Chapter 347

In the garden, the flowers and trees were sparse, the shade was deep, birds were chirping, and flower buds were blooming brilliantly on the branches and treetops; what a picture of lush midsummer.

A slender figure staggered through the garden, looking somewhat aimless, her appearance sorrowful and desolate.

The garden that used to be pleasing to the eye had now become so strange and cold.

Jin Chuan had been pretty since she was a child, and she entered Lady Wang's room as a little maid at the age of five; at that time, Baoyu was still a child, and now ten full years had passed.

Lady Wang was the mistress of the Rongguo Prefecture, and being able to serve in her room was a very decent thing in the prefecture.

Although Lady Wang was not always kind to her servants, she never abused or mistreated them, so she could be considered a decent mistress.

A few years later, Jin Chuan's younger sister, Yu Chuan, also entered Lady Wang's room to serve.

Having two daughters serving in the mistress's room made Jin Chuan's mother feel decent and proud; whenever she spoke of it in front of others in the prefecture, it was a glorious and powerful thing.

Over these ten years, Jin Chuan worked meticulously and diligently, and Lady Wang was satisfied with her, promoting her to a first-class maid's monthly allowance; although her personality was a bit lively and her speech was a bit sharp and uninhibited, it was not a big deal.

If she were driven out of the prefecture by the mistress like this, it wouldn't take two days for it to spread inside and outside the prefecture that she had seduced Master Bao Er Ye and was driven out by the mistress; a girl's reputation would be completely ruined.

The burning sensation of the slap on her face seemed to fade away all at once, and those insulting and unbearable scoldings would no longer linger in her mind, suddenly becoming indifferent and disappearing without a trace.

From childhood to adulthood, Master Bao Er Ye had spoken without restraint to the maids, and it wasn't the first time the mistress had seen it, but this time she was so angry.

Jin Chuan ran in a daze for a long distance until she reached a stone bridge in the garden, where there was an octagonal well built of clear stone on the bank.

Even her own mother slapped her in the face without giving her any face!

The afternoon sun shone on the water, clearly reflecting her tear-stained face and the slap marks on her cheeks that could not fade.

But she never expected that just because of a few teasing words from Master Bao Er Ye, she had retorted a few words, jokingly telling him to go to the east room to take Huan Ge'er and Seeing Seeing Caiyun.

She choked on a few mouthfuls of water, her consciousness began to blur, and her whole body became unusually heavy, slowly sinking down.

She suddenly remembered that in the courtyard of the East Prefecture, Qingwen's hair was wet and disheveled, and the smile on her face was so sweet.

If she went out like this, unclear and ambiguous, she wouldn't be able to marry into a decent family in the future, and a girl's whole life would be completely ruined.

She and Master Bao Er Ye were innocent and clean, just a few words of teasing; could it be that she was not as good as Seeing Seeing Caiyun and Huan Ge'er, who were unclean? Why did she have to be driven out? She was not convinced!

She was unwilling, she was not convinced; why, when she hadn't done anything wrong, did she have to live like this and be humiliated by others? It would be better to die cleanly; even if she died, she wouldn't swallow this breath...!

The clear waves suddenly opened, and the ice-cold well water wrapped around her, making her whole body tremble; she couldn't swim at all, and she didn't intend to struggle, only feeling a sense of relief and liberation she had never felt before.

She stumbled to the edge of the well and looked down; more than a zhang deep from the well platform, a pool of well water was deep and dark, unable to see the bottom.

Through the clear waves above her head, she clearly saw an incomparably handsome face appearing on the edge of the well, unusually eye-catching under the afternoon sun.

Being able to serve in the mistress's room had always been the thing her mother was most proud of and decent about; now that she was driven out of the prefecture by the mistress, she had lost all the face of her mother and her family.

It seemed like a long time had passed, and it seemed like only a moment; time became blurred, and she vaguely heard the fearful and urgent cry of a woman.

She wiped her tears dry in front of the water, and without the slightest hesitation, her slender figure leaned forward and threw herself into the well...

Over these ten years, Jin Chuan had served by Lady Wang's side, longer than she had by her own parents' side, and this had become her habitual way of life.

This great mansion was a place where the wind leaked everywhere; white could be called black, and the living could be forced to death.

She was determined to drive her out of the prefecture and said many unpleasant things about her being lowly and shameless, and she even let Master Cong Sanye see it by chance, leaving her with no face to be a person...

Master Cong Sanye, who was standing beside her, had wet hands, and even his robes were splashed with many water marks.

At that time, although she teased Qingwen, she actually envied her in her heart, feeling that Qingwen's life was really good...

Jia Zheng met Fu Shi in the Rongxi Hall, but there was actually nothing important; Fu Shi was just making a routine visit and said some polite words of respect and request for instruction.

He also said some things he had heard outside, and finally talked about some trivial family matters, such as his younger sister who was still in the boudoir, the fragrance of a jade girl, the ambition of poetry and books, etc.

Jia Zheng was thinking about his refined conversation with his nephew and only echoed Fu Shi's topics.

Even if he could hear the subtext of Fu Shi's words, he would pretend not to know, so as not to embarrass everyone.

Because his mother and wife regarded Baoyu as the apple of their eye, and after all, it was a Duke's family, so the future marriage would definitely be with a high-ranking and powerful family.

Although Jia Zheng did not have the habit of despising the poor and loving the rich, if he really heard Fu Shi's intentions, how could a twenty-year-old sister of a Grade 6 assistant prefect be so far from Baoyu?

