Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 170: Tease Zijuan

The banquet was over, and the guests were all happy.
The heads of each wealthy merchant family brought a concubine from the Huang family and stayed overnight in their homes.

Huang Wenhua was also helped back to the room by the maids, but when the maids opened the door and lit the candles, they found a man in black standing in the room, and they all screamed in surprise.

Huang Wenhua sobered up a bit after being called. He looked forward, let go of the shoulders of the maids on both sides, curled his lips and said, "Isn't it just a person? Not a ghost, what are you yelling about? Get out!"

The maids nodded repeatedly, covered their faces and hurried out the door.

When they were a few steps away from the door, they all widened their eyes, blood flowed from the corners of their mouths, and they fell heavily to the ground.

Huang Wenhua frowned when he saw this, but still sat calmly at the tea table and poured himself tea.

"What? You came uninvited and you want to show off your power to me?"

The man in black spoke in a strong and powerful voice. He took back the dart nailed to the wooden door and replied, "I just don't want anyone else to know that I was here."

Huang Wenhua curled his lips, "After all, I bought her with money and trained her for a long time. You want to kill her just like that? Forget it. I forced you to show up. Do you have something to say?"

The man in black said, "I'm here to remind you that Ji Qing has been arrested, and the accounts he hid in his room have also been taken away by Yue Ling. It would be unwise for you to become an enemy of Yue Ling at this time."

"He won't stay here forever. After he leaves, you can do what you want to do."

Huang Wenhua leaned back in his chair, not caring at all about what the man in black said. He snorted coldly and said, "According to what you said, do you also think Yue Ling is all-powerful?"

"With Cangzhou in such a mess, how can he govern? Even if he can get silver, how can he get food? Without the goods we have stored in the warehouse, what can he do?"

"At the turn of spring and summer, there is no place without food shortage. Could it be that Yue Ling can get the governors of Liangzhe, Shandong, and Henan to open their warehouses to help him?"

Huang Wenhua slammed the table and angrily asked, "Is he the emperor?"

The man in black was silent for a while, and then he said, "I am talking about the most cautious approach. You have only been the head of the family for a short time. Don't forget what your responsibilities are."

Huang Wenhua waved his hand and said, "I just don't like the way you martial artists are so self-important. I can handle my own affairs. If you have the ability, why don't you just find a chance to kill Yue Ling? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

"Even if we get another censor, he will be nothing more than a plaything in our hands!"

The man in black said frankly: "I am no match for him."

Huang Wenhua was startled when he heard this, "Have you fought with him?"

"No."

"You know you're no match for him without me?"

"Of course, we practice martial arts together, and we can know a person's strength through subtle observation without fighting. Yue Ling is skilled in using the sword, and his strength and control of the sword are excellent, better than any other master I have ever seen."

Huang Wenhua sneered again, "I am becoming less and less fond of reckless men like you. For us businessmen, it is all about the coexistence of profit and risk. If the risk is not big, it proves that there is no profit to speak of. It just so happens that I am a risk-taker, so there is the Cangzhou Huang family today."

"What a ridiculous warrior! He claims to be a martial arts sanctuary, but he can't even defeat a general of the imperial court."

The man in black said impatiently: "If a merchant fails, at most he will not make any money, but if a warrior fails, he will lose his life."

Huang Wenhua said, "Money is more important than my life. If I have no money, it would be better to take my life."

The two men faced each other, and neither could convince the other. They had completely different sets of thinking and were completely unrelated.

The man in black also realized that it was a waste of time to continue staying here, so he said, "Forget it. If you die, at most you will be supported by another family. If there is no Huang family, there are still Zhao family, Qian family, and Sun family. Whoever they want to make rich can be rich. However, if you make a big mistake, not only will you die, but it is not certain whether the Huang family will exist. That's all I have to say. Take care of yourself."

The man in black rolled over and broke out of the window, blowing a gust of cold wind into the room, causing Huang Wenhua's neck to shrink.

"What bad luck! My originally great mood has now completely disappeared. I will go meet Yue Ling myself tomorrow to see what kind of person he is."

……

Early the next morning,

When Yue Ling woke up on the couch, he could see Zijuan hunched over outside the curtains, tidying up the room.

It must be that last night, he and Lin Daiyu were working on the desk, and after they finished they didn't clean up, so they gave Zijuan some work to do who got up early in the morning.

"Zijuan is really hardworking. It's because of her hard work that Xueyan has become more and more lazy. Sister Lin was right to punish her yesterday."

Yue Ling stretched his waist, sat back on the couch, and called softly, "Zijuan, come here."

Hearing Yue Ling's voice from the couch, Zijuan wiped her hands with a sweat towel, walked quickly to the couch, opened the curtain, and was about to tie it up with a rope when she asked again, "Master, are you going to wash up?"

Yue Ling shook his head and looked Zijuan up and down.

