Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 301 Little Secret Exposed

The lights in the dungeon were dim, with only a small window high up letting in a little light. At noon, the cell seemed slightly warmer.

The surroundings were dark and damp, with rats occasionally running around on the uneven ground. They were the few living things in the prison.

The prisoners who were tied up with chains were all half dead, and Qian Shiyuan, Xu Yaozu, Zhen Yingjia and others involved in the case were all placed in separate cells and imprisoned here.

There were footsteps heard in the distance, but the usually vicious jailer did not come over shouting and cursing, but instead brought dry rations of white flour and meat soup, which were much better than the usual brown rice mixed with stones and a few rotten vegetable leaves without any oil.

Seeing this meal, everyone was stunned. Then the jailer said in a friendly manner, "Masters, would you like to have your meal?"

Xu Yaozu and Zhen Yingjia were both born into wealthy families and had always eaten delicacies from land and sea. They had never eaten such leftovers. Today, when they saw the dry food that he usually regarded as trash, they treated it as a delicacy, took a bite of it in their mouths and savored the flavor, and were extremely happy.

Qian Shiyuan was indifferent. He frowned and looked at the jailer and asked, "Why is the last meal coming so early?"

After hearing what Qian Shiyuan said, Xu Yaozu and Zhen Yingjia's faces froze, and they even forgot to chew the dry food in their mouths.

The jailer slowly pointed at Qian Shiyuan's dry food and left with a smile.

This jailer looked unfamiliar. He was not the jailer who had come a few days ago. Moreover, there must have been Yue Ling's men guarding the meal delivery in the past. But today was different from usual. Even if Qian Shiyuan was stupid, he thought that there might be new circumstances outside.

Then he opened his portion of dry food and found a note inside.

"Your Majesty, send Wang Xianzhi and Chen Ju to the south to investigate this case together and stop the struggle."

After reading the note, Qian Shiyuan was overjoyed. He swallowed the note and the dry food together. It tasted even better than the minced meat next to it.

"As expected, Prime Minister Zhao will not give up on us. There is definitely room for maneuver. As long as Prime Minister Zhong's power in the court remains intact and His Majesty still relies on us to make money, this matter will definitely not become a big deal."

Leaving aside Wang Xianzhi for now, he has no party affiliation and it remains unknown whether he can be won over.

Chen Ju's identity was somewhat special; he was a eunuch in the palace.

When the chief eunuch of the palace comes to a place, he represents the will of the royal family and the emperor.

Having a trusted confidant come forward must be an attempt to make a big thing small, or a small thing nothing, and not to make things embarrassing. So it seems that even if he cannot be reinstated, there is still a chance to save his life.

The key lies in the exchange of interests outside. What results can Prime Minister Zhao come up with to convince His Majesty to show leniency to Jiangnan?

Of course, Yue Ling also noticed this point and wanted to push Emperor Longyou to thoroughly clean up the officialdom with confidence.

While the unexpected events were brewing in prison, in the main hall of the government office, Yue Ling received the three people who were about to take up their new posts in Suzhou.

Yue Ling was dressed very solemnly today, in a crimson official uniform embroidered with a flying fish pattern, bestowed by His Majesty himself. The belt around his waist was also inlaid with pearls, and the waist badge was an old white jade waist badge from the Prince of Qin's Palace. Yue Ling was fond of this piece. He wore small court boots with a black surface and a white bottom, looking mature and reserved like a civil servant.

Sitting on both sides of him in the hall were eunuchs from the palace, Xia Shouzhong's godson Chen Ju. The two had met once before in Cangzhou. Chen Ju was a very capable eunuch.

This time they went south to take over the Suzhou and Hangzhou Weaving Bureaus, the River Administration Office, and presumably the Jinling Embroidered Uniform Guard.

At this moment, Chen Ju was just drinking tea in the hall in an obedient manner. He did not take the initiative to dominate the situation because of his status as a palace man.

This year's top scholar, Su Moyun, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "I am the newly appointed governor of Suzhou, Su Moyun, and I pay my respects to Marquis Anjing."

Yue Ling raised his hand to support him and invited him to sit down. "The top scholar has always served in the Imperial Academy. This time he is far away from the capital and has to take over the mess in Suzhou. The pressure on Governor Su is not small. It is indeed a tough job."

Su Moyun bowed again and said, "The purpose of the imperial examination is to benefit the people. If you covet high positions and generous salaries in the capital, you have lost your original intention. I hope that Marquis Anjing will be willing to help you in the future."

