After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 105 Xiangyun's affection, Qingwen's understanding

Day two.

"I've come to see Sister Xiren. Is she awake yet?"

When Shi Xiangyun arrived at Yihong Courtyard, she smiled and said something, and all the maids in the room came out to greet her.

Xi Ren also came out. Upon seeing her, she hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Consort Shi!"

Xiangyun said angrily, "You've treated me like this after only a few days, no longer the way you used to be. If that's how it is, I won't come to see you anymore, and I don't dare to trouble you. I'm leaving!"

He turned to leave, but then looked back at her.

It was an attempt to get her to stay.

Xiren smiled and took her hand: "Good girl, you took my joke seriously. I was just congratulating you on finding someone to rely on for life."

Xiangyun blushed, didn't say anything, and went inside with them.

Xiren poured tea, and the maids of Yihong Courtyard were all standing by, including Sheyue, Qiuwen, and Bihen. After seeing her take a sip of tea, Qingwen asked, "Miss Yun, is Master Bao still coming back?"

For a moment, all the maids in the room looked at her.

Xiangyun said, "The Emperor said that the Jia family has done no service to the court. Even if the Jia family's daughter enters the palace to serve, the merit is not enough to pardon the Jia family. I think he means that he will punish Bao Erge and the others by making them perform corvée labor for several years before he will pardon them in consideration of the merit of the Jia family's daughter serving."

Upon hearing this, Qingwen sneered, "So this is how the Emperor intends to manipulate the young ladies!"

Xiangyun hurriedly said, "He is not such a vicious person. He acts with integrity. The victor is king and the loser is villain. The Jia family, the Shi family, and the Wang family all deserve this calamity."

Qingwen shut her mouth, knowing that the Miss Shi in front of her was already a concubine in the palace, and that she would naturally side with her emperor husband.

Seeing the coldness on her face, Xiangyun sighed: "I know you have resentment in your heart, but the Emperor clearly told us that when he punished our families, it was just like when we ordered our servants around. It was all because we had power and influence."

She then looked at Xiren and said, "Ten years ago, we lived in the East Warm Pavilion. You said that although we had a good relationship, we were ultimately different. I was a young lady and you were a maid. Now that I haven't been made a concubine, I'm a maid just like you!"

Musk Moon and the others were somewhat surprised that the Emperor was actually saying these things to Miss Yun.

Miss Yun is a straightforward and generous person. She treats Xiren, Ping'er, and the others as her elder sisters and never puts on airs. Therefore, she can say these words to these maids. Even though she is favored and is about to become a concubine, it is still the same.

Apart from her, no one else in the garden would say that.

Qingwen asked her, "What will become of Yihong Courtyard and this garden in the future?"

Xiangyun smiled and said, "The emperor has allowed you to go out and get married. If you are unwilling to marry soldiers, I will plead with him again after a few days and let Sister Xiren and you go out."

She couldn't manage the Jia family's affairs before, but now it's different; she can release Xiren, Yuanyang, and Ping'er.

"Thank you for remembering us, young lady."

Musk Moon and the others thanked her, but they didn't seem happy at all.

Xiangyun suddenly looked sad, "It's a pity that Sister Jinchuan is no longer here."

Qingwen sneered, "Miss Yun, please stop talking about this. The other day, because of this matter, Yuchuan said something to Miss Lin and Miss Bao, which made Madam very unhappy. Now that you've brought it up again, Madam will find out that you said it to us and will criticize us again!"

Xiangyun smiled sheepishly and didn't bring it up again.

Xiren, who was watching from the side, knew very well that people have different degrees of closeness and distance. Although Miss Yun felt sorry for Jin Chuan who jumped into the well and died, Lady Wang was her relative, and Bao Yu was her second brother whom she had grown up with. No matter how much she felt sorry for Jin Chuan, she would not blame the two of them too much because of this incident.

