The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 606 Beauty in the Arms
Since Xue Pan was on the list of traitors, they had to be careful in everything they did, lest they might get into trouble. So before Jia Huan took Jia Xichun and Ruhua back home, he had repeatedly told them not to mention Xue Pan to anyone. So after Xichun and Ruhua returned home, they did not dare to reveal a word.

Jia Huan had been holding it in until today when he unexpectedly met Xue Baochai alone and saw that she looked worried, so he told her about it.

After listening to Jia Huan's story about his encounter with Xue Pan, Baochai was both surprised and uneasy. It turned out that her brother had been with Sister Xichun for the past few months. What a tight-lipped girl!
Jia Huan said apologetically, "I originally planned to secretly bring cousin Pan to Beijing to reunite with you, but I felt it was unsafe, so I asked Shitou to send him some food and supplies, and still asked him to hide in the dilapidated temple temporarily. I will make plans after I have made arrangements."

Xue Baochai was deeply moved. You know, her elder brother was guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Anyone who sheltered and concealed the criminal would be punished with the same crime, which means losing his head. And brother Huan actually took such a big risk to help him. How could she repay such kindness!

"Brother Huan..." Xue Baochai was filled with emotion and wanted to say some words of thanks, but they seemed too pale and unfamiliar, so she hesitated to speak. She was grateful in her heart, but more worried.

Jia Huan seemed to understand Baochai's mood at the moment and smiled and said, "Don't worry, Sister Bao, I will make proper arrangements and try my best to let you and your aunt meet your cousin Pan."

Xue Baochai said hurriedly, "Don't do that. It's too dangerous. As long as my brother is safe, it doesn't matter whether he sees me or not. Brother Huan, please don't bring my brother to the capital. If you are implicated again, how can I live... Oh, how can my mother and I live with it?"

Xue Baochai let the cat out of the bag in a hurry. Although she corrected herself in time, she was still embarrassed and blushed. Compared with Lin Daiyu's bold love and hatred, Xue Baochai is more calm and introverted, more traditional and conservative. Even though she has deep feelings for Jia Huan, she never dares to show them.

Jia Huan looked at Sister Baochai, whose face was flushed with shame, and his heart was moved. He boldly held Baochai's jade hand and gently embraced her slender waist in his arms.

In fact, Jia has been coveting Baochai's soft waist for a long time, but Baochai is more traditional, beautiful and dignified, just like the Lengxiang Pills she took, which are fragrant but cold, so he dare not act rashly. At this time, Baochai accidentally revealed her true feelings, which gave him the opportunity to hug that warm and soft jade in his arms, and he felt that she was as touching as possible.

Xue Baochai was already blushing with embarrassment, and was suddenly embraced by Jia Huan. She was stunned, her heart pounding, and it took her several seconds to react. She quickly broke free from Jia Huan's arms, feeling embarrassed and annoyed: "Brother Huan, you...!"

At this moment, the sound of an oriole calling was heard outside, coming from far away and seemed to be coming towards this side.

A trace of panic flashed across Xue Baochai's face. She gave Jia Huan a shy look and said in a low voice, "Stay here and don't come out until we leave."

Jia Huan nodded with a smile. Xue Baochai was furious and raised her hand to give someone a good lesson, but in the end she couldn't bear to do it. She stamped her feet, opened the door and hurried out. As a result, as soon as she stepped out of the gate of Aojing Pavilion, she saw Ying'er coming towards her.

"Miss, so you are here. I have been looking for you for a long time. Come home quickly!" Ying'er walked over quickly and said.

Xue Baochai calmed herself down and said, "What's the important matter? Is it necessary to look for it all over the garden? I'll just walk around and go back."

Ying'er smiled and said, "The old lady wants to invite our wife, Miss, Miss Qin, and Master Ke Er to have the New Year's Eve dinner together tonight. It's time to go back and wash up. Hey, is the young lady alone?"

As Ying'er spoke, she looked into the Aojing Pavilion. Xue Baochai's heart skipped a beat and she said quickly, "Who else could it be but me? Let's go home!" Then she took Ying'er and left in a hurry.

Jia Huan waited until Baochai and her servant left before he walked out of Aojing Pavilion. He savored the touching feeling of holding Baochai in his arms with lingering desire, and then leisurely returned to Yueweiju, where Ping'er and others had already prepared hot soup for bathing.

After Jia Huan finished bathing, he rested for a while. As it was getting dark, someone from the mansion finally came to inform them that it was time to have the New Year's Eve dinner. Just at this moment, light snow began to fall from the sky. The snow on New Year's Eve finally fell.

