Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 246 Where is Xue’s sister?
Although Lin Daiyu had reminded her on the boat, it still made Xue Baochai feel a little dazed when it really happened in person.

I don’t know whether Lin Daiyu really has the power of an immortal or Jia Baoyu is really naughty, but it doesn’t matter at this moment.

Xue Baochai smiled shyly and continued Jia Baoyu's words, "Is it the young master Baoyu from the second branch of the Jia family? Have you also been to Jinling? I grew up in Jinling and have never traveled far. Perhaps I have seen him, but I don't remember it now."

Baoyu saw that Sister Xue, who had come from afar, was not only beautiful with almond eyes and rosy cheeks, but also tactful and willing to respond to his questions. Unlike Lin Daiyu, he was overjoyed and said with a smile, "I was born in the capital, and although I have never been far away, I am kind to you, so I will just treat you as an old acquaintance."

Xue Baochai's eyelids trembled slightly. She wondered how this playboy could say such reckless words. He was indeed very different from the Marquis of Anjing. He was simply a banished celestial being from heaven or dirt on earth. How could he be worthy of the word "Baoyu"?
Xue Baochai's eyes turned, and she smiled, "Since you think I look good, there is another sister in the hall who is even more beautiful than me. You should also think she looks good. She is being ignored in the hall now. It is better to get close to her now. Maybe you can let her stay in this mansion and become old acquaintances."

Baoyu immediately captured the key words from Xue Baochai's words.

"Sister, are you going to stay in the mansion?"

Xue Baochai nodded, "According to mother's wishes, I want to stay in the mansion."

Baoyu clapped his hands and said, "How wonderful! How wonderful! If there is a wonderful person like my sister in the garden, will we be afraid that it will be lonely in the future? We will be happy every day."

As soon as he said this, Baoyu changed the subject and asked, "I just don't know which sister you are talking about?"

Xue Baochai's eyes widened, and she pretended to be surprised and said, "You really don't know? She is also a relative of ours, and we are not distant from each other. Moreover, she has been to the capital. If you don't know her and just think I am a friendly person, wouldn't you just make her angry for no reason?"

"Besides, if she gets angry and doesn't want to stay in this mansion, I might have to follow her."

Baoyu leaned back and said in astonishment, "Ah? Sister can actually walk. This is absolutely not allowed. Sister is already a stunning figure. If someone is even more beautiful than you, wouldn't he be a fairy descending to the earth? I really have to take care of him."

Having said that, Baoyu hurried up to the hall.

Halfway through the journey, Baoyu came back to his senses, turned around and asked, "Sister Bao, do you really have a younger sister who has been to the capital?"

Xue Baochai nodded and said, "I am not lying to you. If you don't believe me, you can ask others if I have a younger sister at home."

Xue Baochai's tone became a little harder, and Baoyu was afraid of angering her, so he said hurriedly: "It's not that I don't believe you, sister, I'm just afraid that I misunderstood, and it would be bad if I recognized the wrong person again."

Xue Baochai covered her mouth and laughed secretly, "It's okay, isn't it enough to see that she looks kind? If you see that she looks kind, she must not be an unreasonable girl."

Baoyu clapped his hands, suddenly realizing, "That's right, sister, you have enlightened me."

Having said that, Baoyu strode up to the hall.

At this moment, Qingwen came up from behind, panting and shaking the little maid's shoulder, and asked anxiously: "Where is Master Bao? Where did he go?"

The little maid was startled, pointed into the hall, and said in a trembling voice, "He went upstairs."

Qingwen's face was filled with regret. "What the maid just said turned out to be true. Master Bao, you must not cause any trouble!"

Xue Baochai watched the scene, shook her head, smiled, and walked out again.

……

In Rongqing Hall,

The women of the four kings and eight dukes gathered together.

The seventh day of my grandfather's funeral had already been celebrated, and all the funeral rites and bells had been held. Until today, the funeral had just been suspended to await more mourners.

According to regulations, the funeral must last for 49 days.

This period of time must have been the most sad time for the Jia family, so the women from each family came spontaneously to sit with Grandmother Jia.

They had nothing to do in the room anyway.

On ordinary days, people chatted enough about the gossips of other people, which was not very interesting. But today, Lin Daiyu, the daughter of the Imperial Censor of Lianghuai Salt, returned, and there was something to talk about in the hall.

Of course, everyone was not coming for Lin Ruhai, but for Lin Daiyu's guardian here, Marquis Anjing, who is now the most powerful man in the capital.

Rumor has it that His Majesty ordered Xia Shouzhong, the chief eunuch of the six palaces, to go to Cangzhou in person and summoned him to return to the capital to report on his work. It is estimated that he will have other assignments next, which will cause another sensation.

Apart from helping their men to sound out the truth at this time, it is generally difficult for women in the inner house to be of any help with matters outside.

When Lin Daiyu entered the Jia Mansion this time, she was treated completely differently from last time. The sedan chair landed in the yard before Lin Daiyu was allowed to walk into the main hall. She didn't have to walk far, as if she was the eldest daughter of the Jia family.

