Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 258 Tenderness
Early the next morning,

With the sweet and soft beauty in his arms, Yue Ling was indeed a little too lazy to get up.

"The downtrodden man walks in the rivers and lakes with wine in his hand, and the slender waist of Chu is light in his hand."

Far away from the temple, in the rivers and lakes, if you can really travel with wine and sword, and have a beautiful woman by your side, perhaps it will be a good day.

But now, Yue Ling doesn’t have many choices.

Ever since Yue Ling proposed the new policy, there has been a tacit understanding between the monarch and his subjects.

Emperor Longyou gave him unlimited trust and opportunities to display his talents, and he would work with Emperor Longyou to create a prosperous era.

Even if we don't talk about serving the country and the people, just considering the people around him, being able to live in a prosperous era is what Yue Ling wishes for.

If one day, I could take Lin Daiyu and her friends to travel around the mountains and rivers without worries, why not do it?
Yue Ling gently lifted the loose hair on Xiangling's forehead and gathered it to her temples, then blew softly into her ear.

Xiangling's body trembled, her brows furrowed, and she opened her sleepy eyes, and saw Yue Ling's face.

Xiangling couldn't help shrinking her head again and said in a whimpering voice, "My Lord, are you hungry? I'll go get some food from outside."

Yue Ling hooked her chin and slowly lifted Xiangling's head up so that she could look at him. The girl's emotions were still there, and her slightly blushing cheeks were really a beautiful sight.

Blinking his eyes, Yue Ling teased, "Why, you're not hungry? Did you eat too much last night?"

Xiangling blushed again.

She didn't experience it personally, so she didn't know why Zijuan acted like that at night. It turned out that she wasn't much better if she were in his place.

Last night she thoroughly felt what Yue Ling was capable of, but by the end, she was completely limp and unable to move.

Even the final cleaning was done by Yue Ling himself, and it seemed that he still had some energy left.

Feeling the soreness in her lower body, Xiangling said shyly, "My Lord is very evil and only knows how to tease me."

Yue Ling raised his eyebrows, "Why, you don't like it?"

Xiangling started talking but didn't say anything.

Not long after, she felt a ball of fire touching her waist. The girl, who was already horny, immediately jumped up and stopped lazing in bed.

"My Lord, let's go and have dinner... We can talk about it later in the evening..."

Yue Ling held Xiang Ling tightly and asked, "What's your name?"

Xiangling suppressed her shame, covered her chest with her hands, and moaned, "My husband..."

Yue Ling nodded, "That's good enough. Get up and help me get dressed."

Xiangling moved out of the quilt and stretched her waist, feeling a little sore and uncomfortable.

At this moment, she really wanted to ask Zijuan how she managed to deal with Yue Ling.

Thinking that tonight might be the same as last night, Xiangling felt a little happy to the point of being troubled.

After fetching a set of clean clothes, Xiangling, who was wearing a small shirt, put them on first with Yue Ling.

A peach-colored tube top embroidered with a few flower petals, looming in front of him, naturally made Yue Ling a little distracted.

He was also at an age full of vigor and vitality, and he had practiced martial arts for many years, with strong muscles and bones. It was impossible for a little maid to satisfy his cravings in one night.

He held Xiangling in his arms again and fiddled with her gently, "I changed my mind. I'll eat you first before we go out to eat."

Xiang Ling was trembling all over, and she naturally put her hands around Yue Ling's neck, but she didn't dare to meet Yue Ling's eyes, for fear of being burned.

"Hou... Husband, let's talk about it at night. After all, I am living under someone else's roof, and I have to go and say hello to my mother and aunt."

"If this happens again, I won't be able to get out of this door..."

Xiangling realized how powerful Yue Ling was and couldn't help but beg for mercy.

She was a girl who was not good at speaking, and racking her brains to come up with these words was already her limit.

Moreover, hearing such frivolous words coming out of her mouth really made Xiangling even more shy. She felt dizzy and at a loss.

At that moment, if Yue Ling insisted on her, she really didn't know how to refuse, and had to give in reluctantly.

When the atmosphere between the two was just charming, there was a knock on the door.

"Are you up yet? You should eat something early in the morning to nourish your body."

Xiangling recognized that it was her mother's voice. She stood up from Yue Ling abruptly and her mind suddenly became clear.

After fastening all the buttons and bra that Yue Ling had just opened, she put on her coat, then went to open the door for her mother.

