Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 160: Being unreasonable and unforgiving

Lin Daiyu's mind was completely blank, and she slept too deeply.

Trying hard to recall what happened last night, it was indeed Brother Yue who took the wrong path first, but she condoned everything that happened afterwards.

Thinking of this, my cheeks couldn't help but blush again.

After Yue Ling quickly dressed himself, he looked at Lin Daiyu on the couch. She had curled up into a small ball with only half of her head exposed.

The warm sun rose and the morning light shone into the tent, making her look even more pitiful.

It was hard for Yue Ling not to doubt himself and wonder if he had done anything inappropriate at night.

Sitting next to the couch again, Yue Ling smiled awkwardly and said, "Sister Lin, I apologize to you. I definitely didn't mean it. I swear to God, if..."

Yue Ling stretched out his hand and pointed to the sky, but Lin Daiyu stretched out her hand and slapped it away.

"Sister Lin, don't you believe me?"

Lin Daiyu blushed and stammered, "It's not that I don't believe it..."

Lin Daiyu shrank her head again, "I also agreed when Brother Yue lay down yesterday, so I don't blame Brother Yue."

"Besides, Brother Yue just had a peaceful sleep, similar to the last time."

The more Lin Daiyu spoke, the thinner her voice became, like the hum of a mosquito. If Yue Ling hadn't leaned closer, no one would have been able to hear what she was saying.

After realizing that Lin Daiyu meant "I slept soundly", Yue Ling finally felt relieved and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, fortunately, if I really mistook Lin Daiyu for Zijuan, that would be a bad thing. How can I explain to Lord Lin then?"

"But it would be hard to explain sleeping on the same bed... Never mind, let's keep it a secret for now."

Yue Ling smiled awkwardly, approached Lin Daiyu and asked, "Sister Lin, is there anything you want to eat? I will cook it myself to make amends for you."

Lin Daiyu looked at Zijuan who was standing beside her, and when she saw Zijuan nodded in response, she said, "No need. The city is so poor now, Brother Yue should go out and get busy earlier."

He is so well-behaved and sensible that he is really lovable.

Yue Ling couldn't help but rubbed Lin Daiyu's head and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll listen to Sister Lin. I'll take Sister Lin out for a walk when I stabilize the situation in the city."

After saying that, Yue Ling also stood up, ate a quick bite on the table, told Zijuan and Xueyan to take good care of Lin Daiyu, and then left.

Zijuan was combing Lin Daiyu's makeup. Her expression was reflected in the bronze mirror. She looked shy and seemed to be reminiscing about something. It was so colorful.

Zijuan couldn't help but chuckle.

After Lin Daiyu noticed it, she slightly frowned, looked at Zijuan, and whispered, "Sister Zijuan, Brother Yue mistook me for you last night, that's why he still lay down even though there were people around him. He also said, don't worry, he will definitely take responsibility... and so on."

"Then before that, did you secretly look for Brother Yue? You are really brave. There are so many sisters and so many eyes in the room, but you can still hide it."

Zijuan's cheeks flushed red, and her hands began to tremble. She stammered, "I, I..."

"What's wrong with you? Is what I said a lie? There are so many sisters in the room. How can you possibly win Brother Yue's heart with just this little trick? Besides..."

Zijuan knew exactly how powerful Lin Daiyu's mouth was. Before Lin Daiyu could finish her words, she immediately knelt down and admitted her fault, "Miss, I was wrong. I felt a little uneasy when I saw Sister Ke'er and the others come into the room, but I really didn't go to look for the master more often."

Lin Daiyu raised her eyebrows and thought to herself, "That's good enough. You dare to laugh at me. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be so embarrassed!"

But then I thought, I could sleep on the same bed with Brother Yue thanks to this girl.

"Brother Yue has slept in the same bed with me, so he should be responsible for me."

Lin Daiyu was in a complicated mood and was slightly absent-minded.

After being called twice by Zijuan, he coughed and responded: "I'm not holding your fault in mind. Your indenture is in the mansion, so naturally your heart is only with Brother Yue. It's just..."

Zijuan, who was half-kneeling beside Lin Daiyu's legs, looked up and repeated in confusion, "Just?"

Lin Daiyu blushed again, "Don't hide it from me and do bad things secretly!"

Zijuan blushed when she heard this, and she nodded gently and agreed.

When the two walked out of the door and came to the round table to have breakfast, they saw Xueyan leaning her head on the table in a daze, as if something was on her mind.

They both laughed unconsciously.

Lin Daiyu sat beside her and asked with a smile, "Xueyan, you don't want to eat, what are you thinking about?"

