Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Before Jia Zheng arrived, Jia's mother saw Zijuan coming to ask her to send Lin Hongyu to serve Daiyu. Jia's mother waved her hand impatiently: "Let her go. She's just a maid. What's the big deal?"

Zijuan hesitated for a moment, then looked around and saw that only Yuanyang was left. She whispered, "There is also Qingwen in Master Bao's room... Xueyan and I are not very good at sewing, and we've always wanted someone to help the girl with her clothes... I just don't know if Master Bao can give her up..."

At this point, Jia's mother finally reacted, was stunned for a moment, and turned to look at Yuanyang: "What's going on?"

Yuanyang looked at Zijuan and made the first move: "Zijuan, you go first. The old lady is busy now. I will go and tell the young lady after I have carefully considered it in the evening."

Hearing this, Zijuan breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, nodded in agreement, and turned away.

Yuanyang then whispered to Lady Jia about Lin Hongyu's identity, and then told Qingwen: "On Master Bao's side, Xiren is the leader. She is steady and thoughtful, so she is naturally a good person.

"But you know the Second Master's temper best. The more straightforward a girl is, the more he loves her. Qingwen is pretty, good at sewing, and her features and personality are somewhat like Miss Lin..."

Having said this, he paused, glanced at Lady Jia, whose eyes were wide open and she was clenching her fists anxiously, and then continued in a low voice:

"After the Xue family came, the second wife looked at Miss Bao and didn't know how to love her. Then someone started to spread gossip, saying that you had set your eyes on Miss Lin to be the wife of Master Bao, but the wife had set her eyes on Miss Bao.

"Because Xiren is thoughtful and steady, she has a bit of Bao-girl's shadow, while Qingwen is more like Lin-girl, rumors are spreading in the family, and they are getting worse and worse..."

Grandmother Jia's face was as gloomy as water, veins popped out on her forehead, and her teeth were clattering. After a while, she suddenly sneered, "I was wondering! How come Lian'er, that lowly creature, went to help with the funeral, but was accused by the emperor's people of being very negligent!

"I think the outsiders are planning to eat the family members who have lost their entire family, but the family wants to kill the orphan girl with rumors! But the emperor has a bright light and has seen through it!

"No wonder the Queen was so overjoyed and made such a big fuss to send gifts to Lin girl. She was just happily slapping my delicate Yuanchun in the face!"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became. Grandmother Jia no longer cared about the pitch of her voice and just cursed angrily:

"Short-sighted, greedy fool! Want to take advantage of everything in the world! All your filial piety and compassion are just fake to please me! Don't you think about how much I have been through!

"If such a mean and short-lived wife who is playing tricks on others is really exposed, is there any good for her?!"

Outside, a modest and honest middle-aged man stood blankly at the door, and was completely stunned by what he heard.

Several older maids and wives stood awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, each with their heads lowered, pretending not to hear the increasingly harsh curses coming from the house.

——How many years has it been? Ever since the old lady came into this courtyard, who dared to disobey her? Even when Grandpa Xianzhu died due to misdiagnosis, she cried and cursed, but she never got so angry and cursed so harshly!

How will this end?

"Otherwise... go and ask Second Madam Lian to come over?"

"The old lady of the Wang family is not feeling well, so she specially asked Second Madam Lian to go back to her parents' home to talk. How can she be invited to come over at this time?"

"Forget it! It was Second Master Lian who caused the trouble. Why did you call Second Madam over? Wouldn't that just make the old lady even angrier?"

The servants discussed in low voices.

Jia Zheng tilted his head slightly, but said nothing, just pushed the door and walked in.

When the door opened, everyone fell silent.

The door rang again, and everyone secretly turned back, and saw that it was closed tightly, and they all breathed a sigh of relief - fortunately, the second master did not get angry!

They hurriedly left only two maids to guard outside, and the others quickly dispersed in twos and threes, whispering to each other.

dinner time.

Zijuan went to get the specially prepared meal from the kitchen and served it to Lin Daiyu: a bowl of vegetarian noodles with fresh bamboo shoots, mushrooms, gluten and vegetables, a plate of refreshing side dishes, and a small bowl of fragrant vinegar.

"That's better." Xueyan stretched her head to take a look, hummed, and busied herself bringing water for Lin Daiyu to wash her hands.

Zijuan sighed and said nothing.

This is obviously the vegetarian noodle recipe used in the temple. I don't know whether it is made in the kitchen themselves or they asked the dirty women in the temple outside to make it and bring it over.

Lin Daiyu smiled, sat down, picked up the noodles with the tip of her chopsticks, and said lightly, "This noodles is well kneaded, chewy and smooth, and the cooking method is also southern. It's hard for my uncle and grandmother to find a chef from the south of the Yangtze River so quickly."

He took a bite, chewed it carefully, and smiled with narrowed eyes: "It tastes good! It's a specially made vegetarian broth. If there is more, you two can try it too."

Hearing this, Zijuan was relieved and laughed: "As long as the girl likes it."

He collected the other guys, left Xueyan as a companion, and went downstairs to eat.

After she left, Xueyan sent several old ladies from the outer room to eat, then ran to Daiyu and started to chatter.

Lin Daiyu ate her noodles leisurely while listening to her gossip she had heard from outside. After she stopped for a while, she nodded with a smile and asked:

"Did the elder sister-in-law say when she would move in?"

"No. The eldest grandmother has sent a message to the main courtyard and the second grandmother's courtyard. If she is free today or tomorrow, she will go and visit them!"

Xueyan was a little bored, so she rested her chin on her hand and stared at Lin Daiyu, asking curiously, "Didn't the old lady give the order? Why doesn't she dare to come? It would be fine if she asked the second wife, but why did she ask the second grandma?"

"She is the daughter-in-law of the second wife, the second sister-in-law... Feng Lazi is the niece of the second wife. She wants to live with me, so she stands opposite the second wife. Of course, she has to show her loyalty to these two first."

Daiyu ate half a bowl of noodles, picked up two bamboo shoots, and put them down, motioning Xueyan to take them away. "Lang'er is still too young. She can't afford to offend these two gods."

As the master and servant were talking, the laughter of Yuanyang rang out in the yard: "No wonder Miss Lin wanted someone. Look, it's dinner time, why is the yard so deserted?"

As they were talking, Yuanyang lifted the curtain and walked in, followed by Qingwen, who looked puzzled, and Xiaohong, who lowered her head deeply.

It seems that my grandmother and uncle have really thought it through.

Lin Daiyu smiled with satisfaction and stood up to offer her a seat: "Sister Yuanyang, please sit down."

Yuanyang waved his hand and said seriously, "I will tell the old lady what she said first."

Lin Daiyu lowered her head and listened carefully: "Yes."

"These two girls are naughty. If you can order them around, stay with them. If you can't, just come back to me and I'll beat them up for you!"

After Yuanyang finished speaking, he started laughing first, then he went forward and helped Lin Daiyu to sit down at the table, then he sat down as well, saying with a smile:

"The old lady loves the girl, but she is worrying too much. How can the girl be unable to order someone to come when she herself asked for him?

"But nowadays, the girls are all one big and two small, and the monthly salary is half the difference. You have five here, Zijuan, Xueyan, Qingwen, Xiaohong, and one Chunxian, how are you going to arrange it?"