Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 388 If you want to touch Baoyu, touch me first!

The best way to deal with the enemy is to divide the enemy, and the most effective way to divide the enemy is to take advantage of internal contradictions.

After being with Yue Ling for a long time, Lin Daiyu also understood the principles of political politics.

Now when facing Lady Jia again, she is no longer the weak-hearted girl who needs Yue Ling to protect her, but can take the initiative to attack.

In Rongqing Hall, the two sides were still confronting each other, and the atmosphere of the quarrel became more and more intense.

When she heard Lin Daiyu's question about leaving the first house, Jia's grandmother's brows bulged unnaturally.

The problems of the first wife's family have been around for a long time. As fate would have it, Jia She was blamed for the Rongguo Mansion's collusion with Prince Kang's Mansion. This led to a loss of trust between the first wife's family and Lady Jia, and their relationship became increasingly distant.

The contradiction is almost irreconcilable.

Mrs. Wang proposed that Wang Xifeng, the daughter of the Wang family, be married into the mansion to be the daughter-in-law of the first wife and also the housekeeper.

It gave face to the first wife, but declined the status of the second wife. After all, she was Mrs. Wang's niece. However, the plan fell through because the Wang family saw frequent problems in the Jia family.

Grandmother Jia had tried her best not to think about these troubles. When Lin Daiyu brought it up, she had to change the subject and said, "My descendants all have their blessings. I, an old woman, can do nothing about it. I just think you are so much like your mother and I don't want you to live a miserable life, so I try to persuade you with kind words."

"Since you won't listen, that's fine. My Baoyu is different. He will be the uncle of the emperor in the future, and he will have many more blessings. If you have any ideas, you can come to this mansion."

Jia Baoyu in her arms couldn't help but raise his eyes and secretly glance at the girls below. Of course, Jia's mother could understand his thoughts.

What's more, there are some very familiar looking people among the women.

"Qingwen?"

Grandmother Jia lowered her voice a little and called out, "You were wronged in the mansion in the past, but as a servant, you should protect your master's face in front of outsiders. This is your duty. This is not only true in Rongguo Mansion, but also everywhere. Do you still have resentment in your heart?"

The spearhead was directed at Qingwen, and Grandmother Jia also gave her a way out.

If Qingwen agreed immediately, she would definitely have the opportunity to return home.

But Qingwen just had a bad temper, not being stupid. Even if Lady Jia allowed her to go back to her room to serve Baoyu today, Lady Wang would not treat her well.

Not to mention, she had followed Yue Ling early on and saw a wider world, which was like a world without a clear path compared to the plants and trees she was immersed in in the mansion.

Qingwen bowed her head and saluted to show that she valued Grandmother Jia's upbringing. She responded, "Thank you for your kindness, old ancestor. But Qingwen has decided to take root in the Anjing Marquis's mansion. I hope you will understand."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the girls looked at her in encouragement, secretly praising Qingwen's rebellious spirit.

Lin Daiyu also looked back and nodded slightly to show her affirmation.

Jia Baoyu above him looked unhappy. He immediately scowled and pouted.

"Even though she was tainted by Yue Ling's filth, I didn't despise her and wanted to rescue her, but she was unwilling to do so. It's really like what our ancestors said, everyone has their own destiny."

Secretly complaining, Jia's mother also supported Baoyu and said, "You are an ungrateful girl who can't tell good from bad. Baoyu treated you badly in the past, and you had to go to the Anjing Marquis's mansion to be a low-ranking maid with no rank."

"Which girl in the room doesn't praise Baoyu's goodness and is not proud that he doesn't treat them as slaves? Who else can compare to him? Which girl doesn't like it?"

Grandmother Jia said a few more words in anger, and Lin Daiyu was not idle either. She immediately retorted: "Grandmother, what you said is wrong. It's not that Baoyu is so good, but the maids in the room have no choice. If they really saw someone else outside, they would naturally not be willing to stay here, nor would they be willing to serve Baoyu like Qingwen."

"what?"

Lin Daiyu refuted it to her face. Although she did not target Lady Jia herself, she targeted Baoyu, which hit her sore spot. She immediately frowned and looked gloomy.

As for Lin Daiyu, there was no psychological pressure at all to confront Jia Baoyu. What's more, he was the culprit of the trouble in the room just now, and it was just a good opportunity for her sisters to vent their anger.

"Grandma, you don't have to disbelieve me. I'll tell you a story that Brother Yue told me, and you should understand what's going on."

Without waiting for Lady Jia to speak, Lin Daiyu smiled and said softly, "Long ago, in an unknown forest there was a tiger den. The fierce tiger in the den was the king of the forest, killing all the beasts wantonly and making them submit."

