The Black Chamber Dream: Daiyu's Revenge

Seeing that things had turned out this way, and that she was in the wrong, Grandmother Jia couldn't object. As a result, Baoyu was left with only Xiren as his maid, and a new maid named Yunxiang was added.

With Grandmother Jia's permission, Wang Xifeng immediately summoned all the maids in Baoyu's courtyard. Except for Xiren, she found excuses to assign all the senior maids, including Qingwen, Sheyue, and Bihen, along with the junior maids, to serve the sisters in their respective households, or send them to the estate, or even directly assign them servants.

Because Yingchun was about to get married, Siqi's family pleaded with the mansion to let Siqi go out and marry someone else. Although Yingchun was reluctant, she agreed because Siqi had served her for many years.

Wang Xifeng was worried about who should be Yingchun's dowry companion. Besides Xiuju, who had been promoted, she needed to have at least one more.

Wang Xifeng liked Qingwen very much because she found her to be both shrewish and capable. She then discussed with Yingchun, "Qingwen is a loyal and sharp-tongued girl. When you marry into the family, you'll need someone like her to manage the maids for you."

Yingchun's marriage was arranged only with the help of her second sister-in-law, and Lin's uncle was able to assist her. Therefore, Yingchun trusted Wang Xifeng a lot, and since Qingwen was indeed outstanding, Yingchun nodded in agreement.

Tan Chun chose She Yue, Wang Xifeng wanted Xiao Hong for herself, and Xi Chun said she had enough people and didn't want any.

In this way, Qiuwen had shot herself in the foot. She was assigned a servant by Wang Xifeng, and although she was unwilling, she dared not disobey.

While waiting for Zijuan to deliver things to the sisters on behalf of Daiyu, she saw Qingwen at Yingchun's place and only then did she learn about these events—the last time she caught a cold, Xueyan accompanied Daiyu. Xueyan was not one to gossip, so she knew nothing about these things.

Zijuan spoke with Qingwen, who sighed, "I guess I've turned misfortune into blessing. Master Bao isn't a bad person at heart, but he's a muddle-headed fool. Now that he's like this, I'm actually more at peace."

“It’s good that you think that way. Last time I went to the Li family with our young lady.” Zijuan had been to the Li family and knew very well what kind of family Yingchun was marrying into. “The Li family has a very good family tradition. You will know when you go there in the future. I always thought that everything in the Jia family was good, but after following the young lady and seeing more of the family, I really realized that I had not seen enough before.”

Hearing Zijuan say this, Qingwen felt even more at ease—the second young lady was weak, and although her future husband was good at the imperial examinations and became an official, who knew what kind of person he really was.

Now it seems that I am lucky to be following the Second Miss.

Extra Chapter: The Empress's Rebirth - Daiyu's Coming-of-Age Ceremony and the Emperor's Bestowal of a Marriage

On the Flower Festival, Daiyu came of age.

On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, the Lin residence was newly decorated, filled with the fragrance of flowers and plants. In the main hall, the ceremonial objects were arranged meticulously, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

The Lin family did not hold a lavish banquet, but only invited their closest relatives.

At the auspicious hour of Si (9-11 AM), Daiyu, dressed in an elegant blue dress, slowly entered the main hall, guided by her maid.

The eldest princess personally served as the officiant at Daiyu's coming-of-age ceremony. Dressed in magnificent robes, she was graceful and poised, gazing lovingly at Daiyu. To the accompaniment of melodious music, the eldest princess washed her hands, picked up a comb, and styled Daiyu's hair three times, changing her hairstyle in turn and adding hairpins to each style.

OnePlus: "Abandon your childish ambitions, follow your virtuous ways. May you live a long and blessed life, and enjoy great fortune."

The second addition reads: "Be filial and fraternal, and your virtues will never be violated. May your family be blessed with good fortune and may your kind be forever blessed."

The third addition reads: "On this auspicious month and time, you shall wear your robes. Be respectful of your demeanor and cultivate your virtuous nature."

