Inside the Rongguo Mansion, the Celestial Screen struck with piercing accuracy, exposing the core of the Jia Clan's surface prosperity and inner rot nakedly before the world.
Dowager Jia managed a bitter smile. How could she not know?
Seeing the immortals on the Celestial Screen criticize the various aspects of the Jia Clan with such merciless frankness, the others felt a chill in their hearts and hurriedly prayed to the heavens for forgiveness, hoping to trade for a chance of salvation.
"Prince Teng is dead! Father, he..." Wang Xifeng wiped away her tears, feeling as though her heart were tearing apart. When she had previously seen her younger brother sell his own daughter, she had already faintly guessed something. True enough, just as she had expected, with her father's passing, the remaining maternal family members saw that the Jia Clan had fallen into disaster—how could there be any talk of family affection or decency? Wang Xifeng's mentality completely collapsed, and she wept uncontrollably.
"Lacking all drive, indulging in wine, women, wealth, and temper, unable to uphold the ancestral foundation, making it hard for the family to endure..." Jia Baoyu felt as though he had been struck by a bolt from the blue. He stared with incredulous, wide eyes, unwilling from the bottom of his heart to admit this truth. Could it be that the glory of the Jia Clan was truly destined to be ruined in his generation? He was naturally a wealthy idler with not the slightest means of making a living. Once stripped of his status as the legitimate son of the Rongguo Mansion, he would really be left with nothing more than a useless skin bag, like a flower in a greenhouse, completely unable to survive in the cold wind.
Lin Daiyu felt a slight chill in her heart, filled with a myriad of emotions. She saw things much more clearly than Jia Baoyu; the decline of the Rongguo Mansion was already a settled outcome, impossible to turn around.
While the Rongguo Mansion here lived in daily terror, Gu Xiaobai over there was refreshed in body and mind, enjoying himself so much he forgot to return home. In one breath, he binge-watched over an hour of live streams by fitness influencers, his soul attaining a qualitative sublimation at this moment.
"Ah, what a truly exhilarating workout." Sure enough, fitness was always more interesting when watching others do it, especially the young ladies.
As the live stream ended, Gu Xiaobai still felt a lingering aftertaste. Prompted by big data, he consecutively scrolled through several videos of female fitness bloggers. Look at those confident faces and devilish figures; every movement exuded a captivating charm. The fiery red lips, along with movements that were both powerful and aesthetic, and every inch of taut skin made Gu Xiaobai's heart race uncontrollably.
"Hehehe... Huh? Where did the young ladies go? Why are you recommending other videos to me?"
"An omnibus of the Four Great Classical Novels, let's take a look..."
"Oh ho, this uploader is truly talented. Like, follow, and save to favorites."
[System detects new video, connecting to the corresponding world.]
[Detected multiple connecting planes, system startup upgrading... hum hum hum... system upgrade successful, please keep up the good work, Host.]
[Connecting to the Journey to the West world, success.]
[Connecting to the Water Margin world, success.]
[Connecting to the Three Kingdoms world, success.]
[Connecting to the Red Chamber world, success.]
Meanwhile, across the Four Great Classical Novels—aside from the Red Chamber plane—the other three parallel timelines underwent earth-shattering changes...
***
In the Journey to the West plane, nearly four hundred years had passed since Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Court. It was now the late Northern and Southern Dynasties; the fires of war raged, the people struggled to survive, and as one faction took the stage, another stepped down, with rapid transitions of power.
Suppressed beneath the Five Fingers Mountain and having completely lost his freedom, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had wild grass growing all over his head and face. He had no idea when this kind of life would ever end. Fortunately, today, a young child came up the mountain. Far from being afraid of him, the child even picked a peach from a tree and fed it to him.
Sun Wukong was so excited he almost shed tears. Just think about these past four hundred years: when hungry, he ate iron pellets; when thirsty, he drank bronze juice. No matter how bronze-skinned and iron-boned one's body was, it couldn't withstand such abuse! Fortunately, Sun Wukong's digestive power was still not bad; he could actually digest these heavy metals.
Just at that moment, an anomaly occurred in the sky. Dark clouds filled the heavens, and thunder rumbled violently, carrying an aura that felt as though immortals were undergoing their heavenly tribulations, imbued with a hint of world-destroying intent.
"Looks like someone down here is fighting their way up to the Heavenly Court again. Hahahaha, fight, fight them hard!" Light flickered in Sun Wukong's eyes. If the Jade Emperor had suffering coming his way, he would be happy.
***
In the Water Margin plane, Lu Zhishen, who was shoveling nightsoil and farming at Mount Xiangguo Monastery, had just casually taught the hoodlums Zhang San and Li Si a lesson. He threw them one by one into the ruddy-hued cesspool, generously treating the lot of them to a hearty taste of "deliciousness."
As one thing led to another, he simply took these ruffians in as disciples and grand-disciples, drinking with them openly in the clearing. Lu Zhishen had only two major hobbies in life: drinking wine and eating meat in large chunks. Yet now, while drinking, he was actually disturbed by a few crows cawing in a tree, and his mood suddenly turned irritable.
What else could he be done? Uproot it!
As his feet exerted force, employing the old-tree-entangling-roots technique, the willow tree instantly showed signs of loosening.
Who would have thought that a loud crash would resound from the sky, resembling the wrath of thunder? A Celestial Screen manifested out of nowhere, and the common people of the Great Song all dropped to their knees in prostration.
"Scared the monk to death!"
