Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 309 The vixen breaks in!
It was October, and autumn was deepening.
In the garden of Fengqiao Station, fallen flowers are dancing and streams are gurgling.

In the pond, the withered lotus leaves are half-rolled, but the stems and leaves are still proudly upright, echoing with the petals falling on the water, as if in play.

Between the pavilions and towers, a group of girls were busy picking flower petals that were about to fall. After smoked and roasted, they accumulated the fragrance and were made into rouge and powder.

Of course, young girls don’t need to use too much watercolor. They are not competing with each other in the room, but are more interested in playing and having fun.

Everything was done in order to prepare offerings in advance for the worship of Lin Daiyu's mother next month.

In addition to the customary items of paper money and red candles, we also need some of the favorite things of the deceased.

Jia Min was born with outstanding beauty and she also loved beauty, so rouge and powder were naturally indispensable. Lin Daiyu did not want to use the common powder bought from the market, but planned to make it herself.

But she was a girl with a compassion for the world. She felt pity for the disappearance of all things in the world. She couldn't bear to hurt the petals that were still in bloom, so she could only pick the ones that were about to fall from the branches.

Often such petals do not have much fragrance, and it takes a lot of effort to make them into rouge.

Fortunately, there were many maids in the room. Now that Yue Ling was out, they had no errands to do, so they all carried flower baskets in the garden and accompanied Lin Daiyu to pick flowers.

As her slender fingers touched the tender petals, Lin Daiyu mourned for the flowers in her heart, apologized repeatedly, and put them into the flower basket.

Walking and stopping, Lin Daiyu collected the flowers for a while, and then sat on the rockery and was in a daze for a while.

The maids all knew the reason.

It was just because Yue Ling went out, not just out of Fengqiao Station, but out of Suzhou.

Perhaps in order to prevent Lin Daiyu from worrying too much, he did not tell her the purpose of his trip when he first left the house. Only later, when it was getting dark, did he send Jia Yun back to tell her.

Yue Ling led his troops out of the city.

The little maidservant couldn't help but get nervous when she heard that he was leading troops out of the city. This meant there would definitely be a war.

But in person, Lin Daiyu was much calmer and did not change her expression.

This wasn't the first time this had happened. As a military commander, Yue Ling had always had to lead troops. Lin Daiyu wasn't used to it, but Yue Ling had taught her a long time ago that she had to be strong and resilient.

Lin Daiyu didn't want to hold Yue Ling back. If she was not calm, the maids in the room would be even more upset.

After the incident, Lin Daiyu was often in a daze, feeling a little regretful that she didn't sit down and talk with Yue Ling before he left the city. Or maybe she was too shy before and didn't think about what to do.

So, Lin Daiyu made up her mind that after Yue Ling returned, she would reward him well and be a competent...well, sister.

Lin Daiyu clenched her fists and glanced at the little girls who were laughing and playing among the rockery. She asked them, "Are Sister Keqing and Sister Bao not here yet? Do you want someone to go and help them?"

Baozhu, who was being chased by the snow geese, ran down from the pavilion and said breathlessly, "I just went to check it out. They said that the gold ingots have not been folded yet. After we have picked the flowers, they will come together to make incense."

Xueyan also chased after her, put a pomegranate flower on Baozhu's head, and laughed, "How silly!"

Baozhu shook her head, put the flowers into the basket, and put a piece of grass in Xueyan's hair before running away again, "Sister Xueyan is the dumbest, dumb Yan!"

Xueyan chased after him angrily.

Lin Daiyu held her forehead helplessly and called out, "Be careful with your steps. If you bump into something, it will be bad."

After standing up, Lin Daiyu put away her thoughts, picked up the petals that had accidentally fallen from the ground, and put them into the flower basket.

Looking up at the clouds gradually turning red in the sky, my thoughts couldn't help but drift away.

……

"Please spare me, I really can't write anymore. Because of writing this, I didn't even have time to go see the master before he went out. How can I have any ideas?"

Qin Keqing sat at the table, holding a brush in one hand, but there was not a single word on the Xuelangxuan in front of her.

Beside him was Xue Baochai, who was folding gold ingots with gold paper. There were already several baskets of gold ingots on the ground, and it seemed that they had been folding them for some time.