With each hairpin added, the Princess would utter a blessing, her voice gentle yet powerful, offering Daiyu her sincerest wishes and expectations. Finally, the Princess personally placed the jade hairpin symbolizing adulthood into Daiyu's hair, and Daiyu rose to bow in gratitude.

Next came the part where Lin Ruhai chose a name for his daughter. He walked up to Daiyu, his eyes filled with affection and satisfaction.

“My daughter Daiyu,” Lin Ruhai said in a deep and mellow voice, “you were intelligent from a young age and have a pure and innocent nature. You have been nurtured by poetry and books and have developed a kind and gentle heart. Now that you are an adult, you should be independent and strong, distinguish right from wrong, and cultivate yourself and manage your family well. After much consideration, I have decided to give you the courtesy name Yaozhang.”

"Yao means beautiful jade, radiant and dazzling; Zhang means literature, outstanding talent," Lin Ruhai explained. "I hope that my daughter will cultivate both inner and outer beauty in the future, never concealing her brilliance and never wasting her talent. May she uphold the steadfastness of jade to maintain her noble character, and express the elegance of literature to convey her refined sentiments."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu slowly knelt down, bowed deeply to her father, and softly said, "Daughter thanks Father for bestowing upon me this name!"

After the ceremony, guests came forward to offer their congratulations and present gifts.

The Empress and Consort Qiao also sent congratulatory gifts.

Just two months after Daiyu came of age, Lin Ruhai and his daughter were both at home. After dinner, they spent their leisure time playing a game of analyzing characters.

"Yu'er is clever. Now, let me test you. What is the meaning of the character 'spring'?"

Without hesitation, Daiyu replied, “The character ‘spring’ is composed of ‘three people’ on top and ‘sun’ on the bottom. The saying ‘Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me’ implies that one should strive for improvement every day. This is the meaning of spring bringing forth all things.”

Lin Ruhai stroked his beard and smiled, nodding and saying, "Then what is the meaning of this character '安'?"

Daiyu looked at the character, a hint of tenderness in her eyes. She softly replied, "'An' is composed of 'roof' on top and 'woman' on the bottom. A woman residing indoors is 'An'. This means that when a woman lives peacefully at home, the household can be peaceful."

As she spoke, she added, "However, I believe that the word 'peace' can also be interpreted as a woman's inner peace, which is essential for her to live a peaceful and secure life. Only with inner peace can one achieve physical well-being."

Lin Ruhai was greatly pleased to hear this.

Suddenly, the gatekeeper came to report that Minister Liang of the Ministry of Rites had arrived.

Lin Ruhai hurriedly ordered them to be invited in, his heart filled with curiosity: the Lin family and the Liang family rarely interacted, and Minister Liang's relationship with him was also so-so, so he wondered what this sudden visit was about.

When Lin Ruhai finally met Minister Liang, he was even more surprised.

Because Minister Liang was representing the emperor to propose marriage, which is commonly known as a marriage proposal, the Lin family naturally could not refuse the imperial decree. However, the emperor felt that Daiyu was the adopted daughter of the eldest princess and was deeply favored by the empress, and Lin Ruhai was also a meritorious official, so he sent Minister Liang first.

This was something he couldn't refuse, so Lin Ruhai politely saw Minister Liang off and went into the inner courtyard to tell Daiyu about it.

Daiyu suddenly remembered Xiao Tingjun's question, "What are your ambitions?" when they were bathing Feixue together, and her own blurt-out answer, "To travel the world."

"Minister Liang also specifically conveyed that Her Majesty the Empress said that even if the marriage is granted, Yu'er should still enter the palace to accompany the princess in her studies, and there is no need to be constrained." The information was so overwhelming that Lin Ruhai almost forgot about this.

Daiyu blushed, but still went to the palace as usual.

Upon seeing Daiyu, Xiao Lin immediately took her hand and said with a smile, "I told you, Sister Lin is destined to be my sister-in-law. Now my third brother won't have to eat red bean porridge anymore."

