Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 101 Mr. Lin’s Good Daughter

Yue Ling's face fell, he came to sit next to Lin Daiyu, and said sadly: "It's not good, I'm always being bullied."

Lin Daiyu was slightly startled when she heard this, and then she saw Yue Ling laughing, so she also laughed and said, "Brother Yue is always teasing me to relieve my boredom. Who can bully you? It's good enough that you don't bully others."

"Of course I didn't lie to Sister Lin. I was really made sad by someone."

Lin Daiyu asked curiously, "How did you embarrass Brother Yue?"

Yue Ling recounted in detail what had happened in the yamen, and Lin Daiyu laughed even more after hearing it.

"The Dachang imperial examination emphasizes citing classics rather than arguing about the meaning of things. Brother Yue, you are trying to embarrass me by using a sentence that has been controversial since the Han Dynasty. This is malicious. Nowadays, the imperial examination takes Zhu Xi's theory as a model, so who cares about the things of the previous dynasty? It's normal that I can't answer it right now, but if I think about it more, I can discuss it with Brother Yue."

"The Five Classics contain a vast amount of knowledge. For the imperial examination, it is enough to be good at one subject and not lack the rest. In this dynasty, the most popular one is the Spring and Autumn Annals, and the Book of Rites is the last. Feng Tongqian is probably the same. Moreover, he underestimated the enemy first and fell into Brother Yue's trap a long time ago."

Yue Ling laughed happily, "Sister Lin is still the smartest. He bullied me, so of course I had to fight back, and I had to fight back in the way he is best at. Someone is going to have trouble sleeping today."

Looking at Lin Daiyu writing around the round table, Yue Ling asked again: "Sister Lin, why don't you go to your room to write, but write in the hall?"

Lin Daiyu packed up her writing tools and said calmly, "With Sister Ke'er's help, I can have more free time to read, but there are still some things you need to ask me. It's not convenient for me to stay in my room, so I'll do it here."

Yue Ling rubbed Lin Daiyu's head and looked at her thin figure. He felt relieved and grateful. "I'm sorry for making you worry so much. You are weak and shouldn't take on so many things."

Lin Daiyu shook her head. "My health is much better now than when I was in Yangzhou. In Yangzhou, I would cough every morning when I woke up, and at noon when I ate, and I would cough even when I went to bed. I took more medicine than food at three meals a day, but now I don't need to do that anymore."

Lin Daiyu's eyes flickered as she looked over again and said, "I am willing to work in your mansion, just like Brother Yue is willing to take care of me. If I am tired, I can still have a good sleep at night."

Hearing this, Yue Ling had nothing else to say. He could only silently thank Mr. Lin for giving birth to a good daughter.

Soon, Qin Keqing brought Zijuan and Xueyan back to the hall and put the food on the table.

Yue Ling also went back to his room and changed into casual clothes.

Seeing Yue Ling walking back into the room, Qin Keqing also gave up the work in her hands and chased Yue Ling into the room.

When Yue Ling sat down on the embroidered stool at the door, took off his court boots and was about to loosen his leggings, Qin Keqing came forward, squatted down, and untied them for Yue Ling.

According to Yue Ling's habit, he wanted to say, "No need."

But then he thought that she was already his maid and had signed a contract to sell herself. If he didn't need her to do any work, she would probably feel even more insecure if she escaped alone.

Thinking of this, Yue Ling accepted the service that was supposed to be provided by Qin Keqing, the eldest lady of the Ning residence. He sat back on the bench with peace of mind, closing his eyes and enjoying it.

Qin Keqing was indeed not experienced in serving others, so her hands were a little unfamiliar and she did not quite understand what men were wearing. Fortunately, she was quite dexterous and it only took her a little extra effort to successfully take off the official robe from Yue Ling, and then she and Yue Ling put on casual clothes.

After fetching another bucket of water and soaking their feet with Yue Ling, Qin Keqing wiped the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief. After hesitating for a while, she opened her red lips and said, "Master, I have something I have hidden from you."

After a whole day of struggling in her mind, Qin Keqing finally decided to confess so as not to cause trouble for her kind-hearted master.

Unexpectedly, Yue Ling said: "I already know."

Qin Keqing paused, looked up at Yue Ling, and asked in confusion: "You know? What about Ningguo Mansion?"

Yue Ling asked back, "Do you want to leave the house?"

Qin Keqing hurriedly shook her head, "I don't want to."

Yue Ling said, "We have already agreed yesterday. If you want to redeem yourself and leave the mansion, I will not stop you. But if you do not leave the mansion and work in the mansion, then you are a member of the mansion, and I will protect you. Ningguo Mansion is now just a mansion, and the title has been lost, so it is nothing."

Qin Keqing also heard some rumors from the servants in the mansion today. She knew that Yue Ling was now an official in the court and had been a former minister of the Crown Prince, but he did not yet have a title.

In her eyes, the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family were well-established and could call the wind and rain in the capital. However, when she heard Yue Ling say that they were nothing, she was extremely shocked.

Qin Keqing lowered her head again, removed the wooden barrel, wiped Yue Ling's feet with a dry cotton towel, picked up the wooden barrel and said, "Master, I'm going outside first."

Yue Ling nodded and said, "Go quickly and come back soon. Let's have dinner together. They must be waiting anxiously."

