Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 225 Baoyu: Sister Bao will be here soon?

The news of Yue Ling's victory spread quickly to thousands of households in the capital city like wings. Everyone who heard it admired Yue Ling's ability. Everyone wanted to make friends with him, but they had no way to do so, as Yue Ling was in Cangzhou.

Yue Ling is like a rare flower in the court. He has nothing to do with any political parties or interest groups, and his interpersonal relationships are too clean.

But there was only one door that was closely related to Yue Ling, and he was not happy to hear the good news.

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall,

After offending Yue Ling that day and making the old master furious, Grandmother Jia went to Lixiangyuan every day to pay her respects, but she couldn't even get in.

Thinking of what Jia Daishan had said, that she would not be allowed to be buried in the ancestral tomb, Grandmother Jia became even more worried. She became so anxious that she fell ill and stayed in bed for a long time.

Lady Jia, who originally liked lively occasions, now no longer had the energy to play cards and preferred quietness.

Early that morning, Yuanyang was kneeling beside the bed, serving lotus seed and bird's nest porridge to Lady Jia, but she heard a lot of discussions outside the window, which made Lady Jia frown frequently.

Yuanyang turned around and gave Amber a look, and Amber quickly went to close the window to block out the sound from outside.

Grandmother Jia sighed, "You can block your eyes and ears, but you can't block your heart. Since there is something going on outside, go and ask what it is. It just makes them chatter non-stop."

Amber responded, and soon returned, thinking carefully and replying to Jia's mother: "It was the Marquis of Anjing in Cangzhou. He had just made a military achievement in Cangzhou and killed 400 Japanese soldiers, which is a great achievement."

Grandmother Jia was slightly startled, and immediately lost her appetite. She rejected the porridge that Yuanyang fed her, and collapsed again.

Looking up at the bed curtains, Jia's mother asked faintly, "What did the old master say?"

Amber replied, "I heard the two old masters in Lixiang Courtyard laughing non-stop, and they also said something about how talented Marquis Anjing is and how it is a blessing for the country to have him."

Yuanyang knew that Grandmother Jia was most unwilling to hear this. She was very strong-willed and would not admit that she had made a mistake, even if Yue Ling had reached his current position.

The nobleness of the Marquis’s Mansion can even rival that of the Duke’s Mansion.

After coughing lightly, Yuanyang put the porridge aside, blinked his eyes and reminded Amber, and Amber also kept silent.

Grandmother Jia looked at Yuanyang and asked, "Do you also think that I am confused and have made a mistake?"

Yuanyang quickly lowered herself and said, "I am just a maid, how can I understand these things? A servant should only serve the master well, and the well-being of others has nothing to do with me."

Grandmother Jia did not doubt Yuanyang's loyalty, but this moment made her feel even more desolate.

Although Yue Lingren is not in the capital, his achievements are still being sung in the capital. Once upon a time, this was the reputation that only the Jia family had, but now the capital only knows An Jinghou, and who would mention the once-prominent Jia family with two dukes.

"It's really something that people envy and hate."

Grandmother Jia closed her eyes and didn't want to talk anymore.

After so many things that happened before, it was definitely impossible to mend the relationship. Grandmother Jia couldn't even bring herself to beg for mercy from a junior.

This is also what makes her completely different from the two dukes, and it is this concept that has profoundly influenced the Jia family under her management, making everyone in the Jia family feel superior to others and look down on others.

From a self-righteous high school, he gradually went to destruction...

In Rong Xi Tang, a three-room connecting building behind Lady Wang's courtyard, Jia Baoyu was having fun with his sisters.

The three girls of Spring naturally could not refuse to entertain Jia Baoyu, and since they had nothing to do, they would gather around him to recite poems and compose couplets, or play cards.

Baoyu's body was like the indestructible jade hanging around his neck. After several months, he was well again and was able to get out of bed and move around.

Now that he was able to move around, he couldn't bear the loneliness anymore, so he went to the yard to find the little girl and taste her rouge.

But he didn't dare to make too much trouble, for fear of being blamed by Lixiangyuan again.

Away from the back garden, Baoyu came to visit Sanchun.

He felt the loneliest when he was recuperating on the bed. Sanchun did not visit him every day, but only went to check on his injuries every three to five days.

Even so, Jia Baoyu still felt that something was missing.

Seeing Jia Baoyu playing around in the room again, frolicking with the maids, Tanchun held her forehead helplessly and advised: "Second brother Bao, now that you are well again, why don't you go to the study to read some books and do some serious work. This will make the master happy, and if the news spreads to the Lixiang Courtyard, the old master will also be happy. Isn't it a good thing?"

Baoyu's smile froze, and he pouted, "Third sister, please stop saying these nonsense. If you persuade me to do these dirty things again, we will let go and never come to your room again."

Tanchun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She looked around at Yingchun. Xichun said again, "Listen to me, what I said is nonsense. He plays with rouge all day long, and it's considered a serious matter. I don't know why he was beaten."

Yingchun realized it belatedly and said, "The third girl is right. Studying is a serious matter."

