The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 108 New Precognitive Dream

The next day, at Lin Daiyu’s residence.

Just after getting up from bed and before washing or eating, Daiyu heard brisk footsteps outside the door, followed by a cheerful laugh, and her sister Xichun jumped in.

"Sister Lin, what do you think of my outfit?"

Daiyu raised her eyes and saw Xichun standing in front of her with her arms outstretched. She opened her cloak to reveal the new outfit she was wearing. She turned around in a circle and showed it to her.

At this time, Xichun had her hair simply tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head, tied with a red rope and hung high. She was wearing the same tight-fitting outfit that she had seen in her dream, which wrapped up her curves and showed off her figure.

Daiyu was startled, and hurried over to take her hands down, wrapped her body in her cloak, and cried out in panic:
"You really made this costume?"

"Look at your clothes. They are so tight on your chest and buttocks. Not to mention men, even I would drool when I saw them. This is not the kind of clothes that girls like us should wear."

Xichun smiled and said:
"Don't worry, Sister Lin. I'm just wrapped in a cloak!"

"I'm showing this to you, so you can see the difference between it and what you saw in your dream, and see how you can continue to modify it."

Daiyu looked around and saw that there were only maids around. She breathed a sigh of relief, let go of her hands, and looked carefully at the clothes. She was surprised to find that they were 90% similar to what she had seen in her dream. She exclaimed in admiration:

"Sister Xichun is indeed a good painter. I just told you once and you had everyone make all the styles of the clothes without any deviation."

After hearing this, Xichun was also surprised and said:

"Are they so similar?"

"Actually, my costume is quite different from the one I drew, but the embroiderer in the Zhan Mansion said it would look better if I wore it this way, so I cut it this way."

Daiyu suddenly realized:
"Yes, the clothes I saw in my dream must have been made at the Zhan Mansion. The embroiderers might have been from the same group, so it's normal that the styles are similar."

"It's just... in the dream, why did you wear such tight clothes to the competition? Such tight clothes should not be worn for outsiders to see, right?"

Xichun was stunned for a moment, tilted her head to think about it, but still couldn't understand.

In fact, the reason is very simple, because this is a dream that Mr. Zhan came up with on the spur of the moment. He didn't think that there was anything wrong with wearing clothes that didn't reveal any skin in front of outsiders, so he arranged it this way.

But in fact, people of this era were not incapable of making tight clothes, but they wore loose clothes that did not show their figure outside. Any clothes that might evoke sexual associations would be denounced as immoral.

Except in brothels, it is rare to see this kind of clothing that stretches the breasts, buttocks, calves and other parts tightly and reveals the curves.

Those tights that the heroines wear are not actually tight at all!
Daiyu couldn't figure it out so she gave up and just complained:

"I thought you had just painted this picture, but I didn't expect you to actually make a set of clothes like this and wear them."

"Why did you take out these clothes for no reason?"

Xichun stuck out her tongue and said with a smile:
"Since in your prophetic dream, I was in high spirits, full of confidence, and could act recklessly, it is obvious that I have already taken control of my destiny. I must be living a happy life, isn't that right?"

Daiyu was speechless for a moment. She didn't know whether being a concubine of Master Zhan was a happy life for Sister Xichun. But when she recalled the heroic smiling face in her dream, she nodded and said:
"Sister Xichun was indeed full of sunshine in my dream. I have never seen such a cheerful look on your face before."

When Xichun heard this, her eyes lit up and she said firmly:
"I understand now,"

“Since we know that the future is bright, then of course we must work hard towards that bright future.”

"I am now afraid that I might make a mistake and turn the predetermined future into something worse. So since I am wearing this costume and riding a horse and shooting arrows in my dream, I will naturally move closer to the dream in reality and turn the predicted dream into reality step by step."

Seeing the light in Xichun's eyes, Daiyu was also deeply encouraged. She waved her little fist and agreed:
"That's right, Sister Xichun is right!"

"There is no such thing as a predetermined fate in this world. Since I have this 'destiny' on my shoulders, I must reverse the bad future and turn nightmares into sweet dreams!"

Xichun was delighted to receive Daiyu's approval. She danced, took her hand, and asked her to admire the clothes she was wearing.

Daiyu had never been developed by Master Zhan, so how could she be so open and bold? After taking a few glances, although she liked him in her heart, she felt too embarrassed and hurriedly waved her hands to urge him:
"Alright, alright, change your clothes!"

"If the ancestors knew that you were wearing this kind of clothes and riding a horse and shooting arrows in front of everyone, I'm afraid they would be furious and forbid you to practice martial arts anymore!"

