The Black Chamber Dream: Daiyu's Revenge

Daiyu hadn't expected to run into him in the garden. Seeing Jia Lan personally accompanying her, she first thanked him with a smile and pointed to a half-pavilion in the corner: "Prince, would you like to sit in the pavilion for a while?"

Xiao Tingjun nodded with a smile, and Jia Lan tactfully took her leave first.

That half-pavilion is half of a hexagonal pavilion, built against two intersecting walls, hence the name Half-pavilion.

Xiao Tingjun took the three-layered box from the maid and opened the first layer: "I passed by Daoxianglou today. Their pastries are the most famous in the capital. I didn't know what you like to eat, so I bought some of everything."

When Daiyu looked at them, they were exquisitely made, including top-skin cakes, pine flower cakes, white sugar longevity cakes, and rose-flavored rolled cakes.

"Thank you, then I won't be polite." He asked Xueyan to accept the gift.

Xiao Tingjun took the wicker basket from the maid and untied the cotton cloth covering it. When Daiyu saw the little thing inside, she exclaimed, "Oh my, what a cute little thing!"

They were two little white rabbits, with short tails like little white pom-poms, long ears, and snow-white bodies.

"This is what I caught while hunting with my second brother and the others today. I was worried you wouldn't like it." Xiao Tingjun gently pushed the basket and placed it in front of Daiyu.

Although Daiyu liked the pair of cute little rabbits very much, she was a little timid. She wanted to reach out and touch them, but she was afraid of upsetting them.

"Don't be afraid, it's very docile. You just have to stroke it gently, otherwise even a rabbit will bite when cornered." Xiao Tingjun smiled and gave a demonstration.

Daiyu carefully stroked the head of a rabbit and gently scratched it. The little rabbit seemed to like Daiyu quite a bit and rubbed its head against Daiyu's palm.

“Then I will stay, thank you, Your Highness.” Daiyu was very happy. After saying this, seeing that Xiao Tingjun seemed to have something to say, she asked Xueyan to take the things back to Xiaoxiang Pavilion. At the same time, she said to Yuanyang and the others, “The Prince and I have something to say. You can wait for us outside the pavilion.”

Yuanyang came here hoping to hear what the Prince and Miss Lin had to say, but upon hearing Daiyu's words, she couldn't help but look up at Daiyu.

However, the oppressive aura that Daiyu exuded at this moment made Yuanyang dare not utter a single word. She quickly lowered her head in agreement and led the maids out.

Chapter 35 Revealing the True Feelings: The Prince Falls in Love

The maids had all left, and Daiyu looked at Xiao Tingjun, wondering what he wanted to say.

"Today I was originally going hunting in the countryside with my second brother, fourth brother, and fifth brother." Xiao Tingjun was a little nervous just now, but he calmed down and said what was on the tip of his tongue.

"I heard from my fourth brother that there is a young master in the Rongguo Mansion who was born with a jade in his mouth." At this point, he couldn't help but observe Daiyu's reaction. Seeing that she was very calm, he was a little happy. "He is your childhood sweetheart."

"So I couldn't help myself." In fact, Xiao Tingjun had always considered himself to be very self-controlled, but he found it unbelievable that he had acted so recklessly today.

"I saw you coming across that bridge just now, and suddenly I calmed down," Xiao Tingjun added.

Daiyu's ears turned red, and she remained silent for a moment.

Ever since her arranged marriage, Daiyu had been pondering why it was her. She was aware of the rumor that the Third Prince had fallen in love with her at first sight because of her beauty.

But she didn't believe it; she was no longer the naive person she used to be.

Just when she thought she had some answers, this person suddenly ran up to her and said these words.

This made Daiyu waver somewhat.

Although he didn't get a chance to hear Daiyu speak, seeing her reddened ears, Xiao Tingjun felt inexplicably happy. He smiled and said quite seriously, "I won't hide it from you. At first, it was the Empress Dowager who thought you were very good. When I saw you painting, I had a feeling that it was like meeting someone for the first time, and it felt like we had known each other for a long time."

