Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 440 Success
"Grandfather, are you feeling better now? Do you want me to call the imperial physician to treat you again?"

Mrs. Wang trudged into the room, trying to soften her tone, but Grandmother Jia still had a stern face and a frown on her brows.

"Well, what are you asking about? At this hour, do you still need to ask about my well-being? Is there anything missing in the mansion?"

"Nothing important." Madam Wang smiled awkwardly, then changed the subject and reminded, "The Imperial Concubine will come to visit her parents tomorrow. She will attend the ceremony in the imperial city early in the morning. After dinner, she will arrive at Ningrong Street at the beginning of the evening. You need to wait for me and others outside the main gate."

"After entering the garden, the Imperial Concubine will change her clothes first, then go boating to visit the other courtyards until she meets her parents in the main hall. At that time, a troupe will be invited to sing songs, and the girls of the Imperial Concubine's generation will compose poems and lyrics. At the end, the Imperial Concubine will give her rewards."

"If we go on for the next round, it will take about three and a half hours. The Imperial Concubine must return to the palace at 15:30. She cannot stay overnight. Everything is connected, and we cannot delay any part. I hope the old ancestor can make preparations early."

Mrs. Wang tried to speak as tactfully as possible and advised Lady Jia to stop making trouble, but she still made Lady Jia unhappy.

"When the mansion was still in good shape, we received many royal relatives and nobles. Are you trying to teach me how to do things?"

The sun sets in the west and gradually falls among the mountains.

Taking advantage of the noise coming from the hall, they attracted the attention of all the people waiting to serve in the courtyard, and Miaoyu and Xing Xiuyun sneaked in.

After walking around the corridor and coming to the back window of the side room, the two began to talk in a low voice.

"Just now the second wife came to visit again. She must be arguing with the old lady in the hall." Xing Xiuyan analyzed in a low voice, "Or maybe we are too late and there is no unusual movement."

Miaoyu frowned slightly, feeling unwilling.

With the cleverness of the sisters in each place, they will surely be able to handle the matter properly. If they fail to achieve any results, how can they go back with dignity?

What's more, Miaoyu's appearance was like frosty silk reflecting snow, and her ethereal and cold temperament made her somewhat unapproachable to strangers.

But she was not like that in her heart. She was still passionate. If she wanted to get along with the girls, she had to do something to be recognized by them.

Even though Lin Daiyu seemed to see this and asked her to teach scriptures to the girls in the mansion, the girls all respected her as a master and teacher. Except for Qin Keqing, who had no boundaries, there were few girls who could chat with her.

"It's already night, which makes it easier for us to move. We don't have to rush out now."

After a moment's silence, Miaoyu continued, "I remember that the maidservant that Old Lady Shi trusted the most was called Yuanyang. She stayed by her side every day. Now that the old lady is unable to move, if there is anything secret, she will definitely be entrusted to her. Why don't we start with her?"

Xing Xiuyan blinked, not understanding Miaoyu's plan, and asked again: "What are you going to do?"

Miaoyu took out a dark veil from her bosom, covered her face with it, and whispered, "I have sneaked in before. I will tie her up and ask her a few questions. I am sure I will find out something."

"what?"

Xing Xiuyan twitched her lips, thinking that Miaoyu's behavior was too risky, and quickly hugged her around the waist to stop her, saying, "No, no, she is the head maid next to the old lady. If anything happens, it will alarm the old lady. How can we catch her?"

Miaoyu was quite confident about this move, and said frankly: "She is well-known in the Jia Mansion. She is neither humble nor overbearing in front of several masters. She is now the real face of the old lady. But even so, she does not bully others. She is often kind and generous, and sympathizes with the poor and the weak. I think she is a very shrewd person."

"When I entered the mansion, I had a lot of dealings with her, and she also took care of me a few things."

Xing Xiuyan denied Miaoyu's plan even more. "That's even worse. She is absolutely loyal to the old lady. How can we convince her?"

Miaoyu didn't care for the moment, just said: "Let's take it one step at a time. Even if it doesn't work, we'll catch her first. Tomorrow is the visit of the mother, and there will be a lot of people. As the face of Lady Jia, it's normal for her to go out to do things. Who would notice if she disappears for a while? Even if she can't be found, who can take care of her?"

This is indeed the truth. While Xing Xiuyun was still thinking, Miaoyu put on her veil again, bent under the window frame, and walked forward.

"Hey, wait for me..."

Under the ridicule of Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang had no choice but to leave. She had done everything she could and there was nothing she could do.

