Red Chamber 5

Liu Zhong would occasionally use spiritual energy to nourish the bodies of Father Liu and Mother Liu, keeping them in excellent health.

Father Liu had even more energy to discipline his mischievous younger son.

Liu Xianglian didn't like to study?

Father Liu forced him to read.

But knowing his younger son preferred martial arts, Father Liu still hired a martial arts master to teach Liu Xianglian combat skills.

Liu Xianglian was incredibly gifted in martial arts.

In the original text, he had no formal martial arts master, yet by picking up a move here and stealing a technique there, he became one of the top experts in the Red Chamber.

Now that he had a proper martial arts master, Liu Xianglian would only become stronger.

Seeing that his younger son was more suited for martial arts, Father Liu made a plan for him: he would take the military imperial examinations in the future.

As for the civil imperial examinations, that would depend on his eldest son.

Father Liu felt very proud.

Although he was mediocre and had achieved nothing of note, he had fathered two exceptionally talented sons.

His eldest son was brilliant at academics, and his younger son was formidable at martial arts; their futures were visibly bright.

His eldest son had already planned to take the examinations early next year, and he could certainly look forward to it.

Liu Zhong and Jia Hu were discussing the imperial examinations.

Jia Hu was also set to participate in the county examination next year.

The two agreed to head south together after the New Year.

Jia Hu's ancestral home was in Jinling, while Liu Zhong's was in Jiaxing; both had to return to their respective ancestral homes to take the county, prefectural, and provincial examinations.

They would be able to travel together for this journey.

Jia Daishan placed great importance on his eldest grandson's upcoming exams. Not only did he arrange for reliable people to protect and care for Jia Hu along the way, but he also specifically arranged a boat to send Jia Hu south.

Although Jia Daishan's health was not great, he was still alive.

Without the shock of his eldest grandson and eldest daughter-in-law's deaths, Jia Daishan had not been angered to death.

Over these years, by consuming the medicinal diet prescribed by the formula Jia Hu obtained from Liu Zhong, his health had improved compared to the first two years.

With Jia Daishan holding down the fort, neither Lady Jia Shi nor Lady Wang dared to stir up trouble.

Zhang managed the affairs of the Rongguo Mansion, and she would never be like Lady Jia Shi or Lady Wang, who indulged their servants out of selfishness, causing the servants of the Rongguo Mansion to become bold enough to gossip about their masters and steal from the household.

The current Rongguo Mansion was far superior to the one in the book.

The Lai Family, having been intimidated by Jia Daishan's handling of Lady Wang's dowry servants, only dared to embezzle small amounts and certainly didn't dare to brazenly carry away imperial rewards.

Although Nanny Lai was a confidante of Lady Jia Shi, as long as Jia Daishan was around, she didn't dare to arrogantly demand that the young masters and misses of the mansion bow to her.

Yingchun, Tanchun, Jia Baoyu, and other younger generation members had been born one after another.

Yingchun and Jia Cong were born to the first branch as concubine-born children.

They were born to the same person, a maid who had come with Zhang as part of her dowry.

That maid had originally been promised to someone else and was supposed to return home to marry once she reached the appropriate age, with Zhang providing her with a dowry.

But before she could leave the mansion, she received news that her fiancé had been sleeping with his cousin and had even fathered a child with her.

The maid, Yanhong, was furious and forcefully broke off the engagement.

As a result, her parents, wanting to build a new house for her older brother, tried to sell her as a concubine to a man in his fifties.

With no other options, Yanhong sought help from Zhang.

It just so happened that Lady Jia Shi was stirring up trouble, feeling that Jia She had too few sons, and wanted to give one of her own maids to Jia She as a concubine.

Zhang used the excuse that Jia She already had a concubine to refuse Lady Jia Shi, and then made Yanhong a concubine for Jia She.

Yanhong was an honest person and was grateful to Zhang for giving her a way out—after all, Jia She was young, handsome, and the heir to a Duke's mansion, far better than that fat, greedy old landlord—so she followed Zhang's lead in everything.