Daiyu blushed, then deliberately put on a stern face: "If Your Highness has nothing else, I must go back."

Xiao Tingjun smiled and quickly said he had something to do: "I really do have something to do. You must have met my aunt before?"

Princess Protector of the Nation? Daiyu had certainly met her. She remembered when the princess came to visit her at the Rongguo Mansion, and more than half a year had passed in the blink of an eye.

“Aunt’s birthday is coming up soon. Every year, many people go to great lengths to send her rare and precious gifts in order to curry favor with her.” Xiao Tingjun had actually brought this up in a moment of conversation, but since it had been brought up, he decided to say a few more words to Daiyu. “Actually, Aunt doesn’t care about those things. If you can make something yourself, Aunt will like it very much.”

Daiyu nodded after hearing this: "I understand."

Xiao Tingjun continued, "My father is a man of strong likes and dislikes. He loves those he desires to live and hates those he despises to die. My eldest aunt and uncle are his benefactors and hold great weight in his eyes."

It seemed that Xiao Tingjun really had something to tell her, so Daiyu listened quietly.

“There aren’t many people in this world who can influence my father, and my eldest aunt is one of them.” Xiao Tingjun recounted the events of when the emperor ascended the throne. “At that time, the situation was dangerous, and my eldest aunt personally led the guards to our residence. If anyone dared to make a move, she would take action.”

"My uncle-in-law personally guarded the Five Cities Garrison, fearing that someone might cause trouble."

This happened about five years ago, when Xiao Tingjun was eleven years old, so he remembers it very clearly.

Although Daiyu did not witness it, she understood the danger from Xiao Tingjun's words: although the Emperor Emeritus had indicated that he wanted to abdicate, there were always some princes who were not convinced. If a conflict broke out, the consequences would be unpredictable.

No wonder the Emperor trusted the Grand Princess's family; they did indeed help the Emperor in a critical moment.

Daiyu recalled her first meeting with the Grand Princess. The princess possessed an aura that was not found in ordinary women; she was decisive, courageous, and dignified without being angry.

People like this seem destined for great things.

"Are you afraid?" Daiyu was deep in thought when she heard Xiao Tingjun ask this question. She looked up and met a pair of dark eyes that were like a deep pool.

Daiyu understood Xiao Tingjun's meaning. Xiao Tingjun had great ambitions, but his bluntness in revealing his greatest wish to her left Daiyu with mixed feelings.

Under the gaze of those dark eyes, Daiyu shook her head and said, "I am all alone now, and I have nothing to fear." Xiao Tingjun was greatly shocked and couldn't help but say, "My mother passed away early, and I have always felt that I am all alone. But now, I have finally met you."

Daiyu was naturally sensitive. Although the Empress and Xiao Tingjun seemed to get along well when she last entered the palace, she could sense subtle differences when comparing Consort Wu with the Second Prince and Consort Xu with the Fourth Prince.

The Empress was not Xiao Tingjun's biological mother after all.

"Although I have only met Her Majesty the Empress a few times, I think Her Majesty the Empress will help you," Daiyu said after thinking for a moment.

“That’s certainly true. After all, I was raised by her. Compared to my brothers, I don’t have a mother, which is the best choice for the Empress.” Xiao Tingjun hadn’t planned to say so much, but looking into Daiyu’s eyes, he unconsciously blurted it all out.

"If I can win, that would be best, but if the ship sinks, I'm afraid I won't be able to rely on it."

Daiyu was startled: Xiao Tingjun's meaning was clear; the Empress could choose to jump ship. Just like how Grandmother Jia initially chose her, but later changed her mind.

Although this analogy is not quite appropriate, the principle is the same: Grandmother Jia and the Empress are both selfish, and they think more about themselves.

However, after Daiyu figured this out, she smiled slightly and said, "But sometimes, getting on a boat doesn't necessarily mean it's easy to get off."

Xiao Tingjun smiled upon hearing this, thinking, "Yu'er is indeed very clever."

