The Black Chamber Dream: Daiyu's Revenge

Upon seeing the words "Autumn Breeze," Tan Chun naturally thought of Qiu Shuang Zhai, where she lived in the Grand View Garden, and also of the days when the sisters in the Grand View Garden composed poems and painted together.

After standing in front of the moon gate for a while, Tan Chun composed herself and walked inside.

"Third Sister." Upon hearing this address and seeing the person in front of her, Tan Chun couldn't help but blink.

"What? Third sister has been away from home for so long, don't you recognize your younger sister anymore?" Xichun is now married and a mother of two, so she is no longer the taciturn Xichun she used to be. Seeing her third sister in a daze, she smiled and teased her.

"Fourth Sister." Tan Chun stepped forward and grasped Xi Chun's hands. Xi Chun was the first family member she saw after returning to the Central Plains, so Tan Chun was naturally extremely excited and almost burst into tears.

Xichun understood Tanchun's feelings and squeezed her hand back tightly: "Third sister, don't cry. Although it's not easy for sisters to meet, if we can meet once, we can meet again."

Tan Chun knew that being able to return even once was already a luxury. However, Tan Chun was always cheerful, and she nodded and sighed, "After all these years, Fourth Sister's demeanor is truly different now."

Tan Chun learned about Xi Chun's marriage and childbirth through letters. Especially after Xi Chun went to Yangzhou with her husband, Tan Chun had become the Regent Empress Dowager, and the correspondence between the sisters became even more frequent.

“Let’s not keep talking outside, let’s go inside first. I think Third Sister must be thirsty.” Xi Chun and Tan Chun went inside together.

"This must have been arranged by Her Majesty the Empress, right?" Tan Chun was deeply moved when she saw that the furnishings in the room were almost exactly the same as those in Qiu Shuang Zhai.

"Of course, it was Her Majesty the Empress who specially arranged for me to come." When the maid brought tea, Xichun personally took it and handed it to Tanchun, "Have a taste."

Tan Chun took the tea, opened the lid, and smelled it. She immediately smiled and said, "Junshan Silver Needle? Even the tea is one I like. It shows that home is still the best."

"Her Majesty the Empress has also made arrangements. After the Emperor Emeritus's birthday celebration, Third Sister will be able to go home for a visit," Xi Chun told Tan Chun.

Tan Chun had originally thought that it would be the best if her family could come and see her, but she never expected that they would even arrange for her to go home for a visit. Tan Chun couldn't help but sigh, "Her Majesty the Empress is so thoughtful towards us sisters. Won't this attract criticism from the censors?"

Xi Chun's husband, Liu Jishan, is now the Vice Minister of War, highly valued by his superiors. Xi Chun, having long been instructed by Daiyu, has not only learned to read the court gazette but is also adept at extracting useful information from it. Furthermore, Xi Chun has the favor of the Princess, and she is always invited to gatherings of women in the capital. Therefore, she knows quite a bit about both court affairs and matters within the inner quarters of the household.

“His Majesty and the Empress are deeply in love, and the censors aren’t fools. There’s no need for them to worry about something so unrelated. Besides, Third Sister has rendered meritorious service to the court,” Xichun told Tanchun, telling her not to worry.

Sure enough, after the Emperor's birthday celebration, Tan Chun had the opportunity to return home.

After Jia Lan passed the imperial examination, he spent a year in the Hanlin Academy and has now become the Director of the Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue. Although he is only an eighth-rank official, no one dares to underestimate him.

The Jia family was still living in the courtyard they bought after the Rongguo Mansion was reclaimed. Since they already knew that Tan Chun was coming back, Li Wan had ordered people to make preparations in advance and invited Ying Chun and Qiao Jie to come and meet her.

According to custom, the meeting naturally took place in the inner quarters. The women of the inner quarters paid their respects to Tan Chun, and Tan Chun quickly stepped forward to personally help Aunt Zhao up, and asked everyone else to get up as well.

She saw Jia Zheng and Jia Lan through the curtain again. Looking at Jia Lan, who had grown into a tall and slender man, Tan Chun was momentarily reminded of Jia Huan.

In fact, Jia Huan is not much older than Jia Lan.

Concealing her inner thoughts, Tan Chun inquired about Jia Zheng's health. She knew that Jia Zheng was not suited to be an official, and that he was now able to live a leisurely and carefree life at home.

After Li Wan and Yingchun chatted for a while, they left the space to Tanchun and her daughter.

Looking at Aunt Zhao, who seemed to have aged considerably, Tan Chun was overwhelmed with emotion. Aunt Zhao, naturally, also thought of her son Jia Huan, unsure of who to blame.

Neither the mother nor the daughter spoke, and the room suddenly fell silent.

After a while, Tan Chun slowly said, "Mother, you should take good care of yourself now."

Hearing her daughter call her "mother" instead of "aunt," Aunt Zhao was stunned. She stared at Tan Chun for a long time before finally covering her face and bursting into tears.

Seeing Aunt Zhao crying so sadly, Tan Chun thought about all the hardships she had endured since getting married and couldn't help but cry along with her.

