Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 272 Lin Meimei is here

After running around outside for a whole day, Yue Ling finally rushed back to the Shen family as the sun was setting.

The heavy rain in the morning had stopped long ago, leaving behind only the devastation.

The rice fields were soaked and the accumulated water was difficult to drain. Ragged people were seen everywhere along the streets, either digging ditches to drain water or fishing out objects washed out by the flood.

Yue Ling felt really heartbroken. When he first arrived at Cangzhou City, it was in ruins. After several years of hard work, Cangzhou has become the prosperous place it is today. It has become the first prefecture south of the capital and the southern gate of the capital.

And now that I have just arrived in Suzhou and have experienced such things, it is even more difficult to deal with.

Suzhou’s harvest is gone this year. It is a rare achievement that the disaster has been contained, but it is also difficult to justify the delay of paying taxes for a year or even several years.

After Yue Ling sighed, he continued to ride his horse at full speed and rushed into the city.

After entering the Shen family residence, I saw that the guards were coming and going more frequently than usual, as if they were standing guard to guard against outsiders.

This immediately alerted Yue Ling. He couldn't help but look at the hall a few more times and thought to himself, "Who from the Shen family has come?"

The head of the guards saw that it was Yue Ling who came back, so he took the initiative to greet him and said, "The master of the house is entertaining guests in the hall today, so I hope Brother Liu will not walk around the yard casually, otherwise we will not be able to report to him."

As he said this, the head guard was about to take the reins.

Yue Ling did not alert the enemy by asking who was coming. He nodded silently but did not hand over the reins.

"You need to guard here, and I will take you to the stables myself."

The head guard bowed and said, "Brother Liu, I am very grateful for your understanding of us."

Without saying anything more, Yue Ling led the horse away. When he approached the stable, he saw a maroon BMW with shiny black hooves. It was definitely not an ordinary horse.

Yue Ling had some doubts about the visitor's identity, but he still returned to the courtyard where he and Xiangling lived.

"Husband, are you back?"

Seeing Yue Ling coming in, Xiangling hurried forward to help him take off the hat that was used to protect him from the rain, and a look of joy appeared on her face.

Yue Ling saw the gloom between Xiangling's brows at a glance, and the little girl's worries were not easy to hide.

"What's wrong? What happened today that made you unhappy?"

Xiangling frowned, pursed her lips and said, "My husband guessed it all right. My uncle is really working for the Xu family. However, because the Cao Gang outside the city is providing relief, not many fields have been sold."

Xiangling was kind-hearted. She felt very uncomfortable when she learned that her relatives were helping the tyrant to commit atrocities, as if she had done those bad things herself.

Looking at the candied fruits on the plate, it felt like someone else's bones and blood were sandwiched between them, making her unable to swallow them.

In this case, how could Xiangling still have a good face?

Xiangling sighed softly and said to Yue Ling: "Husband, please take me away. I don't want to live here anymore."

Yue Ling was a little surprised and asked, "You and your mother have been getting along well lately, haven't you? Are you willing to leave like this?"

Xiangling choked up and said, "My mother won't be willing to go with me. Besides, I still have to rely on my husband to live. It would be even more unreasonable to take my mother with me."

"If that's the case, I don't know how the sisters in the room will look at me."

Yue Ling didn't mind Xiangling's mother coming to seek refuge with him. After spending some time with her, he found that the woman had the same personality as Xiangling, weak and indecisive.

If she had a personality like Aunt Xiangling, Yue Ling would certainly not tolerate her appearing in his mansion.

"Now is not the time to think about these things. I will stay in Suzhou for a while longer, which may not be much shorter than in Cangzhou. Since you don't want to live in the Shen family, let's move out of the city first."

"After my identity is revealed, I will bring your mother to reunite with us. When that time comes, let your mother decide whether to stay or go."

Xiangling was deeply moved. She knew that Yue Ling was good to her, but she never thought that he would be so good to her and consider everything for her.

Xiangling threw herself into Yue Ling's arms, raised her head, and looked at Yue Ling with her watery eyes. For a moment, she didn't know how to express her inner feelings, so her face turned red.

Yue Ling rubbed Xiang Ling's head and comforted her, "Okay, it won't be for now. It's almost night now, let's leave the city first."