……

Qin's House,

Originally, he thought he had married into the high-ranking family of Ningguo Mansion, but unexpectedly, he ended up making things worse. Not only did he fail to complete the marriage, but he also offended the other party.

If Qin Keqing is not found as soon as possible, the days ahead for both father and son will probably be much more miserable than before.

The Qin father and son were like ants on a hot pan in the hall, running around in a panic.

Qin Zhong paced back and forth in the hall, making Qin Ye dazzled.

"That's enough. Stop hanging around in front of me. If you have the energy, you might as well go out and look for another one."

After listening to his father's lecture, Qin Zhong cried out, "Dad, how did you discuss with my sister before the wedding? How could such a thing happen?"

"Besides, how can sister be so depressed? That is the mansion of the Duke, with endless wealth and splendor for several lifetimes. Look at the food and clothing in the mansion that day. Even the servants are better off than me. How can I not envy them?" "With such good treatment, sister actually ran away from the marriage. I don't know where she ran to. I couldn't find her for two days. Maybe she met with an accident."

Qin Ye blew his beard and glared, cursing: "You evil bastard, you don't even say good things about your sister!"

Qin Zhong added: "I'm not saying anything bad about my sister. Who would want her to be in trouble? It's better if she's fine. If she is, our Qin family will be finished."

Qin Ye sighed again, he really had no other tricks left.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

Qin Zhong heard this and took a step forward, hiding in the room, "Daddy, please go open the door, I have to go to the bathroom!"

After a while, Qin Zhong disappeared from the room.

"Look at what kind of character you have. If you don't go to school, you will be a naughty boy for the rest of your life!"

Qin Ye sighed again, hunched over, and slowly went to open the door.

When the gate of the courtyard was opened, he saw that the people outside were not the people from Ningguo Mansion as Qin Ye had expected, but soldiers from the Bingmasi.

Qin Ye's hope was rekindled, and he asked anxiously, "Since you have arrived, have you heard any news about my daughter?"

The leading sergeant nodded, but there was a hint of doubt on his face, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Qin Ye had been in the officialdom for many years, so he had some good judgment. He took out five taels of silver from his pocket and said to the captain, "This is a small amount of money to show respect. I'll buy some wine for you, the generals."

But I didn't expect to be pushed back.

"We heard from our colleagues that your daughter went to her parents' house. It's the one facing the street, after the second alley to the west of Suzaku Avenue. We won't say more. You can go find it yourself."

After saying that, the people from the Bingmasi quickly left.

Liu Qinye stood behind the threshold, thinking for a long time.

"Yue's residence? When did the capital city have an official named Yue? How come I didn't know about it? After spending several months repairing the imperial mausoleum, I have no idea what is going on in the capital city."

Seeing from afar that it was not the Ningguo Mansion who came to cause trouble, Qin Zhong walked out of the room again.

Coming to Qin Ye, Qin Zhong asked in confusion: "Dad, who is coming? Why are you standing outside? Why don't you go back to your room?"

Qin Ye asked casually: "Zhong'er, do you know the Yue residence in the capital?"

Qin Zhong shook his head, "I don't know, what happened to Yue's house?"

Qin Ye said: "Someone from the Military Affairs Department just came and said that your sister is now at Yue's house."

Qin Zhong was shocked when he heard this, but then he became happy. "Since we know where my sister is, let's go find her. As long as we find her, won't everything be solved?"

Qin Ye hesitated and said, "But we don't know the details of Yue's house yet, so we can't rush in rashly. Otherwise, let Ningguo Mansion know first and go with us."

Qin Zhong said anxiously, "Dad, you are confused. The troops came to inform us, so how could they not inform Ningguo Mansion? If we don't go first and let Ningguo Mansion find it, it will have nothing to do with us."

Qin Ye also thought it made sense, so he and Qin Zhong rushed to Yue's house in West City.

It was almost night, the sunset glowed in the sky, and the clouds were burning red.

Under the gilded plaque of Yue's house, there are two stone lions squatting with balls in their mouths, which is not a common custom.

Standing at the gate of Yue's house, seeing the green tiles and red eaves, the red pillars and carved rafters, it was so luxurious that Qin Zhong began to retreat in his heart, "Dad, this doesn't seem to be an ordinary family. We can't afford to offend them."

Qin Ye calmed down a bit, "Don't panic, we are on the right side. He hid your sister, which is hiding a commoner girl. Even if it is reported to the court, it is enough to report him. People who live in such a mansion are of high status and they are more careful about their reputation. As long as we make our intentions clear, it will be no problem to bring your sister out."

Qin Ye was trying to persuade Qin Zhong, but it was more like he was persuading himself.

As he walked forward and was about to enter the door, he was stopped by two ferocious-looking doormen.

"Who are you? Do you have a visiting card?"

Qin Ye forced himself to maintain his expression and replied, "I am Qin Ye, the official in charge of the Ministry of Works. I heard that my daughter was at your house, so I came to see the master and ask about the situation."

Ni Er came to inquire and refused to let the two people in, saying, "Wait outside the door. I will report to my master in the room first."

In the hall, Yue Ling, who had just finished dinner with the girls, was chatting and laughing with everyone when Ni Ni ran in quickly and whispered something in his ear.

Yue Ling nodded slightly, "Got it."

He went into the house and came out and said to Qin Keqing, who was collecting the dishes, "Keqing, don't clean up yet. Come with me."

(End of this chapter)