He Had Only Just Died, and His Body Was Already Swelling?

Jia Family · Rongqing Hall

It was now eight in the evening. Lights still burned in the side rooms, and cheerful voices and laughter drifted out from time to time.

Lady Jia was playing dominoes with Feng-jie and Li Wan. Since Madam Wang seldom played such games, and having a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law at the same gaming table would have been rather improper, Feng-jie had invited You-shi from the Eastern Mansion to join them.

The maid Yuanyang and several other maids from Lady Jia's rooms stood nearby, attending to them.

Farther away, in a side room partitioned off by a glass screen, Ying, Tan, Xi, Baoyu and Daiyu gathered around a table. They seemed to be composing paired verses, while several maids from the Prefecture bustled about serving tea and handing them fruit.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and elderly people needed less sleep to begin with, so Lady Jia had been playing a little longer these past two days.

Of course, entertainment was scarce in this era anyway. The men of the Jia Family frequented brothels and gambling houses, the women in the inner quarters watched opera and played tiles, and the servants and household retainers... drank and gambled. Each truly went about their own pursuits without interfering with the others.

Feng-jie seemed to have lost several strings of cash. She put on a disgruntled, sour expression on her oval face and sighed mournfully, making the Old Madam laugh without stopping. You-shi teased her from the side, adding to the chatter and laughter. Naturally, the whole table was really coaxing that one Old Madam into a good mood.

Lady Jia's temples were silver, and age weighed heavily upon her, but when the Old Madam of the Jia Family smiled, her face looked kind and gentle. "Madam Wang, if the girls are sleepy, let them go back and rest."

Madam Wang had been sitting beside a small table, reading a Buddhist Sutra listlessly by lamplight as Jinchuan attended her. Perhaps she was growing sleepy, for she gently closed the book and covered her mouth to yawn.

"Madam, have some tea." Jinchuan hurriedly brought her a cup of fragrant tea. Though the maid was still young, barely in her early teens, beauty had already begun to show in her youthful features. Yet an indescribable streak of stubbornness and defiance seemed to lurk in her eyes.

Madam Wang accepted the tea and set it on the small table beside her. After glancing at Baoyu, who was saying something to Daiyu, she smiled and replied to Lady Jia, "Old Madam, it's getting late. Why not let Baoyu go back and rest too? He has to see his tutor tomorrow."

Interestingly, Baoyu was actually living with Lin Daiyu in Lady Jia's quarters, while Xue Baochai had yet to arrive in the capital.

As Baoyu told Daiyu in Chapter Twenty: "You came first. We've eaten at the same table and slept in the same bed, growing up together all this time. She's only just arrived. How could I distance myself from you for her sake...?"

Five or six years had passed since Daiyu came to the capital as a child. The two had grown up together in Lady Jia's main rooms, innocent childhood companions whose affection had steadily deepened.

"Let the boy and his sisters play a little longer. It won't hurt anything. He can simply go a little later tomorrow." As Lady Jia spoke, she played another domino, clearly attaching little importance to Baoyu's studies.

An aristocratic family like theirs, dining amid the chime of bells and rows of bronze vessels, had risen through military merit and hereditary honors. If they produced no scholars, so be it.

Madam Wang smiled faintly, a complicated feeling stirring within her, and said nothing more.

She knew what troubled the Old Madam. Only... ah, Baoyu was still young. Perhaps when he was a little older.

Madam Wang did take Baoyu's education seriously, but in light of what had happened to her eldest son, she dared not push him as hard as she once had.

Especially after Jia Zhu's death, the Old Madam's partiality toward this grandson born with jade in his mouth had led her to shut Jia Zheng and his wife out of any authority over his education.

His meals, lodging, and every aspect of his daily life were all managed in Lady Jia's quarters.

Even his eventual marriage would be decided by Lady Jia.

One could say Baoyu was Lady Jia's very life... well, the apple of her eye.

Madam Wang felt both helpless and pleased.

Madam Wang paid her respects to Lady Jia and was just about to leave with Jinchuan and several other maids.

Suddenly, a shout came from the covered corridor outside Rongqing Hall. "Old Madam, something terrible has happened! Master Zhen of the Eastern Mansion is beyond saving...!"

Before the servant could enter Rongqing Hall's main room, Lin Zhixiao's wife, known for being deaf to heaven and mute to earth, stopped him. "What are you shouting about? Who's beyond saving?"

Rongqing Hall was full of the Jia Family's women. How could a servant boy from the front courtyard be allowed to barge in and intrude upon them?

