The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

In a daze, Li Hu heard a burst of laughter. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his head. He was dizzy from the sleep. He heard faint laughter coming from the warm room. It was Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai.

Li Hu closed his eyes to relax, then opened them again, took out the pocket watch from under the pillow and took a look. The needle was pointing to between the end of Wei and the beginning of Shen, not even three o'clock yet. He had only slept for more than four hours. It's good to be young!
He sat up in bed and saw Xiangling sleeping at his feet.

"This silly girl is not afraid of catching a cold."

Li Hu opened the curtain, got off the bed, put on his clothes, and then patted Xiangling: "It will be dark if you sleep any longer!" After that, he walked towards the warm room.

When the door curtain was lifted, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai were seen sitting together on the kang by the south window, reading a book.

Lin Daiyu heard the noise and looked up, "He's awake."

"I want to drink."

"Warm?"

"Warm."

Lin Daiyu stood up and took out a Ru kiln teapot from the tea basket on the kang table, refilled her tea bowl with water, and handed it to Li Hu who was sitting on the edge of the kang.

Li Hu drank several mouthfuls before putting it down. He then looked at Lin Daiyu and said, "I have a headache."

Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes at him but still walked over and gently rubbed his head with her slender white fingers.

Xue Baochai had already stood up. Looking at Li Hu who was enjoying himself with his eyes closed and Lin Daiyu who was busy, she blinked her eyes. Ever since she met them, they had been like this, close and with no sense of distance.

At this time, Xiangling came out from the inner room with sleepy eyes, saying, "Second Master is awake."

Li Hu said angrily: "Why don't you go get some water for me to wash my face."

Xiangling said "Oh" and walked out in a daze again, almost bumping into Xue Baochai.

Xue Baochai laughed and said, "You are so old, but you are still so confused."

Li Hu smiled: "Stupid people don't have any ideas. They are considerate. Unlike some smart people, they have many ideas and are hard to figure out."

After hearing what he said, the smile on Xue Baochai's face froze for a moment. She was completely stunned, and her heart felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on it, turning cold.

Li Hu saw this and realized that Xue Baochai had misunderstood him. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt a pain in his waist. He turned around and looked at Lin Daiyu, meaning: Why are you pinching me?!

Lin Daiyu glared at him, meaning: Who are you being sarcastic to here?

Li Hu then realized that these two people were both cunning! He was just thinking about the intrigue that happened in the side hall of Yuqing Palace that night and was just expressing his feelings.

These two are so suspicious!

Thinking of this, Li Hu coughed and said, "Well, I'm talking about the people in the officialdom, not you."

Before he could finish his words, he felt a pain in his waist again.

Li Hu turned around and looked at Lin Daiyu again, meaning: Why are you pinching me again!
Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes, meaning: What do you think?

After three or four years of living together, Li Hu was naturally the one who understood Lin Daiyu the most. At this time, he came to his senses and realized that he had spoken rashly and shouldn't have said "you guys", exposing her and making her lose face in front of Xue Baochai. Another point is that their identities are different. Well, although Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai never said anything in front of him, don't forget that he is the head of the Li family. As long as he wants, there is no news that he can't find out.

The girl's grip became stronger and stronger, and my waist was burning with pain. I am a local lord in troubled times, but I was bullied by a little girl. This is really intolerable!
Thinking of this, Li Hu saw Lin Daiyu looking at him with blinking eyes again, and sighed silently. Forget it, it was his own fault for doting on her.

He held her hand tightly as a silent apology.

Lin Daiyu pursed her lips, with a gentle smile in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows.

Xue Baochai felt relieved when she heard this. Seeing the two of them being so affectionate, she wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, so she covered her mouth with a palace fan. However, she couldn't hide the smile in the corner of her eyes.

At this time, Xiangling came in with water for washing her face and asked Lin Daiyu, "Miss, where is the water for washing your face?"

Lin Daiyu: "Just put it on the ground." Then she turned and went into the inner room, then brought out a face towel.

Seeing this, Xiangling went to take the face towel.

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Forget it, you can't even take care of yourself." Then she squatted down and put the face towel into the basin.

Xiangling blushed.

Li Hu: "If you have anything to eat, bring me some."

Xiangling: "Sister Amber is watching in the kitchen." After saying that, she ran out like a flash.

Lin Daiyu wrung out a face towel from the basin and handed it to Li Hu.

Li Hu wiped his face and said, "My hair is tangled."

Lin Daiyu did not move, and looked at Xue Baochai: "The comb is on the mirror table. By the way, are you going out?"

