Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 10 Asking for Money

In wealthy families, even taking a bath is a luxury.

The large pear wood tubs were filled with hot water by the maids, and people could soak in them, feeling completely relaxed.

This is naturally much more refreshing than the past few days when I had the servants fetch two buckets of water and just take a quick shower in the small courtyard behind the study.

Not to mention, there was also a beautiful and graceful maid standing beside her, the kind who would do whatever she was told...

The experience is indescribable unless you experience it yourself.

Ping'er stood shyly in a corner of the room, head bowed and eyes downcast.

Although she had experience serving her master and son-in-law in bed, this was the first time she had ever served Jia Lian bathing alone like this.

She was very worried about what she would do if Jia Lian forced himself on her.

As Wang Xifeng's dowry maid, and the closest one at that, she knew that her ultimate fate would likely be to become Jia Lian's concubine or mistress.

However, it is clear that Wang Xifeng is not yet determined to elevate her status.

Given Wang Xifeng's possessiveness and vengefulness, if she dared to cross the line first, her fate would certainly not be good.

As the person who knows Wang Xifeng best, she knows that once the other party gets angry, she will not recognize anyone!

It's unclear whether Jia Lian sensed her worry. Although he occasionally asked her to hand him towels, soap, and other items, he never did anything excessive to her, not even asking her to massage his shoulders. He just stayed in the tub by himself.

So, she boldly began to steal glances at Jia Lian's figure.

His back was long and slender, broad and well-proportioned. His skin was a wheatish color, clean and flawless.

Some of them are quite beautiful...

I had only ever seen it through a gauze curtain before, but I had never seen it so clearly before.

Moreover, the Second Master had picked up some offbeat tune from somewhere and was humming it to himself, and it actually sounded rather amusing...

"Splash!"

The sudden sound of rushing water startled Ping'er awake. When she came to her senses, she saw that Jia Lian had indeed stepped out of the tub.

That's not all; the real problem is that he was completely naked except for water droplets dripping from his body.

Ping'er turned her face away in embarrassment.

When did he take off his robe and trousers...?

Jia Lian, seemingly oblivious to Ping'er's shyness, laughed and said, "What's wrong? Haven't you ever seen such a handsome man before? Give me your handkerchief!"

Ping'er hurriedly handed over the dry handkerchief in her hand.

"clothes!"

Ping'er, who is usually quick-witted, was now like a clumsy maid, frantically fumbling to take down the clean clothes that were neatly arranged on the rack.

Seeing Ping'er like this, Jia Lian's lingering desires, which he had just managed to suppress in the tub, surged up again without warning.

To avoid being noticed by Ping'er, he could only turn to the side and bend down to put on his clothes himself.

Ping'er's youthful beauty goes without saying; among the many pretty maids in the Jia family, she is easily among the top three.

She was Wang Xifeng's dowry maid, so it's fair to say that she was completely taken advantage of, and no one could say anything about it.

However, Wang Xifeng was suspicious of him at this moment, so how could he do something that would make Wang Xifeng look down on him and cause trouble?

Moreover, Ping'er herself might not be willing.

Therefore, in order to gain as much of an advantage as possible in his upcoming confrontation with Wang Xifeng, he cannot touch Ping'er for the time being.

There's plenty of time. Once he's completely won over Wang Xifeng, he's sure she'll obediently hand over Ping'er.

Therefore, he deliberately restrained himself and didn't even tease Ping'er much, not because he was so proper, but simply because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.

After finally getting dressed, Ping'er composed herself and followed Jia Lian out of the bathhouse.

As I walked back into the house along the corridor, before I even entered, an old woman came over.

"Second Master, this is what Zhao'er from the Second Gate sent in. She said it's something you wanted."

Jia Lian nodded, took it, and brought it inside.

Because Ping'er was worried about Wang Xifeng, she quickly tidied Jia Lian's hair and then said, "I'll ask Feng'er and the others to come in and continue doing it for Master. I'm going to check on our mistress."

Jia Lian grabbed her wrist and laughed, "If you just leave like this and let others in, I'm sure your grandmother won't feel at ease."

"You can continue doing it for me."

A youthful and refreshing girl knelt beside him, drying his hair strand by strand with a dry towel, a process that Jia Lian thoroughly enjoyed.

The others are naturally not as good as Ping'er.

Ping'er couldn't refuse, so she had no choice but to sit back down and continue working.

Then, seeing Jia Lian open the package the old woman had brought, he found it filled with books and manuscripts, and thought to himself, "Could it be that Second Master has truly changed his ways?"

After a while, seeing Jia Lian looking so intently, she finally couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking at, Second Master?"

Jia Lian glanced back at her, then smiled and waved the manuscript in his hand: "These are articles I painstakingly collected from outside. Guess who wrote them?"

How could I have guessed?

Jia Lian shook his head and continued studying his lessons, muttering to himself, "I'm about to go to Yangzhou. If I see Uncle Lin and he tests my knowledge, and I can't answer a single question, wouldn't that be embarrassing?"

So I have to put in a little extra effort, maybe I can pull off a lucky break. If that happens, I'll bring you lots of gifts when I get back.

Ping'er exclaimed, "Could it be that all of these are Master Lin's writings?"

"Smart! But those books aren't."

Jia Lian chatted and laughed casually with Ping'er, while trying to deduce Lin Ruhai's temperament and political policies from his limited writings.

If you want to get close to someone, you must first cater to their interests. To do that, you need to understand their personality and values.

Clearly, Jia Lian was relatively unfamiliar with Lin Ruhai. If he wanted to understand Lin Ruhai, his only way at present was to look for clues in Lin Ruhai's policies and articles.

