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

Chapter 108 Lin Daiyu angrily refuses the bet
Chu Yan laughed and said, "My 'Lin Daiyu' is different from the Lin Daiyu that others call her."

Daiyu did not answer, but gave a curtsy.

She ultimately dared not offend the emperor too much.

"Please sit down," Chu Yan gestured for her to sit.

Daiyu bowed again and sat down in the chair that Zijuan had just sat in.

She was slender and graceful, and her bowing gestures exuded the elegance of a well-bred lady, gentle and refined, with the charm of a woman from Jiangnan.

Chu Yan had experienced many things, and therefore understood.

I casually asked her, "Is Miss Lin from Yangzhou?"

Daiyu glanced at him and replied in a delicate and sweet voice, "Since Your Majesty knows about my Zijuan and Xueyan in Xiaoxiang Pavilion, how come you don't know that I am from Suzhou?"

Chu Yan smiled and said, "No wonder Miss Lin speaks with a soft and gentle Wu accent, what is known as the Wu dialect."

Daiyu lowered her head, her voice turning cold: "I grew up in Yangzhou, and my father was the salt commissioner of Yangzhou."

"I know that. His name is Lin Ruhai, and he was a third-place scholar in the imperial examinations. I just heard Zijuan mention that you wanted to find your father's whereabouts?"

Daiyu slowly raised her head, her brows slightly furrowed, and stood up, bowing to him once more.
"My father has been missing for two or three years due to the war in Jiangnan, and his fate is unknown. If Your Majesty would be so kind as to issue an order to search for my father, I would be eternally grateful and would repay Your Majesty's kindness by serving you like a cow or a horse in my next life."

Chu Yan glanced at her and said calmly, "I don't believe in Buddhist reincarnation."

Daiyu stood before him, her head slightly bowed. She knew he wouldn't agree so easily, so she wasn't surprised.

Chu Yan said, "I will issue an imperial edict ordering officials throughout Jiangnan to search for Lin Ruhai's whereabouts. From issuing the order to transmitting it to the local authorities and then to its execution, hundreds to thousands of people will be mobilized. If he cannot be found, more edicts will be issued, and local officials will mobilize tens of thousands of people to search for him."

Daiyu listened silently.

Chu Yan continued, "This expense, converted into silver, ranges from one thousand to tens of thousands."

"Money is relatively easy to deal with, but this imperial decree is difficult."

Chu Yan leaned back on the soft couch and said slowly, "If your father were the third-ranked scholar in this dynasty, there would be no need to say anything; I would directly issue an edict to search for his whereabouts. Unfortunately, your father was the third-ranked scholar in the former Shun dynasty, which has nothing to do with this dynasty."

A precise rebuttal to Lin Daiyu's previous statement!

half an hour.

"This servant has overstepped her bounds."

Daiyu bowed and then sat down.

She still kept her head slightly lowered, looking unwilling to give in.

Chu Yan smiled. It seemed that using her father alone wouldn't be enough to get her to willingly enter the palace.

It's not surprising, though. Lin Daiyu may seem weak, but she is independent and unconventional. Even though she cares about her father's safety and wants to find him, she would not sacrifice herself for him. To her, that would be blind filial piety, which is not advisable.

Chu Yan said, "I originally wanted to say that if you were willing to enter the palace, your grandmother and aunt could resume their previous lifestyle. But now that I see Miss Lin's attitude is so firm, it seems that this matter will not win your sincerity."

Unable to suppress her resentment, Daiyu looked up at him and said, "Your Majesty seized the throne with a righteous army, so why make things difficult for a mere woman like me?"

"What you're saying is unreasonable. How can I make things difficult for you?"

Chu Yan said, "If I hadn't accidentally learned from Leng Zixing that there were many women of exceptional talent and beauty in the Jia family, the Jia family would have been like other families, and I would have ordered their property confiscated. Jia Baoyu would have been exiled three thousand miles away, and you would have been washing clothes in the Yeting Palace."

Daiyu knew full well that his words were true, but she still sneered and replied, "If that were the case, we would have ended up completely clean and pure, instead of being like this now, unable to die and unable to live!"

These words stirred up many painful memories for her, and her beautiful eyes welled up with tears, on the verge of sobbing.

Chu Yan had seen many beauties, but he was still captivated by her mesmerizingly beautiful, weeping appearance.

Not hearing him speak for a long time, Daiyu looked up and saw that the Prince Qian was staring straight at her. She blushed, secretly spat at him, and turned her head away.

Chu Yan snapped out of his daze and laughed, “What you’re saying is unreasonable again. Apart from Jia Zhen, who was given a death sentence, who in the Jia family can’t live? Jia Baoyu, Jia Lian, and the others are working in the army camp, and that’s enough to kill them? There aren’t many people in the world who could live like that.”

Daiyu sneered: "First you sent troops to surround the Jia family, then you hinted that the Jia family should send the young lady to the palace willingly, but you refused to show mercy and punished the Jia family, demoting the women to servants. Then you issued an edict ordering me, Sister Bao, and others to manage the Rongguo Mansion, seemingly giving them a way out. After that, you summoned Second Sister and Sister Yun to the palace. After showing mercy, you took advantage of the servants' riot to punish the Jia family again, ordering the men to leave the mansion. Finally, you summoned the young ladies to the palace, making the old lady and the ladies feel uneasy and repeatedly instructing the young ladies who entered the palace to serve you wholeheartedly... Aren't these methods of using both kindness and power your own doing?"