Seeing that she had changed her clothes today, a water-red silk jacket, a green satin vest, and a beige skirt, she looked very plain and pretty. But her eyes were slightly red, and her face was like a peach, which made her look a bit conspicuous. Zijuan stood beside the couch, but saw that Yue Ling didn't say anything for a long time, and just looked at her with a malicious smile, and she immediately felt a little scared.

"Master, shall I go get some water first?"

Zijuan just raised her foot to escape, but Yue Ling grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the couch. She was so frightened that she couldn't help but scream.

Yue Ling quickly covered her mouth and asked, "What are you yelling about? Am I a wild beast that can eat you?"

Zijuan shook her head and didn't dare to struggle. She just looked at Yue Ling pitifully, "Master, what are you going to do?"

Yue Ling pinched Zijuan's chin and teased, "Just finish what you didn't finish yesterday. Why, the one who had the courage to come up yesterday wasn't you anymore?"

As he spoke, Yue Ling was still blowing air into Zijuan's ear.

Zijuan's body trembled, her cheeks quickly turned red, and her head felt a little dizzy. She didn't know what to do.

At that moment, two little men seemed to appear in my mind, fighting with each other in the air.

The black man said, "Hurry up, go up, the master has made it clear and you still don't seize the opportunity. Don't you like the master anymore? Don't you want to be a concubine? If you don't want to be a concubine, there are many people who do!"

The little white man said, "No, Zijuan, you promised the girl yesterday that you can't have an affair with the master anymore, and you can't do bad things behind the girl's back!"

Zijuan shook her head, trying to sober herself up, then bit her lip and said with determination: "Master, it's daytime now, how can I serve you during the day... at night..."

Halfway through his words, Yue Ling said, "What are you mumbling about? What about daytime and nighttime? You've already massaged my shoulders halfway, come and massage me again. I don't know why I'm not used to sleeping here, and my body is a little sore."

"what?"

At breakfast, Lin Daiyu and Xueyan sat down at the table early, but found that Yue Ling and Zijuan showed no signs of coming out for a long time.

Xueyan was already exhausted after a long day yesterday, and when she woke up in the morning she was so hungry that she had no strength left. She slumped over the table, her stomach growling.

"Miss, let me go ask. He hasn't gotten up yet. Did Master and Sister Zijuan both sleep late last night?"

Lin Daiyu frowned, "Really? Then go knock on the door and ask."

Xueyan had just stood up when she heard the door beside her open. Yue Ling strode out and sat down at the table. Zijuan followed Yue Ling shyly, and only sat next to Xueyan after Yue Ling sat down. She was not like her usual self at all.

Xueyan touched her own forehead and then touched Zijuan's forehead.

"Hiss, Sister Zijuan, you have a fever. Your temperature is several degrees higher than mine."

Feeling Lin Daiyu's suspicious gaze, Zijuan smiled awkwardly and said, "Maybe it's because your hands are cold. It's not that hot. I'm fine. Come on and eat. You must be hungry."

Yue Ling quickly finished the porridge in his bowl and said to Lin Daiyu, "Sister Lin, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first. Don't forget to send the letter."

Lin Daiyu nodded, but her eyes did not shift as she nodded, still staring at Zijuan, and she responded casually, "Okay, Brother Yue, go ahead and get busy. I won't forget."

After Yue Ling left, Lin Daiyu finally spoke up and interrogated Zijuan, "Sister Zijuan, didn't we agree on this? I know you are Brother Yue's person, but you have to give some time. You only let me go for a day, and Brother Yue woke up a little later. Aren't you too self-disciplined?"

Zijuan blushed and said, "Miss, it's not what you think. Master, he came out late on purpose, letting me massage his shoulders and lie down for a while longer."

Lin Daiyu frowned, "Do you think I will believe you?"

Zijuan was so sad that she had no tears to cry. She was teased by Yue Ling in the room and interrogated by Lin Daiyu outside the room.

"Master, he is just trying to embarrass me on purpose. I am here for my period today, and I can't do that..."

Zijuan was so ashamed that she even told such things about herself in the boudoir to prove her innocence.

But the voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum, and Lin Daiyu couldn't hear it clearly. "What did you say? What's coming?"

Zijuan held back her shyness and moved closer, saying, "Girl, that's it, sunflower water."

Lin Daiyu blushed when she heard this, "It's that, can't we do that now that that's here?"

Zijuan shook her head repeatedly, "Of course not."

Lin Daiyu seemed to have gained some experience and nodded deeply. "I was wrong about you. You can rest in your room today and leave the work to Xueyan."

After finishing the last bite of rice in the bowl, Xueyan leaned back in her chair, rubbed her round belly, looked at the two of them in confusion, and asked, "Which one are you talking about? How come in the end, it becomes me who has to do the work?"

　One more update

　　
　
(End of this chapter)