After hearing Yue Ling's words, it was Xiang Ling's turn to be surprised, "Leaving tonight?"

Yue Ling nodded and said, "Now that someone from the Shen family has come, it seems to me that it can't be anyone other than the Xu family. If the method of reforming the combined relief cannot be implemented, they will not sit idly by and will definitely come up with other tricks."

"Not only for you, I'm also a little worried about what's happening outside."

Xiangling still felt warm in her heart. She broke free from Yue Ling's arms and started packing her luggage.

"Listen to my husband, we'll leave tonight."

……

In the main hall of the Shen family,
Just as Yue Ling expected, the person Shen Yishu received was not someone else, but Xu Yaozu's son Xu Lang.

The man was well-dressed and had an extraordinary appearance. He wore a moon-white gown with luxurious patterns outlined in silver thread. He had fair skin, which was a delicate look that only came from living a life of luxury.

"Young Master Xu, I wonder what brings you here today?"

Shen Yishu was very polite to the young man. He condescended to invite him into the hall and asked him to sit in the middle.

Xu Lang smiled like a smiling tiger, just like his father, "Uncle Shen, I am here to meet you. Today I am just a messenger."

Shen Yishu's expression was startled, knowing that Xu Yaozu had sent him on another mission.

"please say."

Xu Lang sighed, "I think my uncle must have expected this, because it was about purchasing the rice fields in Wu County. The plan was originally very careful, but I didn't expect the sudden change of the Cao Gang."

"After discussing it, several adults unanimously decided not to give up halfway. Whoever stands in the way will be eliminated."

"Uncle, there is no turning back for us."

Shen Yishu raised his eyebrows slightly, and felt a little flustered.

Xu Lang, who is still very young, actually prepared him psychologically. What a horrifying plan this must be.

"The only ones standing in the way now are the Cao Gang. Are we going to kill them..."

Shen Yishu tried to guess and saw Xu Lang nodding repeatedly, "That's right, since uncle knows it well, it's good. We need our people to cooperate with the government to burn the grain of the Cao Gang. In this way, they will have no grain, and our business will naturally be accomplished."

The crime of arson and burning warehouses is not a light one, and there are tens of thousands of grains stored by the Cao Gang. Once discovered, sentencing to beheading is inevitable.

If Shen Yishu were to handle this matter alone, he would never dare to do so. However, now the government officials are also his people, so who would come to investigate the crime?

Shen Yishu pondered for a long time, suppressed his trembling arms, and finally let out a deep sigh.

Xu Lang continued, "Uncle, after the matter is completed, we can buy land in the name of the weaving bureau, so that the villagers will feel more at ease."

Shen Yishu was still immersed in the shock of the "fire dragon burning the warehouse" and ignored Xu Lang's subsequent words. The scene was silent for a while.

After a while, a guard knocked on the door and said, "Master, something went wrong."

Shen Yishu straightened his clothes and sat up straight, "Come in and talk."

The guard entered the courtyard and bowed to Xu Lang first, then said to Shen Yishu above: "Mr. Liu and Miss Zhen, who live alone in the courtyard, have packed their bags and left the city. They said that Suzhou was hit by a disaster, so they will not trouble the master here. They will come back to bother them in the future. Now they will go west to find Miss Zhen's father."

Shen Yishu frowned slightly, "Why are you leaving the city at this hour? How can the Shen family owe them food and clothing?"

Shen Yishu was a little unhappy about the fact that the person left without saying goodbye, but he could do nothing about it since the person had already left.

"Inform the mistress and concubine in the room about this matter."

"Yes."

Xu Lang said with interest: "Recently, I often hear you mention that his cousin Miss Zhen is very beautiful, far better than ordinary women. It's a pity that I can't meet her now."

Shen Yishu heard the hidden meaning in his words and explained, "Lian'er is now a married woman, and Mr. Liu still has a background of four kings and eight dukes. He just likes to wander around the world, which is a bit inappropriate."

"Master, don't listen to that evil creature's nonsense. She looks just like a girl from Jiangnan."

Xu Lang narrowed his eyes, as if he had taken Shen Yishu's words into account, but also as if he hadn't. He picked up the teacup and took a sip, "How have you considered uncle's matter? The adults are waiting for a result tonight."

