Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

The Holy Capital, Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

Zijuan passed the hanging flower gate in front of the hall, walked around the wind and rain corridor, and went to Rongqing Hall to look for Yuanyang.

I don't know why, but my daughter suddenly had the urge to make a pair of autumn shoes for the third master.

But the girl and the third master are cousins, so there is some suspicion. It is not convenient for her to do it herself, so she has to let the maid do it for her.

So Zijuan and Yuanyang asked for a nice shoe upper pattern, but she knew that Yuanyang had made shoes for the Third Master.

As soon as I entered the back hall, I saw Yuanyang helping the old lady into the front hall, apparently to entertain guests.

Yuanyang nodded to Zijuan, and she waited in the back hall. She would talk to Yuanyang when he was free.

Grandmother Jia has been in a very good mood these past two days, and the root of the problem is Jia Cong.

Although because of Jia Cong's biological mother Du Jinniang, Grandmother Jia and her grandson have not been close since childhood.

But now she had to admit that the one who could best bring honor and glory to the Jia family was this grandson whom she had disliked since childhood.

Not long after he arrived in Jinling this time, he was spotted by the Zhen family of Jinling, who wrote to him from afar to discuss marriage with the Jia family.

Although Grandmother Jia had her own plans in mind, she wanted to marry her niece Xiangyun to Jia Cong so that the blood of the Jia and Shi families could be integrated and their strength could be strengthened.

But no matter what, the Zhen family's actions made Lady Jia proud.

What Jia's mother didn't expect was that a eunuch came to the palace yesterday and said that the old Concubine Zhen in the palace learned that the Earl of Rongguo Weiyuan was in Jinling to rescue the Zhen family's children.

The old empress dowager admired Lady Jia's good management of the household and her successful descendants, and gave Lady Jia the top-quality Yunwujian offered by her clansmen from Jinling as a gift as a thank you.

The late emperor treated the old Concubine Zhen like his biological mother and held a very respected position in the harem. Even the Empress Dowager Yizhang often visited Qinghe Palace to pay her respects.

Although Lady Jia was the wife of a super-rank duke, she could only visit the palace every year to pay homage and see him from afar, and they didn't even have a chance to talk.

The main reason is that this old Concubine Zhen is of too high a generation and her identity is too special.

Now, because Jia Cong had done some favors for the Zhen family in Jinling, the old empress dowager actually condescended to send them famous tea as a thank you.

Although this made Lady Jia feel doubtful, it was a great honor after all, so she was naturally very happy about it.

Even when her niece-in-law, Marquis Zhongjing Li, came to visit, Grandmother Jia still had a smile on her face and seemed to be in a particularly good mood.

But today, Li seemed absent-minded, as if she was hiding something. Grandmother Jia was curious and asked her the reason.

Li said: "Madam, you don't know, yesterday the master was summoned to the palace by the emperor to discuss matters, and happened to hear some news from the palace.

It is said that Princess Beijing went to the palace to pay homage to the old Concubine Zhen a few days ago, and brought a letter from the Zhen family in Jinling, apparently asking the old Concubine Zhen to help arrange a marriage between Cong'er and the third daughter of the Zhen family.

Maybe I will even ask the Emperor to grant me marriage."

When Grandmother Jia heard this, she was dumbfounded. The Zhen family had sent a letter not long ago, vaguely mentioning this marriage, and Grandmother Jia did not express her opinion, which was actually a tactful refusal that would not hurt the reputation of both families.

She was determined to marry her niece's granddaughter Xiangyun to Jia Cong, so she would naturally not let Jia Cong marry into the Zhen family.

However, no one expected that the second daughter of the Zhen family, who was the Princess Beijing, would come forward and ask the old Concubine Zhen to mediate. As long as the old Concubine spoke to the Emperor, the marriage would almost be a foregone conclusion.

Grandmother Jia suddenly understood why the old concubine had suddenly shown kindness to her yesterday, contrary to her usual behavior. It turned out that it was because of this incident.

Grandmother Jia was filled with displeasure. She felt that the Zhen family was using their power to bully others and was trying to ruin her marriage with the Shi family...