Thinking of this, Xiren smiled and said, "Logically, I shouldn't speak ill of Miss Yun, but now that you've entered the palace, how can you still address people so casually?"

"Who are you talking about?" Xiangyun asked, puzzled.

"Your Majesty," Xi Ren said respectfully.

Xiangyun suddenly realized, lowered her head and thought for a while, then burst out laughing: "I said the same thing in front of the emperor, and he didn't get angry. It's clear that life in the palace isn't necessarily as strict as outside."

She didn't take the matter to heart, and looked up at Xiren, Qingwen, and the others, saying, "Are you all going out?"

"Is Master Bao really not coming back?" Qingwen asked again.

"Going back to the brothel? That's probably impossible now."

Qingwen shut her mouth and said nothing more.

Xiangyun then looked at Xiren, Sheyue, and the others, and said with a smile, "None of you want to go out? Why aren't you happy at all?"

Musk Moon said, "It's not that we don't appreciate your kindness, but we don't know how to choose either."

Xiangyun nodded, "In that case, let's talk about it later. Sister Xiren, I have a favor to ask of you."

"what's up?"

"I'm moving to the side hall with my older sister. Can you help me pack my things?" Xiangyun said with a smile.

“You’re making a fuss over such a small thing? I’m just doing needlework all day and I’m not doing anything productive. You just made fun of me for not doing anything productive all day.”

"When I came to the brothel the other day, who was it that was still lying in bed?"

The two went out chatting and laughing.

Musk Moon, who remained behind, couldn't help but ask them, "Do you want to leave or stay? Miss Yun, out of consideration for our past relationship, asked Xi Ren to also think of us and plead with the Emperor to let us go."

Qiuwen said, "Miss Yun and the eldest young lady have moved into the side hall. Is the main hall reserved for the emperor?"

"You never know, maybe it is."

While they were discussing, Xiren, who had gone out with Xiangyun, quietly asked her, "Did the emperor promise you that you would be made a concubine? He also put you in charge of the Ningguo Mansion and allowed you to move into the side hall."

Xiangyun blushed, smiling but remaining silent. How could she possibly bring up kissing?

Xiren smiled and said, "You just mentioned that we lived in the East Warm Pavilion ten years ago. At that time, I was still serving you. You said that we were sisters and there was no distinction between young lady and maid. You kept calling me 'elder sister' and coaxed me to comb your hair and wash your face."

Later, the old lady told me to go with Baoyu. After you came back, you mistakenly thought I disliked you, and that's why you didn't come to see me for many days.

Xiangyun hurriedly said, "I was young and ignorant back then. Later, I would call your name every moment at home. You can ask Lu'er if you don't believe me!"

She pointed at Cuilu, but the girl looked in another direction. Xiangyun asked her, and she turned around and asked curiously, "Miss, just now I saw Miss Lin walking towards Yihong Courtyard, but when she saw us, she hid far away."

"Is Sister Lin feeling better?!"

Xiangyun was very happy. She turned her head to look, but Lin Daiyu was nowhere to be seen. After thinking for a while, she smiled and said, "Sister Lin became shy when she saw us. She must be afraid that we would laugh at her for coming to see Baoyu as soon as she recovered!"

Xi Ren smiled but didn't say anything.

After Master Bao left, Xiangyun never hid from others when she came to Yihong Courtyard; she could come to see her whenever she wanted.

But Miss Lin was different; she was especially wary of this and was afraid that others would find out.

……

"What brings Miss Lin here?"

When Musk Moon saw Lin Daiyu's slender figure appear at the door, she hurriedly got up to greet her, and then complained to the outside, "You don't even serve Miss Lin when she comes. Relying on the imperial decree to back her up, she doesn't do any work all day long, and just waits to go out and get married!"

Daiyu knew that she was using her name to discipline the maids in Yihong Courtyard, so she didn't say anything and went inside.

Qingwen poured her tea, then remained silent and did not leave.