Xue Baochai's face was normal, but due to her physical condition, her complexion was rosier than that of the other maids. Her eyebrows were slightly raised, and her breath was as sweet as orchid. "It's okay if you don't write. Do you still remember the punishment for not submitting the manuscript on time?"

Qin Keqing shuddered, remembering that after they reached the deal in the beginning, they added a clause. After all, she was now a hired writer for Fengzihao, and if she failed to complete the task on time, she would be responsible for compensating for the losses caused.

Today, Feng-branded newspapers have quickly occupied the blank market in Suzhou. Even though the price has risen from one copper coin to two copper coins, there is still a shortage of supply.

There were many effective imitators later, but none of them could compete with Feng Zi Hao because their articles were not as brilliant as those of Feng Zi Hao.

The benefits brought by Qin Keqing are immeasurable. Xue Baochai never treated her sister unfairly. She raised the price of one penny to five taels and promised to give her dividends in the next year if the newspaper could make further progress. It was for this reason that the two signed a contract to hire her as a worker.

If she got the dividends from Fengzihao, it wouldn't take Qin Keqing several years to pay back Yue Ling.

The result was that he boarded the pirate ship and gradually went under the cabin, unable to get out.

Qin Keqing took the booklet out of the drawer and flipped through it to look for inspiration, muttering, "I used to write one article every three days, but now I write one article every day. Who can keep up?"

Qin Keqing felt more and more that the direction of her efforts was wrong and that she was being controlled more and more by Xue Baochai.

At this time, only by implementing Yue Ling's suggestion can the status of the two be brought closer.

Xue Baochai didn't care about Qin Keqing's complaints at all. She poured tea for her and placed it on the table. She picked up the gold paper and folded up the gold ingots.

"I haven't done it, but you can think about it. Think about what you want to do with the Marquis after he comes back, and then write it down in the article, right?"

Qin Keqing's eyes focused, and she suddenly had a new idea, and not just an idea about the article.

Qin Keqing glanced at Xue Baochai who was folding paper with her head down, and couldn't help but curl her lips and said, "Sister Bao is right. This is something I can think about."

Then he started writing quickly, and soon he had written an article.

"how?"

Xue Baochai put down the gold paper, and Qin Keqing picked it up and completed the rest of the process for her.

Xue Baochai read the whole article with a red face, and then stammered, "Only Sister Keqing could think of doing such a thing in the kitchen..."

Qin Keqing frowned and said, "Why do I feel like you are not praising me?"

Xue Baochai smiled awkwardly, "No, I mean, even when writing about sex, it is usually done in a proper manner without violating etiquette. If this kind of article is published, it would actually disrupt social norms, so there is no need to follow the rules when writing."

"For example, in the kitchen that my sister described, freshly washed wild vegetables, white meat bought from the market, game from the mountains, and a ragged woman were all placed on the stove, as if the woman was the dish. It was indeed a wonderful idea."

Qin Keqing waved her hands and said, "Alright, alright, as long as you like it. I'm done with my work and I'm going to help Miss Lin."

The two of them walked out hand in hand. When they turned into the corridor, they saw Nanny Wang bringing in a stranger.

He was dressed in a cloak of blue and holding an exquisite sandalwood shrine in his hand.

"Madame Wang."

The two of them greeted Nanny Wang together, and Nanny Wang also bowed to the two women.

"Do you two girls know where my girl is now?"

Qin Keqing pointed the way to the garden and said, "We were just going to look for it. It's in the garden. Ma'am, just follow us."

Xue Baochai's eyes fell on the ritual behind Nanny Wang and asked, "Nanny Wang, who is this person behind you?"

The nanny stepped aside and performed Buddhist etiquette with the nun behind her. She then introduced, "This is the master from Xuanmu Mountain. He is also very famous in Suzhou City. My wife was a Buddhist believer and worshipped Buddha. Chanting sutras is essential for worship, so we invited this master to come down the mountain this time."

"I didn't expect it to be so hard to find a female master. It was not easy to hire this master."

The nun bowed to Xue Baochai and Qin Keqing.

