Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 30, Part 2: Teasing Miaoyu

"If you don't want to, then don't be so fierce."

Faced with Miaoyu's soaring anger, Jia Lian simply smiled.

His appearance only made Miaoyu tremble with anger, and she finally said coldly, "Go away, I never want to see you again!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian bowed respectfully, then turned and left.

Seeing this, Miaoyu felt inexplicably sad. She suddenly realized that she had been too foolish. Since she had entered this gate, she was destined to have nothing to do with worldly love and affection, and to live a life without any attachments. Those worldly thoughts and delusions she had before were the most inappropriate thing to do!

Before she could fully prepare herself mentally, Jia Lian turned around and walked towards her again.

"What else do you want to do?"

Miaoyu instinctively stepped back.

Jia Lian looked her up and down and said seriously, "Are you really not going to reconsider? You know I'm very picky. Even as a concubine, not just any woman has a chance, let alone a little nun. If you miss this opportunity, you'll never have another one."

Miaoyu was so angry she almost laughed: "I'd rather die right here than marry a shameless bastard like you!"

"real?"

Jia Lian smiled and walked directly in front of her.

Miaoyu panicked again; there was a red wall behind her, and she had nowhere to retreat.

"Don't come any closer! If you do, I'll call for help!"

"You won't." He simply revealed Miaoyu's thoughts, and while she was speechless, he cupped her pretty face and, right there under the secluded red wall, gave her a passionate kiss that she would never forget.

After a long while, when Jia Lian released her, Miaoyu had completely slumped against the wall, her eyes tightly closed, seemingly unaware that Jia Lian had let go of her.

Seeing this, Jia Lian couldn't resist giving her a gentle kiss on her smooth and beautiful forehead.

Miaoyu woke up and stared at him with an expression Jia Lian had never seen before.

Jia Lian gently touched her pretty face and said softly, "I know you'll come to your senses sooner or later. When that time comes, come to the Rongguo Mansion in the capital to find me."

Miaoyu turned her head away without saying a word.

"If you don't come, I will come to find you when you turn eighteen. At that time, even Buddha will not be able to keep you. You are destined to be mine."

Jia Lian's words caused Miaoyu's expression to shift slightly, but she still did not reply, as if she did not want to say a single word to this lecherous Jia Lian.

Only after she was sure that Jia Lian had left and was out of sight did she turn around and slowly squat down on the ground along the rough wall.

Normally, she wouldn't want even a speck of dust on her clothes. But at this moment, she didn't care about the fate of her new clothes at all. She just leaned against the wall, hugged herself, buried her head between her legs, and stayed there for a long time.

……

A beauty like Miaoyu is probably rare even in the whole world.

If she were truly a devout Buddhist nun, Jia Lian would never have shown any disrespect, even if he had such thoughts.

But she wasn't; in fact, she was a young girl in the throes of first love.

Given this, Jia Lian naturally decided to prioritize getting what he could.

Even so, it's still better than when she was in her twenties, falling for a Jia Baoyu who was good at flirting but had no responsibility and couldn't offer her any future. Not to mention, in someone's continuation of the story, he somehow got caught in a sack and ended up being dumped on the beach...!

However, he hadn't originally planned to give her such a big shock. Jia Lian's initial plan was just to meet her, but after he couldn't help but kiss her, he felt that the first impression was not bad.

It wasn't until he saw Miaoyu for the second time just now and observed her actions that Jia Lian became certain that this girl had definitely fallen for him!

Not only did she secretly find out his identity, but she also pretended to be her master and asked to see him. She even secretly changed into a more handsome outfit...

Based on these factors, Jia Lian ultimately decided to take drastic measures...

It wasn't entirely reckless.

As Jia Lian strolled out of the gate of Panxiang Temple, he noticed everyone staring at him and said with a smile, "What are you all looking at? Let's go, let's go to Sister Xing's house first, and if we have time, we can go somewhere else to play."

Everyone immediately packed up and set off.

Jia Lian helped Daiyu onto the horse again, then turned to Xiuyan and asked, "Would you like to get on and sit for a while?"

His white horse could easily carry two adults, let alone two little girls whose combined weight probably wouldn't even equal his.

Xiuyan quickly shook her head, "Thank you, cousin, but I'll pass. It's very close to my home, I'll just walk."

Xiuyan knew that Daiyu was a young lady from a wealthy family, but they were not familiar with each other. She was afraid that if she got too close to Daiyu rashly, Daiyu would not like it.

As expected, Daiyu did not invite Xiuyan to sit with her. When Jia Lian led the horse forward, she finally couldn't suppress her suspicions and asked, "Second Brother Lian, did you really go to see the Abbess just now?"

"What else did you think?"

"So what did you all say?"

"It's nothing, just expressing our gratitude, after all, we gave away so much money at the temple. Also, the nun is thinking of playing the long game, so if we need to pray for blessings and fulfill vows again, it would be best to come to their temple again."

Daiyu then fell silent.

She was originally only 70% sure, but now she's 100% sure that Jia Lian is hiding something from them!

Moreover, it must be related to Miaoyu. She hadn't forgotten Miaoyu's reaction when she heard about Jia Lian.

She just couldn't understand how Jia Lian could be connected with Miaoyu. It should be his first time in Suzhou and his first time visiting Panxiang Temple.

Could it be that Lian Er-gege was so handsome that he captivated Miaoyu at first sight...?

