Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 449: Search of Rongguo Mansion (Part )
In the warm room of the main hall of the provincial courtyard,

Jia Yuanchun sat in front of the bronze mirror, feeling extremely peaceful.

She could hear the noisy noise outside, but she paid no attention to it and just let it go on.

This is the karma of the Jia family. She cannot change it, and she has no power to change it.

She was just missing Baoqin who had returned home for a long time and was reluctant to leave. She hid at the door and listened to some music, and her tears fell to the ground like beads from a broken string.

"My queen, it's the second master of the Wang family who's here to question me? He's your uncle, how can he be so ruthless?"

Facing the bronze mirror, Jia Yuanchun opened her red lips and said, "When a tree falls, monkeys scatter; when a wall collapses, everyone pushes it down. It's too late to regret now."

Baoqin choked up again and said, "When we were little, we were all very nice, and our ancestors weren't as ferocious as they are today. We ate, drank, and played together, and had a great time every day. How did it become like this today?"

As she spoke, Baoqin recounted in detail what had happened outside, where Grandmother Jia had pushed the blame onto Lady Wang. Witnessing the decline of the Jia family, she felt extremely sad.

But Jia Yuanchun seemed to have expected this, with no trace of joy or anger on her face. She just said calmly: "People will always change, become less pure, and care more about personal gains and losses."

"At this point, the old lady is still doing what she thinks is smart, but she doesn't realize it's just a waste of time."

Looking at Jia Yuanchun in the bronze mirror, she looked extremely haggard, and because she had just cried with her sisters, her makeup was no longer bright.

She took out the dressing box, wiped her tears, and was about to put on new makeup for Jia Yuanchun.

Jia Yuanchun just shook her head and said, "No need. Bring me some water to wash my face."

"Wash your face?" Baoqin asked in astonishment, "Your Majesty, do you think these soldiers are coming for you? We can't go back to the palace anymore?"

Jia Yuanchun did not explain much, but just hugged the maid who had been with her for many years in her arms and rubbed her head.

Although Baoqin was not too smart, she was always loyal. She accompanied her through hardships in the palace and never left her side. If there was one person in this world she was reluctant to leave, she was one of them.

"My Lady, Miss Lin told me that you were the one who called me here?"

Miaoyu knocked lightly on the door and spoke inside.

Baoqin stood up and went to welcome Miaoyu in. She didn't know why Jia Yuanchun wanted to meet this nun alone in the end.

But the next second, Jia Yuanchun took off the phoenix crown on her head, pulled out her hairpin, and her three thousand black hair cascaded like a waterfall, hanging down to her waist.

Then, Jia Yuanchun slowly closed her eyes and said, "Master, please shave my head for me."

The body is skinned, and the parents who are affected by it dare not to be hurt, the beginning of filial piety.

People attached great importance to hair, let alone the concubines in the palace.

But Jia Yuanchun had already made up her mind to do so, to put aside her worries and to put an end to her relationship with Lady Jia and the huge Jia family.

Miaoyu was slightly surprised. After all, she had only been practicing Buddhism with her hair uncut, but it was ridiculous that she had to become a nun on the night when the imperial concubine came to visit her parents.

Baoqin was stunned for a while, and when she came to her senses, she knelt down and cried, begging Jia Yuanchun not to do anything stupid.

But Jia Yuanchun had made up her mind. She closed her eyes tightly, and one could only see her brows furrowed. She was completely indifferent to Baoqin's crying.

Miaoyu hesitated for a moment, then confirmed: "Madam, are you determined to enter the Buddhist world? Since you have been ordained today, there is no time to regret."

"Trouble you, Master..."

Miaoyu took out the Buddhist shrine she carried with her, set up the incense altar, performed a simple ritual, and then took out the razor beside her.

Just as she was about to use the knife, Baoqin stopped her arm and asked, "Donor, what are you doing?"

Baoqin's eyes were filled with tears. Although she didn't know what her situation would be like afterwards, she couldn't abandon the young lady whom she had followed all her life who had chosen a path of no return.

"Master, after you and the lady have shaved their heads, please also... shave my hair."

Miaoyu was startled. When she looked at Jia Yuanchun again, her frown relaxed. A tear fell down her cheek. She said silently, "Silly girl."

……

Outside the palace, there was chaos.

The soldiers scattered to collect evidence, and only the Jia family, the girls from the Dingguo Mansion, and Wang Ziteng himself and a few soldiers were left in the hall.

There had not been any war in the Rongguo Mansion for many years, and everyone was in a panic.

Jia She and Jia Zheng, with bitter faces, had to comfort the people in the Jia family first. However, they didn't know how to make a decision, and they didn't dare to step forward and offend Wang Ziteng.

