Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 311 What a group of innocent and lovely girls

Yue Ling traveled all the way south, using the name and pass of Liu Xianglian.

After the real Liu Xianglian was saved by Yue Ling in Cangzhou, he ended his days of wandering around the world, was truly convinced by Yue Ling, and began to work for Yue Ling.

Although he came from a poor family, being the son of one of the four princes and eight dukes, and had worked for Prince Kang's Palace, he was loyal and chivalrous, which made Yue Ling look at him with admiration.

Once upon a time, he was famous in the capital and was known as the invincible young generation. He tested his sword in Prince Kang's mansion, not because of his political stance, but because he really wanted to compete with Yue Ling.

He is not as brave as Yue Ling, but he has developed good physical skills after years of wandering. In the human trafficking case in Cangzhou, he was the first to notice the clues, and then he climbed over the eaves and walls, evading the pursuit of soldiers for a long time.

Even so, if he hadn't been luckier and was hit by Yue Ling, he would have almost been killed.

From then on, he also figured it out that in this world, justice cannot be upheld by passion alone without support.

A real man should have his own ambitions in his heart, even if he has not achieved immortal achievements. With this belief in mind, he joined Yue Ling's army together with Zhao Hao, the young master of Longxing Escort Agency.

During the period of developing the salt fields, he served as a guard and went to the coastal areas to work with the advisers sent by Lin Ruhai.

Now, as Yue Ling went south, he also received orders to go south to support Zhao Hao on Shuangyu Island.

Both of them worked under Yue Ling and were the first batch of staff and subordinates, so they naturally had a close relationship. Meeting in such a dangerous place made Zhao Hao feel a lot more at ease.

After they sat down and were served tea, Zhao Hao asked him why he came.

"Did you do anything about the commotion on the island today?"

Liu Xianglian, who was accustomed to the martial arts world, was not polite. He took the water and drank it all and replied, "That's right."

"The Marquis has been asking us to keep an eye on the Prime Minister's Mansion. We saw someone leaving the mansion a few days ago. From the way he walked, we could easily guess that he was coming to the island."

"The Marquis asked us to make some noise on the island, trusting your ability to respond. Now it seems that the Marquis was right."

Zhao Hao suddenly realized that this was the back-up plan arranged by the Marquis. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission."

"So why did you take the risk to come to my house today? Is there anything else you need my help with? "

Liu Xianglian put the scabbard into his arms, his eyes showing a bit of sharpness, "No need, if your identity is exposed, all your previous plans will be in vain."

"I came to the mansion to put on a full-scale drama. That man's tongue was caught, which is always a hidden danger. I sneaked into the prison and killed him before leaving, which should be the end of this matter."

Zhao Hao frowned, "If it was a knife wound, wouldn't it be more flawed when the coroner performs an autopsy?"

Liu Xianglian nodded, "Don't worry, I brought poison with me. Death by poisoning is more likely the work of a spy."

Seeing that he had considered it so carefully, Zhao Hao felt relieved.

Liu Xianglian reminded him again: "You have completed your mission today. After leaving the island, go to Zhenhaiwei to find the Marquis. The Marquis is stationed at the garrison."

After saying this, Liu Xianglian gathered enough strength and jumped out of the window again to leave.

Zhao Hao hurriedly said, "Okay, I understand. You better be careful."

……

Suzhou Prefecture,
The entire street in front of the government office was blocked by the people of the city. It was not until the officers and soldiers were dispatched that order was restored and there was a gap on the street for cars to pass.

The reason is simple. Today is the day when several people who committed heinous crimes against the people of Suzhou will be escorted to Beijing.

As the prison vans staggered out of the main gate, the public became more and more agitated. Countless rotten vegetable leaves and stinky duck eggs, accompanied by shouting and cursing, hit the prison vans like raindrops, making crackling sounds.

Even young children struggled to pick up small stones from the road and threw them into the middle of the road.

The officers and soldiers had no choice but to hold their spears horizontally to stop the rioting civilians.