As for dealing with Lin Ruhai's examination questions, it was nothing more than a lighthearted conversation with the maid.

No matter how hard a poor student tries, it's impossible for them to become a top student in a short time.

For Lin Ruhai, a top student and a third-ranked scholar, anyone who isn't naturally gifted is just an ordinary person, or even a disabled person.

He wouldn't use his weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths.

Ping'er was unaware of Jia Lian's many thoughts. Seeing that Jia Lian didn't seem to be joking, she sighed inwardly: If the Second Master had been so serious and eager to learn from the beginning, how could he have ended up dropping out of the Imperial Academy?

If he had continued to treat his studies like this, he probably would have already achieved fame and success, just like Master Xianzhu in the mansion!

Now, I'm afraid it's a bit too late...

Regardless, it's a good thing that Second Master is willing to improve himself. Second Madam would be happy if she knew.

……

"Oh, you two seem quite affectionate!"

As Wang Xifeng entered the room, she immediately saw Jia Lian reclining on the kang (a heated brick bed) pretending to read a book, while Ping'er sat obediently inside, wiping Jia Lian's hair. She immediately said sourly.

When Ping'er saw Wang Xifeng return, she realized that she had been a bit too unrestrained. Seeing that the water droplets on Jia Lian's hair had long since dried and would be completely dry after being left loose for a while, she got off the kang (heated brick bed), packed her things, and went out to the outer room.

Wang Xifeng didn't cause any trouble for Ping'er. She sat down and said, "Yingchun and the others originally said they wanted to come and see you off, but the old lady told them not to disturb you and to let you rest well, so they didn't come."

"Hmm." Jia Lian nodded casually to indicate that he understood.

Seeing that Jia Lian didn't even turn around to look at her, Wang Xifeng immediately said irritably, "We're leaving tomorrow, and you still have the leisure to read those miscellaneous books? You should go to sleep early; you might feel better tomorrow morning."

With just one sentence, Wang Xifeng categorized Jia Lian's reading as miscellaneous books.

Jia Lian turned over and moved to the other side.

Wang Xifeng frowned and stared at Jia Lian for a few moments.

It was still quite hot that day, and Jia Lian, who had just taken a bath, was dressed very lightly, wearing only a light yellow thin robe casually over his body, with his arms and calves exposed.

With his body leaning inward and his robe tugged, most of his chest was clearly visible.

Jia Lian was tall and handsome, and everyone called him a good-looking man! Otherwise, Wang Xifeng wouldn't have kept such a close watch on him and wouldn't have allowed any woman to get close to him. This is actually the same as a man's possessiveness towards a beautiful woman.

Therefore, Jia Lian's lazy appearance after bathing, wearing only a close-fitting robe, is extremely attractive to any woman in the world!

Wang Xifeng stood up and walked into the room, but after a few steps she stopped and said, "I'm going to take a bath too."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian, who was diligently studying, couldn't help but frown.

If you want to take a bath, just go ahead and do it. Why did you specifically tell me? When did this woman become so polite?

……

I slept well all night.

As soon as Jia Lian woke up in the early morning, he noticed someone was watching him. He opened his eyes and immediately met a pair of phoenix eyes.

There was some brightness, and also some love that was not usually visible.

"Why are you staring at me like that? What, are you plotting to murder your husband?"

One sentence made Wang Xifeng, who was already somewhat embarrassed, feel embarrassed and angry, and she hit Jia Lian in a bad mood.

She tried to get up, but felt a little weak. In a flash, she understood what was going on. She looked up again and glared at Jia Lian with watery eyes.

"I feel like you're different from before." Wang Xifeng murmured to herself as she lay back down, resting her head on Jia Lian's shoulder.

Jia Lian tilted his head, glanced at the glimpses of skin inside and outside her bodice, and laughed, "Oh, what's different?"

Wang Xifeng blushed instantly.

She couldn't quite put her finger on the differences, but she was certain it was the same person; it was just that their methods were slightly different.

In the past, he never had those tricks or acted so domineeringly. If people didn't agree, he would resort to force!

She stayed up most of the night before falling asleep, and now she has no energy at all. It's really awful.

Although Jia Lian couldn't see Wang Xifeng's expression, he could sense her submissiveness and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's probably around 5 AM."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian withdrew his outstretched hand.

I wanted to leave a deeper impression on Feng Lazi, but unfortunately, there wasn't enough time.

Seeing Jia Lian get up, Wang Xifeng also sat up, lightly touched up her makeup, and said, "It's still early, why don't you sleep a little longer? Although a time has been set, it doesn't matter if it's just the servants; let them wait a little longer."

Wang Xifeng was worried that Jia Lian hadn't slept well last night.

Jia Lian shook his head as he dressed, saying, "The morning is the best time to travel; it might get too hot around noon."

Wang Xifeng was somewhat displeased, "I never realized you were so filial before. I wonder if you were this devoted to mourning your mother-in-law when she died..."

Wang Xifeng immediately realized her mistake as soon as she spoke. Seeing Jia Lian looking at her with a half-smile, her face flushed, and she quickly changed the subject: "The accompanying people and horses have all been arranged. Is there anything else we need to buy? The journey is long, so it's good to be prepared to avoid any trouble on the way."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian immediately smiled and said, "Indeed, there is something I want to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

Give me some silver.

Upon hearing Jia Lian mention money, Wang Xifeng immediately became wary: "What do you need money for?"

His face was full of suspicion.

She knew that Jia Lian had already received the money from the accounting office, part of which was for their travel expenses and the other part was for purchasing sacrificial items and daily expenses in Yangzhou.

Now they're asking her for more money; I'm afraid their intentions aren't pure.