Red Mansion: Holding Space and Marrying Like the Sea

Upon hearing these words, Jia Yuanchun's face instantly turned pale, and beads of sweat broke out on her forehead. This matter was truly too dangerous. If the Emperor learned of this, the Jia family would surely suffer a devastating disaster, their fortunes forever ruined. However, if she outright refused the Eighth Prince's request, she would likely anger this powerful prince, with equally disastrous consequences. For a moment, Jia Yuanchun felt as if she were caught between two extremes, torn between heaven and earth, unsure how to choose.

Jia Yuanchun was silent for a long time, then slowly said, "Your Highness, this matter is of great importance. Please allow me a few days to consider it." The Eighth Prince snorted coldly, "Your Majesty, please don't delay. I don't have much patience." After that, he turned around and was about to leave.

Seeing the Eighth Prince turning to leave, Jia Yuanchun, anxious, shouted, "Your Highness, please stay!" Her voice was crisp and urgent, and it was particularly abrupt in the silent palace. The Eighth Prince stopped in his tracks, slowly turned around, and stared at Jia Yuanchun with a sharp gaze.

Jia Yuanchun bit her lower lip tightly, as if she had made a great decision, and said softly: "Your Highness, I am willing to give it a try, but I hope Your Highness can agree to one condition of mine, that is, under no circumstances can the Jia family be involved in any disaster." After that, she raised her head and looked at the Eighth Prince with eyes full of hope and pleading.

The corners of the Eighth Prince's mouth rose slightly, revealing an imperceptible smile. He nodded with satisfaction and replied, "Your Majesty, don't worry. All I want are those people and related evidence. The Jia family will never be implicated in the slightest." After speaking, he suddenly stepped forward, stretched out his hand to grab Jia Yuanchun's slender wrist, and pulled her hard, pulling her down on the bed.

In the days that followed, Jia Yuanchun began to carefully plan her departure. First, she petitioned the Emperor to allow her mother, Jia Mu, to visit her in the palace, claiming she had long missed her family. Although Jia Mu felt this was a bit suspicious, she dared not disobey the Imperial Concubine's order. So, she hurriedly packed her belongings and entered the palace.

When the two met, Jia Yuanchun waved her hand solemnly, signaling the maids and eunuchs to withdraw. After everyone had dispersed, she slowly knelt, her movements gentle yet resolute.

When Lady Jia saw this, she was shocked and hurried forward to support her, saying, "Your Majesty, what are you doing? Get up quickly and don't torture myself like this!" However, Jia Yuanchun insisted on kneeling, and when she looked up at Lady Jia, her eyes were full of guilt and uneasiness.

Jia Yuanchun gazed at her mother's face, which was wrinkled and weathered by the vicissitudes of life, and said cautiously, "Grandmother, I am an unfilial granddaughter and have failed to live up to your expectations. The Eighth Prince already knows that it was me who instructed my mother to spread the rumor that Xue Baochai was weak and that she and Baoyu were childhood sweethearts." Before she finished speaking, her mother felt a loud bang in her head and stood there as if struck by lightning.

After a moment, Jia Mu came back to her senses, her face full of horror, her lips trembling slightly, and she said in a trembling voice: "Then...what exactly does the Eighth Prince want to do?" At this moment, Jia Mu's face instantly turned as pale as paper, as if a gust of wind could blow her down.

Jia Yuanchun had already burst into tears, tears rolling down her face like a broken dam. She choked and replied, "He threatened me to do things for him. If I refused to comply, he threatened to harm our Jia family. Grandmother, my granddaughter was really forced into this!" After saying this, she fell to the ground and cried bitterly, her shoulders shaking constantly.

Grandmother Jia stared blankly at her grief-stricken granddaughter. After a long moment, she sighed deeply, tears streaming down her cheeks. With trembling hands, she gently stroked Jia Yuanchun's hair, muttering to herself, "Now that things have come to this, there's no point in blaming others. Since the Eighth Prince has come to you, he must have some ulterior motive. I just don't know what he wants from our Jia family..."

Jia Yuanchun hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. Determination and eagerness flashed in her eyes, and she said with a slightly trembling voice: "I want all the available manpower left by my grandfather and the leverage he has on the officials in the court." She clenched her fists tightly, as if all the strength in her body was concentrated in this moment.