Yue Ling nodded slightly, and then said to Wang Xianzhi, the Deputy Chief Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, "This must be Censor Wang, you are all exhausted from the journey, I should have treated you three to a good rest, but now the Suzhou case is imminent, so I have to deal with the official business with you first."

Chen Ju scraped the foam off the tea and responded to Yue Ling: "We are only here to assist Marquis Anjing in his work. The Marquis has the final say on how and when to do it. Since the Marquis said it is urgent, then we will bring him to trial today."

As a member of the palace, Chen Ju's words still carry a lot of weight, and the other two had no objections, but they heard Yue Ling say: "Eunuch Chen, don't be anxious, this is not just about the case. My people have found out that Prime Minister Zhao had contact with the Japanese."

"This may not be a big deal. There were Japanese who came to the government office to look for me, but I detained them in prison. However, Prime Minister Zhao has frequent contacts with the Japanese. Recently, the Japanese pirates who were originally near the coast of Fujian have returned to Shuangyu Island in the north."

"I am not accusing Prime Minister Zhao of colluding with the Japanese, but this action is a little unusual. Suzhou is currently suffering from natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the people are already suffering. If the Japanese pirates land and plunder at this time, it will cause even more suffering."

"Your Majesty has sent us to garrison Jiangnan. If that situation really happens, I'm sure we won't be able to report to the palace, so we still have to be on guard."

After hearing Yue Ling's words, Chen Ju couldn't help but be stunned, blinked and said: "Is there such a thing? We are new here and we don't know. If the Japanese pirates attack, how sure is An Jinghou to hold on?"

Yue Ling became famous all over the world because of the battle to defend the capital city. Regarding this matter, no one else in this hall can speak more convincingly than Yue Ling.

All eyes were focused on Yue Ling, who sighed slowly and said, "To be honest, I am only 50% sure at the moment. First, the Japanese have been entrenched overseas for decades, and they are too powerful to be eliminated. They have close ties with the noble families in various places, and they know the situation on the other side of the strait very well."

"But they were roaming around and committing crimes. On that day, they landed and harassed people. It was hard to tell where their target was, not to mention that we had to gather an army to meet the enemy."

"The troops of Jiangnan Garrison are not well-trained now. I have dismissed all the soldiers of Suzhou Garrison and recruited new soldiers for training again in less than a month."

Chen Ju felt a little uneasy. Even the invincible Marquis Anjing said so. Doesn't it mean that the current situation is really dangerous?

When he first came to Jiangnan, he thought it was a lucrative job. Although it was far away from the palace, in this rich and prosperous place in the world, the eunuchs stationed there had great power. They were free from the constraints of the palace and could really do some real work.

In addition to his godfather, there is also the old ancestor Dai Quan who appears from time to time in the palace. He really has no chance.

But now that war was about to break out, he was really at a loss as to what to do.

"I wonder if Marquis Anjing needs us to do anything?"

Yue Ling nodded slightly, "There are a lot of things that need to be done by you, father-in-law. At present, the burden of the governor Su is heavier, and he needs to familiarize himself with the government affairs of Suzhou as soon as possible. At present, the disaster relief is in good order, so there is no need to worry too much. After dredging the river, we can also try to restore the farmland."

"As for the major case of the former Suzhou prefect who died unjustly in prison, Censor Wang can go to the Experience Department to review the case files. Once we have a detailed understanding of the matter, it won't be too late for us to re-examine it."

The two received their errands and were about to leave when someone walked into the yamen. "My Lord, Jia Lian from the Jia family wants to see you and is outside the hall now."

Chen Ju frowned and said, "Jia Lian from Rongguo Mansion? Why are you here instead of staying in the capital?"

Yue Ling smiled and said, "I don't know about that. Let him in and hear what he has to say."

……

Maple Bridge Inn,
Bejeweled pearls surrounded Qin Keqing's bed and took care of her, but Qin Keqing was extremely depressed.

After breakfast, I heard from Ruizhuzhu that a nanny from the Lin family came to the room, which resulted in Lin Daiyu being unable to stay with Yue Ling in the room last night.

Such a good opportunity is rare. She should have gone to the room, but she got her period, so she gave others the chance.

There is no doubt that Xiangling must have gone there.

Zijuan was still in the room with Lin Daiyu, so she would definitely feel embarrassed to go over, and there was no one else in the room.

Qin Keqing pouted angrily, ate the red date and barley porridge Ruizhu fed her, smacked her lips and said, "Where is the master? Has he already gone to the government office?"

Ruizhu nodded and said, "I left after breakfast."

Qin Keqing sighed inwardly and looked around, but found that the booklet she had written last night was actually placed on the table. She had forgotten to hide it, and her face was immediately startled.