When Xichun heard this, she shuddered with fear, fearing that such a thing would happen again, so she followed Daiyu into the back room and changed back into her loose women's clothes.

But now her temperament has become wild and she is no longer used to the ladylike life she used to live.

These days, the Zhan Mansion has been very indulgent to her. She can ride horses when she wants, shoot arrows when she wants, and she can eat, drink and have fun without any restrictions. She can run around between the two mansions, and she can get up whenever she wants every day...

This kind of indulgence made her feel an unprecedented sense of freedom for the first time, and she even thought that it would not be a bad thing to be a concubine in the Zhan mansion.

Well...it would be better if I wasn't beaten with the master's stick every night!
Now after putting on this kind of women's clothing, she feels restrained.

The big sleeves were wrapped around her and were particularly annoying. She couldn't take big steps or run fast, as if an invisible restraint had descended on her.

After sitting and chatting with Daiyu for a while, Xichun suddenly realized that there was a divergence in the topics between her and Sister Lin, and they were no longer in sync as before.

In the past, when two people were together, they would talk about flowers and moonlight, talented men and beautiful women, family matters, and gossip in the house.

But now, Sister Lin hasn't changed much, but she herself has changed.

Things that had interested her very much before, now seemed boring to her. She was more interested in archery, horse training, martial arts and stretching...but Sister Lin sounded like she had no interest in these things and didn't understand them at all.

So after just chatting for a while, Sister Xichun felt bored and simply got up and said goodbye to go home.

Even if I go back to the mansion and discuss with other sisters which postures the master is more interested in, it would be better than gossiping here.

Lin Daiyu didn't think there was anything wrong, so she just smiled and sent Xichun out. After she came back and sat down for a while, Mrs. Wang came.

This is a rare visitor!
Mrs. Wang has never liked Miss Lin. Since Miss Lin entered the mansion, she has rarely come to see her in person.

Sister Lin didn't know why she came, so she hurriedly took people out to greet her, invited Mrs. Wang in, sat her down in the room, served her some tea, and then asked with a smile:

"Why did you come to my place today, Madam?"

Mrs. Wang smiled and took Daiyu's hand, patted it gently, and asked with concern:

"Such a big event happened in the Xue family, who in the mansion doesn't know about it?"

"Before you revealed the secret, you became seriously ill and nearly lost your life."

"I just came here to see how you are doing. Please don't make yourself sick again."

Daiyu's eyes flickered, and she knew clearly that she was just being polite and would never really believe it, so she smiled and responded:
"Thank you, Mrs. Lao, for your concern."

"I have been in good health these past few days. I think the last time I had it was just common typhoid fever, and it had nothing to do with the divine punishment."

"As for whether the Xue family will be punished by heaven again after changing their fate this time, it is still unknown."

"But I think, since God has bestowed upon me the 'destiny', it must be for me to make some changes to the future. Otherwise, why would he let me know?"

Mrs. Wang also smiled and echoed:
"Yes, that's right!"

The two of them exchanged pleasantries for a long time. Daiyu became impatient and asked directly:
"Madam, do you have any instructions for me this time?"

Mrs. Wang smiled awkwardly and said:
"I am already so old, and I don't have anything else to worry about. The only thing I care about is my children at home."

"So, I came here this time just to ask, last time you dreamed that your elder sister was awarded the title of Imperial Concubine, did you dream of anything else afterwards?"

"For example...did your eldest sister give birth to a dragon child?"

"For example, did Baoyu become the top scholar in the imperial examination?"

After Daiyu heard this, she suddenly understood and said with a smile:
"This is unfortunate. My precognitive dreams are never automatic. I have no idea what I dream about, and I have never dreamed about anything related to my elder sister."

"As for Brother Bao..."

Daiyu got stuck halfway through her words, not knowing whether she should mention the "insult" to Brother Bao and ask her mistress to take good care of Brother Bao to prevent him from suffering any harm.

When Mrs. Wang saw her hesitation, she was startled and asked hurriedly:

"What happened to Baoyu?"

Daiyu hesitated for a moment, then decided to leave the conversation unsaid, revealing some information to prevent herself from failing to take good care of Bao Gege and ruining his innocence. So she said in a serious tone:

"Madam, I dreamed that Brother Bao would be led astray by Brother Rong from the East Mansion in the future, so please make sure to keep an eye on Brother Bao and don't let him associate with Brother Rong again!"

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang gasped in surprise, but then she raised her eyebrows, slammed her hand on the table, and shouted:
"How dare Jia Rong lead my son astray? This is outrageous!"

"Before, Baoyu always liked to go to the East Palace. I always thought he was just thinking about his sisters, so I didn't pay much attention to him. But I didn't expect that the troublemaker was Jia Rong!"