"Another day, the king of beasts gave birth to a son. The good news spread throughout the forest, and all the beasts came to celebrate for him."

"The young deer presented a pair of antlers, the young fox presented its fur, and the young sheep cut off a leg and presented thigh meat. The beast king was very satisfied and felt that all the beasts in the forest really loved their cubs."

"So, do the beasts in the forest in the story really like the beast king's cubs?"

Grandmother Jia's expression became increasingly ugly.

It was the first time that Baoyu had such a calm conversation with Lin Daiyu, and he had never heard the stories she told before, so he listened to her naturally. He was deceived by her conversation and forgot the cause and effect. He suddenly laughed and said, "How could there be such a stupid beast king? Who would spoil another family's child and harm his own body? Obviously, no one really likes the beast king's cub, but they have no choice but to make a living."

Lin Daiyu clapped her hands and said with a smile: "Second Brother Bao is really smart, that's exactly the truth."

Baoyu felt sweet in his heart, and thought to himself, "Sister Lin has already called me Second Brother Bao, and we are much closer than before. Isn't there still a chance to keep her in the mansion?"

But at this moment, Lady Jia's face turned as pale as a pig's liver.

He made room for Jia Baoyu and moved him to a chair. He frowned and asked Lin Daiyu, "Why? According to what you said, the girls in this mansion are not really thinking about Baoyu, but they just have nowhere else to go?"

Lin Daiyu nodded slightly, looked back at the sisters who were struggling to hold back their laughter, and said, "That's right, didn't Grandmother just ask Qingwen?"

Hearing this, Jia's mother was really angry. She took a few deep breaths, trying to suppress her irritability, and then asked, "Baoyu is the uncle of the emperor, the future royal relative, with endless wealth and glory, and the blessing of the immortals. How can he not be lovable?"

Baoyu also frowned. When he understood the whole story and thought about what had just happened in the room, he realized that his sisters had chosen Yue Ling instead of him, and he gradually became less and less confident.

With red eyes and unclear speech, Baoyu muttered, "Grandma, please don't be angry with Sister Lin. She just told a story to amuse us. She is not a bad person. Let's not discuss the right and wrong of this matter anymore. The sisters are all very kind to me, that's enough."

"not enough!"

Grandmother Jia glared at Lin Daiyu. She had never found her so annoying. "Go ahead and say it. I want to hear you say it!"

Lin Daiyu remained calm and said, "Since my grandmother asked me to speak, I cannot go against the elders' wishes."

Looking up at Jia Baoyu again, she saw that he was shaking uncontrollably again. Lin Daiyu shook her head and said, "The advantages that Grandmother just mentioned about Second Brother Bao were all given to him by others. It was my elder sister who entered the palace and became a concubine. He is the uncle of the emperor and a relative of the emperor. He has wealth and splendor only because he was born in Rongguo Mansion."

"He is blessed by the immortals because he was born with a magical jade, so he is different from others. But what can he do to attract people's attention? If anyone has to choose between the Anjing Marquis Mansion and the Rongguo Mansion, there will be no other choice."

Lin Daiyu's words were sonorous and powerful.

The eyes of the girls from the Anjing Marquis's Mansion behind him lit up again, and they couldn't help but clap their hands in celebration.

"you you you!"

Lin Daiyu's words were sharp and every word she said made sense. For a moment, Grandmother Jia didn't know how to refute her.

After a moment's silence, Jia's mother suddenly told Yuanyang, who was stunned behind her, "You, go call those maids over. I want to hear what they choose!" "Do you want stable wealth and glory, or a flash in the pan?"

Yuanyang was stunned and asked, "Should we call all the girls here?"

Grandmother Jia said angrily, "Call them all, including my second daughter-in-law. Why has she not returned after being out for so long?!"

……

Outside Rongqing Hall, in the corridor,

The brothers Jia She and Jia Zheng were in a hurry and hurried to the hall.

When Jia Zheng first received the message from the palace, he was so panicked that he lost his composure for a moment.

When he arrived at the gate of Rongguo Mansion, the bumpy journey made him sober up a lot, and he began to think about how to maintain the situation.

Yue Ling is a taboo in Rongguo Mansion and is not allowed to be mentioned in the mansion. This is the intention of the ancestors.

And today, Lin Daiyu was brought into the mansion again. I'm afraid that except for the ancestor, no one would dare to do this openly.

As Jia Zheng thought about this, the situation became even more of a dilemma.

On the one hand, the palace is in a dangerous situation, which may affect the fate of the mansion. On the other hand, the mother is in the upper position, and as a son, he should not go against her wishes.

Jia Zheng was not good at handling affairs to begin with, and faced with this situation, he was at a loss as to what to do.

Therefore, of course he thought of going to his elder brother Jia She to discuss the matter first.

