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

Chapter 175 "The Departed Soul"

A short while later, Xiangyun returned to report. She sat down next to Chu Yan and said with a smile, "Brother Emperor, I have punished her. She knows she was wrong. Please forgive her!"

Chu Yan laughed and said, "I thought you would bring her here for trial."

Xiangyun hurriedly stood up and said, "Yes, Your Majesty! I'll go right away!"

Chu Yan pulled her back, "Doing it again would be pointless. Since you didn't bring her, then you should take the punishment in place of your sister Lin. Think carefully about how to satisfy me."

Xiangyun glanced at him, then smiled shyly at Yuanchun on the other side, and Keqing and Qinghe sitting on either side. She picked up her brother's wine cup and presented it to his lips.

This was learned from what Yuan Chun had just done; she imitated the favored concubine as an unmarried young woman and personally fed the emperor wine.

Chu Yan smiled and drank the wine in her glass, but he was still not satisfied, so he tapped his own face.

Xiangyun actually understood it!

Her face flushed red, and she hesitated for a while before secretly glancing at the audience. Seeing that few dared to look directly at the emperor, she quickly leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek with her fragrant lips.

"Yun girl~" Qin Keqing smiled charmingly, covering half of her face with a round fan.

Yuan Chun also smiled shyly.

Seeing this, Qinghe felt a little disappointed. She was not as playful as Xiangyun. Last time, when she served outside the military camp, she barely said a few words all night.

Xiangyun blushed even more and lowered her head, staying away from the emperor on the couch.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "We still need to ask Imperial Envoy Yun to make a trip there."

"What?" Xiangyun looked over, her face flushed.

“We just discussed it and decided to nominate your sister Lin as the leader. Take the playbill to her and ask her to choose a play,” Chu Yan said.

Xiangyun laughed: "My Emperor brother is fair in his rewards and punishments. He won't withhold her reward just because of what happened before. I'll go right now!"

As he spoke, he picked up his wine glass and went down to the platform.

Qinghe watched her retreating figure and asked, "What is Yun'er going to do with the wine cup? It's her own cup, it doesn't seem like she's going to offer Lin Daiyu a cup of wine."

After saying this, Xiangyun went to her grandmother's side, toasted them, and then asked for the playbill, which she took to Daiyu.

A short while later, Xiangyun returned, smiling, and said, "Sister Lin has requested a performance of 'The Soul's Departure'."

Chu Yan frowned slightly and turned to look at Daiyu in the distance, only to find that she was also looking in his direction. When she saw him looking over, she smiled, her appearance indescribably charming and beautiful, before turning back to talk to Baochai.

Chu Yan's earlier selection of "The Grand Banquet" was merely a forced choice by Yuan Chun as the first play she requested.

Daiyu also happened to choose "The Soul Leaving the Body," perhaps to match the play that Yuan Chun had chosen. However, what she didn't know was that in the novel "Dream of the Red Chamber," "The Grand Banquet" foreshadowed the downfall of the Jia family, while "The Soul Leaving the Body" foreshadowed her own death.

It's both laughable and lamentable that Daiyu is now requesting "The Soul Leaving the Body" again.

Chu Yan shook his head, not taking the matter to heart. Now that he had changed the fate of the Twelve Beauties, the Jia family had fallen, and Daiyu no longer needed to "hang in the woods."

After a while, the opera ended, and Yuan Chun, on his behalf, bestowed rewards upon the twelve young actors who had performed. A eunuch came to request the imperial decree: "Your Majesty, the song and dance are ready, and the dancers are all awaiting your imperial decree."

Chu Yan said, "No need. There are outsiders present, so we won't be enjoying any singing and dancing tonight."

Xiangyun laughed and snuggled closer to him. Chu Yan put his arm around her waist and let half of her soft body lean against him.

Xiangyun looked up at him, and her body went limp.

Chu Yan had just arrived at the Grand View Garden, a place teeming with beauties, and was in high spirits. He had kissed several of them during the day, and now, after drinking some wine, he was even more excited. He saw that everyone at the banquet had finished eating and drinking and was just sitting there chatting and laughing.

So he ordered the banquet to be cleared away.

The crowd bowed and expressed their gratitude, thinking the night was over, but then the emperor issued another decree from the platform:

"Rename Ningrong Mansion as Daguan Palace, incorporate Fangyuan Garden into Daguan Garden, reclaim the Xing family property that was separated due to the division of the family, reconnect the two areas, and find other places for the people inside to live. Move the twelve actresses to Yihong Courtyard, and use Lixiang Courtyard for me to summon ministers and handle state affairs."

