Chapter 700

Rongguo Prefecture, Fengjie's courtyard.

Seeing that Baoyu hadn't said two words after arriving before asking about Wu'er again, Ping'er couldn't help but frown slightly, and a feeling of discomfort arose in her heart.

This Bao Er Ye Bao was becoming increasingly unreliable, not doing proper work all day, just blindly thinking about things everywhere—it was chilling to watch.

When Wang Xifeng heard Baoyu's words, she couldn't help but scoff inwardly. Now that the second branch had become like this, Baoyu was still completely ignorant.

He still thought he was the phoenix of the West Prefecture, and that whoever he fancied would be his—he truly had the guts of a leopard and didn't even weigh whose person that was.

She smiled and said, "Wu'er used to work here, and I just treated her as a little maid, assigning her tasks every day, busy in and out."

"But now she is not what she used to be; she has served tea to the Old Matriarch in the Rongqing Hall and has become Brother Cong's woman, so I don't find it easy to order her around too much."

"She is currently managing household affairs in the West Prefecture, but those are just minor tasks; serving Brother Cong well is the proper business."

When Baoyu heard Wang Xifeng's words, it was like being slapped in the face; his face felt hot, and he took the covered bowl handed over by Feng'er, pretending to drink tea to cover it up.

Wang Xifeng seemed not to notice Baoyu's abnormality and said casually, "Wu'er is unwell today and needs to rest in the East Prefecture, so she won't be coming over."

When Baoyu heard this, his eyes lit up slightly, as if his secluded heart had found light, and he even forgot the embarrassment of being teased.

He hurriedly asked, "What illness does Sister Wu'er have that she can't even come over? Has a physician been invited to see her?"

"I think she has some of Sister Lin's delicate beauty; she should take more care of herself usually. Only with more care and love can one be healthier."

Hearing Baoyu's intoxicated and affected words, Wang Xifeng couldn't help but feel a chill, and a surge of nausea churned in her chest.

She couldn't help but blurt out, "She's not sick; it was her turn to be on night duty last night, and she was too exhausted serving Brother Cong all night, so naturally she needs to rest for a day."

When Ping'er heard Wang Xifeng's words, her pretty face turned bright red; not knowing if it was because she was holding it in too hard, she shook twice.

She wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, only thinking in her heart that My Lady's skin was truly thick, saying such lewd things to men without even changing her expression.

Baoyu's face instantly twisted and turned pale, as if struck by lightning; his hands trembled, and he almost dropped the covered bowl, hurriedly placing it on the side table.

Wang Xifeng's malicious, lewd words echoed in his mind, and he felt a sense of despair in his heart, his chest and abdomen feeling as if they were being twisted by a knife.

This damned Jia Cong—it was truly a beastly act to ruin Wu'er and even make her serve him all night...

He thought about how he and Caiyun had been fooling around all night; he had been busy half the night and achieved nothing.

It wasn't Caiyun serving him at all; it was clearly him serving Caiyun, and before he had even fallen asleep, that dead girl was already sleeping soundly.

Until dawn, Caiyun remained pure and untainted, enjoying his elegance under the willow tree to the fullest.

Thinking of these frustrating things, Baoyu felt a surge of hot blood rushing to his head.

There was only one voice in his heart: Wang Xifeng was unscrupulous, and he absolutely did not believe such nonsense!

Wang Xifeng was not yet satisfied and continued, "Wu'er is a girl with substance; even I, a woman, envy that figure of hers. She has the look of a wife who brings prosperity to her husband and children."

"Who knows, after this winter, our first branch might be adding another child."

"Ping'er, after the eldest girl has finished her month, I don't need you to serve me here; you should go to the East Prefecture early to serve the Third Brother—that is the proper business."

"Don't let anything fall behind others; I can't afford to lose that face."

Ping'er was very ashamed when she heard this and said, "Second Grandmother should just talk about others; why drag me into it?"

Wang Xifeng's words had already dealt Baoyu a violent blow, leaving him filled with sorrow, grievance, jealousy, and loss.

Now hearing her talk about the topic of having children just like Xue Yima, he felt even more dizzy and nauseated.

