Chapter 49 Lin Daiyu has feelings about worldly emotions (second update)

  Night falls, and the West Wing is quiet. Occasionally, a maid who comes out to patrol at night also lifts her feet lightly, afraid of waking up the sleeping people.

  The fragrance floated in the main room, and the clock ticked away. Xiangshan was young and had gone to bed early after a busy day, snoring softly. Yan Rong returned from her aunt's place after instructing for a while, saw Daiyu already asleep before blowing out the light, then retreated to the outer chamber's flower hall to rest on the pear blossom couch.

  Daiyu seemed to be sleeping soundly, but in fact she had not been asleep at all.

  She lay there thinking about what had happened over the past few days, from Jiangnan to Beijing, from the East Pinghou Mansion to the Rongguo Mansion. In a daze, it seemed like her father had left her for a long time. The cold winter was over and early summer was approaching. Next year she would be fifteen years old and also at the age of pinning up her hair. Since these days, Mother Jia heard that there was an underage young master in the Jia Mansion who always played with the girls in the boudoir, so from time to time, she whispered about the importance of preventing relationships between men and women in her ear. Daiyu's thoughts were very keen, she guessed that this must be related to her brother.

  She and Bao Yu grew up together, although they were separated for half a year, their feelings remained good. Since coming to the capital, her grandmother doted on her, her sisters accompanied her, and with Bao Yu by her side often advising her, Dai Yu didn't feel too miserable. Later, when her father fell ill, she rushed back to Yangzhou, Bao Yu was reluctant to part with her, Dai Yu felt even more grateful towards him, at least there was still someone who cared about her.

  Daiyu had not seen many men, apart from her father. At that time, she was only familiar with a few of the uncles and cousins in the Jia household. The likes of Xiangyun's brothers were not people Daiyu looked down on, but they really weren't capable of achieving great things. As young masters of wealthy families, most of them relied on their ancestors' reputation to get by. However, Baoyu was different. He was young and handsome, and he treated others with kindness and consideration. Although Grandmother Jia was fond of her, she couldn't always be by her side. Her sisters all had their own worries, but only Baoyu showed concern for her well-being. How could the young Daiyu not be moved?

  Only after returning to Jiangnan and meeting Zhiyuan did Daiyu realize that there were indeed such men in the world.

  In addition to Granny Liu's careful guidance, Daiyu gradually began to understand that her feelings for Baoyu might be more gratitude than love. When she was lonely and suddenly had someone who cared about her, it was natural to mistake it for romance.

  After she understood, Daiyu looked at Baoyu again and unknowingly lost that initial infatuation.

  Daiyu gradually fell into a deep sleep, while in the house on the other side, Zhiyan was reading by lamplight.

  Xiang Xuan yawned, it was already the third time he had urged him, but Master was still reading. For more than a month since then, the family has been busy with the matter of going to Beijing, and now it can be said that everything is settled down. Xiang Xuan only hoped that Master could read books at ease and pass the imperial examination as soon as possible.

  "Grandfather, it's already the third watch of the night, why not get some rest?" Xiangxuan said as she used a pair of scissors to trim the wick of the lamp.

  Zhiyuan put down his pen and carefully checked the draft in his hand again before smiling at Xiangxun and saying, "Didn't I tell you to go to sleep? Why are you still following me and suffering? By the way, have Miss and Young Master/Young Lady gone to bed?"

  Xiang Xuan saw Zhi Yuan stop writing, and hastily stepped forward to tidy up the desk. "My goodness, what time is it? How can the girls not be resting yet? You don't know how to take care of your body, and you're still working so hard!"

  Zhiyuan rubbed his temples and habitually glanced at the clock on the left side of the desk, but suddenly realized that this was no longer the old house in Suzhou. What was there?!

  Xiang Xuan's thoughts were meticulous, seeing Master looking towards the left side of the table, he knew he wanted to see the time, so he quickly took out a Western pocket watch from his bosom, opened the cover and showed it to Zhiyuan, the pointer was exactly at 11.

  Zhiyuan said: "So it's this time already, no wonder I'm hungry. Xiangxun, go take a look and see if there are any snacks to bring over and fill me up first."

  Xiang Xuan listened and turned to leave, not long after, a large celadon bowl was brought in from outside, "I knew the master would be hungry, I cooked noodles earlier and left them cool, waiting for the master to get hungry, now stir-fry, try some!"

  This dish is refreshing and delicious, with a special addition of mushrooms and scallions that make the aroma irresistible. Zhiyuan savored each bite, asking "Is there a place in our courtyard where we can start a fire?"

  "At the time, I was afraid that it would be inconvenient in this mansion, so we brought a stove. In the afternoon, Manager Han had someone build a simple cooking platform in the small house at the southeast corner to boil water and make some small snacks for Master and Miss."

  Zhiyuan nodded, "You've thought this through. Although we live here, we rarely interact with the people in the mansion, so don't easily leave the courtyard. The second lady of the Jia family doesn't get along with our family, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for us in the future. First and foremost is the food in the kitchen. Xianglian, you check the three meals sent by the mansion every day. If the food is not good, quickly ask Hanzheng to buy some outside. Absolutely do not let the girls suffer. I'm afraid I'll be going out frequently these days, so take care of the girls and cousin!"

  Xiang Xian nodded in agreement, but in her heart she didn't believe it: "Old master, could a lady with a noble title do such a despicable thing? If it gets out, the Jia family will be humiliated!"

