Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

The next day was the Lin Mansion banquet.

This time, Tanchun held the banquet in a proper manner, with a small play after the meal, that was all.

There were not many male guests invited, only a few of the direct descendants of the two mansions who had met before, including She, Zheng, Zhen, Lian, Cong, and Baoyu, no more than five or six people.

Therefore, Tanchun asked Baoyu to invite a few of his friends to accompany her. Baoyu himself did not want to go out, so he wrote five invitations and asked him to invite Xue Pan, Feng Ziying and three young masters he was familiar with.

When the performance was about to begin, Tanchun mentioned that the male singer was ill and had lost his voice; Baoyu volunteered to solve the problem and went out in person to beg Liu Xianglian to come and perform in the play.

On this day, at the beginning of the 9th hour, the people from Rong Mansion arrived in large numbers. Lin Daiyu and Tanchun wore curtains to meet them at the second gate.

After paying their respects, Daiyu went to help Grandmother Jia and said with a smile, "Look, Third Sister is still capable. I can't arrange such a big banquet."

Grandmother Jia laughed.

Daiyu bowed to Jia She and the others again and said, "...I am sorry for being so rude. I can only ask Huan'er to bring the stewards to entertain all the uncles and cousins."

Jia She smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay, we just came here to see how you two little girls are living.

"If it's good, we'll be relieved. If it's not, we can also think of a way to help."

Daiyu smiled sweetly: "Thank you for your understanding and concern, uncle!"

Jia Zheng was standing at the back, watching the neat courtyard and the respectful servants, feeling proud: this was all thanks to his daughter. He was about to show off, but Jia She's words stopped him from saying anything, so he just laughed it off.

Well, mother is right. A cunning rabbit must have three burrows. It would be a good thing if Tanjieer and her brother could set up camp here. It would also save Wang Shi from staring at her and her brother like a black-eyed chicken every day.

Jia Huan stepped forward, his usual cowering and timid look was reduced by three points, his back was straightened, and he dared to look everyone in the face. He politely put his hands together and said, "Please come over here, Master, Master, and the two brothers."

The men followed him and walked forward, talking and laughing.

Grandmother Jia stretched out her hand and called Baoyu: "Don't go over there, come with me."

"Grandma, isn't it enough to have me serve you? Second Brother Bao is a male guest, and his friends will be coming soon, so he has to stay outside to entertain the guests!" Lin Daiyu opened her mouth to stop her.

Tanchun also laughed and said, "That's right. I complained to my second brother that there were too few male guests and it wasn't lively, so he invited five or six friends at once. The old lady couldn't let his friends feel uncomfortable in front of the elders!"

Jia Baoyu, who was about to come over, stopped in his tracks, laughed at himself, and then smiled widely: "Grandfather, please go in first, and I'll come in to toast you when we have our drink!"

Mrs. Wang laughed and said, "That's right! Come back later! Go quickly, don't let your master nag you again!"

"Okay, okay! Go ahead!" Since her precious grandson had spoken himself, Grandmother Jia had no choice but to agree with a smile.

Baoyu turned around and caught up with the others, only to hear Jia Lian asking Jia Huan stealthily, "Has elder brother Zhen arrived?"

"no."

"Did you send someone to say you can't come?"

"...No! What happened to Brother Zhen? Why didn't he come?"

"Haha, ah, it's okay! It's a nice day today! Although your yard is not as exquisite as ours, and it's also small, it's quite spacious!"

Baoyu frowned and followed him. He watched Jia Huan go to take care of Jia Zheng and Jia She, and quietly pulled Jia Lian aside to ask, "What happened?"

"No!" Jia Lian tried to brush it off.

But Baoyu is not Jia Huan, so he can't get away with it easily: "If there is nothing wrong, Brother Lian wouldn't ask Brother Huan like that. Tell me quickly, I won't tell anyone else!"

Thinking about this matter, everyone will know about it in the end. Jia Lian smiled evilly and whispered to Baoyu: "Brother Zhen built a courtyard to accommodate the two aunts of the You family. As a result, he aroused jealousy and was beaten last night!

"I heard that they took him back in a car in the middle of the night! Now we just don't know if the one who beat him was the fiancé of the second aunt of the You family, or the wild man of the third aunt outside...

"Oh! Don't listen to these nonsense! And don't tell anyone else! If my wife finds out that I told you, I'll be in big trouble!"

Jia Lian hurried away.

Baoyu stood there with a frown on his face, thinking: If he hadn't said he wouldn't come, then he would have come. If he had come after being beaten, I wonder if he would have drunk wine. If he had drunk wine, he would have been upset yesterday, so I don't know if he wouldn't make trouble today.

Sister Lin and Sister Three had finally managed to arrange a banquet, and they couldn't let him ruin it. How could they stop him?

Just as he was thinking, someone suddenly patted his shoulder from behind.

...(I am a vicious little dividing line haha)...

The female guests entered the inner courtyard.

Mrs. Wang, who had separated Baoyu and Daiyu as she wished, breathed a sigh of relief. She then began to check her property a hundred times more carefully than last time, examining every place inside and out.

"Third girl, it's not a good place to plant flowers and trees. If there's a fire, it will be inconvenient to go back and forth to get water."

"Girl Lin, you can't put fragrant flowers in the pots here, as they easily attract insects. If those insects get into the house, it will be terrible."

"Also here, the stone bridge is solid, but it's hard to melt the ice in winter. Let's think of a way to change it."

and many more.

Lin Daiyu and Jia Tanchun listened attentively and agreed to everything. Daiyu even told Zijuan, "You should remember some of them, so that I won't forget one or two later."

When Mrs. Wang was exhausted from talking, she went into the room, sat down, and gulped down a large bowl of tea. Daiyu came forward and bowed very straight, saying, "Second aunt, you really love me! Thank you very much, second aunt, for teaching me so much."

In front of everyone, Mrs. Wang was very proud and helped Lin Daiyu up with a smile on her face: "Don't say that. I asked the third girl to come here because I saw that you are too weak to handle these trivial matters.

"Now that she's here, there are still some flaws in the family. Shouldn't it be my responsibility as a mother to make up for it? It's just that I didn't teach her everything."

"Building a garden and a house, don't say that Madam didn't teach Third Sister, nor did she teach me!" Wang Xifeng smiled and helped Mrs. Wang sit down, and then snorted at Lin Daiyu and Tanchun, "Madam loves you two so much, I am jealous!

"Hurry up and bring up your good tea, good snacks, good wine, good food and good gifts. After we finish eating and drinking, we have things to do when we get home!"

Daiyu glared at him and said, "Yes, we have them, but unfortunately we can't give them to you! You are taking medicine right now and you have to avoid certain foods. Third sister has already found out everything! All you have today is chicken soup with rice!"

Wang Xifeng paused.

Everyone laughed.

Daiyu smiled and apologized to Mrs. Wang: "I didn't know that Brother Baoyu from the outer courtyard invited Brother Xue to accompany him. It would be abrupt to send invitations to Aunt Xue and Sister Bao at this time. Isn't their family hosting a banquet on the 28th? I'm afraid they are busy. So I didn't invite them.

"Once they find out, I'm sure they'll blame me for my negligence! Second aunt loves me, so she'll try to make up for me when the time comes!"

Mrs. Wang nodded with a smile: "Don't worry, I'll speak for you."