Red Mansion Daiyu, the Rise of the Lin Family

Outside the gate of the Jia Mansion, the sunlight slanted down on the bluestone slabs, casting mottled light and shadows.

The morning noise had gradually subsided, but everyone's hearts were still hanging.

The servants hurried back and forth, and every footstep caused ripples in the hearts of the waiting people.

Everyone in the Jia family waited from morning until noon, but there was no news.

Servants went over to ask for news one after another, and finally got a time to set out - the hour of Xu.

It would be almost evening, and everyone in the Jia family looked at each other in confusion.

Especially the women, they were already a little tired.

"Madam, Madam, why don't you take a rest first, I'll take care of you here for a while." Wang Xifeng heard the eunuchs say that they should set out at 10 p.m.

It's not a good idea for the old lady and the other wives to just stand there and wait.

When Lady Jia heard this, she was helpless and hurried to visit her parents at night, as this was unexpected.

"Grandma, can I go with my aunt?" Jia Rong's wife Qin Keqing is also a young wife, and it is impossible for them to have two wives and only have Fengjie left.

When Wang Xifeng heard Qin Keqing's words, a trace of concern flashed in her eyes. She gently patted the back of Qin Keqing's hand:

"Keqing, you can't stand here for long. You're pregnant. If anything goes wrong, the queen will be heartbroken if she finds out."

She looked around, looking for a place where Qin Keqing could rest.

"Go find a place to sit down or lean back and rest for a while."

When Youshi and Lady Jia heard the news, they showed surprise on their faces.

You couldn't help but ask, "Daughter-in-law Rong'er, is this true?"

Qin Keqing smiled shyly.

"I didn't dare disturb my mother and the old lady. I only found out about this recently."

"I wanted to wait until things were more stable before telling everyone, but I didn't expect my aunt to bring it up today."

Grandmother Jia's face was filled with joy.

"Sister Feng is right. Today the Queen is visiting her parents and you have good news. It is really a double happiness. This is God's will. May our Jia family prosper."

Yu Shi immediately ordered the servants, "Quick, help Rong'er's wife back to her room. This is a happy event. How could the queen blame us?"

Qin Keqing was carefully helped away by the servants, and the heavy atmosphere became relaxed because of this sudden good news.

However, Lin Daiyu stood aside, feeling a different feeling in her heart.

She frowned slightly, thinking to herself, could it really be the butterfly effect that changed Qin Keqing's fate?

In the original version of "Dream of Red Mansions", there is no mention that Qin Keqing has children.

From beginning to end, it seems that no new babies were born in the Jia family.

Is it true that the Jia family is about to usher in a new life?

……

"Here it comes, here it comes..." It was around seven or eight o'clock in the evening.

On the street outside, there were teams and rows of eunuchs and palace maids, holding lanterns and playing drums, burning incense and marking the road, with yellow umbrellas clearing the way, and eight eunuchs carrying a phoenix sedan chair.

All the men in the Jia family, led by Jia She, knelt on one side and saluted.

Grandmother Jia and her female relatives were on the other side, while Jia Min followed behind the two wives of King Xing and Aunt Xue, and bowed their heads to salute as the team walked along the roadside.

Lin Daiyu followed her sisters.

Jia Yuanchun's sedan chair slowly drove into the garden, and everyone's eyes were focused on the gorgeous curtains.

Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue and other female members of the family, as well as Jia Baoyu, Jia Lian and other male members, all knelt down to greet them.

The curtain of the sedan chair was slowly lifted, revealing Jia Yuanchun, wearing a palace dress embroidered with a phoenix in gold thread and a phoenix crown on her head, looking dignified and noble.

She had a gentle smile on her face, and her eyes swept across the kneeling people, finally stopping on Lady Jia.

"Grandma, please get up quickly." Jia Yuanchun's voice was soft and kind.

Today is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. This is the most prosperous time for the Jia family. The fire is burning and oil is boiling. I wonder how many families in the capital are paying attention to the imperial concubine's visit.

……

Jia Yuanchun held Lady Jia's hand in one hand and Lady Wang's hand in the other, and toured the Grand View Garden one by one.

Every step brings a new scene, with lights shining brightly.

Looking at this glass world, a jewel-like spectacle, Jia Yuanchun couldn't help but sigh, "Oh! It's too extravagant and wasteful!"

Grandmother Jia hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty has the dignity of a royal family. It would be disrespectful if it were too simple."

Jia Yuanchun is really...

It is hard to express the pain in my heart, and I cannot even talk about the love I have with my parents.

The years in the palace are heart-wrenching, who can understand the feeling of it?

She met her parents and elders, and saw Jia Min and Aunt Xue in the crowd.

I had seen this aunt when I was a child. At that time, she looked like a noble and wealthy young lady.

I followed my mother and always envied my aunt.

When will I grow up and be like my aunt?

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, I would grow up and be sent directly to that shameful place in the palace.

They are all daughters of the Jia family, but their circumstances are very different.

I have almost never seen Aunt Xue. As soon as I was born, Aunt Xue got married.

However, my mother went to the palace to see me several times and always talked about Aunt Xue's daughter.

Now is the time to plan for the next generation.

