In Rongqing Hall, once Lady Jia threatened to take the complaint to the palace, the dispute between Jia Zhen and Jia Heng finally ended with both sides taking a step back.
Jia Zhen stopped pursuing the matter of his beating, but the cold hatred in his eyes offered a glimpse of the grudge he harbored. This was far from over.
Jia Heng, too, quit while he was ahead and stopped pressing the matter of the bride-snatching, thus complying with Lady Jia's wish to settle the dispute.
After all that commotion, Lady Jia felt mentally drained. She waved Jia Zhen, You-shi, Jia Heng, Jia Lian, Jia Rong, and the others out of Rongqing Hall to attend to their own affairs.
Once the two men had left, Feng-jie approached Lady Jia and asked in bewilderment, "Old Ancestress, this Jia Heng..."
Lady Jia said, "You think I've been too lenient with Jia Heng?"
Feng-jie pursed her lips. "You've always been kindhearted, Old Ancestress, especially toward the poor and weak. But we cannot let someone who has no respect for his elders defy his superiors. Otherwise, who knows how outsiders will look down on our Jia Family?"
"Girl Feng, ours is a house of dukes and marquises, a family with generations of good deeds behind it. Rather than treating his clansmen with affection, Brother Zhen stole a clansman's bride-and at a place like the Green and Red Pavilion, no less. The uproar spread through the whole city. Who knows how many censorial officials have taken notice? They're simply waiting for us to drag this before the authorities so they can submit an impeachment and bring it straight to the emperor's ears," Lady Jia said.
Feng-jie's expression shifted. Forcing a smile, she said, "Surely it isn't as frightening as you make it sound. His Majesty and those great officials attend to the affairs of the realm. How could such a petty squabble between clansmen reach their ears or merit their attention?"
Lady Jia shook her head and pointed a finger toward Feng-jie with a smile. "You little monkey, have you forgotten that your eldest sister only entered the palace late last year?"
Feng-jie's brows drew together, light rippling through her sparkling phoenix eyes. "Has some happy news arrived?" she asked delightedly.
This was the second time she had heard of it. When Jia Lian mentioned it yesterday, she had thought little of it. But now that the Old Madam was saying the same thing, could there truly be a chance?
"It's only... better to have one less trouble than one more." Lady Jia sighed and turned to Yuanyang, who stood attending her. "Yuanyang, tell the rear quarters to send Qingwen, that maid who came from the Lai Family a little while ago, to serve Brother Heng. Tell him he's old enough to marry and establish himself now. His clan has offered him no support and has even held him back. Giving him a maid to look after his daily needs is a token of this old woman's goodwill."
Feng-jie exclaimed, "Old Ancestress, not only are you not blaming him, you're giving him a maid trained in your own rooms-and one from the Lai Family, at that? Doesn't granting him such an honor only indulge him further?"
Lai Sheng had been beaten by Jia Heng, and now the maid Nanny Lai had sent to the Old Madam's rooms was being passed on to Jia Heng.
Feng-jie truly could not understand it. Had the Old Madam... gone senile?
But a moment later, another possibility suddenly occurred to her... killing him with kindness? The Old Madam really was the cleverer one. It was only a maid, after all, and she could also keep an eye on that boy with the bone of rebellion jutting from the back of his skull.
If he still failed to know when to advance and when to retreat, then when the cudgel came down, no one would believe any further accusations of bullying a clansman.
They would only curse him as an ungrateful, white-eyed wolf!
Feng-jie had clearly thought of the tactic of giving first in order to take later, though she did not know such an idiom herself. In the future, when Jia Lian secretly married You Erjie, Feng-jie would use precisely this method of destroying someone through kindness.
Lady Jia offered Feng-jie no explanation. This was not simply a matter of raising someone high before letting him fall.
If he truly amounts to nothing, then so be it. But if he does amount to something... in the end, there is only one Jia character, however many times you write it. Lady Jia sighed inwardly.
She knew something of what the men of the Jia Family had become over the years. Otherwise, she would never have sent her eldest granddaughter into that place where one vanished from sight.
Yuanyang answered, "Yes," then turned and left.
Meanwhile, Jia Heng left the courtyard of Rongqing Hall and, guided by Lin Zhixiao, passed the flower-hung gate and spirit screen toward the covered walkway.
Reflecting on his meeting with Lady Jia, he realized that if he had shown even the slightest weakness earlier, he would have invited a harsh attack from both Jia Zhen and Lady Jia.
Instead, by showing strength, he had made Lady Jia exercise a measure of caution.
This had to do with Lady Jia's soft disposition. Manage your household affairs yourselves; don't keep interfering with my pleasures. That was Lady Jia's mindset in the original Dream of the Red Chamber.
