Red Chamber 24

"First there was Jia Yucun, then there was Hanlin Mei; they are all ungrateful wretches."

Liu Zhong said, "I am a scholar too. Do not paint us all with the same brush just because of those two."

Jia Yuanchun stuck out her tongue and said, "I spoke wrongly, please forgive me, sir."

Liu Zhong chuckled, "That depends on how you perform."

After a night of tossing and turning, Liu Zhong went to work the next day full of vigor, while Jia Yuanchun did not wake up until the sun was high in the sky.

After finishing his official duties, Liu Zhong did not go home, but instead sought out Jia Hu to drink.

While drinking and chatting, Liu Zhong took the opportunity to mention the situation with the Mei family.

Although Jia Hu and the second branch of the Xue family were not directly related by blood, Xue Baoqin was considered his nominal younger sister after she became the goddaughter of Lady Wang.

He would never allow the Mei family to bully his sister.

Jia Hu trusted the information provided by Liu Zhong, as he knew how capable Jiqiu was at gathering intelligence.

Upon returning to the Rongguo Mansion, Jia Hu had someone summon Xue Ke.

Unlike Xue Pan, Xue Ke was a diligent, honest, and capable young man.

Jia Hu quite appreciated Xue Ke and had thoughts of bringing him under his wing to mentor the young man.

When Xue Ke heard of the Mei family's intentions from Jia Hu, his face turned red with anger.

Jia Hu said, "Go back and discuss with your mother and sister how to handle this marriage proposal. In my opinion, the sooner it is dealt with, the better."

Xue Ke thanked Jia Hu and returned to the Xue residence, heavy with worry.

Seeing Xue Ke in such a state, Aunt Xue and Madam Xue the Second were deeply concerned and hurriedly called him over to ask what had happened.

Seeing his sister looking at him with such worry, Xue Ke felt even more indignant.

He took a deep breath and revealed the Mei family's schemes.

Aunt Xue and Madam Xue the Second were furious, cursing the Mei family as ingrates.

Xue Baoqin's face turned pale, yet she remained the calmest person in the room.

She even had the presence of mind to be glad that Xue Pan was not home to hear this news; otherwise, given his explosive temper, he would surely have rushed to the Mei residence to cause a scene.

If that happened, they would lose the moral high ground even if they were in the right.

Xue Ke said, "Cousin Jia asked us to discuss how to handle this engagement."

Aunt Xue said, "How else to handle it? Before the Mei family leaves the capital, we must go to their door and force them to fulfill the marriage contract and bring the girl into their home."

Madam Xue the Second nodded, agreeing with Aunt Xue's opinion.

Xue Baoqin and Xue Ke both frowned upon hearing this.

Xue Ke said, "If my sister marries into the Mei family like this, her situation will likely be dire. That Madam Mei will surely torment her, and the Mei Eldest Son already has an illegitimate eldest son..."

Prompted by her son, Madam Xue the Second thought of her daughter's potential fate and grew anxious: "That's right, I fear the Mei family harbors evil intentions, planning to let the girl die silently in their back courtyard. Once the Mei family leaves the capital, they will be thousands of miles away. We wouldn't even be able to stand up for her."

As a victor in the inner-chamber battles of a wealthy household, Aunt Xue naturally knew exactly what methods could be used to eliminate a woman.

Hearing this, she said, "Then don't marry him."

Madam Xue the Second nodded repeatedly, but then sighed with worry: "But if the girl breaks off the engagement, how will she find a good family in the future?"

This society was extremely unfriendly to women; if a woman broke off an engagement, even if the fault did not lie with her, everyone would assume there was something wrong with her.

A woman who had broken an engagement found it very difficult to marry into a good family.

Otherwise, she would only be able to serve as a second wife or a replacement, or marry into a family with poor prospects.

Aunt Xue reached out and patted the back of Madam Xue the Second's hand, comforting her: "It is still better than letting the child suffer in that den of wolves."

Xue Ke went to find Jia Hu, and through him, obtained evidence that the eldest son of the Mei family had taken a concubine and fathered an illegitimate son before even being married.

Xue Ke and Xue Pan—after Xue Pan learned of the Mei family's intent to break the engagement, he was so angry he wanted to go beat them up, but was stopped by Xue Ke. Xue Ke indicated he had a way to deal with the Mei family and that Jia Hu was helping. Fearing Jia Hu, Xue Pan refrained from attacking—brought a group of servants to the gate of the Mei residence, shouting loudly about breaking the engagement and exposing the fact that the Mei Eldest Son had taken his own cousin as a concubine and fathered an illegitimate son before marriage.

The onlookers enjoyed the spectacle and began to condemn the Mei family as a household without decorum.

How could they take a concubine and father an illegitimate child before the legitimate wife had even entered the door?

So much for calling themselves a scholarly family; they were worse than merchants.

No wonder the bride's family wanted to break the engagement.

The Mei family was blocked from leaving their home and was shamed to the point of blushing by the accusations of the crowd.

Master Mei felt that he had lost all his face.

He did not reflect on his own ungrateful behavior in tacitly allowing his wife and son to break the engagement, instead blaming all the faults on his wife.

The son's concubine was his wife's niece, and the illegitimate grandson was something his wife had insisted on keeping.

He had clearly stated that the birth of an illegitimate grandson would affect his son's engagement and future, and it was his wife who said she would hide it well, which was why he had tacitly agreed.

As a result, not only did the Xue family find out, but they had also exposed it to the world.

After this, every noble family in the capital would know his son had an illegitimate child; how could they possibly marry their daughters to him?

Master Mei scolded Madam Mei: "This is all your doing. Cheng'er's future and marriage prospects are now ruined."

Madam Mei was shocked: "How could that be?"

Master Mei said: "Everyone knows that Cheng'er has an illegitimate eldest son now. Which noble family would still marry their daughter to him? It is even less likely they would plan for his future. Even I will be impeached by the censors and affected by this. You foolish woman!"

The more Master Mei spoke, the angrier he became. If his physique weren't inferior to Madam Mei's, he would have wanted to lay hands on her.

Madam Mei was terrified; she had never considered that this would affect the future of her husband and son!

"It's all that Xue woman's fault," Madam Mei said furiously. "That woman is a jinx; she is not fit to enter our Mei Family."

Master Mei said coldly: "Even if you begged her to enter the Mei Family now, she wouldn't come. The Xue Family is making such a scene because they are determined to break off the engagement. Hurry up and find the original betrothal tokens, have someone take them out to return to the Xue Family, cancel this marriage, and send the Xue family members away. We cannot let them continue to cause a scene at our doorstep."

Madam Mei was filled with bitter hatred: "If I had known, I wouldn't have thought about breaking the engagement. I should have married the Xue woman into the house first and tormented her to death, then found a good wife for Cheng'er."

Master Mei snorted: "It's too late to say anything now. Hurry up and find the betrothal tokens."

Although Madam Mei was incredibly furious, she truly had no other choice. She could only sullenly dig out the betrothal tokens the Xue Family had given the Mei Family and have a servant woman deliver them outside. Neither she nor anyone else from the Mei Family appeared.

Xue Ke did not care; in any case, the Mei Family's reputation was already ruined, so whether they appeared or not was unimportant.

He took out the tokens the Mei Family had given the Xue Family to complete the exchange.