Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Seeing Daiyu's face getting redder, Emperor Zhaoming did not let her go, just wanting to see how she would respond: "Come, tell me the reason, I want to hear it."

"What could be the reason? Your Majesty is right!" Lin Daiyu could not help but show her temper again. She glanced at him, thought for a moment, then lowered her head and wrote another poem, the one that Xue Baochai had written at the crab feast:

"Sitting in the shade of tung trees and drinking, I am salivating in anticipation of Double Ninth Festival. The road ahead is without longitude and latitude, and the skin is black and yellow. If wine cannot overcome the fishy smell, I will use chrysanthemums; if I want to prevent the cold, I will definitely use ginger. What good is it to drop the cauldron now? Only the fragrance of wheat and millet remains in the Moon Lake."

"Your Majesty, please take a look at this."

Emperor Zhaoming glanced at it and couldn't help slamming his hand on the table: "You curse so well! This is a good poem, clear and sharp. However, it doesn't seem to be your style. It seems that the two couplets are more solid."

"This belongs to Miss Xue." Daiyu suddenly remembered what Wang Xifeng had let her know before, and couldn't help but probe, "I heard that she didn't get selected as the princess's tutor last time, so she wants to try again this time.

"Your Majesty, what do you think of her talent? Is she qualified to be the princess's tutor?"

"I don't care about the affairs of the Xue family." Emperor Zhaoming curled his lips, "But I heard that the Xue family is now weak and strong, and there is only such a capable girl left in the eldest branch. Why would she want to accompany the princess?

"Shouldn't his family keep this girl outside and find a wealthy relative to help take care of her family affairs? If she really enters the princess's mansion and wins the princess's favor, aren't you afraid that she won't be able to take care of her family affairs?"

Lin Daiyu smiled coquettishly: "Your Majesty, you are wrong! If she is favored by the princess, just spread the word outside, and no one will dare to look down on her family? In a few years, let the princess help her find a rich and noble marriage, not to mention this life, she will have no worries in the next life!"

"That makes sense." Emperor Zhaoming said lightly, then lowered his head to look at the poems written by the two of them, and was full of praise. "It seems that there are people in the boudoir who are just afraid of those little villains gossiping about them, so they are not easily spread outside."

"Your Majesty is right." Hearing Emperor Zhaoming's reasonableness, Lin Daiyu felt even happier and her smile became more genuine:

"I haven't been in the Jia Mansion for long, but I've seen quite a few women who are stronger than the men! Just to name one, if it weren't for my grandmother, who knows how much trouble my cousins ​​would have gone to!"

"If it weren't for your grandmother being still alive, do you think they would have the opportunity to make trouble? Haha, I would have sent them to the northwest to eat sand long ago!" Emperor Zhaoming sneered.

Daiyu shut up immediately.

Emperor Zhaoming glanced at her, thinking she was timid, and changed the subject: "I heard that the woman from the Wang family who bought your house privately, surnamed Zhou, was driven away to the farm?"

"That woman was my second aunt's companion and had always been favored. She was sent to the farm this time because she wanted to save my face. Now that I am no longer in the Jia family, I think she will be called back soon."

Lin Daiyu didn't care.

Emperor Zhaoming smiled and asked, "Aren't you angry?"

"Why should I be angry? In the final analysis, it is the Wang family that despises the Jia family, so they took away the property of Aunt Jia so easily. Otherwise, how could a slave, relying on herself, turn the world upside down?"

Daiyu shook her head and chuckled, "For example, her son-in-law and Jia Yucun were good friends back then, and it was he who came up with the idea to let Jia Yucun go to Beijing through my father's connections and curry favor with the Jia family.

"As for the son of the Zhou family, he was drunk and spilled the wine on the floor when the Wang family's aunt celebrated her birthday, but he was not kicked out. Is this just because the servants are not good?

"If my parents had been in charge of the family back then, they would have beaten up a servant like this and sold him off long ago. Would they have let him cause such a disaster to the family?"

"How do you know about Yucun's past?" Emperor Zhaoming couldn't help but look at Daiyu.

Daiyu's heart paused, she looked up at him with a smile, her eyes full of dew and clarity: "Your Majesty, you look down on me too much! Yucun entered the Jia Mansion under my name, how many troubles have he caused overtly and covertly over the years?

"I am tired of hearing it from the brothers and sisters in the Jia family. There is not a single good word from them, which shows that my father did not know people well. I feel even more ashamed."

"Oh?! What did you hear?" Emperor Zhaoming became curious.

Daiyu pretended to think for a moment, as if she was having difficulty speaking, and chose her words carefully: "Because my grandmother favors Baoyu's second cousin, every time he goes to see my second uncle, he must also see Baoyu and talk to him for a long time.

"He is a man who is keen on fame and fortune. Baoyu dislikes him, but he cannot resist his second uncle. He is always very impatient during social events, and when he comes back, he nicknames him 'parasite'!"

Emperor Zhaoming laughed in silence, tapping the table and pondering over the two words. The more he pondered, the more appropriate they seemed to him, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Exactly!"

Daiyu saw him laughing happily, so she also laughed: "My cousin Baoyu is the biological brother of Concubine Jia. Because my grandmother dotes on him, no one dares to control him, so he often has witty remarks."

Emperor Zhaoming did not like to hear her talk about Baoyu. He frowned and asked, "Did you hear anything else about Yucun?"

"This..." Daiyu seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Emperor Zhaoming saw her acting in front of him and couldn't help laughing: "Go ahead! I know you want to complain!"

Daiyu blushed instantly and hummed softly, "Your Majesty must know everything. Do I need to tell you?"

"Tell me what you want to say."

"No more!" Daiyu got angry again.

Emperor Zhaoming laughed and shook his head repeatedly. He was about to use words to pressure Lin Daiyu to speak out, but he heard two heavy footsteps on the ground, so he stopped and looked towards the door.

Tao Xingjian flashed in and said with a smile, "It's getting late. Your Majesty, we have to go back. If we are any later, the Empress will be looking for us everywhere."

"Yes. Good." Emperor Zhaoming was still chatting with Lin Daiyu, but he did not hesitate and stood up and said, "There are many things to do in the twelfth lunar month. When I have some free time in the spring, I will come to your house for dinner. Tell your cook to learn a few more delicious dishes!"

Daiyu blushed again and knelt down to salute: "Yes."

"Oh, her matsutake mushrooms are not good, not fresh. Find her some good ones. And the Longjing tea, once you taste it, you can tell it's not this year's, the fragrance is gone. Tomorrow in the spring, the new tea will be here, send her two pounds."

Emperor Zhaoming looked around Daiyu's room as he spoke. He saw the stone-buttoned lion-shaped incense burner on the curtain and frowned again: "This incense burner is very ugly."

When he was about to look inside the inner room to see the bed curtains and bedding as usual, Tao Xingjian hugged him and said, "Your Majesty, let's go! If it's too late, the palace gates will be locked and we won't be able to get in. That would be a joke!"

“No…” Emperor Zhaoming seemed to be suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and tried to force his way in.

Tao Xingjian said hurriedly, "I'll send her some matsutake mushrooms tomorrow! I'll also take a look at what she needs and what she needs to replace. I'm sure she won't stand any injustice! Is that okay?!"