Chapter 42: Sending Off Palace Flowers and Discussing Evil Matters Again

  Xue Baochai was indeed a person who could keep her temper, and in the evening she went to pay her respects to Grandmother Jia, still with a dignified and polite demeanor. It was enough to make Yuanyang look at her in surprise, wondering what on earth Grandmother Jia had given her that made her so happy, when in fact it was just the silver hairpin that Grandmother Jia had personally taken out of an old trunk the night before, which weighed less than two liang.

  Xue Baochai was calm and composed, while Ying Chun, Tan Chun, and Xi Chun were also delightful to be with. With Mrs. Wang's repeated reminders and warnings, everyone soon became playful and lively together.

  Jia Baoyu was a person who liked gatherings but not separations. Since Lin Daiyu left, he felt empty every day, even Xiangyun's teasing couldn't lift his spirits. Now things are great, with the arrival of a fairy-like sister at home, with a lotus face and willow eyebrows, dignified and beautiful in appearance, with an icy skin and jade bones, making it hard for people to look away.

  Xue Baochai knew the purpose of her aunt's invitation to come to Beijing, and she was a thoughtful person. Seeing that her sisters got along well with her, and Baoyu was especially close to her, she couldn't help but think carefully about how to ingratiate herself with everyone without arousing suspicion.

  Although the Xue family has declined, as the old saying goes, a dead camel is bigger than a horse. In any case, the white silver that the Xue family brought to the capital city is around 300,000 taels. To give face to Lady Wang, Aunt Xue and Baochai did not skimp on buying gifts for others, and they presented local specialties from Jinling everywhere. They also knew that Grandmother Jia loved to eat steamed duck from her hometown, so they specially selected over a dozen of the finest and tenderest ones to present to her.

  After the gift-giving, not only did the ladies of the Jia household receive gifts, but even the lowest-ranking laundry servants received silver and trinkets from the Xue family. Everyone praised the generosity of the imperial merchant's household, saying that they were indeed extraordinary in their giving. They also said that the young lady of the Xue family was well-read and understanding of human emotions, and that she treated these working-class people with politeness and courtesy, far surpassing that of the one who had left.

  Madam Wang originally saw that her sister and niece had prepared gifts for the two cruel aunts in her house, so she was not very convinced in her heart. But now she also heard people say good things about her niece, and knew that she was buying people's hearts, so she gradually suppressed this annoyance.

  Since arriving at Rongguo House, Xue Baochai and San Chun sisters were together, either reading books or playing chess, or doing needlework, and they got along quite harmoniously.

  That day, Xue Ping was kicked off his horse and hurt his waist. He couldn't go out for several days to enjoy the scenery of the capital. Every day he sighed and groaned, making his mother very uncomfortable. On that day, she asked a young servant to inquire about the news, and when he came back to report, he said that the one who kicked their master was the son of Princess Long.

  Xue's aunt only had a heart that loved her own son, and didn't care about any princess or not. Besides, there were many daughters in the imperial family, so why did this little princess dare to indulge her own son like this?

  Xue's aunt got angrier and angrier as she thought about it, and wanted to find an opportunity to talk to her sister Wang Furen, so that she could help her get revenge.

  On this day, the weather was fine. Mrs. Wang took Jinlian to Lixiangyuan to visit her sister. The two sisters had not seen each other for many years and seemed to have endless things to talk about. Jinlian was playing with Xiaoying on the steps, solving a nine-linked ring puzzle.

  In the main room, Aunt Xue personally poured tea for her sister. "Sister, try some, this is one of our local specialties from Jinling, Yuhua Tea. The fragrance is refreshing and elegant, a sip will quench your thirst, leaving a sweet aftertaste that lingers on your teeth and lips, the flavor is rich and mellow, with a sweet finish."

  Madam Wang smiled and took a sip, saying: "It's really good tea."

  "Sister likes it, I'll get Xiangqiang to send it over in a bit." Aunt Xue sat on the other side of the mahogany table, facing Madame Wang, "Sister, what about that thing I told you last time?"

  Madam Wang put down her teacup, sighed and said: "Why are you still thinking about this matter? Didn't I tell you? That Princess is not someone we can afford to offend. Others see her and run away in a hurry, how can you still think of looking for trouble with her?"

  Aunt Xue saw that Madame Wang was unwilling to help her, and tears fell down. "Isn't this being forced? Look at how my son Pan'er has been beaten! That day wasn't our fault, the street is so narrow, and the prince's son was riding a horse and touring the streets, how could he not have hurt anyone?"

  Madam Wang had known since she was a child that her sister was not someone who could be reasoned with, so she only believed about 70 or 80 percent of what she said.

  "Aunt, don't be angry, this matter will pass and we'll just avoid him from now on. Although the Princess is a woman, she's the Emperor's own sister, born of the same mother, and their relationship is extremely close. The Princess's son has also gained the Emperor's favor and serves as Vice Commander of the Imperial Guard - are we daring enough to provoke someone like that? Even if Brother saw that child, he would have to show him respect."

  Actually, Mrs. Wang was unwilling to help Aunt Xue, and there was another more important reason. Their family's Yuan Chun had been in the palace for three or four years and had not been favored much, and the position of female historian in the palace was uncertain, originally planning to use Lin's money to grease the wheels, but now it has also become a bubble.

  Mrs. Wang knew that the Empress and the Emperor had a good relationship, if she could get along with the Empress, her family's Guan Chun would be able to rise step by step, so Mrs. Wang was unwilling to offend the Empress.

  Aunt Xue didn't know the inside story and genuinely thought that her sister was doing it for their own good.

