Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 337 I need to be self-sufficient

The first conversation with her father after returning to the Lin Mansion was not pleasant, which made Lin Daiyu, who was already in her 15th year of marriage, feel very rebellious.

Or perhaps it was because Yue Ling always doted on her and she almost had the final say in the family, so Lin Ruhai insisted on disciplining and restraining her, which also made Lin Daiyu unhappy.

The Lin Daiyu today is no longer the six-year-old child she was back then. She is no longer the Lin Daiyu who would not say a word no matter who Lin Ruhai asked her to go with.

Lin Daiyu already had her own ideas, and this was a change that Lin Ruhai had not yet adapted to.

Lin Daiyu pouted, but did not leave the table. Instead, she pulled her chair closer to Yue Ling on purpose.

Lin Ruhai frowned deeply. If the dinner continued like this, he wouldn't have to eat at all. He would be so angry even if he was angry enough.

Lin Daiyu's deliberate closeness not only made Lin Ruhai angry, but also put Yue Ling in the middle, unable to speak out his grievances.

Lin Ruhai already knew that he and Lin Daiyu had a close relationship and were even willing to get married. However, Lin Daiyu didn't know all this and thought that Lin Ruhai didn't understand their relationship and was deliberately putting on a show to pretend to be close.

This back and forth formed a vicious cycle, and Yue Ling was trapped deep in the vortex, unable to escape.

Yue Ling had no choice but to smile awkwardly to Lin Ruhai and put his hands on the table, trying his best to prove that he had not had excessive contact with Lin Daiyu and that the two of them were innocent.

But Lin Ruhai was still furious, like an active volcano accumulating power to erupt.

Finally, the two concubines stopped watching the fun from the sidelines, and came to Lin Ruhai's side, leaning over and whispering, "Master, this is a welcoming banquet for Marquis An Jing after all, why are you making such a scene?"

"Besides, Marquis Anjing has lived with the young lady for eight years, which is longer than when she was with the master. It is understandable that she has some habits that cannot be corrected for a while."

"People say that the grace of raising a child is greater than the grace of giving birth to a child. It's not wrong for the girl and the marquis to have a good relationship."

Lin Ruhai said angrily: "Where does the grace of raising you come from? He...he..."

Lin Ruhai was so anxious that he slapped his thigh, but he couldn't bear to lose face and made the point clear.

Aunt Bai quickly said, "What she said may sound harsh, but it makes sense. The young lady has been staying in the Anjing Marquis's mansion for a long time, and she must have been influenced by the general's style. I heard that the servants in the Anjing Marquis's mansion are all women from military households, so their style is naturally more unruly."

"How can the young lady maintain the family tradition of the Lin Mansion if she lives with them every day? The master needs to guide her patiently and persuade her to change her ways."

"If we keep confronting each other, won't the girl be even less likely to listen to the master?"

The two concubines were very tactful and analyzed the matter in a very logical way. Lin Ruhai had never thought that his own daughter would become such a headache after leaving home, so he had no choice but to accept their advice, took a deep breath, and replied: "Forget it, I will tolerate her for a few days. As long as she doesn't do anything to humiliate the family, I will turn a blind eye and be at peace."

While the three were whispering, Lin Daiyu and Yue Ling were also talking to each other in low voices.

"Brother Yue, why are you so tense? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

Lin Daiyu noticed that Yue Ling's expression was very unnatural, even more unnatural than when she entered the imperial palace and met the emperor, so she couldn't help but ask worriedly.

Hearing that Lin Daiyu had not changed her name, Yue Ling could not help but shudder. He put his finger to his lips and whispered, "This is in the hall. You'd better be careful. Don't let your father hear it."

Lin Daiyu blinked and understood the essence of it in an instant.

"So Brother Yue is afraid of exposing the fact that he likes me, but if we don't let Dad know, how can he agree to our marriage?"

"Why not just tell Daddy directly?"

"If Brother Yue doesn't do anything, wouldn't it make me look like I'm doing unnecessary work?"

Lin Daiyu frowned, showing a little displeasure.

He put his arm around Yue Ling's. He didn't want to show too much intimacy, but Lin Daiyu didn't want to satisfy him. She twisted her body and came to Yue Ling, calling him repeatedly: "Brother Yue, Brother Yue, Brother Yue!"

Yue Ling raised his head and looked upwards. Seeing Lin Ruhai staring at him, he trembled and turned to Lin Daiyu and said, "Yes, yes, yes, I'm here. My dear, please speak softly. I can hear you."

Lin Daiyu pouted and said, "Brother Yue, why are you feeling guilty? My father has ambushed assassins outside the hall. Is he asking you to have a feast at Hongmen?"

Yue Ling secretly glanced at the seat above, smiled bitterly in his heart, and stammered, "Looking at this posture, he really wants to eat me alive..."

