Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 443 Let Lady Shi calm down!
Yuanchun slowly opened her eyes, her face showing no emotion, she just calmly responded: "Let the eunuch come over and talk."

Putting aside her worries, Baoqin followed Yuanchun's instructions, lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, and went outside to look for someone.

"Does the imperial concubine have anything to tell you?"

At Yuanchun's signal, Baoqin took out the treasure box from under the seat, took out a pair of jade ruyi, and secretly put them into the eunuch's sleeve.

A pair of jade ruyi used in the palace is certainly worth a lot of money.

The eunuch who received the reward couldn't help but reveal a fawning smile and bowed a little lower.

Yuanchun said calmly, "The mansion did make a mistake. I hope you can give me some face and not delve into this matter."

The eunuch nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, your Majesty, I have never known anything about it."

Yuanchun exhaled lightly and ordered, "Go into the garden and change your clothes."

Everyone in the Jia family knelt on the ground in fear, and no one dared to look up. Only after the eunuchs returned to their original positions and led the carriage into the garden did people slowly stand up.

The one who came to welcome the visiting mother was actually Lady Jia, a first-rank official in the Jia family. She did not follow the rules and lead the female members of the Jia family to greet her, which caused all the servants of the Jia family to turn their attention to Lady Xing and Lady Wang, wanting to find out what was going on.

The pressure from the eunuchs just now had frightened the already timid Madam Xing to death. If it weren't for the support of Wang Shanbao, she would have already fallen to the ground. She spoke weakly, "What on earth is going on? Why did the ancestor suddenly fall ill? Wasn't he fine last night?"

Mrs. Wang was even more bitter. She had been afraid that Lady Jia would cause trouble, so she had gone to warn her a day in advance. She did not expect that today she would still make such a scene that everyone could not save face.

If Jia Yuanchun had not stepped in to mediate, the matter would have gotten even worse.

"How can I know what the ancestor thinks? When I went to look for him, he just said that he was sick and couldn't get up."

"Even if I can't get up, I need someone to set up a canopy for me to lie down here, so I can get up. What a mess it is now."

Mrs. Xing was so anxious that she clapped her hands, and her facial features were all wrinkled as if they were twisted together.

"Where are the mandarin ducks? Haven't you seen the mandarin ducks?"

Madam Wang shook her head. "No, it was the Xia family who was accompanying the old ancestor in the room."

Li Wan finally couldn't help but said, "Madam, Madam, this is not the time to worry about so many things. We should wait for the queen to change her clothes and then take her to visit the other courtyard."

……

As soon as you enter the main gate of the provincial palace, there is a separate courtyard facing east with a plaque hanging on it that reads "Ti Ren Mu De", which is used as Yuanchun's changing room.

After the long and complicated ceremony, as well as the Queen's farewell ceremony, Yuanchun had no time to rest. This was where she fixed her makeup and took a rest.

The visit to relatives should have been a festive occasion, but now the atmosphere is much more solemn.

Baoqin was a servant of the Jia family, and had long wanted to meet her sisters. But when she secretly glanced at Yuanchun, although her face remained calm, Baoqin, who had been with Yuanchun for a long time, knew that Yuanchun was already feeling a tightness in her chest.

Looking around, the surroundings were decorated like those in the inner palace, as if she had not left the palace. Baoqin felt even more uncomfortable.

She didn't dare to approach Yuanchun to talk to her, and she didn't even dare to take the initiative to touch up Yuanchun's makeup.

Sitting in front of the bronze mirror, Yuanchun closed her eyes tightly, her heart even more confused.

Ningrong Street is decorated with lights and lanterns everywhere, and the residence for the imperial concubines is even more magnificent and dazzling.

Yuanchun did not think this was prosperous, but instead thought it was shocking.

She had clearly told the mansion not to make such a fuss, but she didn't expect them to turn it into this state.

It would be fine if it was just extravagance and waste, but if no one pursued it, there would still be room for maneuver.

But the ancestor did not come to greet us on this day. What was his plan? Was he trying to give others something to hold against him out of thin air?

Yuanchun really couldn't figure out what this family was planning. She was so ignorant that she lost the mood to visit her relatives and just sat there quietly for a long time without moving.

At the right time, a voice came from outside the door, "Your Majesty, Miss Lin Daiyu from the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion is waiting to see you. She invites you to visit the garden together."

Yuanchun suddenly came to her senses and asked in surprise, "Is she the orphan of my aunt, Lin Da, the Imperial Censor of Salt?"

"Reporting to the queen, that's right."

Yuanchun did not hesitate and called to the girl holding the zither beside her, saying, "Go, call three more people to help me put on my makeup quickly."

……

Buddhist temple,

Grandmother Jia lay on the bed, looking relaxed, with her eyes closed, resting.