Seeing Ping'er blush when hearing Wang Xifeng's teasing words—although she denied it, she was likely very willing in her heart.

The hateful Jia Cong—how many more extraordinary girls was he going to ruin...

Baoyu's heart felt like it was being cut by a knife; he felt that the whole world was his enemy, everyone was hateful, and everyone was coming to trample on him. He wished he could die from depression and sorrow.

Wang Xifeng didn't care that Baoyu's face was ugly and smiled, "Brother Bao, you have also brought someone into your room, and you will be getting married at the end of the year."

"You should also hurry up; my aunt is waiting to hold a grandson."

"Brother Cong is currently in deep mourning and cannot marry a proper wife for a while, but you can get ahead of him; the second branch will surely bloom and bear fruit earlier than the first branch."

When Baoyu heard Wang Xifeng's last sentence, he couldn't help but shudder, his face turning a dark red.

Thinking of Sister Xi Ren leaking his privacy and the Lady advising him to see a physician, he, a pure person, still had to hide from the West Prefecture because of this.

As for the matter of blooming and bearing fruit, he didn't know if he would be useful.

However, he scoffed at this; he was a person who came and went without any attachments—how could he be hindered by such worldly matters...

But Baoyu couldn't fool himself with these words; this matter was ultimately shameful.

He wished this matter would never be exposed, yet the Sister Xi Ren he trusted most had leaked the news; thinking of this, he couldn't suppress his anger.

Because of Wang Xifeng's mocking and sarcasm, the pent-up anger in Baoyu's heart collided, and his brain was stirred into a paste.

Self-pity, self-sorrow, narcissism, and self-satisfaction were all intertwined, and his expression became somewhat dull.

Seeing Baoyu's strange expression, Wang Xifeng was also startled.

She was afraid that her tongue was too poisonous and would provoke Baoyu into throwing a tantrum, so she immediately stopped talking.

Seeing Wang Xifeng's foul mouth finally rest for a moment, Baoyu felt a long sigh of relief in his heart.

But he didn't dare to take it lightly, afraid that Wang Xifeng would say something else heart-piercing.

He hurriedly found an excuse to take his leave, even forgetting about collecting the monthly paper and brushes, looking somewhat embarrassed as he fled.

He stumbled out of Fengjie's courtyard, his heart filled with shame, anger, and jealousy, as if being cut by a knife and burned by fire, his body trembling with anger.

As luck would have it, it was extremely bad; he hadn't walked many steps before the sky was covered with dark clouds, and it started to rain before long, and it was getting heavier.

It was sunny when Baoyu went out, so he naturally didn't bring an umbrella, and having been humiliated in front of Fengjie, he naturally didn't want to go back to get one.

Because he was afraid of getting wet, he lowered his head and ran in small steps in the rain.

His vision was blurred, and he didn't look carefully at the road ahead, suddenly bumping into a maid.

The maid was bumped so hard she stumbled backward. Baoyu had just been ridiculed by Wang Xifeng's words and was full of anger.

Being bumped and feeling pain in his shoulder, an inexplicable anger arose in his heart, and he kicked the maid without thinking.

He cursed incoherently, "You low-class, vulgar thing! I usually tolerate you, and you think I'm easy to fool, taking me for a joke even more!"

He kicked quite hard, and the maid fell heavily to the ground, her two umbrellas falling to the ground.

In the pouring rain, in an instant, her hair was stuck to her face by the rainwater, and she couldn't help but moan twice.

She called out, "Baoyu, it's me, Sister Xi Ren."

Hearing the call, Baoyu realized it was Sister Xi Ren and felt a chill in his heart, hurriedly stepping forward to help her up.

He said, "How did I not see it was you? Did I kick you and cause an injury?"

Sister Xi Ren only felt a burning, heart-piercing pain in her chest and abdomen where she had been kicked, her lips trembling slightly, and she couldn't help but shed tears, though it couldn't be seen in the rain.

Seeing Baoyu's worried expression, she forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, it doesn't hurt much. I saw it was raining heavily, so I came to bring you an umbrella."

Baoyu tried hard twice before he could help Sister Xi Ren up, then picked up the fallen umbrellas, and the two helped each other walk slowly in the rain.