  "You're really foolish, this person's heart is the hardest to understand. Madame Wang looks like a devout Buddhist, but I think she's done many wrong things and is just afraid of retribution. She's now the most powerful person in this household, although she doesn't manage the household, the second mistress of the Jia family only listens to her words. If rumors about Miss Lin spread within the mansion, and they start being stingy with our food, the Lin family will really lose face in the future, and everyone will be able to bully us! You must personally follow Miss Lin to Old Madame's place tomorrow, and in front of Old Madame Jia, hand over the silver bills we've prepared to Mistress Xue, saying it's for our family's annual expenses. Remember, do it in front of everyone."

  Xiang Xuan watched as Old Master finished the bowl of noodles, then helped him wash his face. Since they didn't use maids to keep watch at night here, after tidying up everything, Xiang Xuan returned to her own room.

  The next morning, the people in Xikuaiguan started to get busy. Although Xikuaiguan looked quite big, it was not convenient for the maids and young servants to live there, so Zhiyuan kept only Hanying and Liu'an by his side and rented a small courtyard in the back alley of Jiafu for the other young servants to live in. Fortunately, this was just a temporary solution, and once the house in Jingzhong was renovated, they could move out.

  Daiyu didn't fall asleep until late last night and early this morning she heard footsteps outside.

  "What time is it?" Daiyu asked without getting up, asking towards Yanyu outside.

  Yinglian personally brought in the water for washing her face, and upon hearing Daiyu ask, hastily said: "Miss has woken up? It's already the first watch of the morning, Miss should lie down for a while longer?"

  Daiyu supported herself on the bedhead and sat up: "Never mind, there's still a lot to be done today!"

  Daiyu washed her face with warm water and rinsed her mouth. Just then, Xiangyun came in and saw that Yujie was combing the young lady's hair. She slowed down her pace and smiled to cover it up, saying: "I thought the young lady was still asleep." And she said to Yujie: "Let me do the combing for the young lady instead!"

  Yan Rong hadn't even had a chance to speak, when Daiyu waved her hand: "You should go home today, and don't worry about things here. Go have a good time with your parents. Later I'll get Xianglian to follow you; if you can't come back tonight, we can talk about it again tomorrow morning. Just make sure to take care of yourself at home. Bring lots of things with you - yesterday I already asked Brother to prepare a carriage for you, so just go to the front courtyard later and if there's anything missing, ask Han Guan Shi."

  Purple Cuckoo saw that the young lady was considerate of herself everywhere, and no longer mentioned the matter of combing her hair. She then took a string of keys from her collar and handed them over to Daiyu with respect, "Miss, this is the key to the box. I'm afraid that today there are important things to take out, it's better to put them here for safekeeping."

  Daiyu was standing in front of the mirror, and upon hearing Xiangyun's words, she glanced at the bunch of keys again, a hint of a smile on her face. She didn't take them, but merely said: "If that's the case, just put it on the table for now, and remind me when you come back tonight!"

  Yinglian seemed to have not heard the conversation between the two, and was focused on dressing Daiyu's hair, her eyes fixed straight ahead, without even glancing at the copper key on the table.

  Zi Juan's heart was slightly delighted, she had thought that the young lady would hand over the key to Yan Rong for safekeeping, but it didn't turn out that way. Wasn't this saying that apart from herself, the young lady didn't trust anyone else?

  Zi Juan thought to herself, and a smile spread across her face. She called Xiaolian and brought a large bundle of things with her to the front yard. Zhiyuan's servant Liu An hailed an ordinary carriage, and two maidservants who were dressed neatly followed Zi Juan.

  Daiyu dressed neatly and went to see Xueqi, Chunxian was combing the little maid's hair, one small bun on each side, very delicate.

  "Sister, good morning." Xue Qi saw Dai Yu's figure in the mirror, turned around with a smile, her eyes curved into crescent shapes, set off by her vigorous spirit, making her originally ordinary face also have several points of brightness.

  Spring Fragrance was just giving her a pearl hairpin, who knew Xue Qi would turn around and look at Dai Yu, accidentally messing up the small bun that had just been combed, "My good young lady, don't move, let's fix your hair before we go play!" As she spoke, she gently turned Xue Qi's little head back.

  Daiyu smiled and walked forward, taking the wooden comb from Chunxian's hand. "Let me do it instead, you go take a look if Young Master Bao has woken up or not?"

  Xue Qi watched with relish as Dai Yu combed her hair, her little feet swaying back and forth, her waist straight and upright. Her big eyes gazed at her sister in the mirror.

  "Xue Qi, is it pretty?" Daiyu asked with a smile, half squatting beside the chair.

  Xue Qi nodded heavily, "Mm, beautiful!" Xue Qi stretched out her small hand to pull Dai Yu, and Dai Yu took hold of it smoothly, warm and gentle.

  "Sister!" A childish voice shouted from outside, then Rong Ze rushed in like a small firecracker, dashing towards Dai Yu and Xue Qi.

  Xue Qi seemed to be frightened by something and quickly withdrew her hand, obediently standing up and standing aside.

  Daiyu's palm suddenly felt empty and hollow

  PS: The second update is coming soon~~~~ Please collect and vote for me!

  Recommend "The Strategy of Raising a Daughter" in March Jiangnan, although there are only 18 chapters, but it's written very well! Everyone can go and take a look after fattening up O(∩_∩O~~~

  Editor said today is heavily recommended on the homepage, don't know why it still hasn't appeared, but Jinghe has promised everyone that there will be three updates!

  Thank you Shallow Fall's smile, Zi Teng Niu Niu, Book friend 100429181609277, Sleepy mouse, biooil2010 and Shun Shun 666, thank you for your update votes, pink votes~~~ Xing He's third update is at 10 o'clock!