After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 142 Crimson Pearl and Daiyu, A Discussion of Their Past Lives

In the afternoon, with everything finished and no one waiting to see him, Chu Yan instructed Xia Shouzhong: "Is Miss Lin in the west wing? Go and take a look, but don't disturb her."

Xia Shouzhong hurriedly sent a quick-footed eunuch to check, and soon returned to report: Miss Lin is at home.

Chu Yan then instructed: "After today's official business is finished, if there is anything else, go to the Left and Right Chancellors. For urgent matters, the Chancellor, General, or Minister of the Six Ministries may report to us."

"It is Your Majesty." Xia Shouzhong left four eunuchs to wait in the front hall.

Outside the front hall of Linjing Hall, there is the Military Affairs Pavilion left over from the Shun Dynasty, which is now the office of the emperor's close ministers such as the Left and Right Chancellors, the Secretariat Attendants, and the Hanlin Academy.

Chu Yan intended to establish a cabinet to help him handle government affairs, which in effect meant dispersing the powers of the prime minister and the general, with the cabinet responsible for drafting and approving responses, largely following the system of the Ming Dynasty.

Back in the main hall, Chu Yan headed towards the west wing.

As the emperor's harem, Linjing Hall was only accessible through the back door of the main hall, allowing the concubines to remain undisturbed by court officials. Therefore, Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, Xing Xiuyan, and others rarely saw outsiders and remained within the harem.

Chu Yan arrived at the west wing where Daiyu lived. The palace maids outside the door already knew he was coming, so they remained silent and simply bowed.

Chu Yan went inside and saw Xueyan, another maid of Daiyu, dozing off at the table.

The little girl was quite pretty, with delicate features, and a bit younger than Zijuan. Upon hearing the voice, she turned her head and, startled, quickly stood up.

"His Majesty……"

"Is your daughter inside?" Chu Yan asked with a smile.

Xueyan nodded hurriedly and pointed to the study on the east side. Just then, Zijuan came out after hearing the news. When she saw him, she hesitated to speak.

Chu Yan nodded and walked into the East Study.

At a glance, I saw Lin Daiyu, who had already stood up. She was slender and graceful, and her beauty was so captivating that it made one forget worldly concerns.

Chu Yan saw that she was holding a calligraphy brush. When she saw him, her exquisitely beautiful face, no bigger than a palm, had a faint expression, with a hint of displeasure at being disturbed, but she still had to bow to him.

Chu Yan walked over and said with a smile, "Is Lin Daiyu writing a letter to your brother Baoyu?"

Upon hearing this, Daiyu quickly picked up the paper on the table, tore it up, and then told Zijuan to take it and burn it. Only after she finished doing these things did she look up at him.

It was as if they were watching to see if he would get angry.

Chu Yan asked in surprise, "What's wrong, Sister Lin?"

Daiyu said, "These are just some silly musings written by a young lady in her boudoir, which are not worthy of His Majesty's attention. I'd better burn them."

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Burning it won't do you any good. I've already memorized quite a bit even though I only glanced at it just now."

"What did Your Majesty see?" Daiyu didn't believe him.

"Your letter is full of thoughts of missing Baoyu and words of advice to him; it is truly earnest and full of deep affection!"

"Your Majesty's eyesight is not very good."

Chu Yan looked at her; Daiyu's small face was calm, making it difficult to discern whether her words were true or false.

"I didn't see wrong."

Chu Yan sat down casually and ordered, "Zijuan, pour me a cup of tea."

Zijuan, who was standing outside the door, went about her business.

It was as if Chu Yan was her master, taking over this place so brazenly. When he came to Xiaoxiang Pavilion, would he also take over her home?

Daiyu was angry. She glanced at him and said, "His Majesty the Emperor's words are law, every word is an imperial edict. No wonder Zijuan listens to you."

Chu Yan laughed and said, "The word 'resentment' is used wonderfully. It means that Lin Daiyu has resentment in her heart, so she uses Zijuan as a metaphor for herself?"

Daiyu's words were full of veiled meaning, but when he actually saw through them, she ended up being at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, she was quick-witted and, with a change of heart, she went with the flow and sneered, "Thunder and rain are all the Emperor's grace, and the grass and trees on the ground can only accept them. Even if they have complaints, how can they shake the might of Heaven?"

