The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 264: A Funeral Where No One Grieves (End)
Inside Ning'an Hall, all the fighting ceased.

The girls who left the house started to make a fuss without the restraint of their elders.

Others have their own hidden thoughts, so it's inevitable that their minds are distracted.

Lin Daiyu, however, was enjoying the fun, and took Shi Xiangyun's arm and said with a smile, "I never thought that Yun, whom we couldn't even talk to properly, would be talking about marriage! It's all thanks to Brother Yi, if it was Brother Yi, you would have been the one to make trouble again."

She looked at the sisters and said with a smile, "Don't you think so?"

In the early years, Shi Xiangyun couldn't tell the difference between Er and Ai, which made them often make fun of each other.

Only the sisters were around, and being teased by Lin Daiyu again, Shi Xiangyun was no longer so shy, and retorted: "You don't let me go a bit, and you only pick on people's faults. Naturally, I can't compare to you in this life. I can only pray that you will have a brother-in-law Lin who bites his tongue tomorrow, and shouts "Ai" and "Eh" all the time. Amitabha, that would be embarrassing in front of me!"

When has Lin Daiyu ever lost in an argument?
He laughed and said, "Oh! You are making fun of me because you know you won't call me wrong again, right?"

"Sister Lin just loves to make fun of people!"

Shi Xiangyun blushed immediately and reached out to tickle Lin Daiyu's waist.

Lin Daiyu smiled and quickly dodged.

Seeing this, Xue Baochai shook her head and said, "Why don't you calm down a bit? How can you still look like a mourner?"

Tanchun quickly agreed: "Sister Bao is right! I saw that the eldest lady seemed to have some hidden meaning in her words just now! This is related to reputation, and there is no conclusion yet. It's fine for us to talk about it among ourselves. If it gets out, it will be bad!"

She paused and said, "Brother Qieyi is a steady person. If he knew that we were playing around, it would be inappropriate."

Yingchun looked around at all the sisters, hesitant to speak, "Actually...actually..."

When she heard Lin Daiyu talking about Shi Xiangyun and Zhang Yun逸, she felt sour in her heart and couldn't help but speak out.

He originally wanted to take this opportunity to make Jia She and Mrs. Xing's thoughts public, so that no one would set their sights on Zhang Yun逸 in the future.

But after repeating it twice, he still couldn't say it out loud, so he said, "Third sister is right!"

Lin Daiyu also knew that she had gone too far. Shi Xiangyun was shy to begin with, so after hearing what the three of them said, she gave up.

The group came to a pavilion built on the mountain.

Xiangling had received the news long ago. She invited everyone into the house with her big belly and asked Jinchuan to make tea.

She herself took Lin Daiyu's arm and said, "I heard from you that you have opened a bookstore. Not only are you going to write stories into vernacular novels, but you are also going to add your own poems to the stories. I am so envious."

Seeing her greedy and hungry look, everyone couldn't help but smile knowingly.

Tanchun smiled and said, "I will send you another invitation tomorrow and invite you to our Zhiyanzhai, how about that?"

Xiangling lowered her head slightly and said, "I am just envious in my heart. How can I compare with the talents of the girls?"

Baochai said with a smile, "Why do you have to belittle yourself? Brother Yi is the boss of our Zhiyanzhai. I think you are more than qualified to take on the position of Supervisor of the Zhai!"

She was filled with sorrow. More than a year ago, Xiangling was just a maid in her family, but now she had to accompany Xiaoxin.

"I can't help much, but I can still serve tea and water. I am satisfied as long as I can watch the girls compose poems nearby."

"Why can't I help?" Lin Daiyu shook her head and smiled, "It is said that a good teacher produces good students. You are so willing to work hard. If you can't learn, isn't it because I am not talented enough and didn't teach well?"

Xiangling shook her head quickly, saying, "You are a great teacher, young lady! I learned poetry from your method, and read the poems of Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu. I have benefited a lot from it..."

As she spoke, she took out a few pieces of paper from her bosom and handed them to Lin Daiyu.

"These are a few of the ones I made secretly. Please help me correct them, young lady."

Lin Daiyu took the poems, blinked her eyes, wrote down the poems in her hand secretly, and handed them to Xiangyun. Xiangyun blushed immediately, but still took them.

However, after she finished reading it, she held the poem in her hand, not knowing what to do.

Unexpectedly, Tanchun snatched it away and said, "Although we are not as good as Sister Lin, who is a formal master, we also said that we will contribute our efforts."

As he spoke, he looked at Xiangling's poems as if no one was around.

She was not like Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyun, who just recited the poems silently while reading them.

The moon is high in the sky and the night is cold, with clear light and bright shadows.

Poets often want to have fun to liven up the atmosphere, while visitors feel sad and cannot bear to watch.

A jade mirror hangs beside the Jade Tower, and an ice plate is hung outside the pearl curtain.

What's the use of burning silver candles on a good night, when the clear colors are shining brightly on the screen.

After reading a poem, he said to the crowd, "How about everyone express their opinions?"

Lin Daiyu took the lead, looked at Xiangling, and said with a smile: "This poem does have some meaning, but the wording is not elegant. It's because you have read few poems and you are bound by them. Throw this one away and write another one. Just be bold and write it."

Xiang Ling said with difficulty: "I'm afraid it will take some time. I stayed up late a while ago and was scolded by the master. He has not allowed me to do it for the past few months..."

At this point, she suddenly said in surprise: "Oh, right! I almost forgot!"

Everyone was covering their mouths and laughing, and couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What's wrong?"

"Grandpa also specifically told me to remember to ask Dad to take Miss Lin's pulse when the opportunity arises!"

Because he didn't know that Zhang Yunyi was worried that it would affect his image as a prophet, he sold him out completely in one go.

I don’t know whether Zhang Yun逸 should cry or laugh if he knew that all his efforts had been in vain.

However, he didn't have time to pay attention to it at the moment.

Knowing that the Shi family also had their eyes on Zhang Yun逸, how could Mrs. Xing sit still in the backyard?
While they were chatting, he found an excuse to go out and find Jia She and told him what happened in Ning'an Hall.

Tanchun alone has already made them feel uneasy, and now Shi Xiangyun has appeared, especially since Grandmother Jia still has such an ambiguous attitude.

After the two of them discussed it, they decided to take the initiative and block Zhang Yunyi.

"Marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words. Your parents are gone now, so this should be something that Jing should worry about. But Zhen'er took money from me!"

"Master, what do you mean by this? I have only heard of the man offering the betrothal gift. Could it be that your family is doing the opposite?"

"This..." Jia She was speechless.

Mrs. Xing was quick-witted and tried to smooth things over by saying, "This is the money the master gave him for matchmaking."

Zhang Yunyi was annoyed by the two men's pestering, and said righteously: "My uncle and cousin have just passed away, and I am not yet finished with my mourning period. Do you think it is appropriate for the eldest master and the eldest mistress to say this?"

He paused and said, "Isn't it just eight hundred taels? I know about this matter, and I will give you an explanation."

"Don't! Calm down, nephew. We can talk it out. I definitely didn't mean that!"

He was really worried that Zhang Yunyi would throw eight hundred taels of silver in his face, and then he would be in real trouble.

……

(End of this chapter)