Chapter Fourteen: Everyone Has Their Own Thoughts

  Time flies like a white horse passing through a crevice, fleeting in an instant.

  It's been more than half a month since Lin Ruhai was buried in his ancestral tomb. The weather in Suzhou is getting warmer and warmer, even the maids from the north like Zijuan are slowly getting used to it. In Daiyu's room, there is always charcoal fire burning, even when she goes out, when she returns to Youmei Pavilion, the room is still warm.

  Daiyu's daily life is now very regular. In the morning, she gets up and follows Zhiyuan to do breathing exercises by the lotus pond, then they return to Lianhu Pavilion for breakfast. In the morning, she reads and writes in Fangmei Pavilion, and in the afternoon, Daiyu does embroidery with several maids, occasionally visiting her two aunts.

  Since her brother found a doctor, who said that her illness still needed to be nursed back to health, and she took some nourishing medicine every day, coupled with her brother's constant advice, Daiyu's illness gradually improved. Although it couldn't be said that she was completely cured, she hadn't coughed for more than half a month.

  The Lunar New Year is approaching, and since the Lin family is in mourning, they cannot decorate with lanterns and couplets. In the morning, my brother called me to take a break and go find him at Shan Lou to discuss various matters for the new year.

  "Xiangyun, you and Yujie come with me to see the Mountain View Tower." Daiyu called out to Xiangyun and Yujie who were busy with their needlework.

  Yueying put down the needle and thread in her hand, just about to get up and tidy up, when she heard Zijuan say: "Miss, why don't you take Yueying and Chunlei with you? I still have some things to wrap up here, and all the maids in the house have gone to eat, and there's the brazier, candle holders, incense burners and whatnot, so I'll just stay home and keep an eye on things."

  Daiyu had not thought much of it, and there was nothing secretive between her and Xiangyun. She simply assumed that Xiangyun really had something to do, so she took Yanqiao and Chunlai out the door with her. As Yanqiao and Chunlai were about to cross the threshold, they exchanged a glance, but neither of them said anything, and followed their mistress to the Shanzhai Lou.

  As soon as Xueyan returned to the house, she only saw Zijuan alone, her eyes seemed a bit red, "Good sister, why are you alone here? It's going to be a festival, how can you still cry?"

  Zi Juan hastily wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, "What are you talking about? I wasn't crying at all. The wind just blew into my eyes."

  "You're still trying to deceive me, there's no wind in this house. If the wind could blow here, would our young master dare to let the girl stay? Snow Goose grabbed Zijuan's hand, "Good sister, we've followed the girl for so many years, what kind of person she is I don't know, if you have any grievances just tell me Snow Goose. Is it...?" Snow Goose thought for a moment, "Is it that you're thinking of your parents at home?"

  Zi Juan heard this and chuckled, pointing a finger at Xue Yan's forehead: "I'll give you credit, little girl, you guessed it right."

  The snowy geese seem to be sending a message, but it's not true. What she said was just nonsense. "What are you thinking about? Can't we meet again in the future?" The young lady also said that next year when the young master takes the imperial examination, we'll all move to the capital together. At that time, won't you be able to see your parents at Rongguo House again?

  Zi Juan didn't make a sound, Xue Yan saw her and looked around, making sure they were alone in the house. "Sister Zi Juan, do you think our young mistress is too fond of those three sisters?"

  Zi Juan covered Xue Yan's mouth with her hand after hearing this: "Can you say such things out loud? What if others hear it?"

  Xueyan didn't mind, and pulled down Zi Juan's hand: "You usually think I'm just a fool, but actually I see things clearly. Those three sisters are all incredibly capable, and in just a few days, you've become inseparable from them."

  "That's also the young master's kindness." Zi Juan said, then continued to do her own embroidery without lifting her head. It was a piece of yellowish-green cloth with pink roses embroidered on it, which was used after spring arrived.

  "This is natural, it's just that we two should be more careful, can't let people look down on us." Xueyan took the opportunity to pick up the embroidery pattern of Yanrong from the needlework basket in front of her. Like Zijuan, it was a bright handkerchief with a brocade carp on it, which seemed to be swimming back and forth, leaving only a few loose threads.