If Daiyu told Baoyu to stay away from Baoqin, Mrs. Wang would only believe it 30% at most.

If Daiyu told Baoyu to stay away from other women, Mrs. Wang would only believe it 80% at most.

But now that Daiyu said that she wanted Baoyu to stay away from Jia Rong, a man who had nothing to do with her, Mrs. Wang immediately believed it 100%!

"Good girl, you have done a great job this time!"

"I will forbid him to have any contact with Jia Rong, and he is not allowed to go to the East Palace anymore!"

Mrs. Wang patted Daiyu's hand and said many nice things before she left angrily. When she returned home, she grabbed Baoyu and asked angrily with a gloomy face:

"Let me ask you, what bad things did you and Jia Rong do?"

Baoyu felt guilty and dared not tell the truth. He just hesitated and did not dare to admit anything.

Mrs. Wang knew her son well. When she saw his expression, she knew he had done something wrong. She was furious and issued a ban:
"From now on, you are not allowed to go to the East Palace again, and you are not allowed to have any contact with Jia Rong anymore. Do you remember this clearly?"

Baoyu thought that his secret had been exposed, so he agreed dejectedly, not daring to say a word of rebuttal.

Later, he asked around with the people around Mrs. Wang and found out that his wife had gone to visit Miss Lin. He became furious when she came back.

Only then did he realize that it was not because of his own carelessness, but because Lin Daiyu was trying to deceive him.

Baoyu didn't know what kind of dream Lin Daiyu had, or whether she knew about what happened between him and Jia Rong, and he didn't dare to ask.

But after careful consideration, he felt that Daiyu should not know the truth. Otherwise, with Daiyu's personality, if she knew that he was a "cross-dresser" and had her own lovers, she would definitely make a fuss. Not to mention completely severing ties with him, she would definitely not be so calm.

While he felt relieved, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful. It was a pity that so many beautiful clothes were still kept in the East Palace and could never be worn again.

For some reason, Baoyu began to feel a little resentful towards Daiyu.

Why are you talking so much for no reason?
However, Daiyu had no idea what Baoyu was thinking. When she heard the news that Baoyu was under house arrest, she was delighted and thought that she had saved her own brother Bao.

That night, before going to bed, she kept whispering Brother Bao's name, hoping to see a good result in her dreams.

Unfortunately, when she fell asleep, Master Zhan had not come yet, so he did not hear her wish at all and naturally could not fulfill her wish.

When Lin Daiyu opened her eyes again, she was indeed in a dream again.

It was still the familiar environment and the familiar big bed. She was startled and hurriedly looked down at her clothes. Sure enough, she saw that she was ragged again, wearing only a semi-transparent silk nightgown that could not cover anything.

Lin Daiyu hurriedly reached out and grabbed a blanket, wrapping herself tightly so that nothing could be seen below the neck. She looked around and didn't see anyone else in the room. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and climbed out of bed with peace of mind.

She dragged the blanket on her body to prevent her feet from tripping over the mopping part, and carefully moved out bit by bit.

As soon as I walked out of the bedroom door, I saw Zijuan coming over with toiletries. "Auntie, why didn't you call me when you got up?"

"Uh... I forgot."

Zijuan came over to help Sister Lin wash and dress. Sister Lin was still confused, but she still remembered asking:
"Where is Master Zhan now?"

Zijuan said:

"The master stayed in Li Gongcai's room last night, and Sister Feng also ran over."

"Li Gongcai? Sister Feng?"

Lin Daiyu's eyes widened and the toothbrush in her hand fell down.

Zijuan quickly rinsed the toothbrush in clean water and handed it back to Lin Daiyu, saying in surprise:

"Why are you so surprised, Auntie?"

"They never ran into Auntie's room to snatch food, so even if they competed for her favor, it wouldn't affect Auntie."

"I'm not saying anything, but it's time for Auntie to find a sister to help out!"

"The master has a special physique, which is not comparable to ordinary people. It is not a good idea for Auntie to dominate the master like this. Every time she is favored by the master, she will fall into a coma for a long time. After all..."

As Lin Daiyu listened to Zijuan's muttering, she felt the soreness between her legs. A strange feeling arose spontaneously. Her eyes became dull and she brushed her teeth blankly, not wanting to say a word.

Suddenly, an idea popped up in her mind, and she asked subconsciously:

"Baoqin...Is Auntie here?"

Zijuan laughed and said:
"What did Auntie say?"

"Miss Baoqin is not our aunt!"

After hearing what Zijuan said, Lin Daiyu was overjoyed. She threw away her toothbrush, raised her arms high, and jumped and screamed and cheered on the spot.

