The Second Master of the Red Chamber

The waterways in the Grand View Garden were artificially designed and are winding.

The water source is introduced from the outer river at Qinfang Gate in the northeast corner, flows through various places in the garden, and finally converges at Yihong Courtyard and flows out from under the wall.

The main road runs from Qinfang Gate along the main building "Protecting Parents Villa", around the northwest corner "Liaoting Huaxi", then turns sharply back and flows all the way to Xiaoxiang Pavilion in the south.

This is also the reason why Xiaoxiang Pavilion was the first stop when Yuanchun came to visit her parents.

Get on a boat from the Qingshui Pond where the Dicui Pavilion is located next to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, and go upstream against the current. You can take in almost all the scenery in the Grand View Garden.

The small black-sailed boat cut through the clear waves and sailed among the lotus and water chestnuts.

Ying'er stood at the bow, completely ignoring the sunlight and the slightly hot wind blowing across the water and hitting her body, and she used her slender arms to row the boat forward.

There was still a happy smile on her face.

Zijuan, who was standing next to her, advised, "Slow down and be careful not to fall."

"I saved it, Sister Zijuan."

Zijuan shook her head helplessly. She had to paddle faster to prevent the bow from drifting deeper into the lotus flowers.

Inside the cabin, Jia Lian looked at Daiyu, who was leaning against the railing, staring at the water with her chin resting on her little hand, not knowing what she was thinking. He reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

Daiyu frowned and turned back, looking unhappy.

Baochai, who was standing opposite, noticed what was happening and looked over as well.

Jia Lian smiled and pointed outside the cabin. Seeing that the two girls were puzzled, he smiled and asked, "Did you find out?"

"what?"

Chai and Dai became even more confused, and Daiyu's impatience was even more evident on her face.

She was half coaxed and half forced by Jia Lian to go out boating, and she still remembered how Jia Lian and Baochai had bullied her just now.

Jia Lian sat up straight and said in a serious tone, "Haven't you noticed that the personalities of these two maids, Zijuan and Ying'er, are quite similar to those of you two masters?"

"What words!"

Daiyu retorted almost without thinking.

How is the little girl Zijuan like her? She controls everything and nags all day long, just like an old mother. She is not like me, who is casual and forgetful.

Baochai seemed to understand something, but she smiled without saying anything.

As expected, Jia Lian analyzed, "Look at these two girls, Zijuan and Ying'er. One is mature and steady, the other is lively and lovely. One is thoughtful and thoughtful, active but calm, the other is natural and calm but active. Aren't they just the right match for your personalities?"

Perhaps it is because everyone's judgment of themselves is not always so accurate, so Daiyu frowned for a long time before she realized what Jia Lian meant.

It turns out that it’s not that their maids look like them, but that their maids are similar to each other.

Her brows furrowed even deeper. She was thinking about the words Jia Lian used to describe the two maids, which ones were good and which ones were bad, trying to judge from them whether Jia Lian had "good intentions" towards her.

She made up her mind that if she found out that Jia Lian was making indirect accusations or hinting that she was not as good as Baochai, she would immediately settle all the new and old grudges.

Baochai didn't think too much about it, but just thought about what Jia Lian said and felt that there was some truth in it.

Seriously speaking, Ying'er's true character is indeed more like Lin's. It's just that she usually doesn't show it when she is with herself, and only fully shows it in front of outsiders.

As for Zijuan...

Baochai could not help but look at the maid that Grandmother Jia had specially placed beside Daiyu to take care of her, and then nodded secretly, thinking that this maid was indeed a good one.

Seeing that the two girls probably understood what he meant, Jia Lian immediately emphasized his tone and said with a smile: "Isn't it? So I say, you two don't have to bear too many grudges against each other. In fact, you haven't even realized that you like each other..."

Seeing Jia Lian's ambiguous words, Daiyu spat before Jia Lian finished speaking: "Bah, nonsense! Who..."

Daiyu glanced at Baochai with an unnatural expression and was too embarrassed to continue.

"I'm not talking nonsense. I'm just stating the facts and reasoning."

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Look, one of you is from a prestigious Jinling family, a century-old imperial merchant, and the other is from a family of four generations of marquises. You are not ordinary girls.

Not to mention the many other things, there must be dozens of maids around him, right?