  Xueyan couldn't help but exclaim, "My goodness, Yanrong's hands are truly skilled! How can she embroider this carp so vividly!" After saying that, she pulled out the handkerchief from her sleeve and compared it with hers. Then, looking at the embroidered camellia again, it was just a lifeless thing without any spirit.

  Zi Juan listened to Xue Yan's words and didn't want to embroider anymore, throwing down the needle and thread in her hand, turning around and lying on the low couch, with her back to Xue Yan: "Forget it, forget it, you do what you should do, don't keep nagging me, I'm watching this house, go play with the little maids!"

  Xueyan was still young after all, and upon hearing this, she looked at Zijuan again before nodding her head and running outside to play with Xiaoyu.

  Zi Juan lay down, but couldn't sleep, thinking about the days since she came to Suzhou. Although the young lady still trusted herself the most, she could also see that she was very close to Yan Rong and the other two, and didn't hide anything from them.

  Yan Rong is the oldest, one year older than herself. She has a gentle personality and is skilled with her hands. The young lady's current attire is all taken care of by her. Bi Die is the same age as herself, gets along well with the maids in the garden, and often cooks food for them in the small kitchen. Even the old women are willing to flatter her. Now that Master has come up with some kind of nutrition plan, he has ordered Bi Die to take charge of the young lady's meals every day. Chun Lian is the youngest, but she's a bit of a handful and everyone is afraid of her. It's also said that Bi Die's mother was the wet nurse of Master Zhiyuan, so no one dares to offend her even more. The young lady always says that Chun Lian is lively and doesn't lose her youthful spirit. As for Chun Lian, she doesn't have much to do, just helping out when someone is busy.

  Zi Juan took care of Dai Yu's daily rest and outings, with the key to all her trunks given by her mistress still hanging on her body. She knew that her mistress trusted her, but every time she saw Yan Rong and the others bustling around her mistress, Zi Juan felt a sense of loss.

  Magenta suddenly thought of the capital city, thought of her parents, thought of her brother, thought of... Bao Yu.

  She got up and pulled out a large black wooden trunk from under her bed outside. It looked like it had been there for some years, and it was not locked.

  Zi Juan opened the trunk and found some everyday clothes. She lifted up a layer of clothes and only took out a few things from the bottom: two name tags, a ribbon on a belt, two pouches and a fan case with a fan inside.

  Zǐ juān stroked these things gently, but who did these obvious men's objects belong to? And how did Zǐ juān come to love them so much?

  It was none other than Bao Yu himself.

  Originally, Zi Juan had made plans for her own future. She thought that Old Lady Wang would definitely marry Lin Daiyu to Baoyu, and as Lin Daiyu's senior maid, she would certainly be married off with them. As a home-born servant, she knew the roots and the bottom line, and at that time, Old Lady Wang and Lady Wang would not fail to promote her to be a madam. All these things were obtained by Zi Juan when Baoyu and Lin Daiyu lived in the green silk room in previous years.

  Zi Juan thought about her future prospects and felt a flush rise to her face, then hastily put these things into the box, not daring to let others know.

  Daiyu and the other two, Yanyu and Chunlai, went straight to the Lookout Tower at the east end of the garden. The name of this tower is quite interesting, it's not for looking at mountains, but for looking at water. In the Lin family compound, there is a small hill, not high, but enough to see all the scenery in the garden. On top of the hill, a pavilion was built, named Lookout Tower, facing directly at the Lotus Pond, Waterside Pavilion and Nine-turn Bridge. Zhiyuan had made this place his study, as he was approaching the imperial examination, he spent every day reading books and writing essays here, concentrating on preparing for the exam.

  Daiyu has been practicing breathing exercises and taking tonics for the past half month, so her body is much better now. Therefore, climbing up the stone steps to the mountain pass doesn't seem as difficult as it did in the first few days.

  The old woman guarding the door saw Daiyu coming from afar and hurriedly went in to report. Before Daiyu reached the entrance, a maid beside Zhiyan came out to welcome her.

  "Come in quickly, young lady, it's cold outside. I've already prepared some fragrant tea to warm you up!" The speaker was Murui, the big maid beside Zhiyuan, who was sixteen this year and very pretty.

