Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

When Tao Xingjian heard Lin Daiyu call him "Uncle", he felt as if he had drunk a bowl of hot Shaodaozi in the middle of winter. He felt intoxicated and relaxed.

He took a step forward with a smile, stretched out his hand, and gently patted the little girl's head, who was just under his armpit, and said softly, "No! His Majesty loves you and is waiting for my reply in the palace. Wait until next time. Next time I will have time to chat with you for a while."

Daiyu was a little embarrassed and lowered her head: "Yes."

"Don't think too much. Your health is the most important thing. When Ru Hai was alive, he didn't care about fame or money. His daughter was the most important thing to him. If you don't take good care of yourself, I won't be able to explain to him."

Tao Xingjian gave another piece of advice, sighed, thought for a moment, then turned around and waved to Jia Zheng.

The Jia family was waiting quietly. Seeing this, Jia Zheng hurried over and asked with a smile, "What do you want, Grand Eunuch?"

"How is the renovation of your villa going?" Tao Xingjian raised his eyelids and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

Jia Zheng's sweat broke out again, and he leaned forward fearfully: "It's almost done, only the door curtains and window curtains are missing."

"Well, that's all right." Tao Xingjian nodded. "You guys are doing well today. I will report the truth to the emperor when I get back, and I will also help your Concubine Jia to do a good job. Let's see how it goes by mid-to-late October, and then submit the memorial!"

In other words, Concubine Jia was allowed to visit her parents! ?

Jia Zheng was so surprised and delighted that he almost laughed out loud, but he quickly held it back. With a smile on his face, he bowed to Tao Xingjian and said, "I appreciate your kindness! Thank you, eunuch!"

"No need to thank me. Just treat my niece well and do what people should do. His Majesty will naturally not treat good people unfairly." Tao Xingjian said lightly and waved his hand again.

Jia Zheng wanted to say a few more words of greeting, but seeing that Tao Xingjian didn't seem to be in the mood to pay attention to him, he had to lower his head and walk away.

Lin Daiyu looked at Jia Zheng, and then remembered how anxiously Jia's mother looked at her, so she asked in a low voice, "Is my cousin Yuanchun doing well in the palace?"

"Why are you worrying about her? At least she's not as skinny as you are! She's living a comfortable life! When she comes back to visit her family next year, you'll know when she sees her."

Tao Xingjian impatiently skipped over this section, and then carefully instructed Daiyu, "When she comes back, I will ask her to bring a nanny or an aunt to take care of you.

"When the time comes, you must not push her. The female officials of that line are all stubborn, and I'm afraid they will have to ask the emperor for permission before they are willing to come out.

"Be obedient. When the time comes, just follow my instructions on how to eat, drink, sit, and lie down. It will only benefit you. Do you understand?"

As Lin Daiyu listened, her eyes turned red. Her eyelids trembled, and big tears fell like pearls from a broken string. She wiped them away while smiling sweetly and nodded vigorously: "Yes! I will listen to you!"

"Don't cry, don't cry! Oh!" When Tao Xingjian saw her crying, he scratched his head and didn't know what to do. He could only hurriedly say, "You are fine! I am leaving!"

run away.

Everyone in the Jia family looked at each other in surprise - they could never have imagined that the Palace Eunuch, who was so arrogant that he even looked down on Rong Xi Tang, was actually scared away by a few tears from Lin Jie'er.

Even Lin Daiyu, looking at Tao Xingjian and the little eunuch who was jogging after him and not forgetting to turn back and nod and bow to say goodbye to her, couldn't help but smile more sincerely.

——She herself didn’t know how pure and beautiful such a smile with raindrops on it was, and how gorgeous it was beyond the reach of the world!

The young eunuch's eyes were so bright when he looked at her that they were almost green!

Fortunately, her mourning hat covered her appearance, so only Tao Xingjian and the young eunuch saw her like this. No one in the Jia family, not even Zijuan who was supporting her, noticed it.

Let’s not talk about the fact that after hearing that Yuanchun could go home to visit her parents, everyone in the Jia family was enthusiastic about holding a small memorial ceremony for Lin Ruhai, and then let’s talk about Tao Xingjian.

He rode his horse all the way back to the palace, dropped his whip and strode quickly, rushing into the imperial study. He stood in front of the stunned Emperor Zhaoming, still breathing heavily, with sweat on his forehead and streaming down his temples.

After a long while, Tao Xingjian remained in a daze without saying a word.

This made Emperor Zhaoming panic. He looked at the eunuch who had crawled in from behind and waved to him, "What happened to the child from the Lin family?"

The young eunuch fell to his knees, shook his head repeatedly, and reported intermittently while breathing heavily, "No, nothing happened, everything is fine... Rongfu has made very thorough arrangements... I also saw that the monk who was chanting the sutras, the one leading the way, was from the Da Ci'en Temple, Second Senior Brother Zhenkong!"

Emperor Zhaoming was relieved, and he looked at Tao Xingjian carefully for a few times, waved his hand to let everyone else go first, and put the rolled book in his hand on the desk. Then he tilted his head and asked him:

"Lao Tao, what's wrong with you?"

Tao Xingjian finally came to his senses, his eyes moved, and when he saw Emperor Zhaoming, his mind gradually cleared up. He smiled bitterly, lowered his head and knelt down: "I have lost my manners in front of you, Your Majesty..."

"Stop talking nonsense! Tell me, what's wrong with you?"

Emperor Zhaoming leaned half of his body on the table, knocking on it impatiently, wishing he could reach down and strangle him to get the answer he wanted.

Tao Xingjian sighed deeply, and without getting up, he knelt there and repeated word for word what had happened in the Jia Mansion. At the end, he raised his sleeve to wipe away a tear:

"...When I saw her crying, I remembered that morning when I arrived, a maid and a woman were sleeping outside Ru Hai's bedroom, and Ru Hai was cold inside...

"She was a little girl in her teens, skinny and tiny, lying on the edge of the bed, grabbing her father's sleeves, crying until she was hoarse... her little body was shaking...

"It was a very cloudy day, with thick dark clouds and a very cold wind... There was no charcoal basin or hot water in the house...

"I knew for sure it was Ru Hai's daughter, so I went up and patted her little shoulders. My hands were icy, so cold... The child was so scared... She couldn't even scream, and she just fell to the ground..."

Tao Xingjian clasped his hands together and gestured. He really couldn't say any more. He raised his sleeves to cover his face and sobbed bitterly, "Every time I think of this, I want to tear down Rongguo Mansion!!!"

Emperor Zhaoming fell silent. His hands quietly went into his sleeves and were folded across his chest.

After a while, he said in a deep voice: "It's not time yet."

Tao Xingjian stopped crying and looked up in surprise.

Emperor Zhaoming also raised his head and looked at him, with the corners of his mouth raised slightly, revealing a meaningful smile: "Don't be impatient."

"What about that Lin girl?!" Tao Xingjian was a little panicked.

When he said he wanted to demolish the Rongguo Mansion, it was naturally just what he said in anger.

Now Lin Daiyu is taking shelter in Rongguo Mansion. If that place is really demolished, what will Lin Daiyu do? Will she be implicated? Where else can she stay? !

"So I say, don't rush."

Emperor Zhaoming leaned back, leaning comfortably on the large armchair, and looked far away at the door of the imperial study:

“Lao Tzu said: To govern a large country is like cooking a small fish.

"There's no rush!"