Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 98 Newcomers
"My name is Zijuan, what's your sister's name?"

"I...just call me Ke'er."

"Ke'er, that's a really nice name."

When Zijuan saw Qin Keqing's figure, she felt a little ashamed of herself. But when she walked around to the front and saw her appearance, she was even more shocked by her beauty.

"Xueyan, come and take a look. Why do I feel that Sister Ke'er looks a bit like the girl?"

Xueyan, who was boiling water nearby, heard the call and walked over with a look of disbelief on her face. When she saw Qin Keqing's face, she was speechless for a long time.

"Yes... they do look a bit alike. The eyebrows, eyes and nose are more similar."

Zijuan nodded, "Just now, sister's face was covered with black ash, and I couldn't see her outline at all. Now that it's clean, I know that I have found a piece of unpolished jade. Her skin is smooth and her appearance is good. I can't help but be jealous of her."

Being stared at naked by two people, Qin Keqing's cheeks flushed slightly and she clasped her hands across her chest.

"Sister Zijuan, that's not true. You came early, and I came late. I still need you to remind me of everything."

"I just don't know what the master does for a living. Is there anything taboo? If I accidentally offend him, it will be terrible."

"taboo?"

Xueyan and Zijuan looked at each other and shook their heads.

"General Yue has no taboos and treats people very kindly. He is very good to us."

"Yes, yes, he even cooks for us. General Yue cooks better than the cook. No, no, it's better than the restaurants out there."

Qin Keqing was slightly surprised, "You don't call me Master, but General Yue?"

The two little girls nodded again, "We are all maids of the young lady. It's very complicated, so I won't talk about it. Anyway, you should be General Yue's maid, and there is no maid in General Yue's room."

Talking about this, the two little maids were a little envious, but they were envious for different reasons.

"General Yue."

Qin Keqing repeated silently, but she couldn't remember any general named Yue, and he was so young. Or maybe she, as a young lady, knew very little about the outside world.

"I hope it can be compared with Ningguo Mansion? But Ningguo Mansion is the residence of a duke, so it is probably not comparable. Well, let's take it one step at a time."

After wiping Qin Keqing's hair, Zijuan said, "Okay, Sister Ke'er, come out first. We have to hurry up, the young lady and General Yue should still be waiting for us to eat."

"Wait for us to eat?"

Zijuan nodded repeatedly, "Well, once you are dressed, you can go to the hall. Xueyan and I will go to the kitchen first."

The two maids left in a hurry, and Qin Keqing put on her clothes stiffly.

"The rules in this mansion are quite strange. Hiss, this dress is a little small, never mind, just make do with it for now."

Qin Keqing looked at herself in the bronze mirror, front and back. Everything that needed to be covered was covered, except for her wrists and ankles, which were partially exposed. Her body was also a little tense.

She walked slowly into the hall, and saw the girl and the master in the room waiting by the table as expected, but there was a piece of paper on the table, which was covered with dense words. She took a few steps closer to take a look, and then she realized that it was her indenture.

A flash of disappointment flashed across Qin Keqing's eyes. After all, this was her own choice.

Qin Keqing greeted Lin Daiyu and Yue Ling respectfully, "Master, Miss Lin."

Judging from the tone of the visitor, Zijuan and Xueyan must have briefly introduced the situation in the mansion, so Yue Ling said, "If I take you in, I have to sign this indenture according to the rules. Of course, you can't sign it if you don't want to. After signing, if you want to redeem yourself and leave the mansion, I won't stop you. It's all up to your personal wishes."

Lin Daiyu said, "Your monthly salary is the same as Zijuan and Xueyan's, three taels of silver a month. If you have made up your mind, you can put your handprint on the paper."

Qin Keqing read it through but did not put her fingerprint on it. Instead, she picked up a pen and added her name in the blank space reserved by Lin Daiyu before putting her fingerprint on it.

Lin Daiyu was surprised and asked, "Can you read?"

Qin Keqing was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Lin Daiyu and Yue Ling said, "The mansion is still in need of someone to help me. Although Zijuan can read, she can't write much. As for Xueyan, well, I won't talk about her. With this sister here, she can share a lot of my work."

Lin Daiyu picked up the indenture, looked at it, and praised, "Not only is it well written, it's also very good. Brother Yue, take a look."

Yue Ling looked over and saw the words "Ke'er" written on the paper. He wondered, "Ke'er? Why does this name sound so familiar?"

Yue Ling asked again: "What's your last name?"

Qin Keqing replied: "My surname is Qin."

Yue Ling was stunned.

"The surname is Qin, and the name is Ke'er. Isn't that Qin Keqing? The book says that Qin Keqing has the beauty of both Daiyu and Chai. She seems to be somewhat similar to Lin Daiyu. That's not right. Shouldn't Qin Keqing be entering the bridal chamber with Jia Rong now? Then who is entering the bridal chamber with Jia Rong?"

"Did you just pick up these hairpins on the street?"

Seeing that Brother Yue didn't say anything for a long time, Lin Daiyu waved her hand in front of him and said with a bit of blame in her tone: "Brother Yue, this sister Ke'er is indeed very beautiful, but you shouldn't keep staring at her, right? You're making her feel shy."