I quickly lifted the quilt and tried to put the book away, but I heard the chattering of girls outside.

While Qin Keqing was stunned, the girls outside had already walked through the door together.

Just then, Qin Keqing was seen lifting the quilt and sitting in plain clothes, as if she was about to get off the bed.

The girls gathered around and tried to push Qin Keqing back down, and also helped Ruizhu to tie the quilt tightly.

Lin Daiyu even sat on the edge of the bed and said with a smile: "Sister Ke'er, it's already this late, so stop making trouble. Listen to what Ruizhu Zhuzhu says more and don't make trouble anymore. If you don't get enough rest, you will be the one who suffers."

Qin Keqing forced a smile and said, "Okay, I'll listen to Miss Lin."

The girls in the room gathered together because they were too idle in the room on weekdays. Whoever had something to do would gather together, and they also wanted to accompany Qin Keqing, who was unable to move, to relieve her boredom.

There were too many people and there was no room for everyone to sit nearby, so Xue Baochai naturally sat at the table by the window.

She hates noise the most and is afraid of people. When there are too many people around, she feels uncomfortable all over.

Seeing a booklet on the table, he picked it up and saw what Qin Keqing usually read.

"August 9th. I went to see the master last night and was caught alive by Miss Lin. It was really embarrassing, but Miss Lin said that if she caught me doing this kind of thing in the room again, she would not let me off easily. So wouldn't it be better if I didn't let her catch me or didn't stay in the room?"

It turned out to be something Qin Keqing had memorized herself. Xue Baochai took a casual look at it but couldn't figure out what it was talking about specifically.

And Qin Keqing didn't even know what she had done that was caught by Lin Daiyu.

Out of a girl's curiosity, Xue Baochai flipped through the book again.

"It's the tenth day of the eighth month. I'm going to see the master tonight. I've washed myself clean and wiped myself with flower petals. I've also changed into a new bellyband. The master will definitely like it. And this specially made light silk nightgown is too revealing. I'm so shy, but when I think of the time when the master can't control his emotions, I get so excited..."

"I have to get the sweat towel to wipe it again."

"August 11th...Last night there were one and a half Zheng characters. If I really put on Miss Lin's clothes, would it be possible to write two Zheng characters?"

Only now did Xue Baochai understand what was going on. It turned out that all the records were about the embarrassing things that happened in the room!
Qin Keqing was surrounded by people and could not see what was happening outside the bed curtain at all. Suddenly, someone screamed "Ah!" and everyone turned around to look.

Then Xue Baochai was seen sitting by the table, holding a small booklet in her hand, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Qin Keqing opened her eyes wide, opened her mouth, and scenes of making the contents public flashed through her mind like a kaleidoscope.

She knelt in front of the women in shame, lowered her head and could not raise it again.

The reason why the consequences were so serious was that she could display her dissolute and promiscuous nature in front of the master, but if these little girls knew about it, she would really lose all her face.

This time, Xue Baochai has the upper hand over her. At least in front of Xue Baochai, she can't raise her head.

Lin Daiyu looked in the direction of the voice and felt that the booklet in Xue Baochai's hand looked familiar. When she stood up and was about to go over, Qin Keqing grabbed her wrist tightly and said, "Miss Lin, what are you going to do? The master has been with you all day, and now that the master has gone to the government office, you have to accompany us."

When Lin Daiyu heard about Yue Ling, her face turned red and she spat, "I came to see you with good intentions, but you actually said such words to tease me. You are really a bad person."

Then he turned to Xue Baochai and asked, "Sister Bao, what's wrong with you?"

Xue Baochai looked at Qin Keqing with a shy face, but saw that Qin Keqing was looking at her almost pleadingly, with her hands stretched out from the brocade quilt clasped together, and she bowed to her repeatedly.

Xue Baochai sighed secretly, tilted her head, and said with a guilty conscience: "There was a bug here just now, it scared me, it's okay, you can just continue chatting."

Lin Daiyu looked over suspiciously and asked, "Sister Bao, what is that book in your hand?"

Xue Baochai picked up the booklet, flipped through two pages at random and said, "Oh, this is the account of my Xue family. Is Sister Lin interested?"

As an outsider, Lin Daiyu would not look at other families' accounts, so she shook her head slightly and said, "I shouldn't look at Sister Bao's accounts. How can I be said to be interested in them?"

Qin Keqing immediately breathed a sigh of relief and lay down peacefully again.

But he didn't notice that Xue Baochai put the booklet into her sleeve and took it away...

(End of this chapter)