The Second Master of the Red Chamber

After enjoying the drinks and fruits, the heat in my heart was gone, but the discomfort in my body was difficult to get rid of.

Take Xiangyun for example. She had been running all over the mountains and fields for most of the day and had sweated a lot. Now that the sweat was evaporating, her skin felt a little sticky.

In fact, as the daughters of wealthy families, they had considered this before going out, and even the maids of almost all of them brought them changing clothes.

But after all, Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu were present, and they were too embarrassed to get on the carriage to change clothes when the others did not move.

But Xiangyun is even more different. Compared to changing her inner clothes, she has a better idea.

She glanced at her sisters, and finally, together with Xiu Yan, she pulled Tanchun aside and whispered to her.

Their sneaky behavior attracted the attention of Baoqin and others, so they pulled Baoqin, who came to their door on her own initiative, in.

Seeing their voices becoming more and more powerful, even Jia Lian had to ask, "What are you mumbling about over there in a mysterious way?"

Daiyu said, "You are not in charge of them. They are probably discussing how to come up with weird questions to make things difficult for everyone."

As she spoke, Daiyu glanced at Baochai nonchalantly and called Zijuan: She was going back to the carriage to change her clothes.

Seeing Jia Lian asking questions, they seemed to have a disagreement among themselves, so Xiu Yan was pushed out to answer.

"My cousin, I...we found a pond at the foot of the mountain. The water in the pond is very clean and you can see the bottom. Sister Yun wants..."

Xiangyun immediately refused to do it when she heard it, and shouted: "Why am I the one who wants it? Didn't you say that you used to take a bath in the river in Suzhou, so I became interested in it? Why are you..."

Xiuyan's handsome face flushed red, and she made up her mind not to tell any secrets to Xiangyun again. In order to prevent Xiangyun from saying anything embarrassing, she immediately said, "Anyway, we want to go there to wash and get rid of the greasiness on our bodies. But we're afraid it's not appropriate, so we asked cousin to help us make a decision."

When others heard this, they were curious and interested.

God has pity on them, most of them have been bathing in a bathtub since they were young, and almost no other experience has been there.

They had never even enjoyed a bath, let alone taking a bath in a river in the wild.

That's something country kids would do.

After all, with their identities, if they were seen by someone, it would be a big deal.

Looking at the people with different reactions, Jia Lian's expression changed slightly.

Although he came to the racecourse quite often, he only rode his horse past the surrounding roads many times and was quite familiar with the roads and terrain here.

He really didn't know if there was a suitable place to take a bath at the foot of the mountain.

But he thought, with the vision of Xiangyun and others, if the environment was not suitable to a certain extent, they would not be motivated to take a bath.

Jia Lian then stood up and said with a smile, "We'll see if it's suitable after we've seen it. As we've just had our meal, why don't we go to the place you mentioned and take a look together?"

Once Jia Lian spoke, everyone else followed suit.

So, except for Ping'er and a few others who stayed behind to clean up the mess, everyone else followed Jia Lian, Xiangyun and others and came to the place Xiuyan said.

It turns out that the stream in the village is not only winding, but also sometimes wide and sometimes narrow.

The widest part is more than ten feet, while the narrowest part can be crossed in just one step.

There are gurgling streams and schools of fish and shrimps.

The pool of water that Xiangyun and others mentioned is the source of the stream, formed by the confluence of mountain water in the valley.

Jia Lian and the others took a look and found that the water in the pond was indeed clear and transparent, just as Xiangyun and the others had said.

What is even more rare is that the water in the pool is not deep, and the edges and bottom of the pool are made of rocks, with no mud to be seen. It is really a great place for a wild bathing.

When the girls saw such an elegant and natural environment and such a clean pool of water, they couldn't help but feel the urge to step into the water.

Seeing this, Xiangyun smiled and said to Tanchun, Baoqin and others, "How about it? We didn't lie to you, did we? Isn't this place beautiful?"

