Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 42 Don't Be Too Frugal (Please read it on Tuesday)

A few days of peace,

Early in the morning, Yue Ling came to Lin Daiyu's room, planning to teach her to read again today, and saw Lin Daiyu already sitting at the desk with a pen in her hand, apparently copying.

When I got closer, I saw that he was painting.

The scene in the painting is a small courtyard visible through the window, with firecrackers being set off in the courtyard, and two people sitting side by side on the stone steps, watching.

Yue Ling watched carefully beside him, and saw the essence of the use of ink in the painting and the well-founded white space. She really had her own insights on painting.

"Lin Daiyu is indeed the most talented woman in the Red Mansion. She is proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy and painting. But it's no wonder that she comes from the scholarly family of the Lin Mansion."

"With Lin Daiyu's family background, talent, and love from Grandmother Jia, it's understandable that she wants to strengthen the relationship between the two families. However, it can't be realized at the moment. The Rongguo Mansion is really not worthy of Daiyu."

Lin Daiyu was concentrating on painting, oblivious to the people around her. When she came to her senses, she found Yue Ling had been waiting for her, and her face turned red with embarrassment.

"Brother Yue, you are here."

Lin Daiyu was about to roll up the scroll, but Yue Ling held her back and said, "It's a very good painting. Wait until the ink is dry before rolling it up, otherwise it will ruin the painting."

Lin Daiyu nodded and whispered, "The fireworks that night were so beautiful. I was afraid that I would forget them after a long time, so I wanted to paint them to keep a memory."

Seeing Lin Daiyu's well-behaved appearance, Yue Ling couldn't help but rub her head and said with a smile: "Okay, then I'll frame it for you and hang it in this room."

Yue Ling is now increasingly involved in the role of parenting. She sets aside a corner at home to display her children's simple drawings, which can make the children happier.

It's just that the child he raised was the talented, beautiful and intelligent Lin Daiyu.

When he picked up the scroll, he saw that underneath it were piles of hand-copied Buddhist scriptures, which were obviously more than ten pages thick.

Yue Ling asked: "Sister Lin believes in Buddhism?"

Thinking of what happened a few nights ago, Lin Daiyu's face turned redder. She couldn't say anything like "I copied the Buddhist scriptures to imitate my mother and pray for blessings", so she responded vaguely.

"Yes... yes, my mother believed it."

Yue Ling nodded.

When it comes to faith, family has a huge influence.

Yue Ling, on the other hand, had no feelings towards Buddhism, mainly because there were many bad cases recorded in history books.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

Yue Ling put down the scroll in his hand, walked out quickly, and when he opened it, he found that it was an acquaintance of the Prince of Qin's mansion, Xia Shouzhong, the Prince of Qin's close attendant.

"Commander Yue, your place is easy for us to find, why do you live in such a remote place?"

Yue Ling smiled and said, "I haven't become an official yet, nor do I have much extra money, so I haven't had time to buy a house, so I'll just stay here for now. Sir, what can I do for you today?"

Xia Shouzhong also smiled, and behind him were several eunuchs holding brocade plates in their hands.

"It's good news. The things you said you didn't have just now are all here now. His Highness is grateful for your contribution a few days ago, so he will naturally reward you. He will ask His Majesty to send out a lieutenant Zhao Xin. The assignment will naturally be to lead the personal guards of the Prince of Qin's palace and serve as the commander-in-chief of the personal guards."

"As a sixth-rank military officer, you will also have the opportunity to be promoted to a marquis or a general. And there are these cloths and over 2,000 taels of silver. They are all from our family. You can count them yourself. You must not be left out."

Yue Ling nodded, "Eunuch Xia, that's not right. Why bother counting? Just sit inside."

Xia Shouzhong glanced at the inner room and saw a few young girls in the window. He smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Forget it, forget it. The mansion has been very busy these days. I won't share my free time with Commander Yue."

"His Highness spoke to me again and gave you instructions."