Baoyu was immediately annoyed, and raised his eyebrows and said, "Vulgar people, how vulgar! Instead of persuading me to study and take the imperial examination, it would be better to persuade me to become a monk. At least I can have a clean life!"

Tanchun knew what Baoyu was thinking.

In his eyes, all the ministers in the government were corrupt, treacherous ministers who were eating the emperor's salary in vain and bringing disaster to the country and the people. But for this reason, he did not take the examination for official titles, which seemed a bit hypocritical.

Moreover, even if the whole room is corrupt, isn't there a brilliant person like Yue Ling who has not gone along with the treacherous officials?

Since you look down on civil and military officials, but you don't do anything to change the status quo, but instead stay in your room and eat the rouge on the little maid's mouth, how much better are you than them?

The man's appearance, like a banished immortal, appeared in her mind, and Tanchun felt a little nostalgic.

But she didn't dare to say what she was thinking, because she couldn't stand hearing the name Yue Ling in front of Baoyu.

If anyone mentioned the name Yue Ling, he would definitely turn hostile on the spot.

"Girl, there is a good news from outside. Anjing Hou Yue Ling has made great military achievements in Cangzhou, beheading 400 Japanese pirates without missing a single one. It's really amazing. A real man should be like him."

Yingchun's maid Siqi came back from outside excitedly.

Unlike Yingchun's dull personality, Siqi is decisive and efficient. Because of her tall stature, she looks even more like a rough and robust boy.

Without paying any attention to the atmosphere in the room, Siqi said everything she wanted to say.

"Right now, every household in the capital is celebrating, and all the wine in the taverns is sold out. It's probably because everyone has been feeling depressed lately, and nothing good has happened."

After hearing Siqi's words, Tanchun was happy at first, but after a while she covered her mouth and laughed.

He winked at Siqi and asked her to look back.

Siqi turned around in confusion and saw Jia Baoyu's face slowly turning into the color of liver.

Jia Baoyu propped up his head, looked up and glared at Siqi, saying, "Siqi! I thought you were pretty, even though you were a little tall, but I didn't look at you differently. Today I realize that you are a reckless person, really unreasonable! Why are you so happy about other people's affairs?"

"It's my fault for coming to this porch today. Don't let my pickled food pollute the pure land of you who are pursuing the way of governing the world!"

Of course Jia Baoyu was not self-aware, he was just speaking sarcastically, but this sarcasm seemed to be somewhat appropriate. Until he left the house, Tanchun hugged Xichun's shoulders and couldn't help laughing.

"Siqi, you did a good job. Hahaha..."

Siqi was so confused by what Jia Baoyu said that she forgot to fight back. Only now did she come to her senses, glanced behind him, and said angrily, "Who asked him to look? Do you really think that all the girls in this courtyard have to be loyal to him? As if it's a blessing to talk to him for a few words."

"If you ask me, without the favor of the old ancestor, he is nothing, how can he be compared with the Marquis?"

Siqi's words really scared Yingchun.

"Siqi, don't talk nonsense. Walls have ears. If someone with ulterior motives hears you and gossips about you in front of the old lady or the madam, your good days will be over. I can't protect you."

Yingchun looked at Tanchun who was laughing non-stop and asked worriedly, "Are you really not going to coax Baoyu back? What if he gets really angry?"

Tanchun wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief; she had just laughed so hard that tears came out.

"Angry? He'll only be angry for these two days. After these two days, he'll have forgotten about it. Besides, it doesn't matter if he's angry. He'll have to come back sooner or later. There's no one else in the garden. He'll be bored in a few days just eating with a few little girls."

Tanchun had the most ideas, while Yingchun had the least ideas, so there was nothing they could say at the moment.

She looked out the window at Baoyu's back and shook her head slightly.

Baoyu walked on the cobblestone path, kicking stones as he went along.

It was as if the stone was Yue Ling, allowing him to vent his anger.

"Mediocre people, all mediocre people, none of them can understand my feelings. Fortunately, mother said that the Xue family will move to Beijing. The Xue family has a sister named Baochai, who is extremely beautiful, not inferior to Sister Lin at all, and is also talented and famous in Jinling."

"I think she is different from Lin Daiyu. She should be able to understand my feelings."

Thinking of this, Baoyu couldn't help rubbing his hands.

"I tricked Sister Lin into leaving. Now that Sister Bao is here, I won't be alone. When Sister Bao comes, I must do something good to leave a good impression on her. I must let her know that I am the better one!"

Baoyu nodded complacently and staggered back to his own yard...

……

"Is the change... so drastic? My Lord, why don't you think about it carefully? If this change is made, we will have to pay an extra 150 coins per mu of land. Each of us has hundreds or thousands of mu of land. This is not a small amount of money, and it does not include the labor service assigned to us, which also needs to be converted into silver..."

In the Cangzhou government office, Yue Ling sat upright in the court. The two rows on the left and right were filled with local nobles, gentry, and wealthy families from the eight counties. The pre-set seats were far from enough, so the rest had to stand in the court.

When Yue Ling threw out the new tax law regulations, they were really scared, but because Yue Ling's prestige was so great, no one dared to refute him in person, and they just discussed it in a nice way.

(End of this chapter)