Seeing the crows startled into flight, Lu Zhishen lost all desire to pull up the tree. He returned to his seat to continue drinking, casually checking to see what sort of monster this suddenly appearing Celestial Screen might be.
***
In the Three Kingdoms plane, at Hulao Pass, Hua Xiong of Xiliang had unluckily just slain two major generals of the allied forces.
In an instant, the allied forces were thrown into a panic.
Yuan Shao said, "It is a pity that my senior generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou have not arrived. If either of them were here, why would we fear that Hua Xiong?"
Eager to establish prestige for Eldest Brother, Guan Yu, driven by a burning urgency, stepped forward on his own initiative to request battle. It was a pity that Second Brother Guan was merely a nobody at this moment. Upon learning that his position was nothing more than a lowly horse-bowman, the feudal lords of the allied forces could no longer sit still, expressing their intense dissatisfaction toward Guan Yu.
"How dare you mock us for having no one under our command? A mere humble archer dares to spout nonsense here!"
"Guards, beat him out with a flurry of sticks!"
Fortunately, Boss Cao, who harbored a lifelong fondness for Guan Yu, stepped forward at this moment. He put in a good word for Second Brother Guan and even presented a cup of warm wine to bolster Second Brother Guan's courage.
"Leave the wine; Guan will be right back."
With that, he mounted his horse and galloped away.
*Crack.*
At the very first encounter, Hua Xiong's head dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Congratulations to Guan Yu for successfully unlocking the achievement "Slaying Hua Xiong while the wine was still warm."
Just at this moment, the Celestial Screen appeared, causing no small commotion in both armies!
Guan Yu glared with wide eyes before the battle array: "Guan slaying the Han rebel is an act of justice on behalf of heaven!"
On the side of the allied forces, the lords immediately learned of Guan Yu's divine valor before the array. Before they even had time to rejoice, they heard the report that an anomaly had occurred in the heavens. Unable to help themselves, they sprang up in shock, crashing into the tables in front of them. Harboring guilty secrets, they all panicked intensely, assuming the heavens were furious.
Present at the scene, only Liu Bei and Cao Cao were relatively calm. A sharp glint flashed across Cao Cao's eyes: "Lord Yuan, this is an auspicious omen for our Great Han. The various lords raising troops together to crusade against the traitor Dong Zhuo is a righteous act, and we will surely achieve a great victory!"
Hearing this, Yuan Shao was overjoyed and swiftly ordered his men to spread Cao Cao's words far and wide. With Guan Yu slaying Hua Xiong first, followed by the auspicious omen descending from the heavens, Yuan Shao began to wildly publicize the prestige of the allied forces, while also taking the opportunity to consolidate his position as alliance leader.
The morale of the allied forces soared, and Second Brother Guan, making his first display of brilliance, became renowned throughout the army.
***
In the Red Chamber plane, after the previous exposure by the Celestial Screen, the Rongguo Mansion no longer possessed its former bustling prosperity. Fearing future implication in a government confiscation of property, a vast number of servants in the estate rushed to submit resignations or escaped in secret. Even worse, ambitious villains colluded with bandits to launch a night raid on the mansion to steal valuables.
Before the Jia family's property could even be confiscated, the signs of "the trees falling and the monkeys scattering" had already appeared.
Jia Baoyu was ordered by Dowager Jia and Jia Zheng to take a substantial amount of wealth and be sent out of the mansion to take refuge, ensuring that the bloodline inheritance of the Jia family would not be severed.
Wang Xifeng originally intended to continue lending money at high interest to amass wealth, secretly saving a sizable dowry for Qiaojie to prepare for a rainy day. Yet, fearing she had committed too many sins and would anger the gods in heaven, completely snuffing out the sole remaining seed of good karma she had planted with Granny Liu, she fell into a dilemma.
Lin Daiyu grew increasingly haggard. In recent days, she had hardly had a few days of good sleep, constantly seeing Jia Baoyu in her dreams. As this went on day after day, her body naturally grew weaker by the day. Yet she still had to lend a hand, managing the tedious affairs of the Rongguo Mansion alongside Wang Xifeng, Jia Yingchun, Xue Baochai, Shi Xiangyun, and the others. Overworked in mind and spirit, she finally fell ill.
With a complexion like withered wax, Lin Daiyu leaned against the window and looked out. Waves of longing surged into her heart, and she could not help but shed tears.
"Miss, you're crying again. You didn't have any major illness to begin with, Miss; it's all this grief from crying."
"How many tears can a person shed in a lifetime? How could anyone endure crying every day?"
Zijuan, her maid, offered comforting words, but Lin Daiyu asked her to fetch some sewing needles—she wanted to make another sachets for Jia Baoyu.
"Miss, Miss, look, look quickly! The immortal screen in the sky is lighting up again."
Hearing this, Lin Daiyu raised her eyes to look out the window. Seeing that the pitch-black sky truly was emitting light once more, her heart gave a jolt. She coughed a few times, her expression with blood at the corner of her lips looking utterly pitiful.
Commoners and peasants, nobles and ministers alike, all simultaneously dropped what they were doing and raised their heads to look high into the sky, terrified of missing this divine miracle.
Just as everyone held their breath, expecting this celestial screen to once again expose the downfall of yet another household, the Celestial Screen scrolled out a title—[This omnibus of the Four Great Classical Novels is hilarious no matter how many times you watch it, hahahaha.]
The people across the four major planes: "???"
What on earth were the Four Great Classical Novels?