When Li saw her aunt's unhappy expression, she was naturally very unhappy about this marriage. She felt relieved and said a lot of things...

In the back hall of Rongqing, Zijuan was a little bored and was waiting for Yuanyang to come back when he was free so that he could bring her the shoe pattern she wanted.

I accidentally heard voices coming from the front hall, including the words "Cong Ge'er" and "Miss Zhen San", and I was suddenly startled.

She quietly took a few steps forward, closer to the large screen inlaid with jade and shells, and immediately heard every word of the conversation in the front hall.

……

Judefang, Weiyuan Earl's Mansion, Daiyu Courtyard.

That day, Jia Cong took Yingchun to live in the Earl's Mansion and asked the sisters to choose their favorite places in the mansion and come to stay from time to time.

It is said that Daiyu found the courtyard where she lives, but in fact it was Jia Cong who helped her carefully select it.

This courtyard is separated from Jia Cong's main courtyard by only a waterside pavilion and two rockery hills, and can be reached in just a hundred steps.

From his own yard, Jia Cong could clearly see the exquisite two-story embroidered building in Daiyu's yard and the parrot stand hanging on the window.

There is a winding corridor at the entrance of the courtyard, and a stone-paved path under the steps. There are two or three houses in the courtyard and an exquisitely built two-story embroidered building.

There is a water outlet under the wall of the backyard, and the ditch is only a few feet wide. It leads in a stream of clear water, which flows into the wall, flows around the steps and the house, and flows through the front and back yards, irrigating the plants and trees in the yard, and then flows out of the yard through the culvert in the front yard.

All the daily items in Daiyu's room, including chairs, desks, bookshelves, antiques, curtains, draperies, embroidered beds, patterned curtains, beddings, etc., were purchased by Jia Cong himself.

He also knew that Daiyu did not like fragrant flowers, but only loved a quiet and leisurely life, so he planted hundreds of bamboos in the open space in the front and back yards. In the midsummer, the green leaves brought coolness everywhere.

Daiyu's residence in Rongguo Mansion was decorated by Jia's mother herself. It was exquisite and elegant, even better than those of her sisters.

But none of them made her so attentive and happy as the courtyard decorated personally by Jia Cong of the East Palace.

Although she and Jia Cong had lived together in the West Mansion since childhood, they did not know everything about each other.

Sometimes Jia Cong's behavior also made Daiyu a little puzzled. She didn't know how he could understand her preferences so well in every detail.

However, she had visited Yingchun and Tanchun's residences more often in the East Palace, and had heard that the two sisters had some similar feelings.

This made Daiyu even happier about Jia Cong, but also gave her some more worries and dissatisfaction.

It would be fine if the third brother was so good at coaxing girls at home, but it would be terrible if he used this method to coax girls outside.

However, Daiyu felt that her worries were not groundless and she was not just being petty.

It is said that the third daughter of Jinling Zhen family gets along well with the third brother. It is probably because the third brother got used to it and coaxed the girl into falling in love with him.

Otherwise, the elders from far away would write to propose marriage. When Daiyu thought of this, she felt angry and thought that her fortune-telling was always correct.

But four years ago, Baoyu dropped the jade in her room, and from that time on, many things became different.

With Jia Cong's company and guidance over the years, Daiyu's mind has become much more open than when she was young. Although it is difficult to change her thoughtful temperament, she is no longer as concerned about everything and sad as before.

When a person has a real sense of security in his heart, his thoughts and actions will change subtly.

In the past two years, as Jia Cong grew older and became more and more outstanding, some things started to happen more frequently.

The noble ladies who came to visit during the holidays would always say some indirect matchmaking words, probably because Third Brother was too famous.

For example, the third lady of Chengyang Marquis’ family, the third lady of Jinling Zhen’s family...

The sisters in the family can treat these things as fun and jokes in the boudoir.

As Daiyu grew older, she began to fall in love, but she was simply unable to face it calmly.

I was quite upset about this, but it was just anger and I forgot about it after a few days.

