Chapter 6: Dream of the Red Chamber 4

“The servants in the Second Madame’s courtyard acted recklessly, nearly causing the Second Madame to miscarry. The Old Madame of the Jia household made the decision to have them all driven out of the Rongguo Mansion.”

The outcome could not possibly have been as simple as just being driven out of the Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Daishan was not a soft-hearted man.

After all, they had attempted to harm his eldest grandson, his eldest daughter-in-law, and his young grandson.

Because Lady Wang was carrying the descendants of the Jia family, he could not have her killed.

But how could Jia Daishan possibly let those servants who conspired against his family go?

The truth was exactly as expected: all of Lady Wang’s confidants were dealt with by Jia Daishan’s men, and their corpses were sent back to the Wang family.

The Wang family not only dared not stand up for Lady Wang, but they also surrendered a significant portion of their interests to the Jia family as an apology.

Nourished by the spiritual energy channeled to him by Liu Cong, Jia Hu’s fever broke quickly, and his health soon recovered.

As soon as he was well, he went to the Liu residence to find Liu Cong and spoke about how he had represented Lady Zhang in seeing off the Zhang family.

As the Crown Prince’s tutor, Father Zhang had been implicated when the Crown Prince rebelled.

Fortunately, several years prior, the Crown Prince had stopped listening to Father Zhang’s advice and had distanced himself from him.

When the rebellion broke out, Father Zhang was so overcome with rage and grief upon hearing the news that he vomited blood and never rose from his bed again.

The Emperor did not take action against the Zhang family after learning of this, but the Zhang family dared not remain in the capital. One after another, they submitted resignations and returned to their ancestral home, carrying Father Zhang’s coffin.

Because Lady Zhang had suffered greatly during childbirth and could not get out of bed, she could only let her husband and son go in her stead to bid farewell to her kin.

Jia Hu had a very good relationship with his uncles and cousins; he was deeply saddened by this parting, knowing they might never meet again.

For several days in a row, Jia Hu remained listless.

It was only when he came to the Liu residence to see his friend that he regained some of his spirits.

Liu Cong comforted his friend and brought out a toy to distract Jia Hu.

The toy was Chinese checkers, which Liu Cong had had made to pass the time.

Playing Chinese checkers with two people wasn't very interesting, so Liu Cong pulled in Jiqiu and Jia Hu’s personal maid, and the four of them played together.

Children’s attention is easily diverted; before long, Jia Hu had forgotten the sorrow of parting from his relatives.

He spent the day at the Liu residence, and when he left, he took the Chinese checkers set that Liu Cong had given him.

Liu Cong turned around and went to find Father Liu, pulling both his father and mother into a game of Chinese checkers.

The result was naturally Liu Cong’s victory. Father Liu, refusing to accept defeat, called for another round.

Liu Cong smiled and said, “Father, no rush for another round. Just tell me, is this game fun? Do you think many people would like it?”

Father Liu: “It’s fun, surely many people would like it.”

Mother Liu chimed in: “This game is perfect for the madams and young ladies of various households to pass the time; it’s more interesting than leaf cards.”

Liu Cong: “Then if we sell these, will people buy them?”

Although Father Liu was not exceptionally clever, he was not stupid either, and he immediately understood what Liu Cong meant.

He stopped thinking about the game and stood up at once: “I will go make arrangements right away.”

The Liu family was not poor, but they were not wealthy either.

The output from their shops and farms was enough to cover the family of three’s annual expenses, but when it came to socializing and gift-giving, they were somewhat stretched.

Every year-end, Mother Liu would rack her brains over the New Year gifts.

Now that there was a way to make money, Father Liu naturally would not let it slip by.

Before long, the shops under the Liu family’s name began selling Chinese checkers.

Following Liu Cong’s suggestion, Father Liu produced three grades of the game.

The highest grade was made of various types of jade, with a board also made of jade; it was sold at an extremely high price—one thousand taels of silver per set.

The mid-grade sets were made of precious wood inlaid with fine jade and gold thread, priced at one hundred taels per set.

The low-grade sets had pieces and boards made of the most common wood and painted, costing only one hundred copper coins.

Among these, the highest-grade sets actually sold the best.

There were quite a few wealthy people in the capital.

Later, as the game spread through aristocratic circles and reached the common folk, the sales of the low-grade sets finally began to rise.

The Liu family made quite a profit from this wave, with at least one hundred thousand taels of silver in earnings.

But that was the extent of it.

The game had no technical barrier, and before long, other merchants began selling it as well.

The business at the Liu family’s shops began to plummet.

Father and Mother Liu were quite calm about it; they felt no resentment or anger, as they had already earned enough money.

One hundred thousand taels of silver was the combined total of all the property they had received when the family estate was divided.

Their family’s assets had increased several times over in one fell swoop.

The two used the money to purchase two more shops and another farm.

The farm was a bit further from the capital, but it was three times the size of their previous one, and the output was quite substantial.

After this, Mother Liu no longer had to worry about the annual New Year gifts.

Life was peaceful and smooth, and not long after, Mother Liu became pregnant.

She gave birth to a younger brother for Liu Cong, and Father Liu named the little boy Liu Chun, with the courtesy name Xianglian.

Liu Cong: “...”

His own brother was actually that cold-faced gentleman, Liu Xianglian, from *Dream of the Red Chamber*?

Liu Cong sympathetically poked his brother’s soft, tender cheek with his finger, watching as drool flowed uncontrollably from the corner of the baby’s mouth.

Liu Cong: “Don’t worry, little brother. Big brother will definitely protect you, so you won’t be tricked into a marriage, be taken advantage of, and end up becoming a monk.”

When he read *Dream of the Red Chamber* back then, Liu Cong had always felt that Liu Xianglian was a sucker.

You Sanjie had been involved with Jia Zhen and his son; how could she be considered a chaste and virtuous woman?

It was nothing more than a “prostitute turning over a new leaf.”

How had Liu Xianglian wronged her?

The Ningguo Mansion was indeed so filthy that only the stone lions were clean—Xichun had grown up in the Rongguo Mansion since she was small, so she didn’t count as part of the Ningguo household.

If she felt ashamed and wanted to commit suicide, she could have done it anywhere, yet she chose to die right in front of Liu Xianglian, provoking him into becoming a monk.

Liu Cong could not bring himself to like the You sisters.

Although their endings were pitiful, it was all of their own making.

You Erjie married Jia Lian, yet she hoped for Wang Xifeng to die early so she could take her place.

Once Wang Xifeng knew You Erjie’s intentions, how could she not destroy her?

When the two sisters could not endure hardship and were obsessed with wealth, coveting things that did not belong to them, their fates were already sealed.

Knowing that his brother was Liu Xianglian, Liu Cong began to pay close attention to his parents’ health.

The book stated that Liu Xianglian’s parents died early, and he was raised entirely by the old servants of the household.

Liu Cong wanted to protect the lives of Father and Mother Liu, letting them discipline Liu Xianglian to prevent him from growing into the dissolute playboy who failed at his studies and spent his nights in brothels as described in the book.

Although modern opera performers could be called artists and held a noble profession, in ancient times, actors were considered the lowest of the low and were looked down upon.

In the eyes of the nobility, Liu Xianglian’s performing on stage was a sign of self-degradation.

It was no wonder Xue Pan tried to harass Liu Xianglian, and no wonder that by the time Liu Xianglian grew up, only a You Sanjie was willing to marry him.

How could other noble families marry their daughters to a guy who was good for nothing and degraded himself?

(End of chapter)