Chapter 59: Visiting the Princess's Mansion and Witnessing the Secret of a Wealthy Family (Part 1) Red Chamber Night Talk Green Bean

  Daiyu supported by Nurse Li, stepped into the mansion of Princess Long, her heart filled with anxiety.

  "Don't worry, young lady. Although the princess looks stern, she has a very kind heart and never makes things difficult for her juniors. Just put your mind at ease." Madam Wang instructed Daiyu on the proper etiquette while softly comforting her.

  This Rongguo Mansion was different from other places: Grandmother Jia liked lively scenes, so the courtyard often heard the laughter of young maidservants. The Duke of Ningguo had no concubines besides his wife, so there was an extra warmth in this family compared to others. When Daiyu entered this luxurious mansion, she felt that everyone was holding their breath and hurrying along, lowering their heads to work, not daring to be the slightest bit slow.

  It is said that from the words and deeds of a slave, one can see the way of doing things in the master's house. What kind of person is Princess Chang after all?

  An old woman in her fifties came forward, and as soon as she saw Yan, her eyes turned red, and she grabbed Yan's hand, "Old sister, we finally met!"

  Daiyu found that Lian's expression was also agitated, no longer calm and composed as before.

  "Gu sister" Yan Niangniang released Daiyu, her voice choked. Daiyu guessed that Gu Niangniang was also a palace maid who came out to accompany the princess, and hearing Yan Niangniang call her "sister", she might be a fellow servant from back then.

  As expected, Granny Wang suppressed her excitement and apologetically said to Daiyu: "I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself in front of you, young lady. This is my former colleague from the palace, surnamed Guan. You can just call her Granny Guan. She's currently working as the housekeeper of the inner courtyard of the Long Princess's residence."

  Yao's wife and Daiyu exchanged greetings, leading the crowd inside while whispering: "The prince knew that Mr. Lin and Miss Lin were coming today, so he had the young master and the princess wait at home early on. The princess hasn't been feeling well for the past two days, she has a cough, and there's some medicinal smell in the house, please don't mind it, Miss Lin."

  She entered the upper house of Princess Long, Daiyu quietly sniffed and smelled a faint scent of bitterness in the air, but she could be sure that it was not some kind of medicine she usually took. Daiyu thought this was just a small episode and didn't pay much attention to it. A young lady came out from the inner room, wearing a light yellow gauze shirt with scattered flowers, a large red pomegranate skirt, her shoulders were as slender as her waist, her skin was as smooth as jade and her spirit was as elegant as orchids. Daiyu thought to herself, what an extraordinary beauty, but she didn't know if this was the princess that the nanny had mentioned.

  This beauty moved with small steps and walked to the front of Daiyu and others, Gu's mother and Yan's mother hurriedly lost their manners and said: "Pay respects to the young lady."

  The princess smiled and helped up Madame Yu, "Mother has been thinking of you early in the morning, it's finally arrived. Is this Miss Lin?" She gently held Daiyu's hand, her eyes warm and subtle, without that kind of probing heat. The princess was two years older than Daiyu, and this year was just a good age of 28, and she was also gentle, the two had seen each other courtesy, holding hands with Daiyu into the flower hall.

  The Grand Princess's face was somewhat pale, and although there were seven or eight maids serving her, not a sound could be heard. Daiyu didn't dare look into the princess's eyes, but she already felt a chill run down her spine, and the princess's majesty was a thousand times more intimidating than that of the Seventh Princess.

  "Please sit down, Lin Gongzhu." The Empress Dowager's breathing was steady and didn't seem like she was ill at all. "Old Seventh wrote me a letter, you two siblings are unfamiliar with this place, although I don't fully understand the rights and wrongs of this capital city, but protecting you two is still easy for me. From now on, if there's anything that happens, just come find me or your sister Huiyi. She's two years older than you, my body isn't very well, so it's mostly your sister who takes care of things in this estate."

  The elder princess asked about Daiyu's recent situation and, knowing that she had been frail since childhood, bestowed upon her some spiritual medicine to nourish her vitality.

  Just as a few people were talking, they heard a small quarrel outside. The Empress's brow furrowed and she sternly shouted: "Who is it? Don't you know that I am receiving guests?"

  The female official who was serving nearby hurried out to take a look and came back with a strange expression, whispering something in the princess's ear.

