Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 202: The Fragrance of Books

In Daiyu's room, Zijuan brought in a cup of hot tea and added some calming incense tablets to the incense burner.

There were four or five books piled on the desk. Daiyu was reading them intently and making notes on them with a brush.

Today she wore a white silk middle-length dress with a bamboo leaf vertical collar and a side-breasted front, and a light purple skirt embroidered with plum blossoms. Her long hair was simply tied into a bun, and she looked elegant, beautiful and charming.

Zijuan said, "Miss, you have been watching for an hour. Be careful not to hurt your eyes. Take a break first."

Then I heard a voice coming from the door: "Sister, why are you studying so hard now? What book are you reading?"

Daiyu looked up and saw that it was Baoyu, so she smiled and said, "It's just some idle books. Didn't your uncle ask you to review your lessons today?"

When Baoyu heard this, his face fell.

Ever since Jia Zheng knew that Jia Cong was studying hard at home in preparation for the autumn examination, he no longer had a good face when he saw Baoyu. Although he kept urging him to study, there was no progress in the end.

In fact, Jia Zheng had somewhat given up hope, but he did not loosen his tone. Every day when Baoyu went to Rong Xi Tang to pay his respects, Jia Zheng would ask about his studies and other matters, making Baoyu's life a living hell.

Baoyu only hoped that Jia Cong could finish the autumn and spring examinations as soon as possible and no longer pretend to study at home, so that he could be free from now on.

He had just heard from the guest that his father was taking a nap in the Mengpo Zhai study, so he relaxed and went to talk to Daiyu in her room. Unexpectedly, as soon as Daiyu saw him, she started talking about all sorts of things.

Little did they know that Jia Cong had been studying hard recently, and even Daiyu's mind was full of thoughts about studying, so she couldn't help but blurt out thoughts about Baoyu when she saw him.

Baoyu saw several books on Daiyu's desk, which were different from the ones she usually read. They were practical economic books such as military strategies, historical essays, and agricultural books. He felt a little uncomfortable.

He only liked to read light and interesting books such as unofficial history, biographical examinations, and variety shows, and he hated practical studies the most.

How could Lin Daiyu, such an elegant person, be interested in things related to official career and economics? These things were not suitable for a delicate girl to study. They would only taint such a beautiful girl like Lin Daiyu. He could not help feeling a little disappointed.

In the past few years, Lin Daiyu is still the same as usual and seems to have not changed, but the two of them have almost no topics to talk about harmoniously, and they seem to be becoming more and more estranged. Thinking of this, Baoyu feels so heartbroken that he can't breathe.

Daiyu was unaware of anything and asked Xueyan to bring her tea. The two chatted for a few more words, and then became a little bored. Baoyu was still reluctant to leave, and Daiyu was only thinking about the few pages of the book that she had not finished reading.

She then made the excuse that she wanted to take a short nap and asked Baoyu to come and play another day. Just then, Xiren came to find Baoyu and said that the lady wanted him to come over and talk. Only then did Daiyu breathe a sigh of relief.

She continued to read the remaining pages. Not long after, she heard footsteps outside the door. Daiyu frowned slightly, and only smiled when she saw who was coming.

"Why don't you study hard at home, Third Brother? Why don't you come visit me when you have time?"

Jia Cong laughed and said, "You can't read for twelve hours a day, otherwise even a god would faint. You have to combine work and rest, go out for a walk and relieve your boredom."

"My sister borrowed a few books yesterday. How are they going?"

Daiyu smiled and pointed at the desk: "Look for yourself."

When Jia Cong went to the desk, he found that the books were carefully annotated with a red pen. The writing was elegant and delicate, and lovely to read. The annotated words were insightful and very precise.

There were also excerpts of the key points in the book on the rice paper next to it. I didn't expect that she borrowed the book I used to lay the foundation for my policy essays and read it so carefully.

I can't help but admire: "Sister is really a natural born scholar. If she hadn't been born a girl, we wouldn't have had the chance to take the exam and win."

Daiyu smiled and said, "I just had nothing to do. I saw that Third Brother had too many books to read, so I picked out these. With these annotations and excerpts, Third Brother will have less trouble reading them."

Zijuan said, "Miss, you used to study a lot in the past, but you didn't put so much effort into it these past two days, and you weren't afraid of hurting your eyes, but you didn't listen to my advice."