A great deal of doubt appeared in Daiyu's beautiful eyes.

……

The group stayed briefly at the Xing family's residence before leaving. They then visited two other places nearby until Daiyu became very tired, at which point they returned home.

Xiuyan naturally followed along to the Lin residence.

Xiuyan's mother, Madam Shao, was already impressed by the wealth and generosity of Jia Lian and his family. The men in her household might not even earn twenty taels of silver a year's hard work!

Later, seeing the grandeur of those who served Daiyu, she was even more envious. So when she heard that Jia Lian and others wanted to take Xiuyan into the city to stay for two days, she didn't refuse at all.

Leaving aside fulfilling my daughter's wishes, just the fact that she could go to the city with them for a couple of days might bring some other benefits!

Therefore, after serving as a guide for Jia Lian and others for half a day, Xiuyan also moved into the inner courtyard of the Lin family with Daiyu, where she ate and lived with Daiyu.

Daiyu also admired Xiuyan's outstanding character, unlike other girls who were repulsive. So the two of them spent time together, playing chess, reading books, and sharing their private thoughts, and they got along quite well.

Just a few days later, Jia Lian brought up the schedule of returning to Yangzhou, so he had to send Xiuyan home ahead of schedule. This made Daiyu a little reluctant to part with her, but she had no choice but to give Xing Xiuyan two pieces of jewelry that she liked as a token of their friendship over the past few days.

Furthermore, Jia Lian personally escorted Xing Xiuyan home, and the carriage only went as far as the foot of Xuanmu Mountain.

Jia Lian rode forward and, seeing Xiuyan still standing on the carriage, extended his hand and said with a smile, "It's still a distance from here to your home. Get on, I'll take you up!"

Although Xiuyan was a little shy, she saw that Jia Lian and his guards were all on horseback and didn't want to waste everyone's time because of her, so she nodded, said "Thank you, cousin," and put her little hand in Jia Lian's hand.

Jia Lian pulled Xiuyan to sit down in front of him and noticed that she was indeed very thin. Although girls at this age should be growing taller, Xiuyan's slender build made Jia Lian think she might be malnourished.

In fact, Jia Lian was also a little puzzled. Logically speaking, the Xing family should have some wealth to marry their daughter into the Jia family and make her Jia She's second wife. How come Xing Xiuyan's family, who live in their ancestral home, are living such a poor life?

They can only rent "low-rent housing" next to the temple?

Thinking about it carefully, it's probably just the tragedy of being an illegitimate son. Presumably, Xing Zhong didn't get anything good when the family divided the property. Later, when Madam Xing and others left their ancestral home, they probably sold off all the family assets and took them with them, leaving Xing Zhong nothing...

So Jia Lian turned his horse around and went up the mountain road, saying to Xiuyan in his arms, "I see that my uncle doesn't have a stable job here. If things are good, that's fine, but if things don't go well in the future, you should persuade my uncle and aunt to move to the capital together. There, relatives can live together and help each other out."

As a junior, I couldn't say these things directly to my uncle and aunt, which is why I asked you to relay them. Please don't think I'm belittling you; that would not only betray our kinship but also my good intentions.

Although Xiuyan was not one to feign shyness, she was, after all, of an age where she understood human nature, and sitting in Jia Lian's lap like this, she couldn't help but feel somewhat embarrassed.

However, upon realizing that Jia Lian was intentionally keeping his distance from her and was not acting in a frivolous or presumptuous manner, she dismissed her idle thoughts.

Hearing Jia Lian's words, he quickly said, "Cousin, you are overthinking it. Even if I were the most confused person, would I not know right from wrong? Our whole family is very grateful for your kindness to us, cousin. How could we have any reason to be suspicious about this?"

Jia Lian nodded, then noticed that Xiuyan was wearing the gold hairpin that Daiyu had given her. Although it wasn't very heavy, it was still a piece of gold.

"When you get back, ask your mother to put this hairpin away for you. In this rural area, not to mention the bold thieves, it would be troublesome if those ignorant village children saw it and fought over it to play with it."

Xiuyan agreed to everything.

At this point, Jia Lian realized he was being a bit long-winded, as he had just thought of something else that he had to discuss with Xiuyan.

"You're quite familiar with Miaoyu, aren't you?"

"Yes, Sister Miaoyu is very good to me. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't even know how to read."

Jia Lian thought for a moment and said, "It's good to read more books. In that case, you might as well get closer to her... If something happens to her family in the future and it affects her, and you can't help her, you might as well send someone to send me a message."

Jia Lian realized that Miaoyu was now living like a princess at Panxiang Temple, mostly because of her father.

But she later went to the capital. Jia Lian reasonably assumed that something must have happened to her family.

Considering her exquisite and luxurious lifestyle, the fact that she could produce one valuable antique after another, and the fact that her father held such a lucrative position as the Suzhou Textile Commissioner, it is very likely that her father had fallen from grace or even died.

Miaoyu is in a Buddhist temple, so theoretically she won't be implicated, but she's afraid of being attacked or retaliated against by some enemies!

Upon hearing this, Xiuyan turned and glanced at Jia Lian, not understanding why he would say such a thing, as if he had foreseen that something bad would happen to Miaoyu's family.

But seeing that Jia Lian didn't intend to explain, she simply nodded in agreement and didn't ask any further questions.