Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 40 The Emperor Instructs His Son

The next day, after visiting the last two families with whom Jia Lian had a long-standing friendship, he packed his bags and set off for Yangzhou on the third day.

Two days later, when they arrived outside Yangzhou, Jia Lian did not enter the city, but went to the dock to prepare the boats.

This time, upon returning to Yangzhou, he was not prepared to waste any more time and would return to Beijing immediately.

The Jia family sent two boats, neither of which were very large. Jia Lian counted the number of people and found them to be a bit crowded, so he ordered two more small passenger boats to be rented.

One ship was given to Jia Yucun, and the other was used to disperse the Jia family members, making their journey more comfortable.

After arranging things properly on the ship, especially checking that there was nothing amiss in Daiyu's cabin, Jia Lian prepared to go back to fetch Daiyu.

As for Xiangling, she was left on the boat for now. The young girl was frail and couldn't withstand a long journey, so Jia Lian specially hired a carriage for her on their return from Nanjing, which is why it took so long.

Upon returning to the Lin residence, Jia Lian first went to Lin Ruhai to resign.

"Leaving tomorrow? So soon?" Lin Ruhai was somewhat surprised when Jia Lian said they would be leaving for the capital tomorrow.

"If Uncle wants to keep Lin Daiyu for another day, then you can leave the day after tomorrow."

Hearing Jia Lian say this, Lin Ruhai could tell that Jia Lian was eager to return to the capital. Then, thinking that Jia Lian's trip to Jiangnan had taken almost three months, he felt relieved.

"Fine, it doesn't matter whether it's a day earlier or later. Since you've decided to return tomorrow, then let's do it tomorrow."

Lin Ruhai sighed. With Jia Lian and the others taking his daughter with them, his place was becoming increasingly deserted.

Jia Lian could also see that Lin Ruhai was not in good condition. After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but advise, "Uncle, you are in charge of the salt administration for the court, which is a great responsibility. However, I would like to advise you not to overwork yourself and to take your health into consideration."

What if Uncle ruins his health from overwork? How heartbroken would Lin Daiyu be? So even if Uncle doesn't think of himself, he should at least think of Lin Daiyu.

Lin Ruhai could naturally see Jia Lian's concern, and this concern was genuine and hard to hide. He felt somewhat comforted and smiled, saying, "You don't need to worry about me too much. I know my health; it's not that bad. Besides, as you said, 'I would risk my life for the country.' What is my mere six-foot frame worth?"

When Jia Lian saw Lin Ruhai responding to him with the same words he had said, he didn't know how to advise him.

Did he tell Lin Ruhai that he didn't have much time left to live, that he only had two more years to go before he had to report to the King of Hell?

He didn't reply for a moment, but Lin Ruhai laughed instead: "You come from a prestigious family and are in your prime. You should be planning to serve the country. Managing the family business and being filial to your elders are important, but they are not the primary considerations for a fine young man."

The court is currently in dire need of capable officials. After you return to the capital, you should devote more attention to your official career and political affairs.

Although Lin Ruhai felt it was a pity that someone like Jia Lian only stayed at home to manage the household, since he was just a relative of his wife's family and it was not appropriate to discipline him too much, he only mentioned it lightly.

He didn't tell Jia Lian that he had intentionally mentioned him in his memorial of gratitude to the emperor, which could be considered as his way of helping him as an elder.

However, he only created a possible opportunity. Whether he can seize it and make a name for himself depends on Jia Lian himself.

……

The vast capital city, the majestic Forbidden City.

Deep within the imperial palace, Emperor Ningkang, nearing fifty, stood behind a large dragon desk, wielding a brush.

Before him, ten steps away in the main hall, a richly dressed young man knelt timidly, looking embarrassed and uneasy.

"I heard you were having cockfighting outside the martial arts arena, and you even beat up the Prince Duan's heir?"

The casual question, asked without even looking up, made the young man shrink back even more, but he had no choice but to hurriedly reply, "Reporting to Father, it wasn't me who started it; he insulted me first. I was so angry that I pushed him twice, but he acted like a scoundrel and started rolling around on the ground..."