Shen Yishu was stunned and said, "It just rained today, and the ground is not dry yet. If we want to burn the warehouse with a fire dragon, isn't it too difficult?"

"It would be more like a man-made thing if we burn it today. It would be better to wait until tomorrow night, or at the earliest tomorrow morning."

Xu Lang pondered and said, "I am not sure about this matter either. I will report back to my father and let him make the decision."

Having said that, Xu Lang stood up and left his seat, bowing and bidding farewell to Shen Yishu.

……

Outside Suzhou city, the sky gradually darkened.

Yue Ling carried Xiang Ling on horseback and galloped along the official road towards the Caoyun Guild Hall.

Xiangling hid obediently in Yue Ling's arms. They were both silent along the way, both of them had something on their minds.

But Xiangling was thinking that after leaving the Shen family, they would no longer have to play the role of husband and wife, and she would no longer have to call him husband and wife. The days when they were close to each other were gone forever.

Originally, she was going to wait until Miss Lin and the others went south before she would have to do this, but now her good days were over in advance, and Xiangling felt lost.

However, Yue Ling was not thinking about the love between his children, but was still thinking about business.

Since their plan to replace rice with mulberry trees has not been implemented, they may plan more brutal means next.

After all, they could even frame the prefect, and the Cao Gang was just a new folk charity organization without much power. In their eyes, it was not worth mentioning.

In this case, Yue Ling thought that he could not sit idly by and wait for them to frame him. The initiative of the situation in Suzhou must be firmly in his hands.

He was lost in thought all the way until he arrived at the gate of the Caoyun Guild Hall. Seeing sailors and laborers busy at work near the dock, Yue Ling could not help but stop one of them and ask.

"It's almost night, what are you still busy doing here?"

"It won't work even at night. This is newly arrived grain that needs to be transferred to the warehouse first. We still have to provide relief to the disaster victims in Suzhou tomorrow."

It was dark at night and the canal worker did not recognize Yue Ling, but after hearing what he said and looking at the granary in the distance, Yue Ling immediately came up with an idea.

"Don't put these grains in the granary yet. Send those that can be sent back to the ship. Send those that can't be put on the ship to the cellar for storage overnight. Ask the steward of your hall to come to my room to see me."

The canal workers only then recognized that the man was Marquis Anjing, and hurriedly bowed to him and went to deliver the message and do the work.

Walking straight into the residence he had reserved in the Caoyun Guild Hall, Yue Ling then noticed Xiangling, who had been silent beside him. There was a look of sadness between her brows, and she looked like a delicate little flower, causing people to feel pity for her.

Yue Ling held him in his arms and asked caringly, "What's wrong? Are you still reluctant to leave? It's okay. It won't be long before you can reunite with your mother."

Xiangling nodded gently. Her originally pure and innocent heart was suddenly filled with so many things, making her feel mixed emotions.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Xiangling asked crisply, "Can I still call you husband here?"

Yue Ling was stunned at first, then he burst out laughing.

Xiangling blushed and lowered her head, "My Lord, please don't make fun of me."

Yue Ling sighed, "So you are struggling with this. If you like, just call her that. When Sister Lin and the others come, you can call her that too."

Xiangling waved her hands quickly, "I don't dare to do that."

Yue Ling stroked her head gently and said, "Silly girl, don't worry so much. It's already difficult enough for you. What else could you have done wrong?"

Xiangling nodded gently, and then leaned into Yue Ling's arms. The security and warmth made her obsessed.

Soon, there was a knock on the door.

Xiangling quickly came to her senses from her confusion, struggled to her feet, and went to the inner room to make the bed.

The reckless little girl made Yue Ling curl his lips and smile again, "Come in."

"My Lord, you called me."

A middle-aged man in plain clothes walked in, dressed exactly like the canal workers.

Yue Ling changed his gentle expression and became serious again, "Go and burn the granary."

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, his mouth opened as wide as if he could swallow a goose egg, "My Lord, I don't think I heard what you said just now, could you please say it again?"

"Go and burn the granary."

Yue Ling repeated.

