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

Chapter 106 To see Daiyu, one must first see Zijuan.

The next day, Lin Daiyu accompanied Jia Yuanchun into the palace, and Li Wan, disguised as a maid, with her pretty face lightly made up, also followed into the palace.

Daiyu bids farewell to Grandmother Jia in tears, but Yuanchun instead advises her that they will meet again in the future and there is no need to be too sad.

As everyone saw them off, when Li Wan got into the sedan chair, Madam Wang glanced at her a few more times, her expression not very pleasant.

Qingwen saw Lin Daiyu getting into the sedan chair from afar. After thinking it through last night, she looked at her again and saw that she had a graceful figure. Although she was thin and frail, she had a kind of charm that ordinary people did not have. Her movements of bowing her head and bending over to get into the sedan chair were indescribably elegant. She was indeed a young lady who had been pampered since childhood.

Qingwen also saw Madam Zhu, Li Wan. It was the first time in years that she had seen her with makeup on. She had a slender waist and charming eyes. Madam Zhu was originally a beauty, but unfortunately she was widowed.

After watching them get into the sedan chair and leave, Qingwen slowly left and returned to the garden.

She went to Xiaoxiang Pavilion again, and when she went inside, she only saw a few old women. Even Xueyan had gone into the palace with them.

"As expected, some have left and others have scattered. Right now, they can still come back from the palace, but after a while, I'm afraid the garden will be abandoned."

Qingwen thought to herself.

That's fine, she's happy to have some peace and quiet while guarding the Grand View Garden.

Qingwen turned around and went back!
……

The eunuchs carried the sedan chair through the streets and alleys, into the palace, and carried it through the Qianqing Gate.

Numerous palace maids and eunuchs had lined up to welcome Consort Xiande's return, but after the Consort alighted from her sedan chair, they went to the sedan chair behind her, lifted the curtain for the person inside, and said with a smile, "Sister Lin, please get out of the sedan chair quickly, let's go into the palace."

The palace maids and eunuchs saw a slender, delicate young lady emerge from the sedan chair, her delicate hand supporting the Imperial Concubine's arm. Her waist bent low as she stepped out of the sedan chair, and her exquisitely beautiful face came into view, causing the palace maids to secretly marvel.
Where did this delicate beauty come from? She looks like a sickly Xi Shi, with her slightly furrowed eyebrows and the frail appearance of Xi Shi clutching her heart, truly making people feel sorry for her.

With such a sickly beauty entering the palace, who knows how much favor the Emperor will bestow upon her? The former Consort Wu and Consort Zhou in the palace are no match for her.

“Go and inform His Majesty that I have returned, and that I have brought Lin Daiyu into the palace.”

Yuan Chun instructed a eunuch to report to Linjing Hall, and then slightly helped the frail Lin Daiyu onto the palanquin, and together they went to Changchun Palace.

"I'm sorry to have wronged you, sister-in-law."

Before sitting in the palanquin, Yuan Chun whispered to Li Wan.

Li Wan dared not say more, and gestured for her to get on the palanquin, while she, Zijuan, and Xueyan followed on foot.

The procession marched in a grand procession toward Changchun Palace. Yuan Chun and Dai Yu sat on the palanquin, swaying gently, surrounded by admirers.

Xueyan couldn't help but whisper to Zijuan, "Miss and the Imperial Concubine are both riding in this sedan chair, it's as if you've become the Imperial Concubine yourself!"

Zijuan also looked at Lin Daiyu, who was being carried by eunuchs. She saw that Lin Daiyu was not used to showing her face in front of eunuchs. She covered her face with a fan, gripped the armrest of the palanquin tightly with one hand, and sat upright, not daring to make a single mistake.

I'll tell the girls later that although eunuchs look like men, they are not men, so there's no need to be shy about showing their faces in front of them.

Li Wan noticed that when she and Baochai entered the palace last time, there was no palanquin. She guessed that it was prepared by Yuan Chun or the emperor for the chronically ill Miss Lin.

Upon arriving at Changchun Palace, Yuanchun and Daiyu took their seats, while Li Wan remained standing to serve them, making Zijuan want to laugh.

Given Grandma Zhu's looks and figure, even if she were to dress up as a maid, she wouldn't look convincing.

