Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 183 Morning Tenderness
Wake up early in the morning,

Yue Ling relaxed his body, as if all the pressure accumulated over the month had been released, and felt very refreshed.

She was also becoming more and more able to adapt to the difference between her current identity and that of her previous life. She felt more at ease as she enjoyed the service of the little maid.

I felt around, but Zijuan was no longer on the couch next to me.

Instead, outside the curtain, there was a little maidservant's shadowy figure, who seemed to be cleaning.

In fact, the usually clever Zijuan was now in a daze, her movements paused and her eyes were dull.

Zijuan stroked her cheek gently, frowned slightly, and felt infinite remorse in her heart, "I did it again. This is the master's request. Does it count as doing something bad? Also, how dare I do such a shameful thing? I really want to find a hole in the ground to crawl into."

Just as Zijuan was daydreaming, she heard the rustling sound of someone dressing from the couch. Zijuan hurriedly rolled up the curtains, got on the couch and started dressing Yue Ling.

Yue Ling looked at the little girl in front of him, her cheeks flushed red. He had not forgotten what happened last night at all. He was probably still thinking about it and was in the mood to tease her again.

"You took off my clothes last night, and you didn't stay by my side this morning to wait for me to put them on. Aren't you irresponsible? You played with my body, and you ignored me."

Zijuan curled her lips and wanted to roll her eyes.

That's not what Zijuan wanted to do. She was obviously trying to please him.

Zijuan knelt on the edge of the couch and buttoned up Yue Ling's shirt carefully without saying a word.

After putting on the lining, Yue Ling took her to the couch again and said, "From now on, if you wake up first, you are not allowed to go out. You must wait for me to wake up together. Do you understand?"

Zijuan nodded shyly, as a sign of agreement.

Holding Zijuan's hand again, Yue Ling said with emotion: "What a pair of skillful hands."

As a servant girl of the Jia family, Zijuan was selected from among many girls since she was young to work in the Jia mansion.

His character and appearance were both outstanding, and he had been taught countless things by the teaching nanny, so he was very familiar with it once he started.

Zijuan was originally a maid who worked for Lady Jia, and was selected to help enlighten the young men in each room.

Regardless of whether the old lady of the Jia family was wise or stupid, the maids she selected were all excellent. In the case of Zijuan, Yue Ling took advantage of her.

Zijuan knew what Yue Ling meant, and lowered her head in shame.

But Yue Ling would not let her lower her head. He liked to see the little girl looking embarrassed and at a loss the most.

Gently stroking Zijuan's blushing cheeks and pushing aside some of her hair, Yue Ling straightened her head and made her look at him.

"Not only is this hand dexterous, but there is also something hidden in the mouth..."

Zijuan's lips were a touch of cherry red. Although she didn't wear any rouge, they were plump and smooth, making Yue Ling naturally want to capture this sweetness.

Seeing that the master still wanted to be affectionate for a while early in the morning, Zijuan had to close her eyes and put her arms around the master's neck to fulfill his wish.

Just as their lips were about to touch, there was a knock on the door, causing both of them to pause.

"Sister Zijuan, hurry up and call General Yue to eat! It's getting late!"

……

Cangzhou City, Huang Family,

Huang Wenhua has not been able to sleep peacefully since Yue Ling beheaded the head of the Pan family in front of him.

Every night when he lay on the couch, he could always hear the wailing of the head of the Pan family in his ears, saying to him, "Soon you will come to accompany me... soon..."

The sound was so miserable that Huang Wenhua was terrified.

This made Huang Wenhua, who had never believed in gods or Buddhas, burn incense in his house and ask Taoist priests to pray for blessings and exorcise ghosts. Only then did the situation get slightly better.

This morning when Huang Wenhua was having his morning tea, his right eyelid kept twitching and he had a bad feeling.

Four days have passed since Yue Ling tortured the wealthy merchant. During this time, Yue Ling has only been investigating administration in the government office and making things difficult for the officials of the eight counties.

I have heard that many people were thrown into jail because of this, and some were stripped of their official uniforms on the spot and cried bitterly in front of the government gate.

In short, according to the informant in front of the government office, anyone who went in to be inspected by Yue Ling was lucky to come out, and none of those who were lucky enough to come out could smile.

Therefore, Huang Wenhua felt relieved that he was not being targeted by Yue Ling, the hungry wolf. "Maybe I just haven't had enough rest recently, so my eyelids keep twitching. I won't scare myself."

"However, Yue Ling's style of doing things is not meant to stabilize Cangzhou Prefecture. He is not polite to his subordinates at all. Aren't you afraid that the people below will pretend to obey your orders and deliberately disobey your orders? If this continues, I'm afraid that Cangzhou Prefecture will become more and more chaotic."

"I don't know what the people in the capital were thinking. What is the connection between military merit and local governance? They actually sent Yue Ling, a devil-like person, to Cangzhou for disaster relief?"

"It's almost the end of May. If we don't come up with a way to deal with the disaster victims in the city, I'm afraid it will soon arouse public anger. I want to see how Yue Ling ends up then."