Qin Keqing was a little surprised that this female monk had such beautiful facial features. It was a pity that her head was covered by a Buddhist hat. She must have shaved her head. If she had hair, she thought her beauty would not be much worse than hers.

Xue Baochai felt that this girl looked very familiar, but for a moment she couldn't remember where she had seen her.

Perhaps because she often went out and met so many people, she didn't pay much attention. The two groups of people joined together and walked into Fengqiao Posthouse together.

In the pavilion, the girls were dividing the flower petals from the flower baskets, lighting a brazier, and letting the aroma of the smoked flowers gather on the wet brocade.

Lin Daiyu watched the fire from the side, concentrating on learning how to make rouge and powder.

Only when the visitor walked to the stone steps outside the pavilion did Lin Daiyu come to her senses and look in the direction of the voice.

"Miss Lin, we are here to help. I use a lot of gouache. Can I do it?"

Qin Keqing walked up first, stood in front of Lin Daiyu, and raised her hand to help.

Lin Daiyu stared down and asked in astonishment, "How did you get in?"

Qin Keqing thought that she was being asked, and didn't know why Lin Daiyu asked such a question without reason. She replied in confusion: "How did you get in? You walked in."

Lin Daiyu stood up and handed the stirring chopsticks in her hand to Qin Keqing. She walked straight to Wang Mama and pointed at the woman behind her and asked, "Did you bring her here?"

Nanny Wang showed a delighted expression, "Young lady, you know her? That's even better. She is a famous female teacher in the area. It would be great to have her chanting sutras during the memorial service for Madam."

Lin Daiyu's mouth twitched.

Miaoyu raised her head and saw Lin Daiyu, and she also came back to her senses, "Why is it you?"

Lin Daiyu couldn't stand it any longer. She glared and said angrily, "This is Fengqiao Posthouse. I'm not here. Should you be here?"

……

Shuangyu Island,
Zhao Hao, who was left on the island for several days, was not idle. He took his men to tour the island carefully. Of course, he was not paying attention to the shops, but the terrain of the island, as well as the barracks and defenses.

After secretly noting down the information, Zhao Hao sent someone to send it back to Yue Ling to prepare for war.

After a few days of peace, Zhao Hao was not a fool. He knew that the general on Shuangyu Island would definitely send someone to the Prime Minister's Mansion to confirm his identity. In this way, his identity would be exposed. Once his identity was exposed, not only would he die, but the whole plan would also fail.

Although Shuangyu Island is a gathering place for Japanese pirates, for them, the sea is their home. As long as they can escape into the sea, they will be free to jump like fish and fly like birds, and there will be no chance of them being annihilated with one blow.

Although it seemed like he was bound to lose, Zhao Hao remained calm. He would act according to circumstances. Delaying time was not just a problem for him.

General's Mansion,
Wang Shun was waiting for news from land very anxiously, as an important matter could not be delayed too long.

Zhao Hao and his group were fake. He must have had some ulterior motive for daring to go to the island. If it was true, he would have missed a big deal and would no longer be favored by them in the future.

In the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Wang Shun really did not want to offend the prime minister, who was the most powerful person in a province.

"What have they been doing lately?"

"I didn't do anything. I just wandered around the island, ate and shopped, and waited for news from the general."

Wang Shun frowned, feeling that something was unusual. If Zhao Hao was fake, he should have escaped from the island long ago because of the delay.

Because the longer a lie is told, the easier it is to tell the truth from the false.

This method of taking advantage of information asymmetry will gradually be eliminated with the passage of time.

"General, shouldn't we give him an answer? If you are worried that there is a fraud, then just don't agree."

Wang Shun explained to the Japanese below: "You have just arrived on the island, so you don't know how big the Xu family is. After three generations, they have become the largest family in Jiangnan, as wealthy as a country. You can't even imagine how much wealth they have. If all of this belongs to us, we can build bigger ships and even compete with Westerners at sea."

"If things continue like this, it wouldn't be impossible to take over Ryukyu and establish a nation."

At the right moment, someone quickly walked into the hall, half-knelt on the ground, and said, "General, the person who went to the Prime Minister's Mansion has returned."

"Quick pass!"

Wang Shun looked excited. He picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip, then he calmed down a little.

