"Several servants from Second Madam's courtyard acted recklessly and nearly caused Second Madam to miscarry. The Old Madam of the Jia Mansion made the decision to drive them all out of the Rongguo Mansion."
It was unlikely they'd gotten off as lightly as merely being driven out of the Rongguo Mansion.
Jia Daishan wasn't a softhearted man.
After all, they had plotted to harm his legitimate eldest grandson, his eldest daughter-in-law, and his little grandson.
Wang was carrying the Jia family's child, so he couldn't have her beaten to death.
But how could Jia Daishan possibly let the servants who had plotted against their masters get away with it?
That was indeed what happened. Jia Daishan had his men deal with all of Wang's trusted servants, then sent their bodies back to the Wang Family.
The Wang Family not only couldn't stand up for Wang, but also sent a large portion of their wealth to the Jia Family as an apology.
Nourished by the spiritual energy Yezi had sent into him, Jia Hu's fever soon went down, and his health quickly recovered.
As soon as he was well, he came to the Liu Family to see Liu Zhong and told him about how he'd represented Zhang in seeing off the Zhang Family.
Father Zhang had been the Crown Prince's tutor, and when the Crown Prince rebelled, Father Zhang was implicated.
Fortunately, several years earlier, the Crown Prince had stopped listening to Father Zhang's advice and had distanced himself from him.
When the Crown Prince rebelled this time, Father Zhang heard the news and was so enraged that he vomited blood. After that, he never got up again.
When the Emperor found out, he didn't move against the Zhang Family, but the Zhangs didn't dare stay in the capital any longer. They all submitted their resignations and returned to their hometown with Father Zhang's coffin.
Zhang had suffered greatly during childbirth and couldn't get up, so she could only have her husband and son see her family off in her place.
Jia Hu had always been close to his uncles and cousins. This parting might mean they'd never meet again, and he was deeply upset.
For several days in a row, Jia Hu was listless.
It was only when he came to the Liu Family to see his little friend that his spirits lifted a little.
Liu Zhong comforted his friend and brought out a toy to distract Jia Hu.
The toy was a game of Checkers that Liu Zhong had had made to pass the time.
Playing Checkers with only two people wasn't much fun, so Liu Zhong invited Jiqiu and Jia Hu's personal maid to join them.
Children's attention was easily diverted, and before long Jia Hu had forgotten the sadness of parting from his family.
He spent the day at the Liu Mansion, and when he left, he took the Checkers set Liu Zhong had given him.
Liu Zhong immediately went to find Father Liu and pulled him and Mother Liu into a game of Checkers.
Naturally, Liu Zhong won. Father Liu refused to accept defeat and called for another round.
Liu Zhong grinned. "Father, let's not rush into another game. Just tell me, is Checkers fun? Do you think lots of people would like it?"
"It's fun. Lots of people would definitely like it," Father Liu replied.
Mother Liu chimed in, "This Checkers game would give the ladies and young misses of all the households a way to pass the time. It's more fun than the Yezi Card."
Liu Zhong asked, "Then if we sell Checkers, will people buy it?"
Father Liu wasn't very clever, but he wasn't stupid either. He understood Liu Zhong's meaning at once.
He stopped thinking about the game and immediately got to his feet. "I'll make the arrangements right away."
The Liu Family wasn't poor, but they weren't wealthy either.
The income from their shops and estate was enough to cover the needs of their family of three for a year, but they were a little stretched when it came to socializing and giving gifts.
Every year, as the end of the year approached, Mother Liu had to rack her brains over the New Year's gifts.
Now that they had a way to make money, Father Liu naturally wouldn't let the opportunity pass.
Before long, the shops owned by the Liu Family began selling Checkers sets.
Following Liu Zhong's suggestion, Father Liu made Checkers sets in three grades.
The pieces in the highest-grade set were made from jade of various colors, and the board was jade as well. They were extremely expensive: a thousand taels of silver for one set.
The pieces in the mid-grade set were made from precious wood, inlaid with small pieces of jade and gold wire. Each set cost a hundred taels of silver.
The pieces and board in the low-grade set were made from the most ordinary wood and painted. They cost only a hundred copper coins.
Surprisingly, the highest-grade sets sold the best.
There were plenty of wealthy people in the capital.
Later, Checkers spread through the aristocratic circles and reached the common people.
Only then did sales of the low-grade sets begin to rise.
The Liu Family made a handsome profit from this venture, taking in at least a hundred thousand taels of silver.
But it was only a one-time windfall.
Checkers didn't involve much skill in its manufacture, and before long, other merchants began selling it too.
Business at the Liu Family's shops began to plummet.
Father Liu and Mother Liu took it calmly. They weren't resentful or angry; they'd already made more than enough money.
A hundred thousand taels of silver was equal to the total value of all the property they'd received when the family divided its assets.
Their family's wealth had multiplied several times over.
The two of them used the money to buy two shops and another estate.
The estate was rather far from the capital, but it was three times the size of their previous one, and its yields were substantial.
After that, Mother Liu no longer had to worry about the annual New Year's gifts.
Life passed peacefully and smoothly, and before long, Mother Liu became pregnant.
She gave birth to a younger brother for Liu Zhong. Father Liu named the little boy Liu Chun, with the courtesy name Xianglian.
Liu Zhong: "..."
Could his little brother actually be the cold-faced gentleman Liu Xianglian from Dream of the Red Chamber?
Liu Zhong sympathetically poked his little brother's tender cheek with a finger, watching as drool involuntarily trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Liu Zhong said, "Don't worry, little brother. Big Brother will protect you. I won't let you get tricked into marriage, get taken advantage of, or end up becoming a monk."
When he'd read Dream of the Red Chamber back then, Liu Zhong had thought Liu Xianglian was a complete fool.
You Sanjie had been involved with both Jia Zhen and his son. How could she be some chaste, virtuous woman?
She was just a "brothel keeper who'd turned respectable."
How had Liu Xianglian wronged her?
It was true that only the stone lions at the Ningguo Mansion were clean—but Xichun had grown up in the Rongguo Mansion, so she didn't count as a member of the Ningguo Mansion.
If she was ashamed enough to kill herself, she could have done it somewhere else. Instead, she just had to die right in front of Liu Xianglian, driving him to become a monk.
Liu Zhong couldn't bring himself to like either of the You sisters.
Though their fates were pitiful, they'd brought them upon themselves.
You Erjie married Jia Lian, all the while hoping Wang Xifeng would die soon and make room for her.
Once Wang Xifeng learned what You Erjie was thinking, how could she not kill her?
The two sisters couldn't endure hardship and thought only of wealth and status. Once they began coveting things that didn't belong to them, their fates were sealed.
After learning that his little brother was Liu Xianglian, Liu Zhong began paying close attention to his parents' health.
The book said that Liu Xianglian's parents had died young, and he'd been raised with the care of an old servant in the household.
Liu Zhong wanted to protect Father Liu and Mother Liu and have them raise Liu Xianglian, so he wouldn't grow up to be the same dissolute young man from the book, unable to succeed in his studies and spending his nights with prostitutes.
In modern times, people who performed in opera could be considered artists, and their profession was held in high regard.
But in ancient times, actors were among the lowest classes and looked down upon.
In the story, when Liu Xianglian went onstage to perform, the aristocrats saw it as him degrading himself.
It was no wonder Xue Pan had harassed Liu Xianglian. And it was no wonder that, once Liu Xianglian had grown up, only You Sanjie was willing to marry him.
How could the other aristocratic families possibly marry their daughters to a good-for-nothing who had chosen to degrade himself?
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