Last time on Grafting Life: Lin Ru Hai learns of Jia Yu Cun’s crimes, the Jia Family gets another visitor.
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Chapter 53 – Red Chamber (53)
Mother Jia saw the four misses, Xue Bao Qin, Li Wen, Li Qi and Xing Xiu Yan, and was very happy.
Seeing Xue Bao Qin walk like she strolled out of a painting, she couldn’t help but glance at Wang-shi but turning to ask Aunt Xue. “Qin-yatou, are you engaged?”
Wang-shi stopped moving the beads. Aunt Xue felt that her smile could not hold. What did the old mistress mean? She looked down on Bao Chai but if she looked down on Bao Chai, she would not involve Bao Qin. They were all misses of the Xue Family. Bao Qin’s status was even lower than Bao Chai, but the old mistress only asked about Bao Qin. What was this? Or was it to say that the Jia Family did not care about status or birth, just did not agree to the marriage between her daughter and Bao Yu. Won’t this mean that they did not like Bao Chai? Aunt Xue felt her sight blacken out, but still held on. “Yes, she is engaged to a young master of Academician Mei.
The position of Hanlin academician was the most honorable of positions. With Jia Zheng’s present position, no one would dare to say that Bao Yu was more noble than the young master of Academician Mei’s family.
Mother Jia nodded, smiled and did not say a thing.
Jia Bao Yu was standing outside the door right now, wanting to enter and not daring to enter. He thought of Shi Xiang Yun. Regardless of how he wanted to escape, he knew that he likely had harmed Xiang Yun. He felt that the world was so disgusting. A clean girl, because of some rumors, ended up like this. Who should be blamed?
Hearing the soft voices inside, Jia Bao Yu turned and went back to his own courtyard. In the end, the one to be blamed is likely himself.
Xi Ren saw him return and said, “How come you are not having fun with your sisters, and came back?”
“They are fine, why harm them?” Bao Yu depressedly went into his room.
Xi Ren did not know what to say when Qing Wen ran in excitedly, “They all say that our family’s misses are the best. But the four misses who have come are so beautiful. Even Miss Bao cannot compare to her sister.”
She Yue said, “We have seen good girls before. Not to mention our family’s girls, the misses of the Lin Family, the miss of the Shi Family, which are not stunning? But this one is even better?”
“You can go look for yourself, and will be convinced,” Qing Wen glanced at Bao Yu and said, “Second Master, will you go look?”
“No.” Jia Bao Yu stood up and said, “I will go for a walk. If the old mistress asks about me, say that I went to meet with a friend, and will come back in half a day.”
Seeing Jia Bao Yu hurry away, Xi Ren was even more worried. No one knew what Bao Yu was thinking like this.
Ming Yan carefully served Jia Bao Yu and asked, “Second Master, where are we going?”
Jia Bao Yu said in a low voice, “Go ask around where the family temple of the Shi Family is.”
Ming Yan jumped in fright and shook his head. He said, “Not that this one is not willing, but such a place is not for an ordinary person to go to. It is a place for women to cultivate. If we are caught, it will be very serious.”
“What are you shouting about?” Jia Bao Yu thought of the noise in the home, and thought of Shi Xiang Yun who liked the noise. He thought of her alone in the temple and was worried. He sighed, “I will just look from a distance, keep her company, because of our relationship as brother and sister.”
Ming Yan swallowed and nodded in the end. He would go outside the city, then say that he could not find it. He would first push it off today. He did not dare to commit a great crime like that.
Mother Jia would want to keep good girls with her if she saw them. She said, “Have Qin-yatou stay with me.”
Xue Ke hurriedly said, “We will not disturb Old Mistress. We came today to greet Old Mistress. Because the Mei Family knows that we came to the capital, they have cleaned up an outer courtyard for us. It is not good if we do not go. Old Mistress, please forgive us.”
Aunt Xue’s expression changed. She said, “You have come to the capital, and do not live with me and your brother. What does it look like when you live outside?”
“You, Sister, and Brother being here will make trouble for others. We cannot add to the trouble. There are our shops in the capital. If you want to arrange a residence, it is not difficult. Thinking about it, the Mei Family proactively arranged it, so we cannot just not go.” Xue Ke smiled. “We originally planned to live in the Jia Family, but halfway, we got news from the storekeeper in the capital. One is that the Jia Family is not as good as before. Second is that the matter of the Shi miss is an example. The marriage of the Mei Family cannot be lost.”
Xue Bao Chai laughed. “It is not appropriate to stay in the husband’s family before the marriage.”
Xue Bao Qin looked oddly at Xue Bao Chai, smiled primly and did not speak. But the meaning was very clear. Xue Bao Chai became awkward, lowered her head and stopped talking.
