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

Chapter 64: All the Beauty (Part 1)
After Xiren left, Daiyu told Zijuan, "Go get me a sheep-horn lantern."

Zijuan asked curiously, "What do you need a lamp for, young lady? Are you going out so late?"

Daiyu said, "Every day is getting worse. After today, I don't know if I can see my sisters tomorrow."

"Miss, you're saying these life-threatening words again." Zijuan laughed.

"You used to be so clever, but now you can't see that the thief's moves are more ruthless than the last." Daiyu was frail and stood up with her help. "Second Brother Lian left in a hurry during the day, looking very frightened. It's obvious that he learned something in the palace but didn't dare to tell anyone. The vicious thief king still has some tricks waiting to be used!"

Zijuan laughed and said, "Young lady, you speak as if you have seen the thief before and know what he looks like."

"I saw him in a dream."

Zijuan laughed even more: "This is even more strange... Oh, I understand. The girl saw him in her dream, and he also saw the girl, so he can't forget her and wants her to take care of the garden!"

"Bah, you talkative girl!"

Daiyu's face flushed and she spat at her, snatched the sheep-horn lantern from her hand and walked out.

Zijuan hurriedly followed: "I will go out with you. I will go wherever you go. I don't care. You can go wherever you want."

She knew that the girl would not be satisfied until she went to Yihongyuan to take a look.

Daiyu said nothing and let her take the sheep-horn lantern.

The master and servant left Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

As soon as I went out, I met a man holding a lantern.

"Is it Miss Lin?" came the girl's voice.

"It's Xiangling." Zijuan said with a smile, "What are you doing here so late?"

Xiangling came over, holding a lantern, and said with a smile, "Miss Bao asked me to ask Miss Lin, if the Qian King will ascend the throne the day after tomorrow, will the palace also celebrate for him? We should put up lanterns and colorful decorations, and prepare more food for everyone, so that no one in the palace will complain about not having enough to eat."

Daiyu smiled and said, "It's rare for her to be so attentive. Go and tell her that you don't need to ask me about many things in the garden. Sister Bao and Sister Qin will take care of it."

Xiangling said a few more words, and was about to go back when Daiyu asked her, "Xiangling, I remember you said the other day that you were from Jinling too?"

Xiangling was startled and shook her head, saying, "I don't remember. My aunt bought me in Jinling a few years ago."

"You don't remember your father and mother either?"

"I don't remember anything." Xiangling said.

"She's also pitiful," Daiyu said softly. Looking at Xiangling, who was without parents, she said, "Sister Bao goes to the palace, and you should follow her to serve her. If she is given the title of concubine, you can send someone to Jinling to look for your parents. Perhaps... you can still find them."

Zijuan knew that the girl was talking about herself, and her father Lin Ruhai was also missing.

Xiangling laughed and said, "Don't you remember? I was bought by my aunt to be a concubine for Master Xue. How could I enter the palace with our daughter?"

Daiyu smiled and said, "Silly girl, just remember what I say today. You will understand it later."

Xiangling was still puzzled. She looked at her for a while, then smiled and thanked her, then said goodbye and went back.

Zijuan seemed to be lost in thought.

The two of them left Xiaoxiang Pavilion and walked for a while when they heard the voices of young girls talking in front of them. Zijuan looked carefully and said, "That's Qinfang Pavilion up ahead. I wonder who it is."

As they approached, they soon realized that it was the young ladies from the Wang and Shi families who were gathered together to chat.

"Is that Sister Lin?" Shi Xiangyun's voice suddenly came. Lin Daiyu approached and asked curiously, "What are you doing here so late at night? You don't even have a lantern, and it's pitch black by the water. Be careful not to fall in."

Shi Xiangyun came out happily and said, "I knew it was Sister Lin. Only Sister Lin could have such a beautiful figure!" She took Lin Daiyu's hand and said dejectedly, "Sister Junyi said that we are now servants of Prince Qian and don't need those lamps. The moon is beautiful tonight and we can see the road clearly, so there is no need to light the lamps."

After the Shi and Wang families were ransacked, many girls came. Among them, Lin Daiyu was deeply impressed by Wang Junyi, Wang Xuanzhu, Shi Yanqiu, etc. They were all women of talent and good looks.

Now, they gathered under the Qinfang Pavilion in the Grand View Garden, not daring to light a lamp. They only discussed where to go in the future under the moonlight.

A young woman from the Wang family looked at Lin Daiyu with envy and said, "If I, like Sister Lin, had been favored by Prince Qian, I would have stayed in the palace and not thought of anything else... But now, the future is uncertain. Prince Qian has only confined the women in the palace to the imperial court and hasn't even mentioned summoning us to the palace. How can we dare to stay in the palace?"