"Miss Lin has arrived?"

Qin Keqing walked in with a charming smile. Daiyu remained seated, but Zijuan whispered something to her, and only then did she stand up to greet her.

"Sit down! Forget about the past and the present. I'll call you Miss Lin, but you can call me whatever you like."

Qin Keqing said with a smile.

Back in the Jia family, Lin Daiyu was a generation older than Jia Rong, and Jia Rong called Jia Baoyu "little uncle," so Daiyu didn't need to get up to greet her.

The three chatted idly inside the hall.

The palace maids soon discovered that this sickly beauty spoke softly and quietly, and didn't talk much. Her delicate face was pale, and her two slender eyebrows were always slightly furrowed. What a sentimental beauty!

After a while, Qin Keqing returned, and a eunuch came to deliver an imperial edict: "His Majesty has decreed that Miss Lin and Consort Xiande be summoned to the Linjing Hall."

Zijuan saw that the girl suddenly looked at the eunuch, as if her heart was clenching, afraid of seeing the emperor.

"Sister Lin, let's go. We'll have to wait a while before we see His Majesty at Linjing Palace."

Yuan Chun took her slender hand and walked together toward Linjing Palace. Xueyan did not follow, and only Zijuan went to serve her.

The group entered Linjing Hall through the back door. Zijuan didn't know what the others were thinking, but her heart was already pounding.

When the Imperial Concubine visited her family last time, it was a grand affair that inspired awe in all who saw it.

Now she was about to meet the emperor, who was far more noble than the imperial concubine. With a single word from him, he could decide the life and death of countless people. For example, he had previously surrounded the Jia family, ordered Jia Zhen to commit suicide, and driven the male members of the Jia family out of the mansion.

It was just a decree that was issued, yet it caused the Jia family to wail and grieve, and separated the young lady from Master Bao in a life-or-death situation.

But he was also the emperor, capable of bringing wealth and honor, enabling the girl to find her long-lost father, pardoning Master Bao, and putting her at ease.

Thunder and rain, all originate from the emperor.

"Yuan Chun and Lin Daiyu have arrived?"

As they entered the east side room of the five main rooms in the rear hall, Zijuan heard a man's voice coming from the front. Looking up, she saw a tall man in a round-necked robe sitting on a soft couch covered with a bright yellow mat, looking at them with a smile.

Is he the emperor?
Zijuan subconsciously thought, "Didn't you say you hadn't had time to see them yet? Why are you waiting here right now?"

"you!"

A surprised voice came from the girl. Zijuan turned her head and saw that the girl's face was full of surprise as she looked at the emperor.

Fortunately, the girl's voice was soft; even if she was surprised, she spoke very quietly, so she shouldn't have been disturbed... "What were you about to say?" the tall and robust emperor asked with a smile.

Seeing the girl lower her head, Zijuan gave a vague reply, "It's nothing, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

What she didn't know was that Daiyu was shocked because the emperor in front of her looked exactly like the Prince Qian she had seen in her dream!
A palace maid brought a prayer cushion, and Daiyu stepped forward, intending to kneel and kowtow, but the emperor raised his hand and said, "No need, come and sit down. The rest of you, step back."

The palace maids and eunuchs all withdrew, and just as Zijuan was about to leave, she heard the emperor ask with a smile, "Are you Zijuan? Or Xueyan?"

Daiyu glanced at her quickly, then lowered her head again.

He even knows the maids in Xiaoxiang Pavilion!

"Your Majesty, this servant is Zijuan."

Zijuan didn't dare to look up, and replied respectfully.

"Oh, it really is Zijuan."

Chu Yan nodded and looked at her more closely. Her appearance was secondary. Zijuan, Lin Daiyu's personal maid, had a kind of intelligence, gentleness and kindness that made people feel comfortable. No wonder Grandmother Jia assigned her to Lin Daiyu.

"Give Ziju a seat."

Chu Yan casually gave an order, regardless of their surprise. Before becoming emperor, he had always been very capricious in these small matters.

He read the novel *Dream of the Red Chamber* and had a very good impression of Zijuan.

Zijuan looked flattered and surprised.

