Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The compact, cozy west wing, along with the bedroom inside, was already filled with gifts bound in various silk ribbons.

However, even in this crowded room with its cedar wood floors, there were still some luxurious clothes and ribbons scattered here and there, making the originally neat room look very messy.

Wang Xifeng lay contentedly in Jia Lian's arms, her body and mind relaxed. She raised one arm and touched Jia Lian's half-open chest, then pinched his other arm. She said with some surprise, "It's been a few months since I last saw you, and you seem much stronger than before."

Jia Lian glanced down at Wang Xifeng. The months of training, though not high-intensity, had not been in vain. At least Wang Xifeng, who knew his body very well, could easily sense the difference.

He hugged Wang Xifeng, who was only wearing a bright red silk bodice, even tighter, pulled up the loose quilt to cover her exposed shoulders, and then asked with a smile, "Oh, you've just gotten stronger, isn't there anything else different?"

Wang Xifeng immediately understood Jia Lian's implied meaning, her face turned red, and she tried to get up.

Jia Lian grabbed him and pulled him back: "Where do you think you're going?"

"I have to go out now. Madam just told me to find some satin to tailor clothes for Lin Daiyu, and I also need to check on the old lady..."

From Jia Lian's improper behavior, Wang Xifeng realized that Jia Lian intended to reignite the conflict, and immediately came up with a legitimate reason to withdraw.

Jia Lian, however, rolled over and pinned her beneath him, looking down at her and laughing, "As a wife, serving your husband well is the most important thing. We can put everything else aside for now."

As he spoke, he scooped up Wang Xifeng's smooth body.

Wang Xifeng hurriedly declined, saying, "Ah, no, you..."

In fact, Wang Xifeng hadn't seen Jia Lian for several months and missed him terribly. However, she valued her reputation above all else. If she stayed home and didn't come out as soon as Jia Lian returned, anyone with eyes could guess what was going on, and where would her pride be?

In this way, Jia Lian has already wasted a lot of her time. If she doesn't go out soon, others will definitely laugh at her!

Jia Lian was somewhat dissatisfied with her lack of cooperation.

Wang Xifeng was a beautiful woman, but she lacked romantic understanding. In bed, she didn't know how to serve others; he was the one who served her.

This is probably one of the reasons why he used to cheat on his girlfriend.

But for him, this version of Wang Xifeng was quite amusing.

"I don't care if you can do it or not. I told you before, I'm going to teach you a lesson today!"

With Jia Lian's physical strength, he easily subdued Wang Xifeng and pressed his advantage once more.

Even with Wang Xifeng's strong self-control, she couldn't help but feel weak-willed and lose her sense of direction at this moment.

……

At Rongqing Hall, Daiyu accompanied her two aunts to see her uncles, but they were all preoccupied with other matters, and in the end, she did not see any of them.

Daiyu couldn't help but wonder if her two uncles didn't like her very much, which was why they wouldn't see her.

Fortunately, both of her aunts were very polite and friendly to her, which eased some of her worries, allowing her to keep the rest to herself.

Back at Rongqing Hall, Grandmother Jia treated her with the same care and affection as before, calling her "my darling" and "Yu'er" repeatedly, and ordered people to tidy up her room.

Grandmother Jia had made preparations in advance: "Since it's cold today, there's no need to prepare a separate room for her. Just move Baoyu out and let him stay with me in the warm pavilion of the suite. Daiyu can stay in the green gauze wardrobe inside."

"Let's wait until after the long winter, next spring, to prepare separate houses for them and make alternative arrangements."

Grandmother Jia's residence was originally spacious, with at least seven or eight large rooms and smaller rooms inside. Therefore, Jia Baoyu and the three sisters of the Spring Festival lived in Rongqing Hall.

The difference is that Jia Baoyu lived in the green gauze curtain in Grandmother Jia's bedroom, while the three sisters of the Spring sisters lived outside, much further away from Grandmother Jia's bedroom.

Grandmother Jia had long thought that her grandchildren were getting older and it was inconvenient for them to keep living with her. She was planning to move them out to live separately next year, which would also make it easier to arrange for their own servants.

Now that her beloved granddaughter has arrived, she adores her and naturally doesn't want to be too far away from her. So it's better to stay next to her for now, and then move out with Yingchun and the others next year.

Lady Wang and the others naturally dared not object to Grandmother Jia's arrangements and immediately sent someone to make the arrangements.

With both sides busy, Madam Wang began looking for her subordinates, asking, "Where has this Feng girl gone? I haven't seen her at all."

"Yes, where is Second Madam Lian..."

The maids and servants were also puzzled. Wang Xifeng usually went to Grandmother Jia's room all day long when she had nothing to do, so why couldn't they see her today?