"The martial arts arena built by our ancestors was originally intended for you to use for horse racing and cockfighting," Emperor Ningkang sneered.

Seeing that his strategy of avoiding the main issue had failed, the young man completely backed down, bowing his head and saying, "Your subject knows his mistake, please punish me, Father."

There was no immediate response. Just as the boy looked up, Emperor Ningkang said again, "I've heard that you have a chicken from Siam, and you named it General Divine Might. Is that true?"

"It was just something I picked up for fun, don't take it seriously..."

"How dare you!"

Emperor Ningkang finally showed anger on his face, and slammed his hand on the table, making a loud thud.

"Since the founding of our dynasty, several people have been granted the title of 'Divine Might General.' Among them are founding heroes and renowned generals who have served on the frontier. These people are all meritorious officials of our Great Wei. Now, you bestow this title upon a beast and allow others to spread it everywhere. Where is the face of these people? Where is the face of the court?"

Seeing Emperor Ningkang's anger, the young man quickly explained, "Father, please calm down. Your son had no intention of humiliating a meritorious official. It was just a momentary lapse in judgment. Your son will correct it when I return."

"No need!"

Emperor Ningkang waved his hand coldly and shouted, "Dai Quan!"

"This old servant is here."

"You will lead a squad of imperial guards to the Fourth Prince's residence and personally witness the execution of that beast."

Upon hearing that Emperor Ningkang intended to kill his Divine Might General, the Fourth Prince panicked and knelt down to beg for mercy, attempting to save his beloved general's life.

All I got in return was a cold snort.

Seeing that Dai Quan had already left the main hall, the Fourth Prince sat on the ground in despair.

"come over!"

The fourth prince stepped forward as ordered, but still dared not look directly at Emperor Ningkang.

"After you return, write a policy essay on this topic and submit it to me in three days. Now you may leave."

Seeing Emperor Ningkang hand him a letter written in imperial style, the Fourth Prince didn't have time to think much and hurriedly accepted it.

Seeing that Emperor Ningkang had already sat down and no longer intended to pay attention to him, he had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

Leaving the main hall, the fourth prince was eager to return to his residence, hoping to save his general's life in time. However, he glanced back at the majestic palace and abandoned the idea that might completely enrage his father.

"They're making me write some policy essays again, knowing full well that I hate writing this the most..."

Muttering to himself, he still unfolded the topic the emperor had given him, revealing seven characters written in a flamboyant, calligraphic style:

I would risk my life for the benefit of my family and country.

What does that mean? The Fourth Prince said he didn't quite understand.

……

On the vast Grand Canal, four fast boats, two large and two small, moved forward as if tackling ice and breaking through waves.

Jia Lian stood on the deck, looking at the wide river and feeling the smoothness under his feet, and thought to himself, "It's definitely more comfortable to travel by boat."

Last time he traveled from the capital to Yangzhou, even with all his equipment, the insides of his thighs were practically chafed raw. He'd really have to think twice before doing that again.

Suddenly, a faint fragrance wafted by. Jia Lian turned his head and glanced over. Sure enough, it was the beautiful Daiyu, wearing a cloak, walking out. Behind her was the simple-minded Xueyan.

Jia Lian smiled slightly and turned to continue admiring the scenery along the river.

Seeing that Jia Lian ignored her, Daiyu pouted almost imperceptibly, stood next to Jia Lian, and also gazed into the distance.

After a while, she finally spoke up: "Why isn't Second Brother Lian teaching Xiangling to write in the room?"

"My own level is too low, I'm sorry to mislead others."

"laugh."

The brief and straightforward words made Daiyu burst out laughing, then she quickly covered her mouth and looked at Jia Lian, afraid that he would be angry.

"Don't hold it in, just laugh if you want to."

Daiyu's smile indeed grew even brighter.

The last time she went to Jia Lian's room to see him, she happened to see Jia Lian teaching Xiang Ling to read.

