Dawn was just breaking.
Inside and outside Yihong Court in Grand View Garden, older serving women carried water to the flowers, while several third-rank maids swept fallen leaves from the covered walkways. With the morning mist hanging thick and bright sunshine expected, the second-rank maids Qiuwen, Bihen, and Chunyan brought books outside. Everywhere was bustling.
Suddenly.
Sharp-eyed Qiuwen spotted a figure approaching from the distance.
It was Third Master Huan!
What was he doing here?
"Third Master Huan." Qiuwen hurried forward to meet him.
Jia Huan's face was expressionless.
"Where is Jia Baoyu?"
"The master is still asleep." Seeing that he looked ready to call someone to account, Qiuwen immediately sensed trouble.
Jia Huan strode straight into the courtyard.
"Third Master, what are you doing?" Unable to stop him, Qiuwen rushed over to Bihen and Chunyan and urged them anxiously:
"Quick, go tell the Ancestors, the master, and the mistress!"
Bang!
Jia Huan kicked open the inner door and passed through several rooms, sending Xiren, Sheyue, and the other maids into a panic. He reached the most lavish bedroom, filled with porcelain and antiques of every description. Red bead curtains hung there, and pink drapes surrounded the alcove bed. Jia Baoyu lay fast asleep, his legs clamped around a brocade quilt.
"Which naughty maid is making all that noise?" Jia Baoyu muttered groggily, rolling over.
Jia Huan raised his hand and slapped him.
Smack!
Jia Baoyu jolted awake. The moment he saw Jia Huan, fright nearly drove his soul out of his body.
"Y-you... don't do anything rash!" Every hair on his body stood on end, and he could barely stop stammering.
"You big-faced bastard. How dare you plot against me?" Jia Huan seized his arm and dragged him straight out of bed.
"Old Ancestress! Old Ancestress, save me!"
Jia Baoyu struggled desperately, screaming himself hoarse as tears streamed helplessly down his face.
"Third Master! Third Master, stop!"
Xiren and Sheyue went pale, watching helplessly as Second Master Bao was about to be dragged out of Yihong Court.
"Brother Huan, stop!"
Li Wan, normally so graceful and refined, came rushing over from Rice Fragrance Village without a thought for her appearance, her hairpin knocked crooked. As the senior woman in the garden, she had to intervene.
"Sister-in-law, no one is stopping me today."
Jia Huan's voice was icy. Scraping painfully across the ground, Jia Baoyu howled at the top of his lungs.
Smack!
Another resounding slap.
Both sides of Jia Baoyu's face were red and swollen, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Brother Huan, stop!"
The commotion brought Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, and the others rushing over one after another. Her face frosty, Tanchun snapped:
"Jia Huan, you throw your weight around because you can fight, behaving as brutally as a bandit! Do you have any regard for the law? For seniority and rank? Let go of your elder brother!"
Jia Huan looked at his own full sister and sneered.
"How very fair-minded of you!"
Smack!
Before everyone's eyes, he delivered another vicious slap. Jia Baoyu's cheeks shook, and a bloodied tooth flew out.
"Baoyu!"
Jia Mu hurried over. Despite her advanced age, hearing that her darling was being beaten had lent wings to her feet. Even Yuanyang and Amber could not keep up.
Jia Zheng and Madam Wang arrived after hearing the news. At the sight of blood pouring from her son's mouth, Madam Wang grew dizzy and nearly collapsed.
"You unfilial wretch! Are you trying to rebel?"
Jia Zheng flew into a rage, pointing at Jia Huan and berating him:
"Beating your elder brother without cause-how are you any different from a beast? Let go at once!"
Jia Mu's clouded eyes had turned red. Without an explanation today, she would never forgive this wicked grandson. Looking at Baoyu's miserable state, she felt her heart clench again and again.
Jia Huan's expression remained unruffled. He smiled.
"Now that everyone is here, let's discuss this properly."
"To get revenge on me, Jia Baoyu sought out the father and son in the Eastern Mansion and colluded with them. In exchange for selling Yingchun into marriage, they asked Sun Shaozu of the Sun Family to ambush me. Sun Shaozu was afraid, so he instructed the White-Haired Killing Demon to come to my door and provoke me!"
"Hate me if you like, but what has Yingchun done wrong? Everyone knows Sun Shaozu's vile record. No fewer than eight women have died in the Sun Family's well. You used our second sister's life as a bargaining chip! You're a beast without a shred of conscience!"
As his words fell, Grand View Garden went deathly silent.
Horror filled the young women's eyes as they turned toward a gentle, quiet girl with snowy-white skin.
Jia Yingchun lowered her lovely head. Tears blurred her eyes, and even her wrists were trembling faintly.
Jia Zheng's expression froze, then blazing fury suddenly burst from his eyes.
Jia Mu stood stunned for a long moment. Madam Wang's gaze flickered, and dark clouds gathered over her face.
"Slander! Ancestors, he's slandering your grandson!" Jia Baoyu protested through tears, blood flowing ceaselessly from the corner of his mouth.
Jia Huan took out the signed confession bearing its maker's thumbprint and flung it onto the ground.