On the prison cart were Vice-Minister Qian Shiyuan, Supervisor of the Suzhou and Hangzhou Weaving Bureau Zhen Yingjia, Palace Attendant Sun Yicai, and Xu Yaozu of the Xu family. They all looked like they had lost their parents, their clothes were tattered, their eyes were dull and lifeless, and they were no different from being dead.

As the person who instigated the change of confession in court, Qian Shiyuan's crime was even more serious. All his property was confiscated, and his family members and descendants were exiled three thousand miles away.

The Zhen family originally wanted to rely on their connections in the palace and their status as retainers of the royal family to escape the investigation, but they failed. The Zhen family in Jinling had all their property confiscated, and the head of the Zhen family, Zhen Yinghan, was implicated and also boarded the official ship to Beijing.

The Zhen family, the most aristocratic family in Jinling, received the late emperor on his southern tours many times. The Zhen family was like a living emperor, enjoying all the favors. But now, the land is left with nothing but white snow.

However, Emperor Longyou was an emperor who cared about old friendships after all. After confiscating the family property, except for Zhen Yingjia and Zhen Yinghan who were dismissed and investigated, the rest of the people were not arrested and punished, and the female members of the family did not end up being sent to the Jiaofangsi.

Among them, the younger generation Zhen Baoyu was also spared, but his whereabouts were unknown after the Zhen family was raided.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards confiscated a total of various properties from the Zhen family, amounting to two million taels of silver. This was still less than expected, but the situation on the front line was tight at the moment, and the focus was no longer on the Zhen family's accounts. All the money and grain obtained were transported to the front-line guard posts.

The most bizarre member of the Xu family is Xu Yaozu, who is now nearly demented, drooling from the corners of his mouth and is unconscious.

The plot to bite back at the royal family did not succeed, but instead became the driving force behind Emperor Longyou's determination to purge the officialdom in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Being far away from the court and coming from a merchant family, he lacked much sensitivity to politics and never thought that Emperor Longyou's way of governing was completely different from that of the previous emperor.

They deserve to have their wives and children separated and their families destroyed.

The dark clouds that had shrouded the city of Suzhou for months finally dissipated, and the morning light shone on the ground. Even though the people were indignant, they felt warm in their hearts.

In the crowd, a slender figure is not conspicuous.

Even though she was wearing robes and holding instruments, and was different from the people around her, no one noticed her.

Miaoyu watched all this from afar, feeling indescribable in her heart.

My father’s long-cherished wish has been fulfilled. The details of the unjust death of the former prefect Zhu Huailin in prison were posted on the notice board in front of the government office.

Miaoyu did not feel as excited as she had expected when her injustice was redressed and her family feud was avenged. Instead, she felt as if her soul had been taken away and she felt powerless all over.

Silently chanting the sutra, Miaoyu thought to herself, "If my father's spirit were in heaven, he would be able to rest in peace seeing what is happening now."

Miaoyu also paid a lot for her father's injustice.

She was unwilling to get involved in worldly affairs, so she went down the mountain alone, wandered among the wealthy families, and went deep into the inner houses to gather information.

He even broke her bottom line, breaking into houses and stealing at all costs to achieve his goal, even at the risk of getting his hands bloody.

Even after doing so much, I still couldn't get around that person.

Miaoyu knew in her heart that if he had not come to us like a god from heaven, all her efforts would have been in vain.

To Marquis Anjing, being an official of a province might not mean much. To her, it was like a huge mountain standing before her eyes, making it difficult to even see the sky.

Slowly letting out a sigh of relief, Miaoyu squeezed out of the crowd and walked towards Fengqiao Posthouse.

If she were honest with herself, Miaoyu didn't know how to repay Yue Ling, and that time in Canglang Garden, she was too excited and did something impolite. Thinking about it now, she felt a little regretful.

She had been too offensive back then, and now she was looking forward to meeting Yue Ling again, but she didn't dare to do so.

Fate is something that is hard to explain. Now, by some strange combination of circumstances, she has ended up staying at Yue Ling's place.

She really had never asked where Yue Ling lived. He stayed in the mountains every day and didn't see outsiders, so how could she know this news?

