Red Mansion: Holding Space and Marrying Like the Sea

These words were like a thunderclap, stirring up a storm in Aunt Xue's heart. She had never imagined that such a seemingly insignificant farce could allow her daughter to come up with so many ingenious responses.

Thinking it over, the truth was indeed as profound as my daughter's words. The Rongguo Mansion, while seemingly prosperous, was actually relying entirely on my family's support to survive. If I were to leave, how would they find enough money to cover their massive daily expenses? I was afraid that within three to five months, the Rongguo Mansion would be forced to lower its stance and beg for help from my family.

Over the years, her elder sister, Lady Wang, had always held tightly to the marriage between Jia Baoyu and her daughter, using it as a bargaining chip. Now, with her daughter's brilliant idea, it was Lady Wang's turn to bow her head and beg humbly for once!

Thoroughly convinced, Aunt Xue was overjoyed. She immediately stood up and began methodically issuing orders to the servants. She calmly declared, "Listen carefully! From today on, spread the word that our imperial merchant family, the Xue family, is selecting a husband for our young lady. No restrictions are imposed, and family background is not required; the only requirement is that he be honest, kind, and motivated. Furthermore, our young lady is willing to bring a generous dowry of one million taels of silver to her ideal husband!"

Not long after, Xue Pan, who had just returned from an outing, heard about this and was so excited that he danced with joy and cheered non-stop. He greatly appreciated his sister and mother's decision, believing that this move would surely make the Xue family proud and no longer be looked down upon by others.

This should have happened a long time ago. My sister is so beautiful, and she's both dignified and virtuous. As long as she's willing, she'll definitely find a happy marriage! Back then, the Eighth Prince even tried to take my sister into his family, but then the plan somehow fell through. The Jia family must have been behind this! The three of them chatted warmly and intimately, looking forward to a bright future with joy.

Yet, at this moment, in the old lady's room, the scene was quite different. A servant was heard to reply respectfully, "Madam, ladies, all the maids in Bao'er's room have been thoroughly examined." She continued, "Except for the head maid Qiu Wen, the second-rank maid Chun Yan, and the third-rank maids and those responsible for cleaning, they are all virgins." The servant paused briefly before slowly adding, "But the rest, like Bi Hen, Qian Xue, Mei Ren, Tan Yun, Yi Xia... these maids are no longer virgins..." With each name the servant mentioned, the expressions of the old lady Shi and Madam Wang darkened, as if water could drip out. Li Wan, alone, stood quietly by, her handkerchief tightly pressed against her mouth. Even if she wasn't normally adept at reading expressions, she knew clearly at this moment that this was no time to mock others. If I accidentally anger these two people, they might vent all their anger on me later!

"Someone, take all these ungrateful people out and ask them to find their parents. Find someone to marry them to!" An angry shout was heard, and the whole house seemed to tremble slightly.

"Our family is not the kind of family that is tyrannical and bullies others, but if they meet those people who are very strict and particular about etiquette, I'm afraid they won't even be able to save their lives!" The person who spoke had a stern tone, but also a bit helpless.

"Yuanyang! Let you handle this matter! Make sure you handle it properly." As the words fell, everyone's eyes turned to Yuanyang standing aside.

Upon hearing this, Yuanyang hurried forward and respectfully replied, "Yes, Grandmother, rest assured. I will take care of this matter." However, Yuanyang secretly began to have doubts. It turned out that she had some friendship with the dismissed maids, especially Qingwen, with whom she had a close relationship. Moreover, she had always been quite favored by the old lady, so naturally she wanted to take this opportunity to say a few good words on their behalf.

Yuanyang thought for a moment and then spoke cautiously, "Madam, in my opinion, it's fine for the others to go, but shouldn't we hold off on those senior maids for a while? After all, she's been serving Baoyu since he was little. So many years have passed, and even if she hasn't made any contributions, she's certainly worked hard. Besides, she's been in charge of Baoyu's daily affairs, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation. She's very familiar with them. If we send her out now, what if Baoyu gets upset and starts crying? What will happen then?"

Yuanyang had good intentions, hoping to secure a glimmer of hope for the others. However, she was careless, not realizing that her words had touched a nerve with Lady Wang. Lady Wang had always harbored resentment towards the maids around Baoyu, fearing they would corrupt her precious son. Hearing Yuanyang plead for Xiren, she was instantly enraged.

"Shut up right there! When did it become your turn as a mere servant to point fingers and make decisions on your own regarding the masters' decisions?" Mrs. Wang shouted angrily with her eyes wide open.

She raised her eyebrows and pointed at the man, her chest heaving with anger: "You are so kind! You actually want to keep that vixen here. Don't you know what kind of person she is? Are you just waiting for her to seduce our Baoyu again?"

At this point, Madam Wang was furious: "Hmph! Now that she has lost her virginity to someone, how can she possibly behave herself and behave properly in the future? A shameless person like this is simply a disaster to stay in the mansion!"

"You are so easy to talk without any concern! If you dare to act so recklessly and come up with bad ideas again, don't blame me for being ruthless. I will kick you out too, so that you won't be an eyesore here!" Mrs. Wang glared at the man fiercely, her eyes full of warning.

At this moment, Yuanyang was staring at the furious Wang Furen in horror. After all, as a mother, she could not tolerate anything that might endanger her child.