Jia Yuanchun couldn't help feeling dazed. She thought of the golden locket her mother had sent to the palace. If there were thousands of beauties in the same cave, all of them would feel the same sorrow.

Where can you compare to the palace, where so many beauties were buried?

……

I also heard my father say that there were several places in this villa where Baoyu had inscribed his name.

Jia Yuanchun was delighted to see the prey, and immediately ordered people to prepare pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and to name a few of her favorite places in the garden.

They are Grand View Garden, Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Yihong Courtyard, Hengwu Garden, etc.

"Bring all the sisters and Baoyu here!"

"I haven't seen them since I went to the palace. I met them once this time, and I don't know when I will see them again."

Jia Yuanchun said to Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang.

"Letting them recite poems and show their talents is not a bad thing."

……

Lin Daiyu followed Jia Baoyu, the three sisters, and Xue Baochai to Jia Yuanchun.

She thought to herself that the highlight was coming, talent, what the hell was that?

I don't have it, and even if I did, I would hide it.

The plot has been changed. Who knows that in an imperial society, where can an empress point herself just by pointing?

Resisting could easily be punishable by death, and if you want to live well, you have to pretend to be stupid.

For Lin Daiyu, it is best not to see it and best not to look at it.

After all, he has no one to support him now, and Lin Ruhai's thigh is not as thick as other people's wrists.

As for the others, some thought that their talents were limited, while others had long understood that the only ones who could display their talents here were Xue Baochai and Jia Baoyu.

As for Lin Daiyu, no one had ever seen her write poetry.

She was a girl even more outrageous than Wang Xifeng.

……

The title proposed by the imperial concubine has come out, and she will use this situation and scene as the title.

There is no limit to the rhythm, you can express yourself freely.

Jia Baoyu held the pen in his hand, his brows furrowed, and he was thinking intently.

After Xue Baochai finished writing the poem, her eyes involuntarily turned to Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu also frowned, as if she was thinking hard.

However, there was a hint of agility in her expression. As her eyes moved, she sometimes looked up at the night sky, and sometimes turned to stare at the lights, as if looking for inspiration.

Seeing this, Xue Baochai thought to herself, "I wonder if Daiyu's poems can be as lively as hers?"

Jia Baoyu seemed to have encountered a problem. The tip of his pen paused on the paper for a long time, but he was unable to put pen to paper.

Seeing this, Xue Baochai walked up to him and whispered some pointers.

"Baoyu, you may as well do what you want, and don't be bound by the formalities."

"The one above is your biological sister, who was born to the same mother as you. How can I bear to embarrass you?"

There was a hint of encouragement in Xue Baochai's voice.

When Jia Baoyu heard this, a trace of gratitude flashed in his eyes, and he picked up his pen and began to write.

……

After everyone's poems had been presented, Jia Yuanchun looked through them carefully one by one, and a look of relief gradually appeared on her face, especially for the poems of Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai.

She nodded in praise, as if she had seen the style of a great master. However, when she turned to Lin Daiyu's work, she was startled and surprised.

Lin Daiyu's poem says:

飞花

Flowers fade and fall, filling the garden; today is brightly lit.

Countless prosperous scenes in the world bring the spring breeze here.

Jia Yuanchun thought to herself, "This poem is so ridiculous, it seems to be pieced together, it has nothing to do with the poet's style."

"It's just nonsense."

She frowned slightly and sighed in her heart: "Daiyu is ignorant and unskillful. She really lives up to the reputation of the Lin family, which is a family tradition of poetry and literature."

She then thought of Daiyu's younger brother. She had heard that he was quite talented and might be able to inherit the Lin family's literary tradition.

"It seems that what mother said is true. Daiyu is indeed over-pampered by her aunt."

"A good inheritance has been wasted in vain."

However, since they were relatives after all, Jia Yuanchun had to make some comments.

She spoke slowly, her voice gentle but firm: "The work of my cousin from the Xue family is quite impressive, and Baoyu's poetry has also improved."

"As for the Lin family cousin, her poems are like her, extraordinary and unworldly, incomparable to ordinary people."

"The other sisters still need to work harder."

When Jia Yuanchun said this, Jia Mu, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue, and even Jia Min were all surprised.

What kind of poetry can Daiyu write?

Jia Baoyu was not surprised, for he had long regarded Daiyu as a fairy-like figure.

Sister Lin is indeed like me, incomparable to ordinary people.

Lin Daiyu was very impressed by Jia Yuanchun when she heard this.

I thought: "Only someone like me who is good at dealing with people and can make the dead look alive can move around the palace with ease."

On the stage, gongs and drums were beating loudly. Jia Baoyu approached Daiyu and asked curiously, "Sister Lin, what poem did you write?"

Lin Daiyu chuckled and said jokingly: "This is the best poem in the world."

"You'd better just listen to the opera carefully," she continued.

Jia Baoyu said again: "My dear sister, I have a good friend, Qin Zhong, the younger brother of Rong'er's wife, who also likes poetry and articles."

"Can we communicate more in the future?"

Lin Daiyu thought to herself, "Qin Zhong? Never mind, you two are just the same kind of people."

The Grand View Garden was brightly lit, and the sound of opera on the stage could be heard. People in the garden were either standing or sitting, talking in low voices, or concentrating on watching the opera. It was a lively scene.

……