  "Tell them that I'm not feeling well, and we'll meet another day." The Empress Dowager said indifferently. Just as the female official was about to leave, she didn't expect the commotion outside to escalate further, a girl in all red rushed in, without saying a word, and knelt down in front of the Empress Dowager with a thud.

  Daiyu felt uneasy and thought it was a bad omen to encounter such an event while going out for a walk. She wanted to leave, but Princess Long hadn't spoken yet, so who dared to move?

  The girl in red cried out: "Please, Your Highness, have mercy and go see my father! Father... it's no use anymore!" The tears on her face were clearly visible, making her big eyes even more striking.

  The old lady stepped forward, exerting a clever force with her hands, and suddenly lifted the young girl up. She said coldly, "Second Miss, the prince has already said that the old master's illness is something that even the imperial hospital doctors are unable to cure, so it would be useless for the princess to go as well. Right now, there are guests in the mansion, please don't lose your manners."

  The girl in red saw that the princess was motionless and ignored her, so she knelt down in front of the princess. "Sister, no, Princess, please go see Father. You are also his flesh and blood. Father has fallen into a state of confusion, only mentioning the name of the palace owner. You can't ignore Father! Please don't transfer your hatred towards us mother and daughter to Father, he is innocent."

  Huaiyi County Master suddenly changed her gentle attitude towards Daiyu, and coldly sneered at the red-clad girl: "Don't say such pitiful words here. You people have done something shameless in the past, so don't blame us for not showing you a good face. This is the Princess's Mansion, not your Qu family's residence! Please leave!"

  Two robust women came forward and escorted the red-clad girl out. From start to finish, Princess Chang did not utter a single word.

  Mrs. Xue secretly gave Daiyu a signal with her eyes, indicating that she should not act rashly.

  The atmosphere in the flower hall was gloomy and a bit frightening. After a long time, Princess Chang finally spoke slowly: "Today, something went wrong at home, don't be scared, Lin girl. Hui Yi, take Lin girl to our garden for a walk, and have lunch with her. I still have some words to say to Yanyi."

  Daiyu followed the princess out, and behind her, she faintly heard the voice of the elder princess, "Guan Mama, go call the imperial physician to take a look over there."

  Huaiyi led Daiyu to her own courtyard, where the trees and bamboos were lush and green, and everything was fresh and vibrant. Daiyu liked it very much, and turned to Huaiyi, who looked a bit dazed, saying: "The young lady's place is really a secluded and beautiful spot, I'm afraid it would be hard to find such a paradise in the capital city."

  "Lin sister still calls me county master, from now on we'll just call each other sisters. Lin sister doesn't know, apart from my older brother, it's usually only these little maidservants who keep me company. Although there are a few sisters of similar age at the emperor uncle's place, but, Lin sister you know, in that palace, how many can be gotten along with? Not to mention I'm just a cousin sister, even among biological sisters, it's all about constant rivalry." Hui Yi said this and sighed deeply.

  Huī Yuè looked somewhat listless, and Dài Yù suddenly remembered the words of that red-clad girl: every family has its own unsolvable problems, even the imperial princess's residence was not at peace.

  "Your Ladyship, the steward of the front courtyard has come to request an audience."

  Huai-yü listened to the report of the maid, and had nothing to do but say to Tai-yü: "Sister Lin, please sit down for a while. Ch'i Hsiao-ch'uang is my brother's nurse, so it must be that my brother wants me for something. I'll go at once and come back." Huai-yü also left her own maid to keep Tai-yü company before she hastily went out.

  After waiting for about half a cup of tea, Huiwen still hadn't returned. The big maid's expression was clearly anxious and restless, frequently glancing at the Western-style clock on the case, answering with a sentence here and there.

  Daiyu said, "The county master has not returned for a long time, I'm afraid something has happened there. You are the one who can help sister, go and take a look quickly, don't delay our important matter."

  The maid happily responded with a "yes" and instructed four or five third-class maids who were serving tea and water to stand guard outside, leaving the quiet room to Daiyu and Xiangyun.

  A new week begins, Jinghe is about to start climbing the charts again. Last week was second on the click-through chart, hoping to continue working hard this week and at least not let Jinghe "whoosh" down suddenly ⊙﹏⊙b

  Thank you for the friendly support from DeathsBladelDxiii, LAVALIYA, biooil2010, HuHu0601, Chieh-g and ShunShun666 ^_^ , JingHe will continue to write more~~~)