Yuanyang then helped Jia's mother back to her room to rest. When she stood up, Jia's mother reminded her again, "Keep a close watch on the wooden box. Don't leave it in this room. These people are waiting for my burial. Who knows when they will come to search my room."

After Grandmother Jia repeatedly emphasized the matter, Yuanyang couldn't help but ask, "Grandfather, what's in this?"

Grandmother Jia tilted her head to look at Yuanyang. Her hunched body gradually straightened up, and even her aura became more majestic. "This is something that can help the Jia family rise to prominence in one step, and it can restore the glory of our ancestors. You must preserve it well."

Yuanyang was so shocked that he dared not touch the wooden box. "Grandfather, I dare not take this thing."

Grandmother Jia sighed and shook her head, saying, "Silly child, if I told you to take it, you would have taken it. I, an old woman, let you keep it instead of the first or second wife because I trust you."

"If you hold this kind of thing in your hand, you will have an extra life. Do you understand?"

Yuanyang choked up and shook her head, "I don't understand, and I don't want to understand. May our ancestors live forever, and the Jia family is now as bright as the rising sun. Everything will be fine."

Grandmother Jia smiled bitterly, said no more, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep with her clothes on.

Soon, a light snoring sound was heard from behind the bed curtains.

Considering that Lady Jia had been busy all day and was probably tired and exhausted and fell asleep so quickly, Yuanyang did not wait by her side. She lowered the curtains to block out the moonlight and tiptoed to the side room where she was staying.

It was another busy day. Yuanyang faced the mirror and sorted out her thoughts.

She was a servant of the Jia family and was raised in the inner house since childhood. Her brother was a comprador in Jia's mother's room, and her parents were housekeepers in the old house in Jinling. It can be said that they had been servants of the Jia family for generations.

So the Jia family is also her own family. She has seen several old elders pass away in the past ten years, and the Jia family has gone from being a bustling family to being deserted. Then, the fortunes changed, and the eldest daughter was named the Virtuous Consort and has today's prosperity. Yuanyang's mind is like a revolving lantern.

Of course, all these stories cannot escape a central figure, that is Yue Ling, who is not from Rongguo Mansion.

Every time he arrived, there would be huge waves in the Jia Mansion. In the beginning, it was just him, and until now he didn't need to show up. Just a group of maids in his mansion could turn the mansion upside down.

Grandmother Jia disliked him from the bottom of her heart.

In Yuanyang's eyes, perhaps it was because Yue Ling came from a poor family and had no parents, but he rose step by step by relying on opportunities, so he was not tolerated by Grandmother Jia, which was completely contrary to her concept of educating the younger generation.

But Yuanyang couldn't say how much she hated him, even though the Jia family was in turmoil time and time again because of him.

After all, apart from his lustful scandals that were widely talked about in the capital, no one could erase the achievements that Yue Ling had made.

In contrast to Lady Jia, Yuanyang, who was of the lowest social status, thought that it was extremely rare for Yue Ling to have risen from a humble background to the position of Duke today.

In history books, heroes who started from scratch will all leave a prominent mark.

“Why can’t they be compatible?”

Yuanyang couldn't comfort Grandmother Jia from this aspect, her thoughts were already deeply rooted. Suddenly, there was some movement outside the window, perhaps a bird singing or a cat meowing, which made Yuanyang a little upset.

"It must be another poor little thing that's hungry."

Looking at the moonlight outside the window, Yuanyang felt kind-hearted again and talked to himself.

He put on an outer coat, came to the tea table, took out a few cakes and wrapped them in oil paper, then removed the window bolt and pushed it open a crack.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, what rushed in was not the evening breeze, but a living person who suddenly bumped in, circled behind her like a ghost, and blocked her mouth before she could call for help.

"Be quiet and don't make any noise. We won't hurt you."

Yuanyang didn't see the person's face clearly at all, and in fear he could only nod and cooperate.

"Sister, please help me, the window frame is a bit high."

"It's really useless."

The person behind him pushed Yuanyang to the window, stretched out one leg to build a bridge for the person below, and pulled another person up.

"elder sister?"

Yuanyang was thinking hard, but she didn't expect that there were two female thieves in the room. It was really rare.

But if you think about it again, there haven't been any unidentified people entering the mansion recently, so it is very likely that these two must have mixed in with the team of Duke Dingguo's Mansion.

Yuanyang swallowed unconsciously, glanced at the inner room, and began to worry about Lady Jia.

Xing Xiuyan also crawled in and started looking for a rope in the room.