  Two people were chatting idly about family matters when they suddenly heard someone speaking outside.

  Madam Wang asked: "Who is the person outside?"

  A person came in and bowed, it was Zhou Ruijia, the companion of Madame Wang. As soon as she saw Madame Wang and Aunt Xue, she came up to pay her respects.

  Madam Wang asked: "Has the person been sent away?"

  Zhou Ruijia smiled and said: "She's gone, she's gone. The second lady gave that old woman Liu twenty taels of silver, and she left with a thousand thanks."

  Xue's aunt asked: "Who is this Liu Ji?"

  Mrs. Wang then told her, "It's our family's old master who knew him when he was in office at one place because they were related by marriage and also socialized a few years ago. In recent years, the relationship has become distant. At that time, I saw Liu Ma once when I was helping with the affairs of the Wang family, and when she left, I didn't have time to visit her either. Now that she's come to see us, it's also her good intentions, so I'll let Feng Ziying take care of it."

  "I think sister is a kind-hearted person. Such distant relatives who are not closely related, only your family with accumulated kindness can help."

  Xue's flattering words, although somewhat insincere, still pleased Mrs. Wang, who was a devout Buddhist and vegetarian.

  Zhou Ruijia was about to turn around and leave after reporting what had happened when Aunt Xue called out to her.

  "You stay where you are, I have something for you to take with you." As she spoke, she called out: "Xiangxiang!"

  The little maid who was playing with Jin'ge just now came in and asked: "What does the mistress want me to do?"

  Aunt Xue said: "Bring me those flowers in the box."

  Xianglian agreed and brought over a small box. Aunt Xue said, "This is a new batch of fresh flower-shaped silk flowers made in the palace, twelve branches. I remembered yesterday that it would be a pity to let them go to waste, so why not give them to the sisters to wear? Yesterday I wanted to send them, but forgot. Today you came just in time, take them with you. Give two branches to each of your three daughters at home, four branches to Fengzi, and the remaining ones to Lin'niang from your family. Although she is not here, ask Yuanyang to help receive them."

  Mrs. Wang heard that there were still two hairpins of Lin Daiyu's, and she frowned unhappily, saying: "If they are kept for Baochai to wear, it would be fine, but what do you want them for? Moreover, Miss Lin is still in Suzhou, and it's uncertain whether she will come or not. Zhou Ruijia, go to the inner room first and let Baochai choose two of the best ones, then go to the young ladies' place."

  Aunt Xue scolded: "Sister doesn't know, Bao Yatou is being stubborn, she never wears these flowers." She then told Zhou Ruojia: "Listen to me, you go!"

  Zhou Rui glanced at Wang Furen's face and saw that she was no longer stopping him, so he quickly quickened his pace and went out of the room.

  Mrs. Wang saw that there was no one in the house, and she said with a bad temper: "What do you think of Lin's family little fox spirit? Giving it to her to wear is not as good as giving it to the maids in your yard."

  Aunt Xue saw that as soon as her sister mentioned the Lin family's daughter, she became ill-tempered. She smiled and said: "What kind of person is this Lin girl? She can actually make your sister so angry. I'll give flowers to her, don't be annoyed, sister. To tell the truth, it's still for your family's old lady to see. This is something I've never dared to say to you, afraid that you'd get anxious and angry. Didn't your family's old lady give our precious daughter a gift when they first met?

  Madam Wang nodded and said: "What I vaguely saw was a purse?"

  Xue's aunt said with a scowl, "Isn't that so? You, the mistress of this official residence, can't even remember what your ancestors gave us - an old silver ingot from last year, weighing less than two taels!"

  "What?" Madame Wang was shocked and immediately her face turned red with anger: "This old thing"

  Xue's aunt heard Wang Furen scolding like this, afraid of being overheard, and quickly covered Wang Furen's mouth: "My dear sister, what kind of place is this? You dare to speak to your mother-in-law like that, be careful not to let others hear."

  "What's there to be afraid of? I've endured all these years. For the sake of this family, I've worried myself to death. What did I get in return? Now, all I want is to find a decent daughter-in-law, but she has to make it difficult for me with her countless excuses. You haven't seen that sickly girl, how her mother has spoiled her into being so arrogant and ungrateful. Just seeing her makes my heart troubled. And Baoyu is also an idiot, always revolving around her every day. Now, just when things had finally calmed down for a few days, I receive news that they want to move the whole family here."

  Xue Aunt curiously asked: "Didn't you say that the Lin family only had an additional young master, how come it's a whole family now?"

  Lady Wang's face turned red with rage as she thought of this, "And they say there are still some distant relatives of the Lin family, a niece and nephew of Master Lin. Bah! What shameless things! What eighth-degree relatives, also relying on our Jia family to support them!"

  "Sister is annoyed, what's the point of this? Isn't it up to you in this Jia household? Later on, just spread some rumors and your family's servants will naturally talk about it. Isn't the young master of the Lin family coming to the capital for the imperial examination? I don't believe he has such a thick skin that he'll continue to stay after being talked about!"

  Madam Wang's eyes lit up as soon as she heard this.

  At that time, Bao Yatou was praised by everyone, while Lin's family's sickly daughter was gossiped about. Who do you think the old lady would choose?

  PS: A new week has begun, Jinghe is working hard to update, these two chapters Daiyu didn't appear, ^_^ don't worry, she'll be here tomorrow!!! Thanks to those who rewarded Jinghe, Barly, Miao Xiao Ma, Bookfriend 1103131111, Mowa, Jinghe wants to thank you every day, everyone please don't mind my nagging!