A stew of the Red Chamber

Chapter 39 Madam Wang's Timely Rain

They wanted to show their face, but ended up showing their butt instead.

Feeling humiliated, Jia Lian muttered angrily after getting into the carriage, "I didn't bring anyone with me today, otherwise I would have given him a good beating!"

Fearing that Wang Xifeng would find out he was out philandering and take her anger out on his attendants, he left several of his trusted confidants at home to keep watch.

While this statement may seem like an attempt to make amends, it's not entirely without merit.

Xue Pan hurriedly asked, "Second Brother Lian, what do you plan to do?"

He was a brave and fierce man, and when Wang Qing pushed Jia Lian towards him, he held back, which made him feel that it was nothing special.

Jia Lian was not as big and burly as him, and instead, he muttered to himself.

Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped, and Xing'er's trusted servant's voice came from outside: "Second Master! Second Master..."

Jia Lian quickly seized the opportunity, lifted the carriage curtain, and peeked out, asking, "What's wrong?"

"Grandma sent Miss Ping to find Second Master, saying that Madam has something to instruct him on..."

"Wenlong, I'm in a hurry, so I won't be traveling with you."

Jia Lian was worried about losing face, but when he got home and stared at Wang Xifeng, he was not surprised but happy. He bowed slightly to Xue Pan and then got into the carriage that Xing'er had come to pick up.

He had originally planned to find out what was going on along the way, but Wang Xifeng was mainly trying to coax him back, and Xing'er knew nothing about it, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and hurry home.

The two of them were essentially going to the same place. When Wang Xifeng saw him return in such a hurry, she was secretly pleased, but said aloud, "Oh! You finally decided to come back?"

Seeing her composed demeanor, Jia Lian felt much more at ease. He shamelessly replied with a smile, "How could I dare disobey my mistress's orders?"

Fearing that Wang Xifeng would drag him out and not let him go, he quickly changed the subject, saying, "By the way, is there anything you need, Madam?"

Wang Xifeng was afraid of straining the relationship again, so she quickly said, "Auntie went to Madam's place today and said that Brother Qing wants to collect some cleaning and tidying money. Madam wants you to go and talk to him and ask him to make an exception."

Having just suffered a setback at Wang Qing's hands, and suspecting that Wang Xifeng had complained to him about his weakness, Jia Lian was immediately enraged upon hearing this.

Just as he was about to explode in anger, he suddenly caught sight of Wang Xifeng's alluring, half-smiling face, and quickly changed his tune, tentatively asking, "Didn't you rave about him? Why don't you go yourself? Why are you so eager to come to me?"

Although he changed his tune at the last minute, the jealousy in his words was self-evident.

Wang Xifeng quickly laughed and said, "Look at what you're saying, Second Master. I was just grasping at straws when I was desperate. I saw that he was strong and was also the old lady's aunt's grandson, so I just praised him a couple of times. How could I have been so full of praise?"

"Forget about that completely unrelated relationship, and I've only met him once at the old lady's place. He's offended some relatives, and I can't even avoid them. Do you expect me to lower myself and go to him to smooth things over for the Xue family's little troubles?"

Although the details of what happened at Jinxiang Courtyard are unclear, these words are undoubtedly the right medicine for the disease.

Jia Lian's enthusiasm immediately dissipated considerably, and he quickly tried to save face, saying, "If you had said that earlier, why would Second Master be so angry?"

"Oh dear! Look at what you're saying, Second Master. You abandoned me and Ping'er to go to the outer study, and now you're blaming me?"

Wang Xifeng was afraid he still wouldn't understand, so she not only included Ping'er in the conversation, but also gave him a rare wink.

In the past, he always felt that La Fengzi was competitive and always put him in a superior position, and he wished he could escape Wang Xifeng's control and fly freely in the sky.

Now, worried that Wang Qing might take advantage of the situation, we've become anxious and worried about each other.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Wang Xifeng was unusually kind to him, which made him miss the arrogant and shrewish nature of the former "Spicy Phoenix".

Immediately, his heart fluttered, and he eagerly clung to her, saying, "It's all my fault, Grandma, please don't hold it against me..."

As he spoke, he reached out and put his arm around Wang Xifeng's slender waist.

Wang Xifeng was about to half-heartedly comply, but upon catching a glimpse of his seductive gaze, she suddenly darted away like a butterfly, dodging Jia Lian's clutches.

Jia Lian thought she was teasing him, so he opened his arms and pounced on her like an eagle catching a chick.

Unexpectedly, Wang Xifeng's expression turned stern, and she said coldly, "Second Master has left me and Ping'er hanging for so long, while you yourself have been having a good time! Now you come and go as you please, what do you take me for?"

Jia Lian froze, thinking to himself, "Could it be that everything before was just an act, and she was afraid that my return would ruin her plans?"

