Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 405: This is how rumors are born

Several tea drinkers glanced at the two strange people and continued their vivid story.

"Is there such a good thing? The eldest daughter of the Jia family is a noble concubine, but the other three sisters were all taken into the Marquis's mansion and played with like this? Is it true?"

The man who started it swore, "How could this be false? Before I came here, I asked my fellow villager who works as a doorman in Rongguo Mansion, and it is true. It was the Jia family's sedan chair that sent the three girls to the Anjing Marquis Mansion."

"Oh, my Lord, you have the best of both worlds. I don't know how happy you are."

"How happy! You can't even imagine how happy the Marquis is."

Telling the story of the Marquis, he is the most sought-after person at this tea stall.

Upon hearing the scandalous news, more and more people gathered around. Even the tea stall owner and waiter put down their work and gathered around to listen.

After just hearing the news, everyone was still not satisfied and kept urging others to continue.

"Didn't you say you had inside information? Is that all you revealed? Tell me more about how the Jia family agreed to send their daughter over."

"Yes, yes. Rongguo Mansion is a duke's mansion after all, and it has just become a royal family. It is not necessary for the marquis to come here in person and offer the three daughters to him, right?"

"That's right, that doesn't make sense."

The narrator was surrounded by a crowd and was in a dilemma. He had only heard the news from hearsay and had no idea of ​​the details.

At this moment, he had to play it safe and said, "Well, the reason is really not convenient to spread. This brother just said that we are a Duke's Mansion after all, and we still have to maintain our dignity."

He patted his face and looked at everyone with a forced smile.

Of course, the crowd watching the fun didn't buy it after these words were spoken.

Soon someone took a copper coin out of his pocket and threw it on the table.

The copper coin rolled on the tea table, making a ringing sound. "According to the rules of the underworld, I will pay you two copper coins for your information."

"Yes, but I'll give you two copper coins."

Soon, the copper coins on the table piled up into a small mountain.

The man looked embarrassed and said, "This is not good..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Hao squeezed into the crowd, threw two taels of silver on the tea table, and said, "Tell me the whole story, and the silver ingot will be yours!"

"This young lord, is it true?"

"I have never broken my word in this world."

Seeing that he looked like he was just looking for fun and afraid of being bored, Liu Xianglian was speechless. He walked up to him and pulled his arm, saying, "Forget it, what are you doing here? If the adults see you later, you'll be in big trouble."

"Well, it's still early."

Zhao Hao smiled ghostly and said, "Tell me the truth, you don't care? Even if you care, I'll give you two taels of silver. I can't let you listen for nothing."

"You! You are really stubborn and will get into trouble sooner or later!"

Liu Xianglian turned around and was about to leave, but after a moment he came back, took out a silver note from his lapel and slapped it on the table.

"I don't like to carry small change when I go out. Five taels of silver note, if you want to, just tell me. If not, I'll take it away."

Zhao Hao burst into laughter, "You stuffy bastard, I knew you wanted to hear it too."

Then he grabbed the man in the middle and said, "Hurry up, I've given you all the money, why don't you tell me the whole story?"

"Just talk, young one."

The man was overjoyed, and took the silver, his eyes sparkling with gold. "This is a long story, and it has to start from the eldest branch of the Jia family."

As soon as he opened his mouth, he started to speak in the tone of a storyteller and gained momentum.

"I heard from my fellow townsman that someone came to propose marriage to the eldest wife of Rongguo Mansion. The eldest master, Marquis Jia En, deliberately made things difficult and asked for five thousand taels of silver as a betrothal gift."

Others were amazed, "Oh, five thousand taels, this girl from Rongguo Mansion is really precious."

"What's wrong with five thousand taels? This is the Duke's Mansion, this amount is too little."

"If you can't come up with five thousand taels, wait until the Marquis comes back and strides into Rongxi Hall. Everyone knows that the Marquis prefers young ladies who have not yet married."

"The eldest daughter of the Jia family entered the palace and became a noble concubine. The other three sisters were also beautiful. In order to enjoy the blessing of having two wives, the Marquis paid a stack of banknotes in front of Madam Jia and the two masters of the Jia family."

"Guess how much the banknote is?"

He described the story vividly and gesticulated, and everyone around him believed it and started to think about it according to his twists and turns.

"Five thousand taels for one girl, wouldn't that be fifteen thousand taels for three girls?"

Zhao Hao counted on his fingers and responded.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong." The man shook his finger and drank a sip of tea calmly.