The two finally managed to move back to the courtyard. When Sheyue, Caiyun, and the others saw them, although they were holding umbrellas, they were both soaked through.

Seeing Baoyu in this state, Lady Wang couldn't help but feel heartache and hurriedly told Baoyu to change his clothes to avoid catching a cold.

Seeing Sister Xi Ren shivering all over, her face as pale as paper, she finally remembered to ask Sister Xi Ren the reason.

Sister Xi Ren only said that the road was slippery in the rain, she accidentally fell, and was poked in the chest and abdomen by the umbrella that fell to the ground, and it was hurting badly now.

Baoyu's face turned red, and he didn't dare to speak on the side. He wanted to help Sister Xi Ren back to her room, but was urged by Lady Wang to change his wet clothes, so he had to give up helplessly.

Sheyue helped Sister Xi Ren back to her room and helped her take off her wet clothes, and was shocked to see a large purple bruise on her snow-white chest and abdomen.

She said, "It was just poked by an umbrella; how could it be injured so frighteningly? This cannot be taken lightly; we must quickly invite a physician to see it."

After changing his clothes, Baoyu also ran to see Sister Xi Ren, feeling uneasy in his heart, afraid that Sister Xi Ren would say it was he who kicked her, making him unable to step down.

Fortunately, Sister Xi Ren didn't say anything, just her expression was very ugly, telling Baoyu not to worry.

Seeing Sister Xi Ren injured, and seeing that she couldn't even walk, Lady Wang knew she definitely couldn't follow Baoyu to the East Road courtyard to serve him.

Although Sister Xi Ren was injured quite seriously, she couldn't compare to her son, and Baoyu's ailment couldn't be delayed for a single day.

Finally, Lady Wang let Caiyun and Qiuwen follow Baoyu back to the East Road courtyard, leaving Sheyue and Bihan to guard the courtyard.

Rongguo Prefecture, Fengjie's courtyard.

Outside the window, the sound of rain suddenly rose, and the whole courtyard was filled with the sound of dripping water.

Wang Xifeng had someone clear away Baoyu's leftover tea and sneered, "Third Brother inherited the title and prefecture by imperial decree, yet the Second Lady is always unconvinced."

"I find it curious—what exactly is she unconvinced about? The second branch only has Baoyu as a legitimate son; does the Second Lady rely on this son?"

"It's also enough to make people laugh their heads off. Look at Baoyu's shabby appearance; his thoughts are all on pretty women all day long."

"Whether it's related to him or not, whether it's something that has nothing to do with him, he has to think about it."

"I think he is young now, and his heart is still concerned about leaving a good impression in front of his sisters."

"If the sisters all get married in the future, I don't know how he will reveal his true colors."

"When he grows up a bit more and becomes more mature and slippery, he will surely be just like the Great Master."

Ping'er said, "There's nothing to fear about that. Now that the Third Brother is in charge of both prefectures, Bao Er Ye Bao can't cause any trouble; at most, it's just absurd behavior."

"Unlike the Great Master, who is a properly hereditary general and carries the Rongguo hereditary title, if he causes trouble, it's more dangerous; otherwise, the Bao Er Ye wouldn't be implicated."

Wang Xifeng sighed, "What you say makes sense. Baoyu is a person without any future or career, a piece of trash like a jealous hen."

"He only gossips and thinks blindly at home; he doesn't even have the ability to cause trouble, so how can he compare to the Great Master?"

"It's just that I find it strange—Baoyu was living comfortably in the West Prefecture, so why did the Second Lady suddenly let him return to live in the East Road courtyard?"

"The Second Lady dreams of the West Prefecture as her own family business and wishes Baoyu would die in the West Prefecture."

"We cut off most of Baoyu's maids and servants, giving them such a loss of face, yet we still couldn't drive them away."

"Now suddenly wanting to take Baoyu back to the East Road courtyard—this doesn't seem like my aunt's nature. They say there's no smoke without fire; there must be a reason for this."

At this moment, the maid Feng'er came in and said, "Second Grandmother, I followed your instructions and went outside to inquire about news."

"I walked around the mansion, probed the gossip of several gossiping old women, and also tested the words of a rough maid in Baoyu's courtyard."

