubtedly one of the best maids in the manor, but who doesn't know that she is also the old matriarch's darling? The old matriarch herself loves her dearly, how could I, her grandson, dare to snatch her away from her like that?"

"I believe that if Grandmother truly wishes to bestow a reward upon me, I do indeed have someone in mind. I humbly request Grandmother's generous favor."

"Oh? You didn't like any of them, so who did you fancy?"

Grandmother Jia glanced at the three women she had chosen and was surprised again. Jia Lian's plan was good. To encourage Jia Lian's filial piety today, and also to prevent trouble from breaking out in Jia Lian's household, she had really gone to great lengths, bringing out the best maids she usually took care of.

"Hehe, if the old matriarch is willing, why not bestow Qingwen upon her grandson?" Jia Lian said with a smile.

"Who?" Grandmother Jia didn't understand at first, but a maidservant laughed and said, "Grandma, is the girl Qingwen that Second Master Lian is talking about? She's the one that Lai Mama gave to you before the New Year. You said she was good when you saw her, and you even gave her a name yourself. Then you had someone take her down to learn manners, and you said you would have her serve you in the future."

"I remember now."

Grandmother Jia still remembered her, but she was curious: "How did you know about that little girl?"

Jia Lian replied with a smile, "Last time I came to pay my respects to the Old Ancestor, I bumped into her once on the outer corridor. I heard someone call her Qingwen, so I remembered her."

Grandmother Jia snorted twice and said to those around her, "I always said that whenever there's anything good in my house, everyone, young and old, wants it. Didn't you believe me? Now you see, even my little maid who's still learning manners is being coveted. What about the other good things?"

All the servants laughed: "It's all thanks to our matriarch's skill in raising people. If it were a girl from somewhere else, I'm afraid Second Master Lian wouldn't have taken a liking to her."

"What else could he possibly dislike..."

Grandmother Jia glanced at Jia Lian and gave a snort for no apparent reason, making Jia Lian feel as if he were being pricked by thorns.

He didn't show anything further, since he had taken the initiative to try, and there was nothing Grandmother Jia could do if she didn't give it to him.

It's likely that Qingwen was still young at this time and hadn't been given to Jia Baoyu by Grandmother Jia, so she probably wouldn't have been reluctant to part with her.

As expected, although Grandmother Jia was somewhat dissatisfied with Jia Lian's past, she remained true to her original intention and sent someone to summon him.

The three first-class maids, who knew they had been eliminated, obediently returned to their original positions.

I wouldn't say I was too disappointed, but I wouldn't say I was too happy either.

It would be a good thing to become a concubine in Master Lian's household, after all, Master Lian is not only the rightful master of the family, but also handsome and dashing...

The downside is that Master Lian's character and conduct... are really not admirable.

Not to mention, there's also Lian Er's wife watching him like a hawk! With someone like Lian Er's wife watching him every day, who can live in peace?

Haven't you seen those two maids from Master Lian's former quarters? They were once good maids in the manor, but Master Lian's second wife only entered the household a short time ago, and they both "did not have a good end."

Before long, Qingwen was brought in, led by the young wife.

Perhaps because she had arrived in a bit of a hurry, she was only wearing a light red checkered thin jacket over an apricot-colored long-sleeved shirt, with a light-colored belt around her waist, and a white cloth skirt with purple floral patterns underneath.

Although her clothes were not as glamorous as those of the head maids, the moment she raised her head, allowing everyone in the hall to see her face clearly, they couldn't help but exclaim in their hearts: What a beautiful maid!

Her fair and delicate oval face, thin lips with natural rosy color, and a small, exquisite nose above fine eyebrows and beautiful eyes, complemented by a few wisps of light bangs and a braid hanging down by her ear. Despite her young age, she already possessed the appearance of a true beauty.

Upon seeing her, Wang Xifeng's eyes flashed with a cold light as she stared intently at her.

At this moment, Qingwen did not know why she had been summoned in such a hurry. She simply stepped forward and respectfully greeted Grandmother Jia.

Grandmother Jia pulled her close, stroked her little face and looked her over carefully, then sighed, "If I hadn't already promised you, I really wouldn't be able to part with such a good girl."

The old women all laughed, "If this girl weren't so beautiful, I'm afraid Second Master Lian wouldn't have chosen her over the three young ladies in the old lady's household."

"Hmph, he's quite the cunning old fox. Trading one big girl for another seems like a loss on the surface, but just looking at this girl's appearance, you can tell he's been plotting this for a long time, and today he finally got his chance!"

After speaking, Grandmother Jia ignored everyone else's reactions and pulled Qingwen aside to ask, "How old are you?"

Qingwen blushed slightly and replied, "Reporting to the old lady, it's already eleven."

Actually, this wasn't the first time Grandmother Jia had asked her age, but at this moment she couldn't care less about inwardly complaining about the old lady's forgetfulness.

Her gaze involuntarily drifted towards Jia Lian.

No wonder the old woman who summoned her was acting so mysteriously; it turns out the old lady wanted to give her away...

"Only eleven? Good... I've heard from the nannies that you're not only beautiful, but also an excellent seamstress, even better than the head maids? Is that true?"

Qingwen smiled, and although she didn't dare to make a big fuss, her confidence was obvious to everyone.

Grandmother Jia sighed again, "It's such a pity to give such a good girl to Lian Er."

Jia Lian felt awkward, knowing that Grandmother Jia still held a prejudice against him, so he smiled and said, "If Grandmother really can't bear to part with him, why not keep him by your side? I was just saying that, Grandmother, you don't need to be so reluctant to part with him. Anyway, no one here would dare to say that you're going back on your word..."

"Pah, don't try to be clever with me. Since I said he'd be yours, he's yours from now on, but..."

Grandmother Jia glanced at Wang Xifeng and said, "This girl has only been in the mansion for a short time and is still quite young. I'll keep her for you for now and teach you two some manners. I'll return her to you when you come back from your trip to Yangzhou."

"But I'm warning you, if you fail to handle this task well when you go to fetch your Lin sister, or if your sister suffers any injustice on the way, you won't be able to get this person back so easily."

No matter how good-looking she was, she was still just a little maid, and it wasn't that Grandmother Jia was reluctant to part with her.

If Jia Lian had chosen one of the three she had given him, she would have had no objections. However, Jia Lian already had a target in mind, which gave her the feeling that her children and grandchildren were eyeing her things. She felt a little unhappy and didn't want Jia Lian to get his way so easily.

Of course, her reasons were true. She genuinely wanted to help Jia Lian train people and also wanted Qingwen to stay by her side for a while to gain more experience so that she could settle down when she came to Wang Xifeng's side in the future.

Jia Lian was pleased with Grandmother Jia's decision.

He had just been worried that it wouldn't be convenient to take Qingwen with him on this trip. If he were to hand Qingwen over to Wang Xifeng now, he was genuinely concerned that Wang Xifeng might resort to underhanded tactics.

Grandmother Jia's decision resolved his concern perfectly.

As for the possibility that Grandmother Jia might not return it...

Given that Grandmother Jia was a first-rank Lady of Rongguo, a person of such high status, she would not do something as untrustworthy as breaking her promise.

He glanced up at Qingwen and found that she was also stealing glances at him. When their eyes met, she immediately looked away.

Jia Lian couldn't help but smile. The first of the twelve beauties in the secondary register of the Red Chamber, and also the most beautiful maid in the Red Chamber, had been snatched away from Jia Baoyu by him.

This is truly an unexpected delight.