As soon as she arrived in the hall, she became the center of attention, and was greeted by the ladies of various families, including several princesses, who were eager to recognize her. Lin Daiyu had even met the most noble woman in the world, the queen, and she was polite in receiving these people. After being praised again, she took a seat in the hall.

"Yu'er has been through a lot of hardships on the journey, and it's rare for her to show her filial piety. She came to the mansion right after we reached the shore."

In fact, Grandmother Jia liked this granddaughter very much, but it was a pity that she was too close to outsiders and treated them as strangers instead of relatives, so she had no way to deal with it.

"Rest here and have some tea. No one will disturb you in this hall."

Grandmother Jia looked at Mrs. Wang, and Mrs. Wang nodded silently, and she felt relieved.

There are too many women from other families today, and this is not the time for Baoyu to act up. Although Grandmother Jia is reluctant to lock him up in the room, it is mostly for his own good.

If he were to develop a mental illness in the classroom, I don't know what kind of reputation he would get in the capital.

Princess Liu of the Prince of Dongping stretched her body and spoke to Lin Daiyu, "Miss Lin is from Cangzhou Prefecture. Can you tell us? Is Cangzhou really as famous as the rumors say, comparable to Suzhou and Hangzhou?"

Lin Daiyu put down her teacup, smiled, and looked around at the women in the room in a friendly manner. They were all waiting for her to speak. She nodded and said, "Suzhou and Hangzhou have been prosperous for thousands of years, and it will take more than three or five years to achieve this. However, with the hard work of Uncle Yue...Uncle Yue, it may now be comparable to some important cities in the north."

"That's not bad. It's not easy for a prefecture that was severely hit by a disaster to be reborn in just three to five years. I wonder if Marquis Anjing is going to stay in the capital or has another mission after his return?"

Lin Daiyu replied, "Uncle Yue is returning to the capital on the orders of His Majesty."

She only said half of the sentence. The women in the families were not stupid, and her implication was that only His Majesty could make the decision and there was no point in asking more questions.

The women on the scene joked and tried to smooth things over, and then stopped asking questions.

But Lin Daiyu's response always gave them the feeling that she was an imperial decree from the Anjing Marquisate. She spoke to them calmly and her words were secretive.

This strange feeling made them not know how to express it.

Wu, a female member of the Xiangyang Marquis's household, asked, "The Changlu salt created by the Anjing Marquis in Cangzhou is the best in taste. We women can't enjoy anything good in the inner house. At least we have something for the emperor to satisfy our appetite, but we can't even get a rank in the Xue family's Feng brand. It's really a pity."

"Miss Lin is familiar with Marquis Anjing. I wonder if I could ask her about this matter. Can Fengzihao add more members? Can we get some new products every month?"

Lin Daiyu couldn't help laughing and said, "Uncle Yue doesn't care about the Xue family's business. If you want to ask, it's better to ask the Xue family directly. Besides, the Xue family came with me, and the concubine is sitting over there."

Everyone followed Lin Daiyu's gaze and only then discovered Aunt Xue sitting below Mrs. Wang.

The two sisters met again after a long separation and were chatting animatedly when the room suddenly became quiet and everyone looked at them, causing them to sit up straight.

Madam Wang spoke first, "I wrote to you about this before, but you didn't believe me. Now that I've come to your house today, do you believe me? These are all wealthy families in Beijing. Using things with the Feng brand on them will also bring honor to your Xue family."

Aunt Xue blushed, and she bowed to the people in the hall, greeted Jia's mother again, and then said, "Now the business of the Xue family is managed by my eldest daughter. When she comes back later, just ask her."

As soon as Lin Daiyu came back, the focus of the class became Yue Ling. Every three sentences could not be separated from the person who disgusted Lady Jia, which really made Lady Jia feel annoyed.

"We are of the same bloodline, so there is no need to talk about these strange things. Yu'er, you must be tired too. Go sit with the sisters in the warm room and rest first. I will send someone to call you after dinner."

Lin Daiyu naturally did not want to deal with the ladies from other families. Their chattering was really annoying, and they always talked about gossip, which she was not interested in. So she followed Lady Jia's kindness and went to the warm room separated by a screen.

In the warm room, the three sisters were all there, including Shi Xiangyun, accompanied by Li Wan, which made Lin Daiyu feel a lot more comfortable.

"Sister Lin, you are finally back. We haven't seen each other for a long time. You must tell us about the new things you encountered outside."

As soon as she entered the warm room, Lin Daiyu was grabbed by the arms by Tanchun and Shi Xiangyun and dragged to sit at the table.

The little maids brought cakes, candied fruits, fruits and fragrant tea, and they all sat together, waiting for Lin Daiyu to tell a story.

"It's not that much new. I just went outside with Uncle Yue."

Shi Xiangyun nodded repeatedly, "Yes, this is what I want to hear."

Lin Daiyu held the teacup in her hand and nodded in response, "Okay, let's start from when we first came south..."

The atmosphere in the hall was lively when an uninvited guest came in through the small door of the ear room.

As soon as he entered the warm room, he approached the girls and asked, "Where is the sister from the Xue family?"

(End of this chapter)