King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 667 Things in the Capital
"You haven't had a good time lately!"

Following behind Zhu Jinghong, Daiyu said slowly: "Father is seriously ill, how can we have a happy life!"

Just from her tone, Zhu Jinghong knew that she had grown up a lot and was no longer the girl who could only shed tears.

Continuing to walk forward in the corridor, Zhu Jinghong continued: "Birth, aging, illness and death are the laws of nature. We mortals can only follow our destiny, cherish the present, and leave no regrets!"

Of course, Daiyu understood the meaning of these words. Although the truth was very simple, she still felt sad when she thought about her father passing away.

Stopping, Zhu Jinghong turned to look at Daiyu and said, "You have done a great job!"

Daiyu said nothing, her tears just rolled down her cheeks. Now that she had someone to rely on, she finally stopped pretending to be strong.

Zhu Jinghong walked forward, held Daiyu's shoulders and said, "Stop crying!"

This small courtyard has been sealed off, with only a few eunuchs on duty inside. They are not afraid of being seen by outsiders for such intimate actions.

However, his advice made Daiyu burst into tears even more. She hadn't cried freely for a long time.

Seeing that he was crying harder and harder, Zhu Jinghong was not a wooden man, so he directly took her into his arms.

Daiyu is not Yingchun. Even though she has already fallen in love with Zhu Jinghong, she still shows resistance when faced with this obviously impolite behavior.

But Zhu Jinghong had to use force, and Daiyu had no way to break free, so she could only stay in Zhu Jinghong's arms obediently.

At this moment, she just felt very safe, more safe than ever before. Even if the sky collapsed and the earth cracked, she felt that she would not be afraid.

Under the moonlight, their shadows merged together and they stayed like that for about ten minutes.

"I...I'm fine now, let go!"

Daiyu's tone was clear and it could be heard that she had indeed recovered, so Zhu Jinghong let her go.

"Are Sister Bao and the others okay?"

"Everything is fine for them. They eat well, live well and have fun. But I... have to guard against the attacks from all sides every day. I am so exhausted and miserable!" After saying the last sentence, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but sigh.

Then he asked: "Don't you care about me?"

Daiyu took two steps forward, and then she played with the braid by her ear and said, "There is nothing in the world that can stump you, so why should I worry about it!"

"That's true, but I'm really disappointed that you said it so bluntly!"

"What are you disappointed about?" Daiyu asked, tilting her head.

It was when she looked like this that Zhu Jinghong's eyes lit up. He dared to guarantee that no one else could show such grace and elegance when she tilted her head except Daiyu.

Standing there with his hands behind his back, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile: "I am disappointed that the beauty has no heart for me!"

"Nonsense again..."

Daiyu frowned, then turned around again and walked forward alone.

Zhu Jinghong naturally took the initiative to follow. He didn't say anything out of line afterwards. The two chatted about some old things.

Half an hour passed in this chat, and it was time for Zhu Jinghong to go back.

In the end, Zhu Jinghong did not let Daiyu send her off, but left the Lin family on his own.

But after he left, Zhu Jinghong asked Yu Hai to stay, gathered all the Lin family members together and gave them a lecture, warning them to take good care of Lin Ruhai.

After all, Zhu Jinghong came to the mansion tonight, ostensibly to visit Lin Ruhai, and he emphasized this sentence to provide cover.

After Zhu Jinghong left, Daiyu went to her father's room again, but found that the old man was with his eyes open.

"Yu'er..."

The cry was so clear that it cheered up Daiyu up, as if everything was going in a good direction.

"Father...what do you want?"

Turning his head slightly, Lin Ruhai said, "Tell them all to get out!"

"But!"

"I have something to tell you!" Even though her father looked haggard, Daiyu could still see anxiety on his face.

"All of you get out!" Daiyu turned around and ordered everyone.

"Yes!"

Soon, several people in the room withdrew, and Daiyu squatted in front of her father's bed.

"Except for your fate, I have nothing else to worry about in this world!"

"His Royal Highness Prince Xiang came tonight, saying that he was ordered to visit, but I know... he came for you!"

Lin Ruhai didn't understand it at first, but he figured it out after he calmed down. After all, he had heard some rumors when he was in Beijing.

Having said that, Lin Ruhai ignored his daughter's shyness and white-hooked his finger to signal her to come closer.

Daiyu could only move closer, she didn't know what her father wanted to say.

"His Royal Highness Prince Xiang has ambitions for the world. If you enter his palace, you will be trapped in the deep palace. Have you really thought about it?"

Daiyu actually knew what Zhu Jinghong was doing, but she didn't think about it too much.

Now that Lin Ruhai has pointed it out, she has to face reality.