Li Hu: “Don’t go out.”

Lin Daiyu: "Bring me another hairband."

Xue Baochai bent her knees and walked straight into the inner room.

Li Hu handed the face towel to Lin Daiyu and asked in a low voice, "How do you order her around?" Lin Daiyu looked at him and smiled, saying, "I am happy to do so."

Li Huguang opened his mouth but no sound came out.

Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes and said unhappily: "Just pretend!"

Li Hu's old face turned red, realizing that Lin Daiyu knew that he had been asking about her private conversations with Xue Baochai.

Seeing Li Hu blushing, Lin Daiyu curled her lips and said, "He has the will but not the courage."

Li Hu was unhappy: "I am doing this for you. Otherwise, I would have taken Miss Bao, Miss Bei, Miss Qin, all the big and small girls!"

Lin Daiyu burst out laughing, and while wiping Li Hu's temples, she said with a smile: "I told you that you are fat, but you are panting. Why don't you look in the mirror?" At this point, she suddenly reacted, pinched Li Hu's cheek, and said coquettishly: "I knew you had this in mind!"

Li Hu laughed and said, "Just kidding. I have the intention to do it, but I don't have the body to do it."

Lin Daiyu laughed and punched him: "You're talking nonsense again."

Li Hu smiled, then pouted angrily towards the inner room.

Lin Daiyu glanced at the door curtain and realized that Xue Baochai was behind it.

After a while, Xue Baochai finally came out from the inner room.

Lin Daiyu took the hairpin off Li Hu's bun, letting his long hair fall down. Then she took the comb from Xue Baochai and gently combed his hair from front to back.

Li Hu suddenly remembered: "Let's move up the wedding."

Lin Daiyu paused for a moment: "Is the injury serious?"

Li Hu: “Did you guess it?”

While combing his hair, Lin Daiyu said softly, "There was such a big commotion yesterday, but the emperor returned to the capital without seeing the royal family, nobles, and civil and military officials, and the guards who were guarding the emperor were not the imperial guards. Why do you say that?"

Li Hu was silent for a moment, then looked at Xue Baochai and briefly recounted what had happened in Xishan.

Both of them were surprised.

Li Hu: "No one knows how long the emperor can last. If he dies, there will be another year of national mourning. The prince's condition is not very good, and there is also the emperor emeritus. How can this marriage be concluded?!"

Lin Daiyu was silent for a moment, and then said, "The end of November is only a few days away from the twelfth lunar month. There's no need to make a fuss."

Li Hu sighed and thought: I hope Emperor Yongchang can live a little longer so that I can get married in peace.

Thinking of this, Li Hu said to Xue Baochai, "Wang Li died in the battle."

Xue Baochai was slightly startled, then nodded slightly.

Li Hu: "Fortunately, your brother took leave to go meet the girl from the Xia family."

Xue Baochai clasped her hands together and silently chanted "Amitabha".

Li Hu smiled. As expected, Xue Baochai was still the type who would not speak when it came to matters that did not concern her.

Lin Daiyu: "Please write a letter to your father." As she said that, she handed the comb to Xue Baochai, took the hairband from her hand and tied it on Li Hu's hair.

Li Hu: "I'll write now." As he said this, he was about to stand up, but was held down by Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu: "It's not too late to write after dinner."

Li Hu nodded and said to Xue Baochai, "You can stay here for the next few days."

Xue Baochai blushed, lowered her head and said "hmm".

"It's not that I don't trust you. This matter is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly." Li Hu added.

Xue Baochai raised her head, looked at him with a complicated expression, then forced a smile and nodded.

Lin Daiyu almost couldn't help laughing.

Li Hu realized belatedly that he was a little "unromantic". When he was about to change the subject, Xiangling walked in.

Xiangling: "Second Master, it's time to eat."

Li Hu stood up quickly and said with a smile, "Let's go and have dinner." Then he took Lin Daiyu's hand and said to Xue Baochai, "Miss Bao, let's eat together."

Xue Baochai smiled at him faintly, then looked at Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "The kitchen has just hired a chef from Yangzhou. Let's try it together."

Xue Baochai bowed slightly and said, "Yes."

Li Hu blinked and looked at Lin Daiyu, meaning: You are quite awesome!
Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes at him, shook off his hand, and walked out with Xue Baochai.

This little temper needs to be tamed!
Seeing Xiangling smiling, Li Hu pinched her face unhappily and said, "What are you laughing at? If I can't deal with you girls, I can deal with you too! Wait for me tonight." Then he walked out with his head held high. (End of this chapter)