Jia Huan had burned Baoyu with lamp oil, and the final result... not a damned thing had happened.
Big-Faced Bao was the apple of Lady Jia's eye, wasn't he?
As the highest-ranking person in the Jia Family, Lady Jia lacked ruthlessness when dealing with household affairs. Of course, that was only a normal attitude for an old woman past seventy.
Decisive killing, sinister schemes... such terms had nothing to do with an old lady like Lady Jia.
Being easily swayed, enjoying soothing words, loving lively company and glittering splendor... those were the usual inclinations of elderly ladies.
Health-supplement salespeople and telephone scammers understood that psychology all too well.
And throughout the Jia Family, "tolerance" toward certain longtime servants knew no bounds. The Lai Family, for instance, enjoyed almost as much dignity as their masters. That was true overindulgence.
Reading Dream of the Red Chamber in his previous life had given him clear impressions of the women in the Jia Family: Lady Xing was far too stupid, Concubine Zhao was base, and Madam Wang had a Buddha's mouth and a serpent's heart.
Only Wang Xifeng was truly ruthless, directly plotting people's deaths-Jia Rui, for example, and Zhang Hua, the man betrothed to You Erjie.
Sure enough, once the matter reached Rongqing Hall, it had come to a halt.
As Jia Heng pondered this, he could not help feeling a surge of emotion.
Just as Jia Heng was about to leave the rear courtyard, someone called from behind, "Master Heng, please wait."
Jia Heng furrowed his brows and turned to see Yuanyang. She held a silk handkerchief in one hand and lifted her skirts with the other, urgency showing on her bright, youthful face.
"Sister Yuanyang, is there something else?" Jia Heng asked, puzzled. Could Lady Jia have changed her mind again?
Yuanyang said, "The Old Madam said Brother Heng is grown now, old enough to marry and establish himself, and the clan has little help to offer. She thought only that you lacked someone considerate to look after your daily needs. The maid sent over from Nanny Lai's household the other day has been trained in the Old Madam's rooms, so she's sending her to look after you."
At this, Jia Heng fell silent, his gaze sharpening. A maid from Nanny Lai's household-surely it couldn't be Qingwen?
Doubts rose in his heart. What was Lady Jia trying to accomplish?
Killing him with kindness? Winning him over? Or was there some other reason?
Watching the boy before her remain composed, his face thoughtful, Yuanyang could not help admiring him inwardly. Though Master Heng was young, his every movement and gesture was like that of a little adult. Perhaps this was what people meant by remaining unshaken by favor or disgrace?
After a moment's consideration, Jia Heng said clearly, "Sister Yuanyang, please tell the Old Madam that if this is meant as an apology on Jia Zhen's behalf, there is no need. I've already given her my word: if others do not offend me, I will not offend them! So long as Jia Zhen does not provoke me, I will leave him alone!"
Yuanyang smiled. "Everything was settled before the Old Madam just now. That matter is over. This is a separate act of kindness. A young member of the clan has caught her eye, so she's sending a maid to serve him. Don't overthink it, Master Heng."
The girl spoke with a lovely smile, her voice lilting and clear as an oriole emerging from a valley, making it difficult to refuse her again.
For a moment, Jia Heng remained silent in thought.
"Master Heng, this is the old lady's kindness. Take care not to disappoint her," Lin Zhixiao suddenly said.
Jia Heng glanced at Lin Zhixiao. Is this chief steward of the inner household at odds with the Lai Family?
After considering it, Jia Heng said, "Very well. Sister Yuanyang, please thank the Old Madam for me. Tell her I'll come another day to pay my respects and express my gratitude."
Seeing that Jia Heng had agreed, Yuanyang smiled. "Then please wait by the gate, Master Heng. I'll go see Qingwen and have her pack her things so she can go back with you."
Jia Heng nodded and followed Lin Zhixiao to wait at the front gate.
Meanwhile, accompanied by their servants, Jia Zhen, You-shi, Jia Lian, Jia Rong, and the others left the side gate of the Rong Mansion, reached the mouth of the lane, and headed toward Ningguo Mansion. Jia Zhen's face remained dark, his eyes full of hatred. "This isn't over!"
With a bitter smile, Jia Lian urged, "Brother Zhen, the Old Madam has already spoken. If we keep pursuing this, I'm afraid we'll anger her."
Jia Zhen glanced at the silent, distracted You-shi beside him and said coldly, "That little bastard took liberties with your sister-in-law, and I was slapped in the face. If I let it end like this, how could I have the face to stay in the Eastern Mansion?"
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