Chapter 46: Baochai's Heart is High and Wants to Climb a New Branch

  Aunt Xue said to Baochai, "How can the Lin family have so little? Just now I heard your aunt mention that the Lin family should be quite well-off?"

  Baochai was also puzzled in her heart, wondering if the Lin siblings really didn't plan to stay at Rongguo House for long. She asked Ying'er: "You said you could only take a look outside the courtyard gate, but did you run into someone?"

  "Returning to the young lady, the western wing of the courtyard was bustling with people coming and going. It's not far from the back door, but it's unlikely to avoid being seen. Moreover, I didn't see anyone familiar there. Later, a steward from the Lin household asked me what I was doing, so I told him according to your instructions and also gave him the swallow's nest. He said that the courtyard is in disarray and Miss Lin is still paying respects to the elderly lady, so he didn't invite me in. I waited for a while but couldn't gather any information, so I returned."

  Baochai originally thought that the current situation in Xizhuangyuan was chaotic, and she might be able to gather some information. However, it turned out that Lin's family was like an iron bucket, not leaking a single drop of water. She waved her hand and said to Ying'er: "Alright, you go to the front yard to play with Baoyu's sister, ask her what she's doing at home? It's been a long time since she came to our Li Xiangyuan, if she has free time, come sit with us."

  Ying'er responded with a "yes" and turned around to go into the old lady's room.

  Aunt Xue sighed, "Tell me, I thought one Madame Wang was our obstacle, now there's Lin Daiyu. Your affair with Baoyu seems to have another twist."

  "Mother, don't be in such a hurry, do you really want your daughter to get married so soon? Not to mention that Baoyu is still just a child, even if he does inherit the Rongguo Mansion in the future, can't my daughter find a good husband besides him?" Xue Baochai thought herself to be highly educated and knowledgeable, no less than any of the girls from the Jia family, and her own marriage would certainly be perfect.

  Xue's mother looked at her daughter's proud and pretty face, and advised: "You came out of my belly, don't I know you? You must have heard your aunt's words today and had thoughts about the young master of the Lin family. Mother advises you that the Lin family is a certain kind of family, and the Jia family is another kind of family! You should distinguish between them clearly!"

  Xue Baochai thought that her little thoughts were unknown to anyone, but now that her mother has said it out loud, she's a bit annoyed. "What does Mother mean? I don't understand. Lin Daiyu has come to the Jia household and will be a relative in the future, so is it wrong for me to give her a box of swallow's nest? I know you like Baoyu, but he spends his days fooling around with the maids or playing with his sisters - what kind of person is that? When Uncle says he should study, he gets a headache. What kind of future can someone like that have? How can we entrust our daughter's lifelong happiness to him?"

  "So you're excited just because someone is from Suzhou and has a good reputation?" Aunt Xue said bluntly, "If he really could become the top scholar, then he might be worthy of you. But if he's just a useless pretty face, what's the point? Do you want to spend your whole life with a poor scholar? Can you bear it?"

  "What's wrong with being a poor scholar? Didn't you hear Auntie say that they bought the former residence of the Minister of Rites' family? Tomorrow, I'll get Brother to make some inquiries and we'll know what kind of family the Lins are! Besides, this is also a way out, can't just hang ourselves on Bao Yu's tree, can we?"

  Xue's mother was shaken by her daughter's words, and in fact, she wasn't very satisfied with Jia Baoyu either. He was already fourteen or fifteen years old, but he still spent his days surrounded by girls, with a bunch of young maidservants waiting on him hand and foot, without any boldness or decisiveness. The old lady spoiled him like a treasure, afraid that he might get hurt, and there was also a personal maid like Qiangbin who was always by his side, fearing that the two would become too close and cause trouble in the household in the future.

  Xue's aunt thought of these, her head hurt badly. She had to say: "Forget it, let's see the situation and talk about it tomorrow when we go to Old Lady's place. We shouldn't be like your aunt, we should be more polite to Lin girl."

  In the Li Xiang Yuan, the mother and daughter were worrying about their future marriage, while at Grandma Jia's place, the sisters were fussing over Daiyu until dinner time.

  Daiyu had wanted to go back to the west wing to see Rong Zhi and Xue Ke, so that Grandmother Jia could rest a bit. But the old lady held onto Daiyu's hand and wouldn't let her leave, saying: "In the past you also used to have meals at your maternal grandmother's place, how is it that as soon as you come back you don't want to keep this old lady company?"

  Daiyu hastily said: "It's not that I, Daiyu, don't want to accompany the old ancestor, but the backyard is busy right now and I haven't had a chance to go take a look. Rong and Ze have just arrived too, and I'm afraid the maids won't be able to take care of them. Ancestor, from now on I'll be living here, so whenever you want to see me, you can see me anytime. Today you're tired after a long day, let Yuanyang serve you dinner, don't worry about us making a fuss, just rest well."

  Daiyu's words warmed Grandmother Jia's heart, and she thought to herself that her own granddaughter was indeed the most considerate. She summoned Lin's housekeeper and instructed her that from now on, all food and drink in the West Wing must be carefully prepared, without any sloppiness, and that if anyone failed to properly attend to Lin's siblings, they would not be spared.

  Lin Zhi Xiao's Nuo Nuo agreed, but what she thought in her heart, others couldn't know. In the Jia Mansion, there were many people who were two-faced and selfishly opportunistic.

  Daiyu and Xiangyun got up with several old women and went to the west wing.

  At this time, the sun had already set, and the ground was covered with residual light. Daiyu walked halfway when she suddenly thought of something and said to Xiangyun: "Tomorrow morning, you can go home and take a look. It's been almost half a year since you've seen your parents, I'm sure they've received news and are waiting at home!"