Seeing that she remained silent, he asked her, "Is Miss Lin also going to the palace?"

Daiyu glanced at the maid in Baoyu's room and said, "You also want me to plead with the emperor to pardon Baoyu?"

"So what if we release Master Bao? Will the manor ever go back to what it was before?!"

Qingwen was sullen, and Mushe said what Xiangyun had just said.

Daiyu remained silent, staring intently at Jia Baoyu's bookshelf, lost in thought.

Qingwen looked at her suspiciously. What was wrong? She felt that Miss Lin was overly sad, but it was not quite the same as sadness.

In the following days, Qingwen saw Lin Daiyu visit Yihong Courtyard several more times.

Whether she came in the morning, in the afternoon, or before going to sleep at night, she would spend some time in the Yihong Courtyard every day, gazing silently at the furnishings inside, lost in thought, yet she never shed a tear.

It wasn't until the day before Jia Yuanchun returned to the palace that Lin Daiyu told them, "I'm leaving now. I don't know when I'll be back."

After saying that, she left silently, her figure like a willow catkin, blown by the wind to the palace.

Qingwen found it increasingly strange. "Even if she misses him, she doesn't need to come every day. Master Bao is no longer here. What is she doing here every day?"

Xiren laughed and said, "Do you still remember when Master Bao asked you to deliver the old handkerchief to Miss Lin?"

"I remember, but what does it have to do with this?" Qingwen was still puzzled.

Master Bao asked her to deliver an old handkerchief to Miss Lin. At that time, no one knew. A few days ago, he asked her to deliver it back, and now everyone knows.

Xiren said, "Can't you see? Miss Lin has a secret affair with Baoyu."

Qingwen stood up abruptly, her alluring eyes widening as if she wanted to ask something, but Xiren went back into the room.

Qingwen stared blankly for a long time.

This matter... could never have been mentioned before, but now that things have changed drastically in the manor, Xiren dares to speak of it.

She's so naive; she can't even see that there's something going on between them!
That old handkerchief is evidence of the affections exchanged between the two!
"And all that time I was passing things between them, turns out they were just trying to fool me!"

Qingwen was furious.

Yet she couldn't help but think about Lin Daiyu's appearance these past few days, her wandering and absent-minded look in the Yihong Courtyard, which Qingwen saw very clearly.

She has an affair with Master Bao, which is why she is so heartbroken.

Qingwen thought to herself that after Baoyu left, she was also sad and missed him for a few days, but she was not like Miss Lin, who lost her appetite and missed him day and night.

It is clear that she had no romantic feelings for Bao Er Ye.

Thinking of Xiren, Sheyue, and others, they didn't toss and turn at night, acting as if they were dying for Bao Erye. It can be seen that although they did some shady things with Bao Erye behind his back, they may not have had the same kind of private relationship as Miss Lin.

Thinking about herself, Qingwen gradually understood her own heart. If Baoyu were pardoned, she probably wouldn't go out with him and would still prefer to stay in Yihong Courtyard.

She longed to go back to the past and live together in the Yihong Courtyard, but that was no longer possible; Bao Erye could no longer live in the Yihong Courtyard.

Musk Moon, Autumn Pattern, Green Mark, and others weren't particularly happy when Miss Yun said she was letting them out a few days ago, which shows they felt the same way as her.

Where is Xiren?
Qingwen thought about how she had been frequently running to the side hall where Miss Yun lived these past few days. Did she want to go back to serving Miss Yun?

At night, Qingwen tossed and turned, the image of Lin Daiyu wandering around Yihong Courtyard these past few days, looking sad and heartbroken, kept appearing in her mind.

"The feelings between men and women... I didn't know it was like this before. I had misunderstood and mistakenly thought that their relationship with Baoyu meant that they had romantic feelings for each other. But it turns out that it's not like that at all."

"I'll go see Miss Lin off tomorrow; she's a pitiful person too..."

(End of this chapter)