Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 475 Lin Daiyu's Two Letters

"Why are you working so hard today? Why don't you rest earlier? Even if you're in good health, you shouldn't overwork yourself like this."

Seeing that the light in the study was still on, Yue Ling knew that Lin Daiyu was still busy inside. He took a small fur blanket and draped it over her. Yue Ling then looked up to see what Lin Daiyu was writing.

Xueyan, who was grinding ink nearby, nodded sleepily. When she heard Yue Ling's movement, she yawned several times and said, "Miss, I'm going to lie down on the bed for a while. Call me if you need anything."

Lin Daiyu covered her letter with her hand, responded softly to Xueyan, then glared at Yue Ling and said, "This is for my father, I can't show it to you."

Yue Ling blinked, looking very puzzled.

Lin Daiyu is always the one he wears, so when did he remember to write to Lin Ruhai? Could it be that the manor is short of money again?

Yue Ling shook his head repeatedly, dismissing the thought.

With the joint efforts of Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin, the household now receives a steady stream of silver every day, so there is no way they are short of money.

After thinking about it more carefully, Yue Ling began to understand the situation.

Otherwise, this letter wouldn't be for Lin Ruhai; it would be a letter from a woman in her boudoir, so he shouldn't read it.

Otherwise, this letter was meant for Lin Ruhai, but its contents are related to Yue Ling. Perhaps it's asking Lin Ruhai for advice on the current situation, or it might be about the engagement. In any case, it's not convenient to show it to Yue Ling.

As Yue Ling read it aloud, he was able to empathize, straightened his posture, and stopped paying attention to the letter on her desk.

"Very well, I won't see her. How are the two concubines' health? What did the imperial physician say?"

Lin Daiyu replied, "Both of them are doing well with their pregnancies. The imperial physician prescribed nourishing tonics and gave them some instructions, which he then instructed the maids and nannies to carry out. Several experienced midwives accompanied the two concubines to the capital and are taking care of them."

Yue Ling asked cautiously, "Is there anyone in our household who is making contacts in between?"

Lin Daiyu looked up in confusion, "Brother Yue can guess that it was Sister Yan'er who volunteered to take care of the two aunts. She said that she was not very good at learning foreign languages ​​and had nothing to do in her spare time, so she went to do what she could."

"Sister Yan'er is pretty and steady in her actions. She is also from Jiangnan, so it's natural that she is liked by the two aunts. They have a lot to talk about, and it seems like they can't finish. She is truly a good person."

Yue Ling frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "Lin Daiyu is still too young. This Xing Xiuyan is indeed not a simple character. It seems that none of the maids in the manor are easy to deal with."

Seeing Yue Ling remain silent, Lin Daiyu frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something amiss?"

Yue Ling couldn't be too clear about it. The young ladies in the manor were always preoccupied with their own thoughts and schemes, so it was inappropriate for Yue Ling to get involved.

"No, no, then Lin Meimei should rest early. I'm going to sleep now."

Lin Daiyu hadn't finished writing the letter in her hand when she got up and pushed Yue Ling to walk out, urging, "Alright, alright, if you don't take up my time, I would have finished long ago!"

After seeing Yue Ling off, Lin Daiyu breathed a sigh of relief.

He took out a letter from under the stacks of paper and began to read it.

"The Empress said I did a good job and that I should continue to maintain this approach. Every family has its own affairs, and especially since things have come to this point, there's nothing that can be changed."

"Fortunately, these sisters know what's important when they're playing around. They never fight over a man or do anything dirty, and that's enough."

"Moreover, Her Majesty the Empress actually said that our marriage is set for February next year, when I will be of marriageable age."

Lin Daiyu rubbed her hair behind her back with her fingers and said with worry, "I don't know if my hair will be able to be styled into a bun by then, or if I'll be able to wear that headdress."

He sat there blankly for a long time, as if he were a clay sculpture.

Hearing the footsteps of the night watchman outside the window, Lin Daiyu came back to her senses.

"No, no, I've delayed you again. I should write a reply to Her Majesty the Empress first."

With a brush dipped in ink, Lin Daiyu's elegant handwriting, as if it were her own, leaped onto the paper.

"Your humble servant Lin Daiyu respectfully bows before Your Majesty the Empress, wishing Your Majesty boundless blessings and peace. As autumn deepens, I humbly pray that Your Majesty enjoys good health, radiant grace, and tranquility throughout the palace."

"Your Majesty has troubled me with such care and concern, personally handling my daughter's marriage. I am already deeply humbled. Your Majesty's compassion and kindness towards my daughter, treating her as your own daughter, is an immense debt I can never repay."