If she followed Zhu Jinghong and he really became the emperor in the future, the fact that the three thousand beauties in the harem would not be able to see the flowers or the rain would be secondary. The key point was that she would be imprisoned in the deep palace.

Everyone yearns for freedom, and Daiyu is no exception.

"I do!" Daiyu nodded and gave the answer very bravely.

Then Daiyu looked directly at her father and said, "Father, only when I am with him can I feel at ease!"

"Sitting alone in the deep palace, living a lonely life, being ostracized, being framed by villains...Have you thought about all these?" Lin Ruhai asked again.

Deep down, he really didn't want his daughter to enter the royal family. He knew very well what kind of people that family was.

Daiyu replied: "Father always praises me for my intelligence, and I feel I can't be wrong about him!"

Lin Ruhai said helplessly: "He... a person like him, how can you see through him!"

Daiyu did admit this, and she never felt that she saw through the Thirteenth Master.

She could even guarantee that even her good sister, Princess Xiang, probably didn't see through her husband.

"Father, I am willing!" This was the only answer Daiyu could give.

Lin Ruhai was silent, his chest and abdomen heaving, which frightened Daiyu greatly.

After a few breaths, Lin Ruhai finally calmed down, and he said calmly: "Forget it... Now that you have thought it through, father only hopes that you will be happy in the future!"

Daiyu could tell that her father was indeed convinced, which made her feel a lot more at ease.

"Thank you father!"

"The King of Xiang loves you now, but you must never take advantage of his favor and become arrogant, and more importantly... you must not use your beauty to seduce others. From now on..."

Lin Ruhai spoke intermittently, telling his daughter his life advice and opinions one by one.

Daiyu listened carefully at first, but later she realized that her father was actually telling her about his funeral arrangements, which made her so sad that she shed tears. Lin Ruhai was also worried that he might die at any time, so he took advantage of the fact that he was still in good spirits today and talked for a long time.

By the end of his speech, he was actually a little incoherent, until he finally fell into a deep sleep.

In a blink of an eye, a few days passed. Lin Ruhai was in a very bad condition, and Zhu Jinghong was busy again.

Let’s talk about the capital, in the back garden of Prince Xiang’s mansion.

Baochai stood on the arch bridge, holding a blue and white porcelain bowl in one hand and a small bamboo spoon in the other, and was scattering fish food into the pond.

Behind her, a woman bent her waist and held a cup of tea, reporting the situation in a soft voice.

Under the arch bridge, dozens of flying carps were eating with their mouths wide open, competing with each other and splashing water.

"So what you mean is that... that Liu Youshi is not living a peaceful life now?"

Baochai looked back and saw Lin Hongyu, who was serving tea behind her, answering more respectfully, "Liu Xiang is also a real man. Although he is working for the palace, he has never advertised it... That's why we have all these troubles!"

Continuing to throw fish food into the pond, Baochai said calmly: "She went to the farm in person, which is very heroic!"

In fact, the matter was very simple. The palace not only rewarded Liu Xiang with a house, but also some land outside the city.

Liu Xiang was away from Beijing for most of the year, so the lands were rented out. He didn't really care how much the rent was each year, so naturally he just took whatever the steward said.

The situation is different now. After rescuing Yu Sanjie, the two of them first lived together. Because they had similar personalities and got along well with each other, they even had a flash marriage in Daming.

In other words, Third Sister You is now the mistress of the Liu family.

Since she was the head of the household, You Sanjie had to manage the household for her husband, so she had to sort out the household affairs. As a result, she discovered the secrets on the farm.

It's a pity that she is a woman and it is not convenient for her to show up in public, so she can only entrust the housekeeper to solve the problem. However, she didn't know that the housekeeper himself was the traitor. After investigation, not only did he fail to sort out the matter, but he also made the Liu family's financial resources much less.

Yu Sanjie was so angry that she quietly went to the farm. As luck would have it, she encountered the "division of spoils" on the spot, so she asked her servants to arrest the people involved.

Once you catch it, trouble will come.

This is because the people involved, in addition to the tenants and the village thugs, there was also a man named Ying Quan.

Ying Quan was extremely arrogant at the time and insulted You Sanjie with vulgar and shameless language, which made You Sanjie so angry that she ordered someone to beat him half to death.

These people are thieves, they don't want to kill anyone. Even if the case is brought to the government, Third Sister You will be in the right.

The problem is that Ying Quan is Ying Qu's nephew, and Ying Qu's position in Prince Rui's Palace is equivalent to Liu Xiang's position in Prince Xiang's Palace.

So this time, You Sanjie stirred up a hornet's nest. Not only could she not win the lawsuit, but she was also constantly harassed at home and outside.

Since the person she had offended was Ying Qu, and the other party intended to cause trouble, it was not something Lin Hongyu could solve, so she reported it to Baochai.