"That's right." Seeing that he had said enough, Xiao Tingjun prepared to take his leave. "Oh, the blueprints of the mansion, I'll have someone send them to you tomorrow. Take a look and list out anything you want them to add. I'll send someone to pick them up in ten days."

After he finished speaking, Xiao Tingjun stood up, and Daiyu followed suit, nodding as she did so.

Xiao Tingjun took his leave, and Daiyu followed him to the entrance of the Grand View Garden. Xiao Tingjun really wanted to see the Xiaoxiang Pavilion where Daiyu lived, but he had come in a hurry today, and it was getting late. Going there now would be a bit impolite, especially since the conversation he had just had had already made him very happy.

"Let's go back." Xiao Tingjun felt reluctant to part with him.

Yuanyang led Xiao Tingjun to bid farewell to Grandmother Jia. After seeing Xiao Tingjun off, Grandmother Jia immediately asked Yuanyang about the circumstances of their meeting.

“The Prince sent a box of pastries from Daoxianglou, and in the basket were a pair of little white rabbits, which the Prince said he had caught while hunting.” Yuanyang told Grandmother Jia what she knew. “Later, the Prince and Miss Lin were talking in the Half Pavilion. We servants could only serve outside, so we don’t know what they said, but the Prince seemed very happy.”

Grandmother Jia pondered for a while but still couldn't figure it out, but one thing was very clear: this Prince was truly good to Yu'er.

Just then, Baochai came in and handed over a gift list: "Grandma, it's the birthday of the Princess Protector of the Nation. This is a gift list prepared by your granddaughter-in-law. Please take a look."

Grandmother Jia harbored numerous grievances against the Xue family, but Baochai was indeed a sensible person. Putting aside her background, Baochai had been remarkably adept at managing the household these past few days. Now, with her understanding and tact, Grandmother Jia was quite pleased.

"There's no problem with the order, but your sister Lin will definitely be there that day. I'll have Yuanyang ask her if she'll give a gift separately."

But neither Grandmother Jia nor Baochai, nor even anyone else in the Jia family, could have predicted that the Princess's birthday banquet would expose the Jia family's hypocrisy and exploitation of Daiyu.

Chapter 36 Princess's Birthday Celebration: Daiyu Presents Gifts

If we're talking about sheer excitement, Princess Chang's birthday banquet probably wasn't as lively as Grandmother Jia's.

The reason is simple: the Ning and Rong mansions are now in decline and need to use Grandmother Jia's birthday banquet to interact with imperial relatives, nobles, and officials in the capital. This is the main purpose of holding the birthday banquet. Therefore, even if it is not a birthday celebration, it will be held every year.

The eldest princess is different. She is now the only one of the most honored among the imperial relatives. Not to mention ordinary officials, even the princes want to curry favor with her.

Therefore, the eldest princess's birthday celebration was a genuine one. One had to receive an invitation to attend her birthday banquet.

The Rongguo Mansion usually doesn't receive invitations, but now, because Daiyu has been betrothed to Prince Yi, they have the opportunity to attend the Princess's birthday banquet at the Princess's Mansion.

Grandmother Jia originally intended to come, but she had been feeling a little unwell these past two days, so she had to ask Xing and Wang to bring Daiyu instead.

Lady Xing and Lady Wang rarely visited the homes of truly powerful and influential people, so they were both a little reserved. Fortunately, today the focus was not on them, but on the fact that many people were seeing Daiyu for the first time and were naturally very curious.

Seeing Daiyu surrounded by a group of women asking her all sorts of questions, the Princess waved her hand and said, "Yu'er, come here to me."

Similarly, Ge Xijia was also the focus of everyone's attention: she was one of the two future princesses. However, Ge Xijia's grandfather was the emperor's tutor, so she was invited to many banquets in the capital, and she became quite familiar with these ladies.

Many girls from wealthy families were close friends with Ge Xijia. Now that their close friends had become the princess consort, they naturally wanted to curry favor with them. With Ge Xijia's arrival, she was surrounded by admirers and felt right at home.