The middle-aged man heard it clearly now, and it was not that he heard it wrong. Bitterness appeared on his face, and he could not help asking: "I was born in Nanpi, Cangzhou, and I watched the Marquis make Cangzhou better bit by bit. If it weren't for the Marquis, my family of more than a dozen people would have died in that disaster year. I am loyal to the Marquis, how dare I do such a treasonous thing."

Yue Ling was touched by his loyalty, but also somewhat helpless about his lack of understanding.

"I have already sent word to move the grain out of the granary. What you are asked to burn is the granary, not the grain."

No matter how stupid a middle-aged man is, he is still a manager and he understood some of the profound meaning at this time.

"My Lord, what you mean is that someone will come to burn the granary, so we burn it first?"

Yue Ling shook his head. "I don't have any exact information, but if we burn the granary ourselves, we can guarantee the losses and make it easier to throw out the dirty water."

"Besides, we can't keep the grain for long. We still have to send it out. Losing a granary is not a big deal." "Go ahead. Light the fire at midnight when it's quiet. It's better to burn it for a while to burn the granary clean and leave no traces."

"Yes."

……

In the dead of night,

Yue Ling comforted Xiang Ling several times, which made Xiang Ling forget her sorrow. She leaned in his arms obediently, closed her eyes, and breathed softly.

She wrapped her arms around Yue Ling, holding him tightly. Her long eyelashes trembled with every breath. She was such a quiet and beautiful girl.

Yue Ling gently stroked her cheek, waiting quietly for the night to deepen.

It was already pitch black outside the window; even the lanterns hanging under the eaves were burning much fainter.

At three o'clock in the morning, fire suddenly broke out in the granary of the Caoyun Guild Hall, burning from several places at the same time.

The sleepy night watchman suddenly smelled a burnt smell. He struggled to get up and looked towards the source of the smell. He saw flames shooting up into the sky and smoke everywhere. There was no way to contain the fire. He was so frightened that he lost all his sleepiness.

"Hurry up, there's a fire! There's a fire!"

The gong sounded, waking many canal workers from their dreams.

This Canal Transport Guild Hall is not only their home, but the grain it contains is the life-saving food for the people in the city. If it were burned down, wouldn’t it be a disaster?
Soon, many people gathered in the courtyard, and even many people from nearby villages came to help.

But after all, there was a shortage of fire-fighting tools, and the fire was too big to be put out with just a bucket of water.

They could only watch as the fire covered the entire granary and finally collapsed.

Fortunately, the granary was a separate building and was not connected to other houses, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

Xiangling, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened from her dream. Just as she was about to get up, Yue Ling hugged her again.

"Don't panic, this is not an accident."

Xiangling heard loud shouting outside, but the presence of Yue Ling made her feel inexplicably at ease, even if there was a fire outside.

Xiangling didn't understand what was going on, but she still moved closer to Yue Ling's arms and hugged him tighter.

The little girl was still a little scared, so Yue Ling patted her gently to comfort her. Then someone came in from outside the door and reported, "Lord Marquis?"

"Awake, you say."

"The granary has been burned down, and no other houses have been affected. We called the brothers in the granary away early, and there were no casualties. Some people were bumped and bruised, but they are not serious. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"But the brothers outside who don't know what's going on, and the victims who came to put out the fire, are in the yard insulting the people who burned the warehouse, and are directly cursing their ancestors. It's very unpleasant to listen to. Should I send them away?"

Yue Ling said indifferently: "Although it was my idea, you were the one who burned the warehouse, so you can do whatever you want."

The butler's legs went weak, and he almost fell on the door. He smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Okay, I understand. My Lord, please rest first."

Xiang Ling's eyes widened as she looked at Yue Ling in confusion and asked, "Is it my husband who wants to burn the granary? Why burn it? Isn't this a waste?"

Yue Ling tapped the rouge mole between her eyebrows and said, "I can't explain it to you right away. Let's go to bed first. It's getting late."

Seeing Yue Ling's wise look, Xiangling asked herself that it was useless to understand everything. She was not Miss Lin and could not help with a few words. She simply put it out of her mind, leaned in Yue Ling's arms and closed her eyes.

Yue Ling thought to himself: "No matter how hard we try, this granary was set on fire. The government will be in big trouble."

At about five o'clock in the morning, an hour later it was light, and a group of people with very strange behavior sneaked into the vicinity of the Caoyun Guild Hall.