Lin Daiyu didn't hear Yue Ling's words clearly, so she moved closer and asked, "Brother Yue, what did you say?"

"No, no, no, let's eat. The banquet is about to begin."

Yue Ling took a deep breath and said secretly: "I need to be more self-controlled and not show too close to Sister Lin."

In the hall, the concubines sat back in their seats. Since Lin Daiyu was not sitting on the right, it would not be convenient to leave the seat empty, so the two concubines naturally sat in the front. After them came Xue Baochai, Xiangling and others.

Everyone was seated. Lin Ruhai didn't want to watch Lin Daiyu and Yue Ling's little tricks anymore, so he called out to stop them from making trouble, "Everyone is here, let's start the feast."

He gritted his teeth and said secretly, "We can't be so affectionate during this meal, can we? Eat this meal properly and don't forget the family tradition of my Lin family!"

At that moment, a group of maids came outside the door. After distributing the delicacies to the tables, they also placed a jar of wine in front of Lin Ruhai and Yue Ling's tables respectively.

Lin Ruhai said politely as always: "I knew you didn't drink in the past, that was because you were in the Qin Palace. Today, I came to my brother's house, and there are no trivial matters to disturb my mind. You can enjoy yourself and drink to your heart's content all night."

"This is Shaoxing rice wine. It has a strong aroma but is not intoxicating. You can try some."

After the two concubines laughed secretly, they looked forward to see Yue Ling's expression.

Yue Ling quickly uncorked the jar, took a sniff and said, "It is indeed a good wine. Thank you, brother."

Yue Ling is not a drinker. His profession in his past and present lives is rather special, and excessive drinking will only affect his work. But now that Lin Ruhai has made it clear that he wants to get him drunk, he can't refuse and can only agree.

After pouring a cup of wine, Lin Daiyu came over, raised her nose and sniffed it, saying, "What a nice aroma, can I have a taste?"

Yue Ling waved his hands repeatedly and moved the wine cup further away, "No, no, you are too young to drink."

Lin Daiyu raised her eyebrows, picked up the chopsticks and dipped them in the wine glass. Before Yue Ling could react, she put it in her mouth. After a moment, she stuck out her tongue and coughed lightly, "Hiss, what a strange taste, not good to drink."

Yue Ling didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he poured some tea and pushed it in front of her. He gently stroked her back and smoothed out her disordered breath. "Drink some tea and be more obedient from now on. What I told you not to do is of course for your own good."

Lin Daiyu nodded aggrievedly and stopped talking.

After reading all this, Lin Ruhai felt a sense of trance in his mind, as if Yue Ling was Lin Daiyu's father and he was an outsider.

Why can Yue Ling have physical contact with Yu'er so naturally?

Why would Yu'er listen to Yue Ling so much?

Yu'er could put her chopsticks into other people's bowls. Did they usually get along like this? The more Lin Ruhai thought about it, the sadder he became.

Because he often went out on official business to crack down on smuggled salt and check salt warehouses, Lin Ruhai was not a heavy drinker, but at this moment he picked up the wine glass unnaturally and took a big gulp.

If not for this, there would be no way to relieve his sorrow.

"You can't stay in college if you're a female."

After drinking a glass of wine, Lin Ruhai felt a burning sensation in his stomach and his emotions became more sensitive.

Looking up, Lin Ruhai looked at the pillars and secretly groaned inwardly, "Min'er, if you were still alive and saw them like this, what would you say or do? I really don't know what to do."

After a while, twelve little girls in theatrical costumes came on stage.

Finally they returned to their old profession and sang Kunqu opera in the classroom.

The plays to be performed were selected by the two concubines, such as "The Lute Story", "The Washing Silk Story" and "The Peony Pavilion".

Women prefer such romantic music, but in the eyes of the great talent Lin Ruhai, the third place winner in the imperial examination, these are decadent songs that are not worthy of being performed on stage.

Especially in "The Peony Pavilion", a little maid played Du Liniang and another played Liu Mengmei, and they staged a scene of the two having a secret meeting in the garden.

Du Liniang, the daughter of the governor of Nan'an and a member of a family of noble character and scholarly family, secretly met with a poor scholar from Nanling in the Peony Pavilion, where they confided their true feelings to each other.

This was totally unacceptable in the eyes of a feudal family head like Lin Ruhai. No matter what emotions were being praised, Lin Ruhai sneered at them.

But when he looked down, he saw that his daughter was flirting with someone in the lobby. It was not a private meeting at all, let alone an open meeting?

Lin Ruhai was filled with grief and poured himself another glass of wine.

At this time, Lin Daiyu was eating below while taking care of Yue Ling, constantly putting food into his bowl, piling it up like a small mountain.

"Brother Yue, try this. This is a three-head banquet that can only be found in Yangzhou."

"This dish is stewed silver carp head, which is made from large silver carp from West Lake, which is a rare ingredient in winter."