Jia Yuanchun smiled and said, "Miss Zijuan, please sit down. His Majesty may have something to ask you."

As he spoke, he took Daiyu's small hand and sat down with her on the soft couch next to Chu Yan, with only a low table between them.

Remove the low table, and the comfy couch can be transformed into a bed.

Zijuan sat opposite the three of them on a chair. When the palace maid brought tea, she only took a small sip. It tasted like the Siamese tea that the young lady had drunk before.

Chu Yan glanced at Daiyu again and said, "I asked Yuan Chun to go home and visit Miss Lin, but I didn't expect you to have recovered."

Daiyu stood up, bowed her head and said, "This servant thanks Your Majesty for your concern. My health has been poor for many years, and I don't know when I will get better or worse."

Hearing her refer to herself, Chu Yan couldn't help but smile. He stopped asking her questions and turned to Yuan Chun: "Did you have a good stay at home this time?"

Jia Yuanchun smiled gently and said, "Your Majesty has shown me great mercy by allowing me to return home to visit my family. I have seen my grandmother and mother again and was able to sleep on the bed I had when I was a young girl. I would die content with that."

Why bring up these things out of the blue?

Chu Yan said, "You only mentioned your grandmother and mother, but deliberately didn't mention your father and brother?"

Upon hearing this, Daiyu looked up at Yuanchun and saw that she was not flustered, but only looked aggrieved: "How dare I plead for them again? His Majesty's word is law. Since he has said that the Jia family has not made any contributions and cannot be pardoned, I have already kept it in mind and dare not say anything more."

Chu Yan smiled and said, "It's not that I'm suspicious, but I know that Miss Lin, who is sitting next to you, is also very concerned about your brother. She even pleaded for him in her dreams."

Daiyu suddenly looked over and met Chu Yan's gaze.

In that instant, Daiyu couldn't tell if it was a dream or an illusion; the emperor was actually meeting her in her dream!
He recognized her at first glance and, from her surprised expression, realized that she had seen him in her dream. So he tested her to see if she had the same dream as him.

"How could I possibly meet this person in my dream..."

Daiyu felt a mix of emotions, both surprised and fearful that the emperor might be a human, a demon, or a celestial being reincarnated.

"In a dream?" Jia Yuanchun looked at the two of them, puzzled.

"My guess."

Chu Yan changed the subject, "I heard that when Jia Baoyu was performing corvée labor, he asked someone to go back to the Jia family twice to get money. When I saw him that night, he kept calling out 'Sister Lin'. So I know the affection between you two. I imagine he would dream of being forgiven."

Daiyu's delicate eyebrows trembled slightly. She lowered her eyes and thought to herself: He's lying!

She was almost certain that he and she had the same dream, in which she had pleaded with him for mercy in three separate dreams.

Zijuan sat in the chair, her heart pounding in her chest for the girl.

"This matter—" Daiyu stood up again, "was something I did on my own initiative, giving away the family's valuables to Baoyu. This time I'm going to the palace to apologize to the Emperor."

Chu Yan said indifferently, "If you're here to apologize with thorns on your back, why didn't you bring any thorns with you?"

Yuan Chun was stunned, thinking about the meaning behind His Majesty's words. He didn't mean that Lin Daiyu should actually strip naked and carry thorns on her back, but rather that he wanted her to think about how to apologize.

Daiyu lowered her head and did not answer, clutching a handkerchief in her hand as if she wanted to wring it until it was torn.

She knew that she couldn't repay the several hundred taels of silver immediately, and that he would definitely hold her accountable for it.

Unfortunately, she was at her wits' end. When she learned that Baoyu was having a hard time in the army camp, she panicked and only wanted to give away the money, disregarding everything else.

Now that the creditors have come to collect their debts, she feels deeply ashamed.

There was also a deep sense of powerlessness.

"Go wait for me in the west room first." Chu Yan smiled. "I'll chat with Zijuan for a while. Yuanchun, you can go back now and come back tonight."

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Yuan Chun got up to take her leave, pulling Daiyu out with her, leaving only Zijuan behind.

Daiyu turned around, and in front of her, he used the method of interrogating a criminal to first separate her from Zijuan. What exactly did he want to ask Zijuan?

(End of this chapter)