The Splendor of the Red Chamber

the other side.

Lady Wang never liked Lin Daiyu, and now that she was distracted, she had nothing to say to her sister Lin.

After exchanging a few casual words, she noticed Baoyu peeking around outside, so she dismissed Daiyu, saying, "It's been a year since we last met. You two siblings should go downstairs and have a chat, but don't go too far, lest your uncle comes looking for you."

Lin Daiyu then curtsied and withdrew from the main hall.

"Lin Daiyu!"

As soon as they stepped outside, Jia Baoyu rushed over, eagerly tugging at Lin Daiyu, "Have you finished talking? Let's hurry back to Grandmother's room, or Master will scold me again if he sees us!"

He tugged at her twice, but Lin Daiyu didn't budge an inch.

Baoyu exclaimed in surprise, "Sister, you're much better now? You seem to have more energy than me!"

"I trained with my older brother."

Lin Daiyu replied absentmindedly, still pondering Jia Lian's actions from earlier.

Why rush to talk about the Lin family's inheritance as soon as you get back?

The uncle and aunt's attitude was even stranger...

Could it be that my uncle and aunt are after this money?

Thinking of this, Lin Daiyu couldn't help but feel a little cold. They were all blood relatives, so why were her uncle and aunt so impatient when her father's body was barely cold?

As for Jia Lian taking the initiative to expose this matter, she was naturally both admiring and grateful, and felt even more that her second brother Lian was more reliable than others.

"Lin Daiyu, Lin Daiyu?"

Seeing Lin Daiyu lost in thought, Jia Baoyu couldn't help but wave his hand in front of her eyes and urge her, "Let's hurry over to Grandmother's; she's been thinking of you a lot!"

Lin Daiyu shook her head: "My uncle might want to talk to me again in a little while, and my aunt told me not to go too far."

"this……"

Baoyu was immediately in a dilemma. The urge to get close to Lin Daiyu and the fear of his father were fighting back and forth in his mind, and he didn't know what to do.

Just then, Jia Zheng and Jia Lian came out of the outer study.

Startled, Baoyu quickly shrank to a corner, but Jia Zheng had already seen him and immediately shouted, "You wretched child, why are you hiding? Are you ashamed to be seen by me, or ashamed to be seen by anyone else?!"

Jia Baoyu was so frightened that he shrank back and bowed from a distance, saying, "Master."

"Hmph~"

Jia Zheng glanced at Lin Daiyu, then flicked his sleeve and said, "I'll deal with you later."

Then he instructed Jia Lian to return to Wutong Garden as soon as possible after meeting Aunt Xue, so that Sister Feng wouldn't worry about him at home.

Finally, he said to Lin Daiyu, "Lin girl, wait outside first. Your aunt and I will give you a few instructions, and then we'll have her explain to you."

"Yes."

Lin Daiyu bowed in agreement. After Jia Zheng returned to the main hall, she turned to Baoyu, who was filled with fear, and said, "You go first, so your uncle won't beat you later."

"Then, I'll wait for you at the old lady's!"

After saying this, Jia Baoyu hurriedly grabbed the hem of his robe and fled as fast as he could.

Lin Daiyu watched his flustered figure disappear outside the courtyard, and couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle: "He really hasn't improved at all."

As she spoke, she turned to look into the hall, wondering what her uncle and aunt wanted to say to her.

Inside the hall.

"I'm going to finalize the marriage between Baoyu and Daiyu," Jia Zheng said bluntly to Lady Wang.

Lady Wang's heart sank. Jia Zheng had clearly made up his mind to use the Lin family's money to build a separate residence for the emperor's family, so he planned to finalize the marriage between Baoyu and Daiyu first.

Although Madam Wang also wanted to build a separate residence for visiting relatives, she couldn't feel happy at all.

Composing herself, she suddenly remembered something and quickly reminded him, "Master, are you confused? Miss Lin is still in mourning; how can we discuss marriage with her at this time?"

Jia Zheng patted his forehead and said with a wry smile, "I completely forgot about that—oh well, don't say it outright yet, just hint to Lin Yatou and tell her not to be anxious or overthink it."

"Yes."

Lady Wang agreed first, then cautiously probed, "My lord, with the Empress in the inner palace looking after us, we can quietly make up for it when we have more money. Why rush to involve Baoyu..."

"What do you know!"

Jia Zheng glared at Madam Wang and said, "What's done is done. Even if we can make up for it later, we'll still owe the Lin family!"

He paused, then added, "I know you've always felt that Lin is frail and narrow-minded, not someone who can manage the household."

But I've noticed that in the year or so that she's been away with Jia Lian, not only has her health improved a lot, but she's also learned some household management and accounting skills.

It's clear that Daiyu was just young before, not that she lacked talent in this area. You and Feng'er can teach her more in the future."