Everyone walked very lightly, with their mouths sealed, and they did not speak to each other. They only made gestures and moved forward in the dark.

The purpose of this group of people was simple: to go straight to the granary of the Caoyun Guild Hall.

After passing through numerous obstacles, they settled down in an unguarded courtyard, only to see that the granary in front of them was already in ruins.

Everyone took out the tinder from their hands, feeling confused.

There was a strong smell of burning everywhere, and only broken walls were left in the granary.

Everyone was stunned and spat out the coins in their mouths. "That's not right. How come it's already burned? Could it be that in addition to us, the Xu family has found another team to be on the safe side?"

The leader frowned and looked around, then shook his head after a moment and said, "Probably not."

"Boss, are we done yet?"

"It's hard to say. Go back and report the truth."

The leader felt somewhat uneasy, so he led his team to retreat first.

Standing high above the guest room in the clubhouse, Yue Ling took in the entire scene. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he turned over and went back to his room.

Letting these people go was not because Yue Ling was merciful, but because the evidence was not conclusive, and it would be difficult for those with ulterior motives to get away with it, just like yellow mud falling on a trouser crotch.

……

"Sir, it's not good!"

Sun Yicai was sleeping peacefully in the room with Mei Niang in his arms, but outside the room, the yamen runners were banging on the door violently.

Mei Niang woke up in shock and hurriedly pushed Sun Yicai, who was sleeping soundly beside her, and said, "Master, something happened outside. I was looking for you."

Sun Yicai frowned and said angrily, "What could happen? You are a bunch of useless people!"

Mei Niang quickly dressed him up and finally put on a presentable coat, then led the bailiff who had reported the incident in.

Sun Yicai, whose sweet dream was disturbed, looked very unhappy. He sat down beside the table, frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Isn't it just a warehouse fire? Could it be that the tinderbox was not lit?"

The yamen runner trembled and said, "No, sir, when we went there, the granary had already been burned down!"

"Finished the burning? Did you and the Xu family leave separately?"

The bailiff shook his head and said, "No, we went together. They went into the yard to set the fire, and we were outside to keep watch."

"We smelled a burning smell outside, and they came back a little while later and said that the granary had been burned."

"At first I didn't understand what was going on, but on the way back I figured it out. The granary was burned down, and the biggest suspects are the wealthy people who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to sell their land. Even you, the prefect, could be a possibility, because your disaster relief is not as good as the Cao Gang."

"Your Excellency's reputation is already bad. What will happen to the people tomorrow after the warehouse is burned? I, I really don't dare to think about it."

As the yamen runner spoke with tears in his eyes, Sun Yicai came back to his senses. He suddenly lost all his sleepiness and could not help shivering in the warm room.

The burning of the granary was mostly caused by arson. How should the government explain to the people when investigating the case?
Even if the granary fire was organized by the Cao Gang themselves, then why did they deliberately leave some traces at the scene? Doesn't that mean they wanted to identify the culprit?

The situation was far beyond Sun Yicai's expectations, and he didn't know what to do for a moment.

As if his spine had been pulled out, Sun Yicai slumped in the chair, staring ahead with empty eyes, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

"Write, write a letter, send an urgent letter to the Executive Yuan and the capital, asking the adults what to do now..."

……

"Miss, we have passed Yangzhou and are already in Zhenjiang. You can rest assured, the master will not chase us."

Snow Goose flew back from outside and came to Lin Daiyu with a smile.

Of course, home in Yangzhou Prefecture is good, but she doesn't want to go back. After all, she is truly happy when she is with Yue Ling.

Lin Daiyu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "After all, this is a government ship. Daddy can't stop it, right?"

"It won't take more than a few days to get from Zhenjiang to Suzhou."

When the master and servant were imagining what would happen after meeting Yue Ling, Zijuan came back and said, "Miss, there is a letter from the master."

The master that Zijuan mentioned was not Lin Ruhai, but of course Yue Ling.

Lin Daiyu's eyes lit up and a look of joy appeared on her brows.

After wiping his hands with a handkerchief, he happily took it. Before he opened the package, Lin Daiyu arranged it first, "Sorry, sister Zijuan, please call sister Ke'er and sister Bao over. Brother Yue must have something to tell you again."