In these years of accompanying each other day and night in the mansion, Daiyu knew very well how important she was in Jia Cong's heart, and she also saw clearly how much he cared about her. Therefore, sometimes she would get a little mad because of these things, but she didn't mind too much, just left these things, including herself, to Jia Cong, thinking that he would handle it well.

……

Daiyu came back from Yingchun early in the morning and seemed to be in a good mood.

She wore a light purple sleeveless top with plum blossom embroidery, and a white cross-collared gauze lining underneath. Her slender waist was tied with a light purple embroidered belt, and she wore a white pleated skirt.

She went up to the embroidery tower with brisk steps, looking very graceful and nimble.

In the past two years, she has followed the health-preserving methods taught by Jia Cong, and has maintained daily exercises such as high jump, walking, and kicking shuttlecock, which has been very effective for her health.

The problems I had in my childhood such as asthma, cough, excessive thinking and little sleep, all went away without me noticing.

Her face was as white as snow and as rosy as rouge, and her eyes were as clear as autumn water. This year her body began to grow taller, and she became more and more graceful, as delicate as a willow, and full of charm.

She entered the study and was quite interested in adding water and feeding the parrot hanging on the window.

Then he walked to the desk and took out a neatly folded piece of letter paper from the sachet he carried with him.

A familiar handwriting, elegant and graceful, caught her eye.

Jia Cong had been in Jinling for some time and often sent letters back.

He was very fair in writing letters. All his letters were addressed to Yingchun and not to other sisters individually.

Because Yingchun was his biological sister, the eldest daughter of the Earl's mansion, and he only wrote letters to her, others naturally could not find any gossip or suspicion.

The sisters all learned about Jia Cong's recent situation in Jinling from Yingchun's letter.

However, one of the letters Jia Cong had recently written was addressed to Daiyu alone.

The letter said that he originally wanted to invite Zhang Youpeng, a famous doctor in Shenjing, to go to the south of the Yangtze River to treat Lin Ruhai, but he happened to meet Zhang Youpeng who was visiting a friend in the south, so the trip did not take place.

But this time in Jinling he unexpectedly met Zhang Youpeng. After finishing his mission in Jinling, he would ask Zhang Youpeng to go to Yangzhou with him to treat Lin Ruhai.

Daiyu knew in her heart that her third brother was well aware of their father's illness and that was what he was most worried about.

So when he met Zhang Youpeng in Jiangnan, he specially sent a letter to him from thousands of miles away to tell him that he wanted to reassure him.

The letter was about a very simple matter, just a few hundred words, but care was evident between the lines, and Daiyu was very happy to receive it.

But he had been in Jinling for quite some time, and no one knew when he would be able to come back.

……

Daiyu was holding the letter, lost in thought, when she saw Zijuan enter the study with a strange look on her face.

Curiously asked, "Didn't you go to ask Sister Yuanyang for the shoe pattern for Third Brother? Why did you come back empty-handed?"

Zijuan said, "I just went to Rongqing Hall to look for Sister Yuanyang. It happened that the wife of Marquis Zhongjing came to see the old lady, and Sister Yuanyang was waiting on her.

Mrs. Shi also talked to the old lady about something, and the old lady didn't look very good, so I didn't bother to get the shoe samples."

Daiyu asked curiously, "What did Mrs. Shi say that made the old lady unhappy?"

Zijuan hesitated for a moment, but still said, "The second master of the Shi family often goes to the palace to see the emperor, and he heard the news in the palace.

It is said that Princess Beijing entered the palace the day before yesterday and brought a letter from Jinling to the old Concubine Zhen in the palace. "

Daiyu was a very perceptive person. When she heard that Old Concubine Zhen had received a letter from her family in Nanjing, her heart skipped a beat and she suddenly had a bad feeling.

He asked, "The old Concubine Zhen in the palace is from Jinling. Could she be related to the Zhen family of Jinling?"

Zijuan said, "Miss, your guess is correct. When I came back, I heard from Sister Yuanyang that Old Madam Zhen was from the Zhen family in Jinling.