Although Madam Wang was still unwilling, with over 600,000 taels of silver at stake, she couldn't think of a reason to refuse and could only reluctantly agree.

Jia Zheng didn't want to talk about money with his niece in person, so he entrusted it to Lady Wang and then hid in the east bedroom.

Madam Wang reluctantly called Lin Daiyu in, stared at her for a few moments, and found that her complexion and figure had indeed greatly improved.

He asked a few more questions about the accounting and housekeeping, and Daiyu answered them all fluently.

Lady Wang was finally somewhat tempted, so she took the initiative to hint to Lin Daiyu, "Baoyu listens to you the most. If you can advise him from time to time and make him understand the importance of studying and making progress, your uncle and I will be able to rest assured about the two of you."

Lin Daiyu's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.

She knew that Baoyu disliked scholarship related to officialdom and economics, but she also knew that her aunt did not like her. She only agreed because of the money.

If I don't respond to this, I'm afraid I'll go back to my old ways, or even hate myself even more.

But if we agree, Baoyu is stubborn and won't listen to advice. If we try to persuade him too much, our childhood friendship might fade.

Moreover, Lin Daiyu never thought that Baoyu's lack of ambition was a fault; she thought it would be incredibly boring if he really learned from those old-fashioned scholars.

Of course, it would be best if one could be like Brother Lian, who "is well-versed in worldly rules but not bound by conventions".

When Lady Wang saw that Lin Daiyu hesitated for a long time without agreeing, her face immediately darkened.

She always believed that Baoyu's unruly behavior was related to Lin Daiyu, so she never liked Daiyu.

Now, forced by circumstances, he was willing to grit his teeth and accept the marriage arrangement, but to his surprise, even with this one upright request, Lin Daiyu was unwilling to agree.

How could I possibly entrust Baoyu to her with this peace of mind?!

Madam Wang immediately said coldly, "The inheritance left by your father will naturally be given to you when you grow up, but for now you'd better keep your mouth shut to avoid causing trouble for the child who has the gold."

Lin Daiyu felt a chill run down her spine, realizing she had missed the opportunity to gain Lady Wang's approval.

She couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

But considering that the Jia family was probably going to misappropriate his father's inheritance, yet they still put on such an arrogant attitude, he just couldn't bring himself to say anything to back down.

Lin Daiyu bit her cherry lips and hesitated for a moment, then stubbornly retorted, "Can't even Grandmother and Baoyu tell?"

"It's best not to."

Madam Wang stood up and stared at Lin Daiyu, saying, "It's one thing for the old lady to be so lenient, but if Baoyu gets close to you because of this, then he has ulterior motives—not to mention me, even your uncle would absolutely not tolerate him!"

This implies that if Lin Daiyu tells Baoyu about the inheritance, the couple will completely sever their close relationship.

Lin Daiyu remained silent for a long time before finally lowering her head and replying, "Yes."

…………

the other side.

After paying his respects to Aunt Xue (who should actually be called Aunt Xue), Jia Lian finally returned to the Wutong Garden, which he had been away from for a long time.

As soon as he entered, Ping'er greeted him joyfully, lowering her voice to say, "Congratulations, Your Excellency! You must be tired from your journey!"

Jia Lian pinched her smooth cheek and laughed, scolding, "You little hussy, you're starting to imitate your grandmother—where is she?"

As he spoke, he lifted the curtain and entered the main room.

Ping'er followed closely behind, pointed into the bedroom, and whispered, "It seems that he had a quarrel with Rong's wife the other day, and he's holding back his anger now. Second Master, please don't make Grandma angry."

"fire?"

Jia Lian chuckled, took off his outer robe and tossed it to Ping'er, saying, "I'm also quite irritable right now."

Although the two were not speaking loudly, Wang Xifeng, who was listening intently inside the room, still managed to hear some of the noise.

She was both angry and worried, but she forced herself to sit on the bed, preparing to give Jia Lian a hard time first.

After waiting for quite a while, Jia Lian still didn't come in.

Could it be that he was tripped up by that little brat Ping'er?!

Wang Xifeng was overcome with jealousy and instinctively wanted to go out and lash out, but then she heard hurried footsteps getting closer and closer.

Fengjie quickly lowered her head and pretended to be busy with needlework, waiting for Jia Lian to lift the curtain and come in before she looked up with a fierce expression and scolded, "What a mess you've made! Now she's even riding on..."

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly widened her phoenix eyes in shock, only to find that Jia Lian was only wearing a pair of short trousers.

"You, you, you..."

The usually quick-witted Sister Feng, upon seeing that increasingly robust body, felt as if her mouth was stuffed with eggplant, and could only stammer, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Jia Lian didn't utter a single word.

He pounced on her and pinned her down, dealing with her directly and bluntly no matter how much she complained, scolded, pushed, or struggled...