Xueyan sighed and said, "For dinner, of course I will wait for the young lady and Sister Zijuan to come out and eat together. As for what I was thinking, I was thinking that the young lady slept so soundly at night, but I didn't sleep well at all. If I don't sleep well, I won't have a good appetite in the morning."

"If General Yue can hold me while sleeping at night, will I be able to sleep well too?"

Xueyan came close to Lin Daiyu and asked curiously, "Miss, how does it feel to sleep with General Yue hugging you?"

Lin Daiyu's eyebrows trembled slightly, and then she tilted her head towards Zijuan who was opening a lunch box and said, "Ask her, she has more experience."

Xueyan looked at Zijuan in confusion and asked doubtfully, "Sister Zijuan has experience?"

Lin Daiyu and Zijuan blushed again after being teased by Xueyan's words, and could no longer laugh...

……

"Master, the cause of death of the military officer last night has been found out."

When Jia Yun saw Yue Ling coming out, he immediately went to greet him.

Yue Ling stopped and nodded slightly, "Go on."

Jia Yun continued, "There is a row of teeth marks on the deceased's left shin, which are traces of a poisonous snake bite. The area around the teeth marks is purple and black, and the swelling is higher than a finger. This person was so frightened before he died that he ignored the pain in his body. Because of his violent heartbeat, the poison entered his heart, and he finally vomited blood."

"Snake bites, no wonder you can kill people in front of me."

Yue Ling hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "This person was willing to expose his identity and put the military officer to death, which proves that the clues we found must be correct. If the snake venom was not uncontrollable, that person probably didn't want me to get a single word from the dead man."

"Even this one word is enough to kill them."

"Keep a close eye on the people who have had contact with the deceased. The deceased will not escape the scope of these people."

Thinking that there might be a traitor on his side, Jia Yun had to be extremely cautious and hurriedly responded with a cupped hand, saying, "Yes."

Coming to the next room, Yue Ling found a pen and ink, and spent some time writing a letter and a memorial, which he handed to Jia Yun and said, "This letter is to Zhang Changhe, the captain who once visited our house. This memorial will be submitted to His Majesty to report on what has happened recently and what I am going to do." He took one step at a time and looked three steps ahead. The two cases had not been solved yet, but Yue Ling was already thinking about what to do next.

Yue Ling's trip, in addition to disaster relief, is also to revitalize the entire Cangzhou Prefecture, not just to help the people.

He still has a lot of things to do in this city.

The first thing to do was to investigate the administration of officials. This was a major matter concerning the appointment of officials, and even Yue Ling, who was promised to act at his own discretion, thought it would be a good idea to report it first.

The next thing to do after disaster relief is to encourage people to engage in agriculture and sericulture and to develop water conservancy projects.

We also need to build the pillar industries of Cangzhou Prefecture. Only by becoming rich can a town be truly revitalized. Fortunately, Cangzhou Prefecture has its unique advantages.

Yue Ling, who was daydreaming on the couch last night, also thought of one thing. The Changlu salt, which was among the best in the country during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, originated from Cangzhou Prefecture and was later moved to Tianjin.

Cangzhou is located in the Bohai Bay, which has an excellent geographical location. Whether it is drying sea salt, or transporting it by sea or canal, or selling sea salt, it is extremely convenient. For the impoverished Cangzhou Prefecture, there is no reason not to vigorously develop.

The salt and iron economy can certainly make a region rich, such as Suzhou and Yangzhou in Liangzhe, but this is a state monopoly after all, and must be reported together.

Moreover, Yue Ling brought with him only soldiers who were loyal and could be used in terms of military force, but there was a severe shortage of talents in all aspects of civil administration and experience in the salt industry.

Yue Ling thought for a while while holding the pen, and wanted to write another letter to Lin Ruhai, asking him to lend some people to help develop the salt industry. But he changed his mind and thought that he had just shared a bed with Lin Daiyu last night, so he was a little embarrassed to write now.

Seeing Yue Ling frowning in deep thought, Jia Yun asked with concern, "Master, are you having any troubles?"

Yue Ling came back to his senses, shook his head and said, "It's not that difficult."

Yue Ling put the matter aside for the time being, thinking to himself: "I will tell Sister Lin and ask her to tell Lord Lin about this when she writes home. I don't believe Lord Lin will refuse."

After making up his mind, Yue Ling ordered again: "Let's go, it's getting late, let's go to the government office first."

Yue Ling rushed all the way to the government office gate and tried to enter the back hall through the side door, but was stopped by the gatekeeper as expected.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into the government office?"

Yue Ling and Jia Yun nodded and handed over their ID cards.

When the runner saw that it was a waist badge of the Secretariat, his face turned pale with horror. When he turned it over, he saw the words "Pingzhang Zhengshi" (Prime Minister of State Affairs), and he knew that this was a third-rank official of the current dynasty.