Others could not help but provoke him, and kept pushing and urging him, "How much is it? How much is it? Why don't you tell me now? Why are you keeping us in suspense?"

"Please don't worry, my dear readers. Let me explain it in detail."

"Marquis Anjing bid for a stack of silver notes, which frightened the Jia family members. After counting, there were 20,000 taels."

"Twenty thousand taels? Why twenty thousand taels?"

The man smiled smugly and said, "You can't guess this, right?"

"According to my fellow countryman, this is what happened at the time."

The man climbed onto the tea table, raised his head and stood with his hands behind his back, looking arrogant. Then he threw a handful of straw paper on the ground and spat, saying, "Five thousand taels per person. I have twenty thousand taels here. The extra five thousand taels will be used to pay for the coffins of you who sell your daughters for fame!"

"it is good!"

Everyone cheered and clapped, becoming more and more convinced that the story was true. "Marquis Anjing is mighty and domineering, that's how it should be!"

"That's right. Didn't the damn Duke's Mansion rely on the Marquis of Anjing to stand up again? What's so wrong about taking three girls as concubines? Not to mention that the old masters of the Rong and Ning Mansions were all rescued by the Marquis."

"That's right, it's what the Marquis deserves!"

……

Dingguo Gongfu,

Tanchun walked in the courtyard like a walking corpse, her eyes were silent and lifeless, and she didn't even have the mind to appreciate the surrounding scenery. No matter how the servant called her, she seemed not to hear. This really made the servant very angry.

The two of them came to Duke Dingguo's Mansion from Rongguo Mansion together, which meant they depended on each other for survival. But Tanchun treated her so coldly, how could one not be annoyed.

Walking around to Tanchun, the secretary spread out his arms and blocked her way, "Miss, Miss, if you ignore me again, I will ignore you too."

At this time, Tanchun came back to her senses, "Oh, oh, you talked to me? I didn't pay attention, what did you just say?"

Shishu narrowed his eyes and asked suspiciously, "Miss, why do you seem to have lost your soul? You were not normal when I saw you yesterday, and it's even worse now."

Tanchun stroked her cheek gently, lowered her head, and smiled awkwardly, "Really? You must be overthinking it."

"There's something fishy!" Seeing the normally capable, smart and cheerful girl being so shy, Shishu was more certain, "Miss, there's something fishy going on with you. What's going on?"

Tanchun grabbed the secretary's arm and said, "Okay, okay, don't ask anymore. I have a lot of things to do. Fourth sister gave me the task of cleaning the house, so I should go and take a good look at it."

Pushing away the secretary's hand, Tanchun quickly walked towards the courtyard.

The secretary kept chasing after her, "What happened to the young lady recently? I asked Zijuan, Qingwen and the others, but they didn't say anything was wrong."

"Could it be that the girl lost her mind because she was going to live in Marquis Anjing's courtyard?"

The secretary was out of breath after chasing her and was about to hold on to the pillar to rest before continuing to chase her, but unexpectedly, Tanchun stopped and turned back.

Grabbing the secretary's cheeks with both hands, Tanchun warned coldly: "This is not Rongguo Mansion, don't talk nonsense outside. If someone hears us, will you and I still have the face to live here?"

Shishu said aggrievedly: "Miss, don't you want to live here?"

Tanchun asked in astonishment, "Why do you say that? When did I ever say that?"

The secretary pondered and said seriously, "First of all, when I first came to Anjing Marquis's Mansion, the second and fourth girls didn't change much, only the young lady seemed depressed."

"Later, when I saw the girl the next day, she had slept very poorly and had no energy. And just now, the girl was lucky enough to get the Marquis's courtyard, but she seemed to have lost her parents and didn't want to live here at all."

"Puh, puh, puh." Tanchun spat a few times and said, "You little girl, how can you use the phrase 'like losing one's parents' to describe me? I think you are really going to rebel!"

The secretary stuck out her tongue and said, "Anyway, it's very appropriate. The young lady taught me this word a few days ago, and I just happened to use it today."

Tanchun was very angry with her, but she was helpless. The two of them had a close relationship, just like real sisters, and it was common for them to fight and quarrel.

"Hey, girl, am I right? Why don't you say anything?"

Tanchun pondered for a long time before she let out a breath, as if she had accepted her fate.

After looking around and seeing that no one else was around, he led Shishu to the rockery behind the courtyard and whispered, "Then I will tell you everything. Don't tell anyone else, not even Second Sister, Fourth Sister, Siqi, or Ruhua."

