Chapter 47: Xian Surprises People with a Night Visit to the Western Crosswise Courtyard (Part 1) Seeking Collection

  As soon as Daiyu entered the house, she caught a whiff of the faint scent of roses. Since her health had improved, the smell of medicine was no longer commonly detected in the house; instead, seasonal flowers were often arranged inside, making the room look even more elegant.

  Rong Ze and Xue Qi were sitting properly in front of the red wooden round table waiting for dinner. When they saw Dai Yu come in, Rong Ze immediately clapped his hands excitedly and slid down from his chair. Chun Lai behind him had to follow closely with her eyes fixed on them. Dai Yu squatted down and asked: "Was Rong Ze well-behaved today?"

  Little Rong Ze nodded heavily with his small head: "Rong Ze is well-behaved". His soft little hands tightly grasped Dai Yu, and Dai Yu hugged him and sat back in the chair, stroking his little head, "Alright, let's eat. I'm sure Rong Ze and Xue Qi are starving too."

  On the table were three meat dishes and three vegetarian dishes, not any expensive or rare food, but they tasted great, especially that dish of braised lotus root, I don't know where the chef got fresh lotus roots from at this time.

  Spring Bud sat on a small stool feeding Rong Ze, perhaps she was hungry today, and ate a whole small bowl of duck congee. Even Xue Qi ate more than half a bowl of rice. Dai Yu saw that the two little ones had such good appetites, and was delighted, also eating two more mouthfuls than usual.

  "Miss is really in a good mood today," said Zi Juan with a smile, "if she could be like this every day, the young master would be overjoyed."

  Lin Daiyu's face turned red, she knew that Zhiyuan was busy, but he always made time to have meals with her, just to encourage her to eat more. She coughed slightly and said: "Alright, you all go eat too, these dishes don't need to be returned to the kitchen, everyone can just make do." The rules of the Jia household were strict, if the masters didn't finish their food, it had to be sent back to the main kitchen, but Old Lady Jia often gave leftover food to Yuanyang and other senior maids. The things that could be sent back to the kitchen were few. The food for servants and masters was naturally different, senior maids only got one meat dish and two vegetable dishes. When Lin Daiyu was at the Lin household, she managed the household chores and told the kitchen staff to prepare extra dishes for the servants, but now that she had arrived at the Jia household, everything had to be changed.

  "Miss has returned late," Chun Lai smiled and said, "the people from the Jia mansion had already sent over our meals earlier, now only Zi Juan sister hasn't eaten yet."

  Daiyu is not such a particular person, and she trusts Xianger more, so after hearing Chunlai's words, she stood up and pressed Xianger into her own seat, saying: "That's just right, you can eat here, and it will save you from making a fuss when you get back to your room."

  Zi Juan urged him to eat a bit more and asked Chun Lai to sit with him, then hastily ate two mouthfuls.

  Daiyu took Xueqi to her room, the main house had three rooms, one was a flower hall used for receiving guests, one was given to Xueqi, and one Daiyu lived in herself.

  Mrs. Wang, although she didn't like Daiyu, also didn't dare to openly cause trouble, and reluctantly ordered people to clean up the place, sweeping away the dust on the beams, with no antiques or paintings, only the simplest furniture. When Yurong and others first entered, they thought they had entered a snow cave.

  To say that the maid of Lin's family is really capable, Yan Rong directed for a whole afternoon, and three rooms were almost cleaned up. The "Willow Duck Lotus Goose Picture" by Huizong, the pink-glazed nine-peach-patterned Tianqiuping vase, and the golden silk Wannian Ru Yi were all placed in the room, which suddenly looked very tasteful. However, Yan Rong was careful to leave some things untouched, as she didn't know how the people of Jia's family would react, so those more valuable items remained still in their boxes, only a few eye-catching but immovable objects were displayed.

  Daiyu saw that Xue Ke's house was also steady and strong, and then asked Yan Rong: "Who followed the young lady?"

  "Tonight, Chunxian and Xianghui are on duty to keep watch. I'm going to Qie's place with Xiangshan. I think Zi Juan will definitely come home to take a look, so let her tidy up the room tonight."

  Daiyu nodded in satisfaction, she liked talking to such intelligent people. It was no wonder that Yan Rong had won her brother's trust, how could such a clever maid not win the favor of her master?

  Daiyu instructed Yan Rong to safely escort Rong Zhe to the front courtyard, and then she took a bath and was preparing for bed. Just as she did so, a woman's voice could be heard from outside. Daiyu listened carefully and thought it sounded familiar, guessing that it might be someone from the Jia household, fearing that Old Lady Jia had come with some business, so she called out to Xiang Shan to go see what was going on.

  Before long, Zi Juan and Xiang Shan led a maid in.

  This person was slender and tall, with a long face, wearing a silver-red jacket, a green satin waistcoat, and a white silk pleated skirt. It wasn't someone else, but the first favorite person in Baoyu's room - Hua Xiren.

  Xiangling didn't speak but smiled first, and upon seeing Daiyu, she hastily came up to kowtow and pay her respects: "Miss Lin"

  Daiyu knew that this maid was different from others, although not born in the house, but among the maids in the Jia mansion, she had some dignity, and even Zijuan by her side might not be able to compare with her. Daiyu put on a small flower-patterned outer garment, smiled and said to Xiangyun: "It's so late, thank you for coming to see me, Zijuan, go make tea for Xiangyun."

  "I don't dare to trouble Sister Xiangyun." Zaiyan stopped Xiangyun, who was about to go out, and turned her head to say to Daiyu: "It's our family's young master, asking me to come see if the young lady is settled in well? If there's anything lacking, just tell him, and he'll have someone send it over tomorrow. Bao Yu originally wanted to come himself, but with all these lanterns and candles, we're afraid that Er Ye will trip and cause another mishap."

