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

Chapter 183 Lin Hongyu, Lixiangyuan

The two women were whispering in the emperor's bedroom when Tan Chun came in and smiled at them, saying, "What are you talking about? Sister-in-law, come with me quickly, His Majesty wants you to have breakfast together."

Li Wan was relieved to see that Tan Chun still called her "elder sister-in-law," and they did not look down on her because she had come to serve the emperor.

He smiled and said, "His Majesty only called me 'Second Sister-in-law,' not 'Your Majesty'?"

Wang Xifeng also smiled.

"Just go out and sit down to eat; the sisters-in-law will take care of themselves."

Tan Chun smiled and went out with them.

Upon seeing the emperor again, Wang Xifeng felt somewhat uneasy. The traces of their lovemaking from the previous night were still visible in his room, making one blush and feel hot.

Especially after the two talked it out, Li Wan shyly mentioned some things about serving the emperor in bed. Wang Xifeng then learned that when the tall and strong emperor got involved with someone, he made his newly favored sister-in-law "die and come back to life" – these four words came from her mouth.

Now, seeing him again, Wang Xifeng couldn't help but glance at his rugged face and tall figure, thinking about herself... ugh, thinking about what it was like for her sister-in-law to be vigorously tormented by him.

"Courtesy Master, come here."

Chu Yan raised his hand to beckon Li Wan to sit down next to him.

Li Wan felt somewhat embarrassed in front of her sisters-in-law, but since they had all taken their seats, the only remaining seat was next to the Emperor, which was clearly reserved for her, so she had no choice but to sit there.

Daiyu glanced at her and saw that her sister-in-law had a rosy complexion and bright red lips. When she looked at the emperor, her eyes were filled with a languid weariness. She thought to herself that he must have slept with her last night, which was why he was so fond of her this morning and had her sit next to him.

"Eat up, don't be shy."

Chu Yan picked up his chopsticks, and the others followed suit. Even Wang Xifeng got to sit at the same table as the emperor.

As they were eating, Xiangyun suddenly walked in, her laughter following: "I just got up, and you're already eating! Even the Emperor didn't wait for me!"

The girls present were all older than her, so they remained seated. Only Wang Xifeng, the young wife, quickly stood up and said with a smile, "We just happened to arrive when His Majesty was having breakfast. We had just started eating, and we didn't expect the aroma of the Emperor's banquet to waft over to you. You were lucky enough to catch it."

Everyone laughed, and Xiangyun also laughed and said, "I was just kidding. I had some snacks when I got up this morning, so you can have some too."

"Come here." Chu Yan beckoned to her, and when Xiangyun came closer, he picked up a steamed yam and honey dumpling with his chopsticks and stuffed it into her mouth.

Xiangyun ate it in one bite, her eyes crinkling with laughter, and mumbled as she ate, "You insisted on giving it to me, I'll have to rinse my mouth later."

Everyone laughed and said, "Sit down and eat."

Xiangyun then sat down and sampled a few dishes.

Chu Yan asked her, "Did you sleep well with the princess last night?"

Last night, the two of them slept in the right side hall, while Yuan Chun slept in the left side hall, and Qin Keqing returned to Ningguo Mansion.

Xiangyun nodded and said, "There are also five large rooms in the side hall. The princess and I originally slept on opposite sides, but we ended up chatting until midnight, so we just lay down together. I'll take a nap later."

After finishing breakfast while chatting, the palace maids brought them tea to rinse their mouths. After resting for a while, Chu Yan went out with them.

Li Wan was exhausted from the previous night, so she didn't go with them and returned to Daoxiang Village to rest with the help of Su Yun and Bi Yue.

She was feeling a bit listless while eating breakfast.

As Baochai watched her departing figure, a poem suddenly came to mind: "Her maidservant helps her up, delicate and weak, just as she receives the Emperor's favor."

She couldn't help but blush.

"Your Majesty, this way."

Wang Xifeng led the way, smiling as she pointed out, "There's a road behind Jiayin Hall that leads directly to Tubi Villa. It's just the right way to exit the garden through the back gate."