Sitting in a large carved chair, Grandmother Jia frowned slightly and fell into a brief moment of contemplation. After a while, she slowly spoke, "Though those handles are extremely well hidden, if we spend enough time and energy searching carefully, we should still be able to find them. However..." At this point, Grandmother Jia couldn't help but sigh, a trace of worry on her face. "These people are the foundation of our Jia family accumulated over the years! If they are all handed over, it will be really difficult for our Jia family to recover in the future."

Hearing this, Jia Yuanchun bit her lip, her face turning even paler. However, she showed no sign of backing down, insisting, "Grandmother, there's no other way now! If we don't agree to the Eighth Prince's request, he'll attack us immediately. By then, the entire Jia family could face calamity!" Then, she raised her head and looked at Grandmother Jia with a determined gaze, as if awaiting her final decision.

Grandmother Jia shook her head helplessly, her heart filled with turmoil and reluctance. But she knew the situation was urgent and didn't allow for even the slightest hesitation. Finally, as if exhausting all her strength, she nodded and said softly, "Forget it, let's just hold on to the present for now. I hope this will help the Jia family overcome this difficult time..."

Grandmother Jia stood up slowly, her face solemn, her hands folded slightly before her, and she paced slowly back and forth in the room. Her brow furrowed slightly, and her gaze occasionally glanced out the window, as if she were lost in thought about something important. As time passed, a tense and oppressive atmosphere permeated the room.

After a long time, Grandmother Jia finally stopped, turned to face Jia Yuanchun, and said in a serious tone: "Your Majesty, this matter is of no trivial importance. It must be done in extreme secrecy, and no one must be allowed to notice any clues. As for manpower, I can only allocate a part of it to you. After all, there are so many people in the Jia family who need protection, and those most capable confidants have to stay just in case. As for the handles you mentioned, I will sort them out and hand them over to you as soon as possible." After speaking, Grandmother Jia sighed softly.

Upon hearing this, Jia Yuanchun nodded quickly and replied, "Grandmother, everything is up to you. I will proceed with caution." However, Jia Yuanchun was also feeling uneasy. Ever since she reached her agreement with the Eighth Prince, she had been living a miserable life in the palace, constantly on edge, fearing that the Eighth Prince would suddenly change his mind and ruin her plan.

Amidst this torment, one day, a trusted aide of the Eighth Prince suddenly arrived at the palace with a message. With a haughty expression, the aide asked, "Is everything ready?" Jia Yuanchun was startled, but she forced composure and replied with a smile, "Please tell the prince that I have the manpower ready. However, the court officials have so much evidence against me that I need some time to sort it out carefully, ensuring that nothing has been missed. I hope the prince will give me a few more days." The aide snorted and left without a word. Watching the aide's retreating figure, Jia Yuanchun breathed a sigh of relief, but her anxiety remained undiminished...

Grandmother Jia walked slowly into the Jia Mansion, her once straight back now slightly bent, as if carrying an invisible burden. Upon entering, Grandmother Jia walked straight to the table and sat down, her eyes fixed on the surface, motionless, as if lost in deep thought. After a long moment, she finally came to her senses, turned to look at Yuanyang, who was serving nearby, and whispered, "All of you go down first! Let me be alone for a while."

Yuanyang didn't dare say anything more. After a quick nod, she led the other maids and the old woman out of the room, quietly closing the door. After everyone had left, Jia's mother rose and slowly walked to the door, carefully inserting the latch, fearing the slightest sound. Then, she staggered back to the bedside, bent down, and reached into the secret compartment beneath the bed, groping around. Soon, Jia's mother finally pulled out a yellowed booklet from the secret compartment.

The booklet looked quite old, its cover slightly worn and lightly stained at the edges. Jia's mother held it in her hands, as if it were a rare treasure, a complex expression in her eyes. She slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and opened the first page, which was covered in dense handwriting. She read line by line, her lips moving slightly as if she were mumbling something under her breath.