Everyone was taken aback. Madam Xing's face immediately changed, and her lips trembled as she tried to speak, but was stopped by a look from Grandmother Jia. She was inwardly groaning!
Originally, Jia She and Jia Zheng separated their households. Jia She set aside a three-courtyard house in the Rongguo Mansion, making it his own world. As the eldest wife of the Jia family, Madam Xing was supposed to manage the household, and she was already feeling resentful. Fortunately, she and Jia She did not live in the mansion, so she held her nose and did not fight for it.

Unexpectedly, when the emperor arrived, he took back the three courtyards that had been separated!
She had no choice but to find another place to live, and from then on, she lived as a dependent in someone else's home.

“Second daughter…” Madam Xing looked at Yingchun, wanting her to plead for her, but her blockhead daughter remained silent.

"Don't worry, Auntie."

Daiyu comforted her and then smiled at Tanchun, saying, "Tanchun is the head housekeeper, why don't you hurry up and receive the imperial decree?"

Tan Chun then realized what was happening and hurriedly went to the platform to receive the imperial decree, as she was the one who had to do all these things.

"Let's call it a day. We can discuss this again tomorrow."

Chu Yan got up and went down from the platform, heading straight back to the Yangxin Hall to find Li Wan.

Xiangyun and her three companions also descended from the platform, where Daiyu, Baochai, and the others gathered around. Xiren hurriedly asked, "The Yihong Courtyard is supposed to house twelve opera-performing maids. How can so many people fit in? If we are asked to move out... where will we move to?"

At this moment, the maids of Yihong Courtyard once again felt the impending doom. The emperor only ordered the actresses to move into Yihong Courtyard, but did not arrange a place for them. From then on, whether they lived or died, whether they stayed or left, was none of the emperor's business.

The Emperor watched the opera performance tonight, and thus bestowed a favor upon the actors, allowing them to stay at the Yihong Courtyard where Bao Yu had previously resided.

These maids from the Grand View Garden were not noticed by the emperor and were left to fend for themselves!

"What should we do? Girl, we..."

Musk Moon burst into tears.

Qingwen was also saddened. She couldn't even compare to the actresses, let alone the young ladies!

Tan Chun smiled and said, "Don't worry, there will always be a place for you to stay. There are many houses in the mansion. For example, there are about twenty rooms in the outer study where the servants used to live."

Madam Xing was extremely anxious. "Can't I go stay there too?!"

Tan Chun couldn't help but feel a headache; how should she arrange accommodations for the First Madam?

Just then, a eunuch came to deliver an imperial edict: "Qingwen, Xiangling, and Yuchuan, go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the rear palace to meet the Emperor!"

Everyone was startled again. The old women all looked at Qingwen, who had a slender waist and narrow shoulders, and were even more surprised. How could it be this vixen who had caught the emperor's eye? Why her of all people?!
The group then searched for Xiangling and Yuchuan, only to find Xiangling standing behind them, looking dazed, while Yuchuan, after her initial nervousness, was the first to receive the imperial decree.

Qingwen's heart pounded with anxiety as she tried to guess why the emperor had summoned them. Recalling what the emperor had said during the day, aside from asking about her surname, he hadn't shown her any particular regard for her.

How can we get all three of them to go to meet the emperor together now?

Baochai pulled Xiangling over and called Qingwen over as well. She smiled at the three of them and said, "Go on, don't be too nervous. His Majesty is a benevolent ruler. Do whatever he tells you to do. You must not disobey his orders."

Upon hearing this, Qingwen felt a surge of grief and indignation.

So it turns out they were summoned to serve the emperor!
Instead of letting the young women and grandmothers go to sleep, they were specifically called to go!

The emperor has never shown them any favor. He only summons them to sleep with him and doesn't give them any official status. What kind of emperor is this?
Despite their thoughts, they had no choice but to go.

Qingwen's pretty face was full of resentment. She followed the eunuch along with Xiangling and Yuchuan.

Xiangyun smiled at Daiyu and said, "How will you thank me this time? The Emperor was going to punish you, but I took the blame for you!"

Daiyu took her hand, thanked her, and said with a smile, "I'll thank you properly another day."

After exchanging a few words, everyone dispersed.

On the way back, Daiyu said confidently to Zijuan, "The Emperor will not summon Xiangling and the others tonight."

Zijuan smiled shyly and said, "Of course, the emperor has already summoned the eldest mistress, and only one can be there each night."

Daiyu didn't quite understand her meaning, but she roughly guessed what she meant, so she didn't respond. She went straight back to Xiaoxiang Pavilion, where Zijuan brewed the medicine for her, and after taking it, she went to sleep.

(End of this chapter)