Tanchun, who had originally opposed bathing in the wild, had to admit at this time that this pool was cleaner and clearer than the Qinfang Creek in the Grand View Garden, and the environment was also secluded. It seemed like a good idea to take a bath here.

As soon as this thought came to my mind, I was discouraged by my own identity.

They are all young ladies from noble families. How can they bathe in the wild?

How could Jia Lian not see the girls' excitement and confusion? He squatted down and touched the water in the pond. It was indeed a little cold, but not biting, just right for the weather.

So he stood up and said with a smile: "Since we are out here to have fun, don't worry too much. If you want to go down and take a shower, just go ahead."

"Ah, is this really possible?"

Most people were already tempted, and after hearing Jia Lian's words, they became even more impatient.

But I still can't help but raise doubts: "It's so embarrassing to take a shower here, and what if someone sees me?"

"What's there to be embarrassed about? I didn't ask you to take off all your clothes."

Hearing Jia Lian's direct words, the girls immediately became angry and discontented.

Jia Baoyu cast an admiring gaze at Jia Lian, thinking, could it be that I could really feast my eyes today? Even if they didn't take off all their clothes, if so many sisters and sisters joined in the water, there would be a lot of spring scenery to see...

Jia Lian didn't know Jia Baoyu's dirty thoughts. He smiled and said, "Okay, it's up to you whether you go down or not. As for the problem of being seen, you don't have to worry at all. Not to mention that there is no possibility of other people appearing in this manor today, even if there is, you can see that there are only two roads to pass through here. Just ask a few maids to guard on both sides, and you can rest assured, right?"

As he spoke, Jia Lian ordered Aqi and Aqin to each take a maid to guard the road on both sides.

In fact, this is unnecessary. In this village, there are only a dozen tenants besides the people in the horse farm.

Needless to say, everyone in the horse farm knew that the young ladies in the mansion were out for a trip, so who would dare to wander around?

As for the tenants, although the order was passed down from above that male members were not allowed to go out, they all knew that it must be a distinguished person coming to visit. Who would dare to let the children and women at home go out? If they accidentally bumped into him, wouldn’t that cause a big disaster?

Therefore, with so many of them staying in this area for such a long time, not a single outsider saw them.

After Jia Lian finished his instructions, he walked back. After taking two steps, he turned back and looked at the dazed man in surprise: "Baoyu?"

"Ah, oh..."

Jia Baoyu came back to his senses, his old face suddenly turned red, and he lowered his head and walked behind Jia Lian.

Jia Lian then nodded, glanced at the girls who were about to leave but wanted to stay, smiled, and walked back the way he came.

……

When they were on the main road, Jia Lian saw that Jia Baoyu was distracted and teased him, "Why, do you want to stay and take a bath too?"

Jia Baoyu's round face flushed red, and he shook his head quickly, "No, no, I was just distracted just now, and didn't hear what Second Brother Lian said..."

Faced with Jia Lian's scrutinizing smile, Jia Baoyu wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

Fortunately, Jia Lian did not make it too difficult for him. He glanced at Xiren who followed Jia Baoyu like a shadow, and then said to Qingwen: "You stay here and look after the girls. Don't be too crazy when you go into the water, or you might get scratched by the rocks."

He had already seen that the girl wanted to stay.

After Qingwen left happily, Jia Lian said to Jia Baoyu: "Let's go, there is more than one place to take a bath here, let's find another place."

Walking downstream along the stream, we soon found a place where we could take a bath in an open area.

Although it is not as clean and hidden as the pool, for him and Jia Baoyu, two men, there is no need to be so particular about it. As long as it can remove sweat, it is fine.

So Jia Lian opened his arms and let Xiangling take off his robe and underwear for him. When he was left with only a pair of shorts, he jumped into the water and started washing himself as if no one was around.

Jia Baoyu doesn't want to take a bath with Jia Lian!

But looking at the water flowing in from upstream, Jia Baoyu became distracted.