"Master Zhen!"

The servant gasped out the words, struggling to catch his breath.

After Jia Zhen had fainted from a rush of fury to the heart, the Eastern Mansion's servants had carried him back to Ningguo Mansion. The whole place had erupted into a chickens-flying, dogs-leaping uproar, and Jia Lian had sent someone to bring word to Rong Mansion. Somehow, as the news passed from mouth to mouth, it had turned into Jia Zhen being beyond saving.

Lady Jia, who had been enjoying herself in Rongqing Hall, heard the shouting outside and rose. "Who's beyond saving?"

Lin Zhixiao's wife came in and said quietly, "The boy from the front gate says Master Zhen of the Eastern Mansion..."

Before Lady Jia could react, You-shi, who had just turned her head, heard the terrible news and felt as though she had been struck by lightning. Her radiant, alluring face, with its ripe feminine charm, abruptly turned white. Her hands and feet went cold as she cried sorrowfully, "How... how could this happen?"

"Sister-in-law You." Feng-jie hurried to support You-shi.

Lady Jia slumped onto her stool, her eyes reddening. "Zhen isn't even forty yet. How could he...?"

Although Jia Zhen belonged to the Eastern Mansion, she had watched him grow up. He might have been rather fond of pleasure and indulgence, but he was ordinarily a good boy. How could he...?

Grief also appeared on Li Wan's elegant, delicate face, unadorned by powder or rouge. She hurried to comfort Lady Jia.

She had been reminded of her own husband, Jia Zhu, who had died so young.

Yuanyang was even quicker to support Lady Jia. Worry filled her refined, pretty face as she called, "Old Madam..."

Feng-jie knitted her willow-leaf brows, her phoenix eyes full of suspicion. What did they mean, beyond saving? Hadn't Jia Zhen gone with Jia Lian to see Jia Heng today? No, there had to be more to this!

"Old Ancestress, this hasn't been confirmed yet. Let's call the man in and question him," Feng-jie said gently.

Lady Jia raised her head and looked at Lin Zhixiao's wife. "Where is he? Bring him in quickly so we can ask him."

Lin Zhixiao's wife said in a low voice, "Old Madam, these are the inner quarters..."

"Inner quarters, outer quarters-what does that matter? Bring him here at once. Questioning him is what matters..." Lady Jia said.

Before long, a servant came in. Not daring to look around, he dropped to his knees and launched into a string of greetings to the madams, the old madam, the eldest young mistress, and the second young mistress.

"Speak up! What happened to Cousin Zhen in the Eastern Mansion?" Before the servant could go on with his irrelevant chatter, Feng-jie raised her willow-leaf brows and demanded an answer, her lovely face fierce.

"I heard from the front gate that Master Zhen was carried back from the Green and Red Pavilion. He'd fainted dead away and seemed to be in a bad way. Oh, and Second Master Lian was there too."

"That's your mother's damned nonsense!" At the mention of the Green and Red Pavilion, Feng-jie's anger flared, a sharp fury flashing in her phoenix eyes as she swore. Realizing her impropriety, she demanded instead, "Where is Second Master?"

You-shi raised her sorrowful face, looking pitifully lovely, and asked in a clear voice, "Where is my husband now? Has he come home?"

"In answer to Eldest Madam You, he's in the Eastern Mansion. I heard his face has swollen up..." the servant said, looking frightened.

Lady Jia, Madam Wang, Feng-jie: "..."

You-shi wiped the tears from her curved lashes. Her lovely face went blank, confusion creeping over her delicate, softly alluring features as her rosy lips moved.

He had only just died, and his body was already swelling?

Now the account sounded thoroughly absurd.

Feng-jie glared at the servant, then turned to Lady Jia. "Old Ancestress, these servants have no sense of proportion. They're spouting nonsense and frightening everyone. Just this afternoon, Second Master and I were drinking in the Eastern Mansion to celebrate Cousin Zhen's birthday. Cousin Zhen said he was going to see Master Heng in the back lane to discuss a marriage. I expect he simply drank himself senseless..."

After all this commotion, Lady Jia began to understand as well. She planted her walking stick on the floor and said angrily, "These servants are talking nonsense and frightening people in the middle of the night. They're growing more outrageous by the day."

Lin Zhixiao's wife hurriedly gave orders in a low voice. "Quickly, drag this damned wretch out and slap his mouth."

The servant still wanted to explain, but two sturdy serving women hauled him outside.