Upon hearing this, Consort Qiao quickly scolded her daughter: "A young lady shouldn't speak so carelessly. If you continue to talk nonsense, I will ask your father to punish you."

However, given Consort Qiao's beaming face, her words of reprimand were hardly convincing.

"Go out and play for a while, I have something to say to Yu'er." Consort Qiao began to shoo her away.

"Sister Lin, look at my mother. She's forgotten her daughter now that she has a wife." Xiao Lin joked, and before Consort Qiao could say anything more, she quickly got up and took her leave.

Consort Qiao pulled Daiyu to sit next to her: "Don't mind her, she's just a crazy person, she doesn't act like a princess at all."

“The princess is lively, Yu’er understands.” Daiyu’s ears turned slightly red.

“You are a good child, I have always known that, so I am very happy that His Majesty has granted us this marriage.” Consort Qiao held Daiyu’s hand and said gently, “The third prince looks steady, but he is actually not much older than you, Yu’er. Sometimes he is impulsive, but he has a good heart and has never had any wicked thoughts.”

“I’m afraid Yu’er doesn’t know my family very well yet. I’ll pass on a message later and let my sister-in-law go to the palace first so Yu’er can meet her. I’ll also have her daughter send you an invitation so you can come over. Now that my two brothers are in the capital and out in the city, we should visit each other more often since we’ll be family.”

"Everyone in the family is doing well, Yu'er, don't worry. I'll stand up for you if anyone dares to bully you."

After listening to Consort Qiao's long-winded rambling, Daiyu felt incredibly lucky.

After the marriage was arranged, Xiao Tingjun became increasingly generous, sometimes sending delicious pastries bought in long queues in the capital, and sometimes interesting root carvings.

Xiao Lin received a gift as well, but she didn't forget to joke, "I'm only thanking you because of Sister Lin."

In autumn, the second prince was married.

It must be said that the Yu family is quite clever. When the Crown Princess got married, her dowry was 128 sets, so the Yu family prepared 100 sets, which means "perfect in every way".

Xiao Tingkai lifted the veil and looked at the beautiful bride, feeling quite satisfied.

The newlyweds spent some sweet days together, and since the emperor had not yet granted them a residence, they naturally stayed in the palace.

Because Yu Ran and the Crown Princess were already acquainted before their marriage, their interactions now resembled those of sisters rather than sisters-in-law.

Upon seeing this, the Empress couldn't help but hope that the second son could change his ways and stop being so obsessed.

However, less than half a year after their marriage, cracks had already appeared between the couple—Yu Ran accidentally learned that Xiao Tingkai wanted to take a Xue family girl as a concubine.

Yu Ran immediately sent a maid home to ask her father to help investigate the Xue family.

Thinking that Daiyu and the Xue family girl knew each other before, Yu Ran went to find Daiyu.

Extra Chapter: The Empress's Rebirth - The Yu Family's Actions and Prince Xue's Misfortune

Yu Ran specifically sought out Daiyu and, without beating around the bush, directly inquired about the Xue family's daughter.

Daiyu was quite surprised by this; she didn't understand why Yu Ran suddenly cared about the Xue family.

But Daiyu didn't ask anything. Instead, she told me frankly: "At that time, I lived at my maternal grandmother's house. The Xue family girl was the daughter of my second maternal aunt's sister. In terms of appearance, she was extremely beautiful. Everyone praised her for being kind and generous, unlike me, who was petty and argumentative. Actually, I didn't have much contact with her because later I came to be the princess's study companion."

Daiyu neither embellished nor deliberately concealed anything; she told the truth as she knew it.

Upon hearing this, Yu Ran immediately understood.

In Yu Ran's eyes, Daiyu was the most sincere and straightforward, and she didn't like to play tricks.

For a young woman staying at someone else's house to be praised by so many for being "kind and generous" is itself unusual. Given the many gossips in the Jia household, the fact that Xue Baochai, the Xue family's daughter, could be praised by everyone suggests she is shrewd and calculating.

Yu Ran had a clear understanding of Xue Baochai's true character.

