Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 359 The girl doesn't know the maid is hungry

Looking at his clever girl who was trying so hard to protect him as her father, Lin Ruhai felt deeply moved.

"If Yu'er wasn't a girl, it wouldn't be difficult for her to pass the imperial examination and inherit my legacy. Why would she have to suffer every night recently?"

The smarter and more outstanding Lin Daiyu was, the more Lin Ruhai regretted that she was born a girl.

Thinking about the fact that such a beautiful girl could only marry Yue Ling and become an arm of his family, he felt mixed emotions.

The perfect match was here, but as a father, he certainly couldn't bear to part with his daughter.

After pondering for a long time, Lin Ruhai exhaled and said, "This method is good. It is thoughtful."

Lin Daiyu smiled obediently and said, "This is all just empty talk. I can only talk about it. How to do it still needs the mature and prudent father to take care of it."

Lin Ruhai shook his head and chuckled, "Okay, girl, stop complimenting me. It's getting late, go back and rest first."

Lin Ruhai almost let Lin Daiyu repeat the compliments she had just used on Xue Baochai on himself. He let them leave first and then planned carefully.

Naturally, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai no longer wanted to disturb the peace and quiet here, and they said goodbye and left together.

As soon as the two girls walked out of the door, they saw Aunt Bai and Aunt Zhou, who seemed to have been waiting under the eaves for a long time. When they saw the two of them, they immediately came forward with a smile.

"Miss, Miss Bao, have you discussed everything in the room?"

The two of them came hand in hand, with a scent of fragrance as they walked, and their faces were made up, as if they had been dressed up well.

It was clearly almost night and there was no chance to go out, but the two concubines dressed up beautifully, which surprised Lin Daiyu a little.

Xue Baochai just lowered her head, leaving Lin Daiyu to deal with the situation alone.

"It has been discussed. Aunts, please come in and serve Dad first."

"well."

The two concubines seemed to be waiting for this sentence, and walked in with smiles on their faces.

Lin Daiyu came back to her senses in a daze, looked inside the door, and murmured, "This... Could it be that these two concubines have had some good news recently?"

Lin Daiyu winked at Xue Baochai, asking her for some advice as she was good at observing people's minds.

Xue Baochai took Lin Daiyu's arm and said shyly, "Let's go quickly. You never know when you'll have a brother or sister."

Lin Daiyu blushed when she heard this, then she realized what was going on and said, "Ah, so that's what's going on?"

……

After separating from Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, accompanied by a maid from the Lin residence, walked towards the small courtyard where she was staying.

Xue Baochai had received too much information in the hall just now, so she walked step by step, her mind still thinking and digesting it.

There are several things that the Xue family needs to do. First of all, they need to integrate the accounts and have a compliant and undetectable identity to participate in the upcoming auction. Then, she needs to use some information to finally expose the mastermind behind the scenes, which also requires strong on-the-spot performance and verbal logic skills.

Moreover, the apparent goal was to compete for the title of chief salt merchant, so he had to be familiar with the salt-boiling process, storage, transportation, and even distribution, starting from the Gaozao salt fields.

You also need to be familiar with the laws and not let others find any loopholes in your words.

"Well, I have something to do during this period. I also need to familiarize myself with the Lianghuai Salt Law Records. It would be even better if I could go to the salt fields and take a look at them in person."

"It seems that I have to find an opportunity to discuss this with Censor Lin and ask for his help."

Xue Baochai rubbed her palms, walked slowly through the corridor, and soon returned to the front of the room.

"Miss Xue, I will take you here. Bye."

"Well, thank you for your hard work, sister."

As she spoke, Xue Baochai habitually took out the copper coins and gave them to the maid as a reward. Then she saw the maid bowing and thanking her, and left happily.

Just as she turned around and was about to step over the threshold, Xue Baochai withdrew her foot awkwardly.

Because Yue Ling was away, Xiangling, who was supposed to live with Yue Ling, was kept by Xue Baochai's side early in the morning. She did not move to the secluded courtyard outside, but to the side room in this courtyard.

When there was no one around, Xue Baochai began to think of Qin Keqing's teasing words this morning, and she began to feel embarrassed again.

"Bah, Sister Keqing is just a foxy girl who reincarnated into the human world to commit adultery. She really doesn't know how to write the word 'shame'. She wants to wrongly accuse me of my innocence, and she doesn't feel ashamed at all."