Huang Wenhua slowly exhaled, scraped off the foam on the tea, and sipped the tea calmly.

At the right time, the Huang family's housekeeper came in a hurry to report, "Master, the warehouse is now full of grain. If the newly purchased grain is not stored in a cold warehouse, it will be eaten by insects in a few days and become stale grain that cannot be sold."

The biggest cost of reselling grain is storage. With a large amount of grain in hand, not only does one need a granary of sufficient size, but one also needs someone to look after it at all times, which is really a considerable expense.

Moreover, if the grain is not stored and becomes stale and inedible, all the money will be lost.

In order to make a fortune today, Huang Wenhua had the foresight to dig several more cellars, enough to store thousands of stones of grain. If they were all filled, it would be enough to feed the people in the city for several months. How could there be no place to store grain?
Huang Wenhua asked in confusion: "How could that be? Are the original granaries full?"

The housekeeper replied in great embarrassment: "We already had plenty of food, and we only reserved a few hundred shi of space in advance. We never thought that so much new food would flow into the city."

Huang Wenhua was suddenly startled, and felt something was wrong. "New food? How much is it?"

Seeing the master's expression change, the housekeeper replied carefully, "Some time ago, the master asked us to buy some surplus grain from some retail households outside the city, and we have been buying it. I don't know if the news spread too widely, but every day there are boatmen selling grain at the dock. In the past three days, we have consumed a total of 500 dan of grain."

"In order to stabilize the price of grain, not only our family is purchasing it, but other families are also purchasing it. It is estimated that in total, there are probably 800 to 900 dan of grain entering the city."

"It's not just our family that has run out of space in the granary. Several other families have the same problem. If we don't sell some grain and make room for new grain, I'm afraid this batch of grain will be left in our hands."

Huang Wenhua put the teacup back on the tea table, a little angry on his face, "I was tricked by Yue Ling. But he can only use this little trick, making up the rules in and out of the city to fool us. It's only a loss of a few hundred stones of grain, and my Huang family can still bear it."

Looking down at the hall, Huang Wenhua gave another instruction: "Store this batch of grain on the ground first, and dig a few cellars for emergency use. If other grain merchants cannot store this grain, let them pay a fee, and our Huang family will keep it for them first."

The housekeeper nodded repeatedly, "Master, you are wise. I will do it right away."

The housekeeper was just walking towards the door when he was bumped into by someone who came in. He sat down on the ground and couldn't help cursing, "Where did this blind little beast come from?"

The servant who came in didn't care about much else. He dusted himself off and apologized to the master above, "Master, there is a new situation outside. I hope you will forgive my impoliteness."

Huang Wenhua waved his hand indifferently, "Tell me what happened outside first. If it's not a big deal, just leave it to him to handle."

The butler did not leave, just waiting for the servant's words.

The servant said hurriedly, "Just now, just now, the eight county magistrates who had finished their assessment took away the stored grain from the warehouse in the city. Among them, County Magistrate Chen of Nanpi County received 300 dan of grain, and several other counties received between 100 dan and 50 dan."

"Master, do you think there is already food in the big warehouse in the city?"

Huang Wenhua slammed the table and said angrily, "Impossible! Why would Ji Qing come to borrow grain when he has it? This must have been confiscated by Yue Ling during a house search, and some small households donated it."

"There is absolutely no surplus food in the city's warehouses now. Giving the food to the county magistrates is definitely a stupid move. Let's see what he will do after he runs out of tricks!"

Huang Wenhua stood up angrily and paced back and forth in the hall.

"Yue Ling won't last long without food. He once boasted in front of the people, but five days have passed and he still hasn't opened the granary to release food or set up porridge stalls to help the people. The people are bound to complain."

"This time, it's time for us to make things difficult for Yue Ling."

Turning to the housekeeper, Huang Wenhua ordered: "Spread the word in the city that Marquis Anjing has disregarded the lives of the people in the city and has distributed all the food to the surrounding prefectures. There is no food in the city to distribute porridge."

"Under pressure, Yue Ling will certainly negotiate with us again, and that will be the day for us to turn things around. The people are in an uproar, and I believe it won't take a few days for Yue Ling to be unable to hold on. In this way, our newly harvested grain will not be left in our hands."

The housekeeper and servants below hurriedly echoed: "The master is wise."

Huang Wenhua showed a smug look on his face, and suddenly he remembered something, "Oh, by the way, don't forget to pay more attention to the riverside. Yue Ling is a marquis after all, he must have some connections. If he asks for government grain for disaster relief, our preparations will fail."

"There is no movement in the court, but there is no guarantee that Yue Ling will have other ways."

The housekeeper was in a dilemma. "If there is government grain, we can't do anything about it."

Huang Wenhua frowned and said, "How much money was given to Zhang Changhe every year? Doesn't he know this? He must have his own way!"

"Hurry up and do it, don't miss the important thing!"

(End of this chapter)