The Cloud Feather of the Red Chamber: A Marriage Arranged with Gong Yuanzheng at the Start

"Pfft," Gong Zishang couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"This child is really interesting. Who asks someone if they have jade the moment they meet them?"

As she spoke, she reached out her hand and immediately placed a peeled orange in her palm.

The Jia family members felt a chill run down their spines. Could it be that Baoyu was about to have another episode of his dementia?

He was up against no ordinary person; he was up against a ruthless and vicious bandit!

Gong Yuanzheng glanced at the jade pendant at his waist and the jade beads inlaid on his belt with some puzzlement.

Is the jade pendant not valuable enough, or are these jade beads too small? How come the child didn't see any of them?

He glanced at the jade pendant hanging on Jia Baoyu's chest, then at his own jade pendant, as if he had realized something.

Could it be that the boy had his eye on his jade pendant but was too shy to ask?

Lin Qingyue's lips twitched. Since Daiyu hadn't come, she thought she would be the one to encounter this classic question, and she had already thought of a strategy to deal with it.

Unexpectedly, it was Gong Yuanzheng who bore the brunt of everything.

She took a deep breath and was about to speak when she saw Gong Yuanzheng take off the jade pendant from his waist and hand it to Jia Baoyu.

"If you like it, it's yours."

No need to be polite, my brother has plenty of jade pendants like these.

Lin Qingyue: "......!!!!!!"

Jia Baoyu stared blankly at the jade pendant in front of him. After realizing what was happening, he didn't take the pendant. Instead, he ripped off the jade pendant from his chest and smashed it to the ground.

Gong Yuanzheng was stunned, but with quick reflexes, he kicked the jade, which was about to fall, into the air.

With his left hand, he casually plucked a jade bead from his waist and flicked it onto Jia Baoyu's pressure point.

It's so fast that there's no time to react.

"Cough cough cough!" Gong Zishang choked on the orange. The guards next to him quickly stepped forward, some patting his back and others handing him water.

Young Master Xue was so shocked that he dropped the melon seeds in his hand to the ground.

Gong Yuanzheng: Is this kid crazy?

Grandmother Jia was the first to react. She immediately threw herself on her immobilized grandson, crying out in a hoarse voice, "Baoyu! My Baoyu! What's wrong with you?"

Jia Baoyu was extremely horrified. He remained in the position of smashing the jade, but he couldn't move at all.

Tears of terror streamed down his face as he cried out helplessly, "Grandma, Grandma!"

Gong Yuanzheng glared at Jia Baoyu with hatred. Just then, the magical jade fell from the sky, and Gong Yuanzheng casually waved it away.

The magical jade was swept up by the palm strike and embedded deeply into the wall.

Gong Yuanzheng looked at the completely stunned Lin Qingyue, feeling wronged, "Yue'er, he's trying to extort money from me!"

Lin Qingyue finally came to her senses and hurriedly stepped forward, taking Gong Yuanzheng's hand and examining it closely, "Are you alright? Is your hand hurt? Were you frightened?"

Seeing how much Lin Qingyue cared for him, Gong Yuanzheng's displeasure subsided somewhat, but he still felt wronged.

"Yue'er, has he gone mad?"

Lin Qingyue tenderly cupped Gong Yuanzheng's face in her hands, "It's okay, let's ignore him!"

Then he looked at Grandmother Jia with great dissatisfaction, "Grandmother, what is the meaning of this by the Jia family? Why have a madman come to this hall?"

Grandmother Jia was both anxious and angry. Holding the stiff Jia Baoyu in her arms, she glared at Lin Qingyue and Gong Yuanzheng.

"What nonsense are you talking about? This is your own cousin, Baoyu!"

Seeing Baoyu's tearful eyes, Grandmother Jia glared hatefully at Gong Yuanzheng.

"You heartless cousin-in-law! Baoyu is still a child, what have you done to him?"

Gong Yuanzheng ignored her and looked at Lin Qingyue with a wronged expression, his tearful appearance was particularly endearing.

Although she knew perfectly well that he was faking it, Lin Qingyue still couldn't stop her heart from beating even faster.

“Baoyu? Yuanzheng kindly gave him a jade pendant, and it's fine if he doesn't like it, but what's the meaning of smashing the jade?”

"Is this how the Jia family treats its guests?"

Grandmother Jia was nearly frantic with worry. "Why are you still saying all this? Hurry up and cure Baoyu!"

Knowing that she couldn't reason with Lin Qingyue and Gong Yuanzheng, Grandmother Jia looked directly at Jia Min, who had remained calmly seated throughout the entire ordeal.