When she pushed the door open, she saw her mother holding a food box in her hands and looking at her with a frown.

Seeing her daughter's disheveled clothes and a hint of affection between her eyebrows, Feng couldn't help but sigh and said, "Mother knows that your friendship is deep, but you have to be restrained, right?"

"You two live together, you can't just do that day and night, that would be too embarrassing. Besides, he hasn't given you a marriage proposal yet, he really wants to take you in. It's rude to let you live here, and you're still like this, you have no self-restraint like a girl."

Xiangling lowered her head and listened to her mother's teachings, her cheeks as red as ripe apples.

It would have been fine if her mother had heard such an embarrassing thing, but she also brought it out in the open. How could Xiangling have the face to refute it?

After all, she is just a little girl.

However, for her, there was no need for a betrothal gift. She ranked before Miss Lin and Miss Xue, and received the three letters and six betrothal gifts from the Marquis. Xiangling would never dare to dream of such a beautiful thing.

At the right time, Yue Ling also put on his coat and came out, nodding to Feng.

Feng also kept silent and said, "Your aunt is not in a good mood, so there is no need to go and greet her. After breakfast, go to the Sheng'en Temple outside to burn incense and donate some money. It can be regarded as praying for your father."

"If the gods really bless you, your father may still be alive, and you and your daughter will be reunited one day."

As she spoke, Feng handed over some more silver notes, all with a face value of one or five taels, which seemed more like the pocket money she had saved up on a daily basis.

Xiangling wanted to return the money. She actually had no shortage of expenses. Yue Ling took care of everything.

But Feng still stuffed it into her hand and comforted her: "Mother owes you too much, so please stop having affairs with her, otherwise how will she cope with it?"

Xiangling looked back at Yue Ling, who nodded and put the banknote into his sleeve.

"Okay, let's go now."

Feng nodded with satisfaction, bowed to Yue Ling, and left the small courtyard.

Yue Ling sat down at the table with his arms and legs spread out, waiting for Xiangling to open the food box so they could eat together.

Xiangling was stunned for a moment and said, "My Lord, I'm going to waste your time again." Yue Ling didn't look at Xiangling, and said casually, "As your husband, is it wrong for me to accompany you to the temple to burn incense?"

In fact, if Yue Ling wanted to find out the situation in Suzhou Prefecture, he should visit various places.

As for the unusual situation of the Shen family, it was also because Yue Ling had inquired in the wrong direction.

We should ask more about what kind of business the Shen family is doing in the local area, and which families they have close contacts with.

These information need to be obtained from the outside, so Yue Ling needs to go out.

Xiangling knew that Yue Ling was just acting, but she was still deeply moved. She opened the food box, set out the dishes and chopsticks, stayed by Yue Ling's side, and served him his meal.

Looking at Yue Ling's profile, Xiangling's eyes were filled with endless tenderness.

……

At the foot of Xuan Tomb Mountain,

Although today is not a sacrificial festival, there are many pilgrims coming and going to the Sheng'en Temple at the foot of the mountain. Looking from afar, it looks like a dark mass, like a wave.

Sheng'en Temple occupies a large area and faces Taihu Lake in the distance.

In front of the Main Hall, there are three ancient cypress trees, which may be a thousand years old. It takes ten adults to hug their trunks.

Along the way to the temple, there are many strange rocks, which is also a magnificent sight of this temple.

For women of a certain social status, it is not easy to go out, and going to the temple to burn incense and pray for blessings is the best reason.

There were many sedan chairs with luxurious patterns coming and going. Unlike others, they could go straight through the mountain gate and into the main hall.

Yue Ling took Xiang Ling and mingled among the crowd, looking around at the situation around them.

Along the way, Yue Ling met many fellow villagers, chatted with them, and found out a lot about what happened in the city.

At this moment, just as she was about to ask someone else, she heard Xiangling beside her whisper, "Husband? Do you want to ask more? What they said is almost the same. I've heard it five or six times and I'm going to write it down."

Yue Ling didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Seeing Xiang Ling being more clever than usual, he couldn't help but ask, "Well, I won't ask anymore. Now tell me what you wrote down."

Xiangling's eyes turned, and she said, reciting the story she had just heard, "The biggest event in Suzhou City recently was the former prefect's suicide in prison. The whole story has been revealed."

"From what they said, they wanted to change rice crops to mulberry crops in Suzhou, but Governor Zhu was strongly against it."

