The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 702 Tanchun’s Birthday ()

To the east of the Grand View Tower, the main hall of the Grand View Garden, there are about thirty or forty peach blossom trees planted on a slope near the Qinfang Gate.

Usually this place is relatively desolate, but this year the peach blossoms are in full bloom, so there are more footprints here.

This is especially true today.

Early in the morning, there was an endless stream of maids and wives setting up tables, chairs, benches, curtains, screens and other supplies.

"Hey, Miss Lin is here too."

Dressed in light green and walking like a weak willow in the wind, Daiyu came from the archway of the "Provincial Family Villa", making the servants passing by smile and greet her.

As she grew older, Tingting showed off her natural beauty. She just bowed slightly to indicate to them, and then focused her eyes on Sister Bao, who was sitting quietly in the white stone fence fishing.

"Why are you alone, where are they?"

Baochai turned back and gestured towards the hillside, "Listen, isn't that the one above?"

Daiyu stopped and concentrated, and she heard the voices of many people talking from above. The clearest voice occasionally came from above. Who else could it be if it wasn't from Xiangyun?

So he also smiled and said: "She is the most restless person. She came into my room before midnight, making people unable to sleep, and finally arrested Zhen Yatou.

Now I see that Sister Jing Ping'er has arranged these tricks here, but I don't know what she is going to do if she gets her wish. "

"If you knew that she and Bao Qin got up before dawn to pack up and prepare to go out, you would know that she had figured out your lazy temperament and left time for you.

I see, after the two of them went out in the morning, they probably ran all over the garden. They were afraid that anyone would forget that today is Tan Yatou's birthday and that today is the day when the poetry club opens. Baochai smiled.

Daiyu showed a look of ridicule in unison, and ordered the girls to bring stools and fishing gear to keep Baochai company.

The housekeeper's wife, who was in charge of setting up the "clubhouse" on the flat ground nearby, came up and asked Daiyu, "Has Miss Lin had breakfast yet? Miss Ping had a number of stoves and hearths built on the slope. Miss Yun and Master Bao came early. I saw them and the little maids preparing breakfast themselves.

There are pancakes, soup, and rice porridge... each one is made seriously. If Miss Lin is hungry, she might as well go up and have a taste. "

Baochai glanced at the steward's daughter-in-law, who smiled like a chrysanthemum, and secretly shook her head.

Once upon a time, when she had just entered the capital with her mother, and after showing off the Xue family's financial resources and generosity, the servants in the mansion were also very fawning to please her.

But in terms of degree, it is still far inferior to their attitude towards Daiyu at this time.

Obviously, in the eyes of these slaves, Daiyu is the most famous among all the girls in the house, and the most worthy of flattery.

Faced with the kindness of the wife in charge, Daiyu smiled and said, "Thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law, but I don't dare to eat what they cook."

Daiyu's words made everyone around her laugh.

Baochai also smiled. Just as he was about to say something with a smile, he suddenly heard a refreshing voice: "Sister Bao, Sister Lin, you are all here, but I am late today."

Baochai and Daiyu looked back and saw that it was Tanchun coming over with her maid.

Daiyu hurriedly stepped forward, took Tanchun's hand, and said with a smile: "It won't be too late, you are the birthday girl today, and you should be the last one to come. Don't you see that the theater troupe rehearses the show, and the good plays always come last."

While joking, he glanced at Tanchun, who was a little stunned at this glance.

Baochai next to him also looked at Tanchun with a strange look on his face.

Tanchun felt a little embarrassed by the two of them staring at her, and couldn't help but hold her forehead and said coquettishly, "What are you looking at? What's wrong with me?"

Tanchun was a little shy. She was sure that there was nothing wrong with her. After all, she had checked herself in the mirror repeatedly before going out.

Sure enough, Daiyu looked at her for a long time, then turned back to Baochai and said, "Sister Bao, what do you think?"

Baochai knew what she meant and sighed: "Three girls are usually vigorous and unconventional, but I didn't expect that when they dress up seriously, they turn out to be so beautiful, which really caught our attention."

Today's Tanchun was obviously dressed up specially.

A thick and soft black hair is tied behind her head, completely exposing her slender neck and duck-egg face.

The already handsome little face is also carefully decorated.

The excess hair is pulled back, leaving only the sideburns that fit naturally. The bangs on the forehead are hollow and combed neatly and naturally.

Under the smooth forehead, there are very thin eyebrows, which are as light as two blue smokes.

The beautiful black eyes and big peach blossom eyes look quite charming. Under the fair and pretty nose, there is a small cherry mouth, which is also unusually painted with light-colored kodan, making it look very rosy and attractive.

All in all, the pretty face of a young girl, dressed in such an absolutely exquisite and not at all frivolous manner, is as bright and pure as a flourishing white lotus.

Coupled with the slim shoulders and slim waist, and the slim and fit figure, it can’t help but make people admire:

Could it be that the essence of all the girls in the world is concentrated in this one woman?

No wonder even the rare and beautiful Sister Lin and the beautiful and fragrant Sister Bao couldn't help but feel strange when they saw them.