"But I didn't find out any definite news; no one knows what illness Bao Er Ye Bao has."

"However, when I came back, I saw the Second Lady taking Bao Er Ye Bao, along with the two maids in her room, out of the inner courtyard together."

Ping'er said, "Bao Er Ye Bao just said he was returning to live in the East Road courtyard for a few days; now it's still raining heavily, so why are they leaving so hurriedly?"

Wang Xifeng felt increasingly strange, the fire of gossip burning fiercely, but she couldn't figure out any clues.

At this moment, the eldest girl inside woke up crying, and she hurriedly told the wet nurse to coax her, so her mind was no longer on it.

After coaxing the little girl to be quiet, footsteps were heard in the courtyard, and the sound of rain falling on umbrellas.

The door curtain was lifted, and it was Lin Zhixiao's wife. She entered, exchanged pleasantries, and reported the important matters of the mansion for the day one by one; this was the daily routine of the housekeeper.

After Lin Zhixiao's wife finished reporting the family affairs, she suddenly said, "Second Grandmother, today our master heard news from outside."

"Liu Baozheng's wife from the Zhen family died in the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison yesterday. I heard that she didn't confess at first and suffered severe torture, but in the end, she didn't make it."

Wang Xifeng's face changed when she heard this. Liu Baozheng's wife was eloquent and could be considered formidable among the old women; she didn't expect her to die just like that.

Lin Zhixiao's wife continued, "There was also a brother of the Zhen family's eldest wife who sent silver into the capital with her; I heard he also suffered a lot."

"Yesterday, the verdict was issued, and he is to be exiled to the border for military service; it is estimated that he won't be able to save his life either. Very few people walk out of the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison alive."

Wang Xifeng's face turned pale. These two had sent silver to the Jia family twice, and only a few days had passed, yet they ended up in such a state.

If she had really accepted this batch of silver at the beginning, she would likely have ended up the same way. Wang Xifeng couldn't help but shudder, feeling somewhat fortunate in her heart.

Lin Zhixiao's wife said again, "It is said that more than half a month ago, the imperial court issued an imperial decree to the Zhen family, stripping the eldest master of his official status and confiscating 70% of his family property."

"Now it is being rumored outside that the imperial court has drafted a new imperial decree, and for the Zhen family's concealment of family wealth, they will be charged with even more serious crimes. The imperial decree was sent to Jiangnan yesterday."

Wang Xifeng looked fearful and said, "The two from their family who sent the silver were punished so severely that they couldn't even save their lives."

"If this is making such a big scene, could it be that they are going to confiscate their family and exterminate their clan!"

Lin Zhixiao's wife said, "How they will be punished, our master doesn't know very well either; he just heard it from hearsay outside."

"But the Zhen family's crime of sending silver to the capital this time is becoming increasingly serious, that is half a lie; confiscating their family and killing them is likely to happen."

"Our Cong Sanye is an official attending court, a Hanlin scholar; he must know more about these court matters than we do."

Wang Xifeng didn't have the heart to ask Jia Cong either; in short, the Zhen family was getting worse and worse. It sounded scary, so it was better not to listen.

This matter left Wang Xifeng with lingering fear. In the past, she had handled dirty work like monopolizing lawsuits and lending money at high interest.

These things didn't seem much lighter than the Zhen family's concealment of silver, yet she had always been fine; it could be considered that she was lucky and blessed.

Now that her husband Jia Lian had been convicted and exiled, she was a living widow and had her daughter as a tie, so she didn't dare to make any more mistakes.

After this incident, her mind became more cautious than before, and her nature of loving power and money also restrained itself quite a bit.

Jinling, Zhen family's farm west of the city.

Since the last imperial decree was issued, the men, women, old, and young of the Zhen family mansion, totaling more than fifty people, all moved into this farm.

These people, besides Zhen Yingjia and his wife, the legitimate and illegitimate children of the two branches, the wives, concubines, and bedchamber maids of the three generations, also included seven or eight loyal old servants.

Although this farm was not small, compared to the luxury of the Zhen family mansion, it still appeared quite cramped.

All these various people crowded in, appearing somewhat crowded and noisy.