After crying for a while, Tan Chun composed herself and comforted Aunt Zhao. After exchanging a few words, Li Wan's maid came to invite her to lunch.

After the meal, Tan Chun asked Ying Chun about Qiao Jie's marriage: "I heard from Fourth Sister that Qiao Jie is engaged?"

Yingchun nodded and said, "That's right. Although the child's family is of ordinary means, he is ambitious and his family is not complicated."

Last spring, Qiaojie'er was already engaged, and this autumn, she will be getting married.

"It's a pity that I, as her aunt—oh, now I'm her maternal aunt—can't attend Qiao'er's wedding." Tan Chun had prepared a gift and handed it to Ying Chun, "It's just a small token of my appreciation as her aunt."

When she inquired about Jia Lan's marriage again, Li Wan unexpectedly let out a long sigh.

Chapter 311 Extra Chapter 1: Peach Blossoms and Spring Breeze Bear Fruit (Part 2)

When it comes to Jia Lan's marriage, Li Wan is now truly suffering in silence.

In fact, as early as after Jia Lan returned to Jinling for the first time to take the provincial examination and became the top scholar, Li Wan thought that her son was getting old and it was time to find him a suitable match.

But at that time, Wang Ziteng was still alive, and the Wang family didn't care and took the initiative to act as matchmakers for Jia Lan. Li Wan had no choice but to come up with the excuse that the monk said the child was not destined to marry early.

At that time, everything in the household was managed by Baochai. Even if Li Wan was troubled, she didn't know who to talk to, so she could only tell her son the truth.

Jia Lan, who was never favored, was exceptionally precocious. Upon hearing this, he immediately smiled and said, "Mother, you don't need to worry about this. I should focus on preparing for the imperial examination. If I am fortunate enough to pass, I won't have to worry about not having a good marriage."

Li Wan understood the reasoning, but passing the imperial examinations was far more difficult than passing the provincial examinations.

Li Wan was truly worried, waiting for the Prince Rui's rebellion and other events to unfold, wondering when the imperial examinations would finally be held.

After finally waiting for everything to settle down, Li Wan began to worry about her son's upcoming imperial examination. She feared he would not do well and was even more worried about his health—her husband had exhausted himself preparing for the examination.

But she never mentioned these things to her son, afraid of affecting him. During those days, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

While Jia Lan was happy to receive the good news about her high school admission, she was not particularly excited. On the contrary, Li Wan couldn't hold on and fainted.

In a panic, Jia Lan quickly sent his servant to fetch a doctor.

However, the constant stream of matchmakers that came to Li Wan's door gave her a real taste of the happy troubles—these families who came to inquire about her intentions were basically wealthy and noble families in the capital.

Li Wan's family was not easy to offend, and now that only Jia Zheng and Aunt Zhao were in the house, Li Wan naturally had no way to negotiate with them, so she had no choice but to turn to her son in the end.

Jia Lan was momentarily stunned, because he thought of Li Ke—Li Ke liked the princess, although he had never said it out loud, but he could guess that Li Ke liked her.

The Book of Songs says, "A fair maiden is the object of a gentleman's affections."

But Jia Lan had never met such a person before.

"Lan'er, what are you daydreaming about?" Li Wan asked, seeing that her son seemed lost in thought.

Jia Lan then snapped out of his thoughts: "Mother, I was just thinking that these families are still too conspicuous."

Li Wan asked, puzzled, "Is this really so eye-catching?"

In Li Wan's view, although these families were all rich and noble, her son was still a second-place scholar in the imperial examinations, and besides, the Empress in the palace was her cousin.

Thinking this way, and seeing that there was no one else around, Li Wan said it.

"It is precisely because of Her Majesty the Empress that I think it is better to keep a low profile." Jia Lan's thinking was very insightful.

Seeing that his mother didn't seem to understand, he simply explained it to her.

“Mother, think about it. Although I have passed the imperial examination, I am now studying in the Hanlin Academy like other Jinshi. It is hard to say where I will go in the future.” Jia Lan explained his thoughts one by one. “I am also the companion of Prince Fu and the cousin of the Empress. With these two relationships, I will inevitably be watched by the Censorate. If I make a mistake, I am afraid that it will be easy for people to talk about me.”

Upon hearing this, Li Wan couldn't help but feel worried again. "Why is it so difficult?" she sighed.

"Mother should have heard of the former top scholar, Lord Lu Wenzhi," Jia Lan said, bringing up another person.

Now Li Wan understood: she had heard that quite a few families had taken a liking to Lord Lu and planned to find him a son-in-law, but little did they know that Lord Lu had already gotten engaged back in his hometown.

I've heard that Lord Lu has gone to serve as an official in a local area, and I've heard it's a pretty good position.

But even though they understood, they didn't know if there were any suitable girls in their hometown of Jinling. Then they heard their son say, "No matter which family we choose, we should find an opportunity to tell our aunts first."

