Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 54 The Powerful Maternal Uncle's Family

Jia Lian was not surprised at all by Zhao Mama's request.

The "milk brothers" were originally the natural followers of the young masters.

Jia Lian was naturally aware of the existence of these two wet nurses, but he genuinely looked down on the two brothers, Zhao Tianliang and Zhao Tiandong!

It sounds like a nice name, but unfortunately, they have clearly tarnished it.

Jia Lian knew about their vices: gambling, drinking, whoring, and bullying the other servants in the mansion. Moreover, they dared to act this way clearly because of their relationship with Jia Lian!

He didn't really want to deal with the two brothers, but now that Granny Zhao had come to him for help, he couldn't refuse her.

Perfect. It's best to keep such good-for-nothings under our noses to prevent them from ruining his reputation elsewhere. If they prove truly unteachable, keeping them close means we can deal with them once and for all if we discover they've committed any illegal acts, thus preventing future trouble.

"What Mom said is simple. When you get back, just tell your two older brothers to come to my study tomorrow afternoon."

When Granny Zhao heard that Jia Lian had agreed so readily, she was very happy and immediately got up to thank him.

Jia Lian quickly asked the old lady to sit down.

Wang Xifeng also smiled and said, "What Mother said is something our master should help with. Speaking of which, I feel sorry for Mother. How come he didn't remember Mother's kindness after nursing him all this time? He didn't even use the benefits to help his own family, but instead helped outsiders."

Take this trip to the south of the Yangtze River, for example. He just handed out silver to those peasants like it was nothing, completely forgetting about his two older brothers.

"Grandma, please don't say that. Young Master has had a hard time on this trip to Jiangnan. How could he possibly have time to think about so many things? He's already very capable of handling the tasks assigned by the old lady. When I went to the old lady's room earlier, she praised our young master," said Granny Zhao with a smile.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Jia Lian finished his meal and put down his chopsticks. Seeing that Granny Zhao was about to get up, he quickly said with a smile, "Granny, please keep drinking. Don't worry about me. I always eat quickly."

Granny Zhao sat down and said with a smile, "I heard from you, Madam, that this wine was brought from Yangzhou by the young master? I found it very good, so I drank a couple more cups. I'm old, and I don't usually drink much."

Wang Xifeng was very good at handling things. Upon hearing this, she immediately said, "Ping'er, tell someone to go to the backyard and bring out that whole jar. Then send two boys to deliver it to Zhao Mama's house."

"How can this be...?"

"It's alright, just consider it his way of showing filial piety as a son to you."

Jia Lian watched with a smile, thinking that Wang Xifeng's handling of these matters was indeed very skillful.

After sitting down and drinking half a cup of tea, and waiting for Granny Zhao to finish eating, he asked, "It's rare for you to come over today, Madam, but there's something I'd like to ask you."

"Speak quickly, young master." Having achieved her purpose of coming in today and obtained a jar of good wine, Granny Zhao was very happy. As soon as she heard Jia Lian had something to ask, she immediately wiped her mouth.

But then Jia Lian asked with a laugh, "Mother, do you know what the Linzi Earl's Mansion, which is my maternal grandfather's family, is like? And how did the two families end up like this?"

"this……"

Granny Zhao glanced at Wang Xifeng, seemingly a little embarrassed.

Jia Lian dismissed the maids, and then Zhao Mama said, "If anyone else had asked this question, I wouldn't have dared to say anything, but since you asked, young master, I have no choice but to speak up."

Granny Zhao raised her head, seemingly lost in memories:

"Speaking of my brother's maternal grandfather's family, it is a newly emerging family."

From the time your maternal grandfather was granted the title of Earl of Linzi, your family prospered. You also had some connections with our Duke, and in the early years, you visited each other frequently.

only……

As you probably know, our two families haven't had any contact for almost ten years. Do you know why?

Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng, who had just returned from packing up her things, was also curious: "To be honest, I find it strange too. It's clearly our maternal family's family, so why have I never seen anyone from their family come to visit in the two years since I married into this family? Our family never goes to their house either."

I was puzzled and asked others about it privately, but they all hesitated and gave vague answers, so I didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Does Mom know what happened?

Granny Zhao sighed again: "To tell this story, we have to start from when Madam married into our family."

Initially, the two families arranged the marriage based on their personal relationship.

But the master's temper was something that the young master and his grandmother knew. He always did things his own way and was very domineering. He couldn't tolerate being disciplined or advised by others.

Unfortunately, the wife came from a military family and was a somewhat stubborn person, unwilling to always give in to the master.

Especially after the death of Hu Ge'er's eldest brother, the wife fell ill with depression. The master, however, remained unchanged, showing no regard for marital affection, and caused two incidents.