Among so many girls of different shapes and personalities, you chose Zijuan and Ying'er as your most trusted confidants.

To be fair, doesn't this explain your respective preferences?

So, it is not a coincidence that your girls look like each other. It is the inevitable result of your respective choices.

So I say that you like people with each other's personalities. This is not an inference, but a fact that is there. It is useless for you to deny it. "

The more Jia Lian spoke, the bigger his smile grew, and the more confident he looked, as if he was just about to raise his hand to touch his non-existent beard.

Even the two maids outside the cabin were attracted by Jia Lian's voice. They felt that Jia Lian's words were confusing, yet very interesting.

The two maids only heard half of it and were therefore confused, but the two young ladies in the cabin heard it clearly.

They felt embarrassed and gave Jia Lian a cold look.

At the same time, a trace of doubt arose in my heart: Is it really like what he said?

After all, the reason why Zijuan and Ying'er were able to gain their trust and become maids who often followed them was that they were not influenced by anyone. It was their own independent behavior.

With this doubt, Daiyu couldn't help but think in her mind, among all the maids in Xiaoxiang Pavilion, do she like Zijuan's personality more, or Ying'er's personality more...

The more I thought about it, the more I doubted reality: Could it be that I really didn’t hate her?
Baochai became much calmer.

She knew from the beginning that she didn't hate Daiyu, and she even liked her a little, after all, she was able to live the life she had imagined.

But her focus is not here, but on Jia Lian.

It was self-evident what Jia Lian's purpose was in saying these words. She was just surprised at Jia Lian's meticulous observation, and how he could eliminate the conflicts and estrangements between her and Daiyu through such small details.

Brother Lian is so knowledgeable about the world, no wonder he can do everything with ease, as if he were assisted by God.

Seeing that both girls had a thoughtful expression, obviously they had heard his words, Jia Lian took the opportunity to take one of Daiyu's hands and held it, then stretched out his hand to signal Baochai.

Because the boat was small, even if Baochai was sitting opposite him, he would be able to hold it as long as she stretched out her hand.

Baochai hesitated for a moment, and felt that it would be a good idea to follow Jia Lian's steps.

She would definitely have to deal with Daiyu more often in the future, and she didn't want to be challenged by this sharp-tongued girl all the time.

So he handed his hand to Jia Lian.

Jia Lian held the two girls' soft, white hands together and said with deep affection, "You two are my favorite people. If either of you is wronged, I will feel bad.

So promise me, no matter what happens to our identities in the future, you will get along well with each other like sisters, just like you did in the garden before."

Jia Lian didn't say much. These two were both beautiful and kind-hearted maids.

In this case, that's enough. In fact, Jia Lian was not too worried about the two of them. It was just a matter of you making a sarcastic remark and me retorting...

As long as he's around, it's no big deal.

Faced with Jia Lian's straightforward instructions, both Chai and Dai felt a little embarrassed.

After all, Baochai felt that she was the elder sister, so she took the lead and said "hmm" and nodded.

But Daiyu couldn't bring herself to do it.

She snorted, pulled her hand away and said, "Who would believe your lies? You said that in front of me and Sister Bao, and if you go back to see other women, I'm afraid you will say something else."

Without even looking at Jia Lian's expression, she stood up and sat next to Baochai, resting one hand on her shoulder, and said jokingly, "So, sister Bao, let's ignore this sweet-talker. Instead of wasting time, we might as well take a closer look at these lotus and water chestnut flowers."

Baochai tilted her head to glance at Daiyu's smart and charming little face. She thought that although this girl was impolite in her words, she responded to Jia Lian with practical actions. She felt both fond of her and secretly envious of her.

I like Daiyu’s straightforwardness, and I envy her casualness and naturalness in front of Jia Lian.

This was something she felt she couldn't do.

After thinking for a while, she let go of Daiyu's support and stood up under Daiyu's strange gaze.

"Lin girl, this is the last time I call you this.

I know that you have always been resentful about what happened between me and Brother Lian.

We are sisters who live together in the same garden day and night. I will not hide my thoughts from you.

Heroes like Brother Lian are rare throughout history.

It is Baochai's fortune that she now has such an opportunity to follow him.

At the same time, I also know that you have been with Brother Lian since you were a child, and the depth of your relationship with him cannot be compared to anyone else.

I never thought of competing with you.

