[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber":3,"chapter-my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-20":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","My Life as a Rising Force in the Red Chamber",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2310818,4515,"Chapter 20: Obsession and Forced Concubinage","my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-20",20,"\u003Cp>Jia Cong and Xiao Jindong and the others sat at Chunhua Pavilion for two hours before dispersing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Jizhen, Zhou Xizhe, Liu Bi, and others were all learned scholars; Xiao Jindong, though a merchant, ran a bookstore and was well-versed in literature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong associated with these men, listening to their casual conversations on matters ranging from painting and calligraphy to court anecdotes and street slang, broadening his horizons considerably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he returned to the East Courtyard, it was just past noon, and the Grain Store Courtyard was utterly silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he entered, he saw Zhi Shao sitting alone on the threshold, weeping; his heart leapt with a bad premonition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third Master, you’re back,” Zhi Shao said, wiping her tears with a smile, though fear and panic still lingered in her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong? What happened?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhi Shao, on the verge of tears, said: “Not long after you left today, Wang Shanbao’s wife came to the door and said Lady Xing wanted to speak with me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong’s heart tightened—why would Lady Xing suddenly summon Zhi Shao? The two had nothing to do with each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady Xing praised my looks and spoke highly of me for a long while.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia She coveted Yuanyang, wanting to take her as a concubine, but Yuanyang was Jia Mu’s trusted maid, and Jia Mu was the strongest pillar in the Jia household.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This left Yingchun with little standing in the Jia household—even her wet nurse dared to bully her, stealing her beaded gold phoenix hairpin to gamble with, and Yingchun dared not pursue it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fates of Yuanyang and Siqi, the two maids in the Red Chamber, were the clearest proof.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now that Zhi Shao’s situation had arisen, he began to doubt this way of living.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Jia She truly forced Zhi Shao to become his concubine, according to the customs of such a grand household, he realized he had no power to stop it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A maid’s life or death, honor or shame, depended entirely on whether her mistress was powerful or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong’s face turned pale; his usually gentle, clear eyes glowed with terrifying fury as he muttered two words Zhi Shao could barely hear: “Damn it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since arriving in this world, Jia Cong, due to his unusually mature mind, had maintained a detached, calm attitude toward everything around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhi Shao was a bonded maid of the household; to Jia She, she was no different from an object—his to take or give at a single word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady Xing also said the Master’s quarters lacked capable servants, and that the Master… he… took a liking to me, and wanted to take me as his concubine…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But with Yingchun, because of her soft, easily bullied nature, Jia She ignored her completely, and Jia Mu, naturally, held little regard for this second granddaughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong said gently: “Don’t be afraid—I’m here. Even if I die, I won’t let you jump into this fire pit!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as Yuanyang herself refused, even if Jia She was the eldest legitimate son and heir of Rongguo Mansion, he could do nothing to a maid—eventually, Jia Mu scolded him soundly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had forced himself to adapt to this world’s rules as much as possible, avoiding radical actions, striving instead for slow, steady progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhi Shao, seeing Jia Cong’s terrifying expression, burst into tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong pulled Zhi Shao into his arms, gently patting her back to comfort her; in the empty Grain Store Courtyard, her sobs sounded especially helpless and desolate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had grown up in the East Courtyard, hearing too many tales of the Master’s lechery and debauchery—if she became his concubine, she might as well die right away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Zhi Shao spoke, her voice trembled, her slender body shook, and she was crushed under endless dread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong’s face had grown cold—Lady Xing summoned Zhi Shao solely to praise her beauty; this was no act of goodwill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Zhi Shao shuddered violently, flinging herself into Jia Cong’s arms and weeping loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her personal maid Siqi, after love letters to her cousin Pan You’an were found, was to be expelled from Daguanyuan; Yingchun had no strength to defend her, and Siqi was ultimately driven to smash her head against a wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this deep, sprawling mansion, whether a maid or servant had a good fate depended entirely on whether her master held power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As an illegitimate son with a tainted birth, he was despised by his own father and legal mother, and even the household’s matriarch looked down on him—he was worse off than Yingchun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What could he possibly use to protect Zhi Shao?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was Jia She’s son; if his father wanted his maid as a concubine, how could he refuse? To say no would be disobedience, would be filial impiety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though this sounded absurd to a modern man, under ancestral law and ritual, the world’s damn rules were exactly this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could he take Zhi Shao and flee far away, escape this Jia household, live in hiding, abandon books and studies, and spend his life struggling just to survive?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With only two hundred taels of silver on him, how far could they even get?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Jia She or others found them, he might escape, but Zhi Shao would be a runaway slave—she would not escape death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when faced with such a heart-wrenching, throat-tearing crisis did he truly feel the rigid, unyielding ancestral law, the cold, suffocating squalor of this great family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did he realize how powerless he was—and he hated this helplessness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia She and Lady Xing’s courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you mean, she still refuses? She’d rather be a maid than have a master’s position!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia She flew into a rage; Lady Xing’s face turned pale with alarm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then it’s clear—since ancient times, Chang’e has favored the young. She must be infatuated with the young masters, looking down on this old man of mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She can’t reach Bao Yu—so she’s grown accustomed to serving Jia Cong and has taken a fancy to that unlucky wretch? What a blind fool, lowering herself so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she truly has such thoughts, let her extinguish them at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I want her in my bed; if she won’t come, who else will ever take her? Perhaps she hopes to wait a few more years, then be released and marry as a lawful wife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let her think carefully: no matter who she marries, she cannot escape my grasp—unless she dies, or spends her life unmarried, then I’ll let her be!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Xing sat stiff-faced beside him; Wang Shanbao’s wife stood at the door, peering furtively inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maids passing by heard the familiar roar—this sound had come before—and knew another woman was about to suffer. Each felt dread, and all kept well away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From that day on, Jia Cong never left the Grain Store Courtyard, never strayed a step from Zhi Shao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he knew, if Jia She truly intended to force her, this method was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the Lantern Festival approaching, he must attend the Nanxi Literary Gathering; the more desperate his situation,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the more he could not abandon any chance to break through his current plight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Zhi Shao was still frightened, she remembered Jia Cong was going to the literary gathering on the fifteenth—he couldn’t appear shabby; his few clothes had all been washed threadbare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She gathered her composure, took ten taels from Jia Cong’s savings, and sent Aunt Zhao to buy a bolt of fine fabric to make him a new robe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhi Shao had learned fine needlework since childhood; everything Jia Cong wore was stitched by her own hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The days that followed seemed much like before: Jia Cong read and practiced calligraphy daily, while Zhi Shao worked tirelessly sewing his robe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But both carried dark shadows within; Jia Cong left once, going to Huanming Money Exchange to cash a small banknote.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he rented a secluded little courtyard in the western city—a retreat he had prepared for himself and Zhi Shao in case things spiraled beyond control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Readers who have just started reading, please click on the latest chapter and browse when reading earlier ones—help this book build reader retention. New author, new book, it’s a hard road—thank you all for your support!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1379,"2026-06-20T12:19:54.434Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","173edbb0e90bb64d9a6e1b4bdd0469224025e294b192525c4af60a5188e3e63b","my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-21","my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-19",920,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-cover.jpg"]