Xiangling was a complete child who couldn't recognize a single word. Logically, Jia Lian should have been able to teach her, but she immediately noticed that Jia Lian had written a word incorrectly, missing a few strokes. This made Jia Lian lose face, and he immediately decided that he would never be a teacher again.

Therefore, this is why she asked the question on purpose, and why Jia Lian responded on purpose.

Daiyu was too delicate, and the river wind was cold. With a smile and a gust of wind, she suddenly felt that it was difficult to breathe, and her little face turned red.

Seeing this, Jia Lian turned around and tightened the collar of her cloak.

This was a perfectly ordinary gesture, but because he was much taller than Daiyu, he was now bending over, his face very close to hers, and his hands were even closer to her chest. In just a few moments, Daiyu felt extremely embarrassed and hurriedly took a step back.

Jia Lian was stunned. Looking at Daiyu's delicate face, as beautiful as a small apple, and her shyly lowered head, he felt that heaven was truly unfair. Daiyu was so young and already had such beauty. What would she be like in the future?

No wonder he was able to subdue Jia Erbao, who embodies the greatest love and compassion in the world.

He turned his head and advised, "Since you can't stand the wind, sister, don't stand here. Go back inside and rest."

However, Daiyu was clearly a bit childish. If Jia Lian hadn't said that, she might have gone back to her room. Now, hearing Jia Lian say that, it seemed as if she was so weak!

She refused to leave and stood beside Jia Lian again, asking, "Second Brother Lian said last time that he would tell me when we arrived in the capital. Now that we're almost there, shouldn't Second Brother tell me about the personalities and preferences of the sisters in the family?"

In truth, Daiyu didn't care much about this. Her principle was to be close to those she liked and not to be close to those she disliked. Therefore, she never thought about currying favor with anyone after arriving in the capital, which naturally included her three sisters from the Jia family.

Besides, even if she wanted to find out these things, she could have simply asked Zhou Rui's family and others.

The reason she only asked Jia Lian was because these were the only topics she could talk about with him.

Jia Lian said, "Alright, since you insist on asking, I'll just give you a brief explanation."

Let's start with your youngest fourth sister, Xichun, who is a quiet and adorable girl.

And then there's your third younger sister, named Tan Chun, who is the most intelligent and generous, and also the closest in age to you.

Finally, let me talk about your two older sisters. Your eldest sister, Yingchun, is the gentlest and quietest of them all. She's also my younger sister, so you mustn't bully her in the future.

Jia Lian's words made Daiyu frown. Before she could respond to Jia Lian's teasing, she asked curiously, "Don't you only have three sisters in your family? Fourth sister Xichun and third sister Tanchun, that's already two. How come you have two second sisters?"

Tell me, who is the other one?

Jia Lian said, "Of course there is. Your second sister... I won't tell you her name, you'll know when we get home. You can call her Sister Bao or Sister Yu, whatever you like. She's the second oldest in the family, and a bit younger than your sister Yingchun, so naturally she's your second sister. Just remember that."

Daiyu immediately glared at Jia Lian with displeasure, and she was quite certain that Jia Lian was up to no good.

When her mother was alive, she had told her about some things concerning the Jia family, so it wouldn't be easy for Jia Lian to deceive her.

What's infuriating is that no matter how much he glared at him, Jia Lian just smiled and remained silent.

Just then, Zhou Rui's wife, who happened to be passing by, overheard this and laughed, "Miss Lin, don't listen to our Second Master's nonsense. There are no two Second Misses. He's talking about our Second Master Bao, whose childhood name is Baoyu. He's also your cousin."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu immediately understood that Jia Lian was teasing her. She frowned and stared at Jia Lian for a long time before finally saying indignantly, "Second Brother Lian, you're so annoying."

After saying that, he angrily returned to his cabin.

Jia Lian watched Daiyu's sullen figure with a smile, secretly wondering if he had said something wrong.

Jia Baoyu was originally a woman.

Women cannot be together; this is the fundamental principle of Yin and Yang in the universe.