Yue Lingfang came back to his senses and saw Qin Keqing lowering her head with a shy look. He said awkwardly, "Oh no, the mention of the word Qin just now reminded me of what happened in the Prince Qin's mansion."

Yue Ling sorted out his thoughts and then said, "Okay, since you have signed the contract, you are now a member of the mansion. In the mansion, in addition to listening to me, you must listen to Sister Lin's orders. If she needs anything, you must do what she wants, otherwise the mansion will not tolerate you. Understand?"

Qin Keqing nodded gently. At that moment, Zijuan and Xueyan came from outside, each holding two brocade plates. Qin Keqing hurried forward to help take them.

Seeing that she integrated so quickly, Yue Ling smiled and said, "Okay, let's eat first."

"Okay, time to eat."

……

into the night,

Yue Ling took off his clothes and lay down on the couch.

Soon, the door was pushed open, and Qin Keqing came over from the warm room and asked, "Master, can I warm the bed?"

After these words were spoken, Qin Keqing's heart began to beat fast and her face felt like it was on fire.

According to the rules, the maid in the room must warm the bed. She just hoped that the bed would be really warmed and that nothing else would happen.

Living under someone else's roof is not a pleasant feeling. Even though Qin Keqing was extremely reluctant, she had to ask in order to stay.

And from within the curtain came Yue Ling's faint voice.

"No need. I'll call you back to my room later. You've been running around today and your feet are injured in several places. Go to your room and have a good rest. You can accompany Sister Lin to work tomorrow. Of course, if you feel unwell, you can also tell Sister Lin. She is not unkind."

Qin Keqing's heart, which had been in her throat, finally settled down.

It seems that the master of the mansion is really a gentleman. She made the right bet again. She is so lucky.

Qin Keqing felt her feet were lighter, and she bowed and said, "Yes, I understand."

Before leaving, Qin Keqing took the dirty clothes that Yue Ling had taken off on the table and put them in the rattan basket outside to wash them early the next morning.

Back in the warm room, Qin Keqing lay on the couch, took a deep breath, and said secretly: "It's not bad here, it's fine like this. At least there is Jingqing to take care of me in my father's place. I am a girl, and I was originally adopted into the mansion."

"However, in order to repay Dad for raising me, I will save some money and send it to him secretly. After all, Jing Qing also needs to study and can't wander around the streets all day."

Qin Keqing, who had been exhausted all day, felt very tired. She lay on the bed which was several times softer than the one in the Qin family's bedroom and slowly fell asleep...

……

Yangzhou Prefecture,
In the study room of the Lin Mansion in the Salt Inspectorate’s Yamen.

Lin Ruhai unfolded the reply letter from King Qin in the capital, read it over and over again, but his brows became more and more furrowed.

Seeing this, Aunt Bai, who was accompanying and serving beside him, asked, "Master, is there anything going on in Beijing?"

Lin Ruhai shook his head. "Nothing serious."

"Why is the master's brow furrowed so tightly?"

Lin Ruhai shook the letter again and said, "How come I can't understand the letter from Your Highness?"

"can't read?"

Lin Ruhai took a sip of Longjing tea, moistened his lips, and continued, "What do you mean I don't have to worry? Yue Ling was promoted to the position of Associate Privy Councilor and General Xuanwu. He will not be used as a lone minister to bury his talent."

"Whether he does it or not has nothing to do with me. Why should I worry? I am just giving you a piece of advice. Yue Ling is indeed talented and can make more achievements."

Aunt Bai thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's because Daiyu is at General Yue's mansion?"

Lin Ruhai curled his lips, "So what? Then I have to worry about Yu'er too. What is Yue Ling doing?"

After a pause, Lin Ruhai asked, "Did Yu'er write to you again?"

Aunt Bai shook her head and said, "No, it seems like I haven't sent a letter to the mansion for a while."

Lin Ruhai frowned and said, "What does this girl do all day? She said before that she has become much healthier after coming to Beijing, and she will send two letters back every month from now on."

Aunt Bai comforted her again, "If there is no bad news, then that is good news. Daiyu has always been in poor health, but she has gotten better since leaving the mansion and coming to Beijing. Isn't this a good thing? It also saves the master from worrying."

Lin Ruhai sighed, "Well, I have to go patrol the river again tomorrow to catch salt smugglers, and I don't know when I will be back. Let's look through it together when I come back."

……

Imperial City, side hall of the Hall of Supreme Harmony,

After receiving Yue Ling's memorial, the King of Qin read it through while pacing back and forth in the palace.

"How could such a thing happen? It's really terrifying when you think about it. However, as Yue Ling said, we still have to be on guard."

Looking at the brocade box on the table in the distance, which was filled with documents that Yue Ling had searched out, showing the relationship between the ministers and Prince Kang's palace, the King of Qin thought for a while and came up with a good idea, so he planned to put on a show at the court tomorrow morning.

Then, he sighed and said, "I really don't know why an official in two prefectures would still want to communicate with the barbarians. What benefits can the barbarians give him?"

Xia Shouzhong also shook his head, and after a while, he reminded, "Your Highness, it's night time and you should go back to rest, otherwise the Crown Princess will ask for punishment again."

The King of Qin nodded and said, "Okay, let's go back first."

(End of this chapter)