Princess Consort Song Huilan of Rui County also arrived, and everyone inevitably compared the three of them.

Song Huilan stepped forward generously to wish the Princess a happy birthday, and also presented her and Prince Rui's birthday gifts: "Auntie is devoted to Buddhism. This gilded bronze Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue with the inscription 'Made by Chen Yanqing of Qiantang' was obtained by A-Kai with great difficulty. I hope Auntie likes it."

When everyone looked at it, they saw that the Buddha statue was cast in fine red copper, with a thick body, wide lotus petals, and the tops of the lotus petals slightly upturned, and the lotus heart curled inward. Those in the know recognized it as the work of the master Chen Yanqing from the previous dynasty, and it was now priceless.

It seems that Prince Rui and his wife are quite generous.

The princess immediately expressed her liking for it and asked the nanny to place the Buddha statue in her small Buddhist shrine.

Now everyone was even more curious about the gifts that Miss Lin and Miss Ge would receive, since the two of them would become Princess Yi and Princess Li respectively next year.

However, when Daiyu presented her gift, everyone was somewhat stunned.

Daiyu, on the contrary, generously opened the box and basket. The food box had three layers and contained snacks.

"The snacks I ate in the capital were very different from those in Jiangnan. I heard that the Princess had accompanied the late Emperor on a visit to Jiangnan, so I made these with the maids." Daiyu knew very well that the food she sent would probably be considered low-class by others, but she was very confident.

"What is this?" Before the princess could say anything, the little girl beside her, the eldest granddaughter of the princess's family, Gao Xin, a little girl of only five years old, pointed to one of the pastries that looked very pretty and asked.

“This is Chongyang cake, a seasonal pastry,” Daiyu explained. No wonder the little girl thought it was good, because the cake was pagoda-shaped with nine layers, each a different color, and topped with two “little sheep”, symbolizing “the Double Ninth Festival (sheep).”

The eldest princess couldn't help but smile upon hearing this: "Interesting, the Double Ninth Festival, and it's my birthday again."

The basket contained various small jars, each a lovely, glossy sky blue, filled with Suzhou-style candied fruits such as candied dates, milk-flavored preserved plums, candied kumquats, white sugar bayberries, and preserved tangerine peel.

At this moment, Gao Xin pointed at the mung bean cake and said, "I hate mung bean cake the most, it's choking!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd below couldn't help but watch the Lin family's young lady with a sense of anticipation. The princess's little granddaughter was young and spoke innocently and frankly. She had so bluntly said that she disliked him. Let's see how the Lin family's young lady would respond.

To everyone's surprise, Daiyu remained unfazed and smiled as she invited the young girl to try some: "Our mung bean cakes from the south are different from those in the capital."

The mung bean cake was shaped like a little duck. The little girl was skeptical, but seeing her grandmother's expression, she picked it up and took a bite. After tasting it carefully, her eyes lit up: "Wow, Grandma, it's really different! It's so delicious!"

The eldest princess smiled and said, "Of course! The mung bean cakes in the capital don't have oil in them, but those in the south do. They're oily, sweet, delicate, and soft, so of course they're delicious."

The little girl has already started to enjoy the chestnut cake. The outer layer is made of sweet potato and glutinous rice skin, and the filling is made of fresh chestnuts that have been cooked, so you can taste the chunks in the rich filling.

"This is absolutely the best chestnut pudding I've ever had." Gao Xin loved it.

Only then did everyone begin to praise the Lin family girl for her cleverness and other cleverness. The princess smiled, told Gao Xin not to eat too much, and had someone put the food away.

"You're such a thoughtful girl." The princess was quite pleased with her, but didn't say anything more.

After seeing Daiyu's gift, Ge Xijia was full of confidence. She gave her a double-sided embroidered screen with a dragon head frame. The front was embroidered with a boy asking questions under a pine tree, and the back was with children chasing yellow discs. It was done in the Gu embroidery style, and looking at the embroidery was like looking at a painting.