Zijuan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go call them over."

Soon, the girls gathered together again and surrounded Lin Daiyu.

Qin Keqing came forward eagerly, sat down beside her, and asked, "Miss, what's in the letter?"

Lin Daiyu looked around and said with a smile, "I haven't seen it yet. I'm just waiting for you to come and see it together."

As he spoke, he unfolded the letter, glanced through it quickly, and then passed it around.

"According to Brother Yue, there are two things in total. First, Suzhou City is going to hold the Canglang Gathering, which is an annual literary gathering of Jiangnan talents. It will be a grand event, and we will use this gathering to welcome Brother Yue. Second, since Sister Bao is dressed as Brother Yue, we will go to the gathering first, and Brother Yue will hide his identity and deal with some things later."

"Brother Yue, it's convenient, but it also leaves us with a problem. It's fine if we only pretend in the room, but what if we go out and get seen through?"

"Besides, once you go out, you have to make a promise. How can you avoid revealing yourself when you start talking?"

Qin Keqing pondered beside him and said, "The appearance can be made more similar, but the voice cannot be faked."

Lin Daiyu pondered for a moment and asked, "What if Brother Yue is suffering from a sore throat and can't speak? Then I can stay with Sister Bao and do some social things?"

"With the two of us here, it should be easier to handle."

Qin Keqing said worriedly, "Miss, are you going to go out and show your face? Isn't that a bad idea?"

Lin Daiyu curved her eyebrows and said, "It's not a big deal to cover your face."

Qin Keqing seemed to have seen through Lin Daiyu's thoughts. "Could it be that you heard about a grand event and you want to go and see it?"

Lin Daiyu stuck out her tongue, "Of course the most important thing is to help Brother Yue."

The two of them were talking back and forth, leaving Xue Baochai aside, but she was clearly the one who was supposed to play the role.

Xue Baochai took the letter, read it through, and said helplessly: "You have already discussed it like this, without even asking for my opinion?"

They both looked at Xue Baochai and pretended to be surprised and asked, "Sister Bao, don't you want to help Brother Yue?"

Xue Baochai curled her lips and said, "I didn't say that."

Lin Daiyu and Qin Keqing looked at each other and both covered their mouths and laughed.

Qin Keqing stood up and pulled Xue Baochai, saying, "Come on, let's go put on some makeup. Maybe we've been eating too light food on the boat lately. It looks like Miss Bao has lost some weight."

Isn't it a good thing to reduce the number of people who have lost money?

Xue Baochai was speechless, "I think you are deeply in love with the Marquis, so you dressed me up as the Marquis and acted like a spoiled child around me."

Looking at Lin Daiyu again, Xue Baochai frowned and said, "Can you feel at ease leaving such a fool with the Marquis?"

Lin Daiyu blushed slightly, and smiled as she lectured: "Sister Ke'er, you should learn from Sister Bao how to be very excited inside but calm on the outside."

"That way, she won't bully you anymore."

The girls in the room all laughed when they heard this, but Xue Baochai and Qin Keqing blushed and went out together.

After many girls left, only Zijuan, Xueyan and the other three were left, and the room returned to silence.

After meeting again after separation, everyone is actually quite excited.

This is reflected in them being more noisy than before.

Lin Daiyu is no exception. After all, what happened when they last separated still often appears in her dreams.

The dream went on for thousands of times, and it seemed that all kinds of scenes had appeared before, but she didn't know what the first words she and Brother Yue would say when they met again.

Coming to the window, Lin Daiyu looked into the distance.

The sun is shining and the water is calm, it is a good time of the year.

She took out a small booklet from her sleeve, which recorded the advice the Queen had given her.

Lin Daiyu read it through again as if she were reviewing her homework.

In my mind, I have already thought of various excuses to explain my overstepping behavior at that time.

With the advice given by the Queen, she definitely couldn't fall into a disadvantage.

Of course, after more than a month of separation, she really had a lot to say to Yue Ling.

Having lived with Yue Ling for more than six years, she had become accustomed to having him around.

"Brother Yue, I hope everything is fine. I'm coming."

　The chapter is closed, nearly 8,000 words, the first update is too fast

　　
　
(End of this chapter)