"This is a roasted whole pig's head, with both sweet and salty flavors. I think Brother Yue will like it."

"And this steamed crab meatball with crab roe is the most tender."

"This chef's cooking skills are pretty good, but I feel like they're still a little bit inferior to Brother Yue's."

Yue Ling smiled awkwardly and said, "Sister Lin, don't say that. This is a banquet. How can you comment on the taste of the dishes, let alone say that they are inferior to others."

Lin Daiyu curled her lips and said, "What's the big deal? This is the Lin Mansion, not some other mansion. What can I not say?"

Lin Daiyu's mouth was too sharp and Yue Ling was no match for her. He had no choice but to look up at Lin Ruhai's face, but he only saw Lin Ruhai drinking non-stop and rarely talking to him. Yue Ling didn't know what to say.

"Okay, I'll try it, Sister Lin, don't be impatient."

After hearing Yue Ling's advice, Lin Daiyu smiled happily, put down her bamboo chopsticks, and breathed a sigh of satisfaction.

"Brother Yue, I'm done eating. You can eat the rest."

The two of them had been together for so long that these little things had become a habit for them. Yue Ling took Lin Daiyu's bowl very naturally and turned the remaining food in it into his own bowl.

It was not until he was about to put Lin Daiyu's bowl back that he realized something was wrong.

Yue Ling closed his eyes tightly and silently said: "Still drinking, still drinking, if you don't see it, don't see it!"

When Yue Ling opened his eyes again and secretly looked upwards, things were indeed not as he expected. Lin Ruhai looked at Yue Ling in great surprise, then looked at the food in his bowl. He opened his mouth in disbelief, but didn't say a word.

Yue Ling couldn't think of any words to say for a moment, so he pretended not to notice and buried his head in eating.

After dinner, Lin Daiyu was not idle. She did not pay any attention to Lin Ruhai's opinion. She acted as a maid and poured wine for Yue Ling.

"Brother Yue, why are you eating so fast suddenly? Drink some wine to slow down your eating."

Yue Ling no longer dared to disobey Lin Daiyu's arrangements. If she did not agree, she would inevitably become stubborn again. But in Lin Ruhai's eyes, this was no different from flirting.

Yue Ling hurriedly took the wine cup, and heard Lin Ruhai, who had been holding back for a long time, finally utter a word: "Yue Ling, your family is very frugal, there is no food left at all?"

Yue Ling spat out a mouthful of wine and started coughing repeatedly.

Lin Daiyu hurriedly took out the handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped the corner of Yue Ling's mouth with her own hands. She looked up with a slightly reproachful look and said to Lin Ruhai, "Dad, what are you talking about for no reason? Of course, the Anjing Marquis's mansion is frugal."

"Brother Yue's job is not like the Salt House. There is not that much income. Of course he has to be frugal on weekdays. What's so strange about this?"

Yue Ling quickly pressed down Lin Daiyu's hand, looked at her as if begging for mercy, and then explained to Xiang Shang and Lin Ruhai: "I came from a military background, I have a big appetite, and there are mostly little girls in my room, so I often eat their leftovers. This is not a big deal, not a big deal."

Lin Ruhai frowned, and was also given a headache by Lin Daiyu's outward-turned elbow.

What happened to Yanyuan?
The Salt Institute has a lot of income?
Don’t you know that Daddy is walking on thin ice in this position?
Besides, the Lin family has always been frugal, and there is nothing extravagant in this room. Otherwise, the wealth would not last for more than three generations. But the Lin family has been able to become marquis for four generations and has remained so until today?
Lin Ruhai was so angry that he was about to explode, but as it was his own daughter, he seemed to be arguing with cotton, which was really useless.

He took a deep breath, poured out the last bit of wine in the jar, drank it all in one gulp, and then said to the maidservant standing beside him: "Go, find another jar of stronger wine. My dear brother and I will not return home until we are drunk today."

……

Half drunk,

The small opera troupe had performed all the repertoire, and the two concubines were so satisfied that they ordered a few more songs. The banquet was coming to an end.

At the main seat, Lin Ruhai was so drunk that he needed help even to get up. His body was somewhat out of control.

On the contrary, Yue Ling was not affected too much because of his strong physique.

"My dear brother, I had a great time drinking today. It has been a long time since I had such a good time. If Yu'er could sit at the table properly and not drink beside you, I would have a better time."

Lin Daiyu stamped her feet to express her dissatisfaction, "Daddy insisted on drinking so much and started talking nonsense. I will send Brother Yue back first. Aunts, Daddy will be left to you."

Hearing this, Lin Ruhai seemed to have sobered up a lot, and said sternly: "No, it's okay to just fool around, but now it's night, how can you two continue to give and take in each other privately?"

"How can a young lady in the boudoir send someone into her room? Think carefully about what your mother taught you!"

(End of this chapter)