Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

How could Jia Lian allow Wang Xifeng to provoke him? He said calmly, "The character 'mountain' is too broad. Try to find another one that fits the meaning."

"what?"

Wang Xifeng, who had been so smug, instantly deflated. She had finally managed to think of one, but now, how could she possibly recall a single poem or allusion related to spring?

Everyone could see Wang Xifeng's predicament. Although they secretly mocked her for not being able to come up with two answers, they kindly suggested, "If Sister-in-law Lian can't come up with a second answer, she can ask someone in the same department for help."

How do I ask for help?

Yingchun stood up, walked over to Wang Xifeng and said, "Second sister-in-law, tell me your plan, and I'll help you think of one."

Although Yingchun meant well, Wang Xifeng could tell that everyone was mocking her.

His pride kicked in, and he said, "No need to trouble you, I've already thought of that."

Wang Xifeng didn't steam buns to save face; she did indeed think of a saying.

Springtime sleep is so sweet, I don't even notice the dawn!

So he said the word "sleep".

Jia Lian asked with a smile which word it was, and Wang Xifeng replied, "It means the word for sleeping."

After he finished speaking, everyone laughed, and some even shook their heads.

This is too simple and straightforward. However, it must have been difficult for Sister-in-law Lian. Besides, compared to Chunshan, Chunmian is actually better.

Jia Lian also inexplicably found Wang Xifeng, this illiterate woman, quite endearing.

Actually, you could roughly guess from her earlier gesture of looking up at the sky.

Now that the word "sleep" has been mentioned, and given that Jia Lian knows Wang Xifeng's limited knowledge of poetry, how could he not guess that her answer was about the season of spring?

So, mimicking Wang Xifeng's tone, he said, "Ni means land."

Wang Xifeng continued to malfunction. "Did he guess right?"

While everyone found Wang Xifeng's reaction amusing, some questioned the origin of "spring mud".

"Brother Lian, Sister-in-law Lian's answer key is 'Spring,' what did you shoot?"

Jia Baoyu's words made Jia Lian frown slightly. His original intention was naturally to continue to make things difficult for Wang Xifeng, so he said something that Wang Xifeng should not know.

Surprisingly, even Jia Baoyu didn't know it, which shows that Jia Baoyu ultimately couldn't remember many ancient poems.

So he hummed: "Fallen petals are not heartless things, they turn into spring mud to nourish the flowers..."

After Jia Lian finished speaking, he finally realized something was wrong. This sentence sounded like a famous line of poetry, a line that had been passed down for centuries...

It is from the Qing Dynasty.

Fortunately, in a moment of inspiration, I thought of a line: "Several early orioles vie for warm trees, while new swallows peck at spring mud!"

However, no one listened to his changed words.

"Fallen petals are not heartless things; they turn into spring mud to nourish the flowers..."

Although it was just one sentence, with the intelligence of Daiyu and others, it was enough to realize that it was a rare and excellent line.

Daiyu certainly didn't consider herself to have read all the poems in the world; there must be some good poems she didn't know!

Then he looked at Baochai across from him.

But seeing that Baochai had a similar expression, she knew that even Baochai had never heard of it.

"Sister-in-law, have you ever heard this saying before?"

Daiyu knew that although Li Wan's literary talent was limited, she had read a lot of books and was a learned person.

Li Wan shook her head: "I don't know the source either."

So everyone looked at each other, and some of them wondered: Could it be that this was something that Brother Lian did himself again?

Faced with the strange looks from these cute girls and the pretty widow, Jia Lian could only smile on the surface, but inwardly he was bitter.

Indeed, plagiarism is a path from which there is no turning back once you embark on it...

But it doesn't matter. As long as I can gain fame, make money, and attract the attention of Lin Daiyu and others, enduring some "inner torment" is worth it.

Daiyu and the others were unaware of Jia Lian's thoughts, and they were indeed shocked.

Brother Lian's literary talent is truly remarkable; he can casually throw out such sentences.

"Brother Lian, can you read the whole poem?"

At this moment, Lin Daiyu disregarded her reserve and directly asked for a poem.

Jia Lian shook his head: "To be honest, I heard this line of poetry from somewhere else."

Jia Lian thought for a moment. Although he had a lot of women in his household, he couldn't keep up with so many girls coming to ask for him. Even a man of iron couldn't withstand that.

Therefore, it's best to exercise some restraint.

谷病

As expected, Daiyu and the others became even more curious and hurriedly asked where they had heard it from.

"Miaoyu".

Everyone was surprised, then relieved.

This shows that Miaoyu was indeed no ordinary person.

