Dream of the Red Chamber: Daiyu and I swapped clothes

Chapter 72 As Expected, They Are Opponents

It turns out that the sisters had gathered in her room today for a tea party.

That bastard Li Chen didn't mention this in the manual, leaving me completely unprepared.

If Lin Daiyu had known, she wouldn't have done that embarrassing thing that caused misunderstanding.

Lin Daiyu blushed deeply and stood by the window with her head down.

Li Wan gave the girls a few instructions and then hurriedly went out to find Shi Xiangyun.

Then the room fell silent, filled with the aroma of brewing tea, but no one spoke.

With Shi Xiangyun, who usually knows how to liven up the atmosphere, absent, it's unclear how to break the stagnant mood.

After Zijuan and Xueyan distributed the brewed flower tea into the pink teacups in front of each person, Tanchun finally spoke first.

"I didn't plan to hold a poetry gathering today, and we hadn't discussed it beforehand, so I didn't make many preparations. How about we talk about what happened on the night of the Lantern Festival instead?"

"Last time, Sister Lin only talked about how to save Yun'er. Why don't you tell us about the general who happened to arrive? I heard it was the Marquis of Zhenyuan, and his son is the one who argued with Brother Bao at Rongqing Hall before the New Year?"

Upon hearing the mention of Li Chen, Xue Baochai and Lin Daiyu exchanged a glance.

Xue Baochai thought to herself, "As expected, Lin Daiyu is thinking about 'fair competition,' otherwise why would she look at me like this?"

Lin Daiyu, however, was full of doubts. "Why is Sister Bao looking at me?"

Seeing this, Tan Chun smiled and said, "You two stop flirting and choose one of you to talk to."

Xue Baochai raised her wrist slightly, indicating, "That day, Lin Daiyu spoke with General Li. Why don't you speak?"

Lin Daiyu waved her hands repeatedly.

She knew nothing of the details of that night, only that the Marquis of Zhenyuan arrived on horseback and immediately arrested the man.

"Let your older sister do it."

Xue Baochai's eyes flickered slightly, and she sighed inwardly, "Is she passing the conversation to me to avoid revealing her private words with the Marquis of Zhenyuan? In that case, I can only try to be considerate for her."

Then, turning to the three springs, Xue Baochai recounted the events of that evening in detail.

When the story of Zhenyuan Hou defeating the enemy with a single halberd stroke was told, the sisters couldn't help but clap and cheer.

"Given the valor of the Marquis of Zhenyuan, one would imagine that the Second Young Master Li, who comes from a military family, must also possess some skill?"

Tan Chun asked curiously, "If it's really as Sister Bao said last time, wouldn't she be a person of both literary and martial talents? Such a person is truly rare."

For some reason, upon hearing her sisters praise Li Chen, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai both felt a strange sensation in their hearts.

Xue Baochai wondered, "Won't this add another person to the competition among the sisters?"

But Lin Daiyu remarked, "That纨绔 (wan ku, a spoiled young master) isn't that good. Aside from his limited martial arts skills, isn't he just benefiting from my influence?"

However, the praise from her sisters made Lin Daiyu feel honored.

The two were lost in thought, while Tan Chun sighed, "For a family like ours, there's no need to take the children's exam; we can simply donate money to become a student of the Imperial Academy and take the provincial exam."

"I heard that Brother Zhu passed the preliminary examination with his own talent and ranked quite high, which brought honor to the family. It is really unwise for Brother Bao to take the exam out of spite."

"If you pass the exam, you'll all be sons of noble families. How can you say who's better than whom? If you fail, wouldn't that be shameful?"

"Moreover, according to what Sister Bao said before, he most likely still won't pass the exam."

When Jia Baoyu is mentioned, Lin Daiyu today can only scoff.

With Jia Baoyu's limited knowledge, even without years of diligent study, he would still be no match for him, let alone compare to himself now.

She never considered Jia Baoyu a rival.

Xue Baochai gently advised, "Third sister, there's no need to worry. Baoyu has always had a smooth life, so experiencing some setbacks might not be a bad thing."

Yingchun, who was usually silent, said softly, "Sister Bao is right. If Baoyu passes the exam, he will have more confidence in the future, and Grandmother will be happy." Xichun put down her teacup and chimed in, "Moreover, Second Brother Bao has been studying very hard lately. We just passed by his corridor and we heard him reading aloud."

"That's true."

Tan Chun nodded in agreement, "In the past, if he had heard the commotion here, he would have come running long ago."

Xue Baochai shook her head slightly, sighing inwardly, "Fortunately, Lin Daiyu has a good nature and did not reveal that Baoyu pushed Yun'er to take the knife for him, otherwise you would not be so considerate of him."

Xue Baochai glanced at Lin Daiyu secretly and then said, "It's precisely because of Lin Daiyu's character that I don't want to compete with her for anything. The few times I wanted to hit Shi Xiangyun just now were probably to make Shi Xiangyun not feel too indebted."

The tea party lasted a long time, and everyone chatted happily about everything under the sun until lunchtime before dispersing.

Shi Xiangyun never came back.

Later, a maid from Li Wan's room came to Lin Daiyu's room to tell her that Miss Yun was there.

Lin Daiyu breathed a sigh of relief.

He picked up the book again and muttered to himself, "This... by sheer luck, it actually worked. Oh well, whatever, I'll just read first."

……

The Zhenyuan Marquis's Residence

"Sir, are you awake?"

Li Chen knocked lightly on the door a few times.

"Awake, cough cough cough, please come in, young master."

The response from inside the house sounded weak.

After advising Mr. Xing to take care of his health that day, the old man indeed couldn't hold on after class and caught a cold the next day, becoming seriously ill.

Li Chen took the brocade tray from the servant and personally carried the medicinal soup, which had been simmering in a clay pot, into the room.

"Does the young master have a question he would like to ask this old man?"

Mr. Xing struggled to get up.

Li Chen handed the medicinal soup to the servant in the room, and then hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, saying, "Teacher, please rest. My studies have been going well lately. You should focus on recovering."

Xing Bingcheng lay back down in his original spot and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

“I have come to your residence to teach, but I have encountered many setbacks. Now I am bedridden with illness, which has delayed my studies, yet I still receive my monthly allowance and use the medicine provided by your residence. I am truly ashamed.”

"You flatter me, sir."

Li Chen quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "What you have bestowed upon me is not only the classics and scriptures, but also the unity of knowledge and action. The principles of being a person are priceless."

"Please rest and recuperate. There's no need for you to force yourself to teach. As I said last time, there's plenty of time ahead. I'll need to trouble you again before the prefectural examination."

"Cough cough cough..."

Upon hearing the word "trouble," Xing Bingcheng couldn't help but cough violently in succession.

This trouble is no mere formality. His old bones fell ill less than ten days before the county exam, and the studies will be even more demanding during the prefectural exam, likely even more so than today.

Xing Bingcheng caught his breath and said with a wry smile, "Young master, you are too kind. This is my duty. I will do my best to help you once I recover. You are intelligent and diligent. If you could pass the imperial examination in my place, it would fulfill one of my wishes..."

After exchanging pleasantries for a few more moments, Li Chen took his leave.

Firstly, it would be inconvenient to disturb the teacher's rest, and secondly, it would be risky to catch a cold and affect the county examination.

Upon reaching the main courtyard, they saw their father, Li Chong, dismount with a worried expression, his brow furrowed with sorrow.

"Hey, wasn't the thief already captured? What happened, Father?"

(End of this chapter)