Mother Jia could not help but think of Xiang Yun and knew why they were dodging her. Her smile immediately faded and she said, “We will not keep you.”
Xue Ke and Xue Bao Qin went along and made their farewells. It was Yuan Yang who saw them off. Li Wan saw the air was not right and took her sister-in-law, Li Wen and Li Qi back to her own courtyard. In any case, she was a widow, and it was fine for her nieces to live with her.
Eldest Mistress told Xing Xiu Yan to go with Ying Chun. It was a sign of respect. Xing Xiu Yan was not so stupid to not see that there was a story here. She just followed Ying Chun and did not dare to rashly speak.
The old mistress’ good mood was ruined by the failure of the Xue siblings to appreciate her favor. The lively gathering quickly dispersed.
Lin Yu Yang rapidly came back from outside and said to Lin Yu Tong, “Sister, I want you to help.”
“What help? Do you have to be so polite?” Lin Yu Tong handed over the lamb stew. “Drink it first and speak.”
“It is like this, I have a classmate. His brother-in-law and his fiancee have come to the capital. Because they have some relation to the Jia Family, he did not dare to live with the Jia Family. However, when people come to the capital, it is not good if they do not have any connections. So he begged me to talk to Sister, and see if you will give that miss a note next time……” Lin Yu Yang drank the soup and slowly said the reason.
“What is the surname of your classmate?” Lin Yu Tong asked.
“Surname Mei, his father is from the Hanlin Academy,” Lin Yu Yang said.
Academician Mei, and the fiancee had a relation to the Jia Family. Lin Yu Tong immediately knew who this was. So it was Xue Bao Qin. In the original work, Xue Bao Qin was one of the rare girls with a good ending. In the snow, a painting of red plums. When the world was pure white and clean, the red plum flowers in the snow were even more beautiful. It was a good omen.
In the situation when the Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue all declined, the Mei Family went through with the marriage. Clearly, the family had good conduct. So among her brother’s friends was this young master of the Mei Family. She had to sigh at how small the world was. Also, Xue Bao Qin was not a dislikeable girl. Such a thing was just a trifle, so she agreed. She thought that this young master of the Mei Family was very satisfied with Xue Bao Qin. Otherwise, he would not have made such arrangements for her with such thought. Being on good terms with the Lin Family and her was a boost to Xue Bao Qin’s confidence.
Lin Yu Tong sent her brother away and returned to her own room. In these two days, she had been restless because there had been no result from the recipes she had sent back. Had a problem occurred, or was there another reason? How could she not worry?
She finally managed to make it to night. Lin Yu Tong did not have the patience and asked again. This time, the reply came quickly.
Because it was a medicine recipe, there were many experiments and clinical trials to learn whether they could be used safely and what the value was. Also, the company did not know when the news would come, and she just had to wait.
Lin Yu Tong almost cried. A lifetime here was just a week outside. In other words, after she finished this life, there still may not be a result outside.
Such work efficiency was stunning.
Lin Yu Tong was a bit depressed. Right now, she could only collect. Whether or not they could be used was a problem for later. So it was not an easy thing to have a few more zeros in her account.
If she just kept on thinking about the matters on that side, she would not be able to do anything else in this life.
She comforted herself, she had earned having lived so richly in this life.
Her days passed idly. Lin Yu Tong’s restlessness was smoothed over. A few snow storms came, and it was the twelfth month, with the new year coming.
During this time, a major matter occurred in the capital. Commandery Prince Nan’an was demoted to a commoner, and his entire family was being sent to Liaodong. Such a cold winter month, and he was sent off like this. The day that they left the capital, the so called old acquaintances from the four princes and eight dukes did not come at all. But some of the servants that had been helped came with cotton blankets and robes, and money for them and to bribe the officials to see their old masters leave the capital.
After Jia Zheng learned the outcome of Commandery Prince Nan’an, he did not delay for a day, and hurriedly went on the road. Right now, he did not qualify to be stubborn. Mother Jia did not say anything, and just had Yuan Yang pawn quite a few items, and gave Jia Zheng a lot of silver, and two beautiful servant girls to serve him before seeing him off to his position. She was a bit sad. He could not even spend the new year at home.
Because Jia Yu Cun had participated in the selling of military grain with Commandery Prince Nan’an, Lin Ru Hai did not need much effort to bring him back to his original status. Even Commandery Prince Nan’an had been sent into exile, much less a person like him with no background. He was sentenced to wait for execution. He did not have many good days left to live.