  Daiyu listened, her mouth corners slightly raised, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Tell Baoyu thank you for me, I don't lack anything here, living is good, tell him not to worry. Now that I live far away, it's not as convenient to meet like when we were in the green silk pavilion. Just tell Baoyu to focus on studying well and stop worrying about my affairs."

  Qingwen's eyes widened in surprise, "Is this still Lin Daiyu? She used to be so close to Baoyu, but now she says such things, as if she wants to clarify her relationship with him." Qingwen unconsciously looked Lin Daiyu up and down, not realizing that her behavior was inappropriate. After a while, she smiled and said, "It's been half a year since we last met, Miss, you seem like a different person now. I remember when you first arrived, your complexion wasn't as good as it is now."

  Zi Juan listened on one side, feeling anxious in her heart. This person was getting more and more confused - how could he speak like this? The young lady had just lost her father, how could she be in good spirits? Even if it were true, he shouldn't speak so carelessly!

  Daiyu didn't bother to respond, what's the point of talking to a maid like that. She used to get along with Xiangyun when they first met, but over the past two years, people have changed and so have their hearts, it seems being just a simple maid is no longer enough for Xiangyun. Daiyu thought of Zhiyuan Gege and then Bao Yu, comparing the two, their strengths and weaknesses became apparent.

  Baoyu always says that girls shouldn't talk about worldly affairs, but if it were in the past, Daiyu would have agreed. However, now that the Lin family has declined, as a member of the Lin family, her greatest wish is to restore the glory of the Lin family. Although she has become more worldly, it's also an unavoidable move. Now, she has placed all her hopes on her brother, so naturally, she doesn't dare agree with Baoyu's views anymore.

  "I'm tired and won't keep you company, call Xiangyun to chat with you. Tomorrow she's going home, also please help her pack up." Daiyu said a few words to send off the guest.

  Qingwen only then felt that her previous words were somewhat rash and regretted not being more cautious. She wanted to explain herself, but Daiyu had already turned around and Zijuan was pulling her out of the main room with all her might.

  Zi Juan's room was in the east wing, first room. She and Yan Rong shared a room, but today Yan Rong was attending to the young lady, so there was only Zi Juan alone in the room.

  Zi Juan hastily pulled Zhai Ru into her own room, complaining: "You, your words are getting more and more incautious, this is offending the young lady, if our young master were here just now, you wouldn't have a good outcome"

  Qin Zhong's face turned bright red as she defended herself, "I was just trying to flatter Lin Daiyu a bit, how could I have thought of so much? Good Qiangwei, please help me put in a good word for me with the young lady tomorrow."

  Purple Cuckoo had Sai Ren sit at the head of her bed, called a small maid to bring hot water, and brewed a cup of hot tea for her: "Here, drink. The young lady rewarded me with Junshan Yinzhen, I didn't dare to drink it, but now that you're here, I'll try it for the first time."

  Qingwen carefully smelled the fragrant tea in her hand, nodded and said: "Lin's daughter is really good to you. The other day, the second lady gave Bao Yu a package of this tea, and he drank it very carefully." Qingwen looked around the room again, which was quite large. On both sides were two beds with fragrant mattresses, and in the middle was a large desk with various kinds of fresh flowers on it. By Zijuan's bed were several unopened trunks, probably containing clothes. Qingwen glanced at the arrangement opposite her, where the bed had a water-ink blue flower-patterned canopy, with crimson tassel pendants hanging down from both sides.

  Qingwen pouted and asked Zi Juan, who was busy opening a trunk: "Whose bed is that? Xueyan's?"

  Zi Juan didn't even lift her head, "No, it's the young master who gave a big servant girl to the young lady, Yan Rong sister is older than me by one year, she was keeping watch at the young lady's place tonight."

  A flash of envy darted across Xiren's eyes, "This is indeed a luxurious setting, the quilt used must be made of Suzhou satin, even in our house, probably only Baoyu uses such fine things."

  Zijuan found the few pieces of satin she had brought for her mother and stood up, smiling: "What are you envying? In the future, Bao Yu's will be yours too. Our sister Yurong is skilled with her hands, excellent at needlework, and most of Miss Lin's current clothes were made by her. Master Bao Yu is delighted and often rewards her with good fabrics when he has nothing to do. This Su satin is considered good in our capital city, but it's not much in Suzhou. Here, Zijuan handed the satin to Shaoren to look at: "I bought this in Suzhou, planning to give it to my mother. Since you're here, pick one out first and take it back to make a jacket."

  Qingwen didn't stand on ceremony either, and compared the four or five pieces of fabric in her hand, smiling as she said to Zijuan: "It's really good stuff, so I won't be polite." After picking for half a day, she finally chose a piece of peach red. To say that Zijuan had brought some fabrics with somewhat dark colors for her mother, this one piece of peach red was just intended for her own younger sister, and Qingwen had taken a liking to it, so she didn't say anything, but after a while, she would have to add the ones she had left behind.

  Qingwen pulled Zijuan to sit beside her and asked, "You've been in Jiangnan for so long, everyone misses you terribly. When Minggui returns home, I'll discuss with Yuanyang and the others to throw a welcome party for you. We'll invite Lin Daiyu too, won't that be fun?"

  "Alas, I'm too busy," sighed Ziqing. "There's a lot to do at home and the young lady can't be left unattended either. Besides, I'm also afraid that our young master might not be pleased."

  PS: Tomorrow's homepage will have a heavy recommendation, so I'll be updating three times, and the manuscript has already been written, with updates at dawn, noon, and night.

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