The ropes were passed around Yuanyang's legs, thin waist, and shoulders, then tied under her armpits, to her chest, and finally tied into a knot behind her neck. Yuanyang was then tied to the pillar of the house.

"Your binding technique is really good." Miaoyu exclaimed.

Xing Xiuyan said awkwardly: "After all, we were also tied up at that time... I took it apart when I was bored, and I tied it up like this unconsciously..."

Yuanyang felt extremely humiliated. She was already wearing a thin layer of clothes, and after being tied up with ropes, her figure was even more prominent.

However, based on the two people's behavior that was like that of female thieves, she became more certain that they were from the Duke Dingguo's mansion.

"We won't hurt you, but you have to cooperate with us and answer whatever we ask. Then we'll leave and you can just pretend we were never here. Otherwise, we'll hand you over to our master. You can't imagine how cruel our master is!"

Xing Xiuyan pretended to be fierce and warned, and Yuanyang nodded repeatedly in cooperation.

At this time, she stepped forward and removed the rag from Yuanyang's mouth, but Miaoyu still had the sharp hairpin in her hand, pointing it at her neck.

"Ahem." After coughing a few times, Yuanyang pleaded, "Just ask, don't disturb the old ancestor."

Miaoyu and Xing Xiuyun looked at each other and felt that Yuanyang was really receptive. They were only shocked for a moment and then started to cooperate. They didn't worry about their own safety at all and even started to worry about Grandmother Jia.

Xing Xiuyan twitched her lips, thinking that Miaoyu was too inconsiderate. She needed to think carefully about what to ask now.

We can’t blame Miaoyu entirely. Who could have thought that Yuanyang would be so cooperative?

"Recently, has Madam Shi entrusted you to do anything hidden?"

Xing Xiuyan hesitated for a moment, and since Yuanyang was so cooperative, she decided to be more direct.

"What is the hidden thing?"

"It is something that is not known to outsiders, and only you two know it."

Yuanyang's heart trembled, wondering if Grandmother Jia was planning something. In fact, Yue Ling already knew it all.

But she was not sure what was inside, and Grandmother Jia was even more confused, so she kept silent for the time being and denied it, "No, the old ancestor has been recuperating in the Buddhist temple recently and has been less involved in the affairs of the mansion, and there is nothing she has asked me to do."

Miaoyu took over the conversation, pushed the hairpin closer, and said coldly: "Tell the truth, do you think we will find you for no reason?"

Yuanyang pursed her lips and remained silent, looking like she was willing to die. The two men really couldn't do anything about her.

Miaoyu had no choice but to cover Yuanyang's mouth again and called out, "You come and look after her. I'll go find her."

Sitting next to Miaoyu, watching her rummaging through boxes and cabinets, Xing Xiuyan advised her kindly, "We know you are loyal to the Jia family, but you must know that the Jia family is now on a path of no return. If you are still loyal, it will only make the Jia family go further on this path and end up in a more miserable situation."

"If you have anything in your hand and hand it over early, my master will make you admit your guilt and accept the punishment, and deal with you leniently. Do you understand this?"

……

Rongxi Hall, in the annex,
As Mrs. Wang's footsteps approached, the situation in the house became more urgent.

Qin Keqing frowned slightly. She couldn't stop him rashly at this moment, otherwise her intention would be too obvious and would definitely not be hidden from the old fox Mrs. Wang.

So she just smiled as before and looked up like everyone else.

Fortunately, just as Mrs. Wang was about to enter, the door was opened from the inside.

A few little maids came out together and made way for her, so that they could see Tanchun writing something quickly on the desk with ink splashed on it.

"Madam is back. There are indeed several sets of costumes missing. I am listing the words and want them to go to the Duke Dingguo's Mansion."

Mrs. Wang raised her eyes awkwardly to the top of the bookshelf. The wooden box was still there as it was before, except for the use of pen and ink on the desk.

Even if she had some doubts, now was not the time to make trouble, so Mrs. Wang could only smile and say, "Thank you for your kindness. You are so smart. If you could be the housekeeper in the mansion, I don't know how much easier it would be for me."

After folding the paper several times, Tanchun put it into her sleeve and went out with Qingwen.

Qin Keqing stood up at the right time and said, "It's already night. Although we are not very satisfied, we can't delay the important event tomorrow morning. If you are still interested in that matter, you can go to Fengxue Pavilion when you have a chance. You can tell my name and you can get a set of brochures and a set of ready-made clothes. It's a small token of my appreciation. You are welcome. We will go back to rest first..."

(End of this chapter)