"General, I was incompetent and failed to contact the Prime Minister's residence. They said that the Prime Minister was recuperating in the mansion and refused to see any visitors. He had nothing to do with anything going on outside."

"Even after I told them my identity and purpose, they still didn't allow me in."

The people in the hall sighed deeply.

An aide on the side suddenly said, "In that case, that group of people must be fake."

Wang Shun's brows first raised high, then relaxed after a few breaths, revealing deep regret on his face, "Well, in that case, no matter what trump cards this group of people has, we should take them up first."

The subordinate nodded in agreement and immediately called a few ronin with swords to go out and capture the person.

Not long after, Zhao Hao and his companions, who were still strolling on the beach, were tied up and taken to the main hall.

When the envoy was arrested, there was no fight between the two sides, but Zhao Hao looked unconvinced and shouted angrily in court: "General, how can you put the Prime Minister's face aside by treating the envoy like this?!"

Seeing that he was still being stubborn, Wang Shun said, "We went to ask people this time, but the Prime Minister's Mansion didn't send anyone there. How dare you claim to be from the Prime Minister's Mansion? Come on, drag him out and behead him to show everyone, so that the people behind him will know that we are not easy to bully!"

The man tried to drag Zhao Hao out, but Zhao Hao knocked him over and said angrily, "The Prime Minister's Mansion refuses outside visitors. You haven't even seen the Prime Minister, so how do you know the inside information? If such a secret is found out by the doorman, wouldn't it be known to everyone in Hangzhou?"

Wang Shun was stunned by the fright, and actually felt that what Zhao Hao said made some sense.

And seeing that he was so confident, I couldn't help but hesitate again.

At this time, someone came to the hall and said, "Someone from the Prime Minister's Mansion in Hangzhou wants to see you."

After hearing this, the atmosphere in the hall froze.

Wang Shun laughed three times, dispelling the silence in the hall. "Interesting, interesting, are there two Prime Minister's Mansions in Hangzhou? Tell it, tell it in, today I will be the Buddha and tell which one is the real monkey!"

Soon, a man who looked like a butler was brought in.

After entering the door, I saw someone being untied in front of the hall, as if he had just been interrogated.

The visitor was worried. He had heard that the people on Shuangyu Island were demons who killed people without blinking an eye and even ate human flesh, so he couldn't help but be cautious.

"Greetings, General Wang. I am the butler of the Prime Minister's Mansion. I came here because I heard some rumors. I am afraid that the general has fallen into a trap of alienation. I guarantee with my life that the Prime Minister's Mansion has not asked Shuangyu Island for help."

As he said this, he also brought a token from the Prime Minister's Mansion to prove the authenticity of his identity.

Wang Shun smiled as he looked at Zhao Hao, who had just been untied and sat down, and asked, "The Prime Minister's Mansion did not ask for help, so who are you?"

Zhao Hao remained calm, stood up and saluted, saying, "He has a token that proves he is from the Prime Minister's Mansion. I also have a token, so why can't I prove that I am from the Prime Minister's Mansion? Is his one-sided statement more important than the deal I made with the general?"

At this time, the housekeeper of the Prime Minister's Mansion finally understood what was going on. It turned out that someone was impersonating a servant of the Prime Minister's Mansion and making a deal with Shuangyu Island.

Sure enough, what Prime Minister Zhao was worried about was not nonsense. There actually is someone so bold.

The housekeeper squinted and sneered, "How come I've never seen someone like you in the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

As he spoke, he took out the butler's badge from under him, shook it, and presented it to Wang Shun.

Then, he pointed his finger at Zhao Hao who was sitting there and said, "Everyone in the Prime Minister's Mansion has a unique pair of cards. If you are from the Prime Minister's Mansion, where is your waist card?"

However, to the housekeeper's surprise, with the cooperation of Chen Ju's Jinyiwei, what could Yue Ling not get?

What's more, it was just a badge from the Prime Minister's Mansion, which was not difficult to forge. Zhao Hao also handed in his own badge.

The housekeeper was stunned, "You are fake!"

The situation was reversed, but Zhao Hao sneered, "Why do you say that I am fake? I will also say that you are fake!"

