Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 15: Anticipating the Enemy
"I didn't know General Yue had this skill."

Xueyan looked at the dishes on the table, her appetite was aroused, and she couldn't stop wiping the corners of her mouth. In fact, she was already very hungry when she was in Rongguo Mansion, but she was very determined and didn't let the food tempt her.

Although the house is small and cramped now, the smile on the girl's face is not fake, which makes Xueyan feel relieved.

"I just made some simple things, and I don't have much to prepare. I'll go shopping tomorrow and treat you well."

When he first arrived in the capital, Yue Ling also wanted to show his hospitality as a good host.

"Okay, don't be polite in your own home, just eat."

Hearing this, Lin Daiyu and Xueyan, who were sitting opposite Yue Ling, started to eat with their chopsticks.

Seeing the two of them eating happily, Yue Ling breathed a sigh of relief. This sense of accomplishment in raising a child was a little inexplicable, but it made him feel very comfortable.

After a while, Xueyan leaned back in her chair, stroking her belly and said, "Thank you, General Yue, for your hospitality."

Lin Daiyu also put down her chopsticks and wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, her eyebrows curved, "Thank you, Brother Yue."

"You're welcome. Do this every day from now on. And you still say thank you every day? That's too unorthodox."

Xueyan looked at Lin Daiyu in surprise, then looked at Yue Ling. The two of them got along very well.

The girl called Yue Ling "brother", and Yue Ling was very happy with it, as if it had been agreed upon long ago. Only she was the only one who was still calling him "General Yue", which really made her look like an outsider in this family.

Xueyan stood up awkwardly, bowed to Yue Ling, and said, "I'll go clean it up first."

Then, he put oil on the soles of his feet.

Looking at Xueyan's back, Lin Daiyu couldn't help laughing again and said, "She's so stupid, not steady at all."

This day was full of ups and downs. Sitting in front of Yue Ling, Lin Daiyu's previous worries disappeared completely.

Compared to the magnificent Rongguo Mansion, this small courtyard can give Lin Daiyu more sense of security, and she begins to look forward to her future life.

Lin Daiyu propped up her head and looked at Yue Ling in a daze.

Yue Ling waved his hands several times before waking her up. "I'm going to the market tomorrow. Is there anything you want?"

"Well... I need some pens, ink, paper, and some books."

Yue Ling asked curiously: "What book are you reading?"

"I learned the Four Books from a teacher when I was young, and now I am reading the Four Books for Women."

The Four Books for Women are Confucian books that talk about the Three Obediences and Four Virtues and the Three Chastities and Nine Loyalties. They may be suitable for people who don't understand ethical principles, but it would be a waste of talent and suppress her nature for a smart girl like Lin Daiyu to read them.

Yue Ling said unhappily: "What's the point of reading these? It's better to study some classics. Lord Lin is a top scholar, and I think you are also very talented."

Lin Daiyu was puzzled, "Women can't take the imperial examinations, so if I learn those things, people will think I'm not doing my job properly."

"In my opinion, people should do what they like in their lives and not care too much about other people's opinions..."

……

That night, Lin Daiyu and Xueyan slept on the same bed.

Thinking back to what Yue Ling had just said, Lin Daiyu's heart could not calm down for a long time.

Yue Ling inadvertently said the same things as his mother, which shocked Lin Daiyu and made her miss her mother.

She could see that Yue Ling didn't like her crying, so she tried to endure it in front of Yue Ling. But when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, and Lin Daiyu was feeling very upset, tears naturally flowed down her cheeks.

Not long after closing her eyes, Xueyan heard the sound of crying beside her, so she stood up and lit the lamp, "Miss, are you feeling unwell?" Lin Daiyu sighed, "No."

Xueyan asked again: "Is it because of what happened in the mansion?"

"Not at all."

"Could it be that General Yue bullied you just now?"

Xueyan added, "That's unlikely."

Lin Daiyu nodded, "Brother Yue is very kind, but I miss my mother a little."

Xueyan really had no idea what to do. She could only pat Lin Daiyu on the back and change the subject: "Miss, aren't you going to embroider a purse for General Yue? I will go out to buy some silk tomorrow. And if you don't sleep well tonight, you will have red eyes tomorrow morning, which will make General Yue worry again."

It was not until Xueyan persuaded her to this point that Lin Daiyu stopped crying and whispered, "Okay, go to bed first."

……

The next day, Yue Ling went to the palace to report for work before going to the market to make some purchases. He ran into the King of Qin who had returned from the Imperial City with a worried look on his face.

Yue Ling stood along the road and asked, "My Lord, what's going on?"

When the King of Qin saw that it was Yue Ling, he did not hide it and sighed, "Today, my father met with my eldest brother and saw him off. Later, I asked for an audience, but he refused to see me on the grounds of illness. This is really not a good thing. I don't know how my father's condition is, and I don't know if my father is dissatisfied with me."

The King of Qin enjoyed great prestige among the people, and storytellers everywhere told stories of his heroic deeds. In the words of the people, his achievements really surpassed his master, so the old emperor would naturally be displeased.

The Qin Palace sent people again and again to stop this trend, but the people's gossip was impossible to stop, so the effect was naturally minimal.

Yue Ling even felt that there must be someone behind the scenes fanning the flames to alienate the old emperor and the King of Qin, but he was in a low position and his words were not taken seriously, so he should not express his opinions on these major events.

At that moment, Yue Ling asked casually: "Is there no one from the mansion in the palace?"

King Qin was startled when he heard this, then shook his head, "How can it be done to this extent?"

Yue Ling said frankly, "I think we should protect ourselves first and then talk about other things. Not only in the palace, but also in Prince Kang's Mansion, we should set up hidden players to seize the initiative in everything, so that we can be invincible."

"Your Highness knows the art of war. A victorious army wins first and then fights, while a defeated army fights first and then seeks victory. How can you not make more preparations?"

The King of Qin was silent for a while, then heaved a sigh of relief, patted Yue Ling on the shoulder and said, "I underestimated you in the past, thinking you were just a martial arts expert, but today I see that you have the demeanor of a great general. You can go now, there is really no need to report for duty, I will go in and discuss things with them."

He casually called two personal guards, rewarded Yue Ling with two hundred taels of silver, and sent Yue Ling out of the mansion.

After shopping along the street and pulling a cart full of goods, Yue Ling finally returned home.

He walked straight into the hall carrying a bronze mirror.

"Xueyan, open the door!"

Yue Ling placed the mirror on the table in Lin Daiyu's room, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with a smile: "When I lived on my own, my family didn't need this, but it's different for you."

"There are also some books, poetry collections, and scriptures. If you get tired of reading them, I will buy new ones."

Lin Daiyu remained silent throughout the whole process, but was hiding something under the bed.

Yue Ling asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Lin Daiyu forced a smile on her face, "It's okay, it's okay, Brother Yue is too attentive, I was a little slow to react."

In fact, the needlework on Lin Daiyu's back could no longer be hidden.

(End of this chapter)