He thought, if his sisters were bathing upstream, then the water must have soaked their skin. If he used the water to bathe at this time, wouldn't it be equivalent to being close to his sisters?

So he also asked Xiren to take off his outer clothes...

He didn't dare to take off his inner garment, because he was still wearing a bellyband. Although he thought it was okay for a boy to wear a bellyband, he knew that if Jia Lian saw it, he would definitely laugh at him. ...

At the pool upstream, the girls couldn't resist the urge to soak in the clear spring water on such a hot day. Led by Xiangyun, they took off their coats and dived into the water.

Seeing that most of the girls were still standing on the shore and watching, Qingwen smiled and said, "Girls, don't worry. No outsiders will come here. We have been here for most of the day. Have you seen a outsider?

Are you still not reassured by what our Second Master said? He is more worried about the girls' bodies being seen than the girls themselves."

Qingwen took off her clothes as she spoke.

She was much more straightforward. She took off all her clothes in one breath, leaving only a bellyband. Then, without caring about the envious looks from others who were looking at her slender waist and skinny shoulders, she jumped into the water with a "splash".

Qingwen trusts Jia Lian so much. What Jia Lian said just now clearly means that she can also go in the water and play.

Since it is something that the Second Master has allowed, there is nothing wrong with it.

So she said to the attendant and others beside her: "What are you standing there for? Come down quickly. The water is icy cold and it's comfortable to soak in it!"

Shishu and others looked at their master, and seeing that she had no intention of objecting, they, who had been tempted for a long time, also followed Qingwen's example, took off their clothes and went into the water.

Seeing that the maids were only wearing bellybands and playing in the water, Xiangyun, who originally felt uncomfortable with an extra layer of clothing, simply took off her inner clothes as well. Then she invited her sisters on the shore again and poured water on them.

Seeing that Xiangyun and the maids looked comfortable and did not seem to be lying, and with Xiangyun playfully splashing water on them, Yingchun and the others could not wait any longer and started to go into the water.

"Sister Bao, come down too! Look everyone has come down, and you're the only one left."

At this point, Baochai thought that this was Jia Lian's territory, and Jia Lian had arranged people to guard it, so there was indeed nothing wrong with it. Therefore, she opened her arms and let Ying'er help her undress.

"Wow, look, Sister Bao is so white."

"Really."

Except for Baoqin and Xiangyun, who knew Baochai's figure better, everyone else couldn't help but exclaim in admiration when they saw Baochai's skin shining in the sun.

Baochai had no choice but to jump into the water as quickly as possible and hide herself in it.

However, the water in the lake is clear, so how can it be hidden?

The sisters quickly gathered around her, admiring and caressing her skin as if they were a rare treasure.

Just when Baochai couldn't help but want to drive away these increasingly demanding maids, a teasing voice sounded from above:

"Hey, where did all these country girls come from?"

Everyone looked up and saw that it was Daiyu and Zijuan who were approaching slowly.

"Sister Lin, you're here, come down quickly, the water is so cool." Xiangyun shouted loudly.

Daiyu walked to the shore and looked at the colorful flowers and willows in the pond, especially the graceful figures and fair skin of the many girls. She suddenly blushed.

But his mischievous thoughts came up again, so he responded to Xiangyun: "I won't come down even if it's cool, I advise you to come up quickly, or you will be teased by Zhu Bajie when he comes."

Daiyu's words were abrupt, and many people didn't quite understand what she meant. For example, the maids, almost all of them stared at Daiyu in a daze.

Just when Daiyu thought that this group of people were ignorant and that she was flirting with a blind man, Tanchun laughed and said, "Sister Lin, you are so mean and hateful that you even called us spider spirits."

Seeing that Xiangyun and others were puzzled, he explained softly that in the vernacular novel, Zhu Bajie peeked at the spider spirits taking a bath and turned into a fish to tease the spider spirits.

Xiangyun immediately refused and said angrily, "Well, we kindly invited you but you didn't appreciate it, and you even made up a story. Zhu Bajie... I think you are Zhu Bajie, we didn't see anyone else here, only you."