His body trembled and the bailiff immediately fell to the ground.

"Sir, I am blind and do not recognize the great man. Please forgive me. I will let the prefect and the judge come to the door to greet you."

Yue Ling motioned Jia Yun to help him up, and whispered, "Just do your job, don't make a sound, just pretend I was never here."

The bailiff nodded his head and said, "I know, I know."

Yue Ling shook his sleeves, his face turned serious, and he said, "Come in!"

At that moment, the curtain of a plain sedan chair with a green roof that was parked opposite the government office slowly dropped.

Xue Baochai, who was sitting inside, hesitated for a moment, and then said to her maid Ying'er, "Ying'er, keep an eye on the man who just went in. When he comes out, invite him in. Don't tell me your name yet, just say that we have something to ask for your help, and we will help you with the disaster relief in Cangzhou. Now prepare some tea in the elegant pavilion, and wait for you to discuss something or two."

Ying'er put down the plum blossom cord in her hand and nodded, "Okay, girl. I'll remember that."

……

In the government office,
In the classroom of Tongpan Jiqing, the documents on the desk were scattered all over the floor, as if blown away by the wind outside the window.

There was a person standing in front of the table, his face was covered with a scarf so his original appearance could not be seen, and he was holding a weapon in his hand.

There was no one else in the room.

Jiqing looked anxious. He had no intention of paying attention to the documents on the floor. Instead, he paced back and forth in the room.

"Since you had the chance to take action, why didn't you just kill him? Why did you leave a few clues behind, allowing Yue Ling to find this place. How can we deal with this?"

The masked man couldn't help but clench his weapon a little tighter, and said angrily, "It's because of you that you came up with this bad idea. You wanted to encircle and suppress Yue Ling together, but you only sent those patrolling soldiers. You either don't do it, or do it to the extreme. It's because you underestimated Yue Ling that you have encountered the disaster today!"

"You must know that he is the one who led an army of 200,000 to defeat the Northern Barbarians. Who dares to underestimate him?"

Ji Qing was also regretting at this moment, "Who knew that he could bring soldiers from the Beijing camp with him when he was inspecting the area? Who could have known that he not only brought them with him, but also brought them into the city right under our noses? If someone hadn't protected him, he would have died last night!"

"Besides, his deeds have been compiled into storytelling and spread all over the streets and alleys. It is said that he can attract thunder and rain, and is proficient in various magic tricks, such as Qimen Dunjia. Should I believe it?"

The masked man said angrily, "From what I can see, Yue Ling's martial arts skills are extremely high. The thief you have been unable to catch is no match for him. I risked exposing my identity to silence him. Now that Yue Ling is on guard, I can no longer act rashly."

"You, take care of yourself. Yue Ling will come to this government office today. If he finds anything wrong, you will lose your official hat and your head!"

The masked man didn't want to talk any more. He jumped out of the high window, and brought up a gust of wind, making the documents in the room rustle.

"What? Come today?"

Ji Qing didn't even have time to sigh, and hurried to the bookcase, wanting to tidy up this place.

But after taking a few steps, he heard someone knocking on the door urgently, "Mr. Tongpan, Mr. Tongpan, the imperial envoy from the capital has arrived! If you don't go out to greet him, you will be punished for disrespect!"

Ji Qing hurried to the door and asked, "Where is the prefect? ​​Has the prefect come?"

The bailiff outside said, "Master Tongpan, you forgot that today is the day for the court session. The prefect has already gone to the court."

Jiqing tilted his head to glance at the bookcase, sighed secretly, straightened his clothes, and hurried out to greet him.

When I walked out of the courtyard, I saw Yue Ling and his men coming through the doorway.

Ji Qing lined up at the side of the road and said respectfully, "Ji Qing, the magistrate of Cangzhou Prefecture, greets the Marquis."

Yue Ling took a closer look and saw that he had a pair of triangular eyes and sparse eyebrows, so he smiled and said, "I just came to the city and heard some rumors. Many people have made me a mythical being that I can do anything, but most of them are exaggerated."

Ji Qing smiled awkwardly, not knowing what Yue Ling meant by mentioning this.

Yue Ling added: "However, I do know a little bit about face reading. Lord Ji, do you believe it or not?"

　It is indeed difficult for a newcomer like me to earn 10,000 yuan a day. Today is the 25th day and I am a bit stuck in writing. I will update it later and post it later. Thank you for your understanding.

　　I would also like to thank everyone for their monthly tickets. I have been exhausted from typing recently, so I haven’t typed out my IDs to thank you one by one, but I am still very grateful for everyone’s support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)