Li Wan immediately understood: Tan Chun's presence in the island nation didn't matter, but now Ying Chun and Xi Chun both had dealings with the Empress. If she told them, the Empress would naturally find out as well.

Unexpectedly, before Li Wan could even make a choice, the Empress sent Xueyan to her door first.

Now that Xueyan has married a bodyguard, her husband is a second-class bodyguard in the Imperial Guard, a fourth-rank official. So when Li Wan heard the old woman say that Miss Xueyan had arrived, she immediately scolded her, "What a fool! You should be calling her Grandma Zhong now."

The old woman quickly slapped her lips and said, "This old servant was confused for a moment, please forgive me this time, Madam."

Li Wan instructed the maids and servants to be observant, and then personally went out to greet them.

"I should have sent a formal invitation to Madam first, but I've been quite busy lately." After taking the tea, Xueyan smiled and said to Li Wan, "I wouldn't have come here today without a reason, so I'll just speak directly to Madam."

Li Wan looked Xueyan up and down and couldn't help but sigh: "It really makes a difference to become a proper wife."

Today, Xueyan wore a sky-blue satin jacket with a lotus scroll pattern and a plain silk trim two fingers wide at the collar. She paired it with a sandalwood-colored skirt adorned with the fashionable peony scroll pattern, and wore a light pink vest made of brocade silk bestowed upon her by the palace last year, subtly shimmering with pearls. A white jade-carved lingzhi hairpin was inserted in the center of her high bun, and a kingfisher-feather-decorated crabapple blossom adorned her temple, its center inlaid with a small South Sea pearl the size of a grain of rice.

Previously, among all the maids in the Rongguo Mansion, Xueyan was not particularly eye-catching because she was young and didn't talk much.

"Speak freely." Li Wan thought to herself that Xueyan herself should be fine, and it was probably the Empress's will.

"It's about Lan Ge'er's marriage," Xueyan said, getting straight to the point.

Li Wan was somewhat surprised: The Empress wanted to arrange a marriage?

Chapter 312 Extra Chapter 2: Peach Blossoms and Spring Breeze Bear Fruit (Part 2)

Seeing that the eldest madam was stunned, Xueyan quickly said, "Eldest madam, please listen to me first. Whether this matter can be accomplished or not depends on the eldest madam and Lan-ge'er's own wishes. I am just speaking on their behalf."

"Isn't this what the Empress meant?" Li Wan remained silent, waiting for Xueyan to continue.

"The Dowager Consort Rong has a distant grandniece who is about six years younger than Lan-ge'er." As soon as Xueyan mentioned it, Li Wan immediately thought of Prince Fu.

Speaking of which, when Jia Lan went to the academy, he studied with the sixth prince, who is now the Prince Fu.

Prince Fu's birth mother was Consort Rong.

Upon thinking about the distant grandniece of Consort Rong mentioned by Xueyan, Li Wan understood: it was likely that Consort Rong had chosen Lan'er for her grandniece.

However, Li Wan knew about Consort Rong's background—she came from a palace maid background. Although the Lu family was now considered a noble family in the capital because of Consort Rong, compared with other families, they were nothing special.

Thinking of this, Li Wan couldn't help but say, "It's Lan Ge'er's good fortune that the Empress Dowager Rong thinks highly of him."

At this point, she was quick-witted and neither agreed nor disagreed, but changed her words and said, "But after all, this concerns Lan'er's lifelong happiness, Grandma Zhong, never mind, I'll just call you Xueyan, it sounds more intimate."

Xueyan nodded with a smile. Over the years, she had followed the Empress and met countless imperial concubines, princesses, and noble ladies. So, as soon as the eldest mistress spoke, Xueyan had already guessed what was going on. She was afraid that the eldest mistress was not so fond of the Lu family.

It must be said that Her Majesty the Empress was indeed prescient—after Consort Rong mentioned this matter to Her Majesty the Empress, Zijuan was originally supposed to come, but Her Majesty the Empress summoned her alone.

“Zijuan is now a palace matron and a female official. If she goes, it will make it seem like it was my idea. Even if my sister-in-law is not happy, she may not dare to object. But Xueyan is now married and her status is somewhat different. My sister-in-law may have her own thoughts and dare to speak up.”

See? Her Majesty the Empress guessed right.

"Xueyan, you know the situation at home. As for Lan'er's marriage, I think we should ask him what he himself thinks." Li Wan felt that what she said was quite right.

Xueyan immediately nodded and said, "What Grandma said makes sense. Then I will wait for Grandma's reply."

Xueyan did not stay long. After chatting with Li Wan for a few words, she got up to take her leave.

As soon as Jia Lan returned from the Hanlin Academy, Li Wan quickly recounted Xueyan's visit and her mention of the Dowager Consort Rong's grandniece.

Jia Lan was stunned, because he had seen that girl before.

One of the students who studied at the academy with me back then was a distant cousin of the Sixth Prince, named Lu Zhongxiang. He did not participate in the imperial examination this time because he felt it was not the right time and wanted to wait.

But three years later, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Lu Zhongxiang will be able to pass the high school entrance exam.