Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 249 Shooting yourself in the foot

Mrs. Wang glanced coldly at Aunt Xue who was sitting next to her. Aunt Xue's lips trembled as she spoke, "Your aunt is right. Each family has helped a lot."

Xue Baochai's expression remained calm, as if she was an old hand at domestic intrigues who could see through Mrs. Wang's tricks at a glance.

She did not show any weakness and continued, "I have just said the public principle. From a private perspective, you have done the Xue family a favor, so it is not a bad idea to do some favors for us."

"Today, the Xue family is coming to Beijing. In my personal capacity, I am sending some new commercial goods to your families as a greeting gift. I hope you elders will not despise me."

Forcing a little girl in the hall is not a good thing in itself, and the fact that Xue Baochai was so confident in challenging Mrs. Wang, the second wife of the Jia family, seemed to indicate that it was not what was known before. The Xue family came to Beijing to join the Jia family.

It is obvious that the Xue family has a more powerful backer. Who that backer is is self-evident when you see how close Xue Baochai and Lin Daiyu were just now.

Princess Liu of Dongping County thought for a while and then tried to smooth things over, "Okay, since Miss Xue has such feelings, we will accept it. We don't have any other intentions, we just think that the Xue family doesn't recognize our relatives, so we are annoyed."

"It's not easy for a girl like you to run a family business. There are difficulties behind it. We women should understand it the most. Let's put this matter behind us for now and never mention it again."

Xue Baochai bowed respectfully to Liu.

Liu nodded, and then said to Jia's mother who had been listening to the opera with her eyes closed, "Old Madam, you have had a lot of tea and food in the mansion these days. I will not disturb your peace today. I will take my leave."

Liu set the tone and wanted to say goodbye and leave. The family members of other families followed suit and said goodbye to Lady Jia.

Xue Baochai was even more reluctant to stay in the hall. She was determined to complete the task assigned by Lin Daiyu, so she went out to look for the maid who had just been punished.

There were only women from the Jia family left in Rongqing Hall, with the addition of Aunt Xue.

Grandmother Jia glanced down and saw that Mrs. Wang's chest was heaving with anger, but she felt a lot better in her heart.

How could Lady Jia, who had been sitting firmly in the inner house for decades, not see what she was thinking?

She originally wanted to bring the Xue family here to facilitate marriage to consolidate her position and gain more benefits, but she didn't expect that after the Xue family came, they were not under her control at all.

How could Lady Jia not laugh when she ended up dropping a rock on her own feet?

"The concubine of the Xue family has come from afar. Does she have a place to stay in the capital now?"

Grandmother Jia took a deep breath and greeted Aunt Xue.

Aunt Xue quickly responded, "To answer the old lady's question, we haven't bought a house yet. The children in our family are spoiled. I wonder if we can use the Jia family's tradition to discipline them a little."

Now Lady Jia is finding it difficult to say that she should use the Jia family's tradition to discipline her children.

Grandmother Jia shook her head and smiled. "The Lixiang Courtyard in the northeast corner was where the old master lived in seclusion in the past. Later, the old master went to the imperial city to recuperate, and it has been abandoned. There are more than a dozen rooms scattered in the courtyard, and there is also a small door leading to the streets outside. It is very convenient for the concubine to live there."

"There is no reason for a large Jia Mansion to refuse to receive relatives who come to live here. If the concubine has made up her mind, she can just inform the servants and move in."

"The yard hasn't been cleaned for a while. Madam, please take care of it."

Having said this, Grandmother Jia stood up again, and, supported by the maids Yuanyang and Amber, went to the inner room to rest.

Aunt Xue looked at Mrs. Wang's face with great worry, but didn't know how to comfort her.

After a long while, Mrs. Wang finally spoke: "You should know my real intention. How come the young lady you mentioned, who is taciturn and elegant, looks like this when she came to Beijing?"

"The golden marriage was aborted before it was even announced!"

Aunt Xue looked bitter. "I have been in my hometown of Jinling for a long time. She has been running the Fengzihao business in Cangzhou all this time. I don't know what kind of guest she met today that dared to speak like that in the hall."

"Don't worry, sister. I'll go ask her right away. Don't worry, sister. I still have the final say in this family."

Mrs. Wang swallowed her breath.

Although she was rejected by Xue Baochai, she was actually happy with Xue Baochai's ability.

She is good at managing the household, well versed in worldly economics, and is plump and beautiful with a great figure. At first glance, she is the type who loves to have children.

The Jia family is not very prosperous, so Mrs. Wang naturally pays the most attention to this.

No matter from which aspect, Xue Baochai is the best candidate for daughter-in-law in Mrs. Wang's mind. Even if there is today's bickering, it is still considered talented and becomes a plus point.

"Forget it, go ask first, and we can talk about other things later."

Just as Madam Wang was about to leave, Caiyu ran in hurriedly, "Madam, it's not good. The master knows what happened in the hall, and he is now holding a big stick to look for the second master."

Mrs. Wang had just stood up, but her feet went weak and she almost stumbled.

"Hurry, help me go."

……

Xue Baochai walked out of the hall and asked around about the whereabouts of the girl.

However, he accidentally heard that Master Zheng of the second branch of the Jia family was furious when he learned about Baoyu's affairs in the outer room, and was now on his way to teach him a lesson.