Ping'er put on the golden pheasant fur coat for Jia Huan and put on his snow gear. She told Qingwen and Mandalin to look after the house, and then she personally sent Jia Huan out with a lantern.

This year, the Jia family's New Year's Eve dinner was still held in the large flower hall on the middle road of Rongguo Mansion. Although it was still very lively, it was a lot quieter than in previous years. After all, there were so many fewer people, and the only male members left were Jia Zheng, Jia Baoyu, Jia Huan, Jia Lan, etc. It was no longer the grand scene of the past.

It was probably because of the scene that Jia's grandmother was sad, so she was not in a good mood. What's more, it was snowing outside and it was very cold. The family dispersed one after another after eating the New Year's Eve dinner. There was no singing or listening to music, nor did they gather together to guess riddles and tell jokes like in previous years.

However, for children, the adults' moods and weather changes did not affect their joy of the New Year, and Qiaojie kept pestering Jia Huan to watch the fireworks.

So Jia Huan carried Qiaojie outside to set off fireworks, while the other girls stood in the hall, warming themselves by the fire, watching the two children setting off fireworks in the snow, which was quite interesting. The snow was still falling outside, although not very heavy, but Qiaojie was still young, and Jia Huan was afraid that she would catch a cold, so he stopped playing after a while, carried her back to the hall and gave her back to the nurse, who took her home to rest.

Ping Er brought the hot wine that had been prepared long ago to Jia Huan to drink, while Lin Daiyu helped to brush off the snow on his body, teasing him: "You are a high-ranking official of the fourth rank, but you still act like a naughty boy. If the soldiers under your command saw you, wouldn't they laugh at you?"

Xue Baoqin smiled and covered her mouth, "Although Brother Huan was crowned today, it was early after all. In fact, he is not even fifteen yet. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a naughty boy."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "It's just that we have never seen a fourth-rank naughty boy. If he were in a local place, he would be a great master at the level of a prefect."

All the girls couldn't help laughing. Lin Daiyu also smiled softly. Suddenly, her eyes fixed and she exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Huan, turn around. There seems to be a spider behind us!"

All the girls were horrified, wondering where the spider came from in the middle of winter. So they looked at Jia Huan and saw a black object attached to the hem of his golden pheasant fur coat. It looked like a real spider.

Ying'er quickly took out the lantern and shone it, then cried out, "It's not a spider, it's just been burned with a hole."

The ladies then saw clearly that there was indeed a finger-sized hole burned on the golden pheasant fur coat. Ping'er couldn't help but said with heartache, "How could it be burned? This was given to me by the old lady only last year. I have only worn it a few times. I heard it was a tribute from Russia. There is only this one. It is very precious."

Everyone was saying it was a pity. Xue Baochai said, "It turned out that when we were setting off the fireworks just now, sparks flew out. Fortunately, no one was hurt. It's a pity now, but there's nothing we can do. We can only find a skilled tailor to mend it."

So Jia Huan took off his golden pheasant fur coat and gave it to a maid to take it to the tailor at home to mend it, after all, he would have to wear it again tomorrow.

As a result, the old woman came back after half an hour, shaking her head and saying, "It's useless. Several tailors in the family don't know what this thing is, and they dare not take this job."

Xueyan stuck out her tongue and said, "This is a difficult situation. Where can I find a Russian tailor now?"

Lin Daiyu frowned and said, "Why are you talking so much? Let me have a look." After that, she took the golden pheasant fur coat from the old woman. Chaiqin and others also gathered around to study it.

"This is woven with peacock gold thread." Lin Daiyu frowned and said, "The needlework is different from that of our Great Jin."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "It is indeed different, but now we have also used peacock gold thread to demarcate it as closely as the border, I am afraid we can get away with it."

Lin Daiyu's eyes lit up and she said, "Sister Bao, that's a good idea, but who among you knows how to draw the line?"

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "You don't have to look at me, I can't do it either, but I know someone who can."

"Who?" Ping'er asked hurriedly.

Xue Baochai said with a smile: "Qingwen knows this skill, how could you not know it?"

Ping'er couldn't help but blushing. She really didn't know that Qingwen was originally a servant in Jia Baoyu's room and had never picked up a needle and thread since she came to Yueweiju. She smiled and said, "I really didn't know Qingwen had such a skill. Thank you, Miss Bao, for reminding me. It's okay now. I'll ask her to make it up when I go back." At the same time, she put the golden pheasant fur coat on Jia Huan again.

Everyone chatted for a while, then went home because they were worried that the snow would get heavier.

(End of this chapter)