At first, with the Duke around, a beating would keep the master in line for a while. But not long after, the Duke also passed away, and no one could control the master anymore.

However, after only two years, his wife passed away from an illness.

Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng remained silent. They had heard some of the inside story, but not in detail.

As expected, Granny Zhao continued, "This is not the most important thing. The young master's maternal grandparents' family is not a completely unreasonable family. They will not cut off all ties with our family because of this. Although they have a lot of complaints about the death of the madam, they can do nothing about it."

The trouble started later.

For some unknown reason, it seems to be a notebook that the lady kept before her death, which somehow ended up in the young master's maternal grandparents' house. I heard that it recorded many bad things about the master, which has thoroughly angered him.

Your eldest uncle has a fiery temper. Because of this matter, he went to confront the master, and the two got into a fight. It seems that your eldest uncle hit the master, and the master got angry and ordered his men to throw your eldest uncle out of the house.

Jia Lian and the others were unaware of this inside story, but now they all understood why the relationship between the two families had deteriorated to this point.

It's not hard to understand. Without Jia Daishan's control and having inherited the title, who would Jia She care about? He was even capable of beating his brother-in-law.

It's an indescribable feeling; having Jia She around means no one can expect to have a good time.

Jia Lian was also in a dilemma. It seemed that regaining the familial ties would be extremely difficult. As long as Jia She lived, the anger of his maternal grandfather's family would likely never subside.

However, Jia Lian was unwilling to give up so easily. Of all the things in the world, his maternal uncle was the most powerful. If Jia Lian wanted to achieve something great, he desperately needed the support of his mother's family, because that was his exclusive power!

Take Wang Ziteng for example. Although he is Wang Xifeng's uncle, he is also Wang Furen's brother and Jia Baoyu's maternal uncle!

If you asked Wang Ziteng to choose between him and Jia Baoyu, he would probably be in a difficult position.

But the matter wasn't over yet. After a long pause, Granny Zhao continued, "After the eldest brother's uncle was beaten out, although he made some harsh words, he didn't come to bother us again. Everyone thought that was the end of it."

Who knew that just a few days later, when the master went out to meet a friend, he was surrounded by the young master's maternal grandfather and his personal guards. Right there in the street, they dragged the master out of the carriage and whipped him severely with a horsewhip..."

Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng were both astonished. They had no idea such a thing happened. All they could say was, "Good riddance!"

It turns out that Jia She was not only beaten by the old Duke, but also slapped by his father-in-law.

But could this be the reason why Jia She liked to beat him?

"After the master recovered from his injuries, he flew into a rage and smashed everything he could in the room..."

From then on, the two families stopped communicating.

The second master did want to mend the relationship between the two families, and even brought lavish gifts to visit the old master, but unfortunately, he couldn't even get in the door.

Jia Zheng was very popular in the court. It could be said that if Jia She inherited the old Duke's title, then Jia Zheng would inherit the old Duke's connections.

People in the court all gave Jia Zheng some face, and even those of equal status would address him respectfully as "Old Master Zheng" to his face.

The Linzi Earl's Mansion wouldn't even give Jia Zheng face, which shows their resolute attitude. Alas, it's tough.

Wang Xifeng understood Jia Lian's intention in inquiring about this matter, and she gave him a meaningful smile.

Little brat, you think you can start your own business...

But her curiosity had been piqued, and she pressed on, "You said earlier that their family is prosperous, but I don't really know how prosperous they are. I've only heard that both of their uncles are officials in the imperial court."

Granny Zhao immediately said, "He's not just an official, he's a pretty high-ranking one!"

Not to mention that their grandfather is still alive, his wife's two older brothers are both very successful.

My brother's eldest uncle followed in his father's footsteps, joined the army and made meritorious contributions. Now he has become a general and I heard that he is the commander-in-chief guarding some military town in the northwest or northeast!

His second uncle is quite something too. He's still in the capital, and I heard he works in a ministry. He's even higher-ranking than our second master, maybe a vice minister or something. I can't quite remember, but I'm afraid you might know.

Jia Lian smiled and said, "My second uncle has already risen to the rank of Vice Minister of War, which is two ranks higher than yours."

"Tsk tsk tsk, Grandma, look at this! What else could this be but a prosperous family? They say brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons go to war together. With these two brothers keeping things in order, their family will probably enjoy wealth for at least another twenty or thirty years."

Granny Zhao sighed with relief, and even Wang Xifeng was somewhat surprised. Fortunately, the two families no longer had any dealings, otherwise, with this heartless person having such an ally, wouldn't she have bullied her even more!