Because of the relationship between Jia Yu Cun and the Jia Family, everyone in the family was very scared. Mother Jia had another illness. She was not truly muddle headed. The matter of Commandery Prince Nan’an showed the intentions of the emperor towards the old subjects. Today, he could be like this to the Commandery Prince Nan’an, then tomorrow, he could be like this to the Jia Family. This anxiousness caused her to be unable to sleep at night. After a few days, she was very ill.
Jia Lian secretly rejoiced in Ping’er’s room.
Xiao Hong did not alert anyone when Wang Xi Feng started her labor that night. She had Jia Yun bring the midwives that had been prepared and sent for the physician.
Jia Lian drank, and then forced Ping’er to drink with him, so he slept very deeply. Wang Xi Feng feared people committing mischief, and just told Xiao Hong to guard the courtyard well.
When the sun was about to rise, a loud baby’s cry woke Jia Lian up.
“What noise is that?” Jia Lian suddenly sat up. When the cries of a baby came, he suddenly changed expression and shouted, “My ancestors, she gave birth.”
Ignoring everyone else, he grabbed a cape and went out. The cries of the baby grew brighter. His heart grew hotter. He did not feel the wind blowing on his face was cold.
“Born!” Jia Lian looked at the people coming in and out of the room. They were not in a panic at all. He could not help but feel some rare guilt. Then he heard the sounds of congratulations from inside.
“Congratulations, Missus, you gave birth to a ge’er.”
“With a son, Missus, you will have a support in the future.”
Jia Lian’s mind was filled with “son.” He immediately laughed. “Second Missus, thank you. I will bow to you outside. Second Missus, you have done great merit.”
Wang Xi Feng hurt all over, but was in good spirits. She gave a look to Xiao Hong to answer while she held her child.
Ping’er had heard the sound when Jia Lian got up. She could not go out undressed like Jia Lian did. She washed up simply and came out, hearing Xiao Hong report to Jia Lian, “…… Mother and son are fine. He is six pounds and eight taels, very strong…… The labor started in the night, we called for Second Master during the night, but no one answered. Missus said not to wake you…… Just as the sky turned bright, Missus gave birth, very smooth. Second Master, you should prepare to deliver the good news along with Concubine Ping. Missus says that she is short on energy, and cannot attend to these matters, and for Second Master to arrange this.”
“You tell your missus to not worry, I am here,” Ping’er took over. “It is my fault for sleeping too deeply.”
Xiao Hong said with a smile, “Yesterday, Missus said that no one can help her giving birth. Guarding her is useless, so we did not disturb anyone else.”
The members of the Jia Family got the good news. Second Missus Lian gave birth to a son. The eldest branch had a grandson. Jia She was so happy he brought a box of antiques for Wang Xi Feng. This counted as a meeting gift for the child.
Mother Jia said Amitabha and said, “Feng-yatou has both son and daughter now, she is very lucky.”
Yuan Yang said with a smile, “Second Missus is even less troublesome now, she did not disturb anyone. When the report came that she gave birth, I jumped in fright.”
Mother Jia smiled but did not say anything. She understood. Feng-yatou worried that someone would have malicious thoughts. Thinking of how Madam Wang and Jia Bao Yu had been bewitched, she did not dare to say that there were no people in the family with malicious intent.
Lin Yu Tong received the letter that Xiao Hong delivered and sent people with gifts. She told Lin Dai Yu. Lin Dai Yu wrote a few recipes to use after birth to send as well.
The twelfth month was the busy time for the new years. Jia Lian’s son, named Jia Gui, did not have a very lively washing ceremony. Wang Xi Feng did not care. The matter of the Commandery Prince Nan’an’s Establishment caused her to see the Jia Family’s tomorrow. How to protect the child, and have him safely live his life was what she had to worry about.
This year was the second year the Lin Family spent together. The first year, they had still been unfamiliar with each other. Now, they were familiar, and were on good terms. But Lin Ru Hai could not help but feel sad. “Right now, the three of you keep this father company. Next year, Tong’er likely will be passing the new years in someone else’s home. This father cannot feel happy.”
Lin Yu Tong poured a cup of wine for him and said, “When Yang-ge’er marries, and your grandchildren are born, I fear that you will not want me to return.”
Lin Ru Hai laughed and said, “That’s very true.”
The happy air of the new year did not last to the Lantern Festival when a funeral occurred in the palace. The dowager consort Zhen-shi passed away……
Translator Ramblings: Wang Xi Feng never did have a son in the original novel, so this is a pretty good improvement for her.
- Grafting Life Chapter 52 – Red Chamber (52)
- Grafting Life Chapter 54 – Red Chamber (54)
- Grafting Life Chapter Chapter 55 – Red Chamber (55)
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