"Your Majesty has once again resolved Daiyu's dilemma in managing the household. Daiyu has kept it firmly in mind and will surely be able to settle the household affairs for her husband Yue Ling after these turbulent times, without having to worry about it."

As the pen tip touched the words "husband," Lin Daiyu's cheeks flushed slightly again. She cautiously turned her head, glancing nervously to see if anyone was beside her. When she realized that no one was around and the only sound in the room was Xueyan's soft snoring, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned back around.

As she wrote the next line, Lin Daiyu's expression completely softened, and she didn't even dare to frown.

"Upon hearing the news of her father's arrival in the capital, Daiyu was still worried that her father harbored resentment and jealousy and would not give in. If it were truly embarrassing for him, she hoped that Her Majesty would give the word, and then her father would not dare to refuse."

"The Grand Debate at the Imperial Academy is about to begin. I hope to be able to enter the palace to pay my respects to Your Majesty and ease my daughter's longing."

"Your humble servant, Daiyu, bows respectfully."

After writing one letter, Lin Daiyu set it aside and began writing the next one without stopping—a letter to Lin Ruhai.

The letters home were much more casual, beginning with a simple greeting: "Your daughter, Daiyu, sends her regards to your father."

"Is the salt business going smoothly lately? Is your health still good? Your daughter in the capital is always thinking of you. Several months have passed since we last met, and you haven't sent a single letter home. Is your resentment still not gone?"

"My daughter has so much to say..."

After offering her greetings, Lin Daiyu spoke frankly: "Recently, the capital is planning to hold a 'Grand Debate on the Classics,' which Father should already know. This time, Brother Yue's opponents are the Grand Academician of the Hanlin Academy and a renowned scholar from Jiangnan, both of whom hold the highest positions in the literary world."

"Father should also know that Brother Yue is not from the imperial examination system. Perhaps he has not thought things through and cannot understand the pain points of these Confucian scholars. I hope that Father can enlighten me. This is closely related to my safety in the capital. I humbly request Father's advice."

As soon as she finished writing, Lin Daiyu held her cheeks and thought, "After all, I'm living with Brother Yue. If Brother Yue is framed by treacherous officials, then of course my life will be miserable. Father certainly won't know that I'm talking about the Empress's letter. If Brother Yue loses this battle, we might have to get married hastily and then go to the harsh land of Liaodong."

"Although it doesn't matter where I go with Brother Yue, it's not a good thing that this family has only been settled for a few days before we have to separate again."

Gathering her thoughts, Lin Daiyu stretched and tidied up the two letters. She went to the small couch in the next room, gently patted Xueyan, and said, "Xueyan, Xueyan? Wake up, don't sleep. If you want to sleep, go back to your room."

“Miss…” Xueyan seemed to believe it but not quite, as if she were talking in her sleep, “Today, my two aunts and I cleaned the house and moved our luggage. We’re so tired that I don’t want to move anymore. Let’s just make do here for the night.”

Lin Daiyu shook her head, full of helplessness, but still lovingly covered her with the blanket she was wearing.

"Alright, then go to sleep. Remember there are two letters on the table; mail them out first thing tomorrow morning."

"The letter above was sent to the Lin family in Yangzhou, and the letter below was sent to the capital."

Xueyan replied, "I understand."

After Lin Daiyu blew out the lamp and slowly walked out the door, Xueyan muttered to herself again, as if repeating Lin Daiyu's words to make them familiar to her.

"The Lin family is above, the imperial city is below... the Lin family is below, the imperial city is above..." "Those above send to the imperial city, those below send to the Lin family..."

……

After being ushered into the room by Lin Daiyu, Yue Ling changed his clothes and sat down by the couch to soak his feet.

The recent suspension of court sessions has given him, a newcomer to the political arena, ample breathing room.

It wasn't just about the "Great Debate at the Imperial Academy," but also about his office, the Duzheng Yamen, which never opened and remained just a signboard.

Of course, to make a new law, you need your own team. Now that you have a reputation, it's time to make some good plans.

In the past, when he governed a prefecture or a province, he could personally handle every matter, spending a lot of time on paperwork and doing his best to deal with things.

However, governing the country and implementing new policies to reform cannot rely entirely on him personally.

Even the most astute "Prime Minister Wang" who presided over the reforms had his own team. Although he was not good at selecting talent, he still managed to get the reforms started and implement them.

As a new decision-making method, Yue Ling has a vision ahead of its time, but what is truly suitable for promotion today still needs to be discussed with capable people. Therefore, the decision-making level should be further staffed.

The selection of two assistant ministers as left and right hands seems to resemble the initial form of a cabinet.

