Red Chamber 22

Not long after Yingchun was married off, Jia Jing passed away after consuming a golden elixir.

Jia Rong and Jia Qiang had no choice but to return to the capital.

However, once the funeral rites were concluded, the two of them took Jia Jing's coffin back to Jinling.

With his father dead, Jia Zhen acted with even greater recklessness.

He brought You Erjie and You Sanjie into the Ningguo Mansion, carrying on with them without the slightest restraint.

But Jia Zhen was not a man of lasting affection; once he grew tired of the two sisters, he began looking for someone to take them off his hands.

Jia Zhen never considered Jia Lian.

The Jia Lian of this world was not the Jia Lian from the original story; the Jia Lian of this world had no penchant for straying.

Jia Zhen did not consider Jia Lian to be one of his own kind, so he never thought of pushing You Erjie onto him.

He found a new sucker: Wang Ren, the brother of Wang Xifeng.

Wang Ren was not afraid of his wife like Jia Lian was, so he took You Erjie into the Wang Family under the guise of a secondary wife.

He was not one for lasting affection either, and after a period of time, he cast You Erjie to the back of his mind.

There were quite a few women in Wang Ren's inner courtyard, with at least three concubines who possessed the same temperament as Qiutong.

And while Wang Ren's wife did not appear as overbearing as Wang Xifeng on the surface, she was secretly vicious.

You Erjie's life in the Wang Family's inner courtyard was even worse than it had been in the Rongguo Mansion.

But fortunately, she did not lose the child and successfully gave birth to a son.

With a future to look forward to, You Erjie did not swallow gold to commit suicide.

As for You Sanjie, although Liu Xianglian had not performed on stage, she had still set her sights on him.

You Sanjie told Jia Zhen that she was determined to marry Liu Xianglian.

Although Jia Zhen knew this was impossible—the Liu Family would never look favorably upon You Sanjie—he still approached Liu Xianglian, claiming he wanted to introduce him to a role.

Liu Xianglian returned home and told Mother Liu about the matter.

Liu Jiaying happened to be with Mother Liu and, having overheard their conversation, she immediately ran out and shouted, "Second Uncle, you cannot agree to this marriage!"

"You child, why are you eavesdropping on your elders?"

Mother Liu scolded Liu Jiaying.

Liu Jiaying said, "Grandmother, this is not the time to scold me; it is the time to protect Second Uncle. You must not let that loose woman trick Second Uncle into marriage."

Liu Xianglian asked Liu Jiaying, "Do you know the young lady of the You family?"

Liu Jiaying replied, "I do. I've heard about her and her sister. Here, why don't we call Sister Jiqiu over? She knows even more."

Mother Liu knew how strong Jiqiu's talent for gossip was, so she had a maid go fetch her.

Before long, Jiqiu arrived.

Mother Liu asked her about You Sanjie.

Jiqiu had no fondness for either of the You sisters, so she spoke without reservation about the affair between the sisters and Jia Zhen.

She even mentioned how Jia Zhen had grown tired of You Erjie and pushed her onto Wang Ren, letting Wang Ren take over the worn-out shoes he had discarded.

Liu Xianglian's face turned dark, and his anger surged.

"A fine Jia Zhen indeed. He's trying to make a cuckold out of me. I'm going to go settle this with him right now."

With that, he stormed out in a rage.

Mother Liu did not stop him, but she had a servant go notify Liu Zhong.

By the time Liu Zhong received the news and rushed to the Ningguo Mansion, Jia Zhen had already been beaten black and blue by Liu Xianglian.

You Sanjie, putting on the act of a tragic heroine, was about to take her own life.

Liu Zhong slapped her, knocking the dagger from her hand, and said coldly, "If you want to commit suicide, don't do it in front of my brother; it's an eyesore. Don't think that by acting like a chaste and virtuous woman, you actually are one. When you were fooling around with your own brother-in-law, why didn't you put on this act? Don't tell me a weak woman couldn't resist a grown man. If you had threatened death like this back then, Jia Zhen wouldn't have succeeded..."

Liu Zhong grabbed his brother and walked out: "Don't stay around this trash for too long, unless you want to be contaminated by them. Let's go."

You Sanjie could not believe that someone could be so cold and heartless, mocking her so cruelly. Seeing someone about to die before him, how could he have not a shred of pity?

Liu Zhong sneered, "Once you've played the whore, don't try to set up a memorial arch for your chastity. It's fine for a madam to retire from the brothel, but please don't ruin my brother."

"You—you actually called me a madam?"

You Sanjie swayed as if she were about to collapse.

The brother of the man she loved looked down on her so much.

And the man she loved didn't like her either, disgusted by how "dirty" she was.

She truly could not go on living.

Liu Zhong saw through her thoughts and said coldly, "If you want to die, find a corner to do it in. Don't come in front of innocent people and drag them down with you."

Unable to bear the blow, You Sanjie fainted on the spot.

Liu Zhong couldn't be bothered with her or Jia Zhen, and he pulled Liu Xianglian away.

After they left, You Shi walked out with a cold face.

Looking at Jia Zhen, who was bruised and swollen and unable to get up, and You Sanjie, who had fainted on the ground, You Shi sneered inwardly, thinking only that they deserved it.

"Ouch!" Jia Zhen groaned in pain, cursing at You Shi, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and help me up, and call a physician for me."

You Shi reined in the schadenfreude in her eyes, putting on a submissive expression as she arranged for the servants to help Jia Zhen back to his room.

She deliberately ignored You Sanjie on the floor, and the servants of Ningguo Mansion, all being people who judged others by their status, turned a blind eye to You Sanjie.

It was Old Lady You who eventually ran out, helped her daughter up, and took her back to their room.

Jia Zhen lay on the bed, groaning and cursing the Liu brothers.

"I will remember this grudge, and I will definitely take revenge. I will make sure those two brothers suffer the consequences."

You Shi thought to herself that if you hadn't used You Sanjie to disgust those two brothers, would they have beaten you?

They were respectable young gentlemen; how could they possibly marry a loose woman of such humble origins as You Sanjie?

You Shi advised, "My lord, let it go. The Liu Family is not an ordinary family; they are a branch of the Li Duke Mansion. Liu Zhong is also a Director in the Ministry of Revenue, favored by the Emperor, and a close friend of Hu Ge'er."

Their Ningguo Mansion was already in decline; how could they compare to them?

Jia Zhen also knew that he was currently powerless against the Liu Family, so he said hatefully, "I'll let them off for now. When my great cause is completed, I will deal with them. At that time, I will surely have them exiled a thousand miles away."

You Shi did not know what great cause Jia Zhen was referring to, but her intuition told her it was not a good thing.

She stared at Jia Zhen on the bed, wondering to herself what her life would be like if this man were gone.

The news of Jia Zhen being beaten reached Rongguo Mansion, and those who knew the inside story of why he was beaten all agreed that Jia Zhen deserved it.

Lady Jia Shi and Wang, who stayed home, were unaware of the chaos at Ningguo Mansion and did not know about the relationship between You Sanjie and Jia Zhen.

Both of them condemned Liu Xianglian, saying that if he didn't want to marry the You girl, he should have just said so nicely; why beat the matchmaker?

Zhang and the Princess exchanged glances.

Although the topic was somewhat offensive to the ears, they could not let people misunderstand the Liu brothers.

Zhang said to Tanchun, "San Ya'tou, take Lin Ya'tou, Yun Ya'tou, and Si Ya'tou to the garden for a stroll."

Tanchun sensed that Zhang had something to say, and although she was curious, she still stood up and left Rongqing Hall with her sisters.