Besides, you and Second Brother Lian got engaged first, and I came later. According to the rules, I should call you sister.

If my sister doesn't mind and is willing to accept me as her younger sister, Baochai will be very grateful.

Elder sister, please accept my greetings. "

As Baochai spoke, she bent her body and knelt in front of Daiyu.

Jia Lian was startled and subconsciously wanted to reach out to help.

But facing Baochai's serious expression, he thought of something and sat back silently.

Daiyu was stunned when Baochai suddenly expressed her opinion. She had never expected Baochai to do this.

Although Baochai's tone was softer that day in Tianxiang Tower, and she seemed to want to call her "sister".

It was also from that moment that she began to no longer be so resistant to Baochai, the sudden rival in love.

But she could never have imagined that Baochai, who had difficulty even calling her sister that day, would suddenly do such a thing today.

To be fair, she admired Baochai's decisiveness and adaptability.

They are all smart people, so of course she knows why Baochai did this.

It's just that I want to eliminate her hostility.

Just as she expressed her feelings to Feng Jieer at the beginning.

However, Feng Jieer has always called her sister, and she couldn't imagine what kind of mood Baochai was in to change her way of calling her sister.

Without giving herself too much time to think, Daiyu immediately helped Baochai up and said in a somewhat reproachful tone, "Sister Bao, what are you doing? You're making everyone feel embarrassed..."

Daiyu is always pure. Although she has realized that Baochai’s statement today is very important to her, she still doesn’t want to spend too much time calculating.

Even facing Baochai's serious and sincere gaze, she suddenly made a decision in her heart.

She pulled Baochai to sit down and said with a smile: "With the relationship between us, why should we care about that guy? I have called you sister for so many years. If you suddenly ask me to change my words, it will feel weird. I am not used to it!

In my opinion, we are sisters who spend every day together, so we should not follow those red tape.

From now on, I will still call you sister, and you can just call me sister."

Baochai said: "How can this be possible? The country has its own laws, and the family has its own rules. They cannot be abandoned..."

"Oh, Sister Bao, why are you the same as those annoying old masters! If you are like this, then we should have less contact in the future, otherwise I am afraid that one day I will suddenly break a rule and make you unhappy."

Baochai also made up her mind with great difficulty to distinguish the priorities with Daiyu in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts in the future.

She could tell from Jia Lian's attitude that he really didn't want her and Daiyu to have any conflicts.

It just so happened that she didn't want to spend too much energy on competing with Daiyu for favor. Since she was determined to follow Jia Lian, she wanted to gain Jia Lian's recognition as soon as possible, integrate into Jia Lian's circle, and become Jia Lian's good wife.

As for the false reputation in the inner house, she didn't care much about it.

But I didn't expect Daiyu to respond like this.

Faced with Daiyu's words, which were playful but sincere, she hesitated for a long time and finally nodded.

Daiyu then breathed a sigh of relief, quietly glanced at Jia Lian who was smiling beside her, and then glared at him silently.

This guy was obviously afraid of wronging his sister Baochai. She saw his subconscious action just now!
The two maids outside the cabin naturally saw what was happening inside the cabin.

Ying'er was smiling. The servants in Rongguo Mansion could tell countless stories to prove how much Jia Lian loved Daiyu.

She was also afraid that her daughter would not be able to gain any advantage, and might even suffer losses, if she became hostile to Daiyu.

Now that the girl has a frank relationship with Miss Lin, she can wait peacefully to become the second master's maid.

Zijuan felt a little regretful:

My silly girl, why did you give up such a good opportunity? I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to get the title of "sister" back in the future...

Regardless of what these girls were thinking, Jia Lian was actually happy to see the scene before him.

In fact, this was a problem he had thought about before, but he had not figured out how to solve it.

Baochai is two or three years older than Daiyu, and they live together day and night. Baochai has always been called "Sister Bao" by the sisters in the garden.

It just so happens that Daiyu got engaged before Baochai, so it is difficult for Jia Lian to force any arrangements on them as to how they will be ranked in the future.

No matter who he favors, it is likely to make the other party feel wronged.

Now, Baochai and Daiyu have each taken a step back and agreed to maintain their relationship as before.

He did not get involved, and the two of them would not harbor any resentment in their hearts. Nothing could be more perfect than this. (End of this chapter)