At the moment, Wang Ziteng has turned his back on his relatives and seems to be determined not to give up until he gets to the bottom of the matter in the Jia family.

Jia Lian and others were already frightened out of their wits and hid behind the crowd. Jia Baoyu, who was lying on the ground nearby, was in a mess after witnessing the confrontation between Jia's mother and Wang Ziteng.

What just happened was too much of a shock to him.

One is his beloved ancestor, the other is his equally beloved mother. Yet one of them did evil and colluded with traitors and parasites, leading to today's disaster.

Moreover, the ancestors all said that it was his mother who did it, and Wang Ziteng couldn't even believe it and wanted more profound evidence.

In other words, the ancestor found his mother as a scapegoat.

This was difficult for Jia Baoyu, who had lived in peace for a long time, to accept. His worldview almost collapsed. His legs were so weak that he could not stand. He crawled to Jia Mu's side, looked up and asked, "Grandma, this is not true, right? My mother would not do anything to harm the world. They said that we were extravagant and wasteful. We just need to donate some money to admit our guilt. My mother will be fine, right?"

Grandmother Jia frowned slightly, "Baoyu, don't make a fuss. You can't judge a person by his appearance, but you can know his heart. Who knows what your mother will do for your elder sister? Besides, the evidence here is solid and will not allow others to excuse it."

"Wang family, don't you think so? Just follow what the old woman said, don't waste your time."

Wang Ziteng looked even more depressed, which was in stark contrast to the smug look on Lady Jia's face.

Grandmother Jia snorted coldly and looked at the group of girls from Duke Dingguo's Mansion. They had formed a circle at some point, as if wrapping Lin Daiyu up in it.

Seeing this, Grandmother Jia just sneered, "Maybe Yue Ling really has some plan, and he is targeting my Jia family. But he underestimated my Jia family's foundation. How could we not survive this little storm? It just so happens that Wang Ziteng came today and put all the old and new accounts on the second house, so the matter is settled."

"Then we can find a second wife for the second house, someone who is as easy to handle as the first house, and a smarter girl for Baoyu to marry, and the Jia family will be back on the right track."

"By then, there will still be a young lady in the palace. Without her mother, she will only be able to protect me and Baoyu. Isn't that a way out?"

"I thought Yue Ling was really stupid and did a good thing for me!"

On the other side, Lin Daiyu said that she had thought of something, and the girls immediately surrounded her to prevent her voice from leaking out.

Lin Daiyu explained to everyone, "Now we need to find evidence of the old lady's crime to save the sisters." Yingchun sighed, "But it's so urgent now, the soldiers are also looking for her. Where can we look for her in such a big Rongguo Mansion?"

Xing Xiuyan's eyes were red, and she choked a little as she said, "It's my fault."

Lin Daiyu shook her head and said, "If Sister Yan'er hadn't taken out the wooden box, I would still be confused. Since the wooden box contains the so-called evidence, there must be real evidence in the Jia Mansion that has not been destroyed by the old lady."

"Otherwise, all the evidence should have been destroyed after the matter was settled."

Qin Keqing's eyes widened and she asked anxiously, "What evidence is there that the old lady hasn't destroyed? Why didn't she destroy it?"

Lin Daiyu looked back and saw the scattered rosary beads in the hall being picked up one by one by Jia's mother. She whispered to the other girls, "I guess it must be related to Duke Rong."

"Firstly, the old lady attached great importance to the relics of Duke Rong. Not only did she wear this rosary all the time, but Yuanyang also said that she had wiped the old Duke's court robes many times. Logically, these should have been buried with the old Duke."

"Secondly, the old lady had a fierce quarrel with Duke Rong. After Duke Rong returned home to recuperate, he cut off contact with the old lady and lived in Lixiang Courtyard in the northeast courtyard, not to mention meeting others. This proves that Duke Rong never forgave the old lady from beginning to end. And the old lady, who worships Buddha and believes in Buddhism, dared not be involved in karma and destroy Duke Rong's old things."

"Third, the old lady moved from Rongqing Hall to the Buddhist Temple. Logically, the key evidence she held should have been moved with her. However, even Yuanyang, who was always by her side, didn't know about it. So the evidence must not be in Rongqing Hall."

"Moreover, since the Rongqing Hall, all other palaces have been built for the imperial visit. Only the Buddhist Hall is an independent courtyard that has not been built and is isolated there."

"Master Miaoyu and Sister Yan'er were unable to enter the Buddhist temple to investigate, and only detained Yuanyang, so I am more certain that there must be a loophole there."

Xing Xiuyan had studied Buddhism with Miaoyu, and suddenly she had an epiphany. She said, "Miss Lin is talking about Lady Jia placing Duke Rong's relics under the Buddha statue to wash away the karma?"