However, Xue Baochai understood that for Qin Keqing, it was just a seasoning.

Especially when she was in Canglang Garden in Suzhou, and secretly looked inside the kitchen, Qin Keqing was not annoyed at all, and she became Xue Baochai's lingering nightmare.

Since then, Xue Baochai has always had nightmares from time to time.
Xue Baochai concentrated her thoughts and wanted to ask Xiangling whether this was true.

But after she had taken a few steps, Xue Baochai stopped again.

It was too embarrassing for her to ask, and after thinking it over, Xue Baochai backed off again. She felt her face getting hotter and hotter, and she couldn't help coughing lightly.

Ying'er heard the sound and ran out quickly.

Seeing that it was Xue Baochai who was coughing non-stop at the door and her face was flushed, he hurriedly helped her to the room to rest, poured tea and prepared medicine, and while rummaging through the boxes and cabinets, he could not help but ask in surprise: "Miss, are you having a fever again?"

"Since being comforted by the Marquis in Cangzhou, the young lady has never had a fever like today. Why did she suddenly become so serious? Otherwise, I will go outside to find a doctor to take a look."

After taking out the squeezed Lengxiang Pills and taking them with water, Xue Baochai's complexion gradually improved.

"No need, just take this medicine and you'll be fine. I've seen doctors many times before, and you know what's wrong with me, but they couldn't find anything wrong with me."

Ying'er sat down on the embroidered chair beside her and gently patted Xue Baochai's leg, saying, "I still remember that the Marquis said that the young lady's fever was not subsiding because of her lustful desires."

"As long as you don't get obsessed with it and let go of the obsession in your heart, things will get better."

With her finger touching the middle of her lips, Ying'er shook her head doubtfully and asked, "Could it be that something has triggered the girl's obsession again?"

"What did the girl say in the main hall?"

Xue Baochai pondered over Ying'er's words and thought about it for a moment.

But it would have been better if she hadn't thought about it. After thinking about it carefully, Xue Baochai suddenly discovered that her initial obsession with money and power had gradually turned into an even stronger obsession with competing for favor with the people in the room.

Especially after the Lantern Festival, after seeing Xiangling and Qin Keqing early in the morning, he was even irritated by Qin Keqing. Instead, he felt a little jealous of them. He couldn't help but ask himself when he would be the one to enjoy the love of his wife.

This made Xue Baochai feel frightened and her body trembled uncontrollably.

"Ah? What's wrong with the girl? Are you cold again?"

Ying'er was about to find a blanket for Xue Baochai to cover herself with, but Xue Baochai stopped her and said, "No, no, it's nothing. Help me to rest first. I should be fine after a night's rest."

Xue Baochai held her forehead and wiped the sweat with a handkerchief. She sat at the clinic and became more sober. "No, I can't rest yet. Business is important. Ying'er, go and grind the ink. I have a letter to deliver to Fenghao." Ying'er looked at Xue Baochai suspiciously, her face red and white. She ordered people to do things one moment and another. It was really unlike her usual behavior.

Ying'er was also a maid who had been with Xue Baochai for a long time, so of course she had some wisdom in judging people. She couldn't help but secretly complain in her heart: "What's wrong with the young lady? Why is she so flustered today? Is there some inside story that I don't know? I should take better care of the young lady in the future..."

……

"Zijuan, what are you looking at?"

Lin Daiyu came out from behind Zijuan suspiciously, and saw Zijuan quickly close a book behind her back to cover it up.

Looking around, there was no one else, Qingwen and Xueyan were not in the room. Zijuan smiled awkwardly and said, "I didn't see anything, I was just reading a book."

Lin Daiyu blinked. She could see the nervous look on Zijuan's face.

Lin Daiyu frowned slightly and said unhappily, "Are you hiding something from me again? What book do you want to hide?"

“This…it…”

Being caught in the act, Zijuan didn't know how to explain herself. After hesitating for a while, she made up her mind, closed her eyes, and handed over the erotic picture she had picked up from the stall. She said timidly, "This is it. If you get stye after watching it, don't blame me."

Lin Daiyu's brows were still furrowed. She took it with her hand and shook it off, saying, "Why should I blame you?"

Ever since she made a big fool of herself when she read a book last time and mistook her stomachache for pregnancy, Lin Daiyu has developed a good habit of reading the title page first when reading a book.

First see what it is about, then browse the content.

When she noticed the four big seal characters written on the cover, "Spring Palace Lively", she threw it away immediately.