Miaoyu never thought that the old woman was actually from the Lin family, and that she would also preside over the memorial ceremony for Lin Daiyu's mother.

Miaoyu felt a little embarrassed when she thought about it. She tightened her clothes. She had no other choice but to go ahead and do it.

It is difficult for her to support herself and her master now, let alone repay the Marquis's kindness.

Even if, as she had originally thought, she worked like a slave for the Marquis, the maids in the Marquis' room were all competing for beauty, and one more or one less would not make much difference.

The most painful thing is that you want to give your most precious thing to others as a way of repaying a favor, but they reject it.

"Master Miaoyu is back. How is the copying of the scriptures going?"

As soon as she entered the door, a maid greeted her warmly. Miaoyu vaguely remembered that this maid was not the marquis's maid, but seemed to be a maid from the Xue family in the room.

She didn't know why the unmarried girl of the Xue family lived with Marquis Anjing openly like this. As far as she knew, Marquis Anjing was still unmarried, so she had no idea of ​​their relationship.

But being able to live with An Jinghou, their relationship must be very close, Miaoyu still politely returned the greeting and said: "It's almost done, I just went out to buy rice paper, these will be enough to use up. I wonder what the young lady is waiting for here?"

Ying'er's pretty face blushed.

Ever since the little maids read the newspaper together that day, it was like the door to a new world had opened for them, and they would be the first to catch up on every subsequent issue.

Even if they didn't sit together to appreciate it, they would buy it and hide it secretly in their rooms, and learn to appreciate it behind the backs of the girls in their rooms.

The fact that there was no nanny to teach them these things actually stimulated their curiosity and made them more proactive in learning.

Although they have nothing to do with the things described in the article now, there will definitely be opportunities for their use in the future. In order to avoid looking like green hands in front of the Marquis, they are all very attentive to this matter.

Especially Ying'er.

She is the one who is best at boasting. If she doesn't study carefully, she won't be able to support her personality during daily chats.

Ying'er was of course too embarrassed to tell Miaoyu the whole story, so she played it safe and said, "Xiangling went out to buy something. I heard that the streets were a bit chaotic today, so I was a little worried, so I waited for her here."

Miaoyu nodded and said nothing more.

There were many girls in the inn, and each of them looked innocent and cute, and they had no prejudice against her. Even Lin Daiyu, who intended to punish her, did not make things difficult for her later, and her food, clothing and other expenses were the same as those of the other girls in the room.

Miaoyu also accepted this kindness and carefully prepared the memorial ceremony for Lin Daiyu's mother.

But she was cold by nature and it was difficult for her to get along with these girls. She also didn't know what they were interested in or whether she could chat with them for a while.

If she could find out more information about the Marquis, Miaoyu would feel much more satisfied.

She has been here for several days, but she has never met Marquis An Jing.

Miaoyu was just about to try to speak, but she saw Ying'er jumping up with joy, running out of the door quickly, pulling a little girl who had just returned and whispering something to her.

Miaoyu couldn't hear clearly because they were far away, but the two people's behavior was so sneaky that she was really confused.

There is no shortage of food and clothes in this room, and we are free and unrestrained. Is there any need to do anything sneaky?

Ying'er couldn't wait to take the latest newspaper from Xiangling, and flipped to the back quickly. She glanced at the title on the lower right corner: "Can Buddha forgive a person who breaks the precepts in one thought?"

After a quick read, it describes a story about a temple with ancient Buddha statues and green lamps. There is a nun practicing Buddhism in the temple. She meets a rich young man who comes to burn incense and pray for blessings. The two fall in love at first sight.

One is a person who is practicing Buddhism and cannot be involved in worldly affairs or violate temple rules.

Another one was a young man with deep affection and loyalty, but he kept meeting with the nun under the pretext of asking for scriptures.

One dark and windy night, the nun faced the man's burning gaze and bowed her head and said, "Donor, please respect yourself. You have distracting thoughts in your mind and should not discuss Buddhism at this time. It's getting late, so go home."