"What the Wang family's sister said is true." A young woman from the historian family also said, "The Ye Ting Palace governs tens of thousands of official slaves and maids. It's already difficult to enter the palace to serve. You have to be favored by Prince Qian to make it through. In this disaster, so many palace maids were sent to the Ye Ting Palace. How could Prince Qian be interested in me?"

"It's hard to say. Prince Qian has shown special favor to the Jia family. Maybe in the future..." "You are taking chances, but I can't. I will leave the day after tomorrow."

"What good will it do to go out? After the house was ransacked, only a few hundred taels of silver were left..."

"As the ancients said, there's always a way out. I don't believe Prince Qian is cruel. Now that he's showing mercy to Sister Lin and Sister Bao, he might not be unkind to us in the future..."

"Sister Lin looks like this. She will definitely be made a concubine after entering the palace!"

"If I leave, I'm afraid I won't even be able to support the wet nurse and the maids. How can I bear to see her suffer? If she stays in the mansion, she can still have a bowl of rice to eat."

A dozen young girls and some of their personal maids said these sad words together, which made people want to cry out loud.

But suddenly someone said, "Once you enter the palace, you will serve the king with your beauty, please him, and win his favor."

After these words, the young ladies in Qinfang Pavilion under the moonlight fell silent, their faces flushed with shame.

They are all unmarried girls, how could they use their beauty to serve others?

Perhaps it was because someone whispered in the darkness:
"A pearl hairpin fell sideways on a coral pillow, half in gratitude and half in devotion..."

When the poem was read out, including Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyun, they couldn't help but think of other things. For a moment, these girls in the boudoir were ashamed.

Wang Junyi looked at her in surprise: "Xuanzhu, where did you learn these obscene lyrics and songs?"

The girl woke up as if from a dream, and frightened to the point of freezing in place. After a long while, she cried and hugged her: "Sister, I was wrong!"

"Sister Wang, there's no need to cry. We'll just keep it a secret."

All the sisters comforted her.

"Why are you crying for no reason? Are you hungry? I'll ask Miss Bao to come and ask the kitchen to make some more delicious food for you."

Someone came over carrying a bunch of lanterns. Wang Junyi recognized the voice and hurried forward to greet them: "Big sister, why are you here?"

It was Wang Xifeng. She came with Ping'er and several maids and servants, holding fifteen or sixteen lanterns.

Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "Prince Qian wouldn't be such a stingy person. How could he blame you young ladies for gathering together to chat and light a few lanterns? Besides, I heard that some of you are also going to enter the palace and may even become imperial concubines in the future!"

All the girls laughed and said that the imperial concubine was Miss Lin and they were not that lucky.

Zijuan glanced at the girl quietly and saw that she didn't look angry at all, but calm, neither annoyed nor happy.

Ping'er smiled and said, "Are you all willing to stay? Second Master Lian just sent me to ask. He has permission from Prince Qian's soldiers to go out and help you find a house tomorrow. If anyone wants to leave, come and tell me and Grandma tomorrow morning and ask Second Master to figure out how big a house you want."

They were worried about this, so they gathered together to discuss it at night and also called Shi Xiangyun.

"Big sister, what do you think, should we leave or stay?" a girl from the Wang family asked Wang Xifeng.

Before Wang Xifeng got married, she took good care of them at home.

Wang Xifeng looked at her sisters at home, pondered for a long moment, and then said helplessly, "I don't have any ideas. If you stay, perhaps you will be favored by Prince Qian and enjoy wealth and honor from now on. Or maybe you can only wait, year after year, like the eldest daughter at home, who entered the palace at the age of ten and only became a virtuous concubine ten years later... If you leave, you can find a husband of your choice and marry him. With your status as daughters of a noble family, you can find a good husband and live a comfortable life."

"Big sister just said whether to stay or leave, we will think about it ourselves."

"You're such a good girl, you won't stop until I tell you!"

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "If you can't make up your mind, then stay here for now. If Prince Qian shows mercy one day, perhaps he will let you go."

This was something they had talked about before.

Lin Daiyu disagreed. How could the tall and ferocious King Qian let them go when he saw all the beauties in the garden?

Wang Xuanzhu took Wang Xifeng's hand and said with a smile, "Then I'll stay too, and keep you company, big sister. If we enter the palace together in the future, I'll definitely need your help!"

Wang Xifeng was very surprised: "Why should I enter the palace?"

Wang Xuanzhu was startled and was about to speak when another person came with a lantern.

After the spring has passed, all the flowers have faded, and everyone must find their own way, which must begin with meeting Xiangling.

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(End of this chapter)