Just cleaning the inside and outside of the farm, purchasing necessary daily furniture, and daily necessities like firewood, rice, oil, and salt, took a great deal of the Zhen family's energy.

Since the imperial decree was issued, all the young servants of the Zhen family were sold, leaving only seven or eight old servants.

The Zhen family members were used to living in luxury, surrounded by servants every day; everyone was lazy and unused to labor.

Although their family status had fallen into the dust, the men, women, old, and young in the family had not yet adapted to the hard life of self-reliance.

The Zhen eldest wife could only take a few diligent concubines, order seven or eight old servants, and spent six or seven days.

They truly lost half their lives from exhaustion before they roughly finished cleaning the inside and outside of the farm.

It was just that the farm was noisy from morning till night, inside and out, like a noisy vegetable market.

The fallen Zhen family men and women fell from the clouds of extreme wealth into the dust.

Each of them was filled with injustice and complaints, and the crying, shouting, and quarreling in the farm never stopped every day, like a living hell.

Because the root cause of this family disaster was her own son, the Zhen eldest wife couldn't help but feel guilty and weak, so she could only swallow her anger.

She had been in charge of the family in the past and had never done things personally like this, nor had she ever experienced such a miserable and embarrassing situation, living almost on the verge of collapse every day.

If it weren't for the dozen or so boxes of gold and silver hidden in advance, which were the Zhen family's trump card for a comeback, the Zhen eldest wife's courage to live would have been reduced by more than half.

It was just that the Zhen family was to be detained by the government for three years and was not allowed to leave Jinling without authorization within three years.

Therefore, the dozen or so boxes of gold and silver hidden in the Jia family could only be used after three years.

For the Zhen eldest wife, it was just a matter of enduring for three years; although the time was not short and she had to suffer a lot, she believed she could endure it.

After the Zhen family moved into the farm for more than half a month, they seemed to slowly accept their miserable fate, and the quarreling and complaints became much less.

The Zhen eldest wife, who had enjoyed wealth and glory in the past, faced the decadent and helpless transformation of the family, and a lot of humble joy even arose in her heart.

She felt that this family disaster had finally settled down and would not stir up any more chilling waves.

Zhen Yingjia, like the Zhen eldest wife, began to accept the poverty and embarrassment before him.

Even if he couldn't enter the official career again, with the dozen or so boxes of gold and silver hidden in the Jia family, they could still be wealthy for life, which was a great fortune in misfortune.

The couple kept this secret to themselves, and even the Old Matriarch in the family knew nothing about it.

Because they held burning aspirations, they gradually became calm about the poverty before them.

On this day, after having lunch served by the old servants, the couple took Baoyu and sat under the eaves to cool off.

There was no luxurious ice bucket from the Zhen family mansion here; Zhen Yingjia and his wife each shook their palm-leaf fans, quite having the magnanimity of finding joy in bitterness.

Zhen Baoyu, who had been pampered since childhood, did not have the calmness of the couple; after enduring more than half a month of hard life, he had already lost a circle of weight, and his spirit was somewhat withered.

The couple chatted, their expressions relaxed, as if this were not a remote farm, but still the magnificent Zhen family mansion.

Suddenly, they vaguely heard some movement, and within a few breaths, there were shouts and horses neighing at the entrance of the farm, and smoke and dust rolled.

In an instant, a large group of Embroidered Uniform Guards rushed in, their armor bright, their swords and spears shining, filled with murderous intent.

The Zhen family members in the farm kept screaming and fleeing, but the farm had already been surrounded by the Embroidered Uniform Guards; how could they escape?

Zhen Yingjia and his wife's faces changed drastically, their legs went soft, not knowing what disaster had befallen them again.

They saw a person walk out from among the Embroidered Uniform Guards; it was the main official of the Jinling Embroidered Uniform Guard, Wang Zhangjiang.

Zhen Yingjia asked tremblingly, "Lord Wang, what is the meaning of this?"

Wang Zhangjiang looked at him coldly and did not respond at all.

He raised the yellow satin scroll in his hand and said sternly, "A fast horse from the Divine Capital has arrived urgently; by the Emperor's decree, the Zhen family, old and young, kneel to welcome and listen to the proclamation!" (End of chapter)