Chu Yan nodded and said, "That's true, but your mention of plants, trees, rain, and dew reminds me of something interesting."

Daiyu refused to respond to him, and even refused to sit down, as if sitting down without his permission was to chat with him. She did not want to get too close to the bandit king.

Chu Yan didn't order her to sit down, but continued, "It is said that on the banks of the Western Spirit River, beside the Three Lives Stone, there grows a Crimson Pearl Grass. One day, a Divine Attendant from the Crimson Jade Palace passed by and saw it growing there all alone, so he casually gave it some sweet rain."

Daiyu frowned slightly, a sense of unease creeping into her heart, wondering what he wanted to say.

Zijuan brought in tea, which Chu Yan took and sipped as he said, “The Crimson Pearl Grass, nourished by the essence of heaven and earth and sweet dew, quickly transformed into the Crimson Pearl Fairy.”

Crimson Pearl Fairy?

Daiyu had a vague feeling that what he was saying was probably related to her, but she didn't believe in such mythical and supernatural things.

Although she had met him in her dreams, it only made her more suspicious.

"After an unknown period of time, the Divine Stone Attendant was moved by worldly desires and wished to descend to the mortal realm for training. So he went to the Fairy Disenchantment to register for reincarnation. The Crimson Pearl Fairy wanted to repay his kindness of sweet dew, so the Fairy Disenchantment asked her to descend to the mortal realm with her."

After Chu Yan finished speaking, he took another sip of tea and smiled at Daiyu, saying, "Sister Lin is very clever. Why don't you guess how the Crimson Pearl Fairy will repay the kindness of the sweet dew?"

If Jia Baoyu heard these words, he would probably be shocked, not because he remembered that he was Shenying Attendant, but because he had dreamed of visiting the Land of Illusion and met Fairy Disenchantment.

His words matched those of Chu Yan.

But Lin Daiyu knew nothing of this. Daiyu lowered her head and thought for a while. Because her legs were sore from standing and she was thinking about his words, she slowly sat down.

After thinking for a while, she realized that according to common sayings, people would say "I will be your ox or horse in the next life to repay your great kindness" when repaying a debt of gratitude. But that was too vulgar. And the emperor said it to her face, so there must be a reason.

Shenying, Jiangzhu...

Ying is related to jade. Baoyu was born with a magical jade. Could he be the Divine Attendant Ying who descended to earth?
If that's the case, then she must be the Crimson Pearl Flower?
It's hard to say for sure. Baochai and Baoyu are a perfect match, but perhaps she is the Crimson Pearl Flower, reincarnated in this life to repay the kindness of the sweet dew.

Unfortunately, it was ruined by this emperor!
Then she thought, maybe what he said wasn't true, he was just lying to her.

Thinking of this, Daiyu smiled at him and said, "People often say that in the next life, one should be reborn as an ox or a horse to repay kindness. I guess that Jiangzhu must have been reincarnated as an ox, horse, or donkey in the household of Shenying Attendant, working hard to grind grain and plow the fields to repay the kindness of her previous life."

"Hahahaha!"

Chu Yan laughed loudly. If the reincarnation theory is true, then Lin Daiyu is indeed the reincarnation of the Crimson Pearl Flower. She said that the Crimson Pearl Fairy was reincarnated as a donkey. When she regains her memories of her past life, wouldn't she be ashamed to death when she hears this?
Seeing him laugh, Daiyu snorted, but then couldn't help but smile again: "Your Majesty, please tell me, how will the Crimson Pearl Fairy repay the kindness of the sweet dew?"

Chu Yan didn't answer, but changed the subject and asked her, "I saw a play called 'The Peony Pavilion,' in which the man and woman made a vow to be together for three lifetimes, even in death. It really brought tears to my eyes."

Daiyu suspected that he was trying to persuade her to give up on Baoyu, so she didn't respond to his words.

Chu Yan continued, "But then I wonder, what if they are reincarnated in their next life and meet someone they love, and make the same vow of three lifetimes together?"

Daiyu raised her eyes and said, "How could a vow made on the Stone of Three Lives change?"

