Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Baoyu, on this side, was waiting impatiently.

Because Aunt Xue and Baochai, mother and daughter, had already been sitting in Grandmother Jia's room early. They had come here under the pretext of "keeping" the old lady company, and had spent most of the day there - they had lunch, took a nap, and started drawing cards again.

When Baoyu arrived, Jia's mother replaced another maid with another one and asked Baochai to leave. "It's been a while since I last saw your brother Bao. Go and play at home, you little kids!"

But Baoyu always felt that there was nothing to talk about with her, so he wanted to avoid her.

Baochai smiled and asked him quietly, "I couldn't go there today, and I didn't see Sister Lin. If you saw her, was she okay?"

Since we are talking about Lin Daiyu, we can sit down for a while.

Baoyu sat down again and answered seriously: "From a distance, she looks thinner than when she first came back to Beijing, but she looks much better. She was able to hold on after performing such a sacrifice."

Baochai frowned when she heard this: "I just thought she was much better. I also thought that since she could leave the courtyard, she would come to greet the old ancestor, so I stayed here, just to see her. But if you say so, can she still hold on?"

This question made Baoyu panic. He could no longer sit still. He paced back and forth in the corridor, staring at the courtyard gate.

Seeing him like that, Baochai did not try to persuade him. She just picked up a round stool and sat under the corridor, watching the autumn scenery while waiting with him, and chatting and laughing with the maids and old women in Jia's mother's courtyard.

Baochai felt a little chill from sitting so straight, so she stood up with her arms folded, and called Baoyu, "Brother Bao, it's windy, wait inside."

Then the voice of Jia's mother in the room rang out: "Where is Baoyu?"

Baoyu had no choice but to go into the house.

After a while, there was some commotion outside, and then someone came in to report: "Second Madam and Miss Lin are here together, and they are getting off the car outside the courtyard."

"Get off the car? Oh, that's rare! Feng girl is very impetuous and always likes to walk. Why is she sitting in the car today? It seems that the two sisters are very tired from this ceremony." Aunt Xue said, looking at Lady Jia with some worry.

Grandmother Jia also became worried: "That's exactly what you said. Yuanyang, Yuanyang, have you prepared soup for your Second Madam and Miss Lin?"

"Yes. I was worried that everyone would be sad and angry, so I prepared some cool and refreshing soup for the heart. Now, shall I add two more slices of ginseng in?" Yuanyang said.

Grandmother Jia then nodded in relief: "Stew it for a while longer. Let them have a bowl of tea to calm down first."

"Oh! I'm in for a treat today!" Following the end of Jia's mother's words, Wang Xifeng came in, laughing and holding Lin Daiyu's hand, and first greeted Jia's mother and Aunt Xue.

Grandmother Jia took Lin Daiyu's hand and sat her down beside her. She asked Wang Xifeng with a smile, "How do you have such a good appetite?"

"Just now I went to Lixiangyuan to pick up Miss Lin. After the ceremony, she went back to dress and change clothes. When I entered the house, I saw the good maid she had taken care of, making bird's nest porridge for her to fill her stomach. Didn't I eat some of it too?

"Now that I've come here, I've happened to meet my grandmother, who loves her granddaughter and is preparing to make ginseng soup. Amitabha, haven't I happened to meet her again? Tsk tsk tsk tsk, I've finally gotten enough benefit from my sister!" Wang Xifeng said with a smile.

Grandmother Jia smiled when she heard this, turned around and patted Daiyu's hand. Seeing how thin she looked, she couldn't help shedding tears: "I know your temper. I'm afraid you won't eat a good meal until the ceremony is over. You had to observe mourning before, so I won't say anything. But now that Xiaoxiang is over, can you come out to accompany your grandmother?"

Baoyu had already sat on the other side of Jia's mother, and as soon as Jia's mother stopped talking, he hurriedly said, "My dear sister, please come out quickly! I am suffering alone, and the more I think about it, the worse I feel.

"Now my sisters and I have made great progress in our studies. The other day, my sister Xiangyun praised me for my improvement compared to last year. Now that you are out, we can study and write together. I promise not to be a spoiled child. How about that?"

Grandmother Jia also nodded, and took Daiyu's hand and tried to put it into Baoyu's hand: "You two grew up together. Now that you are older, you should get along better."

Daiyu pulled her hand back with a little force, looked at Baoyu with a smile and said, "It's OK if you don't know, but I know. Yun girl is smart and focused, and she has read a lot of books. Among our sisters and brothers, she is the only one who can do this, except for Sister Bao.

"She praised you to encourage you. It's good that you've made progress. However, as for your study, you already have two cousins, Sister Yun and Sister Bao, to accompany you. There's really no need for someone like me who is in mourning.

"Second brother has always been the most considerate of girls. You shouldn't be too demanding of me, right?"

Then he smiled at Lady Jia and said, "I was just about to tell my grandmother the good news. Aunt Xue is here too, so it's a good opportunity for her to listen. But where are the two aunts? Please invite them all in quickly, so that I don't have to repeat it a second time."

Grandmother Jia was stunned, and Yuanyang had already hurriedly sent someone to invite Prince Xing and the other two.

When they had all arrived, Daiyu smiled and said, "The palace supervisor came and said a few words to me, telling me that Sister Yuanchun was doing very well in the palace."

Grandmother Jia and Mrs. Wang could not help but chant Buddhist scriptures with tears in their eyes.

"Eunuch Tao even compared me with my elder sister, saying that I was skinny and bony, while my elder sister was plump and beautiful. It can be seen that this "very good" is not just a casual compliment." Daiyu then added another piece of evidence.

This time even Aunt Xue looked at Mrs. Wang with a smile: "Sister, are you really relieved now?"

Mrs. Wang smiled with tears in her eyes, nodded repeatedly, and asked Daiyu with a smile: "How did you get to that point? Why didn't you mention any rewards or favors, but instead talked about fatness and thinness?"

Daiyu curled her lips but did not answer.

Mrs. Wang felt a little embarrassed, and she forced a smile: "Why? Is this unacceptable? Or am I not worthy of listening to you, given my status?"

"Second aunt, if we are talking about what can and cannot be said, I shouldn't have told everyone what Grand Eunuch Tao said. If you really want to convict me, the five words 'leaking forbidden words' will cost me my life.

"Second aunt, I took the risk of analyzing my elder sister's situation with you, but you wanted to ask me whether I told you everything I heard.

"Look, if I get any news from now on, will I dare to tell anyone?" Lin Daiyu had a slight smile on her face, but her words were firm and even contained a hint of threat.

Mrs. Wang bit her lip and lowered her eyes without saying a word.

Baoyu had long been fed up with what he had heard, and now he could not help but stand up and say, "Is that all? The eunuch only said a few words, and it is enough that Sister Lin could interpret so much.

"If we have finished our business, mother, aunt, and aunt can go back and rest, and we can sit with our old ancestor in peace!"