Lin Daiyu nodded, "It's just that I haven't figured out what old things of the old Duke could be related to the crime that the old lady should hide, but I'll go look for it first."

After a pause, Lin Daiyu continued, "Right now, there is no other way."

If there is one, Lin Daiyu also thought of one, which is to send a message to Yue Ling, asking Yue Ling to come and take charge of the situation as soon as possible.

However, if this were to happen, Lin Daiyu didn't know whether Yue Ling would be willing to go through this trouble for the three sisters.

The girls made up their minds and decided to go out together.

A large group of girls was quite eye-catching in the hall. When Lady Jia looked up, she saw them preparing to leave, and she sneered in her heart.

He just thought that he couldn't find any problem and was too embarrassed to stand by and watch the fun, so he knew he was in the wrong and left first.

Among them were Yingchun, Tanchun and Xichun, which made Grandmother Jia unhappy.

How could these traitors who betrayed the family just walk away like that?

Jia's mother suddenly had evil thoughts and angrily said to Wang Ziteng: "They come and go freely in front of this palace. You are doing your job impartially, shouldn't you keep an eye on them?"

Wang Ziteng also glanced at them, and remembering Yue Ling's instructions before he left the palace, he had to shake his head and said, "They are not from the Jia Mansion, and have nothing to do with my case."

Grandmother Jia said coldly, "Among them, there are three girls from the Jia family. Is Commander Wang blind?"

Wang Ziteng took another closer look and was able to recognize Sanchun's figure.

As he thought about it, he realized that he had been tricked by Lady Jia again. Now he was in a dilemma and had to intervene.

Frowning, Wang Ziteng had no choice but to bite the bullet and call the soldiers, "Go and stop them. Don't let the Jia family leave at will."

"Yes."

The soldiers with weapons stepped forward, and Grandmother Jia smiled brightly.

The girls also noticed the soldiers' movements, and although they were frightened, they still protected Sanchun behind them.

Lin Daiyu frowned even more and stood in front of everyone, wanting to argue with the soldiers.

Looking at the soldiers blocking the door and the way out, Xue Baochai stepped forward and said, "We are all family members of the Duke Dingguo's Mansion. We have nothing to do with the affairs of the Rongguo Mansion. Please let us pass."

"General Wang, even if you don't care about family ties, you should still let us go according to the law. What's more, we are not leaving Rongguo Mansion, but looking for physical evidence."

What Xue Baochai said made sense. She was not escorting the Jia family out of the house, so she didn't want to make things difficult for him. There was no reason for Wang Ziteng to make things difficult for them either.

The situation here was in a stalemate, but in the next second, the little girls' eyes lit up and they exclaimed in surprise.

The soldiers were also dumbfounded. They turned their heads to look behind them and immediately bent down to make way.

"Meet the Grand Commander."

"Meet the Grand Commander."

Yue Ling, dressed in his casual clothes, strode in. Hearing the long-unseen address, he smiled and said, "So you are all old colleagues from the Beijing Camp. Nice to meet you."

Wang Ziteng was stunned and immediately stepped forward to salute, "Your humble servant pays respect to Duke Dingguo."

Yue Ling was playing with an object in his hand, and he smiled and shook his head, "Master Wang, there is no need to be so polite. I have never been in official uniform. The affairs of Rongguo Mansion are still decided by Master Wang."

"But, speaking of which, when His Majesty asked you to investigate the Jia Mansion, he did not ask you to send the Jinyiwei and Yulinwei, but asked you to bring your trusted men. It seems that His Majesty wants to entrust the achievement of clearing up the source to you alone. His Majesty really loves you very much."

Wang Ziteng forced a smile, but then lowered his head helplessly.

Of the two sentences Yue Ling said when they met, neither was true.

When she saw Yue Ling, Lin Daiyu's eyes also lit up like the other girls around her, but she hesitated for a moment and was immediately pushed forward by the girls around her like a wave and came in front of Yue Ling.

"Brother Yue... let's find the final evidence of the sisters' crimes so that they can get away with it."

Lin Daiyu was pushed here and had to talk to Yue Ling first.

Yue Ling raised his hand and rubbed Lin Daiyu's head, "Yeah, I guessed it too."

Lin Daiyu added: "However, we already have an idea. The object should be hidden in the Buddhist hall."

Yue Ling smiled, held the object in his hand in his palm, and showed it to Lin Daiyu, "Is this it?"

Lin Daiyu blinked and looked at it, only to find that it was a jade seal.

However, Grandmother Jia's face suddenly changed, and she could no longer maintain her smug smile. She exerted the last bit of her strength, stood up and tried to snatch it.

However, there is no need to say much about Yue Ling's martial arts. With just a trip on her ankle, Lady Jia fell with her head raised.

"Don't worry, you can't die now."

(End of this chapter)