Daiyu was not annoyed when Xiangyun called her Zhu Bajie. That's how verbal battles are, whoever gets angry first loses, so looking at Xiangyun's angry face, she happily walked to a clean stone nearby and sat down facing everyone.

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she stopped bathing and playing, and said with a smile: "Why are you all looking at me? Go on. This is the first time I have seen so many people bathing together. It's quite nice.

Don't worry about me, just go on."

Daiyu kept talking, and everyone felt even more uncomfortable when she spoke.

Judging from Daiyu's expression and sitting posture, it seemed that they were not taking a bath but performing for her.

Seeing this, Daiyu became more proud, and a bright smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

At the same time, Daiyu couldn't help but sigh inwardly, wondering why so many men throughout history were lustful and even licentious.

Even she felt her heart beating and the sight of this group of beauties bathing was pleasing to the eyes, not to mention those lustful men.

Daiyu felt that she had everyone under her control and her mind was wandering in the sky, but she never considered that her opponent was no ordinary person.

Seeing that Daiyu was so hateful, Tanchun, Xiangyun and others looked at each other and immediately thought of a way to break the deadlock.

They walked forward calmly, and just when Daiyu looked over warily, the two of them attacked together, scooped up the water from the pond and poured it over Daiyu.

Soon, Daiyu was soaked like a drowned rat.

Now she was staring blankly at the people in the pool. Unfortunately, apart from the instigator's joy at having his great revenge and the snickers of the onlookers, she couldn't see any other expressions.

Only Zijuan stepped forward quickly, helped Daiyu wipe the water off her face, and scolded everyone, "What are you doing, girls? Our girls are weak, what if they catch a cold?"

After hearing Zijuan say this, Tanchun and the others realized that they might have gone too far and felt a little regretful.

They were mainly afraid that Jia Lian would find out and blame them. Everyone knew that Jia Lian loved Daiyu the most and would give in to her in everything.

Seeing that Zijuan was about to pull Daiyu back to change her clothes, Daiyu stood up and stopped Zijuan, saying, "It's okay."

She lowered her head to glance at her skirt which was wet, then looked at Tanchun and Xiangyun who were looking slightly apologetic in the pool. Daiyu continued to keep a cold expression, but in her heart she was actually smiling, like a little fox who had succeeded in stealing something.

To this day, Daiyu certainly knows that most of the sisters in the garden are very cautious when getting along with her and dare not offend her.

Only the two younger sisters in front of her dared to go against her will.

I originally thought that they really didn't care about her unnecessary status and were not afraid that she would complain to Lady Jia and Jia Lian.

It seems that’s not entirely true.

Although Lin Daiyu never bothered to make complaints, what did it have to do with her if someone was worried about something they had done wrong?

As for being angry, she would definitely be angry if these two people splashed water on her for no reason.

But she was the one who was naughty first and was retaliated by the other party later, so of course she would not be angry.

Even though she was not angry, it did not stop her. She took advantage of their fear that she would complain and controlled them.

So when the apologies on Tanchun and Xiangyun's faces gradually turned into pleas for mercy, Daiyu finally relaxed her face and said to Zijuan, "It's so annoying. They got my clothes wet. Please help me take them off."

Zijuan was stunned. Even though she had served Daiyu for many years, she couldn't figure out what Daiyu was thinking.

But she still obeyed and helped Daiyu take off her wet skirt.

Then she saw her daughter squatting down and splashing the water with her hand, then she stretched out a white and tender little foot and slowly went into the water.

The others breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this, and Xiangyun took the initiative to apologize: "Sorry, Sister Lin, we didn't think so much, you can wear my clothes later."

"Oh, I'll wear yours, what are you wearing?"

"I'm strong, I'm not afraid."

"Huh? You're not wearing any?"

"Oh, what are you talking about? I mean I can wear wet clothes without worrying about catching a cold!!"

...(End of chapter)