"Min'er! Baoyu is your second brother's own son! Zhu'er is gone, and your second brother only has this one male heir left!"

Her plaintive voice conveyed Grandmother Jia's heartache and dissatisfaction.

Completely oblivious to the grief and indignation, Tan Chun, standing on the other side of Bao Yu, turned pale instantly at her words.

Jia Min remained calm, her gaze sweeping indifferently over Jia Baoyu in Grandmother Jia's arms.

“Mother, none of my three children survived.”

One sentence left Grandmother Jia speechless.

“Mother, you’ve said something wrong. Second Brother doesn’t only have Baoyu as his son; he also has Huan’er.”

Grandmother Jia almost couldn't hold Jia Baoyu; she opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't utter a single word.

At this moment, she finally understood why Jia Min had so easily agreed to let Wang Shi go.

She had thought it was because of her pleading, but now she realized that Min'er had never intended to let Wang Shi go, never.

Jia Min got off the soft couch and slowly walked into the hall. Looking at Jia Baoyu, who was unable to move, she curled the corners of her mouth and said, "Yuanzheng, that's enough."

Gong Yuanzheng nudged Lin Qingyue from behind, and when he looked at Grandmother Jia and the others, his face instantly turned icy cold.

He stepped forward expressionlessly, but Grandmother Jia stood firmly in front of Jia Baoyu, asking, "What do you want to do?"

Gong Yuanzheng didn't bother to look at her again, and casually tore off a jade bead and flicked it at Jia Baoyu.

Jia Baoyu immediately returned to normal, snuggling in Grandmother Jia's arms and crying and making a fuss.

Jia Min had no interest in watching the tender moments between the grandmother and granddaughter, and looked directly at Wang Xifeng.

"Second wife of Lian, please take us to see the master."

Wang Xifeng immediately responded and looked at Grandmother Jia and Jia Baoyu, who were huddled together. At this moment, the two of them obviously couldn't care about anything else.

She looked at Madam Xing, "Would the First Madam like to come back with us?"

Madam Xing was startled. "No, I'll stay and take care of the old lady and Baoyu."

Good heavens! Gong Yuanzheng is too strange. I didn't even see how he made a move, but Baoyu was already affected. She dares not get close to someone like that.

Wang Xifeng nodded, no longer paying attention to Madam Xing, and led Jia Min, Lin Qingyue, and Gong Yuanzheng towards their residence.

Just as I left Grandmother Jia's courtyard, I heard the maids huddled together talking.

"Have you seen your son-in-law? He's quite handsome!"

"What good is good looks? He's just a street thug! How can he compare to the wealth and respectability of our Jia family!"

"That's right. I heard he's a ruthless killer. If my cousin marries him, she might get killed by him one day."

The sound was so loud that not only Gong Yuanzheng, but even Wang Xifeng could hear it clearly.

Her anger flared instantly, and she shouted sharply, "Drag those gossipy brats over here!"

The few maids who were dragged over showed fear on their faces, but not many.

Wang Xifeng sneered, "You shameless, despicable creature with a rotten tongue! You don't know how high the sky is or how thick the earth is!"

"Ping'er! Cut off all their tongues and throw them out of the manor!"

Unexpectedly, the punishment was so severe that the maids began to cry and beg for mercy.

The head maid, mustering her courage, said tremblingly:

"Second Madam Lian, we are from the second branch of the family, you can't, you can't punish us like this!"

Wang Xifeng's phoenix eyes were icy cold. "The second wife's? I knew it! A heartless bastard, destined to be struck by lightning and torn apart by five horses!"

Ping'er recognized these people and moved closer to Wang Xifeng, saying, "Second Madam, these people used to serve in the eldest daughter's courtyard."

Wang Xifeng suddenly realized, "No wonder he was so bold, it turns out he has a powerful backer."

She glared at him with her phoenix eyes and said, "Ping'er, don't gossip."

The maids relaxed, but then they heard Wang Xifeng sneer, "Just beat them to death with sticks, don't try to gag them!"

"Drag him to the second wife's residence and let all the servants there see this! This is the consequence of spreading rumors and sowing discord!"

After speaking, ignoring the maids' wailing and howling, Wang Xifeng looked at Jia Min and the other two with a smile.

"Aunt, sister, brother-in-law, let's go to Father's study first."

Gong Zishang finally stopped coughing. A single orange segment had almost killed this beautiful young woman; it was truly terrifying.

She clutched her chest and looked at the guard who was in charge of taking notes. "Did you write down all the insults Feng Lazi used?"

Guard: "...I've noted it all down."

"That's good." Gong Zishang said breathlessly, "The insults used by these wealthy and powerful families are truly ingenious."