What was the purpose of keeping that girl? Did they really want Baoyu to understand the affairs of men and women at such a young age? Wouldn't he be completely bewildered by this girl and even become lawless?

Besides, the reason why Yuanyang defended the girl so much was simply out of grief. Seeing her sister, who was also a maid, meet such a miserable end, she couldn't help but worry and fear, fearing that she would suffer the same misfortune in the future.

However, in reality, in the heart of Old Lady Shi, she still respected and relied on Yuanyang. She was also afraid that her grandson would come in the morning and see that all the servants were gone, and he would get angry and quarrel with her again.

At this moment, Mrs. Wang was so angry that she didn't know how to stop her. However, there is always a way out. A compromise quietly emerged in her mind. It all depended on her willingness to think it over carefully.

She said in a deep voice, "Alright, stop yelling. Things have come to this point. It's a done deal and can't be changed." Then she continued slowly, "Yuanyang is right. I did select those maids specifically for Baoyu's service. Although they made a mistake this time, considering their years of loyal service to Baoyu, their contributions cannot be erased. So, why not send them home for now? If their families find good husbands for them and they themselves are willing to marry, then let them go. But if they still have feelings for our Baoyu and long to return home, then it won't be too late to take them back when Baoyu comes of age and is officially engaged."

You have to know that Jia Baoyu is not yet engaged. If the Rongguo Mansion does nothing about this, in a few years, these women will probably have lost their youth and become older, left-over women. By then, even if Jia Baoyu wants to call them back to his side, I'm afraid that by then, their beauty will have faded and their charm will have faded, and they will inevitably end up being despised.

Mrs. Wang originally wanted to refute loudly with great momentum, but just as the words were about to come out of her mouth, she suddenly seemed to think of something and swallowed the words back, followed by a sarcastic sneer.

"Hmph, all right!" She raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a disdainful smile, and said, "It might not be better to marry her then than now!" After saying this, Mrs. Wang suddenly raised her head and glared at Yuanyang fiercely, her eyes seemed to be able to spit fire. At this moment, the disgust on her face was exposed without a trace.

Yuanyang's heart skipped a beat as she took in the situation. After all, she had truly offended her mistress, Madam Wang, and she was from one of the rooms the old lady favored. She thought to herself, "I was acting out of kindness, thinking this might help a few people. I never imagined not only would I not get what I wanted, but I'd also incurred such a grudge from Madam Wang. If I'm not careful in the future, I'm afraid this mistress won't let me off easily."

However, Yuanyang quickly reconsidered. It was she who had helped steal the old lady's private vault. Even though Madam Wang was furious, she would surely give her some face for this favor, right? Thinking of this, Yuanyang felt a little more at ease.

As the spectacular farce came to a close, the masters dispersed. However, unexpectedly, Jia Baoyu fell ill that night with hysteria. Due to the suddenness and urgency of the situation, the maids who normally managed the household were immediately expelled. At that moment, Qiu Wen was the only person left in Jia Baoyu's vast house who could still make decisions and take charge.

At first, his symptoms weren't that severe, but he kept shivering under the covers. Perhaps out of shyness, he refused to let the maids lift the bed curtains to serve him.

Anyone who dared to approach and even try to catch a glimpse of him would be immediately met with his screams at the top of his lungs, followed by a merciless scolding and drive away. This continued until late at night, when the young master, who had been doing well, suddenly developed a high fever due to the abrupt interruption of his life and the immense stress he endured both mentally and physically.

He was already unconscious at this moment, and kept talking nonsense. Qiu Wen, who was on night watch, was terrified. She was worried that something might happen to her young master, so she hurried to Mrs. Wang's room in the middle of the night to seek help.

All I could hear was a burst of shouting from inside the house: "Sister Lin! How come you haven't solved the Nine-Ring Chain yet?" "Oh, I'm the best at this! Just give it to me and I'll help you open it." Then another voice said: "Sister Lin! Let me hold your hoe! And these flower petals, I'll find a beautiful brocade bag to put them in!" Then he said: "Let's build a small tomb for them. From now on, every year and every month, I will accompany you to visit them. Is that okay?"

At this dead of night, Mrs. Wang hurried to the Yihong Courtyard. Before she even entered the room, she could hear her beloved son lying on the bed with his eyes tightly closed, mumbling these incoherent nonsense.

This is obviously a terrible nightmare! And he keeps muttering about Lin Daiyu, Lin Daiyu. Could it be that the girl from the Lin family has seduced his soul and lost his mind?

"Baoyu! Wake up! Mother is here to see you, Baoyu..." Mrs. Wang called out to her beloved son anxiously, but no matter how she called, she was unable to wake up the sleeping Jia Baoyu.

Looking at her unresponsive son, Mrs. Wang was extremely anxious. Suddenly, an idea struck her. She reached out and gently touched her son's forehead. She was shocked to find that the spot her palm touched was scorching hot. Without a doubt, the child had a high fever!

Could it be that she was frightened by the sudden search yesterday? Thinking of this, Mrs. Wang couldn't help but feel worried, but at this moment, Jia Baoyu was still muttering Lin Daiyu's name, and she had no time to think about the reason.

"Someone, come! Send someone to get the doctor!" With Mrs. Wang's command, the entire Rongguo Mansion instantly became a riot, and everyone got busy. Some were busy preparing hot water and towels, while others hurried out to look for the doctor.