The secretary raised his hand and swore, "Okay, I swear, I will never tell anyone what the young lady told me, or I will be punished by heaven..."

Tanchun quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth, glaring at her and saying, "Who told you to swear such a vicious oath? Listen to me!"

Shishu stuck out his tongue and chuckled.

Tanchun sighed and said, "I think there is something fishy about Sister Lin's drawing lots to divide the courtyards. Only the ball I got was caught between my fingers, while everyone else's were spread out in their palms."

"Doesn't this mean that Sister Lin wants me to live with her?"

The secretary blinked, not understanding what Tanchun was saying. "Is there anything wrong with this? Miss Lin also said that she wanted to be closer to you so that it would be more convenient for her to get around."

The secretary was so stupid that he didn't understand what she meant. Tanchun was so anxious that she slapped her thigh and said, "You pig-brained one, think carefully, who in Rongguo Mansion lives with the second wife?"

The secretary really recalled carefully and said, "It seems to be the girl's mother, Aunt Zhao."

Shishu's eyes suddenly lit up, as if his Ren and Du meridians were opened, and he suddenly realized: "Oh, young lady, you mean that your current situation is the same as your mother in Rongguo Mansion. Only the concubines live in the same courtyard."

Tanchun nodded and said, "That's exactly the truth."

Then she blushed and shook her head, "No, no, that's not what I meant!"

The secretary took Tanchun's arm and said, "Miss, isn't this a great thing? It means Miss Lin has recognized you. Others have not received the same treatment as you."

"Besides, being the first wife of another family is not necessarily better than being the concubine of the Marquis, right?"

"The eldest lady entered the palace as a noble concubine, but isn't she still a concubine? Although the Marquis is only a Marquis, he may be promoted to a Duke or a king of a different surname in the future. By then, the young lady will also be a concubine."

Tanchun nodded blankly, "It does make some sense, but no, it doesn't make sense!"

Tanchun shook off the secretary's hand and said, "You almost tricked me. When will I be able to get along with the Marquis?"

Holding the hem of her skirt tightly, Tanchun said uncomfortably, "I just admire the Marquis, not mixed with any romantic feelings. Besides, it's very difficult to please the Marquis. It's not what you think, just living in that courtyard with Sister Lin's tacit consent."

The secretary was stunned by what he said, and asked in astonishment: "If this is not enough, what else do you need?"

Thinking of the unforgettable words she had heard before, Tanchun blushed again, but in order to prevent the secretary from giving up and avoid unnecessary trouble, she had to suppress her shame and said, "As far as I know, the marquis always has a trial marriage before marrying. Although the wife who has not married yet cannot have sex, she needs a personal maid to serve her properly first."

"I want you to go, can you do it?"

"Ah, there is such a thing." Shishu's face gradually turned red, and he was a little overwhelmed. He spoke in a low voice, "Girl, who told you this? Can it be true?"

Tanchun said impatiently, "When Sister Yun said that the Marquis was lustful, you were there too. Why don't you believe it? Besides, I heard this from Ying'er. Ying'er, do you remember? She was a maidservant beside Sister Bao. How could this be false?"

Shishu's head seemed to have turned into a ball of paste, frozen and unable to move.

After a long while, he gritted his teeth, raised his head with his cheeks like red lanterns, and said: "For the happiness of the girl, I will risk it all! After all, he is the Marquis, I am not losing anything, it's better to say that it's a bargain for me!"

This little girl made up her mind so quickly that even Tanchun was shocked. "Pooh, pooh, pooh, what are you talking about, you are a virgin? Aren't you ashamed?"

Grabbing the secretary's wrist, Tanchun was about to drag her away from the scene, "Don't embarrass me here, come with me and get down to business!"

The maid seemed to be determined, "Miss, please think about it again. I can sacrifice my looks for you. Although I am not as pretty as them, I don't know if the Marquis will be willing..."

Tanchun pinched the secretary's ear and said angrily, "Stop talking nonsense! How could I have ended up with a shameless girl like you!"

After the two figures disappeared into the distance, a man emerged from the cave in the rockery.

Siqi looked up into the distance and murmured to herself, "There is such a strange thing in the Anjing Marquis's Mansion. The Marquis wants to visit a maid to try out marriage?"

"My daughter, who is as stubborn as an elm, must not know the news yet and act as if nothing happened. I'm afraid that the third daughter is pregnant with the Marquis's child, and my daughter went back to Rongguo Mansion and was sold by the eldest master."

"No, since I heard it today, it is a revelation from God. I have to think about the girl's future..."

(End of this chapter)