Suppressing his anger, he tentatively asked, "What do you want?"

Seeing his unfriendly tone, and fearing she might go too far, Wang Xifeng quickly clarified, "I won't go into what happened before, but Second Master promised to give me a set of jewelry, you can't forget that, can you?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "I thought it was something serious! Perfect timing, forging gold and silver ingots takes time, I'll take care of it myself tomorrow!"

He paused for a moment, then added, "But I'd like to move back first, is that alright?"

Wang Xifeng was delighted to have Jia Lian right under her nose, and quickly said with a smile, "How could I possibly stop Second Master from going home?"

"Then I'll move to the side room now." Jia Lian turned to leave.

Wang Xifeng hesitated for a moment before saying, "The matter that Madam instructed..."

Jia Lian waved his hand impatiently and said, "Just send any servant to do it. Do you really want me to go myself?"

"Alright, alright! We'll do as Second Master says!" Wang Xifeng readily agreed, but in her heart she thought to herself that she would have to make things difficult for Ping'er again.

Anyway, she was a maidservant, so she was still considered a servant.

……

The next day.

After Madam Wang finished her morning and evening greetings, she dismissed all the maids and returned to her room alone. She carefully pulled out a somewhat disheveled monk's robe from under the bed.

Jia Zheng was over forty years old and inevitably frail. Despite his best efforts, he still couldn't tear the monk's robe.

However, although they could not press their advantage and pursue the enemy to the bitter end, Lady Wang was like a parched land receiving timely rain, and she repaid the kindness with boundless gratitude.

As Lady Wang carefully observed Jia Zheng's youthful exuberance, she couldn't help but beam with joy. Her already well-maintained, fair complexion gained an unexpected radiance.

She thought to herself that her family had once told her sisters' fortunes, saying that they were both lacking the element of water in their five elements, so they added the element of water to their names.

Now it seems that what was said was indeed true.

I originally thought that the eldest son's untimely death and Jia Zheng's lack of affection for each other over the years were all due to the missing water element in their surname.

Wang Qing, Wang Qing. The surname Wang not only makes up for the missing water element in his surname, but also implies a flood of water.

It really was a timely help.

Ancient people were superstitious, and Lady Wang was a prime example of this; otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen Granny Ma to be Jia Baoyu's nominal godmother.

Thinking of Wang Qing's importance and Jia Zheng's instructions from last night, she dared not neglect her duties. Without lingering in the afterglow of the previous night, she quickly found a box and carefully put away the monk's robe.

As he left, he instructed Zhou Rui's wife, "Go tell Feng'er to drop what we discussed yesterday and tell her not to bother Qing'er anymore. Qing'er has a hard time, so we should support him more. Make sure our share of the shops in the manor isn't diminished; we should make sure they earn ten percent more than the outside ones!"

This wasn't Jia Zheng's order, but given the example of Aunt Xue and seeing how much Jia Zheng valued her, Lady Wang was naturally happy to do him this favor.

"Yes! Yes!" Zhou Rui's wife quickly responded, then asked, "What about... the concubine?"

After a moment's thought, Madam Wang declined, saying, "I'll explain it to her in detail when we meet again."

There's a limit to helping others. You always have to put yourself first. Pear Fragrance Courtyard is right next to Wang Qing's place. If my sister takes advantage of her proximity and tries to take my share, I'll have nowhere to make up for it.

Of course, she wasn't completely unable to bear seeing her sister doing well.

Thinking about it, at least Jia Zheng was still alive, but his sister was a widow.

It would be better to block it first, so that the water doesn't become an auspicious sign and instead cause a flood that harms her instead.

After Zhou Rui's wife left, she called Jin Chuan over and asked, "How is Liu Wu'er's illness progressing?"

"Reporting to Madam, Doctor Bao has examined her, and after taking the medicine, she has already improved." Madam Wang only mentioned it briefly, and Jin Chuan naturally didn't have time to ask more questions, but she thought that since the imperial physician had prescribed medicine, she would definitely see some improvement.

"Oh?" Madam Wang said hurriedly, "Go! Bring her here, I want to see her."

Originally, she was only worried about the illness spreading, so she gave one instruction and then ignored it.

Right now, Wang Qing has become her timely help, and Liu Wu'er's status has naturally risen as well.

Originally, Wang Qing was just being kind; if Liu Wu'er looked coarse, he would simply replace him.

Unexpectedly, she was beautiful with delicate features and a graceful figure. Although she had just recovered from a serious illness, she had a kind of delicate charm similar to Lin Daiyu.

Since she was unaware that Wang Qing had never met Liu Wu'er, and instead, by a twist of fate, guessed Wang Qing's thoughts correctly, she stopped adding unnecessary details.

He stood up and said, "Perfect timing! I'm going to see Qing-ge'er anyway. Since you're much better now, come with me!"

……