The young master said, "My distracting thoughts are deeply rooted and have existed for more than one or two days. I hope the master will not hesitate to explain them to me."

The nun was so ashamed and angry at the insults that she wanted to leave, but the young man held her back tightly and she could not break free.

The nun was furious, "This is a Buddhist temple, what kind of place do you think the donor is, a brothel or a wine shop?"

The young master did not retreat, but continued to pester her, saying, "You know my feelings, but you are not avoiding me. Isn't that intentional? The so-called Buddhism seeks happiness in the next life, but I want happiness in this life. Master, please help me."

The nun's eyelids twitched, her face flushed, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Donor, you have been blinded by karma, you will definitely gain something by practicing Buddhism."

"I don't want the Dharma, I just want you!"

In the end, the nun was no match for the young man, and she undressed on the mat...

At the end of the story, the author wrote a poem: Where can we find the destiny of a pair in this world? We must keep both the Zen mind and the love.

Ying'er couldn't tell whether the poem was good or bad, but the description of the erotic scene made her unable to stop reading.

I don’t know how much experience this author has, but he brought the image of the nun to life on paper with just a few words.

The shame of having sex in front of the Buddha, the joy of finally releasing the long-suppressed emotions, this kind of entanglement and contradiction is the indispensable seasoning of each issue, making people read it with relish.

But the description of this nun's appearance and figure always gives me an inexplicable familiarity.

Ying'er looked up and saw Miaoyu standing behind the screen in a cassock. She was stunned for a moment and said with her mouth opened, "It's right, it's all right, how could this be?"

Ying'er mumbled to herself, but Xiangling didn't hear clearly, so she asked in confusion, "Ying'er, what did you just say?"

Ying'er hesitated, pointed at the description of the clothes and appearance in the newspaper, and then pointed in the direction of Miaoyu in the distance and said, "Do you think the nun in this article is Master Miaoyu?"

Xiangling had already read the article on her way back. Now she came to her senses and aligned the characters described in the article with the real people.

Xiangling was also stunned and said, "It is indeed somewhat similar. Could it be written by someone who admires Master Miaoyu?"

Ying Er said, "It's not just a little similar, it's absolutely very similar!"

The two men restrained their expressions, forced a smile, and passed by Miaoyu.

Miaoyu, who wanted to improve her relationship with them, asked casually, "What did you see outside just now? I saw Miss Ying'er pointing at me. Is there something wrong with my attire today?"

If the girls in the room were not very much to Miaoyu's liking, pure and innocent, and without any scheming, even if Miaoyu wanted to know the news about Yue Ling, she would not be able to take the initiative to get close to them.

But the innocent little girl in her eyes was shaking her head like a rattle, obviously hiding something.

The two said in unison, "No, no, no, Master must have seen it wrong, we didn't see anything. We won't delay Master now, we will go back first."

The little girl ran away, leaving Miaoyu at a loss.

In the blink of an eye, Miaoyu noticed that what they were holding seemed to be a newspaper, and she couldn't help but sigh: "As expected of a maid living in the Marquis's room, she doesn't like needlework, but loves newspapers and is concerned about world affairs. How about I go to the street and buy a newspaper tomorrow?"

"I don't know what newspaper they bought."

Miaoyu shook her head in distress. She was really not good at socializing with others, so she let the other person run away without saying a few words.

He couldn't even make friends with these innocent and lovely girls, let alone face the Marquis in the future.

The truth is that she has never had many close friendships with anyone since she was a child. The only one she can be considered to have is Xing Xiuyan, who is both her teacher and friend. And she is also a taciturn person. The two are surprisingly similar in this respect.

With a deep sigh, Miaoyu had to return to her room.

……

East wing room,
After reading today's newspaper, the clever Zijuan became more and more certain of her guess.

This article was probably written by Miss Keqing or Miss Bao. The descriptions in it are all traceable. Today's article is about the new Master Miaoyu.

Thinking of this, Zijuan couldn't help blushing again, "How can they be so shameless to write it out so nakedly, are they afraid that people won't be able to guess it?"

According to Zijuan's understanding, this kind of article must be written to make money, otherwise there is no need to take such a despicable approach.