Daiyu blushed and said, "Why don't you hurry up and pour some tea for Third Brother?"

Jia Cong was moved and suddenly understood why Daiyu borrowed these books. It was because she wanted to help him save some effort.

He said in a gentle voice, "Don't worry, sister. There is still half a year before the autumn examination. There is still plenty of time. I dare not let you worry so much." Jia Cong saw a light green crystal square bottle on Daiyu's desk. It was the Japanese water jade perfume sold in Xiuniang's perfume shop.

This Japanese water jade perfume has an exquisite appearance. He wanted to give some to the sisters in the garden to play with, but he never had time to do it.

Curiously asked, "How come my sister has this thing?"

Daiyu replied, "This was obtained by our elder brother Zhen from the East Palace. Sister You gave two bottles to the old lady for her to admire, and she gave one to me and Baoyu.

It's strange, this Shuiyu perfume is a woman's thing, only women would buy it, but Brother Zhen, a man, got it."

Jia Cong's heart skipped a beat when he heard Daiyu's unintentional words.

……

When Jia Cong returned to Qingzhizhai, it was just past noon, and he went back to his study to start his afternoon homework.

But he didn't see Yinglian in the study, so he asked, "Where is Yinglian?"

Wu Er replied, "I couldn't leave just now, so I asked her to bring sweet-scented osmanthus and persimmon cake to Miss Bao."

Jia Cong was shocked and felt something was wrong.

He and Wu'er had never told anyone about the dispute between Yinglian and Xue Pan. They had rescued Yinglian in time, and since the incident had not happened, there was naturally no need to talk about it.

Ever since the Xue family moved to the Lixiang Courtyard next door, because Xue Pan was an outsider, he only entered and exited through the door facing the street and never entered the inner house of the Jia family.

This is the rule regarding the difference between men and women in wealthy families. Even a playboy like Xue Pan would never violate it, otherwise even if his uncle Jia Zheng beat him to death, no one would gossip.

But Jia Cong still paid more attention to it. After all, Xue Pan had seen Yinglian before, and it was because he forced Yinglian to marry that he killed Feng Yuan and caused such a big incident.

Therefore, he never let Yinglian go to Lixiangyuan, for fear that she might run into Xue Pan and cause trouble. He even seldom went to Lixiangyuan himself, mainly because he felt uncomfortable seeing a troublemaker like Xue Pan.

Thinking of this, he could no longer sit still, so he got up and rushed to Lixiangyuan.

As soon as he reached the gate of the courtyard, he heard Xue Pan's somewhat arrogant voice coming from inside: "You are Suyun, and it was so hard for me to find you. How come you are here? You must be destined to be with me."

Jia Cong's heart sank. As expected, he had caused trouble again!

Yinglian's frightened voice was mixed with Baochai's shy and angry voice: "Brother, what are you doing? Why don't you go away? She is a maid in Brother Cong's room!"

Jia Cong pushed open the courtyard door suddenly and saw Baochai standing in front of Yinglian, with food boxes filled with osmanthus persimmon cakes overturned on the ground.

When Baochai saw Jia Cong suddenly appear, her face looked scary and her pretty face turned pale in an instant. "My brother said these crazy things because he saw that his maid was beautiful. If she hadn't been there to stop him, the consequences would have been... "

He happened to witness this scene. How could she face him in the future? Baochai was so ashamed and angry that she wanted to cry but had no tears. She wished she could find a crack to hide in. Her brother was too ridiculous.

When Yinglian saw Jia Cong, she cried out in surprise, "Young Master!" She ran over and hid behind him, not daring to look Xue Pan in the eye.

Jia Cong noticed that Yinglian's hand, which was grabbing his clothes, was trembling slightly, and his heart felt even colder.

When Yinglian was in Guo Laoer's home, she worried every day about being sold. Now that she meets Xue Pan, the man who forced her to buy her, how could she not be terrified.

Xue Pan's eyes widened and he shouted, "No wonder I couldn't find this girl that day. It turned out that you secretly bought her away, making Feng Yuan and I fools!"

When Baochai heard this, her face changed. She then realized that Yinglian was the maid that her brother had been fighting for. How did she end up in brother Cong's room?

(End of this chapter)