King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 829 Daiyu - No Paperwork to Work On

My name is Lin Daiyu, and I come from the Lin family in Suzhou.

My family was once very prominent. Although my father's generation had no title, he was a top scholar in the imperial examination at a young age, and was a top-notch noble figure in the officialdom.

My mother was also no ordinary person. She came from the Jia family, a family of two dukes. She and my father were a match made in heaven, with their talent and beauty being matched by each other.

My childhood was very happy at the beginning. My parents had a very loving and harmonious relationship, and I often stayed by their side without any worries.

In the second year of the Zhengtong reign, my two-year-old brother passed away due to illness. I was still young at that time and didn’t understand what this meant.

It was not until the fourth year of Zhengtong that my mother became seriously ill and passed away not long after. Being a little more sensible, I felt the pain deeply.

My mother, who loved me the most, was put into the coffin and will never smile at me again!
After taking care of the funeral, my father was busy with official duties and didn't have much time to comfort me, so I had to take care of myself. I was less than seven years old at that time.

I kept figuring out that my mother had gone to heaven and turned into stars to accompany me forever, so I would look at the stars by the window every day.

But in my father's eyes, he thought that I was unable to get over the grief. Perhaps it was out of love for me, or he really could not let go of my mother, or maybe both. After that, he did not remarry like ordinary people.

In order to avoid sadness, my father waited for another two or three years. When I was eight or nine years old, my father hired a teacher for me. He was a second-class Jinshi.

At that time, I didn't know what the second-class Jinshi meant. I only knew that the gentleman's surname was Jia, his given name was Shifei, and his nickname was Yucun.

This gentleman is indeed very knowledgeable, but I can see that he actually doesn't like teaching, otherwise he wouldn't always sigh to God.

Later, because he was good at socializing, his father felt that he could be promoted, so he went to the Jia family in Xindu to find a job for him.

My father never expected that Jia Yucun would eventually get the position of prefect of Yingtian. He lamented many times that the Jia family did not have this ability, and the prince would not interfere in this matter, so this matter troubled my father for a long time.

It was only later that I learned from His Majesty that Jia Yucun's reinstatement as the prefect of Yingtian was actually a trap set by Prince Rui's faction for the crown prince, but things eventually went astray.

Of course, none of this mattered to me. At the time, I went to the capital with Teacher Jia, and my father sent me to my grandmother's house, saying that I should learn some manners and rules.

I actually didn't want to go to Duzhong, but in order not to make my father worry too much, I went as he said.

Compared to life in Jinling, the Rongguo Mansion in Beijing is much more interesting, especially being with a group of sisters, which makes me smile more than before, so I quickly adapted to this place.

It was also in the Rongguo Mansion that I met Baoyu, a kind and honest man who was extremely good to me.

Because my mother passed away, I was actually quite smart, so I thought at that time that Baoyu might be my soulmate.

About two years later, it was the orthodox tenth year.

This year, I heard of the person called "Master Thirteen" for the first time.

He is the legitimate heir to the royal family, but his reputation in the capital is not very good. However, because his status is indeed too noble, everyone, including his grandmother, is cautious when mentioning him.

Only Baoyu didn't care at all and even made sarcastic remarks. Even his grandmother, who loved him the most, scolded him for this. Of course, all this is not important to me.

But I thought I was wrong, because not long after, the Thirteenth Master rewarded me with a lot of valuable things, which made Baoyu very unhappy.

What makes me curious is that this reward was given in the name of my father's merit, but it bypassed my father who was close to Jinling and instead gave the gift to me who was thousands of miles away.

At that time, I felt that this Thirteenth Master was indeed different from normal people.

A few months later, Sister Bao and her family came to the capital.

When I first met Sister Bao, I felt that she was different. It was a very... mysterious feeling.

Putting aside her education and appearance, I saw the same tenacity in Sister Bao, just like myself, so I felt like I had known her for a long time.

She lost her father at a young age, and learned to be independent and self-reliant at a very young age, and helped her mother manage family affairs, which I admire most.

When I was at home, I saw my father working hard at paperwork every day, but I couldn't help him in any way. I could only ask him not to worry about me.

It was also on this day that the Thirteenth Master returned to Beijing, but something big happened on the same day.

Because of his fainting, someone from the palace came to call Baoyu into the palace. As the reason was unknown, everyone in the mansion was very worried.

What happened that night was indeed very thrilling, involving the struggle between the Crown Prince and Prince Rui.

Afterwards, I heard my grandmother sigh privately, saying that if they had been a little careless that night, the Ning and Rong mansions would have been in great disaster.