Xue Baochai's beautiful eyes curved at this, "Sister Lin left before she could even watch this excitement, it's really a pity, I'm not interested in going to see it either, I'd better find the maid to save her first and go to Yue Mansion to wait."

After leaving Jia's mother's courtyard and turning into the alley where servants came and went, I saw a little maid kneeling on the ground to accept her punishment. Her clothes had been ripped by willow branches, and several red marks could be seen with the naked eye. "The evil slave defended his master. According to the rules of the Jia family, he will be whipped twenty times and sent out!"

At the housekeeper's command, two strong women picked up Qingwen again and wanted to throw her out of the yard.

"Qingwen is a fierce girl. She was beaten so many times that her clothes were torn, but she didn't cry or make a fuss. I'm afraid of those who don't beg for mercy. Do you think she will really bump her head against the stone lions?"

"He's not fainted yet, so don't talk about it anymore."

The two strong women looked at Qingwen and felt sorry for her pretty face, but she was not favored in the room and ended up in her current situation.

At this moment, Qingwen was so sad that she felt heartbroken. Even if she didn't faint, she had no intention of paying attention to the rumors of the healthy women.

She served her master wholeheartedly, but ended up like this. If Jia Baoyu could speak a word for her in the court, she might have had room for maneuver.

After all, she was Lady Jia's maid, and Lady Jia would give her some face. At most, she would send her to the farm to be punished, but she would not send her away directly.

But Jia Baoyu remained indifferent. He watched her being dragged away by the strong women and received the punishment harshly without any mercy.

The flattering words that Baoyu said in the past now only make Qingwen feel like a thorn in her heart.

Qingwen did not understand the principle that a good minister chooses his master to serve and a good bird chooses his tree to roost in. She also did not know where else she could find a place to stay except death.

"Let her go first!"

A clear female voice was heard, bringing some clarity back to Qingwen's eyes.

When the housekeeper and the strong woman saw that it was Xue Baochai, they naturally respected her as half-master, and stepped aside as Xue Baochai said, bowing respectfully.

"This girl is pitiful. She was originally going to be sent away. I am taking her in here. It doesn't violate the rules of the Jia family, right?"

The housekeeper replied: "It's okay...but..."

Xue Baochai said coldly, "There's nothing to worry about. Ying'er, Zijuan, go and help her over, and ride in the carriage with us back home."

Qingwen looked at Xue Baochai meaningfully, not knowing what to say.

But she had already made up her mind to die, and after the strong woman let go of her hand, she struggled again, and the two maids were unable to do anything to her.

Xue Baochai saw through her suicidal thoughts and taught her a lesson: "There have been so many foolish men and women in history, and you should be one of the top few. For a master who doesn't care about you at all, you insist on dying. You are really stupid."

"Tie her up first and send her to the car to calm down."

……

Imperial City, Kunning Palace,

As soon as Lin Daiyu got off the palace sedan, she was surrounded by a group of palace maids and escorted to the palace gate.

The last time he entered the imperial city was many years ago, and he went to the East Palace, which was less magnificent than the Kunning Palace.

After passing through the hollow hanging flower gate and reaching the main gate with carved railings and jade bricks, Lin Daiyu felt as if she had floated in without even touching the ground.

"My daughter has met the Queen."

The Queen was sitting in the center of the hall. Lin Daiyu came back to her senses when she saw her and immediately bowed.

But when the Queen saw Lin Daiyu, she was no longer so polite. She smiled and said, "You are finally here. It has been four years since we last met. Come and let me see what you look like now."

Chen Ju watched from the sidelines. Seeing that the empress loved Lin Daiyu as if she were her own nephew, he left the palace and said, "Now that the people have arrived, I will take my leave."

The queen then ordered, "Call some palace maids to measure her size."

Chen Ju nodded and said, "Yes, I will go right away."

The queen looked Lin Daiyu up and down and found that she was becoming more and more beautiful.

When I first met her, her face was still childish and her figure was as slender as a young willow. But today, she is tall and graceful, with slender arms and legs, and a graceful figure, she really looks like a fairy.

The queen liked it even more.

Lin Daiyu naturally didn't know that the Queen had been trying hard to have a little princess for years, but was told by the imperial physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau that she was too old to have a child, so under the persuasion of Emperor Longyou, she had to give up.

"After entering the city, did you go to the Jia family first?"

Although the two of them exchanged letters frequently and were very familiar with each other in their letters, Lin Daiyu was still very reserved in person.

Sitting on the small embroidered cushion next to the empress, with her hands folded in front of her, Lin Daiyu nodded repeatedly, "I am burning incense and praying for my grandfather on behalf of my parents, showing my filial piety as a descendant."

The Queen nodded, "I heard that you had a lot of trouble when you went to Rongguo Mansion. You didn't suffer any injustice without Yue Ling accompanying you this time, did you?"

Lin Daiyu nodded again, "Thank you for your concern, Queen. I haven't suffered any injustice. The Jia family treats me well."

The Queen raised her slender fingers, held the fragrant tea, and put it to her lips, but she changed the subject, "What is the progress between you and Yue Ling now? His Majesty is about to grant you a marriage."

(End of this chapter)