Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

There was once a talented woman in Suzhou named Hui Niang. She was born in a scholarly family, was good at calligraphy and painting, and loved embroidery. In her boudoir, she imitated the flower embroidery of famous artists in the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, with elegant styles and colors. Moreover, on the side of each flower, there were inscriptions with ancient sayings, embroidered in cursive characters on black velvet, which was very vivid.

Because Hui Niang died at the age of 18 and her embroidery was not made for profit, very few of her embroidery works have been handed down. Later, a group of Hanlin scholars expressed deep regret and said that the word "embroidery" in the handed-down "Hui embroidery" was abrupt, so they decided to change the name to "Hui Wen".

Huiwen: If there is a genuine piece of this thing now, its price is infinite! Even with the splendor of the Jia family, there are only two or three pieces.

Not long after Daiyu entered the Jia residence, she only saw Grandmother Jia use it to set out wine for her own enjoyment, but never to entertain guests. Even after Aunt Xue and her daughter entered the residence, Grandmother Jia never let her Huiwen embroidery pass their eyes.

Today, Tao Xingjian sent these three things, two of which are valuable but not rare - a jade bonsai with the shape of a persimmon and a bright and lively coral tree.

But the third piece was actually a four-fold screen with plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo patterns!

Moreover, it was exactly one of the three items owned by the Jia Mansion that Daiyu had seen in her childhood!

This item is so precious that it cannot be compared to the treasures in your own hands!

Moreover, where did Tao Xingjian get it? ! And why did he just give it to himself? !

Daiyu was shocked and felt something strange. She looked up at Aunt Meng, but she found that she was also looking at her strangely.

After a moment's pause, Daiyu realized that everyone was watching her quietly with bated breath. She quickly calmed herself down and said with a smile:

"They are all valuable items. Here, put the bonsai in the outer room, the coral tree in this corner, and the screen just across the door of my bedroom."

He instructed everyone to put the things in order for Zijuan to see and appreciate them, and then reminded them: "Don't tell anyone else when your uncle sends you something."

Lin, Shan and others understood that this matter was indeed of great importance, and they hurriedly responded respectfully and bowed their heads before leaving.

After watching the maids leave, Aunt Meng slowly spoke, "There are only about ten of these things in the palace. And, as far as I know, there are very few of this size. In fact, I had never heard of them before I left the palace."

Daiyu remained silent and said nothing. She was unsure whether she should tell Aunt Meng that the item came from the Jia Mansion.

However, no matter what, she must ask Supervisor Tao. Daiyu turned to look at Xiaohong: "Where is Jiang Yong? Ask him to come see me."

Xiao Hong's eyes flickered, and sweat was still pouring down her forehead. "When Jiang Yong saw these three things, his face changed. I asked him what was wrong, but he gritted his teeth and refused to say anything.

"But after the things were moved to the second gate, he repeatedly told me not to let these things out of my sight. I obeyed. Then he left without changing his clothes, saying 'Let's go to Tao's Mansion.'"

It seems that Jiang Yong also knows that this Huiwen screen is extraordinary!

Aunt Meng frowned: "This Jiang Yong really knows what he is talking about."

"In that case, when Jiang Yong comes back, ask him to come here and reply in person. Don't always order you around to spread rumors. What do they think of you?" Daiyu leaned calmly on the couch, lowering her eyes to read.

Xiaohong's face turned slightly red and she lowered her head in agreement.

Seeing that Lin Daiyu was worried, Aunt Meng left Xueyan behind and took the others out.

Zijuan came over, but was surprised to find that the people who were wiping the dominoes as Daiyu had said were not in the room. Xueyan saw her, came out and grabbed her, whispering in her ear what had happened.

Zijuan poked her head into the room, then covered her mouth with her hands, looking terrified!

She had served Lady Jia since she was young, so she knew it too well—this was Lady Jia's treasured screen with four gentlemen and wisdom patterns! How could it be sent to the girl by Supervisor Tao! ?

"Now, we can only wait for Jiang Yong to come back to find out what is going on..."

As Jiang Yongcai stepped into the gate of Tao Mansion, he sneezed loudly!

"Hey, Manager Jiang, have you caught a cold?" The gatekeeper looked at him and smiled.

"Caught a cold? I'm sweating all over! Someone must be talking about me! Is Lao Hou here? Drinking tea and eating peanuts in the room?"

Jiang Yong greeted the gatekeeper while walking quickly inside without stopping for even a second.

The gatekeeper behind him kept nodding "yes" and "yes", and in the blink of an eye, he turned the corner and started jogging with his robe in hand!

"What's going on? Why are you so anxious?"

Lao Hou, the chief steward of the Tao residence, was sitting by the fire in his room, drinking tea, roasting shelled peanuts on a charcoal basin and humming the most popular opera of the time.

This is his favorite thing to do in winter.

Jiang Yong trotted all the way, pushed the door open and walked in. His relaxed expression disappeared the moment he saw Lao Hou. His face was covered with frost and his expression was solemn. He rushed directly to Lao Hou, lowered his voice and asked sternly:

"Who picked out those three things in the Lin Mansion? You, or Supervisor Tao? Or the master!?"

The tall and thin old Hou rolled his eyes fiercely and snorted, "Who dares to make his own decision to give a New Year gift to that person? Of course, the master picked it himself!"

"That screen?!"

"That was presented by the Jia family last year when Concubine Jia was having a hard time. There were two pieces in total. One was a folding fan, which the emperor used for himself. The other one was neither big nor small, and it didn't look out of place in the palace, so the master threw it into his private room to collect dust.

"Tao Jian was so happy when he received the New Year gift from that person that he couldn't even see his eyes. The master wanted to pick out a few items, but Tao Jian tightly covered them up and refused to give them to him. The master got angry and gave these three items from the palace and asked him to send them to your person in the name of Tao Jian.

"Now the New Year gifts prepared by Supervisor Tao are still piled up there and I don't know what to do with them! Can't you see how busy I am with food and drink? When Supervisor Tao comes back, I don't know what crime I will be convicted of!"

Jiang Yong looked at Lao Hou's careless appearance, and was stunned for a while. He smiled bitterly, took off his hat, and sat down. "How can I respond to this?"

"What should I say? Of course I'll tell you the truth. The master gave her a New Year's gift in the name of Supervisor Tao. He could give the Jia family a gift, but not her?"

Lao Hou nonchalantly threw a peanut into his mouth and said while chewing: "She is just a little girl, she doesn't have so many thoughts. Just explain it to her and she will let it go."

"What do you mean by not having so many thoughts? Who has thoughts? What thoughts? Did you listen to what Supervisor Tao said? Or did the master tell you directly?!" Jiang Yong's heart just settled down when it was lifted up again in less than three breaths.

The old marquis blinked his eyes: "No! But as servants, shouldn't we be prepared for unexpected situations? What if? Who knows? Our master, up to now, has never had a concubine except for show..."

"Shut up! You're asking for trouble on New Year's Day! What are you talking about?" Jiang Yong didn't want to listen anymore and stood up in annoyance. "I might as well not have come here!"

"Where are you going?"

"Patrol the shop!"

"Haha, with those two domineering steps, how can this be considered as inspecting the shop? It's obvious that he's just looking for trouble and venting his anger by scolding people..."