Later I heard that it was because of the Thirteenth Master’s rescue that the Jia family and Baoyu were able to overcome the difficulties, which made me feel grateful to the Thirteenth Master.

After Sister Bao came, we were inseparable every day, and I heard about the Thirteenth Master from her many times.

When mentioning the Thirteenth Master, there was obviously a different meaning in Bao Sister's eyes, and I roughly knew that it should be emotion.

I was deeply surprised by this, because I already knew that the Thirteenth Master was rude and overbearing. Logically, someone like Bao-sister should have hated him.

But no matter what, Sister Bao and I became close sisters, and she later entered the palace as a tutor, and was soon rewarded by the Queen.

These were good things, and both the Ning and Rong mansions celebrated them to express their gratitude to the royal family, but Baoyu always said inappropriate words.

I also don’t understand why Baoyu always mocks and ridicules such a good person like Sister Bao, and even says inappropriate things to her face during celebrations in the mansion.

Fortunately, Bao-sister was magnanimous and never argued with Bao-yu, which made Bao-yu furious. This made me think that he was indeed very stingy.

Soon, Sister Bao and her family moved out, and the fighting between them stopped, and it didn’t cause me too much trouble.

Perhaps it was from this time that my views on Baoyu changed.

The days passed peacefully, and soon it was the day before the birthday of the retired emperor. This day was of special significance to me.

Because of the rebellion of the White Lotus Sect, the rebels broke into the Rongguo Mansion, and the Thirteenth Master personally supervised the battle to put down the rebellion.

After the thief was caught, the eldest uncle and a group of elders requested repeatedly before the Thirteenth Master agreed to visit the Jia family in person and accept the gratitude of the whole family.

It was also on this day that I met the Thirteenth Master for the first time, but he left a very bad impression on me at the time. He was just an ignorant and reckless man, even a bastard.

At that time, everyone was paying their respects outside the hall. He then summoned Baoyu and Brother Zhen in turn, and then he summoned me into the hall in the name of the prince to question me.

That was the first time we met, and he said a lot of useless nonsense, which made me feel annoyed.

But the terrible thing happened. He actually gave me a sachet in public, which surprised and shocked me.

Although what he said sounded high-sounding, it still seemed inappropriate for men and women to give sachets to each other.

Although I was very reluctant in my heart, he was the legitimate heir to the royal family after all. I had no power to reject him, so I could only thank him for his grace.

Later I found out that this sachet was made for him by Sister Bao, and he gave it to me after wearing it for only two days. This can really be said to be a very stupid act.

The days that followed were much more stable. It is worth mentioning that Sister Yuanchun was canonized as the Crown Princess, and the Ning and Rong mansions were flourishing at that time.

But I had a vague feeling that they were happy too early, but I could only keep these words in my heart.

In the blink of an eye, several months passed, and another major event happened in the capital: Prince Xiang was conferred a title and a queen was to be chosen.

I never expected that Sister Bao would run for election. After all, she lost her father at a young age and shouldn't have gone, so I admire her courage.

Later, she withdrew from Kunning Palace because of her participation in the election. Because I was the daughter of a loyal minister, I was chosen by the Queen to enter the palace and replaced Sister Bao as the princess's tutor.

Because the Queen Mother agreed, Sister Bao passed the preliminary and re-selection and came to the most crucial final selection.

What I saw and heard on April 15th, the eleventh year of Zhengtong, is a day I will never forget.

The final selection of Princess Xiang was on this day. Xiangyun and I followed the princess and witnessed the competition process with our own eyes.

At that time, everyone, including me, and even Sister Bao herself, thought that the princess was destined to be Miss Yang, but what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations.

The Thirteenth Master actually forced Ruyi into Sister Bao's hands and did not change it even when His Majesty left in anger. He was truly defying the will of the world.

I knew he was in love with Sister Bao, but I didn't expect that this friendship was so important to him that he could ignore the rules.

Dare to be the first in the world, I will go even if there are thousands of people against me...

These words popped up in my mind at that time, and I suddenly felt a good impression of the Thirteenth Master. I felt that he was the greatest man in the world and a true hero.

Even at that time, I secretly compared him with Baoyu, and immediately felt that the difference was only like that between a firefly and the bright moon.

Sister Bao has a miserable life, but she met such a good man. I think she is the luckiest person in the world.

It was after this incident that I had a better impression of King Xiang.

However, their marriage was not inappropriate after all, and as expected, it caused an uproar. Fortunately, the queen was a loving mother and eventually helped them suppress the matter.

However, even so, their marriage was not smooth. Even after the wedding, they were still sent to Shanglin Garden by His Majesty to farm.