  Zi Juan was delighted in her heart, but still refused to say: "Our courtyard is now busy, the key to the girl's trunk is here with me. If I go home tomorrow or look for something, it won't be convenient."

  Daiyu smiled and said, "What's so difficult about that? Tonight you can take out the things you commonly use and lock up. If there's something urgent, just have the young servants go to your house to fetch it for you."

  Zi Juan thought for a moment, and the idea of going home finally triumphed over everything. Unconsciously, she wiped the copper key at her waist.

  When Daiyu arrived at Xikou House, everything in the house had been put away neatly and was spotless.

  This is the northwest corner of Rongguo Mansion, with a small gate leading directly to the back street, making it very convenient for anything. Daiyu was worried that her brother had come to Jiafu and was restricted in everything, and even going out was not convenient. If she delayed important matters because of herself, then she would be guilty. Fortunately, this west wing is self-contained, and Lin's family enters and exits through the small gate on the street. Zhiyuan was arranged in the front yard, Daiyu lived in the back yard, and there was a corner door at the southeast corner, which led to the alleyway. After exiting the alleyway and walking forward for a short while, it would be Jiamu's main courtyard, where the newly built grand hall is located, making it very convenient to go and pay respects every day.

  This house has been uninhabited for a long time and is somewhat dilapidated. Compared to Lixiangyuan, it's bigger, but still not as good.

  Daiyu sighed and said that her brother was right, this place was not their permanent residence after all. Although she missed her grandmother dearly, it would be better to move out sooner rather than later.

  The maids in the courtyard were carefully sweeping, and as soon as they saw their young mistress return, they hurried forward to welcome her.

  Daiyu brought all the maids by her side back to Rongguo House this time, so she didn't need Grandmother Jia to assign any little maids to do chores for her. She also asked Xiangshan and others if they were willing to come, if they came, they would have to do some physical labor, sweeping the house every day, and could no longer be like in Suzhou, with the wives of the lower officials doing the cleaning; if they were not willing to come, they would stay in the old mansion of the Duke of East Ping, and move over together when the new house of the Lin family was finished.

  Xiangshan and several others were all strong-willed, everyone said they wanted to follow Daiyu, not afraid of hardship, only hoping that the young lady would not abandon them.

  So when Daiyu saw these little maids, each of their faces was like a flower cat, holding basins, sprinkling water, sweeping the floor, and busy non-stop.

  "Everyone has worked hard today, tomorrow I'll ask the housekeeper to go to the wine house and order some dishes back, it's a reward for all of you!"

  Xiang Xiang and others heard Dai Yu's words, their faces broke into smiles. Bi Die came out of the house to greet them, saw everyone's appearance, smiled and said: "After finishing sweeping, go wash your face, I've already asked the servant to serve you food, hurry up and eat, we'll come to attend to the young lady here." After speaking, she went forward again to support Dai Yu. "Young lady, the second master of this house has called the young master away, let the young lady and the young masters and misses have their meal by themselves, he will come over later."

  Daiyu got up and walked inside, this courtyard had three main rooms and two wing rooms on each side, with three rooms in the east and west wings. On the south side, apart from the corner gate leading to Grandmother Jia's place, there were four smaller rooms that weren't too big, which was enough for all the maidservants to live in. The courtyard was spacious, with pomegranate trees, osmanthus, jasmine, and rhododendron planted in the garden. In front of the steps, there were also pots of sweet-scented flowers like honeysuckle, peony, morning glory, and broad beans. Under the eaves, parrots and birds hung from unknown places. Daiyu praised Bihui and others, "You've really worked hard, after a whole day's fuss, you've finally tidied up into some sort of order."

  "We slaves can't live up to the young lady's praise, we don't have many things, it's not hard to pack up, just wipe off the dust and change our curtains and bedding."

  Daiyu paused for a moment and asked, "Didn't they prepare these things inside the mansion?"

  Bi Die quickly said to herself that she had misspoken, as her own daughter was the most sensitive. She hastily added: "It's already been sent over, and the person who came seemed to say it was the second wife of the mansion, Ping'er, with several neat and tidy little maids carrying new bedding, but only because I and Yan Rong thought that you were used to your own, so we first laid out the ones brought from home for you."

  Daiyu nodded, Bihe was new here and could mention Ping'er's name, it seemed that the second sister-in-law had indeed sent someone, and she felt slightly relieved in her heart.

  She didn't know that when Ping'er came, she only brought the bedding for the four young masters of the Lin family, and none of the maidservants' were prepared. Bi Tie and Chun Lian were furious, staring with wide eyes. Ping'er had only followed Feng Jie's orders, knowing that they would be resentful, so she didn't dare to linger, dropping off the things and running away. Yan Rong was older after all, fearing that if the young lady found out, it wouldn't be good for her, so she went to Zhi Yuan's place to find the steward Han Sheng, asking him to quickly go to the old residence of the East Ping Hou Mansion to bring back everyone's original bedding, lest they really had nothing to sleep on at night.

  PS: The editor and Xinghe discussed and decided to adjust the original 30,000-word budget to 60,000 words, so the pressure is still great. This Sunday, "Hong Lou Ye Hua" will be heavily recommended on the homepage, so we two discussed and decided that this Sunday will be a big explosion! Three updates!!! Xinghe has been desperately accumulating articles for the past two days! Hope to bring everyone a good show~~~ But don't worry, quality won't be neglected!

  Today I want to thank Chieh-g, Yi Shenglian, the law student, Ye Huang, JP's rice, Zi Teng Niu Niu, Du She and Barly for their rewards!

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