Tan Chun quickly smiled and said, "His Majesty has renamed it. It is now called Yangxin Hall."

Xiangyun laughed and said, "Sister Feng misspoke; she should be punished!"

Chu Yan nodded: "Punish her by making her lead the way."

Wang Xifeng gave him a charmingly disdainful look and said with a smile, "Yun'er and His Majesty are so well-matched that it's impossible to refuse. Very well, today I'm here to lead the way by imperial decree. Your Majesty, please come this way."

This made everyone laugh.

Following the winding road past the Grand View Garden kitchen, we arrived at the back gate, outside which was the Pear Fragrance Courtyard. A eunuch had already gone to announce our arrival, so as soon as we exited the back garden gate, we saw the twelve young actors and their instructors waiting in front of the Pear Fragrance Courtyard.

Upon seeing Chu Yan and his entourage emerge, they all bowed in greeting.

"Let's not go to Lixiangyuan yet."

Chu Yan glanced to the west and walked along the passageway to take a look.

Wang Xifeng hurriedly said, "Over there are Zhou Rui's wife, who is the mistress's maid, as well as Lin Zhixiao's wife and Wu Xindeng's wife. They all live near the back door. When relatives or guests come through the back door, they usually look for them."

Chu Yan smiled, "I just remembered, Granny Liu came here to see Zhou Rui's family."

Everyone was surprised; how did the emperor know these things?

Chu Yan didn't explain. He walked over and randomly picked a house to go inside. Unexpectedly, he saw a girl with jet-black hair, a slender figure, and a long face hanging clothes in the yard. When she saw a large group of people entering her house, she was startled. After taking a closer look at the man among them, she quickly stepped back and stood at her sides against the wall.

It's clear she knew the rules well and didn't show any of the panic one would expect when first meeting the emperor.

"Get up." Chu Yan asked casually, "Whose maid are you?"

Wang Xifeng laughed: "She is my maid, named Lin Hongyu. Because her name sounds like 'Lin Meimei' (a character from a Chinese novel), His Majesty calls her Xiao Hong. She went home to stay overnight after the banquet yesterday."

Coincidentally, Daiyu was following behind and, upon hearing this, said to Hongyu, "You don't need to be shy about me. I'm not the emperor who needs to be avoided." Chu Yan laughed and said, "Sister Lin is usually so clever and quick-witted. How could you not see that Hongyu is being shy about Baoyu?"

Lin Hongyu, who was standing by the wall, also laughed and said, "Whether it's a young lady or a young master, we should still avoid using the same name. People are used to calling me Xiao Hong, and Grandma likes this name of mine too."

Chu Yan looked around the courtyard and then casually asked her, "Why are you serving Feng'er in her room?"

If he had seen Lin Hongyu at the Yihong Courtyard yesterday, he would have taken her into his room. Now there are only three maids in the room, which is not a good number, not as nice as having four maids.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng immediately became nervous and quickly winked at Hongyu.

Hongyu understood and said with a smile, "Grandma saw that I was quick-witted and that I had nothing else to do in Yihong Courtyard, so she promoted me to her room."

Chu Yan nodded: "What a coincidence."

He realized that Lin Hongyu had gone to serve Wang Xifeng only after Jia Baoyu left.

Watching from behind, Daiyu became even more certain of one thing: this rebellious emperor was indeed incredibly shrewd; none of them knew which maid Lin Hongyu was, yet he remembered her clearly.

In that case, he probably knows her temperament even better than Baoyu does.

Daiyu raised her eyes and carefully looked at his profile, her mind preoccupied with her thoughts.

"Let's go."

Chu Yan left Lin Zhixiao's house and didn't go to the other two houses. He walked to the end of the corridor to take a look and understand the layout of the houses.

Then, upon returning to Pear Fragrance Courtyard, Daiyu smiled and asked, "Does Your Majesty know who originally lived here?"

Xiangyun and the others all looked over.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Could this be where you used to live?"