"Duke... please don't blame me... we had no choice but to do all this!" Grandmother Jia's voice trembled, filled with endless helplessness and sorrow. As she spoke, she gently stroked the words in the book, as if this could alleviate the heavy guilt in her heart.

A few days later, the sun was shining brightly and the breeze was gentle. Jia's mother carefully tucked the booklet into her sleeve and set off for the palace to meet Jia Yuanchun. Along the way, Jia's mother looked solemn, fully aware of the importance and sensitivity of this trip.

Finally arriving at Jia Yuanchun's residence, when Jia Yuanchun saw the things that Jia's mother had brought, her tense heartstrings relaxed a little and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. But she knew very well that this was just a temporary measure, only able to temporarily calm the ambitious Eighth Prince.

Afterwards, Jia Yuanchun did not dare to delay and quickly ordered someone to present these things to the Eighth Prince. After receiving them, the Eighth Prince showed a satisfied smile on his face. He narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Jia Yuanchun in front of him and said, "The Imperial Concubine Jia is indeed a sensible and knowledgeable person!" Hearing this, Jia Yuanchun secretly groaned in her heart, but on the surface she could only force a smile and respectfully agree.

However, there's no such thing as a completely impenetrable wall. It wasn't long before the Emperor became acutely aware of the Eighth Prince's recent unusual behavior. Suspicious, this wise and sagacious monarch immediately dispatched his most trusted confidant to secretly conduct an in-depth investigation of the Eighth Prince.

After a meticulous investigation, the investigators gradually discovered a hidden conspiracy between the Jia family and the Eighth Prince. This shocking news quickly reached the emperor, who, enraged, slammed the table and roared, "How dare these traitors and traitors commit such heinous acts behind my back! I will completely eradicate these four princes and eight dukes, and restore order to the court!" Suddenly, the entire court was in turmoil, and a terrifying political storm was about to sweep across...

On this day, Princess Zhongshun came to the Jia Mansion unexpectedly, and everyone in the Jia Mansion was a little panicked.

The main gate of the Jia Mansion was wide open, and everyone hurried out to welcome the princess's sedan chair.

It should be noted that the status of the Zhongshun Palace is far above the "Four Kings and Eight Dukes".

Prince Zhongshun is your Majesty's younger brother, and his status is so high that no one can match it.

Normally, they had no dealings with these old ministers. Today, the princess came unexpectedly in person, and everyone in the Jia family did not dare to neglect them in the slightest.

Princess Zhongshun sat at the head of the table before everyone else dared to take their seats.

"I wonder what advice the princess has for you since you have come here?" asked Lady Jia respectfully.

"Your Excellency is too kind. Please don't say that. It's not even an order. I came here specially today to congratulate you!" Princess Zhongshun's face was full of smiles, and her voice was crisp and loud.

She opened her red lips and continued, "Our prince fell in love with the second young lady of your mansion at first sight! Look, the prince has already gone to the palace to implore His Majesty to issue an imperial decree to grant the marriage, taking your second young lady into the palace and making her a concubine! Therefore, the prince specially sent me to the mansion to announce this happy news first, so that you won't be so flustered by this sudden happy event and miss anything, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a thunderclap exploding in the ears of everyone in the Jia family. For a moment, everyone was dumbfounded, with disbelief written all over their faces.

However, it was not just the people in the Jia family who were surprised and astonished. Even the current emperor looked confused and puzzled after hearing the news.

It turned out that Prince Zhongshun rushed into the palace in a hurry, without even saying a word, and directly asked the emperor to issue an order to grant the marriage immediately.

The emperor was sitting upright on the dragon throne, processing a mountain of memorials, when he suddenly saw someone rushing in with a furious gust of wind and rain, startling him. After getting a clear look at the person, the emperor was stunned. This person, usually slow and leisurely, was so impulsive today that it was truly unbelievable.

The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at his anxious brother in front of him, thinking to himself: "What's wrong with this guy? He actually acts so recklessly!" Thinking of this, the emperor couldn't help but frowned, and asked with a slightly dissatisfied tone: "Brother, what's the matter with you today? Why did you suddenly run into the palace like a madman, and insist that I grant you a marriage? Could it be that you are bewitched by some woman?" After that, the emperor shook his head gently, with an elusive smile on his face.