"what……"

"Great!"

"Destiny has changed!"

"The Xue family was not completely executed!"

Zijuan was frightened by her and her face changed. She hurriedly came up to cover her mouth.

"Auntie, please don't talk nonsense. If outsiders hear about this, they will think we are cursing others, which will definitely cause trouble!"

Lin Daiyu stopped shouting, but she was still very excited, and her eyes and eyebrows were full of joy.

She stepped forward and grabbed Zijuan, and was about to ask for more details, but her fragile heart held her back again. Her heart beat too fast due to excessive excitement, and she was pulled out of her dream again.

Sitting up suddenly again, Lin Daiyu covered her chest and gasped for breath, but her face was full of the joy of success.

"Miss, are you having a precognitive dream again?"

Zijuan came over to wipe the sweat off Lin Daiyu's face, but she grabbed her arm and shouted excitedly:

"Zijuan, I did it!"

"This time the Xue family was not executed, and Baoqin did not become a concubine of the Zhan Mansion!"

Zijuan was delighted when she heard this and said with a smile:
"If that's the case, then it's not in vain that the Xue family gave us all these gold and silver gifts. We didn't take them in vain!"

"But this kind of thing...will it really not bring about divine punishment?"

Hearing Zijuan's worry, Sister Lin reached out and touched her forehead, moved her arms and legs, and felt that everything was normal, so she smiled and said:
"I don't feel any discomfort in my body, so I guess I'm fine."

"Besides, I'm saving people!"

"It is said that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. I have saved the entire Xue family. I don't know how many pagodas I have to build. How could there be a divine punishment?"

Zijuan then felt relieved and became happy along with Lin Daiyu.

The two chatted and laughed for a long time. When Lin Daiyu's excitement wore off, she felt tired. With Zijuan's help, she lay down again and continued to sleep.

The next day, Sister Lin got up, washed, and had breakfast. She was thinking about the matter between Li Gongcai and Sister Feng.

Although she heard these two names from Zijuan, she had never met them in person, so she was not sure whether these two people were the ones she knew.

This Li Gongcai, with the same surname and character, must be the eldest sister-in-law Li Wan, there won't be any surprises.

But that Fengjie may not be Wang Xifeng. There are too many women with the word Feng in their names.

However, considering the previous dream, it seems...the possibility of Wang Xifeng cannot be ruled out.

Why does it seem that many of the women I know have become Mr. Zhan’s concubines?

Sister Lin thought about it over and over again, but couldn't understand why these two people became Master Zhan's concubines.

Li Gongcai seldom even left the gate of her own courtyard every day. She just stayed by her own son's side and never spoke a word to men. It was no exaggeration to praise her as a "chaste and heroic woman". How could she have become the concubine of the Zhan family?

As for that Feng Jieer, if she is really Wang Xifeng, it would be even more unbelievable.

She is the legal wife of Second Brother Lian, and Second Brother Lian is the future inheritor of the title in the mansion. Why does she give up being a general's wife and run to the Zhan Mansion to be a concubine?
Just as I was thinking about it, someone came to report that Xue Ke and his sister came to visit.

She hurriedly welcomed the two of them in, and when she saw that they had brought many gifts, she frowned and said:
"You guys have already sent so many things before, why are you bringing these?"

Baoqin smiled and said:
"These are not gifts. I saw my sister staying at home all day and was worried that she would be bored, so I asked someone to find some fun things for her to play with."

Xue Ke was already unfolding something, which turned out to be a set of checkers.

"This is chess. My brother and I used to play it at home. Up to six people can play together. It's perfect for killing time."

Daiyu was delighted after seeing this, and she spread out the chessboard on the table, and the three of them played a game together.

At the beginning, Daiyu was not very familiar with the rules and suffered a few losses, but the two of them were willing to let her go and did not press her. After a few rounds, Daiyu became familiar with the rules and the three of them became evenly matched.

After playing for a while, Baoqin opened up and began to chat while playing chess, praising her brother's excellence in all kinds of roundabout ways. Daiyu didn't realize her purpose at all, and followed suit with a few words of praise.

After being praised by Daiyu, Xue Ke began to shake out his feathers like a peacock spreading its tail, and told many stories about his business trip.

These stories were all carefully selected by him. The plots were full of ups and downs and the plots were closely linked. He was eloquent and told them vividly, which made Daiyu startled and her emotions fluctuated with his words.

Just when we were having fun, Brother Bao came again.

Because his "incest was exposed", he was confined to the East Palace by Mrs. Wang and was not allowed to go to the East Palace anymore. Now he could only stay in his own palace. Naturally, Sister Lin's place was the place he visited most often.