Soon, Yu Ran's family sent her a message, telling her not to be nervous or worried.

Sure enough, three days later, a memorial from the Censorate impeaching Prince Teng was delivered directly to the Emperor.

In the memorial, the old case of the Xue family killing someone was brought up again, accusing Prince Teng of condoning his nephew Xue Pan, covering up his crimes, colluding with Jia Yucun, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, and bending the law for personal gain. The evidence was conclusive and clear.

The emperor immediately ordered the Ministry of Justice to re-examine the case.

Interestingly, the emperor instructed his court officials: "Now that the Second Prince is married, it is time for him to come out and learn. This case from the Ministry of Justice will be handled by the Second Prince, who will be sent to the Ministry of Justice to learn and participate in the investigation."

People couldn't help but think of how Crown Prince Xiao Tingrui studied at the Ministry of Justice and handled the case of the Duke of Li's mansion. When the Crown Prince was at the Ministry of Justice, he was never arrogant, but humble and diligent, which earned him unanimous praise from everyone in the Ministry.

With the Crown Prince's brilliant example before him, Xiao Tingkai dared not harbor any wicked thoughts, much less engage in favoritism or corruption during the investigation, lest he ruin his future.

Moreover, Xiao Tingkai always felt that his father was deliberately giving him a warning—he had just wanted to win over Wang Ziteng and take a Xue family girl as a concubine, and the Censorate had taken action, impeaching Wang Ziteng.

This was clearly his father warning him not to make friends with officials outside the court in private, and even less to try to take advantage of the power of his maternal relatives.

The Ministry of Justice's investigation was quite serious. Even if Wang Ziteng tried to cover it up, he couldn't withstand the joint investigation by the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the emperor had long been dissatisfied with him, so all his years of corruption, abuse of power, and other misconduct were brought to light.

The first case to be addressed was the Xue family murder case. Xue Pan had already been sentenced to death in Jia Yucun's case, but now he was not only alive, but also living in the Wang family's house, swaggering around all day long.

The Ministry of Justice immediately dispatched men to arrest Xue Pan and bring him to justice. After a retrial, he was sentenced to beheading in the autumn.

Upon hearing that Xue Pan had been sentenced to death, Aunt Xue immediately fainted from crying. After waking up, she rushed to find her sister-in-law, Wang Ziteng, and his wife.

"Brother, brother, you must save Pan'er! He's your own nephew, how can you just stand by and watch him... He's sentenced to immediate execution!"

Wang Ziteng was already in a bad mood, and seeing Aunt Xue crying and making a scene only made him angrier.

Lady Wangziteng was even more disgusted with the Xue family. She regretted her past actions, blaming herself for being too ambitious and always trying to use Baochai to build connections. Now, instead of building connections, she had dragged her whole family down with her.

"You still have the nerve to come begging? I told you long ago that your son was no good and that you should discipline him properly, but you only knew how to spoil him! Now look what's happened, he's caused such a mess and dragged our whole family down with him! Your brother is almost in danger himself now." Madam Wang Ziteng's words came out like a machine gun, each sentence filled with anger and resentment, venting all her dissatisfaction.

Aunt Xue was stunned by the scolding. In the past, no matter what, she always tried to save face. Had things really come to this?

Baochai was weeping in her room when she heard her mother going to find her uncle and aunt, so she quickly followed.

As soon as I entered the door, I heard my mother crying loudly:

"Fine, so you're just washing your hands of things now? How much silver has our Xue family bribed for my brother's official position? Ever since the child's father was alive, we've been sending him cartloads of gold, silver, jewels, and antiques over the years. And what do you do? Now that something's happened, you only care about your own families and don't care about the lives of us women..."

Upon hearing this, Baochai's face turned deathly pale. Knowing she couldn't add fuel to the fire, she immediately stepped forward, disregarding everything else, and bowed respectfully to Prince Teng and his wife. Her voice, though choked with emotion, remained calm as she spoke:

"Uncle, Aunt, it's all our fault. We've caused you so much trouble because of what happened to my brother. It's all our fault!"