"Well, please speak, eunuch." Xia Shouzhong said with difficulty: "I haven't guessed what His Highness means, let's see if you can figure it out. His Highness said: Tell Yue Ling that in the future, not a single grain of rice should be wasted in the bowl, and it is better to carefully select what to eat and use. If there is a shortage of people at home, come to the mansion to take a few palace servants back."

The corners of Yue Ling's mouth trembled, "Uh... OK, I understand."

……

Imperial Palace, Hall of Mental Cultivation,

In the hall, Emperor Yuan Qing sat on the dragon throne, looking at Prince Kang who was kowtowing below, his anger rising to his head.

"I heard that before you entered the city, you went to the temple to chant sutras and eat vegetarian food to confess your sins? Do you still know that you are guilty?"

King Kang knelt on the ground with tears streaming down his face. His head was bruised and bleeding.

"I know my crime, I know my crime..."

Emperor Yuan Qing said angrily: "Tell me, what exactly are you trying to do by sneaking soldiers into the city? I allow you to open a government office and command hundreds of soldiers, and you are still not satisfied?"

King Kang choked with sobs and twitched, saying incoherently: "It's not that... your son is ungrateful, it's that your son is afraid."

Emperor Yuan Qing was furious, "You are a prince, what are you afraid of!"

"I am not good at foreign wars. I have always been good at domestic affairs to relieve my father's worries. But my father insisted on pushing me to open a government office to compete with my second brother. How can I be his opponent? In the more than 20 years of Yuanqing, how much peace was achieved by my second brother? I am far inferior to him."

"Now that I have suffered another defeat for some reason, there will be voices of impeachment in the court. In the future, the throne will definitely be my second brother's. I don't want the throne in the first place. I just want to stay alive!"

King Kang straightened up a little, wiped away the blood and tears, "My second brother has not yet become the heir, yet he has surrounded my house and searched my home. If he takes the throne, will I still be able to survive?"

"I know I am not as good as my second brother, but I can't do anything about it. My fault is that I am not as capable as my second brother, and I was born into an imperial family!"

After being called by Prince Kang, Emperor Yuan Qing felt as if his ears were ringing and his head was spinning. He took a few deep breaths before he calmed down.

Indeed, the main reason for the current tragic situation of brothers fighting each other is himself.

It was because he was afraid of the power of the Prince of Qin's Mansion and for the sake of balance in the court, he supported Prince Kang to come to the front and fight with the Prince of Qin. They were not on the same level to begin with.

When his son told Emperor Yuan Qing in person that he regretted being born into an imperial family, it was a huge shock to him.

Emperor Yuan Qing closed his eyes tightly, listened to Prince Kang's crying, and sighed inwardly, "My son just wants to survive, what's wrong with that?"

After a long while, Emperor Yuan Qing exhaled and said, "Forget it, you can go back to your residence first."

King Kang knelt on the ground and could not get up.

"Aren't you leaving yet?"

King Kang kowtowed several more times and said, "Father, your complexion is much worse than before I left for the battle. I am willing to leave the city, stay away from the disputes in the court, eat vegetarian food in the Buddhist temple, and chant Buddhist scriptures and pray for you every day."

Seeing that Prince Kang was sincere in what he said, Emperor Yuan Qing sighed and said, "It's approved."

After Prince Kang left, Dai Quan entered the palace and helped Emperor Yuan Qing back to his room to rest.

Thinking of the quarrels between brothers and the discord between father and son, Emperor Yuan Qing felt even more grief-stricken and asked, "Do you think I was wrong?"

Dai Quan replied: "His Royal Highness Prince Kang is a filial son. He has tried his best to do whatever Your Majesty ordered, and he has never made any big mistakes before. His Royal Highness Prince Qin is a man of both civil and military skills. He can handle any difficult matters for Your Majesty and share Your Majesty's worries. Having two children like this is a great thing even for an ordinary family..."

　Today's results on Tuesday will determine the recommended position for the next round. I hope I can advance! ! ! ! !
　　To all the friends who have read this, thank you very much! ! ! !
　　

(End of this chapter)