Xia Jingui was serving on the side, gently fanning her to provide coolness for Lady Jia, seemingly replacing Yuanyang's original position.

"Grandfather, it's time for the imperial visit to begin. Should we obey the Second Madam and go out to welcome the Imperial Concubine?"

Without even opening her eyes, Jia's mother said calmly, "It's okay."

Living in this Buddhist temple, a place as small as a palm, Grandmother Jia had suffered a lot of grievances.

As the daughter of the Shi family, and having become the principal wife when the Jia family was at its most prosperous, Grandmother Jia had never felt so aggrieved.

If you come in disgracefully, you must leave disgracefully.

"Since the eldest girl has arrived, I'm afraid the first and second wives have already started a fight in front of the ceremonial gate. It's time to send someone to see how I, an old woman, am doing."

"When the time comes, I will tell the eldest lady how difficult it has been these days. Who among them dares to disobey me?"

Thinking silently in her heart, Grandmother Jia felt even more pleased.

The only flaw was that Yuanyang, who was supposed to serve him, suddenly felt unwell and was recuperating in her room. Xia Jingui volunteered to take her place.

If it were her own descendant, Grandmother Jia would definitely praise him for being filial.

But the person sitting next to her was a lowly merchant who was plotting to seize the Jia family's wealth and power, so Grandmother Jia could not be happy.

"But, the old ancestor is the one with the highest status in the mansion. If we don't go to the door to greet him, will the palace people who are escorting the bride accuse us of disrespect?"

Even though she had an argument with Xue Baochai yesterday and Xia Jingui wanted to slap her in the face quickly, her mind was still quite clear at the moment.

Lady Jia was the person she wanted to climb up to, and Concubine Xian De even more so.

However, Grandmother Jia didn't think it mattered much.

"This is a visit to the family, so we won't care too much. Moreover, even if there are complaints, the eldest lady is the imperial concubine, the only one in the harem, so she can suppress the matter."

Grandmother Jia shook her head and said, "Although your Xia family is a royal merchant with a lot of money, I'm afraid you rarely receive people from the palace. I don't know how polite people from the palace were to the Jia family in the past. When the old master was still alive..."

Grandmother Jia was in high spirits today, and had mentioned the glory of the Jia family several times to Xia Jingui, until Xia Jingui's ears were numb. Xia Jingui had not refuted before, but just listened from the side, but now she felt that something was wrong, so she couldn't help but say: "Grandma, things are different now. I heard that not long ago, when Duke Dingguo returned to Beijing, Sister Lin came to visit the mansion. Wasn't it the palace servant who came to deliver the message who was quite rude to the mansion?"

"At that time, my elder sister was already a noble concubine in the palace."

Grandmother Jia wanted to say that she was a palace maid beside the queen and had a different status, but after thinking about it, she sighed slightly and decided not to argue with the younger generation. "Well, I shouldn't embarrass the eldest girl."

After a moment's silence, Grandmother Jia called out, "In that case, go take a look inside the other courtyard and invite the young lady to sit in the Buddhist hall first. Then I, an old woman, can stretch my muscles and join them in the garden."

Xia Jingui was delighted; this was the moment she had been waiting for.

The purpose of accompanying Lady Jia when she came home to visit was to make herself familiar to the Imperial Concubine so that she would agree to her marriage with Baoyu from the mansion.

Although the situation was different from what she had expected and she was unable to accompany Lady Jia to welcome the Imperial Concubine, she still had an excuse to go find the Imperial Concubine first.

Trying hard to suppress the joy in her heart, Xia Jingui stood up and said, "Then, old ancestor, please take a rest first. I will go over there and deliver the message."

Seeing Xia Jingui walk out of the door without touching the ground, Jia's mother felt contemptuous.

"You are so young, yet you are showing off in front of me. Do you think I am an old woman and confused? Can't I see what you are thinking?"

"Humph, now is the time when I need you, so I'll give you a taste of the sweetness first, and then I'll set some rules for you later!"

While she was thinking about it, Jia Mu felt a little thirsty and called out loudly, "Yuanyang, Yuanyang?"

But suddenly he remembered that Yuanyang was sick today and was not by his side, so Amber and Liuli came in.

"Ancestor, what do you want?"

"How can a mandarin duck be uncomfortable?"

The two looked at each other and shook their heads, "They just said they were exhausted, but no one has come in to disturb Sister Yuanyang."

"Forget it, let her have a good rest. It's such a big event, but she got sick because of this one incident."

……

In front of the gate of the private courtyard of "Tirenmude", two girls were standing outside waiting.

A person is wearing a smoke-blue cross-collared skirt, embroidered with silver bamboo shadows, and a moon-white plain gauze shawl, like a cage of cold smoke. Two curved eyebrows seem to be frowned, and a pair of affectionate eyes are shrouded in misty light, hazy, and seem to be intoxicated by the sight.