"After that, rumors spread that Governor Zhu had long since accepted bribes and had established friendships with several major silk suppliers, preventing ordinary people from sharing in the profits."

"Changing rice production to mulberry trees is a policy designated by the higher-ups. If it is not implemented, no one will benefit. So many people went to the government office to cause trouble. As a result, the situation became more and more serious. In order to suppress the situation, the governor Zhu started a fight, and his evil officials killed and injured several people on the spot."

"The incident became a bigger fuss, and the news spread outside."

"Later, the Hangzhou Provincial Government learned about this and sent senior officials to investigate the Suzhou government office. They unexpectedly discovered that Governor Zhu had embezzled public funds and falsified accounts. Moreover, the embezzled money was found in the largest silver shop in Suzhou, Xu's Silver Shop."

"Comparing the two, we have caught the perpetrator red-handed, and the evidence is irrefutable."

"Zhu Zhifu was stripped of his official hat and uniform on the spot and thrown into prison."

"Come to think of it, after the villagers told their stories, they were all filled with righteous indignation, as if they wanted to eat me alive. Is this Governor Zhu a bad official? Didn't he get along well with the villagers before?"

As a special police officer who has participated in solving cases many times and has been in this world for many years, Yue Ling had actually already keenly noticed the problem.

I just keep doing tests to verify the ideas in my mind.

After rubbing Xiangling's head, Yue Ling said, "I didn't know you had such a good memory. You are usually stupid and could lean against the door railing for half a day. I haven't seen you as smart as you are today."

Xiangling smiled awkwardly.

She looks like that on weekdays, mainly because her heart knot has not been untied. From time to time, she would think of the tragic story of how she mistook a kidnapper for her father when she was a child.

Reflecting on her current situation, she is even more worried about where her future lies.

But now, she was already Yue Ling's, so why should she be sad all day? Moreover, the women around Yue Ling were all very smart, and if she didn't force herself to grow up, there would be no use for her in the future.

Xiangling was still immersed in Yue Ling's tenderness when she heard him say, "Have you discovered the problem?"

Xiangling was startled and said weakly, "Everyone says so. Is there any problem?"

Yue Ling smiled and said, "In this world, information is blocked. When the common people learn about news, they also hear it from others, and most of them are rumors. However, these rumors are surprisingly consistent, and even when told by different people, there is not much difference."

"Even you can remember the general idea, so there is no problem?"

Yue Ling still vaguely remembers that when he was in middle school, the Chinese teacher led the students to play a game in class. The first student in the front row passed a sentence to the end, and no one could successfully repeat the original sentence in the end.

It is often even very different from the meaning of the original sentence.

This is the case for just the classmates in one classroom, let alone such a big city like Suzhou.

This is very abnormal.

Xiang Ling didn't understand what Yue Ling meant and looked at him in confusion. Then she listened to Yue Ling's explanation: "For a case with doubts, if everyone says the same thing, it's actually a loophole."

"It is highly likely that someone deliberately spread this news to facilitate the situation they want to achieve."

"People are often the easiest to incite and are willing to believe in things that benefit them. It would be such a relief for a corrupt official to die in prison. Who would bother to investigate the cause and effect?"

Of course, Yue Ling was able to think of this because of his preconceived idea.

Because he knew clearly that replacing rice with mulberry was not a good national policy, and Zhu Zhifu opposed replacing rice with mulberry, Yue Ling thought he was a good official and innocent.

From this point of view, the city of Suzhou looks like a scam created by many people working together.

Xiangling frowned slightly and felt her forehead getting hot, as if her brain was not enough and she could hardly think to Yue Ling's level.

"So, sir, what you mean is that Prefect Zhu is..."

Yue Ling gently covered Xiang Ling's mouth, gestured to her as there were more and more people around, and stopped talking about this topic.

"Why do we have to come to the Sheng'en Temple to burn incense? Is there any saying about it?"

Xiangling nodded and explained, "My mother told me yesterday that before our family fell into decline, my father and grandfather had jointly built an ancestral hall in the temple. It's just the right time for us to go and pay our respects this time."

Xiangling felt very strange that she had a mother disciplining her, but she also longed for the family affection that she had been missing for many years, and wanted to find her father even more.

"My husband, do you think I can meet my father again?"

Yue Ling nodded in response, "There should be a chance."

At that moment, a pair of women emerged from the rocks beside them, dressed as monks. The first one was wearing a wide-sleeved cassock, followed by a little nun...

(End of this chapter)