The reason why she was willing to help was because Liu Xiang and Jia Yun had a good relationship, which led to her close contacts with You Sanjie.

"You are overpraising me, Madam. Right now, she is so worried and can't eat all day. How can she be a heroine?"

"It was I who told her that our palace has always protected its followers. Since Liu Xiang is working for the prince, the princess will definitely not let her suffer any grievances!"

The latter sentence actually has the suspicion of kidnapping Prince Xiang's Mansion, so not everyone dares to say this.

As Baochai's former secretary, Lin Hongyu knew a lot about the princess and was trusted, so she could speak like this half-jokingly.

Sure enough, at this moment Baochai turned around with a smile, and then said: "Since you said so, I have no choice but to help you!"

"Your Majesty is so merciful. I thank you on behalf of Liu Youshi!"

After handing the fish food to Ying'er, who was serving at the other side, Baochai said, "I have never seen this Liu Youshi. When you have time in the future, bring her over to me for a look!"

"It is her blessing to be summoned by the Empress!" Lin Hongyu replied quickly.

Walking under the arch bridge and looking at the blossoming branches in front of her, Baochai said, "What blessing or not? You are getting more and more slippery with your mouth!"

Lin Hongyu quickly replied, "This is all because of your good training!"

The two of them chatted like this, and then the morning passed.

The next day came in a blink of an eye. Baochai went to the palace to meet the Queen and coincidentally ran into Princess Rui, Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi has been very unhappy recently because Zhu Jingyuan lost his job at the Maritime Customs, and she has also become jealous of the Prince Xiang's Mansion, so her attitude towards Baochai is very cold.

Because the news was transmitted too slowly, Chen Zhi only knew that the imperial edict asked Zhu Jingyuan to return to Beijing, but she didn't know where her man was.

After crossing the Yangtze River and leaving Nanjing, Zhu Jingyuan stayed in Zhongdu Fengyang on the pretext of illness. His letter requesting recuperation was already on the way.

The reason for choosing Fengyang was because it was at a suitable distance from Yingtian, making it convenient for him to grasp and remotely control the movements of Nanjing.

Let’s not talk about all this for now. After paying respects to the Queen together with Chen Zhi, the two of them sat for less than half an hour before walking out of the palace together.

"Is Sixth Sister-in-law happy lately?"

"Don't mention it, it's such a mess and makes me feel very uncomfortable!"

"Who says it's not true? Let's not talk about other things. Just the servants in the mansion, who deceive their superiors and subordinates and act recklessly, are enough to make people angry..."

After saying this, seeing Chen Zhi's thoughtful expression, Baochai continued, "Some servants, in particular, pretend to be loyal to their masters, but secretly seek personal gain for themselves. They take advantage of the situation but do not care about the consequences. Such people are particularly despicable!"

"Is there such a person in your house?" Chen Zhi asked with a frown.

In the past, when they chatted, they always talked about the weather and anecdotes, and rarely mentioned things in the mansion, so it seemed very unusual at this moment.

"There are probably many slaves like this everywhere!"

"I think we have some in my house too?" Chen Zhi asked back.

She was also a very smart person. She quickly realized what Baochai wanted to say, so she pointed it out directly.

"Sister-in-law, there are some things... I shouldn't have said anything, but I learned something recently that affected the relationship between our two families, so I had to say something!"

Chen Zhi was too lazy to talk nonsense, so she said bluntly, "Sister, if you have something to say, just say it. Who do you think Sixth Sister-in-law is to you?"

"These past two days, my servants have reported to me that there is a man named Ying Qu in your mansion who is using the name of Prince Rui's mansion to oppress the people, and his family has also been affected... He couldn't stand it anymore, so he reported it to me!"

"When I heard this, I almost misunderstood and thought that I was not considerate enough and that my sister-in-law was taking her anger out on the people in my house!"

"Sister, you know me. I would never do such a despicable thing. You are right... It must be the servants in the mansion who deceived their superiors and did bad things in the name of the palace!" Chen Zhi directly characterized the matter.

Then she added, "Don't worry... I'll have someone take care of it when I get back!"

Baochai smiled and replied, "Sister-in-law has always been thorough in her work. This way I can rest assured!"

So the two of them changed the topic and talked about other things as usual. What happened just now was not a very important matter to them.

But as soon as I reached Donghua Gate, I ran into Zhu Yunsheng. I knew without asking that she also came to the palace to pay respects.

After greeting the two sisters-in-law, Zhu Yunsheng said, "Thirteenth sister-in-law, I have something to tell you!"

"What's the matter?" Baochai asked with a smile.

But when Zhu Yunsheng glanced at Chen Zhi, the meaning was clear to him.

There is no doubt that her look offended Chen Zhi, who left in anger.

"Third sister, you have offended your sixth sister-in-law!" Baochai reminded.

(End of this chapter)