It was not easy to send Fu Shi away, and Jia Zheng was in a hurry to return to the study in the east corridor of the Rongxi Hall to continue his topic with Jia Cong.

Because chatting and having refined conversations with Jia Cong was much more interesting than the unnutritious socializing with Fu Shi.

Just as Jia Zheng was returning in high spirits, he saw Jia Huan running wildly like a wisp of smoke; seeing him, he seemed to be startled and wanted to hide, but it was too late.

Jia Huan and Baoyu had the same problem, which was that they were like mice avoiding cats when they saw Jia Zheng, probably because they were equally useless in Jia Zheng's eyes.

Jia Zheng couldn't stand the sight of his sons acting without rules; if they had half the bearing and style of Cong Ge'er, he wouldn't have to feel disgusted every day when he saw them.

Seeing Jia Huan's improper behavior, he frowned and shouted: "What are you running for? The people who brought you don't even manage you, letting you be like a wild horse, it's not proper!"

Jia Huan shivered upon hearing this and thought for a moment before saying: "I wasn't running, but just now when I passed by the octagonal well over there, a maid in the prefecture jumped into the well, and Master Cong Sanye is calling people to save her.

I don't know if she's dead or not, I was scared, so I ran."

Jia Zheng was shocked upon hearing this; the prefecture was generous and kind in managing the household, and had never mistreated or humiliated servants, so it was very rare for servants to commit suicide.

He shouted to the servant beside him: "How could she jump into the well for no reason? Hurry and call Steward Lin over, I want to ask him!"

Jia Huan's eyes turned, seemingly wanting to speak, but after glancing at the servant, he held back.

Jia Zheng sent the servant beside him away and frowned at Jia Huan: "Speak quickly!"

Jia Huan said: "Only the people in the mistress's room know about this; I heard people say that at noon, Brother Baoyu went to the mistress's room and wanted to rape Jin Chuan.

The mistress found out and beat Jin Chuan, and Jin Chuan jumped into the well in a fit of anger; I don't know if she can be saved yet."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng was furious, beating his chest and stomping his feet, scolding: "What a lawless beast, to actually do such an ugly thing!"

He shouted loudly to the servant beside him, angrily: "Go and tie Baoyu up and bring him here!"

Outside the study in the east corridor, Qingwen had just followed Jia Cong's instructions, but she was still a few steps late and hadn't caught up with Jin Chuan.

It was Jia Cong who was worried, so he followed her out, not looking anywhere else, but only searching near the well in the garden.

The two searched hurriedly in the garden for a distance until they saw an octagonal well on the bank of the bridge.

Jia Cong rushed to the edge of the well and saw a figure constantly sinking in the well; who else could it be but Jin Chuan? He hurriedly asked Qingwen to call for help.

Just then, two strong women from the kitchen happened to pass by and were called by Jia Cong to go down the well to save her.

It was not easy for a few people to get Jin Chuan up, but she was already unconscious; however, according to the time estimate, she should have fallen into the water not long ago.

Jia Cong asked the two strong women to call a physician for emergency treatment, while he and Qingwen guarded Jin Chuan by the well.

Jia Cong knew in his heart that Jin Chuan's drowning was not light; if they just waited for the physician to come, and the time dragged on, it would be extremely dangerous.

In a crisis, he couldn't care about taboos and taught Qingwen the method of chest and abdominal compression, but the little maid not only didn't get the method right, but also didn't have much strength, which was of no help at all.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it himself; after working for a long time, he finally managed to drain the accumulated water and saved Jin Chuan's little life.

Rongguo Prefecture, Mengpo Study.

Baoyu was brought to the room by Jia Zheng's two servants; he had already turned pale with fright, and on the way, he already knew that because Jin Chuan jumped into the well, his father wanted to question him.

Now he couldn't care whether Jin Chuan was dead or not, but his heart was beating like a drum, his legs were softening, and he didn't know how his father would vent his anger on him.

As soon as Baoyu entered the room, he was kicked to the ground by Jia Zheng, pressed onto a long bench by one servant, and beaten with a family staff by another.

Zhan Guang, Shan Pinren, and other guests were well-informed and rushed over to persuade him, but instead, they stirred up Jia Zheng's greater anger.

He scolded: "It was all you who spoiled him on weekdays; to be so dissolute and despicable, and not to teach him a harsh lesson, are you waiting until he commits the disaster of killing his father and the emperor before teaching him!

Whoever wants to stop me today, I will beat them to death together, and if a life is lost, I will go and plead guilty myself!"

The servant who carried out the family law didn't dare to use heavy force at all; if he really beat Master Bao Er Ye to death, he would be the first to die.

Seeing the servant beating the board with no strength, and Baoyu just groaning in pain, Jia Zheng was furious, snatched the family staff, and kicked the servant who was carrying out the family law away.

He swung the family staff and beat Baoyu's buttocks fiercely; just now Baoyu was still groaning in pain, but now he was screaming heartbreakingly.

Jia Zheng had only beaten him six or seven times when blood seeped through Baoyu's silk trousers.

Zhan Guang and Shan Pinren outside the study heard Baoyu's screams and were terrified, no longer caring about anything else, and rushed in to stop him.

But they were driven out of the study by Jia Zheng with the family staff.

Seeing that the matter had become difficult to handle, Zhan Guang and the others thought that if Jia Zheng beat Baoyu to death with this method, and the old lady in the prefecture found out, they, as Jia Zheng's followers, would not be able to escape the relationship.

So they hurriedly called a servant and told him to go to the second gate to pass the message and call the old lady and the mistress to save his life.

(End of chapter)