When Lin Daiyu saw Brother Bao coming, she was of course happy and invited him to play checkers with her.

Baoyu is a playful person to begin with, and now that he sees the game of checkers, of course he is very interested in it.

Thus, the Three Kingdoms War turned into a four-way confrontation.

Baoyu and Daiyu were playing chess seriously, but Xue Ke and his sister had a clear goal, which was to conquer these two.

So originally Baoyu and Daiyu were a team to deal with the Xue brothers and sisters, but somehow, the situation gradually turned into Baoqin helping Baoyu all the time, and Xue Ke supported Daiyu in various ways.

When the game of chess began, Bao and Dai were still unaware of what was happening. They just grabbed the chess pieces and shouted, jumping around and laughing for a piece.

But Daiyu is a petty and delicate person to begin with. She likes to think about things on her own when she has nothing to do. Baoqin has almost revealed her true colors and keeps trying to please Baoyu. How could she not be suspicious?
So, as the game went on, Daiyu's face darkened, she threw away the chess piece in her hand, and said angrily:
"No more fun, it's boring!"

Baoyu didn't know what was going on, and he was still foolishly joking:
"Sister Lin, you can't afford to lose. I'm about to win, but you're cheating!"

Daiyu snorted coldly, flicked her sleeves and said:

"Since you love to play so much, just let your sister Qin go to your courtyard to play with you. But I won't be subservient to you!"

Baoyu then realized that Daiyu was angry, and he also felt unhappy, so he shouted:
"Why is Sister Lin angry for no reason?"

"Forget it, forget it. I shouldn't have come here, let alone played this stupid checkers game!"

Xue Ke and his sister looked at each other and hurried forward to "stop the fight".

"Second Brother Bao, I am wrong this time. Miss Lin is jealous. Why don't you go up and talk her out?"

"Miss Lin, my sister has been spoiled at home. She has no sense of propriety and talked to Brother Bao without thinking. I will punish her when I get back. Please don't be angry. Don't let it hurt your health."

The two were so "reasonable" that even Daiyu herself felt that she was being unreasonable.

Baoyu was even more anxious and angry. He felt that Lin Daiyu did not trust him at all, and even more so did not trust the relationship between them. He was jealous. In comparison, Miss Baoqin was much more considerate.

Xue Ke and his sister were about to stand up and say goodbye, which made Daiyu feel embarrassed. She took the initiative to dissuade them, but her awkward personality made her say nice things in a sarcastic way.

"You weren't the ones who caused the trouble, and I'm not angry at you."

"I didn't chase you away, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

When Baoyu heard this, he jumped up and said:
"Okay, okay, none of you should leave, I should leave!"

After saying this, he angrily threw the chess piece in his hand and strode out.

Daiyu wanted Brother Bao to come over and talk to her, but she saw that Brother Bao actually left. She immediately became angry and was about to ask him to stay, but Xue Ke, who was beside her, saw the opportunity and quickly interrupted:
"Miss Lin, please stop saying those angry words. You should quickly apologize to Brother Bao and invite him back to talk it out."

After hearing what Xue Ke said, Daiyu immediately swallowed back the words in her mouth, and just kept on being stubborn, stamping her feet and said angrily:

"Why should I apologize to him?"

"You must know that this is my yard, but I didn't invite him to come here. He just keeps coming here on his own."

After Xue Ke heard this, he hurriedly pushed Bao Qin and said in a fake tone:

"Sister, go chase after Brother Bao and explain this misunderstanding. Don't let any rifts arise between Brother Bao and Miss Lin."

Baoqin responded, walked out quickly, chased after Baoyu, and then... disappeared without a trace.

Xue Ke, on Lin Daiyu's side, began to coax her. He pretended to say good things about Baoyu at first, but when he saw that Daiyu didn't like to hear it, he changed his words and continued telling the story of his business and traveling abroad.

Lin Daiyu was soon distracted by his bizarre and tortuous story, and her anger dissipated unknowingly. She had a good impression of the Xue Ke siblings and had no idea that her own brother Bao was being poached by her sister Bao Qin.

Xue Ke was also a playboy, and of course he knew how to control the timing when picking up girls, so after gaining enough favorability from them, he got up and said goodbye to leave.

Daiyu stood up to see him off and told him about her dream last night.

"Mr. Xue, please tell the second master that the future has changed and the Xue family's disaster is over. Please don't worry."

Xue Ke hurriedly thanked him again and became even more determined to conquer the beauty in front of him.

Thanks to the disciple “timedust” for the reward of 800 coins!
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(End of this chapter)