The government should not be overly bloated; it should have separate departments responsible for various tasks, modeled after what he did in Cangzhou. The specific new policies could be further divided into: the Department of Finance (responsible for land surveying and taxation), the Department of Military Administration (responsible for reorganizing garrisons, the capital garrison, and border troops, and verifying military households), the Department of Personnel Administration (responsible for police performance evaluation), the Department of Engineering (responsible for supervising large-scale water conservancy and transportation projects, and promoting agriculture), and the Department of Political Affairs (responsible for drafting various new laws, regulations, and summarizing and mitigating risks).

The powers of each government office overlapped as much as possible with those of the Six Ministries in order to contain resistance from all sides.

As the new law was gradually implemented, these government offices were naturally integrated into the Six Ministries, with which they had the closest relationship, and their influence was subtly exerted.

After Yue Ling stepped down, these people were only responsible to the emperor, thus completing the centralization of power that Emperor Longyou wanted.

His ideals were lofty, but he couldn't take too big a step. The "Great Debate at the Imperial Lectures" was his first battle without gunpowder against all the civil officials.

Yue Ling silently pondered, feeling that special projects related to technological development, machinery, and firearms needed separate support to help Dachang keep up with the times.

With this in mind, Yue Ling breathed a sigh of relief and began planning the selection of candidates.

As a former colleague of the Prince of Qin, Mr. Dongfang naturally had a place among them.

Even one's own father-in-law, who is essentially a crony, wants to secure a position within the organization.

It's time for Su Moyun, the top scholar who has spent many years honing his skills in Suzhou, to be recalled to the capital.

There are still quite a few officials missing, and further planning is needed step by step.

Suddenly, someone pushed open the door and entered, interrupting Yue Ling's thoughts.

Raising his head, Yue Ling frowned slightly. The person who came was not Lin Daiyu, but a maid he did not recognize.

Her clothes, measured from head to toe, did not resemble those of a lowly maidservant.

Moreover, even the lowly maids were very familiar to Yue Ling, but he had a vague impression of this person and couldn't recall her name.

"Could they be the maids of the two concubines?"

Yue Ling nodded secretly, then looked up and asked, "Are you a new maid in the manor?"

Seeing Yue Ling sitting on the bed in the room, wearing only a thin, close-fitting white jacket that accentuated his well-defined physique, Yuanyang was immediately dumbfounded.

"What's going on? Why is the Duke in the room? Isn't this Miss Lin's room? Miss Lin received me here and told me to wait here tonight so I could get acquainted with the Duke."

"Could it be, could it be..."

Yuanyang made even bolder guesses.

After all, the Duke of Dingguo's mansion has a great reputation, and everyone in the mansion is Yue Ling's plaything, regardless of age. Especially Yuanyang, who is already an old maid waiting to be married, shouldn't she be allowed to marry into the mansion?

Moreover, with so many young ladies in the mansion, it's no surprise that Lin Daiyu is incredibly tolerant.

Yuanyang hadn't expected such tolerance; on her very first day in the mansion, she was expected to serve him and help him rest.

Yuanyang was good at serving people, and very good at it, but she had never served a man before. For a moment, she felt dizzy and her heart was pounding.

"The old lady wasn't lying to me after all?"

Seeing the person standing on the threshold, neither advancing nor retreating, just standing there blankly, Yue Ling thought it was a bit inexplicable, having no idea what kind of struggle Yuanyang was going through at that moment.

"If you want to come in, go inside and close the door. It's getting windy at night."

Yue Ling assumed that the unfamiliar maid was unfamiliar with the area and had come to the wrong place to look for Lin Daiyu, so he first comforted her with kind words.

Upon receiving the order, Yuanyang naturally became more efficient. She quickly closed the doors and windows, then came to Yue Ling and took a few steps closer, feeling quite embarrassed.

Yue Ling was even more confused. "Miss, what's the matter?"

Yuanyang blushed deeply with embarrassment and waved her hands repeatedly, "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it. Please address me as Miss, Your Excellency. I am here to wait for you in the room at Madam's instruction."

"Madam? Lin Daiyu?"

"Yes, that's right." Yuanyang bit her lip lightly, her face so red it looked like it could bleed.

"Who are you? I've never heard of this before?"

Yuanyang then realized that she hadn't introduced herself yet. "To answer your question, Your Excellency, I am Yuanyang."

"The Jia family's lovebirds?"

Yue Ling's tone suddenly rose, as if she were quite surprised.

Yuanyang became even more nervous and hurriedly knelt down.

After learning that they were a pair of mandarin ducks, Yue Ling understood that there were many misunderstandings involved.

Although Yuanyang was beautiful and close in age to him, making her a good prospect, Yue Ling was not a lustful man, and so he entered and left her by mistake.

"Get up and answer first. You must have misunderstood..."

"Huh?" Now it was Yuanyang's turn to be completely confused.

(End of this chapter)