Grandmother Jia also peeked around and looked, then suddenly waved her hand and said, "You don't need to look. Feng'er is always the most sensible. If she could come, she would have come long ago. Since she hasn't come, there must be a reason. Perhaps the couple is having another fight and is hiding in the house."

Although Grandmother Jia's words were neither cheerful nor ambiguous, and it was difficult to discern her true meaning, many of those present were experienced individuals who quickly grasped her significance.

The couple hadn't seen each other for a long time; there was no fighting, it was clearly...

Thinking of this, many people couldn't help but smile, and Madam Wang also sat down silently without saying a word.

Seeing Daiyu and the three sisters craning their necks, looking completely bewildered, Grandmother Jia felt it was inappropriate to let them hear such a joke, so she didn't point it out, but just laughed and said, "Why don't you send someone over to check on things for me? You mustn't let Lian Er bully Feng Ya Tou."

Everyone pretended to agree and laughed.

Only the maids and the three sisters of the Jia family didn't understand what everyone was laughing about. Brother Lian and Sister-in-law Lian had just met. Even if they had a quarrel, it shouldn't have escalated to a fight, right? But seeing that Grandmother Jia and the others were laughing so hard, they could only laugh along and let it go.

……

Sister Feng's Courtyard.

Wang Xifeng could no longer bear it. She glanced outside and saw that the sky had darkened. She was extremely anxious.

Oh no, this is so embarrassing!

Pushing Jia Lian aside, she jumped off the kang (heated brick bed) without a care for the cold, picked up her clothes, and began to put them on.

Jia Lian sat up abruptly, leaning against the bed railing and laughing, "Why are you running away? Do you think serving me is beneath you?"

"Pah, shameless..."

Wang Xifeng blushed and spat.

She was completely terrified of Jia Lian. Now, she would believe that Jia Lian hadn't touched a single piece of meat during the several months he had been away!

Having just put on some clothes, I felt extremely uncomfortable. Thinking it wouldn't be right to rush over like this, I finally called out, "Ping'er, Ping'er... where the little vixen has gone..."

Wang Xifeng only cared about scolding, but didn't think about what her maid had gone through that afternoon.

After a while, Ping'er came in with her head down, carrying a basin of water and a towel.

Embarrassed, Wang Xifeng spoke first: "You little hussy, where have you been? I've called you for ages and you haven't answered!"

Ping'er was even more displeased. She looked up at Wang Xifeng and said, "The water got cold two or three times before I went to add hot water, which is why it was a little late."

Wang Xifeng's anger immediately surfaced on her face as she glared at Ping'er, who was trying to subtly scare her, but she couldn't utter a word.

Upon seeing this, Jia Lian burst into laughter.

What he admired most about Ping'er was that although she was loyal, she never fawned over the emperor, and instead possessed seven parts more integrity than Wang Xifeng.

In this round, he sided with Ping'er.

Watching Wang Xifeng mutter and curse as she cleaned herself up and prepared to change into new clothes before going out, Jia Lian secretly got out of bed, gave Ping'er a knowing look, and then grabbed Wang Xifeng from behind.

At this moment, not only Wang Xifeng, but even Ping'er looked at Jia Lian as if he were a god.

It's been a whole afternoon, isn't Second Master still having enough fun?

Of course, Jia Lian wasn't satisfied yet; he did it on purpose, wanting to completely throw Wang Xifeng off balance and see if she could still hide Ping'er from him!

After struggling in vain and being carried onto the bed by Jia Lian, Wang Xifeng finally couldn't hold back any longer. She started punching and kicking Jia Lian, yelling, "You lecherous scoundrel, let me go! Why don't you just die!"

Poor Wang Xifeng, if it were the middle of the night and Jia Lian really went this far, she wasn't going to be completely out of line and would have gone along with his crazy antics.

But now, she was extremely anxious. She didn't know what Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang thought of her, and what about those cunning old women. If they could use this as leverage against her, how could she control them in the future?

"What? You've always been worried about me, always keeping me from seeing other women. Why are you scared now?"

Jia Lian simply wouldn't release her; he knew Wang Xifeng was anxious. Besides, he didn't visit Grandmother Jia and the others often, and given his reputation for being "lustful," he wouldn't care about that anyway.

Wang Xifeng had tried beating and scolding him, but Jia Lian still wouldn't let her go. Moreover, after a while, she actually discovered that Jia Lian's virility had returned, which surprised, delighted, and angered her at the same time!

She seemed to understand Jia Lian's meaning, and stopped struggling in vain. Instead, she calmly asked, "If I leave Ping'er with you, will you stop bothering me?"