Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 351: Continuing the incense? What if another Yue Ling comes?
The three of them were enjoying the scenery and chatting leisurely when they accidentally came to a corner. The lights were bright and the air was misty, which was different from the atmosphere elsewhere.

There was only one room downstairs, and it was filled with people. They didn't move around, but just gathered there to watch the fun.

Yue Ling had come out for a walk originally, and he would not miss out on the fun, so the three of them also went over together.

When I got closer and looked up, I saw several windows on the second floor. On the window frame, there was a girl in a pomegranate skirt and a veil on her shoulders sitting. She was shaking a ribbon in her hand and calling to the guests gathered below.

From time to time, quarrels broke out among the crowd, and Yue Ling finally realized where this place was.

Yue Ling and the others were dressed in silk, had extraordinary bearing and outstanding looks. When they stood in the crowd, they stood out like a crane among chickens and soon attracted the attention of the madam.

"Sir, sir, you look like you are not from here, are you here to have fun? My daughter is the most beautiful on this street, she will ooze water if you pinch her."

"The New Year is coming soon, and our prices are very favorable. As long as you compete with other guests, you can win the beauty no matter it is one or five taels. Would you please give us a favor and play with us?"

Yue Ling smiled and shook his head, "You are good at doing business. It's fine to bid a few taels of silver on ordinary days, but when the New Year comes, you are bidding. Bidding is about one or five taels?"

The madam smiled awkwardly and said, "This gentleman is obviously smart. As the saying goes, things are valuable because they are rare. Before the New Year, there are many guests coming out to play, but there are only a few girls."

"If you want to spend a good night with the girl, you can only compete with others. Judging from the way the three gentlemen are dressed, they are not short of money. If you really want to play with me, you can tell me your lowest price. No matter how much they bid, you can add it up. In fact, you will still charge the price you agreed on before."

"Are you interested, sir?"

Having handled too many cases in his previous life, Yue Ling was most sensitive to this kind of Yin-Yang contract. He immediately thought of the hidden problems therein and couldn't help but ponder over it.

Seeing that the guest was hesitant, the madam smiled even more and tried to get close to Liu Xianglian and Zhao Hao.

Liu Xianglian squinted his eyes, signaling Zhao Hao to send the madam away first, and then came to Yue Ling's side, carefully advising: "My Lord, it is common for two of us to come to a place like this to have fun, but how can you condescend to me?"

"Besides, this is in Yangzhou. Nothing can be hidden from the Salt Inspectorate. The Marquis is about to get married. It must be inconvenient for us to come here just to understand..."

Zhao Hao also agreed, "My Lord, Liu Lang is right. This kind of place makes me feel upset."

Yue Ling seemed to have a flash of inspiration in his mind, and from the madam's words, he found a way to break the impasse.

Hearing the two of them chattering in his ear, Yue Ling shook his head helplessly and chuckled, "Who do you two think I am?"

"Who would bother to come to a place like this for pleasure? I'm not some rich kid. Can the top girl here be as pretty as the girl in my room? What a joke."

The two looked puzzled. "If that's the case, why doesn't the Marquis leave yet?"

Yue Ling patted the two men on the shoulders and said, "I have a plan in mind. There is a restaurant in the alley ahead. Let's go there and book a New Year's Eve dinner for the brothers. I will pay for it. I will go back to the Yanyuan Yamen first, and leave the matter to you."

Yue Ling turned over and left in a hurry, blending into the crowd and gradually disappearing from sight.

Only Liu Xianglian and Zhao Hao were left, lying in the wind, staring at each other.

"The plan that the Marquis is talking about is about the illegal salt case?"

"Besides this, there are no other cases."

Zhao Hao looked up at the brothel sign and said with a fake smile, "My Lord is truly a god. He can even attain enlightenment in front of a brothel."

At that moment, the madam came back and saw that one of the young men had left. She asked Liu Xianglian with a look of regret, "Who was that gentleman just now?"

Liu Xianglian shook his head, "I've already gone back."

The madam suddenly came to her senses and murmured, "What a pity, such a handsome prime minister has a hidden illness and cannot have fun with the girls. What a pity. Gentlemen, are you willing to come and play?"

The two of them burst out laughing, then turned serious again after a moment.

"How dare you offend such an important person, and not even ask who that person was."

……

Yin and Yang prices, the first thing Yue Ling thought of was to launder the black money.

Yue Ling paid a small amount of money, and the final price was paid openly. The brothel itself could make up the difference and bring the money that was not visible to the public to the table.

Brothels are places of gossip and it is normal for them to be involved in all kinds of filth.

Just this point deeply inspired Yue Ling.