Later, the princess took us to Shanglin Garden. When I saw Sister Bao dressed in coarse cloth, like an ordinary peasant woman, I was really shocked.

She always looks glamorous and beautiful on weekdays, but now she looks so poor. The contrast is really too great.

However, I didn't see her in a state of desolation. Her complexion was still rosy, and she looked radiant even in plain clothes. Her life was indeed hard, and she didn't even have tea to drink. When His Majesty and the Queen came to visit, she could only serve two bowls of boiled water.

But after His Majesty and His Majesty drank, I knew that they had passed the test, and what happened afterwards confirmed my guess.

On the 25th day of the 12th lunar month in the 11th year of the Zhengtong reign, my father was summoned back to the capital by His Majesty to inquire about salt affairs. That day, my father courageously begged His Majesty to resign from the heavy responsibility of inspecting the salt industry.

Finally, considering my father's poor health, His Majesty approved his request, and I was able to follow my father out of the palace.

I haven't seen my father for more than three years. He has become much thinner than before, and I feel very sad to see his old age.

The days after that became stable again. My father was granted an idle position in the capital, and I continued to serve as a tutor in the palace, but I could take leave from time to time to go home.

I was the princess's tutor, my cousin was the crown princess, and my best sister was the princess consort, so I lived a good life in the palace, and the eunuchs and palace maids were very polite to me.

During his time in the palace, he always came to Kunning Palace as usual and talked to Xiangyun and me about irrelevant things, but he ignored his own sister. The princess complained to me about this many times.

I have to say, he was really shameless, and I just fell for him. By the time I realized it, I was already deeply in love with him.

But I really didn't have enough courage to actively seek love like Zhen Qin, so I got together with him very late.

After that he went to the northwest to join the war, and he was no longer in my life. Then I naturally missed him. Besides my father, he was the only person who made me feel this way.

I followed the battle reports every day, and when I learned that he was winning one victory after another, I felt both happy and worried, fearing that he would be injured on the battlefield.

Fortunately, he returned safely, which made me ecstatic, but I didn't dare to show it too much.

He didn't stay in the capital for long, and then went to the north to patrol the border. I waited for him to come back in the capital as usual, but not long after, my father fell seriously ill, and I had to return to Nanjing to fulfill my filial duty.

In June of the 13th year of Zhengtong, I returned to my hometown in Suzhou and saw my bedridden father.

My father’s illness was more serious than I had imagined. He was on his last legs and I could lose him at any time.

Even so, my father always comforted me and considered my life-long affairs.

My father saw what I was thinking, but he was more worried about my future. However, he did not stop me in the end.

After a while, my father passed away. I became alone in Suzhou and even had difficulty taking care of the funeral arrangements.

Fortunately, Sister Bao had already made arrangements and asked the eldest brother of the Xue family to help me out, so I didn't end up in too much of a mess.

It was also during this period that I adopted a son named Lin Yao on behalf of my father, so that he could carry on his father's family line.

After that, I observed mourning for my father, which was actually a way to escape from the world and wait for his arrival.

At that time, he was still commanding the operation, but he was far away in the ocean, so I still worried about him every day.

Fortunately, in the end, he won a great victory as always, and returned to Jinling with supreme prestige.

He came to Suzhou to see me, and coincidentally Baoyu was there too. As expected, he was captured by the guards and almost beaten to death.

When the matter was brought to his attention, I could see what he was thinking, so I spoke up and pleaded for Baoyu. After all, we are brother and sister.

Afterwards, he brought me back to Beijing and returned to Kunning Palace to continue serving as a tutor, while he was trying to find a solution for my situation.

In the end, he achieved his goal.

On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the fifteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, he carried me into Prince Xiang's palace, and I was officially canonized as Prince Xiang's concubine, officially becoming his person.

It’s a pity that he went to war again not long after. Fortunately, Sister Bao was with him.

I knew that he had big plans, so when I was chatting with Sister Bao before, I often gave him advice on how to deal with the troubles in the mansion.

Now that I'm a concubine, I have more things to do in this regard, and Sister Bao relies on me more and more.

Honestly speaking, the role of the princess should be played by Sister Bao. I can give advice on dismissing people, killing people, framing people, and putting the blame on others, but I don't have the heart to do that.

For someone like Bao-jie, it's like a daily routine. I don't think I can do that.

So I am very grateful to her for protecting me well and not putting me in any difficult position.

After a long period of hardship, he finally became the most likely heir to the throne, but then the queen passed away, and then the three brothers fought each other to death.