"Lin Daiyu's summary is excellent!"

Chu Yan clapped his hands in praise, while Daiyu turned her head away, her face flushed, and her eyes turned cold.

A sense of resentment and bitterness had been building up in her heart, and she had finally released some of it just now.

Chu Yan took a sip of tea and said slowly, "But you've clearly guessed wrong about one thing. Apart from sending troops to surround the Jia family, nothing else was directed at you. Other princes and ministers in the city also had their homes confiscated."

"The reason the Jia family was still able to live in the Jia mansion after their property was confiscated was because there were too many things to do and nowhere to accommodate you. Who knew that your family would fall into chaos, and Jia Zhen would try to commit incest, that's why I threw all the male members of the Jia family out of the military camp."

Daiyu lowered her head, calmed down, and stopped arguing or trying to discern the truth. What difference would it make if she won? It would only be a show of strength in words, and if she angered him, it would be counterproductive.

Chu Yan saw through her meaning and laughed, "Your imposing manner and sharp tongue just now gave you the air of a female general on the battlefield. Perfect, I am the emperor who rebelled, so why don't you and I have a fight and settle the score on the battlefield?"

The thief insulted her for being quick-witted and sharp-tongued! He also called her useless, a girl or young lady destined for the battlefield.

Daiyu glanced at him; he was strong and healthy, and his martial arts skills were superb—he could take on a hundred of her!
Even so, let's hear how he plans to fight.

"Does His Majesty intend to humiliate me by force?" Daiyu asked.

"If we're talking about strength, even a hundred of you couldn't beat me."

Chu Yan smiled.

How are wins and losses determined? And what are the stakes?

Daiyu never gambled, but she knew that the old women in the garden often drank and gambled at night.

Chu Yan said, "I'm betting on the trust and affection between you and Baoyu. The stake is you."

Daiyu's heart trembled. She raised her eyebrows and glared at him angrily, her eyes brimming with tears: "I've become a gambling pawn for men's amusement! You should issue an edict to kill me as soon as possible. I don't want to be this lowly thing, placed on the gambling table for people to take and plunder!"

Chu Yan looked at her calmly and saw that Lin Daiyu had not cried. Her eyes were fixed on him, full of resentment and unwillingness, as if she had suffered a great humiliation.

Even if you push her further, she is truly willing to die rather than see herself as a pawn to be used for others' amusement, even if she is the one on the other side of the gambling table.

She is Lin Daiyu, not a gamble.

With a death wish, Daiyu became fearless: "I know you'll say that if I win, you'll release me and Baoyu, right? I won't fall for it, and I won't gamble with you. You set up this gambling table, and you're both the bookmaker and the gambler. How can that be fair? Even if it were fair, I wouldn't want to!"

She refused to gamble and simply overturned the table.

But she couldn't lift it; Chu Yan held it down with one hand!

"Don't be anxious."

Chu Yan laughed and said, "I haven't even set up the gambling table yet, and you're already saying you don't want to gamble. I'll give you the choice, at least listen to what I have to say before you speak."

Lin Daiyu slowly sat down, looking at him with resentment in her eyes.

This is what a female general should look like on the battlefield.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "I heard from Zijuan that you and Jia Baoyu are in love and understand each other, but I don't believe it."

Daiyu lowered her eyes, a slight blush on her face, unwilling to bring this matter to the forefront. She still adhered to the rules of propriety and dared not be too intimate with others without her parents' permission.

Baoyu tried several times to do something improper, but she firmly rejected him each time.

"How about this," Chu Yan said, "If you still trust each other and regard each other as the only people you must marry in this life within three to five years, I will grant you mercy and pardon you."

Daiyu lowered her head and did not answer. She was not at the gambling table, so why should she speak?

Chu Yan said, "For the next three to five years, I will ensure that you remain innocent. In return, you will have to cooperate in doing some things to deceive Jia Baoyu and test the trust between you."

Daiyu raised her eyes and gave him another cold look!
That's what makes the King of Thieves so despicable!

She didn't need to gamble; she knew she was bound to lose. Even though she trusted Baoyu, Baoyu didn't trust her.

Even before he left the Grand View Garden, he had always suspected that she wanted to enter the palace, and the two never reconciled even after he left.

She is now separated from Baoyu by many palace gates. It won't take three to five years, just three to five months, for Baoyu to believe that she has become a favored concubine in the palace.

Thinking of this, Daiyu couldn't help but shed tears, lowering her head as tears dripped onto the back of her hand.

Chu Yan saw this, but continued, "This bet was already set up even if you didn't sit at the table."

Daiyu held back her tears and listened to what he had to say.

"I will keep you in the palace and order you to live in Linjing Hall. In a few days, this matter will be reported back to the Jia family, and sooner or later it will reach Jia Baoyu's ears. At that time, will he still believe that you have not been favored by me?"

"..."

Daiyu felt a chill in her heart.

Chu Yan took a sip of tea. He had conquered the world; he had plenty of ways to manipulate a young girl.

She went to the gambling table, and Chu Yan gambled with her.

She doesn't go to the gambling table, but the gambling continues.

(End of this chapter)