Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting with winning over Daiyu's favorability

Love in the heavens and seas, a body shrouded in illusion; where love meets, lust is inevitable.

It is said that all the unworthy ones come from Rong, but the real source of the trouble lies in Ning.

When Deng Zechen first read this judgment, he felt it was a great pity. Qin Keqing was such a gentle and peaceful person, but she met a completely unreliable husband, Jia Rong, and dared not say a word in front of her licentious father.

As the most favored among Jia Mu's great-granddaughters-in-law, she must be capable.

Is all a woman like this truly want just a reliable husband?

After Deng Zechen took Qin Keqing home and settled her in, he immediately went to find Sun Sanzhu, but he did not find her.

Sun Sanzhu hasn't shown his face even once since. If it weren't for the fact that he still sends someone to deliver his share of the profits every month without fail, Deng Zechen would have suspected that something had happened to him.

Sun Sanzhu only sent Song He to deliver the message after a long time, regarding Deng Zechen's arrangements for Qin Keqing:

"I have urgent business to attend to right now and can't get away. I hope you will take good care of her. I will repay you handsomely once I am free."

It was because of this letter that Deng Zechen felt at ease enough to keep Qin Keqing with him.

After all, Sun Sanzhu's identity is not simple. She also specifically asked me to take care of Qin Keqing. If I offend Sun Sanzhu because I didn't handle Qin Keqing's matter well, losing my source of income would be a small matter. I'm afraid it would bring even greater trouble.

This time, the prefectural examination required him to return to his hometown, and Deng Zechen had made an appointment with Feng Ziming in advance for the two of them to return home together.

Deng Zechen doesn't have much affection for his hometown; after all, he only has a little over a year's worth of memories of it.

Moreover, most of his memories from the past year or so were spent in a dilapidated little house. Compared to his hometown, what Deng Zechen cared about more was his uncle who raised the original owner of the body and then suddenly disappeared.

My uncle, as I remember him, was a stern and unsmiling middle-aged man. The days we spent together were just a makeshift existence.

The uncle was extremely strict about studying, but fortunately, the original owner was a child prodigy and still managed to meet the uncle's requirements under such pressure.

Regarding his uncle's disappearance, Deng Zechen was relieved that it reduced the risk of being exposed. After all, if the original owner's uncle were still alive, it would probably take less than half a day for his strange behavior to be noticed.

Now that he is about to return to his old haunts, Deng Zechen has changed a lot inside and out as he gets older. Now, he has more confidence when facing his uncle.

Although, according to my uncle's message, there's a high chance we won't meet him on this trip.

At this moment, Lin Daiyu next door had a face so dark it could drip water. Although she was sentimental, she often felt secretly saddened by the words of others.

But she rarely showed such anger, slamming the letter she had just read onto the table. It's hard to imagine that the ethereal Lin Daiyu could make such a noise by slamming the table.

Rong Momo and Zijuan, who were in the room, were both startled when they heard the sound of the table being slammed. They looked at each other and realized that neither of them knew what had happened.

At Rong Momo's prompting glance, Zijuan stepped forward and asked:

"What's wrong, young lady? What's making you so angry?"

Hearing Zijuan's concerned words, Lin Daiyu gradually calmed down, but she was still furious about the contents of the letter, especially when she thought of the grievances she had suffered in the Rongguo Mansion. She forced back her anger and confusion, replying:

"How could my aunt do such a thing!"

My cousin and I will just accept the rumors as a result of her loving her son and making a foolish mistake. My father also said in his letter that this was the only time, and that it would settle the score between my mother and the Rongguo Mansion, and that he would not pursue the matter any further.

But what grudge or resentment did Brother Deng have against her?

My aunt actually wanted to send someone to kill Deng Shixiong!

Although Zijuan came from the Rongguo Mansion, she took the initiative to sever ties with the Rongguo Mansion after deciding to follow Lin Daiyu and leave the mansion.

Upon suddenly hearing the news that his former master had hired someone to commit murder, he instinctively wanted to avoid it, but then he immediately realized his current identity.

After pondering the news for a while, Zijuan had to admit that this was something only Madam Wang would do!

As the person least connected to the Rongguo Mansion, Rong Momo was also the calmest among everyone in the room at this moment:

"Don't worry, young lady, who delivered this letter?"

Is the content of the letter reliable? This matter cannot be taken lightly; we must verify it thoroughly.

After listening to Rong Momo's words, Lin Daiyu understood the importance of this matter. If her aunt really hired someone to kill someone, Deng Zechen would definitely be determined to fight the Rongguo Mansion to the death after learning the truth after escaping danger this time.

"The messenger was a beggar. He said he was sent by a sister named Pingping."

"Does the young lady know who Pingping is?"

Lin Daiyu frowned. She could roughly remember everyone in the Rongguo Mansion, but none of them were named Pingping…

At this moment, it was Zijuan who reacted first:

"Could it be Sister Ping'er?"

Lin Daiyu also felt that this speculation made some sense. After all, Sister Feng was in charge of the household and would definitely know more information earlier than others, and Ping'er was Sister Feng's trusted maid.

They are all meticulous people, so if Sister Feng really wanted to secretly pass on a message, this method could be somewhat plausible.

"Did you see it clearly, young lady? What did it say in the letter?"

Lin Daiyu snorted coldly, "It can't be wrong. The letter said that my aunt holds a grudge against Brother Deng and spent a lot of money to hire people from 'Wanjintang' to take his life on his way back to his hometown to participate in the prefectural examination. She told us to be careful and take precautions in advance."

Rong Momo took the letter from Lin Daiyu and read it carefully several times, confirming that there was absolutely no other version of the story.

"How does the young lady plan to handle this matter?"

Lin Daiyu remained silent for a moment, then immediately made a decision:

"I need to go to the Rongguo Mansion now to see Sister Feng. If that's really the case..."

At this point, Lin Daiyu bit her lip lightly, "First, tell Brother Deng to be on guard and recruit some skilled guards to accompany him when he sets off. Then, write a letter to Father."

The situation was urgent, and in less than a quarter of an hour, Lin Daiyu boarded a carriage to the Rongguo Mansion.

Suppressing her impatience and resentment, Lin Daiyu tried her best to appear normal. She first went to pay her respects to Grandmother Jia, and finally went to see Wang Xifeng.

At this time, Wang Xifeng's courtyard was different from the bustling scene she remembered; it was rather deserted.

When Ping'er saw Wang Xifeng, she was tidying up the medicine bowls. Upon seeing Lin Daiyu's visit, Wang Xifeng and her maid exchanged a glance and immediately understood Lin Daiyu's purpose.

Ping'er left the room first and summoned away all the servants nearby.

Seeing Wang Xifeng's tired face, Lin Daiyu didn't care about anything else:

"Does Sister Feng know about 'Wan Jin Tang'?"

"I've heard a bit about them. I've heard they're a group of江湖人 (jianghu people) who are willing to do anything as long as they're paid."

Confirming that Lin Daiyu had received the message, Wang Xifeng's heart pounded like a drum. She forced herself to calm down: "It seems she's recently taken on a job, to take the life of some poor scholar."

Although she did not directly answer the questions in the letter, Lin Daiyu still confirmed the answer with Wang Xifeng.

"What is Sister Feng's opinion on this matter, and why did she come to tell me?"