"Still trying to wriggle out of it? If you think you've been wronged, come with me to see the Sun Mansion's steward. Better yet, let's go straight to Ningguo Mansion and confront them!"
"What grudge could justify plotting against a seventh-rank court official? Come with me to the Shenjing Prefectural Court right now, or to the Three Judicial Offices in the Imperial City. If that isn't enough for you, we can even enter the palace and report this to His Majesty!"
Jia Baoyu shook like a leaf in the autumn wind. He could only wail, unable to utter a single word.
His silence was the answer.
At that moment, not only Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu, and the other young women, but even the maids looked disappointed, as though they were seeing Second Master Bao anew.
They had thought he was merely a little mischievous-at worst, irresponsible and prone to running away from trouble. Never had they imagined he would actively push the second young lady into a pit of fire!
The second young lady had always been quiet and gentle, never competing or fighting for anything. She had never offended anyone in her life. Why should she have to marry the vicious Sun Shaozu? Why should she have to suffer?
It was bad enough not to help her, but he had actually lent his hand to a tyrant's cruelty!
Was there anything manly left in him?
Jia Zheng was so furious that the corners of his eyes twitched and veins bulged one by one across his forehead. Pointing at Jia Baoyu, he cursed:
"You worthless seed! You vile, shameless, maggot-hearted spawn of sin! Even a stray dog in the street has more dignity than you!"
"Huan'er, go ahead and beat him. When you're done, I'll beat this wicked beast to death myself!"
Jia Mu's feelings were tangled. She knew that unless Huan'er was allowed to vent his anger, this affair would certainly blow up!
Attempting to murder a seventh-rank court official-and one who belonged to the emperor's own Embroidered Uniform Guard-was an immense charge. Even if the Jia household used its connections to protect Baoyu, they would become the laughingstock of the Divine Capital, and the entire family would lose face!
The Old Madam cast a clouded glance at Madam Wang.
Madam Wang clutched her handkerchief and forced herself to remain calm.
"Beat him!" Jia Mu thundered.
Jia Huan looked calmly down at Jia Baoyu, swung his arm wide, and slapped him again and again.
With each crisp crack, more teeth went flying. Jia Baoyu's face swelled and bruised until it resembled a pig's head, his wails coming in broken bursts.
"Brother Huan, stop!"
Wang Xifeng shouted. If this continued, even his nose and mouth would be knocked crooked.
"Huan'er, let your father discipline him." Jia Zheng strode forward, his face cold, and dragged Jia Baoyu away.
Jia Mu was nearly beside herself with heartache. She cried hoarsely:
"Fetch a physician! Fetch several!"
As Jia Zheng passed Madam Wang, he said in a chilling voice:
"As his mother, what have you taught your legitimate son to become? If there is a next time, I'll discipline you in front of your Wang Family!"
He had said "taught," not "instigated," already sparing her some dignity.
Wang Xifeng, Li Wan, and the others understood perfectly.
With Jia Baoyu's disposition, he could never have devised such a scheme to kill with a borrowed blade.
Madam Wang fingered her Buddhist Prayer Beads without a word. Humiliation battered her heart, while towering rage accumulated in her chest and would not disperse.
Enduring the pain, Jia Baoyu struggled to open his eyes, hoping to see his sisters weeping in sympathy.
But they were not.
Every face was filled with disappointment, even a faint trace of disgust. It cut his heart like a knife!
He did not even dare look at Jia Yingchun.
Jia Mu approached Jia Huan and said softly:
"Huan'er, you've been wronged. But we are all family. The family must come first."
She knew her concubine-born grandson had held back. With his abilities, a single slap could have killed Baoyu.
Her feelings toward this grandson were deeply conflicted.
He was a man of the Jia Family, and his accomplishments heralded its prosperity. Yet the fact that a concubine-born son so completely overshadowed the legitimate son left her deeply displeased.
Jia Huan's expression remained unchanged. He merely nodded.
Kill Big-Faced Baoyu and the father and son from the Eastern Mansion for a moment's satisfaction? That would destroy my future and leave me fleeing to the ends of the earth.
Not remotely worth it!
Only when I have enough power and status will a single word suffice. If they dare leap about again then, they'll be sent straight to the Yellow Springs.
Jia Huan walked over to Yingchun. Looking at the young woman, as quiet and pure as a jasmine blossom, he said softly:
"Sun Shaozu is already in the Netherworld. Worry no more. Let the women he killed come to claim his soul."
Yingchun abruptly raised her head. Tears streaked her face, and her brimming eyes were filled with gratitude. She had never imagined that Brother Huan, with whom she seldom interacted, would step forward to shelter her from the wind and rain. It was as though a pair of hands had smoothed away all her fears.
"Thank you." Choking on the words, Yingchun sank into a crouch and burst into sobs.
Watching Jia Huan's retreating figure, the young women's hearts surged.
He never flaunted himself or showed much warmth, but when trouble came, he never backed down. This was a man who truly shouldered responsibility!
A dull ache stirred in Tanchun's chest. She had misunderstood Jia Huan so terribly. Guilt welled up inside her, leaving her overwhelmed with shame.
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