Although the two had seldom interacted with each other after Jia She was relegated to the East Courtyard, at this moment when the Jia family's survival was at stake, Jia Zheng could not care too much.

When he rushed into the east courtyard despite the servants' attempts to stop him, he scared Mrs. Xing, who was having a meal, so much that she dropped her chopsticks on the ground.

Ignoring Mrs. Xing's dissuasion, Jia Zheng, who was as energetic as a chicken, rushed into Jia She's room without any regard for etiquette and dragged Jia She, who was resting with his concubines in the room, off the bed.

At that moment, Jia She thought he was crazy.

He had already been relegated to the East Courtyard and was favoring his concubines at home, but he was pulled off the bare bed by Jia Zheng and thrown to the ground. There were such absurd things in this world.

But this is exactly what happened, and before Jia She could react, Jia Zheng immediately stated his purpose.

"Marquis An Jing will be made Duke! You guys still want to provoke Lin Daiyu, do you want me to be sent to the cold palace?!"

After showing the note to Jia She and knowing the whole story, Jia She suddenly panicked. He didn't even have time to wash up and hurriedly got dressed to go to Rongqing Hall with Jia Zheng.

After Yuanchun entered the palace, the first wife did not gain any benefits, so she did not contribute much when renovating the villa for the imperial visit.

But if Yuanchun met with disaster and was banished to the cold palace, the Jia family would fall out of favor, and Jia She would not be able to escape.

He was the heir to the title of Jia family and the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Whenever there was a crime, he would be the first to be charged. How could Jia She not be panicked?

The two men stood side by side in front of the door of Rongqing Hall and stopped shouting. When they heard the noisy sound inside, their faces looked as if they had lost their parents and their hearts were dead.

Jia She tilted his head and lowered his voice, "No matter what, we have to coax Miss Lin away happily. Do you understand this?"

Jia Zheng nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, brother. I know everything very well."

Jia She gritted his teeth and said, "You are the most foolish and filial person, you know nothing!"

As he spoke, Jia She broke off a willow branch from the side and handed it to Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng was stunned and said, "Brother, what do you mean? Do you want me to come to the hall and whip mother?"

Jia She said angrily, "How can what happened today be unrelated to your Baoyu? If you can't hit the ancestor, can't you hit him?"

Jia Zheng immediately came to his senses and clapped his hands in approval, "Brother, you are absolutely right!"

Then, he threw away the willow branches, pulled out a stick from the tree pit, kicked off the dirt, and said, "Let's go!"

Jia She nodded in approval, went up one more stone step, and was about to push open the door when Yuanyang came out.

Seeing the two masters gathered together, Yuanyang was also stunned, "Master, Second Master, what are you doing?"

"It has nothing to do with you!"

Jia She pushed the mandarin ducks aside and walked into the hall with a breeze.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw Lin Daiyu and the girls from Anjing Marquis's mansion standing aside, while Jia's grandmother was sitting high on the armchair, coaxing Baoyu, who had a sullen and unhappy look on his face.

Seeing Jia She and Jia Zheng coming together, both with unfriendly looks on their faces, Grandmother Jia was stunned for a moment, then said, "The two sons must have heard about the commotion in the hall, so they came to support their mother. They are both good and filial children!"

There was admiration in her eyes, but she saw Jia Zheng coming towards her angrily with a big stick in his hand.

Jia Zheng raised his stick high and cursed, "You bastard! You have neglected your studies and idled around in your room all day, causing great trouble. Today I will beat you to death and eliminate the trouble for the family!"

Baoyu's eyes widened immediately.

He was already scared to death of his father, and had never seen a scene like this before. It seemed like they really wanted to beat him to death.

Baoyu jumped up and hid hastily behind Lady Jia's armchair.

Grandmother Jia was also frightened. She gushed out a breath and cursed back, "Who is this jerk who dares to come to my hall and get angry? If you want to touch him, touch me first! Beat me to death, wouldn't that be clean?"

Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai and others were even more stunned.

Originally, they were planning to take turns to go on stage and quarrel with Lady Jia, to show that Baoyu was not as good as she thought, and that the Anjing Marquis' Mansion was a million times better than the Rongguo Mansion.

But before anyone could do anything, Jia She and Jia Zheng started fighting in the hall for some unknown reason.

Even a smart person like Lin Daiyu couldn't understand this sudden turn of events.

More unexpected things are yet to come.

Jia She pulled Lady Jia off the armchair without hesitation, causing the unsuspecting Lady Jia to stumble. She never expected that Jia She would really attack her.

Hugging Grandmother Jia, Jia She shouted angrily, "Cun Zhou! What are you still standing there for? Beat him!"

(End of this chapter)