The Xue family is wealthy and powerful, so they probably wouldn't be short of a few hundred or a thousand taels of silver. The most likely person to be the one responsible is Qin Keqing.

But no one knew what Qin Keqing wanted to do with the money. Everyone lived in the room, and their food, drink, clothing and other expenses were all paid for by the mansion's accounts, so there was no big expense.

Zijuan couldn't figure it out, so she just stopped making things difficult for herself and stopped thinking about it.

At this moment, she saw Lin Daiyu walking into the room, and Zijuan hurriedly put the newspaper behind her and hid it.

No matter how fast she moved, she was not faster than Lin Daiyu's eyes.

Seeing her helpless look, Lin Daiyu was so angry that she laughed and said, "Sister Zijuan, you can read the newspaper, it's not a bad thing, why are you hiding from me?"

Zijuan hung her head in shame and stammered, "It turned out to be the girl. I thought it was Xueyan. She always made trouble, so I got used to hiding."

Zijuan secretly apologized to Xueyan in her heart and decided to give Xueyan an extra meal in the evening to repay her.

Lin Daiyu nodded. This really sounded like something Xueyan would do. She walked past Zijuan and said nonchalantly, "She was just spoiled by Brother Yue. I used to punish her, but now I'm too lazy to care. If Sister Zijuan has the energy, you can ask her to read the newspaper and practice calligraphy with you. It would be a good thing."

"If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me."

Zijuan forced a smile and nodded, "Okay, I'll remember that."

Lin Daiyu buried the flowers outside, came back, washed herself up, sat at the table bored, and flipped through the book of poems.

Whenever Yue Ling was not around, Lin Daiyu realized how boring every day was.

In the past, even if the two of them had nothing to talk about and just sat together quietly, Lin Daiyu would not feel bored.

Lin Daiyu has always been smart and clever, but she doesn't know why. Anyway, she has never experienced this from anyone else, not even her father.

Her thoughts spread endlessly, her sight gradually blurred, and Lin Daiyu fell into a daze again.

Zijuan quietly put all the newspapers into her wooden cabinet, then lit the stove in the room, made tea and kept warm, staying by Lin Daiyu's side.

Zijuan, who has accompanied Lin Daiyu for many years, can also experience firsthand that as long as the master in the room is not around, the girl is no different from the sentimental girl she first saw when she entered the Jia Mansion. But as long as the master is around, or she hears news about the master, her temper becomes capricious again.

Given this feeling of dependence, I'm afraid that Mr. Lin alone cannot separate the girl from him.

The room was quiet for a while, and then Ruizhu came to report, "Miss Lin, housekeeper Yun is here."

Lin Daiyu immediately put her messy thoughts in order, stood up and let Zijuan put on her crane cloak. She said to the outside, "Please lead me to the back hall first. I will be right there."

Soon, when Lin Daiyu appeared in the back hall, the girls from the other rooms also arrived.

There is no need to hide external affairs from the people in the room. They are here just to keep Lin Daiyu in peace.

Lin Daiyu walked past the crowd step by step and took her seat. Jia Yun, who was standing below, bowed and said, "According to the news just sent back by the master from the front, the situation has changed and the girls need to move to another place to take shelter."

The girls were in an uproar, not knowing what was going on, but if they were asked to leave, it meant that nothing good was going to happen.

Lin Daiyu coughed lightly to stop the noise, and calmly asked Jia Yun, "Brother Yun, why don't you tell me more details? Moving is a small matter, what difficulties did Brother Yue encounter?"

Jia Yun shook his head repeatedly, comforting Lin Daiyu not to worry, and then said: "Miss Lin, there are some complicated things, and it is difficult to explain them in a short time. In short, the Marquis wants to catch the turtle in the jar to reduce the damage, but in order to prevent any accidents, the girls need to avoid this limelight."

"According to the master's request, move out of here as soon as possible and go to Panxiang Temple in Xuanmu Mountain to avoid disaster."

"Xuan Tomb Mountain, Panxiang Temple?"

(End of this chapter)