Daiyu smiled, knowing that the emperor had already "calculated" it, but was deliberately lying to her that he didn't know.

Baochai smiled and said, "Sister Lin originally lived in the old lady's room, and lived with Baoyu and the sisters in the five main rooms in the backyard."

Zijuan suddenly looked over, and heard what Baochai had said...

Chu Yan nodded: "So Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu were childhood sweethearts, no wonder they had such a good relationship."

Daiyu remained silent; he already knew about this, but now he was simply bringing it up.

Xiangyun looked over and smiled, "That was all when I was a child. I even wore Brother Baoyu's clothes when I was little."

Everyone laughed, and Baochai also laughed and said, "Are you talking about something that happened in March or April a few years ago? I remember that after Yun'er wore his clothes, the old lady mistook her for someone else. When she called her over, she just smiled. Later, the old lady recognized her and laughed and said that she looked better than a man when she dressed up."

Chu Yan glanced at Xiangyun, beckoned to her, and after she came over, he put his arm around her waist and said with a smile, "One day, Xiangyun, you should wear men's clothes and show them to me."

Xiangyun blushed and quickly dodged him: "I feel ashamed to bring up the things I did when I was a child. Your Majesty is still a child at heart, so you can't make fun of me."

"What's the big deal about wearing it indoors?"

Chu Yan said that Xiangyun had a wasp waist and a monkey back. Her waist was slender but not lacking in agility and strength. He could feel that she must have a lot of strength when she twisted her waist when he hugged her several times.

With her heroic features, Xiangyun, dressed as a man, should look like a handsome young man. However, her chest is not small, and she has the hips and waist of a woman, making her look like a young man quite unique.

Hearing his words, Xiangyun lowered her head in embarrassment.

Chu Yan stopped teasing her, went inside and sat down, then called the young actors in.

The twelve young actors are arranged in two rows, including Wen Guan, Fang Guan, Ling Guan, Ou Guan, Di Guan, Kui Guan, and Rui Guan, who play the roles of young male lead, young female lead, leading female lead, young female lead, and old female lead in traditional Chinese opera.

The Jia family bought them from Suzhou. They are all quite young now, all looking like pretty girls from the Jiangnan water towns. Standing there, they look like old madams in brothels calling their girls out to greet guests.

Do you know why I've come to see you?

Seeing that they looked a little nervous, Chu Yan asked first.

The civil official hurriedly replied, "His Majesty issued an order last night for us to move to the Grand View Garden. We got up early this morning to pack our things and are just about to move out."

The civil official was led by twelve girls, and she accepted the rewards on their behalf on several occasions.

Chu Yan nodded and said, "Lixiang Courtyard is closest to the back garden gate, which is perfect for me to handle state affairs. However, I just took a look and found that Lixiang Courtyard has about ten rooms. Although Yihong Courtyard is large, it is not enough for you to stay in."

These young actresses were originally shared rooms, two or three to a room. Putting them in a large dormitory inevitably caused them resentment.

And since they are opera singers, they are used to being fawned over, so they all have a bit of arrogance. Once they lose this spirit, they can't sing well on stage.

The twelve actresses cost tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy. Although it included instruction and costumes, each actress was still quite expensive. This was why Chu Yan wanted to put them in the Yihong Courtyard.

Even among royalty and nobility, entertainers were considered pampered.

The civil official laughed and said, "There are seven or eight rooms in Yihong Courtyard. If we were to stay in them all, it would be enough... but we would feel embarrassed to ask Xiren and Sheyue to come out."

Chu Yan laughed and asked her, "Do you often go to the brothel?"

The civil official replied with a smile, "On holidays, when we don't do homework after school, we go to the garden to play with the maids."

Chu Yan said, "Singing opera is quite tiring, and you can only rest on holidays. I'm a little unsure how to arrange things for you. Do you have any ideas?"

He turned to ask Tan Chun and Wang Xifeng, one of whom was the steward and the other was most familiar with the Jia family.

(End of this chapter)