In the letter from the Zhen family to the old concubine, it was mentioned... "

When Zijuan said this, she looked at Daiyu's face and became a little hesitant.

When Daiyu saw Zijuan's expression, her heart sank slightly, and she said, "Good sister, please tell me quickly. Even if you don't tell me, I can ask Yuanyang and I'll find out everything clearly."

When Zijuan saw Daiyu urging her, she knew that she could not hide the matter anymore.

No one in the mansion knew that Rongqingtang was a gourd without a mouth, and what happened inside would spread throughout the mansion in less than half a day.

Even if the girl didn't ask Yuanyang, the news would reach her ears in less than two days.

So he said, "The Jinling Zhen family wrote a letter to the old concubine in the palace, mentioning the third master and the third daughter of the Zhen family, hoping that the old concubine would help to bring them together and grant them marriage."

After hearing this, Daiyu's face turned pale and her whole body went limp. The letter in her hand flew out of her hand, floating in the air, and finally fell into dust.

Seeing Daiyu's expression, Zijuan was worried, so she helped her sit down and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, young lady, this is just news that Mrs. Shi heard, and it hasn't happened yet.

When I heard the news, I paid attention and stayed in the hall for a while longer. I saw that the old lady looked very unhappy. Everyone could see that the old lady was not happy about this."

When Daiyu heard that Grandmother Jia did not approve of this marriage, she seemed to regain some of her spirit and subconsciously asked, "Grandmother, do you really not want to?"

Zijuan was really scared when she saw Daiyu's expression just now.

Seeing that she had come back to her senses, he quickly said, "The old lady looked unhappy at the time, and everyone could see that she was extremely unhappy.

Later, Mrs. Shi said that the eldest master of the Zhen family in Jinling was just an inherited empty third-rank position, and the Zhen family did not have a title, so the Zhen girl and the third master were not a good match.

I didn't expect Mrs. Shi to be such a warm-hearted person. I looked at the old lady's expression and she also felt that Mrs. Shi was right."

After hearing this, Daiyu's face seemed to turn a little more red. Her grandmother was not willing to accept this marriage, and there might be some hope for the outcome, but her heart was still in turmoil.

When Zijuan saw Daiyu's expression, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that although her girl was still young, her whole heart had been on the Third Master in recent years.

What happened in Rongqing Hall today will definitely spread throughout the mansion. Since it cannot be kept secret, it is better to tell the truth so that the young lady can feel at ease. When the Third Master returns to Beijing, he will always find a way to deal with it.

Zijuan said, "The old lady of the Shi family also gave the old lady some advice, saying that it would be better to arrange a marriage for the Third Master among the relatives of the Duke and the Marquis as soon as possible, so as to avoid being targeted by others and causing the Third Master to suffer losses."

Daiyu's face turned pale again, and she felt indescribably uncomfortable. "How could Mrs. Shi be so enthusiastic? She must have a candidate in mind, but she didn't tell the old lady."

Zijuan said, "I was just listening when the Second Master came into Rongqing Hall. Mrs. Shi stopped talking and I couldn't stay any longer, so I came back.

Young lady, don't think too much. Even if the palace grants marriage, it is a big deal. It is not something that can be done tomorrow after being announced today. You have to wait until the Third Master returns to the capital. There is no rush now."

Zijuan said a lot of words of comfort, but her girl said nothing and just stared blankly, not knowing whether she heard what she said or not. It was heartbreaking to see her.

Daiyu suddenly remembered the story that Xiangyun told her about how there were so many goblins that day, and seemed to realize something.

Could it be that Mrs. Shi’s intention to stir up trouble is because of Yun girl…?

Daiyu bit her lips tightly and smiled bitterly.

He felt annoyed, thinking that his third brother must have flirted with the third daughter of the Zhen family in Jinling, which was why the other family was so enthusiastic about this marriage.

This damn third brother, if you want to coax me with nice words again in the future, you can’t do that anymore!
Daiyu couldn't stop crying, picked up the letter on the ground, and wanted to tear it up in anger, but she couldn't do it. (End of this chapter)