Red Chamber 17

Li Shouzhong is the Libationer of the Imperial Academy; once Jia Zhu enters the Imperial Academy and the Hanlin Academy, Li Shouzhong will be of great help to him.

The marriage had already been discussed before Jia Daishan passed away, and although the Six Rites had not yet been performed, the two families had already reached an agreement.

After Jia Daishan passed away, Lady Wang, who was dissatisfied with the marriage, did not want to proceed with it.

She looked down upon the Li family as "poor" people.

But Jia Zheng insisted, as this was, after all, a marriage he had sought out himself.

Lady Wang had no choice but to reluctantly agree to the match.

Jia Yuanchun listened to Lady Wang's complaints and recalled her own situation back then.

At that time, her mother and grandmother had been determined to marry her into the Dong'an Prince Mansion as the successor wife of the heir, and it was only thanks to her grandfather taking charge that she was married to Liu Zhong instead.

Otherwise, how could she have the happy life she enjoyed today?

Her mother and grandmother's vision and insight were too shallow; they only saw immediate wealth and failed to consider long-term development.

Jia Yuanchun could only carefully analyze the benefits of forming an alliance with the Li family for Lady Wang.

"Although our family has our eldest cousin and Uncle Lin as civil officials, our connections in this area are still too few. Master Li is the Libationer of the Imperial Academy, and the number of students he has taught is immense; these are all connections. If Brother becomes the Li family's son-in-law, he will be able to establish a foothold among the civil officials by relying on the Li family's network..."

Worried that Lady Wang's attitude of looking down on the Li family would offend the in-laws and be detrimental to her future sister-in-law, Jia Yuanchun exhausted her tongue explaining the benefits of marrying Li Wan.

Because it was her daughter speaking, and it concerned her son's future, Lady Wang did take some of it to heart.

At least, her attitude toward Li Wan was somewhat better than in the original story.

Several months passed, and Jia Yuanchun successfully gave birth to a daughter.

Looking at the child's agile eyes, Liu Zhong raised an eyebrow.

They did not look like the ignorant eyes a child should have.

The origin of his own daughter was not ordinary.

However, if he himself could transmigrate, why shouldn't others be able to do the same?

Liu Jiaying could not have imagined that she would be reborn and transmigrate.

She had died while saving two children who had fallen into the water.

After pushing the two children onto the bank, Liu Jiaying lost her strength and sank to the bottom of the river.

At the time, she thought that since she was an orphan, no one would be sad if she died, which was fine.

She never expected that doing a good deed would have a reward; she was actually able to be reborn with her memories intact.

Although she was born in ancient times, which was not as convenient as the modern era, being able to live a second life was quite good.

Liu Jiaying enjoyed her new life; the family's conditions were excellent, and she had been born into a wealthy household.

Her father was an official, and she heard he had become one by passing the imperial examinations on his own merit.

Her grandparents in the family were very kind, and her young uncle was a very handsome youth.

Her mother was gentle and beautiful, and her brother was a very cute little chubby boy.

Liu Jiaying thought that she would surely have an ordinary and happy life in this lifetime.

Then, she was stunned by reality.

When she was a month old, her maternal grandmother came to visit her and her mother.

She heard her maternal grandmother call her mother: "Yuanchun."

She heard her own mother mention names like: "Baoyu," "Lian'er," and "Tanchun."

Liu Jiaying was completely dumbfounded!

She had actually transmigrated and been reborn into the world of Dream of the Red Chamber?

But why was she the daughter of Jia Yuanchun?

Hadn't Jia Yuanchun entered the palace?

Or was it that her own mother just happened to share the same name as Jia Yuanchun?

Liu Jiaying had many questions, but unfortunately, she could not speak yet and could not voice them.

Liu Jiaying could only rely on her ears to listen to the chats of the maids and wet nurses, gathering information from their words.

Her mother in this life was indeed Jia Yuanchun, and the reason she had not entered the palace was because Jia Daishan had not allowed his granddaughter to do so.

The Jia Daishan of this world lived longer than the one in the novel, only passing away three years ago.

Because he was alive, things in the Rongguo Mansion were very different from the novel.

Jia She's first wife had not died; she was alive and well, managing the affairs of the Rongguo Mansion.

Lady Wang was not in charge of the household, so naturally, she had not emptied the public treasury of the Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Hu was still alive, and he had even achieved the top rank in the imperial examinations six times and married a princess!

Liu Jiaying once thought Jia Hu was a transmigrator, but after visiting the Rongguo Mansion, interacting with him, and witnessing his behavior, she ruled out the possibility of him being a modern person.

Liu Jiaying also learned that her handsome young uncle was none other than Liu Xianglian!

Liu Jiaying immediately decided to protect her uncle, vowing never to let him be tricked into marriage by a woman like You Sanjie, only to end up becoming a monk for her sake.

Liu Jiaying lay on her bed, clenching her small fists.

Since she had transmigrated into the world of the Red Chamber, she must help the Twelve Beauties of Jinling and absolutely not let these pitiful girls meet a tragic end.

However, she had not expected that the Rongguo Mansion would have undergone such massive changes, and naturally, the fates of the Twelve Beauties had changed accordingly.

Take Lin Daiyu, for instance; she now had both parents alive and a younger brother, so she was no longer a pitiful little orphan living with relatives who needed her help.

Moreover, she was much younger than the Twelve Beauties, so how was she supposed to save them?

By the time she grew up, the Twelve Beauties would have long since married and started their own families.

Liu Jiaying's life as an infant and a young child passed quickly, and within a few years, she was able to run and jump everywhere.

It was only then that she realized the Twelve Beauties truly did not need her to save them.

The butterfly effect in this world had already altered the destinies of many girls.

Among them, the changes were greatest for Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai.

Lin Daiyu's parents were both alive, her life was incredibly comfortable, and she was in good health, showing no signs of being sickly.

Her relationship with Jia Baoyu was excellent, and their parents and elders were happy to see them together.

Well, this was mainly because Jia Baoyu was actually quite promising, unlike in the original text where he only spent his time among the rouge and powder.

The Jia Baoyu of this world had already passed the provincial examination and attained a scholarly rank.

Lin Ruhai was quite satisfied with such a son-in-law.

Although Jia Baoyu's personality was not suited for officialdom, he could certainly be a "man of letters."

With the Rongguo Mansion as his backing, Jia Baoyu would live a good life, and Lin Daiyu would not suffer by his side.

As for Xue Baochai's side.

Miss Xue had successfully entered the palace.

Since the Jia family had no daughters in the palace, Lady Wang did not worry about Xue Baochai competing with her own daughter for a man, so she naturally did not hinder Xue Baochai from entering the palace; instead, she even gave her a helping hand.

Xue Baochai entered the palace this February, and as for what kind of future she would have, that would depend entirely on herself.

Xiangling had been staying by Lin Daiyu's side, so naturally, the incident where Xue Pan beat someone to death to snatch her away never happened.

Xue Pan did not have a murder case on his hands, and after arriving in the capital, he tried to throw his weight around by relying on the influence of the Rongguo Mansion, only to be severely disciplined by Jia Hu.

Because of this, Xue Pan restrained himself quite a bit, acting like a mouse seeing a cat whenever he encountered Jia Hu.

Xiangling was a few years older than Lin Daiyu and was now at the age where she should be married.

Jia Min and Feng Shi were both actively looking for a match for her.

Lin Ruhai acted as the matchmaker, introducing a scholar from a humble background who was considered a junior fellow student of his.