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the 17th year of Zhengtong, he and Sister Bao went to the palace for a banquet, and all the affairs of the palace were left to me to deal with. It was the most difficult, worrying and fearful day for me.

Fortunately, they finally returned safely, and then the Crown Prince and Prince Rui each lost their power.

On the first day of November in the eighteenth year of Zhengtong, he was made the Crown Prince.

This honor benefited the entire family, and I was promoted to the prince's concubine. It was also on that day that I gave birth to Xi'er, his fifth son.

After that, life became much more stable. In the autumn of the 20th year of Zhengtong, the emperor passed away, and he naturally inherited the throne.

The first day of September was the day he ascended the throne. Sister Bao and I went upstairs to the Fengtian Hall to witness the entire process.

The scene was grand, with flags flying and huge crowds of people.

But when he appeared, he overshadowed all other scenery, as if he was the only one in the world.

At this time, he was wearing a crown and looked dignified. Civil and military officials, as well as envoys from both inside and outside the country, were prostrating themselves at his feet, but his face was calm, as if he had transcended this world.

At this moment, I seemed to see Daming coming towards me.

He is Daming, and Daming is him!
After that, the harem was enthroned. Sister Bao undoubtedly became the Queen of the Central Palace, and I was promoted to the title of Imperial Concubine.

In the blink of an eye, it was the first year of Qiansheng. He presided over the palace examination for the first time, and he was worried about how to select the top scorer.

Feng Yuan and Song Ziyu, I saw who he liked, so I used clever words to persuade him and finally made him make up his mind.

Making this happen also gave me great feelings.

My father was only the third place in the imperial examination, and this incident was equivalent to me interfering with the selection of the first place. This was the first time I felt the taste of power.

To be honest, it was a strange feeling, but I didn't get too caught up in it because I knew it wouldn't end well.

I would rather live a stable life and let my son grow up safely, and I dare not think about anything else.

It’s a pity that I want stability, but others may not, such as my family.

Ever since Lin Yao took over, the Lin family would send people to congratulate me every New Year, but they never asked me for help. This originally made me feel at ease, but that was not the case.

I am the Imperial Concubine. To be frank, I am the most honorable person in the harem except for the Empress. The Lin family does not need me to do anything personally. They can do many things just by relying on my title.

In the fifth year of Qiansheng's reign, the Censorate investigated land annexation, and the Lin and Xue families' large-scale land purchases were exposed. Only then did I realize how far their hands stretched.

The local officials gave the Lin family a lot of convenience. The people from the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang were on friendly terms with Lin Yao, so it was very easy for the Lin family to annex land.

The Lin family was like this, not to mention the Xue family, but how much land did they annex? It turned out to be 3,000 acres each and 5,000 acres respectively.

This is the number I found out, but I always feel that it shouldn't be so small. However, I know Your Majesty has his own considerations, so I didn't ask too much about it.

But I didn't do nothing. I sent someone to pass a message to Lin Yao, telling him that if he didn't behave himself, I would deprive him of everything. This was a very simple thing for me.

To be honest, I seldom use my power, and I have to do so only to protect the Lin family. I just hope that the Lin family can understand my painstaking efforts.

Sister Bao's handling of this matter was much more severe. She first prayed to His Majesty to demote the Xue family to viscounts, and then distributed the 5,000 acres of land they had annexed to the refugees in Sizhou and other places.

After that, life finally settled down, and Xuer grew up day by day.

Xu'er is a smart child and seldom causes me any worries on weekdays. However, his interests are rather strange and he is particularly interested in studying civil engineering equipment.

I had no idea about the throne, so as long as he didn't harm anyone, I never interfered with what he liked, so he was indeed very happy.

But Sister Bao was not so lucky. Her sons were fighting with each other at a young age. Most of the time I saw her with a sad face.

In the eighth year of Qiansheng, I gave birth to a daughter for Your Majesty, and Your Majesty named her Zhu Xianyue.

I couldn’t see it when I was young, but when Yue’er grew up a little, I found that she was completely different from Xu’er, so she often made me worry.

The Queen wanted a daughter but couldn't get one, so she treated Yue'er as her own daughter and doted on her to the extreme. It was really difficult for me to control her.

Fortunately, although Yue'er was naughty, he was not a bad person. So although I was very angry, I was not really worried about him.

Fortunately, my son always manages to come up with some new and interesting gadgets, which win praises from His Majesty and me.

Fortunately, my two children are growing up happily without worrying about personal matters. This is my greatest luck.

Fortunately, Your Majesty and I have always been in harmony, and our friendship has grown stronger over time...

(End of this chapter)