Zhao Hao walked into the hall, bowed and said, "General, you know that my master is in deep trouble now. If he doesn't save the situation in one fell swoop and takes risks, how can he survive? This person must have been sent by Marquis Anjing to prevent our two families from reaching a deal. General, please understand!"

The housekeeper was so furious that he was fuming. He had never seen anyone turn the tables like this. He was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say. He could only make a few personal attacks and insults.

Zhao Hao was not a pushover. Not only did he talk back, he also grabbed the butler's collar and was about to hit him in the face with his sandbag-sized fist.

It took the ronin on the scene a lot of pulling to separate the two.

Wang Shun was a little unsure of what was going on, so he looked at his staff and nodded slightly.

The staff member stood up and said, "Please come over here first. We will discuss with the general for a while and then call you in. You can also take this opportunity to think about what other evidence you have to prove that the other party's identity is fake."

"Please come with me."

The two were led to a side hall, where they sat opposite each other and drank tea.

They looked at each other unkindly and then turned their heads away.

The solution Zhao Hao thought of was to take this opportunity to kill this guy so that there would be no evidence. However, this would also make his identity suspicious, which was a very bad idea.

The current situation was a crisis that he was unable to handle, so he remembered the lucky bag that Yue Ling gave him before he left, and Zhao Hao left the house under the pretext of going to the toilet.

Accompanied by a Japanese man, Zhao Hao finally arrived at the quiet place as he wished. Turning his back to block the view, Zhao Hao took out the brocade bag.

What was inside was not a note, but a map of coastal defense, which should be something left for him to save his life at a critical moment.

There is not a single extra word on it, and how it is used depends entirely on Zhao Hao's wishes.

Zhao Hao was so moved by such trust that tears welled up in his eyes. He clutched the map tightly and returned to the side hall, having already made up his mind.

After a stick of incense had passed, Zhao Hao and the other man were called to the hall again.

Wang Shun, who was sitting high up, was drinking tea. He seemed to have spent a lot of time talking just now, but when he saw Zhao Hao's eyes again, they were a little unfriendly.

Before anyone could speak, Zhao Hao took the lead in presenting the map and said, "General, my master must come to you to make a deal. If you think our sincerity is not enough, here is a map of the garrison in Jiangnan. With this map, you can bypass many passes and forts and go ashore to plunder the wealth of the towns."

"If the Xu family's wealth is not enough to satisfy the general's appetite, will these be enough?"

Wang Shun's eyes froze when he heard this. Zhao Hao's words completely disrupted their plans. He had just drunk some water, but now he felt a little dry in the mouth.

This is Jiangnan. The money they gain from looting one town is equivalent to several months' worth of business.

He didn't dare to land rashly because he was afraid that the garrisons on the seashore would cause him to suffer too heavy losses. If he had a map to rely on, wouldn't he be able to march straight in as if he were in an empty land?

Population is his greatest asset, and it is difficult to replenish the troops on the island.

After swallowing, Wang Shun said, "Bring it up."

He read through it with trembling hands and then handed it to his aide, who looked at it with shining eyes and nodded repeatedly.

He immediately sent people ashore by boat to verify the authenticity of the map.

Zhao Hao was invited to sit down again, and the pressure fell on the housekeeper of the Prime Minister's Mansion again.

All eyes in the room were focused on him. The butler couldn't help feeling a little nervous. He was not as confident as Zhao Hao at all, and his aura was inferior.

"General, my master has no garrison plan at all. He has already reported to the capital and reached a silk deal with the ronin. In this way, he can reverse the current predicament. Why go through such a dangerous situation? As long as the silk deal is concluded, everything will be fine."

Wang Shun narrowed his eyes and said, "A deal with a ronin? Which ronin? How big a deal?"

It’s a deal, but it’s a deal between ronin. Isn’t this something Wang Shun is most well-informed about?
He hadn't heard of such a thing.

Just as Wang Shun was questioning in class, there was a huge explosion outside the door.

The explosion was not caused by firecrackers, but more like an artillery attack, which shook the teacups on the table and caused some tea to spill out.

Wang Shun immediately glared and shouted, "Go check what's going on!"

(End of this chapter)