"Sister Zijuan, you, you... why don't you read something serious instead of hiding here and watching this?"

Lin Daiyu's face flushed red, and she really didn't know how to preach for a moment.

Zijuan leaned over and picked up the erotic painting, hanging her head in frustration, and was also very embarrassed, "I... this, girl, you don't know my difficulties."

Lin Daiyu widened her eyes in surprise, "You, you still have difficulties? You are looking at this in your room, is it my fault?"

Zijuan waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, girl, that's not what I meant. What I meant is..."

"What is it? Stop hesitating and tell me now."

Zijuan had no choice but to tell everything that was bothering her.

"I still remember when I was in the capital, I was unexpectedly favored by the master that night, and I have been devoted to the master ever since."

Lin Daiyu blinked.

Zijuan immediately added: "And the young lady, if the young lady hadn't treated me like a sister, I would not have had the good life I have today, and would still be suffering in Rongguo Mansion."

Lin Daiyu nodded with satisfaction and pulled Zijuan to sit beside the tea table in the room to listen to her inner thoughts.

"But later, there were more and more girls in the master's room, especially Sister Keqing, who had fair skin, beautiful looks, slender limbs, and a graceful waist. I couldn't compare to her in any way."

"And Sister Keqing is willing to sacrifice herself... To be honest, young lady, I always let the master control me in sex."

"Perhaps it's because I'm too boring and my looks can't compare to Sister Keqing and Sister Xiangling, so last night..."

"Stop! Stop it first!"

Lin Daiyu raised her hand to stop Zijuan from speaking obscene words. After hearing so many dirty words, Lin Daiyu felt her chest pounding.

She really wanted to find someone to ask what was going on in this room and when did talking about sex become a trend.

To be honest, if you think from Zijuan's perspective, the situation she is in now is indeed very embarrassing.

Compared with others, it is like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward, you will fall behind.

But even the smartest Lin Daiyu couldn't say anything about this. She was still a novice, so what advice could she give?

Besides, even if she gets pregnant one day, there’s no way she can give it to me.

Isn't this teaching concubines to compete for favor?

Lin Daiyu stroked her cheek gently, took a few sips of tea, and endured a lot of complaints in her heart.

"Sister Zijuan, this is not necessarily the meaning of life. There are many other things we can do..."

Anyway, Zijuan was done with it, and said quickly, "Miss, you don't know our difficulties. We are fighting for the master, asking for a chance to climb up, but if you just stand here and do nothing, the master will climb up."

"puff!"

Lin Daiyu had just taken a sip of water, and when she heard these words, it was like a shower spraying water all over the floor.

After Lin Daiyu coughed several times, Zijuan hurriedly took out her handkerchief and wiped her lips.

Lin Daiyu glared and said, "Sister Zijuan, what nonsense are you talking about? When did you see Brother Yue climbing on top of me?"

Zijuan's face was bitter, and she thought, "Isn't this just a matter of time?"

But she couldn't expose Lin Daiyu's hypocritical self-esteem, so she just said, "I'm just making an analogy, don't blame me, young lady."

"Puh, puh, puh." Lin Daiyu spat several times again. "It must be because you read nonsense all day and ate too much with Xueyan, so you are full and warm and have lustful thoughts. I think you should calm down for a while."

"Besides, Brother Yue has the same feelings towards you all. I think you'd better not think about doing anything else, lest you end up making things worse."

This suggestion is really pertinent. Apart from Lin Daiyu, Yue Ling has never favored any one over the other.

Zijuan sighed, there was no other way at the moment.

At that moment, Xueyan and Qingwen came back together, bringing nearly ten food boxes, and came to the room to have dinner together.

Zijuan stood up to greet him, took the food box, wiped the table, and set the dishes.

Lin Daiyu also stood up and touched her lower back awkwardly.

Zijuan made up a lie, but what she said turned out to be true. Yue Ling really climbed on top of Lin Daiyu.

Thinking about last night on the boat, Yue Ling pushed her down on the boat, and while slowly lowering his head, his hands were not honest and stroked her waist, Lin Daiyu's cheeks slowly felt like they were dripping with blood.

Thinking of something, Lin Daiyu suppressed her shame and called out, "Qingwen, come out for a moment. I have something to ask you."

Qingwen blinked her big eyes in confusion, "Ah? Me?"

"Yes, come on."

(End of this chapter)