Zhang treated her kindly, allowing her to give birth to a son and a daughter.

Yingchun was raised by her own mother from childhood; she was no longer the "wooden block" from the original text, though she retained her gentle and submissive personality.

And with a biological mother, Jia Cong was no longer a "frozen cat."

Their lives were much better than that of Jia Huan from the second branch.

When Jia Baoyu was born, the Tongling Baoyu came with him.

However, with Jia Daishan present, the fact that Jia Baoyu was born with jade in his mouth was known only to a few people in the Jia family.

The servants in Lady Wang's courtyard were once again completely replaced, and along with the midwife, they were sent by Jia Daishan to a farmstead thousands of miles away from the capital.

Before Lady Wang could even gloat, she was terrified by Jia Daishan's words.

In his eyes, Jia Baoyu had become a source of disaster, so naturally, she couldn't bring herself to like Jia Baoyu.

In any case, she had her eldest son and would rely on him in the future.

Lady Jia Shi also lost interest in raising Jia Baoyu, merely assigning him enough wet nurses and maids to ensure they took good care of him.

Zhang felt pity for Jia Baoyu in her heart and often showed concern for him.

In Jia Baoyu's heart, Zhang was even closer to him than his own mother, Wang Shi.

He was no longer the "phoenix egg" of the Rongguo Mansion and could not be as willful as he was in the original story.

Although he disliked the Four Books and Five Classics, he was still forced to study them and could not skip classes as he did in the original story.

Shi Xiangyun was frequently brought to the Rongguo Mansion, and having grown up as childhood sweethearts with Jia Baoyu, their relationship was quite good.

Xichun was still brought to the Rongguo Mansion to be raised, and Jia Jing had still left to become a monk.

Jia Daishan did not express any opposition to Jia Jing becoming a monk; it seemed he knew there was an ulterior motive behind Jia Jing's decision.

He feared that Jia Jing had become entangled in the Former Crown Prince's rebellion and had no choice but to become a monk to preserve the entire Ningguo Mansion.

Liu Zhong and Jia Hu agreed on the time for their outing and then began to chat idly.

The topic they discussed the most was their respective younger brothers.

Both of their brothers were troublesome characters, but fortunately, the two of them had ways to deal with these unruly children.

Jia Hu did not have any, but Liu Zhong would teach him.

Jia Lian was not afraid of his own parents, but he was afraid of his grandfather and his older brother.

Liu Xianglian was also only afraid of his own older brother.

These two children felt they were "fellow sufferers" and became good friends the moment they met.

After that, whenever they caused trouble, they did it together, often turning the Rongguo Mansion upside down.

Jia Daishan watched the commotion from the sidelines; he quite enjoyed such a lively scene.

Jia Daishan was much more lenient toward his grandson Jia Lian than he was toward Jia Hu, the heir to the title, or Jia Zhu, the eldest legitimate son of the second branch.

As they were chatting, Jia Lian ran over with Liu Xianglian, pulling Jia Hu and Liu Zhong to act as their judges.

Liu Zhong: "What are you two competing in this time?"

Liu Xianglian: "It's not a competition between me and Lian the Second, but between Lian the Second and the eldest daughter of the Wang Family; they want to have an archery contest."

Jia Hu glared at Jia Lian: "You are competing in archery against a girl?"

Jia Lian pouted and said: "How is Wang Xifeng like a girl? She is a total tomboy."

Jia Hu reached out and gave Jia Lian a flick on the head: "It is impolite to speak of a girl that way."

Jia Lian grumbled, and although he yielded to Jia Hu's "tyranny," he did not agree with Jia Hu's words in his heart, though he dared not speak up to refute him again.

Liu Zhong laughed: "I have heard that the eldest daughter of the Wang Family is a heroine who does not yield to men, and has been raised like a boy since she was small. I imagine her archery skills must be quite good; let's go and see for ourselves."

Jia Hu wore an expression that said "you just want to watch the fun," but he tacitly allowed Liu Zhong to pull him toward the martial arts arena.