Regarding the smuggling of salt, on the surface it was because someone wanted to encroach on the Bao family, but the deeper reason was that the money earned by the mastermind through smuggling of salt was so much that it was difficult to get ashore.

Only by using a shell and holding the identity of a general merchant can one emerge from the water.

This is something that is likely to happen.

Because a lot of the Bao family's assets have been divided up by the other seven families, if they want to buy a position as the general merchant, they will have to negotiate with the other seven families again. The benefits involved are not easy to obtain.

However, what if the identity of a general merchant can bring them huge benefits?

Perhaps, this is the real purpose of the murderer behind the scenes.

After thinking everything through, Yue Ling had an idea in mind. It was time to stage a bidding drama for those who had been eyeing him covetously behind the scenes.

"Master Hou is back."

Yue Ling walked into the gate of the salt factory, and the salt soldiers standing guard around him saluted with their fists clasped.

"Well, Lord Lin is still in the mansion."

"Yes, Lord, just go to the hall and look for it. If it's not there, you can go to the study. Lord Lin has not left the house."

"it is good."

……

In the study,
Lin Ruhai put down the official documents in his hand, pinched his eyebrows, and sighed deeply.

Every change in the salt administration would make the work of the Salt Administration more complicated.

Lianghuai supplies nearly half of Dachang's area, and the pressure is obvious.

Two concubines accompanied Lin Ruhai, one poured tea and served him, while the other added fragrance to his appearance.

Two pairs of eyes stared straight at Lin Ruhai, just like a lion that had been hungry for a long time on the grassland, staring at its prey.

Lin Ruhai was concentrating on the official document. He took the teacup without looking up, opened the lid and scraped it, gently blew away the foam, took a sip, and sighed, "I want to cross the Yellow River but it's blocked by ice, and I want to climb the Taihang Mountains but they're covered with snow. The journey is difficult."

Aunt Bai took the teacup and consoled him, "Master, don't worry so much. Although the case has not been solved yet, we can guess that it is almost certain. Now we just need an opportunity."

Aunt Zhou also massaged Lin Ruhai's arms on the other side, "Sister, you are right. Master, take a few days' rest. It is the New Year and there is no need to worry too much about official documents. You will be more energetic after taking a rest, right?"

"Besides, the master doesn't like to listen to us, so he should listen to what the girl says, otherwise the rift will only get bigger."

This is really a case of bringing up something that is not related to the topic.

When talking about Lin Daiyu, Lin Ruhai couldn't stop sighing.

"Once upon a time, when Yu'er left home, she would look back every three steps, with tears in her eyes, which made people feel distressed."

"Now that she's back, she doesn't even recognize her own family. She contradicts me as a father and only protects her brother."

"I don't think she can change." Aunt Bai rolled her eyes and asked, "Then, Master, are you interested in continuing the Lin family's lineage?"

"Young lady has been a little reckless recently, but she has a point. It is really not good for the mansion to be without the continuation of the incense."

Lin Ruhai frowned deeper and deeper, secretly complaining: "It's easy to say that it's easy to give birth to a baby boy, but if it's a girl again, and there's another person like Yue Ling who comes to deceive us, what should we do?"

The more Lin Ruhai thought about it, the angrier he became.

"I'm so busy with official duties now that I don't have time to think about these things. Let's talk about it later."

Upon hearing this, the two concubines exchanged glances and started to act at the same time, one hugging Lin Ruhai's upper body and the other hugging Lin Ruhai's lower body.

"Master, you should listen to what the girl says. She is also doing this for the good of the family."

"Continuing the family line is the most important task. What else can be compared to this?"

"That's right, Master, don't worry, we have been taking medicine to recuperate recently, and we guarantee that the pregnancy will be safe."

I don't know what stimulated these two concubines, but they actually started fighting in the study, which made Lin Ruhai stunned.

This is totally not the family tradition of the Lin family. They are committing adultery in broad daylight in the study.

Lin Ruhai quickly pushed the two away and said, "What are you doing? This is so unbecoming. Who did you learn this from?"

Before the two entered the study, they had already colluded with each other and made up their minds.

Everyone around was sent away, and even if Lin Ruhai was unwilling, he had to eat today.

After all the pushing and pulling, they both are already old and are no longer able to carry on the family line.

The two concubines fell on Lin Ruhai's body on a bench, ignoring his words and pretending to undress.

At that moment, the door of the study was opened from the outside.

Yue Ling quickly stepped over the threshold and said, "Brother, are you here? I have a new idea for the case, so I came to discuss it with you."