  Daiyu originally thought that the several senior maids by her brother's side were going to be his future concubines, but he told her that he would never take any concubines in the future. If a family wants to prosper, then the husband and wife must get along harmoniously, and the inner quarters must be peaceful. Look at those families that have declined - which one wasn't first thrown into chaos by problems in the inner quarters?

  Daiyu thought of her own grandfather, who had favored his concubine back then, which was the birth mother of Zhiyuan's older brother, causing dissatisfaction among the wives. After her grandfather passed away, that aunt died in sorrow, and the relationship between Daiyu's family and her uncle's family was severed.

  Daiyu knew that her brother trusted the people around him very much, so she was also polite to Muyue. "Please sit down, sister Muyue." Everyone entered the study and Daiyu saw her brother writing at his desk.

  Zhiyuan looked up and smiled: "Sister, please sit down, I'll finish writing this article."

  Muzi personally poured the best Bi Luo Chun for Daiyu and asked about her health in recent days. The two were talking, Zhiyuan had already stopped writing, carefully reviewed it, and found no errors.

  Daiyu smiled and said: "Brother, have you finished writing another composition today? May I borrow it to read?"

  Daiyu saw that her brother was in a good mood, and knew that he had written another good article. Zhiyuan and Daiyu didn't have much to hide from each other. Daiyu's writing skills were excellent, and she was also good at composing poetry. In order not to let Daiyu stay cooped up in the Visiting Plum Pavilion every day, Zhiyuan often called her over to climb the mountain tower and ascend the stone steps, and he would also show her some of his own compositions for the imperial examination. Although Daiyu was still young, not yet fourteen years old, she could already offer some critiques.

  When the people have more than is sufficient, who shall get what is insufficient?

  "Is this one of Sir's new questions?" Daiyu asked.

  Zhiyuan took the tea handed over by Murui and said, "Yes, sir said that this year is the first imperial examination since the current emperor ascended to the throne two years ago. The topic chosen must be carefully considered to avoid missing out on talented individuals. Taking questions from the Analects of Confucius seems appropriate, but it also depends on this year's provincial examination."

  Lin Daiyu listened and silently agreed, then continued to read on: When the people are wealthy below, the ruler is naturally wealthy above. For the ruler's wealth is stored among the people; when the people are already wealthy, how can the ruler be poor alone? These words deeply express the idea that the ruler and the people are one body, and inform Duke Ai...

  "Brother's article is really well-written." Daiyu praised her brother with a smile. It can be said that during this period of time, Daiyu's personality has become more and more cheerful, thanks to Zhiyuan's guidance, she has also gradually walked out of the shadow of losing her father.

  Zhiyuan said: "I'm just good at this little bit, writing essays is okay, but if I were asked to write poetry like my sister, it would be absolutely impossible."

  Daiyu returned the article to her brother, knowing that it was meant to be sent to their teacher at school. "The articles written by Daiyu are just playful works from a boudoir, how can they be shown in public? Brother is always modest, your writing is extremely good, even I, a foolish girl who doesn't understand much, can see that, let alone my brother who can also paint well." Daiyu pointed to the "Shrimp Fun Picture" hanging behind the desk, "Who else can paint shrimp as well as my brother?"

  Daiyu's flattery also made Zhiyan burst out laughing.

  In my previous life, I followed my father to learn painting until he passed away and stopped holding the brush. At that time, I liked Mr. Qi Baishi's works the most and had imitated them before. My father's teacher had praised me for having a high talent in this area, but later due to changes at home, I also gave up learning painting.

  In this life, Zhiyuan promised his mother, Mrs. Lin, that he would fulfill his father's dream and become a high-ranking official. Later, Zhiyuan thought to himself that not only did he want to be an official, but also a high-ranking one, and gain the emperor's favor. Therefore, apart from having knowledge, he also needed something special, and being skilled in painting was his advantage.

  In recent years, Zhiyuan's paintings have become highly sought after by the literati and wealthy patrons in Jiangnan. As a result, his works have been selling for increasingly high prices on the market. However, Zhiyuan has never sold any of his paintings, instead giving them away to close friends as gifts, albeit in extremely limited quantities. Each piece is a masterpiece, which has only fueled the demand from art dealers and collectors, driving up the prices even further. Nevertheless, those who have received these precious gifts from Zhiyuan are reluctant to part with them, rendering his works essentially priceless and unattainable on the market today.

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