Even Daiyu couldn't help but lower her guard against Miaoyu and increase her admiration for her.

The person who could write such verses must be exceptionally talented.

……

Just as everyone was sitting around the table, playing round after round in the middle of the game, a little maid's voice came from the courtyard gate:

"The old lady has arrived."

Everyone hurriedly got up to look, and sure enough, Grandmother Jia led You Shi, Qin Shi and others in.

"Haha, it's really lively here."

After entering the house, Grandmother Jia looked around and saw that the small courtyard was arranged in an orderly manner and had many things. Grandmother Jia nodded in approval and smiled at Wang Xifeng, saying, "Feng'er, I have come uninvited. What are you going to serve me?"

I'm telling you, if you don't treat me to something good, I'm leaving right now.

At this moment, all the sisters gathered around Grandmother Jia. Wang Xifeng also came over, took Grandmother Jia's arm and led her upstairs. As they walked, she instructed Ping'er and the others, "Hurry up and take these cold dishes away and bring up fresh ones instead."

Wang Xifeng instructed the kitchen to prepare a large quantity of expensive delicacies today, enough for everyone. Any dishes that got cold were to be removed and replaced with fresh ones.

As for whether it's wasteful or not, we can't care about that anymore.

Besides, it wouldn't be wasted; many servants in the mansion were scrambling to grab the dishes that were cleared away.

As for Grandmother Jia and others, they wouldn't care about food. Having understood the principles of health preservation since childhood, they would only eat a little bit of even the best food.

"What were you guys playing before? You seemed to be having a lot of fun."

Before they even took their seats, Grandmother Jia asked a question.

"Ancestor, we were just playing 'Dividing Teams to Shoot the Enigma,' it was so much fun!"

Jia Baoyu introduced the items to his grandmother with a smile.

As the daughter of the Shi family, Grandmother Jia had seen and heard of all sorts of things over the decades, so she naturally knew about the game of guessing riddles.

"I'm too old to play with these fancy things. Let's find something simple and lively instead, or I'll be leaving."

"Haha, the old ancestor is right. I've long disliked their game of 'shooting the enemy', but I'm too weak to argue with them."

Fortunately, the ancestor arrived, giving me a powerful backer. I'm no longer afraid of them and will definitely abandon this pursuit for something else.

Wang Xifeng knew how to please Grandmother Jia, and she made Grandmother Jia sit down in the seat of honor with a smile.

Although Jia Baoyu and the others felt they hadn't had enough fun, they didn't dare disobey Grandmother Jia's wishes and could only silently comply.

Grandmother Jia took her seat, and everyone rearranged their seating.

Xiangling had already consciously retreated to the ranks of the maids, while Jia Lan also quietly bid farewell to her mother and went back to study.

Therefore, Lady You and Lady Qin took the seats of Xiangling and Jialan respectively.

Jia Lian also stepped down to the second seat, sitting above Jia Baoyu, facing Aunt Xue.

After taking a sip of wine, Grandmother Jia laughed and said, "You don't need to be so formal. I'm just here to have a drink. Play the same way you did before."

If I know how to play, I'll play with you; if I don't, watching you play is just as good.

Wang Xifeng quickly said, "The flowers in my courtyard are all in bloom, Grandmother, how about we play a game of musical chairs?"

Grandmother Jia glanced at her, and sure enough, this monkey knew her heart best.

"Passing the parcel is easy, but what's the punishment for the loser?"

"Haha, is our ancestor afraid of losing?"

You don't need to be nervous, sir. In my opinion, among those present today, there are refined people like Baochai and Lin Daiyu, as well as common people like me. Therefore, our game should also include both refined and common elements to ensure fairness.

So, why don't we call a maid, blindfold her, and have her beat the drum? We'll all pass the flower around, and whoever stops beating the drum gets to drink a cup of wine as punishment. Then, they can tell a story or a joke. Of course, if Baoyu and the others want to write poems or lyrics based on the scene, that's fine too.

What do you all think?

Wang Xifeng spoke with great enthusiasm and energy.

Daiyu then said to Tanchun, "Look at her! Just now when we were playing the guessing game, she was like a gourd with its mouth sawed off. Now that Grandmother is here, she's all excited again!"

Tan Chun chuckled softly, and Wang Xifeng, upon hearing this, glanced at Daiyu with that smile.

Next to Wang Xifeng, You Shi, who was positioned below Xi Chun, took the opportunity to secretly glance at Jia Lian, who was sitting diagonally across the long table.

But then she saw Jia Lian smile at her, everything understood without a word.

……