After calling out loudly, Yue Ling walked inside again, only to see Lin Ruhai and his two concubines fighting with each other behind the screen, their clothes in disarray.

When their eyes met, the atmosphere in the study froze instantly. Before the other party could react, Yue Ling quickly stepped back and said with a wry smile, "Brother, you are really in a good mood. I am sorry that I came at an unfortunate time."

The two concubines' cheeks flushed, they stumbled to their feet, fastened the belts on their skirts, and lowered their heads.

Lin Ruhai was furious. His reputation was really going to be ruined by these women. He gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Look at what you have done. As a concubine and an elder in the mansion, you can do such a ridiculous thing. How will the younger generation see you? Why don't you get out now?"

"Yes."

The two concubines knew they were in the wrong, so they had to leave together.

When he passed by Yue Ling, he was too embarrassed to look up and just bowed lightly in front of him.

Yue Ling was even more embarrassed and said: "I'm sorry for delaying the good things of the two sisters-in-law. Next time, you two can leave a maid outside to guard the door..."

Upon hearing this, the concubines covered their faces and walked away, leaning against the wall.

Scratching his head, Yue Ling walked up to Lin Ruhai awkwardly.

At this moment, Lin Ruhai's breathing was still uneven, his flushed face had not faded, his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he was dissatisfied with Yue Ling.

Yue Ling had no choice but to complain again, "Brother, today's matter is all my fault. I was reckless and should have knocked on the door first. However, I never thought that brother could do this without locking the door, and... there were three of them."

Lin Ruhai just took a sip of tea, trying to calm his breathing, but because of Yue Ling's words, he choked on the water and started coughing repeatedly.

"What are you talking about? Do you think I am you? If you have something to say, please tell me now, don't be so clever."

Yue Ling was secretly happy. Every time it was Lin Ruhai who blamed him, this time he had the chance to fight back.

"It's about the case. If the enemy doesn't move, we can lure him out of his hole. I have a plan for this. But we have to call Sister Lin and Miss Bao to discuss it."

Lin Ruhai frowned slightly.

Yue Ling smiled but said nothing.

After a moment, Lin Ruhai waved his hand helplessly and said, "Go, call them over."

……

Lunar New Year's eve,

After a year, Lin Daiyu grew one year older and was very happy.

According to the habit of celebrating festivals with Yue Ling over the years, before setting off the fireworks at night, we all have to make dumplings and have a reunion dinner together.

The Lin family has always been serious about their family tradition, and they would not put the dough in the lobby and let everyone gather together to make something lively.

However, under Lin Daiyu's persistence, Lin Ruhai had no choice but to agree.

At this moment, there were six large round tables in the main hall. Both the maids from the Anjing Marquis's Mansion and the important servants from the Lin Mansion gathered together to make dumplings.

Lin Ruhai didn't like to join in the fun, so he was alone in the study.

The two concubines preferred the hustle and bustle, so they rolled up their sleeves and stood with the little maids.

Lin Daiyu was even more smiling as she stood beside Yue Ling. Yue Ling was rolling out the dumpling wrappers, and she took them and wrapped them into various shapes.

Little girls are more playful by nature, and the other little girls were making even more noise, filling the classroom with laughter.

Holding a wrapped little rabbit, Lin Daiyu proudly showed it to Yue Ling, "Brother Yue, look, isn't this cute?"

Yue Ling tilted his head to look at her and coaxed her, "Cute, cute. The one who wrapped her is even cuter."

Upon hearing this, there was another round of gasps of surprise from the surroundings.

Lin Daiyu tapped Yue Ling's arm in shame and anger, saying, "Brother Yue is really perfunctory. He only knows how to say flattering words to embarrass me. He is really cunning."

However, Lin Daiyu felt very sweet in her heart, and could be said to be enjoying Yue Ling's straightforward love words.

Yue Ling rubbed Lin Daiyu's nose lightly with his hands covered in flour and said with a smile, "How can I be perfunctory? This little rabbit is so cute."

Lin Daiyu lifted her sleeves to wipe the tip of her nose. Her hands were also stained with flour. She bared her teeth and claws, trying to grab Yue Ling's face.

Yue Ling moved faster and quickly took a step back.

Lin Daiyu snorted and said, "You naughty ghost! I am not someone you can easily bully!"

The two of them were chasing each other and playing in the crowd, making everyone around them laugh.

Yue Ling ran towards the gate, and Lin Daiyu chased him relentlessly. When she was about to catch Yue Ling, she saw Yue Ling squatting down and avoiding Lin Daiyu's hand.

And the hands full of flour hit the face of the person who came in.

"Ahem, ahem, Yu'er, what are you doing again?"

(End of this chapter)