The other one was wearing a long lilac-colored gold-woven satin jacket with gold-woven peony patterns on the front, lined with ivory-white satin, and a dark red horse-faced skirt, looking very dignified and solemn. Her snowy wrist was exposed, with a red musk bead string hanging from it, but the scent of musk could not cover up her scent at all.

"But Sister Lin? Sister Xue?"

Yuanchun, dressed in palace clothes, walked out of the door supported by Baoqin and was the first to greet everyone in a familiar manner.

Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai looked in the direction of the voice and saw the visitor wearing an elaborate palace dress with feathered robes, which perfectly matched her appearance. Even the two of them, who were good-looking, would be slightly distracted when they saw her.

This kind of graceful demeanor cannot be achieved overnight.

The two girls bowed together, "Greetings, Her Majesty the Concubine."

Yuanchun took a few more steps, raised her hand and helped Lin Daiyu up, saying, "I never thought you would come here to visit your parents. It's really unexpected."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "You are too kind, Madam Imperial Concubine. My mother often mentioned you in the past, saying that she was the closest to you, so I also wanted to meet you. Besides, I am in the capital, so I have nothing else to do."

Yuanchun enthusiastically took Lin Daiyu's hand, caressed it gently, and recalled the past: "Yes, when I was young and had not yet entered the palace, I often chased after my aunt and played with her. Later, my aunt left the house and got married, which made me cry for a long time."

"It's really ridiculous that he was so naughty when he was young."

Yuanchun covered her mouth and couldn't help laughing: "How is uncle's health now? Is he still healthy?"

Lin Daiyu nodded and said, "Daddy is in very good health. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

Yuanchun leaned closer and whispered, "I heard that His Majesty intends to transfer my uncle to the capital to report on his duties. It should be after the New Year this year."

"I was supposed to go back to the capital with you guys, but I didn't expect something went wrong in Yangzhou. Your Majesty has given my uncle some leniency, so it should be fine now. You don't have to worry."

Lin Daiyu blinked. She didn't expect that something like this would happen afterwards. She didn't take it to heart at all. She was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say.

Yuanchun smiled and said, "Sister Lin is really smart. I think she guessed it."

"Ah?" Lin Daiyu was stunned and at a loss.

Yuanchun nudged Lin Daiyu with her elbow and said playfully, "You are still pretending to be nice to me, sister. My uncle has come to the capital to arrange your marriage. Your Majesty and the Queen must have asked the Imperial Observatory to calculate your birthdays and set an auspicious date."

"what?"

Lin Daiyu's cheeks flushed. She had originally maintained a very good demeanor, but now she turned back into the appearance of a shy little girl, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

Seeing this, Yuanchun was even happier. She felt as if she had been bullied by her aunt in the past and was now being bullied back. She was truly happy from the bottom of her heart.

"Alright, alright, it's getting late, let's get going."

Looking at Xue Baochai who had been standing behind Lin Daiyu in silence, Yuanchun smiled warmly and said, "Miss Xue, please come with us. I have heard many anecdotes about you in the palace, but I never thought I would have the chance to ask you in person whether they are true or not."

Hearing this, Xue Baochai couldn't help but become nervous. Thanks to Yue Ling, her reputation in the capital has not been very good recently.

But before the three harmonious women could board the boat on the shore, they saw someone chasing them in a hurry in the distance.

Of course the palace maids had to stop him to avoid offending the imperial concubine.

Seeing the commotion, Jia Yuanchun frowned slightly and called the girl holding the zither beside her, saying, "Go and ask what's going on."

Before he could do so, Baoqin led the man over, but her expression looked a little ugly.

"My humble daughter Xia Jingui greets the queen."

"Get up, what do you want?"

Xia Jingui adjusted her breathing and noticed that Xue Baochai was standing behind the imperial concubine. She couldn't help but look stunned and a little out of control.

"My lady, what can I ask you?"

Baoqin repeated it coldly, and Xia Jingui hurriedly said, "Yes, there is something. The old ancestor just woke up and missed the queen very much. I hope the queen will follow me to the Buddhist temple to see the old ancestor."

After hearing so much from Lady Jia about how sincere her feelings were with the imperial concubine, Xia Jingui thought it was a matter of course, but then she heard Jia Yuanchun speak in a decisive tone, "Stop making trouble, take the qin and chase her away!"

Xia Jingui was so shocked that she opened her eyes wide unconsciously. When the palace servants escorted her away, she remembered to struggle, "Madam, it was the old ancestor who asked me to come to you. It's not a lie. The old ancestor is living in seclusion in the Buddhist temple and has been treated harshly. He really misses you."

Jia Yuanchun had just turned around, then turned back and said coldly: "First, I don't know you, and second, this old lady Shi from Rongguo Mansion should be left alone in the Buddhist temple!"

(End of this chapter)