As the protagonist Tanchun was so praised by Baochai, it was obvious that the girl was overly shy and couldn't help stamping her feet and yelling: "What Sister Bao said, it seems that the little girl is usually so unkempt, and people usually dress up carefully. Just...just be a little more careful today."

As Tanchun spoke, she was afraid that the two sisters, who were known as immortals, would tease her again, so she quickly changed the subject and asked about the whereabouts of the other little sisters.

After learning that most of the people were up there, Tanchun said goodbye to the two people who obviously wanted to stay here for a while, turned around and went back up the slope along the stone steps.

As soon as I stepped onto the hillside, I discovered that it was a very lively scene.

Under the sparse peach blossom forest, there were groups of three or five, with red flowers and green willows. It was impossible to tell how many people there were at the moment. After all, they are just little sisters in the garden, and maids of all sizes.

In the most conspicuous position in the center, people like Jia Baoyu, Shi Xiangyun, Xue Baoqin, Zhen Yuhuan, and Jia Xichun gathered together around two adobe stoves, busy as if they were working together to cook delicious food. Delicious food.

Tanchun smiled when he saw this and walked over.

"Ah, the third sister is here." When everyone saw Tanchu, they all stood up to greet him.

"Third sister, you are finally here. We have been waiting for you for a long time. Look, these are all..."

Shi Xiangyun jumped up and was about to introduce their morning masterpiece to Tan Chun when he suddenly saw Jia Baoyu next to him, motionless as if his feet were filled with lead, and his eyes were looking in the direction of Tan Chun stupidly.

Following Jia Baoyu's gaze, Shi Xiangyun couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but say: "Third sister, you are so beautiful today."

Although he had been praised by Baochai and his two brothers below, Tanchun still couldn't help but feel ashamed when facing the bright eyes of all his brothers and sisters.

For a moment, I regretted that I shouldn't have tidied it up carefully, but for a moment I couldn't help but be secretly happy.

Shi Xiangyun couldn't help but praise, then put aside this section, pulled Tanchun to the stove, pointed to the stove made of wooden boards, and said with a smile: "Third sister, you are late, we have done a lot of work We cooked everything ourselves.

Look, this is the cake made by Brother Bao, this is the venison I roasted, and this vat is the peach blossom soup cooked by Sister Yuhuan..."

Tanchun looked at them one by one according to Shi Xiangyun's introduction: half-round pancakes, half-black roasts, and the peach blossom soup, which looked brighter in color and made people want to try it.

So he smiled and said: "You are interested, but where do you come from so many ingredients and dishes?"

"These were all brought here by Sister Ping'er. She said that Second Brother Lian was observing the celestial phenomena at night. Today must be a sunny day. In addition to drinking and writing poetry, it would be better to take advantage of the spring weather and have a picnic under the peach trees. It is more lively and interesting than other activities."

"That's right, Sister Ping'er also said that Brother Lian prepared a birthday gift for Third Sister." Xichun walked to the other side of Tanchun and interrupted with a smile.

When Tanchun heard about it, he originally felt that it was inappropriate for them to light a fire and have a picnic in the garden. After all, the entire garden was the imperial concubine's annex. If Jia Mu and others knew that they were making such trouble in it, they would be afraid. I won't be happy either.

But since it was brother Lian's wish, and Jia Mu and others were not at home, it was okay to come.

Hearing that Jia Lian had prepared a birthday gift for her, she was even more happy, so she gave up other thoughts and asked Xiang Yun and others about their picnic experience.

For ordinary ladies like them, the word picnic is basically only seen in books, and it is difficult to experience it in reality.

Just after Tanchun also joined in "playing house", Li Wan and Heping'er came over laughing.

"Please be careful. This is both fire and hot soup. Is it a joke to burn it?"

As the eldest sister-in-law, Li Wan has the responsibility to take care of her uncle, sister-in-law, etc., so even though she has told her many times, she still said this when they met at this time.

Seeing that Jia Baoyu seemed to think that the fire in the stove was not big enough, he actually added firewood to the stove himself. Apparently he did not take her instructions to heart and immediately pulled him up: "How many times have I told you not to touch the fire?" Just let the little girls do this kind of thing. You are all rich and inexperienced. What if some sparks splash on your face?

Baoyu, if you don't listen to me again, I won't allow you to play this. "

Seeing that Li Wan was really angry, Jia Baoyu had to promise bitterly that he would not do it again. Li Wan was still worried and ordered Suyun to keep an eye on her, but if he did it again, he would immediately retaliate against her.

Tanchun was originally afraid of getting his clothes dirty, so he just watched from the side. Seeing Li Wan acting like this, he completely gave up the thought of taking charge of the dish himself. He stood up and walked to Ping'er, "Where's Brother Lian?"

Ping'er smiled and said: "Our second master went to the Yamen early in the morning. But don't worry, third girl, the second master said that he will come back early and asked me to take care of the girls here for him first."

Tanchun understood, glanced at Xiangyun and others who were still in high spirits, and stepped on the grass to the other side.

She had seen it before. Under a big peach blossom tree over there, Yingchun was playing chess with Xing Xiuyan, and there were many people around.