Chu Yan countered, "Are birth, aging, sickness, and death, and even love, hate, and grudges, all predetermined from a previous life?"

Daiyu said, "Heaven doesn't care about all that, it only cares about what's on the Three Lives Stone."

Chu Yan said, "According to what you said, Fairy Jiangzhu made a vow that all the joys and sorrows she experienced in her reincarnation were preordained by heaven, and she deserved it."

Daiyu frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, "Since it was a vow she made in her past life, then her suffering in this life is repayment for what she owed in her past life. Buddhism says that the cause of the past life leads to the effect of this life."

Chu Yan laughed and said, "If you were the Crimson Pearl Fairy and I were the Divine Stone Attendant, but you have not repaid me in this life, what will you do then?"

Daiyu said, embarrassed and annoyed, "You went to so much trouble to tease me. You are now the emperor, how can I possibly repay you?" She then sneered, "You have three thousand beauties in your harem, why do you still need to force me to join you?"

Chu Yan said calmly, "We were talking properly, but you got angry again, thinking I was taking advantage of you. In that case, the Divine Stone Attendant will be changed to someone you don't know, named Zhu Dazhuang."

"Pooh."

Daiyu spat at him, turned her head away, and didn't answer.

These words were clearly mocking her for having taken a fancy to a pig.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Look, you also despise the idea of ​​past and present lives, don't you?"

Daiyu, on the contrary, remained calm and said, "If I were Jiangzhu, I would have already seen Shenying Shizhe. How could he be someone I don't know? If Sister Bao is Jiangzhu, you have already fulfilled your wish and ruined her and Baoyu's golden and jade marriage. Why should you care?"

Just then, a palace maid suddenly came in to report that Zijuan had relayed the message.

"Is the princess going to visit Duke Chongle?"

Chu Yan thought for a moment and then instructed, "Bring Xia Shouzhong in."

Zijuan went out to deliver another message, and Xia Shouzhong hurriedly came in.

Chu Yan said to him, "You may allow the princess to go in and visit. Also, find out who told her about this."

Although he was not afraid that the two former emperors might issue secret edicts to summon people to defend the emperor, he did not want to worry about such things. Logically, the two were imprisoned, making it difficult for news to get out.

Even if word gets out that there are still people outside who are loyal to them, that's still a problem.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this servant will investigate thoroughly and get to the bottom of this!"

Xia Shouzhong respectfully accepted the imperial decree, already determined to dig deep and find out who in the palace was still blindly loyal to the former Shun Dynasty!
Just as he was about to leave, Daiyu suddenly asked, "Are you going to punish Princess Qinghe?"

Chu Yan shook his head: "She did nothing wrong, why should I punish her? Filial piety is a fundamental human virtue."

Xia Shouzhong went out.

Chu Yan stayed in Lin Daiyu's study and chatted with her for half an hour. He did most of the talking, while Daiyu didn't say much and seemed absent-minded.

"The princess and Miss Yun are back," Zijuan said as she entered.

Soon, Xiangyun's voice came through: "Is the Emperor here?"

Qinghe entered the study with her, and upon seeing Chu Yan, she knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, that eunuch only found out about Chong Le Gong's condition by spending some money after seeing the imperial physician come out of Wangyue Tower. He did not collude with him in secret!"

Xiangyun remained silent. Just now, Xia Shouzhong led a group of eunuchs to Daming Palace in a menacing manner, arrested the eunuch, and then entered Wangyue Tower, searching it thoroughly. He also ordered people to go to the Imperial Hospital to arrest the imperial physicians who had treated him and the eunuchs who had accompanied him.

Xiangyun usually saw Xia Shouzhong as obedient and clever in front of his brother the emperor, fawning and flattering him. Who knew he would be so ruthless when it came to doing things, truly wielding immense power.

Chu Yan nodded and said calmly, "Get up. We'll talk about it after Xia Shouzhong has investigated."

Qinghe had no choice but to kowtow and get up.

Daiyu observed coldly from the sidelines, saying nothing.

By evening, Xia Shouzhong returned to report, confirming that, as the princess had said, it was indeed the old eunuch who had acted on his own initiative.

Chu Yan imposed the appropriate punishment to prevent anyone from repeating the offense.

(End of this chapter)